Magic Breaker Ch 214 - 216 (Patreon)

Chapter 214: Day Off

“Where did your eyebrows go?” Inu asks.

I stare, and bring a hand to my face. “Ah,” I say. “They must’ve burned off. One second.”

[Biological Alteration 11 > 12]

My eyebrows restore themselves to pristine condition, and Inu loudly “ooooh”s. “Is that your new skill?” she asks, and I happily nod along. 

“Yeah. I figured out it can let me change some minor stuff, pretty permanently, too,” I say.

“Is that how you changed your hair colour?” she asks.

I nod. It’d been growing since we entered the Tower, and those few months were more than enough time for the black roots to start showing against the bleach and dye. Now? My hair is almost entirely white, with a few streaks of blue-silver, and maybe half a centimetre of my roots showing, because a little bit of darkness contrasts nicely with the rest of the colour.

Is it vain to use my skill like that? Absolutely, yes, it is the most vain thing I can imagine.

But it’s also validating. I’ve even been experimenting with running my fingernails a glossy black, so I don’t need to paint them - or worry about the paint cracking - anymore. It’s been going alright, though I’ve been going slow to make sure I don’t accidentally break something in my body. So, right now, my nails are just a bit cloudy.

“We’ll need to replace your bandages,” Inu says, coming a bit closer to get a good look on my face. “They’re scorched and have blood on them.”

“Are you comfy with that?” I ask. “Don’t want to make you too squeamish.”

My best friend chuckles a little at that. “I’ll be fine, Snow. Don’t worry about me,” she says. Then, gently, she takes my hand. “C’mon, walk with me. We’ll get you new bandages. And have a talk. You should visit the others in the fifth ring some time. When’s the last time you went outside?”

As we walk, mana pours out of me in waves, scanning the environment, then slowly coursing back into my vessel. The cyclical motion keeps it under control, makes it look like I’m emitting mana like a normal, inefficient person, and lets me reclaim some of the stuff I use on my skills before it dissipates.

“Last time was… two weeks ago, or something like that,” I reply with a hum. 

Inu shakes her head softly. “You gotta get out again.”

“I’ll get stabbed,” I protest.

She chuckles and shakes her head. “No, you won’t. You’ll be fine. You don’t have as many enemies as you think.” With that, we reach our little medical room, and Inu makes me sit down as a chair, chattering in on me as she pulls off my bandages.

I keep my eyes closed, even as she gets a wet rag to clean them. A few drops of warm water run down my face as the girl carefully wipes away dried blood and pus. She hums softly as she works. “You’re consolidating, right now,” Inu says calmly. “You have a lot of things to work on, right?”

Tilting my head, I nod. 

“And you’re barely sleeping anyway, with Perpetual Pursuit and all that, yes?” she asks to confirm, wiping down my other eye.

Again, I nod at her. “Yeah, so?”

“So you have time. We have enough money to live here for another two months,” she says, smiling. “No one is coming for you.”

I hum, not quite believing her. Things have been calm for a little while, but I know it’ll end eventually. For now, I’m enjoying it, and I’m spending it doing what I want to do most: sit in a room while listening to music and playing with magic.

Seriously. Tomey-tome has so many delicious secrets to it, and I haven’t even gotten started on decoding the enchantments on the core, but they’re… wild. So complex I could probably burn my brain to bits in the attempt of mapping them all at once. It would take me a long time to dissect it.

So, controlling my mana came first. I was still reworking my vessel to hold more, and now using the theories of the ocean-idea to give my body more room to use it without getting hurt. It had been three days since I lost control and burnt myself. Which, in my humble opinion, is a new record since I crossed the third threshold for mana.

[Class up! Vesselsmith 15 > 17]

Case in point. 

Inu flicks my forehead as she takes new strips of cloth, which we boiled to disinfect them, and begins to wrap them around my head. They’re soft, made specifically for me by Sylves, and I sit calmly as Inu drapes them over my face. “I’m not going to drag you outside, Snow, but well. You do know that’s where the rain is, right?”

Dang it. She got me. That vicious girl. I give a long, suffering sigh, and nod. “You’re right, you’re right. I should take a late-night walk in the rain again.”

She snickers, just a little. “You should. It’s dramatic.”

“I am just a bit edgy. No, wait, goth. I’m goth, Inu,” I defend myself, though my voice is deadpan. There isn’t a lot of energy in it. 

Smiling happily, my friend just nods. “That you are,” she says, and I’m unsure if she’s sarcastic or not.

“Was that sarcasm?” I ask.

Tilting her head and grinning, Inu stays silent. I’m left bereft of an answer. Woe is me.

- - -

I stand in front of the door to the outside, and slowly push it open with a sigh. I’ve already double- and triple-checked that everything is in place. My headphones are secure tucked away under my hood, in no danger of getting wet. I am wearing the feathery half-mask to hopefully not get recognised. My mana is properly contained, and I’m leaking only an entirely appropriate amount for someone in the 100s. 

Thus, I step out into the streets of downpour, deciding to just take a stroll. Take my mind off things, leave only the stuff running that I need for the background… clear my head. I’ve taken an allowance with me to go shopping.

With a quick motion, I pull a scrawled map out from my pocket. It’s made by Thatch, and is a mostly proportionate, quick sketch of the more important roads and places they want me to head to. They marked Zinc’s inn for me, as well as Sylves’ tailoring shop, and a few more spots where humans apparently aggregate.

By now, enough time has passed for a few dozen more Earth-dwellers to make their way up. Which means not just humans. In fact, these days there are occasionally cats and dogs in our garden, apparently drawn to Thatch. He must be using his princely power to charm them, the rascal. Unfair, really.

Now, of course, interacting with other humans isn’t my first choice, but they could have more tech, and I do want to practice recharging things with my own mana. My headphones are very dear to me, and If they break, I want to have some replacement cables and such. Because getting them made might be tough.

And any humans in the fifth ring are obviously going to be poor. They’re probably dealing with the gang trouble that I was going through right now. We’ve even sponsored a token or two to the minor mono, so that they can make it to the fourth ring. 

Up here, there are three monoliths. Which makes it obvious why the nobility is so delineated from the flobs. Monoliths are worthwhile training facilities, and the first time you clear any floor grants a permanent, percentage boost to stats. Of course clearing more of them means more power. Also, going down one from the sixth floor to the fifth is far less risky than going from the fifth to the fourth.

No one wants to go back to the Graveyard.

Except Amelie, apparently, who’s still down there. It does suit her, I suppose. Getting her necromancy practice in on the undead floor makes a reasonable amount of sense.

I smile slightly as my thoughts drift, and the mana-filled rain pours down on my Kuro-cloak. Inu was right, as she usually is. Walks in the rain are nice.

- - -

“Hey Sylves,” I wave cheerily. “You doing okay?”

The faerie girl turns her face to meet me and smiles brightly. She waves from her worktable. In front of her is some kind of sewing machine, though a little different from the ones on earth. Right now, she’s holding down the workpiece with her stump of an arm. We just finished regrowing her elbow today, so she has a lot more mobility with it. 

Before she even opens her mouth, a young, finely dressed man, gives me a look. He had shoulder length-hair, bushy eyebrows, and a short beard. His eyes drift up and down my cloaked figure. And he seems almost confused.

“And who is this, dragging water into my shop?” he asks with a small frown. “And why are you hiding your face when you look this good. You could look so much nicer with a form-fitting set of clothing-”

Sylves quickly dashes in front of the man, flitting through the room, shushing him. Her face turns intense as she stares at him. “Pick better compliments, teacher,” she hisses. “That’s the friend I told you about.”

His eyes go wide, and the feryran - I have to guess, since I can’t see the colour of his skin, but it feels like it’d have a metallic gleam - bows to me. “My apologies,” he says.

I tilt my head. “What for?” I ask.

A wry smile places itself on his lips, though he looks a little nervous. “For assuming you were here for my advice,” he says, with a small grimace. “I overreached in my compliments.”

Huh. How polite. The knife in my hand dissipates slowly and I nod. “All forgiven,” I say. “If you want to compliment me, please stick to things I’m comfortable with. My hair colour or my nails are great options. You’re also free to pick any general beauty categories you wish,” I explain.

Instantly, the words seem to put him at ease. He smiles and nods, then waves me inside, the water dripping from my cloak already escaping through thin channels carved for it in the stone. These ones are even faintly enchanted, though it’s a very minor one, just enough to keep the floor warm and dry, moving the water out.

“Well, my name is Silv,” he introduces himself. I blink. Sylves’ teacher is called… Silv. But then, I swallow that shock, and let him keep talking. “This is my humble shop,” he says, spreading his arms wide and gesturing at a few racks of clothes. “We have some general, functional designs, but we also take custom orders.”

“Thank you,” I say. “You can call me Yuki.”

Silv nods his handsome face and smiles. “Alright. Take your time looking around, and let me know if you need any help!” With that, he quickly swivels to the side and disappears into the depths of the store, in between clothing racks.

With calm, slow steps, I walk up to Sylves, and turn my bandaged eyes to her. “What did you tell him about me?” I ask.

“Just the usual,” she waves it off. “What you’re picky about, and a bit about how hardcore you are. Though he probably saw that, too, on second thought.”

That would make sense. I am walking with a mana-cane, and a mana-prosthetic for my leg. My missing arm is covered by the cloak, shrouded like the rest of my silhouette. I nod, accepting the explanation. “What’cha working on?” I ask Sylves.

She hums for a moment, then gestures at the workpiece. “This? A noble from the third ring requested a suit for a ball. She asked for a blazer with some glitterthread,” she explains.

“What’s glitterthread,” I ask, and Sylves’ face lights up.

“Well, Snow,” she says happily. “Me and Silv here-”

And then she talks. I listen. And it’s nice.

- - -

An hour later, I leave the store, holding a few new pieces of clothing. Most of them are a little oversized, but in an elegant way. Silv was rather polite about it, too, once he figured out my likes and dislikes. Which is good. It’d be a shame if I killed Sylves’ tutor. And he seems like a generally alright person.

Walking around the fifth ring is strange after so much time spent in the fourth. People here still try to pickpocket me. Which is rather silly of them. Things have improved a bit, though. After giving the gangs a bit of a beating, Bloodstain and Coldscar have gone easier on their control, being spread a bit thin. Owl is a better boss to Aviary than Raven ever was.

I can’t speak for Lucky or Reign, but I plan to visit them later today. For now, though, I walk into Bloodline’s territory. It’s the closest to Sylves’ store, since we stole it from them, and I’m curious to see how I’ll be treated if I look like an average authority holder.

Turns out, reasonably well. Other than one gang member who tried to put a curse on me, I get through unscathed. Of course, his attempt goes poorly, and costs him a few wounds, but nothing permanent. He’ll probably have to pay Jean to get it stitched up. Not my problem, anyway.

Instead, I knock on Bloodline’s headquarters. A flob-member opens the floor, a younger looking girl in the 30s of supremacy. Probably first or second class. For a moment, she gives me a mean look, then notices the bandages across my eyes and swallows heavily. “Are you…?” she asks.

I nod.

Very quickly, the door swings open, and I walk in. Bloodstain sits on the end of a red carpet, missing an arm. I let Kuro billow behind me, showing off my missing arm as well. Her eyes linger on me. “Hello, Yuki,” she says quietly. “Are you here to finish me off?” she asks, a faint smile playing on her lips.

“Thatch asked me to get you to stop sending him letters,” I say calmly.

Bloodstain pouts at that, her full lips curving downwards. She licks them for a long moment, then sighs. “Why doesn’t he come here himself?” she asks. 

“Because he’d break some more of your limbs,” I reply.

She smiles at that. “I was hoping for that.”

“Today’s my day off, but if you swing by our place any other day, I’ll happily break you,” I shrug.

Bloodstain stares at me, then grins. “What if I try to kill you right now?”

I tilt my head. “It’d be a real shame to fight on my day off.”

“Hah! Get our guest a drink,” she says, waving a hand. “You like wine?”

“I don’t drink,” I say. “Just water.”

Her eyes roll, but she smiles. “Just water, then. And no, I don’t think I want to fight you, Yuki. You’re no fun. There’s no proper violence in you, no bestial back and forth. You’re so pitifully, tragically empty,” she whispers in quiet breaths.

My fingers twitch, and for a second, my mana builds in my vessel, but then, I let it go. “You’re lucky I’m so patient and forgiving,” I say calmly, stepping towards her, stealing a chair from a random table. “Let’s have a little talk, you and I.”

Bloodstain smiles. “A talk?” she asks. “Now why would I talk to you?”

Sighing softly, I wave her closer. The woman gets up from her throne and saunters over to me, pulling a regular chair, and placing her face uncomfortably close to mine. I lean to the side, to her ear, and whisper to her. “I can give you your arm back.”

When I pull back to look at her face, I know I’ve already won.

Chapter 215: Small Deals

Bloodstain agrees to stop bothering Thatch. She also agrees to show me the patterns to one of her skills, tell me the names of three of them of her choosing, pay me, and leave our territory alone in exchange for me restoring her arm within two months. Which gives me about a month to finish up Sylves.

With that productive but exhausting task done, I turn my music back on and head out into the rain once more. Bloodstain happily waves me goodbye, calling me all sorts of nice things, and almost melting about how “pleasant” our conversation was. She probably hoped that we’d stab each other at least a few times.

What a strangely perceptive woman. She almost got me to attack her once or twice. Luckily, I’m so peaceful. Instead, I head over to Aviary, knocking on their door. 

People there recognize me far faster, and a few of them go pale with fear. But I’m let in, and made to wait. Apparently, Owl isn’t there yet, so I take a bit to appreciate the new setup they have.

The cages for Raven’s ravens are gone. Instead, Owl has changed the room to be more open and have more light. They do still have messenger-animals, but they roam freely in the room. There’s a rat that hops onto the table I sit at, sniffing my hand, and tilting its head at me. 

I tilt my head back. And then, the rat squeaks once, and scurries off, soon coming back with a weasel and a pigeon. I blink at the motley crew of animals. They all hop on my table excitedly, and I feel Kuro start to squirm. Smiling slightly, I nod.

My cloak shifts, and a small shadow cat-centipede crawls from my sleeve. I maintain the cloak by [Solidifying] the shadows. And as I watch the little critters play, my vessel fills back up. Just to use my mana efficiently, I do some more vessel forging. Nothing strenuous, just something that needs a lot of mana, so I can mostly empty it out again.

[Class up! Vesselsmith 17 > 18]

After a little while, just about ten songs on my playlist, Owl opens the door to the den. She walks in, wings neatly tucked behind her back, still holding that axe I made for her. When her eyes drift to me, I see her shift, but I can’t quite read the emotion. Fear? Gratitude? Perhaps a bit of both.

I lift a hand and mouth along as I sign. “Hello.” 

Owl nods, and signs a greeting back. I watch as she uses a type of sign-language I’m unfamiliar with, but the meaning still translates. Her lips move amongst the fur, and I get the meaning. She asks what I want.

Gently, I tilt my head. “Repay debt,” I sign. Then, I place coins on the table. Owl looks at them for a long moment, then slowly shakes her head. Instead, she gestures around herself, at the entirety of Aviary.

“Remove traps,” she signs.

Ah. Caught. Whoopsies. Awkwardly, I nod, and quickly press out a pulse of mana. All the backdoors, all the hidden runic arrays to make items explode, or set cloaks on fire… each and every one erases itself. I build in self-destruction mechanisms just to make sure. Looking at me, Owl tilts her head, and I nod.

“Debt clear,” she signs.

I shake my head. Three sigils. That’s what I owe her. And I want to have a good relationship with her. “I want be fair you,” I sign. Because I do. I want to be fair to her.

Owl stares for a long moment, then sighs in a very human motion. Her wings spread out, and she shakes them, a few feathers rustling loose. Lots of Aviary grunts eye me with suspicion, and Dove with clear fear, but no one moves. Owl walks towards me, then sits across from me.

For a long moment, she folds her hands and just looks at me. She places the axe on the table, and signs “more”. I gently shake my head.

“Dangerous,” I sign. “Attention guards.”

A thin frown covers her lips. Her wiry hand wraps around the axe’s handle, tracing the metal and lighting faint, golden flames up around it. I don’t really want to give people more weapons, if I can help it. But what else can I offer? My alchemy is still pitiful, and I haven’t even finished Inu’s set of [Resistant] armor yet. 

Imbuing someone else’s skills into an item is way harder than my own. For my own skills, I can rely on my understanding and the vibes of it, but I don’t know the ideas behind resistance, so translating it into runes is harder. More time consuming. I’m learning, but it’s slow. 

“Favour,” Owl signs, breaking my string of thoughts.

I tilt my head. She wants a favour? I give a short nod, and she continues signing, her hands drifting through the waves of mana that pulse out of me. 

“Item from family’s vault.”

Oh. She’s hiring me to steal something. “Family noble?” I sign.

She nods.

“Deal,” I sign.

- - -

“Snow you cannot be serious,” Norman says with a horrible sigh.

“I’ll invite Anna as well. It’ll be fun,” I say cheerily.

He places his face in his hands. “You want me to steal from a noble. I don’t even have access to the fourth ring yet, Snow. I’m still preparing to climb the monolith. And besides!” he protests. “I’m not a thief!”

“Think of it like Robin Hood or something,” I say. “Steal from the rich, give to the poor.”

Norman grimaces. Some part of him still bristles at the idea of standing up to authority figures. He’s okay with stealing when it’s someone not paying on time - after all, that’s just standard practice for most companies. They can overdraft cards, or something, right?

So he’s used to it. He can frame it as “not theft”. But this seems to clash with his ideology more. There is, however, a swift solution. “Do you want me to take Opal instead?” I ask.

Instantly, his face twists even more. “Oh god, you’ll burn that house down. Don’t bring Opal,” he begs.

I smile wryly. He’s too funny. “Okay, promise I won’t,” I say.

He rubs his eyes. “Fine,” he says. “I’ll help you when I get to the next floor.”

“Thanks Norman,” I say, smiling. “You know, you’re almost cool when you’re like this.”

“That feels like an insult, coming from you,” he sighs. Smiling to myself in amusement, I duck out of his room, leaving him to his letters and contracts. He’s been taking to Downpour like a fish to water, honestly. The power of a true extrovert. Slimy business is apparently something he can handle, so he’s already looking at a noble sponsorship to the monolith. He insisted on not ‘burdening’ his daughter by making us pay from him.

It’s funny seeing the adults do their own things. Jess has also secured herself a token, but that was by interacting with Coldscar. Apparently, she was very easily able to convince him. When I asked her, all she did was smile. “I know how to deal with gang-stuff, Snow,” she said. Her expression was the strangest I’d ever seen on her face, somehow reminiscing, amused, and sad all at the same time.

Bay, for her part, had a very successful business going. She was repairing houses, and putting up new building plans for more stable bridges between islands and how to construct them. Her engineering skill came in hand here, apparently, so she was able to sell plans and some minor and major items. 

She also got pre-contracted and sponsored by some wealthier merchants from the fourth ring who wanted to sell her items. And a lot of humans were willing to do a lot of favours to her in exchange for refilling their phone’s batteries.

Most of them just wanted to look at pictures of family or pets. What weirdos. There is one true answer for what electricity should do, and that is play music. “One recharge please,” I ask of Bay as I poke my head in through the door.

Turning to me, she pulls off her welding goggles, and puts the weird metal construct she was working on to the side, excitedly waving at me. “Snow!” she greets. “So good to see you. Come in, come in. I’ll get you juiced up in a sec.”

I snicker but nod, sitting down and crossing my legs, placing the mana prosthetic on my real one with my hand. “Usual pricing?” I ask.

She smiles. “I’d do it for free, but I won’t say no to a few runes,” she hums happily. “Here, take a look at these-”

With quick motions, she brings out a few sketches, some of them fully illustrated by Thatch, and her prototypes of the items. Lots of them are very practical - heating plates, unfolding ladders, cooling spools, and even a rudimentary version of a mini printing-press. And then, something a bit more ambitious.

“Really?” I ask, looking at the sketch, and her grin turns bright.

“Yes!” she says excitedly, scooting closer. “I think with your [Solidification], it’d be possible! We just need a module in the nozzle, and then a controllable moving rig. It’d make prototyping parts so much faster-”

Excitedly, she chatters on, gesturing at the machine she wants my help with. It’s a… well, a 3D-printer, except using mana. She wants me to let her fill it with her mana, have the nozzle “solidify” it and put it on a printbed, letting her make complex things.

“But getting the solid mana to fuse with the rest would be tricky…” I hum. Except, of course, Bay beams. 

“I have some more help,” she admits. “A nice zoof called Leo, with the ability to make liquid mana has agreed to pitch in. They seemed excited about the idea of engineering. I think you’d get along, actually,” she says. “You two seem- Snow? You good?” she asks.

Leo. With liquid mana. Is there any way? Is it the same Leo from the first floor? Did he make it all the way up? 

Somehow, I don’t doubt it. A small smile spreads on my face. “I’ll help you with it,” I say. “But, as a small favour, can you ask Leo next time if they remember Ion from the first floor?”

Bay raises an eyebrow at me. “Oh? You two friends? I didn’t think we had the time for that on the first floor.”

I shrug. “We hit it off well,” I inform her politely. “I think me and him could learn from each other.”

The woman grins. “Sure, I’ll let him know.” Then, she holds out her hands. “Your phone and headphones?” she asks nicely.

Nodding, I place them in her hands. Then I tilt my head. “Are you missing a finger?” 

“Just the tip,” she shrugs. “Had a little accident. Hurt like a bitch, but I’m okay, Jean healed it up real quick.”

“Want me to regrow it?” I ask.

Bay freezes mid-charge, and for a moment, her mana goes wild from shock. I feel terror, horrible terror at the chance of damage to my precious headphones, and instantly shatter the entire spell she was casting. Bay is sent a step backwards from the raw force of mana, but then her stare focuses on me. “What was that?!” she demands, then shakes her head. “No, wait, you can-”

“Yes,” I nod. “I’ve been working on Sylves’ arm. I have enough mana for your finger right now. Would you like me to?”

For a moment, she stands frozen. Then, very, very gently, she puts my headphones and my phone on the bedside table. Then, Thatch’s mom hops over to me and gives me a bear-hug, squeezing me. “Yes, please!” she laughs. “You’re a pretty awesome kid, you know that.”

“Ma’am, I’m twenty-three,” I wheeze. 

Bay just laughs harder.

Chapter 216: Little Trip

Overall, my little trip goes stunningly well. I really, really expected at least like one or three encounters with someone to try to kill me, but the entire stay in the fifth ring goes well. I even get to visit Anna and Trey, and the two seem to just be enjoying the freedom their newfound powers give them.

Anna has gotten a system-certified job as a wayfinder, which she put to good use in a far more regular monolith climb. She took a group of four people up to the halfway point before they dipped out, and cashed in a nice payday from it, letting her live comfortably. Trey was bubbling with joy at almost everything.

Wearing warm clothes, having a stable place to live, just the fact that he wasn’t constantly in bed anymore by itself. In fact, it seems he has supercharged on energy, because the kid is almost crawling up the walls.

“I think me and him would have gotten along better when he was calmer,” I whisper to Anna.

The girl laughs at my joke, and nods along. “It’s a handful,” she says. “But we’re making it work. Thanks, Snow.”

Softly, I shake my head. “No thanks needed. Just helping where it was little trouble for me.”

“If more people did that, the world would be a better place,” she says.

For a moment, I don’t know how to respond to that. How dangerous! She might make me think I did something that a good person would do. Instead, I reply in the only way I know how to: humorous deflection. “You know what else makes the world a better place?”

“What?”

“Stealing from nobles,” I say, turning my blind face at her. Anna’s eyes glint with interest, and she gestures for me to continue. “I got a deal to steal from a noble in the fourth. Planning to do it when Norman gets up there.”

“Want me to guide them?” Anna asks, tilting her head.

I think it over for a second, then shake my head. “We’ll probably offer slot seven to Leo, I think. Inu and Thatch want to go with their parents. Opal offered, but Dar wants to prove himself. Since we’re sponsoring his entrance fee.”

Anna nods a little. “I get that,” she says quietly. “The need to prove oneself worthy, I mean.”

Gently, I poke her forehead. “You’re doing just fine. No debts. Don’t paint me as any kinda saviour in your head.”

She pouts. “Am not.”

“Yes you are. You almost doubted it in the mono, but now you’re at it again. I’m just a person.” I almost say more, but just cut myself off. Barely a person, I want to say, but don’t. Instead, I just poke her again, like a bobblehead. “So, get it inside your skull. You pulled your weight. You earned your authority.”

Her face scrunches up, and I can tell she doesn’t believe me, but that’s fine. I let it go. We chat a bit more, but mostly about things that don’t matter. Trey tries to copy some more of my runes, but he’s a bit too clumsy for it. Anna promises to teach him how to write first, so he can get to runecarving later. 

And then, I head out.

- - - 

When I get to the Runewrights’, Shelly instantly greets me enthusiastically. The zoof that taught me how to hide my runes waves at my entrance. “Yuki!” she cheers happily. “I thought you’d died!”

I shrug. “Got better,” I say, stepping into the warm guildhall. It gets me a few looks and chuckles as people on about their own business. Shelly quickly shuffles over to me, then her mouth drops open, and her voice drops to a quiet hum. “Holy fuck,” she whispers. “What happened?”

“Minor accident in the mono,” I shrug. “Cleared it, thought.”

“First go?” she asks.

I nod, and the lady gives me a bright grin. “My, my! My Yuki has grown up to be such a reliable young adult. Now you won’t forget everything this madame Shelly did for you, will you? Surely you can pay extra now?”

Gently, I shake my head. “Still the same rate,” I say.

The old lady has the audacity to pout at me, putting her hands on her hips. “You’re no fun!” she chides, and I smile, nodding graciously. She huffs, and turns her head aside, then cracks open an eye to glance at me. “Fine. What do you want?”

“More runes,” I say easily. “A few books. And a recommendation for where to learn alchemy.”

“Alchemy?” she asks, raising an eyebrow. “Hm. I s’pose it’s somewhat interlinked with enchanting. Why do you wanna learn alchemy?”

“Healing potions,” I say.

Madame Shelly gives a soft chuckle. “You’d need a healing skill,” she says, dragging me to the back, into a little occupied library. As she speaks, I just look at her and smile. And for a moment, her teasing, joking expression stays on her face. Then, bit by bit, it crumbles.

“No way,” she whispers.

“Mhm,” I say calmly. Shelly wouldn’t rat me out. I know she wouldn’t. So, I lean forward, and whisper a single word into her ears - or where I guess they were. It’s hard to tell with all the fur. “Ion.”

Her mouth drops open once more, and she stares at me with wide eyes. “No way.” 

I nod.

“Dear oh dearie me,” she says, taking a moment to lean on the wall, fanning her face. But then, after a few moments, she stops. Her surprise fades into a grin. “I should upcharge you for this secret!” she declares.

“But you won’t,” I say with a smile.

Shelly rolls her eyes. “But I won’t,” she admits. “Come on, Yuki. Let’s get you some blueprints. You can show me what you learned, and we’ll work on it together.”

- - -

[Inscription 26 > 27]

[Jop up! Core Controller 17 > 18]

Is it a little disingenuous to get new rune blueprints on my day off? Yes. But it’s fun. I like runes. And, hey, I got them in a way that wasn’t fighting someone and taking apart their skills. Which means these are ethically sourced runes.

Thinking about that, maybe I’ll turn Raven’s or Vincent’s skills into items at some point. Giving Owl a teleporting cloak sounds fun. The bird aesthetic would still fit her. Something to consider.

After stopping by the Runewrights’, I head to Shelly’s recommendation for alchemy. Reading is a bit tricky with my eyes gone, since the indentations on paper are so fine, it’s hard to tell even with my mana. But, luckily, I have a fancy trick up my sleeves. I call this one ‘spending time with my friends’. Where I make them read for me.

So, I buy a few more alchemy ingredients. That’s the trickiest bit about alchemy, really. Getting ingredients. I can do a lot with my own mana, but I can’t do everything with it, which is a bit of trouble. Picking and throwing in random pieces of grass also goes poorly.

And thus, I rely on a few herbalism shops to provide me some. Madame Shelly recommended a store for ingredients, actually. Bizarre Herbology it’s called. I walk into the store, crossing a rickets bridge since it’s on a smaller island, and find that there are dozens of little potted plants across dozens of shelves around the room.

The smell feels like a punch in the face. I like herbs, but it’s almost instantly overstimulating. With a quick gesture, Kuro forms a mask over my face, and I sigh in relief when the air smells a bit more neutral. It takes a little while for anyone to notice me, so I ring the small hotel-style bell on the counter.

For a moment, there is silence, then a sort of metallic creaking noise, as a door in the back opens and out walks… a robot. A full-on, real-life robot. Not an exoskeleton with a pilot. Not a cyborg made to look human. But a robot.

Gears and metal bars connecting into each other, with moving pistons powering its legs as it walks towards me. Its head is made from metal, too. Two spherical, protruding lights framed in brass serve as eyes, and across its mouth is a thicker plate of metal, looking almost like a mask.

“Good day,” the robot says, with a surprisingly british accent. “How may I help you?”

I swallow drily, then gently bow my head. “I’m sorry, but can I ask, what pronouns do you prefer?”

“They,” they say, their voice echoing metallically, but with a pleasant hum to it. “Thank you for asking. People often default to it, however, I am indeed a person.”

“Thank you,” I say. “And what is your species called?” I ask. “If it’s not too much trouble.”

The robot hums at me for a moment, with a note of amusement. “Automatons,” they provide helpfully. “Other automatons are usually found on the higher floors. I am a descender myself,” they say. “If you wish to know more, you can find a catalogue of common humanoid species in the Climber’s Compendium.”

Again, I nod, bowing my head slightly. “I apologize for any inconvenience caused,” I say. I can only imagine how often they get those exact same questions, or, worse, people who assume they know better and get it wrong. 

“Acknowledged,” the automaton chimes, a small huff of steam leaving through a few slits on their face. “Now, may I request information as to what brings you here?”

“Madame Shelly sent me, I’m an enchanter looking to get into alchemy,” I reply.

The automaton tilts their head for a long moment, looking at me. The light in their eyes blinks - not like an electrical one, but very person-like. A shutter slides down from the top then back up. “Madame Shelly? You do not seem like someone whose company she would enjoy,” they note.

I smile. “She says the same thing, but then keeps teaching me ‘cuz I’m clever.”

“Noted,” they reply. “Apologies for assuming.”

“Just means we’re even,” I say, waving it off. Which they take to cheerily. As they continue to get my measure, they walk over to a watering can, gently picking it up, wrapping a four-fingered, metallic hand around it, and pouring some of it onto a nearby plant with long, pale-blue leaves.

Slowly, they turn their eyes on me, gears whirring to make their torso turn. Some of their outer shell seems modifiable. Right now, they have two legs, though they are thick and trunk-like, almost splitting vertically down the middle. I’d wager they can split fully, into four, maybe even six legs, letting them cling to things.

Their arms, too, have a stacking design. I can see it when my mana-pulse washes over them. They have additional, smaller arms stored within the bigger ones. Noticing my scans, the automaton gives a very small hum of amusement, and the metal splits open, doubling up their arms.

“That’s awesome,” I say, and their eyes light up in what I perceive to be faint happiness. 

While watering the plant, their second arm retreats back into the first, the metal whirring softly. Then, they speak again, their voice soft and sonorous. “You say you are here for alchemy. What do you wish from me?”

“Teach me,” I say simply.

“I am an herbalist, not an alchemist,” the automaton says with a shake of their head. “I do not take apprentices, either.”

Shrugging slightly, I sigh. “Worth a try. I think what I want to make most are water-breathing potions, and maybe some healing salves,” I explain. 

“Ah, ingredients with proper healing mana are rare. But I do have plants that can be ground down to shut wounds and staunch a bleeding,” they hum. “Anything else, you would have to imbue yourself.” Their eyes glint as they look at me.

“Then I will take some cuts of that.”

Humming softly, the automaton gently places down the watering can, and takes clicking steps towards the back of the shop, the wood creaking underneath their steps. They open a door to a dark room, only illuminated by the soft glow of their eyes, and take a few dried leaves from a rack. “Here,” they say. “Staunchshroom, dried. A golden chit gets you ten portions.”

With quick motions, I place three golden chits on the counter, and their eyes glint. “Just completed your first climb, hmm?” they hum, swiping the coins into their open hand. I take the shrooms, and watch them hum. “Now, for water-breathing… you really should have gotten those before coming to the fourth.”

“Our preparations were inadequate,” I nod, “because I was being hunted for my life.”

“Ah,” the automaton says, pausing and giving me a short bow. “My apologies for assuming. My advice is warranted, though. For Breathbloom, you can chew the leaves and it will give you air for a minute or two. Distilled and enhanced, it can be extended to half an hour per dose. A golden chit will get you twenty.”

I nod. “Sixty, then,” I reply.

“Do you plan to sell them, or stockpile?” they ask.

“Sell a part,” I reply. “And I’ll probably mess some up. After all, I’ve never done alchemy.”

The automaton gives a rusty sigh. “Fine,” they creak. “I understand. Here,” they say, placing down a small herbalism notebook, and a thin alchemy flipbook. “These are simple instructions, but you have treated me with kindness. It would be a shame to see the plants I grow go to waste. Read carefully, then try.”

“Thank you,” I say. “How much?”

With a small shrug, the automaton turns back to their plants. “For now? Nothing. If you find any curious plants, bring them to me. What is your name?” they ask.

“You can call me Yuki,” I reply carefully, then look closely at them. “You?”

“Herberton,” they say. “And yes, I understand the amusement that comes from that, given my profession.”

I smile, just a little. “My name suits me, too,” I reply, and they tilt their head at me.

With a gentle motion, the automaton blinks their lights. Amusement, again. “No, it does not,” they say calmly. “You’re a warm person, I believe.” Then, before I can reply, they raise a hand, making a shooing motion. “Now, go. Some of my plants are sensitive to carbon, and your breath has produced enough.”

My words die on my lips, and I just give a soft sigh, then nod. “Thank you, Herberton,” I say again, smiling softly. Then I walk out, carrying my plants and new reading material in a small pouch. Alchemy. How fun.