Chapter 65 (2 of 2) Step aside, Thaumaturgy. Dramaturgy is the best power. (Patreon)

So, the main components of my soul constructs…

Lucille was lying on her bed, eyes closed as she theorised on how to make a movement ability relating to her incredible self-control. Because she learnt to use her soul to control her body over many years, it was clear that the System didn’t consider it a ‘skill’ for her to gain then, and she also hadn’t been trying to gain any specific ability for that.

But now she was wondering if she could get a skill centred around fine control and calculated actions. She was sure it existed somehow, but performing the right actions to gain it would be the problem. Lucy had considered using a Memory Transubstantiate chance, but she didn’t have a singular ‘memory’ to base it on. As such, her only option was to analyse the parts of her mental constructs she wanted the skill to assimilate.

The issue is some of the mental constructs don’t serve the purpose of only aiding my movements. Those will have to be incorporated into the skill, but I don’t want them to change the effects of the skill to become something I don’t need. Should I look at using the Epic skill books? But I’m not sure they’ll end up fusing to become my ideal skill.

She sighed and sat up.

I’m not sure Hargrave can help me with this anymore. I almost regret asking him. Oh well.

Stretching her arms above her bed, Lucy slid off and opened the door of her room. Dressed in simpler clothes that were easy to walk around and do athletic activity in, she headed to the training room with Apophis and Ouroboros in their sheaths.

Maybe it would be more useful to ponder ways of getting Vincent to accept me leaving the Commission on March 30th. With everything that happened regarding the Court… it’s best if I meet him sooner than later.

Lucille took a deep breath and shuddered.

How many years will it have been? 170? Regardless, I never expected we would have the opportunity to meet again. I just hope I can repay my debt.

She pushed the doors of the training room open and walked in, receiving the gazes of one scarlet-haired ex-mercenary and her bond, who was sitting on the ground cross-legged, his back against a wall.

“What do you want me to do?” Hargrave asked, getting straight to the point.

Lucy unsheathed her blades and got into a stance. “Fight me. With enough power to push me but not enough to defeat me. I’m going to see just how much it takes for the System to acknowledge what I’m doing as a supernatural ability.”

“I see.” Hargrave withdrew his demonic spear and gripped it tightly, ready for combat. “Then if you want to focus on your movements, you should only use the dagger forms of your weapons.” He narrowed his eyes and crouched. “You won’t have the leeway to try any fancy tricks while fighting me.”

Then he dashed forward without warning. Lucy raised her two daggers to block his downward strike, but he quickly pulled the spear back in preparation to thrust it at her.

Lucille went expressionless as she heightened her thoughts to plan exactly what she was going to do. She had heard that concentrating on the order of moves was a bad habit for a warrior, but she wasn’t a normal combatant. Any time she fought someone she needed to have a goal and use everything she had to achieve it.

She smiled widely. Hargrave narrowed his eyes at her expression but then she spun out of the way and spread her arms.

“Hargrave, why did you accept my request to fight so quickly? Shouldn’t you of all people be more wary?”

He frowned but swung his spear towards her side. She leaned back slightly as the blade barely missed her and then threw one of her daggers up and down in a lazy manner.

“Silence? Has that been your answer to the General of Blazing Iron all these years? To everyone around him?” Her eyes widened with mock curiosity. “You accepted their orders because you never declined. But what if you had? Would you have needed to abandon your class and power?”

“I don’t see how this is relevant,” he said, swinging out at her again. “You wanted me to help you, so stop talking and start fighting.”

“Ah, but those are the same thing to me. A fight can be exchanged through words as well as through the clashing of blades,” she replied light-heartedly. “But of course, a lowly mercenary like you wouldn’t know anything.”

The spear shot past her cheek, drawing blood. Hargrave was scowling as the spear cut into the hard stone floor. “I said to shut up and start fighting,” he growled.

Lucille put a hand up to her cheek and looked at the blood on her fingers. “Hmm… yes, that’s much better. Hargrave…” Her expression became slightly more serious as she gazed at him. “You’re not pushing me enough.”

His scowl slowly disappeared, but he was still frowning at her. “Angering me is a dangerous way to get me to push you. I don’t want to be responsible for severely injuring the Aurelian Commission Head.”

She pointed Apophis at him. “That’s up for me to decide. Don’t pretend you know me well enough to choose how much I can take.” Lucy spread her arms wide again, an ‘open’ gesture that left her seemingly unguarded. “Now, the ‘lowly mercenary’ should start attacking the noble woman in front of him, or else he’ll never be able to kill the General of Blazing Iron.”

His expression became solemn but he raised his spear again. “Attack me first this time.”

“Oh?” She blinked at the strange request but smiled. “As you wish then.”

If he wants to know what I’m capable of then I’ll show him.

She dashed forward, two blades ready. He held up his spear to sweep away her attack but she sidestepped and spun around, attempting to get behind him. He didn’t give her the opportunity and followed her movements closely.

While Lucy could’ve done more, she was testing to see how he reacted to what she was doing. She was easily capable of reading his body language and it was clear to her that while he was using a bit more strength than he had started with, he was underestimating her and still treating her as if she was a new warrior. He didn’t know what her mental constructs were capable of.

With her thoughts sped up, she wanted to find a way to completely surprise him, either by showing more talent than he thought she was capable of or fighting in a way utterly unfamiliar to him. For that, she needed to adjust to his combat style.

I recognise most of his more powerful moves as skills taught by the Major Spear Discipline. His general style is rough but practical and made for killing. Aiming for obvious weaknesses and relying on personal strength instead of feints and trickery to overpower the enemy. In many ways, we’re complete opposites.

She waited until Hargrave showed some signs of impatience and sped up to sweep his spear around him and force her away from approaching his back. Analysing the trajectory of his weapon, she ensured she was only far enough away to just be out of reach, as if she had dodged through sheer luck. The way she made her eyes widen slightly and stumble back a step added to the effect.

Hargrave didn’t hesitate and struck out, but once again she ‘barely dodged’ and tripped in a way that she could duck under the weapon. She rolled out of the way and sprung back up.

“What are you doing? You shouldn’t mess around while in a fight,” he growled, running forward with a powerful burst of strength, and trying to grab her arm when his attack missed a third time.

“I’m just- woah!” She dived to the ground as she passed his outstretched hand, hastily standing back up again. “Careful! I still can’t fight well!”

Hargrave narrowed his eyes at her but didn’t relent. It was obvious he didn’t believe her because he had seen her fight the three adventurers only two days prior. “Are you playing a practical joke?”

“Not at all-” She twisted her body as the pointed blade went by again, and she eyed his wrist. “I’m only trying to discover my own pace.”

She struck out at his arm with Ouroboros and he deflected it, having already seen where she was aiming for. But he hadn’t foreseen that she would duck down and try to stab his abdomen with her other blade.

Now positioned for him to strike her over the head, he tried to do just that, but she slipped past the spear’s staff to come face to face with him. She blinked as if she hadn’t expected that. “Um… hello?”

With a strange expression he tried to knock her back with the staff but she danced out of his path and taunted him, one hand gesturing for him to come close while she leaned forward with the other behind her back.

“Shouldn’t we move things along a little?” Lucy said with a smirk. “It’s much more underwhelming to fight the Spearmaster of Eolith than I expected.”

“…you’ll regret saying that.” Suddenly, the air whistled as he shot towards her, his speed nearly having doubled. “You’re not prepared for my strength if you don’t learn to dodge better.”

“What do you mean? My dodging has been perfectly fine.” She tilted her head to the side as the blade pierced the air where her head had just been. “See? No excess movements. You need to put a little more effort into it.” She placed a hand behind her back. “I’ll even give you a handicap.”

He scowled and thrust the demonic spear at her with incredible strength. “You’re too confident for someone who was tripping over their own feet!”

Lucille whistled as she jumped with her legs tucked up, both hands behind her back. He swung the spear and she turned slightly to let it bypass her. When he tried to kick her she hopped onto one foot and then the other, pretending to wobble slightly when she put a foot down.

He threw the spear directly at her and she stumbled back several steps, bending over backwards as the spear shot over her. She straightened back up and smiled brightly. “You missed.”

A cold smile appeared on Hargrave’s face as he held out his hand and the spear returned to him, pulled back by his scarlet blood mana. “Fine. If you won’t take this seriously, then I will. I hope a Level 50 is prepared to fight against the full strength of a former peak Rank-4.”

Her smile stiffened slightly.

Uh oh… did I irritate him a bit too much?

He gripped his spear tight and she knew it was her moment to run. Turning around and dashing for the far wall, she could hear his heavy footsteps running after her as well as see him. He caught up to her in barely a few seconds and cut through the air, the crackling sound of demonic energy right behind her.

She ducked under the blade’s path but instead of continuing to run, she jumped up and whirled around, a wide smile on her face. Her expression made him pause, but not for long.

With her accelerated thoughts she already knew how he’d react and aimed for his face with Apophis’s blade. Being able to detect the tensing of his muscles at a moment’s notice, when she saw his shoulder shift she knew what he’d do. In one deft movement, she threw Apophis up instead of stabbing his face and when Hargrave grabbed her wrist just before she hit, he blinked when met with the empty hand.

The sudden movement of her left hand with Ouroboros made him drop her wrist and she slipped under his arm that had shifted Eolith after falling for her feint with her spirit weapon.

Hargrave whirled around just in time to see her catch Apophis’s blade between two of her fingers and toss the dagger in the air to grab it by the handle instead. With a grin on her face she threw herself back into battle against him.

“Do you dislike my manipulation? But this is how all the noble vassals of the General would’ve acted. Talking behind your back, debating your right to successorship…” Her strikes were deflected with his spear’s staff, and she spun around to do a backhanded stab. He sidestepped it and nearly cut her feet off, but she jumped over the weapon. “You should be familiar with it. Maybe it would’ve helped you to learn it for yourself.”

“So I could be like them and be their puppet?” Hargrave hissed, spinning Eolith above his head to attack her with a downward blow. “Being on the battlefield is simple. You either live or die. At least I only had myself to care about.”

Lucille tilted her head as she skirted around the edge of his spear again. “Did you never have someone you wanted to protect?”

He gained a concentrated frown as he tossed the spear at her again, which she turned out of the way of. “I think I cared about my mother at some point… but she’s now dead. She probably would’ve ended up like that eventually. I don’t intend to die though.”

“Did you plan to kill her?” Lucy asked abruptly.

Hargrave narrowed his eyes at her but didn’t answer. He struck out at her neck and she ducked down, appearing in front of him.

“It’s obvious, really. You were the future ‘Blood Patriarch’ and she knew what you would likely become. It would’ve been easy for her to kill the son who ‘trusted’ her.” She crossed her blades to hold back the overhead strike of the demonic weapon and stepped to the side as it crashed through to the ground, leaving the stone marred. “She may have been scared, or just didn’t want you to suffer.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore.” He stepped back and pointed his spear at her. “Have you finally finished observing me? Or do I need to wait longer for you to use me as a way to demonstrate this ‘supernatural ability’?”

Lucille smiled and ran back a few steps.

So he knew what I was doing all along. And because he promised to help me, he let me do what I wanted. Hargrave keeps to his word too strongly.

How did a man like him end up becoming the most wanted individual in all the realms?

No, she knew why. It was because the entire Tower was greedy for his dragon heart, the only one the dragons had given permission for them to obtain. He was never a person to them all, but a resource, a precious treasure trove of normally unobtainable power.

If only they knew what his amber eyes really represented then… but that was probably why the leaders of the Empire wanted him to die.

She bolted towards him, each of her steps carefully calculated with the right pace, strength, and speed. When he was about to lift his spear to attack her, Lucy threw both her blades in the air and dived to the ground. Using one hand she launched herself into the air with a flip, catching the two daggers by their handles again.

She fell towards Hargrave and he lifted his spear with both hands to block the double strikes of her blades. Lucille threw Apophis again and let the demonic weapon levitate for a moment as she used her right hand to push her up from the spear and flip over him to face his back. She attacked him from behind with Ouroboros as Apophis flew back into her hand.

Hargrave spun around and knocked her attack away, then stabbed towards her chest. Lucy jumped up and landed on the pole of his spear. He pulled it back instantly and she dropped into a roll on the ground, trying to get to his side.

Her movements became quicker and more active as she clashed with Hargrave, trying to overwhelm him with the frequency of her attacks as she knew her STR wouldn’t hold a candle to his. Twisting, leaning, turning, she always barely avoided his strikes, being as efficient with her motions as possible.

Her breathing became more difficult to control as they fought, Hargrave beginning to match his pace with hers. He was slowly detecting the mechanical, procedural pattern to her moves.

A change in my breathing patterns, a twitch of a finger, the slight movement of a foot, all of it can and will clue him into my next action. I need to mask as much of my movements as possible while fighting. Acting clumsy partially worked, but on anyone I met it would only ever work once. Hargrave had already seen how I fought the other day.

Other thought strands in her head whirred with battle calculations.

97 degree angle with my arm in 0.2 seconds. 0.18 seconds. 0.16 seconds…

If he counterattacks with an overhead blow, based on my position in 0.3 seconds I’ll sidestep it. Otherwise, I’ll jump. I need to add an unpredictable element to my actions to reset the status quo.

Her energy was quickly draining as she tried to keep up with Hargrave, who had sped up even more. And she was sure he was only barely using half his Rank-1 strength, if even that.

The climax of the battle occurred when a thrust with his empty right hand caught her off-guard with its speed and nearly grabbed her face.

The black half-mask covering the right side of her face came free in Hargrave’s grip and he stared at the rotating golden magic circle in her right eye, his spear pointed at her neck. Then he flinched as cold metal brushed against his skin and he looked down to see the extended Ouroboros had circled his own neck.

“Tie?” Lucy asked innocently.

Ouroboros retracted and he rubbed his neck with an unreadable expression as he gazed at her. Lucille stretched her hands above her head and turned around to walk over to Scytale, who was looking slightly annoyed at being ignored for so long.

[Available Secondary Skill: Soul Cipher Orchestrator of Affray – Histrionic Dramatourgos]

Lucille paused when she saw the skill notification and smiled.

It worked. And with such a long name, it’s likely Ancient rarity or greater. But Dramatourgos? Isn’t that the origin word for Dramaturge?

“I gained the skill. And it’s likely Ancient,” she told Scytale with a grin. She glanced over her shoulder at Hargrave. “Thank you for your help. I need to analyse my new skill to see what it does and…” Her words trailed off when she saw the ex-mercenary’s expression.

“Where are you going? We’re not done yet.” Jagged blood stars spun around him as he gripped his spear with a vicious smirk on his face. A bloody aura encased his demonic spear and body as he whirled Eolith and planted it on the ground. “I told you to only use the dagger forms of your weapons. You cheated, and I’m not comfortable calling it a tie.”

He pointed his spear at her. “So bring out your snake-swords and fight against my blood manipulation in a rematch.” Hargrave’s smirk grew wider. “Or better yet, have your bond join in and face me at my full power. I’m not ready to leave it like this.”

Lucille gazed wearily at the riled-up scarlet-haired man and considered running for the door.

Oh… great. He’s a battle addict.

Scytale sprung to his feet and shifted to his snake form with a serpentine grin. “Absolutely! I’ve been bored watching Lucy!”

She facepalmed and selected the skill, not having a chance to read it as she threw herself into the fight. Her demonic and spirit weapons cut through the weapons of blood Hargrave launched at her while clashing his spear against Scytale’s hard wings.

I seem to have gotten myself in trouble by bringing Hargrave to the Commission. Oh well, I’ll check the description later. I want to see if it will have a direct impact on my performance from the start.

…

Lucille lay on the stone floor of the training room with her limbs spread out in a star, breathing heavily as she looked up at the roof. Her weapons weren’t in their sheaths and were instead drifting off into the far corners of the room to inspect places, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

Beside her, Scytale shifted into his human form and sat down on the floor with a groan. He winced as his muscles stretched and leaned back on his arms to gaze at the roof. He glanced at Lucy after a moment. “Tired?”

“I am utterly exhausted,” she said with a sigh. “I haven’t felt like this since the Beast Realm’s stages, and even then I was refreshed between levels. But this time I wasn’t even given a break between fights.”

They both tilted their heads back to eye the ex-mercenary calmly storing his weapon and gearing. Looking annoyingly content and satisfied, he brought out a flask of water to take a drink.

“If I ever ask Hargrave to spar with me please remind me of this incident,” Lucy muttered darkly.

“I don’t see your problem. I thought the fight was great,” Scytale replied with a smirk.

She glared at him and rolled her eyes when he started snickering. Summoning some strength, she brought up her Status page and selected her new skill, anticipating its effects.

[Secondary Skill: Soul Cipher Orchestrator of Affray – Histrionic Dramatourgos | Type: Control/Enhancement]

Rarity: Ancient

Desc: Hark! The Orchestrator of Affray has awoken! Machinations upon machinations within their mind, they entrap and ensnare those who dare contend with them. Their aims and objectives hidden until the foretold pristine, serendipitous moment and on that day shall their adversaries dance into their open hand. Come, Orchestrator, and set the stage for the greatest play in the realms.

Abilities:

Regisseur of Warfare – Dance of blades and blood.

• Greatly increases evasion ability in proportion to current DEX and AGI. This effect may be amplified depending on the stage of Pentad Acts: Expositionary, Rise, Climax, Fall, and Resolve.
• Grants the User the ability to link mana control to the soul and manipulate their body through the mind instead of biologically. This allows for greater precision and sync between the mind and body.

Pentad Acts: Expositionary, Rise, Climax, Fall, and Resolve – Immerse yourself in theatrics.

• User may ‘stage’ the beginning of Acts per contender or conflict, and gain buffs as the Acts progress. User may cancel an Act at any moment but receive a month-long cooldown before the Act may be restaged for that contender/conflict.
• Act 1 - Expositionary: User’s ability to analyse the abilities and body language of contenders is enhanced. +10% Bonus to AGI once Act is activated.
• Act 2 - Rise: User gains a +10% Bonus to STR as well as the buffs of Expositionary once Act is activated. Majorly masks the actions of the User to prevent contender(s) from guessing their actions during the event.
• Act 3 - Climax: Skilfully executed moves apply a buff to all movements to enhance future move accuracy and effect. The more efficient and impactful the moves, the higher the buff. Buff can stack a maximum of ten times during Climax. Current Buff: 0%/100%.
• Act 4 - Fall: If User defeats contender then Fall may be activated. Doubles previous buffs and adds +10% CON to protect them from attacks after defeat of contender. This Act may last for 1 hour before deactivating and triggering Resolve.
• Act 5 - Resolve: User gains the option to renew the Acts, starting at Act 1, if contender remains alive or conflict unfinished by this point in time. All buffs are reset and return to Expositionary, but buffs double in effect. May be repeated for a max of x5 enhancement to buffs.

[]

Scytale leaned to the side to see her screen and let out a whistle. “That is one looong Secondary Skill.” He looked down at her. “I think you just opened up a new class out there somewhere.”

“Probably. But if I didn’t get a skill at least this powerful I’d be wondering what all my years of effort were worth,” she said with a smile. “And this skill doesn’t specify what exactly a ‘conflict’ or ‘defeat’ is. If it relies purely on my own perspective of events… then this could be incredibly valuable.” She sat up and looked at her two intelligent weapons floating up near the roof. “Please come down now, Apophis and Ouroboros.”

The blades silently slunk near her so she could sheath them. Ouroboros was content as always but Apophis was unusually placid. Lucy assumed that was because he had enjoyed the fight.

Hargrave approached with an intrigued look on his face. “They’re very intelligent.”

“Intelligent, yes. Mature, no.” With a slight groan, Lucille got up onto her feet and sighed as she stretched her stiff limbs. “Now that I have my skill, I’m going to be confined to the armchair in my study for the rest of the month dealing with the debut arrangements. We hope to launch it in June.” She shot the scarlet-haired man a pointed look. “It goes without saying that you should be as far away from Gilded Seat as possible around that time.”

He nodded solemnly but then she smirked. “You likely would’ve wanted to leave regardless of the debut. Your first draconic monster hunt is scheduled for that month.”

He blinked with surprise as she turned away and hummed. “Now to get changed, and then to start working on the debut invitation list…”

_________________________________________________________________________

“Prophetess Verdon! I have a message for you!”

A blonde, wavy-haired girl dressed in a long trailing white dress paused when she heard the sound of the call and looked behind her. Her steely-eyed personal guard did the same, eyeing the approaching healer with mild suspicion.

The high-ranking female healer, her position indicated by the five-pointed diadem on her head, curtseyed to them both. “His Eminence the Great Sage Gidelis Annador has requested your presence. He has something he wishes to speak to you about.”

“Oh… I see. Well, if it is the Great Sage’s request then I must listen to him.” Annaliese smiled and nodded. “I’ll go there straight away. Please return to your tasks.”

The woman nodded and walked away, leaving Annaliese and Sir Albrecht standing side by side. Annaliese scowled. “I thought it was my break time!”

“There’s no such thing as a ‘break time’ when it comes to the Citadel, Prophetess,” Jasten Albrecht replied wearily. “You are expected to be available for any of the Sages at any point in time.”

She shot him a sour look. “Don’t you think that’s unfair?”

“Whether I find it unfair or not, it doesn’t matter,” he replied blandly. “I had the same experience with the Sages as the highest-ranked Paladin. They ‘need’ you at their beck and call at every moment.”

“Selfish jer-” An armoured hand quickly cut Annaliese off.

“Stop trying to get yourself locked up for eternity,” Jasten said with exasperation.

She stuck her tongue out at him and walked off. “Fine. Let’s go see what the ‘Great’ Sage wants from us.”

…

“Ah, my dear Annaliese! Come in, come in,” the bearded Sage said with a genial smile.

Annaliese ‘beamed’ – although she really wanted to glare at him – and walked into his study. “Sir Annador! I heard you wanted to see me!”

He chuckled as he stroked his long white beard. “Straight to the point, I see. There’s no need to be impatient.”

“But you’re a very busy person,” Annaliese said with an innocent look on her face. “I don’t want to take up your time.”

“Hmm… true, I’m a bit busy.” Gidelis Annador glanced at his desk and shook his head. “But not busy enough to not make time for our only Prophetess.” He sat down in a chair opposite the one Annaliese had sat in and glanced at the Paladin behind her. “And how has our Prophetess been faring in your eyes, Sir Albrecht? Has your position as her personal guard sat well with you?”

Jasten Albrecht nodded solemnly. “She has been as enthusiastic and lively an individual as ever. How could I dare to complain about our Prophetess of Fate?”

“I see…” the Sage mused, continuing to stroke his beard. In his right hand was the five-pointed Radiance Staff, a symbol of the Great Sage of the Citadel. “That is good to hear.”

“Sir Annador, I’m really curious to know why you wanted to see me,” Annaliese said.

“Of course, I will tell you now,” the old man said with a hint of amusement. “It pertains to your visit to the Aurelian Commission next month.”

The blonde-haired girl hesitated. “Do you… not want me to go?”

“Oh no,” the Great Sage replied, shaking his head. “Quite the contrary. I wish to ask you if you could request Commission Head Lucille Goldcroft to allow a subdivision of the Citadel to move to Gilded Seat on my behalf.”

Annaliese blinked, and then nodded. “Oh! Yes, I can do that.” Then she paused. “Although… Lucy always gets her aide to agree before she does anything. She seems to look up to him and rely on him a lot.”

“…a trusted associate I see.” Gidelis Annador dipped his head. “I merely wish for you to suggest this to Count Goldcroft as you are a close friend of hers. If it happens then I will be pleased, but if it doesn’t then no harm done.”

“I’ll see if she agrees!” the girl replied brightly. “Was there anything else?”

Great Sage Annador chuckled and stood up as he shook his head. “No, you may leave and enjoy the rest of your day. I’ve heard you’ve been making great progress in learning the art of Fate manipulation, and hope to see the efforts of your study soon.”

“I hope you can see it soon too,” she said cheerily. Standing up, she held her dress out and curtseyed. “It was an honour to speak with Your Eminence, Great Sage Annador.”

He nodded and Annaliese and her guard left his study, walking back the way they came. It was a relatively silent and uneventful walk until Annaliese suddenly stopped on the spot.

Jasten Albrecht raised an eyebrow. “Prophetess?”

She looked over her shoulder with a nervous expression. “Sir Albrecht… how will I get Lucy to agree?”

He shook his head wryly and patted her shoulder in sympathy as they continued walking, taking the nearest exit to the teleportation array that could take them back to their estate where Raegan was.