The first thing Leo recognized was the throne, and the man sitting on it. Vult.
Thankfully, no one had noticed his arrival -yet-, but he couldn't count on that holding.
The next thing to sink in was his abilities. To put it simply, he received the Essence of certain things. The first, was an Essence based around Kuroinu itself, the setting he found himself in now. It gave him the combat skill he would absolutely be needing, 'porn' physics… the less said about that, the better. Lastly.. Opportunity.
Already, Leo had turned away, and carefully left the throne room. He was in the Northern wing of the castle, only a couple dozen meters from the dungeon spiral where he would -hopefully- find his first allies. If those allies happened to be gorgeous dark elves? Well that was just a bonus.
Somehow, despite Kuroinu not granting him any real skill at stealth, he made it to the spiral, and carefully teased himself down the stone steps. His boots, which, alongside the rest of his 'mercenary' outfit, hadn't existed prior to his arrival here, but Leo was grateful for the leather, even if it wouldn't truly help him avoid a well placed sword slash.
Despite not seeing much of Kuroinu as a Visual Novel, Hentai, or Manga, he felt a passing familiarity with the castle layout. More inherited information, Leo supposed.
The first obstacles appeared at the bottom of the stairwell. Two guards. Lazily talking, but better equipped than him. Beyond the doorway they stood in front of, Leo could see the silhouette of two figures, chained to the far wall.
Olga. Chloe. Bingo.
One guard glanced upward too late, as a pointed iron rod pierced his throat.
Leo didn't bother pulling it out, letting it go and conjuring another to fight the next guard. The second Essence Leo was gifted with was Crafter. It's strengths would be exploited later, but required time. For now, Leo was abusing the 'conjure dead or inorganic materials from thin air' bit.
Iron struck steel as the second guard pulled out his sword. Leo's combat instincts served him well, as he half turned, while moving the rod to parry a counter attack. Of course, Leo's instincts would never really let him win this battle, so he relied on two things. Confusion, when Leo threw his rod at the guard, and Cheating, when Leo simply conjured two more rods, these ones more like long maces, and began to batter the guard, until the poor man lost his own blade.
Unfortunately, this made noise. The impacts rang out, and Leo was sure his luck wasn't great enough to have not been heard. Once the guard dropped his blade, another rod was conjured, and stuck right into the hole in his helm's face.
Leo moved through the doorway, finally getting a good look at the prisoners. Leo took a split second to admire their forms, and the sheer lack of clothing. They weren't nude, but it's one thing to see what they wore in the anime, and another to see it in reality.
Chloe glared, and Leo sighed, realizing this may not have been the best first impression.
"In case you didn't hear," He began sarcastically. "I'm not exactly friendly with those fellows outside. If I get you two out of this cell, can you find safety?"
Leo didn't wait for an answer, conjuring steel lockpicks into his hand, delicate as surgical tools. He worked fast. The mechanism was crude, heavy. His real skills lay with modern locks, a hobby he found fun from time to time. It seems being a mercenary gave him a journeyman level of understanding with the classics, so he got to work.
Footsteps echoed from the stairwell, faint, for now. The realization only caused his heart to beat faster, though with anticipation or anxiety, Leo wasn't sure. The door opened with a click, and he allowed a small smirk of satisfaction.
"I don't trust you." Chloe said, as Leo entered the cell. Olga merely looked into his eyes, and he felt she was looking beyond them, instead. After a moment, she looked at Chloe, and something passed between them.
Olga was thinner than he expected, like she had been denied basic meals for a few days, but a calm fury resided in her eyes. It wasn't pointed at him, not yet, but the threat remained. A heavy collar circled her throat, etched with runes that pressed on the air around her. Beside her, Chloe watched, suspicion suppressed for now.
Leo quickly got to work on Chloe's chains. After freeing her, he got to work on Olga's.
Once they were both free, he wasted no time in conjuring a steel rod for each. Chloe caught hers and held it up, readying herself. Olga held hers awkwardly. "I can't use magic." She gestured to her collar.
"Then don't. Stick them with the pointy end if they get near you." He paused. "Do either of you know a good place to defend, preferably nearby?"
Boots struck stone as at least three guards marched down the spiral staircase.
"Fuck it, up first. Me and Chloe will be vanguard, hopefully you won't have to step in." Leo glanced at Chloe. "Unless you have a better idea?"
The first wave rounded the corner.
Leo and Chloe moved together.
He conjured a mace in his free hand, using the longer length of the rod to parry and get close, then battering the first guard's helm with a mace. He heard Chloe clash with another guard as they took the first steps up the stairwell. As his first opponent went down, he changed tact. Throwing his mace at the next guard, then taking advantage of the confusion to pierce with the rod.
He felt Chloe's presence before he saw her, and for a brief moment, he wondered if she would strike him down. She moved past him, her movements lethal and predatory as she parried and countered the fourth guard. The fifth one would have stepped forward to engage, had Leo not thrown another mace, which struck him in the shoulder.
Leo stepped past Chloe and engaged the guard, two sharpened rods battering his attempts at defense as they moved upward.
Thankfully, the fifth guard was the last on their way up the staircase.
"Left corridor!" Olga whispered loudly, taking the lead with quick, labored breaths. "There's a storage room at the end. Thick stone, one entrance."
Chloe pushed Leo forward lightly, unwilling to leave her back to him as of yet.
They hurried into the room, and Leo closed the door, before conjuring a huge chunk of heavy iron in front of it. He turned to see Chloe supporting Olga, as both looked warily at him.
"Despite appearances, I didn't trap us. Technically." He shrugged. Chloe glared, and Olga waited.
Leo felt it, as he mentally selected the wall opposite the door. A new doorway formed, this one leading directly into what appeared to resemble Tony Stark's lab in Malibu.
"What was that?" Olga asked, surprise flicking in her expression before she tempered it.
"That is my lab, and…" Leo trailed off as he felt another Essence, two of them, actually. First was Mandalorian, and it left Leo grinning madly. The second was Universal Fixer, and while it also had many benefits, Mandalorian gave him The Force.
"Sorry, just got something very interesting. You're both free to stay here, or join me in the lab, I have some things to create." Leo walked past them, into the lab.
Leo continued speaking as they followed him in. "This is my home, it's now bound to my soul, and as such, it's impenetrable. That part only happened a few moments ago, or I would have led us here directly from your cell, still, you two are free to explore. I'm going to be busy getting us out of here."
He blinked, as his new Force sensitivity helped him feel Olga's collar. "First I should let you out of that." He gestured to the collar. "I'd like your word you won't attack me? It seems a safe assumption, but even so."
Olga stared at him for a moment, and his new sensitivity allowed him to realize she could tell he was different. Somehow, his Force sensitivity was something she could detect. Whether that was due to the Force being similar to the magic here or some other reason, he didn't know.
"You have my word." Olga responded, and Leo could feel her sincerity.
The collar fell from her neck after a few moments of concentration, and Olga breathed in deeply, already looking more at ease.
___________________________________________________
Author's Note:
Not much to say here. I used random Essences, rewarded at certain milestones.