Chapter 53 The Kobalai

With every step I took, I crushed another head or knocked another body to the ground. I looked more like a kid, arms spread wide and twirling around than someone who was fighting for their life. One Arcane Step took me to the other side of the horde of monsters, before the next brought me to a new location.

Then she was there, standing behind me, rapiers in hand. Instead of using Arcane Step I planted my foot and pivoted, not allowing any creatures to get past me. If I swung to the left Evelyn would stab to the right. I could feel everything that she was doing, her thoughts seemed to just flow into me and mine to her.

That’s when I truly grasped the purpose of the party chat. It wasn’t just a way to communicate, it was a seamless connection, allowing us to move as one. Without needing to look, I could anticipate Evelyn’s movements, and she could adjust to mine, turning combat into an intricate, instinctual dance. It wasn’t just about knowing where she was or what she was doing, it was about synergy. Her talent processed the information we shared, refining our decisions in real time. It was like having a second mind guiding our strategy, making every move more precise, every action more effective.

There were times when I would have pushed forward but I didn’t because of something she saw. I almost opened myself to the connection fully. Letting through all the information I was getting, including with Panoptic Sense. If I had, I suspect that Evelyn might have been seriously injured from the overload of information.

It only took us another few minutes before we had cleared everything up. Evelyn was smiling broadly as I turned to look at her. “Did you feel that? I knew everything you knew and when I moved left you knew to move right. That was so amazing! I have never been able to…”

Woah, woah take a deep breath and slow your horses. Yes, I felt the connection, and yes it was really amazing. No, you did not know everything I did. I realized part of the way through it that you were not receiving any of the information that I was getting from Panoptic Sense. I was worried about opening the connection further to allow for you to get all that information though, because well, it is a lot of information. I stated, while smirking at her antics.

Evelyn gave me a confused look at first before asking, how much information is there?

Instead of telling her I slowly allowed that connection I had felt while we were fighting to open further and further. Allowing the information that I was gathering from everything to pass through. I tried to limit the amount going through so as not to overwhelm her. I had apparently failed at that.

The brain is a fascinating machine, capable of processing far more information than we consciously realize. From the tiniest pebble in our peripheral vision to a single stray hair tickling our forehead, our minds constantly filter out what it deems unimportant. That’s exactly what had happened with Panoptic Sense, I wasn’t truly perceiving the hidden goblins or elves because my brain had instinctively dismissed them. But now that I understood this, I had been able to train myself to override that filter, to recognize what had been concealed in plain sight.

However, even though Evelyn was only receiving data from the first fifteen feet around me, just 10% of my max range since reaching level 3 in the skill, her brain had never had to process such an overwhelming flood of information all at once. Every pebble, nook, cranny, and even small particles of dust that moved about due to the wind.

The sound she made as the information trickled in was somewhere between a strangled scream and a breathless wheeze, pained, startled, and just a little theatrical. While she was not particularly loud, the sudden silence did have me worried, so I used Arcane Step straight to the entrance, happy in the knowledge that we were in a single chamber.

Evelyn, for her part, slowly dropped to her knees, clutching her head in her hands. I wished I could help, but the moment I saw what was happening, I cut off as much of the connection as I could. Instead, I crept toward the entrance, ears straining, while scanning with Panoptic Sense for any sign of movement.

After a minute or so of absolute stillness, with nothing moving that I could see or hear, I turned back toward Evelyn. She had finally laid down on the floor, and while I couldn’t be entirely sure, I was going to assume she had willingly fallen asleep.

What immediately set off alarm bells, though, was the figure, if it even was a person, sitting next to her. Barely three feet tall, with a bulbous nose and eyes so comically large they looked ripped straight out of an old anime, it was unlike anything I’d seen before. "Oh no, you hurt her head! Bad, bad, bad Vorbote des Wandels! She is the ordnung to your wandel. Do you understand?" it scolded, waving its tiny hands at me in exasperation.

The moment I saw the creature, I used Arcane Step to teleport beside it, only for it to suddenly appear right on top of my head, whacking me with a cane. It didn’t hurt at all, but I was extremely surprised. I also realized that even looking at the thing, it did not appear in my Panoptic Sense.

Seeing that it hadn't made any aggressive moves, I took a deep breath and decided to figure out what it wanted. My first instinct was to use Identify on it.

Kobaloi – Level N/A - Spirit

While that was less than helpful it did give me at least a little information. It also seemed to notice that I had used Identify, as the moment I used it, its eyes narrowed. “I’m sorry, but I don’t understand, what is a vandal bringer or an odd non?”

The Kobalai flickered for a moment before it began flipping a round disk, one that looked almost identical to those I had found in the Dungeon of the Wilds. My stomach dropped as I quickly checked my Inventory, only to find that two of those disks were missing. One had gone to my father after he helped get me out of jail, but somehow, this little creature had managed to slip into my Inventory and steal the other right out from under me.

“This will do as payment for your stealing of information. A Vorbote des Wandels is you, as that is what you are and what you do. She is no Ordnungbringer, but she does bring ordnung to your wandel. Do not break her.” Then like it had never been there the creature was just gone.

I didn’t know what to make of the whole situation. The words the creature spoke sounded close to German to me, but I did not know any German personally. I decided that I would not be able to figure it out at the moment, and I could talk it over with Evelyn when she woke up.

Sitting down next to Evelyn, I picked up one of the rapiers that she had been using while we fought. While I was confused as to where she had been able to get rapiers from, as I do not have any in my Inventory, the weapons looked like they were of good quality.

A strong yet flexible, almost white metal formed the rapier’s blade, while the handle and guard were a deep, rich blue. Curious, I used Identify on it, and the result surprised me.

Mithril Rapiers of the Deep – This pair of rapiers was made using mithril that was formed in the deepest parts of the ocean. The mithril was then soaked in water attributed mana for countless years.

The most logical reason for receiving so much detail was that my Identify skill had leveled up again. Seeing something made of mithril sent a thrill through my nerdy side. I absolutely had to find a way to get my hands on some mithril shields or armor, especially if I could infuse it with my Arcane mana, essentially merging it with my Arcane Armor.

It was probably an... intriguing sight for Evelyn to wake up to, me, sitting there, lost in thought, gently stroking her mithril blade like some kind of sword-obsessed weirdo. Me holding her mithril blade, gently rubbing my fingers down it while seemingly lost in thought. I could understand the weird look she was giving me.

It was not until I noticed the look of utter confusion mixed with a slightly scared expression that I came back to myself and turned to look at her. With a slight clearing of my throat, I completely ignored how I was behaving and asked, “Evelyn, where did you get the rapier?”

Evelyn's turn to be embarrassed came swiftly. "Well, I have a very, very small special ring, just big enough to store a few items. Those rapiers and a communication orb linked to my father," she admitted, her voice tinged with bashfulness. Then, as if to preempt any questions, she quickly added, "I already tried contacting him. I think we're out of range, which means we're extremely far away. As far as I know, if we were anywhere in Heirarchon, we’d still be able to make a connection."

I pressed my lips together in thought. Up until now, I had assumed we weren’t too far from home, but if we weren’t even in a neighboring country, simply walking to the ocean and heading west might not be the best plan. "Wait, if you knew that, why did you go along with my plan of heading south and then west? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to use your ability to find the fastest way home?"

This time, Evelyn turned red from her neck all the way to the top of her head. "I just really wanted to spend some time not under supervision and knew we’d be okay!" she blurted out in one breath, her words tumbling over each other in a panicked rush.