One by one, Skullius watched as the rising souls of his kin were devoured by Aurolio. He suppressed the itching guilt and took comfort in the fact that this end of his deal was finally done with, though simply ignoring a conscience he didn't even know he had in the first place was a very tall task.
Aurolio took a deep breath and wore a satisfied smile.
"Thanks, partner," he said.
Skullius twisted his lip and then gave a shallow nod, not willing to waste a verbal 'welcome' on the pale man.
In any case, the harder part was done, and only the annoying part remained.
As Skullius and Aurolio came out of the large cube, the former went up to Arch-Mage Ryte and gave a light bow. He knew that his arrogant 'business partner' wasn't going to express gratitude. At least not in a way that anyone with common sense would appreciate.
"Thank you very much, Arch-Mage Ryte," he said, limiting his gratitude to simplicity, since additions like "words cannot express how grateful we are" or "if you need anything in the future, I'll do my best to help" would make way for... unintended nuances. The fact that he and Aurolio owed Ryte remained, but it was best not to mention it.
"Very well," Ryte said with a shallow smile.
Skullius waited for a follow-up, but it didn't come. He had expected the Arch-Mage to ask questions but no. The old man did not say anything else, which made the Hybrid Luman extremely nervous.
Surely, according to Skullius, the Arch-Mage would have loved to inquire about the little spat between Skullius and Aurolio, or about the discrepancies in their story, right?
Yet no such thing came up, and the other Mages didn't address it either.
They only gave keen bursts of attention to the duo without a word.
Skullius shivered.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt like Ryte would eventually inquire about this detail.
Wait!
Could that be the reason why he so wholesome invited him to come see him as he pleased?!
*
Outside the Reacher Academy, Skullius, Aurolio and Gillewart gave a final, collective gaze at the Academy.
"You still have more to say?" Aurolio asked the City Guardian.
"Not particularly. Just lingering interest. But it doesn't matter now," Gillewart said as he turned to walk away. "Though, if something like this happens again, I know who to ask."
Aurolio chuckled and then faced Skullius who did not wear the same fleshly amusement on his face.
"Lighten up. I can practically feel the curiosity you're lugging around your throat. They'll be a time for questions in the future. I'd say we've had enough of each other for today, right?" the pale man said.
Skullius didn't give an answer to this particular question. Instead...
"Don't expect me to simply fall in line while you're getting stronger. And don't think for a moment that I don't have the same capacity to kill you, if you suddenly change your mind about all this. I just thought to make that clear," Skullius warned, a faint, blackish blue Aura appearing around his figure for a second.
Aurolio smirked.
"Why would I ever turn hostile towards you? I've already decided to give you – my partner and natural enemy – information that you can't find anywhere else. That should count for something," he said. "Besides... you're currently not worth killing, Festos."
Aurolio patted Skullius' shoulder and vanished.
The Hybrid Luman left alone, scoffed.
"Not worth killing, huh?"
A duplicate of himself out there abusing every means of strength possible to rise in power said otherwise.
The [Brisk Storm Avatar] Replicus!
~~~
[Brisk Storm Avatar (Special) | Lv.1]
An unlimited range copy of the user is created, bearing the same energy signature as that the original and a convincing authentic copy of the original's soul that can go through changes just as well. The only thing that can be shared between the original and the copy without any barrier form – distance or space – is EXP and Null Life Essence, with things such as skill progress, skill attainment and evolutions only capable of being shared once the two come into contact.
-
-Caution-
•The copy, upon emergence, is equipped with only half of the original's stats.
•The copy is incapable of casting complex class related skills while in 'Hybrid Luman' form.
•A chain reaction will ensue when a large disparity exists between the original and copy at the moment of contact/fusion, creating a cataclysmic effect of gains if said disparity is wide enough.
-
-Caution-
Current limit – 1/1
-
Mana Requirements : 1200 (I) Mana Points, 150 (I) Mana Points a day to keep active
Duration : ---
Cooldown : None
~~~
When the time came, all he needed was to fuse with Replicus, and their combined differences in skills and power would create an explosive growth spurt depending on the width of disparity between their separate abilities as the skill promised.
After a while, Skullius wasn't very demanding of cumulative mana experience, but every now and then, Replicus would send tens of thousands experience his way, as they had arranged on the day the duplicate had been made.
This was one of the reasons why Skullius had jumped in his levels relatively quickly. It wasn't that easy to cover the distance he had power wise, after all.
The fact that Replicus had that much spare EXP spoke volumes about how strong he had gotten.
But not yet.
It wasn't time for fusion yet.
When that time came...
"We'll see if you'll still be looking down on me then," Skullius declared.
For now, he had managed to not create an immediate enemy. That was the goal of this entire arrangement, after all, benefits aside.
And with this done for now, Skullius headed into the still standing commercial districts within the city.
There was a little mundane task he needed to get done before going home.
Soon, he found the place and person he had been hunting for, and gave him precise measurements as well as enough coin to ensure that the material used was of the highest quality. Skullius didn't specify any particular design, but the amount he paid motivated the craftsman he was dealing with to get...creative.
Surely, what would be born from spending 82,000 gold coins would be a perfect custom sheath for the Bashful Abomination. Finally.
The sword deserved it.
After placing his order, Skullius first dropped by the remains of the Bryne Family mansion. The rebuilding of the vast structure was already in progress, but Skullius wasn't sure it would be the same after all that had happened.
This was especially true when he thought about the little girl Terese, who had once again been taken away by Daggs on an unknown trip on Stylla's orders. If the redhead was still in her right mind, Skullius was certain that she would have been relieved that her younger sister was not here for the earlier events.
Tearing himself away from the old, Skullius visited the Governor's Manor.
Since he had Sevill help Ed and the others find a place to live while the mansion was being reconstructed, he headed to the esteemed abode to inquire.
To his surprise...
"Sir Festos, welcome," a guard greeted him. "Your Family is being hosted in the Governor's mansion until a convenient space has been procured for you. Enjoy your stay."
Skullius hadn't thought the entire Family would be allowed to live here!
Even if they had been an especially important Family, the Hybrid Luman doubted it would have been that simple to be accommodated in such a central construct in the City.
Either the Governor was that generous, or someone with enough persuasive sway had...
Of course it was the latter!
It had to be Darwel!
Skullius stormed into the Manor – respectfully – and reached the El Sif's spacious quarters where he was welcomed by Sevill who stood outside it with a bow.
Upon entering, Skullius felt a strange sensation radiating through the entire room.
A sunflower by the window in a vase was dispensing flakes of gold within the well furnished space, dulling the strange, ominous gloom he perceived hanging in the air.
Darwel who sat on her spacious bed with a book in her hand wore a big smile when she saw him.
"You finally came of your own volition," she said happily.
"That's a reach," Skullius said with a sigh. "Why does something feel off in here?"
Darwel looked to her sunflower and thought for a bit.
"Well, a crazy assassin did burst in and try to kill me," she replied. "This was definitely the closest anyone's gotten to killing me."
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