Just as he was about to draw his sword, Horus felt a strange vibration in his bones. It cut through the walls and alerted every creature with high sensitivity of its location.
All the Firespitters turned and rushed back into the tunnels, leaving Horus and June trembling in the dark.
He let go of June and walked towards one of the holes, feeling the vibrations in the now-still room. That high-pitched sound was a Scout calling all the Firespitters to itself after discovering a great threat.
But who else was down here with them?
Was it Wally? Or was it Ulrich and the others?
He let out a sharp exhale and walked away. June was still rooted to the spot, now free to hyperventilate with her hands covering her face.
So fragile she seemed, like a ceramic doll. Horus remembered how he felt when he was first dropped in a dungeon at ten years old.
Even if he had grown used to death and danger, he still had siblings that never got used to it. Like Anhur, his cradle brother.
The thought of his deceased brother made him sigh. He placed a hand on June's back as softly as he could.
"We're safe now, but we should move."
June nodded, sniffed, and cleaned her face. "I'm sorry for being so…"
"Human?" Horus chuckled. "We're different people like you said. I don't expect you to be me."
"I'm also sorry about that. The things I said earlier. You almost lost your sister and… i-i don't know, i'm just sorry."
"It's all right. I was being dumb too. If it means anything, I'm glad you're you. You've shown me—everything recently has shown me that I don't know or care much about the place I claim to protect."
"You're a kid," June said with a slight smirk. "I don't think you can change much."
"I'm seventeen, in like three months."
"Do you hear yourself?"
Horus sighed, resisting the smile. "But you're wrong. There are a lot I could have changed. You said it yourself that they respected me. I was just too… unsure to use that authority. I didn't feel like i knew better than anyone, not enough to tell them what to do."
June opened her mouth to say something. Her silver eyes grew bright like the rising sun. But she suddenly froze and shrank back.
"What?" Horus asked hesitantly.
"Nothing."
He wanted to argue with her, but a small part of him was happy she hadn't said whatever she wanted to.
"Your arm," she pointed at the dented armor. He had been ignoring the pain, but he ought to deal with it.
He pulled out a few magical salves made to reduce pain and increase regenerative speed, applying them in silence.
June grew tired of standing and walked over, grabbing the container. "Lemme help."
They both worked in silence. Horus reviewing everything that had happened during the battle earlier while June applied the salve to his bare skin.
"You used a sub-skill earlier," June complimented. "It was pretty amazing, but didn't you know it would be that loud?"
Horus clicked his tongue. "It's called [Crescent Slash], and it's not really meant to be that loud or scattered."
June nodded with a pursed lip. She didn't understand, but he didn't want to explain everything from the beginning.
"I need to generate a large amount instantaneously to use that skill. An amount that is usually only available to Elite-tier users of Twilight Swordsmanship. I tried to circumvent that using a method i learnt from my master, but it was… terrible."
"Looked pretty cool to me," June shrugged. "But yeah, don't put yourself in danger like that again for some special move. Can't you just practice that alone?"
Horus shook his head. "I have to do it in battle. The system rewards extra skill levels for feats. Basically the harder the accomplishments, the more skill levels you get."
He opened his status briefly.
◇—Status—◇
Name: Horus
Title: Lonely Moon
Class: Common Swordsman
Attributes:
[Endurance] > 17 > 18 (Common)
[Tolerance] > 20 (Common) [Skill limit reached]
[Physicality] > 20 (Common) [Skill limit reached]
[Perception] > 20 (Common) [Skill limit reached]
[Reflexes] > 18 > 19 (Common)
[Basic Swordsmanship] > 20 (Common) [Skill limit reached]
[Basic Archery] > 8 (Common)
[Shelter Building] > 13 (Common)
[Cooking] > 13 (Common)
[Striking Proficiency] > 17 (Common)
[Twilight Swordsmanship] > 16 > 18 (Common)
[Trap Disarming] > 2 (Common)
[Twilight Body] > 21 > 22 (Adept)
Weapons Slot (4): Celestial Steel Sword
Quest(s): [Big Game Hunter]
"I'm not leveling up quick enough with [Twilight Swordsmanship]. I've probably already reached Adept proficiency, but i was hoping a successful use of a powerful sub-skill would get me to the tier limit."
"Why the rush?"
"Why not?" Horus raised an eyebrow. "We need more strength if we're gonna get through all this… that reminds me."
He pulled out a sack of Skill Shards.
18 from the Firespitters he fought and extracted.
12 from the Greenjaws.
Wally asked him to hold onto the Skill Shards, most of which they were planning to sell outside, but now they were for upgrades.
"Wow… you guys were killing it. It being your enemies," June quipped.
"Do you need to upgrade any skills?"
"Upgrade? I've barely crossed the level 15 mark that everyone says makes leveling super hard. Wait a felling minute, don't tell me you have more than one skill to upgrade."
Horus' silence was enough of an answer. June groaned and turned away, muttering things that he could hear very well and took offense to.
Rolling his eyes, Horus chose two skills to upgrade immediately. He didn't want to upgrade [Tolerance] because he wasn't sure what he would get. Knowledge on the skill wasn't extensive.
So he chose [Perception]—obviously—and [Basic Swordsmanship].
He wasn't sure what upgrading [Basic Swordsmanship] would do. Upgrading [Physicality] had given him [Twilight Body], but he now just had both in his status.
If he upgraded [Basic Swordsmanship], would he get another swordsmanship style, or did he have to learn them before getting them?
Let's test it.
[Spend 10 Skill Shards to upgrade Perception to an Adept-tier skill?]
[Checking the skill requirement?]