Ha That raid boss is worth at least 50
One of the women from the other squads leaned over to the woman next to her and whispered Why doesn’t breathing fire count as magic
And was quickly shushed by her fellow squadmate as Paolo continued to speak And we arrived first softening them up If you want to be the 2nd best squad forever feel free to keep mopping up after
But then Paolo stopped speaking his hand going to his chest He winced then shook his head
Heartburn at his age Paolo supposed he needed to lay off the rich cream sauces with his wolverine meat but to his surprise Kayle also had a similarly unpleasant expression on his face So did all the members of both squads
What what is this it feels terrible One of Squad II muttered but Kayle quickly shushed him Then Kayle turned to Paolo and the two leaders shared a glance all traces of banter gone
This feeling did not feel like an isolated thing It was likely related to the village To the fate of Donnyton
Sam frowned down at Nul whose skin was slowly turning grey
What’s wrong He asked the village spirit shaking him slightly He had never touched Nul before and was surprised at how light his body was And how cold his skin was
How Nul muttered How is it so strong
Far away a creature isolated by a powerful barrier slowly opened its eyes
Chapter 97
After her first movie success Lyra’s career exploded Although she didn’t always duplicate the rave reviews she received for her first performance and there were duds mixed in with her work as an actress she never seemed to lose that spark that drew the eye that it factor
When she was 15 a famous tabloid named her the hottest rising young actress Due to that she was invited out to a photo shoot that provided hair and makeup arts that completely changed up her look
A consummate professional Lyra took it in stride and said nothing even as she paid attention to the ways that they sexualized her She noted the outfits they picked and the poses they had her in for the pictures
Later alone in her room she did her best to duplicate that hair and makeup and did a rather excellent job Then she looked at herself again slowly turning back and forth examining her from every angle
Both her parents had sent her congratulatory texts but didn’t call After all they understood how busy she was They would be thrilled to see her at the Hollywood premiere of her next new movie
I am beautiful Lyra said and she knew it was true She heard it from every source Even her own eye couldn’t help but notice her smooth skin her symmetrical features But hearing the words aloud made her incredibly tired
The next day Lyra had her agent cancel all of her appointments and talked to an middle school friend with the right sort of connections Lyra had her friend buy cocaine and bring it over to Lyra’s loft
After they had snorted the drug Lyra moved to sit in front of her mirror while her friend did cartwheels over Lyra’s soft carpet laughing endlessly
I am beautiful Lyra whispered to her reflection the whole room vibrating with her words Then she smiled because there was no sadness this time There was only joy and up and up and up Her body was soft and curved and Lyra allowed herself to wiggle in her chair appreciating the amazing way her body could move
Even as her friend began to frantically cook food Lyra stayed in front of that mirror For hours she sat there watching for herself hoping for a change
The change came of course and it was exactly as she feared The high faded Her heavy lidded eyes looked back at her dull and unfocused She was not beautiful She never was
Lyra disposed of the rest of the cocaine sold her loft and never spoke to that friend again She threw herself into acting search for an answer Maybe she had been wrong Maybe it wasn’t her but the roles Maybe she was just a conduit for the beauty
But that too seemed wrong It was definitely her and others like her But she couldn’t seem to see it that factor that took her facial symmetry and made it irresistible She was just a bag of skin holding in blood just like everyone else
6 Months before the system would come to the world on her 17th birthday Lyra received a call to star in an action movie that had a budget that doubled the most expensive movie she had ever starred in And Lyra said yes not for the money because also starring in the movie would be Vivian Plath who the world agreed was the most beautiful woman in the world
Randidly rushed onwards dodging around the Yeti illusions that continued to form around him They sought to distract them and slow them and would continually form on his path but they weren’t strong or fast enough to be able to box him in and restrain him
Still they were annoying and they kept trying different tricks to lead him astray But luckily Randidly’s pathfinder skill guided him due North keeping him from any false paths
It would get a little bit more hairy as he neared Donnyton because he would no longer be able to rush straight North But hopefully he would recognize the area he was in at that time
What complicated things was that slowly but surely it seemed like Kim Lath was able to create more and more Lyra illusions along with the Yeti illusions It seemed like its strength was growing But perhaps it was more that Randidly was nearing its locations so it had more influence here
But then something occurred that caused Randidly to slow and then stop raising a stamina potion to his lips the illusions were gone He was alone
Randidly drank the potion then began running again He had been traveling for about an hour and was about halfway back to Donnyton His speed on a flat sprint was something that only a car could have replicated in the days before the system
Feeling disturbed by the sudden lack of illusions Randidly picked up speed rushing North He wasn’t sure why but he knew that if the village faced a problem Lyra would find it In all their interactions even while she was flippant and teasing she was also eminently competent
She only traveled with him after she had developed the Teleport skill Then when she had been useless against the centipede Randidly bet that she had trained furiously until her birds of mana could cut through just about anything And then she had started making larger objects as conduits for her power
Lyra had always seemed to Randidly to be the type that was dishonest about it but was an obsessively hard worker And examining his own memories he couldn’t really pinpoint when he got that impression
Maybe it’s the way she looked into your eyes direct and challenging As if daring you to underestimate her Maybe there was just a connection between them which was why even though she seemed so young
But Randidly shook his head banishing those thoughts That was for later
Activating Haste and Empower not bothering to keep a Stamina reserve now that the illusions were nonexistent Randidly began to blur racing forward hoping he arrived in time
You have lost Kim Lath whispered using its own hollow sounding voice It was cute of you to do this forcing me to move before I had all the preparations I wanted but The Village Spirit is almost dead and once he becomes a part of me I will evolve once more With an entire dungeon’s worth of warriors trained by your precious Ghosthound who can stop me so early in this Zone I will rule and prepare for the next step
Lyra just stood there her eyes closed a wistful expression on her face
This seemed to displease Kim Lath who spoke again this time using Randidly’s voice Are you afraid Are you ready to die
Yes and yes Lyra whispered her eyes still closed only half listening Because in her mind she was still racing forward in her memories dragged along by time
VIvian was beautiful sure but she was small minded and petty constantly taking the opportunity to thrust herself into the limelight and making snide comments about Lyra to the filming staff
It all just seemed so dull There was no beauty in the posturing in the jockeying for influence There was simply strange compulsion as if this was the only thing that kept Vivian going She was good at it too Lyra couldn’t deny but her competence in such a useless activity did very little to calm Lyra’s sinking mood There was no answer here