Chapter Fifty-Four

Eighteen returned. Six pending.

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1 Len Bristwhite

2 Rosaline Highsmythe

3 Harmony White

4 Owlsley Wurrick

5 Felix Campbell

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A live ranking of how people fared. No explanations. Would Rose finally be satisfied now that she was beating her in something? There was an argument that this wasn't a competition, except that it was. which would be fine if it were all fun and games, but there were days this didn't feel very fun.

"You bumped me down to six," Tyler grumbled, half-jokingly.

It was an attempt at levity after the final round returned them here. News of Ming, Hecoon, and Austin's deaths, as well as the two eliminations, was an unsettling shift for those who'd remained at the camp. The other competitors weren't stupid. They knew she'd selected many of them to get eliminated. Eric returned hours ago despite his current ranking of fifteen. He spent that time loudly implying she was responsible for Felix cutting the three down. "I was hoping for another chance at Heir Rosaline. "

"I'd heard people changed drastically after evolution. But, yeah. It might be time to stop being her friend."

Harmony couldn't bring herself to defend the princess. Did being her pet's sister make them family? Primal bond in-law? She'd written off most of Adric's disappointing family, but hadn't added the girl yet. Standing strong alone was a nice sentiment, but it came with a depressing reality. No one wanted to feel rejected and abandoned by their family.

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Five Pending. Eighteen returned.

The change was ominous in the implication that another competitor had died. A reminder of those they've already lost or were eliminated.

"Who should I get to manage the contribution system now that Gareth is gone?" Harmony asked.

The translucent, fiery blue form of Jessica slid out of Tyler's body. "I will. While my assistant curator profession is ideal for managing physical collections, I should be able to take up the task of curating work options for the tribe."

"At last it's not me." Harmony sighed with relief. Ruling and managing were clearly two different skillsets.

A door snapped into existence. Milo Viner stumbled out. Helped by a man made of stars glowing on swirling purple skin. Harmony readied [High Kick] at the newcomer until Pappi's features twisted on the physical face of the man. The normally floating amorphous spirit now had a body.

Four Pending. Nineteen returned.

Milo Viner's name ended up a respectable twelfth on the list. He was the last of the red tribe to arrive. They were complete, as complete as they could be with only five of the ten who left returned.

"A little help here!" Pappi called, his voice holding a distant feel, like he was yelling from the end of a tunnel.

Harmony stepped up. Milo looked pale, translucent even in that she could see right through him to a small degree. "What's wrong?"

"He's sharing too much of his physical connection with me. Picking his bond with me was a mistake. But you're the perfect one to resolve this, Lady White. I'll make a healer out of you next. I want you to use [Renew Spirit] to shove me back into him."

Switching to soul sight, Pappi now had a loose container holding his spirit in. Between him and Milo, a tube, or tunnel, connected his new body to Milo's. Neither word really described what was happening, but right now the flow was going from one direction, away from Milo and into Pappi, and if that energy was like fresh air, Milo was gasping for breath.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

An unobserved approach might be to shove energy through the tube. The thing is, Harmony had seen Pappi's natural state. A spirit without a container, and now he had an artificial one. Not living nor properly dead, like the clay of Milo was stretched out to form the more solid shape he had now.

"I'm going to need to cut a gate for you to exit out of as I try this, Pappi."

The old astral spirit nodded.

Taking her sickle, Harmony focused [Manipulate Dead] along the edge of the blade. The weapon she managed to bring back with her took to the magic like it was her body. It was her blood locked into the blade that made it nearly the perfect medium for the magic. Attuned to her in a way that had [Stride Before the Fall] fooled.

Milo screamed and contorted as the spirit was cut.

Pappi forced his way out of the hole. [Manipulate Dead] was needed to filter him from the energy and container he'd been housed in as he exited. After the last recognizable skill of the old spirit exited the hole, it was hard to get a handle on whether he still had any bits of himself left behind. "You good?" She asked the now floating apparition.

"Give me a moment."

Milo continued to thrash and flail. He was losing some of his vitality in this.

"Now!" Papi ordered.

[Mend] sealed up the hole, and a faint, empty outline shimmered under her soul sight.

The container started to die as it was choked of the energy and spirit that helped maintain it, and because of that connection to Milo spasmed as he approached death. Death before life. It made it easier to shove the container back into him and use [Mend] and [Renew Spirit] to set him right.

Billy's [Preserve Meat] slapped on top of that. Horatio oozed his sluggy healing slime into him while sitting on his head.

When had they gotten there? [Recall] told her that the singleminded focus of melding the container solid had been about an hour of work, and the pair had been here for half of it, fetched by Loap. The preservation spell halted further decay, and the ooze seeped into wounded cells, revitalizing them and allowing the cells to multiply to replace dead ones quicker. Harmony stitched the last of the errant container, energy, and all into place. It still felt slightly off, poisoned by the astral energy, but the bond inside Milo got to work processing it back to Pappi.

Her job was done; Billy and Horatio could finish stabilizing him.

Dying, now brought back to life, her class swelled with pride at being the revivalist here. It didn't fully feel like this was a healing class, but one important aspect of the role it fulfilled.

"Why couldn't you return it?" Harmony asked Pappi

The ancestral spirit of the old man looked drained and worried. "He invested too much, and I couldn't. He gave too much to be able to pull it back. It was hard enough to roll that damn ball off the table with the strength I had; he was so worried about time, he gave me an extra oomph, and that tipped the scales."

Was it all balls on tables?

"Is there something special about astral energy? I saw Rosaline's flicker in her head and wanted to ask you about that."

"You don't know?"

"Know what? Harmony asked.

"I did plenty of research before adopting this form as a family spirit. Every bond and connection is a part of the body and soul. That makes them the domain of healers and necromancers. Healers operate more strongly with the flesh, while necromancers operate with the spirit. All of the external aspects of the bonds in this competition are closer to the spiritual side, pair bonds, primal bonds, summon bonds, fate bonds, theocratic bonds, astral bonds, polyamorous bonds, quantum bonds, Jamesian bonds, and protoplasmic bonds are all aspects of a greater necromantic world which is why we assumed this dungeon spirit focused on them in the Ascendant Games. Astral is more other-planar. While I was dying of the starbeast plague, I was able to astral project and use some questionable blood magic to enter this state."

What? Why? How? So many questions to shove aside. "About the princess?"

"I noticed and don't expect me to go near that. The chain is connected to one of the unfathomables. I did my research. You stay away from the greater astral powers when able to. They aren't evil, but unfathomable is an appropriate name. If I had to choose a bond, that wouldn't have been what I selected."

"So…?"

Pappi flared with Astral energy. "I will not say more, Lady White. You are a blossoming healer, and I appreciate saving my great great grandson, but some topics are forbidden among most of the kingdoms. I have a descendant to comfort."

Always more questions than answers.

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One pending. Twenty-two returned.

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Almost over now.

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Bronwynn Masters, Pugsley Adams, and Clive Standish have been eliminated from the Ascendant Games.

The top ten contestants may touch the obelisk to claim their prize.

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Hyacinth became a bridge for those who wished to touch the obelisk as it rose out of the lake. Harmony walked over his armored back and placed her hand on the structure. Stabbing pain started at the connection and worked its way down her arm. She tried to remove her hand but couldn't. It was like a ripple, leaving numbness as it passed. As it crossed past her elbow, ready to proceed into her body, she contemplated using [Eternal Fable's Heart] to numb the pain, except it didn't feel physical, so how would she properly target it? Unable to decide in time, the torment took over and didn't end until she was able to think again.

Hidden potential. If you are eliminated, you will be evaluated for one of the five titles at the end of the games.

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