Genetic Ascension

[Castle Bonus---Big thanks to Readable and RolaySalt!! (8/10)]

Cassarae sat in her chair with a sigh, Olivia coming in not long after her.

The insides were quite shabby, and she would have preferred to just stay in a large tent instead. But now there were too many things she had to balance, including public perception.

The militiamen weren't the only things the City Stele had spawned. There were real people that actually depended on her now.

This world just picked her up and plopped her down in the middle of nowhere, then expected her to forge a path ahead for herself.

Honestly, she had leaned toward picking the Gene State booster as well. But she figured that she was a woman and had a weaker body, so it would be better if she went this route.

She never expected that her Physical would have been balanced out with that of the men. If she had known that would happen, she would have never picked this route.

Sylas' Strength had started off at just five, which meant he was around the 50- to 60th percentile in terms of strength. Just due to the existence of women alone, this should have been more unlikely than not.

He didn't exactly train for strength, he focused on cardio and the like. But as a tall man of his stature, his Strength shouldn't have been so weak.

If he had a conversation with Cassarae, though, he would understand why that was.

Most women were at an innate disadvantage in this world, so the system took it upon itself to balance that out, evenly distributing not just Strength, but all the Physical stats.

"The fighting hasn't even started yet and you're already sighing," Olivia spoke with a smile.

Between the two women, Cassarae was definitely the taller one. By at least a half head at that.

Olivia was a bit fairer, but much like everyone on Earth, they both had a tanned richness to them.

What was more interesting was their outerwear. Most of the village's funds went to outfitting them and the militiamen, so they wore good leather armor and they both had weapons sheathed at their waist.

As the City Lord, though, Cassarae didn't do much fighting. As for Olivia, she was much more active.

It could be said that they were both very lucky to run into one another. These last three months had brought them much closer. Cassarae didn't actually have any closer friends, just a bunch of quasi-friendships. But this situation had really pushed her and Olivia together.

If Sylas knew that it had been so long, though… it was hard to say how he'd react.

"It's just continuous," Cassarae muttered. "We just dealt with the goblin village, then this one popped up out of nowhere. And we're still no closer to upgrading from Rudimentary Village to a higher level."

"Is that really all it is?" Olivia raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you usually the positive one while I'm doom and gloom?"

Cassarae muttered something under her breath before she sighed.

"I dunno. Maybe I'm a bit annoyed. Just met someone I haven't thought about in a long time."

"Someone?" Olivia frowned. There wasn't anyone to meet here unless… "Oh, one of the Quest-takers? You knew one of them?"

"Yeah, the shirtless one."

"Ah, you always ruin my fun."

Cassarae was speechless. "Didn't you just say you're the doom and gloom?"

"Well yeah, why wouldn't I be when there's no dick around here?!"

Cassarae burst into a fit of laughter, suddenly feeling a lot better.

"There are plenty of men in the village."

Olivia found a stool and sat on it as defiantly as she could.

"Yeah, but are they real…"

Cassarae's grey-blue eyes flickered with something. She could feel the weight of that question. It was something almost existential they were all going through right now.

"Forget all of that. Is he marked territory?"

"You can have him if you want him," Cassarae laughed, shaking her head.

"Don't give me that, I want details. No dick, no romance novels to binge, I'm going crazy here."

"You're really so interested in a man covered in all that dirt and grime? Get it together, Olivia."

"Hoho," Olivia chortled, "that had a little extra spice to it. Didn't end well?"

Cassarae rolled her eyes. "It ended just fine. We are cordial."

"So no," Olivia nodded with assurance.

"That's not what I meant. You can't even see his face all that clearly."

"But you still recognized him immediately."

"That's not the point."

"What is the point, then?" Olivia asked with a grin.

"Nothing."

"Well, I couldn't see his face all that well, I can't lie. But I saw his body."

Cassarae rolled her eyes again. "Everyone's a warrior now. There'll be six-packs and broad shoulders abound. You need to up your standards now."

"Yeah, but it won't make them taller and it won't fix what's down there. Did you not see how loose his pants were? He was swinging that thing everywhere," Olivia spoke, her grin becoming eviler. "Now tell me when to stop."

Olivia held her hands out, facing her palms toward each other. Then she began to slowly bring them apart.

"Olivia!" Cassarae grabbed her wrists before she could continue.

"Cass!" Olivia called out with a hearty laughter.

"I only saw it once, alright? I don't even remember it," Cassarae muttered, clearly not even believing her own words.

"Only once? Only an idiot would believe that."

Cassarae sighed. "Fine, fine."

Olivia scooted forward on her stool, seemingly excited that she had finally wrung the details out of Cassarae.

"We were 17. We never went that far."

"Oh? A childhood friend? This is even more juicy than I thought."

"Should have probably stayed that way," Cassarae shook her head. "We only dated for two months and… he broke up with me."

"What?!"

Olivia stood to her feet as though she was horrified.

She looked Cassarae up and down.

"Bullshit." Olivia concluded.

Cassarae smiled at that. "It's the truth."

"He didn't even get a taste, and he left? I don't even know what to say," Olivia snorted. "His loss. I'm sure there was a long line waiting to follow up."

"That's not the worst of it," Cassarae cringed a bit at the memory.