<h4>Chapter 492: Sue</h4>


    The rude Subus clicked her tongue but wasn''t willing to show any more defiance then that. Kat''s aura was keeping her calm, and showing her just how outssed she really was. On top of that, part of her was wondering why she was antagonising them in the first ce but the rest of her argued that little part was reacting to Kat''s aura. It wasn''t her real thoughts… right?


    "At least you two have pronounceable names. Mine''s Sue. My parents actually wanted mortals to be able to say it without trantion magic" Kat felt a part of her mind explode as she heard that from Sue. *Oh my GOD! That''s why demons have such dumb names half the time?! It''s because they can abuse the trantion function of our heritage so they can just make their names whatever the hell they want. I never really noticed but when you hear it, you hear the noise and feel what letters make it up. My world has been shook.* "still, is Kat short for somethin?"


    "No. No it isn''t" said Kat, very d she could say those words and it not be a lie. She''d imed that. It was her name.


    "Right…" said Sue, catching the slight glint of hostility mostly because Kat''s aura had pressed down on her further when she''d asked the question. "well… um… unlike you creamy fucks, my specialty is something rare, targetable defence. It''s the only skill Stone cared about, and by the end of this you''ll be singing my praises, I''m sure."


    "Kamiko, be a dear and help me intimidate Sue a bit" said Kat rolling up her sleave and cing her arm next to Kamiko''s weapon. Kamiko nced down, and cringed at the idea, but new part of the reason this was happening was because she''d felt like being snarky earlier, so she decided to grant Kat''s request despite the pain it caused them both.


    Kamiko sliced open a long gash down Kat''s arm, even making sure to drag it over the main artery in Kat''s arm so that blood gushed out coating Kat''s arm with ck liquid that continued to seep out for just a few moments before healing uppletely and dripping to the floor. "I''m perfectly capable of keeping myself healthy as you can see" said Kat with grin.


    "Right" said Sue, eyes wide and staring at the now clean arm that Kat left visible. Regeneration on that scale without potential scarring was indeed rarer then her own skills but not by much. "Um… ok… then… uh… my other skill is poison mist. I can spit a poison that… honestly probably won''t be much use against swarm rats. Too many of them… though it''s enclosed so it might work? I mean… I have two. I have an aphrodisiac and a sleeping one, but the sleeping one doesn''t really work unless the target is already half asleep… same with the first one but for arousal…"


    "That''s fine" said Kamiko, regaining her cheer. Kat nced over to check, but it seemed real. *Her recovery rate on her cheerfulness is phenomenal. I wonder if it''s an act? Doesn''t seem like it but… does anybody really act like that?* The answer was yes, of course. For Kamiko did. "just having you defend me will be pretty good. Besides, it''s not every day somebody volunteers to go down into a hole filled with rats just to help out."


    Sue nched at that, her purple face lightening a few shades and now more closely matched Kat''s mes, without the light of course. "Did… did you say a hole filled with rats? I thought we were just clearing out a section of the mine…"


    "Oh we did that yesterday," said Kamiko cheerfully with a slightly sadistic edge. "Now we have to go down into the nest and make sure to clear out the rest of them"


    "Oh" said Sue, who was already recovering because of Kat''s aura. The panic had subsided though she wasn''t actually happy about that fact. Sure she wasn''t angry either because of the STUPID AURA that stopped her from getting annoyed, but she was certainly trying.


    "Are there any limitations for your defensive skill we should know?" asked Kat


    Sue nodded, "It''s mostly line of sight. If you duck out of it for a second or two that''s fine, but it''ll break soon after that. Also, it''s doesn''t work at all against grappling. It''s not slippery, it feels more like… hmm… a bit like a rubber mat? It''s probably got more friction then you''re skin anyway, and it doesn''t deal too well with blunt attacks either. It helps somewhat, but my barrier isn''t quite so physics defying as some abilities.


    "So, blunt attacks still hurt, and jabs or thrusts will more easily break through but it has some defence against them. shing attacks do basically nothing, and magic is dependant on the type, but quite often will simply contest directly with my energy reserves, the spell burning out what it can, but normally it''s a pretty efficient exchange"


    "Will you be able to do two at a time? One for me and one to keep yourself safe?" asked Kamiko


    Sue nodded and said "Yep, that''s actually one of the thing thatnds my ability in the rarer category. I can keep it up on myself basically for free as long as it''s not taking damage. It''s doesn''t cost that much to have on someone else, but it''s nothing on myself. I don''t even really need to think about it either, only for other people."


    "That''s good" said Kamiko "For myself, I will mostly just be using my sword. I can shootsers out of my eyes and I have poison in my nails, but neither of those are as effective as just cutting the rats up with my naginata. Thesers take a bit to get going and use a bit too much energy. They''re mainly good for ranged attacks but the energy efficient isn''t what I''d like it to be yet, and the caves aren''t really big enough to justify them."


    Kat took this as her queue, "My main strength here is my regeneration. None of my other abilities really help forbat, unless you count how sharp my nails are, but I''m not quite sure if that''s standard affair or not. I can also fly, but once again, not sure if that''s going to matter here."


    Sue rolled her eyes, "Of course you''d gets wings big enough to fly. Just my luck I''d get the short end of the stick there. Mine ain''t that much shorter then yours so I feel pretty jipped at the moment."


    Kat shrugged, "I also have true sight if you want something else toin about"


    Sue just deadpanned. It was the best she could do with the damned calming aura. "Yeah that just ain''t fair. Is it proper true sight and not the low level stuff that lets you see through some illusions?"


    Kat shrugged, "I dunno. I think it''s proper truesight. I wouldn''t really know the difference"


    Sue sighed while rolling her eyes before saying, "Of course you wouldn''t. Real TrueSight is about INTENT. When someone intends to obscure something your TrueSight will kick in. If you get good enough you can even use it to tell when people are lying. It lets you see the truth of things. This includes shapeshifters, though it gets a little weird with them, and illusions and a few other things as well. If they gain enough power you can start to use them to tell you facts about things. They are busted."


    *Can''t you just use the system to tell you facts about things?* "I''ll keep that in mind" said Kat finally retracting her aura now that they''d gotten most of the important stuff out of the way.


    Sue shivered when the feeling left her, and while it lingered for a little bit, most of what she felt was dread. "That''s shit''s real creepy Kat. I have fear aura and it ain''t half as scary as the shit you''ve got. It''s so weird, and while it''s fine during it, now it''s gone I feel all ufortable like someone has taking some steel wool to my soul or something. Creepy shit."


    *I wonder why? Is it because she''s kind of a brash person, or is it because I don''t consider her a friend? All the other times I used it, for the most part, was to help stabilise a friend''s mood, not as anything offensive really. Does it have offensive applications? And what does it mean that ''soul scrubbed with steel wool''? It makes me think I''ve cleaned her soul a bit, but I also can''t imagine it''s a good feeling? Maybe that''s what makes it weird and creepy, she feels better but also a little raw and has no idea how to deal with it properly*


    "Well… I''ve never heard anyone other than youin. I''m not quite sure what that means though, and I can''t check with D.E.M.O.N.S because of the punishment so… are we good? You willing to work with us?"


    Sue groaned, "Fine, I suppose I am…"