Symbiotic Ascension : A Progression Fantasy Adventure

"Back here we are, then. I mean, isn't it supposed to be my place now?" Glenn placed his hands on his waist as he looked at the Mortelli Estate. A reward from the Crown he wasn't sure he appreciated, if he was being honest.

'What am I even going to do with two houses? There are only nobles in the Court, so why would I stay here? Ah, maybe I could stop at the Royal Library to meet Exan?'

Glenn stashed that thought for a later, more appropriate time and instead made his way into the gigantic manor. He met a dozen servants on the way, who awkwardly bowed at the sight of their new master. He gave up telling them to not do that after the twelfth one refused categorically.

'Whatever training Mortelli made them go through, it worked way too well,' remarked Diamanes. Glenn grunted in agreement as he strode through the luxurious hallways, wondering what he was going to do with all this useless space. Sell it? His money situation hadn't changed; there was no point getting any richer when every organization he knew owed him to some extent.

He paused in front of a random room, his spidey-sense Mana Sight informing him of a guest's presence. The young man sighed in relief and entered without announcing himself. Talor Rosenborn rose from his quilted armchair and hurriedly put on the best smile he could muster.

"S- Sir Glenn, I wasn't expecting to be invited back here on such a short notice—"

"Spare me the bullshit, Rosenborn." Glenn waved. "I need to know where the Sorenas' Estate is and everything you can tell me about it. If you don't want your entire family to end up in a coffin by tonight, speak."

Talor gulped heavily before clearing his throat and straightening himself. "I- I would have you know that I am a Count as much as you, Sir Glenn, and would appreciate the respect coming with it."

Glenn's silent glare forced the noble to sit back and look away.

"Good. Now, tell me what you know, and I promise I'll help out the Rosenborns in the future."

Talor raised his hand in disbelief. "Really?"

"Don't waste my good intentions on something nonsensical, though. You know my alignments. I don't exactly see eye to eye with cults and child traffickers." Glenn warned him as he crossed his arms.

Milena's fiance retrieved some of his countenance and tightened his rose-pattern tie. "The Rosenborns accept your proposal, Sir Glenn. In truth, we would like to believe that we share some of your... convictions."

Glenn raised an eyebrow. "Which means?"

Talor's face darkened, and he clasped his hands together. "Would you happen to have heard about our Prince's story?"

"Prince? You mean that guy who played up as a Fixer and got turned into some Thorn's Church abomination?" Glenn restrained a laugh. 'Oh yeah, I remember that. It's pretty much the reason I had to go fight the Fallen Mother's Son back in Palancar.'

"He was my brother's son."

Glenn's internal laughter died down instantly.

Talor drew a short breath, composing himself before resuming. "To tell you the truth, the Rosenborns have always been a very proactive family in the higher circles of King's Rise. Associating with every family that possesses a modicum of power to take to grow our own. That's how things generally go in the Court. But... Ever since our Patriarch took over, our politics found themselves a little changed."

"What's Prince's death got to do with that?" Glenn asked, confused.

'Can't he just come out with what he wants to say? Milena is going to die out of boredom or torture before we get to know where the Sorenas' Estate is. Why didn't you just call up Lucian?'

'Because he is the Crowned Prince, busy, and the King's Tower is further away than the Rosenborns territory. And I wanted to know what enmity they shared with the Sorenas. It'd be good if I could profit from it.'

'...A surprisingly good reasoning, all in all. You're getting smarter by the day, uh? Must be my influence.'

Talor grimaced, and he rubbed his forehead painfully. "I'm coming there. Ever since our Patriarch took over, the family's focus switched over to growing personal assets. Mines, soldiers, mages, relationships with talented people instead of well-born people."

"A rather good choice of direction," nodded Glenn.

"We can agree on this, Sir Glenn. Anyway, as we grew our strength and influence, noble houses who previously cut ties with us for one reason or another began to come back to us, calling on old ties."

"The Sorenas," understood Glenn. He rubbed his chin and scowled in wonder. "But what do they get out of that deal? I understand that you've been growing your power, but is that enough for a ducal family to want to ally with a Count family? Through marriage, too?"

The nobleman smiled and wiped his forehead with the back of his sleeve. "You're very sharp, Sir Glenn. Besides the fact that we're becoming an increasingly more enticing pie to steal, the Rosenborns possess..." he tugged at his collar without thinking, revealing a rose tattoo imprinted on his skin. Glenn's eyes widened in recognition, but he kept silent.

"A particular lineage, if you like. Our blood carries the strength of the ancestor who founded the family and predisposes us to great skill in handling Mana." Talor cleared his throat awkwardly as his cheeks tinted with slight pink. "If the Rosenborn blood, the Sorenas blood, and the Dela Lune blood came together somehow, let's say, through marriage..."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"Milena's child would be fucking cracked," muttered Glenn in understanding. "But even if that happened, what guarantee do they have that the child would choose their side? Become part of the Sorenas instead of the Dela Lune or Rosenborns? I mean, the choice seems pretty evident to me."

Talor grimaced, taking a long, hesitating time to answer. "The Sorenas are specialists in manipulating the minds of others to their benefit, be it through magic or... other means."

'Brainwashing. Of course.' Glenn rubbed the corner of his eyes with a heavy sigh. "How do you know so much, Talor? About the Rosenborns? Is this just common knowledge? That the Sorenas use mind magic to put others in their control, possibly on children?!"

The nobleman shook his head. "It actually is common knowledge, yes."

'As expected. Nothing surprises me anymore. Someone needs to tell the King that a good ol' purge might be the way to go about this noble society. Time to call on your French heritage Glenn and pull some Robespierre on these fuckers!'

'But I'm not French??'

'You're from Earth, that's the same thing.'

Talor continued, unaware of the turmoil in Glenn's mind. "The Sorenas, for as long as they existed, have created some of the most powerful mind mages in history. It is said that their ancestor could stop a dragon with a simple glance. And, for a long time now, most royal inquisitors have come from the Sorenas because of their unrivalled expertise."

"So everyone knows they like to mess with other people's brains. Great," Glenn raised his hands toward the sky, annoyed, "Fucking great."

The nobleman raised a hesitant, protesting finger. "I would add that, lately, the... performances of the Sorenas have left much to be desired. We suspect it is because of a worsening of their relationship with..." He drew a long breath and looked around suspiciously. "The vampires."

Glenn blinked at Talor while the latter continued with that same conspiratorial tone. "I know it might sound insane that vampires would live within the Court itself, but it's true!" He leaned forward with a complicit smile. "Sir Glenn, here's my proposition: I have some proof of the vampire's implication in the Sorenas, but not enough to make the Crown go after them. That's why I accepted their marriage proposition, to get more information, but I feel like this plan kind of fell through, right?"

"Indeed," nodded Glenn shamelessly, "I'd rather see your head on a spike than let Milena go through a marriage she didn't ask for."

"That's some dedication," Talor laughed nervously, his forehead drenched in sweat. "True friendship, haha. Very admirable, yes!"

Glenn clapped his hands together, startling the noble. "Now, unless you got something else important to share, I need to know where the Sorenas are."

Talor shuddered as he watched a grin appear on both the Devil's Hand's lips and his left purple palm. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief, but the strange phenomenon inside Glenn's hand had disappeared.

"I think I'm due for a proper visit to my friend's family."

***

Milena glared at Sir Rakis, the mind Archmagi, who in return simply shoved her forward. She thought of the worst insults possible but still complied. The young woman stared at her mother's back, who was hugging Sahro's arm and pressing it tightly against her chest.

'Why does she have to be like this?' she thought, 'Why couldn't I have a normal mother, like Glenn?'

She wasn't exactly jealous, just so disappointed and sad. She knew her life could have been better if only Lily of Sorenas had bothered behaving like a human being instead of a selfish monster. But there was no point reminiscing anyway. Milena knew as she walked through the Sorenas' Estate hallways that she was getting closer to the truth. Whatever her mother had planned, it was happening right now. And to top it all off, Sahro was here too. Acting like a drugged, mindless slave, sure, but here nonetheless. The Black Heir did a surprisingly good job of fooling her prideful mother, who thought that her perfume-based sorcery was infallible.

'I'm sure Glenn would say it sounds lame,' smirked Milena. 'Perfume-based sorcery. Someone else has to have created it for her, but who? I need to dig into it. This sort of thing isn't common, and I don't think that pervert Rakis could have made it. So who...?'

"Close the cellar behind us, Rakis," ordered Lily. "Sir Sahro, if you would?"

Sahro swallowed hard his disgust and smiled politely. "Of course, Lady Lily." He straightened his arm so she could support herself on it while walking down the stairs. Milena cursed under her breath and spat to the side, not bothered by Rakis and Lily's glares.

"You behave like a peasant girl, wench," hissed Lily. "You will behave like a noble, or I'll—"

"Do what?" Milena interrupted her with a dejected sigh. "Harm me, even though you're intending to sell me off to the Rosenborns? Sure, please do so. I'm sure your mundane hands wouldn't be able to do much to me anyway, you talentless bitch—"

"Rakis!" Lily shrieked. The mind Archmagi obliged with pleasure as he made Milena feel like a nail was scraping at the inside of her head, searching for small bits and pieces to fiddle with. She fell on her knees and rolled down the stairways, her body bending painfully from the mind torture.

"Drag her by the hair," Lily ordered coldly. "This wench thinks she's better than me just because she can use magic? We'll see if she'll think that in a moment when she'll be enthralled to me for eternity!"

Sir Rakis frowned as he grabbed Milena's hair and pulled her behind him. Sahro's expression remained unchanged, his eyes not even flickering in concern or worry. An Oscar-worthy performance, like Milena's grandfather would call it. Whatever an Oscar was, anyway.

"Milady, are you certain you wish to do this? You will not be able to go back once it is done, and you'll be enslaved forever."

Lily waved him away. "It is none of your concern, Sir Rakis. Immortality, knowledge, and talent for magic will be more than enough to make up for that. I'd rather live a life of servitude than a powerless death from time!"

Milena's eyes widened as she was dragged away by Rakis. 'Immortality and a talent for magic? One is kind of attainable if you get strong enough, but talent? That's innate; how is she supposed to gain talent?"

"...As you wish, Milady. I hope it goes as you planned." The mind Archmagi bowed his head while shaking Milena slightly. She bit her lip and allowed the mistreatment to continue. It wasn't exactly painful, thanks to the reinforced body she got from reaching the Fifth Circle, and only harmed her pride.

If that was the cost to make the Sorenas fall, then so be it.

A question remained unanswered, though. What were they doing in the cellar? Aside from food storage, old wine, and other types of spirituals, there was nothing in the cellar.

Lily finally let go of Sahro's arm and breathed in tensely. She pulled out a small mirror and verified her looks before pulling over the best smile she could muster. The noblewoman pulled out a red gem from a purse she had been carrying and threw it against a wall.

Milena gasped in awe as a red door appeared in the wall, opening up to reveal a tunnel beyond.

'That's one question answered. There were tunnels beneath the Sorenas' Estate? That's...' Her eyes widened in realization, and she clenched her fists. 'That's like in Baron Howard's manor.' Immortality, knowledge, talent. It all made sense now.

'Vampires!'