Chapter 152.2: Infiltration

Chapter 152.2: Infiltration

PART 2/2

Now, I thought as I stepped up to the wall of the outpost, can you go in there and make sure everyone’s asleep? And maybe find exactly where that Spell Crystal is?

“Wow,” Index said with an obvious sarcastic tone, “I feel like my breadth of knowledge is so appreciated.”

It’s your fault for being such an amazing scout.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” it grumbled. A few moments passed, and then it eventually said, “okay, found it.”N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l--B1n.

Great. Guide me in here. Still can’t really see very well in the dark.

I crept into the outpost, trying not to make a sound so as to not cause any unnecessary complications, and found Jannin, currently passed out on a chair. I snuck my hand into his pocket, fished around for just a second, and...

Found it!

I gripped my fingers around a small marble. Jannin stirred, seeming like he was about to wake up, but that didn’t matter. The job was done. As quickly as I could, I did what I’d done before with the Poison Spell Crystal for Noxious Grasp, pushing my Mana into the object and feeling it tether the ‘soul’ of the Crystal with my Status. Within just a second or two, I could mentally feel that the Crystal had been emptied of its power, with it instead having been dragged into myself. All that was left was to direct that energy to one of the three ‘holes’ it could fit into, and I selected the one I’d decided on already.

Threshold reached. Sanguine Bond XP has reached 355.

Sanguine Bond Rank has increased to 10.

Due to Sanguine Bond Rank reaching 10, it has undergone the following changes:

Mana Cost: From 238 to 298

Health Drain: From 6.21 to 6.52

Stamina Drain: From 7.76 to 8.15

Mana Drain: From 9.31 to 9.78

Health Regeneration: From 1.55 to 1.63

Stamina Regeneration: From 3.11 to 3.27

Mana Regeneration: From 4.65 to 4.88

Sanguine Bond Upgrade has become available.

“Let’s just let her sleep for now,” I said, sitting back down and leaning up against a tree. “It’s still dark, so she could probably use it.”

“Okay!” Ainash sat down too.

“Have you rested at all?”

“Mmm...no, have been protecting you!”

I laughed. “Well it’s my turn now. Lie down and get some sleep, kiddo.”

“I did good job?”

“Yeah, you did a great job. You deserve some rest after everything you did, too.”

“Okay!” She laid down, twilight just barely beginning in the dark sky. Her bright, flaming eyes stared up at me. “Will town be good?”

“What do you mean?”

“Will I...like it?”

“I think you will,” I nodded. “There’ll definitely be some mean guys. And maybe a couple bad guys, even. But I also think there’s a lot of good there. You can think of anything you want, and someone will have made it and they’ll be willing to trade it to you for something else. You can find amazing, towering buildings in the sky that’ll blow your mind when you see them. You can feel safe from the walls and the guards...I think you might also be able to make some friends. I’m telling you, there are a lot of good Humans out there.”

“Sound very interesting!”

“It is. I’m excited to get there too.” I leaned over and rubbed her head, ruffling her already wild hair. “Now get some sleep. You won’t want to be tired the whole trip there.”

“Okay!” And with that, she shut her eyes.

Again, I laughed to myself. What a cute kid. She was totally gonna love that place.

But that was later. For now, I needed to focus, myself, and make that decision for my Spell Upgrade. Sanguine Bond apparently had a few solid options, according to Index, so I was excited to see what they were.

Eagerly awaiting the chance to open up the Upgrade Choice, I closed my eyes and started meditating.

And when I was finally able to view them, my face morphed into a frown. Not of disappointment, but of disbelief. What in the...

“Yeah,” Index said, “they’re pretty weird.”

These choices were nowhere near what Noxious Grasp had offered me. They were obviously powerful, but they were also just...kind of insane in the way some of them worked. Sanguine Bond was already a pretty unique Spell, but these Upgrades took that to a whole new level.

I barely even knew how I was going to pick between these.