Mantle of the Gods [LitRPG / Slow Burn / FTB Harem]

The four worst words to start a conversation with.

It felt almost like I was walking into the head nun's office after some of us orphans had been roughhousing and broken a window. It didn't help that my mind started coming up with excuses and justifications for something that I realized I hadn't even been present for when it happened.

I closed the door behind me after I followed her into her room. She had taken the room diagonally across the hall from mine, so it wasn't far to walk. I sat down on the bed while she stripped out of her dirty clothes and put some clean ones on.

Once she was dressed she paused as she reached the bed.

I slid back to lean against the headboard and patted the space next to me. "Come on."

I knew her hesitation was born out of the restriction she was under against showing affection towards me. Her fear of being discarded had got her in trouble and Trent was trying to use some distance between the two of us to give her time to help realize that we weren't going to make her leave. I wasn't sure how much it was working, but right now she seemed like she could use some comfort.

Gesai slid across the bed and put her head in my lap. Neither one of us spoke for a while and I started rubbing her back just to give me something to do with my hands.

"How bad is he?" Her voice cracked when she spoke.

"Last I checked, he was stable." I nodded at the door, then mentally berated myself because she couldn't see me. "How have they been?"

She rolled over slightly so she could look at me. "Is there a chance that Klix will help us if we kick Pixie out?"

Honestly, I wasn't sure what Klix was doing to help me while I was working other than overseeing me. I'd have to ask her about that in the morning, provided that she would let me work on Astrid's seal.

"Doubtful…" I gently stroked her cheek and she turned her face so she could lean into my touch. "Is she really that bad?"

The look Gesai gave me told me the answer, but she said it anyway.

"She's up front and constantly getting in Oz's way. Shelly is having to maneuver around the two of them tripping over each other and Ren is having to pick up the slack and heal him since he's getting hurt more than he should." She sighed. "Jenne is the only one who even remotely gets along with her. It's like the girl has to irritate everyone!"

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Is Kara helping?"

"Not as much as I'd like…" Gesai looked at the door. "She tries, but it's like she doesn't know if Pixie is her boss or if I am, which gives the little tyrant all the opportunity she needs to start her next antics before we can get her current one sorted." She looked back at me. "If she doesn't stop trying to irritate Oz, the girl is going to learn real fast what Oz's knuckles taste like."

I mentally heard Aelin's response to that and shook my head. That woman was rubbing off on me.

"What would you have done if someone like her had been in your class?"

The glare I received told me all I needed to know. Gesai preferred to hit things.

"I'd rather just lock them in a room and keep them there until they figure it out." She sighed. "And that's probably what Trent would do, but I've not been doing this for decades like he has. And I definitely don't think Klix would give me a fraction of the respect she has for him."

She had a point there. I wasn't sure what the Goddess's reaction would be if something happened to Pixie, but I doubted it would be good. For some reason, Klix had a soft spot for Trent, but she didn't seem to care for regular Adventurers at all. In fact, Gesai might have had a better chance if she'd been a Mundane.

The silver woman rolled onto her back so she could look up at me and pushed into my chest. "You don't have to take so long to disagree with me."

I put my hands over hers and looked into her green eyes. "I'd rather not lie to you." I bit my lip as I tried to think of something they could try.

"Do you want Rix?"

Gesai's eyes got wide. "I was talking about maybe getting a little physical, not killing her!"

She started laughing before I could respond.

I shook my head. "You knew what I meant."

The older woman nodded slowly. "Yeah." She sighed. "Honestly, it'd probably help. I'm down a member, so it would help them train better. But I don't want them to start expecting Astrid to be able to hold her own like Rix can."

"I don't know, You remember their fight in the pit. Astrid looked fairly competent." Rix did have a weird way of being able to stay out of other people's way until she was needed and she could go off solo and handle herself, but from what I'd learned, Astrid had learned most of how to fight before she got her mantle and had been fighting in pits for far too long on her own. There might not be much slack that the rest of the group would have to pick up once Astrid joined.

"I also doubt Rix will carry them." I chuckled. "You know how she is."

"You sure you don't need her?"

I sighed. "I'm going to talk to Klix and see if we can't do something to speed this up, but with what she has me doing right now, the only one I really need is Fray."

We both looked over at the door as it opened. Ether walked in and started to say something, but took one look at us and slipped into the room, closing the door behind her.

"What's up?" I scooted over so she could sit down next to me, forcing Gesai to rotate a little as well.

Ether wrapped her arms around my right arm and laid her head on my shoulder. Her silence told me enough. It'd been a long day and it wasn't long before her slow, rhythmic breathing let me know that she'd fallen asleep.

I nudged Gesai, but she wasn't budging either. Both women had succumbed to exhaustion in the silence. I tried to settle in as best I could.

There was a lot to do in the morning.