This Ascent to Divinity is Lewder Than Expected

6.31 – The Heiress I

Rosalie popped into existence inside a training yard. She stumbled a step, then corrected herself, finding her footing.

Lucinda stood in front of her, lacking her armor. In regular clothes again.

Time had passed, she was vaguely aware.

"I— I—" Rosalie said, her head spinning as she oriented herself. "How long has it been?"

"We'll talk later, brat," Lucinda said, though she sounded far less annoyed than when she'd first captured her. Time had definitely passed, enough for her temper to cool. "Go say hello to your father."

Her father?

Rosalie stiffened and turned.

In time to see a spear hurtling toward her.

Rosalie stepped sideways and snatched it out of the air, fingers sliding around the smooth shaft and bringing it to a halt. She spun, lowering the weapon toward her assailant.

It was, of course, him.

Father.

"I'm glad your gallivanting hasn't dulled your reactions, at least," he said. "You have a lot of explaining to do, daughter of mine."

He looked much the same as she remembered. Why wouldn't he? It hadn't been a full month since she'd entered the Fractures.

That realization hit her with a little jolt. With everything that happened—meeting Zoey, Delta, Maddy, and all the revelations of Goddesses and impending doom—it felt like so much longer. She'd experienced more in a few weeks than she had in several years prior.

Looking down at the spear in her hand, she realized what it was, though a part of her already had, simply from gripping it. Dragon's Tongue. The spear she'd trained with since she was a child. One of Father's own relics, dragged up from a seventh advancement shard. A weapon of incalculable value, something even a High Officer of the Guild would proudly display.

Of course, as a third advancement wayfarer, the item's stats and effects were greatly diminished when she used it, but nonetheless—

Rosalie paused.

Third advancement?

A tingling on the back of her neck announced that she certainly was not third advancement, any longer. And that'd been the point, hadn't it? For abandoning Lucinda and pursuing a shard before arriving to Mantle? Zoey's skill provided additional experience the longer they took between shards. Seeing how she already boosted their progression massively simply through their bond, a rank-up in a single shard after their long break in Treyhull wasn't at all surprising.

Well. Logically surprising. Rosalie couldn't help but be a little stunned that it had actually happened, however much she had anticipated it. What a ludicrous pace for progression.

Had Zoey, Delta, and Maddy likewise leveled?

Delta.

Oh, no. Delta.

Rosalie hadn't had the opportunity to warn her about her family, thanks to Lucinda's intervention.

But … that was fine. She still had a chance to.

Right?

Unless Delta had learned, already. Rosalie had no clue what had gone on in the time she'd been sucked into Lucinda's artifact.

"Rosalie?" Father's amused voice came.

She looked up at him, blinking, as she realized that she'd briefly zoned out. "I was thinking," Rosalie said. "I was just kidnapped by my mentor. It's a disorienting situation. Forgive me."

"About your allies?" he asked.

Rosalie winced. So Lucinda and Father had, at least, spoken about them. Perhaps not at length though. And Delta might not have learned, yet.

"Yes. Where are they?"

"Safe and comfortable, of course." He leaned on his spear. "They had some very interesting things to say to me, Rosalie."

Rosalie's stomach fell to the floor.

"You've already spoken to them," she said numbly.

"Of course I have."

"I'd have thought you would meet with me first."

"And let you play damage control? Why would I do that?"

Rosalie stewed in dismay for several long moments, before finally sighing. Had she expected Father to act in any other way? Of course not.

She wondered how Delta had taken the news. Unfortunately, that was a problem to stress about later. Father's presence was distinctly more pressing.

Namely, explaining herself.

She wished she'd spent more time organizing this encounter in her head.

Then, the other implication of Zoey, Delta, and Maddy having already spoken with Father hit her. In some regards, Delta's situation should be the least of her worries. The bigger picture implications were so much more important. Logically speaking, at least.

"What did they tell you?" Rosalie asked slowly.

Would she be delivering any of her secrets herself?

Father laughed.

He appeared in front of her almost faster than her eyes could track. He thrust forward, his spear aimed at her stomach.

Rosalie sidestepped it.

"Ah," Father said. "You're quicker than you used to be. Though of course you are."

He stabbed out several more times, and Rosalie dodged each. He was simply testing her. Father could puncture a hole through this entire training yard with a single lunge if he wished, much less outpace her in a duel. He was just seeing how much she'd improved in her short stint in the 'real world'.

She didn't return any blows. As soon as the flurry receded, she repeated herself.

"What did they tell you?"

"Everything, of course," Father said.

"Everything?"

Father raised an eyebrow at her.

Rosalie started to panic. But despite the briefly instilled terror, she realized quickly she was being lied to.

"No, they didn't," she said.

"Oh?"

"You wouldn't be acting like this."

"What do you mean?"

"If you knew everything, or half of it, you'd be having far more of a reaction."

"I'm quite accustomed to the strangeness of this world, Rosalie," Enzo said, sounding amused—and his confidence made Rosalie's certainty falter for a second. But no. That was just Father. Perfectly confident in any situation. Becoming the strongest man in the world tended to provide that sort of arrogance.

But Zoey hadn't told him everything, or half of it, or even the basics, maybe. Because Father wouldn't be so … unconcerned by it all.

Especially their relationship. That might cause more of a reaction than news of the world ending did. Father had always been particular about who was even allowed to show interest in his daughters, much less pursue them. And among her sisters, Rosalie had always been the least intrigued by romance.

"They didn't tell you anything, did they?" Rosalie asked. "No, they definitely haven't." She frowned, realizing something. "You didn't press too hard, did you? During your interrogation?" Because it had certainly been an interrogation. She knew Father. "She's our guest."

"She's your guest," Father replied. "And that is, indeed, the only reason I remained cordial. Despite their obstinance. And rudeness." He raised two unimpressed eyebrows. "Especially the fox."

Rosalie winced. Delta was irreverent in the best of scenarios. Caught off guard by a sudden meeting with Enzo d'Celestin, finding out he was Rosalie's father, she couldn't have reacted well.

Rosalie took a breath.

Before she could speak again, though, Father burst back into motion. A series of strikes and blows rained onto her. Rosalie started fighting back, if by nothing but instinct. By the end of the exchange, she was being pressed to an inch of her limits, barely able to deflect or dodge each attack.

When Father retreated, he seemed mildly confused.

Not impressed.

Confused.

"What advancement are you, Rosalie?"

Rosalie's heart jumped

"Fourth," she replied.

"Fourth?"

It took a lot to shock a Guildmaster of a Highguild. It was the reason she'd insisted upon completing one more shard. For the opportunity to reach fourth advancement in such a short amount of time, an achievement even Father would be stunned by. And she'd gotten the reaction she'd wanted.

For such an enormous success in only a few weeks of wayfaring, he might forgive some of her … dallying. That was why she'd risked Lucinda's ire.

And … maybe the less-acknowledged part of her would admit … she had simply wanted to impress Father.

"How is that possible?" he asked. "Which runes did you receive? I assume not one. Two? Three?"

Father had received three, and that was a mind-boggling blessing. Even two was considered an omen of favor from the Gods. Both Charlotte and Elodie had gotten two.

Zoey having four was, of course, simply unheard of. An absurd situation. Like everything about that woman.

But the rarity of one's runes mattered more than the quantity, frankly. In which Rosalie had gotten exceptionally lucky. Or been especially blessed—however receiving one's runes worked. Even Father only had a single superior, like Rosalie. Neither of her sisters had gotten one.

Zoey, again, was the only person she'd ever heard of receiving a 'mythic'. Since runes and items followed the same rarity scheme, they knew mythics existed: her Father owned many items of such quality. But a 'rare' and 'superior' rune was much less common than an item of that rating.

"Two. A superior and a rare," she said, answering what would have been his follow-up question. "And I don't know which have been upgraded," she continued dryly. "Because I haven't had an opportunity to check."

"Ah. From your latest shard?"

"Yes."

"Go ahead, then. Tell me." Father leaned against his spear, making it clear he wouldn't continue to test her.

Though it was only a brief reprieve. She had a suspicion that when he returned to the topic of Zoey, Delta, and Maddy, she would be facing a vicious onslaught. He had always liked to spar when interrogating her. Certainly, it was an effective strategy. It was exceptionally difficult to organize her thoughts when having her defenses prodded by one of the most skilled duelists in the world.

Rosalie closed her eyes and checked on her abilities.

Rune of Trailblazing (Superior)

[1]: Seek. Locate nearby shards of specified advancement.

[2]: Forge Ahead: Deal bonus damage and gain resistances while moving and while facing targets head-on.

[3]: Lead the Charge. Engaging with the first strike of combat deals massive additional damage.

[4]: Titanslayer. Deal bonus damage to enemies of similar or higher advancement, scaling proportionally.

Rune of the Spearmaster (Rare)

[1]: Spear Mastery: Deal bonus damage and better intuit enemy movements when wielding a spear.

[2]: Impale: Lunge with an empowered strike. Armor-piercing.

[3]: Reach: Bend and distort spear strikes, amplifying their length, or turning corners.

[4]: Phalanx: While fighting to the side of a shield-bearer, gain additional damage and a portion of their resistances for yourself.

She paused, taking in the implications of both her new skills. Titanslayer was interesting. Perhaps especially as it related to her future. While they were only tackling equivalent and lesser-advancement shards thanks to Zoey's newness and their lack of a full team, that wouldn't last forever. In fact, considering the woman's absurd strength—and how she spread that benefit to them—it was quite likely they would begin tackling shard above their own advancement, soon. She didn't know when, but definitely down the line.

Phalanx demanded they select their fifth team member, and specifically, a shield-bearer. Seeing how they needed a proper dedicated Guardian—a front-line damage-absorber and attention-holder—to round them off, it was as if the skill had been delivered by the heavens.

Considering her girlfriend's relation to a literal Goddess, that might even be true. But Rosalie hesitated to ascribe everything to that. In fact, Ephy seemed reticent to interfere in anything too directly. She acted mostly through Zoey, besides the initial intervention, when Ephy had thrust Zoey upon her.

Literally thrust Zoey upon her. A little shiver went through Rosalie, remembering that incident with the coffin. Crammed in, naked, together, barely a few inches to move amongst the two of them.

She banished the thought from her mind. Not the time or place to be reminiscing over that.

There was a lot to go over. Father would want to know all of her skills, perhaps as much as he wanted to know what she'd been up to, and who Zoey, Delta, and Maddy were. Or more so, who they were to her.

So she began explaining, beginning with her runes, skills, and advancement. Those practical topics at least bought her time to, in the back of her mind, finish formulating her plan for how she was going to navigate the other, stickier topics.

And there was no more delaying, no more deflecting. Father was here, and he would want to know everything.

Heavens, though. Where to begin?