Chapter 260

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.

“But you have tried it?”

Astrid smirked. She hefted her shield up and turned to the stairs.

“Perhaps.”

Delta shared a grin with Zoey, wiggling her eyebrows, to which Zoey gave a roll of her eyes.

Though, good to know. Delta had performed a useful bit of reconnaissance. Astrid’s response suggested she wasn’t too flustered to talk about such topics, though the euphemism she’d also said that she was hardly as free in attitude as, say, Delta.

Rosalie still looked appalled at Delta’s question. Zoey knew it was because, where she might have grown slightly more liberal to the idea of sex, Astrid was one of her father’s allies—a member of ‘wayfaring society.’ So impropriety flustered her much more than when they were in private. Even if feeling out Astrid was the point of today’s mission.

Astrid led them up the stairs. They ascended into a new room. This one was much more densely furnished compared to the previous. It seemed to be a study of some kind, with many stocked bookshelves of multi-colored tomes. The stone brick wall was curved, and Zoey suspected they were in a tower of some sort. A wizard’s tower, for lack of further context? That seemed like something a dungeon might take shape as.

In the following fight against two more sets of armor—these ones with orange lights emanating from their neck-holes rather than green—Astrid demonstrated how valuable her raised Bloodlust was. She was faster, stronger, and tougher, and not by a small amount. The only downside was that a certain wildness had crept into her actions. Yet, nonetheless, she did move with precise, practiced motions. Fully in control. Or ... mostly. Zoey would have known just from watching that the woman’s rage had been kindled.

The monsters died without fanfare, though Zoey would never call it routine, because she was fighting monsters. Something natives of this world might shrug their shoulders at, but Zoey was from Earth, and while her perspective and norms might have adjusted, she would always stay aware of how insane her new life was.

Her theory of ‘wizard’s tower’ was confirmed as they cleared room after room. The next encounter was a collection of elemental golems inside a workshop; the one after that was a large empty ritual chamber; and then some sort of storage room lined with shelves of ingredients.