Two Hundred And Seven

Two Hundred And Seven

Back at the mansion, we were once more greeted by the butler-weasel and the maids. Risha and Velna had remained at the mansion while we were dealing with the Trees, a fact that Hyacinth never missed an opportunity to hold over them. Yeah well, I do feel sorry for her maids, a little anyway, but it’s hard to care about those who so obviously hate me.

The butler of course asked us if he could notify Shaeraggo we were here, and we once more declined, although this time he was expecting our refusal, so he merely left a touch huffily, after bowing to Shaeula.

“All right, final planning session.” I said, and everyone nodded. We entered the dining room after stashing our equipment and protective suits in one of the changing rooms. Risha and Velna, along with several other maids, brought us out wine and snacks, as well as a large barrel of ale for Grulgor. They had also managed to find him a larger seat from somewhere, so he looked less ridiculous sitting at the table with us.

Ignoring the constant prickle of discomfort my premonitions of imminent danger were generating, I took a sip of the Faerie Wine, consciously dropping my defence to the alcohol using Ether Healing, so the potent, warming effects hit me almost instantly. Yeah, this is great. Now I can finally get drunk again when I socialise with my old friends from Uni or share a few with Shaeula. Still, no need to overdo it, we’ll be going into battle shortly. “Right, we’ve saved Asha and a couple of the Trees. A shame about the other Tree, but we did the best we could. Now that is out the way, we can return to our initial plan of purging the Myconids from around the Shrine of Clear Reflections and retaking it.”NewW novels updates at novelhall.com

“Grul is pleased. Grul hungers for crushing the fungi!” he gurgled, having emptied half his barrel. His lack of table manners seemed to be causing the maids who were bringing in the main meal some discomfort. One was eyeing him particularly bitterly, so noticeably that it was provoking Hyacinth, who stood, scowling, her silver-violet eyes flashing.

“Good servants dooo not frown sooo at guests of the master and mistress!” She snapped, radiating a menacing aura, darkness seeming to fill the room around her like a living smog. “You are continually insooolent, quite unbefitting of a maid”

I made a move to stop Hyacinth, but Shaeula grabbed my arm, shaking her head. “I am finding it hard not-not to chastise them myself.” She said, her own amber gaze hard. “I have told them many-many times to show you the proper respect as my husband and true love, yet they do not-not learn.”

The now-terrified maid stumbled, dropping the large, covered platter she was holding. It hit the floor with a loud clang, the silver dome bouncing off, spilling the large roasted birds covered in a brilliant yellow gravy onto the carpet, soiling it. The other two maids stepped back, but luckily managed to keep hold of their own burdens. As the lid rolled around, Hyacinth gestured, and I had a horrible terror of what she was about to do, as nature energy flared around her, visible to the naked eye.

“Hyacinth, I understand that you are-are angry, but as their mistress, it is surely my duty to discipline them. You are upsetting Akio, do not-not make the same mistakes as they do!”

At that the aura around Hyacinth died down, and the horrific biological attack she was surely about to conjure died off around her. “Sooorry, Hyacinth is a bad servant.” She started crying, her mood as wildly mercurial as ever. “But I hate tooo see them disrespect master and mistress sooo!”

“I get it, I do. But you can’t use those spores carelessly. Don’t give in to the darkness inside you. I’d hate to lose you, but if you can’t be trusted not to lose control, then I fear... I might have to take action.” I pulled her into a hug, and she flushed, skin turning crimson, only crying harder.

“Yes, this is also my fault.” Shaeula shook her head. “I have tried to put my foolish past aside, and my maids are a sad-sad reminder of my failures. Therefore I have not-not been as firm with then as I should have been.” She turned to the shame-faced maid, who was biting at her lips, a thin trickle of blood leaking into her tawny fur. “Fetch the other maids and the butler. This is as good-good a time as any to finally address this mess.”

“Your will, princess.” The maid said, scuttling out.

“Never a dull moment with you, is there?” Ixitt ribbed me, as I held the still crying Hyacinth, though somehow one of her hands had managed to get inside my clothes and was roaming very... intimately.

“Stop that.” I rapped her on the head gently. “I’m serious. You have a deadly gift now, you can’t misuse it, or else I’ll have to take responsibility!” At my words, Hyacinth chose to take it in a misleading way, but I could see in her eyes she understood, even through her deep anger. Once more I reflected on the cruel treatment Hyacinth must have suffered under the Unseelie that had warped her so. Perhaps teaching Hyacinth such a deadly biological art was foolish, but I want to trust her, and help her recover from her traumas. Besides, it’s the best way to win...

As the maids assembled, Velna, Risha and the rest lining up, the butler, still in his rather nice tailcoat, at their head, Shaeula stood and stepped forwards, careful not to tread in the mess soaking into the carpet. I could smell it now, rich and pungent, full of citrussy tones, and my stomach rumbled. Damn, a waste of a good meal, that smelt pretty damn nice.

“I have spoken about this before, but perhaps I have not-not been clear.” Shaeula declared boldly. “We go back a long way, do we not-not?” She addressed her maids, who nodded slowly. As I observed then, Hyacinth still in my arms, I noticed a variety of emotions on their faces. Velna looked sad, Risha angry, some of them confused, and the one who had nearly been murdered by Hyacinth over her insolence had a sour and frustrated mien.

The butler, who had not been one of her prior servants, but was Shaeraggo’s, merely stood aside, listening. Risha decided to reply, cautious, as if she was wary of a further scolding. “Indeed, princess. We have cared for you since you were young-young, a small, adorable child. That is why it pains us so, seeing you having besmirched your bloodlines by dallying with a mortal.”

“That’s right!” the sour maid cried, stamping her foot, earning another growl from Hyacinth. At that she quailed back, before gathering her resolve. “You should be proud and strong, like your father, brothers and sister-sister! The only way to prove yourself is to be arrogant, imperious, make them accept you!”

“That is right-right!” another maid agreed. “Do you know how hard it is to watch this?”

“Uh...” Velna said then, looking down at the floor, unsure. “... princess, can you not tell us? Why have you changed? We do not understand it-it.”

“Is that not-not obvious?” she sighed. “I changed because it was that or meet my end.” She shrugged. “I do not-not blame you for your encouragements, for trying to help me grow into the princess you believed I should be, arrogant and proud like my sister. But there is one great difference between my sister and I.”

“Your blood does not matter...” Velna began, but Shaeula scoffed, barking a laugh, cutting her off.

“Of course it does not-not. Akio said it best to me, long-long ago now. Two royal bloodlines combined are surely just as noble, if not-not more so, than one! I shall never be ashamed of my mother and her proud lineage. Even if it is not-not Seelie, it is a part of me! No, you are all too shallow, and hence I was as well. The difference is ability.”

********

“You’ve reached level five. That was painless.” I smiled at Ixitt as he snapped off another volley of small projectiles against a Myconid Ranger, outmatching the arrows and blowing it apart in a welter of spores.

“Excellent. I do feel stronger and faster. My mind seems clearer as well. Just more proof I made the right choice accepting your patronage.” Ixitt replied. “So, what now?”

“As we discussed at dinner, when we finally managed to get one that wasn’t tossed on the floor, anyway, now you can oversee Hyacinth as she tests her spores on the captive plant-beasts.” We had brought some wires and chains from our Territory, so Shaeula wouldn’t be forced to relinquish her pinwheels, reducing her offense. “We’ve replaced the Degraded Kobolds, so the aim is to get her spores to be harmless to them, but lethal against the Myconids and their plant minions. Though to be honest I’ll settle for just lethal to the Myconids, we have our protective gear after all.”

“I understand. It will be fascinating to document her progress, and perhaps harness it myself in various weapons. Perhaps bullets and shells that contain her lethal spores? Intriguing.” Ixitt mused, tail lashing excitedly.

“Sure, just... keep safe and help her get it done, if you can.” I knew it was an epically difficult task, but Hyacinth had experience and exposure to the spores, so if anyone could with help from our explanations, she could. “As for us...” I looked at Shaeula and Grulgor, who were eager for battle. “We are going to try and kill as many Myconids as we can, especially Noble ones. If we penetrate deep into their Territory we might even unearth some of their hidden cards as well. The more we know, the better our chances.”

“Grul will enjoy smashing, breaking and crushing them!” he declared, and Shaeula was even smiling at his usual belligerence. Yeah, they have become closer. That’s good.

“All right then. In that case, we go deeper!” I cried out, and we charged through the wilderness. I could feel the fortunate winds Shaeula had summoned blowing around me, and occasionally I would get a feeling to take a certain direction through the trees, or my feet would stumble over an exposed root despite my great agility, and I would find glittering treasures, Etherites ripe for the taking. I’ve found a green and several yellows already. Nice! Although worryingly, the feeling of great fortune I was experiencing was being balanced by the prickling of my Foresight. The feeling had seesawed up and down in the mansion, dropping for a while, which puzzled me, but now it was growing stronger once more. Is it due to our strategy against the Myconids, or is something going to go wrong with Hyacinth’s experiments? No, we are taking every possible precaution... putting that aside, I turned my attention back to the matter at hand, as I didn’t want to be distracted, which could lead to careless mistakes.

Obviously ether was still a concern, despite our new gains from the Trees, but I intended to keep these Etherites on me, in case I needed emergency boosts, just like with the blue one. And when we upgrade our Silos to Rank 3, I think I’ll add an Etherite Silo to one of them...

We raced rapidly into the denser heart of Myconid-held Territory, more than five miles from the Fae Stones that marked the safety of the Seelie Court....

********

I swung my Twin Fangs, one blade slashing through the sword-arm one Myconid warrior was wielding, while my other parried another pair of slashes on my flank. The ground underfoot was treacherous with decaying fungal matter, as one after another I slew the Warriors that engaged me. It was like a dance, my senses working at high intensity, predicting their movements by the subtle twitching of their arms and legs.

A much bulkier Myconid attacked from my blind spot, the Myconid Champion, a Noble Dark Fae who led this large group of warriors, a tall, lean Myconid covered in leathery fungal armour and wielding an arm-blade that was as tall as I was, trying to use the sacrifice of its fellows as a way to strike me down.

“I don’t think so.” I said, the Fang that had cut through the Myconid sword suddenly reversing direction and decapitating it, space slashed open too. My muscles twitched, legs moving instinctively, and both Fangs were crossed in front of me, blocking the heavy blow. My arms and legs braced, and it was the Champion that was thrown back. Normally, I’d attack with a counter, but... somehow I feel that isn’t right. Instead I dropped low, and with two tight, controlled swings, the Champion fell, legless, my blades then swooping down to finish the job.

I levelled up a while ago during this mad dance. I wonder how close I am to another...

Still surrounded, I moved with a combination of instinct and rapid thought, closing in and making my blows count where possible, and where it wasn’t I defended, keeping stable balance and wide perception of the battlefield around me. It was as if all the beatings I had taken from Ulfuric, all the training and studying, was starting to coalesce, my prior bad habits that I had picked up in my self-taught cribbing from the internet and YouTube videos finally sloughing away, leaving the solid fundaments Ulfuric had taught me shining through, like a diamond buried in clay.

I don’t think Motoko-san will be able to criticise me for being rough and crude anymore. Parry, using the minimum of movement, and kick out, breaking the balance of the opponent. The other hand to deflect a slash, using the momentum to bring up my other arm, striking a fatal slash to the throat of the enemy. Switch footwork and move to attack, overwhelming the enemy with a volley of precise blows. Glide to the side to dodge a charge, a single cut to the vitals, finishing another opponent. Slash. Cut. Parry. Strike.

As I moved through a series of changing combat forms, the Warriors melted away in front of me, most of them slain, the air thick with the stench of dead fungus and choking spores. Unwilling to let them retreat I called upon elemental wind, and jade blades slashed out, the edges dense and vibrating, slicing through them, ether scattering, which I greedily grabbed.

I could hear Grulgor roaring and heavy explosions as his massive metal mace pulverised the tide of foes. A pinwheel flew past my face, trailing the taut bluesteel wire that danced with green and yellow energies, cutting through a dozen opponents. Shaeula’s second was dancing, cutting apart Rangers and ‘Mancers that strayed too close.

A group of Myconid Pikers charged through the trees, supported by several of the hedgehog artillery. Their arms had grown together into a series of elongated poles, tipped with hard, jagged spikes, red and purple and dripping with acrid venom that smoked as it made contact with the air. On seeing them, I found myself grinning, eager to engage them on their own terms. Swords would be a disadvantage, best to fight range with range. I sheathed the Twin Fangs and pulled out my spear, channelling a combination of elements into it. Darting forward, I slid between the thicket of venomous spikes, using the solid shaft of my spear to deflect theirs, thrusting precisely, motions flowing and smooth. My memories of Ulfuric and his own spear-work blended with the times I had watched Motoko-san and Natsumi-san with the Tsumura techniques.

Set the distance. A precise thrust. Turn and block. A second thrust. Deflect incoming blows and counterattack. Another pinpoint stab. Use the haft of the spear to shatter an arm. Drop back while striking...

Myconids were dying, and I started mixing in elemental attacks, rapidly sweeping them away. My movements had become elegant and deadly, barely any wasted motion, and my Eye blazed amber, advising me I had improved once more, combat skills that would take years of hard training to learn in a dojo becoming mine.

Your Skills, Sword Technique, Spear Technique and Combat Technique have all advanced to Rank 5. Due to reaching a full understanding of the basic techniques of martial combat and crafting a body capable of applying them, the fundamentals solidifying, and having gained insight of how best to use these fundamentals in battle, you have reached a bottleneck, the first wall, and to grow further you will need to learn an advanced style, or craft your own, finding that which is beyond the mundane. Your ability to apply what you have learned to other weapons and combat arts has increased, and the more different weapons and styles of martial arts you master, the deeper the depths of your understanding of the martial path will grow.

My mind was clear, and I moved in an almost-meditative state, alternating between sword, spear, brutal attacks with my fists, elbows and feet, and devastating elemental attacks. With Grulgor roaring in enraged fury to one side, and Shaeula, her pinwheels dancing, surrounded by rains of flame and whirling cyclones of bladed winds on the other, we drove back the Myconids, felling them one-by-one until we had carried the day, the air around us thick with death...