Reginold Style walked with two guards down into the depths of the dungeon. After Biford's humiliation on the Fifth Noble Level, Reginold had been trying to find a way to get even. To his luck, the boy who insulted his son released Grismald back into the world.
That gave Reginold the perfect excuse to take her into custody and throw Grace Huntington in the lowest and darkest pit. They had walked down four levels at this point, and they had come to a room at the end of the hall. One of the guards with blonde hair and a boyish face unlocked the door in front of them.
Once inside, the other brown-haired older guard unlocked and opened a door placed in the ground. To the left side lay a ladder, but neither guard made a motion to grab it. Instead, they just stepped back and stood at attention as Reginold stepped forward.
"Have you come to brag? Hmm?" Came the beautiful voice of Grace Huntington.
"You're the one down there, remember that!" Reginold yelled down into the pit.
Grace stepped into the light to casually look up with disdain at Reginold. Her brown hair still looked neatly kept, and Grace was using a nail file on her nails. Reginold was beyond irritated by this woman now. Who did this woman think she was?
"I will use all my power to crush you into the ground! Do you hear me? You stupid," spittle flew from his mouth as Reginold screamed at Grace, but his last sentence cut off.
Reginold had been leaning over the edge and had been looking down as he screamed. Grace used her nail file and made a precise RAZOR WIRE SLASH across the top of Reginold's head. His long hair had been loose at the time.
Reginold reared back, still screaming, but for a different reason this time. The cut left a smooth five-centimeter line down the crown of his head. This attack left Reginold with a two-centimeter flat spot on the top of his head. Numerous side and back hairs sliced to awkward lengths.
"What? My hair? No, No, No, No!" Reginold's hands ran through his remaining hair as he cried, but then rounded back on the pit, staying clear of the opening. "How dare you attack a member of the Highmage Council?"
"One day, in the near future, things are going to start to change, Council Member Reginold. Have fun and laugh for now, while you stand above. That boy is going to change everything, and I will be there with my girls supporting him," Graces confident voice carried up and further infuriated Reginold. "One more thing, I was not a Huntington by birth. I took over the house and family name five years ago."
Reginold shouted more profanity from a distance before ordering the shaken guards to close up the pit. Grace stood in the dark now, hearing the outside cell door being closed and locked. She went back to the place she sat before and picked up the hairbrush that she had requested, along with the nail file, and began to brush her hair.
"I'm trusting that Dave kid a lot, but hey, at this point, we have to," Grace, the Daughter of Duke Vistorm, spoke to no one as she brushed her hair.
(Back to Dave and Tilly about to leave Greshaha's lair)
"Achoo!" I sneezed as Tilly, and I approached the exit.
"Are you alright? You are not catching a cold, are you? I'm gonna find you something more suitable to wear with the armor I made you, alright Darling? Maybe I could make you some more?" Tilly excitedly asked, moving around me.
"No, I'm fine. I think someone was talking about me, and If you're gonna make some armor, then Victoria is the one that needs a full plate set. She would walk into an open pit without us around."
Both of us laughed as we reached the door, and I put my hand on the brass handle. The door itself seemed out of place in the neverending stone wall, but I paused before opening the door. I let go and turned to a surprised Tilly, whose ears perked up.
"I just want one more moment of peace before we go back into the storm," I say as I step closer to her.
"I think that's fair, Darling," Tilly stepped into me as I opened my arms.
Tilly's soft ears brushed my face, and I kissed the top of her head. This time we had spent together was special, and a part of me didn't want to leave. Soon we pulled apart, and my mind was brought back to the present.
Thoughts of the other demons and Miss Grace, we're all trying to do flooded back in. I started to zone out again, but Tilly came and kissed me, then rubbed noses. She took my hand and, using her other hand, opened the door.
"Stop being so difficult!" Lavender's voice filled the halls as the door opened.
"Get off me, wench! Unhand me at once! No, No, No, Victoria, don't help her, you blue armored goon!" Iona's struggling voice followed.
I sighed, as we walked back into the hall. I was a bit worried about what was going on, and I wasn't sure if it was going to be safe. We both walked cautiously towards my room.
"I'm sorry, Iona, but I am a guest staying here, so I must follow the master of the house's request," I could hear the fake apologetic tone Victoria used as we came up to my room.
Inside, Lavender and Victoria had Iona pinned to the bed while trying to finish dressing Iona In some pink and frilly dress. Iona struggled and cursed as the two girls manhandled her into the dress. Tilly made me turn around until the girls finished.
When three ice-cold voices told me to turn back around, my head slowly turned in a creaking motion to look back. All three women left to the demon succubus gave off a menacing aura, and the part of me that wanted to live was urging me to be anywhere but here. All struggles and previous altercations put aside as the girls glared at me as a unified front.
"WHAT DID YOU DO!?" The girls shouted their question, but I had no idea what they meant.
"Ummm, when?" I asked hesitantly as my mind was telling me to run very fast and far.
"Those two fell asleep, and I was missing some power during the fight and that demon..." Lavender's voice trailed off, but I knew exactly what she was talking about.
I slapped my palm to my forehead. Stupid. The girls could have been seriously hurt or worse, and it was all because of my recklessness. I knew there was a chance something like this could happen, but I still did it anyway.
I fell to my knees and clutched my head in my hands. I started to feel the itch again, and my head started to spin. Gripped by those same feelings as before and I felt myself closing up trying to shut out the world.
Suddenly I was hit by multiple bodies that plowed me into the ground backward. I opened my eyes to Lavender, Victoria, Tilly, and even Iona's face centimeters from mine. They were knocking the wind from my lungs, but the darkness and itch disappeared.
"Don't, ok? We are all ok. Nothing that bad happened, and we were able to beat her," Lavender told me.
"We aren't that fragile, ya know?" Victoria added.
"Don't worry, even though this nitwit saved us, I brought back the demon for you," Iona said with a mischievous smile.
"Please, Darling, don't hold the world on your shoulders. We are all here for you."
"DARLING?" The girls had piled off me, and all shouted at Tilly.
Tilly's face exploded with red like a thermometer, rising from her neck to her forehead. She came over to hide behind me, but I wasn't sure what that would do. The other girls pushed me out of the room and told me to go and have a bath as they started to interrogate Tilly.
The door slammed behind me, and I could hear muffled cries as Lavender and the girls must have been trying to corner Tilly. I sighed and walked to the bathroom. When I got inside, bubbles filled the tub, and I could see steam rising.
That sight never got old, the always ready bathtub. I took my clothes off after moving around some bubbles to make sure no one was hiding under them. As I slid into the water, more than just dirt washed from me.
The water relaxed me and washed away the worries that kept me rigid. I noticed the alert icon in my HUD that had been flashing since the demon snake's defeat. I opened the alert with a flash of light and closed the level up window that appeared first, but then another popped in its place before I could read the next.
SAINTY RETURNED TO 0, DARKNESS AVERTED.
Just a single line in the window, but I was able to relax just a bit more with that, but it also added more questions to my head. I called out to Trina to ask her about the darkness the message had mentioned, but she never answered or appeared. I tried again, but I figured she was doing something, maybe taking a break. I opened my AVATAR while thinking about how long it was since I had last talked to her.
LEVEL: 14
HP: 230/230
MANA: 230/230
NAME: Dave Huntington
AGE: 20
CLASS: Hero of Justice
STATUS: Hungry
WEALTH: Wealthy
HOME: Huntington Manor
STRENGTH: 37
CONSTITUTION: 32 (+160)
COMBAT: 35
SPEED: 59
INTELLIGENCE: 34
MANA: 32 (+160)
CHARISMA: 40
LUCK: 35
???: 0/100
SPECIAL ABILITIES
HEROIC GRACE: Remove any adverse magical effects or side effects from a party member. This ability has a 24-hour cooldown period between uses. (1/1 uses available)
ABILITIES
PASSIVE SKILLS
JUSTICE'S BLOODTHIRST+: When killing evil, gain 15 HP per/Kill. When killing an innocent, lose 175 HP per/Kill.
MOLTEN SKIN: You have become invulnerable to metal. If you receive damage from a metal weapon, that damage is transferred back as heat to the weapon. A heated weapon loses durability fast and causes user FIRE damage.
PEIRCE EVIL: People with evil intentions have black auras and are vulnerable to the HERO's LIGHT BLADE Skill.
SELFLESS HERO: Magic item find increased by 250%
ACTIVATED SKILLS
LIGHT BLADE++: Activate to summon a blade of light. This Spell consumes 2 mana per/minute.
--DEMON BRINGER+: In the presence of demons, LIGHT BLADE will increase in size, but in this form, the blade only affects demons. A non-demonic creature struck by DEMON BRINGER receives no damage. Consumes 12 MANA per/min.
DEMON HUNTER+: In the presence of demons, DEMON BRINGER will erupt with golden cleansing flames, and all stats will temporarily be boosted against demons. Consumes 5 MANA per/min.
Nothing had changed apart from my stats going up normally, and my skills were the same. I looked for a little while longer, thinking I might have missed something. One more window popped up after I closed my character screen, and I was confused for a second until I remembered something Trina had told me before.
AGE STASIS OPTION
After reaching the age of 20, you are given the choice to halt your aging process. If you do, your life will end two years to the day. You will be given this choice every time you gain another level.
I closed the window and sunk up to my eyes in the water. I still had more growing to do in more than one way. So, there was no need to put a doom clock over my head with everything that was going on.
I was just about to close my eyes when the bathroom door slammed open so hard I thought it might fall off its hinges. Victoria and Iona stood in the doorway with arms crossed.
"DAVE!"
I sank under the water.