351. Jury’s Corrupted Skills, And a Corrupted Request

CORRUPTION

< (C) PASSIVE: Origin of Gluttony >

< The vice all of me will forever share >

< EFFECT: Hungrier more often. Require copious amount of food to sustain functions. NEX requirement for the Heart of Time (Fragment) is also affected >

“Fragment?” Jury wondered. “It’s just a fragment?”

“… Nav, can you confirm this?” Frost asked.

“That I cannot. However, because Jury is derived from Elysia who must have possessed the Heart of Time, her technology may be a fragment of one larger whole.” Nav explained. “This is news to us.”

“… did – did the White Wing have something similar?” Jury asked herself, remembering the peculiar pocket watch. “Nnngh… This is confusing now.”

“It’s gotten more complicated all of a sudden. But at least we’re not left in the dark. What a terrible silver lining.” Frost sighed.

< (C) PASSIVE: Remnants of Purity >

< May you cherish that tail >

< EFFECT: An evolving tail with a primordial origin. Differentiates you from the Original >

< (C) PASSIVE: Innocent >

< The purest >

< EFFECT: Innocent >

Nothing else could be found. Nav expressed difficulty in digging deeper, her face wincing as if in pain. Jury’s existence was always odd, but this only further drove the nail deeper as to what Jury actually was.

It didn’t change anything in Frost’s eyes. Neither was Jury worried, but Frost held onto her tail regardless in an act of assurance.

“It’s ok, Jury. You’re you, and that’s all that matters to us. Whatever we find moving forward won’t matter. Right?”

“I know~ It’s just weird having to uncover something that’s been with me all this time. ‘Innocent’. Like the Little Frost?”

“Maybe. You were an Innocent to begin with. Haaaaah. Jury.”

“Yes?”

“Are you worried?”

“No. Not really. It’s just a shock to realize that my Heart is a fragment of something larger.” Jury whispered, her words trailing off.

Suddenly, Frost twisted herself in her lap. Her soft thighs hugged Jury’s sides as she straddled her lover, and without any warning – she pecked Jury on the lips to bring her back.

“Just as you’re always the one to snap me out of my trances; I’ll always be here to bring you back. Feels nice to be the one taking the initiative.” Frost hummed temptingly, cupping Jury’s soft cheeks with one hand as another pressed against her stomach.

Her fingers ran along Jury’s firm, defined abs, tracing through the crevices as her lover’s breath trembled into her ear:

“Thank you.” She sincerely thanked, her tail wrapping them close with several loops, squeezing their bodies together into one blob of warmth.

The lovely ticking of her heart rapidly rang, thanking Frost for her kindness.

“The more we know, the better. Even if those things seem to hint at things we’d rather pretend to not hear or think about.” Her soothing voice could be heard from across the wooden atrium, drawing eyes near and far, below, and above. “A fragment or not doesn’t change that you’re the only one for me.”

“Have you been learning from me?” She joked, buryng her face into Frost’s neck. “Mhm. Exactly. It’s nice to be reminded even if we’re already aware of it. Also… What’s with you and my tummy?”

“I like muscles. There’s nothing more to it.” Frost didn’t elaborate.

“Is that all?”

“Am I not allowed?” Frost complained, her voice muffled by Jury’s chest.

“Huh? Frost? When did you become so needy?”

“I’ve always been like this. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Frost jokingly said, causing Jury to laugh as she brushed Frost’s hair.

“Ahaha~”

* * *

More questions arose than answers could keep up with. Just when they were on the brim of understanding something, it’d branch off like an ever-growing tree. Nav’s limitations compounded the issue, as well as their general understanding of Elysia, the Corruption. Hell, what was going on with her Alter Frosts too!?

It was a mess. A giant scribble of nonsensical, nested madness. The Star Child ran around the atrium, turning the walls into her chalkboard as she draw all kinds of equations, drew cupcakes above Nav’s head, and scribbles over Frost’s.

“Are you making fun of me?” Frost wanted to joke with the girl, but this suddenly caused her to tremble, as if afraid. “A-Ah – Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I just kidding. I wonder, can you read my mind?”

The girl wrote an entire equation before shaking her head for a ‘no’.

… why not start with that to begin with?

Frost sat alone on a grassy-filled beanbag – or what Cer called – the grass bag and made a compelling case against the use of beans, because who in their right mind would use food for a seat?

Earlier, as Frost’s body gradually recovered, she sat along one of the beanbags which conspicuously was able to move. When she took a seat, she could immediately tell that something wasn’t right.

As if the moan that emitted from the bag wasn’t telling enough.

Indeed.

Cer hid herself inside of the beanbag with the intention of being sat on by Frost…

In fact –

“H-Hey… Y-You’re seriously not going to stay up there, are you?”

The Star Child wrote a question mark as she pointed at the voice from within the beanbag.

“There’s a monster in here that needs help. Um, Sorry. Would you be a sweetheart and get Res to come over here for me?”

The girl nodded first this time before she marched off. But not without drawing a small cupcake hairpin for Frost.

“Cute~ I like it.” Frost said, able to see herself thanks to her omnidirectional eyesight. “Cer. Serious question. Is there something wrong with you?”

“Depends. Do you have a fetish for sitting on people? Let me go already.”

“You don’t sound like you hate it at all.”

“That’s cause I can’t tell if I like it or not! What’s with this quandary bullshit dilemma I’m facing. A proud wolf like me ain’t gonna give in to someone who just rose to power.”

Anna, who just arrived at the scene, was shocked to find a talking beanbag. Nav was also enthralled by it, and she wondered how such a creature managed to sneak its way onto the Floor of Amalgamation.

Or rather, how did such a creature come to be. She simulated years of evolution in her mind, but eventually came to the conclusion of:

“Ghosts. I think this Floor is haunted.”

“Haunted!?” Anna exclaimed.

“Scientific analysis cannot explain the phenomenon. Therefore, ‘ghosts’. I read that throwing it into a bed of water can help them pass on.”

“… Wait, huh!? The fuck – Are you trying to waterboard me!?” Cer shouted.

Anna obviously knew it was Cer after that, but Nav hadn’t figured it out just yet. So, she turned to Anna and tilted her head in confusion.

“Do you speak ghosts? I cannot understand it.”

Frost ended up crackling silently. Either Nav genuinely didn’t know or was the best comedian to date. To be fair, she was quite fond of puns, so the latter was much more likely.

Right now, Frost wanted to take a break before reading her own stats. The sensation of the Alter Frost somewhere within the Nex Megalopolis became a point of focus. She considered returning down there with Anna and Nav, but she wanted to find another reason to.

Thankfully, that reason came to her in the form of a knock at their front door.

Jury opened it, revealing the Arbiter and Beholder Galia.

“I didn’t expect to see civilization prospering on an Archetype’s Floor of all places.” The Arbiter greeted them with a pleasant smile, only entering when Jury allowed them. “Thank you~ I must apologize for our sudden appearance. But I thought I’d let you know that there is someone who wishes to meet with you near the 6th Branch.”

“Beholder Caprlais?” Frost asked, rising from her Cer-bag.

Galia then answered:

“It’s a Corrupted that looks like you if you were a healer.”

Two things surprised Frost here.

The first was the Corrupted, and the second was the fact that they didn’t know she was a healer just yet.

She wondered how they would react if they knew she was equally as capable of mending wounds as she was of inflicting them.