Ovi’ta felt all the tension in the room evaporate as Arlie left the room with one of the servants to be shown their room. Even with her emotions heavily muted, thanks to Clarity of Mind, she could sense the change. The strange elf man, Yiran, let out a heavy sigh. “I guess that went well for a first meeting. Never thought I would run into her on a vacation.”

“I take it you know who she is?”

“Oh, yes. The primordial God Queen. Not someone you want to piss off either, just ask the primal light gods still living in the Infernal realms, or the Lizari. Personally, I suggest asking the Lizari.”

Ovi’ta frowned. Lizari? What in the infernal realms is a Lizari? Her confusion must have shown because moments later, he said, “Perhaps you know of them as the Lizardmen?”

She nodded, she had heard of lizardmen, foul ugly lizard creatures that would wander out of swamps at night and kidnap young girls and women. They would drag those unfortunates back to their fetid swamps, and rape them. It was how those despicable creatures procreated. The foul creatures were not well-liked back home, but despite numerous expeditions to purge their blight, they still lived.

He nodded, “I thought so. Celestials don’t much like Lizari. Even so, the rape thing that you celestials detest them for so much isn’t really their fault, rather it is her fault. They crossed her in the primal era and were cursed for it. We gods mainly keep the story alive because it makes for a really good cautionary tale.”

Ovi’ta stared at the strange man for a moment, “... Wait! You are a god!?”

Misaki, having calmed down, finally spoke coherently, but there was still a tone of disbelief. “I’m at the level cap. I gained more than fifty levels at once. I can take my first trial of ascension.”

Phyllis chuckled, “I guess I can see why you were so stunned. I guess I can tell you a bit about how that works. Well, at least for most races. I don’t know about dungeons but it should be nearly the same.”

“You will do that? I’d like to know.”

Phyllis glanced at their passed-out voyeur. “Well first, we should tuck her in, and then we can talk about it.”

Misaki followed her gaze and giggled.  “I guess we gave her quite the show.”

Phyllis nodded as they made their way to the passed-out figure. Silently, they picked her up and carried her to the guest room; cleaned her up, and tucked her in. Before they headed back to clean up the puddle she had left on the floor.

Once all that was done, and they were cleaned of their own sticky juices, the two young women settled down at the kitchen table to converse. The maids had already gone to bed so no one was there to offer them anything. It was also why they had not been around to help with their voyeur guest.  The only thing they did was get a glass of water each.

Phyllis adjusting herself in the seat began, “Well, the first thing you should know about the trials is that they do not take place in our world. They are also conducted by your primary patron. This time around it’s going to be Dewari for me, and I know it is Dewari for you. Beyond that, I can’t tell you much. I am afraid each trial is different, and even if I told what my first trial involved it would not help. The trial is personalized to you, and you alone.”

“What was your first trial anyway?”

Phyllis took on a faraway look and stared wistfully into space for a moment or two. Just as the silence seemed to drag on forever, she finally said, “I was a very different person back then. I really don’t like talking about back then, but fo...”

“You know what, I don’t want to know. Anyway, you said that Dewari is going to oversee our trial. Do her aspects affect the trial?”

Phyllis smiled, she could see what Misaki just did. Honestly, she would have told her, even if it was a little uncomfortable talking about, but decided to let her redirect the conversation back to the main topic at hand. “The short answer is yes. The long answer is that the trial tends to be mostly determined by you, but some of it is determined by your patron. I would not worry too much about the trial. The first one is easy, almost everyone passes it. I have no doubt you will do fine. Mine will be a good deal tougher. I have a good feeling about it though.”

“You have a good feeling? Did Dewari tell you what to expect? Do you think she will tell me?”

Phyllis just started laughing. After a moment or two when she calmed down, she said, “The gods aren’t known for loose lips, besides the trial is mainly meant to determine if you are ready to evolve. That you can handle everything that comes with evolution. Don’t be afraid to fail. While most people only ever get one shot, you can always earn a second one. It’s just not easy to get. It only requires convincing your patron to give you a second chance, but in your case, I think you have a shot at earning a second chance if you fail.”

A sudden scoff drew their attention to a vision of perfection that had suddenly appeared in one of the chairs.

Misaki’s eyes widened, and Phyllis found herself wondering how long she had been there listening. Dewari must have been reading her mind because she answered, “Since the beginning.” then she looked to Misaki, “Phyllis is right about not being afraid of failing. Fear of failure often leads to exactly that. Not that you two really need to worry about that.”

Misaki frowned, “May I ask what you mean about that, my goddess?”

Dewari gave them a friendly smile and looked between the two, “You will figure it out, and I’ll see you two in the morning for your Trials of Ascension. I suggest you two rest, or discuss your other rewards.”

As Dewari vanished, Phyllis sighed. A nice little notification popped up merely confirming what she already knew. “I guess I really am doing it tomorrow. Dewari just scheduled us.”

“I gathered that. Doesn’t make it any less surprising.”

“No, it doesn’t. Normally gods don’t just pop in, and tell you when the Trial of Ascension will be. You normally get to pick when you take it.”

“Well, our lives aren’t exactly normal. There is more I would like to talk about, like our other rewards, but it is getting late and Dewari had a point. If she is making us take our trial in the morning we should be rested.”

Phyllis nodded. In perfect agreement with that statement, and deep down her feelings about her coming trial had only improved. She was curious what her options would be this time. Last time they had been a bit lackluster, and she ended up going with High-human, but things had changed for her. Maybe she would get a really cool race. She was getting up to the tier where races were more interesting. 

Misaki on the other hand, she had no idea what she would get. She knew dungeons started to specialize in unique ways past level one hundred, and that they did this through evolution. She just did not know much about the process, naturally, she had read everything she could find. The problem was no one had done the kind of in-depth study needed to tell her what she wanted to know. Studies had been done, but few got involved enough with dungeons to get the kind of information she wanted. 

Although strangely people had done enough study on the different types of Sky Dungeons to get an idea of the requirements. Like people, dungeons had affinities, and she knew those affinities played into their evolutions. In the same manner that an elf with a high wind affinity might evolve into a wind elf, or a human with a celestial affinity might evolve into a celestial human. Although there were other methods to get those evolutions. In the second case, bloodline or celestial corruption could both unlock the evolution. A part of her noted the implications of that, but it barely registered for her tired mind.

One thing was certain though. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day for both of them. Especially when their patron was taking such a personal interest in their trials. She knew things weren’t going to be anything like last time.

She pushed the thoughts aside and followed Misaki to bed. Neither of them had much energy to spare, and the kids were being quiet. Although she did not count on that lasting for long. In any case, she was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. She slept well enough, for the most part, only being woken twice by her children. The morning came all too soon for both of them, and they were barely out of bed when Dewari snatched them for their Trials of Ascension. Neither one had eaten, much less dressed for the day.

At the same time, Darious was stirring for her day. She had spent the night curled up next to the demoness who had found her. Honestly, she would have preferred her own bed, but she had not been given a choice in the matter. Not that she had much argued the point, she had been too tired to do more than complain about the issue.

Tired enough that she had been asleep almost before her head hit the pillow. She had not even realized she was that sleepy until she tried to lie down. Now that she was waking up, her memories were coming back to her in force. The newly minted young girl just knew today was going to be a long day. Last night had been bad enough, especially dinner. She didn’t even want to think about it but try as she might she could not forget it. Not only could she not forget, but she could not help but fear that breakfast would be the same. If she knew what she could do to change it, she would do it immediately. Unfortunately, she had no idea how to force her life back on course.

Instead of focusing on the things out of her control, her mind drifted to the next issue. Her upcoming meeting with the demoness’s master. No doubt the dungeon. The very last being she had wanted to meet, but it seemed that her worst fears were coming to pass. All too quickly for her tastes. At least she still had her name. The gods had taken everything else from her, but at least she still had that.