Chapter 152.2: Infiltration
PART 2/2
Now, I thought as I stepped up to the wall of the outpost, can you go in there and make sure everyone’s asleep? And maybe find exactly where that Spell Crystal is?
“Wow,” Index said with an obvious sarcastic tone, “I feel like my breadth of knowledge is so appreciated.”
It’s your fault for being such an amazing scout.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” it grumbled. A few moments passed, and then it eventually said, “okay, found it.”
Great. Guide me in here. Still can’t really see very well in the dark.
I crept into the outpost, trying not to make a sound so as to not cause any unnecessary complications, and found Jannin, currently passed out on a chair. I snuck my hand into his pocket, fished around for just a second, and…
Found it!
I gripped my fingers around a small marble. Jannin stirred, seeming like he was about to wake up, but that didn’t matter. The job was done. As quickly as I could, I did what I’d done before with the Poison Spell Crystal for Noxious Grasp, pushing my Mana into the object and feeling it tether the ‘soul’ of the Crystal with my Status. Within just a second or two, I could mentally feel that the Crystal had been emptied of its power, with it instead having been dragged into myself. All that was left was to direct that energy to one of the three ‘holes’ it could fit into, and I selected the one I’d decided on already.
Threshold reached. Sanguine Bond XP has reached 355.
Sanguine Bond Rank has increased to 10.
Due to Sanguine Bond Rank reaching 10, it has undergone the following changes:
Mana Cost: From 238 to 298
Health Drain: From 6.21 to 6.52
Stamina Drain: From 7.76 to 8.15
Mana Drain: From 9.31 to 9.78
Health Regeneration: From 1.55 to 1.63
Stamina Regeneration: From 3.11 to 3.27
Mana Regeneration: From 4.65 to 4.88
Sanguine Bond Upgrade has become available.
“What’s…going on…” Jannin muttered, eyes slowly beginning to open. No sense staying in this timeline any longer, so I just went ahead and activated Time Loop.
In the in-between space, I was technically offered options to go upwards of five hours back. But five hours ago, I was drunk and asleep. And even if coming back woke me up, I still kind of needed the rest, so I could at least sober up again. So really, I only wanted to come back to around five or ten minutes ago.
But since I kept all XP earned, it was still smartest to use Time Loop to its maximum potential here. I could just go back to five hours ago and head straight to sleep once again, that way I could reuse those hours for practicing Noxious Grasp in my slumber. So I made my choice, and—
And then I was back, lying in that same bush. And holy shit, I was drunk.
The feeling was unlike any other; I’d gone from stone-cold sober to blasted out my ass in an instant, and it did not feel good. Holy fuck.
I attempted to situate myself on the ground, but my entire sense of direction and where I was had been destroyed by the mixture of Time Loop transporting me into a new body, and that body’s brain being poisoned by copious amounts of alcohol. So instead of moving into a more comfortable position, I twisted my already-broken arm into a horrible spot and groaned in pain.
Then, before I could really even fix it back to be in the position it’d been in, exhaustion overtook me and I promptly passed out.
I awoke in much the same situation I’d awoken in during the previous timeline—that is, lying in a bush with aching limbs and a hangover. For a moment, I forgot I’d already gone back and gotten the Spell Upgrade and was preparing to go and do that, until I checked my Status and saw that I already had it, and was missing a use of Time Loop. At that point, the memories of what’d happened flooded back to me.
“Father, you are awake!” Ainash said in a much familiar way that she did before. “Are you still funny head?”
“No,” I laughed to myself. “I’m not funny head.”
She reached down and helped me get up. “What should do now? Need to get Spell Crystal thing?”
“I already got that, so no need. At this point, we can probably go ahead and travel to that town up the road,” I pointed, and she looked down the road at the set of walls.
“Lots of Humans there?”
“Yeah, there’ll be a bunch. But none of them will be bad guys, so you won’t need to worry.”
“What about mean guys?”
“Mean guys?”
“Last night, you punch Human and said he was not bad guy, just mean guy. Do not kill mean guys, but just hurt them so they not mean anymore.”
“Oh, right,” I nodded, remembering the events more clearly. Bon was being a pretty big asshole, so he kind of deserved a punch. Though I also definitely went too far. “There’ll probably be some mean guys. But you’ll get in trouble if you hurt them, so try not to.”
“You will get me in trouble?”
“No, no…” I stopped to think, trying to figure out how I’d explain the concept of Human government and law enforcement to her. Maybe Erani would be better at that; she seemed to have an easier time translating complex topics like those into thought messages with Ainash. Looking down at Erani, I saw she was still passed out, seeming like she was resting somewhat peacefully.
“Should wake mother up?”
“Let’s just let her sleep for now,” I said, sitting back down and leaning up against a tree. “It’s still dark, so she could probably use it.”
“Okay!” Ainash sat down too.
“Have you rested at all?”
“Mmm…no, have been protecting you!”
I laughed. “Well it’s my turn now. Lie down and get some sleep, kiddo.”
“I did good job?”
“Yeah, you did a great job. You deserve some rest after everything you did, too.”
“Okay!” She laid down, twilight just barely beginning in the dark sky. Her bright, flaming eyes stared up at me. “Will town be good?”
“What do you mean?”
“Will I…like it?”
“I think you will,” I nodded. “There’ll definitely be some mean guys. And maybe a couple bad guys, even. But I also think there’s a lot of good there. You can think of anything you want, and someone will have made it and they’ll be willing to trade it to you for something else. You can find amazing, towering buildings in the sky that’ll blow your mind when you see them. You can feel safe from the walls and the guards…I think you might also be able to make some friends. I’m telling you, there are a lot of good Humans out there.”
“Sound very interesting!”
“It is. I’m excited to get there too.” I leaned over and rubbed her head, ruffling her already wild hair. “Now get some sleep. You won’t want to be tired the whole trip there.”
“Okay!” And with that, she shut her eyes.
Again, I laughed to myself. What a cute kid. She was totally gonna love that place.
But that was later. For now, I needed to focus, myself, and make that decision for my Spell Upgrade. Sanguine Bond apparently had a few solid options, according to Index, so I was excited to see what they were.
Eagerly awaiting the chance to open up the Upgrade Choice, I closed my eyes and started meditating.
And when I was finally able to view them, my face morphed into a frown. Not of disappointment, but of disbelief. What in the…
“Yeah,” Index said, “they’re pretty weird.”
These choices were nowhere near what Noxious Grasp had offered me. They were obviously powerful, but they were also just…kind of insane in the way some of them worked. Sanguine Bond was already a pretty unique Spell, but these Upgrades took that to a whole new level.
I barely even knew how I was going to pick between these.
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