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

[Malcolm Tent]

I had Dantalion, Azazel, and Fate Sense go over the contract. It was fairly standard. There were a few tweaks here and there, and I contacted Callie through the bond to have her check with my dad just to be sure. I was almost positive that some of the traps in the contract were left there as tests for me, but I was reasonably sure I'd passed them all. Once that was done, we finished signing the documents and The Lady invited me to stay overnight in the castle while she sent for the B-rank parties from her own realm and Verdyn's.

With that out of the way, I headed upstairs, ready to embark on the next step in my own journey. Entering the legacy ruins at C-rank would be stupid. Anyone without a complete Chronicle qualified, which meant B-rankers would be abundant. I was going to need every edge I could get in there, and so I needed to be at the top of my game.

I took out the elixirs I'd gotten from Alara. With the treaty signed, not to mention that big show in the throne room, my reputation among the locals would be soaring. It wouldn't be enough to reach B-rank, but it should get me to the nine million that I had expected, and maybe a little higher. From there, I had however long the trip was to the Legacy ruins to make that final step into B-grade in preparation for our entry.

Based on what Callie told me, the breakthrough of the clocktower had DEMOLISHED the Void on the other side of the barrier on the warfront. It was so fragmented trying to move through it was like trying to climb through a meat grinder. We'd need to take the slow way to get there, and that was going to take MONTHS. The only upside was that the fragmented space would apparently delay the descent of the higher dimensional forces.

Interestingly, the delay didn't seem to matter. The legacy trial was set up for challengers, and it required a specific number of them to be initiated. And not just ANYONE below B-rank would do. There was a test to even enter, and based on preliminary assessments, the space inside the tower was locked in some sort of stasis. Until all nine hundred and ninety nine participants had passed the challenge, anyone who entered would be held frozen in time.

It was…suspiciously convenient, really. All of it. And not something I suspected Deveskane was capable of. It made me wonder if the Overgod who owned the trial was partly responsible for any of the things we'd been through. And if so, how many? How much of my life had been steered towards this point to prepare me for entering this trial?

But worrying about that kind of thing in this universe was a good way to go insane. Whatever the reason, it gave me and my friends a chance. I had Callie get in touch with my parents and pass messages to Benny and Jessie. I didn't know if they could prepare in time, but I also didn't know what the test entailed. Maybe it wasn't pure combat. For now, I'd done all I could. All I could do now was make my own preparations.

I counted the elixirs. Ten of them, one hundred thousand points each. The potions were strange and ethereal, shadowy smoke suspended in brilliant shimmering liquid. I was PRETTY sure Alara had sourced the base from the moonlight river that was suppressing Drexel's tower. Interesting.

There were a few variants. One Might, two Vitality, three Creation, two Perception, two Fantasy. I'd tried to focus on shoring up my weak spots, leaving the beefier stats behind a bit, only getting enough points to make it to one point five mil. I was reasonably sure I'd see an influx in those naturally anyway, given the renown income. Slowly, one by one, I tossed back each elixir, preparing myself for the surge of stats that was incoming.

Staggering them helped, and then I let the excess hit afterward, and I was pleasantly surprised by the results in more ways than one.

Wishmaster status. C-rank. Ability: Grandmaster Wish- Nine times a day grant a Grandmaster 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.

Grandmaster Path of the Demonbinder- The Domain of a Great King.

Wishmaster candidate points-1000

Might-1,832,421

Impact-155

Fantasy-1,461,238

Vitality-1,621,871 (x 3)

Focus-1,446,357

Perception-1,521,640

Creation-1,572,112

Progress to next rank:9,455,794/10,000,000

Soul strength- Tanzanite Soul Body

Body Forging: Nine Phoenix Reincarnation Art- 10/81 drops- First Layer (Life Nova) 9/9, Second Layer ( Cosmic Phoenix) 1/9

Chronicle: Ten Demons Tome (pages bound:2- 1 Zagan, 1 Leviathan)

wish scrolls stockpiled: 288 (5 in the possession of friends to be used over time)

Bonded companion: Archimedes (Life Nova Phoenix)

Weapon: Ten Demons Tree (reincarnation tree staff that lets him simulate alternate lives to perfect his forms, and when combined with the library lets him simulate and deduce techniques in a process called the "Wisdom of Solomon")

Stored: 0 Adherent Fire, 7 shadow attacks, 10 shadow jump (seven in reserve), 10 Stealth charges,10 triple strength tranq blows (ten in reserve), 10 spider leg attacks (ten in reserve), 3 gravity attacks, 1 shadow clone, 18 scan heals (I-rank ability so Shane can hold more)

Financial resources: 0 B-ranked, 0 C-ranked, 0 D-ranked(worth 100 E-ranked, past master rank is a watershed)

Court of Gehenna:

1.Doom Sovereign- Tier 7

2.Valtek- Tier 2

3.Cooking- Tier 7

4.Inventing- Tier 2

5.Balam- Tier 3

6.Nine Phoenix Reincarnation Art- Tier 4

7.Piano- Tier 1

8.Guitar- Tier 1

9.First Aid- Tier 1

10.Angelic Bond- Tier 6

11.Dust Construction- Tier 5

12. Stone Limb- Tier 6

13.Moonlit Night- Tier 4

14.Consecration of Flame- Tier 6

15.Ripple Running- Tier 3

16.State of Grace- Tier 4

17.Steam Arrow- Tier 4

18.Afterburner- Tier 6

19.Pit of Despair- Tier 6

20.Mountain Stance- Tier 6

21.Heart over Body- Tier 6

22.Mercy Kill- Tier 5

23.Double Trouble- Tier 6

24.Touch of Tears- Tier 5

25.Flurry of Blows- Tier 3

26.Heavy Hands- Tier 2

27.Marked for Death- Tier 4

28.False Fatality- Tier 3

29.Blood Curse- Tier 4

30.Creeping Darkness- Tier 2

31.Final Strike- Tier 6

32.Overlay- Tier 4

33.Song of the Soil- Tier 3

34.Rhythm of the Wild- Tier 2

35.Eye of Revelation- Tier 6

36.Danger Sense- Tier 6

37.Piece of Mind- Tier 6

38.Empty Spirit- Tier 6

39.Belial- Tier 7

40.Abomination Engine- Tier 6

41.Mephistopheles- Tier 7

42.Cosmic Collapse- Tier 6

43.Circle of Damnation- Tier 6

44.Mephisto's Waltz- Tier 6

45.Mornax- Tier 7

46.Zagan- Tier 7

47.Life Nova- Tier 7

48.Genesis Burst- Tier 6

49.Bael- Tier 7

50.Beelzebub- Tier 7

51.Agares- Tier 7

52.Dantalion- Tier 7

53.Sammael- Tier 7

54.Limbo- Tier 7

55.Gluttony- Tier 7

56.Wrath- Tier 6

57.Pride- Tier 7

58.Retribution- Tier 7

59.Murmur- Tier 7

60.Leviathan- Tier 7

61.Behemoth- Tier 7

62.Glory- Tier 7

63.Abaddon -Tier 7

64.Wisdom of Solomon- Tier 7

65.Promethean Fire Soul Body- Tier 6

66.Fate Sense- Tier 7

67.Scent of Truth- Tier 6

68.Damnatio Memoriae- Tier 6

69.Dark Reflection- Tier 6

70. Asmodeus- Tier 7

71. Astaroth- Tier 7

72. Azazel- Tier 8

I was within spitting distance of B-rank now, and it wouldn't be long before I crossed the threshold, but that wasn't even what I found most exciting. No, what made me most excited was the final line of Gehenna. Azazel had reached tier eight. That meant I HAD a B-rank demon inside my soul already.

The purification and ascension of my body with the ember had also pushed the Nine Phoenix Reincarnation art up two ranks to tier four, which would cover me through my next two templates even if I didn't rank it up again anytime soon, which I sincerely doubted would be the case.

Outside the vortex, adapting to so much stat growth was exponentially more difficult, sadly. I ended up sitting perfectly still for an hour as my body finished letting me push adjust. Once that was finished, I moved on to my NEXT order of business. Contacting my wife. I'd used up all my Adherent Fire charges on the way back, and they had turned out to be extremely useful. "Hey, you have time to talk?" I asked through the bond.

Didn't take her long to respond. "Not too busy at the moment. The battles are currently at a standstill. I don't imagine that'll last. Even if the major forces cool off, there's too many scavengers loitering around here for it to stay quiet long term."

"Did your sister get there safe?" I asked with concern. She'd mentioned having a map, but that was before I knew that the Void was shattered near that area. I assumed Adam would have known though, so her map probably involved crossing into realspace before she hit the problem area.

"She did," Callie said wryly. "She was very excited to meet me. It was sweet. I'm having fun getting to know her, though I can tell she's chomping at the bit to start spreading my reputation. She MIGHT be a bit competitive."

I laughed through the bond. "Gosh, I can't imagine what that would be like. I don't know anyone competitive."

"Please," she scoffed sarcastically. "I'm so not competitive. I'm the least competitive person you've ever met. I bet you a hundred B-rank chits you can't find a person less competitive than I am. And if you can, I'll fight them. Then we'll see who's competitive."

I rolled my eyes at her bad joke. "Speaking of betting, I was hoping you could help me test something." I didn't need to explain anything, she'd been at dinner with me when Adam explained the whole body tempering connection. She knew what I was getting at immediately, and was more than happy to help me test it.

She had some scrolls on her, so she popped one open, and started making wishes. She started absurdly high, at like ten thousand points, which obviously failed, then continued downward until she found the current limit.

Nine hundred forty five points. Apparently my current physique was durable enough to convert pretty directly between millions and singles. I was only at first template completion, so that boded pretty well. My stats would continue to rise, and my ceiling for stat wishes would grow even faster. Callie got almost ten thousand points out of ten wishes and I got my ten saved Adherent Fire charges back. We could have done more but she wanted to wait and get them out of the way all at once after she started pulling in more renown from the battlefield with her sister. She had a lot of catching up to do, but she insisted she'd already closed the gap more than I might have thought possible. I couldn't wait to see how far she'd come during our time apart.

I said goodnight to my wife and settled in to sleep, knowing tomorrow was going to be busy. I had to meet all the B-rankers we'd be bringing back with us to the WCP, then we'd be setting off for home. It wouldn't be long before I'd be back with all my friends, then only a few months til I was back with my wife and we were all together again. After that, it was on to the next adventure, and I had a feeling this one was going to be a doozie.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

The next morning I stocked up on scrolls as usual, bringing me to two hundred eighty seven barring the emergency fund, and headed down to meet up with Dayna and the others. Rather than stay in the Domain, since we were safe and had a place to sleep, Chloe had chosen to stay in the guest quarters, and Brad had followed suit, insisting on exploring for himself now that we were out of danger.

Still, they were all promptly on time when I arrived at the Priory, and several new faces (not to mention some old friends) had arrived alongside them to make up our party. As mentioned, The Lady had contacted Verdyn to have him send a team, and his team surprisingly included Dayna's big brother Marius, who looked incredibly enthused to see us, giving us each a big hug.

"Little sister! And friends!" he cheered. "Lovely to see you all. Isn't it a beautiful day? The sun is shining…I think. The sky is really red here. It's hard to tell. Actually, is it daytime?"

Dayna sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Yes, Marius, it's daytime. Are you going to introduce us to the others? I don't recognize anyone except…" she stopped, grimacing at the man standing behind the other cloaked figures. "You brought BOBBY?" she said in a tone suspiciously close to a whine. "Dear gods, WHY? This is a diplomatic mission."

"Mama wanted him to come," he shrugged. "He's been aimless lately, nothing important going on, and she worries."

"He's been aimless because he has no FRIENDS," she hissed. "Because everyone hates him and avoids him like the plague. Because he's a scumbag who never has a nice thing to say about anyone but Mama."

The short blonde man the with ruddy face and the patchy goatee she'd been glaring at glared back. "I heard that," he called across the courtyard. "And it's not my fault you lunatics wouldn't know how to have a proper conversation if it ripped the nose off your face and spat it back in your eye. I'm not the weird one in the family. Everyone else in the lodge is INSANE! Mama is the only decent human being in the whole place."

"Sure," Dayna scathed (I literally couldn't describe the vitriol she imbued into that word as any other action). "Everyone else is the problem. You're the only reasonable person in the whole world."

"YES!" he screamed in exasperation. "I am!"

Marius sighed. "Alright you two, no fighting in front of our allies, please. Anyway, these others are the cream of the crop from the Lodge. Nasya, Drenk, Fala, Bellia, Eric, and Dan. Nasya and Bellia are twins, and god children to boot. Lord Verdyn's direct granddaughters, actually. But don't worry about them following orders, Lord Verdyn put me in charge personally, and everyone knows how crucial this mission is."

Chloe brightened. "Oh! Can I introduce ours? I know everybody. Most of them are friends or people I grew up with!"

A tall, silver haired woman smiled dotingly at her. "I think we should introduce ourselves, Chloe, I'm sure you'd rather be looking over there at that beautiful butterfly." She pointed casually and Chloe's eyes followed her finger…and she was gone. Brad sighed and followed behind her, making sure she wouldn't get into any trouble. "She means well," the woman apologized. "But I think things will go a bit faster if I make introductions. I'm Rosaline, a fellow member of the Order of Mercy. Sister Bernadette spoke quite highly of you, Mr. Mephistopheles."

I chuckled ruefully. "Please, just call me Shane." After the alliance was finalized, my identity had been officially recognized. As an honored guest, I was under The Lady's direct protection here, and given her recent return to power, no one would be stupid enough to try to take a shot while I was in her realm. She and Verdyn had also arranged S-rankers to accompany the strike team back to the WCP as an extra layer of security, even if it was unlikely anyone had time to worry about us when so much was going on up at the front lines.

"Shane, then," she nodded, her smile beatific. "My friends behind me from the Order of Mercy are Shenna and Dirk. From the Order of Abomination we have Treck and Dennan. And of course, Pardek from the Order of Punishment." She said the last like she had a bad taste in her mouth, which made sense given the Order of Mercy's antipathy for the punishers.

I nodded to everyone. "Welcome, all of you. We'll be traveling to the Wish Curse Palace in Wishworld, my home territory, and you'll all be my guests. I was led to believe there would be a couple elders coming along for security?"

Rosaline chuckled. "Father Michael will be accompanying us. He's notorious for being late to things."

"Lady Skara is going to be our escort," Marius chimed in. "She's waiting out on the Void Road. She prefers to remain out of sight, but she's dependable. She's Lord Verdyn's direct disciple, and was sent along to keep watch on the twins."

Dayne looked poleaxed. "L-Lady Skara…the Silver Sorrow?" she all but whispered the name. "I wasn't aware we'd have such a famous guardian."

"Get used to it," I grinned at her. "Don't forget, you're in the Wishmaster's circle now. We're interacting with the peak of the powers in the universe these days." I didn't make fun of her for geeking out, I'd had the same reaction to meeting some of my childhood heroes back in the conclave.

Within ten minutes Father Michael showed up and all of us were ready to set off. I couldn't help the surge of excitement at the thought of going home after such a long time traveling. I'd left to find us allies and end the war and I…kind of had. Maybe this wasn't how I'd expected things to go down, but I hadn't failed my mission either. I couldn't wait to see the faces on the council when I brought home the news of the legacy trial and set off with my cabinet to challenge the Overgod inheritance.

I was…conflicted about the results. From the perspective of the family, I had done my job, and done it well. I'd come back with THREE divine allies, not one, and the legacy ruins were an opportunity for us. Wyndham descendants all had a ton of stats, but the reason we only had a few more S-rankers than anyone else was because stats became both less and more important as you advanced.

More important in the sense that you needed exponentially more renown to move forward, but less in that you couldn't break through past D-rank without talent and ability. Your Solid Path, Chronicle, and even your Domain, were all things you decided for yourself rather than just pumping them up with wishes. With the legacy presumably geared at that form of advancement, the WCP in particular was in a position to benefit greatly from this mess. But it WAS a mess. A big one. That I caused.

The higher up I went, the murkier things got, and the less control I had over what happened around me. At this point, even the old man probably didn't know what was going on. We lived in interesting times, and that was good for growing but bad for peace.

But…was that mine to worry about? With this accomplishment under my belt, I'd be able to leverage the council to push through some of the reforms I had been thinking over. Maybe not enough to cancel the fosterage program yet, but enough that I could genuinely make things better for my relatives across the board. Was the danger of Drexel and now the legacy really too high a price to take care of the people I was responsible for?

As we made our way out onto the Void Road, I couldn't help but consider exactly where the universe was heading. I trusted the various factions to balance divine power enough to prevent universal ascension, at this point no one was going to want that. But what about AFTER this point? What about when the legacy trial closer, or was completed, or whatever would happen? Would the war just restart?

I'd bought us time, and I planned to use it wisely, but I couldn't help see the shadow of deeper things behind all this. I'd always thought that becoming stronger would give me a voice to speak and a higher vantage point, and it had, but as I swam into deeper and deeper waters, I could vaguely make out the silhouettes of great beasts swimming below. Not the sharks I had been watching for, but deeper and darker things, waiting to rise and swallow anything in their way.

Somehow, it felt like everything I did was stepping further and further down a path I didn't understand and couldn't see the end of. I was following road signs in the mist and I didn't know where I'd end up, and it was becoming increasingly clear that the people making the signs were working off an incomplete map.

My mind whirled in circles as we walked. Brad and Chloe chatted with Marius and the others joined in once in a while, but I didn't register the words. I couldn't stop thinking. Worrying. Planning. But every plan I came up with I had to just throw away. Countermeasures to threats I wasn't sure existed, contingencies for scenarios that would never happen. As I fretted though, I remembered something Zeke had told me once.

Bad things were going to happen. People were going to plot my downfall, enemies would try to kill me, and random danger would rear its head and do its best to take me out even if they didn't. But worrying about that would just be letting those forces beat me. If it was coming anyway, why double the time I spent suffering by worrying about it. I needed to be ready, but not dwell on it. React, don't anticipate.

The older I got, the more I understood my uncle, and the more I wish I didn't. This world was so dangerous, and my friends and family were in so much danger. When could I finally find some peace? Was becoming the Wishmaster not ENOUGH? Didn't that buy me even a second of breathing room?

I felt someone put a hand on my shoulder, and turned to see Dayna smiling at me sadly. "You know, you need room on your shoulders for your head. If you keep putting the weight of the world up there you're not going to have any space."

Chuckling, I said ruefully. "I was just thinking about-"

"I can guess," she cut me off. "Or at least I have a broad spectrum of guesses. But you don't need to be. This is over for now, and there's more on the horizon. Take the quiet moments when you have them. If you're waiting for the universe to stop kicking you when you're down, you'll be waiting the rest of your life. You have to MAKE your moments of peace."

That…that was true. I blinked at her in surprise. "That's surprisingly reasonable for you. Your big brother talking some sense into you?"

She snorted. "The opposite, if anything. No, that bit of wisdom was from…" she grimaced. "Bobby. He might not be completely pointless all the time. Even if he's frustrating and obnoxious."

"I have relatives like that," I laughed. "I know exactly what you mean." I glanced around us. "We're almost home. You ready to go back to working for Bethy?"

"Is anyone really READY to work for someone like Bethy?" she grinned happily. "I think it's more something you just accept. I definitely miss it though. And I'm looking forward to introducing her to my brothers. Let THEM deal with being badgered to the point of insanity." We laughed together, then settled into an easy, comfortable silence as we continued our trip. We were almost home.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

Stepping through the back door into the library felt like…well, like coming home. I was half worried the old man wouldn't let us all in this way, given it was a direct line to his seat of power, but I shouldn't have been. The library WAS his seat of power, and where he spent his time personally. No S-ranker was capable of stirring up trouble in the heart of Wishworld with my ancestor standing right there.

When I entered, I found my grandfather waiting for us. Malachai nodded casually to me and then accepted the rest of the guests, offering to guide them back to the palace proper. Then he left and I was alone. I knew where to go, of course, and made my way to the old man's location.

He was sitting at a table, rifling through books as usual, and he looked up when I arrived. "I don't know whether to congratulate you or send you to your room without supper," he said dryly. "You never do things by half, do you? Well, I suppose we gave you a job and you accomplished it. So…good job?"

"Atlas contacted you?" I asked as I dropped down into a surprisingly comfortable chair across the table from him. Having met Atlas, Drexel, Deveskane, and the Lady, I found it hard to muster up much awe for the divine these days. Not to mention this was my family's old man, he wasn't going to smite me for being a little informal. In fact, I could see a shimmer of approval in his eyes as he rolled them at my behavior.

"He did," the old man confirmed. "He offered to send a few Asura along as part of the strike force. Felicity was in touch as well. Charming woman. Very…operatic."

I snorted at the description, which was admittedly extremely accurate. "And yet, you'll still want me to go over everything that happened myself, won't you?" He just smiled at me blandly. I sighed and then started recounting the whole adventure from day one. He nodded along, clearly intrigued, and finally, dismissed me, telling me to come back the next day.

Of course, I didn't need to be told twice. I thanked him and then got up to leave. I was tired. I wanted to go home and sleep. Back in my suite, back in my bed.

When I stepped out of the library though, I was amused to find that I wasn't going to be sleeping anytime soon. "SHANE!" squealed an ecstatic vampire as she cannonballed through the air, slamming into me and snaking her arms and legs around me like an octopus as she made contact. "You're back!"

Cackling, I caught myself against the wall and grabbed Bethy in a headlock, reaching down to mess up her hair.

Gasping in outrage, she tried to squirm free, but I ACTUALLY managed to hold onto her for a minute before she struggled out, dancing away gracefully and pouting at me. "Why are you so STRONG?" she demanded furiously. "I'm ALWAYS stronger than you! Even with your dumb wings you're not supposed to be that strong!"

I actually wasn't. That had been extremely difficult for me to manage, but I'd done it MOSTLY by abusing my new Vitality. Sammael plus my current peak C-rank Might was BARELY enough to pull that off. The only reason I managed was that I was exerting MAXIMUM force with every ounce of my strength, using my overwhelming Vitality advantage to keep up the output. Even so, it was deeply satisfying, and I couldn't help but laugh as Bethy stomped her foot piquishly.

"Sorry," I told her in amusement. "You and Chelsea making things official means you're officially my little sister now too. You're just lucky you escaped before I could manage e noogie."

The pout intensified. "You're mean. And if your knuckles touch my scalp I'm going to bite you."

"Where is my sister, anyway?" according to Callie, Chelse hadn't ended up going to the front lines, rather, my grandparents had come HERE. Bethy, as my Master of Challenge, had needed to stick around, and Chelsea hadn't wanted to be separated from her girlfriend (she, Bethy, and Gabe were officially what Bethy called a "throuple", a word I was sure she'd invented herself). Though my parents and wife were on the battlefront, Callie had her own teachers, and my grandparents hadn't felt too much need to make an appearance, given Uncle Moon's presence.

Bethy shrugged. "I dunno. She usually has training. I've been pretty busy lately working on my new grape orchard. Did you know that as Master of Challenge, I can just TAKE property from people I don't like? I mean, the elders said I can't, but I told them to shut up and did it anyway."

I put a hand on my face, sighing deeply. "WHO did you take property from?"

"Some jerk was talking bad about Vicky behind her back, calling her a defective," she shrugged. "So I took his house."

I paused for a moment. "I'm…actually ok with that. Good work."

She preened. "I'm the BEST Master of Challenge. I've beat up tons of people for being mean. Also, Crell told me to tell you to come see him when you get back. There have been some complaints."

"Gee," I said dryly. "I wonder what about. So, you said you made an orchard? In a house?"

"No, silly," she scoffed. "I demolished the house. House materials are very nutritious for grape vines. Orchards need good bones."

I chuckled. "I don't think either of those things are true, but if you have any non-blood grapes I'd love to try them." I was a big fan of green grapes, actually, but it was hard to get them at JUST the perfect ripeness. "So, how did Dante do? He pull off the body double thing ok?"

"Yeah, no one noticed you were gone," she assured me. "He didn't need to do much, just make an occasional appearance. He spent MOST of his time in the pits fighting with Abel."

It was crazy to me that it had only been a month or so since I left. As Bethy chattered away, she made it clear that everyone had settled into their new roles pretty well. It was like I had never left. The difference in the content of their month and my month was staggering. For them, four weeks had flown by, just relaxing and living their lives, and for me, I'd ended a war, potentially started another, unleashed a Mindplague, and accidentally unsealed an Overgod inheritance.

By the time she was done talking, we'd arrived at my suite, and I was thrilled to find both my sister and my grandparents waiting for me. "Grandma, grandpa!" I said with a wide grin, taking off my mask. "I didn't expect to see you guys when I got back!" I stepped forward to hug each of them, then turned and put my arms around my twin. "You either, I heard you insisted on doing your training here to be close to your GIRLFRIEND."

"What are you, five," she huffed, pushing me away with a roll of her eyes. "And you can't mock me for having a girlfriend you half-wit, you're MARRIED. Speaking of which, I've been instructed by mom to mention grandchildren. At first I thought she just wanted a baby to dote on because she missed your childhood, but I'm starting to think she just really wants Callie's wings in the family."

Laughing, I walked over and slumped down on my couch with a groan. Even in my armor, it felt like flopping down on a fluffy cloud. Home at last. "So," my grandfather said as he sat down in a chair across from me. "Catch us up on your trip? See anything interesting?"

"Your grandfather is a big proponent of adventures," Celia said dryly. "He hasn't been free to go on many of his own since he hit S-rank. Too much responsibility in the church."

I chuckled at her dry tone. She didn't seem actually exasperated, just intent on poking fun. "Yeah, I saw a few things. You ever been to the Chaos Chasm?" I asked him with a wide grin. "It's pretty crazy down there."

His eyes widened. "What? No! It's so deep in the Void, I'd never be able to get through unnoticed. You saw it? What was it like?"

"Like a big hole in reality," I shrugged. "But there were a few weird things." I started telling them all about my trip. Unlike with the old man, I didn't report the events clinically, and I found myself focused on entirely different aspects of my journey. Things like sights I'd seen, people I'd met, foods I'd tried. I wasn't the Wishmaster reporting to a pair of S-ranked allies, I was just Shane, telling my grandparents about my month.

Sadly, all good things must end. I couldn't afford to bury the lede forever, and I finally filled them in on everything that had gone wrong.

To my surprise, Bethy was the one who got most excited. "A VAMPIRE princess?" she squealed excitedly. "Oh my gods, that makes us like sisters. And she's Callie's sister. So Callie and I are SISTERS! Now I'm everybody's sister!" She threw back her head and cackled manically. "Fools, I'm feeding on your very bloodline without taking a bite! I'm turning you all into my thralls by the transitive property!"

"That's…not how that works," I said slowly. "I think? You can't feed off people symbolically."

I was ALMOST sure that was true. Bethy just giggled, and I couldn't tell if that was because she was joking or because she WASN'T joking. I was pretty sure it was the former, but it was hard to tell with her.

Chelsea rolled her eyes. "She can't, and wouldn't if she could. She just likes being the center of attention."

I briefly wondered if Bethy could actually FEED on drama, because I was pretty sure that was a Maenad thing. It would explain so much of her behavior. I knew she still had to drink blood, but it was definitely an interesting possibility.

"Anyway," I laughed. "I appreciate the distraction. I'm going to be getting some sleep, and then I need you to gather the cabinet and all our other friends that are nearby. We have to set off for the legacy trial first thing." I was planning to bring the C-rankers with us too. If there was an internal trial system and such a vague limit for attendees, I suspected this would be an opportunity that didn't depend solely on rank. In fact, I was pretty sure Azazel was the one feeding me that information. Still, we had to actually get there. "The frontlines aren't close by, and it'll take time to arrive, even with the Acheron." I glanced at my grandmother. "Which I hope we can use?"

"Of course," she said dismissively. "I'll have my father lend some of the church's kids the use of his personal ship. He'll want our people represented. In fact, I'll need to contact mom as well. I suspect she already knows, but she'll be devastated if she knows I didn't try to involve her."

I sighed, but didn't argue. My great grandmother had been much more tolerable since my mission to Rackham. I hadn't interacted with her much (which was my preference) but we weren't on bad terms last I checked. Her people would most likely be helpful for the strike team, assuming we were even able to stick together inside, which I was hoping was the case.

Of course, we wouldn't leave RIGHT away. I needed to check in on everything, and I had a meeting with the council of elders about my trip. I was going to use the opportunity to push through some of my reforms.

But after that…it would be time to get back on the road. This time though, I wasn't nearly as exhausted by the idea. Home was nice enough, but it was just a place. I'd lived lots of places. But seeing my parents. My wife? THAT I couldn't wait for. Not to mention I suspected Benny and Jessie would be meeting us there after my messages. Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, my whole team would be back together.