Shovels In Spades

"Daz, okay?" Madison asked as she gazed at his near-frozen form.

He was quickly warming up but he was still covered head-to-toe in ice and snow. His skin was almost blue from the cold.

Perhaps he would have been forced to kill Lord Lit'ur with Laughing Skull if the fight had dragged on for any longer given his current state.

He smiled faintly at her, a challenge in his current condition. "Yes, thank you though. It's easy to ignore just by being near you."

Madison's expressionless face turned a shade of red. "Charmer."

"Only for you, Maddy," Daz replied as he tried his best to smile kindly. "While we wait for me to stop looking like a walking popsicle, how about you fuse that sword with Family? We're more than safe now."

Madison nodded. "Mmm, okay."

She unsheathed her longsword and slowly pressed it against the thin blade that just recently belonged to Lord Lit'ur.

There seemed to be some resistance, showing the worth and power of the weapon that had failed to land even a single blow on Daz at the hands of the frozen lord.

Madison imbued Family with her Ember of Edges and applied a handful of buffing skills via chanting mentally judging from the new aura covering the blade.

A few seconds later, the cyan icy metal that made up most of Lord Lit'ur's sword lost all power to resist and became one with Family.

Family now sported a near-identical copy of the slender weapon engraved onto the hilt. Its blade also had a colder sheen to its edge, Daz noticed.

"Can that pop out and act as a second sword? As in, is Family a kind of sheath now on top of being a weapon?" he wondered aloud.

Madison shook her head. "No, but, ice, attacks, now."

"Interesting... Think Family can win against the Overgiant's sword yet?" Daz asked, referring to the massive weapon that had created a ravine in Atlantis.

Said ravine which was still proving to be pretty difficult to repair without spending merit points.

The reason why the system had given him such an odd quest like to fully repair Atlantis without consuming any merit points still escaped him to this day. It was a hassle to work on and half the time Daz wanted to just fail it intentionally, in all honesty.

Madison frowned with her eyes. "Unsure. Maybe. Don't, try, until, certain."

Daz nodded before his eyes flashed with a powerful hue of grey. "That seems wise. Anyway, you people hiding behind the door over there, come in. I won't kill you."

Madison looked confused but chose to step into Mr Barrier's protection to keep the twins extra safe from any potential threats.

Daz approved of this. Mr Barrier had proven to be true to his status thus far, having the power to create one unbreakable barrier at all times. Then again, nothing was certain. The Truthian's had made that painfully clear.

Even his immunity to mental and soul attacks didn't spare him from all of Lord Lit'ur's powers so caution was a wise approach for his fiancée to take in his mind.

A set of the western side doors swung open slowly, revealing the eavesdroppers. Daz immediately recognised one of the two people that had entered the throne room.

"You... The Champion of Pistols, was it?" Daz asked calmly.

He had met this man who was slightly younger than himself during the Power-Stripped Survival Test in the System's Grand Auction. In fact, that was the very same test that Madison had earned Mr Barrier in.

"Ahaha, you remember me?" the ordinary-looking teenager asked as he scratched the gills at his neck in embarrassment.

"I rarely forget anything," Daz casually answered before he glanced at the old woman wearing a polar bear's fur coat and a strange bracelet.

"The dagger sealed away in that armpiece of yours..." Daz narrowed his eyes. "It feels very familiar... You wouldn't happen to be the Alaskan granny who successfully annoyed that self-centred gifter of odd things, would you?"

"... He did mention you had a scary intuition in one of his letters. Guilty as charged," the woman said with a warm smile.

"I see... Would you mind if I looked at it? The dagger, that is," Daz requested.

Frustrating as the player Altros' words were to read, whether willingly or not, his gifts were very useful.

Rimmy alone had been a boon of immeasurable value, needless to mention the self-destructive but ultimately beneficial unlucky dice. The five Stars of Eternity were almost pricelessly valuable too.

Reika, while not overly helpful in combat, had still been a nice companion to have permanent access to.

For someone as unwilling to trust as he was, knowing her loyalty was bound to her continued survival had given a lot of peace of mind to him both before he had regained his emotions, and when he was first getting used to having them back after 20-years of absence.

The Travelling Gear of Altros was nearing on useless but with a ratio of four to one with the four being good and one being bad, there was a relatively substantial chance that Daz could find a use for the dagger.

The old woman shrugged, presenting her wrist to him. "Sure. You can have it if you can make it stop following me. Thing's bound to my soul."

Daz nodded. "Gladly, but not now. I do specialise in souls as an Archreaper so perhaps there is hope yet. I'm in no rush though. I assume we'll have plenty of time to discuss that dagger and Altros himself later. Maybe after I've dealt with the Truthian's and a few other lingering threats on Earth."

He immediately tried to use his Crystal Digger's Master Identification on the weapon despite his words but was met with a surprise.