Lowlife, Scoundrel, Bandit Queen

Chapter 186 186 - Shivering timbers

I'm so very tempted to speed up my steps as the intensity of the fight somewhere out there seems to increase in intensity. I know that it has to be happening miles from here, yet at the same time I can't shake the feeling that the tower might shake and come undone under the impact of a scaled giant at any moment, burying me under tons of rubble. It's not a reasonable fear backed by any facts, but it doesn't have to be to have me on edge.

Curiously enough it's the accursed stone slab I'm clutching tightly that keeps me from doing something unreasonable, like actually rushing down the stairs. Which might lead to me slipping and breaking my neck, thanks to the water I dripped everywhere on my way up before. Ugh, just thinking about ending like that makes me embarrassed and angry enough to fight back the panic that is threatening to take a hold of me.

That changes only when I reach the water level again. Then trepidation takes the forefront. Except I don't scream when my toes touch the cold water this time. I don't squeak or make any other embarrassing sounds either. The reason? My very recently acquired resistance skill is working as advertised.

[*Ding!* Your skill Cold Resistance has leveled up to level 2!]

In fact it works like a charm! As it levels up, progressing my hedge witch class a little in the process, my vitality, defense and health all increase indirectly as well. Well, it seems this silly exercise is not all in vain then at the very least no matter how the thing about hiding the throne works out.

Thanks to this increasing resistance and my passing familiarity with the flooded part of the tower I can move faster now too. My [Swimming] skill makes some more progress towards the next level up too. This time I place the stone slab next to the other without any trouble or delay and I'm not even nearly as starved for fresh air when my head breaks through the surface again this time either. I'd say I'm doing pretty well everything considered. Still it's too early to rest on my laurels.

Once I'm all the way out of the water I pause briefly to listen to the racket of the ongoing struggle out there. It sounds like it's drifting away. That's a little reassuring at least. That my [Perception] improves some more as I strain my senses is welcome too. Still, this is no reason to relax either.

I hurry back upstairs, stoke the fire some more and warm back up a little too, before I repeat the trip back down again. This trip earns me more goose bumps as well as two more notifications.

[*Ding!* Your skill Swimming has leveled up to level 5!]

[*Ding!* Your skill Cold Resistance has leveled up to level 3!]

These count towards the progress my my eminence in shadows and masked mediator classes respectively, bringing both a little closer to the next level up. The latter improves my vitality some more too, but sadly there aren't any indirect gains this time around.

I don't slow down any either and repeat the trip twice more until all the stone slabs are securely stored in the flooded basement. Both my [Swimming] skill and my shiny new [Cold Resistance] skill improve some more, but sadly it's not enough for another level up notification. The latter is doing impressive work already anyway. I barely notice the cold, that was threatening to paralyze my limbs before, anymore by now. That is the skill at work and totally not hypothermia, right?

I don't want to find out, thus I hurry back to my pleasant little fire. I can't exactly stoke it much higher, but I move in as close as I can without actually risking any burns, turning this way and that to dry at least somewhat evenly as I warm back up. I really hope that the throne can stay down there for a while. I don't exactly look forward to retrieving it eventually.

There still is what looked like a treasure chest down there too, but right now I'm not motivated at all to find out what's up with it. Does it really contain treasure? Or is it full of old books that have become a soggy mess by now? Whatever it is, it has to wait for another day. A day in a hopefully not very near future.

Once I'm mostly dry I get dressed again. I take this chance to look at the holes in my blouse and the bodice too. The holes the lich's spell punched through them, front and back, as well as those parts of me that were in between. My eyebrow twitches a little. I got really lucky there. Pure, dumb luck. There is no other way to explain how the spell didn't punch through either my liver or kidney, instead missing both by a hair. If it weren't for said luck that would have been a rather bad critical hit for sure.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

Goodness gracious. Well, lucky as I may have gotten, I'll still need to get those clothes patched up. I shake my head and finish dressing, closing the buckle on my sword belt just as one last distant roar rings out, before a heavy silence settles over the creek and its valley. I swallow hard. I really hope those strangers won, otherwise the wyvern might be looking for more convenient targets right now which it could make aware of its displeasure.

Try as I might I can't hear the rushing of air on scales or wings though, despite my [Perception] skill improving a bit once again. That's good news, right? Well, it's not like I can do anything about it anyway. And besides I'm still too damn cold to head out right now. I need to warm up more, preferable from the inside! It's time to get started preparing those mushrooms I gathered. I can't let those go to waste!

With the onset of silence out there, the simple process of cooking goes a long way to calm my nerves too. I stoke the fire and put a little more wood on. I cut the gathered mushrooms and shave and crumble the entire rest of my hard cheese over them once they are in the pan. In the end I slice and dice the remainder of my bread and add it to the mix too. Even though it's essentially the same ingredients as yesterday I can create a little variety like this. My [Cooking] skill certainly knows to appreciate the effort and makes another step in the direction of the next level up.

The most important thing though is, that the mix of bread crumbs, salty cheese and wild mushrooms is rich in taste. That's what really puts my mind at ease in the end. Well, it puts me as much at ease as is possible under these circumstances. The fight that transpired out there still is on my mind, but I have come to the conclusion that I'll check tomorrow morning, once the sun is back up.

I really need to recover some Mana first though. My means to do so are rather limited though. I pause mid thought. No, I don't just need to refill my Mana reservoir. I need to achieve a state where at least one of my classes is closer to a level up too. Those second winds are true life savers! Being able to trigger one almost at will is a total game changer! All of my classes are getting closer to such a state right now, but none are actually there yet. And I better take a closer look before I make any detailed plans.

I dig the brass locket with the hidden mirror out of my pack and open it carefully in the flickering light of my fire. I turn sideways a little to catch some more of that light and focus on using my identification skill on my mirror image. Immediately some more of my Mana drains away to fuel my [Identify] skill and a moment later the little mirror image becomes impossible clear, providing all the details, down to each individual skill's progress, which I desire.

Curiously enough that makes the skill edge so very close to the next level up without tipping over the edge too. One more use of it and I should earn that next skill level. I refrain from using it again right away though. I have no worthwhile target right now and Mana is scarce. Maybe tomorrow when I have a look what transpired at the wyvern's nest.

Other than that my hedge witch class is probably closest to the next level up and its class skills are the easiest to make use of. My evolve scoundrel class, the newly renamed eminence in shadows one, on the other hand has several low level class skills that can still provide easy levels. It might just beat my witch class to the punch. My third class, the masked mediator one, is somewhere in between. Leveling it will require that I make more sacrifices to recoup the divine favor I have to spend in the form of Karma.

I run my fingers through my hair and close my eyes to think on it for a moment. The latter will have to wait until I'm back in town. Sacrifices in the form of coin are best made at the shrine there after all. And to make use of the new class skills of my eminence in shadows class I need more Mana. More Mana is something I get by sleeping or meditating, which is exactly what I'll do. I nod to myself with my mind made up.

I put some more wood on the fire one last time, place my sheathed sword in my lap as I sit cross legged by the fireside, hand on hilt and close my eyes. Slowly, ever so slowly I calm first my breathing and then my thoughts until I reach that state where I can almost, but not quite, smell the Mana on every breath I take, as I draw it into my body to refill my reserves.

Of course that state is only temporary, but as I slip out of it again a little later I'm sure that my [Meditation] skill has improved a little. The notification I hear whispered at the very back of my mind leaves little doubt in that regard.

[*Ding!* Through Meditation your Mana increased by 5!]

Of course that is only a drop in an almost empty bucket, but it's better than nothing. There certainly won't be any complaints coming from me. No, I very much appreciate this metaphorical drop as it takes some of the pressure off the building headache I always feel when my Mana reserves deplete.

Is it just a Mana depletion headache this time though? Or could it be that I caught a cold with my little stunt, going cave diving in ice cold water, earlier? I grimace at the idea. I'll probably find out soon enough. Tomorrow in all likelihood. What can I even do about it though? My divine healing doesn't work on sicknesses. Well, no actually it might help with some of the secondary effects, like bleeding caused by an infection, but it won't cure the disease.

Ah well, never mind. I get up again and grab my water bottle to refill it down at the basement again. The magical light there hasn't gone out yet, another effect of my increasing skill level which works out in my favor right now. I hesitate only briefly, worrying about any pollution I might have introduced to the water through my dive, but that isn't something I can do anything about either. I'll boil the water anyway.

Once I'm back topside, I place the metal bottle in the still warm and softly glowing remains of my fire. That will have to do for now. Afterwards, instead of going to sleep, I resume meditating. As before I slip into that special state of mind only to drop out of it again a little later, receiving that same notification as before.

[*Ding!* Through Meditation your Mana increased by 5!]

The [Meditation] skill is oh so very close to its next level up now too, but I don't try again. Instead I drink some of my hot water, almost burning my fingers in the process. Afterwards I lie down and curl up in my cloak to get some actual sleep. Mediation is good, but the mind needs some proper rest as well. And considering how fast I drift off into dreamless slumber both my body and my mind certainly seem to agree.