“I’ve got to admit, that level five Drab ability really makes it easier to talk about things,” Lucy said on the way back to the Arctology. With Katya now a permanent part of their party, Ingrid wanted to induce her as a Bjørnson armsman. And with Matthias as the new arms master and taking a much more active part in managing the armsmen than his predecessor, Katya would have to be formally introduced.

The sounds of the bazaar were muted around the party, as if coming from a lot further away than the scant meters separating the party from the nearest stalls. That muting was merely a side effect of Katya’s ability, and anyone who wasn’t included in its effect would only hear garbled gibberish instead of whatever one of the affected party members said.

Drab

Tier 1

Level 5

Locked

Shunning the attention treasured by most Bards, the Drab chooses instead to use their skills to avoid and misdirect the attention of others.

Absolute Ventriloquism: Any sound, spell or attack the Drab makes can be made to appear as if it comes from anywhere within 10 meters/level.

+2 Dexterity

+2 Wisdom

+1 Shard slot, useable for any passive Skillshard

Private Party: The Drab chooses up to five targets, and can completely control any sound made by them. The affected targets are immune to the effects of this ability.

“It is definitely good ability. I will mute sounds completely when we are in Labyrinth, so we are all the sneaky, but I do not want us to be completely silent in bazaar. People will notice.”

“Good point, and I’m not sure it’s one I would have thought of.”

“Is why I get paid big bucks for being sneaky person,” Katya winked.

When they got to the Arctology, Ingrid and Katya went to talk to Matthias, and Lucy dragged Ed to Ingrid’s suite, where she pushed him to one of the beanbag chairs, settled down in his lap and fixed him with an intense stare.

“OK, spill.”

“What?” a confused Ed looked back at her.

“You’ve spent the past two nights with Katya, and I want the details.”

“A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell, Luce.”

“I can always ask Katya. I’m sure she’ll be happy to tell me everything. Of course, it’s Katya so there’s really no telling what sort of tale she’ll choose to spin.”

“Yeah, I can just imagine her embellishments,” Ed groaned.

“On second thoughts, maybe I should wait for Katya…”

“OK, OK,” Ed raised his hands in surrender before putting them around Lucy and settling down comfortably with the solar drake curled up in his lap. “We were talking in the Pug’s common room, and she was adamant about getting the cat-kin Shard, so we went up to go to her room…”

***

Katya’s room wasn’t actually a part of the Drunken Pug, but was located in a separate wing that was obviously kept for the owner’s family, and until he passed through the door, Ed had no idea what to expect from Katya’s room.

A large poster of Elvis Presley hang in one corner over a full sized grand piano, painted a bright white, studded with rhinestones and taking up nearly a third of the large room. Another third was taken by a large canopied bed, complete with pink curtains. An open door in the opposite wall lead to a well-used workshop containing a large stationary knife sharpening station next to a writing desk cluttered with hand written musical notes.

Katya closed the door behind him and bowed dramatically. “Welcome to my parlor.”

“Thank you,” Ed smiled and bowed in return. “It definitely suits you.”

“I will take that as compliment,” Katya grinned, and quickly shucked off her shirt and spread her arms wide. “I am ready for large Shard!”

“That’s really not necessary,” Ed groaned, trying his best to keep his eyes aimed above Katya’s chin.

“’necessary’ is just different word for ‘boring’. I am not about necessary. I am about outrageous!”

Shaking his head at Katya’s shenanigans, Ed summoned the phantasmal cat-kin and transformed it into a large grey Shard. Katya immediately grabbed the Shard and placed its tip between her breasts, then moaned theatrically as she Sliced it.

Bright grey light covered the Drab’s body for a few seconds, then receded to leave behind white fur marked with leopard spots. The spots were black on Katya’s head, back and limbs, and shaded to a light grey on her exposed stomach and chest. Leaving her face slightly sharper than it was before the transformation, but clear of any fur.

Ed had less than a second’s warning before the newly transformed cat-kin pounced on him. Strong arms and legs wrapped around his shoulders and back, and a loud purr rumbled from Katya’s chest, which was suddenly pressed very closely against his own.

***

Lucy was still giggling from Ed’s story when Katya and Ingrid finally joined them, and the conversation soon turned into more serious busyness.

“We should probably do a run or two at floors six or seven tomorrow,” Ingrid said as she was taking a couple of new Shards out of a desk drawer and handing them to Ed. “The new phantasm will need some essence and a few more Shards before it’s up to speed, and until then we’re down a melee fighter.”

Ed took the first Shard from Ingrid and summoned a phantasmal worker, then proceeded to Slice the snake-kin Raceshard into it. “You’re probably right. We’ll want at least Sharpness to add to it, and probably Armored Combat, since it won’t be as good at dodging as the cat-kin was.”

Ingrid handed him a Swordsman Shard. “I’ve got both ready, but we’ll probably want Ambidextrous first, since it’ll unlock both the naga rank up and Blademaster from Swordsman.”

“So Sharpness in the bonus slot and Ambi when Swordsman is maxed?” Ed summoned the new phantasmal snake-kin and Sliced a second Shard into it.

“Yeah. Then Armored Combat, and after that we can start ranking it up.”

“Sounds good to me. I’ll have a look at the rank up trees for both Shards later just to make sure.”

Phantasmal Snake-kin Swordsman

Race

Snake-Kin

Class

Swordsman

Shards

2/2

Strength

11

Dexterity

1

Wisdom

3

Constitution

9

Agility

2

Intelligence

3

HP

40/40

Mana

9/9

HP regen

1.2/hour

Mana regen

6/hour

Shard

Level

Essence

Snake-kin (0)

1

0/500

Swordsman (0)

1

0/300