Chapter 269: The Grave He Wore
The curious head finished her portion and began licking the empty dish with stubborn optimism. Beside her, the middle had fallen asleep again, while the right remained upright and watched the humans with quiet attention.
Martin rested his forearms on the table. "We don’t know whether he was the only one."
"The system treated Beastslayer as a class path," Alexandra said. "If one player reached it, others can too."
"Just Die already knows bonded beasts matter to us. Anyone watching our fights can see that Angel and Kumoe aren’t cosmetic pets."
Elisebeth curled her fingers around the edge of the table. "What are we supposed to do, then? Hide them every time someone suspicious comes near us?"
Kumoe’s right head turned toward her.
Elisebeth caught the look and sighed. "Yes, I heard how stupid that sounded."
"She refused to hide even when I tried to send her into the personal sub-space," Alexandra said. When the curious head lifted her muzzle at the sound of her name, Alexandra scratched beneath her jaw. "She chose to stay with me. Packblade exists because I finally stopped treating that choice as disobedience."
Martin looked at her. "Show me."
Alexandra opened her status and shared the relevant class information.
[Packblade]
[An evolved Duelist class built around coordinated combat with a bonded beast.]
[Pack Rhythm]
[When you or your bonded beast creates an opening that the other successfully exploits, both gain increased Movement Speed and resistance to interruption for 5 seconds.]
[Repeated Shared Openings refresh the duration.]
Elisebeth read the description twice before looking down at Kumoe.
"So your class rewards you for letting her fight as your partner."
"Yes."
"And Beastslayer gives someone power for destroying that partnership."
Martin studied the class description. "Packblade appeared when you stopped fighting around Kumoe and started fighting with her. Nine got his class by tearing out the other half and keeping whatever he could use."
Alexandra took a moment before answering.
"That strips away the details, but yes. One path required me to accept that Kumoe could make her own choices. The other required him to decide his beast had more value dead."
She closed the window and picked up her spoon without eating.
"Nine also had Level 60 equipment built for his class. His weapons, resistances, and movement all served the same purpose. I entered that fight wearing the Proudfang Duelist Set and left it as a Packblade."
"You still beat him," Elisebeth said, quieter than before.
"Because he studied my earlier battles and decided he understood me. Kumoe made choices he considered inefficient, and I acted frightened enough to make him trust the wrong opening."
A faint smile touched Alexandra’s mouth, but it carried none of her usual satisfaction.
"If he had adjusted one exchange sooner, we might not be sitting here."
The curious head barked at the hypothetical loss of dinner.
Martin rubbed his jaw. "Your equipment is behind your class."
"Yes."
Elisebeth looked down at the underlayer beneath her drying robes. "So is mine."
Alexandra gave the outfit a slow inspection. "Your equipment was already struggling before today."
"My equipment was chosen when producing one Fireball without hitting a wall counted as progress. Now I have two Epic spells, a Spellweaver quest, and robes that still think Final Fireball is the height of my career."
"You did seem proud of it at the time."
"I was proud. I have since become more impressive."
Martin examined the robes hanging over the chairs. They provided mana and basic protection, but none of the pieces had been selected for someone creating original magic, containing unstable combinations, or surviving the attention those spells attracted.
"Your magic is way ahead of what you’re wearing."
Elisebeth covered her chest with both arms. "You answered much too quickly."
"Half your spells didn’t exist when you got those robes. You need equipment that helps stabilize your combinations, and you need something that keeps you alive if an enemy reaches you before the spell is ready."
"Don’t insult my robes while I’m still wearing the rest of the set."
Martin leaned back in his chair. "I’m already a Warden, and I’ve had to start carrying different weapons because normal Guardian equipment no longer covers everything I’m trying to do. You two changed the way your classes work in one day. Your old builds aren’t going to catch up by themselves."
Alexandra nodded toward Kumoe. "I need equipment designed for Packblade, and she needs protection against Beastslayers."
The right head returned to her meal, apparently satisfied that the humans had reached the obvious conclusion.
"The auction house opens tomorrow morning," Alexandra continued. "We should go as soon as it does."
Elisebeth agreed immediately. "Yes. We replace everything embarrassing, find something worthy of my magic, and buy Kumoe enough protection to make the next Beastslayer regret logging in."
Martin collected the empty bowls from the floor. "That takes care of our equipment."
Elisebeth watched him carry them toward the sink. "You don’t sound satisfied."
"It doesn’t solve the larger problem."
He turned on the water and began rinsing the bowls. Alexandra watched the tension settle across his shoulders.
"What larger problem?"
"Night Espresso’s mission failed."
Martin scrubbed the first bowl harder than necessary.
"The team searching for the Level 60 Hidden Dungeon route confirmed they couldn’t find it. The officers’ channel has been a mess since they returned. Everyone’s arguing about preparation, wasted time, who should have gone, and whether the guild should keep searching."
"The dungeon mattered because Forest Hidden needs another facility," Elisebeth said.
"Yeah. We can travel to other academies for equipment and use their markets whenever they’re willing to sell to us, but Forest Hidden still needs infrastructure of its own. Night Espresso was supposed to help secure it."
Alexandra studied his back for a moment. "You weren’t part of the failed mission, Martin. You’re washing that bowl like you personally lost the route."
He stopped scrubbing but did not turn around.
"I’m an officer now. Calling it their failure doesn’t change what the academy still needs, and it doesn’t make the arguments in the officers’ channel useful."
"You sound more angry about the arguing than the failure."
Martin set the bowl beside the sink and reached for the next one.
"The mission failed. Fine. That happens. We’re supposed to decide what comes next, not spend the entire meeting deciding who gets to feel least responsible."
Alexandra watched him for another moment. He had said we again without noticing.
"You do not have to solve the whole guild’s problem tonight," she said.
"I know."
His grip tightened around the second bowl before he lowered it into the water. Alexandra saw the contradiction, but she did not expose it. Not here, and not while the fear from the Beastslayer fight still sat beneath every other subject.
Elisebeth tapped one finger against the table, then stopped as something pulled her attention away from Martin.
"What about the crystals?"