Chapter Eighty-FiveShe’d said too much. Even as she battled the skills trying to pry information from her, they had experience and a nose for waste. This is why she didn’t do interviews. Even if it was released as a transcript it might seem bad. Why did she tell them about Adric's blue milk habit? Social ramifications aside. That was not the priority.

  The Inn’s room for using skill stones was waiting and she didn’t have all day. Ambrosia and Bates stepped in with her and shut the door behind her.

  Taking the box from Ambrosia she finally got a good look at the skill stone. “Is it supposed to look that way?”

  The stone was blue with a bck thread that twisted and turned inside forming shapes that almost looked like letters or words. It was different from all the stones she’d seen even in Tyler’s collection. And he had some weird ones with burning cores, flecks of gold, and even a mirror sheen.

  “I think that’s why they had this one avaible for trade,” Ambrosia answered. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  “I think I have to. My newest skill takes so much out of me. Stamina seems key for it”

  Bates cleared his throat.

  Quiet, waiting, and patient. Rarely to interrupt or influence a decision “Do you have something to add?” Harmony asked.

  “What do you know of stamina skills, Lady White?”

  “Where the magical skills use mana. The physical skills use stamina. Thibedeux describes them as the fountain from which they drink. For Carter, they are described as part of our bodies and spirits and he cimed there was a gender difference but didn’t provide stats. Not all skills use either and some use both. One or the other is deemed necessary for growth and advancement when choosing skill stones.”

  Bates nodded slowly. "I've managed many servants. Stamina is more common than mana skills. The young houseboys always go for stamina skills but for boyish reasons. They can push harder, st longer, and show off more."

  "Boys," Ambrosia muttered.

  Bates continued, ignoring the comment. "Because stamina skills boost all physical aspects, physical fighters feel they are necessary to get. Hitting harder, more control of movements, and increased endurance. Stamina skills however can come at a cost or shape your path.

  Heart skills often have extra traits that bond to you and can alter your paths. [Fire Heart] will raise someone's body temperature and boost skills with fire. They’re considered more passive as they all increase your stamina, but you have to push yourself hard to level them. At a certain point, you have to feed them for their true strength. Those who take both mana and heart skills are known to have difficult journeys. Are you sure this is what you want?”

  Have [High Kick] hit harder? That would almost be worth it alone. But no matter how hard it would be to level she needed something to help with strain using powers she’d used [Cim] on. She could use [High Kick] five times as quickly as possible for the same level of exhaustion. But why had Bates stepped in? Why had he followed Ambrosia to join her staff? They'd never been friends. When the man had hired her at Coodly Manor he’d both saved her and started this journey.

  “Do you think I should use this skill stone and take that more difficult path?”

  “You misunderstand me, Lady White. I merely wish you to be informed of known difficulties. I’ve seen what you can accomplish and have the utmost faith in you handling any obstacle.”

  Rare for Bates to speak so much. Maybe he should have watched the st half of that Times interview before making such a statement. That was unfair. Whatever reasons he had for joining her, he'd always been exceptionally supportive and helpful. “Your faith honors me. Let’s do this.”

  Do you wish to learn the skill [Ink Heart]?

  Harmony accepted the power of the stone to fill her st slot before evolution. With a name like that it should shoot straight to her heart. The space there in her soul peeled open and waited for the power. It seeped into her palm along with the thread of ink. There it moved toward her center, but with a yank, it rebounded back instead of traveling to that open spot at her heart. Like it was chained in pce. The back of her hand burned.

  Blood started to well up in fine lines on the back of her hand. The skill pushed again, pulling harder. The burning seared deeper. And those lines. A forgotten blemish she’d covered every morning as part of her routine. Ink entangled on Ink. The skill pulled harder, ripping the tattoo out of her hand and dragging it along on the journey leaving a trail of fine lines of ink and blood with it.

  That marking wasn’t normal. A mistake she'd made while binding to the guild's records of her existence, existing only because her curiosity got the better of her. Before she’d contained the power to the surface of her hand but this activation brought it deeper.

  Remnants of magical ink and vellum, a masterpiece of spellwork she’d scribbled over and copied into herself. The stain of her pride unraveled and respun and it raced on, entangled with the [Ink Heart]. Together they hit that open spot.

  Energies fought, merged, and bled as they competed. Harmony’s chest burned as her heart beat faster. A tattoo, no, a script, inverted and unreadable pulsed out stretching to the edges of her body, soul, container, and skills. [Awareness] told her it was a story, but of what?

  Not to be distracted, stamina came to crity as the conflict was being resolved within the skill, multi-phasic muscles adding density to the system. Exercising the use of those muscles will add extra power that extends to nearly everything. Now [Cim the Remains of Power] was revealed as those pseudo-muscles circled the stamina-hungry skill, and a heavy squeeze was needed to activate the power within through a stamina channel allowing it to flow without corrupting the rest of her skills. Feeding those muscles was her body’s natural well, a reserve much weaker than her mana had been, but this new heart increased it and fed the supply.

  You have learned [Eternal Fable’s Heart]

  What happened to [Ink Heart]? How long did that take? “Well…”

  “Harmony, your hand is bleeding. Are you okay?” Ambrosia asked.

  “How long was I out?”

  “Your hand just started bleeding.”

  The lines of the tattoo were gone, only a red smear remained. It shouldn't mess up the guild connection, as the tattoo had been a terrible bonus and not a necessity for that lifetime membership. Looking down she was relieved not to see that tattoo now resting between her tits. Mistake erased, maybe. The fact that it changed a skill was a different problem.

  Ambrosia interrupted Harmony's contemption. “Are you done bonding the skill already? That was the quickest one yet.”

  Time, If that had taken half the day then she'd have lost a precious amount of it. The pressure of abundant authority did have a new toy to py with. Its instability sent those stamina muscles twitching. A reminder of what she needed to accomplish before meeting the queen.

  Taking a deep breath Harmony forced control on herself. “Good. I have the feeling I’ll need every moment in Nae's Garden.”