Symbiotic Ascension : A Progression Fantasy Adventure

Lucian ignored all the noble guests' angry and disconcerted stares, instead choosing to stride up to Glenn and grab his shoulder with a happy smile.

"How do you like your new title, Count Glenn? Just letting you know, you'll get a noble family name of your choosing, unless you want the Throne to come up with one. I'd recommend letting us do it. Did you know we have an entire department dedicated to that specific task?"

Glenn gave Lucian an absent look. "What?"

"So yeah, now that you're a Count, that means you'll be able to do pretty much anything you want inside King's Rise, and in the entirety of Munirp really. As long as you don't betray the kingdom, money, power, and freedom will forever stay in your hands! And not to say, but I'm not the least worried about you betraying us, to be honest."

"Wait—"

Lucian continued, either oblivious or ignoring Glenn's utter confusion. "We tried to give similar positions to Sahro and Liara, but old, stupid rules stopped us from doing so. Which is why they ended up as Honorary Counts, instead of proper Counts. The only difference is that they don't have lands, that's all. But considering the development of that town—what was it, New Hope? Anyway, they might as well be the Count and Countess taking care of the outer layer of King's Rise, the Sewers. Not like anyone cares about this place, as long as they don't touch District 22—"

"Lucian." Glenn raised a hand, stopping his exuberant friend. "What the fuck do you mean I'm a Count?"

The Prince looked at his comrade with a puzzled look. "I mean, it's pretty simple, isn't it? My kingly father decided you were worthy of the title of Count, so there you are!"

Glenn pinched the bridge of his nose, grunting. "No, I understand what you're saying, but, but... how can it be so easy? Do you just hand over those titles like candies?"

It was Lucian's turn to look at his friend like he was insane. "Easy? You're calling what we did easy?"

"Well..." Glenn scratched his cheek. Considering none of his friends died or lost a limb, it was actually a pretty standard adventure. Aside from the torture Liara and Nelg went through, Epinos almost descending, whatever that thing which dropped a Seed of Darkness, and...

"Ah, yeah." The more he thought about it, the more his eyebrows creased. "Wait, is a Count's title even enough considering we practically stopped a God's descent? Why am I not a Duke or something yet?"

"Dukes and Duchesses are just below the King and myself, so it's a little different. They're titles given only to the oldest, most loyal families. Oh, that makes me remember!" Lucian raised a finger to the sky in enlightenment. "Remember the Rosenborns? There are discussions of their patriarch being elevated to a Duke."

"Which would explain why that old hag wanted to marry Milena to them," understood Glenn. He glared at the Duchess of Sorenas, who was nervously chewing on her nails. Strangely enough, Talor Rosenborn seemed incredibly pleased at seeing her distraught.

'They're not allied, then. Hopefully, that's the truth and not some sort of act.' Glenn nodded sternly and tried his best to ignore Lucian's excited explanations about whatever this bullshit about him having a Count's title meant. Instead, he walked up to Duke Noir and planted his feet before him.

The Duke loomed over him with an amused expression. "I say it was a draw. Alaric intervening was not supposed to happen."

Glenn scoffed. "You know exactly why he intervened. He was worried I'd turn his friend in ashes, of course, he had to stop me."

"You little...!" The Duke's grin only grew until he eventually exploded into broad laughter once again.

'That guy really likes laughing. He's just like me!'

"I really like you, boy! You know, even if you're a Count now, you can still come and join the Black Knights! You'd have your fill of strong opponents there!" The Duke extended a hand out to Glenn, who shook it with a smile.

"I'll consider it. Now, let's talk about my reward for winning against you, shall we?"

"You brat!"

At this moment, a change happened that Glenn failed to notice. The nobles, who so far had been considering him and his friends as interesting novelties, yet simply dirty mercenaries, suddenly changed their minds. They could feel the turn in the tide. Glenn wasn't simply a strange phenomenon anymore. He was a Count. Someone whose bloodline will last in the ages, protected within King's Rise walls and nurtured until eventually they'd surpass even the now-legendary Devil's Hand.

An excellent wedding prospect, in fine.

Liara watched with a mix of horror, disbelief, and hilarity as a literal flood of young ladies shot out for Glenn, their eyes glistening with ravenous hunger. Duke Noir noticed just in time and escaped from the tsunami by a hair's breadth, using the opportunity to flee from having to give Glenn his reward. The beautiful Black Heiress had fended off the timid nobles who'd been trying to flirt with her all day and felt a little annoyed at Glenn for abandoning her to fight a sweaty bear-like old man.

Not that she couldn't understand why he did it, but it still felt painfully irritating to be forced into the background. She secretly enjoyed the look of panic and distraught on Glenn's face when a similar onslaught of the other gender came upon her.

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"Miss Liara, your face is like the moon, I simply can't stop staring at it!"

"Miss Liara, my heart fell for you the moment I saw you! Please, will you marry me?"

"Miss Liara—" "Miss Liara!"

Liara struggled to breathe, keeping her assailants - no, her suitors - at bay. Her bird, Whitey, flew overhead, chirping in panic. A gust of wind and the suitors were forced to take a few steps back as Glenn gently landed before her, his back turned to her.

"Now, why don't we all calm the heck down?" His words echoed into the ballroom like a ringing gong, shutting men and women alike. Liara felt her chest tighten as she held her breath, staring at that strong, dependable back. Always there if needed, no matter what the problem is, willing to go off the deeper end for his goals and his friends...

Glenn rubbed his forehead, wondering what sort of excuses he could come up with. "Me and Liara are currently, uh..." He searched for his words, trying to find a polite way to tell all these power-hungry nobles to fuck right off, when suddenly...

"Ah! You're already in a couple!" someone clamored with understanding. Glenn and Liara both froze as the suitors and interested ladies' faces turned sour. They cursed under their breath and turned away, some still insisting on giving their contacts to them, by the bias of elaborate business cards bearing their names and addresses.

"No, wait, that's..." Glenn clenched his teeth, red tinting his cheeks.

'Haha, I guess they forced the choice upon you, then! Yes to a romantic life! Liara was my favorite anyway!'

Nelg grunted. "Why couldn't he flirt with Milena instead? Damn it..."

Glenn's eyes bulged out. 'Onnea's damn it, you fucks! You're not helping! And shit, NOTHING is going on between me and Liara, and NOTHING will happen! FUCK YOU!'

"I'm done with this shit." Glenn shook his head and grabbed Liara's hand. Without waiting for her reaction, he turned to Lucian, who was observing the situation with a rapt, amused attention.

"Lucian, now that we got our 'rewards', we can leave, right?"

The Prince waved dismissively. "Sure, yeah. My ship is outside, just get on and ask the driver to bring you back to your place. Unless you want to relocate to the Mortelli's estate - sorry, the Devil's Hand's estate?"

"I forgot about that." Glenn pinched the tip of his nose, grimacing. "No, we'll return to the Bourgeoisie for now. We'll come back to see whatever we can get from this place later on. I can't stand having to share the same air as those pricks."

Lucian laughed with compassion as Glenn pulled Liara out of the manor, straight off to the Prince's flying ship hovering outside. The Black Heiress stared at Glenn's back, her lips clasped shut and cheeks reddened.

"I swear those nobles are all fucking insane," said Glenn with slight anger. "First, I'm forced to fight a Newborn Ruler legend, then I'm given the rotten apple that is a noble's title, and now everyone wants to marry me, or you! This is ridiculous. Is political power all these dumbasses thinking about? Shit, I couldn't even taste a single piece of food thanks to all this bullshit!"

Liara chuckled softly at Glenn's outburst. His hand was warm and comforting in this unknown, hostile environment. She clenched it a little tighter almost instinctively before realizing what she was doing and releasing the tension. But Glenn was still rambling without taking notice, pulling her away to the boat. With a small smile, she abandoned her hand to the blabbering young man and let him guide her.

"Anyway, let's return to the Bourgeoisie and get some actual rest. If any fucker dare try sending me to another stupid battlefield, I'll shove my noble's title in their face! At least it'll be of some use then!"

Liara simply silently listened, occasionally laughing or nodding her head to punctuate Glenn's interjections. The latter finished unleashing his anger when they finally boarded the ship.

"It was a little fun."

Glenn paused and looked at the Black Heiress in disbelief.

"Fun?"

"At the end," she pressed with a small grin. "When all these ladies rushed at you."

He scoffed. "Hungry wolves starving for meat. I ain't giving none of mine to them."

Liara smiled. "None caught your eyes."

Glenn simply snorted, not even bothering to reply. Liara pulled on her hand slightly, startling Glenn. He looked down confusedly before hurriedly pulling his hand away.

"Ah, sorry—"

"Don't be." She grabbed his hand back and pulled him away to the ledge of the boat. The driver—captain, or pilot, whatever the correct term was for someone driving a flying ship, slowly made the boat rise in the air. The sun began to set, coloring the Court and King's Rise with orange and magenta hues. Liara dragged Glenn against his will to the guardrails, where they watched the sunset together. Glenn could hear his heart thumping madly in his chest, as if desperate to jump out of his body.

"Do you have a type of woman you like, Glenn?" Liara asked softly, still clenching his hand in hers.

"I do. What about you?"

"I prefer males, thank you."

Glenn chuckled nervously. It was a struggle to think, and he couldn't bring himself to look at one of the rare persons he trusted with his life. Each breath felt like they were being drawn underwater with lead weighing down on his chest.

At this moment, a wave of emotion washed over him. Expectation, warmth, anxiety, impatience and maybe... fondness? It felt odd, foreign. Like they were not his.

Liara's eyes widened as, unbeknownst to him, she experienced that same phenomenon. Tension, responsibility, but most of all, fear. A fear of losing everything, everyone, again. The terror of the dark and the loneliness encroaching painfully like a leech. She could feel something similar to the warmth she felt when she looked at Glenn, these butterflies in her stomach, but they were buried under such a pile of... terror and uncertainty.

A spark of Mana suddenly exploded as Nelg screamed painfully, jumping out of Glenn's soul and shattering this dream-like moment. The world warped around Liara as she watched Glenn's eyes roll back in their sockets. The light dimmed and she felt her knees buckle under weight. Tall shadows covered the ship and swallowed her whole, leaving nothing behind. She fell for a dozen minutes into a bottomless pit, her senses dulled as if wrapped in cotton.

'Glenn!' She tried to scream, to fight back against whatever was going on, but it was pointless, like punching water. The darkness shifted around her when, eventually, she saw a spark of purple in the distance. The Black Heiress' features hardened, and she clenched her fists.

'Diamanes... Him again!' Her anger rose as she drew near to the purple spark. But, in a surprising turn of events, it wasn't Diamanes or any sort of evil hand she found in the place where the spark originated. No, it was a young man heaving for air, his eyes seething with hatred and his fists covered in blood, the knuckles cut open and broken. His hair was chestnut brown, as were his eyes. A bloodstained, ripped shirt reading "AC-DC" covered his chest.

Liara's eyes widened as she pried her lips in disbelief.

"... Glenn?"