Ding... Ding... Ding... Ding...
The rhythmic sound of metal slamming into stone and metal alike was the first thing Soph's senses picked up as she awoke. It wasn't a close sound but it also wasn't distant. It originated perhaps 50 or so metres from her.
She yawned as she stretched a bit and opened her eyes. "Good morning Lone..."
She looked around with bleary eyes when the information her Mana Sensing had been collecting fully processed in her mind. "Wha...?"
'Soph, why were we asleep? We were waiting for Lone to finish his meeting. With the two of us, there is no way we would have missed his consciousness returning, yet now we awake only to see him mining a tunnel through the road's walls,' Sophie pointed out.
Soph slowly clambered out of her and Lone's tent. 'I don't know. I can ask though.'
Not a moment later, Hamish and Breena stumbled out of their own tents, both looked a bit confused but well-rested.
"Uh, I'm gonna go talk to Lone," Soph said to them.
Hamish slowly nodded when his stomach rumbled. "Aye, ye dae 'at. Ah'll work on breakfast."
"I-I'll help. I want to try levelling Cooking Mastery," Breena shyly added.
Soph smiled at the two of them as she wiped some of the crust from her eyes. Hamish was a useful person even if she detested him, and Breena was a sweet girl trying her best. Soph couldn't ever dislike her for that.
With no particular hurry, she made her way down Lone's tunnel and was a bit surprised that he didn't stop mining the ore and stone in his way when she had reached his side.
"What are you doing, Lone?" Soph asked curiously.
He stopped briefly to look at her. Smiling weakly, Lone replied, "Going over it again and again and again."
Soph wore a confused look. "You're not making any sense."
'He is shaking,' Sophie conveyed.
'Well, yeah, he's been digging a tunnel for who knows how many hours,' Soph replied.
Sophie scoffed in her mind. 'No, he could mine for days before the exhaustion started hitting his muscles. Soph, he is afraid of something.'
"Lone... what happened when we were asleep?" Soph asked softly. "Why... why wasn't I awake when you returned?"
Lone looked at his pickaxe and clearly considered going back to swinging it but he ultimately decided to sigh and slump down onto the ground. "When I woke up, you were passed out and a devil told me he'd put you, Breena, and Hamish, to sleep. That was... well, you're up now, so about 22 hours ago."
"A devil?" Soph cocked her head curiously, though she was mostly still just concerned for Lone. "Didn't Gilbert mention those during one of your calls?"
Lone laughed weakly. "No, he mentioned demons since he's considering invoking the hells to empower his spells. A devil is to a demon what a bug is to a blade of grass."
"A bug isn't so bad. I don't get why you're so spooke-"
"An Arch Devil is to a devil what a person is to a bug," Lone interrupted. "And I tell you what, Soph, I'm feelin' an awful lot like a bug right now, dancing in the palm of a very powerful person."
'He is being stupid. We are taking over,' Sophie informed her softer self.
The look in her eyes hardened and Lone smiled at her once more. "Hi, Sophie."
"You are looking pretty pathetic," Sophie jabbed. "You never look like this, even when you so foolishly threatened a demigod. Do you remember the Djinn?"
Lone nodded. "Sure do."
"Then why are you so frightened?" Sophie asked, a rare hint of warmth in her voice.
"Because the denizens of hell are born of trickery. I did everything I was supposed to. I didn't do what the devil said, nor did I even look at him before I got him to sign my first ever level four True Contract Magic contract," Lone explained to her. "We had a back-and-forth discussion that followed some simple but very binding rules. I learned why a being as strong or stronger than a Divine showed up in our camp. I can't give you any details because the contract binds me."
That shocked Sophie greatly. It made sense now why Lone was so shaken up. This 'Arch Devil' could have killed her before he had returned from his meeting.
It terrified her that it could have killed Lone and kept her asleep long enough for Minor Time Control to be worthless in any attempt to save his life. Considering how strong Lone's love was for her, Sophie now understood his terror.
"Why didn't it?" Sophie asked.
"What?" Lone asked.
"Why didn't it kill us, Breena, and Hamish?" Sophie inquired.
Lone put his hands together and clasped them over his knees. "I don't know and I can't mention anything he said, but I think it might have to do with a certain 'minor Luck deity'. Considering your stats, I bet we both know who that means."
"Oh... Well, that is fortunate," Sophie said as she bent down and rubbed Lone's head.
She was smart enough to read between the lines. At some point during this secret conversation between her man and this Arch Devil, it had confessed to being thwarted somehow by her Luck.
"What're you doing?" Lone asked.
Sophie smirked at him. "Comforting you. Stop shaking like a wet dog and tell us exactly what has you worried and what this devil wanted from you, without telling us what it wanted from you. You are clever, so we expect you to word it sufficiently enough to satisfy your unique skill."
Lone chuckled faintly. "I love you, you know that, right?"
"We do, now explain yourself, you filthy miner," Sophie replied.
Lone nodded faintly. "The bloodline of a dwarf of no particular interest to us has been aware of a certain being's true name for generations, and in exchange for removing that particular trait from this dwarf's bloodline, the magic binding her which is forcing her to try to kill someone was offered to be removed when she thought she was requesting that person's death."
He grimaced as if in pain but that soon passed and he looked normal again. 'Interesting. He can allude to the conversation with correlations and outright lies but True Contract Magic punishes him for it?'
"That is why she is so bent on your death when your relation to her nephew's death is tangential at best?" Sophie asked in disgust. "Scripture magic? It is somehow forcing her to end your life?"
Lone shrugged. "Apparently. This old man I once met years ago told me he would die if he attacked us. Not immediately, but eventually his end would find him. Seemed to amuse and upset this old fucker in equal measure. I bet you would have managed to escape and would have hunted him down if he offed me. Or our contingency would have happened."
Sophie confirmed that. "For the rest of our life, if required. And do not speak of that plan. We and Soph alike are against it even if it is a guaranteed failsafe."
Lone smiled weakly at that. "He was rolling three six-sided dice as we talked. The only time they rolled anything but three ones was when a request was made of me. The dice all rolled a six. Sheelda's scripture magic needs to go and killing her would do that, but letting her die on her own by failing to kill me would be very bad for someone."
'He did not mention these dice in a roundabout way. They weren't discussed in the conversation. That is good to know.' Sophie frowned. "We don't see the issue. We want her dead anyway. It would only take us a few days to teleport to the capital, scout her out, and then end her life."
"I have no qualms with killing her. She tried to get me executed and sent a powerful assassin organisation after me. Even if she's being forced by magic, I'd sleep sounder with her dead," Lone said. "What worries me is somehow getting myself bound to the devil. It's why I decided to start mining to try to clear my head and see all of the possibilities."
"How do you know so much about devils anyway? That is not one of the topics you have been researching," Sophie asked.
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Lone stayed silent for a bit as he wondered how to answer that. 'Do I tell her about the book? I don't know if that'll somehow mark her in some way since some very powerful devils or one incredibly powerful devil cursed it and its copies... Hmm...'
He ultimately decided to convey the knowledge telepathically, informing her of the book Monsieur Librarian had granted him access to.
"Huh." Sophie stroked her smooth chin as she thought about something. "Can we talk about this back at our camp? We will tell you now, we are going to kill Sheelda. We will discuss how to take precautions against this devil's trickery, but not in a dark tunnel. We are hungry."
Lone felt his fears washing away upon hearing the sheer confidence in his lover's voice even if he didn't agree entirely quite yet.
He laughed. "Never change."
Sophie gave him a funny look. "We thought you wanted us to change. If you are fine with us hating Breena, very well, we shall not try to think differently of h-"
Lone laughed softly and shook his head. "Not what I meant."
Sophie grinned. "Good. You aren't shaking anymore. Now! We demand pancakes. Hamish's rations won't do, so you will be dipping into our sweets reserve!"
"Yes, your highness," Lone replied as he followed her out of his self-made tunnel.
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About ten minutes later, as he ate, Lone took a moment to go through his entire notification log. He'd already looked at it shortly after Zel had left but a second check never hurt.
Congratulations! The host's active skill [Meditation] has levelled up! It is now Advanced Level 1!
Active Skill: Meditation
A skill that allows the host to reach a place of zen mentally.
The ability to think rationally when upset or angered is passively 30% [+15%] easier.
Focused thinking while meditating leads to logical conclusions and comprehension of complex matters 30% [+15%] faster.
Cost: 80 SP [-10 SP] per 15-minutes [+5-minutes]. Mastery: Advanced Level 1
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
This skill had helped Lone a lot in keeping his cool when Zel was trying to trick him out of the tent. Because of that, he had decided that he could afford to keep it up permanently.
It took some mental focus and were Hazel here he couldn't both meditate and fool her Mind Reading skill at the same time. He simply lacked the mental fortitude to do both, but in normal situations, keeping Meditation on at all times was simple enough.
Lone's main hope in doing this was to somehow make it a passive skill. He didn't know if that was possible and he'd check in with the credit slate at the guild in the future, but for now, he had nothing to lose in trying.
The host has developed the passive skill [Infernal Flame Resistance].
Passive Skill: Infernal Flame Resistance
A skill that allows the host to resist infernal flames of all kinds.
The madness, soul compulsion, soul erosion, and pure damage, caused by all infernal flames will be reduced by 5%.
Cost: N/A Mastery: Beginner Level 1
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Infernal Flame Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 2!
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Infernal Flame Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 3!
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Infernal Flame Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 4!
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Infernal Flame Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 5!
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Infernal Flame Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 6!
Lone's latest resistance skill levelled and levelled until it finally stopped in the middle of advanced rank.
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Infernal Flame Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Advanced Level 2!
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Infernal Flame Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Advanced Level 3!
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Infernal Flame Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Advanced Level 4!
Passive Skill: Infernal Flame Resistance
A skill that allows the host to resist infernal flames of all kinds.
The madness, soul compulsion, soul erosion, and pure damage, caused by all infernal flames will be reduced by 30% [+25%].
Cost: N/A Mastery: Advanced Level 4
Seeing as how Lone hadn't gained any specific resistances, that either meant that the passive effects emitted from Zel's facial hair and his summoning furniture weren't specific in nature. Or, it meant they had to be used directly on him.
He knew from the book that there were dozens of types of infernal flames all with differing effects, so to earn the overarching resistance to all of them was fantastic in his opinion.
It was, however, concerning to see what the skill protected him from since that implied he was subject to all of those things while in Zel's presence.
The madness and pure damage could be dealt with by Basic Regeneration but the two soul afflictions worried Lone incredibly.
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Fear Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 8!
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Fear Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 9!
At this point in the log, Zel had left and now the following notifications were born of Lone's reaction and mulling over the conversation.
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Panic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 9!
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Panic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 10!
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Panic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 1!
Passive Skill: Panic Resistance
A skill that helps protect the host from panic attacks.
Reduces the chances that the host will experience a panic attack in a stressful situation by 15% [+10%].
Cost: N/A Mastery: Intermediate Level 1
Every hour, every minute, Panic Resistance had slowly been levelling all the way up until Soph and then Sophie came to talk to him, so it didn't stop at just intermediate level one.
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Panic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 2!
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Panic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 3!
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Panic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 4!
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Panic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 5!
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Panic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 6!
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Panic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 7!
'And here's where I decided to start mindlessly mining,' Lone commented as a new set of notifications filled his vision.
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Mining Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 1!
Passive Skill: Mining Mastery
A skill that allows the host to more efficiently mine through materials with a pickaxe.
Increases the host's mining speed by 15% [+10%] and increases the host's ability to spot structural weaknesses in stone structures like caves, walls, and buildings, by 15% [+10%].
Cost: N/A Mastery: Intermediate Level 1
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Mining Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 2!
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Mining Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 3!
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Mining Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 4!
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Panic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 8!
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Panic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 9!
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Panic Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 10!
'What're we gonna do about Sheelda?' Soph suddenly asked him mentally. 'Sophie wants to kill her and I kinda agree.'
He glanced over to her and he stirred his dinner with his spoon. 'Nothing. I can't be sure but I'd bet damn near everything I own that if I killed Sheelda I'd somehow enter a deal with Zel.'
'And we don't want that...' Soph mumbled mentally in response.
Lone nodded and repeated, 'And we don't want that.'
'What if I did it?' Soph asked.
'What?' Lone had a feeling he knew what she was asking but he didn't want to even entertain that possibility.
'I mean, I could teleport to the capital, find her, and then launch a Barrier Maelstrom at her. If I kill her, it isn't you doing it, the devil then leaves happy that his trick on her worked and he shouldn't bother us again,' Sophie explained.
'Absolutely fucking not. Soph, if I even so much as suggest you do that, it'll be as good as me having done it myself in an Arch Devil's eyes,' Lone stated.
Soph stared at her stack of syrup-covered pancakes and replied, 'If you're worried about your 'minor Luck deity' being gone which would allow him to kill you, you can unsummon and resummon me at will. It'll only take me a couple of days, maybe less, to get to the capital and back.'
'No, and that is final. You and Sophie keep harping on at me to keep myself safe, right? Well, I'm trying my best over here so do me the courtesy of not risking yourself either, at least not until you have your Immortality skill back,' Lone said.
'Yeah... Sorry. It was a stupid idea. I just... I just want this to be over, the whole Sheelda thing. Who'd have thought she'd send something so strong after us? I thought it'd end with the assassins,' Soph chuckled sadly.
'Same. I mean, we both planned to kill her before leaving. Loose ends and all that. I'll think of something, so just take it easy and keep training, okay?' Lone asked.
Soph nodded. 'I trust you. We both do. Whatever you choose to do, we're with you one million percent of the way there!'
Lone smiled at her wordlessly.
'Now!' she exclaimed telepathically. 'Tell me all about your secret meeting!'