7.09 – Trial Run III

7.09 – Trial Run III

Since there was little reason to not bring Astrid up to a comfortable level of rage—or Bloodlust as the Harkvalen girl called it—Zoey cast the spell before they ascended the staircase to the next room.

In small increments, she inflamed the emotions of the shield-bearer. Astrid grunted "more" several times before an eventual "enough" cut her off. By then, she was well and fuming. At least, that was what the set of her jaw and the fiery look in her eyes suggested. She was shuddering with her anger, shoulders quaking and her knuckles white on the grip of her shield.

That was the level of anger that this woman considered 'routine'? What was her emergency level? White-out rage where she couldn't even think? Frankly, she already seemed to be there. Trembling in anger was a point Zoey had reached only a handful of times in her life.

Delta tilted her head, tall fox ears twitching in interest as she studied the warrior. "What's that like, anyway?"

Red eyes turned to Delta. "Clarify," she said calmly. Though, unlike before, with an edge to her voice, not fully able to mask her emotional state.

"You look ready to rip someone's throat out."

"I am."

"So what's that like? You can fight like that, and not—you know? Lose control?"

"Control," Astrid repeated. She grinned, and it was all teeth. Zoey's heart rate picked up. Not out of fear, but... uh, well, a bit of fear, but also other emotions. "Control is a matter of perspective."

"Huh," Delta said. She paused briefly. "You ever fuck someone like that?"

"D-Delta!" Rosalie protested in shock, even as Astrid blinked.

"Sorry, is that too personal?" Delta laughed. "It's just where my head went. Everyone knows there's nothing quite like a hate fuck, and," she waved up and down at Astrid, "that's gotta be the closest you can get, artificially."

Rosalie looked horrified Delta had asked such a crude question, especially with no lead-up, but Astrid surprised both of them when she laughed.

"Is a good question," she mused. "But would be dangerous, no? Get distracted, lose your head, and ..." She let the obvious go unsaid.

Having cleared many rooms by now, Zoey realized the shard really was normal. She guessed that could still change, but by all accounts, the Shard Stabilizer seemed to have worked. Only the boss room might be affected. And maybe not even then? Hopefully not. They wanted to get to know Astrid with this trip, and not throw her into the deep end. A set of busty lava elementals trying to fuck Zoey was the last thing they needed.

Though she might appreciate the encounter nonetheless, tragic as it would be to their mission.

After an hour and a half of studious monster-clearing, they ran into their first loot room: a vault guarded by a thick metal door that was already ajar. After inspecting for traps, they peeked in and saw their first loot chests.

Zoey was always excited for loot, because of course she was. For the first time, though, she ended up disappointed.

All they received were... normal items. A dagger, a pair of boots, and a decently potent healing potion. Zoey might have appreciated the mundane items if they'd been incredible, but they weren't even that. Normal, with seemingly average effects. Much worse than they could expect to equip themselves via Rosalie's family vault. Even not that great for what could be found on the market.

Just average.

And there was the grand flaw in locking down divine influence on a shard. Zoey had expected it, but still. No nymphomaniac slimegirls demanded to be fucked to death—or at least into a catatonic state—meant no sex items of amazing strength-boosting power.

"Well, that's boring," Delta said, hands on her hips as she frowned at their haul.

Astrid turned a quizzical look her way. "Decent, I would think? For first loot room."

Delta paused, then shrugged. "Yeah, I guess," she said wryly. She met Zoey's eyes, and Zoey could read her thoughts: just, my standards have changed. Average loot? How lame.

Ah, well. Again, this shard was about Astrid. And to sate Zoey's curiosity on what a normal pocket-world might be like. Certainly, she wasn't bored. Lethal fights against other-worldly monsters were hardly uninteresting. Plus Zoey was getting a chance to stretch her metaphorical magical muscles in real fights, rather than against sparring partners.

Finally, the time arrived. Even going easy on her spellcasting, and rationing her abilities, Zoey's Lust ran out quickly, the biggest downside to her alternative-style mana pool.

So it was time to recharge.

And how were they going to manage that, with Astrid here?