6.71 – The Fifth

6.71 – The Fifth

Astrid had been initially doubtful of the team—aside from Rosalie of course—but demonstrations of each of their classes seemed to raise her confidence, so far as Zoey could tell. While she remained a bit disapproving of Zoey's general lack of training, her skills were strong enough, and she'd made enough progress in a short amount of time, that even she got a stamp of approval in the form of an appreciative grunt.

The event lasted around two hours. Afterward, Enzo pulled Astrid aside to speak with, dismissing the rest of them. That left them alone to discuss, and there was a lot to go over.

"Well," Maddy said. "I like her, I think."

"I'm just glad we won't have to deal with another snooty noblewoman," Delta said. "One is enough." She elbowed Rosalie. "No offense, Princess."

Rosalie raised an unimpressed eyebrow and, like usual, ignored the jab. "Astrid Asorak of the Harkvalen might as well be nobility," she told the group. "She's the daughter of the Chieftain of an extremely well known and moderately powerful wayfaring faction."

"It's the attitude, I mean," Delta said. "She's straightforward. A bit rude, honestly, but I'll take that over your kind of nobility ten times out of ten." She coughed. "Again, no offense."

"None taken," Rosalie said dryly. She turned to Zoey. "And you? What do you think of her?"

Zoey considered. "We can only get to know someone so well in two hours, especially with your dad watching over us. But sure, I like her. Seeing how he could've picked just about anyone, that's a win in and of itself, I would think."

"True," Rosalie said. "I didn't expect him to go to the Harkvalen. In retrospect, maybe I should have. It almost seems obvious, now that I think about it. But I really expected him to pick someone ... closer to home."

"She's nasty with that shield of hers," Delta said. "Is it really a dragon's scale?"

"I doubt she'd lie about that."

"Had to have been a giant fucking dragon, for a single scale to be that size. One hell of a fight, I bet." She paused, then shivered. "Seeing how fast we're progressing, I guess it won't be long before we're going up against stuff like that. Crazy to think about."

Zoey agreed. She said to Maddy, "There was something you wanted to say earlier but didn't. What was it?"

"Ah," Maddy said. "Right, well, you were asking about the Harkvalen, specifically cultural stuff that might be relevant to our situation. Rosalie knows more, so stop me if I'm wrong, but I think progression and clearing shards is basically a religious rite to them? They're very intense warriors, it's basically their whole lifestyle."

Rosalie didn't contradict her, and honestly, Zoey hadn't expected her to. "Picked up on that myself, I think."

"My point is," Maddy said, "if the Harkvalen are all about fighting and clearing shards, it's possible that she might not want them to be, um—modified? Turned ... lewd?"

Rosalie paused. "I didn't consider that," she said thoughtfully. "Yes, that could be a problem. Not necessarily, though. Even shards under the full influence of Zoey's class have plenty of combat. And I think the faster progression would outweigh the cultural love for fighting."

"It depends on how she sees it," Maddy agreed. "But I wouldn't think it's a non-zero chance she dislikes 'lewd shards' on some cultural basis. Like I said, clearing them is basically a religious rite to the Harkvalen. Right?"

"Mm," Rosalie said. "Not in a literal sense. They're just ... very enthusiastic fighters." She pursed her lips. "On the topic of compatibility," she said mildly, glancing at Zoey. "Thoughts?"

"With tits like those?" Delta snorted. "I don't think anyone would mind bonding with her, much less our dear pervert here."

"We're assuming rather heavily that the shard stabilizer will just work the way we hope it does," Maddy said.

"Description seemed straightforward," Delta said. "But yeah, haven't had it inspected yet. Speaking of that, has there been any news on Fe?"

"Not yet," Zoey said. "But it hasn't been long. She made it seem like there were good odds, but also that it wasn't a guarantee. Picking up an entire life somewhere and moving is an ordeal, I wouldn't blame her if she decided against it."

"Fair," Delta said. "Might have to consider making another contact for item identification."

Rosalie grimaced. "There's simply no one I would trust to not report to my father. The d'Celestins are too famous here, in the heart of Deepshunters territory. And you three will be soon enough too, don't misunderstand that. So it can't just be one of you either."

"Masks? Fake identity?"

"Comes with their own problems," Rosalie said. "But yes. That would be a half solution, if it comes to it." She sighed. "I would prefer to give it a bit longer and simply hope Fe decides it's worth her time."

"She was fascinated by our style of artifacts," Zoey started

—"And your dick," Delta snickered—

"So I think the odds are higher than they are low. Just gonna be a bit of a wait. I'll ask Sabina? The two of them were," she paused. "Colleagues, at least, I don't know about friends." Fe had been the one to refer Zoey to Sabina in the first place, something which Zoey would be eternally grateful for.

"I think we can trust the artifact will serve its most basic function," Rosalie said. "It'll stabilize the shard and remove the influence of Zoey's class so we can delve regularly with Astrid. There just might be other unexpected effects, or perhaps interactions." She shrugged. "As with any item dug out of a shard."

"What about the Item Smelter?" Maddy chimed in. "We figure out what we're doing with that?"

"I'd prefer to have it properly inspected," Rosalie said. "But it also has a straightforward description, so maybe we can use it as-is." She hummed. "That'll be for Zoey and Sabina to figure out."

"We'll need to sort through what we want to melt down and keep," Maddy said. "I can't believe we'll be able to turn items into permanent stats."

"I have no doubts there will be limitations, and specific interactions," Rosalie said. "Hence why maybe it's smarter to wait for a full inspection."

"True, true," Maddy said. "I'm curious though."

"As am I," Rosalie said. "It would be a waste to melt our stronger earnings only to find out we'd done something wrong and wasted them. If we take it to a team vote, I would hold off on using it."

Maddy wavered, but then sighed. "No need for a vote," she said. "You're right, of course."

"When's the next shard happening, anyway?" Delta asked, which Zoey found amusing, since it was rare for her to corral them back on topic. "Sooner rather than later, I assume?"

"Depends on Astrid," Rosalie said. "And my father, to some extent. But I'm sure we'll know before the day is up."