"Guy, what is she talking about? And why won't Navi answer me?!!"
"Regarding Navi, I can't say. But Clink is referring to a part of herself that's attached to each of us. I've not seen it in action but based on what's been said, it probably blocks fatal attacks for us, yes?"
At my words, slivers of silvery white suddenly exit our pores and concentrate into four distinct balls of liquid metal, one floating in front of each of us.
"What is this? Wait, did you give them mercury poisoning?"
Roy suddenly pops up and seems torn between being upset and surprised.
"You're not completely wrong but it's not considered poisoning since it doesn't have any negative effects. I mean you couldn't even detect it in your own system and your skill didn't defend against it, did it?"
Roy's eyes go wide as saucers as a distinctly larger ball of liquid metal escapes his pores and gathers in front of him. He did present himself as an expert in negative status ailments and now he didn't even notice being poisoned.
"But my skills-"
"As I said, since there is no negative effect your skills don't recognize it as poison or any other negative status ailment for that matter. Of course your skills would be applicable immediately if I were to allow the mercury to ionize inside your body. But since it's part of my body, I can control it not to do that and instead gather it where you are about to be hit to mitigate damage done to you."
Pascal looks at her half peeled body with some doubt but soon her expression sours.
"So, how many times would I have died without your intervention?"
"At least three times from the wounds and about two times more from bleeding out. Yes, I'm aware you don't bleed like normal monsters do but the effects of dehydration will get you killed too though less quickly."
Pascal looks a bit depressed as she turns to Maribell.
"You knew?"
"I did but I was forbidden from telling you."
"Why? If I knew I would-"
Clink suddenly buts in.
"You would have acted differently? That's exactly the reason I told her not to tell you. Take this as a warning how easily you get reckless without knowing the reason for your success and how you completely failed to detect the intrusion of a foreign substance into your body. Roy might have been fine but, if it was poison and one with a delayed reaction, you would have died without knowing how you even got it. And don't tell me your level was the cause. Guy noticed while we were still on the first floor."
"But to be fair I do have a rather strong appraisal skill."
"Don't give me your pity, Guy! I screwed up and I need to own up to that. But how am I supposed to get an appraisal skill? Rani has Queen of close quarter combat and trajectory reading, both of which I have no chance to get anytime soon if at all. And I've been trying to get Gary's fighter's intuition skill since day one!"
Fine, fine. Let me see what I can do.
"Have you considered getting a more… fitting appraisal skill?"
"Fitting? You mean I'm not fit to be a fighter?!!"
"No, no. You are plenty fit to be a fighter but you've already tried that and evidently you have trouble getting an appraisal skill if that… category?"
"What else can I try? I have no experience with magic, and pure appraisal needs way too much studying! Not to mention special ones like yours!"
"Well, you are a dryad, are you not?"
"I am. And?"
"Dryads are sentient plants attributed to nature and life. You should be much more tightly connected to those than any of us. If you reach out and try to feel for that spark of life it should count as a form of appraisal, right?"
As I say it I can feel my instructing skill stir just like when I unearthed the chase skill from the hidden desire buried in the skull goblins. What I did wasn't giving Pascal a skill, instead I revealed something that had been within her all along. Just waiting to be discovered.
"How the **** did you do that! I just got a skill from you just talking? Do it again!"
"It doesn't work that way, Pascal. That skill was already within you. You just hadn't fully awakened it yet. I just gave you the nudge you needed to awaken the potential within you. Also, I can't really control it. It just kind of happens."
"Forget about how you got and whether you can get more, tell us what you got! I'm sure Navi is just as loud in your head as she's in mine. I'm tempted to just cut the connection for a moment."
So Clink can also block you out, Navi?
"The skill I got is life sense. It helps me detect life, measure the strength of its life force which seems to translate to the constitution stat and I can get a rough estimate of its danger towards life around it, including myself. And I can now notice the life force inside the metal blob in front of me."
"Hmm, then it doesn't just define life force very strictly because technically there's no life force in animated armors as they are physically armors. But I guess that definition is good for you. Congratulations!"
Clink's words make sense. I wonder who makes these definitions and decides how they interact with the world…