Chapter Ninety-Seven

  Harmony checked her full status again. [Recall] was very clear that she’d seen the css as divinely necrotuned revivalist. Kind of a stupid thing to be caught up on as she washed off the rebirth in the tub. It's not there now. The new priority should be exploring the new css and profession and feeling out how the authority has stabilized. It had been there! Probably that rigorous aspect that did not allow her to let it go.

  Css: Necrotuned Revivalist (25)-B

  Profession: Rigorous Royal Eraser (25)-A

  Vital Body

  Skills:

  Familiar bond(25)*

  Manipute dead (25)*

  Renew Spirit (25)*

  Cold Touch (25)*

  Final Silence (16)

  Shadowed Graves (10)

  Cim the Remains of Power (6)

  Analyze (25)*

  Poise and Bearing (25)*

  Dust (25)*

  Beautician (25)*

  Style and grace (25)*

  Mend (24)

  Recall (22)

  Small Armor (25)*

  Mana Rotation (25)*

  High Kick (25)*

  Stride Before the Fall (17)

  Keen Investigative Awareness (14)

  Eternal Fable’s Heart (5)

  Stats:

  Synergy

  Connections

  Chronostasis

  Primal Bond - Adric Highsmythe

  Pair Bond - Night

  Quantum Bond - Harmony White

  Dispying her status like this had been too hard while the authority was wreaking havoc on her skills and soul. While she knew her understanding pyed a part in the internal dispy, how much was up for debate. She’d hoped for hints on the theocratic bond and that divinely she’d seen. Dispying it was still tiring and she had other things to focus on like her first evolved skills.

  “Just choose the one that’s going to boost Hyacinth. Every person who evolves with a familiar does that and it’s not like they’ll offer it again.” Ambrosia chided.

  Hyacinth thankfully kept his opinion quiet even if it did involve him. Why would she like to be like everyone else?

  Choose your css’s first skill - Mass Raise Dead - Familiar Augment - Command Dead

  For a css that supposedly was only modified with necromancy aspects the offers certainly didn’t show anything special or different. "Fine.” Harmony chose [Familiar Augment]. Rather than find a new spot in her soul she felt it pair up beside [Familiar Bond] so close they touched and shared.

  “Gwarp!” Hyacinth yelped. Bck energy covered Hyacinth as he went through changes. Ten seconds ter the toad emerged slimy like a frog and smelling like bckberries and woodsmoke.

  Ambrosia told her that her evolution sted two minutes. Rather than the vanil she expected, she came out smelling citrus-like. A result of the vital body? Bah, things to explore. Physical changes were underwhelming. Ambrosia said there was no change. But she measured and was now a half-inch taller! “So what changed, ya mountain?” Harmony asked her partner.

  A bck haze blinked over Hyacinth’s form and then nothing. Harmony stared through the spot where he’d been. Being able to travel without shadows would be a huge improvement. Harmony searched the room. He probably wouldn’t hop far.

  “Gweeep. Gweep.”

  The high-pitched odd chirp had her looking at Ambrosia. She would have a bird hiding in here. But she looked as surprised as Harmony.

  “Gweep!”

  Harmony tracked the sound. Back where Hycinth had been, but lower. Needing to half-stand in the tub to spot it, there, where Hyacinth had been standing was a tiny shadow toad, the size that could fit in your palm. “Hyacinth!?”

  Ambrosia picked the small bugger up and handed him to Harmony.

  “Gwee, Gwee, Gwee.” He chuckled in her palm.

  “You’re going to make me care you up every stair now, aren’t you?”

  He hopped off of her hand, and the bck haze shimmered in the air. With a rge thud, the toad nded on the ground. This time, he stood about the height of a rge dog. Enough to be intimidating but not the man-eater he was. “Yes.” He croaked.

  Reaching out of the tub, Harmony rubbed his head. She didn’t need to ask where his mass was going. The shadows, always the shadows.

  Choose your profession’s first skill - Scour - Disintegrate - Privacy.

  The evolved cleaning professions options were simple in some ways. [Scour] was a harsher, more advanced version of a cleanse and uncommon. [Disintegrate] destroyed things and was very rare as it could be used to attack or do damage, but some messes simply needed to be destroyed. [Privacy] was also rare and created a private area where it was hard to be seen, scried, or overheard. [Final Silence] already provided some of the utility it had.

  Fighting in the tower had made it clear she needed more ways to attack monsters and if need be people. [Could Touch] alone wasn’t cutting it, and adding [Disintegrate] to her soul strike was a scary thought in a good way. Fear a cleaner's skill, she chose [Disintegrate] and it formed in her, paired up near [Dust]. One act to move dust and another to turn objects into it.

  Neither new skill shed out or aggravated the other skills. Rather than the fluctuating pressure of authority internally things felt stable. More than stable, it was almost wanting, like she had plenty of space for more authority as the container that held her soul and skills felt deeper with lines of support that ran through it invisibly bragging about the amount of pressure she could handle. No longer overstuffed. Probably lost some authority as was warned about.

  And the pain. You never realize how bad it was until it is gone. She could now face the queen, a dozen queens even, this was not a way they could attack her anymore with an act to give her authority.

  “Done. I’ve selected my evolved skills. My health issues seem to be resolved. Hyacinth looks stable. The boys are waiting outside aren’t they?”

  Ambrosia nodded.

  “Fine. Give me a moment to get dressed.” There would always be more time to try to get a feel of her new css and profession. Eraser didn’t feel very subservient, and revivalist felt very necromancer-based.

  After toweling off Harmony summoned Night rather than put on clothing. Nothing beats the convenience of having the outfit magically appear when you only needed clothes temporarily before bed. The armor popped on with a bit of a surprise. The metal instead of shining silver now gleamed white as bleached bone. The shiny bck covering now expanded everywhere where the white wasn’t showing, hugging her tightly from colr to toe, but leaving out her fingertips. The bioluminescent spots were now more symmetrical.

  “Well, that’s new.” Ambrosia blurted her out, beating her to it.

  “I’m even more covered now.”

  “If you can call it that,” Ambrosia responded and Harmony tried to ignore how closely it did cover everything. Even if it looked and felt painted on it was covering her.

  “Send them in.”

  Ambrosia opened the door.

  Adric barreled in with another spinning hug.

  “Is that your a-armor?” Len asked with a bit of a stuttering blush as Adric set her back down.

  Agent Maxwell was kneeling just past the threshold of the door. “Help.” he squeaked.

  “You may stand up,” Harmony told him with a flicker of annoyance.

  Max strained to his feet. “Sorry, the evolution has my oath acting up a bit. I’ll work harder on control, my Lady.”

  “As you can see I’ve successfully evolved. Hyacinth is even back to normal size. The strain is gone and I’m even stronger.” Jokingly she moved to Adric and made the move to pick him. Everyone’s jaw dropped as she lifted him up as easily as one might pick up a small dog, his feet rising off the ground from her simple movement. “Um, that’s new too.”

  She hastily set him back down.