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

We moved the RV to an empty warehouse.

Sydney didn't seem fazed at all by Whisper being there, though she also didn't seem fazed by Trent being unconscious, so maybe she was just used to weird things happening.

Fray had fallen asleep in the booth, so Oz and Rix had moved her into one of the bottom bunks. Ether had crawled into the one above that, then locked the screen.

I'd kind of been expecting her to have a reaction like this, which was part of the reason that I'd wanted to have her in on the conversation. I'd known it would have been far worse if I'd let Trent knock her out.

I hadn't been following the conversation, and after the third time Gesai looked at me for direction, I got up and walked out of the RV.

Sydney was treating the teacher like she was the one in charge. The spy was smart enough to pick up on a different dynamic between the two of us and since I didn't know how much Trent was comfortable divulging, I was just going to remove myself from the equation, especially since I was lost on what they were discussing anyway.

There wasn't anything in the Warehouse, so I moved up to the roof. It was a fairly clear night and the city noises seemed comforting in a weird way. Zeb had basically gone to sleep when the sun went down, so I found it fascinating how much the larger cities seemed to come alive at sunset.

I heard the door open and got excited as I turned around, but it was only Oz.

"Not who you were hoping for?" The brown woman smiled as she walked over to the edge and leaned next to me.

"I mean, I'm not disappointed you came up here; I just…"

"Was hoping it was Ether?" She bumped into me.

"Yeah." I looked into her green eyes. "Sorry. I'm glad you're here, though."

"It's okay." She turned around so her back was against the ledge. "For what it's worth, I think she'd like to be up here. But…" She grabbed my arm as I turned towards the door. "She needs some time to process everything. She feels like every time she gets close to someone, they turn out to be taking advantage of her." Oz let go of my arm. "She's not going anywhere, though."

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I let my shoulders drop as I turned back to the city. "How are you okay with all this?"

"I'm not."

I bristled at her admission.

"But Ether is processing, and Fray is panicking." She looked at me. "Gesai has to take charge, and Rix is…" She shrugged, "Already in the loop, I guess. But someone needs to be up here with you, so I'm it."

"Thanks." I touched her hand and was glad that she didn't pull it away. "What do you think about all of this?"

"I think it's a lot to take in." She shrugged. "Initially, I thought we were going to be one of those big dungeon farming families, with a force so strong that even the Gods would have to respect us." A gentle breeze played with her black hair. She brushed it back into place. "Now it looks like we will be the Gods."

"Not quite." It may have just been the nerves, but she looked like a beautiful beacon of hope. "I mean, our kids might be…" That felt really weird to say. "I mean, you won't become one." I saw a little disappointment on her face. "Sorry."

"I thought as much, but still. Are we going to get our own city? How does that even work?"

I eyed her. "You seem a little too excited for someone who's not okay with this."

"I'm not okay with how I was brought in." Oz clarified. "Looking back, this whole secondary class thing wasn't just to placate the Nobles, was it? It was so that you could keep an eye on us? Me, Ren, and Gesai?"

"It wasn't all it was…" I looked down at the city. "You know that because if it was, then I would have had a much different conversation with you when we were kidnapped."

"But it was a part of it?"

I shrugged. "I didn't ask for it, if that's what you're asking. This was a Trent decision, and he's not answering any questions at the moment."

"So you didn't want me here?" Her voice was soft, but also choked like I'd just punched her.

"Hey." I put my arm around her and pulled her close. "I'm a level four in a world where the highest-level Adventurer is downstairs unconscious because of something he touched." I ran my fingers through her short hair. "I'm just trying to not get squashed, so I don't even let myself think about what I want, because I know that most of it would earn a no faster than I could ask the question." I turned her face so that she was looking at me. "But I did tell Trent earlier that I wanted you to know. I wanted you to be able to be here..." I searched for anything reassuring on her face. "If you wanted to be."

Oz leaned forward and put her head on my shoulder. "I want to be."

I squeezed her tight and held her like that until I realized that she'd fallen asleep. I picked her up in both my arms and headed for the door. Something she'd said had struck a chord. I needed to start thinking about what I wanted. And right now, that was to get back the rest of my friends.