Wish upon the Stars (Original Superhero cultivation sci fi litrpg)

[Malcolm Tent]

I grimaced as we approached the final temple. "Shit." I said succinctly. "Should have guessed." We stopped at a small copse of what looked like olive trees a few hundred feet down the mountain. To my Eye of Revelation, the forms of about a dozen other contestants were clearly outline against the grass and shrubs between us and the temple. "There's twelve of them up there. Doesn't seem like they're all together, they're in a few groups."

"Think this is everyone left?" My sister asked with a grimace, trying to spot them herself. I saw a quick flare of light in her eyes and blinked in shock when I realized she was purifying her vision to sharpen it. I hadn't known she could do that. It was an interesting technique I'd need to remember.

I shrugged in response to her question. "I don't know, but probably not. There were a lot of paths, makes sense the final ring of temples would be set up to cause a big collision"

"Perhaps we could attempt to fly over the peak." Said Serah consideringly. "Study the temples and see how many ended up at each? I'm not sure if we'll meet resistance at the top, but it would be best to be prepared."

I shook my head emphatically. "No way. This is a race based on hitting checkpoints. There's no chance they don't have countermeasures against people just flying up to the top. I'd be shocked if you even made it halfway. We just need to hurry. If this is supposed to be a big free for all, chances are good all the players aren't even here yet, best chance of winning is to get in and out before they arrive."

"Any chance you have a plan?" Chelsea asked me hopefully.

Snorting, I gestured up the mountain at the various subforces. "Based on what? The shapes of their ear lobes? Which I can't even see at this distance because they've all got head gear on and are facing away from us? No, I have no plan."

Serah, who had been looking seriously up the mountain, made a small hum of curiosity. "Maybe you could use your earth power again. Make a slide that drops them into the ground and carries them down the mountain."

"Sure." I said reasonably. "Or maybe I could jump up the slope in slow motion and punch the ground so hard they're vaporized by the shockwaves. Because that would be way easier than what you just suggested. It's not like we're on a snowy peak, we can't just start an ava-" I trailed off. "You know…I might have a plan."

Grinning, my sister glanced up the mountain. "Can you do that?" She asked after she puzzled out what I was thinking from my dropped sentence. "That's a lot of dirt."

"Not as much as you'd think." I disagreed. "I mean, it won't be as tough as what I did in the temple. I'm not going to be controlling the dust. Just making like…a slide. The stuff is super fine, nearly no friction. I only need to do a small layer along the top of the ground. The trick will be doing a large enough section of the surface all at once, but I can push through that. The question becomes can you all take advantage of the distraction. Remember, we learned from the cat temple we don't need to defeat them, just beat them to the key."

Chelsea looked excited. "I can blanket the area in flame as a distraction while Holly and Serah fly right in and get the key. If Holly blinds the guardian with light, assuming it's not immune or something, Serah can dart in and capture the key."

"Perfect." I said with a laugh. "I just need a few minutes before we start." My head was still banging away. I was preparing to push through the pain, when I felt something odd. It drained out of me.

I blinked, looking up toward where I knew the audience was. My soul strain…it was gone. Or rather, I still felt it, but not in me. It was in Callie now. I knew she could help offset the strain of doing things, but I hadn't been aware she could just TAKE it from me like that. Whatever they did to block the bond hadn't stopped it either, though that wasn't a shock. Skills had trouble with soul stuff most of the time.

With the newly unburdened state of my head, I was able to gather myself to prepare for the attack. But before I did, I had to bring up the elephant in the room. "I need to win this." I said quietly. "Are you guys going to let me?"

Holly and Serah turned to look at me. One inscrutable and one coldly interested. They seemed to be waiting, because they said nothing as my sister turned around. "What?" She said in surprise. "I thought that was the plan all along." She turned to the angels. "Were you two planning to win?"

Laughing, Holly shook her head. "We're under orders to help you." She said bluntly. "A favor from the Radiant Pope is worth more than a bit of renown, even on the universal stage. "We were under the impression you were going to win, but if you think he should, that's fine."

"See." Said my sister loftily. "It's fine. Have you been worried about that the whole time? You're kind of dumb sometimes, Shane."

I rolled my eyes. "Noted. But that was all I needed to know. I have an idea of how I can minimize the strain for this and maybe produce a better effect. Nobody talk for a minute." I shook my head, trying to strangle the fond smile I had on my face before I closed my eyes.

Mapping out the distance, I'd realized that it was going to be a rough time, even if I was just doing a thin layer. I was essentially going to be dissolving several tons of earth. Pit of Despair was made for decently large areas, but not THAT large. After a minute of thinking though, I realized what I was really doing.

I was DESTROYING a bunch of dirt and rocks and grass. I was grinding them all to dust. Converting and then deconverting them was useful most of the time because it let me make traps and restrain people, but I didn't need to go through all that trouble this time. I wanted to break them and let them stay broken.

And I just so happened to have a form that was excellent at breaking things. I triggered Mephistopheles, then focused on the area I wanted affected. It was large still, but having changed my perspective, it was less daunting. I didn't need to work a massive amount of dirt with dust construction, I just needed to carpet bomb the slope with my destructive energy.

Belial actually might have been better, but that wouldn't work fast enough. Belial's corrosion was a slow creeping thing, and someone would notice.

By shifting into my Mephistopheles form though, I changed the game. Because I wasn't using a move, I was using a TECHNIQUE. Techniques, unlike normal abilities, mobilized the power of a Path, and mine was downright ridiculous in its scope of application.

This would have been easier if I'd had a form for Dust Construction like I'd been toying with earlier, but destruction would work fine.

In my head, I started creating the images. I told the story I needed, and how it related to Mephistopheles. How the demon came to rain destruction on the world, and the ground itself ran like water and swept away his enemies in an earthly flood. Pit of Despair even fit the narrative theme wise.

Reaching out over the slope, I focused on what I wanted, on how my Path could bring it into being, and then I cast my newest technique. The name just came to me, and I didn't have time to really consider the meaning other than intoning it aloud. "Damnatio Memoriae."

I struck the ground in front of us with my staff, and a wave of black flames roared out, rolling along the ground for about a square mile in the shape I'd envisioned before sinking into the mountain. The ground around us began to rumble, and in the blink of an eye, the huge section I'd covered turned to ultra fine dust, and it all began to slide down the slope.

Not being an idiot, I'd shaped my technique to leave a wedge of solid rock in front of us, starting where I struck the ground, and so all the dust flowed around us to either side. The enemies probably would have reacted, but before they could, a fucking FIRESTORM of pure white flame consumed everything above the dust flows.

I staggered, catching myself on my staff, drained more than I'd expected, but still grinning fiercely. The angels took wing, ascending with two massive flaps to gain air and then gliding toward the temple.

"That was nuts." Gritted out my sister. "I can't believe you're strong enough to do something like that."

I shook my head. "I cheated." I said breathlessly. "Pit of Despair only does one thing. I just supercharged it with destruction flames. I'm probably never going to be able to use that technique for anything ever again. It literally ONLY functions in this exact situation."

Being able to create giant swathes of slippery mountain wasn't exactly an impressive move in most situations. I was almost skeptical it was worth the trouble it had taken to create that technique, but Chelsea just chuckled, shaking her head. "You think any of THEM know that?" She asked rhetorically, chucking her chin up at the invisible audience. "They just saw you smack the ground and wash away a dozen powerful Ascendants."

"Takes one to know one, my one mile firestorm." I said with a laugh. "That one isn't going to fade from memory anytime soon.. Though speaking of memory, here comes the angels with the thing we were here for." I nodded up to the sky, where a pair of shining forms swept toward us.

Laughing, my sister held out a hand, and a jagged black shape dropped from above, spinning down to slap into her palm. She tossed it to me and I grinned as I stashed it in my ring. "Now that's what I'm talking about!" I crowed. "That's number twelve. Let's get to the top."

Chelsea nodded slowly. "Well yeah, but like…how?" She gestured up the still flowing slope, the very tops of which was showing big empty spaces where the dust had fled.

Laughing, I gestured up at the angels. "Have them each grab an arm. They should be able to carry you wherever. Meanwhile, I'll go ahead and take the keys up to the peak myself. Remember not to go up toward the summit, there's probably defenses anywhere past the temple." Flying low to the ground before the temple had been a calculated risk, but it had worked out, no point in tempting fate.

"You're going on alone?" She asked worriedly. "That makes sense, but…what if someone is up there?"

I shrugged. "Then I fight. But I think I can beat them. This little trap would have stopped anyone else dead. It would take hours to fight through a crowd or negotiate a passage. As long as I hurry, I should be the first."

And with that, after making sure I had all twelve keys, I triggered Ripple Running and took off, bounding from one platform to the next, keeping close to the ground as I let State of Grace carry me in long, low arcs. Once I passed the still failing slope, I hit the ground at a run, State of Grace pushing me onward.

I bolted up the mountain at my fastest speed, blood thundering in my ears and cape flowing behind me, and I couldn't help but grin. I was going to win, I was going to be the first. I reached the chest in record time, sliding to my knees in front of it and fumbling with the keys. I was so enthused I barely noticed my Danger Sense going off. Barely, but I still did, triggering Mornax in time to tank the massive black iron hammer head that smashed down on my skull.

Apparently I wasn't the first one up here. Standing up, I put away the keys and cracked my neck as I turned to face the huge hammer wielding man. "That." I said evenly. "Was unwise."One more obstacle to get through. I'd better make it quick.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

The big man with the hammer smirked down at me. "Not bad." He said in a rumbling voice. "I don't think I've ever seen someone just shrug off that blow before, especially not to the skull. That's a hell of a defensive Skill." He glanced at the ground behind me. "Don't bother." He said lazily. "If I couldn't crack it, your strike won't do the job either."

I looked at the spot he'd glanced at, and sure enough a green haired girl materialized from nothing behind me, or rather, from thin air, as she coalesced from the wind. She scowled at the man. "That's not how it works you lummox. My wind spirit pierce can punch through armor, and is much more concentrated. Just because your ridiculous mallet couldn't do the job, doesn't mean my attack wouldn't have finished him."

"You would have attacked while he was dazed if you thought it would work." He said unapologetically. Then he turned back to me. "You're pretty tough for Wyndham. I thought you were all supposed to be weaklings who hid behind meat shields."

The green haired girl smacked her own forehead. "You aren't supposed to SAY things like that. Have some tact."

With a shrug, the man dismissed her concerns. "Whatever. You earned my name before I crack that eggshell you've got going. I'm Albert Brody, from the Iron Pumping Temple, and the gnat is one of those sneaks from the Spirit Breeze Convocation."

"My NAME." She spat. "Is Gwendolyn, you walking bucket of flop sweat. I refuse to be condescended to by one of you pea brained hammer jockeys."

He just rolled his eyes. "Brains are overrated. People think too much. Anything makes sense if you whack it hard enough. That's why our Iron Body Sage is considered one of the most powerful physical combatants in S-rank. Now, since we've got the introductions out of the way, we should get back to the fight. More people will show up soon, and if I have to crush too many of you at once I might slip up."

Without waiting for a response, he whirled his giant hammer above his head and began to rain blows down on me. It was…impressive. When I'd commented on his size, I hadn't mean in comparison to me. I'd meant in general.

Albert Brody was about nine feet tall and probably ten across. His muscles had muscles, and the colossal hammer, whose head was about the size of coffee table, blurred and warped the air, creating explosions of concussive force as it made contact with my reinforced body.

He unleashed a torrent of hammer strikes, hitting me so quickly and brutally that my stone form actually started heating up from the friction, but regardless of how brutally he wailed on me, nothing was able to even budge me.

Mornax didn't do anything in terms of offense. It had zero use for utility. It was, however, nearly an unbreakable defense at the E-rank. Between my enhanced Impact, Mountain Stance's blanket increase, and the additional density of the stone form, it would pretty much take a D-ranker to break it, regardless of the sheer amount of Might you were using.

After a few minutes, Albert stumbled back, wheezing, and let the hammer fall to the ground with a thump, glaring at me. "That's cheating." He panted. "You're not even attacking me, you're just standing there."

Which was…actually a great point. Turning away from him, I bent over the chest, and ignored his outrage as I started to fit keys into locks.

Sadly, it was bound to be harder than that. "Stop hitting him from above you dunce." Sniped the acidic assassin. "Notice when he turned he kept one of his feet in contact with the ground at all times? He's got some sort of earth bond Skill going. His durability is beyond your strength to break, but I bet if you knock him off his feet the Skill will break."

My eyes widened as I felt my formerly dormant Danger Sense scream at me, signifying he'd taken her advice. I spun, letting Mornax break, and used Double Trouble as I switched to Mephistopheles, appearing behind the assassin.

My staff flashed out, an explosion of black flame consuming the spot she'd just been standing in, but she'd returned to the wind. I heard a tinkling laugh along the breeze. "Sorry, but I don't want to give up the win either. Why don't you two focus on each other. I'm sure I'll be far too scared to try to stab one of you in the back."

Snarling, I triggered Mephisto's Waltz, moving myself out of position just as a hammer swept through the spot my ribs had just occupied. I ate the distance, appearing behind Albert, and unleashed a blast at his back.

Which did nothing. At all. The flames just washed over him harmlessly. I cursed, dodging the next attack. I tried to plant my feet for Mornax again, but he'd learned his lesson, and wouldn't let up, raining down hammer blows again.

"You think fire can harm an initiate of the Iron Pumping Temple?" He guffawed. "Fire forges iron. We have our muscles beaten into shape with the most extreme heat. I felt a bit of a sting, so that must be special flame, but it's far from enough to hurt me. Now stand still and let me smash you, little man."

His teeth were bared in a bloodthirsty grin, his red eyes surrounded by rings of white as he stared fixedly around. His hair was pitch black and untamed, wild sideburns leading down to a thick beard. The whole picture presented a terrifying pressure, like some legendary berserker of old.

I ignored it, focusing on my staff as I waltzed. Specifically, on the slowly growing ball of flames. Cosmic Collapse was my next move. I needed to hit him with something that could penetrate his apparently fire tempered muscles. If the normal flame wouldn't work, I'd have to use my technique.

Unfortunately, I could tell it would take a LOT. Not a normal Cosmic Collapse, but a supercharged version of my finisher, and extra charge meant extra time. I kept an eye out for Gwendolyn too. The second I struck she would jump on me, so I had to make sure not to overcommit.

The problem was, Albert's Might was MUCH higher than mine. His strikes were firing off at absurd speeds, and I suspected if that hammer wasn't heavier than most BUILDINGS I'd lived in, I'd already be a fly on a windshield.

Mephisto's Waltz was barely letting me keep ahead, and only because I was cheating terribly. The waltz was more like teleportation than a movement skill, and having a Solid Path made my techniques exponentially more effective and flexible than someone at my rank should be capable of. Everything had limits though, and I was approaching mine.

Albert's smile became annoyed. "This is getting boring." I watched in fear as an image of a titanic peak appeared behind him, condensing down around him. Then another, and another. I was pretty sure I wasn't supposed to be able to see what he was doing, but my Eye of Revelation made it visible. Combined with the terrified shriek of my Danger Sense, I realized that I needed to MOVE. Now.

As the images of the mountains flashed faster, he raised his weapon and bellowed. "HUNDRED MOUNTAIN HAMMER!" And then brought it down like a headsman's axe on the mountain top where we stood.

I was already off the ground, my waltz carrying me up an ascending staircase of Ripple Running platforms. I pushed the technique as hard as I could, trying to get high enough to avoid the impact that was definitely coming. I managed to get a few hundred feet up, and I let State of Grace take me as the hammer impacted the ground, and a cacophonous boom shook the whole mountain as the big man's strike SPLIT the fucking mountain in HALF.

Or it seemed like that. In reality he'd just cracked off a big chunk that fell down the side, tearing a huge furrow down the slope as it slid towards the bottom. Still, it had been a building sized chunk of an E-rank mountain. I was suitably terrified.

Gwendolyn, however. was not. She appeared behind the swaying giant and drove a pair of green steel daggers into the base of his spine, near his kidneys. Albert roared and lashed out at her, but she dissolved and flashed out of reach. The giant of a man toppled forward, into the massive wake left by his boulder attack, and just slid down the furrow after it, sucked along in the stream of still collapsing dirt.

Looking at her handiwork, Gwendolyn grinned in satisfaction… until I triggered Double Trouble again and appeared right behind her, executing the still condensing Cosmic Collapse I'd been building up since this started.

I saw her body shift partially to air before it detonated, but it wasn't fast enough, she screamed, blasted off the peak and hitting the ground in the same furrow she'd just pushed Albert into, her semi corporeal form swept into the dirt wake MUCH faster than his has been. Using Eye of Revelation, I checked for any stragglers, then, with a grin, strolled over to the chest.

The circular chunk of mountain under the chest was sticking out of the cliff formed by Alberts attack. I had to whistle at its effectiveness. It had been a technique, not a Skill, based on those images I'd seen. It made sense a peak E-ranker from an S-rank faction would have a path, even if it seemed to be an Illusionary one.

I inserted the keys, still wary of backstabs, but none came. I was pretty sure I'd seriously injured Gwendolyn, but she would be fine. It was tough to kill an E-ranker if you didn't end them in one shot, and worst case I would offer to use Zagan to fix her up and collect a favor from her faction.

Finishing my insertion of the last key, I twisted it sharply, and the lid of the box sprung open. There was a massive shudder in the ground, and a booming voice echoed out over the mountain, calling the end of the games. I reached into the chest, lifting out a tiny, stuffed version of me in full costume, and rolled my eyes at the game masters as I put it away. I was sure Callie would love it.

Turning, I found a doorway hanging in the air next to me, and I shrugged, stepping through it and out of the arena. To my surprise, I came out into the box where my family waited, most likely interference on my grandfather's part, and I was mobbed by excited shouts and congratulations.

I laughed and accepted the kudos, even Benny seemed thrilled for me, though he'd been a bit distant since my ultimatum.

"Well." Said my mother with a brilliant smile. "That was exciting. You made quite an impression down there. I'd expect some serious gains in terms of stats over the next few months. Well done, Shane."

My grandfather hooted with laughter. "I wish I could've seen the look on Iron Body's face when his brat got shivved in the back. And that pompous twit Mariana from the convocation never shuts up about her grandaughter's Wind Spirit Transformation. I'm glad none of ours were up there with you."

My mother glared at him half-heartedly, but I saw a small smile on her lips. I just laughed hugging my fiancee as the others started babbling on about all the moves I'd used. I was exhausted, even after Callie took that first soul strain away. My head hurt, my body hurt, my Path hurt somehow. I'd pushed myself further in this fight than I ever had before. But still, looking down into the arena at the towering mountain we'd been placed on, I couldn't be anything but proud. I'd stood with the most powerful E-rankers in some of the most elite factions in the universe. Slowly but surely, I was finding my way to the top.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

After the celebration, it was time for me to meet with the representatives of the factions. There was a prize for the winner, usually something like chits, Skill crystals, or personalized enchanted items. Of course, we'd done all this for one reason, and I was going to use the opportunity to get face time with the various faction reps to have Felicity transferred to our branch.

"This is a good thing you're doing, Shane." Said Callie as she stepped up beside me. It was the last day of the games, so all three of the winners would be meeting with the higher ups at the same time. I had to wait for my name to be called, which would be after they reset the arena so we had a place to hold the ceremony. "I'm proud of you."

"It's the right thing." I said firmly. "You could have ended up like she did." I gritted my teeth. "The thought of it makes me want to scream."

She chuckled. "I know. I can feel it. You're almost as worried about that as you are about Benny." At my surprised glance, she rolled her eyes. "How are you still not getting how this works. Yes I can tell you're still upset. But I don't think you need to be."

"I was scared and I lashed out at him." I admitted. "I was kind of a dick. I wouldn't forgive me if I was him."

She nodded. "You were, and you did. But I think you're underestimating the impact that watching that little show had on him. You showed him what having a Path MEANS. Hell, you showed all of us. That big guy with the hammer…that was a technique right? The thing he did to the mountain?"

"It was." I acknowledged. "Though it was mostly just a really straightforward layering of Might from what I could tell. His Path is weaker than mine, but his stats are way stronger, I'm guessing he has a pretty high Fantasy on top of his Might."

Waving me off, she shook her head. "Doesn't matter. Benny was angry because he felt like you were being unfair, but seeing firsthand the kind of shit you'll be up against…it's hard to call that unfair. I can't read him like I can read you, but I know him well enough by now to see how thoughtful he was about what he saw. Plus Celine will talk some sense into him."

"I just hope it helps." I said with a sigh. "He really does need a Path. Speaking of, how is yours coming along? Any ideas on solidifying it?"

Callie's Path of the Abyss wasn't Solid, obviously, but I had no clue how mine had become Solid, so I couldn't really advise her. However, some of my experiments with Skill creation and making techniques had given her some ideas, and she'd been consulting my mom when possible too.

"Yeah." She said with a nod. "A couple. But I need to learn more about it. I spent some time going over that book. It's a bit dense, but I think I can splice my Path into a Skill manually. I just need to get a better grip on the Path, and maybe get some practice with Skill crafting."

I was going to offer to help, but my mom called me over. Callie smiled encouragingly, pushing my mask aside to peck me on the cheek. "Go do your thing, you'll do great."

Nodding, I headed over to meet up with my mother. My grandfather was already down there with the other representatives, and I had to admit I was pretty impressed, as looking down into the arena, I could see the setting had completely changed. The whole mountain we'd been on earlier was gone, replaced with a stately throne room with seven thrones.

"The Vampire is sitting in too?" I asked in surprise. "Are the independents counted as one of the organizers?"

My mom nodded. "Special circumstances. We tried to involve them more, given the severity of the situation. We need them to side with us, and luckily Lark's reputation made giving him some leeway easier. Are you ready?"

At my nod, she waved a hand, and a bridge of stars coalesced at the edge of the box. We stepped onto it and it carried us down into the arena. I landed next to a pair of people, one of them familiar. Felicity stood primly beside a small, tanned woman with bright blue hair shaved on one side. When they saw me, they both offered a casual greeting, and we turned as one to face the thrones.

My grandfather, Harrison, Captain Cataclysm, Morgan Lark, Princess Levinia Darksparrow, and the Deathwish Pope each sat in one of the chairs. There was a seventh member of the S-rank contingent, who I assumed must be the Imperial representative. He hadn't been at the banquet.

I'd asked my mom about him after our training following the event, and apparently King Nod was considered extremely antisocial. His powers had something to do with dreams (though he was notoriously cagey about what, exactly) and he spent most of his time dozing. The King was lazy and rarely did anything unless forced, and sure enough, the small, pale man with the pencil mustache was snoring away on his throne.

Harrison was the first to speak, his eyes on Felicity and I and practically glowing with pleasure. Two of the three champions were from the WCP, and I knew that would give them leverage during negotiations. I was glad he was in a good mood. It might make this easier.

"Champions." He said officiously. "You have worked hard to be here. Shown yourselves to be powerful and skilled combatants. Wisdom, power, courage. These qualities you have demonstrated and more besides, and as victors, you come before us, the strongest of your factions, and are offered a boon."

His eyes flicked to Felicity. "Felicity Norquill, of the Wish Curse Palace. What gift would you receive for your victory?"

Felicity smiled. It was…disquieting. It was one of the first expressions I'd seen from her, and it looked wrong. When people smile, their eyes light up and crinkle at the edges, even smirks or bloodthirsty grins engage more than just the lower face muscles.

When Felicity smiled, she looked like someone was pulling her mouth up at the corners by hand. If you covered the bottom half of her face her eyes would have made it impossible to tell she had any expression at all. More than that though, there was no spark of happiness or emotion in the expression. It was just a tensing of muscles in a way that imitated joy.

"I thank you for the opportunity, your excellency." She said in her usual flat tone. "But I am simply grateful to serve the Palace. If there must be a reward, please grant it to my father, for without him, I wouldn't be here at all."

My eyes shot to Craygen, who was standing behind Harrison's throne with a smug expression. Harrison nodded amiably, letting her know that he accepted her request and that Craygen would be granted additional resources in his position as aide de camp. Princess Levinia was the next to speak.

"Deena Saffron." Said the fairie princess, in a voice like the singing of joyful birds. "Of the Water Force Temple. What do you request as your reward." The princess was staggeringly beautiful, and up close it was hard not to stare.

It wasn't even a matter of any romantic appreciation, looking at Levinia Darksparrow was like watching the sun rise over a verdant valley, or seeing an aurora the light the sky with colors. She'd surpassed what one could categorize as attractiveness, and attained the sort of beauty reserved for wonders of the world.

The blue haired girl, who seemed just as poleaxed as I was, shook off her distraction. "Pardoning your majesty." She said, giving an awkward attempt to curtsy (I didn't blame her, Levinia just made that seem like the right kind of move) which was thwarted by the fact that she was wearing pants and a vest instead of any sort of gown. "I would like to apply for a single instance of aid for the Temple, in a situation where it is needed."

The Princess smiled. "A worthy request. And one I will grant. Should your Temple fall into danger in the future, one of our number will be dispatched to your aid."

That was…a big fucking deal. There was a WAR coming, and a promise of one time aid from the six was staggeringly valuable.

Deena seemed to think so too, as her face lit up with joy and she bowed deeply, offering profuse thanks. Finally, all eyes turned to me. Harrison, once again, was the one to address me. "Shane Wyndham." He intoned. "You have brought great pride to your family and your faction, and are due a reward. State your request."

I met his eyes. "I request Felicity Norquil be removed from her father's custody and remanded to my branch of the WCP to act as a personal bodyguard. Given my victory, I do not believe accepting such a reward would violate the terms of my candidacy."

Craygen, who had been looking pleased, froze. "What?" He hissed. "This is…this is lunacy! He can't ask for that. Harrison! Tell him he can't ask for that."

The S-ranker turned a cold eye over his shoulder at his subordinate. "You will be SILENT." He commanded. Craygen went pale. "The rewarding of the champion involves the honor of the entire faction. We will not renege on our responsibilities." I started to relax, but he continued. "However, as Felicity too is a champion, her own honor is a factor as well. We will beseech the Wishmaster for a ruling. Amaya."

A small woman with white hair and dark skin hurried forward, her eyes kind as she shot me a reassuring smile. She waved a hand, and a rainbow arced down from the empty sky, slamming into the air in front of him and warping the space. The ripples in the air warped and changed the skin of the world until a mirror coalesced from the disturbed area.

On the other side of it, a relaxed looking man with familiar sandy hair and green eyes sat reading a book on a couch. At the appearance of the mirror, he paused, sighing, and then closed his book with an annoyed expression.

"Father." Said Aiden Wyndham, current Wishmaster of the Wish Curse Palace perfunctorily to Harrison. "I trust you have a reason for disturbing my leisure?"

Harrison nodded. "Of course. We've had a bit of a situation." He described the events of the reward ceremony, and my request. Craygen looked like he was ready to vibrate through the floor with his desire to address his friend, but the order from earlier still hung over his head.

Aiden's gaze turned to me. "How interesting." He said with a wolfish grin. "Hello little cousin. I've heard positively amusing things about you. Trust Eli and Sasha's brat to cause a ruckus." His eyes scanned the assembled S-rankers. "Well played. Fine, take her. But you'll be expected to abide by certain limits. The standard of a C-rank champion from the WCP is far above what you might find elsewhere, and there will be commensurate restrictions."

I nodded, not really caring. The point of bringing her along was to help her, not to get an extra pair of fists. Not that I would turn down her help, but it was mostly just a bonus. "Thanks." I said casually. "Keep my seat warm for me, will you?"

He burst out laughing, throwing his head back to let out a booming guffaw. It was staggering how…big, he was. Not physically, but just the sheer force of personality. He had a hint of wildness in his green eyes, a commanding madness I hadn't seen before. "I'll do that." He said jovially. "Try not to get yourself killed. You're a fun one." And then the mirror dissolved into a watery mist, and I was left facing all the S-rankers. This had gone better than expected.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

"I can't believe that worked." I told Zeke after we got back to the inn. We'd gotten Felicity a room, and the list of regulations she had to follow would be passed down tomorrow at the first day of the actual conclave, which would begin following the end of the games. "I expected him to fight it. Craygen is like his Benny, right?"

Zeke shrugged. "I told you, the WCP isn't made up of good people. Aiden is just as big of a bastard as anyone else in power. More, honestly, how do you think he beat Eli out for the job."

"I guess I just expected…" I trailed off. "Not that."

My uncle chuckled. "You expected someone like Eli. Someone cold and ruthless and necessary. But Aiden wasn't ever that type of person. Oh don't get me wrong, he can BE ruthless, but Aiden is more…"

"Wild?" I offered, thinking about what I'd seen in the mans eyes.

He nodded thoughtfully. "That's one way to describe it. Aiden Wyndham is like a force of nature. He's charismatic and vicious and cheerful and…unstoppable. He's like a storm that sucks up everyone who crosses his path and flings them out into the open sky. Sometimes you have wings, and you could consider it a boost. Sometimes you hit the ground. And sometimes a fucking house lands on top of you."

"That last scenario would be for his enemies?" I asked cautiously.

Laughing, he shook his head. "Those would be his friends.He's indiscriminate. He just…does adventure at things and it works out. For him. And often for no one else. Not that being his enemy is safer, he goes through things more often than around them. Eli scares people, and in a world where Aiden didn't exist he would've been Wishmaster. But Aiden TERRIFIES people."

"What is his second ability?" I asked in cautious amazement. "Nobody has ever told me what it is."

He shrugged. "Hell if I know. It's hard to tell, what with stored attacks being possible, plus we're pretty sure everyone who's seen him use it is dead. One of the major benefits of being a candidate is being able to play things closer to the chest since you don't need the renown. I imagine most people find your powers incredibly confusing."

"That's…actually a fair point." I admitted. "Anyway, I'm just glad everything worked out. Having an extra C-ranker during this conclave will be nice. I might be crazy but-"

"Nope." He cut me off. "You're not. Storm's brewing. Everyone can feel it. The bigwigs are just convinced it won't be enough to shake their tree. I'm less convinced. Everyone has been in a relatively peaceful universe too long. They've forgotten what its like to have rivals and counters. New gods are here to level the playing field, and I'm worried."
I shot him a concerned look. "Should we bail? Try to do the questioning remotely and leave?"

"Won't work." He said with a sigh. "Besides, there are no gods here, but Lark is still around. Him and Arble are enough to deter most sane people. Arble is fucking OLD. He's got a lot of reputation, and he's supposed to be strong. I can't tell you how strong, he hasn't been active in ages, but I suspect the list of the top ten S-rankers universe-wide doesn't take into account people like Arble."

I thought back to the Hallow. I still couldn't see the point. Burning people up? Maybe turning them into monsters? It wouldn't do anything at a meeting with nearly ten S-rankers, at least two of whom were demigods.

Shaking off the thought, I sighed. "So…what do we do about Felicity? Can we fix her? I have some ideas for how to attempt it, but I'm not sure they'll lead anywhere. Do you know how to reverse…what is it called, actually?"

"Grinding." He said with a grimace. "Willpower grinding. And there are ways, but none you would have access to. If it was reversible everyone would do it. That spiritual calming belt Benny has might help. Or it might not. Grinding doesn't damage the soul the same way use does. It's more like scarification."

I winced. "That really does sound horrible. But if it leaves damage instead of taking chunks I might have an idea of how to handle it." Zagan could purify a lot of stuff. If she had soul scars or whatever it might help. It seemed to repair at least come soul damage when I used Life Nova, though that might have just been a temporary euphoria from energy rejuvenation.

"Be careful of the conclave, by the way." He said after a moment. "The Deathwish Pope is a cagey fucker. He's Black Sorrow's favorite disciple, which should tell you what a deeply unpleasant person he is."

I paused. "Speaking of which, we've been spending a lot of time with Chelsea. If Black Sorrow finds out-"

"It'll be handled." He said bluntly. "First off, we're in the middle of a war and you two are related to HALF of the current six reigning gods. The old man and the Revenant aside, The Emperor and The Queen won't tolerate internal dissent during such a crucial time."

That made me feel a bit better but, "What about when the war ends?"

"What about it?" He laughed. "These are gods, Shane. They don't do anything on a rapid timescale. I wouldn't be surprised if the war goes on another fifty years. By that time, at this current rate, you might make S-rank, or have become the Wishmaster. You think she's going to be able to touch the reigning Wishmaster?"

I laughed. "So…it's future Shane's problem? That's why you guys have stopped being careful about it?"

"Oh we haven't." He said bluntly. "If she finds out, it won't be an immediate problem, but we've still been keeping it under wraps. I've been with you constantly since we've gotten here. Have you forgotten what my Path is?"

Pausing, I thought about it. "I don't KNOW what your Path is. But I know it's something about…wait, can you MASK secrets with your Path?"

"I can do a lot of things with my Path." He said with a chuckle. "So can you, as you seem to have started realizing after your training with your mother. But yes, I've been masking yours and Chelsea's identities. There are S-rankers who could easily penetrate that mask, but luckily none of them are here, and my Path is unusually strong because of all the time I spent in B-rank."

He winced, and a slight flash on his forehead revealed that the information he'd given me had tripped the geas, which meant it was probably important.

I filed it away like I had a thousand comments that still didn't make complete sense, another piece of the puzzle I was sure would click later. Enough drops of water would fill an ocean, albeit VERY slowly.

"My parents spent so much effort keeping our secret." I said tiredly. "Fucked up our lives so badly. If Black Sorrow finds out, wasn't it all for nothing?"

Shaking his head, he shot me a sad smile. "You're thinking of this the wrong way. You had almost twenty years to grow up and learn what you needed to learn. To get strong and build connections. You're not unique or anything, but you've grown into a promising candidate, and that's its own form of protection. No secret stays secret forever."

"I guess I hadn't considered that." I admitted. "But is it wrong to want to be safe? To want to hold onto what I have now?"

He shrugged. "I don't really do right or wrong, as I mentioned. But if I thought it was a bad idea, I wouldn't be helping. I'm not saying you send Black Sorrow a family holiday card, I'm saying that eventually the truth will out. Our job isn't to make sure it never happens, it's to make sure you're as valuable and powerful as possible when it does, especially with the additional lead the war gives us."

"Did you always know it was going to come to this?" I asked quietly. "Did my parents?"

That got a bark of bitter laughter. "Kid, your journey has been far from normal, even for a candidate. None of us knew how fast or far you'd fly. Your girl killed a god, you helped uncover a plot to start a divine war. We passed any definition of normal ages ago. But opportunity and danger are often bedfellows. Being so noteworthy, and the war itself, have given you a chance you might not have had before. Take advantage of it."

"But no pressure, right?" I said dryly.

He rolled his eyes. "What are you, stupid? ALL the pressure. Pressure is how you grow. And you have. I wouldn't say you're the strongest E-ranker I've ever seen, but you're definitely not weak. Even at less than halfway in and with your stats distributed evenly, you're a threat to an upper level combatant like that Albert kid. There are better Ascendants, but he wasn't bad."

"Yeah, who is the Iron Body Sage anyway?" I asked in exasperation.

"S-ranker." He said shortly. "Follows the Path of Might. And yes, its possible to base a Path off a stat, but it's rarely done because it requires ABSURD specialization."

I blinked at that. "You mean like Jessie has? Because if she has an easy Path, that might be a good idea to mention to her." It wouldn't help with Benny's Path, but sadly, barring this new and fairly intriguing concept, Paths weren't something you could give advice on.

"Possibly." He shrugged. "Mention it to her, it can't hurt. But anyway, Iron Body is a physical monster. His Path is mostly about punching out anything, even things that can't be punched. He's not the most powerful S-ranker, but he's probably the strongest in terms of raw physical might. You saw earlier that muscle isn't everything though."

I nodded, happy with myself about that. Mornax hard countered Albert's physical power, at least until he figured out the trick. The fight would have been easier if I had more ranged options, and I added that to my list of possible forms, but still, I was pretty damned satisfied with what I'd done.

Standing up, I shot my uncle a grateful smile. "Thanks, Zeke. For everything. Keeping our secret, staying with us, you've been there for me when no one else has. I'm still hoping Benny will be my best man, but would you want to be one of the groomsmen at my wedding? It wouldn't feel right without you standing up there."

He swallowed heavily, looking away as he cleared his throat. "Sure kid. I'd like that."

"Plus Stella is going to be a bridesmaid." I continued with a smirk. "And Callie wants to make sure she has someone to dance with."

He rolled his eyes. "You're not funny. I know you think you are, but you're wrong."

"Wonder where I got that from." I said snarkily.

He nodded sagely. "I think that's obvious." After a pause he said. "It was your mother." We both snorted, chuckling at the absurdity. I pulled my uncle into a hug, saying goodnight and heading down to check on Felicity, who was being settled in by Callie and Bethy. Chelsea, Celine, Cark, Abel, Mel, and Jessie were all discussing how to help her, and I didn't see Benny.

I had nothing to add right now. I was tired and sore and I had a big meeting tomorrow where I got to be interrogated by eight of the most powerful people in the universe. I needed some sleep. I stripped off my armor and collapsed into bed, exhausted

This whole ordeal had been crazy, but I was sure it would pay dividends. I'd be one step closer to D-rank after all this, one step closer to reaching the gates of real power, and I couldn't tell if I was excited or terrified. Closing my eyes, I drifted off to sleep to visions of winning the competition, and wondering what kind of Wishmaster I'd be.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

The rest of the night was fairly uneventful, and when we woke up the next morning it was time for us to make the trip back to the Central Location, this time for the unenviable task of being questioned about everything we'd seen and done in the Temple and Aetherbright Academy. I used up my wishes (Fantasy, to improve my technique foundation) and after getting those seventy points, we just headed out.

"Are you ready for the questioning?" My mother asked nervously. "Did you do as I suggested and go back over the events in your head? Any missing detail might raise anger them. Your grandfather will try to make things easier on you, ostensibly as a friend of Chelsea's, but by the very virtue of that assistance some of the others will act counter to your interests. You can expect Deathwish to be as obnoxious as possible."

Callie gave her a bright smile from beside me. "Don't worry Sasha. We always have each other. It'll take more than some edgelord in a stupid robe to throw us off our game." We were all seated in a lift headed for the Central Location, and we were going over the details one last time so we were as prepared as possible/

"I'm surprised they didn't ask for everyone." I said bluntly, scanning the few people who had been requested. Bethy, Gabe, Callie, and myself. "Is this some kind of credibility thing? Like only people from factions are worth talking to?"

"Yes." Said my mother bluntly. "This interrogation will set the stage for the negotiations to come. The representatives will want to use your actions to paint your factions in a negative light, and use that leverage to further their own interests. The worst part is that everyone except your grandfather will probably be targeting you specifically."

I blinked in surprise. "Wait…what?" Then I closed my mouth. "Shit. Zeke mentioned this. Wishes are an indispensable strategic resource. Aiden sent Harrison because he's a ruthless bastard and will negotiate the most valuable repayment for the wishes they sell. The worse they make me look the more damage they do to the WCP's leverage."

"Exactly." She said with a sigh. "Which means analyzing your every movement and questioning your every mistake."

Bethy rolled her eyes. "Daddy says no one likes a back seat adventurer. Annoying old busybodies who poke holes are the worst." She gave us all a bright smile, showing off her fangs. "Don't worry, daddy will be on your side too. I already told him that if he's mean to my friends, I'm going to find a way to turn myself into a werewolf next time I rank up."

My mother burst out laughing, covering her mouth when we all turned to look at her. "Sorry, it's just hilarious to know that even Morgan Lark has problems controlling his children."

I wanted to keep up the banter, since it was helping me relax, but sadly we came to a stop. With a grimace, mom gestured for us to go. I turned to shoot her a reassuring smile, then realized I was wearing a mask and she couldn't see it. "We'll be fine." I said emphatically. "We're bringing Felicity along, since we need to get her assignment parameters anyway. She's the toughest C-ranker around, and anyone higher up can't mess with us without invoking the wrath of Zeke. Or grandpa. Or both."

Giving us a fretful look, she dove forward, giving me a tight hug, then Callie. "You both be careful." She shot my fiancee a stern look. "If you're going to be marrying into this family you have to learn to stop him from doing stupid things. That's half the reason his father is still alive."

"Sure." Said Callie with a wry smile. "Ask me to do the impossible."

I frowned. "I don't enjoy this. This is a suboptimal dynamic. I didn't think this whole 'mom liking my girlfriend' thing through."

Everyone chuckled as the four of us climbed out and headed into the building. We followed the same path as the last time, only when we arrived at the chamber we'd last been to there was no arena, just the throne room from before, minus any seating.

We were stopped at the door, and the massive armored black knight towered over us menacingly. Andrew, who was guarding the door with him, stepped in front of him. "Welcome." He said cheerfully, ignoring the dreadful knight. "They're expecting you. I'm sure no one would want you to be later meeting the representatives. Would they?"

I got the impression the knight had been planning to menace and fluster us so we came off worse inside, and Andrew had saved us. I shot him a grateful nod, which he returned, and we entered the room. Felicity, however, was stopped outside, Craygen appeared to hand over her guidelines, and we only left once Zeke stepped from the shadows to escort her to hear the verdict. He nodded solemnly to me, and I nodded back. He wouldn't have been able to help against S-rankers in any case.

We headed to the center, where a table had been erected for us to sit at while questioned. After we took our seats, a herald called the meeting to order, and a stenographer confirmed they were keeping the minutes. Finally, the first of the representatives spoke. "Welcome." Said Princess Liliana kindly. "We're glad you could join us. You know why you were called?"

"Of course." i said with a nod. "You're hoping to question us about the circumstances of the god war. We were deeply involved in multiple aspects of its beginning, and have insight that might prove helpful. Would you like us to start with our actions in the Moonsong Glade, and continue from there?"

She beamed at me. "That would be lovely, Mr. Wyndham, thank you. Proceed with your recounting."

And so I did. I told her about the Glade, about the ritual, about the mountain and the battle and the dew and everything. She stopped me occasionally to ask questions, with the others butting in to interject their own questions about the events. Once I finished I continued on, telling them about the Ruined Soul Temple, Travis, the experimental substance that they'd been aiming at, and everything else that had happened on that absurdly long trip.

As I reached the point of entering the Academy, the Deathwish Pope spoke up snidely. "Are you a traitor, boy, or just stupid? You admit to turning your back on a downed opponent like a fool and allowing him to slip past you and trigger a mass teleportation."

"In my defense, at that point in my cultivation journey, I hadn't seen nearly as many scary people." I said bluntly. "Prior to that point, when someone got a hole the size of a bowling ball punched through their chest, they usually didn't get back up right after. Or ever. On account of being dead."

Deathwish glared hatefully. "Don't speak to me as if I'm your equal boy. Show some respect."

"For what, your ability to dress like you live in some kid's closet?" I smirked at him, knowing he could hear it in my voice. "I'm like…nineteen. I don't have all the answers, or much experience at all. Did I make a mistake? Sure. I'm positive you made mistakes at my age, and I'm not going to sit here and let you try to make me sound like a moron because I screwed up once."

He snarled, eyes blazing as his hand shot forward, but I wasn't worried. The wave of darkness that erupted from his hand was consumed by white flame almost before it left his hand.

Now, at first blush, antagonizing the S-ranker who represented the goddess who would want me dead just for existing was probably a bad idea. But this was all about appearances. He was trying to make me look like a moron, and there's nothing more embarrassing than being tricked by a moron.

Deathwish had lost it, and that weakened his position in the negotiations. Harrison would rake him over the coals for that, and the Black Sorrow Cult would pay dearly for that little slip of temper.

"It would be useful." Said Harrison in annoyance. "If you did not BAIT beings who might snuff out your life in an instant, Shane." Then his gaze turned to Deathwish. "As for you, an attempt on the life of a candidate, much less a champion of the games, in full view of half a dozen representatives of major factions is an insult to the prestige of the Wish Curse Palace. Reparations WILL be extracted."

Deathwish glared at him, but said nothing, just leaned back imperiously.

As I'd seen in the banquet, the Deathwish Pope had a nasty temper and a sadistic streak. One of his big problems was that being an S-ranker, he'd long since forgotten what consequences were like. Aside from his goddess and maybe a fellow disciple or two, he was at the top of the heap, and the Cult let people like that get away with anything.

I'd seen that in his behavior when Lark shut him down. He did look afraid, but he also seemed angry. It wasn't that he had no self control, but more that he never had to use it and was out of practice.

His attack on me had been impulsive and reactionary, but in his mind, it was also warranted. I was an E-ranker talking shit to a Pope. Killing me would be a matter of course in the Cult, and whoever was in charge of me would have waved it off as being a matter of self defense. The Black Sorrow Cult was that kind of place.

Even a few months ago if he'd managed to kill me he could probably have just paid a fine or something to sweep it under the rug, but now he NEEDED the WCP, and things were different.

"Continue your story please, Shane." Said Lilliana warmly. "Apologies for the interruption."

Partly because she was being the nicest and partly because I wanted to rub it in Deathwish's face, I did. I took them through the rest of the journey, into the academy, into the room with the chalice and down to the portal chamber where Travis had betrayed us and escaped.

That one didn't seem to get blamed on me, they just treated it like the cost of doing business. I suppose they'd mostly been betrayed before on their way to the top.

When I finished, Harrison turned to the others. "I think we can all agree that without Shane's heroism, we'd never have learned about this impending threat. His involvement may have been a bit haphazard, but his ignorance can't be blamed on him. He stood against our enemies to the best of his abilities and brought back invaluable intelligence."

"Gabriel." My grandfather said. "Tell us your story next. Shane said that you were separated for a quite a while."

Gabe nodded, then proceeded to recount the events of his own journey. I was interested to hear more about what he'd run into. Mostly Wolfhornigators and some other nasty creatures and a few of the cultists.

After him it was Callie's turn. To my surprise, Captain Cataclysm lead her questioning, the big man gently coaxing the details of her own tale and asking questions about her impressions of things. Apparently the Unity highly valued their new godslayer, and I wondered if we'd see her receiving some more overt support from them in the future.

Finally, it was Bethy's turn, and she happily filled her dad in on everything she'd seen, stopping for commentary at multiple points. It was funny to watch the group of terrifying S-rank monsters sit quietly as Bethy excitedly narrated her adventures, like the harrowing tale of finding her squirrel army, or learning the secret of turning into winged cats.

Morgan seemed interested, and when she finished, he smiled and told her she did well, then turned and glared around the room, daring anyone to try to pick on her about the details. No one met his eyes, which was even more hilarious.

With that, we were excused, and our parts in the proceedings had ended. There were still two days of the meetings to go, and we obviously wouldn't be sitting in on those. We would find out from my grandpa how things were going, and then hear the final compromise at the banquet on the last day. Now, we just had to wait.

 

[Lone-sith]

I love Morgan lark

 

[Malcolm Tent]

After we got home from the interrogation, I immediately headed to see Benny. The whole bullshit game with Deathwish had made me think long and hard about power and how or why it should be used. Thinking back to my conversation with my best friend, I realized I'd fallen into the same trap I'd seen so many Ascendants fall into.

It wasn't that I prioritized power, that was an obvious conclusion. I loved Benny like a brother and didn't want to see him die. No, it was that I'd abandoned him to find his Path all by himself.

Of course, common knowledge told us that Paths are deeply personal and need to be discovered on your own, but I was aiming to be a god. I'd already made the decision to toss aside anything that regular Ascendants believed to find my own path to divinity.

Benny had been there for me since day one, and fear or not, if he needed help I'd help him, just like he'd helped set me straight the other day. I knocked on his door and waited patiently for him to get up and answer. When he opened it, his expression was cold. "What can I help you with, oh glorious leader?" He asked stonily. "More edicts to pass down?"

"I've decided I'm being stupid." I said bluntly.

His blank expression cracked a bit, his lips twitching. "I mean, you're awake, so there's pretty good odds. What specific bit of stupidity are you thinking of in this instance?"

"Ass." I said with an eye roll. "Come for a walk with me. I want to talk to you about your Path." His face started closing down again, but I held up a hand. "It was shitty of me to just throw you under the bus because most people can't help someone form a Path. We've been friends for most of our lives, if anyone can help you form your Path it's me. So I want to do that."

He stared at me hard for a minute or two, then sighed. "Alright, I've been wracking my brain for how to manage it, so I suppose we can give it a try. Lead on then, oh stunning genius." He gestured sarcastically and I rolled my eyes again, leading him out into the courtyard of the inn.

"Alright, so tell me what you know about Paths and what you've tried." I attempted to sound confident, but honestly I was kind of worried. I'd formed my Path by accident, and me giving lessons was ridiculous. The only saving grace to this plan was that learning how techniques worked had given me some more insight into what Paths really were and how they functioned.

He shrugged. "A Path is…I don't know, like a special power you use to make yourself stronger. It's a way to exert power in a different way to be more impressive."

I blinked at him. "Wow. I can't even begin to tell you how wrong that is. That's like, impressively wrong. You should try to find some sort of universal record society to submit that definition to, maybe you can win a prize for being more wrong than any person in history."

"I'm sorry, is this supposed to be helpful?" He demanded. "Because I think this is literally the opposite of help."

I shrugged. "Well your answer was really dumb. A Path, you unbelievable dipshit, is the connection between the soul and stats. It joins together two completely separate elements of your being in preparation to truly combine them. You Path isn't some mystical expression of power, it's the way you can exert your full strength more directly than with a Skill or ability. In a word, your Path makes your will a reality, albeit on a small scale."

Techniques were the most direct application of that I'd seen. Fantasy helped you conceptualize and shape your will in a way that allowed you to properly apply a Path. I suspected it wouldn't be necessary inside a Domain, but forming one of those was a last step once you had long since hit S-rank.

Benny paused. "That's…then why are people's Paths so different from their abilities?"

"You're born with an ability." I said bluntly. "You can alter it to suit you better, but only so much depending on what Skills and stats you have. Paths are more personal. But it's not like you can only find a perfect Path. There are people who never manage to crack C-rank because they never find a suitable Path. If you pick the wrong one you can fail to integrate it into a Skill and never condense a Solid Path."

He chuckled bitterly. "So no pressure, right? I just have to pick the perfect Path the first time."

"Nah." I said with a shake of my head. "You can change them, plus you have tons of brilliant people around to work with you. You just need to take the step to form one. Everything else can come later. You don't need a Solid Path to be strong. With techniques you can use an Illusionary Path to be a real threat."

He nodded, letting out a long breath. "Alright. I can work with that. So I just need to figure out what the best way is for me to exert my will on the world. Any idea, since you know me better than anyone?" His tone was dry as he threw my words back in my face.

"A few." I said slowly. "But ultimately it'll work better if it comes from you. Callie got hers after seeing the Abyss of space and being enlightened, but that's rare. Still, I have to assume that being profoundly influenced by a thing would make it more likely for you to form a Path, and a strong one at that. So what influenced you most on our journey?"

He mulled it over. "You know, coming on this trip, I expected to be left behind. When you told me to form a Path I was angry, but not surprised. I thought early on that my power would be enough to keep up, it's got a ton of potential, and I know it can be strong with the right resources. But even on Callus, back when we were at the Academy, I was already feeling how weak and helpless I was compared to you.

"It was tearing me apart, though I tried to hide it, but I think the thing that really turned me around, the one thing that showed me I had a shot, was the Bone Wyvern." He laughed as I cocked my head in confusion. "It's weird, right? Why that? But something about it was just…beautiful. A collection of bones merged together into a single, terrifying, colossal whole."

I nodded slowly. "So you saw it as kind of like a perfect Invention. The most flawless use of resources to create something more than the sum of its parts?"

"Exactly." His face lit up. "Exactly that. That's what I strive for, to be more than the sum of my parts, literally. I can do that in so many ways, I know, but in the end that image sticks with me, that one being exemplifies what I'm striving for."

Closing his eyes, he stopped talking, letting his memory bring him to wherever he felt he needed to go. He let himself drift and I could practically see him tapping into the Focus that was such a big part of him. With that much of the mental stat, he could undoubtedly remember the monster perfectly. Then he started to move.

He punched. Then punched again. Shaking his head in frustration he took out a sword, the weapon he'd been working with.

I activated my Eye of Revelation, letting my crown do its work Behind him, I saw a weird, twisty blob of white trying to form. He swung his sword again, and again. One side of the blob started to sharpen, but it didn't stick, dissolving again and again.

He pulled out a second sword, using one in each hand. He tried to swing them, stumbling over his rhythm when he switched to dual weapons, since he had no training. It was hard for normal people to use two weapons, the brain is designed to focus on one thing at a time, you have to combine the movements from both into a single line of action.

Benny's Focus was pretty damned high though, and he learned fast. One strike, then two. His clumsy swings started to become more fluid after ten minutes, then twenty.

I knew what he was doing. It was smart. Using the physical movements anchor his Path like I did with my forms. Creating a sword art that would let him attach those ideas he had to the physical world.

Behind him, the blob sharpened and took shape. It was a colossal form of gleaming white bones with terrible eyes of cold flame. Benny's was a ghastly pale green. The creature reared and snapped as he moved, and looking at it from further away, I could almost see the swords wings as he moved slowly, figuring out the martial art that would let him take that first important step.

His hands flickered, swords whipping, both at once as he tried to balance it, sometimes tripping up and overdoing it on one side.

Slowly though, the form of the great bone creature changed, became more refined. Not just the shape, but little details that made it seem to be a different creature altogether. I knew what they were, too. The creature had started out the same as the one we'd faced before, a bone wyvern, but it was growing less like a wyvern and more like something much scarier.

We'd both done research into dragons. They were really cool and powerful and we just genuinely wanted to know more about them. Benny in particular had always been a fan, not that it was some novel thing, everyone loved dragons.

The creature behind Benny changed as he moved, Becoming more draconic, more terrifying. An aura of palpable dread surrounded it, of consumption, and I could see that this beast wasn't any mere bone golem in the shape of a lizard. This was a true undead dragon. A monster returned from the grave that forced its soul back into its desecrated remains with magic. A Dracolich.

And why not. Paths could be anything, could represent our hopes and dreams and nightmares. Benny saw himself as this thing, in his wildest dreams. This uncontrollable monster that could devour its enemies and grow from their strength. It was fantastic.

Being sort of macabre didn't make it or even Benny evil. Just kind of edgy, and it wasn't like I could throw stones, what with the whole demon motif. I grinned at him as I saw the creature…solidify, in a way I somehow knew had made it something more than what it had been. "Nice sword style. What's it called?"

He stopped, snapped out of his reverie, and lowered his blades. "I'm calling it the Dance of the Dracolich. My Path is the Path of the Dracolich. I have a few ideas of where to take that."

"Advantages of being late to the party." I said with a laugh. "Callie and I formed our Paths before we knew what they were. We're having to feel them out as we go. Having a potential road to advancement is a good idea."

Slumping down onto his ass, he chuckled woozily. "That was…rough. Does it usually affect your soul this much? I have a headache."

"No idea." I shrugged. "Like I said, wasn't something we did on purpose, so we don't know the normal procedure. Callie might have been a bit shaky after she had her epiphany, you'd have to ask her." I helped him, walking him over to a bench and then dropping down beside him. "So…Path of the Dracolich, huh? Sounds neat. Can't wait to see what you do with it." Because I had a feeling Benny had great things in mind, and I'd make damn sure to help him achieve them.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

Benny was understandably excited about creating a Path. This had been gnawing at him for a while, based on how relieved he seemed to be. My best friend had his own pride and liked to play things close to the vest at the oddest times. He hadn't wanted me to know that he was just as worried about things as I was, even when he was pissed at me.

I wanted to help him study some techniques for his new Path, but unfortunately, we ran into a problem pretty quickly. Or rather, a few problems. Firstly, Benny's Fantasy was five hundred and fifty six. Amusingly, his new Path should actually help with that once he could use it properly, that had been part of the calculation of making a more fantastical Path rather than something tech based, but for now, he was VERY low on the important stat.

Fantasy, from what I can tell, substituted for a Domain when it came to using a path, allowing you to create molds for techniques without your own world to use them through. This was entirely based on my own conjecture, not something I was told, but it seemed to fit.

The second big problem was that while I seemed to be a natural genius at technique formation, and Callie was able to piggy back off that through the bond (not to mention she had a pretty high Fantasy stat), Benny didn't have any such advantage. We had no supernatural connection I could use to beam him thoughts and impressions, and without it I had zero clue how to teach him.

He ended up going to find my mom to ask for her help, and once he left, I decided I should start work on helping Felicity.

My first attempt to help her came in the obvious form. I called Jessie over, and I asked my incredibly overpowered healer friend to try to repair some of the damage with her ability. I was ninety percent sure it would fail, this wasn't a bodily injury, but it wasn't like it could hurt anything to try.

When she arrived, we headed over to see Felicity. She was sitting in the library at the inn, reading a book in front of the fire. Her face, as usual, was completely empty, and her eyes were blank as they scanned the words, like she was a computer processing the text.

"Felicity." I said as we entered. "I was wondering if we could talk?"

She smiled her mechanical smile. "Of course, Shane. I am your guardian now, you can speak to me about anything. Is there something I can help you with?"

"Actually, I think there's something I can help you with." I responded bluntly. "I believe you've been injured, and I want to help fix you. Would you mind if Jessie takes a look at you? Her ability is very powerful, and if you're injured she may be able to help."

She cocked her head in confusion. "But I do not feel injured. I suppose I sometimes overlook things like that. My father says I am very clumsy, because I often do not notice when I am in pain." The fact that Craygen blamed his daughter for being a broken shell of a person after he sandpapered her fucking soul was both unsurprising and infuriating, but I just pushed that down.

"I understand." I said reassuringly. "It might be nothing, but as my guardian I need to make sure you're at the top of your game. Otherwise I'm putting myself in danger, right?"

She nodded in understanding. "Of course. If my performance is suboptimal it must be corrected. I apologize, I was unaware I had failed you in such a short time. My transgressions were unacceptable and will not happen again."

I wanted to tell her that was stupid and she hadn't done anything, but if she was going to let us treat her, I figured that particular conversation could wait until she had the emotional depth to understand it. I gestured to Jessie, who nodded stiffly, stepping forward to place her hands on Felicity's shoulders.

Jessie was moving jerkily and her jaw was tight. It was easy to see she was furious, clearly as outraged by what had been done to Felicity as I was. I saw her hands glow as she started funneling her energy into the other girl, looking for something to heal.

She didn't have a scanning ability, but her power was partly based on first aid, which was partly diagnostic. She'd also gotten a lot of practice back on Stratholme, treating different injuries and learning more about how healing worked. Jessie had been slowly increasing her Skills for quite a while now, and she used them to their fullest extent to try to fix the C-ranker.

Sadly, when she removed her hands, her expression was downcast. "I'm sorry." She told me sadly. "I tried. I thought I might be able to do something, maybe there could have been brain damage or something, but I can't find anything wrong with her."

I nodded. "I get it. Not your fault. We figured that would be the case. This was a long shot to begin with. I'll take it from here. I have an idea that might work."

Nodding sadly, she stepped back, letting me take her place. "Felicity, you haven't taken any physical damage, but I think I might be able to treat you with another method. Do you mind if I try accessing your soul?"

"I do not mind." She said blankly. "If I am damaged, I must be repaired. I cannot be of use otherwise."

I was DEEPLY disturbed listening to her talk like that. It was creepy to the extent that my skin was almost physically crawling. The fact that one person could do this to another was an abomination, and that wasn't even taking into account that he was her fucking father. I briefly entertained the idea of trying to have him killed, but that wasn't my place. Felicity was the one who had been hurt. Once she was fixed, she could decide how to handle her father.

Putting my hands up in front of her face, I triggered Zagan. My hair blazed up into green flame, and I closed my eyes, focusing on the space between my palms as I started to condense a Life Nova.

Much like Cosmic Collapse, Life Nova was a scaling attack (if one could call it that). I could slowly build up the power, packing it tighter and tighter. Which I did. I focused, shifting the image in my head as I tweaked the technique on the fly.

I built myself a new narrative, a story about a life giving sun that shone its healing light on a broken world. The sun let the power of rejuvenation fall upon the cracked and broken planet, and it slowly began to heal. Not just the plants or animals, but the world itself, the society. At high enough concentrations, anything could be healed.

Unfortunately, I hit a wall about twenty minutes in. I didn't have enough Fantasy to structure something this complex, and even my Solid Path couldn't support it solo. Without even having to ask, I felt a flood of Fantasy as Callie opened the bond to let me tap into her power, and then let her own Path support mine, giving it strength.

Paradoxically, I almost lost control of the technique when that happened. It had changed too much, shifted too far from the form I was trying to use. I had to backstop it, coming up with a story about Zagan, the life giving demon prince that traded in the fates of others to gain influence.

My head was on fire, I'd had to use about six different parallels with Piece of Mind to balance all the conflicting concepts and stories and influences. This was going to knock me flat on my ass when I finished, but I powered through.

Denser and denser, I layered the Life Nova, staring deeply into the roiling verdant shine, watching the flickers of silver fire in its depths. Felicity sat unperturbed, watching the soothing green light, and then when I couldn't hold on another second. When I couldn't take any more power, I opened my Eye of Revelation and flicked the Life Nova gently with my middle fingers.

Felicity let out an oh of surprise, and as she opened her mouth, the green light exploded towards her, driving through her mouth, eyes, and nose as it burrowed inside and her whole body was lit up by the energy.

Zagan's flame was a mixture of Jessie's power, Chelsea's purification, and my own Afterburner, mixed with Consecration of Flame. It did a lot of things. Purify, heal, and strengthen (Consecration of Flame not only strengthened on its own but its holy undertones synergized well with the purification flame).

The Life Nova did all that times a hundred, and I'd done my best to aim it at exactly the issue we were dealing with, not that I was sure it would work. My eyes were fixed on Felicity as the flames exploded within her, the Life Nova detonating inside the soul in a way that vindicated my theory about soul repair, even if it was at a VERY low level.

Felicity's eyes, formerly blank and empty, flickered slightly with green and silver. She blinked a few times, brow wrinkling slightly before smoothing out. "That was an unusual feeling." She said dully. "I don't believe I've experienced such a thing before. Did you manage to repair the damage?"

I clutched my head, feeling Callie try her best to pull the pain away as she absorbed some of the damage. My parallels had collapsed as soon as I detonated the Life Nova, and the backlash was excruciating. My soul wasn't damaged too badly, since Callie had been helping, but it had been a close thing.

Felicity didn't seem to mind my distracted state, and she simply sat and waited as I recovered. "No." I ground out. "Not completely. But I did improve your condition. We'll need to keep at this. I'll get better at it as we go, but we're on the right track."

Despite the pain, I was triumphant. Like I told her, I couldn't fix her right away. In fact, I was BARELY able to help. Felicity was a C-ranker with both shackles broken. Her soul and Impact were both beyond mine. My Life Nova had, at best, scratched the surface of the repairs she needed.

But they HAD scratched the surface. Even a tiny chip at the damage was something, because it meant that I could keep chipping away and eventually fix it. It wasn't perfect by any means, but it meant there was hope, and that was a huge relief.

Felicity smiled, and it might have been my imagination, but it seemed just a little less stiff and forced than usual. Still unsettling, but more human than most of her expressions. "That is good to hear. I am hopeful that I will be back to proper fighting form before a threat presents itself."

I smiled at her wanly, standing and nearly falling over as I lost my balance. Jessie caught me, flooding my body with life energy that only barely helped. She escorted me to the door, and when it opened, my fiancee's worried face was the first thing I saw. She thanked Jessie, then put one of my arms over her shoulders and escorted me away.

"You're not going to yell at me?" I rasped. "That must have hurt you a lot."

She leaned up to peck me on the cheek. "Some things are worth a little pain. I'm not mad. I'm proud of you. And I'll help however I can until the job is done." We lapsed into silence after that. We didn't need words. She could feel how much that meant to me. She helped me to our room and into bed, and then climbed in after me, and we passed out, drifting into a healing sleep.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

We woke the next morning feeling surprisingly refreshed. It too me a second of sensing to realize Benny had sat himself outside the door and allowed his spiritual cleansing field to wash over us. Since I hit Sapphire it hadn't really been useful, but it had definitely helped in this case. I shook Callie awake, checking to make sure she was feeling better too.

"G'way." She grumbled, smacking at my hand and face. "Sleeping."

I laughed at that. "Yeah, we both slept, for like…eighteen hours. It was the middle of the day yesterday when we went to sleep."

"Damn." She said in a shocked tone. "That new technique had some serious kick to it. I don't know if you should use it again. I could feel how much damage it was causing, and how much pain."

I shook my head. "Most of the damage was from using six simultaneous parallels with Piece of Mind. If I repeat it it'll be easier. Still absurdly difficult and draining, but not as hard on my soul. I created an actual technique I can trigger, after all."

"What did you end up naming it?" She said, propping her chin up on her palm as she watched me change into some civilian clothes for what felt like the first time in months. I briefly considered going out like that, but in the end I felt too naked without my mask, so I slipped that on.

I cracked my neck, stretching widely and enjoying the feeling of not having anything to do for the day. "Genesis Burst." I said with a chuckle. "It just seemed to fit." With the games finished and the final banquet still one day away, there was no pressure on me to do anything. I'd need to recover before I could use that technique again. I just had the day off.

Holding out my hand to her, I grinned. "Milady, might I interest you in some relaxation?"

She pouted at me. "I don't want to get up. Make me breakfast in bed." She flopped onto her back bonelessly, letting her head turn dramatically away from me.

"A grim vision of my future." I said dryly. "But fine. I suppose I can do that. What do you want for breakfast?" Her head snapped back around, eyes fixing on me like a cat spotting a canary. She clearly hadn't expected that to work.

Honestly, I normally would have badgered her into coming down with me, but she'd been supporting me from behind for the last few days without even mentioning it. During the games, during the treatment, she'd been there without flinching and hadn't expected a thing in return. I absolutely didn't mind making her breakfast.

She felt my gratitude and adoration and her expression softened from exaggerated greediness to a soft smile. "Whatever you want." She said quietly. "I'm happy with anything." Then she paused. "But nothing egg based. That's the wrong texture."

I let out a booming laugh. "I'm in the mood for blintzes. You can borrow my soul book while I cook if you want."

Rolling her eyes, she shook her head. "That's not how you take a day off. I'm going to watch something on the scan box I think. They have them in the rooms and I never checked out the selection. We're in another galaxy, so there's no way the same shows are on. I want to see what people watch here."

"Daytime programming is like death and taxes." I said solemnly. "It never changes and it's inevitable."

She snorted at that. "Go cook our breakfast. If you have time to make ominous proclamations about mundane subjects you have time to cook." She winked to let me know she was kidding and blew me a kiss. Literally, a kiss mark made of shadow floated across the room to thwack loudly against the cheek of my mask.

I just laughed and headed downstairs, making us some food relatively quickly before returning to our room and hopping into bed, passing her a plate. We both ate, then watched the scan box for a couple of hours…but we got bored.

"Lets go visit you mom." Callie said after we'd been lying around for a while. "I bet she'd be happy to see us."

I actually had to do my wishes for today anyway, but I decided to leave it for later. "Yeah, that sounds like fun. Should we invite my sister?" Benny was probably already over there doing some training.

In the end we did invite Chelsea, and she decided to tag along for a family outing of sorts. We arrived at my mom's building to find her sitting at her table beside the lake, pouring some sweet tea from a pitcher. She smiled as we approached. "Shane, Calliope, how good to see you both." She pecked Chelsea on the cheek too, but since my sister basically lived here a special greeting wasn't necessary.

"Hey ma." I said, dropping into a chair casually. "Figured we'd come see how you were. Benny was planning to visit at some point for training."

She gave me a radiant smile. "He already did, dear. He's in the lake."

I glanced over at the body of water. I'd thought it was a pond, but given the expanded interiors of Ascendant buildings a lake would fit too. Looking at it though, I didn't see Benny out there anywhere. "Wait…do you mean like…INSIDE the lake? Like he's underwater?"

"Of course." She said cheerfully. "He's at the bottom. Holding his breath is no problem, but he needed a dark and oppressive environment to help with his image training. That Path of his is interesting. I've seen Draconic Paths before, of course, but most of them are more supremacy themed than based on evolution."

Nodding, I scanned the water for my friend's form. "Yeah. He wanted something more fantastical to balance out his more scientific powerset. Maximizing the advantages of both types of strength. Especially given the role Fantasy plays with technique formation."

"It isn't a bad choice." She said with a shrug. "There isn't really a bad choice to make. Paths are personal things, and making them work depends on the individual. I'm sure you realized that based on your own. Though I suppose in your case it wasn't exactly your own choice, it's certainly working out for you."

I hadn't even realized how lucky I'd gotten with my Path until recently. Advancing to a Solid Path is HARD for most people. They have to combine their chosen Path with their ability, or with a Skill that they combine with their ability later, which can make it even more complicated. My Path just coalescing by itself when I got DS Mastery to a certain point was absurdly good luck, and getting a second ability was even better.

Seeing Callie (and presumably Benny in the future) struggle to get past that step just illustrated how suitable my Path was for me and how fortunate I was that I'd obtained it the way I had.

"So, underwater training, huh?" I said as I glanced toward the lake. "How long has he been down there?" I had no clue how long I could hold my breath now, other than probably a very long time.

She shrugged, glancing at an hourglass on the table. An hour glass that had already been run down by the time we'd arrived a little while ago. "More than an hour." She said after a brief pause. I tried not to laugh at the nonchalance, though Callie didn't even bother with that level of nicety, giggling at my best friend's misfortune.

"So, grandpa still stuck in today's meeting?" I asked with a laugh. "He must be bored out of his mind."

Now it was mom's turn to giggle at the misfortune of others. "He's climbing the walls, not that you can tell from looking at him. He's been sending me messages all day, brainstorming increasingly elaborate plans to get him out of there. He won't actually do it, he's not going to derail negotiations at this level, but he's tearing out his hair in boredom."

"I'd have thought he'd need to stay on his toes when negotiating." I said slowly. "Especially with the Cult there?"

She grinned viciously. "Normally, yes. But you humiliated Deathwish, and everyone else was smelling blood in the water. Harrison has been using that little slip up of his as an excuse to eviscerate them at the negotiating table. There's a few planets on the line, and I think he might be able to get an entire system if he plays things right."

"That's a big deal, right?" I asked with interest. "The factions avoid letting the WCP have their own territory as compensation for allowing them to spread around past borders right?"

"Exactly." She agreed. "But as you know, we're in an unprecedented situation. With the god war looming wishes at the A and S-rank level are invaluable. It could be the difference between losing a planet, a system, or even a whole army. Not all systems are created equal, and there's no way the cult will give up anything central, but then, the WCP doesn't need it."

I nodded thoughtfully. "If anything, border territories are better because they can possibly combine them, and any geographic or power based conditions can be adjusted with wishes." The freedom and flexibility of owning a territory with access to a wish power was something I'd grown familiar with, at least tangentially, on Stratholme. At the higher ranks, I imagined planets and systems could reap similar benefits.

We chatted about that for a while, but eventually got off the subject, because I really wanted to spend time with my family on my day off doing something other than talking politics. Instead, Callie started asking my mother about her life, and my sisters life. We'd already learned some of that stuff from previous discussions, but my sister was almost twenty, same as I was. There was always more to learn.

Mom had plenty of stories about Chelsea growing up, and I found that hearing about her life bothered me less and less as time went on. My engagement especially had eased a lot of the resentment I hadn't wanted to feel but that had been bubbling under the surface.

It was easier to smile and laugh at a story about my eight year old sister getting bored and falling asleep in one of the drawers of grandpa's desk and accidentally kicking off a galactic manhunt because someone decided she'd been kidnapped. I told some stories of my own childhood with Zeke too, and my mom was practically glowing at the conversation.

We had just finished hearing about the time Chelsea accidentally sold one of grandpa's S-rank artifacts (not an active one obviously) for a life size statue of herself made a chocolate (she wandered into a chocolate shop in town and offered the enchanted scales to the owner) when Benny climbed up out of the water noisily, dripping as he slogged up the shore and toward the table.

My mother held up a hand. "Towel." She said, pointing to the ground in front of him where a large beach towel appeared. "And you'll sit in the grass. I don't want you dripping all over my chairs."

They were nice chairs, so I couldn't blame her, though I don't think that stopped Benny, who picked up the towel, dried himself as best he could, and then started taking his clothes off and wringing them out onto the grass like sponges. He maintained eye contact with us, especially my mom, as he tipped his boots over and dumped enough water out of them to resemble a pitcher.

Finally he stalked over and sat down in the grass sulkily, and all of us pretended we weren't trying not to laugh. Eventually, he started smiling about it too, and he joined in telling some stories about me as a kid. It was one of the best days I'd had in years.
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[Malcolm Tent]

"Ugh." I moaned in annoyance. "Why are there so many of these?" I was getting ready for ANOTHER banquet (hopefully the last of this annoying conclave) and I couldn't help but think back to the plethora of banquets and ball's and various other formal events we'd had to go to since our journey started.

Callie giggled at my annoyance, adjusting my cape. "Because they give people a chance to show off, mingle, and eat good food. Everyone loves a fancy dinner. Banquets are a microcosm of the Ascendant culture. Lots of showing off to make an impression while you try to meet people."

"I suppose." I said with a sigh. Turning to look at my mother, I cocked my head. "This is really the end though? Once we're done with this we can leave?"

We'd contacted Killian through my mom, and he'd volunteered (or so we were told, I remained suspicious) to take us back to Callus as a group. Once we were finished here, we'd be headed home for the first time in over a year, back to visit everyone and officially prepare for my wedding.

And yet, I couldn't help but feel uneasy. This felt…unfinished. Like there was more to come. It had all gone down too easy, I didn't trust it. Something was going to happen at this banquet, something big.

My mother seemed to pick up the undertone of worry. "This is the end." She confirmed. "And we're not letting our guard down. We've arranged for backup teams to remain in place from each of the factions. They won't be attending the banquet formally, but will be on standby in case of emergency." She smiled wryly at me. "You aren't the only person to worry that gathering top leadership from all six of the most powerful forces in the universe in one place might present a tempting target."

"Fair enough." I said with a wry chuckle. "I guess I forget that I'm not the only person who expects things to go catastrophically wrong at the drop of a hat."

She just smiled. "Fate moves more strongly around those with the blood of gods. That affects you more than most, but not you alone. We're all on edge. The conclave was necessary to outline the terms of cooperation, but it was also dangerous. Why do you think we invited Lark?"

That made sense actually. Being able to punch up to god rank, even against the weakest god, was damned impressive. It made him basically untouchable at S-rank. Together with the backup she mentioned, I did feel a bit better. We were also on a floating continent in the middle of space. Someone would notice approaching threats well ahead of time.

Despite it all, the creeping unease wouldn't go away, though. I took Callie's hand, squeezing it tightly. I turned to Zeke. "How about you, old man. You ready for this?"

He scoffed. "I'm young at heart. But yes, I've been working on my new masks, have to replace the ones destroyed in my fight with that Duke. Kind of hoping I get a chance to try them out." At my mother's fierce glare, he cleared his throat. "I mean, no. I definitely don't hope for that, that would be bad. I hope this banquet is boring and uneventful."

She nodded imperiously, and he rolled his eyes, sticking his tongue out at her briefly when she looked away, and then putting on an innocent expression when she looked back.

I rolled my own eyes at their antics, turning to check that everyone was arriving. Bethy, Cark, Gabe, Chelsea, Benny, Jessie, Celine, Abel, and Mel. One by one everyone showed up, and I greeted them all stoically as we filed out into the shuttle.

Once we took off, I addressed them all directly. "I've still got today's wishes. I'm a bit worried about what might happen. You guys willing to make them?"

"I'll opt out." Said my sister, Abel and Bethy nodding along. "I've got protection already, and I think the others could use it more."

Callie tried to protest, but I wouldn't hear about it. She, along with all the others aside from the two who abstained, each wished for a one time protective escape, paying with seven D-ranked chits that I suspected had come from Celine. I felt so much more reassured knowing they had that up their sleeves though.

We arrived shortly after we finished, and we all headed inside the Central Location, where the banquet would be held.

The atmosphere at the event was a bit more subdued than the first time, but I had kind of expected that. Going through the conclave had underlined some of what we might be facing, and everyone was currently dragged down by the enormity of what might be coming.

We met with Felicity when we arrived. She'd come separately, but took up her position as one of my guardians without a word. When we entered, we were all announced the same as before, and we made our way over to meet my grandfather where he was standing, talking to Princess Lilliana.

"Mr. Wyndham." Said the Princess with a warm smile. "It's lovely to see you again. My apologies for any discomfort during your questioning. I tried to make it as easy on you as possible."

She shot a glance at my mother, which told me all I needed to know. She knew who I was, and had tried to help me out loyalty to her friend. It meant a lot that she'd been willing to stick her neck out for me, even if that might have benefited her faction.

"I appreciated all your kindness." I said formally. "I owe you one."

My grandfather groaned. "Why are these things always so stuffy? Nobody here knows how to have a good time. At least the food is good." He tossed back a glass of champagne, picking at a plate of finger food. He frowned around at the waiters. "They used local staff though. Odd. I suppose it was cheaper than supplying their own."

"That's-" My mother looked like she was ready to dismiss what he said, but then stopped. "Wait. The staff are local contractors? Who okayed that? That's a security nightmare. Who was in charge of staffing?"

My grandpa shrugged. "That brat with Harrison handled it. We let the WCP run point on the event. It was a meaningless bit of lipservice to let them feel important. We still have our own security in place."

I frowned at him. "Brat? You mean Pret? Why would Pret be in charge of setting up an event like this?"

"Who knows." He shrugged. "He's Harrison's ward and he wanted to be involved. It wasn't worth kicking off an intergalactic incident over something like that. It's not like any of these people are a threat to us. They're just random E and D-rankers."

Something about that seemed off to me. He was right, it wasn't a big deal, but the fact that Pret had decided to push for that seemed…off.

"Speaking of Harrison." He said with a sigh. "We let him do the closing speech. So get ready to fall asleep standing up. That man loves hearing himself talk."

My mother shot him a wry look. "Imagine. A self-important blowhard who doesn't stop talking. I wonder what being around that is like." My grandfather glared, but she just ignored him, and the rest of us stifled our laughter.

Sure enough, within about twenty minutes there was an announcement from one of the heralds, and everyone was asked to quiet down so Harrison could make an announcement. He stepped out into the crowd, eyes blazing with excitement as he took us all in. "Greetings, friends and allies." He said pompously.

"I'm sure you all know by this point why we're here, so I see no need to repeat myself on that front." He had an easy, confident smile in place as he spoke. "I think it's quite a coup for us as powerful forces to be able to put down our pride and work so smoothly together when things are really on the line, and I'm proud to be here, and to be part of this process."

He gestured to the side, where Pret was patiently waiting next to Craygen. "Not only myself, but my adopted son, Pretseltsen, have been working hard for your benefit as well as our own. A rising tide lifts all ships, and the stronger our alliance is the safer we are. In fact, I think he has a few words he'd like to say, and I'd be happy to pass the floor to him. After all, his generation are the future of factions like ours."

It was heavy handed and a little annoying, but effective. He was reminding us all that the WCP was playing a huge part in the war. Claiming that they had 'put down their pride' to help when I was pretty sure he'd extorted every possible advantage was a bit shameless, but then, that was part for the course for the Palace.

Pret, smiling widely, accepted his pat on the shoulder and stepped forward. "Ladies and gentlemen." He said loudly, his voice carrying. "I stand here before you today, a part of a historic alliance. A treaty of such scale and importance that the universe may have never seen its like." His eyes scanned the room cooly, and his smile grew darker. I felt a tightening in my stomach, and I knew something was about to happen.

"Of course, we need to thank all our glorious leaders for deigning to have this little meeting. After all, they're doing all of this for us. This is their method of keeping us all safe, of making sure we're protected." His tone was sickly sweet, and I could tell he was enjoying what he was saying. Something was wrong with the way he was talking, and I wasn't the only one who thought so, I saw several people shift uncomfortably.

He strode away from Harrison, taking a place in the middle of the ballroom in a wide empty space. His movements were slow and graceful, like a prowling animal. "But of course, we aren't safe." He said gleefully. "We aren't protected. We're prey. Victims waiting to be torn apart by the wolves at the gate. Do any of you think this is going to be enough? That this pageantry will have any effect on what's coming?"

The waiters had been moving as he talked, gathering together. There were a lot of them. A shocking amount. I recognized one of them even, and when I did, I felt the bottom drop out of my stomach. He was the bearded guy who had been buying Hallow.

I suddenly had a very bad feeling about what Pret might have done with those crates of the stuff he seized. I didn't think he'd been studying them at all.

Harrison stepped forward, face tight. "Pretseltsen, what is the meaning of this? This isn't the speech we discussed."

"Oops." Said the man cheerfully. "My mistake. I just thought a bit of candor might be nice for once. Just as a final bit of amusement before the main event begins. I suppose there's no point now though. It's already time." He gestured to the groups of waiters that had assembled across the room, small clusters of ten or twenty people.

The staff members had started to change, skin smoking and bodies beginning to break down as they burst into flames. Their placement was clearly deliberate, as I felt something shift in the air as they died. I used Eye of Revelation, but I couldn't see anything useful. This wasn't a technique, though it did feel familiar.

And that was when I got it. Sacrifice. This was sacrificial power, similar to the lamentation liquid Billy had used in the ruined soul temple. People screamed and backed away as E and D-rankers combusted, the flames a sickening blood red.

As we watched, the flames gathered together, coalescing into a series of six massive doors. "It was so kind of you to invite us all to your party." Said Pret with sadistic glee. "We were so touched we decided to invite even more people." Then the doors swung open, and figures began to emerge. This couldn't be good.
https://www.patreon.com/malcolmtent/posts?filters[tag]=WUTS

 

[Malcolm Tent]

I was frozen in place, eyes locked on the doors as figures began to slowly exit. My grandfather was staring at them grimly, his face more severe than I'd ever seen it. "Sasha. Watch the kids." He stalked forward, and I saw the other seven S-rankers walk out to join him. They stood in the center of the empty dance floor, waiting for the group of outsiders.

Thirty of them. Five from each door. "Mom." I said quietly. She held up a finger, then glanced at Zeke. He reached into his coat, pulling out a glass mask, and then flicked it. The crystalline structure shattered, and the glass shards swirled around us, forming a series of runes.

"That should keep us from being noticed." He said grimly. "I custom made it for a situation like this." He shot me a grim smile. "Thanks for the idea shane. Came to me after our talk. It should work even better than my normal Path masking." He turned to my mother. "I can't say much, but you should fill them in."

She nodded. "They're S-rankers." She said to me bluntly. "All of them."

I flinched. "Wait…what?" I was horrified. "But there are thirty of them. That would mean almost a third of the S-rankers in the universe are here."

"No." She cut me off. "These aren't anyone we would recognize. They're from…elsewhere."

I just stared at her. "What else is there? The universe is pretty much everything, right? They can't just conjure people out of nothing."

She sighed heavily. "It's too early for this. But fine. Do you know why there are only six gods? Why the six hunted down and killed the others?" Her eyes were scanning the room worriedly, and I saw the thirty figures come to a stop across from our S-rankers and begin talking.

"Not really." I admitted. "In fact, it seems kind of shitty. What happened to Suvaya was messed up."

She nodded solemnly. "It was. But it was also necessary. See, just like I mentioned to you, forming a Domain is a late step in cultivation. In fact, it's properly done at the Demigod level. Once you reach five hundred Impact, you form your Domain, and using your Saga as a base you fill it with power. In order to reach the god ranks your Saga has to be a certain level of power."

The term Saga was new, but I assumed from context it was what came after a Chronicle. "Ok, but what does that have to do with any of this?"

She acted like she hadn't heard me. "Once your Domain has been fully actualized, it sublimates, and you become a god. Your domain becomes a world, and you become a deity within that space. But much like a normal planet, the universe has a rank. The more worlds connected to it the higher it climbs."
My eyes narrowed at the doors. "What happens when a god dies." I asked, getting a very bad feeling.

"Their world disconnects from the universe, floating in the void like a soap bubble." My mother said worriedly. "But it isn't destroyed. I believe that Hallow was a sort of divine sacrificial ashes. They used it to connect the worlds of the six vanished gods to this universe. I suspect these aren't the main connection points though, because they don't seem very stable."

I glanced at the doors and realized she was right. They were starting to warp, signs of instability and damage appearing on the glowing frames. But the damage was done, there were thirty S-rankers here.

"So this is bad, right?" I asked quickly. "Because the six wouldn't kill other gods if they didn't have a good reason. What's so bad about the universe being elevated?"

She grimaced. "If the universe we live in breaks through, it will break through the void into a higher dimension. That's where some of the gods go when they Ascend, it's one of the choices you can make, using your world to drag yourself up into a higher realm. If it happens to the universe though, everyone goes up. In the higher realms, godhood is just the beginning. People like the six are common, and safety is much harder to find."

"So do the vanished gods want to make that happen? Is that what the war is about?" I asked anxiously. What she was talking about might not sound bad on the face of it, but I knew enough about Ascendants that a whole universe worth of weak cultivators would be a big flashing target for some of the assholes out there. I understood why they were holding us back.

"We don't know." She admitted. "Possibly? Or they might just be planning to butcher the Six and cannibalize their worlds. You can do that, use another gods world to empower your own. These worlds they're connecting have clearly been growing and preparing during their deaths. Five S-rankers each…and that might not even be the end."

I threw my hands up angrily. "So what? We're fucked now? There's nothing we can do but die?"

"Hardly." She said with a hard smile. "They made a big mistake coming here. We invited Lark. None of the vanished gods were alive when the Vampire first came on the scene. I imagine they're assuming his reputation is hot air. But he's basically invincible below god rank. I don't know how many of them he can reasonably take on at once though, being able to overpower someone is fine, but S-rankers have quite a bit of range. Plus we have backup coming."

I glanced around. "Where are they anyway? Shouldn't they be here already? We need help."

"They're trying to recruit our people under threat of death." My mother said with a shake of her head. "The backup will be waiting for the doors to collapse. If they see more show up they might try to force through another few S-rankers. Better to let the entrances disperse." her eyes narrowed. "Ezekial, give us sound, I need to know what's happening, they're getting agitated."

Zeke snapped his fingers, and suddenly I could hear a room full of noise. Breathing, muttering, teeth grinding, all the sounds I would expect.

"You think you can just come here and demand we bow to you?" Snarled Harrison, looking as angry as I'd ever seen him. "We're not toys for you to play with. Just because you have a few S-rankers with you doesn't mean you're a match for us. We have Demigods among our number."

The man in the lead, a ghoulishly pale man with blood red eyes, hair, and armor, grinned nastily. "Do you think we would be making this offer if you didn't? But a Demigod is still an S-ranker. We have some of our own, and you have far fewer people. You can bend the knee to our masters or you can die, trash, it makes no difference to us."

The woman next to him, a dark eyed lady with bronze skin and pitch black hair, scowled at him. At closer inspection, I realized she didn't have hair at all, but a waterfall of feathers falling down her back. "We were instructed to extend a courteous invitation, Roald."

"I'm getting sick of their arrogance." he snorted. "To imagine themselves a threat under these conditions. Just because one or two of them seems impressive by the standards of this decadent modern age. Back during the era of the gods this band of rabble would have been nothing but a guard division."

She rolled her eyes. "You're twenty thousand, Roald. You weren't alive during the era of the gods. You weren't even alive during the Aetherbright Empire. You spend too much time listening to Lord Hatescream's stories. The consensus was that we would offer them a chance."

Sneering, he turned back to the S-ranker on our side. "Fine. I apologize for my rudeness. We offer you sanctuary and fair treatment. To reach the S-rank, your talent can't be complete garbage. We'll even allow you to select a few subordinates to live through this. We'll need to slaughter most of these rabble to send a message, but you can save some of your descendants and students."

"What!?" Snapped another familiar voice. Pret came stalking out of the crowd. "That wasn't the deal! You promised me I'd become a core disciple of one of the gods. How am I supposed to rest easy knowing one of the S-rankers I betrayed is right down the hall?"

Roalds red eyes shifted. I'd have said they pinned Pret down, but they had no iris, nor sclera. They were just oceans of blood. It was hard to see where he was looking from his eyeballs, but easy to tell where his attention was settled by the pressure in the room. "I'm sorry." He said, softly. "Do you think garbage like you is worthy to demand answers of us? Who was your deal with, trash?"
Pret swallowed, his face paling as he gestured to one of the thirty. "It was Master Demonvein, he said-"

Roald's arm flashed out lazily, moving so quick I couldn't process it properly, and the man Pret had indicated fucking EXPLODED. The crowd screamed as blood and viscera pelted the surrounding bystanders, even fifty feet or so away. "Seems like he won't be able to make good on his deal, he said slyly.

The woman snarled in frustration. "Damn it Roald! You're not supposed to kill anyone on the invasion force. You were warned."

"Oops." He said with a shrug. "I forgot. Besides, it was just Demonvein. Lady Claydria doesn't even like him. She only tolerated him because his brother is one of her guard captains. I did her a favor."

I noted that despite her annoyance, she wasn't actually upset. This guy had just wasted an S-ranker with a casual blow and nobody batted an eye.

Behind the S-rankers, other forms resolved. A-rankers. I recognized the feeling of their Impact, same as Zeke and mom. Roald, the leader, seemed to get bored defending himself and started ignoring the woman, turning to the representatives. "Time is up trash, make your choice, or die." When they didn't answer, he grinned again. "Death it is. I'll handle you then. Sarris, take the others and cleanse this continent. Make it messy."

She sighed sadly. "I suppose I'll have to. A shame. You should have accepted the offer." Roald stepped forward slowly, approaching them as the other S-rankers menacingly turned and started to leave. He took three steps faster than I could blink, but was stopped by a fist the smashed into his chest, the arm caving in as he was sent flying across the room.

As I watched, black grass sprouted under our feet, and a blood red moon lit the sky above us. Morgan Lark, the Vampire, stared impassively at the downed form of the red armored man. "Your arrogance is as pathetic as it is amusing." He said coldly. This would be the formal scary mode Bethy had mentioned.

Roald rose to his feet, eyes darkening as wisps of bloody smoke came off the armor on his hands. "What are you waiting for." He roared. "I said go."

"They can't." Said Lark calmly. "They're being suppressed." His gaze flicked to the other representatives. "I'll keep them pinned down, but it'll take me a bit of effort. I'll need help cleaning up the majority. I can only take about ten of them myself when I'm keeping them penned in."

My grandfather grinned, smashing his fists together as ivory flame blazed up around him. "I can deal with a few. Can the reinforcements get in?"
Lark snapped his fingers, and there was an explosion as the doorways shattered. Dozens of A-rankers still filing in were shredded by the shards, exploding into blood mist, but none of it touched us.

There was a flicker, and another seven S-rankers blurred into existence on our side. Roald was glaring at Morgan, lips peeled back in a snarl of pure hate. "You're dead." He flicked his hand out and a storm of blood colored lightning smashed into the Vampire's steady form.

"Daddy!" Screamed Bethy, trying to run forward. My mom caught her, holding her still. The smoke cleared and Morgan stood there, unharmed and unconcerned, but as I watched he reached up and licked a couple sparks of bloody lightning from his fingers. And then it was on. And all I saw was violence.

 

[Lone-sith]

lark is so cold

 

[Malcolm Tent]

"Did he just eat that lightning?" I asked in shock as the battle began. None of the shockwaves were reaching us, all contained within Lark's Domain, but I saw some of the A-rankers spreading out, slipping through the edges. Apparently holding thirty S-rankers while fighting ten of them was tough even for the Vampire, because the small fries were slipping the net.

Bethy, who looked relieved he was ok, just giggled. "Of course not. That would be silly. Vampires don't eat lightning." I exhaled, nodding in relief. It was nice to know he had some kind of limit. Though maybe in the current situation not having any would be better. "That wasn't lightning at all. It was plasma."

I groaned but she didn't seem to be joking, and I rolled my eyes because the parent was as ridiculous as the child.

"Look, we need to go." I said bluntly, looking around. "I'd love to stay and make sure…his holiness is OK, but this isn't a place we can afford to stay, even with that domain active." I glanced at my mom. "Is there a fallback point?"

She nodded. "Not all of the reinforcements came. With an incursion this big they'd have left some of them outside to hold the line in case anyone escaped. If we can get past the blockade we should be fine." She paused. "Unless they break through. Then we're all going to die anyway. I don't see it happening though."

I could see in her face she had a lot of faith in Lark, but that didn't seem like enough to support this level of confidence. "Why do you say that?"

She grinned, pointing to a man next to my grandfather. He had dark skin and long hair braided into many thin plaits. He was holding a gleaming white sword, and his eyes were a featureless white. Like…the moon. "Wait, is that?"

"The Moonlight Pope." She said proudly. "The Red Revenant's first and strongest disciple. One of the three strongest S-rankers."

That was good. Still, I couldn't help but worry. We grouped up with mom, Zeke, and Andrew taking up a triangle formation around us, protecting the group from attackers and stray shots, and we headed for the exit. We were far from the only ones, but we had the most firepower, so we were able to push our way out of the crowd.

We reached a hallway and I was about to turn to head for the door, but mom stopped me. "This way." She said quietly. "There's an emergency exit tunnel deeper into the building. We'll go out through Flipside and hopefully avoid the majority of the fighting."

Heading into the building, we moved much slower than we had been before. Zeke took up the front position, and I could see him doing…something. A pulse of light that kind of hurt my eyes to look at was expelled from his hands, bouncing off the walls and floors until he came to an odd, semi invisible shape. Holding up a hand, he knelt and picked touched it in a few places, breaking down whatever the object was.

"How the hell did they have time set TRAPS?" Snapped Zeke as he stood up and stashed the device in his ring. "I swear, if I get my hands on that brat of Harrison's I'm going to make a mask out of a pig and trap him in it for eternity."

I blinked. "Can you actually do that?"

He shrugged. "Kid, I'm an A-ranker, I can do basically anything mask related I want to someone like him. I've never tried, but it shouldn't be too tough."

"Plot revenge later." Snarled my mother. "Survive now. People say the best revenge is living well, but even bad revenge is usually best enjoyed while still alive. Now let's go!" He nodded, then turned to leave…and froze.

A man stood in the way of our egress, tall and muscular with scars all over his pale, exposed chest. His head was wrapped entirely by an iron skull, his eyes blazing an unearthly green as they stared unblinking at us. I heard Andrew curse and turned around to find a smaller, frailer figure with a wide brimmed conical hat looking at us from beneath layers of wrapping bandages.

Beside her stood a lanky, bronze skinned man with a wide easy smile and red hair shaved across one side of his skull. Andrew and my mother took up positions between us and them as Zeke stepped in front of Skull guy. Snapping, my mother passed me a glowing gold orb.

"Wait until we're ten feet away and then break this." She commanded. She and Andrew stepped out to meet their enemy while Zeke did the same. Like she'd said, I smashed it when she was out of range, and a sphere of shimmering gold covered us, then sort of…rippled.

Space within changed, and Abel's head snapped up. "I don't know what that is." He said slowly. "But I don't think we're in the same dimension anymore."Skull mask lashed out at Zeke, who stepped easily aside and let the attack streak toward us.

I didn't flinch, I trusted my uncle implicity. The crackling green slash his palm had made passed right through us, and I knew Zeke had let him attack to prove there was no point in trying. The man snarled, turning his eerie focus back to my uncle. On the other side, the small figure in the hat spoke. "Five faction trash." It said in a screeching voice. "Your heads will please our masters."

"Gross." Said my mom. "Also irrelevant, because they please us too, and we're planning to keep them. Also possibly add yours to our collection, unless you turn around and beat it."

The person in the bandages giggled. "Oh really." They reached into their coat and withdrew a small shabby doll. Next it took out a small blonde hair and wrapped it around the doll's neck. I opened my Eye of Revelation and was barely able to stand as the complexity and power of the image knocked me for a loop. Still, I was able to stabilize myself enough to see a massive crouching demon holding a doll that looked like my mother in a stance that mirrored the figure.

They withdrew a nail from a pocket and punched it into their arm, coating it in thick blood, then drove it cruelly into the doll's arm.

The image did the same to the figure of my mother, and there was a bright flare of life as she snarled in annoyance. The demon howled and dropped her figure, its hands burning with white flame, and my mother just sneered. "You think I've never seen witchraft before?" She said lazily. "Thaumaturgical power like that doesn't work on someone like me. My Stellar Flame Fist is part of my soul. My whole body is sanctified with the flames of purification."

As she spoke, her eyes blazed with white fire, then they overflowed. Flames trailed down her cheeks like tears, spreading as the descended to coat her face and then the rest of her until her form was wreathed in flames. The red haired man beside the figure smiled unpleasantly, then vanished in a rumble of thunder, coming apart into a thousand lightning snakes.

My mother stepped forward, fist crushing the air as she shattered the snakes one at a time. Her punches weren't fast, or even slow, they just sort of ate the time and space between them and target, destroying the lag time with brute force as Cosmic Collapse gathered and then burst on each knuckle.

The figure in the hat vanished, appearing in front of Andrew, and held up another doll, this one a model of themselves. Andrew lashed out with his sword, and the figure made no move to dodge. The blade punched through their chest, but no blood came out. The doll split, stuffing flowing from the torso and the figure reached out and yanked out a piece of Andre's hair.

"Let's see if all of you are so immune to witchcraft." Cackled the figure, and it shoved the hair into the open wound on the doll. Behind it, the demon coalesced again, this time holding a copy of Andrew. With a malicious giggle, it grabbed the doll by both arms and pulled.

There was a horrendous tearing and a scream and Andrew's arms came at the shoulders. My mother's head snapped around in rage and I saw her scream as a lightning snake drilled through her achilles tendon, almost falling before she forced herself to focus. He fist lashed out in a backhand, crushing another snake before her elbow destroyed a followup serpent.

Andrew looked like he was about to die, but there was a burst of flame, and a hooded figure drilled a rapier through the hat wearing witchcraft user, spearing through the shoulder and driving them back. The doll seemed unable to keep up with the damage and burst into flames, tearing a scream from the person as the caught flame themself.

The figure engaged the snakes, and my mother hurried over to Andrew. She pushed one of the arms against his shoulder and punched, and there was a roar of white flame as she…destroyed the damage, reattaching the arm. I was shocked as she repeated the technique, helping him up before sending him to help Zeke's mask. She engaged the witchcrafter directly, but they did something. Reaching into their coat, they withdrew another doll, this one looking like the demon I'd seen. They tossed it into the air and the doll expanded, the figure shrinking to doll size as the demon took its place.

My mother snarled, blurring forward to meet the beast, and it bared razor sharp obsidian teeth as it began trading blows with her. The purification flames didn't seem to affect it too much, and her explosive punches only blew small holes that healed themselves over time.

"A fucking Tulpa?" She snapped. "Who uses those anymore? You know they kill their maker almost every time, right?"

The witch doll cackled. "Risk follows power, girl! If I were you I'd be more worried about yourself. Or rather, about your little friend." The doll gestured past my mother, who didn't bother looking reengaging the demon. I did though, and what I saw made my blood run cold.

I'd taken Zeke's badassery for granted, but sending that mask to help my mom had clearly cost him. Several masks lay shattered on the ground around him, hooded cloaks draped over them. Zeke himself was lashing out with blood colored flaming punches at the man he was fighting, but his mask was cracked in half, exposing a portion of a ruined burnt out face.

The skull masked man wasn't bragging, or taunting. He wasn't making a sound. He was simply oncoming. Inevitable. Implacable. Palm after palm lashed out with a sickening green light, and they crushed Zeke's attacks and avenues of escape.

My mother drove the demon back enough to see my uncle and screamed. "No!" She blurred through the golden space we occupied, fist lashing out at the skull masked man, who crushed her punch with one palm, even as the other acted independently to suppress Zeke. Andrew launched himself at the man from across the hall, sword spearing out at his throat, and leaving the other two to follow and try to attack from behind.

The skull masked man didn't flinch or slow, he fought all three of them at once. I felt my blood run cold at the ease with which he handled them. This was someone very scary. An A-ranker who would be considered an elite. Maybe not on the same level as Lark, but my mom wasn't even halfway through A-rank as far as I knew, and Zeke had just gotten there.

As the three A-rankers surrounded our protectors, my stomach twisted itself into knots. This wasn't going to be pretty, and it wasn't going to nice. I was just desperately hoping I didn't have to watch my mother and uncle die tonight. I didn't think I could take it.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

"You alright?" My mother asked Zeke as she briefly put a hand on his shoulder to steady him. My uncle looked ghastly, half his face a pristine porcelain white, half a burned and mangled mess. All three of the fighters from our side were watching the skull masked man, worriedly waiting for his next move.

Zeke nodded tightly. "M'fine." He mumbled. "Split my attention trying to help you. Rookie mistake. I've been getting cocky, just because I've never heard of this guy I assumed he wasn't anything special. Hey, you, the macabre bastard in the headgear, what's your name."

The witch doll cackled from where it sat between the demons horns. "You speak to the chosen of the Lady of Lamentation, his excellency Tartarus, youngest of the Unholy Eight."

"Are you two also members?" Zeke said snarkily. "Because that's a lot less impressive to me. I don't think I could be afraid of a group with members like you." Despite his casual words, I could tell he was keeping a close eye on Tartarus, worried he might attack again.

The demon snickered, earning a hiss of disapproval from the doll. "Fool." The witch doll sneered in its high pitched voice. "We are no members of the Unholy Eight. Merely underlings accompanying Lord Tartarus on his journey. The Eight are comprised of the most dangerous champions of the six gods. To reach that step at merely A-rank, one can truly see how monstrous Lord Tartarus is."

Smirking, the redhead chimed in. "Our Lord follows the Path of Lamentation and has been given a Domain seed by the lady herself."

My stomach dropped out. That…that was bad. My mom had been teaching me more about cultivation. One of the biggest things was that Domains shouldn't be established early on except in VERY specific circumstances. The only time she'd mentioned it being anything less than a crippling problem was in the case of Bethy, whose legend was most likely going to be close enough to her father's to use a piece of his Domain to form her own.

Bethy was probably the scariest E-ranker I'd ever seen, and I was pretty sure that wasn't just because I was inexperienced. If this guy was like Bethy, we might be in serious trouble. Hell, he might be worse, because for all his terrifying strength, Lark wasn't a god. No wonder this person was admitted into a group of people that sounded like they were almost entirely comprised of S-rankers.

I was pretty sure I was right about how bad a situation this was, because my mom's face had gone ghastly pale. My mom, who had two abilities and was considered one of the strongest A-rankers in the entire Red Revenant Church, was afraid.

"Sasha." Zeke said stonily. "You and Andrew deal with the small fries. You can jump in to help when you're finished."

Her eyes widened in horror. "What? Ezekiel…Zeke. What are you going to do?"

I saw the cracked and burned skin of his face tear as he forced himself to smile. "Whatever I have to."

Reaching down, he withdrew a mask. Then another, then another. Five different masks, then he reached up and peeled the half destroyed one off his face. But he didn't stop there, he reached down and did something I'd seen him do one in battle, he grabbed his own burned face and peeled it off slowly, revealing a blank mask of white porcelain underneath.

He placed those two in the air in front of him with the others, all of them floating in a line, and then he snapped.

The first mask exploded, then the next. One by one they burst, and each time they did the pressure around him redoubled, stacking and condensing,slowly pushing him to a higher state of being.

Power beat the air like a maelstrom as the masks burst, until finally, the last one broke. The mask that looked like Zeke's face, and there was one final shift. No, not a shift, an ascension. Zeke grew, his Impact pushing him higher up until he stood just beneath the S-rank. He hadn't crossed that line, because I was pretty sure it would kill him, but he came infinitely close.

"What are you doing?" Snapped my mother in terror. "You can't break that mask. You could die. No, more than that, your soul could shatter. If he kills you in that state…"

And I closed my eyes in pain, because my worries were confirmed. Zeke could destroy his masks to overclock their powers, but destroying the mask that was his own face…what the hell was going to happen? Was he already dead? My mom seemed to think not, but how easy would it be for him to lose here?

"You talk too much." Zeke said, power beating on the air from his words. "Go deal with the minions." And then he vanished.

He reappeared behind Tartarus, fist lashing out like a shooting star and smashed into the still turning mask. The huge man staggered, the air cracking like the boom of a cannon with the impact, but didn't go down. He turned on a heel, palm smashing up at Zeke's chin from a low angle, but my uncle was gone.

The teleportation power was the same as the one I'd seen from the Duke, and black destructive energy wreathed his fists. He stomped his foot and dark twisted roots tore from the ground, ones I remembered well from the games.

His masks had been made from new souls, perhaps ones he had saved, I didn't know. I could see some duplicates of his old powers, as well as some new ones.
These weren't discrete abilities though. They were part of him. They'd blended together into one gestalt whole, amplified by the breaking of his self mask, and his mastery over those powers was instinctual and brutally efficient.

Tartarus was driven back, and my mom and Andrew attacked the other two, pushing them back in their shock as they watched their boss get pummeled. But sadly, it wasn't over yet. Tartarus pressed his palms together as if in prayer, and the crackling green energy on each hand harmonized, then expanded.

Before our eyes, a Domain took shape, a black jagged cliff made of blood stained iron overlooking an ocean of poison green light. Above the sea sat an unearthly stretched face, pale skin pulled up at the corners to reveal a gaping black abyss of a mouth ringed with jagged black iron teeth, black sclera'd eyes with glowing green irises beaming gleefully down at us all.

Zeke stumbled, the power on his body wavering, but it didn't falter, just sort of crushed inward as if restricted. His blank white mask reflected the unearthly light.

Tartarus flickered, a palm smashing down at Zeke as he appeared in front of my uncle, and Zeke's teleportation seemed to stall slightly under the Domain. He forced it through, but the palm grazed him as he blinked out, and as he reappeared, there was an explosion of blood as a palm print appeared from inside his back, blowing away muscle as if launched from within him.

He hissed in pain, and a golden light lit up the palm print, but it fizzled as it met crackling green energy, stalling out whatever that was supposed to do.

Tartarus came again, and Zeke teleported faster, having clearly figured out the trick, but while his teleportation was back to full speed, his body wasn't. He traded blows, tearing gouged from Tartarus even as more palm strikes landed on him, and the bloody exposed palm gouges on his back started to accumulate.

The more they fought, the weaker Zeke seemed to get. Tartarus was flagging too, the pseudo S-rank power my uncle was wielding too much even for his Domain, but it wasn't happening fast enough, and I was pretty sure the power was as tough on Zeke as it was on the enemy.

There was a pair of explosions, and my mother appeared, Andrew at her side, at the edge of the Domain. She snarled, body flaring with white light, and punched out. The edge of the green see was so close, but so infinitely far. There was a ripple in the Domain, but no more.

Her eyes widened in panic and she screamed, fists crashing into the bubble of otherworldly space like rain sheeting on rough stone. Implacable as the tide, she punched, a torrent of white flame exploding against the edges of a world, trying to get inside to help her friend, but no matter how hard she struck it wasn't enough.

Zeke was barely standing now. His pseudo S-rank body was all that was keeping him up, but something was happening. The mask on his face was cracking, and rivulets of warm mercury were oozing out.

I remembered what my mother said earlier about his soul shattering. Zeke's soul was mercury, one level off from mirror. If a mercury soul broke you couldn't bring that person back, even with a Wish from the Wishmaster himself. Only mirror souls would retain their selfhood when shattered. That was why you needed one to become a god.

My uncle was dying right in front of me, and nothing was going to be able to bring him back. I heard someone screaming, cursing and pleading and crying, and I realized it was me, and Bethy and Abel each had one of my arms, and they were holding me back because I was trying to charge out of our protective sphere to run to my uncle and help him.

Mom was openly weeping, pounding on the Domain until her fists cracked and bled shining burning blood, but she couldn't get in, and we watched in horror as Zeke collapsed to his knees, mercury soul leaking from that blank white mask.

Tartarus pulled back his palm and it blurred down towards the mask, towards Zeke's face and soul, to deliver the final execution blow that would shatter my uncle forever and wipe him from existence.

And then he stopped. His palm froze an inch from Zeke's head, unable to move forward another inch. I saw something twined into his fingers and up his arm, and followed it back to see his whole body was wrapped in liquid metal chains. No, not liquid metal, mercury. He was wrapped in souls.

Behind him were three figures, a pair of creatures of living mercury, kneeling down and pressing hands to the ground, extending their essence around him like restraints, and in the middle, a man with pitch black hair and blood red skin, with horns on his forehead and golden eyes that used to be the same green as mine.

He stood there placidly, hands folded on a dark cane with a mirror skull at the head, and his eyes fixed coldly on Tartarus. "Who exactly," Asked Elijah Wyndham, the wish devil. "Do you think you're putting your hands on?"

The dark wood of the cane tapped the black iron cliff, and the mirror skull flashed as it cracked, splitting in two, fragmenting the Domain itself in the process, and it dissolved like smoke, leaving them all standing in the hallway we'd first been in.

Mom blurred forward, catching Zeke as he collapsed forward. She examined him worriedly. "I can't fix this." she said in panic. "My purification isn't optimized for something like this, Eli, he needs-"

He reached into a pocket, pulling out a vial full of shimmering reflective elixir. "Soul Serum." He said, tossing it to her. "That should stabilize him until we get him to someone who can heal the damage. It'll stop his soul from shattering." She shot him an adoring smile that I recognized as being just like the ones Callie gave me, and I felt a confusing jumble of emotions as I saw them interact. Now wasn't the time for that though.

My father's eyes slid back to the restrained skull masked man. "In the meantime, I'll get this out of our way. Remind me to have a talk with the venue owners. It's poor manners to leave one's trash in the hallway." Tartarus heaved, tearing through the soul chains and blurring towards him, and my dad tapped his cane again, and the fight was on.

 

[Lone-sith]

Om omg omg we got both parents together athfdhhrhrhfjfrhhr

 

[Malcolm Tent]

My dad didn't seem even remotely worried about the fight. Tartarus struck out brutally with a palm, aiming for his head, but the two mercury demons (I could see now that they had horns and tails, though they looked pretty generic otherwise) appeared in front of him. The palm smashed into the head of one, splattering mercury everywhere, while the second had ducked down and pointed his horns at the skull masked man's stomach.

The momentum of the attack gored him, and he snarled, leaping back to get distance. The mercury head reformed, though crackling green scattered through the body. My dad frowned in irritation, then tapped his cane three more times.

Another three shapes rose from the ground, also made of mercury. Souls. He was using actual souls directly in combat.

"You're certainly a more irritating opponent than expected." He said blandly. "But I suppose you wouldn't have had such an easy time with Zeke if you weren't. Even freshly Ascended he isn't the type to be dealt with simply."

Tartarus, who up until this point had been silent, finally spoke. "Who" rumbled a deep and menacing voice from the depths of the mask. "Are you?"

"Depends who you ask." He said with a shrug. "A disappointment as a father. A failure as a son. An absent husband, an irritating best friend. A monster. A nightmare. I have many faces, though perhaps not quite as many as some." He shot a look at where mom was trying to patch up Zeke. "I think today I am just an obstacle. Or simply your death."

Tartarus snorted. "You think a few disembodied souls will be enough to kill me? I follow the Path of a god."

"Oh." My dad said conversationally. "Then you're an idiot."

We all looked at him blankly. Tartarus growled dangerously. "What did you say? You would cast aspersions on the power of my lady?'

"Not at all." His eyes flicked past me to my sister. "Chelsea." He said benevolently. "Pay attention to what I'm about to say, because it will be important for you to know. It is functionally impossible for two people on the same Path to become gods."

I gritted my teeth. I knew as a WCP representative he wasn't allowed to offer me advice, not to mention that tidbit had been more important to her as someone who was using grandpa's ability. But still, being ignored like that made me want to scream. Chelsea looked confused. "Why?" She asked quietly, clearly as torn over how to address dad as I was.

Dad waved a hand at Tartarus without looking, and the five souls surrounded him, standing at five points around him. "Imperial Demon Funeral." Said my father absently, and all five souls caught fire. Red black flames consumed them, driving Tartarus screaming to his knees, and my father continued to ignore him as he was crushed to the ground.

"Being a god means embodying the entirety of your Path." He told her as if nothing important was going on. Domain seeding someone on a similar Path isn't inherently bad, Paths can change, but trying to directly follow the Path of a divine being is a dead end. Hell, even following it to S-rank is nearly impossible, despite how powerful the wish ability is and how easy it makes things. Why do you think I threw away my complete wish ability?"

I'd wondered about that. The wish ability let us essentially make stats out of nothing. We all grew so absurdly fast, maybe not all as quick as me given my head start, but still, it would be maybe five years tops before I hit the peak of S-rank at this rate. Path stuff would be a problem, but if the Wishmaster had already created a proper path he should have been able to help.

Granted, mom's reveal about why there were so few gods meant I got why no one else reached that step. But dad was right, there should have been more S-rankers than just the thirteen we had.

I thought about the reason, then it clicked. "It's the renown. Anyone trying to follow the same Path to the finish line has to compete against someone with an absurd amount of renown."

I wanted to know more, but sadly he didn't have a chance to reply, Tartarus gave a wordless scream and stood, his Domain exploding out of him and banishing the red black flame and the souls it was consuming.

"What an absurd person." Said dad distastefully. "Those souls don't grow on trees, you know. I'll have to take yours as payment."

Slamming his cane down again, another thirteen mercury figures rose from the ground, coalescing into those some featureless demonic puppets. "Watch closely children." He said coldly. "This is my answer to a power that surpasses even the Wishmaster."

The mirror skull on his cane started to glow, and as I watched, the souls changed. They shifted into more substantial and unique shapes, all becoming actual people. With a snarl, they leapt forward, hands blazing with power, weapons drawn, and more than a dozen different fully formed A-rankers began to rain down attacks on Tartarus.

I doubted it would have been so effective if thirteen normal A-rank cultivators had attacked him, but then, this wasn't normal. They acted like one body, moving perfectly in sync, as if they all had the same kind of bond as Callie and I, thirteen hands moving under the will of one mind.

I was blown away. How had he done this? How was he using so much power without damaging himself? And then it clicked. The skull. That wasn't just a mirrored cane, it was a mirror SOUL. It was just like the mercury souls, except he'd condensed it into some kind of control device. He was casually using the souls of other people as weapons without straining himself at all.

This was what he'd meant, I realized. His new ability, the power of the wish devil. To trade for the souls of others and keep them at his beck and call.

"My soul?" Laughed Tartarus darkly. "How exactly do you plan to do that?"

My dad reached into his black velvet waistcoat and pulled out a golden scroll. Unfolding it he casually reached down, dipped two fingers in the blood from Tartarus's goring by the devil horns, and leisurely scrawled his name at the bottom of a crowded document.

The name flashed with a terrible red light, and then shifted from a messy blood scrawl to flowing penmanship. "A contract is a funny thing." My father said calmly. "It is a binding document that enforces a deal between two people. But not all contracts are willingly entered. This particular ability is called Punitive Contract."

Tartarus snarled and tried to rush him, but the souls had him locked down. Even trying to push them back with his Domain wasn't working, because there was so many that as soon as he stopped to try to push them, at least six of them hit him simultaneously from behind.

"Punitive contract is a very special skill." My father continued. "It only works if the person in question is aware of its use, and of the parameters for its execution. In this case, you activated the requirements by almost killing my best friend, and then subsequently being attacked by me and shedding blood."

With a wild howl, Tartarus managed to push through the crowd of souls, attacking my dad directly, but my father simply twirled his cane between his fingers, knocking aside the palm as he stepped casually aside.

The souls surrounded them, and suddenly he was a part of their terrible dance, becoming the focal point of the attacks, every movement in harmony with the assault of his mercury army. I watched Tartarus land a hit on his coat, and was shocked to see it rebound, because that wasn't black velvet, it was woven Obsidian. Even his outfit was made of souls.

"The final step to execute the Punitive Contract is to fulfill a condition you refuse to allow." My father said as his cane lashed out and smashed Tartarus's knee. The big man stumbled, the followup strike of the flashing mirrored skull slamming into his mask.

Metal collapsed, the helmet crumpling inward under the force, and Tartarus stumbled back into the waiting arms of the soul army.

"You can't do this." Mumbled Tartarus through broken teeth. The last blow had mostly crushed his lower jaw. "I am a champion of the Lady of Lamentation. I serve the will of a divine being. She won't let you take my soul."

My father just smiled vindictively. "Take it? My dear boy, you've just given it to me. Your defeat completes the contract. Perhaps she can save you, but then, Skills usually have so much trouble with souls. Let's find out." He unfurled the contract again, and snapped his fingers, leaving his cane to sit upright on its own.

Tartarus stiffened, screams trying to wring their way out of his throat, but something had them blocked. He choked and gagged, and as I watched, horrified, a pair of hands emerged from his broken mouth. Mercury hands that grabbed his mouth from either side and pulled.

I grimaced as Tartarus's soul tore its way out of his mouth, ripping him apart as it emerged, a quicksilver copy of the monstrous warrior. My dad grimaced, lifting his cane off the bloody ground and wiping it on the mercury pants of the copy. "Messy." He said distastefully.

The being formerly know as Tartarus stood silently at attention among the throngs of souls, waiting for orders. My dad stepped back out of the blood and tapped his cane again, and the thirteen souls disappeared, leaving only his newest acquisition. "Go pick up Zeke." He told it dispassionately. "You injured him, it's the least you can do."

Nodding jerkily, the now once again skull masked man headed over and lifted my uncle effortlessly.

My dad strode over, offering my mother his hand urbanely. "Honey." He said with a small smile. "I'm home." Her beaming smile was so bright it almost hurt to look at. Literally, she was still in her fire form. But if faded away as she took his hand and let him pull her to her feet.

After staring into each other's eyes for a moment, he turned to walk over to us. He tapped the golden barrier with the head of his cane and it shattered, coalescing back into the orb it had been, which he deftly caught. He nodded to Chelsea and me. We stared at each other for a few seconds.

Stepping forward, I reached up and gave him a tight hug…then stepped back and punched him full force in the throat. "Fuck." I snapped as I heard (and felt) a bunch of bones crack in my hand.

"Feel better?" He asked in a tone so bland it couldn't be anything but smug.

I glared at him. "No you asshole, my fucking hand is broken!" But I actually kind of did, in a weird way. Jessie stepped forward, taking my hand in hers, and started manually manipulating the small bones back into position with her thumbs (an experience I never wanted to go through again) and then flooded it with life energy.

Luckily it seemed that the injury didn't really count as being inflicted by an A-ranker, so it didn't take long to heal. My mother smiled in wry amusement. "I suppose I should have included a lesson on not punching things more than four ranks above your weight class."

"Wouldn't have helped." I said as I flexed my now repaired hand. "Some things need to be done, even if they're stupid. Now let's get out of here." Turning away from my dad, I stalked off down the corridor. Then I stopped as I got a mental message from Callie.

Sighing internally, I leaned down, picked up a random piece of debris from the fight, and stormed back down the way I'd come. I held up the rock. "I needed this." I snapped as I did my best not to meet anyone's eyes. Everyone kept quiet, pretending I hadn't just gone the wrong way. Small victories.

 

[Lone-sith]

Love it, hope he'll stay for at least 3-4 chaps

 

[Malcolm Tent]

We had been walking through the halls for about twenty minutes when everything changed. A wave of…something passed over us, and as it did, the ground changed, black grass sprouting below us as light from a crimson moon spilled over our forms.

"It's over." Sighed my mother in relief. We all turned, and sure enough, Tricorn was gone. The whole central location had vanished consumed by the colossal domain of the universe's most terrible monster.

In its place, a terrifying castle of black rusted iron loomed over us, backlit by the red moon.

On each of the parapets I saw a figure standing proud and tall. One was easily recognizable as my grandpa, one a tall man with dark skin and long hair in a series of braids, and the one at the front, the familiar form of Morgan Lark.

"Greetings." Said Lark in a sepulchral voice. He didn't yell, he didn't need to. Everyone in his Domain could hear him perfectly.

His crimson eyes blazed as they burned down at his dark kingdom. "As you may all be aware, we have suffered an attack. The enemy sent their monsters out among us to sow terror and hopelessness, to teach us our place under their boot."

He snapped his fingers and two dozen plus red torches lit up along the battlements of the castle, illuminating a terrifying scene.

Heads. Thirty heads of thirty S-rankers mounted on spikes around the perimeter of the castle walls. Morgan's ghoulish smile was visible from every inch of the Domain, somehow the central focus, pulling our eyes to his bared fangs. "They were wrong."

Reaching down, he lifted the headless body of Roald as if he was a child brandishing a toy. "These so called vanished gods are fools. Arrogant little toads frivolously spending the lives of their cherished soldiers by fruitlessly hurling them at us to break against our walls. Screaming impotently into the void of our power with their mewling little voices."

"As of this moment." Rang my grandfather's voice as the Vampire stopped talking. "The five faction alliance, the independent faction, and the Wish Curse Palace are jointly at war with the forces of Hatescream and his cohorts. They've fired a shot across our bow and failed spectacularly. They think that age and accumulation will cow us, that their stockpiled fodder can overcome us. They are mistaken."

Morgan's eyes glowed even brighter, seeming to spear all of us individually as he glared down from his lofty perch. "Those of you who are spies, bear witness. Look upon the fate of our enemies, and carry it back to your masters. And may your gods have mercy on your souls. Because ours certainly will not."

Then all three of them vanished, leaving the heads on spikes lit by red moonlight that had cast them only in shadows before, and the dancing bloody light of crimson flame.

"Show-off." Said my dad sourly. "Well, we'd better get back then. Clearly everything is over. I wonder if we lost anyone. I'm surprised my prince wasn't up there with them."

I raised a brow at him, saying in a flat tone. "Oh right, a devil I talked to said that you were a general for the Demon Prince Adramalech. He came with you?" I didn't know much about where he'd gone, but I was a bit torn on how to treat him. I mean, he'd just saved Zeke's soul, but he was also a huge dick.

"Of course." He said with a chuckle. "The devils are part of the hierarchy of the Fairieland. They answer to the Queen just like the Princes and Princesses of the fae. The Tricorn is partly owned by us, so we'd naturally come to support when they asked for backup."

I frowned. "Was this whole thing just one big trap?" I asked bluntly. "So many things about the conclave scream setup from the outside looking in. Were we just bait?"

"Above my paygrade." He said nonchalantly. "But I doubt it. Now let's get back. I suspect everyone will be congregating at the foot of that castle. Otherwise what would be the point of making it such an obvious central location."

I nodded, and we turned around, heading back. I wanted to try to find someone who could heal, because Zeke was seriously messed up. Even with the serum dad gave him, his condition wasn't good, even if it was stable. Maybe a Life Nova could help, but I'd see if there were any A or S-rankers present who might be able to patch him up better.

We made good time getting back, and sure enough, when we found everyone, they were crowded around the base of the castle.

"Well look what we have here." Sneered Craygen. "The golden boy candidate is getting help from his daddy. Maybe I should tell Aiden exactly how little you think of the Wish Curse Palace, you fucking traitor."

My dad glanced at him dully. "I'm sorry…who are you? I don't mean to offend, but I meet so many insignificant nobodies day to day that I lose track of names and faces. You're…I want to say Jeffrey? Is that right?" I remember you were one of the lickspittles my cousin used to tote around, but you all look the same to me."

"You arrogant scum!" Roared Craygen. "You and your spawn both, you think you can afford to ignore someone like me? Just wait until he reaches D-rank and loses that protection. I'll make sure his final screams are an apology for taking away my daughter!"

I expected a screaming or snarky retort, but my dad just stared at him for a moment. "You know…I believe you." He tapped his cane once, and a mercury flash shot out through the grass, it wound up Craygen's ankle too fast for us to even see, wrapped around his neck, and then tightened like a garotte, slicing through his throat.

Craygen's eyes were wide and shocked as they stared in confusion at my father, still locked onto his face as Craygen's head tumbled slowly off his shoulders, thumping onto the grass as the man's body dropped to his knees.

I watched in shock as the mercury snake down into the hole in Craygen's neck, dragging out long wisp of mercury and choking it down quickly. With a flash it retreated to my dad's side, darting up the cane to vanish into the eyehole of the mirrored skull.

Everyone went silent. That had been…not what he'd done to Tartarus. But I realized why as a massive weight of horrible pressure crashed down over us, driving me and everyone below A-rank to our knees. "Elijah." Boomed Harrison's enraged voice. "How dare you! Do you think nothing of the Palace?"

As soon as the pressure arrived, it vanished, and a gigantic man with purple swirled skin and horns emerged from behind my father, baring bright white teeth. "Calm down Harrison, no need to make a fuss."

"ADRAMALECH!" Howled the enraged representative. "Remove yourself from my business. Elijah killed one of my cohort. That debt must be paid."

My dad just sneered at him. "Oh stuff it Harrison. Everyone knows you're the weakest S-ranker in the Palace. The only thing you ever did right was have a freak for a son. He threatened my boy to my face. As far as I'm concerned, he committed suicide by stupidity. So keep your gaping face closed and go find someone else to pester."

The big Demon Prince laughed. "Well said Eli. Suicide by stupidity indeed. Of course, if you demand satisfaction I'd be happy to oblige Harrison. What do you say? Want to dance with the devil?"

"There will be no dancing here." Cut in a cold and familiar voice. "Mostly because I've seen you dance Dram, and nobody needs to witness that a second time." Morgan emerged from the crowd, looking amused. "What's all this about now. We just won a great victory. And with hardly any casualties."

At the term hardly any I glanced around, trying to find out who had died. I noticed to my surprise that the Deathwish Pope was gone. Glancing at my grandfather, I caught a slight look of smugness on his face that made me suspect it might not have been entirely in the line of fire.

"This…mongrel." Spat Harrison. "Murdered my lieutenant in cold blood."
My dad cleared his throat. "That is a lie, sir. I assure you the blood of everyone involved was quite warm. Ninety eight degrees or so. It should still be steaming on the grass a bit."

Morgan nodded solemnly. "It's true, that's what temperature blood is. Do you not know that?"

"He threatened Eli's son." Said Adramalech casually. "So he deserved what he got. I offered satisfaction. I can fight him if he wants revenge."

The Vampire nodded. "I'll allow it." He said after a minute.

"What?" Squawked Harrison. "This is an outrage. How dare you ignore this? My son will hear about-"

Morgan pinned him with a glare, eyes glowing red. "Because you ANNOY me." He said sharply. "Your lieutenant annoyed me. And your son annoys me. If you feel the need to seek vengeance on ME, you can go ahead and attempt to rouse your great grandfather from his retirement to come get it, but since I doubt he remembers your NAME, I wouldn't bother."

I had to choke down a laugh at that, but I forced myself not to make a noise. "Now." Continued Morgan. "If you're done taking a flamethrower to the thin ice you were already on, perhaps we might turn our attention to dealing with the traitor in our midst."

He snapped his fingers, and a pitch black coffin in the rough shape of a person erupted from the grass, falling open to expose the perforated but mostly intact body of Pretseltsen Birchus, who stared glassily around, whining slightly under his breath. Harrison's face grew stormy. "You!" He said, his anger at my dad momentarily forgotten.

"Caught the little bastard trying to slip out after he realized the people he betrayed us for might not be as nice as he expected." Morgan said with a nasty smile. "I thought maybe the WCP would be willing to pay for the privilege of…questioning him."

Harrison's face adopted that same grim, unforgiving smile. "You know. I do believe we may be able to work something out." Morgan snapped, and the coffin clanged shut, then he headed over to hoist it onto one shoulder and the two of them walked off in another direction, several other S-rankers following.

My grandfather checked in on us, but once he knew we were alright, he was whisked away by my mother to find a healer for Zeke, while my dad went with Adramalech to sit in on negotiations.

Once they were gone, I stared after them. Chelsea came up to stand next to me. "That was…a lot." She said numbly.

I nodded. "It really was. "I have no idea what the hell is going on, or what's GOING to go on after this. I guess the war is officially beginning." I couldn't think of many ways this could have gone better for us, and that made me pretty damned suspicious.

"Where does that leave the rest of us?" She said worriedly. "Are we supposed to go join in right away? We did train for it."

I snorted. "Fuck that." I said bluntly. "This nonsense is over, and my ass is getting on a ship back to Callus to have my damned wedding. You can come of course, but I understand if you would rather head to the front lines."

This time she snorted. "Ridiculous. I wouldn't miss your wedding for anything. Plus Callie already asked me to be a bridesmaid. You're not getting rid of me that easy."

I smiled, putting a hand on her shoulder, and stared off after the S-rankers. As we watched, the Domain closed, leaving us all standing in that same ballroom as before, looking that much the worse for wear. Guess the party wasn't over.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

The next hour or two was excruciating. Callie tried to get me to dance with her to take my mind off things, but in the end I just sat there staring at my shoes for two hours until my mom called for us to come find her. We hurried down the hall after the page she sent, and when we entered the surprisingly plush back room, we found Zeke lying in bed looking drained.

"You almost died. Ass." I accused my uncle. "What am I supposed to do if you kick the bucket? Do you know how mopey Stella would get? And Amelia and Alexander both consider you friends. You would have ruined the whole wedding."

He grinned weakly. "How selfish of me." He said wryly. "I heard Eli was here?"

"I punched him in the throat." I said proudly. "I broke SO MUCH of my hand. Just like…all the bones."

The shocked burst of laughter he let out devolved into a coughing fit, and we all waited anxiously for it to pass. "Ow." He with a chuckle. "Try not to make me laugh. Everything hurts. I think I dislocated my brain."

"That presupposes you have one." Said my mother waspishly. "Which is very much in doubt at this point." He rolled his eyes and flipped her off, which just elicited a glare.

I shook my head solemnly. "Don't be ridiculous. Of course he has a brain." She raised an eyebrow at me as Zeke nodded smugly, and I continued with a grin. "He's not stupid, he's an idiot. Being an idiot means you have a brain but decide not to use it. Much dumber."

"Hey!" Snapped my uncle in an offended tone. "I was saving your life!"

"Well do it better next time!" I snapped back. "If you die in the process that's not success, it's like…barely above failure. I won't have you half assing things like this." He looked like he wanted to retort, but he went silent. I sat there uncomfortable for a minute before I finally said. "I'd be pretty fucking devastated if you died."

He smiled wryly. "I'm not exactly itching for that outcome myself. But better me than you, kid."

My mom swallowed hard. "Thank you, Ezekiel." She said solemnly. "For everything. We owe you more than we can say."

"But not enough to use my proper name." He said sourly. "I'm on my deathbed, woman, you can't cut me some slack?" I saw the color come back to his cheeks as they argued and smirked as I saw mom badged him the same way Maria had badgered Benny and I as kids. They really were like siblings.

She scoffed. "Please, you've already been healed. This is a painbed at worst. Don't be such a baby."

"See if I save your kids again." He complained with a pout. "I get no respect."

I rolled my eyes and reached into my ring, pulling out a few muffins and a plate along with a hot mug of cocoa (the best thing about spatial storage was keeping hot food at peak freshness) before shoving them towards him. "If you can complain you can eat. Have some muffins, you look like you got hit by a bus."

"I feel like I got hit by a bus." He admitted. "Made of S-rank sharks." He sniffed the muffins and took a bite. "Bran." He said with a grimace. "You don't have anything better?"

I shrugged. "The chocolate chip are for Callie. She gets snacky. I have zucchini too, but I know you hate those. Bran is good for you…for some reason. I admit I have no idea why, but it's supposed to be healthy."

He glared at me, taking a bite of the fresh muffin with a thunderous expression but not willing to complain about it any more. I just smirked behind my mask as he sipped the cocoa.

"So…" I said after a minute of awkward silence. "Is this over? The banquet was supposed to be the end, right? So we can leave? Or is this mess going to strand us here for the foreseeable future."

My mom shook her head. "Killian is already on the way back. He'll take us all to Callus."

"And by all you mean…" I trailed off hopefully. She gave me a gentle smile, pressing a hand to my masked cheek sadly.

"I mean those of us who came together." She said kindly. "Your father…stepping in to help was already beyond what he feels he should have done. He told me to tell you he was sorry. He can't come to the wedding. Having both of us there with both of you is too much. Chelsea provides a reason for me to be there, especially after this mess, but Eli…"

Someone would notice. I knew she was right. Being around me was one thing, but putting him next to Chelsea for a long period of time was asking for trouble. I looked almost exactly like my dad, barring a few minor features that could be brushed aside, but Chelsea was more a mix of our parents.

"He's such a dick sometimes." Sighed Zeke. "Couldn't have told the kid himself? I'm guessing he's already gone then?"

She grimaced. "Adramalech was just backup. He and the other S-rankers and their entourages couldn't afford to stick around. My dad let me know they were leaving about an hour ago." She reached out, plucking something from the air, and handed it to me. "He wanted you to have this, though."

It was a small square object, flat and wrapped in paper. A wedding gift, I supposed.

I tore the paper, and inside was a small picture frome. In the frame was a photo of four people. Two of them were obviously recognizable, and two of them were familiar enough to figure out their identities, despite the age difference. A smiling couple with blonde hair, each holding a child on their hip, one the same sandy blonde as the man, and the other with distinctive black and white hair.

Mom glanced down at it and swallowed hard. "I didn't realize there were any copies of that left. We took it on your second birthday. We didn't take many pictures, and most of the ones we had were destroyed when we split you up."

I noticed that the paper was folded in the center, creased deeply as if it had been opened and closed many times.

My reaction to the image was…complicated. I'd never seen my dad smile like that. Hell, given he had red skin and horns I didn't know if I'd EVER seen my dad's real face before today. He'd become a devil when I was younger, so he must have been hiding his appearance. Still, it was staggering to see him looking so…happy.

"That…" I trailed off, searching for the right word. "Fucking coward! I swear, I'm going to make it to A-rank before I see him again out of sheer spite. The next time I punch him in the throat, HE'LL be the one doubled over in pain! How dare he just take off without even talking to me?" I waved the picture at them furiously. "Like this is some kind of substitute? There's not even a fucking note!"

Zeke was trying not to crack up and having trouble breathing. It took him a second to calm down. "That's so classic Eli." He said in a strangled voice. He probably meant it as a sort of unspoken apology."

"If he wanted to apologize he should have fucking SPOKE it!" I snapped, almost panting with rage.

This was so…him. Just like Zeke said, I should have expected this. Show up, show off, and show himself the fucking door. I was so angry I could spit. Not even at him really, but at myself. Because why the fuck had I expected any different? Had I thought we were going to sit down and finally have that heart to heart talk I'd been wanting since I learned the truth about myself?

"Honey." My mom said gently, putting a hand on my shoulder. "You know he loves you. He's just…not good at these kinds of things. He shows he cares in subtler ways. You just need to be on the look out for them."

I pulled away from her. "Why?" I demanded. "Why is that my job? He's the fucking parent. He can't say what he means?" I stalked across the room, pacing. "I'm so sick of everyone making excuses for him. And the worst part is I can't even really be angry. Not completely. Because he DID save Zeke, and all our lives. And I'm sure he thinks that just makes it all ok, and I can't even say that it doesn't! Did you tell Chelsea?"

"I did." She said sadly. "She took it better than I expected. Her relationship with Eli isn't a complicated as yours. He just wasn't around for her at all. Seeing him go like this doesn't effect her much."

I snorted, dropping into a chair. "Good for her." I sighed. "Fuck. I'm sorry, ma. This isn't your fault. I shouldn't be flipping out at you. He just gets under my skin, you know? Nobody knows how to piss me off like he does. I've been planning what to say to him when I saw him again for so long and he just takes off."

"Well, you DID punch him in the throat." Zeke said with a wry smile. "I feel like that got most of the point across."

I chuckled at that. "You know? You might be right. But I have plenty more to say, and I'll be sure that next time I see him he'll HAVE to sit still and listen." I was approaching D-rank, and I knew I could keep going. Once I was A-rank, I could corner him and make him have a conversation whether he felt like staying put or not. That bastard owed me at least that much.

There was a knock on the door, and I opened it, unsurprised to find Callie standing there giving me a sympathetic look. She stepped forward, wrapping her arms around me tightly, pulling me against her and letting me slump into her embrace.

Suddenly, I didn't feel quite so bad anymore. Sure I was still frustrated and confused, but I wasn't alone, not even in my own head. I hugged my fiancee back just as tightly as she hugged me, and I felt the stress melt away. When I let her go, she smiled up at me adoringly, and I knew the expression was mirrored on my own face.

My mother, watching from nearby, nodded in approval. "He's lucky to have you." She told Callie with a warm smile. She glanced between us for a moment, then clapped her hands excitedly. "Now, with all this depressing nonsense out of the way, how about we start work on the wedding. We'll need to send invitations to any external parties ahead of time if we expect them to make it."

Callie lit up, her face glowing. "Well several of the people we were going to invite are here, and they can come with us on Killian's ship if they're willing."

Nodding, my mother manifested a pen and paper from her ring. Licking the tip of the pen, she nodded seriously. "Well that's a good start, but I'm sure you've met plenty of other nice people you'd like to invite. Give me some names."

They launched into a flurry of discussion about people we'd met on our adventures and who could and couldn't come. Nat, Anna-Marie, Camden, a Wyndham wedding wasn't just a celebration, it was a networking opportunity, a way to bring people into my future faction, and both of them seemed intent on exploiting it to the fullest.

I walked over to stand by Zeke, shrouding us both in Stealth. "Why do I feel like I've made a horrible mistake." I said worriedly. Not the marriage, i was thrilled to be with Callie for the rest of my life, but I was starting to think this wedding was going to be…taxing.

He grinned at me wolfishly. "Oh don't worry kid, That doesn't ever go away." I did not appreciate his laughter. The choking when it got too loud, on the other hand, was pretty funny.

 

[Lone-sith]

Love it, hope he'll stay for at least 3-4 chaps

Click to shrink...

Well well well

 

[Malcolm Tent]

Before leaving the Tricorn, we still needed to check in with my grandfather. Aside from not seeing him for quite a while (mom coming to the wedding was one thing, but a Pope showing up on Callus was bound to draw some negative attention) we also needed to make sure the S-rankers didn't need us for anything.

Chelsea and I went alone, though she was unusually quiet as we entered the chamber where we were meeting my grandfather. Mom assured me it was shielded for dignitaries and was impossible to spy on, especially without her noticing, so at least there was that.

When we found him, I was surprised to see how tired he looked. "Damn." I said as we sat down across the table from him in the meeting room. "You look like shit."

"Laugh it up." He groused. "Someday you'll be as strong as I am and you'll have to deal with all this nonsense." He glanced at mom. "I heard from our Lord. I briefed him on everything that happened. He said to tell you that you did well."

My mom's expression was complicated, which I imagined came from knowing he was talking about HER grandfather, and she had to pretend to be a near stranger.

"So…where are you going to go?" I asked worriedly. "Are they sending you to the front lines? They have more S-rankers than expected, no way it was just those five each. Those worlds definitely have more. What if you get ambushed."

He smiled confidently. "Moonlight and I are sticking together. We have reports of what sounds like an S-ranker wreaking havoc at the edge of the Holy Dominion. Between the two of us we'll be fine. Not to mention that the Holy Dominion isn't your average space. Much like the Enshrining Abyss of Black Sorrow, the Dominion is a sacred place. Killing us there will be harder than you might think."

I wondered if that was related to the Red Revenants world and its location. Was the Holy Dominion under the direct protection of a god?

Seeing my expression, he chuckled. "Don't worry about it. We're being careful, and there's nothing you can do at this point. Break through to D-rank and I'm sure we can find you something- ow!" He winced, rubbing his head as my mother held up a glowing hand she'd just used to smack him upside the head.

It was impressive even her ability let her damage him, though he might have just been humoring her. "You will NOT plan to send my baby into a warzone, especially not right after his wedding."

"Sasha, no one is going to be able to stay out of this." He warned. "Our Lord pulled strings to get you reassigned so you could go to the wedding, but once it ends you'll be expected on the front too. It's all hands on deck."

My mom didn't seem bothered by that comment, apparently me being sent out was more worrying to her than going herself, which was actually reasonable given the strength disparity.

"Anyway." My grandfather said with a smile. "Good luck kid, and I hope your wedding is a blast." He pulled me into a tight hug. "Your grandmother wishes she could be here to see you, but things are still complicated…for the moment."

My mother's eyes widened. "Wait…is mom thinking of using the war as a platform to come out in the open? But Black Sorrow-"

"Black Sorrow won't do shit during the war." He said bluntly. "But how about after? Celia is tired of sitting at home worrying. She's thinking of using the enforced detente as an excuse to finally confront her mother. If she comes out of hiding then the rest of you can do the same. She just needs to pick the right time."

That was a big risk. Black Sorrow was…nuts, as far as I could tell. The perception that her daughter had sided with the Revenant, who she hated, would make her murderously angry as far as I was told.

He just smiled at my contemplation. "Don't worry about it, kid. Celia isn't stupid. Despite being a bit inspired by you standing up to that brat Aiden, she wouldn't do this if she didn't have a plan. Black Sorrow is a lunatic, but even she has things she wants. There's no such thing as a grudge that can't be mended."

I was pretty sure they were being optimistic, but I didn't know half the shit that went on at that level. If they thought they could bribe Black Sorrow to come to the negotiating table I was fine with it. If it worked my family would be free of that lunatic.

Chelsea stepped up next to us, holding out her arms for my grandfather, who laughed and gave her a hug too. "Be careful." She said sternly. "You and grandma both. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you. If she can settle things, I want to bring Shane to the Holy Dominion for a visit."

"Sounds like a plan." He said with a smile. "You two be safe." He fished into a pocket, pulling out a small silver charm bracelet. "By the way, this is for Callie from your grandmother and I. A wedding present."

I took it, studying the item, and Chelsea gasped. "That's grandma's starpluck bangle!" She said in shock.

He nodded. "The bangle will let you leave positional marks on places you visit, Callie can teleport there at intergalactic distances. It's an excellent escape treasure. She won't be able to bring anyone with her, sadly, but you've got Zeke looking out for you, so we figured a bit of insurance for your future wife might be just the thing."

I stared at the unassuming bracelet, hung with little silver stars wrapped around shimmering crystal cores. I didn't notice the light until I focused on them, but once I did, I couldn't unsee it. I stepped forward and hugged my grandfather again. "She'll love it, this way she can visit her mom more. Can she use it? Anything that powerful has to be high ranked."

"The stars are individually enchanted and work with the bangle." He assured me. "It was designed to be used by lower ranked Ascendants as an emergency escape measure. Celia got it as a gift when she was a girl, though she's held onto it for a long time because it remained useful. It takes a month or so for it to recharge each star, but otherwise it shouldn't be a problem."

There were four stars on the bracelet, which meant she should be able to avoid getting stranded on any trips.

"Thanks gramps." I said sincerely. "Even with the month recharge, she's still going to be over the moon. She can set a point on Callus when we're there and see her mom every two weeks. Can she use a person as an anchor point?"

He chuckled. "From what I'm told, your grandmother asked the same thing when she got it. Sadly no. Has to be a planet. I assume you were thinking of using yourself so she could return more easily. A ship would work though, so at least there's that. If you ever get enough cash, you can pay KIllian to fly to Stratholme, pop over and leave a star point, then teleport back."

"I'll mention it to her." I promised. "Not to mention that kind of long distance teleportation must go THROUGH something. Maybe she'll get some ideas about her Path. Being able to do even a limited version of that would be amazing."

He grinned at me. "Why do you think your grandmother doesn't need it anymore. Her Path of the Stardancer was partly founded based on that bangle. I'm not sure how realistic it is to adapt an existing one, but as long as it isn't solid maybe she can get some inspiration. Just tell her to be careful. Even stepping on the path to an ability like that can be dangerous."

I glanced at Mom. "Wait, is that where the idea for your Path came from? A combination of your parents?"

She waggled a hand. "Stellar Flame Fist is a Solid Path ability, of course. My Path is the Path of Stellar Flame. But the Path of the Stardancer is more complicated than it sounds, and has more than a few aspects of my mother's inborn power in it. When she dances across the stars, they often go out."

I wondered if her Path spontaneously occurred during evolution like mine did. Her soul was Mirror from birth, and I couldn't image what kind of iron control and flexibility that would give you with Skills. I put the bracelet away in my ring excited to give it to Callie, and finished saying my goodbyes to my grandfather, then waited for Chelsea to say hers.

"Hey." I said as we left. "You're not like…mad Callie is getting the bracelet right? I mean, if it was grandmas maybe you should be the one who-"

My sister held up a hand. "Not even slightly." She said firmly. I exhaled in relief. I didn't want to sound like I was being a dick about it, I was just genuinely worried she'd be upset. She smiled warmly at me. "I don't begrudge you anything I have Shane. You're my brother. My twin. I spent years getting resources and treasures from the Church."

She pulled me into a hug, continuing. "Even if there wasn't a good reason for her to get it I would still be fine, but you and I both know she's the most vulnerable. You're protected by Zeke, and I'm always under guard."

"Yeah." I said with a relieved laugh. "Grandpa really came through. No one is going to be able to chase her across galaxies. I mean, the sheer EXPENSE of an heirloom like that. They went all out to welcome her to the family. I haven't met grandma yet, but just this one gift means more to me than anything else they could have done."

The generosity staggered me. You could probably build an entire S-ranked faction if you sold something like this. I'd never even heard of it, but I knew that people would undoubtedly go to war for something this powerful, especially something their kids could use.

As we walked out of the Central Location back to the others, I frowned over my shoulder. "Do you think they'll be ok? Trying to fix things with…her."

"I think they know her better than we do." She said bluntly. "And grandpa is over the moon for grandma. He'd die before he let someone touch a hair on her head. Combined with the safety they have while the war is ongoing, it should be fine. Plus if they can do it…"

I nodded. "It would be invaluable." I admitted. "I got targeted by her people a few times, and I'm pretty sure they only happened to notice who I was by accident." I still had no clue how Aiden had figured out my identity back when this all started, but it had caused a lot of trouble since then.

She sighed. "I've had assassination attempts too. One of my childhood friends turned out to be a heartripper."

I winced, pulling her into a side hug. That was terrible. I reminded myself to have her spend some time with Cass. Maybe she could help the girl get past things, given her obvious experience there.

As we approached our group, I smiled widely at all my friends. It was finally over, finally time for all of us to go home. Once we were underway, we could stop and digest our gains from this mess in terms of renown, though aside from wishes, I didn't think I'd be doing any training on this trip. I wanted to spend as much time as possible with my future wife. Something told me alone time would be at a premium during a wedding this size. I couldn't wait.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

Arriving back on the Necromedes was…blissful. Aside from the lack of pressure from the Tricorn's Impact (I'd gotten so used to it I kept having to watch my step to keep from catapulting into the air), I also got to see a bunch of old friends. When Callie and mom mentioned bringing people along, I'd underestimated exactly how many people they meant.

Serah and Holly were coming, as were Yvette, Annalise, Markoth, Nasha, and all my other friends were coming. We'd sent out invitations to various factions we'd encountered on the way here too, and at this point, the list of wedding guests was going to be enough to fill a small town.

Luckily we didn't have any of those on Callus, only big cities that would have plenty of room. For now, we had to get everyone settled in though. The newcomers were blown away by the ship. "You have access to an A-ranked ship?" said Holly in shock. "We belong to an S-ranked faction and we don't have one of those!"

Serah nodded stoically. "Yes. It is certainly in…ship shape."

Bethy giggled at the joke. "Hey that's funny. You're pretty funny." She held out a cheerful hand. "I'm Bethy by the way. What's your name?"

"Serah." Responded the stoic angel. "It is nice to meet you."

I cleared my throat. "As much as the idea of you two hanging out terrifies me to the very core of my being, I wanted to check that everyone was here."

Jessie double checked and then nodded. "Looks like that's everyone. Most of us went to unpack, but Blake said he'd handle introductions and all that." She grinned at me. "You have somewhere else to be right? Isn't it about time you checked?"

I laughed. "You still know me better than anyone except Benny and Callie. Yeah, I've been holding it back, but it's about time." Waving goodbye to the others, I went ahead reached out to Callie. There was a shift in the shadows and she appeared right next to me, grinning. I nodded at her wrist. "So it fits I take it?"

She displayed her wrist with a smirk. "Oh, this old thing? Yeah, isn't it nice? My fiance got it for me because he's the best." She leaned up and pecked me on the cheek. "So is it really time? I was waiting for you. How much do you think we gained?"

"Hard to say." I said as we headed back to our rooms. "I mean, with your godslayer legend propagating, especially after the war declaration, I'm guessing you got a big boost. The games will have pushed me up pretty high too though I bet." I winked at her. "I might just catch up to you at this rate."

She shot me a warm smile. "I hope you do. I always feel my best when the two of us are equal partners."
I put my arms around her, squeezing tight, and then we reached out lodgings. We headed inside, dropped off what stuff we had, and then headed out into the yard in case of any damage. "You mind if I go first?" I asked excitedly.

She shook her head, and I closed my eyes, reaching out with my soul. The ability to put off renown and stat gain was important as you ranked up. People like us had a lot of stories circulating, and the sensation of a constant trickle of power would be way too distracting. It was more convenient to wait until we had time to process everything before allowing the renown to hit.

Given how many points I already had and my soul strength the influx was intense but not overwhelming. Still, it was easy to tell just from feedback that this was beyond any gains I'd had before. I could feel my heart pounding as I pulled up my stat sheet, letting the purple flames roll across my vision.

Wishmaster candidate status. E-rank. Ability: Expert Wish- Seven times a day grant an Expert wish in return for proper compensation. Wish must be feasibly achievable by the candidate's own efforts within a three day period with current statistics.
Expert Path of the Doom Sovereign- A Solid Path toward a great destiny.

Might-11,500
Impact-65
Fantasy-9530
Vitality-12,242
Focus-6420
Perception-5504
Creation-7554
Progress to next rank:52815/100000
Soul strength- Sapphire Soul Body


Stored:7 shadow attacks, 10 shadow jump (seven in reserve), 10 Stealth charges, 0 fire attacks, 10 triple strenth tranq blows (ten in reserve), 0 triple strength density shifted attacks. 10 spider leg attacks (ten in reserve), 0 heal bursts (0 reserve), 3 gravity attacks, 0 shadow clone (2 in reserve), 18 scan heals (I-rank ability so Shane can hold more)

Pet- Wolf named Jin

Financial resources: 50 E-ranked chits 38 D-ranked(worth 100 E-ranked, past master rank is a watershed)


Skills: Expert Path of the Doom Sovereign, Lesser Valtek Mastery, Intermediate Cooking Mastery, Lesser Inventing Mastery, Beginner Balam Mastery, Minor Fire Manipulation Mastery, Minor Piano Mastery, Minor Guitar Mastery, Minor First Aid Mastery, Intermediate Paired Dueling, Expert Dust Construction Mastery

DS Subskills. Monk: Stone Limb, Moonlit Night, Consecration of Flame, Ripple Running, State of Grace, Steam Arrow, Afterburner, Pit of Despair, Mountain Stance.

Rogue: Mercy Kill, Double Trouble, Touch of Tears, Flurry of Blows, Heavy hands, Marked for Death, False Fatality

Diviner: Overlay, Song of the Soil, Rhythm of the Wild, Eye of Revelation, Danger Sense, Piece of Mind



Goetia Staff Art:

First form- Belial. Touch of Tears, Stone Limb, Consecration of Flames

Second Form- Mephistopheles. Consecration of Flame, Afterburner, Mercy Kill, Marked for Death.
Techniques: Cosmic Collapse: comdensed sphere of black flame that explodes out one side amplifying force. Mephisto's Waltz: Movement technique, Damnatio Memoriae: causes the ground itself to dissolve best used on mountains to cause avalanches
Circle of Damnation: defensive technique through destruction

Third form- Mornax. Stone Limb, Triple Strength Density Shifting (x10 F-rank stored attacks), Mountain Stance

Fourth form - Zagan. Heal Burst, Purifying Flame, Consecration of Flame, Afterburner
Techniques: Life Nova, purifying and healing version of Cosmic Collapse.Genesis Burst: enhanced version of Life Nova designed to repair soul damage.


I was blown away. Over twenty three thousand points. Almost twenty four. This last series of events had bumped me nearly one QUARTER of the way to D-rank. I doubted I'd get quite this level of boost again soon, I had mouthed off the Wishmaster in front of a bunch of S-rankers, which had probably played a large role, but still. My feats in the games should keep paying dividends.

I wrote everything out, showing it to Callie with a grin. Her eyes bugged out. "Holy shit, Shane. That's…wow. I mean, You're well past where I was at. I should be getting a bit bump from the war declaration, given people will be looking into stories about gods but…I'd be shocked if I passed you by much.

"I think it was the S-rankers." I admitted. "I know that higher ranked Ascendants have more heavily weighted renown. I impressed some of them during the games. Still, past the halfway point of D-rank…that's not bad. And I passed ten thousand points in multiple stats. VItality and Might make sense. Life Nova and that crazy mountain crushing blast."

She nodded. "Fantasy too, given the obvious technique use. Still a sizable bump. You ready to see how I did?" She sounded eager to compare, and I nodded excitedly. She closed her eyes, letting the renown wash over her. After a moment of focusing and breathing through the sensation, she took a pen and paper from her ring and wrote out her own stats.

Calliope Reynolds- E-rank. Ability: Expert Abyssal Infiltration- Enter the shadows and emerge where you will within range, shape the darkness to your call, moving it as if it were part of your body, and even extend your senses through the shadows to spy on your enemies.

Might-15,550
Impact-65
Vitality-3742
Fantasy-10,105
Focus-3908
Perception-12,375
Creation-9485
Progress to next rank: 55230/100000

Soul strength- Sapphire Soul Body
Pet-Wolf named Rellia

Skills: Minor Tracking, Beginner Dual Dagger Mastery, Intermediate Stealth, Intermediate Trap Mastery, Beginner Disguise, Lesser Balam Mastery, Expert Shadow Manipulation Mastery. Intermediate Paired Dueling.

Path of the Abyss-Illusory. Technique: Shadowed Glide

I laughed. "Damn, you still got me. It's close though. I'm only a couple thousand short. I think you'll pull ahead though. Your godslayer story has clearly been spreading like wildfire with those numbers. Even your low stats have evened out a ton. I think that huge bump from the S-rank renown is going to be a one time thing for me though."

"Please." She snorted. "You're ignoring the tons of points you'll be getting from wishes during the trip. I'll be lucky if you don't hit D-rank before the wedding."

I frowned. "Actually, what about D-rank." I hadn't considered it before, but we'd be on Callus. We couldn't rank up there. "I guess we could suppress ourselves at peak E-rank until we can get somewhere more stable. Maybe the Necromedes. I think Killian is staying for the wedding, so that's an option."

She waved me off with a laugh. "I was just puffing you up a bit. Considering you seem to be stuck at ten points per wish, chances are good we'll both need more time. The four month trip back to Callus would net you less than ten thousand." She frowned a bit. "Speaking of, what about that? Did you get a chance to ask anyone about it?"

I nodded, blowing out a breath. "I asked my mom. Ten is a soft cap. It's a recursion thing. I'll be able to get past it when I hit D-rank and have over a hundred Impact. Just one of those weird things people all believe that screws us a little bit."

"Well at least its solvable." She said with a smile. Walking over to me, she pulled me to my feet, then dragged me over and shoved me onto a couch, curling up against me. "Can you believe in four or five short months we're going to be married." She said as she rested her head on my chest.

I reached up, pulling my mask off, something I rarely did when we weren't alone. "I can." I said softly. "In fact. I couldn't believe anything else. I can't imagine not spending the rest of my life with you."

"Sap." She said in a pleased voice. "But I love it." She grimaced, and at me raised eyebrow blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry, I just thought about my name. I'm taking yours, not sharing one with my asshole dad is nothing but good, but Calliope Wyndham sounds so snooty."

I clicked my tongue. "Honestly darling." I said in a high society voice. "I ordered the crystal chandeliers in the Rutherford pattern. This is clearly Cheffause."

She burst out laughing. "None of those are things." She said in exasperation. "And yet somehow they all sound so accurate it's ridiculous. Maybe I should tell Bethy you're a secret art and fashion genius."

"I don't believe you would do such a thing." I said sagely. "You love me too much."

She rolled her eyes. "Right. That. I knew there was a reason I kept you around. That and reaching things on the high shelves."

"Good to know I'm at least as useful as a stool." I said mildly.

She patted my cheek tenderly. "Oh, honey. Don't sell yourself short. You're far more useful to me than a stool. I have to carry those to the shelves. You just come when I call you."

We laughed together, snuggled up and staring at the ceiling, and I thought about our upcoming life together. Or rather, the one we already had, and how it would change. The comfort and security was soothing, and soon enough I started to drift off. Tomorrow we'd meet up with Benny and Jessie, see how they were doing after this mess stat wise, and then settle in for a relaxing wedding cruise back to our hometown. Life couldn't get much better than this.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

The next morning we met up with the others for a team meeting. "So, everyone get settled in ok?" I asked Jessie as we let them into our place. We weren't staying in the same building this time. The Necromedes was huge, and we'd been moved up to a nicer part of the ship. This particular abode was more in the style of some of the Church architecture we'd seen.

"All good." She said with a grin and a thumbs up. "Serah and Bethy are becoming fast friends." She paused. "Well, Bethy decided they were fast friends and Serah got swept up in her wake. I think it's good for her to have someone to hang out with platonically. That love triangle with her and Gabe and Chelsea is messy."

"I'm not sure it is a triangle." I said with a laugh. "I can't tell who she's interested in if either of them. Then again, Morgan has multiple wives, maybe she's just planning to date both of them."

Jessie snickered. "I'm sure the Church will be thrilled to lose both one of their princesses and one of their most promising recruits to the independents. In any case, your sister has been showing Annalise and Yvette around, along with Markoth and Nasha."

"Nice of her." I nodded. "Lots to show too. It's a big ship. How about you?" I asked Benny. "How is the training going? You get any techniques done yet?"

He chuckled. "Been working on my sword art. Your mom's training might have been rough but it's really helping. Plus I'm still riding the wave from helping take down that D-ranker. I didn't rake in the same kind of points as you two, but I definitely benefited from being part of that whole mess." He slid out a piece of paper, scribbling out his own stats just like we had the day before.

Benicio Cortez- E-rank. Ability: Expert Body of Inspiration- Allows the integration of existing artifacts into the users body for the purposes of strengthening and enhancing them, two items per placement.

Might-9974
Impact-65
Fantasy-1556
Vitality-1441
Focus-8141
Perception-1582
Creation-2471
Progress to next rank: 25230/100000


Soul strength: Sapphire Soul Body

Pet- Wolf named Rolf

Current integrated tech. 14/20.
Torso: G-ranked intangibility for short bursts, Three times multiplication of Might for five minutes.
Right fist: triple punch.
Left forearm: F-ranked energy barrier or variable shape. Left fist: minor slow acting tranquilizer effect.
Right foot: Density shifting to create heavier kicks and more powerful jumps. Left Foot: momentum neutralization to allow stopping instantly.
Head: slight cognitive boost to allow more thinking time, Three times multiplication of Focus for five minutes.
Back: ability to grow a shell to tank damage.
Chest: Pair of golden G rank spider legs that arch up from the shoulders.
Waist: Belt of spiritual calming, Three times Multiplication of Perception for five minutes. Heart: Illusionary double, Three times Multiplication of Vitality for five minutes.


Skills:Minor Cooking Mastery, Expert Inventing Mastery, Lesser Haggling Mastery, Minor Stealth Mastery

Path of the Dracolich-Illusory. Proto Technique: sword art, Dance of the Dracolich

I whistled at the changes. "Almost ten thousand this time. Clearly that story is getting blown out of proportion in the retelling." He rolled his eyes, knowing I was kidding. "But you didn't mention hitting Expert in Inventing. That's awesome man, congrats. I think the biggest change is the evening out of the rest of your stats. That happened to Callie too."

Callie nodded. "Yeah, it's something I think we were all waiting for. We've been told for a while that once you hit a certain rank the stats lagging behind get dragged up alongside you. 'A rising tide raises all ships' and all that. I think we've all reached a level of notoriety where that effect is starting to show itself. Benny's are curiously uniform though."

He nodded. "I think it's a subconscious thing. Some of my stats were bumped extensively because they seemed like an active part of the proceedings, while some were just passively jacked up because no one would believe anyone below a thousand Vitality, for instance, could take part in something like that."

"What about the Inventing?" I asked with interest. "You didn't mention that going up."

He grinned. "That's new. I've been…experimenting. Trying to incorporate my Path into inventions. Part of the reason I made it was as a more fantastical counterpoint to my ability, hoping the two would synergize and boost me to new heights. Because of that, my Inventing was always supposed to relate to my Path, and be informed by it."

"What did you come up with?" I asked excitedly. "Did you finally find a way to make you creations more targeted? I know you were working on using your soul to steer Inventions to be more specific items."

He waggled a hand. "Well…sort of." He said sheepishly. "I'm still working on that. If anything, my Path made it harder, but I'm pretty sure I'm on the right track." He held out a hand, and a small item appeared on his palm. A black stapler. I reached for it with interest…and then it hissed and tried to bite me.

Its teeth (which had been hidden behind the stapler cover perfectly like lips in a mouth), sank into my gloves and stopped. My armor was very high quality, and my skin had three points more Impact than most E-rankers, so there was no chance of it getting its hooks in. Still I glared at my friend, holding up the stapler as it snarled and tried to dig into my finger. "Why?" I asked blandly.

He shrugged. "It's my new Invention. The Snarling Stapler, I call it. It's only F-rank. The Path of the Dracolich seems to have turned it feral. Like I said, bit of a backstep, but I'm on the right track."

"You realize we're going back to Callus for the wedding." I said bluntly. "Where an F-ranked stapler could probably wipe out a city."

"I…" He paused. "I hadn't considered that. I'll keep it in my ring. Sorry."

I just laughed. "Still, it's important to work on techniques, especially after the Fantasy bump. Those will be our biggest advantage in the future. Skills are important because they're a good basis, but techniques are where we can show real power."

"I think you might be a bit biased, hon." Said Callie with a laugh. "Your mom said you're a genius at forming those, so yours are a bit more effective than most. Not that I don't think they're important, but I think you might be in a better position to take advantage. The rest of us still need to depend on Skills and abilities."

She…might have a point. My Path was unusually far along, I had a strong soul and my unique ability gave me a wide variety of skills to use as a base. Still, I knew that once we hit D-rank we'd be facing more and more people with powerful Paths and we needed to be ready to beat them back with our own.

"Maybe talk to Abel." I suggested. "He made a powerful technique ages ago. The Cicada Stacking Steps are crazy useful" I turned to Jessie. "How about you, you get you Path made yet? Since we're heading home we don't need to worry about running into anybody dangerous for a while. You can afford to take your time."

Benny glared at me. "Oh sure, yell at me and tell me I'm dragging everyone down, but as soon as I get it finished we all go on fucking vacation and everyone else can take their time."
"It's not my fault you're so dumb." I said loftily. "Gotta get you started early if you want to keep up." I moved out of the way as he picked up and threw a coaster at me from the end table next to him.

Jessie rolled her eyes. "You two are like toddlers, I swear. I don't have a Path yet, though I do think the Path of Vitality might be a good fit for me. It'll be a comprehensive upgrade to my abilities, which are all based on that stat. Plus it might be easier to get in contact with. I've been getting some decent stats lately too. Mostly in Vitality as usual, but I've been seeing the same bump in my other stats as the rest of you." She wrote out her own stat sheet.


Jessica Evans- E-rank. Ability: Expert Lifeweaving- Infuse living things with life itself and direct their actions while the users power flows through them. Control has limited effect on sapient entities. Prolonged exposure to life energy may cause lasting effects in controlled subjects.

Might-3625
Impact-65
Fantasy-758
Vitality-17,256
Focus-755
Perception-765
Creation-1958
Progress to next rank: 25182/100000
Pet- Wolf named Lily and Undying Lifestorm Ursa named Randall(Intermediate Beast Bonding with Jessie)

Soul strength: Sapphire Soul Body

Skills: Intermediate Horticulture,Intermediate First Aid, Minor Herbalism, Minor Flower Arrangement, Intermediate Beast Taming Mastery, Intermediate Beast Bonding, Intermediate Shape of the Wild

I gaped at her Vitality. "Seventeen THOUSAND?" I asked in shock. "I mean, I know it's your main stat, but it's higher than any stat I have. Hell, it's higher than any stat CALLIE has, and she's much more focused than I am. I can see where your other stats may have suffered for it a bit though. Was the Might from Randall?"

She nodded. "Yup. I'm annoyed my Focus is my lowest stat. I get Perception and Fantasy, but Focus being seven fifty five? Do I come across as that much of an airhead?" She sounded outraged, and the rest of us had to smother our laughs.

"You know you try to downplay your intelligence." Said Callie with a friendly chuckle. "Guess it worked a bit too well."
Jessie stuck out her tongue at my fiancee, who laughed at her antics. "Anyway, try to find your way onto the Path of Vitality if that's where you're aiming. Like I said, we have nothing but time." I grinned. "Maybe you can teach Benny a thing or two since he's having so much trouble."

He pointed at me menacingly. "Oh that's it. Just you wait, I'm going to spend the next four months mastering my Path, and then I'm going to use it to kick your entire ass."

I snorted. "Please. You're a hundred years too early to challenge me."

"I'm marrying into this." Callie told Jessie with a long suffering sigh. "I'm going to be putting up with their nonsense for the next ten thousand years."

Jessie put a hand on her shoulder. "I'll remember your sacrifice."

"Hey." I said in outrage. "We're right here? Don't talk about us like we aren't in the room. And it's not like you two are a picnic to be around."

Callie turned to me slowly. "And what exactly do you mean by THAT, Shane?"

"Nothing honey." I responded quickly. "You're the light of my life and you make every day better. I'm looking forward to an eternity of wedded bliss."

She gave me an unimpressed snort. "A likely story." She winked at Jessie. "Gotta keep him on his toes so he doesn't start taking me for granted. My future mother-in-law taught me that. She's been giving me lessons."

"When we get to Callus." I said maliciously. "I'm going to ask Amelia for every embarrassing picture you've ever taken. Two can play it that game."

Her eyes widened in horror, but I felt laughter and peace through the bond. I sent my own right back. We spent the next few hours spending time without our friends and talking all about what we'd do first when we got home as the Necromedes made its journey out into the cosmos.

Four more months until we were home, and I'd see everything I'd grown up seeing through brand new eyes. I was so excited to get back, to see all our friends and comrades, and to finally marry the girl of my dreams. This trip couldn't be over fast enough, just four more months to the first day of the rest of my life.

 

[Marethyu]

I must say out of everything you've ever written, they're all excellent, but I enjoy this one the most. Thanks for the chapters.

 

[Quenster06]

Man, I can't wait until they get back to Callus and show up Callie's jerk of a father. Also,

As we approached our group, I smiled widely at all my friends. It was finally over, finally time for all of us to go home. Once we were underway, we could stop and digest our gains from this mess in terms of renown, though aside from wishes, I didn't think I'd be doing any training on this trip. I wanted to spend as much time as possible with my future wife. Something told me alone time would be at a premium during a wedding this size. I couldn't wait.

Click to shrink...

We laughed together, snuggled up and staring at the ceiling, and I thought about our upcoming life together. Or rather, the one we already had, and how it would change. The comfort and security was soothing, and soon enough I started to drift off. Tomorrow we'd meet up with Benny and Jessie, see how they were doing after this mess stat wise, and then settle in for a relaxing wedding cruise back to our hometown. Life couldn't get much better than this.

Click to shrink...

Four more months until we were home, and I'd see everything I'd grown up seeing through brand new eyes. I was so excited to get back, to see all our friends and comrades, and to finally marry the girl of my dreams. This trip couldn't be over fast enough, just four more months to the first day of the rest of my life.

Click to shrink...

is it just me, or is anyone else seeing waving flags? I might just be having a paranoid breakdown and this is a genuine wind down before a ramp up.

 

[Bezarius]

I can't wait for Callie to kick her dad ass when she get back.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

Four months flew by in the blink of an eye. I spent most of my time enjoying the relaxing trip with my friends, doing only the bare minimum for wish granting per day. I got another ten thousand points total. Eighty four hundred for my wishes and another sixteen hundred from pure renown.

Which was, admittedly, less than expected. But we were pretty sure the huge bump after the games combined with the big dip was a testament to the capabilities of the WCP and the five faction alliance. They had maximized the spread of my exploits right off the bat, so I was getting relatively fewer rollover stats.

I'd put five thousand into Perception, bringing it up to just over ten thousand five hundred, and then twenty five hundred each into Creation and Focus, bringing creation up over ten thousand and Focus up to just under nine thousand (ten thousand fifty four and eight thousand nine hundred twenty, respectively) for a grand total of sixty two thousand, eight hundred and fifteen.

The rest of the time I'd spent with my friends, my sister, and my fiancee, working out, eating good food, and playing the occasional game of pool. We also enjoyed plenty of time in an ACTUAL pool, with the sole exception of Abel, who had dedicated most of his time to training.

Which was why, as we approached Callus, Callie, Benny, Abel, Mel, and I were all gathered in one of the big restaurants celebrating, because my mentor had officially created his very own Solid Path.

"It's impressive." Admitted Benny as he cut into a juicy steak. "I'm just saying, why Ragam? Why not incorporate your Path of Blood into your ability in one shot, then you'd be a half step towards making your Chronicle like Shane is."

Abel just shook his head, swallowing the bite of lobster he'd been chewing. "Because there's no rush. I'm ages away from B-rank. I'll take it one step at a time. My Path of the Bloody Fist works well. I still need to percolate on how to integrate it into my ability. Not to mention my Ragam can keep ranking up past my current rank."

Benny turned to me. "That's a good point, actually. Why didn't you do that? Your Path fo the Doom Sovereign is an ability so it's stuck at your rank. Wouldn't it be stronger if you got it up higher?"

"Yes." I said bluntly. "But I wasn't sure I could. Unique Skills have odd and sometimes impossible requirements for ranking up. The higher I go the higher the chance I won't be able to reinvent the wheel again. Not to mention given the add ons I kept slapping on it to rank up the chances of me being able to form a Chronicle at all would have been slim. At this point I'm mostly cleaning up the Skill to prep for B-rank and it's slow going."

Abel nodded. "My Path and Skill are perfectly compatible and very stable, so that's not a concern for me. Though I'm looking forward to sparring with Shane."

"You better be looking through a telescope." Said Callie threateningly. "I'm getting married in less than a week, and if you beat up my fiance before my wedding and it screws up my pictures, I'm going to jettison you into the sun."

He swallowed audibly, and not because he was eating food. "Alright, damn. You don't have to be mean about it."

"Yes." said Callie sharply. "Yes I do. Because you fight anyone for any reason and you don't listen." Her face brightened into a beaming smile. "But congratulations on the new Path, that's super impressive."

Abel stared at her in mild terror before turning to look at me. "My condolences for the rest of your life."

I just chuckled. Callie glared at me, but I just winked back and she deflated a bit. She was really stressed about the wedding, having been working herself to the bone with the planning (I tried to help, but was informed I have terrible taste and am too edgy, whatever that means) and I had to keep reminding her to take a breath.

Sending some reassurance through the bond, I also pushed Piece of Mind to activate, shoving it toward her. She let it kick in, making a parallel to worry about wedding stuff while she relaxed, a compromise we'd come up when she'd started burning herself out.

"Sorry." She said after the parallel took over. "I'm a little tense. Seriously Abel, Solid Path is a huge achievement. You been thinking of any new techniques?"

My mentor's face lit up. "I have, actually. I got some inspiration from Shane and the Star Queen. I'm trying to create a cohesive set of Ragam techniques culminating in a transformation. It's been pretty tough coming up with the moves though. Techniques are hard work, my Cicada Stacking Step was the result of LOTS of trial and error over a very long period of time."

Benny nodded. "It's not a walk in the park, trust me. My Dance of the Dracolich is still forming. Without Sasha's advice I doubt I'd have gotten this far. Have you tried a chance in environment?"

"Not really in the cards for me." Abel grimaced. "Not here at least. When we get back to Callus I might take a trip into one of the forests and fight an E-ranked beast. There are a few of them lording over some of the more extreme areas of the planet."

I nodded thoughtfully. "I've heard stories." I admitted. "The Polar Cat King, the Berserk Volcano Ape. Probably a few more that I don't know about. But they've been around for ages. Those areas or off limits for a reason. I'm not worried about any E-ranker from Callus in terms of humans, but I bet some of those beast kings are actually dangerous."

Mel sighed. "That's what I told him. But he never listens to anyone. I was planning to stop by the Beast Lord Garden with Jessie. If anyone will have a dossier on what those monsters can do it would be the Beast Queen."

"I don't want dossiers." Complained Abel in a voice that told me this wasn't the first time they'd had this argument. "It defeats the purpose. I need to go out there and push myself. Bleed and get bled. If I know all their moves ahead of time there's no pressure. I'm on the Path of the Bloody Fist, not the Path of Slaughter."

Oddly, I didn't need to ask what that meant. I'd been around Abel long enough to understand the difference. Blood was earned through hard work and dedication. Killing wasn't the point of Abel's Path (though he was hardly shy about it). He was just as happy shedding his own blood as someone else's. The point was to push himself beyond his limits. It was closer to a Path of War than Slaughter.

She threw up her hands. "Yes, but you can't invent a new martial arts form if you're DEAD. I'll read the dossiers and wait nearby. If you run into trouble I can just step in to help."

"No safety nets." He said stubbornly. "It'll weaken my resolve. If I can't beat up some giant lava monkey I don't deserve to create a technique." Apparently he was going after the Volcano Ape. That was good to know.

Mel looked unhappy, but not as much as I'd expected. I was pretty sure she was getting more from their bond than we could pick up from the surface conversation. If I had to guess, part of the reason he was choosing the Ape was that it was a fire attribute creature. He was probably planning to have something made for her from the remains.

As I'd seen from watching Randall rank up, beasts didn't incorporate their stats the same way humans did, they more a part of their bodies. Much like naturally occuring runes in gems, certain beast materials would have naturally occurring runes that could be used to make gear.

We all had top notch armor from Camden's cousin, but you could make foci like a staff or like the sphere we'd gotten for Mel ages ago that could amplify her fire attacks.

"Wait until after the wedding, please." Pleaded Callie. "You're a groomsman, and it'll really ruin the atmosphere if you get your face burned off by molten monkey shit. I've heard stories about that Ape. It's a monster. Granted, so are you, but I'd be shocked if it doesn't get in a few licks before you put it down."

Abel raised an eyebrow. "Lot to unpack there." He said slowly. "I feel like that was an insult wrapped in a compliment wrapped in an insult wrapped in a command."

"It's like the turducken of comments." I said wisely. They all just looked at me blankly. "It's a turkey stuffed inside a duck stuffed inside a chicken." I clarified. "I learned how to make it from a cookbook I bought on Tricorn." I'd gone back to old Arble's place to see the S-ranker, but he hadn't been in, so I just grabbed some random books before leaving.

My mentor shook his head. "Some things aren't meant to be attempted."

"You're talking about fighting an ancient Volcano monster to create a technique that can alter reality!" I protested.

Benny clicked his tongue. "He's right Shane. Some things are just unnatural."

"How am I the bad guy here?" I said in exasperation. "I was just talking about a recipe I found. Callie, back me up."

I turned to find her glaring at me suspiciously. "You've never fed me any weird recipes like that, right?" She said slowly. "Because I'm not okay with being your guinea pig as you commit culinary violations to the natural order."

Laughing at me crestfallen expression, Abel held up a hand. "Alright, stop picking on him. He might drop the whole table into a Pit of Despair or something."

"I would never do that." I said indignantly. "I'd poison you. Bit of Touch of Tears inside your food. Not enough to be noticeable, but it would only take a little bit entering your stomach to cause some serious pain." I smirked at all of them. "Of course, I'd have to distract you all from the table somehow to do it. Maybe by throwing a huge fit about something innocuous." I glanced slyly at my best friend. "Hey Benny, how's that steak?"

My friend's face went white and he dropped his fork. I burst out laughing as Abel glanced uneasily at his lobster. Callie just giggled. "He's messing with you." She said reassuringly. "I'd have sensed that, and he wouldn't do it to me in the first place. Your meals are safe."

"Spoilsport." I said with a grin. "Look how scared they were. I wanted to see them squirm for a bit longer."

Benny glared at me. "You're not helping your case here. Mutant combo birds, poisoning steak, your cooking is becoming more and more suspicious."

"Then don't eat it." I shrugged. "I don't care if you eat my food. I like what I make and so does Callie. You can eat nutrition bricks for all I care. I'm sure your old food fabricator is in working order. I'll have your folks send it over when we land."

The horror on his face was exactly what I was looking for, and I dug back into my beef stroganoff with relish (the sensation, not the condiment, I wasn't a monster). It was a bluff of course, I'd still cook for him when I had the time, but it was funny seeing how put out he got.

Laughing at my best friend's misfortune, everyone left him to stew as we switched back to talking about Abel's technique plans and enjoyed our meals. We were almost home, and this had been a nice end to a peaceful trip. Once we set foot back on Callus, we'd be completely swamped. I was really looking forward to it.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

It was hard to really encapsulate the feeling of standing in space, looking down at your home planet. There was nostalgia, joy, triumph, and a little bit of disappointment. Everything seemed so much…smaller. Even from up here, I could focus enough to get a decent glimpse of most of the major cities I remembered. Valen, Rajak, I could see home.

But everyone looked so small and insignificant from up here. I knew they weren't obviously. I had friends and loved ones on Callus. But I kind of got how people like Zeke could become so detached from their humanity.

Oddly, I think the thing that saved me from that was how fast I was getting stronger. I could still vividly remember my life before cultivation.

"We should jump it." Said Benny confidently. I turned and glared at him. He shrugged. "What, it would be so cool. Imagine us breaking through the atmosphere like fiery comets and then landing in cool crouches like all the famous heroes."

I smacked him upside the back of the head. "And exactly how would we do that?" I demanded. "Assuming our legs wouldn't break on impact, which admittedly they probably wouldn't, do you think a pseudo D-grade planet would hold up under a cannonball from someone at E-rank…from SPACE?"

He paused, halfway through yelling at me for the head slap. "Huh. Actually probably not. Oh well, guess we'll have to go down the boring way. Still, it'll be nice to be home."

"I'm so excited to see my mom!" Squealed Callie, practically bouncing with joy. "It's been ages. I try to call home when I can, but it's not the same." She glanced at her wrist, where the starpluck bangle sat. She was obviously thinking about being able to come home to visit whenever she wanted.

Jessie was staring down at the planet with a sort of fond melancholy in her eyes, and I threw and arm over her shoulder, distracting her by ruffling her hair with my knuckles. "Hey, we're almost to D-rank. You'll have your brother back soon enough."

Her face lit up. 'Yeah. You're right. I can't wait to tell him all about our adventures. He's never going to believe it."

"You thinking of sticking around after we bring him back?" I asked, trying my best not to let my tone betray any discomfort at the idea. It would suck to lose her, but Jessie had the right to make her own decisions.

She just smiled and shook her head. "I don't think so. I mean, I'll visit, but…I've changed so much since he died. Seen so much. I've helped so many people, made new friends, been to amazing new worlds. I just can't imagine going back to being plain old Jessie Evans who works at the flower shop."
"Are you sure?" I asked her in surprise. "I know how much you wished for your old life back."

"No. I wished for my brother back." She said firmly. "I still do. Don't forget where you met me. I always wanted to go on adventures, that was why I joined the Unity to begin with."

Callie stepped up on her other side and bumped her with a hip. "Well you're always welcome wherever we go. You're family, and you always have a home with us. Speaking of home, I think it's about time for us to head down. Stella and the others are going to meet us in Rajak."

I grinned at her excitement. I was looking forward to seeing Amelia and Alexander and the others too. She was right that phone calls weren't the same as seeing someone face to face. We headed for the hanger, and when we got there, Killian, Zeke, and my mom were all waiting. "I was wondering where you all got off to." Said the owner of the Necromedes.

"I wasn't." Said Zeke with a chuckle. "First time seeing their planet on a return trip. It's a hell of a sight."

Mom beamed at us. "You ready to go down and get started? I've been talking to Amelia on the trip over, lovely woman. I think she has a surprise for you too, Calliope." She winked at Callie, who seemed just as puzzled by that as I was.

Waving a hand, mom pulled an ENTIRE fucking shuttle out of her space ring. We all gaped, because the sheer size of that thing combined with the opulence of the shuttle was completely out of left field. I turned to Zeke. "Wait…do you have one of those on you? Have you been carrying a shuttle the WHOLE time?"

He shrugged. "Of course. What kind of B-ranker doesn't keep a ride on them. But I couldn't let you use it. That would have been violating the terms of my geas. You had to do it all your own way. Unless you paid me, but you don't have anything worth a ride on any of my shuttles."

"He's right." Said my mom apologetically. "Market price for a seat on something like this would be several A-rank chits. I doubt his are quite that nice, but they're still well out of your price range." She patted the side of the white and gold shuttle affectionately. "My Halcyon is a beauty though, isn't he?"

I had to admit she wasn't wrong. The white metal that made up most of the shuttle was polished to a near mirror sheen. The front was a golden lions head, its open mouth allowing the windshield full visibility. A pair of golden wings folded back to frame the open doors on the sides, and traceries of golden runes swirled over the surface of it beautifully.

This thing wasn't just powerful, it was clearly made by an artist, and I was blown away by the delicacy of the work. I could pick out individual hairs in the lions man, and the capillaries in the feathers on the wings.

The inside, as we stepped in, was as spacious as expected. Moreso, even. It was like we were inside a full sized manor house of some wealthy noble, with both sides of the huge space being enclosed by a pair of window walls that showed the outside of the shuttle as if we were watching on a thousand foot screen.

We'd entered through the open hanger sides, but once we were inside a pair of double doors closed behind us. The spaces inside and outside the shuttle were completely separate. "Wow." I said as I scanned the shuttle. "Swanky."

"Of course." Said my mom as she walked over to sit at the large wooden table in the center of the huge entry chamber. I could see stairs leading up and hallways leading away, but the big day room we were in was already impressive on its own. "Would you all like some tea? She produced a steaming tea pot. "I've got an excellent Night Jasmine Blossom Brew."

Smiling, we all took our seats around her. She poured a glass for everyone, and Bethy inhaled deeply before taking a sip. "I love tea." She said with a sigh. "Not as much as wine, but still."

"I have some of that too." Laughed my mother. "But it's early in the day. Enjoy your tea. I have to say, I'm looking forward to being back on Callus. It's been such a long time since I was last there."

I blinked. "Oh, yeah you lived on Callus for a few years didn't you? Back when we were all together. Do you have any friends there you want to see?"

"A few." She said with a shrug. "I had a friend named Alyssa who made the loveliest apple cider. This was back in Valen, of course. She owned a sort of farmers market, I have no clue if it's still there."

Jessie and Callie perked up, telling her about their time growing up and how Alyssa knew their mothers, and they had a nice chat about her while we finished our tea.

Sadly, the ride wasn't too long, only about a half hour, and as we came to a stop in front of the hideous orange house we still owned in Rajak, we all stepped off the shuttle with a sense of nostalgia and peace. Well, Callie and I did. I was pretty sure Benny was in the same headspace too.

Abel and Mel seemed mostly ambivalent to be back. Not happy but not upset about it either. Gabe, Bethy, Yvette, Annalise, and all our other friends were just glad to get to their rooms and unpack, having not bothered doing so on the ship.

When we opened the door, the wolves came streaking by, Cass on Jin's back as Cark chased after her. Blake had been watching them most of the time, but we'd decided to bring them back to Callus to leave them with Amelia. The big puppies were strong enough to be formidable guards here, and a stable planetary home would be good for them.
"We're HOME!" Squealed Cass as she leapt off the wolf and onto the overstuffed orange couch. "It's been such a long time! Oh I missed you ugly couch!"

Cark rolled his eyes. "Don't be so dramatic. The places we've been staying have been perfectly nice. You make it sound like we fed you scraps through the top of a crate. Or should we leave you here when we head back out. I'm sure Callie's mom would love to have a natural disaster around the house."

She stuck out her tongue at him. "You can act like you aren't happy to be back, but I know you want to see your giiiirlfriend." She singsonged the last word maliciously, as if she'd uncovered some dark secret.

The rest of us tried not to smirk as Cark rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'd love to see Sage. And I didn't say I wasn't happy to be back." He stopped. "Why am I arguing with you, you're not even ten years old." He turned and walked away as Cass let out an outraged shriek and chased after him.

"Well." Said my mom as she followed us in. "This is certainly…interesting."

I nodded solemnly. "Callie picked out the color scheme. She always wanted to live inside of a carrot."

My fiancee spun and glared at me. "Don't tell her that! Not even as a joke! If that gets out people will be giving us a bunch of orange furniture as gifts, and if that happens you'll be the one returning it all."

"I joke, I joke." I said, holding my hands up in surrender. "This place used to belong to some pumpkin themed supervillain or other. Zeke got it for us at a steal because no one wanted to live in such a hideous place."

My mom just laughed at us. Behind her, the door was pushed open and my sister walked in. "That certainly explains the decor." She said with a laugh. "But please tell me you redid at least some of the rooms?" She gestured to the stoic forms of Callen and Felicity, who had struck up something of a friendship with the stoic swordsman.

"Nope." I said with a shrug. "Not even one. We had other stuff to be getting on with." I chuckled at her exasperated look, mirrored on the faces of Serah and Holly as they entered behind the group.

As everyone unpacked, Callie messaged Stella, her mother, and a few other old friends and told them we were here. They'd been waiting at the Unity building, but with Callie's dad being around none of us felt like stopping there. That confrontation would be handled easily enough, but not on the day we got here.

Looking around the house, I beamed at how little it had changed. It had been less than a year since we'd been here, but it felt like so much longer. I couldn't wait to see what had changed while we were gone. It was good to be home.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

It didn't take long for everyone to arrive. When they did, it quickly became apparent exactly what the 'surprise' that Amelia had for Callie actually was. My girlfriend gaped at her mother in absolute shock as the older woman placed a stabilizing hand on her very pregnant stomach. "You…you're-"

"Pregnant." Said her mother cheerily. "Yes, that usually comes before children. I'm not sure you should be getting married if you don't know where babies come from." She turned to me, shooting me a wide smile. "Shane, it's good to see you. Come here." She widened her arms and pulled me into a big hug.

I laughed as I squeezed back, then pulled away. "It's good to see you too Amelia. Is Alex with you?"

She chuckled. "He's out front. Stella brought gifts, so he got roped into carrying things."

"Why don't they just put them in their space rings?" I asked with a laugh. Space rings weren't common on Callus, but I was pretty sure most of the E-rankers had them. Alexander was the leader of a major force on this planet. As 'The Nothing' he was one of the big shots among the local WCP.

Amelia just shrugged. "Who knows. Maybe she was just messing with him. Some people consider things like that bad manners when delivering a gift." Her eyes scanned the room, stopping on my mother. "And you must be Sasha." She strode over, giving my mom a similarly effusive hug. "It's so nice to put a face to the name. And such a pretty one. I see where Shane gets his looks."

"From his father, mostly." Mom said with a laugh. "But that's nice of you to say. Calliope looks quite a bit like you too. Both so pretty."

Zeke groaned. "This is torture. Are you both just going to pat each other on the back this whole trip for having good looking children? We're Ascendants, we're ALL good looking. Now where's my hug?"

Laughing, Amelia stepped up and gave him a quick squeeze. "Good to see you Zeke. You seem different."

"I finally made it to A-rank." He shrugged. "Wasn't a fun time, but I think it was worth the pain and effort. And you're already G-rank? Impressive progress for such a short period of time." I was surprised when I took the time to actually pay attention to her Impact, because he was right.

Granted, we'd all taken much less time than that to hit G-rank, but we weren't the norm even among talents from powerful factions, much less a small backwater like Callus.

Amelia grinned smugly. "Seems that being the mother of a godslayer has its perks. I don't get nearly as much renown as she does, but there's definitely some rollover. Especially locally, a lot of the Nightstrike fans have been following your adventures, at least as far as the Moonsong Glade."

My fiancee noticed my smirk and raised a brow at me. "That makes you way more self satisfied than it should. I know we're getting married, but why are you so pleased with yourself."

"Say Amelia?" I asked casually. "What are those old Nightstrike novelty mugs worth at this point?"

She burst out laughing, and Callie started complaining loudly about how embarrassing it was that I still had those mugs. Everyone else came in, Stella trying her best to ignore Zeke while standing as close to him as possible to make it clear she wanted him to start a conversation, Jessie introducing Bethy, Gabe, and the others to Ian, and Chelsea getting a big hug from Amelia in greeting.

I noticed one figure slip off, and after a brief wait, I followed Abel outside, where he leaned against the house, relaxing and closing his eyes as if he was trying to memorize the scent. "So you are happy to be home." I accused.

"Tell no one." He said, opening one eye. "But yeah. I don't hate it. I'm planning to drop by and visit my brother in the next few days." At my glower he just chuckled. "Don't be like that. He might be an ass but he's my blood. I've definitely missed the weaselly little bastard. Not to mention Alden."

I nodded, leaning against the wall. "I'm surprised you're taking time off, honestly." I admitted. "You've never struck me as the type."

He shook his head. "Reaching my Solid Path has put me way ahead of most. Plus I was getting to the point where I was starting to overtrain. I was getting to the point of combat satiation. A break will do me good."

That wasn't a term I knew. "Combat satiation?" I asked slowly. "What exactly is that?"

"You ever heard of semantic satiation?" He asked. I shook my head. "Well, semantic satiation is when you repeat a word over and over until it loses meaning. Combat satiation is when you start to see battle as a math problem. You do the moves so often that it loses all meaning beyond numbers and positioning. When battle just becomes a math problem you start to lose motivation."

I nodded slowly. I got what he meant. When fighting, you always had to look out for attacks, plan your next move, and decide exactly what to do to win. But if you started viewing everything as numbers…it took the soul out of fighting.
I hadn't ever heard it put quite like that, but it was a good way to think of things. "So even you have limits when it comes to training, huh?"

"Everyone has limits." He said with a laugh. "Mine just aren't physical, or even really mental. I love to fight, and like I told you before, it's not a strain on me. That said, sometimes I need downtime so I don't kill my passion. Too much of a good thing, you know. Not something I was aware of until now, but Paths make you look at things differently."

That made sense. "So you're planning to take some time off before you start the fight with the Volcanic Ape. Let your brain reset. I can see how that might help."

"How about you?" He asked with a laugh. "You were so excited to come back. Running away already?"

I chuckled. "Nah. I'm just letting them talk. I'd prefer to do my greetings personally. More one on one. You know how it goes. We have all day anyway. Tomorrow we're heading out to the resort where everyone will be staying."

When we'd contacted everyone back home about the wedding, Stella had extended us the use of the Unity's high ranking resort city. I had never even heard of it, but apparently the E-rankers on-world spent most of their time there, when they didn't have business to handle. The WCP had E-district, and the Unity had the resort, a place called Wintervale.

Unlike most Ascendant nonsense, Wintervale wad a closely guarded secret among the top brass. It was located in the fucking polar ice caps, which explained why none of us had ever seen any sign of it. I'd even looked from space, but apparently we'd been in a bad spot to catch sight of it.

We were actually really lucky, because the invitee list was surprisingly long. Most of the guests were people who lived on Callus, but we had needed to invite basically every E-ranker on the planet because Amelia and the others still had to stick around and actually interact with these people, and we didn't want to burn bridges.

Except Midknight, obviously. He wasn't invited, and if we spotted him in the vicinity I suspected he would have a very bad day. Shadowthorn HAD been invited, but only because Callie wanted her half-brother Eric to be there, and he was too young to come alone. She had been informed that she should stay away from the bridal party and keep to herself.

"This is going to be a clusterfuck." I went on with a small laugh. He cocked his head at me, waiting for me to see more. "We invited a ton of people. Some from nearby systems, some from galaxies away, and I still don't know if they'll all make it. Most of them are strong enough to be considered dangerous on this planet, and we're sticking them all in a secret resort town together for a week."

He just shrugged. "It's a wedding." He said, like that explained anything. And maybe it did. "An Ascendant wedding at that. Might as well have ordered insanity from the caterers. But let me ask you this, kid. Do you think it'll be worth it? Are you worried enough to back out? Under all the bluster, are you hesitating for even a second to walk down that aisle?"

"No." I responded immediately. "Not even for a second. Callie is…I was head over heels the second I saw her. And it's not a pedestal thing either. If anything, her flaws make her more amazing to me. The way she worries over everyone and takes on way too much. How absurdly excited she gets over treasure. How grumpy she is in the morning."

He snickered. "Yeah, she has her problems. Though you're no walk in the park either."

"Yeah no shit." I snorted. "I'm an indecisive adrenaline seeking battle nut with more family issues than your average magazine series. My great grandmother is an evil goddess who probably wants to kill me if she knows I exist at all, and I appear to be basically cursed to suffer endless calamities because I have the blood of fully HALF of the existing gods running through my veins. Not to mention those gods are now at WAR."

I was panting by the time I finished my rant, and he raised a brow at me in amusement. "You done?" He said after I stopped talking for a minute. "Because you know that shit isn't your fault, right?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't make it any less true." I ground out. I hadn't realized how much that had all been bothering me. I couldn't bring it up to Callie because she'd just tell me I was being-

"You're an idiot." Said the firm voice of my fiancee from behind me. I blinked, turning to find her staring at me stonily, arms crossed. "For being worried, AND for not telling me about it. Double idiot. Idiot squared. You are an idiot to the idiot power. Do you honestly think any of that matters to me?"

I grimaced. "No, but-"

"Or do you think," She went on icily. "That after all the nonsense we've been through, and after all the times we've both almost died. That I'm too much of a coward to marry the man I love because of a little danger?"

I turned slowly to stare her down. "I don't think 'evil homicidal goddess' counts as a little danger."

"Ah." She said, her face morphing into an expression of understanding (my Danger Dense actually went off because that was such an obvious trap, thanks for nothing Danger Sense). "So I'm the kind of person who leaves when the going gets tough? I can't stick it out if there's any real trouble?"

Abel put a hand over his mouth, and stage whispered. "It's a trap. Don't answer."

I ignored him. "No." I finally said, letting my shoulders sag. "You know that's not how I think of you. Just like you know I'm worried. You could sense that."

"Well yeah." She snorted. "But if I yelled at you for being an idiot inside your own head I'd never take a breath." She winked, and I knew we were ok. She stepped up and put her arms around me, laying her head on my chest.

"That." Came a voice from behind us. "Was the cutest thing I've ever seen." We both froze, and turned in horror to find our smirking mothers watching us, one of them holding…oh dear gods. They'd gotten that on tape. I had a feeling I'd have to make some serious concessions for them not to play it at the wedding. Damn it, we couldn't leave for the resort fast enough.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

We ended up heading for the resort just a few hours later. Amelia wanted a room to stay in, and unpacking in the house just to move immediately didn't make sense. We left Cark, Cass, and a few others behind since the wedding wasn't for a week. Cark wanted to check in on some friends in Rajak and Cass wanted to spend some time at the house.

Since Stella, Maria, Amelia, Alex, and all our friends from Valen were already with us, we just decided to skip a step and head right over. "So. Wintervale," I prompted Alexander. "What's it like? You've been before I take it?"

"I have." He acknowledged. "My brother may be the guildmaster of the Unity branch on Callus, but as you might be aware, he splits his authority with a council of guild elders. I'm on good terms with several of them, and they mostly live in Wintervale. The Moravian is probably the most famous of them, since he's the oldest Ascendant on Callus."

I nodded. "Three thousand. But I doubt he's going to be anything impressive, given where he is. Callus is pretty backwater in terms of cultivation knowledge."

"Don't bet on that." Said Zeke seriously from where he was sitting across the table. We were in my mom's Halcyon shuttle again, so there was room for everyone. "Anyone who has been at E-rank for a few millennia is bound to have some tricks. And just because grunts like you didn't know anything about cultivation when you were here doesn't mean the bigwigs are as ignorant."

My mom nodded. "He's right. There's a long history of talented people stuck at a certain level perfecting their strength beyond what even some faction talents manage."

"Damn." I said with a sigh. "I forgot about that. Abel was like that, spent like a decade working on his strength at G-rank. But they can't be Master Candidates right? Or I guess Grandmaster Candidates since they're at E-rank. They wouldn't have the soul strength."

Alex shook his head. "It wouldn't surprise me if the Moravian had been to the Ruined Soul Temple. Don't forget it opens regularly. His origin is somewhat mysterious actually, he kind of just appeared out of nowhere from what I know."

"There are quite a few older Ascendants who don't bother with the limelight anymore." Said Amelia with a frown. "Since they can't reach D-rank, renown isn't important for them. They bide their time, hidden away in Wintervale. Paul mentioned them quite often when we were married. The elders are a consistent source of aggravation for all the guildmasters."

I just shrugged. "So maybe there are some decent fighters here. But we're not pushovers. I'm not scared of anyone in E-rank, and I doubt Abel is either. Plus we have Bethy, Gabe, Callie, hell even Benny is getting to be decently intimidating."

"Hey!" Snapped my best friend. "Don't add me as an afterthought….ass. Not everyone can be a total monster like all of you. I'm damned impressive for my level."
"It doesn't matter anyway." Cut in Callie. "We didn't come here to stage a coup. The elders aren't our enemies. We're here to get married, and we invited everyone who would have gotten offended." She winked at me. "Plus they're all probably super rich. Think of the wedding gifts."

I chuckled. "The loot goblin awakens. I hope you all put some effort into your gifts, because she'll be inconsolable if she doesn't get lots of shiny things to hoard."

"I do not HOARD." She snapped in annoyance. "I COLLECT beautiful and valuable items. In a pile. Inside my space ring. And sometimes I take them out and roll around in them. But that isn't hoarding. It's just enthusiastic appreciation."

Bethy sniffed loftily. "She's right. You'll never understand the appreciation a true artist has for their craft. Philistines."

"I don't think robbing people counts as an art." I said with a smirk.

Callie narrowed her eyes at me. "I don't rob people. I simply forcibly collect a toll for allowing them the pleasure of my company in combat." She swept her hair back over one shoulder dramatically. "It's their honor to get beat up by someone as beautiful as me." She raised a brow at me. "Right?"

"You're picking up bad habits from all the ridiculous nobles we've run into recently." I snickered. I knew she was just playing, but her impression of all those lofty second generation nobles was way too on the money.

"Excuse me." Said Celine in an offended voice. "I'm sitting right here!"

I patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry. We didn't run into you recently. We've had a long time to get used to your ridiculousness."

She flipped me off, and Benny rocked back in his chair, clutching his heart dramatically. "Did you see that? Did all of you see that? Celine gave someone the middle finger. This must be what true love is like."

"Does that mean you're planning to propose like Shane did?" Jessie asked sweetly. "We could have a double wedding."

Benny glared at her. "Don't put that in her head!" He paled, turning to Celine. "Not that I'm saying I don't want to marry you. We're just really young. Not everyone can be as nauseatingly infatuated with each other as Callie and Shane."

"If that's in your best man toast, I'm going to punch you in the kidney." I said cheerfully.

We looked at each other for a second, and then we both burst out laughing. The others just rolled their eyes at our antics.

"If you idiots are done." Called my sister from near the wall of windows. "I think we're coming up on Wintervale. This is actually pretty amazing. Come and see."

I hopped up, hurrying to the window, and what I saw when I arrived took my breath away. A mesmerizing aurora lit the sky ahead of us, twisting and writhing over a small (by Callus standards) city nestled into a huge crack in the polar ice.

It was one of the most serene places I'd ever seen. The city was set within a verdant valley, pine trees and lush grass dotting the space, with buildings set in small recesses along a winding road. There were some shopping districts, a huge lodge, and dozens of smaller buildings that seemed like they might be restaurants.

Oddly, the weather seemed to shift abruptly once we entered the valley, which fit with the image of the place. From above it almost looked like the center of a flower, with the ice arching up over the top, leaving only enough open space to show the aurora. That was why I hadn't seen the resort from space. It was hidden.

When we touched down, we were greeted by yet another round of reunions. Some of whom were surprising. Sydney and Megan from the Wave Warren, Lament and Wren from the Spear Legion, and Sloan, Beric, and Croll from the Beast Lord Garden, were all waiting for us when we touched down.

"You guys!" Callie squealed as she charged over to start giving out hugs. I laughed and followed, giving Wren a fist bump in greeting as Sydney and Megan tackled me. "Shane! Look how many people showed up!"

An amused voice sounded from behind us. "Oh, I see how it is. You saw us recently so we don't get the enthusiastic greeting, huh?" I spun, eyes wide as I saw my cousin and Camden grinning at us.

"Nat?" I gasped, putting down the rabbit girls to hug Nat. "How did you guys get here? I didn't think you'd make it in time, but even if you did it would have been closer to day of."

She chuckled. "Well, after Zeke offed the Duke, there was a big shift in power in the Tolbert family." She nodded at Camden. "His grace over here is getting way more attention from the top brass, and he was able to arrange faster transport. We took an A-rank ship to the nearest system hub and caught a portal to Callus."

"You must have left around the same time we did." I goggled. "Lucky catching a ride."

"What can I say." She said cockily. "I've got the moves." I just laughed, squeezing her tight before I let her go. In the nearly ten months since I'd seen my cousin, she seemed to have been doing well for herself. Her quiet and withdrawn demeanor from after Perit died was gone, replaced with a slightly sadder version of the same cousin I remembered meeting before I first left home.

Valk, who had been standing off to the side, gave me a quiet smile and a nod, which I returned.

Bethy, who had been saying hello to our friends from the Wave Warren (screams of 'bunny!' rebounded across the clearing) spotted my cousin and blurred over to catch her in a hug. "Natty!" She squealed. "You look so great! I'm so glad to see you! How have you been? How are things back in the secret valley?"

"Hey Bethy." Laughed my cousin as she hugged the tiny vampire. "It's good to see you too. And the territory is fine. I'm sure Celine would be happy to give updates if you ask. I heard everyone got to meet your dad, I'm sorry I missed it."

Behy nodded quickly. "It was awesome. Daddy got to meet all my friends and then he beat up a bunch of S-rank enemies and scared everybody senseless."

"It was definitely quite a sight." I admitted. "Lark's Domain is terrifying. But I'm glad you weren't there, honestly. It was scary as hell, and we all almost died a bunch of times. Even Zeke barely made it out."

She grimaced. "I heard Uncle Eli made an appearance."

"An appearance is a good way to put it." I sneered. "Then that asshole booked it out of there before I could see him again." I smirked. "I punched him in the throat though."

"Broke your hand?" She asked with a knowing smirk. When I nodded she just rolled her eyes and laughed. "You're so melodramatic. Bet it felt pretty good though. Now where is my future cousin in law?"

Callie emerged from the crowd of well wishes. "Here I am!' She called with a laugh, embracing Nat before pulling away. I saw a bit of worry and hesitation in her eyes, and felt more through the bond, but Nat's open acceptance and greeting soothed her worries. Callie still blamed herself for Perit's death, even if Nat didn't.

"I trust you left room in the bridal party?" I asked with a laugh to take her mind off things.

Callie just rolled her eyes at me. "Yes, obviously. Leave all the important stuff to mean and your mom, sweetie. You can pick the music or something." She winked to let me know she was teasing, but I latched onto the joke immediately.

"Hell yes I'll pick the music." I said with a grin. "You ever heard of Witzern Delta?"

Her eyes widened in horror. "You are NOT hiring a singing comedian to sing at our wedding Shane. We have foreign DIGNITARIES coming to this. Witzern Delta uses PROPS!"

I cackled maniacally as I raced away, calling for Benny as my fiancee shouted in panic for me to stop messing around. I slowed to a walk when I was out of sight, enjoying doing a bit of teasing of my own, and then made my way up to the lodge.

We still needed to check in before we got started looking around as the venue and the rehearsal space and all the activity sites (Ascendant weddings were complicated and dramatic, much like Ascendants themselves). Benny caught up with me as I approached the front desk, and laughed when I told him about my earlier joke.

More and more old friends were showing up, and I couldn't wait to see them all. Despite being in the polar ice caps, I felt warmer here on Callus than I had for over a year. Now I just needed to find someone to get my wishes out of the way, and I could really relax for a change.