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

5.16 - Arcade II

They continued around the arcade, destroying various skill games, Delta much more so than Zoey, but Zoey putting up her own supernatural performance too. As much as Zoey had fun testing her new limits, she enjoyed Delta strutting about and teasing her. Maybe some people would find the bravado annoying, but Zoey found it endlessly cute—especially because whenever Zoey didn't rise up to the bait, and instead complimented Delta, the poor foxgirl would blush and look away. She even pouted about how Zoey ought to be at least acting a little frustrated.

Some of the games were difficult enough even they couldn't get perfect scores. For examples, empowered or not, landing a pinpoint bullseye with darts twenty feet away on every single shot was beyond even Delta—though her accuracy was shocking nonetheless.

As they played, they of course chatted. The entertainment was background noise, especially to Zoey. She'd gotten a chance to learn more about Delta, and in the frenzy of the past two weeks, that was a rare opportunity. One she'd been looking forward to.

"So what's it like up there?" Zoey asked. "I haven't actually learned much about Haven."

"Depends," Delta said. "My answer would be different from Rosalie's."

"That's fair. You, specifically, though."

Delta shrugged. "I didn't have it as bad as some. Maybe worse than a lot. I guess in the end it's not that different from the Fractures. Those who have, have. And those who don't, don't."

It was more of a serious response than Zoey had been expecting, but she was happy to engage with it. "There's a lot of imbalance?"

"That'd be putting it lightly."

In a world where people could acquire nearly godlike powers, that made sense. It still made Zoey's heart pang, hearing that Delta had been in that less-fortunate half. Or probably less-fortunate nine-tenths. She could only imagine the difference between the 'elite' and the 'not' was more prevalent than in her own world—and things hadn't been pretty there, either.

"Fractures might even have it better," Delta commented. "Way more likely to die down here, I guess, but the day to day is better for the average citizen. On purpose. Wayfarers need support personnel, so they gives reasons for people to flock to such a dangerous place."

"Yeah," Zoey said. "What about you, though? Family? You said you had a dad you were trying to help?"

"That's why I came down initially. Same as most people. Money. A chance at something more. Didn't expect to do so well."

No kidding. From the sounds of it, Delta wasn't anyone special—in the sense of status or birth—yet had proven herself an impressive wayfarer in a matter of months, enough even Maddy and Rosalie thought highly of her. Lacking the elite training those two had received, that was really saying something.

"Working towards that goal faster than I'd expected," Delta continued. "Expected it to take at least a year to start pulling in the money I'd need to help my dad out, but I'm already third advancement. It's kind of crazy to think about. I know you don't have a great idea of what that means, but my time as just—I don't know, a regular person, is over. Way over. Third advancement up in Haven would live like royalty."

"Really?"

"Maybe that's exaggerating," Delta said. "Actually, it definitely is. But to me? Or rather, us? My family? Not that far. It'd be like royalty, considering where we started."

"How hard is it to climb advancements? Normally, I mean."

"Most people die in their first few shards," Delta said. "Most people don't get an insane prodigy for a surprise teammate and an unbelievable class to help them along. Or make two advancements in a matter of weeks. Or have five runes."