Hours later, after Dundee had finally let her leave, Seras returned to the inn where they had been staying at. She looked around to try and see if there was a sign proclaiming the Inn’s name, but the most Seras saw was a slightly bright patch in the outer paint. It most have too faded or unintelligible because her translation ability didn’t even offer her hints at what the place might have been called.

  She shrugged her shoulders and walked through the doors, enjoying the silence in her head for the first time in hours. Even when Spark wasn’t using Seras’ lungs to speak she was sending Seras constant texts. It was only when Seras was leaving the magic society campus that Spark said she needed some time to review and internalize all the data Seras’ body had stored. A process she claimed would take time since she was limited to Iron rank speeds.

  It was a bit disappointing that Seras wouldn’t be able to test out how Spark helped her in combat, but the familiar was very insistent on needing time to go over everything Seras might know.

  She entered the Inn and saw some members of the Caravan crew in the common area.

  Athena looked up from her book and hastily closed it. Seras got a quick look at the title and recognized the words, ranch hand, and passion.

  “No need to hide your porn from me, I promise I’ve seen worse.” Seras said to Athena.

  She flushed, “its not porn!”

  Seras quirked a brow, “oh yeah, pass it over and let me flip to a page at random,” Seras reached for the book and Athena yanked it off the table and tucked into a bag at her side.

  She glared at Seras, “you’re a pig.”

  Seras laughed as she flopped into a chair, then cursed and yelped as it snapped under her weight. “Fucken cheap-ass wood!”

  Athena frowned as Seras picked herself up from the scraps of wood. “That’s odd, you’re usually much more careful about how you sit?”

  Seras sighed, “it’s been a long and weird day.” She had been too relaxed around the Builder cultists, to the point that she was forgetting simple things like weak wooden constructions. It said a lot since she had spent maybe an hour at most around the strange magic cyborg cultists.

  Seras mentally paused and went back over that last sentence; her life really had gotten weird.

  “How’d it go then, was the Magic society director upset?”

  Seras frowned as she tried to recall the original reason she had went to the magic society, “oh, yeah for a bit. He thought we were do some-sort of soul torture research, nearly bit my head off before I could explain it. That man is not stable.”

  It had worked out to her benefit today, but Seras felt bad for the people who had to regularly deal with his manic mood shifts.

  Athena sucked in a breath through her teeth, “that’s not good, I heard that research with suspected potential for that sort of thing gets shut down hard.”

  Seras frowned, “okay, not that I’m condoning it, but why. Torture is awful, but that sounds like a bit of an overreaction.”

  Athena shook her head, “most soul-based experiments and research is a taboo, because all of it usually relies on Soul torture. Its one of the only way of effectively breaking through the inviolability of the soul. And the after math of soul torture isn’t pretty. I had an uncle who took out a rouge research group working on that thing, he said there’s no way of coming back from that.”

  Seras scowled, “why the hell would anyone do something so needlessly cruel, I mean besides for purely sadistic purposes.”

  Athena glanced around the room before leaning in, “I’m not even supposed to know this, but there’s some rumors about the people surviving it getting ridiculously strong aura’s or developing weird powers. But from what I hear it’s not reliable at all. They won’t even put a percentage on the odds of coming out stronger for fear of others trying to replicate it.”

  Seras frowned; aura was a direct expression of power through the soul. Just what kind of pain were they talking? Was it comparable to her own pain? Would Spark know?

  She shook her head, recognizing exactly where her thoughts might lead. There was a difference between painful and tough training and whatever the hell that was. No power gain would be worth the sort of pain you’d need to endure. Seras closed her eyes as her own soul pain seemed to flare up as her conscious mind was made aware of it.

  Then it vanished,

  “Stop that,” Seras hissed.

  Athena looked paler than before but the resolve within her eyes was unshakable. “Just for a bit, let me take a bit of your burden.”

  Seras scoffed, but didn’t press Athena further on it. She enjoyed just siting there without the constant pain pressing in on her.

  The table shook violently as someone new intruded in on their privacy, “I’m borrrred,” Petra whined.

  Seras quirked her brow at the petulant moan from the hulking Leonid. “Okay, and?”

  Petra glared at Seras, “you’re so mean, I’m bored, and the boys are all going to see some dumb fist fight in town.”

  “Then why didn’t you got with them?” Seras asked.

  “Because I refused to go,” Athena said as if that made complete sense.

  “And you were gone,” Petra added.

  Seras snapped her fingers, “oh, you weren’t interested in a sausage-fest.”

  Athena gaped at her, “pig!” she squeaked.

  Petra just laughed, “yeah. I think its time for us to have a girls night, I’m tired of always being surrounded by men.”

  She glanced to Athena, “well, I didn’t have any plans for the evening.” She’d probably use this as one last bit of fun with the crew before she returned to give Havre her answer.

  Athena sighed, “I guess it beats reading.”

  Petra looked amused, “Were you reading that book I lent you, the one with the big handsome-,”

  Athena shot up quickly, “I need to go freshen up.” She nearly shouted that last sentence before hastily rushing upstairs.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Seras leaned over, “a handsome what?”

  Petra grinned, “Merman.”

  “Hmm, sexy fish.”

  ~~~*~~~

  Seras didn’t have any clothing that was especially feminine, so she just put on her nicest vest and used a bit of crystal wash on her hat to get it really clean.

  Athena on the other hand had sought out a wider array of clothing options than what Seras had available. It was a light blue blouse matched with a long skirt of the same color, with a black sash tied above her hips to give it all the appearance of being one piece. She had long black gloved that went unto her elbows beneath the sleaves of her blouse, and topped it all off with a black wide brimmed hat.

  “Hmm, you went native fast,” Seras commented.

  Athena blushed, “you think? It’s certainly not what I’m used to. But I like it.”

  “I don’t,” Petra said while pulling at her color. “These damn Smoulder fashions get stuffy.”

  “These are Smoulder clothes?” Athena asked.

  “Yeah, Ronnacast is big fashion hub for the five deserts. They’ve got a monopoly on grazing lands for all the wool. Dust apparently got his start moving textiles out of his home kingdom.”

  “Its fine for smelly humans, but us Leonid’s need less material.”

  “Then wear less, you can at least ditch the dustcoat,” Seras pointed out.

  “It completes the look, and no tailor will sell me anything more revealing. They say its to indecent and not safe.”

  Complaints aside Petra did look fetching in her own way. She wore the more masculine fashions just like Seras did. But unlike Seras who had found her own ways to make pants and vests look feminine, Petra leaned hard into the more masculine look. Solid stompy boots, straight pants that didn’t cling to her legs, and pinstriped button up that made her chest feel broader than it really was. All tied together with a blue bandanna tied around her neck.

  “So, where we heading?” Seras asked.

  Petra grinned as she stopped fiddling with her collar, “I know a few places, do you want to dance, watch a play, or get drunk off our asses?”

  Seras thought on that, “Well, normally I’d say let’s get shit faced-,”

  “That’s disgusting!” Athena snapped while making a disgusted face.

  “- but I’m feeling a little jittery. Might be a good excuse to see how dancing works in this world.”

  Petra frowned, “why, how does it work on your world?”

  Seras opened her mouth, and then paused to look at Athena, “if I say anything your just gonna call me a pig aren’t you?”

  “Only if its crude,” she retorted.

  Petra stepped up behind Athena and cup her huge harry hands over her ears, “is that better?”

  “What?” Athena asked, unable to shift Petra’s arms with just her iron rank strength.

  “Much.” Seras agreed, “Its basically no different than what goes on in the bedroom, except standing up and with at least one extra layer of cloth. It very close together with plenty of rubbing."

  Petra grinned, “sounds fun.”

  “I think so, but I’m looking forward to seeing whatever you guys do.”

  Petra removed her hands from Athena’s ears.

  Athena glared at Seras, “Pig.”

  “You didn’t even hear it!” Seras protested.

  “Doesn’t matter, any answer that requires covering my ears is a boorish one.”

  “Ha, boorish, Athena sometimes you sound like an up stuck noble,” Petra guffawed.

  Athena’s face froze, “Its stuck up, not up stuck.”

  “See, that right there, don’t tell me your actually some sort of runaway princess or some nonsense?”

  “Hey, are we gonna stand around all night or are we gonna go dancing?” Seras asked, intervening to distract Petra and save Athena from any further awkward questions.

  “Oh, right, lets go already.” Petra agreed.

  ~~~*~~~

  Left step, right step, back and forth, swing your partner, and then switch. The lively fiddle and stomping beat kept everyone in the hall moving to the beat as they began the next rotation.

  There was a simple repetition to the steps and movements, but that was because anything more complex would trip people up at the pace they were going. Dancing here was a raucous and communal thing, with the men lining up on one side and the women on the other, switching partners with every three repetitions. Seras had lined up on the men’s side while Petra and Athena had stood on the woman’s side. There were a few moments of confusion as Seras went through her first few female partner who weren’t Athena or Petra, but she quickly took the lead and they found themselves laughing as Seras twirled them about.

  And then while dancing she found herself dancing with a third familiar face. A cute cherubim face, piercing eyes, and blonde hair pushed up into a bun leaving her pointed elf on full display. “Alicia Caras, isn’t this a surprise, I never would have expected to see you in a place like this.”

  She smiled, but a part of it didn’t reach her eyes, “well, after weeks of you avoiding me I figured I needed to change track,” She replied.

  “I haven’t been abvoiding you.”

  “Then why haven’t you used that token I gave you?”

  “Ah, that’s because there’s a difference between avoiding someone and blindly walking into a potential trap.”

  “It was my home, I had no intentions of ambush.”

  “There are many kinds of ambushes, not all of them are violent.”

  She stared at Seras for a long moment, searching her face for clues. “Dustin mentioned my interest then?” she asked eventually.

  “First thing he told me when I asked why you might be poking around my business.”

  “Damn all honest men, they make being shifty so much harder than it needs to be.” She cursed with a wry smile.

  Seras kept an ear to the music, “if you have something to say then I’d recommend you say it now, this round is ending soon.”

  She scowled, “damn you to Cross, can’t play any games worth a damn in this time frame.”

  “You could always try bluntness and honesty?”

  “No fun,” she stuck her tongue out. Despite herself Seras actually found herself laughing at the childish display. “Fine then, I want you, in my team that is. Well, to start.”

  “Your team?”

  “Yes, team Vermillion Heart, it is led by myself and is a gathering of all the greatest talents of Cupric. And I do mean talents, not just people of high status.”

  Seras sighed, “this is the third team I’ve been asked to join.”

  “You’ve already been petitioned?”

  “Yup, first by team Dune strider, and then by member of the caravan crew.”

  “I can see why you turned them down, team Dune Strider is a group of local oddballs, it is highly suspect that they’ll go very far. As for the caravan crew, I won’t insult your friends, but a team takes more than friendship to be successful.”

  Seras felt something in her gut twist, and she stared at Alicia with a more discerning eye. She was every bit the confident and aristocratic Adventurer she proclaimed herself to be. But there was a bit of… Seras didn’t quite have the word for it, chafing? It was as if she had thrown on a suit for a purpose but didn’t like the feel of it. It was akin to seeing a rookie first walk into Sin and Misery, they came in scowling, playing up their persona, trying to look like they belonged.

  Like she had looked when she first entered. What had she done back then… oh yeah, she had walked up to the scariest looking crew there and sat her ass down in the same booth. In hindsight she was lucky they only beat the crap out of her. Frost could have and would have slit her throat then and there if Heavy hadn’t decided he liked Seras’ attitude.

  The song ended, and instead of moving on to the next pairing Seras pulled Alicia off to the side where it was calmer.

  “Does this mean your interested?” Alicia asked.

  “It means you have a chance to talk, that’s all.” Seras leaned against the bar and stared Alicia down, “what’s the purpose of your team, why put together the best talents and then search out an unproven variable like me?”

  She frowned, “I think that would be obvious, we’re going for diamond, all of us. We’re the best talents in this tiny place with the best training our families could afford, but on our own, with mediocre teams we’ll only go as far as silver, and maybe not even that. If we want to hit diamond then we need to leave the deserts and head for the real high rank zones. Rimaros, Vitesse, maybe even one of the outposts on the diamond continent. Where ever we can thrive.”

  Seras frowned at the last one and tried to recall which one that was.

  [Spark] here, still busy.

  Seras nearly blinked at the new screen that popped up just now, it was an entry in the farmer’s almanac detailing the smallest of this worlds continents in the southern hemisphere, one that was almost entirely gold or diamond ranked. The information skimmed across her vision and Seras felt a slight buzzing in her head as she took in the long article in seconds.

  [Seras] Thanks.

  She directed her attention back to the elf before her. “But why though?”

  At this Alicia looked confused, “I’d that was obvious, diamond is the peak of personal power, the last one to appear in the deserts was during the bloody sands.”

  “And then what will you do with that power, why are you so driven? Or are just driven for ambitions sake?”

  She crossed her arms, “is there anything wrong with that?”

  Seras sighed, “not in principle I guess, it just feels hollow.” Seras remembered her own goals on Ruin. Rise to the top, get rich, gain power, die a legend. It had been everything to her before, but now it seemed petty and pointless. But then again, try as she might, she couldn’t think of any other worthwhile pursuit on that worthless world. Some Mercs got into the biz as a matter of course, just transitioning from gang work to contract work. Others were after the rare but valuable corporate backing, gaining top end augs, a spot on a space station, and supposedly a way to survive Ruin’s end. Some thought they could change things, but those either died or became a part of the problem.

  Seras had claimed to want to go all the way to diamond as well, but she didn’t have any goals beyond that. And it bothered her.

  She glanced towards Petra and Athena. Petra had found herself with a very familiar-looking Leonid, Dannias from the Adventuring society. While Athena had also stepped away from the dance floor and was silently watching Seras and Alecia. She didn’t know what she was going to do with the power she wanted to amass, but if she could protect her friends then that was fine for now.

  “Sorry, but that kind of thing isn’t appealing to me anymore,” Seras said.

  Alecia looked overt her shoulder at where Athena was standing, “I take it her family has already made you better offer then?”

  Seras frowned, “it seems you know more about my friend than I do. Please keep that to yourself.”

  Alecia turned back to her and quirked an eyebrow, “you don’t know? It’s pretty obvious.”

  Seras gestured to herself, “Outworlder, the things you think are obvious are complete mysteries to me. What I do know is that she’s my friend and has my back.” Seras extended an arm out to Caras, “thank you for your offer, but I think I’m fine with where I’m at.”

  She sighed, “and after all that work, a shame.”

  “I’m not ungrateful for the hand you offered, if there’s a way to pay that back then let me know.”

  Alecia shook Seras’ hand and left the dance hall with great poise and dignity.

  Seras glanced back to the dance hall and decided that she was up for another dance. The tone of the music had changed to a slower and more harmonious tune. Seras walked over to Athena and then wordlessly dragged her onto the dance floor as the other dancers found new partners for the more intimate slow dance.