“You two were…incredible.” Lia breathed, rushing over to her lovers. “You made those max level people look like complete newbies.”
Rose raised an eyebrow, catching Lia’s hug. “You saw that? How?”
Lia pulled Amelia into the hug, feeling somewhat awestruck that these two loved her. She had known they were strong before, but knowing that and seeing for herself their overwhelming power were two different things. “Connie tapped into the video Amelia was recording so we could both watch.” Lia said. “I…just…wow.”
“You’ll be able to do the same soon enough.” Rose said, running a hand through Lia’s hair. “Just give it some time for you to train.”
“I don’t know about that…” Lia said. “It kind of feels like all my power right now is borrowed.”
“We could fix that.” Connie offered. “If you’d like, I can teach you how to use Blood Money to alter your Pride Skill so that you can gain experience in the Skills you take and eventually get them for yourself. Chances are you’ll never actually see any benefit from it, since I imagine you’ll just keep targeting Rose always, but if it makes you feel better then it might be worth the expenditure.”
“How expensive is that going to be?” Lia asked doubtfully. “That’s the biggest part of Rose’s Skill, so…”
“Not that expensive.” Connie replied. “Your Skills work very similarly, we’d in essence just be removing a blockage in your Skill that prevents you from getting experience. And, like I said, chances are it would never come up in real life, so I don’t think I would need to take much of a teaching fee, if any. I’ll ask Jerry about it.”
“Oh. But…even so, that would take away –”
“Lia.” Rose said, cutting her off. “I’m really flattered that you’re thinking of me, but I don’t mind. In fact, it makes me ecstatic that your Skill and mine synergize so well. If you’re never planning to switch your target from me, and I don’t see why you would, then this doesn’t change anything between us. Just think of it like this; right now, I may be the one protecting you, but if you continue to learn and grow at the rate you’re growing, then in a few decades you’ll be the one protecting me.”
“But you’re a Hero.” Lia protested weakly. “I’m just a normal person, I can’t really get stronger than a Hero.”
“Let me stop you there.” Amelia said. “First, you’re not a normal person, you’re you, and that makes you special. And what’s stopping you from getting stronger than a Hero? With the new system I made there’s limitless potential for growth, if you work for it, then you can have it. You’ll just need to keep working hard.”
“Amelia, I know every person is unique, but –”
“No, she’s right.” Connie said. “Lia, there’s something different about you specifically. We can’t put our finger on what, but the three of us have felt it, and we all agree that we’re not just imagining things, you’re not just some random person. If you were, you would never have been able to make Amelia feel things through the Urge.
“And, as for Heroes and normal people, Heroes are just people with extra Worship used to juice up their Jobs. Blood Money is Worship, in a weird way, and you not only earn quite a bit of it, but can consciously use it. That alone is enough to give you more potential than any Hero bar Amelia, and with Matthew and Willow training you, I think you’ll find you’re going to grow stronger faster than you could imagine.”
Lia wasn’t quite so sure; yes, they knew better than her, but they also wanted to make her feel better. Whatever the case, this wasn’t the time for this conversation. “Um, anyway, I assume you want me to do the conversions, like with Simona?”
“We do, but I’d like to have a conversation with Miki first.” Rose said. “I told her we’d let her choose what she wants to be.”
“Who?” Amelia asked blankly, pulling out of the hug.
Rose let go of the hug, stepping back and bringing a cocoon out of her storage. “Miki is one of my old pupils, she’s a Boundary Witch who was one of the max level people I fought. She chose to come willingly with us instead of fighting back.”
Amelia raised an eyebrow. “And you’re sure she’s for real, not attempting to try and sneak back here and attack us while our guard is down?”
“She wasn’t that kind of person before, and everything I’ve read about her says she isn’t that kind of person now.” Rose said confidently. “If she is trying to trick us, then we’ll just handle it. With the three of us here we can easily handle her whether we’re unbound or not.”
“Three of us?” Lia asked. “Connie’s not able to help, remember?”
Rose rolled her eyes. “You’re not doing this on purpose, right? I meant you, of course; with Alisha’s buffs and access to six capstone Skills via Pride, you’re capable of keeping up in a fight like this if it’s only one person. You’ve been doing better in your training against Simona, and I’m sure you’d be able to survive for a while with just you. With both Amelia and I here, you can contribute well enough while remaining safe.”
“Then…can I come with you to the battlefields now?” Lia asked hopefully.
Rose paused, closing her eyes as she thought. “You’re getting much closer.” She said. “Let’s see what that next evolution has in store for you before we decide. With the conversions of ten max level people and the training Matthew is giving you, you’ll probably be there in a week or two.”
Lia blinked in surprise. As much as she had hoped for an answer like this, she hadn’t actually expected it. “Oh. I see. I, uh, might need a bit more time than that.” Lia admitted.
Rose gave her an amused look. “You’re the one that’s been asking for it this whole time.”
“I know.” Lia said, an embarrassed blush rising to her cheeks. “I just…I figured by the time you were allowing me to go I’d be more mentally prepared. I don’t know if I’m ready to see people dying like that again.”
Rose sighed. “Unfortunately, I can’t really help decide when you’re mentally prepared.” She said. “The Urge prevented me from having these hangups, and by the time it was gone…well, I was already used to it. Now, let me just say, not being used to it isn’t a bad thing, it means you’re living a normal, peaceful, life. But, if you do want to get used to it, we’ll have to start small, taking you out on small raids and such.”
“Maybe…next month, then?” Lia said. “It’ll give me some time to brace myself mentally a bit more. I really thought you were going to say no.”
“Take as much time as you need.” Rose said. “Now, are we ready to let Miki out?”
“I think so.” Lia said, taking a deep breath. “Do it.”
Rose nodded, laying a hand on the cocoon and deactivating it. The modeling wax fell to the ground to reveal a tall, redheaded elf, who began to stir almost immediately. “What’s going on?” She asked blearily.
“Miki,” Rose said, kneeling down next to her and placing a gentle hand on her shoulder, “you’re in the World Tree. We were going to talk about your conversion, remember?”
Miki sat up, looking around the room with a face full of conflicted emotions. “So…I guess this is it, then. No going back from here?”
“You made the right call.” Amelia said. “You were never winning against Rose.”
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“I can see that now, it just feels…like a betrayal.” Miki admitted.
“I suppose it technically is.” Rose said. “But…if it helps, think of it like returning to my service; you’re just switching which nation you’re serving.”
Miki nodded. “I can hardly believe it’s you.” She said. “You’re so…different.”
Rose smiled gently. “I am, and I’m infinitely happier for it. This is what I’m like when all worries about my station are stripped away, just a normal girl.”
“That’s part of what I mean.” Miki said, smiling weakly. “I never took you for much of a girl, but now you’re so…”
“Womanly?” Rose prompted. “Thank you! I’ve really come to like being a woman! At first it was just because that’s how everyone in the swarm is, but after I broke the conditioning, I realized that…well, I have much more attachment to this body than I ever did my old one. I couldn’t really…feel as the Ruby Emperor, and my life here is just so, so much better.
“I know my change will be shocking, I’m not the stoic husk of a man I once was, but once you get used to it, I think you’ll agree that I’m much better this way. I can actually be a person around people now!”
Miki stared at Rose in disbelief. “Why couldn’t you before?” She asked dumbfoundedly.
“The world needed a near-emotionless leader, and so, as a Hero, I was forced to be one, and I hated every second of it.” Rose explained.
“Is that why you let Ariana kill you?” Miki asked. “Because you hated your life?”
Rose’s face fell. “In a sense, yes.” She said. “Really, it was because the gods had decided I had suffered enough and was allowed to rest. As a ruler, I regret it, but as a person…in retrospect, it was one of the best things to ever happen to me. We’re both here now, and we’re so much happier outside of that environment.”
Miki looked to Amelia. “And you said she was the older Ariana, right? The empress?”
“That’s what the gods told me.” Amelia said, shrugging. “It doesn’t matter, though. What does is that we’re in love now, and that I’ll treat Rose better than that snake ever did.”
Miki looked around, seemingly noticing Connie and Lia for the first time. “You’re the Queen, and…I don’t know you, sorry.”
“I’m an otherworlder that got romantically involved with the three of them through a series of unlikely events.” Connie said. “You don’t have any way of knowing me.”
“It’s, uh, nice to meet you, Miss…” Lia began, unsure of how exactly she should be addressing her.
“Call me Miki.” Miki said, standing up and offering her hand to Lia. Amelia’s eyes narrowed and she began to cast a spell, but Lia didn’t think this was some elaborate ploy, and carefully grasped Miki’s hand and shook it.
“Sorry, I’m still relatively new to all this. I don’t want to be rude, and even now it still sort of feels like I should be acting like a random commoner when I interact with people outside of the swarm. I’m never sure how to address people like you.”
Miki chuckled, an act that seemed to surprise her almost as much as it did Lia. “Well, you seem like a lovely young woman.” She said. “Certainly better than most of the stuck-up rulers I’ve had to deal with.”
“Isn’t she?” Rose said, slinging an arm around Lia and planting a kiss on her forehead. “I’ll properly show you around the place and introduce you to people after you’ve been converted. Which, speaking of, I’m sure you have questions, so please, ask.”
“How does it all…work?” Miki asked. “We could never figure it out.”
“We haven’t hidden anything.” Rose said, smiling faintly. “It’s just a naturally unbelievable process. We put you in one of those cocoons, add monsters and items, and then we can make you into something that represents all of them. And the things people can be…it’s incredible. We made both the leader of the Glens and his best scout into cerberus hybrids that have multiple bodies, I’m a plant, and I’m sure you heard about the Scourge of the Skies…the possibilities are literally endless. If you’ve ever wanted to be anything, you can be it now.
“That includes your Job. We’ve done away with them in favor of races, which are basically Jobs but better. You can kind of pick your Skills, and there’s no limit on growth anymore. And, no, it’s not blasphemous; the gods themselves have helped streamline the system changes, they wholeheartedly approve of the changes that Amelia made.”
“You know, when I was a little girl, I always said I wanted to be a boat.” Miki said, chuckling. “But, realistically speaking, I think I’d like to strengthen my current Job, I’m rather fond of it.”
“You know, we can make you a boat.” Rose said seriously. “A boat that maintains a humanoid shape and significant characteristics of your Job.”
Miki gave Rose a doubtful look, then understanding dawned on her face. “Sorry.” She said, cracking a smile. “I was so taken aback by you making a joke that it didn’t register with me for a moment.”
“She’s not joking.” Amelia said. “Lia has a device that records conversions she makes, and you can see the race description there. Our entire navy is like that right now.”
Lia pulled out her tablet, going into her conversion logs and pulling up one of the shipgirl statuses. “Here’s the race description.” She said, passing the tablet to Miki. “If you don’t believe us, we brought a couple back here to the capital to help explore bodies of water in the Spine, we can go talk to them.”
Miki read the description, then passed the tablet back to Lia. “You know, I was just a kid, kids say stupid things.” She said. “I wasn’t really serious.”
“Then why’d you bring it up?” Amelia asked. “It kind of sounded like you still want it.”
There was a telling silence, then Miki sighed. “Maybe I do, I just can’t bring myself to believe you.”
“We’ve actually been talking about making an aquatic floor for people who are more comfortable in water and for cultivating aquatic plants. Rose, do you think you’d be able to do it now?” Lia asked.
Rose tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Hollowing out my tree isn’t much of a problem, but I’ll probably need the help of you and Amelia to make the portals. The water might take an hour or two to fill, since it’ll just come from what my tree naturally produces, but we could probably speed that process up with magic too.”
“Then this seems like a good opportunity to do it, what do you think?” Lia asked.
“No reason not to start sculpting the broad layout of it now.” Rose agreed. “I…oh, that’s interesting.”
“What?” Lia asked.
“I just started, and it looks like my tree is getting a little taller and wider as I work, using the extra stuff I’m hollowing out to grow.”
“It’s called the World Tree for a reason.” Connie said. “Back where I’m from, there’s been tell of World Trees growing large enough to hold entire nations, so I’m not surprised that yours is growing. In fact, it probably has been growing, you just haven’t noticed.”
“Um…what are you talking about?” Miki asked. “You’ve lost me.”
“I’m the Personification of the World Tree, and right now we’re inside my tree.” Rose explained. “All the wood you see is technically part of me, but I leave the few senses this tree has disconnected from my main body most of the time. The tree is absolutely enormous, and a lot of it has been going unused, so we’ve been talking about making more floors to help suit our needs. And, if I’m going to be growing even more…well, I think we’re going to want to be more liberal with what I make. I’ve had a few outlandish ideas that I thought would be nice but didn’t want to waste space on.”
Rose turned to Miki, giving her a smile. “This is the sort of reason I’m going through with this. It has the capability to better the lives of our people in ways we had never dreamed possible before. The way to get there is distasteful at best, but…I think future generations will thank us for it. While I finish this new floor up, why don’t you come tour the place with us? We need to find one of the shipgirls to show you how they work, and I think it’ll help erase any last doubts you have.”
“I…yes, let’s do that.” Miki said.
So, they did. While they walked, Amelia and Rose kept an eye on the formation of the new floor, Amelia occasionally teleporting away to go help speed up the process of filling it with water. It took them a leisurely fifteen minutes to find one of the shipgirls they had brought back to the capital, and another ten for the water to finish filling. When it was done, Amelia teleported the small group down to the new floor, appearing on a small sandy shore near a small dock.
It seemed that, for this floor, the entire outer wall had been made into windows, a breathtaking view of the mountains outside encompassing a vast expanse of water that stretched beyond the dock, the ends barely in sight. Small waves lapped at the shore, and the smell of the lake filled the room with a refreshing scent.
“Wow.” Miki breathed, turning around to look out the window behind her. “This is…incredible.”
The shipgirl they had brought with them, a woman by the name of Eve, stepped onto the water, skimming across the surface gracefully before plunging into the water, reappearing after a few moments. “Deep.” She said approvingly. “The water is good, too. You wanted to see my ship form, right?”
“If you would.” Lia said.
She transitioned to her ship form, much to the amazement of Miki. Would you like to board me? Eve asked.
“You…weren’t kidding.” Miki said, wonder evident in her tone. “And if she goes back to human form while we’re inside, we just stay in some…extradimensional space?”
“Yup.” Lia said. “It’s fantastic.”
“Then…make me one too.” Miki said. “I want to know what it’s like.”
“We kept a few ships on standby for cases like these.” Rose said. “And more are in production, but I don’t know if we have any here. Lia, do you happen to have any in your storage?”
Lia shook her head. “No, they took too much room.” She said. “I had Amelia grab one, though.”
“Perfect.” Rose said. Then, she turned back to Miki, a shy look on her face. “And…if you’d like, we can convert you with one of my fruits. It strengthens vitality, nature magic, life magic, and, at least with Simona, it gave a few benefits related to being my pupil. You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but…I thought I’d give you the option.”
“I’ll do it.” Miki said instantly. “It would be my honor.”
Rose smiled hugely, conjuring up a fruit and cocooning it. “Do you have any other requests?”
“No, Ma’am.” Miki said. “You can start whenever you’re ready.”
Rose, still smiling, cocooned Miki and turned to Lia and Amelia. “I love seeing my students again.” She said happily. “Let’s get her started, shall we?”