Seventeen spikerat-murders later, they had reached the end of the tunnel.
Or at least the end of one tunnel. By Akemi’s estimates, the sewers branched off into at least a hundred distinct routes. But Pyre had promised her this was the correct one.
They were standing in front of a long metal ladder. Above it was a trapdoor, vaguely disguised as a dent in the ceiling. There had been an attempt to obfuscate it from the average sewer-traveler, but the disguise, to say the least, did not survive Pyre and Akemi.
“I don’t understand how your locusts can eat through metal,” Pyre said dryly as Akemi hovered her orb by the trapdoor. The carnivorous insects were chewing away thoughtlessly, creating a constantly widening hole. “That doesn’t seem scientifically sound.”
“This world isn’t scientifically sound. You, for example, can generate fire in your hands.”
Pyre huffed.
“Touché.”
Within seconds, the trapdoor was reduced to a gaping maw. The hornets had also gnawed off a good portion of the ladder, but from where Akemi was standing, it still seemed easy enough to climb into the storage room. She could already see a few baskets and containers, wooden chests and dusty cabinets, all lowly illuminated by Pyre’s hand-torch.
“Anything else you need to do or say before we get up there? Because once we do, we can’t speak. Like, at all. The chimeras can hear through practically any wall, no matter how soundproof it looks,” she said, furrowing her eyebrows for effect. “So—and I know this is hard for you—but you’re going to have to be completely silent. At least speaking-wise. If you trip a little, or move things around, they’ll probably chalk that up to the rats.”
“Completely silent?” Akemi balked. “So we can’t communicate whatsoever?”
“I didn’t say that. Do you have [Mind Paper]?”
“What?”
“The skill. It’s a level three skill.”
Akemi’s eyes widened in realization.
Agh. I never spent those. What kind of shitty minmaxer am I?
She brought up her System, and sure enough, her forgotten skill tree reappeared in front of her.
Rank 3 Shadow Auditor Trainee Skills Unlocked!
* Mind Paper | Accounting is a lot of paperwork. Rest your wrists, and let your mind do the work. Words can be transcribed mentally onto most surfaces.
* Dice of Dark Divination | Want to juice your bottom line a little bit? Roll a six-sided die which will multiply the effect of your next spell. The type of effect will vary by spell type.
Mind Paper is useful, sure. But the second skill looks so delicious…
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And I only have one skill point. If only I had waited on picking up that spike trap skill...
If her orb’s power got multiplied up to six times, or even better, if she could wield six distinct orbs at once… It’d practically be an AoE skill at that point. Its damage potential was enormous.
Not only that, but having that many mirror images of her man-eating hornet ball would mean a serious advantage if they came up against a horde of higher level enemies.
“You have Mind Paper, right?” Akemi said, trying to sound neutral. “I figure you’re the one calling the big shots, anyway, so maybe I can just take this other skill…”
Pyre rolled her eyes. “Right, because you’re suddenly so subservient. You want [Dice of Dark Divination], don’t you?”
“Obviously.”
To Akemi’s surprise, Pyre shrugged.
“It’s a good skill, I’ll admit that. The ginormous fireball I shot off at the inn was actually a product of that skill. It was technically five fireballs at once contributing to the mass.”
Akemi’s eyes gleamed. She remembered that attack fondly. Some might have thought of her recurrent memory of half a dozen heroes getting flambeed alive as post-traumatic, but she thought of it post-delightful. She could compare it to those videos online of men putting down several dozen pounds of meat at a time, patty by patty, fry by fry: it was disgustingly satisfying.
“If we pull off these first few ambushes right, you’ll probably level up enough to get both skills, anyway. Plus, I have dyslexia, so it's hard for me to read things that quickly anyway,” Pyre said slowly, taking the time to ruminate on it. She always seemed to think with her mouth tightly pursed, as if all the thoughts might flee if they had the chance. “I say take it.”
Akemi grinned wolfishly. She was planning on it either way, but Pyre didn’t need to know that.
Teamwork.
Skill Acquired! Dice of Dark Divination
Special Effect Activated: Dice of Dark Divination {First Time Bonus}
A new die, painted blood red and midnight black, rolled across her vision. It had tiny runes crafted into the sides of it in the shape of bull horns. After a series of bounces, it settled in the front of her System, laid flatly on the side of the six.
Your next spell will be multiplied by: six.
“Oh hell yes,” Akemi said, practically flushing with adrenaline. “Call me lady luck.”
“It’s always a six on the first roll,” Pyre laughed. She reached for the ladder, pulling herself up onto the first rung, then the second. “Now, remember the golden rule: shut the fuck up.”
Without another word, the woman hoisted herself up onto the dusty floorboards of the storage room. Akemi stared at her back, then let out a small, stunned laugh.
But nevertheless, she followed quickly behind, until the two of their backs were pressed to a pair of storage barrels, and they could get an actual look at the room they had entered into. It was effectively a closet. It was no wider than a meter, and there was nothing in there besides an abundance of cobwebs and half-empty containers. And, of course, two wide, wooden doors sitting just across from them; the threshold into the rest of the manor.
Thoughtlessly, Akemi opened her mouth to speak. “Sho—”
Pyre glared at her, effectively shutting her up. Simultaneously, words began to form on the wooden doors in front of them. They manifested in the shape of small, letter-sized indents, as if they were being seared there by a fine stick of fire.
After a moment, the invisible quill ceased its writing, and revealed:
I’ll open the door. You get ready to back me up.