Chapter Eleven

  A rumbli on Harmony's chest woke her. "Hyath, you're too big for this. And are you purring?"

  "Grrr-oak" he grumbled, and Harmohe chastisement through their link.

  She focused on the shadourring was inaccurate because Hyath wasn't vibrating. Inside, he worked on his version of [Mana Rotation], and what miffed the maid was that the Toad was doing it better. Smoother flows and tighter spirals allowed information and mana to spin in densed eddies of power easily accessible for the Toad's skills. The purring she felt was his movement against her movement through [Familiar Bond]. Hyath had mastered his flow enough to show Harmony how to do it better.

  "Show off."

  The Toad hopped off with smug satisfa, allowing Harmony to sit up.

  A quick application of her m ritual, this time careful not to overdo it like st time, and she felt almost like new. After the dungeon quake, an effort was made not to get too drunk. Tyler, she had t back to the lodge. Even now, she could hear his drunken snores.

  She dohe pants and shirt she had worn to visit The Dig Boys. Tyler could pin that she wasn't in uniform after he pulled his ass out of bed. By then, she hoped to have acquired the st skill. Digging up the small red gem, she went to the meditation spot on the grounds.

  Do you wish to learn the skill [High Kick]?

  She expected this to go simirly to how she learned [Small Armor]. Still, she was more than a little nervous after the mana skill experiehe time in the dungeon club had made it clear how much a ck of bat skills hurt her, worse, limited her. Now was her opportunity to get the most from this little red gem. With that push of itment, the crystal started to turn, and Harmony took trol.

  Be it gathering the swirling of fine dust, perfectly matg hair color, or how she masked her feelings, the maid alrided herself in trol. So she slowed the flow of information into her using her experience from the st two skill stones. As the first fleck of energy and knowledge of the skill touched her soul, it got pulled into the rotating maelstrom that was now her soul. She pulled it like a thread off a sweater, unraveling it bato a pile of yarn.

  [High Kick] was an evolved skill. How to stand, move and apply force, a style of fighting that uses one's legs to create space or quickly close in on oppos before bringing your body's power through ys into them. Synergies with [Style and Grace], [Poise and Bearing], and [Small Armor] refined movements. [Small Armor] defensively pig the right moment, while [High Kick] was about striking hard. Bits of anatomical information that were part of [Manipute Dead] also found their way as she digested the skill. The easiest ways to break bones and the most damaging points to hit.

  The Neancer lear all as the thread of energy spiraled into her system. It touched the spot where the skill would form. It was like taking that yarn she'd unraveled and designing a new, sturdier shirt where synergies supported the es. But the activation enultimate attack, a lightning-quick kick supported by the weight of the power behind the strike. Aimed to break, kill, aroy more than most kicks would. Allowing oo shoot up and snap that kick out against foes that could loom above their prey and show those oppos that it isn't the size that matters but the force of the strike you bring.

  Through her bond with Hyath, she felt a strong approval from the vicious cat-eati. More than that, the feeling had the image of a thunderous r croak. The crystallization of that skill into her soul made her feel more powerful and fident than any other skill she'd adapted to.

  Harmony giggled at the imagery.

  "So you've learhe skill?"

  She opened her eyes to Tyler in front of her, a little too close and a little too eager. The active violence of her skill urged her to sh out. Unruly mood ges at the absorption of a new skill were something she handled and tamped down on that feeling.

  "Yes, my lord. I've learhe final skill. Thank you for the generous gifts." Even as she spoke, she could feel passive aggression in her voice. have to work harder on that.

  "Great!" Tyler said excitedly, oblivious to his maid's tone. "e try it out on one of the dummies. I'd hoped we'd have the delivery of the armor by now, but I have to see this."

  Three dummies on posts waiting in a er, one fged, about the size of a wolf, another a man, and the final one a hulking form that stood twice the height of Tyler. Representations of generisters one might fa a dungeon. They looked pristine, but Harmony khat was only because self-repairing magic worked into them. They'd probably survived for hundreds of years, taking thousands of beatings from the low-level lords and dies who trained here. They were a far cry from the straw and wooden dummies the local gyms kept in bulk to practice their skills on.

  Harmony stood before the giant o twice the height of Tyler, she felt like the monstrosity's woode was closer to three times that of her diminutive form. From the insights she gained from her skill, this was the type of oppohe activation was targeted to defeat. That didn't make it any less imposing, even while it sat as a motionless dummy in front of her.

  [High Kick]. A quick bend at the knees and the skill-assisted push unched her up in the air toward the dummy. Her right leg kicked bad swung, cartwheeling from her hip, sending Harmony's body into a spin. After all that practice dealing with the feeling of [Mana Rotation], the sudden shift in her movement was nothing as she watched her kid at the neck of the dummy. The wood splintered and cracked at the blow.

  Flig her foot forward, she pushed off backward, pleting a tumble back to create distance before she nded on her feet. She felt disappoi the results.

  It was an attack that barely crossed the energy threshold o activate it, and the maid hadn't used any synergies to try to add to the force. She couldn't evehe blow now that she was ba the ground but remembered the small dent and splintering. There was a surrealness of using the skill for the first time. Going from someone who only khe basics of fighting to someone who could now kick ass in su acrobatiner was a moment that defied refle.

  Tyler started g.

  Harmony was sure he was mog her, and she had to cool off the urge for violehe skill pulsed in frustration that it hadn't split the thing in two or sent it cttering to the training ground floor. She was a neancer, a spell caster. Running in and kig stuff to death, let alone being disappoi not doing it more and harder, wasn't how she worked. There shouldn't be frustration.

  Was this one of the fws Len had mentioned about Carter's schema? Was the skill so unfit for her in a way that she'd ruined her future progression? Was this the result of the skill being more advanced, or how she focused on carefully abs it all and not just the simple attack?

  When Tyler's rge haed on her shoulder, she flinched, not out of fear but to keep herself from shing out and kig the tank. Doubts g her, but she felt satisfied that she was still in trol.

  "Those things are incredibly tough to damage. It's amazing a onless skill was able to do so much. And that spin. I 't wait to see you in your full armor kig off with that skill!"

  The i eagerness of that statement made her feel that the lord wasn't lying. It wasn't like she was trying her best or putting everything into the strike. Hurting yourself with a bat skill activation was rare, but it was her foot and not a sword that she stabbed into the hunk of wood. She'd been slightly worried about her feet in her soft shoes, but they felt fine.

  The new skill in her bzed with a huo unleash [High Kick] again, this time with full force. There was some logi seeily what she could do with it. But just because she hasn't hurt herself now with the weakest activation didn't mean she couldn't damage herself at her stro. The skill didn't feel rational in its desire for violence, and hurting herself befetting what she needed for the scroll would put the dungeon dive at risk. And at the very least, she could see how well she adapted to the underlying skill it evolved from before leaning into her new activation. All reasonable excuses in the face of the edge of fear around the new part of herself. "Hopefully, I won't o use it much."

  "But it looks so awesome!" Tyler replied.

  Urge to kick resisted again. "If I o use the skill on our run, something would have gone wrong. With this dungeon, I'm better off using my neancer skills at cle if it es to that against the undead. Maybe if we do a run at a different dungeon."

  She read the disappoi pstered onto his fabsp;

  "Okay, you tell me what [Mana Rotation]'s active skill is? Then I submit the info to the record books."

  Because it didn't feel the same as her other skills in the way it was alresent, she'd fotten it had an active ability. She activated [Mana Rotation], and internally everything rushed quicker, making her body warm. Externally her senses expao feel how mana was flowing in the world. Knotted flows in the golems moved slowly. The rge one she had struck had some internal damage, but it was getting corrected as the tool repaired itself.

  Tyler had a ball in his chest that thumped irregurly, sending ripples in his body. Harmony grasped at the words for this new view of everything. She remembered he'd mentioned he had a [ma] Skill. "It's a kind of mana sight."

  "Damn. I was hoping it would be a manipution skill.

  Harmony hadn't even pyed around with it. Still, she didn't feel the tugging or pushiions people had when they were lucky enough to get [mana drain] or [mana manipution]. The rushing inside her waited at high speed. "I think it also makes my skill usage stronger or easier."

  She activated [Dust] on the dirt of the ground. No synergies. No tricks. A thick cloud of dirt pulled off the ground and shot to the far side of the training area, h for five seds until she could no longer hold it.

  Even Tyler's eyes wide the sight. "Empowerment. That's almost as good. Not epic, but certainly rare and sought after. Though. I'm unsure why something with rotation in the name would have that skill attribute."

  "I don't know," Harmony said while having some ideas she mentally packed away to think about ter. He had enough information for the records, and there was o ence him to have her be an object of study for him. Let alone expose some fws ihinking due to her ck of education. As well as meeting Len had gone, even drunk, he'd said things that she didn't have the text for.

  "How much more powerful would you say the skill-boosting was?"

  [Mana Rotation] and its ing had already altered enough of her skills that she didn't know what the new base of them was. Thibodeux's promotion of quid repeatable base skill usage was helpful for this kind of analysis. She appreciated some of his ideas. He broke it up into low, middle, and high-activated states. Or as he liked to call it, pying with little, medium, and big fireballs. For her, it was more than just how much whiskey you poured into the fire. It's also not like the manor paid her to do anything more than and help make them more beautiful.

  "Maybe with some more practice time, I could figure it out for you, my lord." Hunger reared its head inside her. Causing Harmony to mentally inquire with Hyath through their bond about how long it had takeo absorb that skill stohe image of the Toad using its too snap up a spiny borrower and two unusually rge squirrels between naps came through. A vision so clear that she knew her new skills had altered the boween them some.

  "Perhaps we could find a bit of a break for a meal first? I fear I haveen sihis m." The maid added.

  Harmony watched him pause as the idea of food clearly had slipped his mind. He'd missed meals before, ofteering a fixation about some oy or thought. She'd had t his food down to him a few times. It usually ended up being one of the easier ways to peruse his books while he was eating or obsessing. "Oh, of course. Do you want to go out again?"

  "The pantry here will do." As appealing as it was to not be aloh Tyler. She knew he'd take her to some pce where she'd stick out like a sore thumb even if she had anything to wear. She was re-using the dusty pants and shirt she'd worn to the gym because her dress was still stained and smelling of booze, death, and bodies from the over-exubera the Dungeon Club. This left her with only her maid outfit as something , which wasn't even appropriate for the job it was made for, never mind most public pces.

  Food did wonders as she shoved a bite of bread with butter and cheese into her mouth. It even helped with the violent urges from her new skill. Kig Lord Tyler might satisfy her, but she khe feeling was unfair towards him, after all, he did to help her with the dungeon dive. If all that happened out of their favor for a favor exge was getting the levels and crafting materials needed for the create undead pet scroll, she knew she'd have the better end of the deal.

  The skill stones seemed better than any low-cost ones she might have been able to acquire iure. That didn't even include the armor that should be ing. She k would behoove her to feel grateful for it.

  The maid was more than a little curious about what it would be and how well it would fit her skills, new and old. She'd read examples of neancers using bone armor they could manipute defensively. Admittedly, it was in a romanovel, and the skill was the vilins, but it seemed like an iing idea.

  Both [Small Armor] and [High Kick] craved something that wouldn't restrict her movements much, sturdy leather with metal or boes sewn in. Of course, [Beauti] wanted something tasteful. sidering that skills had no issue with her work uniform, she k didn't care about practicality.

  "You said the armor I'll be taking into the dungeon will arrive today?"

  "It's a little te. It was supposed to arrive this m, but the craftsmen I have w on it left a letter saying they were doing the finishing touches. I'm expeg it any moment."

  It was a little surprising when he didn't pull out some old or unique armor from his colle, but then she guessed he would rather not give any more prized possessions up. "It should work with my new skills?"

  "It will be perfect. While I picked skills that haven't been recorded before. The armor influenced my choices. Kig skills like freedom of movement. [Small Armor] should work better than I pnned since I figured it was some kind of advanced light armor skill. You impressed the team st night, but you should really impress them when we meet up in the m for the run."

  Impressed was a strong word the Neancer wouldn't use. It was clear that they'd prefer a healer. Max might have ughed off their little matd then the pink hair, which she assured him was temporary, but it was clear that he felt she was an aveo annoying Tyler. With Len, all she did was nod and smile as he referenced schors and theories she was unfamiliar with in a desperate bid to hide her ignorance. Rose was thhly checked out, one foot already out the door, and as long as Tyler's new member didn't mess that up, the young lord could have brought in a bard for all she cared.

  "How best would you like to prepare for the dungeon run tomorrow with the rest of our time?"

  She'd spent too much time abs or managing her new skills and only a little time training. Tyler was the experienced one, having spent every other weekend or so clearing the dungeon with a team. Even if he reehe tedious practice of Thibodeux's methods, she khere was only a little time left. Her goal was anything that might help her get to level twelve and the scroll pos. Rumor was in six days, prince Adric's body would be returned, and she wasn't sure what that meant for his coatl pet.

  "There isn't much to do uhe armor arrives soon. We could che its status. There's the weekly au close to dusk. With extra visitors lingering after the funeral to see who the royals send to get the body, they will surely have something fasating to buy."

  The maid reminded herself she was still on the clock with Lord Tyler. If he wanted her to assist him while he checked in on crafters or made purchases, her job was to help him. If this scheme of hers didn't work out. Being one of Lady Coodly's personal maids was where her professional progression seemed fated. Standing, waiting, holding, ag tasks that are slightly better than ing the cobwebs out of the rafters and tight spaces of the attic while dealing with Scale Spiders. Except she couldn't finish those tasks and hide in a er with a book.

  "Whatever you feel is best, my lord."

  "The au is fun. It's always good to rex before you ehe dungeon. Just because it isn't difficult doesn't mean it won't get tense or ck danger."

  A loud thudding at the lodge's entra through the versation, and Tyler looked relieved. "That must be the armor!"

  Two workmen carried in a person-sized crate. As briskly as they brought the tainer in, they set it down a. Harmony wondered how much armor Tyler had purchased, seeing the size.

  Eagerly Tyler pulled off the top of the box. Resting in a bed of sandalwood-sted shavings was a mannequin, so life like that, Harmony gave a muffled yelp that went unnoticed by Tyler. Short, articuted, aailed enough that someoh a struct olem skill could raise it to the sembnce of life. And it was here in a box simply to dispy the armor. Armor that the sight of caused Harmony to freeze as she processed that this was her armor.

  "It's perfect," Tyler announced.

  Harmony's skills approved excitedly as there wasn't enough of it to impede her movement for [High Kick] or [Small Armor], and where the armor ptes only covered some vital spots and would be easy to use to block attacks, including flexibly soled steel boots for kicks. [Beauti] and [Style and Grace] admired the craftsmanship and dariement of the outfit. Her neancer css showed no feeling that this would impede her skills. The amount of skin exposed might even help. Silver skulls decorated the bd white "armor" with many individual pieces strapped to the struct. Extravagant, yet a near mat many ways to her maid uniform. The skirt seemed even higher cut than the one she'd been issued. That must be due to losing the expectations of growing into it. The whole outfit screamed maid with a hint of death and violence mixed in.

  She quickly activated [Mana Rotation] and then boosted a synergized bination of [Poise and Bearing] and [Renew Spirit]. Numb inside, she could only hope the proper amount of temporary vigor and feigned pleasure showed on her face as she looked toward her beor. "It's so much more than I expected."

  Author Note: A scribblehub review would be awful nice.