Adjustments

Chapter 115

Though I’d been in the lava area for a good while, I still felt reluctant about leaving. I didn’t have a reason to remain holed up in the hounds' den, though. Aside from puppy snuggles anyway. An entirely valid reason to hang out during my freetime, but not for dodging work.

With Blackmore doing fine and the puppies seemingly healthy, I looked at the pups and sighed. Buddy and his brother Pounce had been named mostly by accident. Pounce getting his because he’d decided death from above was the ideal tactic and was climbing on everything.

Chris would probably approve, but he hadn’t been around for a bit. If not for the fact he was probably sulking I’d have been concerned about that. Chris going silent on me usually didn’t end with ‘and nothing terrible happened’ so much as mayhem.

Holding the little girl above me, I looked into her magma like eyes while she yapped happily. Unlike her brothers, she was a bit less physical - a big one for naps. She was also already showing a talent for manipulating heat.

I hadn’t realized it, but apparently fire hounds could cause existing fires to worsen. A pack of sufficient size could even cause a volcanic eruption.

“I’m gonna have to offer to rename your brothers when they get older,” I muttered. They might take after their parents and not care, but I’d still offer.

“Hestia, your name is Hestia,” I said at last. The Greek goddess of the hearth. Fire related, but also a name associated with hospitality, which I hoped would inspire an even temperament. Not that I expected her to be any less murderous than her parents, but still. One could hope for a polite doom puppy.

By late morning I was back in my palace of shadows, getting ready for an appointment. Andrea was due for a reset and class adjustment as per our agreement. It was also about time she started training, though I was still waiting on word from her potential trainer on that point.

“42,” Henry called. I gave a little start and looked over to find him dressed in what looked like sparring gear. A heavy quilted jacket in navy and black leather pants all in a simple style.

“Henry,” I replied. More words should have followed, but they didn’t.

“You… didn’t ask that I come but I thought it… might be prudent to have a chevalier present to advise,” Henry said, speaking a touch slower than I was accustomed to.

“Definitely, I appreciate you coming,” I said. We hadn’t spoken in a while and I didn’t know where he was at with everything. That didn’t change how glad I was to see him. I had genuinely missed having him around.

Before either of us could think of something more to say, there was a buzzing sort of noise heralding someone arriving by teleport pad. Andrea appeared a split second later and not for the first time I sincerely wished I could change the noise to a particular sci-fi one, but no luck on that score unfortunately.

“Andrea, this is Henry. He’s a Chevalier and he’ll be assisting today. Henry, this is Andrea,” I said quickly, wanting to get introductions out of the way. Andrea eyed him warily, but accepted Henry’s shallow bow with one of her own.

“If you find it agreeable, I’ll also be training you,” Henry added himself. I had to fight the urge to look over at him questioningly. I’d sent him the request when Andrea first signed her contract, but he hadn’t agreed. Though it was entirely possible he hadn’t made up his mind until today.

“Okay… but aren't skeletons really weak?” Andrea asked me.

“Without heroic class levels, certainly,” Henry answered in amusement “Fortunately Mistress 42 has seen fit to allow us to have them. So I believe you’ll find me adequate to the task of instructing you.”

“Exactly,” I agreed since I had nothing useful to add. Andrea looked at Henry dubiously but nodded.

“Let's start with resetting your levels. Do you want to be a Chevalier again?” I asked. I thought she would, class seemed like a big decision. Yet I didn’t know when she’d made the decision or how she felt about it now. If it was a result of brainwashing rather than choice I wouldn’t blame her for picking a new one.

“Yes, I don’t regret that. I’d wanted to be one before the pendant, even though I wasn’t in my right mind when I made the choice,” Andrea replied firmly. I flinched a little. She’d been under the influence of the pendant for a long time, but I refrained from asking for how long.

I wanted to add that she could be reset again, but didn’t. People were happier when they stuck to a first choice than if they were allowed to change their minds. I’d bring it up again if she struggled or was unhappy, but I wasn’t going to undermine her choice now.

“Alright, so this is your stat window. You can make edits yourself now, though we're both happy to advise you,” I offered. The window had manifested in front of her like the appearance selection for the skeletons did.

“I barely understand any of this,” Andrea said after a few minutes. “Make me as strong as you can, I don’t care how.”

“Andrea, we will, but you should learn how to do this. You’ll need to manage it yourself in the future when you don’t work for me,” I said.

“Well, yes but… for now…” Andrea said, words coming out in a frustrated pout. I wanted to try and say something encouraging, but couldn’t think of what. Henry put a reassuring hand on my arm, looking for permission for something. I nodded.

“Mistress 42 is correct, but it's alright if you just follow along for now,” Henry offered. Andrea looked a little less tense after that, and he stepped forward to explain things and make suggestions.

As an actual Chevalier, Henry made most of the decisions about how to optimize Andrea’s build. Where all three of us struggled was in assigning stat points. Agility was key, but intelligence and charisma could not be neglected any more than constitution. Unfortunately, Andrea’s unmodified stats left something to be desired.

“I don’t understand… is it because I’m…” Andrea trailed off, looking downcast. She had penalties applied to her strength and constitution.

“No,” Henry and I said together. I couldn’t help an approving little shoulder nudge. I quickly moved through the tabs to find the heredity section.

“It looks like you’ve got a negative hereditary trait. Uhm… a problem passed on in your family line, it's something most of your relatives likely have,” I offered, pointing out the offending trait.

[Physical Weakness]

[A hereditary condition that causes the recipient to suffer ill health and recover from injury more slowly than normal. Recovery of any kind is also made unusually difficult. It is twice as difficult as normal for them to gain physical strength and stamina due to this condition.]

“And on the bright side, I can get rid of it,” I added. Unlike a curse, these were not bestowed by the gods as some form of punishment. This apparently translated to them being considerably cheaper than blessings or removing curses. I paid for it which brought up her constitution score to a normal level immediately

“You would do that?” Andrea asked in disbelief. I pointed at the screen since I already had.

“Why?” she asked.

“You’ll find that 42 is a great many things, but… st...stingy isn’t one of them,” Henry offered. It was the first time he’d tripped up on a word and it confirmed my suspicion about why. He was actively working to suppress his stutter, rather than something having happened to remove it.

Despite realizing it, I didn’t say anything. It was something to discuss when we had a moment alone. For now, we had skills to deal with.

“So, I know you’ll want to make sure your skills likewise enhance your class abilities,” I began as we backtracked to that section. Since Andrea’s intelligence dictated how many she had we’d had to finish her stats before messing with them.

“But I’d like you to consider using any excess to pick up a craft or other skill you might find enjoyable. All work and no play will make Andrea a dull girl,” I added. The joke did not land, going by the flat look I got in reply.

“It’s uhm… a quote… from where I’m from,” I said. “Let's move on.”

“As you wish,” Henry said. I could have sworn he was fighting down a smirk, despite having no face to speak of.

“Blessings next,” I said aloud for no particular reason. It was the final tab and the only one we hadn’t taken a look at yet. Opening the list up, I found she had a lot of options. Thirty in all, from minor to major.

The minor blessings were only fifty while the major ones were a hundred. My orbs flickered. This had to have something to do with either my alignment change or the server transfer.

I’d bet points it was because of the transfer, mostly because I could now organize the entries. A drop down let me sort them by power, alphabetically, and newest to oldest. It was one of countless other subtle changes that I’d been noticing as I used the interface. That there wasn’t any kind of glaring difference made it almost invisible, but it was definitely richer in basic features now.

“T-This one!” Henry said suddenly, pointing a finger at one of the options.

[Dark Spirits Blessing, Greater]

[Having gained the blessing of those who dwell in shadows the recipient is welcomed by darkness. They gain a number of new abilities and an affinity with Shadow Magic

-All shadows offer them protection. So long as they fit within one, they are totally concealed.

-Three times per day they may create a 10x20x20 foot zone of darkness

-Three times per day they may move between one shadow large enough to conceal them and any other of sufficient size within their field of view.

-At will, they may extinguish any natural source of light aside from sunlight and dim magical ones]

I stared at it for a few moments, taking in what it had to offer. It was an ideal blessing, for an assassin.

“Is that the one you want?” I asked Andrea. I couldn’t deny the utility of the abilities it offered. Nor was I honestly that put off by the assassin theming itself, so much as worried about the girl. Andrea was looking for revenge and this would be an excellent choice to help that goal along.

Despite that, I didn’t want Andrea to make a choice like this for only that reason. From what I’d seen, a person's class and abilities were part of them in a much more intrinsic sense than something mundane, like a job where I was from. Even if she was going to carve a bloody swath of murder through Stromholt, I didn’t want her to build her identity around it.

“Definitely!” Andrea said, looking entirely delighted. I managed to suppress a sigh, though it was a close thing.

“Alright, it's a bit expensive. I’ll be buying it later today. So look forward to that,” I offered. Andrea nodded happily and took that as her cue to leave. She dashed for the teleport pad, leaving a streak of blue behind her as she activated a speed ability.

“You're worried about her,” Henry offered.

“That obvious?” I asked then chuckled. Henry just inclined his head.

“I feel like I’m going to regret this. She’s anything but emotionally stable and I’m weaponizing her,” I admitted. I didn’t doubt she’d have gone down the same path, less efficiently, even if I refused. It just felt shitty to know I couldn’t really do anything for her except hope that staying in the valley for a while would help her cool off and heal.

“Children are like cats with thumbs,” Henry said. I gave him a bewildered look.

“You see her as a child, so accept that she’ll bring you troubles just the same,” he explained, laughing at my surprise.

“I guess,” I said, reluctantly in agreement. I hadn’t noticed it but at some point, we’d gone from standing next to each other to standing with our shoulders just touching. It was nice, but I didn’t know what to do or say. I also didn’t get any time to try and come up with something as I got a text out of the blue. One from Hetcha, which meant I couldn’t put it off.

“Speaking of cats,” I hissed in annoyance.

“Chris, I take it,” Henry said dryly. I just nodded, already in damage control mode. I also sent Henry a copy of the message, which had him sighing in exasperation as well.

[Mistress 42,

Please do something about the naked madman in the lake,

Regards,

Hetcha]

A cat with thumbs indeed.