[Epitaph: Hunter’s Heart (Heart)
You breathe in, you smell blood
You grin, you kill, a flower buds.]
I look at the epitaph. The little poem, generally, should tell me what it is about, and I think I can tell. This would probably increase the sensitivity of my smell, and my tracking ability, while letting me grow… some sort of flower from the corpses of things I kill? Probably a healing flower, since it’s heart-aligned.
That’s decent, but I generally don’t need healing after a fight is over. That’s when I have plenty of mana to spare, after all. I can already feel more and more trickling into my vessel. Plus, while my sword is constantly disintegrating, it will also last for at least another hour or so by itself.
In that time, I can use it to steal mana from other living things. Like, say, by stabbing trees. The Earthmother might not exactly be thrilled at that, but as long as I prove I’m strong enough, it should be fine. So, I turn down the Epitaph. It minimizes, but there’s another notification letting me know I can accept it anytime. Which is nice. Now I just need to find the others from the group again.
Or so I think, until there’s a soft brush of mana on my skin. A moment later, the air pops, and Opal appears next to me. Their clothes are stained with blood, and their sword is positively drenched in it, but still, they smile at me. “Yo, Snow. Ready to go back up?”
I look at them for a long moment. “Are the others allowed to?”
Their smile widens. “No one got that big a challenge, y’know? Well, Jess did, of course, but we pitched in. Înu’s a bit hurt, but she’s tough. We’re set.”
Slowly, I shake my head. “You were done earlier, weren’t you?”
“Yep,” they admit instantly. “Just waiting for you.”
“And you decided not to ‘pitch in’ for me?” I ask.
Opal grins, brightly. “Nope!” they say. “You had it handled, after all.”
I did. It was handled. Again, my eyes flicker to the disintegrating corpse. I pluck one of the flowers from its eye, infusing it with a breath of mana that marks it as mine. The tower won’t consume it, that way.
Then, I turn to opal. “Alright. Let’s head back up.”
- - -
Our first expedition was a reasonable success. We went there to gain levels, and we did, to a reasonable degree. Jess grew a lot, since her fire was very effective against the forest. It would have done less, but I helped it out.
Bile is hiding down there, still. He didn’t come up with us, but he did give us a spot where we could exchange messages. Some kind of dead-drop type thing. This expedition was chaotic, but if we really want to ascend, then we need to be more methodical in how we do things.
That, or we need to get more magic items. If everyone had cloaks like the one I made for Norman, hiding our presences and actions… that’d be nice, but it would also take me months to make.
No, instead of the cloaks, we should just adjust our strategy a bit to be more targeted. If we caused less widespread destruction, there wouldn’t be any large monsters. At worst, we’d meet one of the apex predators.
But it would be less likely than if we burned down so much.
Frankly, we’d gotten lucky that the snyder and the avatars were what we met. Well, maybe not lucky. The tower does, generally, try to keep challenges difficult but adequate. After all, being crushed by someone far more powerful than you is hardly a learning experience.
Now, that does not mean that this is the case everywhere, but the Earthmother also is a fairness-enjoyer, so it holds largely true on this floor. Which is amusing, considering it is one of the most lethal places in the tower.
According to what we’ve heard and read in a few guidebooks on this floor, many, many climbers die in the undergrowth. Finding a path back upwards can be hard, especially if the forest does not want you to find one. We are reasonably high level for this floor, but if someone just barely made the requirement before heading up, coming face to face with things in their forties could be very lethal.
Thatch seems to like it though. Not as much as Sylves, of course, but then again, this is the kind of environment she thrives in. The forest also seems to like her, which is nice.
In comparison, Thatch feels almost… out of place? He’s not super big on forests or nature, usually. But he likes it. He kept picking flowers of different colours, trying to be all sneaky about it. I smile at the thought.
A few of my precious chits were spent on getting him a set of brushes as a gift. I just handed them to him, then walked away as he spluttered. It was pretty funny. What a silly guy.
For now, I sit in my room, working some more on my skill. I’ve mostly deciphered the inscriptions on the cleaning rag that Harry gave me, and stored many of them inside my head. The lattice of information is becoming more elaborate, and each time I add something, I tweak it a little to make sure it’s in place properly.
A tingle of mana runs across my skin, and I open my eyes. “Come in,” I say, before there’s even a knock at the door.
It creaks open, and Inu walks into my room, alongside Jess. I look at the two of them, saying nothing. My friend gives me a wave, and her mom awkwardly looks aside. It’s kind of funny, seeing Jess be so weird about stuff.
“This isn’t for another training session,” Inu says. “This is me making a very selfish request, Snow.”
She looks at me, and I see worry in her eyes. The knowledge that her request might be pushing it. I tilt my head a little, curious what she wants. I really wanna know. Jess sits at the small table in my room, and I hop off my bed, joining them. The silence is awkward, until Inu forces a crooked grin on her face.
“Snow, this is my mom, Jess,” she says, as if introducing her. “She’s been feeling a bit… overwhelmed with the tower.”
I tilt my head even more. Jess had a rough start, but since then has been perfectly calm about things, hasn’t she? Too calm, almost. I glance at Inu. If it was too calm, she must have noticed.
“This is what I wanna ask of you, Snow. Could you show my mom what kind of person you are?” Inu asks.
She looks at me with a crooked, awkward smile. She knows what she’s asking. I stare at her, unblinking, with a calm face.
[Suppression 16 > 17]
I stare at her. Feeling that cruel nothingness boiling inside me. There’s no twitch in my eye, there’s no word that leaves my lips. Jess doesn’t look at me. It’s just Inu.
[Suppression 17 > 18]
Brutally, I control myself. I reach for my water bottle, the refilling phial, slow and controlled. I flip up the top, and take a sip. Then I very gently place it down on the table. I look at Inu. Then I look at Jess. I look at Inu. Slowly, I take a deep breath. Slowly, I drop the thoughts that bounce in my head.
One by one, everything falls into that deep hole. Every stray impulse gets discarded and forgotten.
I like Inu lots. So it’s okay. I forgive the unforgivable. I force my lips into a thin smile, and Inu’s face falls at it. She knows. She must know.
Seconds tick by, and I take another sip of water. Then, gently, I reply. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Please,” Inu whispers.
Jess finally meets my eyes. Her gaze is frozen. She smells of ice. I close my eyes for a moment. Then, I ask myself a simple question: What is the kindest thing to do, here? I want to be a kind person, after all.
[Selection 15 > 16]
I look at Jess.
[Selection 16 > 17]
“Okay,” I reply, just as quietly as Inu’s request. She lights up, a tiny bit, and smiles. I look at her, with my own blank face, and decide, once again, to try and care about her. And if that means being honest with Jess, then so be it. It’ll be fine. Maybe. Probably. Surely.
Jess looks at me with those icy eyes, and thaws just a tiny bit. She melts like snow in the face of the sun that is her daughter. I watch as she nods at me. And then, I let Inu connect us and watch her expression shift into fear.
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