351. Jury’s Corrupted Skills, And a Corrupted Request

351. Jury’s Corrupted Skills, And a Corrupted Request

CORRUPTION

< (C) PASSIVE: Origin of Gluttony >

< The vice all of me will forever share >

< EFFECT: Hungrier more often. Require copious amount of food to sustain functions. NEX requirement for the Heart of Time (Fragment) is also affected >Upstodatee from n(0)/ve/lbIn/.(co/m

“Fragment?” Jury wondered. “It’s just a fragment?”

“... Nav, can you confirm this?” Frost asked.

“That I cannot. However, because Jury is derived from Elysia who must have possessed the Heart of Time, her technology may be a fragment of one larger whole.” Nav explained. “This is news to us.”

“... did – did the White Wing have something similar?” Jury asked herself, remembering the peculiar pocket watch. “Nnngh... This is confusing now.”

“It’s gotten more complicated all of a sudden. But at least we’re not left in the dark. What a terrible silver lining.” Frost sighed.

< (C) PASSIVE: Remnants of Purity >

< May you cherish that tail >

< EFFECT: An evolving tail with a primordial origin. Differentiates you from the Original >

< (C) PASSIVE: Innocent >

< The purest >

< EFFECT: Innocent >

Nothing else could be found. Nav expressed difficulty in digging deeper, her face wincing as if in pain. Jury’s existence was always odd, but this only further drove the nail deeper as to what Jury actually was.

It didn’t change anything in Frost’s eyes. Neither was Jury worried, but Frost held onto her tail regardless in an act of assurance.

“It’s ok, Jury. You’re you, and that’s all that matters to us. Whatever we find moving forward won’t matter. Right?”

“I know~ It’s just weird having to uncover something that’s been with me all this time. ‘Innocent’. Like the Little Frost?”

“Maybe. You were an Innocent to begin with. Haaaaah. Jury.”

“Yes?”

“Are you worried?”

The Star Child wrote a question mark as she pointed at the voice from within the beanbag.

“There’s a monster in here that needs help. Um, Sorry. Would you be a sweetheart and get Res to come over here for me?”

The girl nodded first this time before she marched off. But not without drawing a small cupcake hairpin for Frost.

“Cute~ I like it.” Frost said, able to see herself thanks to her omnidirectional eyesight. “Cer. Serious question. Is there something wrong with you?”

“Depends. Do you have a fetish for sitting on people? Let me go already.”

“You don’t sound like you hate it at all.”

“That’s cause I can’t tell if I like it or not! What’s with this quandary bullshit dilemma I’m facing. A proud wolf like me ain’t gonna give in to someone who just rose to power.”

Anna, who just arrived at the scene, was shocked to find a talking beanbag. Nav was also enthralled by it, and she wondered how such a creature managed to sneak its way onto the Floor of Amalgamation.

Or rather, how did such a creature come to be. She simulated years of evolution in her mind, but eventually came to the conclusion of:

“Ghosts. I think this Floor is haunted.”

“Haunted!?” Anna exclaimed.

“Scientific analysis cannot explain the phenomenon. Therefore, ‘ghosts’. I read that throwing it into a bed of water can help them pass on.”

“... Wait, huh!? The fuck – Are you trying to waterboard me!?” Cer shouted.

Anna obviously knew it was Cer after that, but Nav hadn’t figured it out just yet. So, she turned to Anna and tilted her head in confusion.

“Do you speak ghosts? I cannot understand it.”

Frost ended up crackling silently. Either Nav genuinely didn’t know or was the best comedian to date. To be fair, she was quite fond of puns, so the latter was much more likely.

Right now, Frost wanted to take a break before reading her own stats. The sensation of the Alter Frost somewhere within the Nex Megalopolis became a point of focus. She considered returning down there with Anna and Nav, but she wanted to find another reason to.

Thankfully, that reason came to her in the form of a knock at their front door.

Jury opened it, revealing the Arbiter and Beholder Galia.

“I didn’t expect to see civilization prospering on an Archetype’s Floor of all places.” The Arbiter greeted them with a pleasant smile, only entering when Jury allowed them. “Thank you~ I must apologize for our sudden appearance. But I thought I’d let you know that there is someone who wishes to meet with you near the 6th Branch.”

“Beholder Caprlais?” Frost asked, rising from her Cer-bag.

Galia then answered:

“It’s a Corrupted that looks like you if you were a healer.”

Two things surprised Frost here.

The first was the Corrupted, and the second was the fact that they didn’t know she was a healer just yet.

She wondered how they would react if they knew she was equally as capable of mending wounds as she was of inflicting them.