Symbiotic Ascension : A Progression Fantasy Adventure

"Ah, feels just like home here. Seriously, what devilry came to this bird? How did he even eat me?" Diamanes complained from within Glenn's hand. The latter cackled mockingly as he petted Pebble.

"You don't know how great it was to show you so... so... out of your depth!" Glenn laughed broadly, following Liara back to the Sorenas' mansion.

"Well, don't get used to it because we are not making it into a habit," warned the entity with an angry tone, making Glenn laugh even more. The young man looked at the bright blue sky, grinning from one ear to the other. When was the last time he felt so laid-back? They had taken care of every immediate threat, and the royal army protected them while they partied. All of his friends were safe and sound, if a little hungover.

He could only guess about that last part. After all, the first thing they did once waking up was to find Whitey and Diamanes. Glenn wondered how the previous night's party had ended. His memories of it were quite cloudy, if not completely void. The one thing he remembered was how the alcohol seemed to be infinite. The Sorenas family, even if not the best family, still had a more than respectable cave!

'So...' Diamanes' insidious voice seeped into Glenn's mind. 'You sealed the deal? Dipped the biscuit? Broke the defenses?'

Glenn flinched so hard he momentarily forgot to use Gravity Manipulation and dove to the ground. 'You little fuck, what the hell are you saying? Of course not!'

Diamanes sighed dejectedly. 'What did I tell you, Glenn? When you have an advantage, you need to capitalize on it! By the Original, you were in bed with her! At least try and kiss her!'

'We are not talking about that, Diamanes. I will do this my way, the proper way. If I'm to have this kind of relationship, I want to regret nothing and do it perfectly.'

'A respectable choice,' admitted the entity. 'If not a little boring. By myself, you're such a loser, I swear.'

'Shut it. I don't take advice from incels who stay locked up in other people's hands.'

'Hey!'

They were back to the estate by the time their bickering ended. Glenn landed next to Liara and straightened his clothes, a grin on his face.

"Great day, isn't it?"

Liara smiled. "Beautiful company, too."

Glenn blushed, surprised. "Y- yeah. Damn, you're really straightforward, aren't you?"

"You don't like it?" She raised her eyebrows inquisitively.

He stopped dead in his tracks and lifted a very serious finger. "I never said that."

She grinned and locked her arm with his, his cheeks flushing an even deeper red. "Good."

'Oh wow. Yeah, she gave up all pretense. I think she really enjoys embarrassing you," noticed Diamanes. Glenn cleared his throat as he recovered his bearing and avenged himself. He passed his hand around Liara's waist and brought her closer. This time, it was the Black Heiress's cheeks that turned scarlet.

"Y- You!"

"You don't like it?" His eyebrows furrowed.

Liara froze before copying him with a giggle. "I never said that!"

Glenn took in the sight of her as she laughed honestly. 'Life truly is worth living for these moments.'

'Just imagine your kids!' Diamanes shouted, breaking the magic. 'The product of the weirdest body coupled with the queen of the desert! Your children will be legendary!'

Glenn choked on his saliva and hurriedly dismissed the image the entity had conjured in his mind, little Glenns and Liaras running around creating havoc and destroying the world.

'If you don't shut up, I'm sending you back into the bird!'

'No! Everything but this!'

The royal army was about done with investigating the estate, from the looks of it. Glenn could see them packing tents and barking up orders. The only reason they stuck around was probably for the sake of their Crown Prince. If he remembered correctly, Lucian had been the drunkest one last night. But then, his memory was a little faulty.

'I really should go easy on alcohol,' he thought.

'Hey, at least it got positive consequences, instead of that time you ended up in the Thorn's Church's prison for it!'

'...Very true.'

The sound of snoring in the Sorenas' estate hallways. Glenn and Liara followed the noise, ending up in the dining hall they had used for their party the previous night. A strong smell of beer, wine, and other exotic alcohols pushed into their noses. Liara's face turned green, and she paused at the door, her stomach grumbling.

Stolen novel; please report.

Glenn steeled himself and entered the room, only to be stopped at the entry by a table blocking the door.

"What the hell happened here...?" He muttered under his breath as he pushed the table out of the way. Wine was spilled all over the ground in the greatest waste known to humanity. Glenn grimaced at the sight and hesitantly walked into the puddle, his eyebrows twitching at the absolute chaos. Food painted the walls in grease and different colors, and some parts of the room had been burned with spells. Chairs split in half were piled in one corner, right next to a wall covered in sword cuts.

One of the ceiling candelabra was lying on the floor, half melted, while the others hung dangerously. Glenn's eyes widened, his jaw dropping to the floor.

"Lucian...?"

The Crown Prince's foot was stuck in one candelabra, his body hanging limply from the ceiling. He swerved left and right, snoring heavily and seemingly deep in sleep. Glenn averted his eyes, only to find a couple of legs surging out of a beer barrel. He walked up to it and pulled the legs out, revealing a very passed out Nelg. He smelled so much of beer that Glenn knew a match would be enough to light him on fire.

Pebble yelped in displeasure and phased out of existence, disgusted by the odor.

"A- another cup, please..." grumbled Nelg as he rolled on the ground to find a more comfortable position.

"I never thought I'd see a drunk weapon," remarked Diamanes. Glenn shook his head in disbelief and set out to find the rest of them. Raijin, Sahro's fox, was grooming himself in one corner of the room, uninterested. Milena was quite easy to find. She was sleeping on a table nearby, wearing Sahro's vest, shirt... and pants?!

Glenn rubbed the corner of his eyes, but her garments didn't change. He turned to the entry and gestured at Liara to come see. The Black Heiress steeled herself and followed him in, her eyes widening at the chaos. A small laugh escaped her lips when she noticed Lucian hanging from the ceiling, but it was nothing compared to the absolute amazement of seeing Milena wearing Sahro's clothes.

"You think...?" She asked, her eyes shining curiously. Glenn nodded with a wide grin and pointed at a trace on the floor. Footprints in the red wine, leading to outside of the main hall. Glenn and Liara followed the tracks through the Sorenas' estate. Steel hissed through the air as they neared the garden. They found Sahro swinging his sword there while wearing nothing but humble underwear and his boots. His eyes were shut, and he was snoring like a bear, yet he still swung his sword tirelessly.

It was quite an interesting sight. Sahro's mechanical prosthesis, covered in cheese and wine, was creaking and hissing in distress. His cherished curved sword was chipped and bent in half, its tip melted.

"It doesn't even surprise me," Liara whispered amusedly.

Glenn tugged at the end of his hair. "Should we wake him up, or...?"

"I mean, if you want to get your head chopped off, go for it!" Diamanes encouraged him. Glenn grimaced and turned away.

"He'll wake up by himself eventually, right?"

Liara gave one last glance and chuckled. "Probably, yeah."

A couple of hours later, everyone was sitting around a round table, pastries and fruit juices helping them recover from the previous night. Lucian was holding his head in his hands painfully, while Nelg simply blinked without interruption, his eyes bloodshot and cloudy. Milena had already used Glenn's services to clear herself from the intoxication and was now busy puking her guts out.

Sahro crossed his arms with a very serious look, still practically naked. "Who played this ridiculous trick on me?"

Glenn raised his palms to the sky. "I have honestly no idea. I don't remember anything."

"At least nobody will say we don't know how to party," Nelg said as he slumped on the table, exhausted. He didn't feel any sort of pain, but his mind was certainly quite foggy. As it stood, Glenn's hungover cure didn't work on the living weapon, unfortunately. He had offered it to Lucian, too, but the latter mentioned wanting to 'enjoy the fog a little more.' Whatever that meant.

Glenn had also cleaned the dining hall with a combination of Mundare and Gravity Manipulation, leaving only the undamaged furniture.

Which wasn't much, arguably.

Thankfully, they didn't need to pay the bills. The Sorenas' estate was set to be razed down entirely, just in case. The Royal Inquisitors were quite the thorough bunch, even more so when the Crown Prince was implicated.

"Alright, that's enough..." muttered Lucian as he flicked his fingers. A cloud of steam hissed out of his ears as the colors returned to his face. Milena came back to sit with them, clean and tidy. There were no traces left of the previous night on her face, aside from the black circles under her eyes. A feature everyone at the table shared, amusingly.

"It was quite a party," said Glenn. "I really feel like I took the pressure off. How about you guys?"

A mixed grunt of pain and exhaustion replied to him.

"Perfect. Who wants to go back home?" He proposed with a small smile. Everyone lifted their hands, even the pets. Lucian flinched and slammed his head against the table.

"Guys, I have to keep you there a little longer. Or you can come with me to the Royal Tower. That works too."

Glenn leaned on the table, his hands clasped together. "Why? Aren't we done with all the, uh, noble bullshit? No offense."

Milena waved away. "None taken. But don't worry, Count, you'll get used to it."

"No, I won't," Glenn denied.

Lucian sighed heavily. "There's still one ceremony you guys need to attend to. And one after that. But that second one is optional, no worries. I'm sure you don't even care about it, anyway."

"What ceremony?" Sahro frowned.

"My father is officially going to give you guys your titles and all that," Lucian gestured dismissively. "It's in a week or two. In the meantime, I have a few people to introduce you to."

Milena hid her face in her hands. "I think I'll try to return to the Dela Luna's estate too. I want to see my father, and I need to set some things in motion. Notably about the Sorenas."

Lucian patted her shoulder in understanding. "We have all the time in the world. Well, actually, just two weeks, but that should be more than enough. Once that's passed, you'll be free to do whatever you want, while I..." He sighed dramatically, "...will need to return to my princely activities."

Sahro scoffed. "What does a prince even do in Munirp?"

Liara looked up from petting Pebble curiously, interested.

"Oh, you know." Lucian counted on his fingers. "Maintaining good relationships with Salaphos—the Southern Continent, beat some sense into some recalcitrant nobles, and uproot the usual traitors. Oh, and add that to the war councils for the upcoming battles with the Celestial Gods of the West." He yawned and leaned back in his seat. "The Dark Wall literally flying away has put the realm in quite the pickle, to speak plainly."

Glenn raised his fruit juice. "At least the Pope of the Thorn's Church is dead. As well as a city's worth of cultists."

Sahro bellowed a laugh. "I'll raise my juice to that!"

"Yeah, curse these fanatics."

"Cheers."

They emptied the fruit juices down their throat, sighing in pleasure as the sugar settled in. Lucian stood up and grinned from one ear to the other.

"So, who's up to see the Royal Tower?"