Unbound Soul Chapter 129: Adaptation (Patreon)

"Why?" she asked, eventually.

"When I came in just now, you immediately noticed, even though you weren't looking at me. Could you explain how?"

"I heard you. I didn't know it was you though, just that someone had walked in, so I had to look to see who it was. But what has that got to do with anything?"

"Then why didn't you hear the goblin behind you yesterday? He wasn't any quieter than I was, and was a lot closer."

Cluma's ears flinched sideways in embarrassment. "I was too focused on the goblin in front of me..."

"But if the second goblin had come at you from the front, you'd have noticed him, right?"

"Of course!"

"Why?"

"Because I could see him?" replied Cluma, pitching her answer to sound like another question. It was too obvious, so she was expecting a trap. There wasn't one though; it was exactly right.

"Precisely. But what other senses do you have? You have excellent hearing and scent detection, as well as [Monster Perception] and [Threat Perception], all of which should have picked up the goblin. Instead, you were relying completely on your sight, the one sense you have that can't see behind you. You need to learn to stay alert to all threats, from any direction, so for today, you're training without using sight at all."

I noted her tail twitch when I mentioned scent... There was definitely still something going on there. Well, whatever. She'd tell me when she was ready, and it wasn't as if it would help in combat situations in this dungeon.

"But [Monster Perception] isn't good enough to aim at vital points, and the range is awful. [Threat Perception] doesn't kick in until they've started an attack. I can hear when a monster is around, and the general direction, but it's nowhere near enough to attack with. And you still haven't explained why I'm not allowed to use [Stealth]."

Yup, she completely neglected to mention scent there.

"Each sense has its own strengths and weaknesses. For sight, its strength is acuity, and weakness is the limited field of view. You need to use them all in combination to cover the weaknesses of each. Believe me, I know how hard it is to integrate a new sensory skill to the point that you use it instinctually, and I made a good few mistakes learning how to 'see' using mana control and perception skills to scan my surroundings. But I got there in the end, and now I can accurately parry attacks from outside of my field of vision. Without sight, you may well struggle to stab a goblin's heart for now, but as [Monster Perception] levels, its range and acuity will improve. It's not just a matter of levels either; as you get used to it, you'll find you can do more with the acuity it gives you."

"And [Stealth]?" Cluma pointedly repeated.

"Because if you use that, there won't be any attacks from outside your field of vision to dodge. We aren't going deep enough for more goblin heroes today."

Cluma went silent for a moment, before muttering, "meanie," at me and grabbing the cloth from my hands. "Talking about the goblins is all well and good, but you know I don't have any skills that can see the environment, right? How am I supposed to avoid walking into walls?"

"[Threat Perception]," I answered. "After all, walking into a wall might scuff your armour."

Back when Cluma had maxed out [Stealth] by abusing her own personal understanding of a meaningful skill use, I'd wondered if the way the System relied on our own personal perception could be abused. I couldn't come up with anything at the time, but now that Cluma was abusing [Threat Perception] too, a thought did come to mind. I may not be able to boost my own skill gain, but if I was sufficiently cruel, I could boost hers.

"Also, if you mess up today, I'm not going to come to your rescue. I'm here for advice only."

It was an outright lie; no way would I permit her to be hurt. But during my own training, I'd lamented that fighting with a team at my back, ready to protect me if I screwed up, was harming my skill gains. If Cluma thought I wasn't going to protect her, then could she undo that penalty? Of course, the effect would be broken the moment I did need to step in for the first time, and if she started to resent me over my supposedly harsh treatment, I'd certainly cave, but it was worth a try.

She didn't complain, but gripped the cloth for a few seconds, tightly enough for her knuckles to turn white, before sighing and removing her helmet. She nimbly tied on the blindfold before wearing the helmet over the top. "You're just jealous of my [Stealth] and want me not to be able to see you either," she said, so I quietly stepped up behind her and went for a surprise hug of my own.

She ducked.

"Damn, am I really that noisy?" I said.

"Yup. Sure you don't want to borrow my dress?"

"I don't think it would fit. Anyway, I'm done being mean to you now, so let's get going."

"Sure it would; that's what the comfort enchantment is for," she replied, walking uncertainly behind me, but getting more sure of herself with each step she took. "You aren't that much bigger than me."

"Will you please stop trying to convince me to cross-dress?"

"Will you drop the ban on [Stealth]?"

Despite myself, I couldn't help giggling. She was a good student, willing to listen to my reasoning and going along with my crazy training methods, but that didn't stop her from being cheeky when she wanted. "Fine then. I'll make a promise that if you clear the dungeon before spring and earn the [Novice Delver] title, I'll wear whatever you want."

The small amount of face visible through her helmet and blindfold set in determination. "I'm going to hold you to that. I am totally going to get my revenge for today. Your suffering shall be immeasurable and your regret immense."

...I may have made a terrible mistake. She couldn't really clear it that fast, could she? There was less than half of winter left. Then again, I did feel bad about the deception so it wouldn't hurt to let her have some payback. Within reason. "For no more than an hour. In private."

"No way! You can't add extra conditions after I agreed!"

"[Danger Sense] warned me my dignity was in danger."

"That's not a thing!"

By this point, we'd reached the dungeon, where the guard looked at the blindfolded Cluma and sighed. "I assume you're Cluma? Slightly more visible today, I see. In you go, but please don't let Peter corrupt you too badly."

"See, he thinks you're being mean too!"

"I'm not denying being mean. I can coddle you if you prefer, but you're the one that wanted to get stronger. And clear the whole dungeon in a few weeks."

She pouted and followed me towards the downward staircase, where she missed the first step and tumbled forward. I moved to catch her, but couldn't get enough purchase on the stairs to avoid being knocked a step back. Of course, the floor wasn't there, given that we were on the stairs, so the net result was that both of us fell.

Cluma stuck out an arm, pushing against a step and forcing herself into the air, where she spun herself back upright, landing on her feet at the bottom of the staircase. It wasn't the most graceful landing, given that she couldn't see when she was about to impact the floor, but it was a landing nonetheless.

I just tumbled all the way down, ending up in a crumpled heap at the bottom. I lost a few points of health, but my large health pool and armour prevented any broken bones. "I think you've had your revenge already," I groaned from the floor.

"That was your own fault! You need to tell me if we're about to hit some stairs!" responded Cluma.

"Fair enough. I keep forgetting that when I did this, [Mana Perception] let me see the environment too."

Maybe I didn't think this through sufficiently. I still had no doubt Cluma would be able to deal with actual monsters, but getting to the monsters was another matter.

"Try echolocation," I suggested. "Make a clicking noise and listen for the echoes."

"Seriously?" she asked incredulously. She tried a few clicks anyway, walking up to a wall with her arms outstretched, ears twitching as she listened for a difference. "Wow, I can actually tell when I'm getting close to a wall. But I'm not convinced about the floor. There's pitfalls in here, you know."

Yeah, she was right; this was a silly idea. A pitfall should be picked up by [Trap Perception], but there would be more stairs on every floor, and she couldn't see the walls from a distance even if she could avoid crashing into one. I'd need to guide her to every group. "Okay, for safety's sake, forget the blindfold. You'll just have to close your eyes during combat instead."

"Finally; that's a far more sensible suggestion. And it goes to show how utterly ridiculous blindfolding myself in a dungeon is when I call closing my eyes in the middle of combat sensible by comparison."

Point taken. I can't just reuse my old methods as is. They'll need adjusting. Keeping eyes closed wasn't a great option, because resisting the impulse to open them was hard when you needed to see what you're doing, but I was here spying on her and would notice if she didn't stick to it. When I was doing this, I had no-one to keep me honest.

A significantly less blindfolded Cluma walked in front of me as we made our way through the first floor to the boss chamber. This time, without her [Stealth], the three boss goblins moved to attack the moment she crossed the line. Her ears twitched with the first step they took, and despite her closed eyes, she stopped to wait for them. As soon as they entered [Monster Perception] range, she ran forward again, diving between two of them with blades held outstretched and slicing through their torsos with no apparent resistance.

The leader and one of his flunkies went down, the wounds being immediately fatal with their low level and health. The surviving flunky attacked from behind, but she effortlessly dodged and swung a dagger at his neck. She misjudged the distance, though, and despite his poor speed, the goblin evaded the shallow attack. Cluma jumped backwards to dodge another punch, then made another attempt, this time thrusting, and successfully pierced the goblin through the torso. It was another fatal wound, and the last goblin fell.

"Huh. I really did level [Monster Perception] from that," commented a surprised Cluma. "Even though it's only the first floor."

"And may there be many more where that came from, but as I said earlier, it's not just levels. It's getting use to paying attention to all of your senses and breaking the habit of focusing on sight."

We made our way to the second floor boss room for the second fight of the day, where Cluma looked at the pair of goblin scout archers doubtfully.

"You dodged the dart traps easily enough, and they're faster and smaller than these weak archers," I pointed out in reassurance.

Cluma nodded and closed her eyes again before stepping into the ring. The single melee goblin fighter charged at her while the pair of scouts drew arrows. One fired before the fighter got within [Monster Perception] range, and Cluma turned her head to face in its direction, apparently hearing the bow twang. That meant that the arrow, which previously would have impacted harmlessly on her helmet, was now heading straight for an eye.

I swung my sword-staff, intending to activate [Far Reach] and parry the arrow from the air, but Cluma was faster, twisting out of the way. The arrow flew past her just as [Monster Perception] picked up the fighter. She moved towards him, strafing slightly as the second scout fired, causing the arrow to miss entirely, then made a swing at his neck.

The goblin made an attempt to parry. It went poorly, with Cluma's dagger barely slowing as it sliced through his iron short sword. It did mean that Cluma's attack went slightly off target, but since the dagger cleaved his skull as easily as it would have his neck, it made no difference.

Her ears twitched, and she ran towards one of the scouts. Presumably the noise of him drawing an arrow from his quiver was enough to locate him. He fell without issue. The second managed to get one more shot off, but it was effortlessly dodged before he fell too.

Cluma reopened her eyes as the corpses sunk into the floor, before sighing at me. "It was an obvious and stupid lie to begin with," she complained. "I didn't say anything because I knew what you were hoping to do, and that you meant well, but I thought you'd hold off just a little longer before stepping in than the second floor. I'm trusting in your weird training methods here, so you could at least trust in them too. I did get a level of [Threat Perception] there. That's two in two days."

Oops. I guess she noticed. "Sorry," I apologised. Back when I first found out about the Law, I'd never even heard the local word for lie or liar, but now people toss them at me so easily. It's kinda sad. Saying that, there were still words I'd never heard. Murderer or war, for example. "Still, I didn't actually do anything other than swing my staff. I'm impressed you noticed. But turning to face things is another habit that comes from vision. You knew the direction the arrow was coming from, so you should have kept your armour pointed towards it."

"There are far too many things to think about in not enough time," Cluma complained as she looted the chest. "But that's why we're training. I'll get the hang of it. And then definitely clear the dungeon before spring."

Damn... I was hoping she'd forgotten.