37 Machinations

An additional three weeks had passed on the Seventh Floor and, though there had been some close calls when his confidence outgrew his caution, Linnaeus was now making his final preparations for a battle against the 'Dragon King'. He had already come up with a strategy he believed was viable and, though his plan had a good chance of getting thrown out the window as soon as combat began, it was better than going in unprepared.

At this point, Linnaeus had hunted a total of 95 monsters, earning himself a sizeable 4,351 Soul Kindling in the process. He wasn't sure if this was a lot but, compared to having only a few hundred, it certainly felt like a lot.

With the combination of physical training and hunting, Linnaeus' Skills, Abilities, and Magic had all experienced a qualitative improvement compared to his past self. Though his attributes had only increased by a few points, primarily as a result of bonuses, it still felt good to have strengthened his foundation.

Now, before his climactic battle, Linnaeus had decided to take a gamble by trying to recruit a few other people to his cause. During his exploration of the Seventh Floor, he had located the abodes of seven others, the majority of which gave off the impression that they were much weaker than him.

Though his plan could be enacted without assistance, Linnaeus wanted to start building his Party now as, if he started scouting in the higher Floors, there was a good chance he would be refused. This was not only due to the fact that stronger people than him should exist in the higher Floors but, after staying in the Crucible of Souls for an extended period of time, he expected that the majority of people would have formed a team by then.

Of the seven people he had tracked, the two that interested him the most was a tall man with pale grey skin and a sturdy build. As for the other, she was a petite woman with purple hair that could only be described as fluffy.

The sclera of the former was pitch black, giving him a rather scary vibe, while his eyes were a vibrant shade of silver. What made him exceptional, at least in Linnaeus' opinion, was his ability to absorb the traits of anything he was in contact with.

Linnaeus had watched as the man wrangled with a Bear Rabbit using nothing by his physique to overpower the cute, yet ferocious, monster. A few seconds after the fight had started, the man's body had become covered in a layer of light-brown fur and, though it was hard to tell at a glance, the muscles of his back and legs had become more pronounced. Shortly after that, he had pulled off the right arm of the Bear Rabbit before using it as a makeshift club to finish the unfortunate monster off.

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Though his Blessing could have been misconstrued as just another transformation ability, Linnaeus had been surprised to see the man enter into a small pond after his hunt came to an end. After a few seconds had passed, his body began to turn transparent and, by the time a minute had elapsed, his form had completely disappeared into the water. Even with his [Perception] enhanced to LV28, it was impossible for Linnaeus to sense the man after he had become one with the water.

While the man's Blessing was a truly envious ability, as Linnaeus could think of a conceivably infinite number of ways to exploit it, the purple-haired girl was actually his primary target. Though he had a small trauma after his experience with Ryuuna, she seemed to be a far more agreeable person than the pale-haired Dwelf.

What made the purple-hair girl so important in Linnaeus' mind, besides her seemingly quiet and demure nature, was, as could be expected, her Blessing. She had the ability to exponentially increase the amount of gravity within a given area by simply bringing her palms together. Though he knew very little about it, Linnaeus had heard the rumors about Gravity Magic having almost no counter, making it would of the most powerful types after Lightning and Destruction Magic.

It wasn't the girl's offensive capabilities that made Linnaeus want to scout her, however. Instead, it was her potential utility and support skills as, when she retreated to her own abode, the girl would use what he could only assume was a spell to reduce her own weight. This allowed her to leap well over 50m in a single bound, giving her the ability to scale massive cliffs without any difficulty. Even more useful was the fact that, even if she leaped down from her rocky residence, she would suffer no damage from a fall that would have killed, or at least seriously injured, most people.

If things worked out, Linnaeus could secure the absorption man as their Vanguard while the gravity girl would serve as their offensive ace and support specialist. His role would be as the secondary attacker, fighting from the mid-line with his limited ranged capabilities while using his [Barrier] and [Barrier Aura] spells to help dictate the flow of battle.

With his Agility, Intelligence, and Wisdom being his highest attributes, Linnaeus knew he wasn't much of a front-line fighter. He was better suited to the position of supporting others and, after working with Saht for several years, he was able to grasp the situation of a battlefield without too much difficulty. Though he might not exactly have leadership qualities, this wouldn't be an issue unless the other party was as obstinant as someone like Ryuuna and himself...

After making his final preparations, which had been ongoing for the last few days, Linnaeus made his way to the known hunting grounds of the gravity-wielding girl. They hadn't talked at all but, over the past few weeks, he had made his presence known to her by helping out when she was in a relatively dangerous situation.

Linnaeus had witnessed the girl being struck by a charging Axtola, the deer-like monster he had hunted in the past. She had apparently cast her weight-reduction magic on herself as, when the monster hit her, she was launched like a cannonball into the tree line. As a result, she suffered a few moderately serious injuries so, before things could get further out of hand, he had appeared in a flash to decapitate the Axtola.

As could be expected, the girl had been shocked by the sudden appearance of another person. She immediately assumed a defensive posture, even though she was using the tree as support. With a fretful light in her eyes, Linnaeus knew there was some past trauma weighing heavily on her mind so, rather than stick around, he just set down a few cooked foodstuffs before backing away slowly and disappearing into the underbrush.

If he was lucky, the girl would have been thinking about him over the past few days so, unless her trauma ran deeper than he expected, they should be able to at least talk with each other. She was very important for his plan to recruit the absorption man so, if he failed to obtain her, there was a good chance he would be fighting against a King on his own.

After reaching an area where the grass had been flatted due to persistent crossing, Linnaeus decided to sit and wait patiently. It was very obvious that the girl hadn't been born in the slums as she made the foolish decision to repeat the same route almost every time she went hunting. This was the kind of habit even Street Urchins knew better than to repeat so, combined with how she had been caught off guard by the Axtola, it was apparent that she had lived a relatively sheltered life.

Linnaeus didn't even have to wait all that long when his [Perception] picked up the signs of a person slowly approaching. They stopped around thirty meters from his position, likely after spotting him, but Linnaeus showed no signs of having done the same. He waited until she approached him of her own volition as, given the nature of most people, they were far less likely to run away if they were the ones to decide on a set of actions.

Several awkward minutes later, Linnaeus found himself staring up at the purple-haired girl as she stood in the shadows of a tree. She had a rather unassuming appearance and, if not for her violet purple hair, she wouldn't have stood out in a crowd. The only thing that really stood out about her, besides her vibrant hair color, was the fact that her hair formed a roughly spherical shape due to how fluffy it was.

If another person were to set eyes on her, however, Linnaeus had no doubt there were two very notable features that their eyes would be drawn to after first eyeing her hair. This was due to the fact that, despite her relatively short stature, she had a pair of abnormally large breasts that stuck out like a sore thumb with her skin tight bodysuit. She had made an obvious effort to try and hide them by patching together a few furs but, due to the lack of sewing materials, it was impossible to make any complex clothing.

Knowing she was likely self-conscious about her bust size, Linnaeus made a point of staring directly into her lavender-colored eyes. He didn't say anything at all as, if he spoke too soon, his instincts told her that she would either run away or outright refuse his request to Party up. It was best if he got her to broach the subject herself as, while she would still have inhibitions, it made her far less likely to suddenly abandon the Party at a later date.

Linnaeus was the type of person who could stay holed up inside a pipe for several days without moving so it was a given that his patience greatly exceeded the purple-haired girl's. After nearly twenty minutes of awkward silence, she ultimately broke eye contact with him before asking in a demure tone that barely reached his ears, "Why...why are you here...?"

While it was undoubtedly a scummy thing to do, Linnaeus continued to stare at the girl with an unwavering gaze as he stated, "I was worried about you..." He could tell from her body language that, despite her clear apprehension, this was very close to the answer she wanted to hear from him when she asked her question.

In response to his words, the girl lowered her face to obscure how flushed her cheeks were but, due to his seated position, Linnaeus had been able to see it relatively clearly. He had no intention to treat the girl poorly and exploit her vulnerabilities to cause harm so, while it made him feel like a piece of scum, Linnaeus was, for the first time, taking advantage of his gentle and disarming looks, combined with his high Charisma and [Charm] Skill.

After another long period of silence, the girl made momentary eye contact with him again before immediately turning away and murmuring, "My name is Eliza...who...I mean, what is your name...?"

At this point, Linnaeus was tempted to put on a false smile but, as his instincts told him she would be able to see through this, he kept a relatively plain expression as he answered, "My friends call me Lin. My actual name is Linnaeus Finnian."

Though it might have been more prudent to pay her a few compliments, such as remarking about the beauty of her name, Linnaeus didn't want to trigger Eliza's trauma by coming off as too fake. He didn't have the confidence to mislead and manipulate a woman and, knowing some of them had a scary amount of intuition, his primary focus was just to cement the idea in her mind that he didn't mean her any harm.

What Linnaeus had done was to set a bit of 'bait' out for her, giving Eliza the opportunity to either distance herself or ingratiate herself to him by providing two ways in which she could address him. Much to his relief, she seemed to muster up a great deal of courage by balling her hands into fists before turning her gaze to match his as she said, "It is nice to meet you...Lin."