Chương 111: I Hope You Know What You're Doing

The next morning, I couldn't resist checking my reading slate again. Lord Ceonwin had taught me as much as he could about manipulating my Focus and memories, so there was no reason for more early morning lessons with him. However, I still woke up early, because I wanted a chance to merge my Skills. First, I activated my reading Slate. With all the Presence I'd used yesterday, it had increased to twenty-eight points. A good boost, but I still needed more.

At least now, though, it would let me activate more gravity wells for training, and we could spar under the influence of the fields longer—it would help our attributes increase even faster.

Then I read off my Skills list: Skills: Spearmanship (Apprentice), Archery (Apprentice), Art: Directional Gravity Manipulation (Journeyman), The Weight of Things (Journeyman), General System Knowledge (Novice), Skirmishing (Apprentice), Crossbow Charging (Novice), Swapping Weapons (Apprentice), Drawing Bolts (Novice), Focus Manipulation (Novice), Memory Modification (Novice), Team Movement (Novice), External Squad Synergy (Novice) It was a long list, and yesterday's delve had been fruitful—though much of that had to be an accumulation of a few weeks of work now.

I'd just sealed the deal on most of it. But I had enough archery- and crossbow-related Skills to handle a merge, and there was plenty of time. I laid flat on my back on the cot, shut my eyes, then envisioned the Skills. I drew myself into the nodespace without a hitch. First, I started with [Archery] as the base. Then I added [Crossbow Charging] as the secondary Skill. The last three, [Swapping Weapons], [Drawing Bolts], and [Skirmishing] were enough to finish off the Skill.

I pushed together the main Skill orbs, then added the 'fodder' Skills (which I was having a hard time seeing as fodder anymore). It left me with a single Journeyman-tier Skill, which I instinctively knew was called [Quick-Witted Crossbow Use]. It wasn't a perfect Skill, and the name itself was a little long-winded. In my experience, and according to the books, the shorter a Skill's name, the more powerful it was. You didn't want to be on the wrong side of the Mountain Defying Ten Hand Wind Art.

But the last thing you wanted was to piss off someone with a Skill called Ending. I didn't exactly know what I wanted my crossbow Skill to become, but I knew I'd keep modifying it, along with my other core Skills. Now, though, looking at the list, [Spearmanship] was lagging behind the rest. Had I ever envisioned a world where my spear Skill would be weaker than an archery Skill? But I had more important matters, when it came to my Skills.

Indeed to improve my Art, which meant I needed more Skills, and more gravity-related Skills. I promised myself I'd plan more tonight, but I had to get ready for the rest of the day. ~ ~ ~ It was a normal day—until the evening. During sparring practice, I used sixteen points of Presence. It wasn't like I'd used them much during the day, and if I could double the time we had to practice, then that was for the best.

After our practice, we joined Habit and Yesman's squads and spent a half-hour running through anti-golem drills. Sure, we'd been through most of it many times over, but more practice wouldn't hurt. As we wrapped up, I set off toward the bathhouse with Brawl and Anchor, and I expected Sage to go on her way, heading to the womens' bathhouse, but she stopped me by tapping on my shoulder.

"C—can I make a request?" she asked. That was probably the first time I'd heard her stammer.

"Yeah, sure. What's up?" I asked, turning around.

"From all of you," she said. Anchor and Brawl glanced at each other. Anchor shrugged, and Brawl said, "Indeed, sister, you may make a request."

"I need to begin my enhancement. Yes, I know us druids are supposed to enhance our bodies under the supervision of our advancement advisors…but if I use the potions and other ingredients I have been saving up, they will not tolerate it."

"Is that…for the best?" I tried. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Do you doubt me, dustbrain?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Well, I'd prefer if our healer didn't do something to take herself out of commission."

"You're just like my father. No risks, hm? I'm too fragile? You'd take the risk yourself, if this was you. I know you would."

"And we'd tell him not to," Anchor added.

"Well—" Sage put her hands on her hips and hmphhed.

"I'll do it alone. I'm not asking for permission. Only help." I sighed. She was right—if it was me and my advancement, I'd probably take the risk. I'd taken plenty of risks before. After a few seconds, I said, "Fine. Sure. We'll do it. What do you need help with?"

"Making sure I don't fall unconscious."

"We don't know much about your magic," I warned." If things go wrong, there's not much we can do to help."

"It won't go wrong."

"Levi, this is a bad idea," Anchor told me.

"If we lose our healer…"

"I don't think we have much of a choice," I replied." You could forbid her. You are our sergeant."

"I know I'd do the same, though. She's right on that account." Everyone looked at me. After a few seconds, Sage crossed her arms, and Morph turned away, having the effect of turning her away as well.

"You know if I tell her not to, she's just going to do it anyway," I said.

"Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But some time. At least this way, we can help her." I paused.

"And what if she's right? What if it does help? What if it does make her stronger?"

"I still don't agree," Anchor said.

"But if this is your choice, I will help."

"As will I, brother," Brawl added. We followed Sage across the castle grounds, then to the druids' barracks. She brought us to her room, and we kept our footsteps quiet, ensuring no one heard three Dupes sneaking through the druid barracks late at night. Once, when we rounded a corner, Sage held out a hand to stop us, signalling that there was someone ahead. After a few seconds, we continued on, staying out of sight. When we reached her room, we stepped inside as quickly as we could.

I shut the door behind us, then crammed a spare bedsheet under the door to help muffle our voices. Sage climbed out of Morph's arms, then pulled open the bottom shelf of a drawer and retrieved an armful of ingredients. First, she pulled out the bones we'd harvested from the dungeon. They'd been broken into inch-long rings, revealing the marrow inside, like she planned to turn them into soup stock. Something glittered inside the bones' rings—not just brown-black marrow.

Flecks of green crystal shimmered when she held it up to the candle in the right way. They were Titanium-tier, assuming they were the same bones we'd helped her gather. Next, she pulled out a pitcher full of green liquid. It was bright, vibrant green in a way that told me I absolutely shouldn't drink it, and the way it bubbled, I didn't want to even get close to it.

"A healing potion…" Anchor breathed. It didn't look like much of a healing potion. But then again, maybe that was because I didn't need healing at the moment—the same way food didn't smell as good if you weren't hungry.

"Heavenly-grade," Sage replied.

"How did you get so much, sister?" Brawl hissed.

"I have friends," she said. I snorted.

"Somehow I doubt that."

"Alright, I have contacts that are loyal to my family, and can help me obtain potions. I have been accumulating this one over the past few months from a trader who makes a route up to the Dun Altir Order and back. They make the best healing potions in all of Gate."

"That doesn't look like something that should go inside you, let alone heal you," I muttered.

"When I am done with it, it won't," Sage replied.

"I will extract the life-aspect maegen from it and use it to reforge my body." After the healing potion, she retrieved a bag of feathers. They had glowing, eye-shaped patterns in their center, and when she set it down, it thudded on the ground—it was far heavier than a bag of feathers should've been. Finally, she pulled out a stoppered vial of perfectly clear liquid. Judging from what little chemistry I knew back on Earth, often the clear liquids were the most dangerous.

Then, Sage crawled over to her bed and pulled out the drawers beneath the mattress. There was one massive drawer, probably meant for storing clothes, but she'd filled it with stones and hastily-made grout, creating a makeshift cobblestone lining that reminded me of a small bathtub. Or a Sage-sized bathtub. She wasn't exactly the tallest lady out there.

"So this is what took you so long…" I breathed.

"Yes, but I'm ready, and if this goes the way I know it will, I will reach Titanium when this is all said and done." I inhaled sharply. Perhaps it was just the competitiveness in me, but I'd kinda hoped that I would be the first in our squad to reach Titanium. Then again, she did have a massive head start.

"If you help me with this," she continued, "I—I'll split my Presence reward with you guys until you're all Titaniums, too." I grinned.

"Now you know how to convince me."

"Let it be known that I'm still not convinced," Anchor mumbled.

"First, the bones and feathers go in," she said.

"Careful with the feathers. They're a Silver-tier treasure. I've been holding onto them for years."

"Oh," Brawl said.

"Little sister wants us to move the ingredients for her."

"It would be faster," Sage said.

"It's a matter of efficiency, really."

"Well, chop chop," I said.

"We don't have all night. And the sooner, the better." I glanced at her sternly and said, "I hope you know what you're doing."