Salazar Bromwyn was a very patient woman. As expected of someone who was engaged to such an annoying and self impressed person.

Salazar was also a genius. Which was probably why they were trying to stiffle her growth.

"This does not make sense!" Salazar complained, losing her temper for the first time Gud - as she had insisted on being called - could remember. "Why do I have to give up on my advancement just because you are at a lower level than me?"

The man in front of her desk did a good job of hiding his misgivings behind his condescending smile.

Salazar Bromwyn was not known for losing her temper. She was a saint, after all. A beautiful, white haired, green eyed, self sacrificing saint.

Perhaps she had been too young when her kingdom had been sacked, but Gud knew for a fact that Salazar had put two and two together. She knew what had happened to her parents. She knew why her uncle, the Duke, wanted her to marry this lazy ass imperial prince.

"Your level hardly matters to me, Sally," the man said, never losing his genial expression. "It's just that, with all the delving you've been doing recently, your uncle fears you're abandoning the academy. And surely this much is enough. You're one of, if not the strongest person on the frontier."

"But I am to be empress. I will not leave on the frontier forever."

The prince's smile flickered a bit. She wasn't sure if it became wider or smaller, but it changed and that had warning bells going off in Gud's mind.

"Sure you'll be empress."

"So I must get stronger," Salazar insisted.

"Listen, Salazar," he said, his voice losing some of the forced warmth. "You'll be my wife—"

"Empress."

The man's lips twitched, this time in obvious irritation.

"Sure. And I don't care how strong you are. But there are traditions in our empire. I don't blame you, as you grew up on the frontier. And rest assured neither does my father. Still, rules have been implemented. Stay here. Focus on your work as the headmistress. You need at least this much experience to rule the empire some day. Why do you think your uncle has left you as clan matriarch for house Bromwyn all these years?"

Because I am the rightful heir, and my uncle had always been acting as a regent, she was sure Salazar wanted to say. But she did not. She was getting control of her emotions back.

Salazar loved to explore. She had been stuck on the frontier all her life, but she'd still managed to become this strong. Still, if she ever became empress, she'd be too busy to explore the rest of the multiverse as she wanted. She'd be stuck cleaning up her emperor's messes. She'd only go to curated dungeons, and they'd force feed her essence to level her up without working on her skills. She'd be a high level, but weak.

She detested that fate, Gud knew. Still, she was trapped. She did not know how to get out of the engagement. She did not know how to escape from under her uncle's thumb. Except by growing stronger. She was only one rank away from him now, so he had nipped that threat in the bud.

Stolen novel; please report.

"It's impressive you've reached this far before a hundred years of life, Salazar," her fiance said. "You really deserve your Saintly reputation here in this little frontier sector. Please, make sure you do not advance except through natural accumulation, my lady. I would be distraught to have to find a new partner for next year's celestial fall ball."

The tad never stopped smiling, even as he attempted to further break Salazar's already broken spirit.

They watched the door to her office for a time after he'd gone. Finally, the woman sighed and opened a drawer on the desk she was sitting at.

She removed a small chest.

"An aura blocker," Gud asked. "I wonder what kind of treasure you brought this time?"

She opened the chest, and even if it was still weak, Gud felt her soul crave the fruit.

"I… see," she said. "Not eating it was the correct decision."

"Was it? I can feel the amount of fate this little one has collected. I found it. I am fated for it," Salazar said.

"But the imperial edict," Gud commented.

She did not care about the edict and would have broken it in an instant. But Salazar probably cared. Salazar was too weak for what was to come. Not physically, no. Even though her skills were not the typical media for violence, the woman was indeed a genius. Still, this would be a waste if she used it.

"Gaining a new stat will not give me a level," Salazar counted.

"But the quest system does often give out experience as a reward for completing quests, you know. And you cannot take back experience."

"I need to unlock my luck stat," Salazar insisted. "Who knows, maybe some kind of world ship will come and drive me away from my problems?"

"Why don't I do a reading then?"

"A reading?"

"To see if the fruit is fated for you. The luck stat is important, but maybe the fruit would be more useful in a trade."

"Fine," Salazar said.

She always pretended to be nonchalant, but Gud knew Salazar was hardly used to her power. Even if she was holding back quite a bit. And limited too, by the boundary, this far into the frontier.

With a shimmer, a game board reminiscent of any old dice game came into being. It was a different arrangement this time as well.

"That's different from the last reading," Salazar commented.

"Like my teacher always said," Gud answered. "The mystic arts are a very long and winding road."

"...okay?"

Gud cleared her throat. "Anyway, as you can see, all the important stop points at the early stages have no names. I'm deciding to approach this game as an adventure. One in which you're led around by fate."

Salazar nodded, so she continued. Out of the air, two die came into being, and a cup to roll them in. She preferred not to use her hands. A token appeared. Probably one that represented Salazar. She frowned. She had expected two tokens. Could it be that the fruit really was fated for Salazar.

She shrugged. Hers was to read, not to dictate fate. She could guide it only through very measured advice. She rolled the die. The avatar moved forward a few places. The fruit in the little chest started shining.

"Hmm, this is the dungeon where you picked the fruit. A tier- 10. That's amazing that you managed to sneak into one."

Salazar tried to deny it, but Gud wasn't listening. If the empire was trying to control her, there was no way they would just go on and let her into the most controlled and watched dungeons in their sectors.

Something else shimmered into being. A card. Gud frowned. Normally, it would have been a deck and she'd have to shuffle and pick one at random. What the hell was this game?

The card floated over to Salazar. She opened it up and frowned.

"Read it," Gud commanded.

"Eat this fruit, and steal the fate of this sector. Become the fulcrum. The hero all will sing of for generations to come. Or…"

"There is a second option?! Good. Before you read it, Sally, you should know, stealing fate is never a good course of action. There is such a thing as negative karma, reducing the ultimate cap of your luck stat per grade. That's not the only effect. Statistically speaking, more than seventy percent of people who farm and steal fate like this never unlock the quest system."

"Whose fate is this then?" Salazar asked, looking at the fruit again.

"As the card implied, it has been gathered in this sector and, I suspect, many of the sectors neighbouring here for many generations. It was waiting."

"Waiting?"

Gud nodded. "Yes. Waiting for whatever else that card you're holding contains."

She gestured for Salazar to keep reading.

"Or wait for the fated to arrive. You have been chosen to deliver this fruit to a worthy warrior."

Salazar's eyes widened after she was finished reading the card. A new totem shimmered into being on top of the board. It was a few tiles ahead of Salazar's own, even though it hadn't had a turn yet.

It was small and holding a thin single edged sword of some type.

"Hey, Gud, is it just me or is this chosen warrior almost four grades weaker than me?"

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