Vur scratched his snout and lowered his head to the ground. He coughed and shifted his gaze away from Tafel. Deedees a nice person.
Thats not what I ant by having sothing to say about Diamant! Tafel strode up to Vurs face and placed her hands on her hips. Vur was still looking away. Tafel sighed and lowered her arms. Alright. Im not going to bla you for going off on your own. Just dont do it again, okay?
Vur blinked before making eye contact with Tafel. Really?
Really, Tafel said and nodded.
Wait, why not? Alice asked before Tafel could say anything else. He endangered the whole party by leaving without warning us. I can charge in recklessly because I know hes there to take care of any problems if things go south. And hes our healer! What kind of healer runs off in the middle of a dungeon exploration to do his own thing? Do you know how much more stressful it is to fight without a healer watching over you? This past week was a nightmare.
Tafel chewed on her lower lip. You have a point.
You already said you wouldnt bla , Vur said. His body shrank as he turned back into a human. He stood up and nodded. Thats why youre the best wife.
I did say that too, Tafel said, avoiding Alices glare. Her eyes drifted onto Vur. Uh, Vur? Did you get new tattoos?
Hmm? Vur raised an eyebrow as Tafel pointed at his torso. He followed her finger and tilted his head towards his stomach. Two jagged, red lines extended down from his shoulders to his torso, disappearing into his pants. They were like lightning bolts, lining the sides of his abs. Vur tucked his thumbs into the band of his pants and pulled them away from his waist. Oh, so thats where they stop.
Tafel pulled Vurs hands away, causing his pants to snap back into place. Dont do that in front of Alice! She raised her hand and traced the red line running down Vurs body. Is it a new elental?
Im not sure, Vur said. He tapped the purple flower tattoo on his chest. Stella? Do you know?
Theyre ho renovations, Stellas voice said. Dont pay them any mind.
Oh. Vur nodded. Okay.
How is that okay!? If she knew how to, Tafel wouldve reached into Vurs tattoo to yank the fairy queen out. What do you an ho renovations? Theyre just decorations? And dont treat my husband as your ho!
Stellas arm popped out of Vurs chest, and the fairy shook her fist at Tafel. Youre the one who treated my ho as your husband. I was here first. Stellas arm disappeared back inside before Tafel could grab her hand. And these arent just for decoration. Theyre power-ups! Vur loves power-ups.
Tafels eyes widened as she stared at Vur. You got stronger again? Her expression fell as her shoulders drooped. She seed to deflate as she let out a sigh, hanging her head. She muttered to herself, Its okay, Tafel. Its okay. One day. One day itll happen.
Are you alright? Vur asked and tilted his head. Tafel didnt respond. Vur looked down and tapped on his flower tattoo again. What do the red things do?
Theyre a strength increase, Stella said. I absorbed the chira queen while you were sleeping, and this power was left over because why would a fairy need physical strength? So I gave it to you.
One day, youre going to run out of canvas space on your body, Mr. Skelly said. He and Alice had climbed down to the bottom of the pit. And then whatll you do?
Not get any more power-ups, Tafel said as she raised her head. She nodded. Thats right. You have a limit to how many things you can randomly stick into yourself to get stronger. Theres a limit.
Alice raised an eyebrow. That still doesnt an you have any hope, you know?
Shut it, Tafel said, glaring at the diminutive guild master. Anything is possible if you try hard enough. She shook her head before poking Vurs arm. Anyways, what happened here? What is this place?
I think this was the chira nest, Vur said. There were a lot of chiras. There was a really big one too that took a week to kill. He pointed at the bloody holes in the wall. It kept eating the other chiras inside those pockets to heal itself. Magic wouldnt work on it either, and it kept heating itself up to lt the ice whenever I froze it. A wrinkled appeared on his forehead as his torso turned red, starting from his stomach. The redness spread to the rest of his body, crawling down his arms and legs. Like this.
Tafel pressed her palm against Vurs side. Oh, thats pretty warm.
Warm? Are you kidding ? Thats hot, Alice said. Im surprised your pants havent
A crackling sound interrupted her as Vurs pants were set ablaze. Sheryl hopped out of the runes on Vurs shoulder and dropped down to the ground, taking on her form as a red rock. Her body split in half as she opened her rocky mouth and inhaled, sucking up the fire before it could damage his pants even further. When the flas were gone, she let out a tiny burp before crawling up Vurs leg and torso, sinking back into her runes.
Vurs skin returned to its normal color as he cooled down. Other than that, the big chira didnt have anything special. It was a little stronger than Mary, but it was still weaker than .
Alice scratched her head, ruffling her hair. So, this thing nullified magic, couldnt be frozen, and was stronger than the freak that could tie you in strength in your human form. In other words, if Tafel and Nate and I encountered it, we wouldve lost miserably.
Thats not true, Vur said. Mary didnt tie . I won.
Youre not going to deny the lost miserably part? Tafel asked.
It took a week for him to kill in his dragon form, Alice said. If that doesnt tell you anything, then you need to take a lesson in reading glaringly obvious cues. She shook her head. If that was this dungeons mini-boss, then the final boss will be even harder. We wont make it to Marys birthday party in ti if we continue. Should we head back?
I can record these coordinates, Tafel said. Well be able to teleport back here at any ti.
A furrow appeared on Alices brow. You know, thats a really cheat-like ability.
Is it? Any ti mage can do it, Tafel said. Though, I guess, ti mages are pretty rare existences. I only know two others. Shall we head back? Its been a week since weve bathed, and were starting to sll.
Starting to sll? Youve been slling horribly since the second day, Mistle said from the runes on Vurs back.
Except for , Mr. Skelly said. I dont sweat. Being undead is so convenient.
Tafel rolled her eyes. Yeah, but youre dead, so it balances out.
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