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Book 2: Chapter 16: Unfortunate Fortune and Backroom Connections

When the artificial sun was done rising just so happened to be when Lone noticed he wasn\'t gaining any more levels in Darkness Corruption Resistance.

He used his hand not feeding energy to Sophie\'s cocoon to check his shoulder wound and, lo and behold, it was entirely gone.

"That took far, far too long," Lone commented.

Considering how utterly broken his Basic Regeneration was, the amount of time it had taken for the wound to heal deeply worried him.

He looked out of the open window in their inn room and muttered, "Curfew\'s almost over... May as well see what skill improvements I earned over the night. Not much else better to do."

His multi-coloured eyes entered a daze as he went over the dozens of system notification that had stacked up in the corner of his vision.

Ultimately, three skills had levelled up. Darkness Corruption Resistance and Basic Regeneration were expected but luckily enough it seemed that Root of Life had also benefited from the traumatic experience somehow.

As he created theories in his mind, Lone pulled up the new information of the three skills.

Passive Skill: Darkness Corruption Resistance

A skill that allows the host to resist Darkness Corruption when afflicted with it at varying levels based on mastery.

Darkness Corruption shall be weakened and fought off with 60% [+55%] efficiency.

Cost:N/A Mastery:Expert Level 3 [+32 levels]

This was to Lone an incredibly insane amount of growth for a resistance skill. It was unprecedented, even.

\'Only my Physical Pain, Mental Pain and Poison Resistances are in the expert rank, and I got those through months of life-or-death combat and from being tortured day-in-day-out for weeks on end...\' Lone didn\'t understand.

The Darkness Corruption didn\'t hurt much though it certainly heightened his fears and made him a bit woozy but beyond that, it was more than tolerable.

Why then, had it levelled up over 30 times in such a short duration?

\'Darkness... Was that disembodied voice controlling Four-twelve an incredibly powerful minion of the Primal, Darkness? If not, then how can I explain the absurd - even for me - levelling speed...\' He wondered to himself as he moved on to the next skill.

Unique Skill: Basic Regeneration

A skill unique to the host, Lone Immortus.

Grants the host the ability to passively heal injuries at a fast rate. The healing rate can be increased in exchange for mana.

Cost:20 MP (per second per 1% increase in healing rate) Mastery:Expert Level 6 [+1 level]

"I thought as much," Lone mumbled as some tension escaped his body. \'If this skill levelled up then that means it\'s definitely got a physical side to it that can be cured through regular healing. That means Sophie should be affected by Root of Life... The bad news though is that the damage was so extensive that Basic Regeneration still gained a level despite being in the expert rank...\'

Lone felt that good news was always paired with its opposite in his experiences but at least with this discovery, he could ease his worries a little bit.

Active Nature Magic Skill: Root of Life

A very rare application of the nature magic school where the caster focuses the element of nature into summoning a root of Altros which is capable of fully healing a being dying of physical injuries.

Can only be used once every 12-months (currently cooling down).

Beings this skill is used on will take anywhere from 4-8 weeks to recover.

Cost:150,000 MP Mastery:Beginner Level 7 [+3 levels]

\'This is another good sign for a few reasons. Firstly and most importantly, it levelling up should be a pretty good sign its working to heal Sophie of the Darkness Corruption,\' Lone concluded.

He then tapped his chin with his free hand a few times and thought, \'In other news, if it keeps levelling at a steady pace, maybe it\'ll rank up once or twice before it finishes healing her. If it does, the cooldown will decrease for the next time I can use it.\'

Lone took a deep breath and shook his head. "I guess now\'s as good a time as any to see the damage done."

He pulled up his cooldown for when his mana organs would be unsealed. He really didn\'t want to see how much time using 150,000 MP had cost him but it would be foolish to ignore what he\'d done.

Remaining duration of MP seal: 8,031 hours, 19-minutes and 43-seconds [1,500-hours added for temporarily breaking the mana seals to cast a Tier-3 spell requiring 150,000 MP].

Lone winced as his handsome face crumpled up in pain. "Ouch. An hour for every 100 MP used, huh? It doesn\'t even care that 110,000 of the MP I consumed came from the fuckin\' mana orb?"

He leaned down and sighed heavily. "It was a tall price to pay," he said to himself before he glanced at the cocooned Sophie.

"Tall but worth it and I\'d pay it doubly over again if it means keeping her alive," he whispered.

Lone slowly stood up, still pressing one root-wrapped hand to the cocoon. "I\'m gonna unsummon you, okay, Sophie? I know you can\'t hear me... hell, you won\'t even respond telepathically but that place will keep you safe. I\'m gonna do a test quickly first and if everything seems fine, I\'m going to keep you in there when I have to, okay?"

He smiled weakly. "I need to tell your boss that you can\'t show up for work for a while and I also need to start looking into hiring an out-of-town healer to give you a once-over. Maybe a non-dwarf has a clinic set up here in the krieg, who knows?"

"Ha-ah... I must sound like a lunatic. Anyway, here goes the test," Lone said before he unsummoned her.

The first part of the test was a clear success when Lone saw the cocoon vanish too, meaning it had gone along with her.

He let a few minutes pass before he resummoned her. Everything seemed fine. The skill still appeared to be doing its job.

Regardless, he repeated the test several more times, extending the duration of her being unsummoned with each iteration.

Happy with the results, Lone said some more words of loving support to the cocoon before leaving it in The Summoning Room.

Still worried about his lover, he pressed onwards with the day and collected Breena and Kyuubi from their room.

After a hearty serving of Underhog sausages and Fire Roost Hen eggs for breakfast, Lone spoke to Breena as they walked down the pipe-lined and cobbled streets of the krieg.

"You don\'t mind looking after her for me, do you?" Lone asked. "Just while Sophie recovers in The Summoning Room."

Breena looked over at Lone then down at the fluffy yet plump cat-sized fox in her arms. Her lips quivered into the tiniest of smiles as she answered, "Uh, n-no. I don\'t mind."

"Thanks. I just don\'t want to risk Root of Life somehow targeting her as an energy source or something if I unsummon her," Lone explained.

"I understand," Breena replied softly.

"Right." Lone felt a bit awkward. There was a new distance between him and the girl and it bothered him.

She wasn\'t fearing for her life or anything but he could tell she was more on guard around him now than she was only a couple of days ago. \'I really messed up yesterday... I snapped at an emotionally and physically damaged teenager then forced her to run several marathons back-to-back before ignoring her and then telling her to go to bed...\'

He shook his head. \'The only thing making me any better than my own stupid father is that I realise I\'m the bad guy. Well, that and I didn\'t beat her in my anger, thank God for that.\'

"Breena," Lone called as they walked to gain her attention again.

He wanted to clearly apologise and make it known that the Lone of last night was not normal and that it would never happen again.

"Yes?" Breena replied meekly.

"... I, uh, I need to go this way. Stay out of trouble and behave at work, okay? I\'ll come and pick you up when you get off and I\'ll explain Sophie\'s situation to Mister Fits\'war myself when I do, okay?" Lone said a bit stiffly.

Breena nodded curtly. "Okay."

Lone watched as she left with the fluffy fox in her arms. He laughed at himself, drawing a few eyes. \'Fuckin\' idiot. Choking up when you just want to say sorry so you lie instead? I was going to explain things to the tailor first then go see Gramps, not the other way around. Fuck, I\'m pathetic.\'

What was done was done, however. Lone just resolved himself to apologise another time since he had little other choice.

"You\'re back early," Wilbur noted when he watched Lone slink into his shop, expertly keeping his tails from brushing into anything as he always did. "By my countin\' only three days have passed. You took four off and weren\'t due to work again until another one after that."

Lone smiled. "The adventure ended a little early."

"Aye? Wanna talk about it? You\'re lookin\' mighty depressed over there. Puttin\' your good lookin\' mug to waste at the same time you are, boy," Wilbur joked.

"Long or short story?" Lone asked.

Steamforger Wilbur considering the two option for a moment before shrugging. "Short. The finer details would be lost on me anyway. Ah don\'t have an adventurous soul."

"Well, to put it into a single sentence; turns out the guy employing us set up more than just the quest itself," Lone said.

"Ah. Got a knife in the back, did ya?" the old dwarf questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Something along those lines, yeah." Lone didn\'t go into more detail since he felt it didn\'t really matter right now. "I and another companion of mine got out mostly unharmed but my... my lover... she\'s still unconscious."

"By the Stone... Didn\'t think it was that serious. Ah suppose you\'re the guy who went around last night with a massive bundle of roots begging for healing, huh?" Steamforger Wilbur guessed.

Lone nodded. "Guilty as charged. No one would give us the time of day or just refused us service when they learned she\'s a human."

"Huh. Guess ah\'m not the only crazy one out of the two of us then," the old man chuckled.

"What\'dya mean?" Lone wore a quizzical expression on his face.

"You wouldn\'t believe the flak ah\'ve caught for marryin\' Ickold. Stoneborn and dwarves don\'t really have great relations. Ironic, eh? Given Ah\'m a Stone Dwarf," Steamforger Wilbur explained. "Much like beastkin and humans typically don\'t, eh?"

He ran a hand through his thick and long white beard before grinning. "Ah\'m crazy enough to keep my dead wife\'s corpse in my living room and you\'re over here screaming at doors in the dead of night begging for help to heal your human girlfriend. It\'s just funny, is all."

Lone smiled wryly. "If you say so. Maybe I\'d be able to laugh if anyone would give her the time of day. Laws preventing the service of humans in regards to medicine and healing are absurd. Contract magic exists. I\'d be happy to sign a legal waiver."

"As are laws allowing slavery, boy, but damn-near two-thirds of the continent allows the practice," Steamforger Wilbur countered. "Circumstances create laws, not whimsical fancy. And contract magic is flimsy as all hell unless a true master is the one doing it. That\'d cost way too much."

"That doesn\'t make it any less unfair. Anyway, I didn\'t mean to argue with you. What are we working on today?" Lone asked in an attempt to change the subject.

Wilbur didn\'t answer at first and instead seemed to consider something mentally.

A few seconds passed before he opened his mouth and said, "Ah know a black market doctor who\'s really good at diagnosing patients. Skilled at healin\' magic too. Wanna see them?"

"... That sounds incredibly illegal," Lone commented.

"Just as illegal as teachin\' a non-dwarf steamforgin\' but you don\'t see that stoppin\' me from doing that, now do you?" the old man snapped back.

"I wasn\'t complaining. I was just pointing out that you\'re one shady dude," Lone joked. "Yeah, I\'d love to meet them if you don\'t mind connecting us."

"Follow me then. Work can wait for another time. Ah know what it\'s like to stress over a dyin\' loved one. Would be cruel of me to tell you ah might know someone who can help then stick you in the forge all day, haha," Steamforger Wilbur laughed.

Lone frowned. "She isn\'t dying... At least, I don\'t think she is."

"Good," was all the old dwarf said in response before he led Lone out of the shop.

He locked the place up and then the two of them walked through the city, side by side.