Chapter Two

With winter near the end, it was time to clean the east parlor. The room's door opened with a creak. Too drafty to use during the winter months, the manor closed it, and Harmony was scheduled to help get it ready for use during the warmer seasons.

A thick layer of dust covered the room, glasses sat half empty, and a chair rested overturned. The parlor was for entertaining. With a strike table, darts, a bar, and even a small reading nook crammed into the large room, options are based on guest preferences and sometimes get changed out during the year. Jessica, the early shift maid assigned to cleaning the past few days, was smoking at the bar.

The acrid scent of her spice stick burned Harmony's nose. The smell was so strong that she quickly closed the door behind her so as not to allow it to draw unwanted attention.

"Jessica, what are you doing?" The question held more than a hint of accusation since she clearly hadn't been cleaning, and the gold-plated dish used to collect ash and stubs looked filled to the brim.

"Why should I spend days dusting and scrubbing when it'll take you half an hour to get it done better?"

"Skills aren't fair, but we still have work, and that's how you improve." Harmony may have plans bigger than working at the manor, but she never shirked. When she started, everyone had been better than her, a young girl with a class most found distasteful and others called evil.

Jessica's eyes turned angry. The half-smoked stick incinerated into a floating sphere of light, so bright Harmony was forced to look away. "I'm a level twenty-four sun priestess with my maid profession matching it. Every skill is maxed out and leveled off. Let's see how you feel once you reach that barrier and are unable to go higher. Even being a cheat won't be satisfying."

Harmony wondered if Bates knew Jessica was feeling this way. Jessica gave an excellent light show for parties, but they were all replaceable, so the necromancer spoke with a warning. "This is a good job."

Jessica dimmed her display. "Don't worry. I replaced and recharged all the glow stones in the room. Getting a ladder and doing all that work yourself would have taken you hours. After all, we all have our limitations." With that, she hopped off the bar stool and walked out, leaving Harmony in the messy albeit well-lit room.

Through her [Familiar Bond], she summoned Hyacinth, who stepped out from a shadow.

"Gr'tschu" The Toad sneezed from the lingering smoke.

"Once I disturb this place, there's sure to be some tasty scale spiders coming out of the corners. Catch them for me."

The shadow toad's ability to handle dangerous pests, primarily by eating them, and her small size had earned her the job of cleaning rafters and other small spaces early on in Harmony's employment at the manor. Getting bit by a Scale spider once was bad enough.

Harmony focused on her class and profession skills, sliding her plan into them and her soul where she envisioned them. There was more to skills than their level and base use. Willpower, creativity, practice, and synergy opened a world of options in her case. Sure, you could use [Fireball] the same way every time to toast dungeon beasts or [Dust] to sweep up a nice little pile while cleaning. Skills were tools and malleable ones at that.

Dust is made up of more than just dirt and sand. It is dead plant matter like ash, pollen, and flecks of wood as well as bits of dead cells, skin, and hair from animals, even the corpses of tiny insects. [Dust] synergized with [Manipulate Dead]. Harmony pulled those bits together, and the combination of material that comprised dust detached from the room's surfaces until they swirled around her like she stood in the middle of a dust devil.

Once satisfied that she got all of it, she directed the dust into a sizable pile on the floor. With the last bit of her mana, she used [Manipulate Dead] to fuse what she could together and strengthen it until it was a rocky brick she could pick up and dispose of later.

Maybe Jessica would be less frustrated with her stalled advancement if she had been more creative with her skill usage. Harmony dismissed that thought. It isn't like she wasn't playing around with options outside of being a maid, and who knows how she would feel in a similar position. Still, that bitter woman could learn a thing or two.

She remembered Mike, head of The Dig Boys, taking down a fighter with two levels, a bigger body, and a longer reach than him. "Being better is more about knowing how to use what you have than simply having higher skills and stats." He'd explained. At the time, Harmony had more than a little crush on the young man escorting her into her first dungeon dive, but now years later, his words stuck with her more than what he looked like.

Satisfied, she got the whole room. She plopped her butt down on the newly clean floor, exhausted at the effort it took to do it. Lacking any mana skills, levels from unlocking her stats, that exhaustion was the only sign of her guessing how much energy she'd used.

Hyacinth hopped happily to her, two hand-sized spiders twitching in their dark maw as he slowly mashed them down.

"Good job."

The toad grumbled happily. Its eyes flashed purple briefly.

The maid started to feel better. She could sense the stream of mana coming from her familiar. A bonded team. More loyal companions. Ambrosia always liked to talk about her pets similarly, which was one reason why that spell scroll appealed to her.

Stolen novel; please report.

Recharged, Harmony got up with a long stretch and got to work tidying up, like pulling the darts and knives out of the target wall, stacking the striker balls in their cubby, and moving to the loose cups and books that had been abandoned in various locations.

It hurt her soul a little to see one of the books vigorously dogeared to the point where some of the pages were folded in such a way as to mark up the text. Dead trees, she told herself as she used her skill to undo some of the damage. She had to give up after fixing a little bit of it. The more something was processed, the less her skill worked on it, mana exhaustion might not have been as bad as when she dusted the whole room, but she knew she wouldn't be able to finish with the book. Moving to shelve the book, she gave a once-over of the titles and failed to see anything new.

Thibodeux on Skills was a popular one. Harmony disagreed with his speculations and ideas on the topic, but she found some inspiration when she borrowed the book once or twice. He theorized that their base activation form was the best way to use skills. The fireball, the sweep of dust, the gust of wind, and any other usage was a waste. One was better off making those skill casts as quick and second nature as possible. He'd made a game of showing off how many fireballs he could release quickly and consecutively and challenged the other nobles to beat him. Much of the book was about how awesome and unbeatable he was.

Borrowing educational books was as good as she could do for schooling. Even if the job had paid well enough for tuition to the academies, which it didn't, the job didn't allow for the time. She hoped there would be a new rotation of reading material for the parlor's book nook this season. The house library was under iron control, and alternative sources like this one or Lord Tyler seemed to be the maid's only opportunity. One more reason to keep with Tyler, despite his quirks. As he purchased books, even if they tended to be old or unusual, she knew she could get her hands on them.

Bates' voice projected into the room. "The lady awaits."

Harmony nearly dropped the book in her hand. Even after all these years, she hadn't gotten used to how he managed some household chores.

"Come, Hyacinth, it's time for another trip."

Together they went to the darkest shadows behind the bar. There her familiar pulled them through the shadow space. They emerged from the shadows cast by Lady Coodly's vanity.

"Oh, Harmony, you surprised me. I'd been informed about your new way of traveling, but it's different seeing it."

Harmony didn't fail to notice that a knife in the old lady's hand disappeared moments before speaking. Rumor was she had some kind of evolved rogue class.

Stepping out of her dark arrival location, the maid curtsied.

"My apologies. I can approach however you feel comfortable."

With an offhand, Lady Coodly dismissed that. "Do tell me. What are the range and restrictions on it?"

Inquiring about someone's skill details was considered almost as rude as asking them the color of their undergarments. Not that everyone didn't know the color of the maid's undergarments at the manor, but such is the control over the employees.

"Hyacinth has to take me. I have no control. It has to be a place they are familiar with. I've been unable to gain communication with my familiar enough to ask questions."

"It's okay. Not everyone is blessed with a familiar smart enough to speak."

Hyacinth rolled out a low purring angry grumble.

Harmony mentally shushed him with all the strength of their bond. He quieted, but she knew that if the lady had a cat, the toad would try to eat it.

"Let's get started. I'm supposed to meet with the garden club for tea, and I want to try something daring. I've got sketches of some of the fashions from the capital. With one of their princes passing here, there is liable to be a visit."

The coldness of using the young man's death as an excuse to earn social points bothered Harmony, mainly because it reminded her of her goals and why she needed to accelerate them.

Knowing what the lady likes, Harmony grabbed the most ostentatious sketches. Perfect for distracting her mind by testing her skills. [Beautician] is an artist's skill and synergized well with [Style and Grace]. Looking at Lady Coodly's wrinkled face and gray and white hair, she knew that those skills, even working combined, couldn't meet the standards she wanted, but she also had her class.

The maid ran her hand across her employer's face, shaping and thickening the dead skin cells. It smoothed out the wrinkles and covered the age spots, tightened up any sagging as a lattice of strengthened dead cells held everything together, even sharpening the appearance of the woman's cheekbones to make them wildly exaggerated. It wasn't perfect, as it was almost like a white, semi-transparent mask covering her face. But that was only the first step.

Channeling [Renew Spirit] into her work gave those dead cells a more life-like appearance. The Lady would feel more energized for a brief period of time from the magic as well. It was then that she got to work with makeup and brushes.

Astel, the lady's handmaid, had more experience here, so Harmony was glad for the opportunity to increase her skill as she worked hard to add the right touches to match the sketch's makeup and maybe make it a little bolder.

Hair, however, no one could match Harmony with that. It was dead and hers to modify, an odd synergy with her beauty skills. Taking her fingers, she ran them through the gray, slightly brittle hair. Close contact made it take less effort. She adjusted the shape, strength, and color through her fingers, turning it into a vibrant orange. Going outside the standard redhead, brunette, and blonde types had been a new thing she'd achieved with her level up to ten.

The involuntary oohing from her mistress brought a slight smile to the maid's face.

"I'd hate to steal my grandson's favorite maid away, but you work miracles. Astel has been with me forever. As they say, everything progresses. I foretell big things for you at the manor once we get your levels up."

"Yes, my lady. I always try my best." Harmony answered as demurely as she could. Inwardly she cursed herself for showing off some. She still needed Tyler for a bit. Replacing Astel wasn't her dream.

"Astel, I'm ready to go to the party!"

The other maid stepped into the room. She'd clearly been waiting, and from the glare she gave, Harmony knew Astel had been listening in.

Rather than stand under that scathing look, Harmony slipped out of the room with her familiar trailing. Out of sight, her chest relaxed again. There had to be some skill usage in that look. The idea of her replacing Astel was ridiculous. The older maid had to have evolved both her class and profession. Nothing about her screamed stuck in advancement like Jessica. No, Astel seemed happy to work busily for the matriarch.

The conflict between doing her best and wanting not to stand out was one of the reasons Harmony never changed her straight black hair or updated her looks. Being willing to do the worst jobs, like cleaning Tyler's room or working with Hyacinth to take care of pest invasions, was buying her less goodwill with the other staff than she liked. Even in a city with a necromantic dungeon, there was animosity towards those who held the class, and she'd finally reached a tolerable state by avoiding attention.

Pulling herself back into work mode, It was time to clean lord Tyler's room and see if she could gain one more favor from the man.