P-Ptew! Siz-Sizzle!
"WHAAAA?!! MY EYES!?!"
The doctor cracked the bridge of his glasses while wailing in pain. He haphazardly used his other hand to wipe the foreign substance from his eyes, but it only caused his fingers to burn all the same.
'Attack now!' Rizz's voice echoed through Elenia's mind.
And the noblewoman wouldn't waste that opening, not with the blatant heads-up from her familiar. She hurled the mass of flames upward with adrenaline fueling her silent, life-or-death focus. And she quickly curved the fireball down behind the protective wall of stone.
FWOOSH!
"NOO! This can't be?!" Dr. Daevis bellowed in terror.
While the noblewoman rushed to her feet, the doctor failed to clear his eyesight. All he could do was propel his stone wall forward.
The ground cracked apart as the growls, barks, and yells echoed out of the dungeon cells. Elenia was forced to focus on the wall, hurling as much fire as she could muster at her level. She cried out in full focus, "Flame wall!"
As the launched wall of stone crumbled under the high-heat attack, Elenia dropped to her knees. Panting…
"Where'd… the perverted pig go…?"
Th-Thud…
The dungeon door was thrown open, out of sight but well within earshot.
'Are you okay, Elenia?'
"... Y-yeah… I'm okay," the tired noblewoman verbally replied. She squatted down, slowly claiming a seat on the broken stone floor. "Th-thanks… What… did you do?"
'Just giving you a helping hand,' Rizz cackled from the depths of his mind, keeping silent in his cell. 'The Rizz does not lie. I told you. You weren't alone.'
Elenia heaved a long sigh. She ignored the whoops of the caged dogs and the groans of the chained-up prisoners. In that moment, there was only her and her familiar.
"You know… I don't think… I'll need your new crest… I don't want a new familiar." Suddenly, the noblewoman began to laugh. It started with a single cackle, but it rolled into a full-on laughing fit. "Thank you, Rizz! You're the best… Thank you…"
The goblin's chuckles were barely audible. He kept his laughter mostly contained within their telepathic conversation. 'You're welcome, Elenia. I'm glad at least one person understands my worth… But I still want my freedom. The Rizz is undeniable, and can't be contained within a familiar curse!'
Before Elenia could reply, more thuds rang out from the dungeon door.
Elenia stood back up, gathering the few flames she had left in her. But she quickly dropped back to the floor in relief.
"Young Miss, what happened?!" The guard clamored down the stone steps of the staircase, drawing his sword instantly. "Who caused you such harm?"
"It was Daevis… Daevis tried to kidnap me and my familiar…" Elenia reported from the floor, heaving long breaths to regain her stamina as quickly as possible.
"Daevis?! But the doctor wasn't supposed to be in today!" the guard exclaimed in question. "Though… Now that you mention it, I recall seeing him at the shift change…"
"He's the reason you were sleeping on the job," Elenia explained, rolling her hand through the air. "He put you to sleep. He stole the dungeon key. And he tried to take my familiar while kidnapping me in the process…"
'And he stole materials.'
Taking Rizz's mental hint, Elenia added, "And… the doctor made sure to steal plenty of resources before making his move on us… put the estate on full alert."
"Right away, Young Miss! We'll capture the fiend immediately!"
But before the guard rushed up the stairs, he approached the tired young noblewoman. "Do you need a hand, Young Miss?"
"Yes… But alert the other guards first."
The man stormed up the spiral staircase. He didn't need to cross the door before shouting, "FULL ALERT! APPREHEND DR. DAEVIS!"
As the guard marched back into the dungeon, Elenia let her body rest. She wasn't completely out of mana. But between the harsh bruises on her side and the rushed expenditure of her mana into a few key spells, Elenia felt like she had been battling for at least five minutes straight.
She slumped to her knees. And the guard put her arm over his shoulder. He made sure to keep his hand high on her back, also supporting her by her opposite armpit.
"We'll treat you immediately, Young Miss. I'm certain that your mother, Lady Ceenia will seek the greatest care available," remarked the guard, driven by his duty to the Rifton Estate.
"Thank you…" Elenia offered just a few words of condolence. Her mind was already elsewhere.
'Great job, Elenia,' Rizz telepathically complimented. 'You've successfully acquired my lessons with someone else's mess to cover it all up. Lucky you.'
As she was supported through the door, Elenia giggled in reply, 'I am lucky… I have the best familiar ever…'
THUD!
The loud slam of the dungeon door reverberated through the dungeon, covering Rizz's boastful snickers.
He kept his thoughts to himself. *Now, I just have to wait. Around midnight should be the best time. Who knows how much traffic I'll have to deal with in the middle of the day? Traffic jams are a big no.*
Rizz re-opened his system menu, proudly admiring his recent purchases.
[Spitball - lv. 3, Uncommon]
[The ability to form and spit a ball of saliva with impeccable accuracy within 5 meters. Upgrade = 60 skill points, Branch = 120 skill points, Evolve = 180 skill points, Branch & Evolve = 240 skill points.]
[Acid Saliva - lv. 1, Rare]
[The ability to create acidic saliva on command with low corrosive damage. Upgrade = 50 skill points, Branch = 100 skill points, Evolve = 150 skill points, Branch & Evolve = 200 skill points.]
*So that's how it works?* Rizz mentally deduced.
*Branching is like making my own skill tree. I can create a skill similar to a skill I own. And evolving increases the rarity and ability of the skill. But if I want to keep a skill, then I have to branch it. Otherwise, I might change the original skill and mess with my future branching options…
*And of course the cost goes up. Though I didn't expect the cost of simple upgrades to just double each time. It took branching a skill with two whole evolutions just to get weak acid spit. That was a whole 135 points for a plain rare skill, still at lv. 1!* Rizz wanted to bite his tongue in annoyance.
*How many points are you gonna force me to spend just to max out basic skills? And how many times will I need to break the bank to get my first legendary skill? You Stingy Stooge…*