This Ascent to Divinity is Lewder than Expected (A Futa LitRPG)

4.33 - Back to the Beginning

They set out from Treyhull within the hour.

Delta accepted their urgency with little explanation. They'd given her a promise that they'd fill her in during the trek, and she'd nodded, then hurried away to prepare.

Maddy, they left behind. Beyond not even being an official part of the team, Zoey didn't think it smart to push for her recruitment yet. Especially not during a mission even stranger than usual, returning to an old, low level shard and rescuing a boss monster from some unknown threat. An unknown threat linked to a potentially world-ending danger.

The sex stuff was enough. Better to let Maddy get use to that idea first, before broaching the apocalypse.

Zoey sent a messenger to fill Sabina in on the change of plans. She didn't like how their lessons were being interrupted, and without even getting to say bye in person, but the less delay before heading for Mel, the better. The slimegirl had said she would survive for a day or two, but each passing hour was 'damaging' her. So even if they could linger, they shouldn't.

And so, their group of three set off with as much expeditiousness as reasonable.

They walked fast. As in, a pace Zoey would have struggled to make on flat concrete, back before her transmigration. Now, the noticeable boons of her skills and advancement meant she made long, swift strides across rugged terrain, and even doing so for an extended time, she didn't find herself winded. She was still the slowest of the group, with Rosalie and Delta having physically-oriented classes, but they still made twice or better speed than their earlier trip.

While they walked—or walk-jogged, really—they filled Delta in.

The second time explaining such bizarre topics wasn't any easier. Delta had more difficulty accepting them. Rosalie, at least, had been with Zoey since the beginning, and seemed generally more predisposed toward believing the incredible—maybe something to do with her past. Delta didn't have those influencing factors.

Still, she didn't outright call Zoey a liar. But by the time she'd gotten everything out, Zoey got the feeling she didn't wholly believe the craziness, either. Somewhere in the middle. Halfway believing, halfway not. With luck, proof would be provided during this expedition of theirs.

As the hours ticked by and landscape shifted, fatigue creeped in, but stamina potions fended it off, as well as determination to make it to Mel with time to spare.

Evening arrived, then twilight, then dusk, and they kept walking. A few monsters slowed them down, but only briefly. The violent creatures were weaker outside of shards, and their squad much stronger than a typical one.

They set up camp deep into the night and woke before the sun rose. They would've hiked straight through, but they didn't know what awaited them at Mel's shard, and being exhausted—from lack of sleep more than physically so—could be unwise. A satiating eight-hours was obviously off the table, but four or five put them in good enough condition to feel comfortable tackling the shard, which they arrived to after another several hours of trailblazing.

Without ceremony, because there wasn't much to say, they dove into the inky black portal.

***

Thankfully, that same entrance coffin she and Rosalie had first been trapped in had been cleaned out for their re-entry. Not so thankfully, it had been fully reconstructed, too. And instead of two girls being crammed in the space, there was three.

Then again ... being smooshed in by two naked girls—yes, the shard had taken their armor again—was hardly some fate worth lamenting.

"This again?" Rosalie growled. "Of course. What did I expect?"