"Well, despite my complaints, you two ain't soft. I'll give you that."

I opened my eyes, then closed them again and groaned for a bit.

"Or at least, you aren't. Not sure about him. What sort of man needs his girlfriend to carry him out of the boss chamber?"

"In his defence, he did get blown up, eaten and then blown up again."

"Touché."

"Yeah. Don't get eaten by a hydra," I managed. "A highly unpleasant experience, and that was with an odour suppression enchantment."

"I shall endeavour not to," said Kikrizzik, who, true to her word, had hung around to see the outcome of our battle.

"That was cool, though! The way it went boom, and bits of head went everywhere."

I dragged myself upright and stared incredulously at the blood-soaked catgirl, the comfort enchantment on her armour battling against the sheer volume she'd been drenched with. "Cool?"

"Well... Okay, I imagine you had other things on your mind. But believe me, from the outside, it was awesome."

Fair enough. I bet Carys would have been impressed. "You need some longer weapons. Those daggers just weren't doing enough damage."

"If my weapons were heavier and bulkier, I wouldn't be able to dodge properly. But I had a huge bunch of arte levels from that, so next time I should do more damage."

Oh, right, levels. I'd passed out without checking my messages.

Skill [Armour Break] advanced to level 9

Skill [Mighty Swing] advanced to level 11

Skill [Mighty Swing] advanced to level 12

Skill [Swift Strike] advanced to level 13

Skill [Detach] advanced to level 15

Skill [Redistribute] advanced to level 12

Skill [Superimpose] advanced to level 10

Skill [Superimpose] advanced to level 11

Skill [Rapid Healing] advanced to level 8

Skill [Extended Health Pool] advanced to level 5

Title [Skilled 2] evolved to [Skilled 3]

Skill [Far Reach] advanced to level 16

Skill [Strength] advanced to level 16

Skill [Dexterity] advanced to level 16

Skill [Endurance] advanced to level 16

Skill [Weft Walk] advanced to level 16

Skill [Weapon Proficiency: Universal] advanced to level 16

Skill [Weapon Style: Flowing Mist] advanced to level 16

Class [Eldritch Mage] advanced to level 25

Oh. Well, that was... nice.

[Skilled 3] - You have maxed out a large number of skills before reaching your fourth rank. Maximum skill level raised by 8. (Rank 4)

I suppose I could thank my emergency head evacuation for that. If it followed the same pattern as the lower ranks of the title, then the single [Detach] level had triggered it and lifted my skill cap to eighteen, making half those skill gains possible.

Was there another evolution for [Jack of All Trades 2]? That would require rank three skills from every category. I could buy [Status Concealment] for covert, but I'd still be missing crafting and combat. Thanks to my deal with Grover, there was a good chance of me taking a rank three crafting class. If I did, would it be worth chasing a rank three combat skill? If the bonus increased to three soul points, I'd say no, but if it increased to five, then it would let me buy rank two skills for free. With [Artisan], which was liable to unlock dozens of new skills, that would be amazing.

"I picked up one or two, too," I said.

"One or two? That took you ages to read!"

"One or two or seventeen, plus a title evolution and class level."

"That's more like it," giggled Cluma, before pausing. "Wait, seventeen?"

"I used lots of spells and artes!"

It was a shame nothing I did stressed my mana control, or else maybe I could have levelled that too. Bah, I bet our institute experiments yesterday would have levelled that had I had the title.

"Still, that's a lot."

"The [Determined Progressor] trait helps."

Cluma just shook her head, while I tried to drag myself back to my feet. I'd regained health beyond what the potion had restored, presumably thanks to [Rapid Healing], but I still felt awful. Breathing hurt to the extent that taking deep breaths was impossible. That was likely the fault of the hydra bite. Thank goodness it had bitten into my breastplate and backplate; had it snapped its mouth shut a moment earlier and caught my neck, there's no way my armour would have held.

For that matter, had I not taken the potion of defence or had so many endurance buffs, I might not have held, even if my armour did. I felt badly crushed enough as it was, and its fangs didn't need to pierce my armour to smash my ribs.

"Are you okay?" asked Cluma, looking concerned, and not even offering a hug, obviously worried she'd add to the damage.

"I've been better, but I don't think I've taken any damage that [Rapid Healing] can't deal with. I'll be fine after a sleep. What was in the chest, anyway?"

That question brought back Cluma's smile instantly. "A physical lump of irony in the shape of a bracelet. You can keep it."

She tossed me a bracelet that looked suspiciously familiar.

Bracelet of Crafting Skill (Quality: 41)

- Enchantment: Comfort (Quality: 41)

- Enchantment: Crafting skill bonus (Quality: 41)

Weight: 100 grams

I couldn't resist smiling, too. After we'd spent so long trying to find one in Dawnhold, this dungeon had given us one as the first drop. Not only that, but it was a higher rank version. Perhaps not as useful in a rematch as a bracelet of martial skill would have been, but I'd still take it. Something else to bribe Grover with, should the need arise.

"How are you, anyway? I saw you take a direct hit from its tail."

"Eh. That didn't hurt. Between the new armour, potions and buffs, it's going to take more than a tail-slap to take me out."

"Perhaps we should swap ends next time. You can deal with the heads."

"As I keep saying, learn [Stealth] and we can do," she giggled, finally gracing me with a light hug.

Maybe I would; if I wanted a rank three combat skill, going through [Scout] would be just as easy as the other combat classes. But that was a long way in the future, and there were far more important things to worry about first. Earth for one, although more immediate was my need for a nice, soft bed.

"Here, wash some of that blood off before you get it over my house," I commented, tossing Cluma a water crystal, before using another to rinse myself.

"And now you're right back to being soft again," smirked Kikrizzik. "Bloodstains are a badge of honour!"

"In a dungeon, maybe, but I'd rather not have them in my living room."

"Hmm... It would certainly be a talking point, for when we have visitors," commented Cluma. I was fairly sure she was trying to wind me up. Probably.

"Well, I feel like I could sleep for a week, so I'm going home."

I waited for Cluma to dump her mana so that I could teleport her, before teleporting myself, stripping off my armour and wincing at the bruise beneath that seemed to occupy my entire chest, before climbing into bed.

Thankfully, I was correct about not having any serious wounds, and by the next morning I was feeling fine, albeit hungry, and still missing a dozen points of health. So, of course, it was the perfect time for another experiment.

"Oh! I thought you said you'd feel better after a night's sleep. You look awful!" commented Cluma, wrapping her arms around me from behind and not even commenting on the fact I was back in my maid costume. Thankfully, I'd been keeping an eye out and noticed her arrival, so she hadn't caught me by surprise.

"That's not from yesterday. It's from removing my bracelet of crafting skill. Having memories ripped out of your head is horrible."

"Really? My bracelet of martial skill isn't that bad."

"[Basic Crafting] is far larger in scope than your weapon skills, and this new bracelet boosts the level by two."

"True. So, you're doing cooking experiments again? Why are there four bowls this time?"

"Taste each one and rank them, and then I'll tell you."

Cluma complied, chewing four mouthfuls of cereal, before staring at the bowls and taking a second spoonful of two of them.

"That one is worst, that one is best, and these two are the same!" she declared.

"The same? Interesting."

"What? Weren't they supposed to be? Hurry up and tell me!"

"The one you rated worst I made without any aid, the best one was with this dress and the bracelet of crafting skill. Of the other two, that one was made with just the bracelet, and the other with my dress."

I'd already worked it out from my own tasting, but the cooking enhancement enchantment obviously stacked with the bracelet. I'd considered the bracelet-only bowl slightly above the dress-only bowl, though. It was a shame I didn't still have a rank two bracelet to add to the test line-up.

ding

For your experiments to expand the knowledge of enchantments, [Test Subject] awards 5 soul points.

Really? For eating cereal? I'd expected the change from [Researcher] to [Test Subject] to have precluded that. I suppose I did eat them myself... There was nothing in the [Test Subject] description that implied the experiments I subjected myself to needed to be dangerous, or particularly profound.

"You do look cute in that, you know," commented Cluma, snuggling the costume's tail while I finished off the cereal. I'd made small bowls, but perhaps I hadn't quite compensated for the fact I'd made four of them.

"I thought tail-touching was inappropriate?"

Cluma stuck her tongue out, then went right back to playing with the fluff. I was totally going to end up getting an enchanted one one day, wasn't I? I could use my new [Detach] link to remove it while delving, so I couldn't even argue it would get in the way anymore.

"I'm still not back up to full health, and after our last experience, I don't want to fight the hydra without buff potions. I suggest we farm floor twenty today, and have another attempt tomorrow."

"Mmmk."

And so went the next six days, alternating between floor twenty and fighting the hydra. The second attempt went much better than the first, with the both of us having first-hand experience of the monster's speed and tactics, and I managed to only get blown up once and not eaten at all. The knowledge that I could detonate the poison clouds while still in the hydra's mouth proved useful, and this time I got to view the poison head exploding into chunks of sizzling flesh from the outside. As Cluma had said, it was indeed cool. After that, not much changed, but each battle was still worth skill levels.

Skill [Armour Break] advanced to level 10

Skill [Armour Break] advanced to level 11

Skill [Mighty Swing] advanced to level 13

Skill [Swift Strike] advanced to level 14

Skill [Minor Speed] advanced to level 16

Skill [Far Reach] advanced to level 17

Skill [Minor Slow] advanced to level 16

Skill [Strength] advanced to level 17

Skill [Dexterity] advanced to level 17

Skill [Endurance] advanced to level 17

Skill [Superimpose] advanced to level 12

Skill [Weapon Proficiency: Universal] advanced to level 17

Skill [Danger Sense] advanced to level 14

Skill [Enhanced Mana Recovery] advanced to level 16

Skill [Weapon Style: Flowing Mist] advanced to level 17

Skill [Rapid Healing] advanced to level 9

Skill [Mana Sight] advanced to level 16

Class [Eldritch Mage] advanced to level 26

Class level increased intelligence by 1

Unfortunately, nothing suggested any possibility of either me or Cluma soloing the monster. I couldn't do sufficient damage while dodging to take it down, while Cluma couldn't get close enough to attack properly without me holding the hydra's attention. Besides, while acting solo, she wouldn't have access to my buff spells or the effects of [Loyal]. Or [Devoted Tease], now, which still gave her a bonus to stats when acting alongside friends.

She'd also hinted that she'd get a bigger boost if I fulfilled further conditions. Given the direction the trait had evolved in, I decided I was safer not asking.

Perhaps a lightning glove would turn the tide in my favour, but what about Cluma? She was still only rank two, and could afford to rank up before fighting it solo. How long would that take her, though?

Still, that was a problem for another day. Tomorrow, we were due to make contact with Earth.