CH16: Let's Dance
He had a dream. Red didn't dream often and never vividly. Before it left his mind, he wrote it down as best he could and drew the creature he envisioned. It was Rexy, but she had wings, long arms, and so much more. Red threw on some clothes and grabbed his practice sword. Viviane was probably in the dojo already. Red passed more slime queens, and Lori on his way. She turned her nose up at him and left for the lobby. Vicky tossed him a syringe and filled her her recipe.
Fairy Steroid (Uncommon)
Descriptions: A steroid extracted from a fungus through alchemic means. After injection, fairy-derived skills and physical attributes level faster. When training with a fairy, the increase becomes far more significant depending on the tier of the fairy.
Duration: 12hrs
Side effects: dizziness, low blood pressure, and muscle cramps.
"When did you make this?" Red asked.
"I've literally just finished it. You don't want to know how many failures I had to feed the slimes." Vicky watched him with expectant eyes. "Go ahead, you're going to train with mom, right."
"How do I use it?"
"Oh, just slam it in the muscle and push down," Vicky said.
Red gave the needle a look over. It was thicker than he thought was necessary. "Did it have to be so big?"
"It was that, or you would have to inject it through the membrane under your eyelid. Really, I'm doing you a favor." Vicky said.
It went fine; he only felt a pinch in his arm, and felt good. His heart picked up the pace in his chest.
"Thanks. I'll use it well to dance with your mother."
"Have fun. Mom really likes having a dance partner," Vicky said.
Red smirked and entered the dojo, making sure to shut the door behind him. He had paid to increase the time dilation to 10/1, and the gains were incredible. In one hour, he could spend 10 dancing until he dropped.
I hadn't taken long dancing for his physical attributes to reach for the next tier.
The limit of the common tier was 49. Red was about to break through that limit and hit the 50s. Doing so would increase his gains further. And Red thought it was time to use a perk token before entering the Eldren Hollow heartland. Any new advantage would be a good thing.
But then, what was the point of training his dancing skill? Red decided to hold off for a little longer.
15m upgraded the dojo, gym, and recovery rooms to uncommon-tier. It was a massive sum, but Red's Shop had made roughly 8m a day for a few weeks.
Wallet 200m
Theoretically, he could simply purchase his way to uncommon with the SP the Shop brought in. But dancing was fun.
He walked into the dojo. The floor had changed, and the hardwood floor was exchanged for a springy synthetic black floor that felt good on his knees and hips. There was a range in the back with moving targets for magic skill practice and a ring with a mechanical training partner. Further, where Viviane stood in a frilly blue dress that stopped mid-thigh and sparkling shoes, he saw a jukebox he knew contained every song from his home world and every world they'd visited. Viviane was already looking for something for their dance.
Red drew his blade and went through the stances, changing his tempo as she flipped through songs. He could already feel his body warming up and was getting in the mood. At a sudden upbeat, he threw himself into a backflip, enjoying the new floor as he bounced from hands to feet. His motion whipped his body, giving him more distance in his backflip. As he slashed through the forms, his blade became heavier, and he fought until something happened.
STR 50
Perk Rolling
Rolling D20
13
Perk: Strength of The Ages: Converts 10% of STR to Constitution.
How did he just gain an attribute point? Red turned his head to see the gym attached to the dojo. When did that happen?
"I thought combining those three rooms and sharing the same time flow would be better than jumping from room to room and purchasing different time dilations. But I recommend only staying in this room for 40 hours a day until you're fully Uncommon, including your luck and charisma attributes. How goes their training?"
"Slow but steady. I can only play a dating sim so long before I tire of it. People pleasing is so annoying." Red said.
"Maybe you should invite that Mari girl here for a private talk." Viviane said.
"I thought you didn't like the undead being a nature spirit and all."
"Nonsense, I can control my reactions even to the undead." Viviane glanced around the gym. "Well, your options may have changed since you upgraded the gym. So, are you ready to get started?" The song she chose already had his blood pumping and his heart racing. She opened their dance with slashes and vanishing movements, taking his breath away. "Come on, let's dance."
A smile spread across his face as he moved in, and sparks filled his vision as he slashed and parried, struggling to hold on. He didn't focus on Viviane's blade anymore, seeing what she would do and countering with moves of his own. His blade found hers when it needed to as they moved across the dojo at incredible speeds. He barely felt his feet touch the ground as he fell into the technique.
He couldn't think except about the next few moves and how he would place her where he wanted. Red didn't move with his feet. He moved with his will, slicing through the air like a blade, only feeling the weight of his blade and the impact against Viviane's. Things flashed before his eyes, and he ignored them and focused only on his opponent.
Things with bladed tentacles and too many eyes reached out on the edge of his vision, but he ignored them to catch the next series of blows designed to send his blade flying. Timed seemed to slow down and speed up as the blade left his hand after he fell for a feint and slammed heavily on the ground. It spun handle over blade and bounced off a wall. Red ducked under a slash, threw himself to the side, and caught it mid-flight.
DEX 50
Perk Rolling
Rolling D20
9
Ghostly Step: Gain temporary invisibility for 2 seconds after dodging or parrying an attack.
Red parried a blow, and suddenly, he vanished from sight. And Viviane slapped his butt with the side of her blade when he went for a strike. Invisibility didn't seem to be too effective on her. He would have to act like he didn't have it if he wanted it to make a difference in his arsenal.
CON 50
Perk Rolling
Rolling D20
15
Fortified Spirit: Gain Immunity to debuffs that reduce stamina, speed, or strength while above 50%HP
HP 250/250
Energy filled his body like he had never felt before. He was overflowing with the will to keep going.
"System, how much SP to purchase constitution perk rolls like the one I just gained?" Red asked.
50m
"Are there any bonuses to using 10 at once?" Red asked.
All rolls will be increased by two or go up a tier if a NAT 20 is rolled.
That was a good straight answer. Red figured he gained it because he started out talking about buying something. The Shop wanted him to spend SP, and while he spent it, the Shop seemed to show him goodwill.
Red wanted a NAT 20, and he didn't have to accept a perk if he didn't want to. So he could take the best ones and sell the rest through the outbox or give one to an employee like a slime queen. Reaching 50 points in an attribute gave him a free perk roll, which was great. They also seemed way more valuable than uncommon. They felt like rare perk rolls.
He checked his skill.
Lake Bed Dance (Epic) lvl49/250
He was almost there.
"Have you thought of using a different type of sword?" Viviane asked.
"I hear claymores are all the rage," Red said.
"Duel-wielding works well with my style," Viviane said.
Red shot a fireball at one of the dummies in the distance. It sputtered out instead of exploding due to the dojo's safety features.
"How will I use magic if my hands are occupied?"
"You can always enchant a weapon to act as a magical focus. Or you can sheathe your weapon when you want to use magic. But you don't have to duel wield. It was only an option."
He sighed and ducked under a slice aimed at his neck. Red parried and fought back, leading her into strikes that sank through her guard only for a slight shift to make his blade fall short.
When Red finally reached level 50/250, a cascade of knowledge filled him. He moved a little faster, his movements wasted less energy, and he struck with greater precision. He felt proud of himself at a fifth of the way through the epic skill. Red imagined it wasn't every day someone reached so high in such a high-tier skill while barely in the uncommon-tier.
"Congratulations, you've become a passable dance partner. Unfortunately, this is the end of our dancing together until you reach level 250 in the skill."
"Why, who would be better to learn from than you?" Red asked.
"You need to dance with other partners. Dancing with me will cause only stagnation. There is a sage in the woods you are exploring. Well, I believe he will not give you his secrets easily, and I have prepared something for just the occasion." She pulled a scroll and a pen out of her bag. "This is a magical contract called a Geass. He'll have to teach you his skill if you force him to sign it."
Red quickly put the scroll in his bag. "Thank you. Is it for one use only, or can it be used for more teachers?"
"That scroll will work for 5 people who are weaker than me."
"Thank you. This will help out a lot."
She thumped his noggin, and he felt like he might black out. "Maybe work on your charisma a little. Soft power is important when force isn't an option."
…
Thirty new blades had finished drying when he returned to his workshop. Higher attributes helped make one just a little better than the one before. He swung it, feeling the weapon cut through the air. It was funny he didn't really know what his skill did, except it worked with overlapping dimensions.
Epic was the equivalent of the nascent soul realm, so it worked on high-level stuff. All nascent soul realm cultivators could double as body snatchers, so that was something to consider.
Red left using a key and appeared at the edge of the heartland barrier. A hulking monstrosity of wood and muscle approached him from the tree line. It had a long grey beard that was green at its edges. It lifted a hand, the trees surrounding them turned, and their limbs raised like the clubs of a barbarian army.
He fired off 10 bolts from his crossbow and watched the creature explode. The trees seemed to sag in on themselves, and the way opened.
While swordsmanship was fun, he wouldn't get close to plants that fought with flesh-mutating spores.
Ancient trees lined his path as he finally stepped into the heartland of Eldren Hollow. There, he met a monk naked with a beard that pooled on the ground. The remnants of clothes had long since rotted off him, and vines grew over his body. From his back, a tree grew, and its roots dug into his flesh.
Red had done his homework before the confrontation. The sage's name was Kraelen. He was a soldier in the Crimson Legion under the command of the King. After witnessing untold bloodshed, he deserted with a few dozen soldiers and made his home in the forest. The man saw an arrow pierce another man's skull, and he went blind. Soldiers entered the forest to hunt down the deserters. After living on wild mushrooms for years, Kraelen, the deserter, gained enlightenment and developed the sage arts that transformed the forest.
The curse that came from using heartwood originated from Kraelen's sage arts. He was the reason people were trapped and feeding the forest. Red thought it was so he didn't have to deal with his trauma.
The monk opened his eyes, filling his sockets with two round wood knots. Red let out a low whistle. The monk spoke in a voice like a waterfall.
"You have damaged many of my saplings on your journey. Lives were lost. Does any of that bother you?"
He felt no pity for the mind-controlled people who gave themselves entirely to revenge. They knew the price before coming to Eldren Hollow, so this creature didn't have to use them as meat shields to bar his way.
"I need you to teach me your sage art skills. Just teach me, and I'll be on my way." Red said.
"I have worked for centuries to reach enlightenment, and you want to take the fruits of my labor. How greedy can one fool be? What will you do if I say no?" The sage saw the smoke rising from the tree line, and the lines on his face seemed to crack and bleed sap. "You are denied for the crime of burning the trees of the hollow."
Truthfully, there were two other options, but this one would synergize with his other skills. Maybe the others would work out for him just as well. This was a negotiation, so he needed to give peace a chance.
He withdrew a chair made of octopi wood from his bag of holdings and sat down before crossing a leg over his knee. He drew his sword and stabbed it into the ground, then he pulled a table out of his bag and laid his crossbow down on it.
"Can you see through those knots in your sockets?"
"More than you can, boy."
He doubted that, but who knows, maybe it was true.
"It's good to know you're confident." Red tapped the handle of his blade. "Teach me what I need to know, and I'll leave the hollow, and you'll never see me again, or more will burn."
"This place was meant to be an end of violence, a place where soldiers could rest and put down their arms. After breaking the peace, you demand my greatest secrets." The old man ground his teeth together. "Never, I'll never teach you my technique."
"Don't be so quick to shut down negotiations. If you don't deal with me, all I can do is use force."
"Fine, bring me the head of the Crimson King, and I'll teach you anything I know."
The Crimson King or Kaeloth Draven was being Red and didn't want to mess with him. A vampire in the upper limits of the rare-tier wasn't someone Red could fight. Facing the guy was more like facing every vampire noble in the kingdom. The guy could summon anyone who shares his blood with his Progenitor's Call skill. That means that, at any time, the guy can call up an army. That doesn't go into his nine other skills. Red still hadn't thrown enough money at the Shop to learn about it. All he knew was that the guy had 10 skills, each with unbelievable power. They were each maxed out in the rare-tier.
Fighting that guy wasn't happening.
"People who don't want their forest burned down shouldn't make unreasonable demands," Red said.
The sage coughed wetly. "That fiend drank my brother dry after he took an arrow to the gut. I watched it happen. He cried out to me when the bastard left him for dead. Edd cried out that he was so cold. I had to leave him there when we were ordered to march. My brother didn't die alone. The wild men, those bastard druids, took the men we left behind and sacrificed them. My brother's limbs were cut off before he was burned. That's what those bleached-haired heathens did to prisoners."
It was a sad story, but there was a problem with it.
"What does that have to do with this negotiation? I don't care how bad the Crimson King is or his crimes. Ask for something reasonable." Red said.
"His daughters are in this province. Solari and Lunethra are their names. Bring me their heads, and I will teach my skill to you."
"They owe me a great debt. I have my plans for them. Choose something else."
The sage rose to his feet, his body cracking and popping as he moved his old joints for the first time in decades. Red pointed his crossbow at the man who raised his fist, and monsoon winds erupted from his gesture.
Red felt the crossbow crack and rip out of his hand. The wind he felt was only a light breeze compared to the cone of force at the core of the attack. Another wave of the sage's hand sent an invisible wind cone blasting near his head. Red felt something sharp hit his cheek.
"What's wrong? I thought you wanted to learn my skill?"
Red threw himself to the side. A raging wind tunnel shattered the chair he had been sitting in. The sage lifted his arm high.
The trees around him moved like water as they flowed over the grass toward the sage. Red crossed the distance, barely feeling his feet touch the ground, and sliced through the sage's arm at the elbow. Green amber tree sap erupted as Red retreated as tree matter slammed into the sage.
Wood spun like wet clay on a potter's wheel, forming up and growing toward the sun. Red pulled another crossbow out of his bag of holding. Without waiting for the transformation to complete, he fired, pumping the crossbow vigorously.
Explosions blinded him as he fired until his crossbow clicked empty.
He had taken multiple crossbows to this negotiation and numerous swords in his bag, just in case his primary weapon broke. As a weapon manufacturer and salesman, he believed firmly in having more spare weapons than he needed.
The ground rumbled, and Red jumped to the side before it burst open. The wooden stakes shot up and expanded around the clearing. Red pulled out another crossbow and fired against strafing away from the erupting spikes. A tree near him bloomed like a flower, opening into an arsenal of wooden tentacles.
He was stuck in a pincer with stakes on his left and tentacles on his right. Red knew turning his back on the sage was a bad idea, so running was out, and he wasn't backing up into an unknown attack. His opponent only left him with one option: to face the sage in close quarters.
Red shot forward and wooden golems formed like budding clones, charging him with spears for arms.
He cut through joints as he fell into dance, moving faster with every kill. Each time he parried or dodged, he turned invisible for a few seconds, allowing him to dodge and cut through enemy numbers. A tentacle rose from the main body and slammed down in Red's direction.
By waiting for the last second to dodge, he turned invisible and changed directions. He exchanged his sword for his crossbow and unleashed another volley of attacks.
Something lashed out, and he was forced to block with his crossbow. It snapped in half, breaking yet another weapon. A cut opened in his hand, sliced through the bone of his wrist, and traveled up to his elbow. HP drained away as he flexed his hand fine from a blade of wind that would have bisected his arm without HP to take the blow for him.
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