Cauldron of Ghosts 014 (Patreon)

Taylor wasn’t happy about how a lot of things had played out over the last couple of hours -and thank God that time didn’t really flow outside of Instanced Dungeons, at least not yet, because if she was going to keep bringing such popular and well-known girls places like this…- and certainly hadn’t had to fake her displeasure with the choices of both Dallon girls, but at the very least the two girls were now being smart about things.

Which was good, because the closer that they got to the town proper, the more dangerous that the monsters got, until finally they weren’t fighting monsters at all. Instead, they were fighting ‘Corrupted PRT Troopers’, men and women wearing some sort of strange futuristic armor that attacked them with a mix of regular guns and guns that sprayed some kind of toxic foam that both trapped those it hit and sapped their health.

Thank God that Amy wasn’t nerfed anymore, because things would have gotten very unpleasant very quickly if she had been. As it was, Taylor was being nothing short of tyrannical about caution and preparation between every pack of mobs. Not that the girls seemed inclined to complain about said tyranny, which was all to the better, and not due -or at least not entirely due- to her chastisement of them both earlier. No, her Amelia was perfectly happy to be bossed around, was enjoying it deeply as a matter of fact, while simultaneously being protected and fussed at by the two young women she loved most. Victoria, interestingly, was almost as happy, though there was a touch of shame there as well.

Unsurprising, perhaps, but she wasn’t letting it hamper her, which was good. Taylor would hate to have to yell at her again. She preferred for any correction she had to deliver -not that she had nearly as much experience as she would prefer, on a number of levels- to be for rather more fun reasons that someone consistently making potentially-deadly mistakes in a dungeon.

Not that she was going to say any of that out loud, because she wasn’t entirely sure that Victoria wasn’t the type to take just such an admission and run with it. Even this early after they’d truly met -the hospital didn’t really count, Vicky’d been more interested in probing her on Amy’s behalf and trying to match make than anything else- and with most of their time together spent fighting, Taylor had gotten a pretty solid System-assisted read on the beautiful blonde. A read that had told her that she was quite the submissive-in-waiting, one that had been as appreciative as she was embarrassed by Taylor taking her firmly in hand after she’d managed to blunder straight into the snare trap at the gas station.

It was just as Amy had said: Vicky tried to take the lead, tried to be confident and strong and a pillar that those around her could rely on, but it was just as obvious that she was forcing herself. Trying to be something that she wasn’t.

Not to say that Vicky was weak, anymore than Amy was, quite the contrary. But she would obviously be a bit happier with a lot less weight on her shoulders. A weight that Taylor was so very tempted to take from her, just as she had started to with Amy, but she wasn’t going to throw herself into things foolishly.

Not least because she was fairly sure, now, that she couldn’t afford to take on another girl while she was still so clumsy at balancing the ones she already had. Amy, Paige, Sarah, now Victoria... The list was growing faster than she could keep up with, and she was uncomfortably aware that each name on it represented a person with needs she would be responsible for meeting. Needs that weren’t going to sit quietly and wait for her to feel ready or have the spare time.

Though she could, at least, say that she hadn’t hidden that she had multiple partners and suitors from any of them. Inexperienced she might be, but she knew better and was better than to do otherwise.

Those were things to think about in less fraught circumstances, however, or at least to put it on pause for the moment. If she were a betting woman, they’d be coming up to a boss soon. Their first boss, which would probably be the weakest of them, and would hopefully drop some decent loot. Or at least things that would sell well in the System Store so that she could buy some decent gear for the other two girls with her. Neither was exactly well-equipped, what she’d prepared for Amy to one side, and powerful pocket healer or not, Taylor didn’t want to take any more risks with their safety than was strictly necessary.

Capable as they might be -hell, capable as they were!- it was her responsibility as the party leader to do what she could to mitigate any risk to them.

Which is why, when they reached a large clearing filled with the bodies of a dozen or so ‘PRT Troopers’ and a handful of shattered, burned out wrecks that seemed to be armored cars of some kind, she came to an immediate decision. She recognized a boss arena when she saw one, and this sure as hell ticked all of the boxes for that.

“Hold up.” she murmured, raising a hand, and both Dallons stopped so promptly that it was almost comical. Vicky had even gone so far as to freeze with one foot hovering in the air above the cracked asphalt, though a look from her sister had her putting it down with a faint blush. Taylor couldn’t help but smile a bit at that. Lesson learned, apparently, and quickly at that. Though the trap here definitely wasn’t a snare waiting for her ankle. “Nobody moves until I say so. Victoria, Amelia. Tell me what you see.”

It was Vicky -whom Taylor had received permission to call Vicky, though she’d not done so yet to keep a semblance of authority present under the circumstances- who answered first, frowning faintly as she scrutinized the space before her.

“It feels like a trap, looks like a trap too. I’ve seen plenty of movies, and in most action films, when the heroines come across a bunch of dead bodies and some trashed cars, the first thing they do is rush to check on the dead people. Which is when the bad guys attack them.”

“Good. Keep going.” Taylor prompted, her eyes never leaving the clearing as she spoke, though she had no trouble taking note of the way Vicky briefly preened under the praise, minor though it had been. She didn’t look to Amy for the brunette girl’s answer, either, keeping her senses stretched and wholly focused . “What else?”

“Their bodies are laid out weird, I guess? It doesn’t look like they were fighting a horde, like we did, I don’t know how to explain it.” Amy offered after a moment, a questioning lilt at the end of her response as she made a face in displeasure at her vocabulary failing her. Which was cute, to be clear, and also quite accurate. Well, her statement was accurate, it didn’t look like they’d been fighting a horde. They were to spread out and had fallen facing too many odd directions to have been circled up to defend themselves against a large number of enemies.

“Also a good point. I don’t know what happened either, but I’m pretty damn sure we’ll find out the minute that we step into the middle of that area. So does anyone need a break or some healing before we get started? Food? I have some in my inventory, if you girls are hungry.” she confirmed and offered in the same pair of breaths, looking between the two sisters. Amy looked hesitant, or tempted maybe, but Vicky shook her head firmly.

“No offense, boss, but I’d rather eat something after the boss fight. Just sitting here waiting would freak me out, and I wouldn’t be able to eat a damn thing even if I tried. Let kick this things ass and celebrate for a few afterwards.” she declared, which seemed to make an impression on Amy, given the way that she started nodding in agreement three-quarters of the way through Vicky’s statement.

“Same here, ma’am.” Amy added, shifting her grip on the mace she’d refused to put away in spite of Victoria’s more cautious and protective attitude since the gas station, thumb working restlessly against the worn leather wrap of the haft. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather get it over with. Besides, I have plenty of mana left, and I’m not hurt. Nobody is, and the minute anyone is, I’ll fix it. I promise.”

“Good girls.” Taylor didn’t quite mean to let the words slip out in that tone, but they did, low and warm and approving, and she watched both sisters react in very different ways. Amy’s breath hitched, a pleased little shiver running down her spine, while Vicky’s ears went pink as she studiously looked at nothing at all, somewhere off to her right. As unintentional as it had been, she did enjoy getting that reaction from people -certain people, at any rate- and she couldn’t quite help the pleased quirk that took to her lips. “Mmh. Then I’ll go in first. Amy, focus on healing, I don’t want you trying to get into melee with a boss, certainly not without some proper armor. Victoria, you stick with Amy until and unless I tell you otherwise, understood?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Amy answered at once, dipping her head in acknowledgement, fingers flexing on the grip of her weapon, but Vicky?

Vicky hesitated.

It was brief, no more than a heartbeat, but Taylor caught it, just as she caught the flicker of the old reflex in the set of the blonde’s jaw. The instinctual urge to argue, to insist that she should be the one to trigger the trap, to take the lead and the biggest risk. She could see the words forming, see the pride that was behind them and pushing, and she arched an eyebrow while saying a very loud nothing at all.

The pride lost, or perhaps it was better to say that good sense and the memory of the last time she disobeyed won. Vicky exhaled slowly, shoulders dropping.

“Understood.” she said, quieter. “I’ll keep her safe. But if something goes sideways, I’m not going to just stand around watching, boss. Fair warning. Amy would never forgive me if I let something happen to you, and neither would I.”

“Hmm.” Taylor made a soft sound of consideration as her eyes searched Vicky’s own, before she smiled. “I’ll trust you to use good judgment, then, but make sure it is good judgment. Otherwise, Amy might get to see what it looks like from the other end of things when someone is naughty.”

“Wait, what?! Amy?!”

“I…Taylor!”

Two voices reacted together, one in surprise and a certain sort of interest, the other in embarrassment and affectionate outrage, and Taylor laughed as a blushing Amy pouted and resolutely looked away from one amused face and one complicated one. She’d probably be paying for that sometime soon -her lover might be submissive, but there was being submissive and being submissive- and there’d likely be some acerbic commentary or pithy, snarkily delivered one-liners before and after that payback, but that suited her just fine. As much as she loved it when Amy was being soft and sweet and compliant, she loved it just as much when the other girl was being herself and letting her tongue wag in a decidedly non-sensual way.

“You can help me tell your sister the whole story while we eat, pretty girl.” she purred to her girlfriend, deepening that pout and blush alike, before sobering with a sigh that was only partially over-done. Gesturing to the carnage before them, she continued. “Before we can do that, however, we need to win this boss fight. Follow me in.”

################################################################################################

The three girls made their way -slowly, cautiously- across the perimeter of the obvious arena, crossing that almost-visible threshold and immediately tensing as they looked around for a potential attack. An attack which didn’t come and that, contrary to what some might expect, only made them all the more cautious when they kept creeping forward. For Taylor, she felt worse than cautious. It was like being in the end room of the damn Double Dungeon all over again, because everything was still. Nothing was moving, there was barely even a breeze, and her instincts were screaming at her something that she already knew. The problem was, she couldn’t see anything that would be the springing trap. The statues, at least in hindsight, had been obvious from a visual standpoint, impossible to miss. But unless the dozen or so dead soldiers were somehow the boss -which she really doubted-, she had no idea where their enemy was.

Which, she reflected a bit grimly to herself, was probably the entire point. A boss that announced itself or waited out in the open was a boss that you could plan for. A boss that waited for you to commit before ambushing you was something else entirely.

And ignorance most certainly wasn’t bliss, at least not in this situation.

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on one’s perspective, neither she nor her companions were left wondering for very long at all, because the moment that Taylor stepped into the center -the exact center- of the arena, everything immediately went pear-shaped. A flicker of movement in the corner of her eye had her calling out a warning to the other two and bringing up her blades just in time to catch the lightning-wreathed lance that had been aimed for her heart.

The blow landed with a crashing shriek, the force of the blow sending her skidding several feet back -her feet digging furrows in the ground beneath her- before she was forced to turn her block into a parry and backflip away to give herself some distance from her interlocutor.

He, the boss -and he very much looked like a boss- was wearing the armor of a medieval knight, though it was no longer the gleaming silver-grey metal or brightly colored cloth that it must have once been. Instead, the armor was pitted and rusted and rotten, the cloth was filthy and stained and torn, and the lance that he was wielding was soaked with blood. With a faint chime, his name appeared.

[The Fallen Hero: Jouster]

[«Protectorate Commander»]

His name was orange-red, so he was probably around ten or twenty levels above her. Which would be terrifying, especially with how fast and strong he was, if it wasn’t for the fact that she had a party. As it was, without Amy’s healing and her ability to Rest in her bed every night, she’d probably have been feeling that opening strike for the next several days at least.

As if sensing her thoughts in regards to her companions, Jouster’s helm turned towards the Dallon sisters, his weight shifting as a thin green cloud started to wind it’s way down the length of his lance from the cruelly-barbed point.

“Move!” she snapped in their direction, and to their credit they were already moving before she’d really started speaking, Vicky gathering Amy in her arms and darting aside with respectable speed. Speed that was just barely enough to get them out of the boss’ path as he blurred into motion, vanishing from his current location in one heartbeat and reappearing where the pair had been standing, his lance -missing them for a target- punching into the side of one of the wrecked vehicles.

An area some three feet in diameter of the vehicle’s side immediately began to rapidly dissolve, hissing and smelling acrid, due to what struck Taylor very much like some sort of super-acid. Which meant that the boss could channel multiple effects into his attacks. That being said, and as bad as it was, it looked like he was temporarily stopped in place every time he charged, and with that in mind Taylor flickered into motion herself as she launched a counter-attack.

She hit him from the side as she landed beside him, both blades carving across the exposed seam beneath his arm, and was rewarded with a spray of something dark and viscous that sizzled where it struck the pavement. It would have been a fatal blow, to a human, without immediate healing, but Jouster? He didn’t so much as grunt. Instead, he simply braced himself, tore his lance free of the dissolving car, and swung it around in a wide, vicious sweep that forced her to duck beneath it, the wind of its passing whipping her hair across her face and the faint green mist still trailing from the tip leaving a stinging, metallic taste at the back of her throat.

[Status Effect: Toxic Exposure (Minor) (Reduced Regeneration, -5% to CON)]

Great. Just from the cloud, no less. She didn’t want to know what a direct hit would do. Well, actually, looking at the truck she had something of an impression, and she wasn’t interested in finding out just how different -or similar- the effects would be to her clothes and skin.

Snarling softly, she spun back to her feet -swaying away from a vicious kick in the effort- and chanced a glance at the two sisters, each of them staying back and looking for an opportunity to do what they could to help without putting themselves needlessly at risk.

Good.

And now Amy had her first opportunity to help, even if she rather wished that wasn’t the case.

“Amy, cleanse!”

“Got it!”

Amy’s hands promptly flared with soft golden light, and a wave of warmth washed over Taylor from head to toe. The metallic stinging burn and the growing weight that seemed attached to her limbs vanished in an instant, what health she had lost was restored, and she was grinning in relief and satisfaction as she watched the icon indicating the debuff vanish with nary a proverbial whimper from her HUD.

[Status Effect: Toxic Exposure (Minor) has been removed!]

This was exactly the sort of thing that made Taylor so incredibly happy to have a healer in her party, that ability to get rid of a relatively minor issue before it could become a more significant one. The fact that the healer in question was an incredibly attractive girl that was at the least crushing hard on Taylor -and being crushed on in turn, to be sure- only made things that much better. She cared deeply about her Amy, after all, and…

Jouster, mid-swing and looking entirely committed to a follow-up thrust, stopped in his tracks.

Not stumbled, not faltered, nothing that would give and indication of surprise or perturbment that Taylor had been healed. He simply stopped, and his rusted helm turned ever-so-slowly, away from Taylor and her blades and the opening she was already moving to exploit, to lock onto the shortest of the girls.

Onto Amy, and Taylor’s blood ran cold.

The trash mobs had never done that. Not the Nilbogged townsfolk, not the Corrupted Troopers, not a single one of the dozens of enemies that they had cut down on the way here. They had gone for whatever was closest, whatever was loudest, whatever was bleeding. Even Taoquan and his wolves had been like that, attacking whatever was most vulnerable or the least prepared, back in their first dungeon together. A sort of base, animal cunning at best, not true intelligence.

This was something else entirely.

This was something that had watched a spell take effect, knew what it meant, and identified the source.

This was something that knew to target the healer.

“Amy! Run!” she shouted, already lunging, but she was a heartbeat to slow and three steps too far away to do a damn thing about what happened next.

Jouster didn’t charge.

That was the first, terrible surprise, because Taylor had expected him to do exactly that. It seemed to be his theme, his ability, to move in a straight line at an incredible speed, alongside with God-only-knows however many effects he could use on his lance. Nothing she’d seen so far would imply that he would do anything else in a situation like this, but something else is exactly what happened. Instead of charging, he instead cocked his arm back and hurled his lance straight at his target. Eight feet of wood and steel left his hand with an echoing crack, wreathed in lightning, and Amy had barely even begun to move, her eyes only just starting to widen.

She wouldn’t make it. The lance would take her in the chest, and Taylor didn’t know if she’d survive it. She wouldn’t even have time to scream.

But Taylor wasn’t the only one present that loved Amy, and Vicky was so much closer than she.

With a roar that was as much terror as it was rage, Vicky swept Amy into her arms and spun, blocking the incoming attack with her body as a golden shield -faint, oscillating, barely visible- snapped into being around her body…and promptly shattered, as lightning arced off of the oncoming lance and slammed into it. An instant later, the lance hit, punching clear through Vicky’s stomach and punching into the ground mere inches from the now-prone Amy’s own chest.

“VICKY!” two voices screamed, and Taylor’s eyes burned as the song of her blades chorused again, just as they had when she had fought Taoquan.

{̴̛͖A̶͎̥̬͙̚b̸̦̮̊͛̃i̷̧̳̻͍͑͝l̸̡̤̝̀͐͋ì̴̫̪̼͒̕͝ẗ̶͇̻͎̼y̴̡͔̹͎̎̈́̑͘ ̷̢̺̻̒A̵͈̼͌ḉ̶̟̣̬̾̉̅t̷̡̛̪̲̬͛̀ì̵̢͙̿͘̕v̵͚̈́̾̿̕a̸̘̒̈ṭ̸̜͋̐͌͘ę̶̘͎͙́́d̴͙̙͋́͝:̵̱̰͈̯͆̎ ̸̝͐͜D̴̳̍̃̆ų̷̨̚t̸̮͙̣͐́̄͗y̴͉͑̇̏ ̴͎̝̩̠̊̋͑̂o̶̼̒͠ͅf̵̥͎͖͋ ̶͚̦͐̽ͅt̶̟̞̔̀̂h̶̩͖͎͍̀ȅ̸̹ ̸̫̺͊̎̈́̊C̶͎̞͊̏͋r̷͖̬̱͌̔͗ö̵͍̺̩́w̸͍͕̉͌͝n̸̳̼͔̉̄̈̅}̸̟̫̋́̈́͌

The world narrowed. To the sound of Amy’s horrified scream, to the sight of Victoria -pinned like a butterfly, lance stained bright in her blood, slumping bonelessly to her knees-, to the monster who had done it to her. To the chiming from her blades, the crystalline song that rang with wrath and hunger, to the three strides that separated her from her enemy. Three steps that vanished in the space of a thought as she attacked, swinging those blades in glittering arcs as she began to carve into him. He flickered away after three consecutive blows struck home, holding out his hand in a beckoning gesture that had his lance tearing free of Vicky’s body and flying back to it just in time for him to block her next barrage of assaults, and the battle began to rage in truth.

#######################################################################################################

She hadn’t thought about it for even a moment, when she’d put herself between the attacking boss and her precious sister. Hadn’t hesitated, hadn’t cared that she could be hit, and now that she’d been impaled, she didn’t regret it for even a moment. Not because she had faith that her sister’s healing would save her, though she did, but because protecting Amy was what mattered to her more than anything else in the world. So when she fell forward, no longer held up by the now-withdrawn weapon, and when she flopped and rolled off of her sister to lie on her back on the ground, her bloody lips were curved in a small, trembling, but all-too-genuine smile as Amy spun around to kneel over her.

“Stupid. Stupid, stupid, you idiot, why would you—!” Amy’s voice was shredded, cracking on every word, her hands already hovering over the ragged, gaping wound in Vicky’s stomach as golden light poured from her palms. It wasn’t the soft glow she used for scrapes and sprains, either. It was blinding, desperate, the kind of power that felt as though it could drag a person back from the other side of the line by sheer force of will. “Don’t you dare even think about dying on me. I’ll never forgive you if you do!”

“‘M not…going anywhere.” Vicky managed, and she winced at the wet, burbling sound of her own voice before coughing with a grimace of discomfort, the familiar sensations of her body knitting itself together sending ants crawling beneath her skin. “Had to…had to keep you safe. Love you.”

“I love you too, so much…you stupid idiot, now shut up and focus on breathing before I decide to finish the job that bastard started.” the healer growled out the words, swinging from heartfelt and loving in the first half of a breath to heartfelt and angry in the second. Not that Vicky would blame her for it, her sister could be sharp-tongued at the best of times, which this certainly wasn’t. She felt something snap back into place -a rib, probably, one she hadn’t even realized had been displaced-, and Amy finally settled back on her heels. “There, you’re fine, for now.”

“Good, then I…Taylor! Look out!” Vicky started to respond, looking towards the ongoing fight, just in time to spot several of the Trooper corpses rise to their feet and turn towards the vicious whirlwind of violence that was her party leader and the boss.

“Vicky, kill them!” Amy promptly ordered, snatching up her mace and shooting to her feet with a snarl firmly on her features. When Vicky looked at her in protest-born hesitation, she gestured around them. “Do it! I can protect myself from these guys long enough for you to kill the others, and Taylor is keeping the boss busy! I’ll be fine!”

Vicky didn’t need to be told a second time, quite the contrary. She might have doubted Amy, not more than a few hours ago, and part of her rebelled at the idea of leaving her sister to defend herself, she knew a bit better now. She’d seen Amy fight, and against far larger numbers than this. Besides, the best way she could protect Amy now was by killing the adds and helping Taylor deal with the boss.

So, that’s what she set out to do.

She was on her feet in a flash, surging across the distance separating her from the first of the undead soldiers with something hot and fierce burning in her chest, burning away the last of the ache -now phantom, thank God- from her now-vanished lance-wound as it tried to raise it’s rifle. A rifle that didn’t get a chance to do anything at all as a trio of hard, vicious punches caved in it’s chest and crushed it’s faceplate, leaving it to crumple to the ground even as she turned towards the next.

Paradoxically, charging into battle again made her feel so much better, helped quiet her thoughts and soothe her restless heart a bit. This was what she was good at, what she was good for. Fighting, and protecting people. The simple clarity of killing monsters and safeguarding her party, her family. No confused attraction, no guilty desires, no quiet and persistent voice in the back of her head that made her doubt herself.

She was meant to stand between good and evil, and even as she took another trooper apart she thought back the hard proof of that fact, the proof that had been quite literally shoved in her face when she'd entered this dungeon: her ‘special skill’, Invictus. As good a name as any, she supposed. ‘Unconquered’, being bloody but unbowed. She’s always liked that poem, and so it seemed appropriate that she was in her own way emulating its meaning, with a Skill that relied on using herself as a human shield and letting her barrier take hits that would otherwise be crippling, or even fatal. She’d expected to do the same with the boss’ lance. She just hadn’t expected the lightning to arc like that and shatter that barrier before the lance had actually arrived, leaving her vulnerable.

Not that she regretted it, of course. Barrier or no barrier, she never would have let it hit Amy, no matter what the cost might have been. Would have been, if her sister wasn’t one of the most powerful healers in the world.

Her barrier shattered from the final knife-strike of the third trooper, leaving her vulnerable, and the fourth managed to get a shot off before she could reach it or evade until her defenses regenerated. The blast of toxic foam splattering across her shoulder and arm with a wet slap. It hissed against her skin, thick and clinging, and she felt the immediate drag of it, the sluggish heaviness spreading down through her bicep as her health bar ticked downward in a slow, steady bleed.

[Status Effect: Corrosive Foam (Sapping Health, -10% to DEX, STR, CON)]

“Ugh. Gross, gross, gross!” she snarled, ripping a handful of the stuff away from her arm and flinging it aside, where it hit the pavement and began to eat a shallow pit into the asphalt. The trooper tried to fire again, and she answered by driving her palm up beneath its chin hard enough to snap its head back on its shoulders with a sickening crack of snapping bones. “Amy! Poison!”

“Yeah, I’ve got it, gimme a second!” her sister hollered in response, and she chanced a glance back just in time to see Amy -with a harsh grunt- slam her mace into the head of another trooper and sending it reeling sideways before it collapsed to the ground. A moment, a thought, and a flick of her fingers later had Vicky’s ailment being cured just as quickly as Taylor’s had been, and Vicky gave a holler of thanks before locking her eyes onto her next target and attacking.

Before long, the last of the adds was dead, and Vicky was charging to Taylor’s assistance. Taylor, whose clothes bore the marks of many a near-miss or glancing blow, and it was obvious just from looking at her that she was more than a little worn out and ragged around the edges as a result of fighting the boss one-on-one for the past handful of minutes.

But ragged and worn or not, she was still standing and still fighting, and judging from the looks of Jouster she’d landed plenty of hits herself. And from the looks of things, he wasn’t the one dictating the pace of the fight any longer, either. Though how long Taylor could keep up the punishing pace she’d send since he’d tried to kill Amy, Vicky didn’t care to guess. Fortunately, she wouldn’t have to, because now she was free to help the other girl instead.

“Taylor! I’m coming in!” she warned as she approached, and the ravenette twisted deftly, momentarily grappling the boss’ lance with her twin blades and using the leverage to force him to turn his back towards the charging blonde. Vicky grinned fiercely at the freshly-provided vulnerability that had just been handed to her on a silver platter, and as Taylor disengaged and backtracked she slammed into the boss like a wrecking ball.

Her fist connected with the small of his back, right at the seam where the breastplate and the cuisse sat, and there was a satisfying crunch as Jouster was sent lurching forward, armor crumpling slightly from the impact. Another blow followed, then a third, and a fourth, and then his reeling form fell into a pair of deft, vicious swipes from Taylor’s blades.

With the two of them hammering him at once, it quickly became clear that Jouster’s earlier successes had relied on his speed and the power of his lance. Without the ability -the time and the space- to charge or prepare a powerful attack, he was nothing more than a man-monster trapped in melee with two enemies whose weapons were far more suited for such close quarters than his own. Not to say that he was helpless, because he wasn’t, but while he was able to land a few hits and cause more than a little pain in the two young women picking him apart, they were nowhere near as powerful as they could otherwise have been. Paired with Amy’s healing, it didn’t take long at all for them to pick him apart.

It was, perhaps appropriately, Vicky that landed the final blow, knocking him to the ground and hammering his head repeatedly until his helmet finally gave way and his head was crushed. The corpse twitched once, twice, a third time, and for the longest moment all three girls waited to see if there would be another phase to this fight, another enemy to contend with or some miraculous -for want of a better word- resurrection of their seemingly-slain enemy.

Nothing came, no threat presented itself. Instead, a series of triumphant-tone chimes echoed around them as windows started popping up.

[The Fallen Hero: Jouster has been defeated!]

[Party has received EXP; 48,500!]

[Three Rewards Acquired!]

[Player has leveled up! Player is now Level Thirty-Two!]

[Victoria Dallon has leveled up! Victoria is now Level Sixty-Three!]

[Amelia Dallon has leveled up! Amelia is now Level Seventy-Two!]

Taylor didn’t have long to enjoy the surge of strength that rolled through her, or even to appreciate how rapidly the bruises and aches from the past several minutes were fading in its wake, because thank God for level-up full-heals. The windows were still appearing, stacking atop one another in a neat cascade, and she dismissed the more mundane ones with a flick of her fingers to get at what she really wanted to see.

[Loot Drops!]

[Item Acquired: Gauntlets of the Fallen Hero (Unique) – Bound to Victoria Dallon]

[Description: Forged from the gauntlets of a once-great Protectorate commander, these armored gloves carry the lingering heat of the fires that burned his city. Channeling mana through the knuckles allows the wearer to discharge short-ranged bolts of explosive fire magic from the palms or fists (15 Foot Range), to give themselves short bursts of speed, or to increase the force of their punches. Damage scales with STR and INT.]

[Item Acquired: Vestments of the Worshipful Healer (Unique) – Bound to Amelia Dallon]

[Description: A complete set of lightweight armor, woven with silvery silken thread and warded against both toxins and blades. Healing spells cast by the wearer will “echo” onto a second target within range (60 Feet), replicating the full effect of the original without additional cost in energy. Wearer’s Healing Power increased by 20%.]

Taylor read that one twice, then a third time for good measure. The difference between Vicky and Amy’s loot was stark, and though Vicky’s reward wasn’t exactly bad by any stretch of the imagination -far from it, and she didn’t doubt the blonde pugilist would be able to use them to devastating effect- it was obvious to her that Amy’d received the lion’s share. Something that, she was quite willing to bet, could be put down to Amy’s much higher Loyalty.

The name wasn’t exactly subtle, after all.

Shaking her head, and making a note to poke around in the System more and see if she could discover just how true that supposition was and what else might be affected by Loyalty that she had missed the first few times around due to embarrassment, she at last turned her attention to her own reward.

Unlike the girls, it wasn’t a piece of loot. Not really. Instead, it was something that was much, much better.

[Tanha and Gilati have Harvested a new Talent!]

[Talent Harvested: Jouster’s Conduit]

[Description: Jouster’s Talented ability of channeling magical and effect-based attacks through his weapon has been absorbed! Tanha and Gilati may now be enhanced with status effects, elemental damage buffs, or other utility effects at will, costing MP. Possible effects include harvested Talents, spells, abilities, and special techniques.]

Taylor stared at the description for a long moment, then looked down at the blades in her hands. They were still singing faintly, that crystalline, hungry hum that never quite went away after a good fight, and she could have sworn that the tone had shifted somehow. Deepened, ripened, thickened. Like a pair of very satisfied cats purring in pleasure.

Well, aren’t you two just greedy little things. she thought, flexing her fingers around the grips, and was rewarded with a faint pulse of warmth against her palms, like they were responding to the mental words. Responding, and asking for more. Asking to be fed.

She…would have to unpack that sometime. For the time being, she had loot to distribute, a lunch to buy from the System Shop, and a break to take before she and the girls -her girls, her companions, her lover and the girl rapidly becoming her friend- tried to delve deeper into this place.

The raid wasn’t over yet, but they had all the time in the world to do things right, and she’d make sure that they did. It was the least of her responsibilities, especially after her demand for healing over a minor status effect had put Amy in danger and nearly gotten Victoria killed.

She’d made a mistake, never even considered something like Jouster’s display of intelligence could happen, and she owed Victora a debt as a result. A down payment consisting of a humble apology and a promise -ironic, given the events earlier in the raid- to be better would have to be made during their meal.

Shaking her head and huffing a soft sigh, she materialized the two pieces of loot and turned towards the girls, gesturing towards the nearest piece of relatively clean grass.

“Alright, girls, let’s get you your loot and get something to eat. It’s break time!”