NOVEL NEXT Chapter Three Hundred Fifty Six
"So." Said Callie with a grin as I walked into the house. "You made it through huh?" Despite her light tone, I could feel through the bond that she was happy for me. "Who did you end up against?" We'd agreed not to come watch each other's matches because it would tip our hands if we revealed any new tricks.
I slumped down on the couch, peeling off my mask and dropping my head her lap, barely giving her time to move the book she'd been reading. She rolled her eyes at that, but smiled, reaching down to run her fingers through my hair. She was wearing sweat pants and a tank top, and her face looked almost surreal without the mask. I smirked at her. "Wren."
She whistled at that. "Well damn, no wonder you look so tired. I can't believe you won. If I hadn't felt your excitement through the bond I'd never have believed it. That's pretty impressive. I remember how hard to beat he was when we fought him together." She paused. "What was his ability anyway? Since he's out it won't effect the tournament if you let me know, and that was driving me nuts."
I snickered a bit at what a nerd she could be. "Water manipulation of some kind. Turned into a giant shark. I handled it. He was no pushover though. When is your first solo match?"
She sighed in annoyance. "I'm up on day three. I'm going stir crazy sitting here alone." She held up her book. "This is the owners manual for our car."
I gave her a flat look. "You realize you aren't allowed to drive no matter how well you know how the car works, right? The tournament is enough life threatening danger, thanks."
"You don't drive either." She said with a pout. "You don't need to act like I'm some kind of monster."
Deciding it was best to change the subject, I made a noncommittal noise and then said. "Oh, by the way. Granting wishes for attacks doesn't count as outside interference does it? It IS my ability."
I was pretty sure it didn't, but I had wishes to grant today anyway so asking would be a good distraction. Sure enough she waved the question off easily. "Of course not. The point of this is not to make people feel like they're being cheated no matter who wins. You're behind us all in raw stats and that's how you keep up."
Sighing in relief, I sat up with a groan. "Fair enough. Then I should get that out of the way. You should go have a day out with Jessie or something. You can't just sit around and worry for two days."
She gave me a soft smile. "Pot and kettle. But as long as we don't work on training that wouldn't be a big deal. In fact, it's such a good idea that as team leader I order you to spend the day with Benny tomorrow after you get your wishes done. Assuming he's free."
"Free?" I said with a snort. "If he was anymore prone to brooding alone we'd need to build him a bell tower. I wouldn't describe him as free of anything except the compulsion to bathe regularly."
"That rings a bit hollow from the guy who feels the need to shower three times a day." She said with an eye roll. "How your hair isn't basically straw at this point I'll never know. If you weren't an Ascendant your skin would be parchment by now. Regardless, his brooding is kind of the point I was trying to make. He needs to get out. I get you want to give him space to figure out things with Celine, but at this point he's just spiraling."
I let out a long sigh. "I know, Cal. Trust me. But I also know Benny. He needs time in his own head. If I don't let him sort through this himself he'd going to second guess the decision fifty times after he makes it and neither of them deserve that. He doesn't let much get to him, but when things do he needs to wallow in them." At her arched brow I held up both hands as I sat up. "Fine. Tomorrow. But only for an hour or two. Nothing that'll take away from his thinking time for too long."
"Fine." She said with a sigh. "You know him best. Not like Jessie hasn't been trying and failing anyway, so I might as well listen to the expert. I just feel...responsible. I'm the leader, I'm supposed to vet our allies. Celine completely fooled me and Benny had to pay for it."
Leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead, I leaned mine against it right after. "Contrary to your own warped worldview, being leader doesn't make you responsible for everything. Benny decided to pursue her, and she was the one who went through with it. I hope they work things out, but even if they don't, it's no ones responsibility but theirs and Celine's sister's. Feel free to tell her off when we meet her. I'll get in her way if she tries to murder you."
Standing up, I let go of her hands, which I'd been holding. "Sadly, if tomorrow is a day off, today is a training day as usual, which means I'd better go get started." Not to mention I need a re-up on some of Benny's attacks badly. At least it meant he could keep his money for the moment.
"Whatever." She said in a faux-condescending tone. "Some of us have important and interesting work to do. Off with you. You're distracting me while I'm trying to learn." I chuckled at that and rolled my eyes, heading out like she said and leaving her to her weird reading choice. We still wouldn't be letting her drive. The only one of us anyone trusted behind the wheel was Jessie.
With that done though, I decided to head off in search of my best friend. It wasn't a long search, Benny spent most of his time outside staring dramatically off into the middle distance these days. I didn't mess with him about it. I was pretty sure if I found out Callie had been lying to me our whole relationship I'd be equally miserable.
"So." I said dropping down next to him. "You ready for your wishes today? Because I'm pretty much tapped on density shift attacks again. Wren is a bitch and a half to fight. Not that it stopped me."
He chuckled at that. "You won? Nice. Only four more rounds to go, huh? You realize every round you fight after this is one round closer to having to fight one of our own?" I grimaced. He was right, and I was pretty damn sure it would happen sooner than later. Fantasy tended to push us toward dramatic and unusual situations, and that wasn't just me. The person who drew the names would have a high Fantasy too.
Seeing I wasn't enjoying the conversation, Benny smiled and changed the subject, making his wishes for the day without much fuss. Four density shifted attacks and a tranq blow, bringing me up to ten of the first and four of the latter. Benny's Focus jumped to two hundred twenty three, and his overall stats hit five hundred sixty three, after which I made plans with him for the next day and left him to his brooding, heading downstairs for the training room.
With only Sucking Mud and my divination abilities still needing to be upgraded, I technically had four to go. Earthseeking, an old skill I almost never used that let me find things like mines and ore. Pulse of life, which let me find rare plants, and which I also never used, and Seek Hidden, which I used all the time and would need to make sure remained useful, if not making sure to give it a flat upgrade.
It would have been useful if I could synergize Sucking Mud with Earthseeking, but sadly it wasn't in the cards. They were both subskills of DS Mastery, and you couldn't synergize a skill with itself. I could use two charges to use multiple abilities, and even use them in conjunction, but that wasn't the same thing.
Though that made me wonder if to finally upgrade the DS Mastery Skill I might need to synergize it with Enchanting once I finally finished upgrading all the components. It was something to think about at least. That might be what I needed to push it to a completely new level, and since DS Mastery was my most powerful offensive ability and I barely used Enchanting anymore, I could think of worse options.
For now though, I decided to focus on synergizing another skill. My head wasn't exactly up to anything crazy. I'd rested but this fight had taken a lot out of me in terms of soul strength, so there was no reason to push things past where they needed to go. I'd do a small Skill, and I had just the one in mind.
Focusing on Pulse of Life, I felt barely any strain, it was a first level divination skill and not one I almost ever used, so it wasn't much strain on my soul. Neither was the other Skill I decided to synergize with it, Minor Herbalism Mastery. The combination was so obvious that I couldn't see a reason NOT to use it, and even clicking them together took almost no effort relative to my last two synergies. Both skills were designed to do similar things, so I barely had to push them.
The resulting skill was...stupidly useful. Rhythm of the Wild was a new ability that let me not only FIND rare plants, but identify them through the interface as long as they were my rank or lower. The utility of a skill like that somewhere like the Moonsong Glade was staggering, and it made me seriously think about how skill synergy worked. While I could make amazing and unusual abilities when synergizing off the wall combos, I could make powerful and useful ones when the two skills in question were of a similar nature.
Power vs. utility was an interesting conundrum, though utility still mostly won out considering my stockpiled attacks and how the meta abilities of DS Mastery affected them. Sadly, based on how much thought I had to put into this one, I was running out of easy synergies, and I needed to come up with a basic idea for a skill before making it. I probably wouldn't hit Intermediate before the tenth round, though I might before the eleventh, depending on if I even made it there.
Slumping back on the ground, I realized that with plans made, a new skill done, and wishes finished, not to mention the fight over, I was officially free for the day. No more responsibilities that needed to be taken care of. Just me and some much needed downtime. I could work with that.
I let my eyes drift closed as I pushed worry about my next match out of my mind. My fight with Wren had been an immense amount of fun, and I was sure the next one would be just as great. Whoever it might be against. We were so close to the end. I wasn't sure how they were going to handle the last five people standing (Benny insisted it would be a free for all but that just seemed like a mess to me) but however it was, I'd be ready.
As I felt sleep consume me, my last thoughts for the day weren't about combat though, or Benny, or even Callie. They were about me, and how happy I was with how far I'd come. I was standing on my own two feet now, and proving to myself I could do that. I had to admit, that felt damn good.