During the few days of power leveling that Jadis had been able to provide for Violetta, Sabina's apprentice, she had also been able to aid Thea's progression as well. Not that her quiet lover needed much help to increase the first few levels of her recently unlocked tertiary class; the shieldmaiden had become such a defensive powerhouse that most basic Demons like mire hounds couldn't even injure her by normal means unless they got lucky by hitting a weak point. Regardless, Jadis had still helped Thea when and where she could, leading to a jump from level one to five in Bonded Shieldmaiden of Jadis. They would have pushed for more, but they had run out of time due to the chaotic events of the aftermath of Hope's unexpectedly lively birth. Four new levels were more than enough for Thea anyway, in the brown-eyed woman's opinion, since it was taking her some time to adjust to the concept of casting spells, even if she only had one so far.

 

Lesser Arcane Aegis

Active Spell. Create one phantom magic shield that replicates the form of your equipped shield. The Aegis' defense rating is equal to your Arcane Attribute. The Aegis will passively float next to you until given one of three commands. Defend: The shield will actively defend you. Follow: The shield will actively follow and defend your target. Wall: The shield will attempt to form a shield wall with your equipped shield. Cost – 100 magic. Range – 50 feet. Duration – 15 minutes.

The Aegis spell was, in a word, interesting. Unlike other spells of a similar nature that could conjure force shields in one form or another, Thea's new spell had the unique trait of being semi-autonomous. In other words, she did not need to actively concentrate on guiding it in battle. Once she had mentally given the command for one of the three available modes, the shield would perform that function to the best of Thea's ability, as though she were personally wielding the spectral aegis, without any conscious input from her at all. As Aila was quick to point out, there were very few spells capable of such a high level of autonomy. Even Magistrate Vraekae's Ball of Doom required active concentration on the part of the icy elf. Thea could set a mode and not give the shield a second thought.

Theoretically, at least.

In practice, the autonomous spell required a little more attention than just the initial command. The spell's primary mode, Defend, wasn't complicated. The shield acted to protect Thea's blind spots, keeping out of her way while never going more than an arm's length from the shieldmaiden. That said, the spectral aegis would not form a shield wall while in Defend mode unless given that specific command. It would instead remain mobile and on the watch for flanking attacks while Thea used her true shield to defend against a concentrated or continual attack from an opponent. That meant that she had to actively choose to switch between those two modes in battle, since if she left it on Wall, the aegis would literally form a shield wall with Thea's shield no matter what her position was, which could prove disruptive and cumbersome under the wrong circumstances.

What truly took practice, though, was the Follow command. The Lesser Arcane Aegis would perform the Defend action on any target Thea chose within range, which was great for giving those who did not use a shield a boost to their defense. The issues, though, generally stemmed from range. If the Follow target moved more than fifty feet away from Thea, the aegis would instantly return to the shieldmaiden's side. It wouldn't just disappear and reappear, either. The spell shield flew back in a straight line, and it was perfectly content to knock obstacles out of its way to get back to its master. Bridget had found that out the hard way during one early training session.

The other skill that Thea had earned from her handful of levels was a passive skill that granted five attribute points to Endurance and Will called Shieldmaiden's Ardor. Jadis was mildly interested in the fact that the skill shared an adjective with Ardor of the Succubi, but after some quick research it was determined that Ardor was the common word used by the system to describe combined Endurance and Will passive attribute boosters.

With the unlocking of Thea's first active spell, they also gained the important information that Bonded Shieldmaiden was an Arcane dependent caster class. Since Shieldmaiden's Enduring Bond was already boosting Thea's Fortitude and Resilience, she made the call to switch her Lewd Lover's Bond to her Arcane attribute. To further solidify her new role as a mage tank, points were distributed such that Thea was able to perform Exhibitionistic Accession to push her Focus up to match her CLR, while also sparing a single point later for her Will so that she had some ability to regenerate her magic without outside help.

By the end of all the various rituals that needed to be performed, Thea's status sheet looked significantly different from how it had once appeared.

Thea of Cold Brook

Race: Human

Primary Class: Imperial Soldier (41)

Secondary Class: Shieldsworn Guard (36)

Tertiary Class: Bonded Shieldmaiden of Jadis (5)

Combined Level Rating: 82

Health: 700/700

Magic: 820/820

Attributes

Strength: 25

Dexterity: 10

Agility: 20

Vitality: 25

Fortitude: 480

Endurance: 52

Arcane: 452

Divine: 0

Eldritch: 0

Focus: 82

Resilience: 501

Will: 6

Overall, it was a good change, but definitely not a development the former soldier had ever expected or prepared for. Since they were both magic fighters, Bridget and Thea were spending a lot of time together, training their skills and performing tasks that they thought might help unlock skills and spells that they wanted in the future. Jadis helped whenever and wherever she could, but with all her many duties she had to limit her time in the training yard.

One thing that Jadis made sure to perform with Thea as often as possible, usually daily, was the ritual for her Enduring Bond. While the initial ritual had been somewhat lewd, the action required for upkeep was absolutely scandalous, at least by Thea's standards. For at least twenty minutes, she and Jadis had to walk together, in public, holding hands.

Truly, one of the most indecent things that could be asked of the shy woman.

On the bright side, Exhibitionistic Accession didn't require any kind of regular upkeep that might embarrass the introverted shieldmaiden any further. Just the one event was enough to satisfy. Well, satisfy the spell requirements, at least. Jadis, not so much. In fact, the thought of performing ritual public sex with Thea brought a smile to Jadis' lips every time it crossed her mind. The things they had done behind that bush in the temple gardens…

"What are you, um, looking at me for, like that?"

Syd grinned at the lightly blushing brunette before shoveling another forkful of sun berry pie into her mouth.

"Reasons…"

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Early dinner with the Hero's party had, by that point, wound down to the point where several of his companions had already taken their leave, as had some of Jadis' own cohorts. Wilhelm and Jocelyn were still there, as were Jadis and all of her lovers, but the rest of the merry gathering had either retired for the rest of the afternoon or had begged pardon to attend to other matters. Tiernan was still in the compound with Rune, somewhere, but the rest had left. Jadis had no doubt that Ludger had rushed through dinner so he could excuse himself in order to spend more time with his fiancé, but otherwise Jadis wasn't sure what the rest of the Hero's party did in their spare time. Halvor seemed like the type to either drink or trawl for ladies; probably both. Lucia would probably do the opposite and spend her time in the temples, considering her generally pious attitude. Amarantha likely had family around, considering the relatively large number of Lares in the city, and the same could be true for Rein, though he was the person in the group Jadis knew the least about. He was the most standoffish of Wilhelm's companions, though not exactly unfriendly. The elf was just sort of professionally polite, rather than genuinely amicable.

Whatever they were all up to, their departure left Wilhelm and Jocelyn alone with Jadis and her lovers, which made for an excellent opportunity to pump them for information.

"So. Have you two kissed yet?"

"Kerr!" Aila slapped the therion's shoulder. "Please! Do you have to intrude in other people's business?"

"No," the green-eyed woman grinned wolfishly. "But I like to anyway. Still looking for an answer, Jocey. Have you kissed and was their tongue—"

Kerr's attempt at interrogation was silenced by Dys' hand going around the whole lower half of her face and pulling the intrusive archer away from the blushing Oracle.

"Sorry," Dys apologized to the embarrassed human. "You don't have to answer that. In fact, you can generally ignore everything this one has to say if it isn't related to business."

Kerr made some noises behind Dys' palm that she translated to mean, but it is business, though Jadis continued to restrain her. While she was herself curious, she wasn't going to push the reserved priestess into discussing a topic she was clearly too shy to talk about. Sure, Jocelyn was super cute when she was flustered, but still. One had to have some limits.

"What did Miss Kerr just ask?" Wilhelm looked across the table at where the small group gathered around Jocelyn was.

"Nothing important," Jay assured the Hero. "You were saying Kestil wants to test some kind of weapon with your help?"

"Yes," Wilhelm nodded, still glancing with restrained concern at the other side of the table. "He said that it is a prototype that he thinks could be useful on the battlefield against largescale demonic forces."

"And he is requesting your assistance with this project?" Severina asked, her tone carefully neutral.

"He did not ask that I wield it," the Hero clarified. "Only that he be allowed to test the weapon in my presence when I and the others return to the fight on the northern front. In truth, he did not give me much information on what the weapon is or what it is capable of, only that he is concerned about potential failures and wants it to be used where I can act as protection."

Jay tilted her head to the side as she looked at Severina, one eyebrow raised. The Seraphim was still one of Kestil's trusted councilors, unless that had changed in recent weeks, so she had to have more information on whatever the secret weapon might be. Not much of an explanation came in response to Jadis' unspoken question.

"I do not have many details myself," Severina admitted as she sipped on her spiced tea. "I know that Prince Kestil has been… collecting large amounts of eleria for some purpose that he does not want his brother to know about. He and Eadgar have been keeping the details to themselves, though I do know that the project he is working on is for the purpose of defeating Demons."

Secret military projects sounded exactly like the sort of thing someone as sly as Prince Kestil would be working on. That he trusted his spymaster, Eadgar, with information on the weapon instead of Severina was mildly concerning, though Jadis was also not terribly surprised. Severina was loyal and could keep a secret, but she was also more interested in saving lives than furthering Kestil's political ambitions. Jadis could easily imagine a scenario where the second prince withheld the use of some amazing superweapon that could defeat the Demon invasion until he had the full support of the nobility. Severina would absolutely object to that sort of behavior.

Then again, Kestil could just be keeping his project hidden because he didn't want to risk interference from his jealous brother. The less people who knew a secret, the less chance that it had to spread. The second prince was probably doing everything he could to prevent Hraustrekr from catching wind of something that could invalidate the first prince's plans for the current war. However, if Kestil was willing to tell Wilhelm about the secret weapon project, that meant it had to be at a stage where it wouldn't matter if Hraustrekr found out about it or not.

"I have to admit, I am surprised that he asked me for assistance," Wilhelm commented as he chewed on a bit of piecrust. "He has not asked me for help with anything before. In fact, I would think he would ask for your help rather than mine. You are much closer, are you not?"

"We are not close," Jay grumbled darkly. "He just doesn't piss me off as much as his brother."

"You may have a skill that he needs for the prototype weapon's function," Sev suggested. "Something that Jadis and the rest of Fortune's Favored cannot provide."

"I highly doubt that," Jay said as she looked pointedly at a distracted Sabina who was currently discussing wands with Sorcha.

"He may see the testing of his weapon as a different sort of opportunity."

Jay, Sev, and Wilhelm turned their gazes to look upon Eir's placid smile. The saint was calmly eating small bites of the pie that Oats had baked, her plate still half full. When she saw that she had their attention, she set her fork down and explained.

"If Prince Kestil has indeed developed some new form of military wonder that can defeat hostile Demons on a large scale, perhaps he wishes to demonstrate its use to the one who has been chosen by the gods themselves to defeat the invasion. If the weapon is successful, would that not entice Wilhelm to support Prince Kestil in his aspirations?"

While Jay mulled over the potential of such a gambit, Wilhelm frowned lightly.

"I would not ask the emperor to change the order of succession just because Prince Kestil managed to develop an effective means of defending the empire from the invasion. Even if Emperor Somerulf was inclined to listen to me, it is not my place to comment on such matters. I know nothing of politics or the duties of rulership. I am just a simple huntsman."

"I know, right?" Jay sighed loudly as she clapped the Hero on the shoulder. "All this politicking crap is so gods damned annoying. I was not made for that way of thinking."

"It is all beyond my ken," Wilhelm let out his own sigh as he shook his head in agreement. "I am simply trying to save lives and fulfill the duty given to me by Valtar. Noble disputes and rights of succession have no place in my mind at all."

As Jay and Wilhelm clinked their glasses together in a commiserating toast, Eir put her hand over her mouth to hide a giggle.

"What?" Jay asked as she took the glass away from her lips.

"I did not expect the two of you to be so alike."

Jay glanced at Wilhelm, who at that moment was doing the same to her.

"We're pretty different, Eir."

"No offense intended, Lady Eir, but Jadis and I do not share that many qualities."

"You share the ones that count," the saint assured them with a knowing smile.

As Jay continued her discussion with Wilhelm, her Syd counterpart had left the table and entered the kitchen to retrieve a few more treats for the group to munch on. While the first building of the Fortune's Favored compound had basically become just a house for Jadis and her lovers on the second and third floors, the first floor still had the large hall where many of the families and workers of the company liked to dine when they weren't eating in private. As such, the kitchen of the main building was the largest and most well stocked, so Hans and his demonic baking apprentice, Oats, still spent almost all of their time there. Since it wasn't even sundown yet, Jadis wasn't surprised to see the two still working in the kitchen.

"Doing alright in here?" Syd asked as she took a plate of butter cakes from a counter.

Hans grunted in confirmation, not looking up from the pie crusts he was rolling out. Oats, for her part, waved at Syd with a flour-covered tentacle before resuming her rhythmic slapping of a large wad of bread dough. The new container that Sabina's brother, Crispus, had made for the red-eyed Demon was less of a cage and more of a metal shell. Since she was a possession Demon, she still had to be carefully contained, so Oats couldn't leave the steel confinement. This new arrangement allowed the Demon to move around on her own, to a degree, thanks to the wheels Crispus had attached to the bottom.

"Alright, let me know if either of you need anything," Syd waved back at the demonic baker and mustachioed cook. "The Hero gives his complements on the pie, by the way."

Another grunt of acknowledgement followed Syd out the door as she made her way back to the large main area where the others were talking and eat. Carrying the plate in one hand, Syd maneuvered her way between empty chairs and disarranged tables to reclaim her seat between Sorcha and Bridget. However, before she got halfway back, she heard a knock at the front door.

"I'll get it," Syd called out to the gathering as she changed course.

Ordinarily, she would have let Gunnar or one of the other administrative workers see to anyone who called upon the company without an appointment. However, she had sent Gunnar and the others off for the day since she was entertaining the Hero and his party.

There were always a few unexpected visitors, usually merchants looking to sell things or aspiring warriors looking to join the mercenary company. Fortunately, most of the normal citizens didn't seek Jadis out at the compound and instead only approached her with respect at the occasional temple visits she still attended at Aurea's request. Some still came by the headquarters every now and again, but not often. Jadis guessed that whoever was knocking at the door so late in the afternoon was probably a merchant, or perhaps a messenger from a noble or the temples.

When she opened the door, Syd nearly dropped the plate of cakes she carried in her left hand.

"Vraekae!" Syd exclaimed, a grin spreading across her face. "I didn't think you were able to come by today!"

"My schedule cleared up," the blue-skinned elf said as her red orb of destruction floated calmly over her shoulder. "I hope I am not bothering you."

"Of course not," she told the other woman. "I'm really glad to see you. I know everyone else will be, too. Especially Eir."

As she spoke, Syd noticed a bit of movement behind the magistrate that she had almost overlooked thanks to her focus on the stoic elf. The two short figures threw her off, as she had never seen any gnomes or goblins on Vraekae's guard detail—

Oh.

All three of Jadis froze at the sudden realization of who the two figures behind Vraekae were.

"I also thought I would provide an escort for these two," the magistrate said as she stepped slightly to the side. "They just arrived in the city, on horseback, and were lost and asking for directions. Fortunately, the city guard knew to reach out to me when the realized who they were looking for."

Syd stared down at the goblin couple as the two stared back up at her. The woman gaped with mouth open, wide eyes unblinking, while the man frowned with apprehensive suspicion. He had one arm around his wife's shoulder in a protective gesture, while she clutched at her husband's coat with a tight fist. Both, Jadis noted absently, had the exact same lime green skin color as their daughter.

"Hi," Syd called out in her friendliest, most welcoming voice. "You must be Sorcha's parents!"

From within the building came the sound of a small goblin woman hitting the ground as she fell out of her seat.

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