Book 2: Chapter 90: Slap and Questioning Begins
'Thank you for sending that stone over. They were annoying us,' Sophie said to Lone telepathically.
'Don't worry about it. It was a good lesson for them to not get too close to powerful beings who are battling until they are powerful enough themselves to watch safely, even if you didn't intend for that,' Lone laughed in response.
Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Unarmed Combat Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Advanced Level 10.
'Hurt him more, would you?' his lover so kindly requested of him.
Lone smiled wryly and sighed while he watched Hamish rush towards him, 'No promises. I'm trying to beat him without killing him. If I hurt him, I hurt him. I won't go out of my way to break an arm or anything though.'
All he got in response was a single word, 'Pity.'
Lone twisted his body as best as he could to dodge the incoming blow from Hamish. He almost got hit again because Sophie's reply amused him enough to come very close to forcing him to laugh out loud.
He'd failed to dodge Hamish the first time at the start of the fight, resulting in him flying across the street and crashing into a building. This time, even if that didn't happen, he still wasn't able to completely evade it.
The blow became a glancing one, meaning that while his skin was ripped open and some of his muscles got shredded by the dwarf's Applied Strength, he wasn't lifted off of his feet this time.
Two more punches swiftly came towards him before he could return the favour, one aiming for his left side ribs and the other for his groin.
'This bastard!' Lone thought in a panic before he controlled his bone to bring forth his armour as quickly as he could.
"You're applying Strength and Agility!" Lone yelled as he felt the dwarf's fists impact his armour, dent and chip the bones slightly, and then rebound. "Don't go trying to blast my sensitive parts to smithereens!"
Hamish shook his now bleeding hands. "Ye didnae say yer jewels were oof limit! 'Sides, yer Basic Regeneration would'a fixed it in a second or two!"
Lone finished covering himself in his full suit of menacing Bone Armour before he growled. "Whatever you go for, expect me to go for in kind."
Hamish shivered. "On second thought, aye, above the belt only."
They exchanged a few more blows after that and no matter how hard Hamish hit him, the man's fists never broke through Lone's armour. Each dent and chip would repair itself too quickly for the dwarf to build up enough damage to break through to his flesh.
'I can totally beat him now in a raw fist fight if I use Bone Armour. Hell, even if I just rely on Basic Regeneration, can't I?' Lone thought as he decided to invoke a new skill of his that he had little interest in.
Just trading normal blows wasn't getting them anywhere, really.
"Stone Slap!" he said.
Hamish's eyes widened as he leapt back, clearly surprised to see Lone using such a dwarven skill.
Lone, however, wasn't going to let the wily dwarf flee from his armoured palm. With his arm still arched back, ready to slap, he invoked two additional skills simultaneously, "Survivor's Speed. Ungrounded."
Faster than anyone here could see bar perhaps Sophie with her Mana Sensing, Lone kicked off of the air and launched himself forward. The next moment, a monumental cracking sound blasted off of Hamish's cheek as Lone's hand slammed against it.
The dwarf rocketed through the air as he spun before slamming into a dried-up water fountain. He stumbled up to his feet a few seconds later and rapidly blinked.
Lone moved to strike him again, not being one to give up the momentum but he stopped when he saw Hamish waving his arms in surrender.
"A-Ah give! Nae mere!" Hamish exclaimed before moving to nurse his jaw, popping it back into place since Lone had dislocated it.
Lone was ready to go a few more rounds with the B-ranker but he nodded instead and deactivated both Survivor's Speed and Ungrounded upon hearing the man's words. He also willed his Bone Armour to recede.
"Why? We could totally go for a few more minutes, right? I'm hardly trying to kill you," Lone asked.
Sophie approached his side and said, "His spine almost snapped, Lone. He was lucky you did not break his neck and shatter his skull with that. We are saddened you did not."
"Bloodthirsty little bitch," Hamish grumbled as he approach, massaging his neck all the while. "She's nae wrong though. What's yer mastery o' Stone Slap tae dae 'at much damage at C-rank an' withoot haein' yer Strength applied?"
Lone's eyes widened a bit. He dismissed his Bone Armour and replied, "It's only beginner-level-one, or was, at least. I'm sure it's levelled now. I haven't checked my notifs for that skill combo usage." He put his chin in his hand as he paced to do just that.
Congratulations! The host's active skill [Survivor's Speed] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 3.
Congratulations! The host's active skill [Survivor's Speed] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 4.
Congratulations! The host's active skill [Survivor's Speed] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 5.
Congratulations! The host's Primal skill [Ungrounded] has levelled up! It is now Advanced Level 9.
The Stone has deemed you worthy of its will. The Stone has empowered your skill [Stone Slap] with 4% of its will.
Congratulations! The host's active skill [Stone Slap] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 2.
Congratulations! The host's active skill [Stone Slap] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 3.
Congratulations! The host's active skill [Stone Slap] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 4.
Congratulations! The host's active skill [Stone Slap] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 5.
Congratulations! The host's active skill [Stone Slap] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 6.
'Huh, even though I'm not a dwarf or particularly care about it, the Stone still empowered my skill? Well, if nothing else, that proves it's a real force. Although, given that Primals and demigods are real, that's not really a surprise,' Lone thought.
He cracked his neck, feeling his Basic Regeneration finish repairing the damage Survivor's Speed had caused. Lone then stopped pacing to ask, "What's your Vitality at, Hamish?"
"Lemme check," the man replied before answering, "4,320."
"What? I have more than double that," Lone said in shock.
Hamish winced. "Way tae make me feel like shite, but ye can get stats fae killin', ah cannae. Still, 'at's equal tae some A an' S-rankers. It's more than Ewan 'ad an' 'e was ah physical-focused A-ranker. Maybe only ah handful o' B-rankers who specialise in bein' beefy 'ave close tae 10,000."
"Right..." Lone shook his head.
He really needed to find out what the baseline was for all rankers who specialised in all areas. Just what rank were his stats equal to? An S-ranker? Maybe even an SS-ranker for some? He didn't know. 'Something to look into back at the guild.'
"Well, my base Strength is 5,239. Factoring in the momentum Survivor's Speed and Ungrounded gave me - a skill I copied from an X-ranker and one I got for being the Avatar of Sky - I think it makes perfect sense I almost killed you with my slap. The Stone let me channel some of its will too. only 4%, but still, that could be a lot. Like how 4% of a trillion is still 40 billion. It'd be a different story if you could apply your Vitality."
"Or ye yer Strength. Ye'd 'ave knocked ma 'ead clean off ma shoulders." The dwarf sighed deeply. "Well, feck. Ah'm gonna gae back tae teachin' Breena. Feck! What ah feckin' reality check. Ah kenned ye were stronger than me when usin' all yer deadly skills, aye, but just ah slap an' some movement skills?"
Sophie laughed in the man's face. "Perhaps we should fight you too, hmm? Would you like for us to humiliate you too?"
"What're yer stats?" Hamish answered, apparently considering the offer.
Sophie shrugged. "They're very low, we assure you. Shall we list them for you? Strength is at 272. Vigour is at 231. Dexterity is at 221. Agility, quite the overachiever, is at 302. The disappointment of the bunch, Vitality, isn't even at 200, only reaching 193. And of course, we could never forget the stat that allows us to seduce Lone here so regularly, Charm. That is at a snug 22. We are basically a child."
"You don't need Charm to do that," Lone said, which earned him a coy smile in return.
Hamish crossed his arms over his chest disapprovingly. "Ye'r forgettin' Luck an' Magic Power."
Sophie shook her head. "Not forgetting, merely omitting. It would serve you well to learn the difference."
"I'm curious too, Potential magical beatdown of Hamish aside," Lone said to which Hamish glared at him, "what's your Luck and Magic Power at now? We gained over a hundred levels today."
Sophie twirled her straight blonde hair in her fingers as she glanced sideways at Lone. "If we simply must tell you, well, Luck is at 138,387 and Magic Power is at 301,203."
Lone and Hamish both almost stopped breathing, so shocked were they. Even Breena, who had apparently been nearby in the shadows this entire time, slipped out of a dark puddle, losing control over her Primal skill from the surprise.
"You..." Lone did the maths in his head. "You... have over 3,000,000 MP now. That's..."
Sophie grinned madly. "More than enough to defeat some nobody B-ranked dwarf, no?"
"Yup, not happenin'," Hamish said, having collected himself. "Ah'd be surprised if yer Luck alone didnae make me stab maself in the eyeball even if ah had no weapon on 'and. Breena! Let's go. We're trainin'. Leave the monsters tae their devices."
"Y-Yes sir," Breena stuttered in response, though Lone heard her whisper, "3,000,000... I barely have 300..."
As he watched Hamish and Breena wander down the road to a clearing, Lone said, "So, she freaked out when Hazel tried to talk to her."
"You saw that, did you?" Sophie asked.
Lone nodded. "I don't have your absurd Mana Sensing, but yeah, I was keeping one eye on you guys and the other on Hamish until the kids fled to the building."
Sophie shook her head. "We do not know what you wish for us to say. We have agreed to be nicer to her and to stop requesting you ship her off with a handful of coins. Beyond that? We do not care for her. She is your pet project, Lone."
"She looks up to you, y'know," Lone remarked. "Even if you're a bit of a cunt to her."
Sophie laughed. "We do not care. You know as well as we do that all we care for is Soph and you. It would take an astronomical amount of work to expand that tiny sphere."
"Not even Kyuubi?" He summoned the fluffy ball of chubby laziness to emphasise his point.
The golden fox looked around curiously before yawning and settling into Lone's chest as he held her.
Sophie pouted. "Okay. Perhaps Kyuubi as well, but she is our adoptive daughter and Soph is simply smitten with her. Of course that would bleed into our mind as well."
Lone grinned, happy to have proved her wrong. He leaned down to give Kyuubi a kiss on the forehead before he returned her to The Summoning Room.
"We still do not care for Breena, however," Sophie made clear.
"Noted," Lone said with a sigh. This wasn't something worth getting upset over since he knew her mind wouldn't be changed soon, if ever. "Let's circle back to your skills. How much did Mana Sensing and Teleportation improve with the rank up to C-rank?"
Sophie smiled proudly. "Mana Sensing has gone from 1,000 metres to 5,000, while Teleportation's range has expanded from 500 metres to 1,000. We did some test teleports before you decided to beat the spirit out of Hamish - we wholeheartedly approve, by the way. The results were encouraging. We gained two levels in the skill, bringing it to intermediate-level-seven."
"It's crazy the skill has mastery on top of just flat improvements per rank. Unique skills are something else," Lone commented. "Mana Sensing doesn't bother you? Not getting information overload?"
Sophie shook her head. "No, we are fine. It is a sense. You feel thousands of things a second, no? Every fibre of your clothing, the air brushing up against your skin. It is like that. We just know where everything is within 5,000 metres. It takes no effort nor does it strain us. If we focus on something, like what people can hear or otherwise, then perhaps, yes, it could be overwhelming."
"That's great," Lone beamed before he put her chin in his hand and tilted her head upwards, to which she didn't resist.
He kissed her softly and said, "I'm pretty much finished with what I needed to do bar exploring my aura, but I'm in no rush for that. I'm gonna go have a chat with the kids before lunch. I assume you're gonna train?"
Sophie shook her head. "We, too, are done. It is Soph's turn."
The look in her eyes changed before she jumped into Lone's embrace and hung her arms around his neck. She smiled impishly before pecking him on the lips.
"I need to practice my magic! Barrier Magic, to be specific," Soph explained rather happily. "With this much MP, I bet I can do some crazy things."
Lone sighed. "Look, if you hug and kiss me like that, I'm gonna not want to be a responsible adult."
Soph giggled before releasing him. "Go, go. Reassure your sister that Sophie won't just kill her. She, uh, kinda bathed her in her bloodlust when getting her to not use her skill. I'm, em, well, not a specialist, but that doesn't seem healthy for a teenager."
"Of course she did," Lone replied. "Hardly helps I strangled her and threatened to kill her too. Ha-ah. Well, off I go to rebuild bridges. Have fun, will you?"
"I always do! I love magic," Soph said with a big old grin on her face.
Lone considered knocking but decided against it. It would be pretty awkward if he knocked and then he got refused entry. He opened the door and entered the home his sister and her friends had chosen as their residency for the day.
He could hear them chatting amongst themselves about his fight with Hamish, so it took him no time at all to find the room they were in. As soon as they saw him coming in, they stopped all conversation.
"Well, this is perhaps more awkward than the door scenario," Lone said with a short laugh.
"Door scenario?" Hazel asked.
"Ah, it's nothing." Lone reached into his Dimensional Storage for a chair. Finding one, he retrieved it and took a seat. "I figured we could all catch up properly now. Sorry about my bluntness earlier. There was a lot on my mind and Hazel's unique skill had me on edge until I learned what it actually did."
A guilty look flashed across his sister's face. At the same time, Lone felt the very skill he was talking about begin beating down his locks once more.
Only the final, fourth, and third, had recovered since her most recent assault against them. It wouldn't take her long to break through again, perhaps three or four minutes.
He didn't blame her. Not everyone had his mental fortitude. He could stop Basic Regeneration from working for hours if he needed to. Hazel though? She was a kid with not even half of his experiences under her belt.
"What happened?" Scott asked almost inquisitively. "Don't mean to sound rude, but you are not Mister McCullen."
"You'd be right there," Lone admitted. "It'd be wise to stop associating me with Darren McCullen. As I said to Hazel when Soph brought her to me, I'm Lone Immortus now. I have other names and a new title curtosy of some shocked dwarven adventurers, but Lone is fine. It's who I am now. I'm still your ex-teacher and Hazel's big brother, but I'm not Darren McCullen anymore."
"... So you used to be a human? L-Like us?" George asked.
Lone smiled at him. "Yup. I'm her brother, after all," he said, pointing at Hazel. "Feel free to ask me anything you want. I'll answer every question truthfully. Once you're done, I have a couple of questions myself."
The biggest one at the forefront of his mind was why, exactly, out of all the possible humans on Earth to have been summoned by Milindo, was his sister one of them?
And why more than one person when all of the records he's studied and the rumours he had heard made it clear only one person at a time would be summoned? This was true for all of the nations, clans, organisations, and anyone else noted to have a summoning ritual.
A short silence overcame the living room before Alisa cleared her throat and asked a rather heavy-hitting question to start the impromptu Q&A session.
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