Chapter 206

Rubbing her forehead, Delta walked back to the bed and plopped down, sinking a good half-foot into the overly plush mattress. She couldn’t say she was stunned by the realization. Rosalie was obviously part of wayfaring high society; Delta had intuited that the moment they’d met. Those stupid sharp cheekbones and arrogant blue eyes alone would have given it away, much less the enunciated words and her total disdain for any wayfarer not meeting her ridiculously exacting standards.

But apparently she was so cozy with the upper class that Delta had been dragged into the actual d’Celestin Palace.

As a visitor. Or rather, temporary prisoner, presumably. Her attention flicked over toward the enormous closed double-doors leading out into the palace hallways. Delta hadn’t tried to open them yet, but she had a sneaking suspicion she didn’t have free-reign of the estate.

Well. Whatever. Prison break couldn’t be that hard. It’d be interesting to see what the security of the d’Celestin palace was like.

First, Delta needed—and wanted—to see her new abilities. She’d appraised her direct surroundings and didn’t feel immediately threatened. If admittedly she was dying with curiosity and a bit intimidated by what her future looked like. But she’d progressed in advancement, and, as any wayfarer, was itching to see what skill or skills she’d gotten.

Unlike Zoey, that ridiculous woman, Delta had only a single rune to check up on. Closing her eyes, she quested out for that block of information embedded onto her soul. Reading one’s tabula anima was a skill that took some, if not much, practice. She couldn’t believe Zoey still didn’t know how. Though that was almost certainly to oblige her girlfriend’s nosy nature. Delta snorted, remembering how eager Rosalie had been to peek in on Zoey’s skills. Zoey probably didn’t even realize how intimate that act was. Or maybe she did. They were gross like that.

Rune of Dual Strikes

[1]: Dual-wield: Bonus damage when wielding two daggers and scoring alternating strikes.

[2]: Twin Fangs: Left hand dagger applies bleed; right hand applies poison. When both effects are applied through [Backstab], amplify each debilitation.

[2]: Backstab: Attacking from the flank does bonus damage.

[3]: Fade Away: Drop aggression of all current targets and enter stealth. Emerge with an amplified attack.

[3:] Quick Step: Travel short distances quickly. If an immediate [Backstab] follows, deal bonus damage.

[4]: Shadow: Create a controlled illusion of yourself that can attack at half power.

Delta’s eyebrows shot up.

A controlled illusion of herself? That attacked at half power?

It fit with the ‘dual’ nature of her class. And while she’d only gotten a single skill this advancement, she wasn’t disappointed. The skill seemed incredible. Not just the effective fifty-percent increase in raw power, but the increase in versatility too. Her shadow-version would be able to take far riskier gambits, ones that Delta herself would have shied away from. Though that assumed the death of her clone didn’t cause significant harm to herself, and that she could sacrifice it in such a way. Like any skill, experimentation would be needed to discover its quirks.

The downside, of course, was that the illusion was controlled. Which was also an upside. But the mental overhead necessary to control a second version of herself mid-combat was going to take enormous amounts of practice, if she had to guess. It might be impossible to use it to its full potential. Her brain would be the limiter.

But she was pleased by that. Skills with high requirements for mastery were generally stronger than easier-to-use ones, at least if the user was sufficiently skilled.

She expected future abilities would build on her shadow clone. It seemed like a foundational skill, similar to how Backstab synergized with many other of her class abilities. Her mind started running wild with the possibilities. One such future skill could be the ability to swap places with her clone. That was something she would fall in love with. Quick Step had come in handy plenty of times, but Delta wished she had better mobility. Repositioning was crucial to an assassin. How else would she find and exploit vulnerabilities? She already had tons of damage potential, but not as many ways to sneak in and utilize it. At least in her opinion.