Chapter Nine

  Huhirst, and the stant prodding to take care of those things from Hyath through their bond woke her enough to sit up, take a bite of food and drink water before ying back down again.

  She settled into accepting the ate of being. Her ma full, and while it usually stopped geing at that point, she could feel a new excess overflowing, pushing to keep the ing flow from [Mana Rotation] going. It made her feel better as she directed the excess trickle to brush the bits of skills that helped maintain her posure which stimuted minor aspects of all of them that infused her in the spaces between. It felt like keeping all your muscles activated or f yourself to think about all your movements while walking. She didn't want to ig or shove it in a hole like Tyler suggested, but if she could get it to be automatic, she k would be better.

  "Grrup!"

  "I'm Fihe neancer sat up, ate, and drank some more. "See!" She said with her mouth full. Though she had to fight to keep it down, she noticed the annoyance helped push her new skill to keep running in the background.

  She pulled herself out of bed and stripped off the used uniform. As gross as she felt, she automatically used her m routine spell. With force, she cpped her mouth shut to keep from yelling, running the risk of Lord Tyler running to the rescue while she was naked.

  It's not that the spell didn't work. It worked too well for the amount of effort and tration put in. A routine sed nature casting, and now she felt scoured , ready to pounce gracefully, and boosted like she took a shot of stamina potion. As if the spell had been warm water before but now was boiling. The mana dip of the casting was negligible when before it had left her drained. All her skill usage would o be reworked and tinkered with.

  Out of her bag, she pulled out her femiravel outfit. The blue flowery dress might not suit visiting adventurers at the gym. At least this time, she wouldn't be mistaken for a boy. Long-sleeved, down to her ankles, she wouldn't be cold either. The new glove stayed.

  Through their bond, Hyath indicated he would stay a. Harmony's internal struggles were shared slightly through their link, and he had his own work.

  Carefully stepping out of her room, she peeked into Lord Tyler's, only to find it empty. Outside, she found the lord doing what she thought was the most b training possible. There was a small grunt, and a shimmering shield covered his metal body. She knew in an attempt to shave a fra of a sed off its activation. Then he'd repeat the process again and again.

  So focused he was on this that Harmony mao get a dozen paces away before he noticed her. "You should still be resting." was heavy in his voice.

  "I.." Dizziness gripped her, but she stayed on her feet. "What I need is a distra."

  Harmony watched as Lord Tyler processed the request. Worry fluttered in her chest as his eyes turned from ed to glowing with glee. This is what she asked for. [Mana Rotation] tio in her chest. The annoyance, worry, and fear let her process a used to the skill. This pn was w, but would it be worth it?

  "I kly the pce to go to. Just give me time to ge." Tyler said.

  He rushed past her, and the neancer used her skills as a crutch to keep standing at the suddenness of bei alone.

  He returned in finery, bck silk pants, and a matg vest over white billowing sleeves. Not unarmed, a cudgel hung from the belt at his skills probably required a blunt object. How someoh the tank css could mao go without some armor on, Harmony didn't know. The expensive clothes made her flowery woven dress feel like rags. The young lord started leading her out with an arm hooked around her elbow. She would have protested if it wasn't the distra and assistance she needed.

  Just outside the dungeon lodge, he hailed one of the carriages that always lurked about the area for wealthy ts, the kind Harmony knew overcharged. The pair were off, Tyler smiling and Harmony using the worry about that overly happy grin productively.

  Harmony questiohis pn for the tenth time as she exited the carriage. She was greeted by the guild portion of the dungeon district, wealthier than areas she was used to a spotlessly as a sign of the guild's power. The kind of neighborhood with an invisible social lihat those not guild members or wealthy rarely crossed without sequences.

  The maid hoped Tyler would give her a tour of the guild house with their quest board and skill library. But theurned and led her to a tavern two doors over he Up and Down.

  Rather than a bouncer, like the establishments' Ambrosia or The Dig Boys had taken her, a hostess greeted them. No stern looks, but a beaming smile, while wearing a purple frilly outfit that was only moderately more c than Harmony found her maid oo be. The almost perfect smile was reizable as something simir to her [Poise on Bearing] skill. It came with a slight proje of te. "Lord Tyler, wele back. How may I serve you and yuest."

  "We'll be visiting The Down this afternoon."

  "Of course. Today's password is Carbuncle."

  The Up, from the gnce Harmony caught, was a nice restaurant with a maiden pying the harp in the er. The smells were delectable, the sounds calming, and the ts' outfits stood up to the sele the matriarch of the manor wore. That impression was all she got as she was brought down a steep set of stairs past the primary seating and kit.

  Halfway down, the neancer could taste a shift in the air. Reizable but new irength of the feeling. Death felt heavy, patable, and angry. It was a e that the Dig Boys had expio her when she felt it on her first trip down. Because her css shared the dungeons' deathly aspect, she felt what others didn't.

  "Wele to the Dungeon Clubhouse." Lord Tyler announced as the door swung open.

  She'd heard rumors. The dungeon y barely uhe surfaost of the city. Dig deep enough, and you are in its domain. There were advao having space within a dungeon's domain. Inhibitions and fear lessened us influence. Css skills increased quicker.

  The se through the open door showed what was underh the mask of the business above. Sounds of a r party mixed with lively banter came through. Patrons dressed in finery or fully geared for battle mingled about. The quality dispyed would beggar any lower-css delvers she'd hung out with. Harmony's outfit was closer to that of the staff, which she could pick out by their ck of extravagance, and even then, she felt lesser. The sense of death covered most of Harmony's taste and smell, but sour notes of alcohol drifted in the air, cutting into it.

  "Oh." she breathed. Maybe this would do.

  Lord Tyler escorted her in. She watched as a bouncer gave a friendly nod, and Tyler retur with a smile that dispyed familiarity.

  A hostess slid through the crowd with the ease of a skill used. Dressed identically to the one upstairs except in a green dress. She curtsied, unafraid to show off what the outfit barely covered. "How ued, my lord. If you'd let me know beforehand via messenger, I could have had Fel and Pioney waiting in the private suites for you."

  "No need, Collette. I brought my mai.. fren… acquaintance."

  [Poise and Bearing], [Poise and Bearing], [Poise and Bearing] Harmony cycled in the face of Tyler's extracurricur activities and the gre Collette shot her when the lord wasn't looking.

  "The suite still be yours with all the tools and props for you and your acquaintance."

  Harmony squeaked squeamishly, her rea defeating her skill.

  "No, no. We're here for the club's standard amenities. No need for a suite." Tyler assured her.

  "As you wish. You know where to find me when you need higher quality service."

  No rumors of Lord Tyler ever bringing girls back to the manor had ever passed the lips of the staff. And if anyone would know, it would be the staff. Suzzette's dalliances, Baccus's attempts at writing under a nom de plume, the servants k all. Not that there had been any doubt about the young lord's preferences due to his overly lingering gazes and his role iing the staff uniforms. Now she knew where he dealt with his urges and that they seemed to think she was petition.

  "Harmony, let me introduce you to the best distras this little slice of the world has."

  "Delighted." She said with as much grace as she could towards Tyler's sed attempt to introduce her to the clubhouse. [Mana Rotation] 's inside her soul was more unfortable than when she'd been assigo Lady Dell's room after an explosive bout of stomach issues. That time she'd been able to shut dowhing and focus on ing with her skills. Today's problem is an internal issue. She focused here on all the external stimuli.

  Her eyes went from the everyday chaos to six rge doors on the walls as Tyler talked aured to one, letting his wuide her rather than her uled ter.

  "That is the door to the dungeon market. I've purchased about a third of my colle from there. Tourists, schors, and adventurers with items worthy of discretion end up having their items sold there uhe obsg eyes of the dungeon."

  Yellow with a red painted on the ter, Tyler Led her there. Harmony looked through the entrance as a man was leaving. Booths and tables fill the other room. A few merts peered back, and she watched their eyes flicker to the lord o her, their eyes widening with hunger and greed like a pack of wolves spying on a lost mb.

  "Not that one." She told Tyler, not feeling up to watg the man throw money around like it was dy at a ival.

  Tyler pivoted to the door on the wall. Crossed swords decorated a green door. "Here is the bat room, where adverain their skills in the beneficial atmosphere of the dungeon."

  All Harmony could sense imosphere was death. Watg spoiled meatheads battle it out could be distrag. The door opeo a se not so different from her time at the Viridian gym as a ciren, and women yelled around a ring with s in their hands. The difference here was the s being silver and gold rather than copper and iron. Two fighters faced off in an arena of what looked like white sand, but she could tell it was fis of bohrough her neancer css.

  A young woman with braided hair aailed leather armor held hatchets in each hand. They glowed red, and she made a throwing motion, but without letting go, two spectral axe bdes shot out toward her oppo, a young man in heavy armor.

  A shimmering shield of energy enveloped him, blog the strike. He lunged forward, and the axe wielder danced back away, rotating their positions in the ring. The whole series of skills repeated. The maid watched it happen four times in a row, more like a dahan a fight.

  "This is a good one. I think Bronwyn has it." Tyler said excitedly, while Harmony could only feel slightly bored at the se. The spinning inside her started to make her sick as her i in the fight waned.

  The glowing axes flew again. One ahead of the other. Staggered in their strike. The first one fizzled on the radiant shield. The sed axe bde head sent the armored man to the ground.

  "Winner, Bronwyn!" A bookie yelled, already sing money with gamblers.

  "How could you tell Bronwyn was going to win?" Harmony asked.

  "Her skill activations looked more natural. Orained as sed nature, you use it quickly and be flexible while getting the most out of the skill."

  Harmony didn't see how that was better than the flexibility she got using synergy, creativity, and sometimes ara push to get all the different uses she wrung from her skills. Seds might matter and save lives when you o activate a skill, but battering skills bad forth seemed like something other than a real fight.

  "Ho, ho ho! If it isn't, the Little Lord ing to pay us a visit."

  Harmony watched as Tyler ged and shrunk more into himself at that voice. "Sir Maxwell, I thought you wouldn't be batil tomorrow after esc Alison to the capitol."

  Sir Maxwell stood at an opposi, dressed in gray leather and with a broadsword at his hip. While his bushy bck eyebrows and long wild-wavy hair framed his face. But it was his beard that you noticed first. Thick bck braided hair came down from his . Gold and silver charms sparkling in the weave, clearly sculpted by a professional.

  "She sent me back halfway there. I oer the duhere once I hit level fifteen. Are you ied in challenging me in the arena today?"

  "I'm showing Harmony the Dungeon Club. It's her first time here."

  Maxwell leaned downward. "Aren't you a pretty little thing the little lord has brought to share?"

  Harmony's anger fred. Does everyohink she's a prostitute just because her clothes aren't as upscale as the tele?

  "Harmony will repce Alison for this weekend's dungeon run. Remember."

  The maid could feel Sir Maxwell's ied look ge in iy. Her skin tingled slightly, a skill use. Probably something like her [Analyze]. Rude without permission. At under fifteen, the skill could only be so powerful. Even if he had it maxed, it would only show something vague like her bined levels. Details on skills or type of css would only show up sometimes.

  "A new cleric to repce our old cleric?" Maxwell probed.

  "I'm a neancer."

  In most circumstahe css was looked down on, but it was sidered one of the few solid options for the local dungeon. Harmo fident in selling herself here.

  Not as much as the healer she'd be repg. Healers were always valuable. They were as useful against the undead as she was against the living, which meant needing to get creative. Some liked to fte healers with anti-neancy when healing spells removed some dead flesh as part of the skill, but it was only a side effect.

  "e on, man, you know we need a healer," Maxwell pined anyway, straightening up and talking directly to Tyler, ign Harmony.

  "When was the st time we got injured in the dungeon? That's with clearing it twice." Tyler answered.

  "We should bring this up to a party vote, little lord."

  "I pay all the guild fees, and you didn't pin when I had Jess join us a few years ago. Harmony will be at least that good."

  Tyler didn't sound fident.

  Maxwell puffed himself up, letting his grin widen. Harmony bristled at being talked over as she ositioned between them.

  "That sun priestess had five levels on us and only sted six trips before she out-leveled the dungeon. We'll be carrying the necro rather than her supp us. The party isn't your toy to impress cute little things with."

  The maid fumed. Sir Maxwell was not going to block Harmony's ce here. It wasn't like the favors she'd done for Tyler were easy. She worked to get leverage to get this ce. The neancer poked the bigger man i through a loose part in his armor. Her [Small Armor] skill had reacted ter and helped her see that ot.

  "You. Me. First to fall in the ring. I'm not getting carried."

  "That's not a good…." Lord Tyler started.

  "Ha! I like your spunk. Let's go!" Sir Maxwell barked before he upped his volume and yelled to the crowd. "We have a challenge! Sir Maxwell the knight versus Harmony the neancer. First to fall in the ring!"

  "He was just angling to get more money from me," Tyler said, leaning and whispering to the maid.

  Harmony grunted in response. Her mind was already focused och. This was the kind of distra she craved. Incorporating the mana skill felt smoother and more in tune as she thought this out. She might be more of a worker than a fighter, but fighting was how the world worked. You o do it to advan life. To evolve your css and profession and progress in life.

  If she thought about it, she'd never challehis match. An experienced adventurer of the guild who wants to make this their career. Only worked to get profession levels up for their own future evolution. The new skills hummed in her, craving a fight in a way that her other skills didn't. The dungeon atmosphere weakened fear and promoted flict. A be and a curse of the club being located within its domain.

  It helped that knight was one of those standard csses. It could evolve into something ued but was very basic. The houseboys Jimmy and Dugan had it. Beihey liked t and talk to girls. Harmony had learned plenty about the css's skills and utility. [Horse handling], [chivalry], basic on bat and armor options, and foundational skills were most on. She knew her should be whatever skills Sir Maxwell picked up with skill stohe most he could have at this point would be three, ideally, oaken up by a mana skill.

  Her thoughts circled this information as she made her way onto the circle of white that represehe arena, armed only by her skills and armored only with her glove. Money exged hands, and the neancer was sure they heavily favored the knight. Neancers were rare in Hazeldown, and it was unusual when a local one like Harmony happened, which left tourists and youngsters visiting for their early levels. The dungeon supposedly took all the death energy in the area. Frost dungeons had fewer ice mages. Nature dungeons had fewer beast tamers and druids. That only left a few teachers around for Harmony to use if she had the money. Books and underharicks taught by The Dig Boys had beeeachers. Do something surprising. Do something fast. Do something that means victory.

  Sir Maxwell stood across from her in the arena, a toothy smirk visible through his dark beard. "Fight!" Someone yelled. Maxwell shot across the space between them like an arrow loose from a bow, his feet not toug the ground, sword raised back to strike.

  Harmony realized the idea of quickly finishing the match wasn't only in her head as she faced down the skill from the knight flying towards her. [Small Armor] activated, and she interposed the small metal pte on the back of her hand against the strike. The skill clearly wasn't a simple block, and most of the force of the blow wasn't only deflected but bent around her shaking her hair and pulling her dress like she'd been hit by a strong wind. Not wanting to waste all of the force from the blow, the maid allowed the energy to move her to the side, and with a touch of grace, she danced out of the bde's reach. There she readied her attack.

  Color fshed in her oppo's eyes. Some kind of mana sense, and she watched his defensive skill loto pce as the shimmer of steel coated him from head to toe. Maybe he expected a bone ning skull, some direct attao, she did what she knew best. The white of the arena floor waited; bits of bone powder chipped and grained. She tugged at it through the dungeon's domain. The stench of death flooded her nose and mouth as she snapped away from the resistance from the duo her skills. [Dust] synergizing with [Manipute Dead] allowed her to influence more of the powdered bohaher skill could handle alone. She pulled the floor out from beh his feet, causing whatever metal statue he'd bee to tip and crash to the ground.

  Not done, she shoved that mess of boo the joints and ots of Sir Maxwell's armor and fused it, log him in pbsp;

  "Winner, Harmony!"

  The adrenaline quickly faded, but the ing internally from the quick use of skills while still adjusting to [Mana Rotation] did not disappear. The rotting el house of death that flooded her senses in the dungeon's domaironger like it was ed at her taking trol.

  Neancer, maid, champion of the moment, Harmo forward and threw up onto the white arena floor.

  Author Note: Release schedule will now update Monday, Wednesday, Friday. I ence you to join my Patreon to get 10 advanced chapters if you like this story. If you want more of my writing search Kit Falbo and I have additional books on Amazon.