Book 2: Chapter 86: Choked Up Reunion and Barrier Boy
Hazel and her group of newly registered wooden plate adventurers sat around a table having brunch at the cheapest inn they could find in Golden Pass City.
'This is nice. I wish she'd stop obsessin' over him much though,' Scott thought and Hazel heard.
She sighed. Alisa shared Scott's thoughts and even George wanted to give up at this point. Only Emma was still on her side.
'That letter idea was surprisingly smart,' George thought. 'What will I do if it leads us to meeting him again? He... he's part of the reason Emma and my families were murdered by Sloth, isn't he?'
Hazel didn't like that part of George. He was usually so sweet and innocent when he wasn't fawning over Emma, but every now and then he would think about how the man she was certain was her brother held some blame for what the guild did to avenge both said man and the guildmaster who had vanished.
She picked at the plate of spiced mashed potatoes in front of her as she said, "I swear, if he doesn't reply, or if he does and says he doesn't know any of us except for Emma and George, then I'll forget about it. I'll... move on."
That was a lie. She wouldn't give up until she'd met Lone Immortus face to face. A letter simply wouldn't cut it.
The similarities and timing were too coincidental. Her brother just so happened to disappear within a few months of a dead foxkin race's revival through a man who looked just like him?
No, the mysterious Golden Foxkin had to be her older brother. Why he was now a foxkin, she didn't know, but she'd certainly try to find out.
Changing the topic, the shortest member of their group Alisa said, "I think we should focus on gaining strength and earning better guild plates. This company is continent-spanning. If anyone knows how to get home - if that's possible, then it's the guild."
Scott nodded as he forked a sausage and stuffed it in his mouth. "Right? Its CEO must be crazy powerful."
George sighed faintly. "It's a guild, not a company, and she's the Grand Guildmaster, not the CEO."
Emma swooned, "And not just any Grand Guildmaster. She's not a nobody like the Grand Guildmaster of The Alchemist's Guild, no siree! Grand Guildmaster Sarah is a Divine!"
Blank stares met her enthusiasm.
Hazel knew bits and pieces about the higher end of the power structure of Altros since she heard so many loose thoughts from those stronger than her, but the scope of a Divine's abilities was certainly lost on a group of I-rankers.
"Why'd you two never join the guild back in Milindo, by the way?" Scott asked as he wiggled one of his bushy eyebrows.
George scratched his cheek awkwardly. "My dad didn't want me to. He, uh, wasn't fond of the local guildmaster."
Emma nodded. "Mine too. Both my mum and dad hated that I loved exploring and seeing new sights. Ha-ah, the sheer amount of lectures I got on why the guild was a 'lesser band of glorified bandits' was dizzying."
Noticing the darkened looks on both of the fallen nobles' expressions along with their mournful thoughts of family, she said, "Want to do some city quests to pass the time as we wait for a reply?"
"As you wait for a reply," Scott corrected. "But sure, I'm all for earning some money. To think we couldn't even afford to send a letter..."
George's face went red as he thought, 'Lodging for five people, supplies, and purchasing weapons and armour, isn't cheap. Emma and I only brought so much money with us from Milindo...'
Hazel didn't blame him. She was the one who had selfishly wanted to send a letter to Krieg Moor's guild branch as soon as they had arrived at Golden Pass City.
The others had only agreed since she'd lied to them, agreeing to give up on this 'Lone Immortus' figure after this.
"Well, let's finish our meal th-"
"There you are," a sweet but cold voice announced.
Hazel jolted as a new mind suddenly brushed up against her own. Standing right behind her was a young woman barely taller than Alisa but they shared the same ridiculously long golden-blonde hair.
Alisa and Scott looked alarmed and somewhat frightened while Emma was surprised. George, on the other hand, was absolutely bricking it.
'I-It's her! The woman who nearly killed me and Bastion because of his stupid attempts to buy Lone off of her!' the young man exclaimed internally.
Meanwhile, the almost fully-armoured woman was having some very choice thoughts of her own.
'So weak, even more so than Breena. We should kill her and save Lone the pain of worrying about her. We'll just tell him she was a mimic spawned of Darkness.' Hazel felt chills go all along her spine.
'You're too cruel, Sophie. You can see she's a human child, right? We can't just murder her. Besides, you know Lone will eventually get a mind-reading skill or a truth-detecting one and I will not be the one to beg for forgiveness when he breaks up with us because you decided to kill his sister. I'd sooner work with him to make a body for myself if you betrayed his trust like that,' the woman thought to herself as if she had two minds.
"Hey! Who the fuck're you?!" Scott shouted, making everyone in the inn's lobby-slash-dining hall turn to look at him.
The woman wearing plate armour moved her unhelmeted head to glance at him. "None of your business."
She then grabbed Hazel by the shoulder and disappeared.
Hazel felt her stomach roll around as her vision shifted from a lovely little inn in Golden Pass City to the wilderness. Her surroundings changed dozens of times, to the point of making her dizzy to her core.
The next thing she knew, she was being enveloped in darkness. It took a moment, but her eyes adjusted only to reveal she was in a large hallway with intricate mosaics covering the walls, all carved from stone and brass.
What looked like electric-powered lights could be seen embedded into the floor, walls, and ceiling. 'This is a road, not a hall... An underground road? The Farwinds?'
Her unique skill located three new minds, one curious about her and that held some very rude opinions about her, another which was wary and envious, and a final mind, however, this third person was somehow warding away her passive attempts to invade their thoughts.
She didn't know why, but she felt like she was in some sort of mental battle against... something. The third mind was powerful, of that, she was certain.
It was only now that she'd had some time to get her bearings that she realised a dwarf and two foxkin were staring at her.
The taller of the foxkin stormed over to her and gripped her by the neck, lifted her off the ground, and then growled into her face, "Stop trying to break through my puzzles or I'll kill you right now, creature."
Hazel panicked. Tears welled up in her eyes upon realising she was being choked out by the man who looked exactly like her brother minus the foxy features.
The armoured woman who Hazel now knew was called Soph or Sophie - she had a strange mind, approached Lone, or Darren, or whoever this man was, and said, "She's got less magic than Breena does Lone, so, uh, I'm pretty sure you're strangling your sister..."
Shock and something similar to despair took over the man's face. "Hamish?"
The dwarven man thumbed his nose and shrugged. "'Er aura's screamin' I-ranker tae me."
The foxkin frowned but nodded, letting go of Hazel's throat. She fell to her knees and deposited the contents of her brunch on the floor.
She didn't really care about that though. Her mind was in a state of shock, panic, and joy. 'She said 'sister'. She definitely said 'sister'. So he must really be Darren!'
Unwillingly, even more tears spilt out of her eyes.
Lone rubbed the back of his neck as he silently listened to his little sister wail and cry her eyes out.
"Was she with anyone when you found her?" he asked as he grimaced at sensing whatever Hazel was doing break his first mental lock.
Soph nodded. "Yup. Two noble kids that we met before. I, uh, don't remember their names. She was with two other kids as well. They all had roughly the same amount of magic? Different colours and slight differences to each, but all as weak as the next. Ah, but the noble girl is definitely stronger than the rest but only barely. I'd bet she's an H-ranker."
"Gotcha. Go bring them here too, would you?" Lone asked.
Soph beamed him a beautiful smile. "Sure, but I'll be taking a kiss as payment!"
And just like that, she teleported off to go kidnap some children at his behest.
'I'm well on my way to becoming a certified villain, huh? First cultural theft, then literal theft, now the theft of children. Maybe I'm a masterclass thief?' Lone mused.
He stopped feeling amused when he felt his second lock be defeated. "Seriously, whatever you're doing, stop it."
Hamish walked up to Lone's side with Breena behind him. "What're ye even on aboot? Ah cannae sense anythin'."
"I have the Puzzle Locked Mind skill," Lone explained. "It's being attacked by her right now."
Hamish wore an impressed expression. "Damn good skill, 'at is. Been tryin' tae learn it maself. Ah think most folk who ken the dangers ah mind feckery at silver plate find it on the list an' try tae learn it."
Lone nodded in response.
Hazel quickly collected herself and tried her best to stop sniffling. "It's passive. I-I can't stop it."
"Your unique skill?" Lone asked.
It would only make sense for her to own one if she truly was his little sister. Earth was her home planet just like it was his own, which would make her a summoned hero.
She affirmed his well-informed guess with a brief bob of her head.
Lone took out a dagger from his Dimensional Storage and proceeded to cut his left pinky clean off. With the passage of a few seconds and thanks to the aid of some SP, it had grown back entirely.
Hazel's expression made it clear her innards were threatening another revolution after that display, but Lone didn't care. He cut off his pinky again but this time focused intently to prevent Basic Regeneration from doing anything.
As expected, his pinky didn't regrow and instead, the wound bled profusely. At this point, his third lock had been defeated.
"As I've clearly demonstrated, passive skills can be turned off with enough concentration. Do it now. Or, tell me exactly what your skill does that it needs to break through mental defences to even so much as work. If it's harmless enough, I'll ignore my paranoia and forgive you," Lone said coldly.
Even if this girl was his sibling, the security of his mind mattered far more to him right now than her feelings did. A touching reunion could wait.
The last thing Lone needed right now was a unique skill trying to fuck with his head somehow. Who was to say his sister hadn't been gifted with a mind-controlling unique skill that passively turned everyone it touched into her slaves?
She'd tell him what her skill did, learn to control it right now, or he'd knock her out and hopefully, that would stop the skill. Lone was fine with any of the three available options.
"I... I'll try to stop it," Hazel replied as a determined look entered her eyes.
Lone narrowed his own. 'Don't want to reveal what the skill does, huh? I'll find out soon, you can count on that, you little brat.'
His fourth lock crumbled, giving Hazel even less time to figure out how to stop herself. Thankfully, learning how to control a passive skill was a painless and speedy process for anyone, not just for Lone.
He felt his final lock beginning to buckle before the skill that was flailing wildly against it trying to figure out how to crack it open retreated, leaving his mind completely.
Lone, not being one to waste an opportunity, immediately tried to rebuild the locks himself in hopes of earning that additional effect but to no avail. 'Maybe next time. When I squeeze out exactly what her skill is from her, then I can get her to help me forcefully improve Puzzle Locked Mind assuming her skill can't harm me. Silver lining.'
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Puzzle Locked Mind] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 7.
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Puzzle Locked Mind] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 8.
'Only two levels. Her skill is lower ranked and levelled than Stoner Heeth's Enforcement Scripture. That, or she has literally no idea how to control it. What an idiot if it's the latter. Did she arrive on Altros yesterday? I swear to god if she's been assuming 'passive' translates into 'ignore it and let it do whatever it wants to do'...' Lone reined in his thoughts.
"Good job. We can talk now. First, when did you arrive on Altros?" Lone asked in a kinder but still authoritative tone.
Hazel, still a bit dazed from everything that had happened to her in the past couple of minutes, mumbled, "About two months ago? Just after you, uh, fled Milindo... Are you really Darren?"
Lone could see tears welling up in the 16-year-old's eyes again. He sighed when he saw Breena and Hamish casting confused looks his way.
"I'm Lone Immortus, Immortus the Immortal, Skill Thief, or heck, even just Fox works for some," he said as he winked at Hamish who chuckled back at him. "But ultimately, yeah, I was Darren McCullen until I arrived here and got turned into a Golden Foxkin."
Hazel slowly stood up as she wiped her eyes. She stumbled towards Lone and suddenly hugged him.
He could have dodged her if he wanted to. Hazel's stats were clearly pathetic but he allowed her hands to coil around his back. Even if it felt a bit awkward given the circumstances, he hugged her in kind.
"I missed you," he said as it was both true and felt appropriate.
"I missed you too," Hazel responded as she buried her head in his chest. "I missed you so much. I-I never gave up looking... Never..."
Lone sighed. 'You should have. We were never that close since I moved out shortly after dad hung himself. Of all the people to be brought to Altros... Is it really a coincidence she got summoned?'
Lone's mind drifted to the gods that had picked him, Soph, and Sophie, to play in their game while he still had no ideas about what said game involved.
He also thought of both Clicker and Snapper briefly before dismissing them from his mind. They were odd for sure, but connecting them to Hazel's summoning was even more farfetched than connecting Clicker to the being that had inhabited the Taker.
"It's actually not working..." Lone heard Hazel mumble in joyful surprise.
"Your unique skill?" he asked.
She peeled herself off of him and smiled at him. "Y-Yeah. It's, uh, it's been a bit of a burden ever since I got it."
Lone nodded, still curious as all hell about what exactly her unique skill could possibly be given the current context clues.
His current guesses were forced mind control, subtle mind manipulation, mind reading, or perhaps even something as farfetched as the implantation of seeds that would allow her to siphon power to attain some sort of false immortality.
Unique skills could be weird. He and Soph were perfect examples of that. They could also be nearly useless like Daisuke Tamiko's super persuasion.
"The people with you, who are they? I know about Emma and George already even if Soph forgot their names, but what about the other two?" Lone asked.
Hazel's eyes widened. "You didn't read my letter?"
Lone reached into his pocket and retrieved the unopened envelope. "Nope. Like hell I would trust something this suspicious sent to me by someone using my sister's name. I've run into undetectable enchantments before. What if this had exploded in my face and killed Soph, Hamish, and Breena, as a result?"
"Oh, uh. That's... that's fair I suppose," Hazel nodded hesitantly. Clearly, she wasn't accustomed to Lone's carefulness.
Hamish cast a doubtful look at the sealed letter while Breena wore a mildly terrified expression at the thought of it exploding.
He couldn't blame her for that. It was a fair concern.
Lone couldn't blame Hazel either for her shock at his attitude. Altros had changed him. He'd barely been on the planet for a year but it may as well have been decades considering the shifts his personality had gone through.
"Um, Hamish and Breena, right? I'm Hazel McCullen, Darr-" A sharp look from Lone stopped her mid-sentence. "Oh, uh, Lone? That's so weird... Em, I'm Lone's younger sister. I just recently turned 16 and I can't tell you both how happy I am to know my brother has found some friends here."
Hamish snorted. "Ah kidnapped an' tried tae kill 'im when we first met. Came pretty close anaw. Fecker doesnae trust me as far as ah can throw ye."
"You're pretty short and I'm pretty strong. I bet I could toss you pretty far," Lone offered. "I could have won that fight too if I wasn't using you to farm skills."
"Braggart," Hamish grumbled.
Breena hid away from Hazel's gaze and used her three tails to cover her face as she hugged them. "I'm just a burden..."
"Huh." Hazel was stumped. "I-Interesting friends."
"They can be," Lone agreed. "Now, back to yours. Who are the other two?"
"Ah, well, we got summoned as a group of four-"
A crashing sound filled everyone's ears as Soph reappeared with four people, one of which was surrounded by her transparent jade-green barriers.
Said barrier-covered young man had slammed straight into the ground upon arrival via Teleportation, hence the loud and brash noise.
"I'm back!" Soph happily claimed before trotting over to Lone and getting on her tiptoes to give him a kiss. "The muscly one wanted to fight and I didn't want to explain. Sophie kept telling me to just kill him, so it seemed easier to just wrap him up and bring him by force."
Lone stared long and hard at two of the four kids that had appeared. "Scott Miles and Alisa Wjcik. A group of four? Who's the fourth then?"
The young girl Lone recognised to be the daughter of the now deceased Duke of Milindo, Henry Malik, bounced in place upon seeing him. "You're even better looking than I remember!"
Soph hissed at her as she held Lone at the waist, making her armour dig into his skin beneath his loose clothing. "He's mine. Back. off."
Hamish laughed loudly. "May as well set up the feckin' tents at this point. Cook ah meal tae watch the show, aye?"
"Piss off, Hamish," Lone sighed. "We've clearly got a lot to talk about though, but not here in the middle of the fuckin' road. We'll have to thank Soph's Luck no one has shown up to see all of this considering this particular farwind is actually quite busy. Let's move to a more secluded area for now. Any ideas, dwarf?"
"Hmm... There's a partially abandoned urd aboot ah mile away fae us if ah recall. Its mines ran dry so the folk left but some exiles call it 'ome noo. Violent exiles, but nae one worth ah bounty. Ah think the closest army was actually due tae clear the place in ah month or so. 'At being the case, if ye'r 'appy gettin' yer paws dirty, then it sounds perfect fae ah wee pitstop tae flap yer lips, aye, fox?" Hamish suggested.
Lone nodded. "Sounds perfect indeed."
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