There was also the diary left by the Spear Phantom What was that strange face underneath the cloak Was there a secret hidden inside those final two moves of the Spear Phantom that Shal was unable to master
Learning a story and a distant one like they received from Artisan Dwei from people who weren’t involved with the situation was kinda off putting in a way After hearing it Randidly had quite a few questions for Shal How much time did he spend with his father Was the man really that bad Although he had been away from Shal most of Shal’s life Randidly had also experienced that His father was rarely around And he didn’t have the strange anger that Shal carried everywhere with him
Plus Randidly knew that if he went to Shal and asked he would be met with some dumb answer like If you know so much about it why have me tell you more Get to training Or If a wise and learned disciple like you thinks so who am I to disagree Why do you even need a teacher when you are so wise You may as well train on your own
All in all questions would only lead to training Perhaps he should ask Divvit then But after glancing at Divvet and seeing the strange way he was moving his fingers Randidly had the strangest sensation that asking him now would end poorly for him There was a danger to those finger movements
Besides he still had time Randidly would ask later then For now work on his three goals Engraving perceiving the words in the diary and
Randidly grinned He might as well indulge in one rest like activity His third activity would be Cooking
Chapter 182
Helen wanted to be sympathetic but just couldn’t find it in herself to So she just tilted her head to the side and asked Still sick
Teliph glared at her briefly then suppressed the uneasy expression keeping his face blank Unlike your exhaustion from earlier Aether Poisoning doesn’t just go away after rest Leave me in peace
Which of course made Helen want very much to torture him but she decided that she was in too good of a mood to bother with the stoic brute After all she also wanted to work on her own new moves
But as she settled into her stance she saw a small boat bobbing over towards their boat and felt a flash of anger There was only one person on board but still
These motherfuckers Helen muttered eyes scanning around Divveltian was still sitting with his eyes closed waving his fingers The male spear attendant was rolling over to the side fiddling with Tassles It didn’t seem like Teliph would be able to get up soon So with a great sigh and a bit of worry that she still hadn’t recovered from her Aether shortage Helen walked to the edge of the boat
For a moment she considered throwing something to upend the tiny thing but then she recognized the soft looking individual who was leisurely paddling towards them
Ah Clappy Helen said lazily almost disappointed Sure another fight would have been hard but she felt strange exhilarated by the thought of it especially with her new Skill Set evolution She tried to quell that urge because it would likely get her into a fight she couldn’t win someday but she didn’t try too hard After a life of having her mother breathing down her neck it was nice to feel on top of the world
It would be even nicer to be on top the Ghosthound’ Her mind commented slyly in her mother’s voice She shushed it and focused on the approaching merchant
His face brightened visibly when he saw her Oh You are the woman who knows so much about leather Good I came to see the Ghosthound
He’s fucking busy Helen said her voice chilly the delivery abrupt It was an effort of will not to grind her teeth This fucking merchant showed up and what did he do Instantly ruined her mood by reminding her of all those years with her hair and clothes permeated by the disgusting smell of the tannery
It was impossible to breath in her childhood without catching some whiff of the occupation of her family Some bore it as a mark of pride but those fucking asscocks were not the type of people she wanted to associate herself with She had finally managed to shake that feeling of connection to that dirty small minded place but this piece of shit brought it all right back
Oh Claptrap seemed to wilt slightly and then glanced to the side where the Ghosthound was very clearly engraving His face transformed into a look of horror He’s engraving RIght here where anyone can see
Helen shrugged They all knew academically that the Engraving Guilds were an issue but it was very hard to focus on them as threats when other groups were actively attacking them It was a matter of priorities Although Helen was no longer sure why the Ghosthound so incessantly was Engraving She wasn’t sure what he was doing with it but it was pretty clear that he didn’t need the money
It was surely useful to train a skill and gather PP from it so you could go though your chosen path But this seemed to be more than that
The two of them hand been standing in silence for 30 seconds her and Claptrap so Helen added He fucking likes the feeling of the rain while Engraving Is there a fucking problem
Uh ah no um Okay well please let him know that there will be a market day in two days and I would appreciate if he could Or have you bring me any finished pieces he has made I made an agreement with the Crashing Wave Style and we will be selling some pieces publically So well yea
Goodbye Helen said simply enjoying the indecision on Claptrap’s face It felt nice in a way to be so dismissive of him
But then Helen realized with a start that this was exactly the petty small minded way of dealing with things that her mother would always employ Flattering to her superiors cold and disdainful to her inferiors Helen’s anger rose up viciously and she had to grit her teeth to throttle it down
Uh yes I will tell him Eventually So don’t fucking worry It’s annoying but uh not a problem Helen said lamely almost blushing at herself She had trained for years to handle things delicately controlling her language and temper Even if she had always raged on the inside outwardly she was perfectly controlled But these weeks with the Ghosthound and his teachers had ruined that Her explosions had become more public And admittedly less caustic and destructive but
She watched Claptrap leave and then settled back into her stances
Claptrap had a heavy heart as he walked to the market day He had just come from visiting the ship of the Ghosthound He was very leery about actually approaching the ship again because he had heard the rumors that numerous smaller Styles had challenged the ship the past few days aiming to lower the Tassles hanging proudly above the vessel
It seemed that the group had been victorious but when Claptrap had arrived hoping to find more engraved armor he had simply found an old man sitting on the boat who ignored him at first and as he asked more direct questions had emanated such a vicious Battle Intent that all Claptrap could do was yelp and run away
Honestly Claptrap had held back some armor from the Crashing Wave Style for just such a situation where he couldn’t contact the Ghosthound But he hadn’t wanted to use it so soon and it was some of the higher efficacy armor that he had been saving
Claptrap’s current funds were very high so much so that he was almost dumbfounded by the amount that Dwei had given him for the previous batch that he had transferred So much so that Claptrap felt confident he could work out strategies and inventory arrangements that independent of the Ghosthound could wipe Izzat off the map The seed money he had always craved he finally had Qtal was too small a pond for him anymore
Based on the amount of money it was clear to Claptrap that not all of the armor or even a majority of it was being used by the Crashing Wave Style They were selling it likely at a markup to someone much larger and more influential Which was both good and bad Good because that meant Claptrap’s worry about how much demand this one Style could really have wasn’t an issue Bad because a bigger entity meant that more people would know about the Engraving And although the exposure was worse using the Crashing Wave Style at a front meant they didn’t have an equivalent power to fall back on