Chapter 251

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.”

Rosalie gave her an unimpressed look, but Zoey could tell that privately she agreed; she was pretty sure she’d caught even Rosalie stealing an appreciative glance or two.

At the topic of Astrid’s assets, Maddy visibly pouted, scuffing the floor with her foot in mock-dejection. “They’re so big,” she said forlornly. “How come all four of you got lucky, and I’m stuck with these?” She glared down at her own distinct lack of curvature.

“Hey, you’re hot as hell too,” Delta said. “Flat can be just as attractive. It depends on the girl.” She snickered. “Plus, since you’re the only one, it makes you a novelty. That’s worth something.”

“A novelty?” Maddy asked in protest.

“In a good way?” Delta said. “And you’re insanely cute.”

“Cute!” Maddy pouted even more dramatically, which only emphasized Delta’s point.

Rosalie, as she usually did, brought them back on topic. “Astrid,” she reminded Zoey. “Thoughts?”

“I think we’ll need to worry more about her preferences than mine,” she said diplomatically.

“Just say you wanna rail the barbarian girl,” Delta laughed. “It’s easy, I’ll do it too: I’d fuck Astrid’s brains out, if she let me.” She snorted. “Or she could mine, she seems like a girl who wouldn’t mind being on top. Never know though.” After a pause, she asked curiously, “You think that warpaint is just for her face, or her whole body?”

Rosalie and Maddy’s cheeks colored at the bluntness of the question, or maybe at the imagery produced by it, and Zoey was also briefly distracted wondering whether the paint covered other parts of her. The idea of stripping off that leather and fur armor to see swirling black paint across her entire body produced a rather appealing picture in her head.