This Ascent to Divinity is Lewder Than Expected

6.24 – An Unhappy Mentor

Zoey walked through the inky black portal, feeling the cool, otherworldly material engulf her skin. She closed her eyes as her face hit the surface, taking one long stride to pass through.

Her foot met the ground in a totally different dimension. She squinted as she opened her eyes, the dim, hot environment of the magma caverns all at once replaced with a bright, cool meadow. After so many hours spent in the sweltering complex, the breeze was nearly blissful.

"Oh, man," Delta said, stretching her arms above her head. "That's nice." She closed her eyes and faced the sun, basking in the glow. "I almost forgot what it was like not being in a sauna."

Zoey likewise took a moment to absorb the pleasant new environment.

"Guess that means we don't need the suits anymore," Delta said. "Can I get my zipper back?"

"Are you going to control yourself?" Rosalie asked.

"Does that sound like me?"

Rosalie eyed her.

"I will wear it into town, if you force me to," Delta said. "So it's not like you have much choice."

Rosalie huffed, but, knowing it was true, withdrew the zipper from her inventory and tossed it to Delta. The foxgirl snatched the item out of the air, stuck the bit of her metal to her neckline, and pulled down. Rather than teasingly, as before, she simply peeled herself out of her suit, getting changed for the long trip ahead.

Zoey and the rest of the team did the same. She tried depositing the bodysuit into her inventory before removing it, but the piece of gear was unique in that aspect: it had to be manually taken off before it could be stored. And probably manually equipped, too.

"Oh," Zoey said, looking down at the glossy white material in her hands. "It has a description now."

Bodysuit of Malleable Protection: Grants enormous elemental resistance. Must be the only major piece of gear equipped.

"It does?" Maddy asked, glancing down at the white bundle of latex in her own hands. "Oh. Yeah, it does."

Earlier, the bodysuits had given no information when they'd tried to peer at them in that supernatural way. Upon completing the shard, they must have converted into regular items and received a description in turn.

Enormous elemental resistance, too? That sounded pretty good.

"Could be useful, depending on the situation," Rosalie commented. "Not being able to equip other gear is a pretty significant downside, though."

"Lets us swim through lava," Delta said. "So fair enough." She hummed. "Besides, half the time we're not allowed to have regular gear, so it might not even be a problem."

Rosalie grunted in agreement.

The four of them continued getting changed. Soon, they were dressed in regular traveling gear, with sturdy boots and loose, comfortable, durable clothing.

Delta frowned at Rosalie.

"What?" the blonde asked, catching the look.

Delta sighed. "Nothing. Just gonna miss the view."

Rosalie glared at her, before turning to Zoey, expecting support.

But Rosalie had to know what Zoey's response would be, by now. "It is kind of a tragedy," Zoey agreed. "Especially standing in the backline. It's a great view." Getting to watch Rosalie dart around in that vacuum-sealed suit had been a treat. Almost better than the naked shards, in some ways. She said another silent thank-you to the item gods that they got to keep the suits. Delta was right; they would definitely be finding a way to play with them some more.

Rosalie huffed, but she hadn't really expected anything else from Zoey. "We're well within Deepshunters territory," she said, ignoring the lewd comments with a roll of her eyes, "so finding a guide back to Mantle shouldn't be difficult. I assume we're less than a two-day trip away. Though it depends on how far the shard has thrown us." She looked around at the stretching green plains. "Maybe only a day. Or less. Who knows."

"At least we're not dealing with the snow bullshit, like last time," Delta said.

Those traveling conditions had been unpleasant. While the tall meadow grass surrounding them was hardly a flat hiking trail, it beat wading through waist-high snow, through a blizzard, in the freezing cold.

"We're on the home stretch," Zoey said. "Hopefully Sabina and everyone made it back fine, by now."

Rosalie grimaced at the reminder. "Lucinda's not going to be happy about our detour," she said. "I'm not looking forward to that."

"She'll understand, once you explain," Zoey said.

Rosalie hummed noncommittally. Zoey could intuit she didn't agree. And Rosalie knew the woman better than Zoey.

"Let's keep it moving," Rosalie said. "I promised her we wouldn't delay."

***

They were only two hours into their return trip when it happened. It seemed that their reunion with Lucinda was happening far sooner than in the capital city of Mantle.

Zoey wasn't even sure what drew her attention upward, to the clear blue sky, rather than keeping her gaze on her feet, watching for obstacles as she trudged across the terrain at a quick jog. Some unexplainable sixth sense, perhaps, making the hair on the back of her neck raise, alerting her to danger.

There, up in the sky, a black dot was rocketing forward, headed straight toward them.

"What is that?" Zoey asked.

She barely got the sentence out before the dot streaked down. Before Zoey could even come to a stop, the unknown assailant arrived.

Lucinda hit the ground like a meteor. The earth trembled, a shockwave of earth and debris flying out from the epicenter of the impact. Zoey stumbled backward, throwing up her arms to shield her face as a cloud of dust and loose grass blasted over her.

She squinted through the settling dust cloud to make out the figure standing in the center of the fresh crater. Lucinda cut an intimidating figure, clad head-to-toe in sleek, elegant black armor. Full plate mail covered every inch of her frame, a set of gear that was nearly ominous-looking, with wicked points and edges making up the obsidian metal. Lucinda gripped an enormous black spear in her hand—the only way Zoey recognized the woman, having seen it back at the guild, during their encounter with the cultists—and the length of the deadly weapon cleared eight feet long.

The smoldering red eyes of her helmet fixed on them with an intensity that made Zoey's stomach twist. She found herself paralyzed, rooted to the spot as Lucinda stalked towards them, climbing out of the miniature crater of her own creation.

Had she been flying? Or just hurling herself through the air, somehow? An item? Something else?

Her boots left gouges in the earth as she strode forward, her armor's harsh angles catching the sunlight, glinting menacingly.

"Lucinda?" Rosalie stammered, the first to find her voice.

The figure in black armor ripped off her helmet, which at least reduced the intimidation factor by revealing her face. If, admittedly, Lucinda's expression was nearly as unfriendly as the smoldering red eyes of her helmet.

"I went out of my way to accommodate you, brat," Lucinda growled. "Playing escort to a whole entourage, on your request. Despite my direct orders to return as quickly as possible. Then you run off for 'one more shard?'"

"How did you find us?" Rosalie asked, bewildered. "And so fast?"

The woman didn't reply, simply continued stalking toward them.

"There's extenuating circumstances," Rosalie said. "I can explain."

"I'm sure you can," Lucinda snorted derisively. "But I've decided that I'll be fulfilling my orders. Expeditiously, as requested."

Lucinda raised her gauntlet toward Rosalie, who stiffened.

"Lucinda, I—"

The woman swiped her hand down, and a black void engulfed Rosalie.

She simply … vanished.

Delta found her voice next. "What the fuck did you do to her?" The foxgirl took a threatening step forward. "Where did she—"

Another swipe and Delta disappeared next, swallowed by a ragged slash in the air.

The meadow was briefly quiet. The tall grass rustled gently in the wind.

Lucinda turned her gaze toward Zoey and Maddy. "I really should have done this to begin with," she said dryly. "Much simpler. Since when did the youth become so unruly?"

After a brief pause, Maddy tittered nervously. "Spatial storage artifacts are really rare," she said. "Much less ones that work on people. But if anyone had them, I suppose it would be the d'Celestins."

Lucinda quirked an eyebrow. "Capturing the daughter of the Moonlight Weaver could cause some … unpleasantness between factions." She stared hard at Maddy. "I don't believe Enzo would want that."

Maddy, again, tittered. "No, I don't think any of us do."

"So you'll cooperate?"

"I have a feeling I don't have much choice."

Lucinda stared at her.

Maddy stared back.

"Oh, fine," Maddy sighed. "It's not worth the trouble."

Another gesture and the mage disappeared too, sucked into whatever artifact the high-advancement wayfarer was using against them.

And so, it was just Lucinda and Zoey.

"Whose idea was it, anyway?" Lucinda asked. "That idiocy? To run off like that, when I was already going out of my way to accommodate you?"

Zoey hesitated.

"Mine," she said.

Lucinda's eyes narrowed. Zoey tried not to squirm under the woman's hard gaze.

"Liar," the older woman snorted. "You're trying to protect her. How cute."

Before she could reply, Lucinda waved her gauntlet one last time, and the world went black.