This Ascent to Divinity is Lewder Than Expected

6.56 – Training Facility III

"And you're fourth advancement?" Delta asked. "Dunno how good of a match we'll be, then. Both of us," she waved between Zoey and herself, "got skills that need practice before they're usable, for our fourth advancement. And that happened yesterday, so."

"Ah," Cordelia said. "I see. Nevertheless. You need not worry this is a power play. The request is earnest. I would like a sparring partner to warm up with, simple as that. And, admittedly, I wish to get a feel for Rosalie's teammates. But my goal isn't to establish myself, or similar. A friendly bout, on my word."

Delta considered her. "Wanna do a two-on-three, then? Maybe it'll be even that way." Her eyes flicked to Quinn. "What're you, anyway?"

"Fourth as well," Quinn replied calmly. For the most part, the dark-haired boy had been observing Rosalie's fights with Honor and their conversations with an air of impassivity. The initial wariness Zoey had seen seemed to have faded. Either they, or Rosalie, weren't as threatening as he'd worried.

"An arena would buy us privacy," Cordelia added. "Away from prying ears. Rosalie had the right of it, to step into one with Honor so quickly."

Delta turned an inquiring look at Zoey. Zoey shrugged. "We expected fights, coming here. It's why Enzo sent us, I'm sure. For the best if our first one is with someone friendly, right?"

Cordelia raised her eyebrows, and it took Zoey a second to realize it was probably because of how she'd used Enzo's name. Cordelia had called him Lord d'Celestin, and otherwise, he was simply 'the Guildmaster.' Casually addressing him by his first name was probably improper.

Then again, he was her girlfriend's dad. Even if Rosalie was hiding that from the general world, Zoey thought she was allowed some casualness with her family.

"In fact," Zoey said to Delta. "I bet that's part of why she's offering." She nodded at Cordelia. "The longer you keep us occupied, the longer we stave off the vultures, as Rosalie put it."

Cordelia laughed. "Perhaps," she said. "But even if I were being so altruistic, I'm not lying about wanting to test you three. I'm dying of curiosity. Nobody knows anything about you. Even dear Madeline, for all we know who her mother is."

"My family's kinda private," Maddy agreed.

"As Sovereign tend to be. So? You're interested?"

They shared another look. Zoey shrugged and faced Cordelia. "Sure. Should we leave Rosie alone, though?"

Even as she asked that, Honor was once again thrown across the arena, slamming into a shimmering magical shield that, for all intents and purposes, was a solid brick wall.

"She'll come find us. It seems Honor is being even more stubborn than usual." Cordelia sighed. "She'll have her good sense beaten into her eventually."

The five of them set off for the nearest arena. Unfortunately, none were adjacent to Rosalie's; they had to walk across half the courtyard. They stepped into their respective halves of the platform. Her skin tingled as she passed through the magical boundary. The sounds of the courtyard fell away, all the idle chatter disappearing.

"Much better," Cordelia said, voice clear in the newfound quiet. She unsheathed her sword in a fluid motion, baring six feet of shining metal with an ease that spoke to years of practice. A movement that was instinctive, ingrained, second-nature. "Now, tell me if I'm wrong, but a rogue-type and two mages, correct?"

"That's right," Zoey said.

"I'm afraid we have the upper hand on composition, then," Cordelia said. "You have no proper frontline."

The implication, of course, was that Cordelia handily served as a frontline on whatever team she joined. The armor and enormous sword had given that away. And yes, Zoey could see her point: she doubted a dagger-wielding rogue plus two mages were an ideal group to fight in. They had a numbers advantage, at least. She wasn't sure which way this fight would go, considering that.

"Gotta make do with what you have," Delta said. She unsheathed her daggers and spun them. "And don't get cocky. You think I can't hold your attention?"

Cordelia made a noise of appreciation. "I hope you can, dear. Warm ups shouldn't be too easy." She settled into a battle stance. "I'm afraid you have my blood itching. May we start? We can speak after."

Zoey had expected more conversation, perhaps Cordelia and Quinn trading some general descriptions of their classes and styles, but it seemed that wouldn't be happening. Maybe it was for the best it didn't. Adaptability was a skill that needed to be trained as much as any other. Most fights—the ones that mattered—wouldn't be sanitized duels in which she thoroughly knew her opponent. Most would be blind.

"Sure thing, beanpole," Delta said. "Try to keep up."

Without a countdown or any other indicator, the foxgirl burst forward in a streak of orange hair.

Zoey had gained a lot of experience during the past month. Especially in the last magma shard, she and Maddy had been in a number of tough scraps; she was growing more comfortable with analyzing combat scenarios and acting than ever.

That said, was she a woman who had been trained as a warrior since birth? Did she have remotely the same level of experience as the average wayfarer who hit fourth advancement, who would have run through dozens of shards, not a small handful like her?

For that matter, was she even all that talented at combat—because as much as practice, there were certain innate requirements to be 'one of the best,' as Cordelia, Rosalie's previous sparring partner, surely was.

The answer to the first two questions was resoundingly no. The third was probably a no, but how would she know if she had talent? She hadn't spent long enough trying to cultivate it.

She did, at least, not horribly embarrass herself. When the chaos of the two-on-three fight broke out, she maintained her bearing. For Delta, she activated Burst on Bolster, consuming a hefty chunk of Lust. The foxgirl descended on her Cordelia with a massive surge of strength and speed. Those two were the most effective abilities in Zoey's kit by far, as far as direct combat contributions went.

Zoey would have taken satisfaction in the way Cordelia's eyes widened in shock, but she stayed focused on their other opponent, trusting Delta could handle Cordelia—or at least keep her off her and Maddy.

Thus, it was two mages against one.

As Zoey quickly discovered, Quinn was a direct combat mage, not support and utility, like she and Maddy. With one hand resting on the leather-bound tome hanging on his belt, Quinn called forth enormous gouts of fire, drowning them in offensive magic. The fight began in earnest.

To their credit, they gave Quinn and Cordelia a run for their money. They had some advantages, their extra woman the most obvious of them, but also Zoey's absurdly strong runes. That said, they lacked a coherent composition, they lacked decades of training, and perhaps most importantly, she and Delta lacked practice with their key combat runes they'd earned the day prior. They weren't true fourth-advancement wayfarers until they could make use of those pivotal abilities. Delta didn't even bother calling her shadow. She probably thought the distraction would outweigh the benefits.

They lost. But it was close. When the fight came to a stop, Cordelia was breathing hard—though not a hair out of place. Zoey could read in her eyes that she was impressed. But also a bit … not disappointed, but curious; maybe she had expected more from Rosalie's teammates. Had expected something totally absurd, seeing how Enzo had allowed Rosalie to dismiss all other potential applicants in favor of them. But Zoey's abilities, at least so far, weren't overpowered in that way. She was a support mage, first and primarily. Though her lightning rune might change that.

Zoey discovered the arena did, in fact, have healing effects built in; they activated when combat ended. Fighting a fire mage was no fun at all. Burns were unpleasant. Thankfully, only seconds passed before she'd recovered.

"Well!" Cordelia said. "Good fight." She walked over and offered a hand to Delta, who lay back-first on the ground. The foxgirl forced a dazed gaze up and toward the hand. Frowning, she accepted it, though Zoey could see her ego was bruised.

Rosalie and Honor had finished their fights as well. They stood off to the side, having caught at least the tail-end of their bout. Rosalie didn't have any particular expression on her face. Honor was frowning. Or maybe pouting. She had been flounced a number of times in a row. She didn't seem like she'd been paying too much attention to Zoey's fight, instead stewing in her thoughts.

Zoey would have stayed on the platform and continued speaking with Cordelia—the swordswoman had pulled off a number of moves that Zoey was curious about—but with her eyes having flicked over to Rosalie, she spotted two people, a man and a woman, approaching. Maybe it was the sour expressions on their faces, or something else, that alerted Zoey.

Had it finally happened? Their first unfriendly visitors, rather than someone like Cordelia?

Either way, Zoey stood and stepped off the arena, the noise of the courtyard returning as she passed through its defensive membrane. She arrived at Rosalie's side just as the blonde was beginning to speak.

"Evander, Zinnia," she said icily. "How nice to see you two."

"You as well, Lady d'Celestin," the boy all but sneered. "I was wondering when you would grace us with your presence."