Fine works of art and carpet that must have taken weeks to weave have been thoroughly ruined, spoiled and splattered with a deep crimson. It’s not just the belongings of House Grivash, though - my clothes and belongings are soaked in it. The sickening scent of my fellow humans’ ichor makes my head swim and my stomach churn. All six of them were defenseless as newborn fawns against me, unable to so much as make a single genuine move. As a result, their corpses are now strewn about the once-pristine parlor.

I languish in that sanguine sight, their gore taking up every bit of my attention. My mind whips through every second of my ‘fight’ with them, in crystalline detail. There’s no telling how long I stand there for, but a small tap on my shoulder stirs me from that half-trance.

“Sybil?” Maeve says, the barest hint of a quiver in her voice.

“Yeah…” I return, “Yes, yes- we need to continue…”

My feet begin to move, independent of my mind, once again forcing my body forward - deeper into the palace. While I walk, my eyes are forced to confront the sight of another alert. Another reward for another misdeed.

[Congratulations! You have leveled up! 2 -> 3]

[Congratulations! You have leveled up! 3 -> 4]

Two levels, and four points more assigned to agility - giving me a total of twenty-two, and twenty-five with accessories. Already, I feel the difference in each step.

Before I manage to exit the parlor, I think I hear Aidan mutter something to nobody in particular, “Ceri..?” He sounds a bit surprised, and maybe even regretful. Through [Aesthesia], I can feel his shoulders slump a bit. Regardless of that, the group continues to trail behind me, ambivalent of their leader’s butchery.

Along the path we walk, there are no more Hunters - just an eerie absence of life and a silence that permeates the very walls of this place. For some reason, no servants nor nobility roam these halls; and I very much doubt that they have for our entire stay here. A question lingers overhead, a problem that’s bothered me since the beginning: How many of the Hunters here are aware that we’re here?

One of those good-for-nothings seemed pleased with their captain - that… Strange person who knew too much. Something isn’t right about the situation as a whole. Their captain had them sit by and do nothing, even though he attacked us?

“Sybil…” Stella chides, “You’re going to hurt yourself - cut that out.”

I stop, my mouth slightly agape. A metallic taste is on my lips - I must have been biting them. “Sorry.” I mutter in my mind.

The only thing that matters is how much Josephine knows. Does she know there are intruders? Does she know that I’m still alive? There’s simply no way for me to know how much of an advantage I have over the woman, other than the fact that she hasn’t yet put herself in front of me.

Ah… That’s a good sign, at least.

Twinkling treasures locked behind glass cases pass us by as we continue through hall after hall. Several times, I have to remind myself that this is a place intended to be lived in. The thought of having to walk these halls every single day sounds tedious at best, and I’m left wondering if Adeline grew up in a palace like this one.

Our silent marching comes to a halt when Aidan calls to me. Fear drips from his lips, and his eyes are open wide like a deer’s. “S-Sybil…” He murmurs, and I can feel his hands shaking at his sides. “It’s her… She- um, just entered through our exit door.”

She’s… Here. Josephine’s here - the woman who killed me.

Who does this terrain benefit more?

“Sneak past while I draw her attention.” I order them, “Break open a window if you have to - doors aren’t necessary.”

“Yer kiddin’.” Aisling mutters, “Ye plan on fightin’ Josephine bloody Cirix all on yer own?”

“You’ll die if you try to help - this space isn’t large enough for us all to fight in, she’ll just kill us all.” My eyes scan over all three of them, “In the worst case scenario, you three will be able to take Adeline and run. I can keep her occupied for that long, at the very least.”

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How long is it that I’ll have to keep her occupied for, then? How fast will they move their feet - how fast will they navigate the guardhouse, and the dungeons, and rescue her?

“Sybil,” Maeve says suddenly, “are ye sure?”

As I nod, the dwarf steps toward me. A gentle hand lays flat against my back. I wince, but nothing bad comes - just a faint warmth and the smell of peaches, then cherries, then apples. My body feels different, sturdier maybe. She used this on Aisling at one point, didn’t she?

“Strength, agility, resilience.” She explains solemnly, “Ye have a boost fer half an hour - no longer, no shorter. If ye die? I’ll come an’ beat ye over the head until ye beg fer mercy.” I watch as the dwarf passes ahead, walking on without another word to any of us.

Aidan is the next to join her. Though, he stops as soon as he makes it ahead of me, only to pivot back a moment later. “Right- this works on other people, too…” He reaches out a hand, and stops, nervously taking note of the sheer quantity of blood sprayed across my front. “U-um… May I?”

With a small “go ahead,” Aidan puts a hand on my shoulder. My hair rustles a bit as a small breeze envelopes me. It feels as if it’s supporting me, maybe even making me lighter. He licks his lips and nods, plainly satisfied with the result.

“Good luck, Sybil.” Aidan says grimly, and joins Maeve as she rounds a corner, leaving only Aisling behind with me.

The pugilist approaches my side, a frustrated expression on her face that seems to work its way through the rest of her body. The others didn’t want to leave me behind, but it seems that she’s especially resistant to the idea.

“I’ll be fine.” I smile, hoping that it isn’t a lie.

“Is that trick ye were practicin’ gonna work on her?” She asks, her voice hollow.

Trick..- She saw me..?

“I know it’d work on me.” Aisling smiles weakly, “But her?”

“It’ll work.” I affirm, “It will.” Because it has to.

“Play as dirty as ye have to.” She says, “Just survive, alright?”

I feel a hand clap me on the back, and then Aisling rushes to join her sister and Aidan, disappearing around the same corner those two passed. No more allies surround me, leaving me thoroughly alone once more.

My path diverges from theirs, leading me straight ahead to wait at those crossroads - wait for her. Whether she’s minutes or moments away is a mystery I lack the means to solve, and so I must simply wait, veiled in [Cloak of Shadows] just around the corner from where she’ll arrive.

Even through my tempered heart, I can feel my breath hitching now and again, my fingers quivering along with my lungs. Death approaches, with loud but steady steps, Death approaches. The halls carry the sounds of her movements, and tell me how fast she moves as she hunts for her foe.

And I wait, wait as a fox might for a rabbit to appear from its burrow. Even as those steps grow closer, even as I can feel the presence of Death. She’s in a hurry.

My hands clasp together, each fingertip pressing against their mirror. I can feel it clearly this way, the wellspring of mana in my body, that energy which is born of my soul. Since I reawakened, that wellspring has grown to a staggering amount, vast as a lake.

I’ll submerge her in it.

The body is a vessel, but the soul need not be pinned down by it. My fingertips feel as if they’re sizzling as I try to pull them away from one another. Mana presses against the seams of my flesh, desperately trying to escape. It’s agonizing, but I know that it’s possible. I’ve beheld it for the briefest of moments, and even Jemith told me that it would work.

When a spell is cast, mana is refined from its raw, primordial form. Shifted and changed, with a weakened connection to your soul. But the state that I’m trying to capture now is no different than trying to push my soul beyond the limits of my body.

“Don’t force it! Just relax, Sybil. Remember, you’re in control of your soul.”

I can feel Stella supporting me, not just in mind but in soul. I do as she says, shoulders dropping and tense muscles loosening up. Josephine is almost here.

From my head to my toes, mana slips through the boundary of muscle and skin as a gap forms between my fingertips. The feeling is similar to [Aesthesia], pushing out a connection from my body to the external world. I feel lightheaded, but I press on - not removing the mana from my body, but expanding it. Like a smoke emitting from me, it flows out, and the gap only grows wider.

At a certain point, I stop thinking. Then, I feel that I can’t press the gap any further - the entirety of [Aesthesia]’s space is filled with my mana. As if to make up for my lack of excitement in my focused state, an alert appears.

[Skill “Aesthesia” is being subsumed!]

[Congratulations! A skill has been unlocked: Formless Vessel]

In the next moment, my senses erupt. A woman, a flaming sword, and intent. Josephine. The aura in her body, and that which rolls off of her body is enough to disrupt the mana immediately around her. Still, she’s practically encased in it.

I grit my teeth and grab hold of that vast reservoir, casting a spell from that field of energy instead of from my own body. Six beams of mana emerge from nothing fly down in tandem toward different parts of her body.

And I hold on for dear life.