Chapter 183: Notions of Tension

I dispel the electricity between my fingertips, watching Anna turn still at Raven’s approach. Kuro instantly weaves themselves over my face, creating a dark mask, and I pull up my cloak to hide my hair. With a little luck, my Yuki-identity is safe. As long as Owl stayed quiet.

“Kuro,” Raven hisses, “You fucker.”

Very slowly, I tilt my head, wordlessly. Opal laughs in their face, watching as the rest of their motley little crew crawls up. Raven, Dove, Cleaver, Coldscar, an old feryran woman with a cane, and two zoof.

“You seriously brought seven people to fight all of us?” Opal asks with another laugh, pointing at them. “Like, jeez. I’m fucking terrified of you and your geriatric gang.”

Coldscar’s scowl deepens. “Gem,” he said calmly. “We’re here to reclaim what value was taken from us. You asked all of us for sigils. You stole from Aviary.”

“Yeah, we fucking did,” Opal says, grinning brightly, spreading their arms wide. “So what, huh? So what. What are you gonna do about it, Coldscar? Hmm?” they taunt.

I watch the old scithian’s eye twitches. His wings bristle, crackling crystals forming on them, before Raven holds out a hand. “Not yet, Coldscar,” they hiss. “Not yet. This is a safe zone, you know? We don’t wanna draw the Ire.”

In a moment, the old scithian freezes up, then gives a choppy, annoyed nod with crossed arms. “Fine,” Coldscar growls. “I am reasonable, after all. I will happily still accept my healing. It is the disrespect that bothers me. The lies.”

Dropping all pretenses of politeness, I simply identify them.

[Ice Age, lv. 161]

[Darkfeather Drifter, lv. 149]

Coldscar and Raven. I stare at those numbers, and I find that they’re strong. Very strong. They probably even climbed this monolith before, claiming all the incremental bonuses from the fruits in the safe zone - that’s why none grow for them.

“So what will you do?” Sylves asks teasingly. “Won’t you join us for this meal? There is plenty to go around,” she says calmly.

“And let myself be poisoned?” Raven scoffs. “No chance. No, we’ll wait until you leave. Then we’ll wait until the door reopens, and butcher you, whelps.”

Inu crosses her arms, staring them down. “Kuro here killed a city guard. What makes you any better?”

“Mercylessness,” Coldscar says calmly. His eyes are fixed on me, and I feel the air cool down by a small margin. Then, the mana in the safe zone hums in a gentle warning, and the older man retreats his attack. Fighting is forbidden in these places - not entirely; it could still happen, but it was rare for it to.

Still, with everything said and done… this is more even than it looks. They have five people wielding authorities, we have six. Jean and Anna can act as supports, and Bofoy can reasonably get themself out of the way. But Trey especially is dead weight in a fight like this, while Isabelle could make a good hostage for them.

Creating a scenario where we can face them might not be that easy, especially with a head start of just half an hour. That’s how long floors stay inaccessible after someone enters them. I hum, looking at the climbers who followed after us, tilting my head and wondering.

Could I kill them?

How many of them?

Then, I frown, just a hint of a gesture. Very slowly, I shake my head, clearing it. With a soft, controlled motion, I close my eyes. 

Of course, it’s not enough. A moment later, I can hear a rustle of feathers approaching me. Raven, because of course it’s Raven. I keep my eyes closed as they approach, even when they lean in close, and I can feel their breath on my cheek. 

“I’m going to kill you, Kuro. I will tear your head off with my own two hands.” Very slowly, they get even closer, and I lean back to avoid getting touched. Then, their long, gangly arms grab onto my collar. I feel the horrid discomfort that comes from having someone too close to me, and for a brief second, I consider killing them again.

Despite the Mono’s Ire, despite the warning hum of mana gathering density, I breathe in slowly. In clear vision of Raven, I let my shadow spread out, flowing across the ground like a small tide. My heart thumps in my chest, and I hold back. Even though I want to murder them where they stand, I hold back.

But the shadows around me pool and get darker. It’s a threat. I wait, for a heartbeat, then two, before Raven scoffs and lets go. Despite everything, I don’t even look at them. There was no need, after all. Maybe my eyes would have given my identity away, so it’s easier to just not. 

Still, I feel the lingering heat of their touch on my collar. The way their skin brushed against mine, and I feel disgust. A horrific, creeping kind of disgust that makes me want to scratch and scratch until my skin falls off. 

“Just you wait,” Raven threatens again, pointing at me. “Just you wait.”

I sigh softly, then press my hand to where they touched me and mentally signal Kuro. At my small command, shadows slither over the area, disintegrating my skin. My cells disappear into the darkness, and I feel the itch being burnt away by pain.

Raven just stares at me, suddenly frozen, as patches of darkness blossom against my skin. I don’t even wince, even as little squares eat themselves into me. Then, I pause Kuro, letting the darkness fill those blotches of missing skin. And I stare at Raven.

They want to kill me? That’s fine. I can forgive trying to kill me, I can forgive hurting me. But I really do struggle to forgive things like that. The casual invasion of my space. 

Inu sits down next to me, and I feel the mental poke from her skill, but turn it down. Softly, I shake my head. The burning pinpricks of ache are a reminder of my agency, and it seems to make Raven a little uncomfortable. I don’t mind the pain, and I don’t want to share it. It’s mine.

She nods in understanding, but still says sitting next to me, quietly. For a long, long while.

Eventually, we eat. Eventually, some of us sleep. 

Not me, of course. I just keep staring at Raven. Watching the way they move, the way they shoot glances around our little two-camp setup. And, all the while, I prepare. With them here, I almost feel chained again. Restricted to the shadow-stuff. But that’s okay. Inside my own body, I prepare. My blood fizzles and boils, and my vessel grows some more. More mana, always more mana.

[Class up! Vesselsmith 10 > 11]

Never enough.

- - -

When everyone wakes, we check the portals to the fourth floor. There are three of them, and we diligently make sure that there’s no hidden special exit. Sometimes those appear, promising greater rewards and greater danger, but also, frequently, being single-use. We don’t find one, for now, at least.

Instead, we have a fairly normal selection. Another underwater floor, this time showing a lair of something big. Since we still can’t breathe underwater, that one’s out. Next to that, there’s a bigger island, with caverns that open with the tide. It promises multiple explorations and staying in a confined space, so that’s out. And finally, there’s a forest. Tall, dark trees, their branches heavy with snow, ringed with distant mountains.

A level with a good amount of space to move around and nothing as immediately deadly as a lack of air. “Beggars can’t be choosers,” I mutter quietly with a shrug, and step through, Raven’s cruel stare at my back.