YM778.TV Chapter 56: Shadow Dash
"-Well, of course,-" Nyx said and let out a whine that sounded like a chuckle, "-Do you have any other explanation for why you\'re hearing a voice in your head?-"
Henry shrugged,
"I mean, I could be going mad."
"-Could be,-" Nyx said, "-But you\'re not.-"
"So you\'ve only just started to talk?" Henry said. Still in a whisper to keep it out of the ears of the others. Triss had walked away now and was searching for the dead with the rest of the gang.
"-Only just.-" Nyx said.
"And you\'re so good at it already?" Henry asked.
He would have assumed, logically, that a horse that could suddenly speak would find it difficult at first. Like a child, maybe.
"-Well, I don\'t know. Been hearing people talking around me since I was taken from the wild and if that doesn\'t explain it, you can just assume I learned from you. Just now.
It\'s what I think, at least.-"
"Hmm," Henry said. It did make sense. As much sense as the fact that he could see screens no one else could and increasing numbers on those screens made him stronger and faster and overall better.
"-You still haven\'t answered,-" Nyx said and this time, she sounded a bit frustrated while shaking her mane more aggressively, "-What. Do. You. Think?-"
"Oh," Henry said and he got a good look at her.
There was certainly a change even if it might be subtle to those who had never paid too much attention to her.
Her black coat was shinier and whenever she shook her mane and swished her tail, they didn\'t flutter like horse hairs. Or more accurately, they didn\'t only flutter like Horse hairs but there was a trail that followed every movement. A shadowy mist.
"You look great," Henry said to complete his assessment.
"-Hmph!-" Nyx let out in satisfaction, "-Of course, I do. Is there any horse more glorious than I?-"
\'\'Than I?\'\' Henry thought and secretly shook his head as he chuckled to himself,
\'Nah, I don\'t think you learned that from me.\'
"None," was what he said to answer Nyx\'s question.
"-Of course, there isn\'t.-" Nyx said and pranced around a bit.
(Author\'s Note: This (-) symbol in front and at the end of a statement is meant to denote it as telepathic. Not actually vocal.)
Henry was smiling as he watched Nyx prance about when he received alerts from the system followed by a couple of notifications;
[You successfully completed Nyx\'s Evolution]
[You have received 200 Exp]
[You have successfully Tamed a Magical Beast]
[Skill Level Up]
[Taming is now Lv.2]
[Taming Lv.2:
-You have a 40% chance of making a Non-Magical Beast bend to your will. The more understanding you have of the Beast, the better your chances of success.
-You have a 10% chance of making a Magical Beast bend to your will. The more understanding you have of the Beast, the better your chances of success.
Note: The Taming Skill will only level up the more creatures with increasing complexities (strength, intelligence, and Magic), you are able to make bend to your will.]
Henry read the descriptions with furrowed brows. This was the first time he had ever seen a description of the Taming skill. This was partly because the first time he gained the skill, the System hadn\'t automatically rolled out a description and he hadn\'t bothered to check.
Taming had just not been a skill he had cared enough to pay attention to. Had the system not registered Nyx\'s evolution as a Taming accomplishment, he was sure he would have just let the skill fade away.
\'If the chances for Non-magical and Magical are 40% and 10% now that the skill has leveled up, then they must have been worse at Lv.1.
I assume I was able to successfully Tame Nyx because I understand horses well enough from my past life."
"Gold!"
The cry pulled Henry out of his thoughts and his eyes away from the description screen. He looked over in the direction of the sound and found Triss, on her knees beside the body of the Vyker whose head she had put a bullet in.
Triss was holding a leather pouch and out of it, she took out 2 gold coins with more jingling inside the pouch.
Henry was not the only one paying attention. Charles moved closer to Triss when the shine caught his eye. He gently took the pouch out of her hand and smiled widely when he grabbed and pulled out Gold coins.
"Shit— It IS Gold!"
At that proclamation, Dana\'s eyes found Henry now standing about six feet away from the headless Vyker. She hurried over and Henry looked away from her toward Nyx who had pranced close for him to pat her neck.
Careful not to touch the acidic goop that had splashed on the Vyker\'s body and was still sizzling out of his stump of a neck and all around where his head should have been, Dana searched for any loot she could find.
She found none.
"You took it, didn\'t you?" She asked when she stood back to her feet.
"No, I didn\'t," Henry said calmly before he looked at her with an innocent look on his face, "You\'re welcome to search me if you want."
Dana paused and Henry was sure she would just turn and walk away but she stepped toward him and started running her hands all over his body.
Henry\'s eyes widened in surprise and then he shook his head with a small smile.
\'Well, I DID invite her to search. Didn\'t think she actually would, though.\'
Dana had a serious look on her face and her hands went into nooks and crannies she thought Henry could have hidden the looted gold. She was quite gentle (for her, at least) and only prodded his wounds about four times throughout.
She got very close to Henry during her search, going as far as to press her body against his during a rigorous turning out of his back pant pockets.
And then, when her jaw was on Henry\'s shoulder, as though that helped search him better, Dana paused and Henry could have sworn he heard an intake of breath.
Even if he had imagined the intake of breath, Henry was sure he hadn\'t imagined her body trembling against him.
Dana pulled her hands out of his pockets and leaped back two steps while glaring at him but it wasn\'t anger in her eyes. It was frustration and something else Henry was not quite sure…
Attraction? No, that couldn\'t be it… Right?
"Ah, forget it," Dana eventually said and walked away.
"Strange," Henry mumbled.
"-I don\'t like her.-" Nyx said as she nudged Henry with her head.
"Understandable," Henry said with a chuckle.
Of course, he had looted the Shadow Vyker and he had done it while Dana was searching the body. He got 150 Gold coins, 1000 Verlans, and 50 Quids from his quick swipe.
He would have looted the body earlier and looted every dead body in the courtyard already had he not been so focused on Nyx\'s evolution and her subsequent ability to talk in his head.
Speaking of Nyx, Henry called up her Status screen to observe its changes;
—————
[Name: Nyx]
[Creature: Shadow Mare]
[Breed: Valaeren Night-Mare]
[Level 1 (0/500 Exp)]*
[Hit Points: 50/50]
[Mana: 60]
[Strength: 35]
[Speed: 60]
[Stamina: 30]
[Skills: {Shadow Dash Lv.1}]*
[Shadow Dash Lv.1:
At the cost of Mana, Nyx can coat herself with shadows that lighten her gait and increase her running speed by 30%.
This skill will level up the more it is used.]
—————
Henry understood the asterisk at the corner of the Exp count was meant to describe how Nyx would receive 50% of all Exp he gained from Main and Sub-Quests. The [Skill] tab, however, was new, and so also was its asterisk so he clicked on that and opened a description window;
*[Synchronized with the System, Skills have been built into Nyx\'s Evolution path and she will gain more as she Levels Up.
Note: She might have a choice in her future Skill picks and she might not.]
"-Hmm, interesting.-" Nyx said with her head pointed in the direction of the system screens.
"You can see this?" Henry asked. Making sure to still keep his voice in a whisper.
"-You mean the strange thing in front of you with all the markings?-"
"The markings are words and numbers," Henry said.
"-I know,-" Nyx said with a chuckle, "-I can see it. And I can read it.-"
"Then, how about testing out the <Shadow Dash> skill?"
"-Alright.-" Nyx said.
Henry was about to start wondering how he would go about activating the skill when he realized there was no need.
Dark mist coated Nyx\'s form and she leaped forward into a gallop to vanish from Henry\'s side and pass the damaged gate before he could think to blink in surprise.