A breather chapter before the fight resumes.

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Garnet finally opened her eyes. She saw Leeroy, who was shouting. Her eyelids felt heavy and she closed them. When she opened them again, it was Ruby and Anna standing by her side. She tried to reach up, but she could not move her arm. Shortly after, she closed her eyes again. It was not until the third time that Garnet opened her eyes that she was finally able to move.

In front of her was Ruby and Anna. "What happened?" Garnet groaned. She could barely get the words out of her mouth.

"Mommy?" asked Ruby. She had a scared look on her face.

"I'm okay," said Garnet.

Ruby's face changed a little bit. It was no longer like she was about to cry. Garnet tried to get up, but she could not.

"Don't move," said Anna. "You lost a lot of blood."

Garnet had her arm torn pretty badly by the Siren. She could not distinguish the blood from her clothes at the time. Even though she lost a good chunk of her health, she was not dead. Despite this, she was still suffering from other conditions like blood loss.

"Don't you remember?" asked Anna. "Charlie about how you fought against the monster."

Garnet tried to remember, but the last thing she remembered was blacking out. The monstrous Siren was not dead. She did not even know how injured it was. "I didn't kill it," said Garnet. "It's still out there."

"But you held it off," said Anna. "That alone is a great achievement."

"Are you going to be okay?" asked Ruby. She was holding back and trying not to say anything, but she was clearly still worried.

"Yes," said Garnet. "Mommy just needs to sleep for a while."

"What happened to everyone?" asked Garnet.

"Leeroy was the first to recover after the monster was pushed back," said Anna. "With the Duke, the two of them were able to push the others away until they were far enough away from the monster to recover."

"I see," said Garnet. "Next time, I will finish it off."

"You need to rest first," said Anna. "That injury is pretty bad," she said pointing at Garnet's arm.

Garnet turned her head to the side and saw that there was a bandage wrapped from her palm up to almost her elbow. That was where the Siren had injured her. The bandage was changed at least multiple times as there was no blood on it anymore. "How long was I out?" asked Garnet.

"About half a day," said Anna. "I'm surprised you were up so quickly."

It was the Hero System. As long as your health recovered, so did your injuries. Even a fatal wound that would normally kill someone could probably be healed as long as you found ways to restore your health. "Where's the Duke?" Garnet asked.

"He's assembling a special hunting group," said Anna.

"That won't work," said Garnet. "It affects nearly all the men."

"That's why this one is mostly women," said Anna.

"That won't work, the Siren will not appear unless there are men that can be affected by its song," said Garnet. "That's why I could not find it earlier and why it tried to kill me and Charlie."

This was important information. "I must tell the Duke at once," said Anna. She ran off, leaving Garnet with Ruby.

"Sorry for making you worry," said Garnet.

"Just promise me you won't go anywhere for a long time without telling me," said Ruby.

"I promise," said Garnet. She tried to move her arm to comfort Ruby, but she could not. "Can you come to the other side?" Garnet asked.

Ruby circled around the bed to the other side. Garnet raised up her arm and stuck out her pinky. "You raise out yours too," said Garnet.

Ruby raised her pinky too. Garnet wrapped her pinky around Ruby's. "You do the same," said Garnet. Ruby wrapped her pinky around Garnet's. "This is called a pinky swear, it is a way of making a promise."

"Okay," said Ruby. There was a smile on her face now. She believed Garnet and that was what mattered.

Duke Wellington ran into the room. "You're okay!" he shouted. He ran up to Garnet's bed.

"Stop!" shouted Ruby. "The old man said no touch, no move!"

Duke Wellington wanted to hug Garnet again, but since she was injured from the last battle, the recommendation was that she should not move. The Duke had forgotten about it and backed off when Ruby got in the way.

"Your plan won't work," said Garnet.

"Why not?" asked Duke Wellington.

"The Siren will not appear unless there is a large enough group of men," said Garnet. "When I tried to look for it myself, that was why it did not appear."

"But if we go with a large group of men, then they will fall under the spell of the monster," said Duke Wellington.

"You need to use them as bait," said Garnet. "Gather a group of fairly weak male guards and bring in a few women that can fight. Most of the women will distract and hold off the men under its spell while a small group of maybe two or three fight the Siren itself."

Most of the guards that the Duke would have to bring would actually work against them. However, it was probably what was needed in order to bait out the Siren. The question was why did so few bodies wash up on shore despite the ability to call out to such a large number of men at once. That was something that bothered Garnet very much.

"What about archers or magicians?" asked Duke Wellington. "We need them too."

"Archers will not help," said Garnet. "The Siren had very strong skin. I could not break its skin, even with magic. I'm not even sure how much damage my last attack did to it, but it was clearly injured enough to have to back away, but not enough to kill it. Unless you have very strong archers, it probably won't work."

"So we need strong magicians," said Duke Wellington. "That's hard."

"Do you know anyone who might help?" asked Garnet.

"There's only one," said Duke Wellington. "But I do not like to ask her."

"You mean Freud?" Garnet asked.

"No," said Duke Wellington. "She's busy with her research and she's not much of a fighter."

That was surprising. Freud was a high level mage. "How did she get so strong without fighting?" Garnet wondered. She wanted to know the secret. The same thing might extend to Zedd and the nobles. They were becoming high level without the need for fighting like Garnet had to. "Then who is it?" Garnet asked.

"Duchess Kiko," said Duke Wellington.

It was another Duke. He would have to ask another Duke for help. When he wanted to consolidate power, he had to turn to another Duke for help. "Why her?" asked Garnet.

"Each of the Dukes sort of focus on something different," said Duke Wellington. "I have abnormally strong infantry, Kiko has abnormally strong mages."

"Then ask her for help," said Garnet. "It would be a good chance to build a good relationship with her."

"There's a problem," said Duke Wellington. "She may want to kill you."

"Why?" asked Garnet. "What does she have against me?"

"Because I married you," said Duke Wellington. "She originally wanted me to marry her so that we could unite our territories."

In other words, a political marriage. It was exactly what he needed in order to consolidate his power and push to be King. But, it was also what the Duke was against in the first place. He disliked political marriages and he was one of those that pursued romantic love, wanting a marriage with someone he loved.

"Everyone else out," said Garnet. "Just me and the Duke."

Anna took Ruby by the hand. "This is important for them, let's leave them alone." The two headed out. Now it was just Garnet and Charles.

"You need to do it," said Garnet. This was her chance to push for a political marriage. After all, Garnet was unsuited to be a Queen anyways. As a slave, she would earn a lot of hate and so would the King if people discovered that the King was married to a slave.

"But you're the one I want to be with," said Duke Wellington.

"If you want to be King, you're going to have to make some tough decisions and make some sacrifices," said Garnet. "This will be your first one. If you choose me over the kingdom, you may have problems in the future."

Duke Wellington was scared for the first time. Even though he had made enormous strides towards his goal. He had not been faced with a decision such as this. He had to choose between two. He either would have to give up his pursuit of the throne or he would have to give up Garnet.

"You don't have to decide immediately," said Garnet. "There are always other solutions if you can find them."

"What do you mean?" asked Duke Wellington. "How can I take a third option?"

"A King only has one official wife, that is the Queen," said Garnet. "The other option is for me to become a Concubine or a Consort, but you would have to convince the Queen that inheritance to the throne is by order of birth."

It was normal for a ruler, King or Queen, to have multiple spouses and children with them. The idea was that it was more likely for the bloodline to continue and less likely that someone would be able to kill them all off. It was clear that Duke Wellington was against this, but he had little choice. To consolidate his power in four years. He could certain build the economy, but political power was different altogether. To earn the support of the other nobles was much more difficult, especially if the Queen was a slave. The thought that a former slave would now hold power over them would be unthinkable.

"I need time to think about this," said Duke Wellington. He was considering it, but it was not something he could decide immediately. It meant that he would have to give up his original plans. He would have to convince Kiko that Garnet would be accepted as a Concubine or a Consort who had nearly equal standing with her and that their children would have priority since it is by order of birth.

"Hold off on the plans to fight the monster for now," said Garnet. "Make sure that people stay away from that area for now as well."

"I will," said Duke Wellington. "Get well soon."

"I will," said Garnet. Her health had recovered, but she still felt some exhaustion. "It was most likely because of blood loss," she thought. That was the only thing that could explain her temporary weakness. Even though her Enhanced Body gave her some resistance and her Mana Shield should have protected her, it was clear that there were enemies that had a way to bypass defensive abilities. It was not something all powerful and she needed to come up with a plan to fight the Siren.

The Siren could freely move between land, sea, and air with its abilities. Its ability to fly made it highly mobile. Its fins also made it highly mobile in water, so the best option was to find a way to bind it to the land or limit its ability to fly. In order to draw it out, they would need a fairly large group of men. Then, they would need strong enough mages or fighters that could actually hurt it. At the same time, a few people would need to hold off all men under its spell in order to give the women a chance to fight the Siren. Right now, they were only two. Garnet and Charlie. Sticking to smaller numbers was probably going to be better as well.

Garnet had recovered by the second day, but Ruby insisted that she sleep for more. She was only allowed to stay inside the house, but she was bored. There was nothing to do but lay in bed. She started walking around. Most of the other people ignored her. Anna and Ruby were nowhere to be seen. "Were they outside?" Garnet thought. If they were though, Garnet could not go.

Garnet headed to the kitchen. The only skill that she could practice inside the house was cooking. Potato was the main thing that they ate. It was in almost every meal even though the other things changed. She decided to make mashed potatoes. The easiest thing that she could do.

Level Up: Cooking (Level 5)

The only other thing that she could do was read the books in Duke Wellington's office. There was mainly only books about history and politics. Nothing she was really interested in, but it kept her from just being bored all day laying around in bed. Even though she was stuck at home, she wanted to be doing anything else but lay around in bed.

Stat Gain: Intelligence +1

Ruby came to visit several times a day, but she also spent a lot of time outside. Garnet did not want Ruby to have to stay and take care of her, so Garnet encouraged Ruby to spend more time outside. After all, she could at least leave the house. It would be worse to ask Ruby to stay with her. From the windows of the house, she saw that Leeroy was teaching Ruby how to fight with her hands. Garnet realized that was how they became close.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

It was a few more days before Garnet was let outside, but during this time she devised a plan. The first thing she needed, a non-lethal weapon, just in case she had to fight a friendly and did not want to hurt them too badly. The Sirens were able to partially control the men, so it would be best to find a way to immobilize them or keep them at a distance. For someone of her stature, a battle staff was best. She searched through the weapons vault in order to find something. There was only one. It was very big. It was as tall as Garnet if not taller. It was made of a sturdy metal, so it would not be easily broken.

Garnet inspected the staff.

Name: Chang Gun

Quality: High

Class: Staff

It did not seem like anything special, but it was her only choice so she took it out. As long as she avoided the head, it would most likely be non lethal, so she can strike an enemy with it and not worry about having killed them. They might get some bruises or broken bones, but the likelihood of a fatal injury was much lower. It also gave her some reach over others who might be bigger than her.

The other problem was that she needed a way to break the skin of the Siren. It was extremely strong. The scales on its body acted like armor. Her explosive palm worked, but it was not enough to cause a fatal blow. Neither was Fire Bolt. There was one thing that might work. Garnet headed outside and aimed her hand straight into the sky. "Fire Ball!"

A large ball of fire gathered in Garnet's hand before flying upward into the sky. It had a longer delay than the Fire Bolt, making it harder to aim, but probably much more effective. BOOM. The ball in the sky burst into a cloud of flames. It had the potential, but it was slow. She reduced the size of it in order to shorten its casting time. The explosive power was smaller, but could be fired in succession like the Fire Bolt. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

"What are you doing?!?" shouted Charlie. She had come running with a few guards. "I thought there was an attack on the manor."

"Sorry," said Garnet. "I was trying something."

"Just be careful," said Charlie. She and some of the guards stayed and watched Garnet as she launched Fire Balls into the sky.

Garnet carefully adjusted the power, attempting to change its range and power. She wanted to recreate something like flak. A type of explosive bullet that would knock enemies out of the sky. As she adjusted the power, the smoke from the Fire Ball turned black. It was something that finally resembled flak. This would at least force the Siren to come closer and Garnet would be able to fight it in melee combat. That was the key moment. "I got it!" Garnet shouted.

"Is this to fight that monster?" asked Charlie.

"Yes," said Garnet. "I could not deal a fatal blow to it, but I think this might force it to come down from the sky."

"I see," said Charlie. "What's that big stick for?"

"Want to fight me and find out?" asked Garnet. "No one wanted to spar with me in the past."

"I'll be glad to as long as you don't use magic," said Charlie.

"That's fine," said Garnet.

"Just give me a second." Charlie ran off.

The guards stayed around to watch. They were interested in Garnet for one reason or another whether it was her beauty or they wanted to know how she could fight against a monster like the Siren.

Garnet took a moment to swing the staff around and attempt a few strikes with it. The weight of it was much different from that of the sword and was easier to control when most of it was near the body. It could be used in a swing similar to a slashing attack with a sword or a thrust similar to a stabbing attack with a sword. The only difference was the reach and the weight, which reduced its overall speed compared to the sword.

New Skill: Staff Mastery (Level 1)

Increases attack power when equipped with a staff. Hand to hand skills are limited depending on the size and weight of the staff.

Charlie returned with a wooden sword and a wooden staff. The staff was much shorter, in fact, too short. "That staff won't work for me," said Garnet. "It needs to be longer."

Charlie threw the staff aside and just kept the sword. "Since yours is not sharp, it won't be much of a problem either way," asid Charlie.

Charlie underestimated the staff. Even though it was not sharp, it was still heavy. It could probably smash the wooden sword. "Use the actual sword," said Garnet.

"No, this is fine," said Charlie.

Garnet knew she was being underestimated, but she would not hold back. "Are you ready?" Garnet asked.

"Yes," Charlie replied.

Garnet swung the staff horizontally at Charlie. Charlie raised the sword to block. BOOM. The staff smashed the wooden sword to pieces. Garnet stopped just as the staff was about to hit Charlie. "Can you use the metal sword now?" Garnet asked.

One of the guards had his mouth agape. That was not something he expected. They were whispering to each other.

"That's a good idea," said Charlie as she grabbed her metal sword. This was now the beginning of the actual fight. Garnet waited until Charlie got into her fighting stance again. "I'm ready," said Charlie.

Garnet wanted to test something, so she swung horizontally again. CLANG. The metal staff clashed against the metal sword. It could at least withstand the impact of the staff this time.

Charlie slid her sword against the staff and pushed it away as she closed in on Garnet. BAM. Garnet raised her leg to kick Charlie in the stomach. The various strikes of the staff often left one hand or one leg free to counter with.

New Skill: Thrust (Level 1)

A stab against the opponent's torso. Ignores armor.

Charlie stumbled, but recovered. When she did, Garnet had already changed her stance. Charlie readied her sword for a slash and attempted to slash diagonally from bottom to top. It was one of her own sword skills.

Garnet met the attack with a downward slash with her own staff. The weight of the staff gave it an advantage over the sword if the opponent did not properly close the distance. CLANG The staff slammed the sword out of Charlie's hand and onto the ground.

"You're good with that," said Charlie.

"I had a few minutes to practice before you arrived," said Garnet.

"Just a few minutes?!?" Charlie said in shock.

Garnet was clearly no amateur with the staff, but Charlie did not expect Garnet to have only held it for a few minutes. "Thrust!" Garnet pushed the staff forward towards Charlie.

Charlie raised her sword to block it. CLANG. Charlie was knocked back from the attack. Garnet could see that Charlie winced in pain. Even though she had blocked the attack, it had dealt some kind of damage to her, so blocking it was not as effective as it appeared to be.

Level Up: Thrust (Level 2)

The attack was simple enough, but it was a fairly quick and direct strike. Most people protected their upper body, so by aiming towards the lower half of the torso, it was very effective on people who were even a little slow.

Charlie attacked with an overhead slash, one that had power behind it. CLANG. It was met with the middle section of Garnet's staff.

Garnet was pushed back by the impact. However, she changed her grip on the staff and used it to push Charlie backwards. The staff was a very versatile weapon, but Garnet needed more practice in order to fully utilize it. "Let's stop here for now," said Garnet.

"Already tired?" asked Charlie.

"I just don't want to push myself," said Garnet. "I just barely recovered."

Garnet continued to swing the staff, trying out new stances and different ways to attack with it. It could be used for jab attacks as well as sweeping attacks. The problem was finding out which of them would be effective against the Siren. After all, it had a tough skin that was the equivalent of armor. Garnet could only hope for the best that her attacks that ignored defense would be enough to fight it.

That night, Duke Wellington had made a decision. "I've decided that I will ask the Duchess for help," he said. "I'm sorry Garnet," he added. "However, you will always be number one to me."

Garnet knew what this meant. Duke Wellington had to accept Duchess Kiko in order to get her help, but the marriage itself was political and mostly for show. He would probably have a child with her and they would be King and Queen. Garnet would be on the outside looking in, but as a slave, this was the best that she could do. Garnet had already prepared for this as she knew the truth. "I understand," said Garnet. "You cannot have everything you want, but you must keep your promise."

"I assume that Kiko will arrive to help in maybe five days at most," said Duke Wellington. "So within the week, we should be able to kill that monster once we find it."

Those words were a relieving thought. It would be worse to let that thing run around and continue to ensnare victims. There was no telling how many people would fall victim to it.

"What type of person is Duchess Kiko?" Garnet asked. Garnet had heard the name before, but she knew nothing about Kiko other than that she was the Duchess of the East.

"A scary one," said Duke Wellington. "Don't tell her about Ruby or yourself unless she asks about it."

"Alright," said Garnet. "If Duke Wellington was scared of Duchess Kiko, she must have been some kind of monster," Garnet thought to herself. The Duke was strong and not afraid of many things, but there was in fact a person he was afraid of, and she would be coming to meet them.

Spoiler :

Name: Garnet

Level: 8

Class: Dark Mage

Sub-class: Temptress

Stats:

HP: 710/710

MP: 1780/1780

Fame: 20

Strength: 20 (+5)

Dexterity: 11 (+7)

Intelligence: 42 (+22)

Vitality: 21 (+5)

Agility: 20 (+7)

Charisma: 24 (+10)

PROFICIENCY:Weapon:

- One Handed Sword – 6

- Hand to Hand – 2

- Staff - 1

Magic:

- Fire – 5

- Lightning – 8

- Wind – 1

- Summoning – 7

- Blood – 5

- Spatial - 0

SKILLS:Weapon (One Handed Sword):

- Horizontal Slash (Level 3)

- Double Slash (Level 2)

- Crescent Slash

Weapon (Hand to Hand):

- Palm Strike

- Wind Palm

- Explosive Palm (Level 2)

- Lightning Palm

Weapon (Staff):

- Thrust (Level 2)

Class (Dark Mage):

- Fire Bolt (Level 5)

- Fire Ball (Level 1)

- Lightning Bolt (Level 8)

- Chain Lightning (Level 2)

- Light (Level 1)

- Air Bullet (Level 2)

- Mana Strike (Level 2)

- Mana Shield (Level 2)

- Call: Skeletal Hounds (Level 3)

- Call: Skeletons (Level 1)

- Call: Lilith (Level 1)

- Recall

- Dismiss

- Enhanced Mana Regeneration (Level 1)

- Blood Absorption (Level 4)

- Teleportation (Level 1)

- Teleportation Summoning Circle (Level 1)Sub-class (Temptress):

- Enhanced Body (Level 2)

- Captivation: (Level 2)

- Mind Read: (Level 1)

- Drain Will (Level 3)

- Sexy Walk (Level 1)

- Stealth (Level 1)

- Shadow Walk (Level 2)

Tradeskills:

- Hunting (Level 3) - Hunter

- Cooking (Level 5) - Cook

- Inspection (Level 3) – Farmer, Coroner

- Inventory Expansion (Level 3)

Passives:

- Hand to Hand (Level 1)

- One Handed Sword (Level 1)

- Staff (Level 1)

- Reflex (Level 3)

- Speed (Level 10)

- Physical Resistance (Level 3)

Unique:

- Hero System (Passive)

- Otherworldly Knowledge (Passive)

- Golden Tongue (Passive)

- Mana Compatibility (Passive)

- Quick Learner (Passive)

- Channeling (Passive)

- Charging (Passive)