This Ascent to Divinity is Lewder Than Expected

7.08 – Trial Run II

As expected, they found danger on the floor above. Like the previous room, the environment was well-kept stone brick, mostly plain but with a few features: a number of empty bookshelves, lit torches affixed to the walls, and glass windows that peeked out into a starry night sky. Zoey's interest was kindled by that last part, since it suggested they were in some sort of building rather than underground, but she set it aside.

Because, again, there was danger.

A suit of armor. Green light emanated from the neck-hole where a helmet should have been. An animated golem of some sort?

It was less intimidating than the monsters of the magma cavern, but she'd be an idiot to assume that physical presence indicated strength. This was a fourth-advancement shard. And one not affected by Ephy's blessing, or whatever power Zoey herself had accrued. They were a team of fourth-advancement wayfarers, and this was a fourth-advancement shard; any monster they found would roughly be a match for them.

Well. In theory. Theirs was a team of prodigies.

Dragging its sword up and leveling the giant blade toward them, the suit of magically animated armor readied itself for a fight.

Combat began.

Zoey had a relatively straightforward role. Much of her utility came from her support abilities. Frankly, Bond, Alacrity, Growth, and Share—the passive skills that came from her Rune of Bonding—provided the bulk of her value. Sharing stats and boosting a teammate's advancement speed was no small thing, and it required no action on Zoey's part. Afterglow too was active, but that had been handled before setting out. It lasted for a while.

Even Bolster was as simple as willing the ability to take effect, and while she wouldn't use it every fight—it required Lust, which they wanted to ration, since refilling might be tricky with Astrid here—she used it now, since this was the first combat, and they wanted to take the initial fight carefully, to understand what they were in for.

And so Rosalie shot forward, Bolstered by Zoey's class, and with her own key skill—Lead the Charge—granting enormous power to the first strike of combat. Dragon's Tongue punched through the armor with contemptuous ease before the suit of armor could react, Rosalie's lunge vicious and graceful. The blonde drew back to Astrid, seemingly in the same motion.

The armor staggered backward, but the giant hole in its armor didn't kill it outright; it had no heart to puncture. A fourth-advancement encounter wouldn't be so trivial, even considering the strength of their abilities.

So the dance began.

Astrid rushed forward, shield bared. Rosalie followed to her side. Confusion Bolts streamed from Maddy's staff. Delta and her shadow snuck from opposing flanks, daggers held at the ready. All of which Zoey was aware of in a nominal sense, but couldn't focus on with any precision. She had her own magic spells to wrangle with and aim.

A suit of magical armor. Would such a creature be vulnerable to lightning? She wasn't sure. But it was the element of magic she'd been training these last several days and her newest Rune besides, so of course she wanted to try.

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Spells weren't skills, so they didn't have proper, defined names, but mages tended to give their trained abilities identifiers nonetheless: and this straightforward spell she called, reasonably, Lightning Bolt.

Even as her teammates danced around the monster as it swung its enormous great sword, Zoey snuck in a bolt of white energy that flashed bright, a zzzt filling the air before fading. It connected with the breastplate of the animated monster, and the entire creature seized. She didn't know if such a creature could feel pain, but at a minimum, it had created an opening.

Her teammates tore into the monster. Spear, daggers, pointed dragon scale, and bolts of energy from Maddy that had no immediate discernible effect, but which provided further openings as it stumbled around in spell-created confusion.

The creature died in short order. Yes, this was a fourth-advancement shard. But this was a regular monster, not a boss, and moreover, Zoey's team was no ordinary fourth-advancement wayfaring team. Across the entire Fractures there might be a handful of squads of similar caliber. Few had a Guildmaster's Heiresses or a Sovereign's daughter or a Clan's prodigious warrior. Much less a chosen of a goddess.

So it died. With some fanfare. It wasn't easy. But neither did any of them take a scratch. Astrid kept close and battered viciously into the creature with that giant red scale, not giving it a moment to pay attention to anyone else—even if she didn't seem to be causing any serious damage to it herself. A defensive specialist.

Breathing hard, Astrid and Rosalie made sure to pierce and bash the armor into pieces, even after the green light had flickered out. Always better safe than sorry in a career like wayfaring.

"Mm," Astrid said. "Not impressed."

Rosalie made a noise in the back of her throat, sounding like she agreed. Neither of the elite warriors in the group had found the fight interesting, apparently, and were, amusingly, disapproving because of that. Maddy snickered to her side, receiving a curious look from Rosalie. Zoey assumed the illusionist had thought the same thing.

Astrid was breathing hard, her green eyes having darkened. Zoey knew by now that they did indeed turn red when the grip of her Bloodlust had fully consumed her, but Astrid's was slow to grow and slow to fade. Something that required careful balancing on her part.

Seeing her, and having just considered her own combat abilities during the fight against the suit of armor, a thought struck Zoey.

"Wait," Zoey said, preempting any post-fight discussions. "How does your Bloodlust work, Astrid?"

Astrid tilted her head. There was an anger boiling underneath her skin which was reflected on her face, but which revealed itself not at all in her voice. Angry, but calm, in that strange contradiction she'd seen a number of times during training.

"Explain."

"Is it linked to your emotional state? Directly?" Zoey organized her thoughts. "I have a skill that can inflame or mute sensations." It wasn't one she'd told Astrid about, because she hadn't explained many of her skills. It would be too easy to put the theme together, to hint at her class's purpose in a more general sense—and frankly Influence wasn't all that important of a skill. Except for the somewhat obvious synergy she'd missed. "I can inflame your emotions," Zoey said. "Or calm them down, too. What would happen?"

Rosalie's lips tightened, telling Zoey she, at least, had wondered about the interaction. She hadn't told Zoey not to bring it up, though, and the blonde watched with interest how Astrid would respond. Maybe it had been a passing thought she'd forgotten to talk with Zoey about. All four of them were busy, after all, and it hadn't been two full days since meeting Astrid. It had slipped through the cracks.

Maddy and Delta, at least, didn't seem to have made the connection, seeming intrigued. Though why would they deeply consider how Zoey's skills would interact with Astrid? They had their own business to worry over. And Influence, the skill, was one of Zoey's least-used abilities. It cost Lust and took time to cast like any other, and mostly she preferred her more direct Elements, ice and lightning.

Astrid looked curiously at her. "You can do that?"

"I don't use the skill much," Zoey admitted. "It's second advancement, and takes focus—has to be a good reason to use it over an ice or lightning spell. So, you know. Not used much. But yes. How does the interaction work? Do you know? Could I wipe your anger away and you keep the bonus?"

Astrid didn't even hesitate. She was already shaking her head. "Not common ability," she snorted. "But calming effect? Hardly unique. Much of Harkvalen Clan has Bloodlust. We would know if there was such an easy way to … cheat."

"So it's linked, directly," Zoey surmised. "Calming you down would break the stat boost. But still. I could work you up or calm you down as necessary? Since it's a slow-build thing, that you normally raise through combat?"

Astrid nodded. "You should have mentioned earlier." She sounded reproachful, and Zoey blushed. It had been an obvious synergy, but to be fair, she'd had a High Priestess, a rogue with a shadow clone, and an enthusiastic alchemist teacher occupying her thoughts … along with all of her practical training. Her life had been chaotic recently. She was afforded few moments to think about such things. Plus she would make no claims to being the world's best wayfarer.

"My bad," Zoey said. "But, uh—how should that work then? Do you want me to make you angry before each fight? Then clear it away at the end?"

Astrid considered. "How easy is it?"

"It'd take a second or two to cast,"—it wasn't all but instant like Bolster, it was a spell that required concentration—"but either up or down, it's simple. Not too expensive either. But not free."

Astrid grunted. "Means rage will be easier to manage. Good. Yes." She waved a hand. "But not that important. Worth discussing later. I will ask, if needed? Be ready."

Zoey nodded. Astrid would call out if she thought it necessary. She wouldn't want the responsibility of deciding when to ramp up Astrid's rage, anyway. The idea made her feel … weird. Influencing a person's emotions felt strangely violative to her, so she only did it when there was obvious consent, and even then not often.

So yes, it was better if Astrid took control of that interaction, and Zoey simply cast the spell when asked. Though they'd talk more about it later, like whether she had permission to do so in an emergency situation.

Astrid nudged the set of armor with a foot. It hadn't reanimated, not that it could've, with so many holes and gashes. It had been cut into a number of pieces. The berserker girl glanced to the next staircase.

"Up?" she asked.

"Up," Rosalie agreed.