types qw

Frozen Stiff

Chapter Text

Seeing the two teenagers calm down, Juny stepped closer.

It took Dager only one and a half months to fully digest his potion and become a Provoker.

For his own safety, Juny advised him not to use his abilities on Ellone.

Who knows what she might put inside his drink.

Compared to him, Ellone had a tougher time.

She wasn't the best apothecary to say the least.

It could be said that she expelled at creating deadly poisons.

As long as she tried to make a medicine, a very powerful poison was bound to be made.

After the incident of 'accidentally' poisoning Dager, Juny told Ellone to test the medicines on plants first.

And if that couldn't be done, Juny would check it out with her Material Vision.

All three of them were quite busy.

Over the past two months, they worked on making connections.

Dager decided to sign up with the Adventurers' guild and joined some Beyonder gatherings, while becoming quite popular in many taverns and pubs.

He often went around the bars and casinos to map out the gang's members' paths.

Ellone also didn't spend her day just sitting around and making potions.

Apart from studying languages, she also learned psychology and went about her day selling her Juny-approved medicine to make connections with many ladies and women in the city.

Juny continued to broaden her knowledge on Mysticism and eavesdropping on the gang's meetings.

If she found an opportunity she would beat someone up and use spirit channeling, dead or alive, Juny wasn't picky.

She already tested it and verified that she could pray to the Dimensional Space during rituals.

To tell the truth, Juny herself made quite a few connections, but they were quite limited.

She was a child after all.

She became 10 just a few days ago.

She didn't mention this to the two teenagers.

Mainly because that wasn't her birthday but Kalia's.

She didn't want to celebrate Kalia's birthday, but her real birthday couldn't be celebrated either, so she decided to just forget it.

Many guys and gatherings' bosses were against providing her with any real information.

Not to mention, they often tried to scam her.

She simply had to use a newly learned persuasive technique: 'Guess what my fist can hit from down here?'

Now that she was about to become a Weapons Smith, she was already starting to form the full plan.

She could also tell that the two siblings were getting more and more fidgety.

Juny was afraid that they might do something they would come to regret.

Looking at Ellona and Dager, who had already looked at the thinking her, she spoke.

"I'm done with my digestion."

Her tone was clearly joyous and she was smiling like a little girl would, but her eyes were burning.

The two siblings kept quiet for a few seconds.

Ellone smiled coldly.

"I'll get the emotion-numbing anesthetics."

It was part of a plan they thought up in order to deal with the Folk of Rage named Hader.

A Sequence 8 from the Tyrant pathway needed to get mad in order to use Folks of Rage.

Putting a certain amount of anesthetic drugs into his drink was the best counter play.

The two siblings chose to take care of the Guillotine Hader by themself.

In response to that, Juny said that she would quickly subdue the Barbarian Leyah.

Then, she would immediately go after the gang's boss, Chasm, who was a Sequence 7 Pyromaniac.

When the two siblings finished, they would make their way to back Juny up, but they were not to take any risks.

Juny nodded and turned to Dager.

"Don't use Provocation, we don't want him to get angry, that would mess up the plan."

Dager opened his mouth to respond but he was cut off.

"You might be able to get away or maybe even win the fight, but Ellone will be there too, not to mention there might be innocents in the bar. Even though we made preparations something unexpected is always bound to happen to the overconfident."

"Suppress your bloodlust the best you can and act according to the plan. You can kill him as mercilessly as you want after you are sure he won't be able to get back up."

Juny's smile turned slightly cruel to the end but her voice stayed firm.

"If an accident happens, run."

Dager frowned at the last sentence, but he didn't argue.

He nodded before turning to walk away to get his weapon.

"Wait."

He paused.

"Yes?"

Juny thought for a second before speaking.

"My next Sequence is Weapon Smith, I can make long lasting enchantments. Give me your daggers and the throwing knifes."

Without giving him a chance to answer, she looked at Ellone who was watching them from the doorway.

"Give me your gloves and throwing bottles too."

"Also, please find some stones to throw."

Seeing Ellone show a dumbfounded expression, Juny explained herself.

"I'll gain an ability to create Cursed Enchantments, they activate upon contact."

"I'm also going to give you some papers with Blessing Enchantments that strengthen your body, use them if needed."

Ellone immediately nodded in enlightenment.

"Okay!"

She turned around and walked into the next room.

Juny turned back to Dager and added.

"I'll finish my advancement and then make all the Enchantments. I'll drink Ellone's spiritual-recovery medicine and we'll immediately begin."

"The longer we wait the more we risk that someone's spirituality will react."

Dager nodded and turned around.

He suddenly paused and half-turned his body.

"Will you be fine?"

Juny scoffed lightly.

"I'm not a child."

She wore a confident smile, an overconfident one.

Juny saw Dager frown, almost glaring at her.

She couldn't help but sigh.

"Don't worry, I'm making preparations just in case he's secretly advanced to Sequence 6 or in case there's someone protecting him. No matter what happens, I'll be able to flee with my life."

"I also won't take any impulsive decisions, so you do the same."

Hearing her, Dager's expression eased up.

He gave Juny a mocking smile as he turned away.

"You are a child."

Juny flinched, but couldn't find a way to retort him, so she just watched Dager walk away.

With a click of her tongue, she walked through the door to enter the Dimensional Space.

She has long prepared the ingredients for the advancement potion.

She sat before a familiar desk and looked down at a familiar journal.

Juny read it a few times by now, she now understood what miss Mari went through.

Miss Mari's mother was killed when she was very young. Not as young as Kalia, but not an adult either.

Her dad disappeared one day, and she was to take over the role of a ruined family's scribe.

Miss Mari often mocked the family , she also showed her contempt about the possibility of someone else ever getting to read her journal.

Miss Mari was clearly aware of the fact that they were being hunted.

That's why, although she became a Beyonder at 16, she never had the motivation to advance above the Sequence 7.

She especially lost all interest after her husband, Kalia's dad, was murdered and she was once again forced to flee.

Miss Mari spend the rest of her life raising her only daughter while living in hiding.

But in the end, she wasn't able to survive.

Juny found herself getting lost in her thoughts many times while reading this journal.

She realized just how tough miss Mari had it, yet Juny also realized that miss Mari never showed any signs of it to her daughter.

The miss always smiled and acted casual. As if there wasn't an unavoidable death approaching.

Juny sighed, pushing the Journal aside, she pulled all the ingredients onto the desk.

She moved with precision as she completed conducting the potion.

Just by looking at it, she felt a heavy feeling creeping up her spine.

A sense of both gloominess and holiness seemed to be emanating from it.

The substance kept changing. Indistinguishable symbols appeared above the surface and immediately slumped back into the potion.

She could hear a light tapping sound as the potion moved by itself inside the glass.

Juny took a deep breath and downed the bizarre liquid in one gulp.

Her face distorted, it was extremely bitter, while also being slightly sweet.

It was in no way a pleasant taste.

Juny felt her insides curling and her ears buzzed.

It was a very high-pitched buzzing.

The buzzing grew louder and louder while also getting more illusory.

Her body felt boiling hot before immediately turning ice cold.

Her temperatures began changing at an alarming rate.

With a deep frown, Juny moved her spirituality to cover her body. She forcefully pushed the surrounding spirituality into her body and started spinning it around in circles.

She spread it into every corner of her body and the second her inner-spirituality began to heat up or freeze she pushed it out of her body, allowing a clean spirituality from outside to replace it.

She didn't dare to use any Enchantments, scared of it causing an accident.

Just as she got the hang of the circulation, her skin began to throb and itch.

It felt like someone was carving incomprehensible words into her body with a needle.

She didn't dare to open her eyes, she kept her mind straight and flexed her muscles.

Juny kept her body completely tensed up. She didn't let whatever was trying to push into her body do so.

Her muscles turned hard as steel.

All throughout, she kept up the circulation of her and outside's spirituality.

Very soon, the buzzing ceased, being replaced by a strangely comforting silence.

Juny slowed down her circulation.

She noticed her temperature returning to its normal range.

She relaxed her body and immediately groaned.

She was not fully sure how long she stayed in that tense state, but her whole body was sore.

Seems like forcing outside's spirituality into one's body is not a very smart choice.

And neither is flexing all muscles at once and keeping them in that state for an extended period of time.

Heaving a sigh, she carefully processed her newfound abilities.

She already knew what powers she would get, but she still had to doublecheck.

'All my Space related powers are enchanted. I can also now lift things containing spirituality. My limit is 30 kg, which means I can technically lift myself up to fly... nice!'

'I got Curse Enchantments, that can be activated upon contact, and Blessings Enchantments, that can be activated with contact and using speech.

There are six in total: Burn Curse - If this curse touches my enemies' wound it starts to burn their blood and spread into their bodies. Blood must be present though, otherwise it's useless.

Ice Curse - My enemies will begin to freeze from where the Curse hit. This is the most useful one I think.

Blindness Curse - They'll literally go blind, or at least partially blind.

Blessing of Power - The user's strength and agility will be stronger, this includes Beyonder powers.

Blessing of Courage - Anything evil that affects the user's mind will be dispelled.

Blessing of Exorcism - This is mainly for undead and spirit creatures. It's technically the most useful amongst the Blessings.'

'Rune Carving: I can Carve the Runic Language into a weapon/item to make an Enchantment long-lasting. The limit is few months, it needs to be replenished afterwards. I can also Carve into my body.. I'm not too interested in tattoos though... I think I'll pass.'

'I become a literal weapon nerd. Not only could I use them skillfully with just a touch, I can now make them after only having a look at them. Ugh, this is an insult to all those Blacksmiths in those books who had to train for years in order to learn what I just learned. And for me it's only an additional skill... Anyway, I can also tell at a glance if someone's carrying a hidden weapon. That's kinda useful.'

'Appraisal: boosted Material Vision. After activating Appraisal, I can immediately learn the item's characteristics. This applies to people and Mystical Items. I can scan and learn a person's exact looks. I can also learn the positive and negative effects of an item. That's very cool!

I'll make the key to activation and deactivation tapping my pinky with my thumb, either hand counts.'

'Last is Dimension Reconstruction: I can finally fully enter my Pocket Dimension. I can also create a long lasting furniture and items inside without having to constantly sustain it using spirituality. I can't make anything that contains spirituality, and I also can't bring anything I make out. Creating something takes away my spirituality, but I only need to replenish the spirituality once every 3 months. Noone other than me can enter, but I can't stay in there longer than 48 hours and I can only exit using the same place I entered from.'

Nodding to herself, Juny stood up and got some spirituality-containing fluids from the storage.

Although she could use her blood, that would constantly drain her spirituality and she was planning on fighting a Beyonder afterwards.

Her body was also still in the process of recovering as a result of the recent advancement.

She placed the glass bottle on the desk and, using scissors, she cut the nearby paper into small squares to make enchantments on.

'I wonder how a Weapons Smith should act?'

With that thought, she left the Dimensional Space.

Ellone and Dager were already standing there with their weapons and the rocks.

Juny gave them a smile before lifting the items with Space Manipulation and turning back around.

"Um.. Juny?"

Coming to a stop, she turned back around at Ellone's call.

"Yes?"

Ellone gave her a deep look before suggesting.

"I think the Ice Curse you spoke about earlier is the most useful this time.."

Juny tilted her head slightly to the side before answering.

"I know? I plan to make that a majority of the Enchantments."

Juny watched Ellone breathe out a sigh of relief before smiling.

"I should have guessed you knew. Okay then, good luck!"

Juny shook her head slightly.

"Thanks"

Returning back to her desk, she placed the objects onto it and sat down.

In total, Ellone brought 6 rocks and 3 throwing bottles with nothing inside for now.

She also had thin leather gloves with metal plates in place of rings. It wasn't on the nose and it was also aesthetically pleasing, but it made all of her punches hurt a lot more.

Dager liked using two slightly longer daggers, it might be because it suited his name, or simply because they were easy to hide.

Not too long ago, Juny made him 7 throwing knifes.

It might be because of this that she felt that the potion has already merged with her slightly.

The knifes were not longer than a person's palm, but Dager loved them.

Juny opened the bottle with spirituality and Solidified a brush.

Unlike the name suggests. There is no actual need for carving in the true sense of the word.

Rune Carving is, in theory, just a better and longer lasting Enchantment.

This means that it also takes longer to make, and thus is not very efficient in urgent situations like Enchantment.

Juny dipped the brush into the fluid with high spirituality and began drawing a precisely sized lines and curves.

Soon, a familiar symbol of: 'Strengthen' in Runic language appeared on one of the daggers, but this symbol was somehow much more complex and deeper than an ordinary Enchantment.

Juny reached out and touched the tip of the blade.

She merged a small amount of spirituality with the 'ink' that made the Rune.

The minimal amount of spirituality she infused was immediately boosted by the 'ink' as the symbol shined in deep blue color.

Slowly, the deep blue illumination faded and began shining in light blue.

Juny then stopped the infusion and looked at the Carving.

There was a slight, only the smallest, dent inside the blade where the Rune was Carved.

Juny nodded in satisfaction and added the Find Rune onto it.

Then, she repeated this with the second dagger and 3 out of 7 throwing knifes.

She added the Ice Curse instead of Strengthen on the other four.

Juny Enchanted four stones with the Ice Curse and the other two with the Blindness Curse.

She was afraid that if Hader's blood started to burn, he might awaken from the anesthetics.

She Carved onto the throwing bottles the Runes that stood for Harm and Ailment.

Two bottles with Ailment and one with Harm.

When she finished with the weapons, she got an idea and took out the two daggers.

She then Carved the Harm Runes onto their blades.

After advancing, Juny gained the ability to stack the Enchantments when Rune Carving.

Although doing so would shorten the Rune's longevity.

Finished, she took out the cut papers that lay next to her and began Enchanting them with Strengthen, Recovery, Blessing of Courage and Blessing of Exorcism.

It was just in case of an extreme problems.

Juny was then finished with the sibling's items and began her own preparations.

After spending almost two hours Carving and Enchanting, she finally came out.

Juny saw Ellone sitting by the table, examining her potions.

Dager was meticulously cleaning his leather boots. It was quite the rare sight, but not completely unheard of.

Upon seeing Juny enter, he stopped and wore his shoes before getting up and walking over.

Juny gave them their stuff and began explaining what each symbol represented.

Seeing the two siblings not ask any questions, Juny looked at Ellone.

"Are you ready?"

Ellone handed her a glass bottle filled with dreamy yellow liquid and nodded.

"Yes, I'll go and change my clothes right now."

Juny acknowledged her with a hum before turning to Dager.

Seeing her look over, Dager stopped inspecting the throwing knifes.

"I'm won't take any risks."

Juny couldn't help but smile at his straightforwardness.

She opened the lid and drunk the yellowish fluid inside.

Feeling her spirituality starting to quickly recover, Juny took another look at the siblings.

"When you're ready, do it at your own pace."

"I'll also leave right away. Good luck, you two."

The two teenagers had serious expressions as they nodded.

"Good luck, Juny."

Their voices blended together and their eyes were boiling with anticipation.

Juny didn't respond.

She turned around and began walking.

Her destination was an illegal casino in the eastern side of the city.

The name? Bloody Casino.

For the first time since she possessed Kalia's dead body, Juny felt that a name in this world wasn't too bad.

Especially when it was about to truly become a bloody casino.

...

Dager watched Juny walk away, her coat slightly fluttered behind her.

He sighed before using a string to tie his hair together to the back of his head.

He then began putting his daggers and throwing knifes onto his belt and inside his coat.

He tightened them and carefully covered them with his clothes.

He looked to the side. His sister, Ellone, has already entered the next room to change.

There were two things they learned about Hader.

One, he came to the Tipsy Rick's bar a few blocks to the west almost everyday.

Two, he's absolutely obsessed with drinking and women.

With this knowledge in mind, the sibling duo came up with a Juny-approved plan.

It was completely cliche, but that also meant that it was probably effective.

After a few minutes, Ellone walked out.

She wore a loose shirt with the top three buttons unbuttoned.

She clearly didn't wear anything underneath the white shirt.

She had two elegant gloves decorated with thin metal slates.

ElloneHader ignored the commotion and turned back to the lady.

Her smile hadn't disappear but she was still looking at the two men's argument.

She was still leisurely sipping her beer.

He turned to his own glass and took a gulp.

He saw that his and the lady's glass had strangely similar amount beer inside, but he didn't question it.

He drank the beer that tasted the same as before and wiped the foam off his mouth with the back of his hand.

He felt very calm and relaxed.

As he chatted with the lady and sipped his beer, his head kept getting clearer.

He felt good but also slightly numb.

His emotions seemed slightly too calm, but his head was clear, so he didn't think anything about it.

Hader talked to the mature lady, she stopped sipping her beer at some point, but he didn't think much of it.

And when he finished his glass the girl rummaged through her bag and stood up.

"Then, shall we get on with it?"

As he heard that, Hader stood up and saw the lady take out a strange and folded paper.

"What's that for?"

He couldn't help but ask.

The lady's mouth twitched and she spoke.

"For the fun, of course."

Her voice was steady, there was nothing strange about it.

"What do you mean?"

Hader asked again, curious. Was it a kind of kink she had?

The woman's rosy cheeks trembled, her deep eyes ran across the men inside the pub.

Some were looking at her, some acted as if she didn't exist, but they all didn't seem to have the smallest intention of getting up.

The lady's blood-red lips parted, revealing a cruel smile.

"It's time for my entertainment, but we can only take one man at a time."

Hader's whole body shook, a shiver creeping up his spine.

Maybe it was because his head was completely clear or that his emotions were strangely calm, but he finally saw the woman's emotion-filled eyes.

It was hatred, her eyes were filled with pure rage.

His heart sank. Everyone in the bar was watching them now, but noone got up.

Only the two muscular men that were accompanying Hader seemed ready to do something.

Hader wanted to say something but he froze before changing his words.

"We?"

The lady revealed her teeth and the paper in her hand shone with red light.

Hader immediately got a bad premonition.

A young man, the one who angered the bulky man earlier was steadily walking towards him.

His expression was calm, nothing like the sneering face from before.

The young man's hand slid underneath his coat, and immediately, Hader's body moved.

He reached for his gun as he tried to boil his emotions.

Only... he couldn't.

His emotions were strangely calm.

He was just deceived and attacked but he was calm, his head was also clear, devoid of any intoxication.

His eyes immediately moved to the lady, she has already distanced herself several meters.

Thinking quickly, Hader's body began to turn slippery like a fish, his skin was immediately covered with damp oil and transparent scales.

His hand grabbed the gun by his belt.

He saw the young man leap forward with a dagger and throw a knife in the process.

Hader moved his legs and was about to pull his gun out when something very dull hit his forearm and leg.

Not daring to look away from the approaching men, his arm moved-

Only... it didn't.

It seemed to have been frozen in place.

Same with one of his legs.

He wavered and, unable to dodge in time, the throwing knife hit his right chest.

The knife was short and only managed to pierce the top layer of his skin, almost no blood was coming out, but it hurt.

Hader's face contorted as the wound on his right chest was strangely much more severe than it should've been.

The bleeding was also much stronger and showed no sign of stopping.

He kicked his leg to remove the ice, that spread using the dampness of his body.

Noticing the man arriving before him, Hader stretched his arm forward.

He caught the dagger's blade with his palm.

Hader was not afraid that his hand would be cut-

...Only that it was cut.

The blade was much sharper and tougher than it should be.

Layer of frost spread from the cut as the young man pulled another dagger from inside his coat.

Distressed but calm, Hader lifted his left leg and kicked at the young man's side.

His kick hit, but the man didn't fly into the wall as Hader thought he would, the young man only staggered slightly before rushing back at him.

Surprisingly, Hader once again saw his left leg, that made contact with the man's coat, starting to freeze.

Unfortunately though, even though that should anger him, he was calm.

Hader wished to get angry but he was emotionless.

His hand holding the gun unfroze.

As he moved it up, the man threw another two knifes and rolled forward.

Hader also tried to step away, but another dull object hit his leg, leaving him stiff.

Unable to dodge in time, the two knifes hit his hand that held the revolver and his thigh.

Hader immediately groaned at the pain in his leg and he saw his forearm start to freeze up.

There was only a slight scratch on his hand, but the frost spread quickly, making his every move slow.

His head turned to the side.

He saw a beautiful lady standing in front of two muscular men with a throwing bottle in hand.

The two muscular man were constantly coughing and sneezing while trying to hit the strangely agile woman.

Hader could see the bouncers standing by the door and he could see that the bar was full with people, but noone moved.

Only then did he notice that the area where they were currently fighting in was strangely empty.

All the customers were minding their businesses but they were all sitting far away from the bar counter where Hader was.

Even the man who was previously yelling at the young man was watching the fight with a smile.

Hader also realized that at some point the bartender, together with all the expensive liquor, has disappeared.

Hader's head turned back to the young man. He knew he was baited, he knew that he has fallen into a trap, but he wasn't angry.

He was numb and he forced his hurt and slow legs to move.

If he couldn't win, he should run.

He jumped back.

He ignored the frost as he watched the young man reach into his coat.

Hader was prepared for a throwing knife.

But, what the young man pulled out wasn't a knife.

A quiet click sounded as the young man pointed a gun barrel at Hader.

The young man smiled.

He smiled in a mocking manner.

He smiled in a way that angered Hader.

Angered...

Hader could finally feel rage, but it was too late.

A loud bang resonated through his ears.

Unable to move in midair, the bullet hit Hader's forehead.

But Hader wasn't dead.

His head throbbed and his vision went dark.

But Hader wasn't dead yet.

His body slammed into the ground.

But Hader wasn't dead.

Just as his vision cleared up he saw the young man again.

The young man held a dagger.

The young man held a dagger in front of Hader's left chest.

Hader couldn't react.

Hader was angry but his body was cold.

Hader watched the young man thrust the dagger through his left chest.

It was something that shouldn't be possible.

That dagger shouldn't be able to pierce his Phantom Scales so easily.

But it did.

Hader's chest froze and his body was overtaken by pain.

Slowly, Hader's eyes glazed.

The last thing he saw was a young man with rage-filled eyes similar to the mature lady.

The young man had a sneer on his face, a mocking sneer.

Hader wished to punch the sneering face, but his body has long gone cold and his vision has long turned dark.

Hader was dead.

His limp body was frozen stiff.