I focused my Transmutation into the woman's body. The skill worked through the medium of my newly created gloves, so I let myself have a quick grin before I turned my attention back to the task at hand. As the skill had no effect on organic matter, it was a simple task to isolate the crystal. It waved and squirmed around her heart like a tumour. Several tendrils had spread out across her chest like a net, which clearly showed how severe the infection was.

Even with something to counter its power, it was a surprise she could live with such a thing inside her. The fact she was unconscious was likely a blessing at this point.

I felt the closest tendril to me vibrate slightly. The end twisted around and pointed towards me, like the head of a cobra moments before it was about to strike.

It was now or never.

I focused my ability more than I had ever done before. Instead of a specific area, I targeted every single point of material within her body. Compared to my usual pin-point usage, this was much cruder, but it would do the trick.

The issue was my mana, and how much I had to use up with each passing second.

Even with my high rank of Transmutation, it wasn’t enough to counter the usage. My mana bar dropped constantly as the crystal monster writhed within her. I kept it from attacking any of her organs, but it was difficult to keep it from affecting the bits it had already wrapped around.

When I had cleared it down by around a third, a thin strand broke free and shot towards my palms. It pierced through her skin and stabbed towards my skin like a greedy worm.

But my protective gloves cut it off.

It had the power to break through skin, but my gloves were made of stronger stuff. I had strengthened them with both my Transmutation and my buff, which just enhanced the slimes natural properties. Each time it broke through was just another advantage as I broke off and disintegrated a significant portion of its body.

Come on!

Minutes passed by as the crystal shrunk bit by bit. My assault was consistent across every point of its body, which didn’t leave it any room to fight back. It held on as long as it could but, after fifteen minutes of constant grinding, the final strand broke away.

I kept up the pressure for another minute as I searched for anything within her. Only after I was certain that my Transmutation wasn’t picking up any more targets did I lift my hands and peel of the slimey gloves.

The skin on the woman's arm had reddened from the long exposure to the slime. My hand’s weren’t much better off, but they were only surface level injuries at worst. My main concern was that she hadn’t responded at all.

“She should have woken up. Maybe the crystal did more damage than we thought.” Cory bounced above her head. Her pale skin took on a slightly more healthy look under his pale, red glow. “You could try waking her up, she’s basically in a deep sleep at the moment.”

I gave my helpful little friend a glare before I turned my attention back to the woman. I leaned closer and lifted my hand to her shoulder. If she was merely asleep, a light shake would be the best place to start.

Before my hand could reach her, the woman's fist shot out and caught me square in the face. I tumbled back and slammed into the cell door with a clang as she rolled from the bed and launched herself to her feet.

“What’re you doing?” Her hand dropped to her side and clenched around as she searched for something. She glanced down momentarily before returning her gaze to me. “Where’s my sword? Who are you?”

“Ow.” I muttered as I pushed myself up. “You really have a weird way of thanking the person who just saved your life.”

Claire had said she was a good person, and that she knew her. Whilst Claire had made a mistake with Ray, it wouldn’t be like her to ask me to risk myself for someone if she wasn’t sure of their nature.

“What do you… oh.” Her expression loosened slightly as she glanced around at the room. “Care you explain how you ‘saved my life’? I remember what Clive used on me, and you don’t look like you came from a high density zone.”

“Charming.” I rose to my feet and dusted myself off. “I broke down the crystal using my ability. And no, I won’t tell you how I did it.”

“Hmm.” The woman tilted her head to one side. “You do seem to be telling the truth, but why should I trust you? This could be just another one of Clive’s schemes.”

“I helped you because a mutual friend asked me to. She said that she owed you for helping her out of the Holy Kingdom.”

“Wait… are you talking about Claire?” The woman smiled softly. “How is she. I’ve been asleep for too long, so I don’t know how she’s been doing. Did she help you sneak in?”

“She did.” My answer was completely truthful. Claire had helped me, though not in the way her friend expected. “I have something to tell you, but you have to promise me that you’ll stay calm.”

“What’s wrong?” The woman glanced back at Cory, who floated in the corner. “You seem to be a man of many secrets, are you sure you want to share one of them with me?”

“Take a seat, this might be difficult to believe…”

The woman made me explain the story several times over. When she first heard what had happened to Claire, it was obvious she was on the verge of an outburst. She swore at Ray under her breath with increasing intensity before we pulled her back from the brink.

But that was only due to the fact that Claire helped me along the way.

She couldn’t speak to the woman directly, but she could use me as a translator. It was a difficult story for anyone to believe. If you had been told your friend had died, had her soul saved and melded into a slime queen, would you believe it?

“She says you can ask her any questions you want.” I raised both hands to calm the woman as she fixed her gaze at the orb on my shoulder. “Ask her something only she would know.”

“Why did she leave the Holy Kingdom?” The woman turned her gaze to me. Claire whispered the answer in my ear, though her words did leave me shocked.

“She left because a close friend died. She didn’t feel like she belonged anymore.” I winced as I repeated Claire’s answer. I knew she had a history, but hearing the truth from her, then having to speak it, hit me harder than I had expected.

I guess I should thank her friend. He's indirectly saved my life a few times at least.

“…OK. How did she manage to persuade the others to let her leave?”

“She didn’t. She sneaked out with your help.” I parroted Claire’s response verbatim. “She left the persuasion to you, because you’d always been better at that.”

“True.” The woman’s gaze softened slightly as she turned to the orb on my shoulder. “Why didn’t you come back. What made you stay in such a weak corner of the country. You gave up on your chances to progress… why?”

This question was asked with a slight edge. The woman also spoke directly to Claire, rather than through me as an intermediary. Claire paused for several moments before she gave me the answer.

“She heard that the one you call the ‘Holy Knight’ grew in power after she left. They’d always been tied together, but she had broken the link.” I frowned and glanced at Claire before I finished the answer. “She was worried that if she came back, it would pull the Holy Knight back. She didn’t want to make any more problems for you than she dumped on you already.”

“Claire, you stupid girl.” The woman closed her eyes and shook her head. “Do you think we would have cared about that? That’s why I came over here to keep an eye on you, we wanted you to make the decision to come back on your own.”

“She knows, but those higher up wouldn’t have agreed. The Holy Knight is your new candidate, so she would just be a block for their plans.”

“That’s not… she’s…” The woman's words drifted off as she stared at Claire. “We were always together, right from the start. You two were the special ones, but you never looked down on me. I was older, weaker, unimportant… but you didn’t care.”

Claire remained silent as the woman slammed her fist into the bed again and again. I watched on as she vented her frustration. She had travelled a massive distance to keep an eye on her friend, and her reward was the loss of over a year of her life and the death of the one she cared about.

“I hate to interrupt, but we really need to get out of here.” Cory flashed in the corner and moved over to me. “Clive will come down soon to- We need to go before he gets here.”

“Clive… I’ll kill him.” The woman pushed herself up from the bed. “He made the deal with the cult, he’s the one who helped Ray make his move.”

“There’s too many of them for a direct fight.” I stepped in her way as she moved towards the cell door. “Clive said someone down here knows the bandit king, is that you?”

The woman froze in her tracks before a nervous grin broke out on her face. She glanced at Claire for a moment before she looked away.

Wait… why is she being awkward about this?

“What?” I turned to Claire for clarification, but she was lost in her musings. The woman collected herself and turned back to me.

“It’s me. I know him.” She grabbed my hand in hers.“Let’s make a temporary party for now. He’ll help us get out of here, we just need to make it to him in one piece.”

I accepted the invite and followed her out into the corridor. Claire didn’t share the revelation she had been hit with, so I was left in the dark as we moved towards the exit. Cory leapt back into my inventory as we left the room, which left me alone with the woman.

“Sorry, what was your name?” I whispered. During our entire conversation, we had more important things to discuss than introductions.

“Anne.” She glanced back. “And you?”

“Rook.”

“Interesting name.” She held a finger to her lips as we reached the foot of the stairs. “How many guards were outside?”

“Four, but there could be more now.” I whispered back.

“That’s possible. Clive’s probably made a few of them to force their advancements, so they’ll be at level twenty-five. What about you, can you take one of them on for a bit?”

“I should be OK with one.” I nodded in response. I had done well enough against Ron, but what would we do with the other three? “Wait, I’ll buff us. Strengthen, Accelerate…”

Anne raised her eyebrow as I used my Supporter skills. She didn’t comment any further as she moved up the stairs. When we reached the top, she pressed her ear against the door for a moment before she held up four fingers.

Four of them, I guess. I need to ask how she did that.

She continued her gestures. She pointed at me and flicked a thumb to the left before she repeated it with herself on the right. I nodded and pulled the staff off my back. Clive’s guards had left me with the weapon, almost as a joke due to the heavy manacles they had clamped over my hands.

Anne didn’t waste any time. She broke through the door with a kick and dashed out into the corridor. I followed a beat later and swung to the left.

And saw a single bandit.

He glared at me and pulled his sword from the sheath by his side. I didn’t give him the chance as I thrust my staff towards his chest. The bandit dodged to the side, but I corrected the blow and caught him mind jump.

“Buffed strike!”

My blow slammed him into the wall, but he still wasn’t done. He pulled his sword out and stabbed it towards me.

My staff had him pinned to the wall, but his counter was still deadly and precise. The man’s level and skill was a match for my own, despite the fact I had the time to fully buff myself and the advantage our ambush had provided.

I stepped to the side and dodge his strike with an inch to spare. Before he could respond, I twisted my staff and caught his wrist with a sharp crack. The sword dropped from his grip, which left him open.

My fist crashed into his face and knocked his head back into the sturdy bricks of the wall behind him. His eyes rolled up into his skull as he dropped to the floor.

Rose was right, I can’t underestimate these people. Bryan must have lied about not going easy on me when we duelled before…

I turned to help Anne, but my assistance wasn’t required. Anne landed a solid kick on the chest of the last bandit, which made her crumple to the ground. Anne had taken down three bandits in the time I had beaten one.

‘Don’t worry about it, Anne was our guardian back in the Holy Kindgom. Even Clive would need backup to take her on.’

Claire’s words explained the situation, but they didn’t help my confidence. It was getting clearer just how weak the people around here were compared to those in higher density zones. Anne had been in a coma for over a year, and she still had the strength to take down three of them by herself.

“Good job.” Anne raised an eyebrow as she looked me over. “Claire chose a good one. Supporters aren’t generally good at these sorts of fights, but you handle yourself well. Don’t get cocky though, this is just the beginning.”

The wide grin on Anne’s face as she moved along the corridor filled me with dread.

You never told me she was a battle-crazed maniac!

Claire ignored my complaints as we followed Anne towards the main part of the mansion. Karma would strike soon, and Clive was about to feel the full weight of its wrath.