Azex’s fishing hole had sat initially on the cavern’s edge, but now it was in a fortified chamber of its own. He didn’t intend its doors to keep the Slaadi from escaping. They were only there to prevent their spells from provoking a reaction from his wards. The passageway between the door and chamber’s open space he’d established with their defence in mind, its shape letting them see the entire room and snipe over those ahead.
The hole itself was more a pond in the chamber’s floor, with a black void rippling across its surface. When the opening within changed from blackness to show scores of Slaadi floating in Limbo beyond. Rana got their attention with a shot intended to wound. The arrow struck a Blue Slaadi drawing a spray of blood and a croak of pain. As they turned to the source, a Fire Ball from Yngvarr ignited the Chaos energy. The burst and lingering flames cooked it, and a half dozen close at hand as more swarmed towards the opening. The pool’s edge was too large for them to defend, so with their foes provoked her companions fell back into the passageway.
Torm, Alfarr, and Yngvarr took the forward position while Rana sniped at targets from further back. Julia however, had a different role to play. At the pond’s far side, Angelic Aura caused scales of fire to enfold her form. As the early foes breached the event horizon, they streamed towards her with their blood lust ignited. She gave Dominion an effect that she hoped would be a siren’s song, a tempting lure of vulnerable prey. The Telepathic link she created with the others let them put the effect at bay. A Blue Slaadi’s keg sized claw swept overhead as Julia slipped beneath its charge and broke its spine with her fist. Arrows from Rana joined Alfarr and Yngvarr’s spells as the first stray groups charged them, Julia not having caught them all in her net.
As more claws from attackers lash out, Julia flowed between their blows. Precognition and Zen State guided her swirling motions to brush their attacks, triggering Ki Aura against them. Charred webbed hands and chomping maws seared to ash by the Destruction held within.
Precognition merged in Harmony with Zen State as she danced in the swirling melee. Telekinesis focused the force of her blows as Ki Strikes pulverised flesh and shattered bone. Claws slipping from Angelic Aura’s flames left foes out of position for her responses. In comparison, those that seized hold reaped their own destruction from Ki Aura even before her reply came. Ash washed across the floor, sourced from multiple foes. Crystallised limbs and burned corpses joined others in piles by the defenders. The scent of death and Dominion’s lure chumming Limbo near the portal called more foes to them.
Gliding past the defender’s front rank, Julia spun inside the arc of one Slaadi’s reach. Before she had moved onto the next, Torm’s assault had already crushed her attacker’s skull. A spell from Yngvarr blasted its body and other remains into the void. The trailing members of mob she was kiting about were scythed through by his Lightning then Alfarr’s following Fire. A chorus of thunderous croaks from the Slaadi failed to gain purchase on their senses. Instead of reeling, the five unleashed focused assaults on the latest additions to the fray. The group of Red Slaadi blasted and exploded, sprayed backwards as still more entered the Portal.
Slaadi leapt from Limbo into the room like free runners flowing from one perch to the next. Their entry speed was so quick there was no chance for the defenders to gain an advantage. A Grey Slaadi reappeared in a misty vapour near Julia’s course, but Ki Infusion let her strike its incorporeal form. As her grip dragged its body inside out, a golden-skinned Slaadi appeared and struck down. Its claws dug gouges along her back, the dying Slaadi’s clinging form having prevented her from getting clear.
Teleporting across the chamber, the Slaadi appeared nearby without a moment’s pause. Slipping clear of its next attack, she saw a Red Slaadi appear from the void. Unlike others of its colour, it loomed over the massive Blues already within. Its monstrous frog-like long-limbed form seemed momentarily leaner till the thudding of its first hop announced its mass. More of its larger kin appeared beside it, and a thundering shock wave smashed the air as they croaked.
Julia grabbed information and moved to continue baiting the growing colony of nightmarish frogs. The charred claws on her golden foe healed as more arms grew from its sides. The wounds it had opened across Julia’s back spat out glistening eggs as flesh sealed again.
[Species: Golden Slaadi
Class: Chaos Feeder / Barbarian / Blood Wraith
Level: 55 / 53 / 31 / 31
Health: 25,485
Defence: 521
Melee Attack Power: 1,002
Combat Skills: Claws [M] (92), Bite [M] (97), Enhanced Regeneration [S] (10), Greater Teleport(Self) [M] (5), Protean [S] (2) - Special: Infection [M](88)
Details: Chaos Feeder, this Prestige Class combines Berserker and Barbarian at level 70. Blood Wraith, this base class is unlocked after gaining a Berserker Prestige Class and accessing Protean.
]
[Species: Red Slaadi Juggernaut
Class: Barbarian
Level: 53 / 52
Health: 13,547
Defence: 425
Melee Attack Power: 460
Combat Skills: Claws [M] (50), Bite [M] (50), Stunning Croak [M] (50) - Special: Infection [M](38)
Details: Morphed by exposure to the elemental energies of Earth, these Red Slaadi have grown substantially. This growth has brought with it an increase in muscle mass and overall density, making them more substantial combatants than their kin.
]
Spinning ahead of the Golden Slaadi, she swept towards the Juggernauts’ course. As she slipped past another’s grasping claws, she alerted the others to her intent. The golden foe on her heels crashed into the small Red Slaadi ahead of it and leapt at her. Grabbing a Juggernaut’s arm, she spun them in place but didn’t leap away. Yngvarr and Alfarr, warned by her mental call, let loose a torrent of flame. A blast furnace washed over Julia and left dying Slaadi thrashing as the air kept burning. Though skin and flesh cooked from their bones, the Golden Slaadi rose from the tangle. Shedding its cracking flesh, it lunged. Her body became a slender column of spinning blades, and Ki Infusion carrying Spatial Mana that tore into it as it failed to rip the blades from her body. Saadi were dying all around as the Golden Slaadi enveloped Julia in a growing shroud, as they touched Julia’s will suppressed its Protean and Teleport.
One moment it had her covered in a maw trying to consume, and the next it split apart. Having lost the ability to change, it ripped to pieces on hooks that forced it to stretch. Fragments of it slid from hooks grown from her natural form. Angelic Aura wrapped her wings and eyes in flames as she surged towards the next. As they raced to greet her with aura-incited rage, she vanished and dropped a net of ordered power. Its crystal strands cut through chaos-formed flesh and bone, allowing their momentum to spill them in crystallised piles to the floor.
As their existing momentum shattered the crystals, she reappeared and cut off more incoming enemies. They had a flash of chasing a helpless Elven female before hitting flaming walls and crushing blows. In contrast, those that survived to flee the assault gained more arrows to guide them to their grave. The whirling lure of tempting prey continued to draw more forth. She was tauntingly injuring them as she towed more and more through her companion’s reach. Dominion’s lure was preventing Slaadi hunters from knowing they had become prey. Though her nature bolstered her Psi energy’s renewal, eventually it ebbed low, and when Julia signalled, the Portal closed with a snap. Pieces of Slaadi - caught by its closing - went skipping across the floor as it cut through them. When the last foe within was dead, she let the auras fall away, and Dominion’s call ceased.
A glance at the combat summary caused her to tilt her head in thought, trying to piece the flurry of deaths together.
[
Red Slaadi x 328 (20%)
Grey Slaadi x 18 (20%)
Blue Slaadi x 217 (20%)
Red Slaadi Juggernaut x 53 (20%)
Golden Slaadi x1 (20%)
Total experience gained: 270,266
Fallen: +54,053
Fallen Level Up! x2
Scion: +54,053
Scion Level Up! x2
Sora Master: +54,053
Sora Master Level Up! x8
Psion: +54,053
Psion Level Up! x8
Warrior Monk: +54,053
Warrior Monk Level Up! x8
Advanced Telepathy [Ad] (1->5)
Angelic Aura [B] (14) -> [Ap](19)
Dominion [S] (2->3)
Harmony [S] (3->4)
Ki Armour [S](8->9]
Ki Aura [B][3] -> [Ap](13)
Ki Movement [Ad](1->27)
Ki Strike [S](11->12)
Death Strike [M](10->12)
Clairsentience [B](10) -> [Ap] (7)
Erotic Dance [J](40) -> [Ad](1)
Metacreativity [B](10->12)
Telekinesis [B](10->20)
]
Oh, you’re always rounding down, nasty! Ew! How the hell did I get Erotic Dance levelling from that?
Angelic Aura stopped the pressure from Ki Aura, or was I just not focusing on it enough? Oh, and I missed the little grey aliens.
“I missed getting details on the Grey Slaadi, other than that they can teleport and go incorporeal,” Julia grumbled, shaking her head in resignation.
“There will be plenty more, though I noticed you rip a few apart. The grey ones seemed to stay incorporeal after they teleported, but don’t go that way other times,” said Torm, as he crouched beside a shattered Slaadi skull.
“If they could, less of them would have died to arrows. They can’t teleport as smoothly as that Golden Slaadi,” Rana commented.
“That effect from the aura and Dominion is disturbing, Julia. Even with your link, a few times as you moved past, I had to focus on attacking something else,” admitted Alfarr.
“It’s fine, no harm, no foul,” Julia said, as she patted him on the shoulder. “I’ll try harder to hold it away from you.”
“There are so many of them near the spawning stone you’ll get plenty of practice,” offered Rana helpfully as he unstrung his bow.
“How is your quiver not empty, Rana?” asked Julia, finally indulging her curiosity after the sheer volume of arrows she’d seen him loose.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“It’s enchanted to create new arrows as it empties,” Rana explained, moving the quiver out from its position across his lower back so Julia could see the enchantments. “It has limits, it can only shape so many in a day.”
“What are you looking at, Torm?” Julia asked, wondering what had caught Torm’s attention.
“There is something inside its head,” replied Torm, as he ripped the skull apart to reveal a fragmented crystal within.
“The Githzérai often find crystals in the brains of Slaadi near the Spawning Stone. Some of their writing has accounts of seeing the Spawning Stone forming Slaadi from raw Chaos. Those always have crystals inside their brains,” Julia said. The growing look of disgust on Alfarr’s face earned a bemused look. “What a face you pull. You’ll squish them or fry them, but talk about the contents of their skull, and you go all ‘oh that’s yuck’.”
“Hush, just because they need killing doesn’t mean I want to imagine scooping things out of their skulls,” grumbled Alfarr, brushing her teasing away as he moved towards the door.
“How long do you wish to dedicate to this?” asked Yngvarr. His attention focused on Julia as Rana began cleansing a wound in his shoulder.
“Until we can get a clear run at the Altar of Set. Though given the thousands around the Spawning Stone, plus those that will seek it out, that could be problematic,” Julia answered and shrugged. “I think the better approach is we plan based on two questions. How long will Azex endure having us as guests? How much experience do you want?”
“How did you kill the golden-skinned Slaadi so fast?” asked Rana, gesturing to a piece near the wall.
Looking back through her log, the rush of damage she inflicted on it drew a nod of satisfaction. Though it was another message she spotted that earned an amused smile.
“Every hook counted as an attack for Death Strike because I wanted it dead,” Julia said, a grim smile lighting her face. “Mind you, each also drew its share of Ki; it wouldn’t have been nearly as effective without Ki Strike breaching defence. The notification credited me for fifty hooks, base damage of five hundred and sixty-eight health each, plus various critical levels and Destruction Mana.”
As they headed to follow Alfarr, Julia slowed her pace, pleased when Torm did the same.
“I’m glad you liked the dancing,” said Julia, giving Torm a cheeky smile.
“What?” Torm asked, startled from his silence by her remark.
“I was checking on the Golden Slaadi and saw the cause of levelling Erotic Dance, and it wasn’t from any Slaadi,” Julia teased, her smile broadening at Torm’s startled reaction.
“You move gracefully,” Torm said, regaining his composure. “In battle, your focus magnifies the beauty of your movements. You move through a battle like a hawk dancing on a breeze.”
“Thank you for the compliment,” stated Julia, the teasing glint easing from her gaze, though the smile remained in place.
“I’m glad you didn’t take it as flattery, as it’s very true,” Torm stated in relief. “I hope that fight still gave you substantial progress.”
“I’ve reached level eighteen in both Fallen and Scion, level nine in the rest,” replied Julia. “This way might be slower, but I’m glad to be working with friends.”
“We won’t always have you to play bait; you could allow more strays,” advised Torm, as he pulled open the door.
“No, I’m the tank. Gotta be the proper aggro monkey,” refuted Julia, raising a hand in refusal. “We’re a proper little party: a tank, three damage dealers, and a ranger priest.”
“Years as a Guardian, and you’re stealing my thunder as protector,” Torm mock grumbled, gently capturing her raised hand.
“I thought that was Thor’s job,” teased Julia, aware of his lingering touch.
“Drool jokes featuring the name of a God are never advisable,” Torm cautioned, though he didn’t shy away. “With all respect to our host, they are still far above either of us.”
“Are you going to give me my hand back?” asked Julia, her glance taking in the care with which he held her.
“I would take nothing from you,” replied Torm. “Might I escort you to your assigned room?”
“Plenty of time to walk there,” Julia answered, not withdrawing her hand as she motioned to the empty corridor. “The others look to have gone ahead. Perhaps we could practice; been a while since I had anyone to train with.”
“As you wish,” Torm said as they headed for the staircase.
“Are you quoting the Princess Bride?” enquired Julia hesitantly.
“It was amusing, though he shouldn’t have struck her,” stated Torm, gently squeezing her hand.
Yeah, okay, we have time, and we’ve had that discussion. I’ll just see how things go.
“Sarah’s such a cheat,” Julia grumbled, noting the embarrassment lacing her tone.
“She is at that, yet cares about you and Rachel fiercely,” observed Torm, his expression becoming serious for a moment.
“We all met the first day of school,” Julia said, nodding firmly at the question in Torm’s gaze. “Even though we all lived within walking distance of each other.”
Yeah, I don’t care if she’s a Devil - or if she’s even accepting of it - she’ll always be Sarah.
“She mentioned that if I hurt you, she’d hunt me down and collect my hide,” Torm said unconcerned. His stride matched her own, but Julia still took care to keep her speed in check.
“Sarah,” groaned Julia, rubbing her face with her free hand. “She’s worse than Mal.”
“Would you tell me more about your family?” Torm enquired, his thumb caressing the back of her hand.
“What would you like to know?” Julia responded with a ready smile. “I miss them, but it’s good to talk about them, painful but good, if that makes any sort of sense.”
<hr>
Julia raised an eyebrow at Yngvarr’s broad smile and waited to hear what news had him seek her room.
“I had an interesting dream last night,” Yngvarr remarked, his voice carrying even greater delight than his smile.
“Think you should be whispering the details in Alfarr’s ear not telling me,” Julia said dryly, earning a flat look in return.
“Very droll, I wouldn’t need to speak to you in that case,” retorted Yngvarr, brushing off her remark. “No, it was concerning my Class, Andún? Scion: I felt as if Monk and Wizard were somehow approaching it providing different routes. It was a similar dream to what I had before taking the Prestige Class of Arcanist. I didn’t want to proceed along either path offered as Andún? Scion is still so far ahead of either.”
“Get all three to ninety; they might combine,” Julia suggested as she sat down.
“Who knows if I’ll meet the requirements for anything like that to occur,” argued Yngvarr. Taking a seat opposite her and looking over the room they’d assigned her. It was clear it wasn’t something that the fortress occupants would have had before their arrival. The Elven styling of the furnishing had made Julia wonder if Azex had based it on something he’d seen in the past.
“What level are you now?” enquired Julia, giving him a cheeky smile.
“You didn’t need to ask that, I’m sure,” Yngvarr grumbled, fixing her with a suspicious glare.
“I’ve not gone peeking, honest,” Julia protested, crossing her heart before beckoning him to spill.
“Not as high as I would like,” admitted Yngvarr with a sigh.
“We’ll just have to fix that then,” Julia stated firmly, slapping a hand lightly on his knee.
“Julia, thank you for listening to my concerns,” Yngvarr said, his tone relieved. “I’ve had nightmares about what might come from you using that name. While I doubt any of the Court would send me a message, the Andún? Scions are supposed to receive warnings on matters of particular importance. Though if it was the case, it’s the first time I’ve had one.”
“Noticed you still didn’t tell me your levels,” Julia teased. Yngvarr coughed and mumbled something, so Julia played it up and cupped a hand to her ear. “I must be old didn’t quite catch that.”
“If my rune plate is right, then Andún? Scion is seventy-three, Arcanist is still seventy, Monk and Wizard are fifty after today’s fighting,” admitted Yngvarr, reluctantly.
“Right!” exclaimed Julia, clapping loud enough to make Yngvarr start. “Next session, I’ll really put the grinding shoes on. Experience farm for the win. The ironic thing is I skipped out on some Psi options because I rarely travel with anyone, and now I’ve four to help.”
“Julia,” Yngvarr groaned, “There are more important things than getting our levels higher, plus I’m sure Torm is far further along.”
“The stronger you all are, the better the chances we have against the Altar of Set,” countered Julia, leaning forward to pat his leg. “If that’s your level, I know Alfarr isn’t anywhere near as high as I want him to be. Also, let me tell you about Sora Master and some advanced base classes. I don’t understand why you didn’t unlock a better Wizard class. You got your book?”
”Of course I do, but Julia, you just-”
“But nothing-,” Julia interrupted, the burning will in her gaze stealing Yngvarr’s breath away. “Being stronger just means more I have to get done. The people we helped wouldn’t have happened without the trust you gave me first. So I’m helping you, end of discussion.”
“How did she underestimate you?” asked Yngvarr softly, his surprise making it clear he’d underestimated Julia as well.
“Viper or Epochē?” questioned Julia, with an unfazed look at his surprise.
“Either,” breathed Yngvarr.
“I started using Zen State and Harmony to drift through all the moments. By not locking them down or objecting to things they said, Viper believed I was losing my will to resist. Where actually I was preparing for lift-off,” Julia said, before a pained expression twisted her features. “It was skating the edge the time Viper sent the message to Livia was one instance, bitch! I just hope I held as much away from her as I planned.”
“What level are you planning?” asked Yngvarr, clearly curious.
“Going to get my new three to at least the hundred and ten,” Julia casually offered with a smile.
“You’re doing what!” Yngvarr’s book dropped to the floor, and in his shocked state, he didn’t even register his notes spilling into disarray.
At the flabbergasted look on Yngvarr’s face, Julia couldn’t help but roar with laughter. When she finally calmed down, a subdued Yngvarr asked an important question.
“Are you even sure you can gain that level?” asked Yngvarr.
“Everything is possible with hard work and persistence,” Julia replied, her smile stealing the surprise away. ”Including getting Analysis to give you an experience requirement for a level.”
Yngvarr stopped himself from replying, instead stooped to gather his book and notes. He set the book away and took a breath as Julia remained silent.
“Dare I ask how much?” Yngvarr hesitantly asked.
“To get one class to level one hundred and ten, I’ll need eight billion, seven hundred million experience,” offered Julia casually.
“Why do you wear yourself down this way?!” exclaimed Yngvarr.
“Because it’s there, why not go for it?” remarked Julia, her casualness stealing Yngvarr’s breath away again. “Maybe with the next classes I’ll go for one hundred and twenty, that’s slightly over double again. When my new trio hit one ten, Fallen and Scion will. I can’t get out of the Abyss while I wear this Sigil and removing it could lose me the Leviathan’s blood. To get it, I need to be tough enough to finish Balnérith if she tries to stop me.”
“You really believe it’s what holds the Titan’s servant you spoke of?” enquired Yngvarr cautiously, clearly not wanting to encourage her interest.
“Absolutely. They won’t answer questions about it,” Julia stated. “I know I didn’t give you their name, and I don’t plan to, just in case. Absolutely no way I’m leaving someone imprisoned by Balnérith when I just have to work to get them free.”
“Just?”
“Just a smidge of work,” Julia said, adding a cheeky smile. “Since I can’t get to the Material Plane without special arrangements, a girl needs something fun to pass the time. While I can’t empty the Abyss of its endless hordes, there is no reason I can’t depopulate whole reaches of it and set back their forces.”
“I had meant level before we attacked the altar,” said Yngvarr, his cautious tone wiping her smile away.
“Oh, I don’t know at least another twenty,” Julia answered with a shrug. “Or more.”
“There are people at risk by dragging this out,” Yngvarr pointed out as he rubbed a hand against the side of his neck.
“I know that well,” Julia stated, her lips flat with tension.
“Do you?” snapped Yngvarr and flinched away from Julia’s steel gaze, his words lowering to a mutter. “You make it hard to tell at times rattling off ‘experience points’, levels, and your game terms. It feels as if it’s just a game to you.”
Julia just watched his reaction for a time, unsure if it had been guilt or shame driving him the most.
“It’s how I stay sane; I shared memories with you, so you’ve seen how I grew up - there wasn’t this sort of conflict,” Julia replied calmly, Yngvarr’s gaze still not meeting her own. “Once I get free of the Abyss, I’ll likely curl up somewhere for a year or twelve, but I don’t have that luxury right now. I’m not the enemy Yngvarr. Whether it’s from guilt, shame, or stress, please don’t lash out at me. I know you and Verdandi acted to avoid danger, and it wasn’t your intent to allow it to harm others instead. Why don’t you get some air? We can talk about the fancy base classes later.”
Yngvarr nodded with a jerkiness she’d never seen from him before. Rising, he left the room with a slump-shouldered gait, the stress in him bringing forth only compassion. Julia waited a time after he’d left before she rose to her feet. The balcony outside her room was empty when she crossed it and hopped out into the open air. Her descent was swift, and Flight adjusted it to enter the passage only at the last moment. Rana’s presence on the upper section of the fishing hole’s entry stopped Julia in her tracks.
“You’re here early, Lady Julia,” Rana said, his tone as welcoming as always.
“Seems I’m not the only one,” retorted Julia playfully and mentally sighed from her plan’s delay.
“I was trying to get an understanding of all the death we saw here earlier. The fighting on ásgarer’s border never got so intense. At most we fought ten or twelve at a time, and often with other defenders close by,” Rana replied, pivoting his footing as if he was mentally firing his bow. “It was disconcerting to watch them chase and swarm around you, yet barely risking ourselves to pick them off as you stayed in peril.”
“That’s my role in things, though,” argued Julia. “While I dish out damage, I have to keep their attention and ensure they stay off you four.”
“It certainly worked according to your plan,” Rana said thoughtfully. “Though I believe the others will need some time to adjust to your approach. Did you fight so many at once within the Necropolis? You’ve been very light on the details.”
“Far more,” admitted Julia, with a nod.
“It might be best not to go charging off into danger on your own,” Rana noted, raising an eyebrow with a smile. “You’ll be stealing experience from me, and I’ve still much to catch up on in my classes.”
Spock at least never looked smug, buddy.
Analysis
[Name: Miluichanar “Rana”
Species: Celestial Ljósálfar
Class: Ranger / Priest / Archer
Level: 92 / 64 / 64 / 64
Health: 57,570
Defence: 877
Melee Attack Power: 588
Ranged Attack Power: 928
Magic: 313
Faith: 196
Mana: 41,840
Combat Skills: Longbow [G](3), Longsword [M] (4), Short Blade [Ad] (32) - Various Blessings.
]
“Did you serve the Lady as a Ljósálfar with no additional Class?” Julia asked hesitantly, reluctant to give away she’d peeked.
“Indeed so, Lady Julia,” replied Rana, with a firm nod, unbothered by her question. “But in times of dire need, all things change or die.”
“So why are you waiting in here?”
“You and Yngvarr had me concerned that one might blame yourself and rush into danger,” Rana replied, giving her an appraising look. “When I was the one who set this ‘mess’ in motion.”
“Yngvarr’s skiing the stress bunny slope. I think fighting the mass Slaadi might have been a shock for him as well. Though I wanted to get more information on the Altar,” admitted Julia. “Will you help me keep an eye out for him? He wasn’t acting at all like himself.”
“Of course I will; A Blessing from my Lady might help him regain his balance. Azex said the Portal opens in random positions around the Spawning Stone,” reminded Rana, motioning towards the fishing hole. “Why not continue with the plan? Just look through each time and see if you can use your Analysis on it at some point.”
“Alright, Rana, be the voice of reason,” Julia said, her voice a playful grumble as she put her hands on her hips, pretending to be affronted.
“It’s all the practical Norse women I associated with for years,” offered Rana with a smile. “I’ve spoken with Azex while you and Torm were catching up. There is no time limit on using his fishing hole, though he might use it a time or six himself. I also spoke to him about Rachel, and he had some advice.”
“Oh?” Julia asked, perking up at the mention of Rach.
“Don’t get shot, and beware her Song,” Rana stated dryly.
“Okay then,” grumbled Julia. “I’m sure you can hear us, Azex. When the others are ready, we’ll light up their lives.”
“Should I ask?” question Rana hesitantly at the fierce gleam in Julia’s gaze.
“Likely not, just channelling one of my Dad’s jokes, so always safer not to,” replied Julia, the smile that lit her face earned only a nod in reply.