The Royal Quarters did not disappoint and certainly lived up to the name. They were composed of a large living area with several doors with various labels lining the walls.

A multitude of chairs, couches, sofas, and tables were scattered throughout the room.

Three large, round dining tables lined the wall on the right side of the room, each with ten seats. That wall held only a single door labeled 'Kitchen'.

The left wall held several doors labeled as different bedrooms and their attached bathrooms.

Behind the pair, a single door labeled 'Guest Quarters' sat on both sides of the entrance.

The wall in front of them, across from the entrance, contained three doors. The central door was labeled 'Spa' while the outer doors were labeled 'Master Bedroom'.

Danya gaped while her eyes wandered the room, taking in the large space before her.

However, Sala's eyes quickly homed in on a high-backed chair facing away from them. A pair of feminine legs and bare feet hung over one arm while familiar golden curls flowed over the other.

"Maryi?" He called out in a confused tone, recognizing the hair.

A gasp sounded out as the feet and hair disappeared, only to come back into view as Maryi flipped over the back of the chair and raced toward the two.

"Sala! Lady Danya! It's wonderful to see you both again!" She exclaimed, tackling the pair and wrapping them in a hug.

Danya squirmed in discomfort, confused by the woman's actions and unused to such shows of affection. Seeing this, Sala let out a sad sigh and carefully removed them from Maryi's hug.

"I'm happy to see you as well, Maryi... I'm sure Danya will be, too, as soon as she gets over the shock of your outside-of-work personality." He said with a wry smile.

He guided the two women to sit around a small coffee table and continued. "Why don't we have a seat while that settles in? Then we can talk about why you're here ."

Maryi blushed at his words. "I'm terribly sorry, Lady Danya. I didn't intend to make you uncomfortable." She rubbed the back of her head and chuckled sheepishly. "I just- When I saw Sala, I just acted like I normally do whenever he's around. I kinda completely forgot that you were here as well."

"Please forgive me for my lack of manners!" She exclaimed, bowing her head.

Sala chuckled and nudged Danya with his elbow causing her to jerk back to attention. "Danya, this is the real Maryi. She acts like this whenever she's among those she considers friends and not in a professional setting. Contrary to the more cold image she has while working, she's one of the most caring and compassionate people I know." He paused for a moment before adding with a smirk, "Even if she is a bit of a ditz sometimes."

Maryi pouted at his last remark and kicked his shin, getting a chuckle in return.

Danya smiled at the blonde woman. "It's perfectly okay, Maryi. I don't mind. It was kind of nice, to be honest... And please, just call me Danya, no need for any formalities."

Maryi exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she was holding, and Sala questioned, "So, what are you doing here? I wasn't expecting to see you until closer to the beginning of the semester."

Clasping her hands together nervously, she explained. "Well, I spent most of the night thinking deeply about what happened at the auction. I decided to ask you to join your party. Not only would I be working to help the world, but I'd also be gaining the strength I'd need to pursue my goals after everything has settled down." She chuckled and continued with a little more confidence. "So I decided to use my connections and pull a few strings to get myself a ticket aboard the ship in the guest quarters for your suite."

Maryi locked eyes with Danya. "With that, I'd like to ask formally. Lady Danya, will you allow me to join you on your quest?"

Danya was quiet for a moment as she processed the other woman's words.

"Why me?" She eventually asked. "You've only had two short interactions with me. Surely just being a champion isn't enough for you to make such a big decision. There are as many champions as there are gods. Don't you want to meet any of the others before you join someone?"

Maryi smiled at the champion. "Sala is my best friend, my only friend, really. I had already planned to team up with him once he joined the academy, so this worked out even better. If he has chosen to follow you, then I have no doubt you're an individual of good character."

Danya took a deep breath and glanced at Sala, who nodded reassuringly. "There are a few things that you should know before you commit to that decision. "

The pair spent several minutes explaining their current situation to Maryi without going into too much detail. They mainly focused on Danya's race and what being a part of her group would be like.

"So... Basically, what you're saying is that you're the champion of Aroya, the goddess of lust and fertility. She granted you a new race, one never seen before, with a biological imperative to constantly have children. Children that gestate incredibly rapidly if what I'm seeing is anything to go by." Maryi began summarizing. "Your new race is fueled by a special form of energy created from lew acts, which means that you increase in power by having lots and lots of sex."

She hummed. "And to top it all off, you were already talented before the change to this new race, which increased your talents in many areas and gave you even more abilities. Even more than that, you were given a literal divine boon due to your nature as a champion..."

"Does that sound about right?" Asked the golden-haired woman, tapping her finger to her chin.

The champion nodded stiffly. "That's it in a nutshell. There are a few more details and other tidbits that I can only tell you after you've officially joined." She let out a deep sigh. "Are you sure that you still want to join us? I'm pretty much dependent on others around me for energy. I don't know exactly what will happen if I completely bottom out on my lust energy, but I have a feeling that it won't be a good thing... So if there's ever a moment that you and I are alone and can't reach anyone else, I may need your help to refill my reserves..."

Maryi looked down at the floor, her hair falling to cover her face. She sat for several long minutes before Danya spoke up with a wry smile. "Don't worry about it, Maryi. I don't think that I would want to join either if I were in your shoes."

The blonde jumped up at that and blushed a bright red that crept all the way from her neck to the tips of her ears. She quickly blurted out, "N-no! I want to join!"

Suddenly realizing what she had done, she sat back down and mumbled to herself just a little too loudly, "Stupid brain! Getting caught up on stupid things! Even if it sounded so hot..."

Sala burst out into laughter, causing Maryi to someone become even redder. Danya looked between the pair with a confused expression.

"Damn! I always thought that you were a secret pervert, Maryi, but I could never find any proof!" Sala exclaimed, still fighting to contain himself.

He turned to Danya with mischief in his eyes and asked, "If the champions were chosen last year, do you think Aroya would have picked Maryi?"

Danya blinked and was overcome with a fit of giggles as she spoke, hand over her mouth. "Yes! I'm sure she would have. It certainly fits this hidden side of her personality."

The two laughed for a while at the still blushing Maryi's expense. Sala eventually spoke again. "Danya, Maryi would be an excellent addition to our team. I trust her with my life and know that you can too." He smiled at Maryi and continued, "While it's not my place to give details, I've never seen someone so driven to achieve their goals. So, even without the fact that she's an incredibly good person, you can trust that she'll be on our side. She won't be able to complete her goals if we're all enslaved, after all."

Danya nodded and turned back to Maryi with a bright smile. "I'd be more than happy to have you on the team. And after the war, I'll help you out however I can."

---

Congratulations, you have accepted a follower!

You will always be aware of each other's health and location!

Your Spark of Divinity has granted a boon to your follower!

---

Maryi shone with a slight glow as the system message appeared before Danya.

In contrast to Sala's significant outward changes, Maryi's appearance remained mostly the same. All the pair noticed was a slight increase in her muscle definition.

The champion and her knight waited in silence as Maryi examined her status, her eyes widening as she took in the differences.

"Holy hell Danya! From what I've heard, a system-managed follower often gets a little boost, but this is insane! My abilities changed so much!" She exclaimed as she flicked a hand toward the pair, sharing her status.

***

Maryi Wizaron has shared her status with you.

Do you want to share your status with her?

***

Danya quickly shared her status and skimmed over Maryi's, focusing on the portions that were affected by her spark.

---

Status

Name: Maryi Wizaron

Race: Human

Class: Wind Strider

Level: 3

BODY: B

MIND: C

SOUL: C

---

Skills

 

Wind Walk:

You move as freely as the wind.

Rank B

Passive:

Your steps are silent under almost all circumstances.

Your movement speed is increased by a moderate amount.

Active:

Your movement speed is increased by an additional large amount.

Active:

You can step on the air up to ten times consecutively.

 

Item Box:

Store your items in a personal pocket dimension.

Rank: E

Active:

Anything that you can lift can be stored.

Contains a volume of 10 cubic feet.

 

Virtual Intelligence - Mark V:

An interface between your mind and various information networks.

Rank: N/A

Active:

Able to process gathered information at a speed of 1.5x your mind.

Can store as much data as your mind.

Networks can be connected to at 1.5x their advertised range.

Additional functionality can be added with software installations.

 

Lesser Cultivation:

Absorb mana to improve your being.

Rank: E

Active:

Direct mana into your stats with very low efficiency.

 

Wind Manipulation:

Command the winds.

Rank: D

Range: 10ft

Active:

Move wind within range with your mana.

 

Body of Wind:

You have become one with the wind.

Rank: D

Passive:

Your body has been brought to the peak of your race's genetic potential.

You require half the average amount of sleep.

You require half the usual amount of food and water, and what you consume is processed fully.

You have a significantly easier time learning anything related to the wind.

You have an easier time passing bottlenecks.

---

"Huh," Danya muttered. "Did you already have Body of Wind, or is that new?"

"It's new! It's such a fantastic skill! I have a strong feeling that it'll be even more so if I can rank it up!" Maryi gushed. "My original class skill was improved by a huge amount too!"

"Maryi... You're already Level 3, hell, almost to Level 4! That's incredible." Sala exclaimed.

"It takes the average person roughly six months to reach Level 2 and well over a year further for Level 3. To be just short of being able to make Level 4 after just a single cumulative year is amazing! An absolutely insane level of talent!" Sala answered, seeing the confused expression on Danya's face.

"It's not that big of a deal! I'm sure-" Maryi, somehow still blushing, was interrupted by a chime ringing throughout the room. The occupant's VIs alerted, showing an image of two people standing outside the door.

Danya's eyes widened.

"Is that... Joz? What the fuck?!?"