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

[Malcolm Tent]

strode out the door fast enough to be noticeably hurrying but not fast enough to seem panicked. Mephistopheles was a methodical, implacable kind of guy, and I wanted to really cement that image.

Rayden caught up to me within seconds, jogging without any worries about image. Lucky bastard. "Hey, Fist-o! Wait up."

"I have changed my mind." I intoned. "I do care how you address me. You will refrain from using such a ridiculous moniker for my person." I didn't mind Fist that much, but Fist-o wasn't anything I wanted to go by.

"You got it Fisty." He said with a thumbs up. "I'll keep going through nicknames until we find the perfect one. It'll be Fisteriffic."

I almost groaned out loud. It was like dealing with Bethy. Actually it wasn't, Rayden wasn't half as endearing. I really missed my vampire bestie. And Benny, and Jessie. But I shook that off. If the act of talking to people made me homesick, I needed to socialize more than I thought. I sighed. "Fist-o is acceptable."

"No can do Fisterino." He chirped. "I refuse to call you something that you so clearly hate. I'll never use the name Fist-o again. We'll find you the perfect nickname Fistocles."

"Oh look." I drawled as we rounded a corner. "A distraction."

His head whipped around, his lips peeling back in delight as he watched what appeared to be a giant green ferret made of lightning jump on a towering figure with the head of a bull as it tried to smash the beast into the ground. It dissolved into a shower of verdant sparks as the bull man roared his anger.

"Puddles!" Shouted a green haired girl in a green leather jacket. "Tanner, what the actual fuck? It takes him hours to reform when he gets destroyed, what are you waiting for?"

A figure appeared behind bull man, climbing his back and reaching around with a dagger to try to hook back and slit his throat. The knife got caught in his fur and he reached back, grabbing the formerly invisible guy and hurling him at a nearby building. The armored sneak hit the shadows of the building and melted in, and I heard the green girl sigh.

"Fools!" Boomed the minotaur. "You speak to me as equals? I will crush you all!"

I knew Mephistopheles wouldn't do anything. He would probably just watch and enjoy the show…but I was still Shane in real life. I was a hero, or I tried to be, and I wasn't going to let this big asshole crush these people because they'd TALKED to him informally. My instincts were screaming at me to help, and I tried to listen to my gut. Withdrawing my staff, I stepped forward, and I reached for Limbo.
Despite the month of training, I hadn't gotten much of an opportunity to work with Limbo. It didn't work on people too far above my rank, and most of my sparring partners were. Still, I'd been workshopping the pseudo Domain. After a month of backstopping and tweaking the imagery, I'd managed to refine the ability into something both more useful, and more deadly.

As I stepped into the First Circle of Hell, I felt the world around me shift. Not overly much, not a full change. It was less like a real Domain and more like a film I'd laid over the world that lubricated my powers a bit.

My mind split. Piece of Mind creating parallels of me to parse the information from a combination of the Overlay and Eye of Revelation.

The last time I'd used this ability my mistake had been following the narrative in the heat of the moment. I hadn't done my due diligence, hadn't shaped the pseudo Domain to be what I needed, and so it shaped me. This time though, I'd done the work, come up with the legend I needed, and I had tied it intimately into who I was.

Moonlit Night to set the stage, Eye of Revelation and the Overlay to predict their actions, Piece of Mind to parse the multitudes of possibility, and the hyper corrosive black flame of Belial and Mephistopheles to destroy the other options.

Rather than manipulate him with the Domain like a puppetmaster, i identified the possible outcomes, and used the power of my destructive energy to eradicate the paths they had until they walked the one I wanted. I still controlled and deceived, but this was more in like not only with my destructive side, but with my Fatewalker nature.

The minotaur spun, roaring at me, and I saw a thousand reactions, blazing through my head like an infinite map. In a feat I wouldn't have been able to do without my pseudo Domain (I was just going to start thinking of it as a lowercase D domain for ease of consideration) I saw all the possible outcomes, parsed and analyzed them as a dozen people, and discarded the ones I didn't want.

My staff licked out, explosions of dark energy destroying possible outcomes as I boxed the minotaur in, getting rid of possibilities before they could be realized and slowly constraining the big bastard to dance on my string like a puppet. I felt that cold, sadistic joy well up in me again, but it was muted this time, balanced by the Fatewalker and by my own new and more powerful soul.

The bull man roared, diving forward…into my staff. An explosion knocked him back, and he fell right onto a strike as I Double Troubled behind him. Every step was like destiny, implacable, inevitable. I wasn't just beating him. I was making him beat himself, smashing into my staff at the exact right time.

It took only a few seconds for him to drop, flesh sizzling and burning from my powerful dark corruption. Everyone around us was just staring at me as I let the First Circle recede, the domain returning to where it came from. I felt a surge of weakness after it was gone, but not enough to seriously bother me. Much more manageable than before.

Rayden whistled. "Damn Fist, that was fucking brutal. Did you guys see that? That was some 'quit hitting yourself' type of shit."

I almost laughed, before I remembered I was playing tall dark and brooding, so I just loomed ominously. The one upside to the shock and awe approach I'd taken was it had been so overwhelming people had forgotten to ask WHY I'd done it. I probably just seemed like I wanted to kick the shit out of some huge powerful Ascendant.

"That really WAS awesome!" Chriped the green haired girl. "Thanks for the save, big guy. I'm Vesper, and that over there is Tanner. Puddles is my summon, though he's gone, and our friend Archimedes was setting up a big attack to take down the beefcake over there." She gestured at bull guy. "Still, it was really nice of you to lend a hand."

Shaking my head, I boomed. "I simply wished to test my strength against a worthy foe. Your fates were immaterial to me."

She chuckled. "Whatever you say, big guy. I can tell you're a big softie deep down."

"Right?" laughed Rayden. "He's definitely a nice guy. I can tell." He grinned charmingly, holding out a hand. Rayden Strent, at your service milady." He leaned down to kiss her knuckles and she rolled her eyes, though she smiled at a bit at the gesture. "I was just about to step in to help.

Desria snorted, her seaweed hair drifting oddly on the light breeze in a way that resembled actual underwater plants. "Can you not be a shameless flirt, for like…five minutes, Ray. These people are probably our competition. I'm guessing you guys are here for the selection like we are?"

Vesper shrugged nervously. "I mean…maybe? I'm not sure. My faction is kind of under a lot of pressure. I'm from a system near here, and when I heard about this…I don't know if I really have any other options, but a lot of these gods don't really sit right with me. I'm still deciding on whether we're going to enter."

"We are." Said another voice as a tall blonde man with broad shoulders stepped into view. Over one shoulder he was carrying a massive war maul, the head glowing with condensed power. Archimedes, I took it, and that would be his big hit. The fact that it was still teed up was a bit alarming, and I immediately went on guard.

Rayden seemed not to care, and Desria remained relaxed, but Cavallo, the big quiet aqua haired member of their trio, narrowed his blood red eyes at the other warrior, sizing him up.
Vesper glared at the blonde. "We decide that TOGETHER, Archie. And we haven't. Tanner and I are still on the fence, so unless you want to go it alone you'll wait for us to make a decision. I don't appreciate you trying to bully us into falling in line.

"Tell you what." Rayden said cheerfully. "Why don't we treat you all to a bit of food. We were just going to break bread and get to know our terrifying friend here before your fight caught us off guard." His tone was bright and inviting and I felt kind of…confused.

This wasn't going how I expected. I thought everyone who showed up here would be an edgy lunatic hell bent on crushing people under their boot. These people all seemed…nice. Just friendly Ascendants my own age. Sure the minotaur was a dick, but that still wasn't like…evil. These people were here for their own reasons, and they weren't all bloodthirsty monsters like I'd expected.

But that didn't matter, really. I was still going to have to get through them to win this. To beat them all so I could be free of my great grandmother and my family could be back together. Granted, my dad would still probably be off doing whatever until I kicked his ass and dragged him back, but being able to go visit my grandfather in the Holy Dominion, see where my sister grew up. It all sounded like a dream.

So I firmed my resolve and settled into my character, but I also promised myself I wouldn't ignore this feeling either. Callie was there with me, her love and support giving me the resolve to do what I could for these people. People like Vesper and Rayden might be decent despite their desperate situations, and if they were, I would help them.

I could have Sorana pick them up on the Acheron when I left if I felt they were worth saving. So I followed the group back to the tavern, and we all sat down and ordered. I got some shepherds pie and a mug of root beer, and everyone was suitably terrified when they saw my mask mouth open.

After we decompressed a bit and got to know each other, I turned my attention to something Vesper had said. After a brief pause, I finally asked. "Tell me about 'the selection' as you call it. Tell me what you know of those who are chosen."

Vesper chuckled. "Seems like its the least we owe you. We can do that. I don't know how much it'll help though. We just heard a rumor and came here on a whim. I THINK someone said something about the selection happening in Deltaverde, but the trip there is taking us a while." She coughed in embarrassment. "We're not used to B-rank planets."

I got that, though I couldn't say so. Rayden had no such compunction, however. "Yeah there's an adjustment period. Don't worry, you can stick with us. We can track down Deltaverde together. Once things kick off we might be rivals, but there's no reason not to work together until then." He grinned at me. "You're invited too, big guy." I thought for a second and then nodded. Having some help certainly couldn't hurt. I'd take what I could get.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

"So you're making new friends?" Asked Callie as I leaned back against the wall. She'd manifested a copy through my shadow, and it was curled up next to me. "Because I'll be honest honey, you can be an acquired taste at times." She winked at me. "I joke, but seriously, new friends are always good."

"Unless they're evil psychopaths who are going to end up being our enemies." I pointed out.

She shrugged. "Do they seem like psychopaths? I trust your divination Skills to keep you out of trouble, and as long as they don't try to stab you in the back, I don't see why you couldn't offer them a spot with one of your factions. You know your mom and Chelsea would be perfectly happy to scout some new talent."

"We'll see. I have to get to know them better." I was still in my armor, but with my mask off I felt more myself. It was strange how much that aspect of things had changed. I used to feel naked without it, but since Black Sorrow changed it, it didn't feel like mine anyway. I was going to have to ask Zeke to make me a better one when this was over. "Speaking of Chelsea, how is she doing?"

My wife snickered. "Not bad. She's learning to use both her abilities, and to try to slowly mix them in combat. Bethy keeps trying to 'help' and Chelsea gets flustered when she's around and accidentally blows herself up."

"That sounds like her." I snickered. "How about Abel? Anyone heard from him?"

Her snicker became a full on cackle. "He calls Mel to complain like every day. I'm sure they talk through their bond too, so I think he just wants to make sure we all hear about how pissed off he is. Apparently Morgan is not a gentle teacher."

My own grin matched hers in sadistic amusement. "Gosh." I drawled maliciously. "That's so sad. I can't imagine what it would be like to suffer at the hands of a cruel and capricious teacher. It certainly wasn't my INTENTION for him to suffer in such a way. I'll keep him in my thoughts."

She rolled her eyes, and was about to respond when a knock sounded at my door. I tensed, grabbing my mask and sliding it back on. I hadn't heard anyone coming, which meant Stealth, and my Danger Sense wasn't pinging so they weren't hostile. I came to my feet slowly, nodding to Callie as the clone melted back into shadow. She couldn't help me from where she was, those clones being far too fragile for a prolonged long distance fight.

After mentally preparing, I strolled to the door and pulled it open, glaring down at the person on the other side. "What?" I snapped.

The figure before me simply stared back, unaffected by my ire. "Mephistopheles." Came the voice from under the darkened hood like the rustle of dead leave over a cold gravestone. "You are requested in the dining room." The face beneath the cloak wasn't visible, but a mask was. A half face mask carved of black wood to resemble the top half of a skull, with bright red eyes that cast a dim glow over the unrelieved darkness inside the hood. It gave the impression the mask was floating in an empty abyss, and was deeply unsettling.

"And who are you," I intoned. "To command me in such a way?"

"Attend or do not." Rasped the figure. "But know that if you choose to defy the invitation, you will forfeit all rights to the divine selection. The eyes of the dark gods are on this world. Your trials have already begun, and they watch carefully. Be warned, for if you are not a willing vessel for their power, your only choice is to bow to their awful might by force, and for those who stand against their fury, only tragedy awaits."

There was a flutter in the air, and the figure dissolved into a few drifting black feathers, which vanished as they touched the ground. I rolled my eyes. "Melodramatic ass." I muttered as I turned to head for the stairs.

To my complete lack of surprise, Vesper, Archie, Rayden, Desria, Cavallo, and Tanner were all converging at the top of the steps. We'd all chosen to stay in the same inn, though obviously our rooms had some distance between them. Still, thinking back, I should have heard the hooded figure addressing any of the others, or even knocking on their door. Whatever the thing was, it had some interesting tricks.

Thinking about it, I suspected he might be some kind of servant of Delthrys, the god of secrets. It would certainly fit.

"Fist!" Called Rayden as I joined them. "Good to see you got the call too. Anyone know anything about creepy mcweirdmask back there? Because I tried a few of my analysis Skills and I got jack and shit."

Archie shook his head in annoyance. "Likewise." He grunted. "But they did give me a fun little ultimatum. I take it we're all heading downstairs to meet with our new friend now?"

"I chafe under their assumptions." I rumbled. "But I came for the selection. To throw away my chance for greatness to sate some fleeting sense of personal pride is pure foolishness. I will attend this conclave."

Vesper nodded. "Pretty much where we landed. We should stick together then. Just in case our new friend has impure intentions."

Nodding solemnly, we all got into a tight grouping, though not so tight as to limit range of movement. We were all experienced, and Archie, Cavallo, and I took the front, being the biggest. I triggered Mornax along with my two consistently active forms, just in case something attacked.

We reached the ground floor, and the whole place was shockingly empty. An almost blue moonlight flooded the area from the windows, leaving dark shadows pooling everywhere. We headed for the dining room, and when we arrived, the cloaked figure was standing among the tables, hands clasped behind their back.

"Well, we're here." Said Rayden. "It's late though, so if there's a version of this where you don't posture dramatically and waste a bunch of time, can we go with that one? Also what's your name, because I can't just keep calling you 'creepy mask guy' in my head. We already have one of those and it's getting confusing."

The figure paused menacingly. "You may address me as you wish, my name matters no-"

"Cool, you're Scott now." Interrupted Rayden. "Problem solved. Now, what are you doing here, Scott, and what do you want?"

The pause this time was less menacing and more confused. "I…yes. Well. I have come to extend your invitations to the selection, as well as give you your first task. To serve the dark gods is an honor that not just any may accept. You must prove your worthiness."

"Worthiness?" Rayden said skeptically. "How high can the bar be? I mean, you're worthy, and your name is Scott. That's a ridiculous name."

"You don't…please stop calling me that." The cloaked figure formerly known as Scott sounded frustrated. "Take this seriously. Your very lives hang in the balance."

Rayden snorted. "Yeah, because that's an unfamiliar set of circumstances."

"Look, what is the task?" I asked, figuring I'd better interrupt Ray before he got up a head of steam. I'd learned to handle unpredictable teammates when I'd been working with Bethy. Sometimes you just had to make them focus.

Not-Scott nodded, clearly pleased. "Very good. At least one of you is treating this situation with the gravitas it deserves." His tone was almost reproachful, and I smirked behind my mask, seeing that Rayden had done exactly what he'd probably intended to do, and taken the wind out of Not-Scott's creepy sails.

"Exactly." I boomed. "So tell us what we need to know, Not-Scott."

Rayden burst out laughing, and I could swear the masked figure glared at me. "My NAME," They hissed. "Is Echelon. I serve Delthrys, the god of secrets, and he is not amused by your antics!"

"Oh please." Snorted Desria. "There's no way an actual god is giving us enough attention to care about this conversation. So just tell us what the task is."
The figure glared for a moment, then sighed. With a snap of their fingers, a series of birds coalesced (ravens, of course, because what else would a creepy masked cloak person use) they flew to us, each dropping a small scroll. I snatched mine out of the air, and after opening and reading it, looked back up at Echelon. "Its a person." I said flatly.

"Of course." Echelon said with a nod. "A target. Delthys is one of the six whom you may serve. The first trial shall weed out those who might stand at his side. Every person in the trials is given a target. You have three days to find them. Should you fail, you will be barred forever from service to Delthrys, and all that he may grant you, though you will not be precluded from the other trials. Those who succeed most quickly will more on to Delthrys's next trial."

I blinked at her. "So this trial has no benefit for those who seek to serve a different deity?"

Echelon shook their head. "Not so. If you succeed in a trial, you may use that success to offset a failure for the first trial of another deity. The top scorer in any first trial may even beg intercession from that god for aid in another trial down the line, even if that trial is for a different god."

That sounded complicated as hell. That meant there would be, eventually, six different selections going on all over Rackham. I could blow some of them off, but if they were all thematic…having a free pass for the Lady of Lamentation's task might be a good idea. As a goddess of torment, there was a chance it would be incredibly unpleasant.

Having a free intercession from the god of secrets could certainly come in handy. I was just really hoping the Lady of Lamentations had some other domain than torturing people, or I wasn't going to make it through this.

I glanced down at my target. For now I just had to find this guy. Chester Baddington, professional thief and a D-ranker on the Path of Stealth. Fantastic. Echelon, seemingly ignorant or uncaring of my mental dilemma, turned their back to us. "And so your task has been passed. The first task of the next trial will commence in one week's time. Some of you will not bother to move on, and will serve at the hand of Delthrys. For the rest, this will be the last time we meet."

Echelon vanished in a puff of raven feathers, and we all turned to each other. "So…" Said Rayden. "Did he say anything about us helping each other? I bet teaming up would make this way easier."

I considered the trial, and the god behind it. "I think not." I said slowly. "Not on this one. At least not yet. Perhaps if we run into difficulty on day one. Is anyone planning not to bother with the task?"

No one was. It made sense, it was a big opportunity for some free credit in case our task down the line was too hard or painful. That thought resonated oddly. Too painful. The Lady of Lamentation was a goddess of torment, though based on her liquid, probably also corruption. What if her task was to ENDURE those things. I felt my blood run cold at that. In some ways it would be easier, but in others…yeah, I definitely needed to make sure I had a free pass for the first trial for the goddess I was aiming at. I had a feeling it would be one of the hardest to endure. Before that though, I had to do some research, because if I was going to pass any of these trials, I needed to know more about the dark gods.

https://www.patreon.com/malcolmtent/posts?filters[tag]=WUTS

 

[Malcolm Tent]

"So, is anyone else hungry?" Asked Rayden. "Because I'm starving. Being menaced at makes me ravenous. Besides, you don't want to team up, but maybe we can share info. I'm the best at sharing info. I share everyone's info. Desria collects stuffed turtles, and Cavallo is obsessed with baking."

"Ray!" Snapped Desria in an annoyed voice. "That's a secret, it also does NOT make you seem more trustworthy. Literally the exact opposite of that." She sigh and gave me a small smile. "Sorry about him. He means well, but sometimes his brain and his mouth aren't speaking, even when his mouth definitely is."

I shrugged, not wanting to break character but unbothered. "His blathering has no effect on me." I intoned.

"Speaking of you." Ray brightened. "What's up with your ability? That was a Domain right? But it felt unfinished. Also kind of creepy. Like…a bit demonic, but something else? What the hell is your power?"

Shrugging, I brushed it aside with a half truth. "I'm from the Black Sorrow Cult, but I never wanted to touch Black Sorrow's disgusting darkness, so I followed in my father's footsteps. He was a devil." This wasn't much of a concession to admit, the Cult interacted with the devils a lot, and there were plenty of hybrids in their territory.

His eyes widened in delight. "Oh my gods." He whispered reverently. "You have devil powers even though you're not a devil? You're just like Devilghost!"

Vesper's head shot up and she squealed in excitement. "You're right! He's totally like Devilghost! I can't believe I didn't see it before. I mean he doesn't have a horse, but still, they're so similar!"

"What is a…Devilghost?" I asked warily.

They stared at me in horror. "Devilghost?" Asked Vesper in disbelief. "The Specter of Salvation?" She took a deep breath and belted out. "He rides upon a fiery steed, his powers helping those in need, his claws will make his enemies bleed, DEVILGHOST!" Rayden stood up as she did, throwing their hands into the air as they howled the last word of what had to be some kind of theme song in unison.

Desria sighed. "He's a cartoon character native to this cluster. A lot of the systems nearby have a shared broadcast network, this planet doesn't because it's more Imperial than Conglomerate."

"Ah." I said slowly. "I'm from Cult territory, as I said. And I do not know anything about…Devilghost. In fact, I'm ignorant of a great many things, including the identities of all the dark gods. I know of a few, but perhaps we might exchange information and you could share your own knowledge of our potential benefactors."

Rayden slumped, pouting petulantly. "You're boring. Devilghost is way more fun than you. Devilghost would totally team up with us. And he would use his flames of spectral revealing to burn away the obstruction in our path so we could all find our targets like…today."

"Nuh uh!" Snapped Vesper. "Devilghost would tell us it was too dangerous, he never puts the innocent at risk."

"I will literally pay you money if you stop talking about this." I groaned, belatedly realizing that had been WAY out of character, even if it had still been in my demonic voice. Everyone turned to stare at me in shock. I flinched. I'd just gotten so comfortable with their bullshitting, it was almost like being back with my friends. "I mean…your prattling becomes tiresome."

Desria snorted. "Oh no." She laughed. "Cats out of the bag big man. You don't get to go back to being the brooding mystery behemoth now. The whole tall dark and gloomy thing was getting old anyway."

"Fine." I snapped, throwing up my hands. "But don't tell anyone else. Not that the fact that I'm being pretentious on purpose would mean anything to anybody, but I want to keep up the role in public. Now can you PLEASE tell me more about the dark gods. I've got four of them down, how about you."

Rayden looked devastated. "Man, you're even less like Devilgho-" I cut him off, pointing at him angrily. "Whatever. Fine. We know about two of them."

"And so do we." Vesper said. "So assuming we don't have more than one overlap, maybe we can learn about them all. Which ones do you know about…what did Ray call you again? Fist?" I realized I hadn't been introduced with the others.

"Mephistopheles." I said flatly. "But Fist is fine, as long as you don't make any weird nicknames out of it. As for the gods I know of, as I said, there are four. One of them you know about already, Delthrys, God of Secrets. He's running this trial."

She nodded. "We hadn't heard of him before now. We came to try to work under Verdyn, the god of the Blood Forest. He's the patron deity anything that dies in the forest. It's a whole big 'man's darkest nature makes them no better than beasts' thing."

I filed that one away, since I hadn't heard of him. "I'm here to serve Felicity, the Lady of Lamentations. She's a deity of torment." I didn't elaborate, because I didn't KNOW much more. At their skeptical glances, I shrugged. "What?You guys didn't come here to pledge your service to the god of fluffy puppies either. They're dark deities, some edge is to be expected."

She shrugged. "Fine. Our other one is obvious. Hatescream is kind of a gimme, since he's the big boss around here."

I nodded solemnly. "Good to hear. Stralthrem is the Dread God of Fabrication. Some kind of mad scientist monster maker I think? I don't know the details."

"It's more than we know." Said Cavallo, who had been mostly silent this whole time. "Our last one is Raxus, god of deceit. We don't know much about him for obvious reasons. I'm not sure how deceit varies from secrets, however, they seem similar."

"They should." Said Ray. "They're twins. At least I think so. He's the one we're here for." He paused. "Also, sorry for the look earlier I guess, I don't think ours is any nicer than yours. But yeah, I heard Raxus had a twin, I just didn't know who it was. That makes the most sense."

I sighed. "It does. If I had to guess while this trial is about digging up secrets, Raxus's will probably be some kind of infiltration thing. Who knows. I'm just worried about what Felicity's trial might be. It's either going to be monstrous or VERY painful. I suspect the latter. It's easy to find murderous bastards, but people who can survive torture are harder to source. Seems like a more interesting quality for a goddess to search for."

My instincts were pushing me in that direction, and while that wasn't anywhere near proof, it at least helped me calm down a bit. Sure, undergoing horrible torment to pass sucked, but I had ways to mitigate that. I'd been through some awful shit, and my pain tolerance was solid. At least I wouldn't have to do anything really monstrous to another person. Hopefully.

With the details out of the way we finally had a chance to get some food. No one seemed to be in the inn except for us, or if they were we didn't detect them. So we raided the kitchen and Ray left some chits behind while I made steaks.

It soothed me to do some cooking, and carefully pan searing the steaks in butter made me feel like I was home with Callie. I reached through the bond and felt her answer me, glad to sense me and missing me as I missed her. With a wry grin, I opened the bond in a way I hadn't tried before, inhaling the scent of cooking meat, and I felt a slash of scolding faux outrage and sullen poutiness.

Not laughing at her reaction was a bit of a struggle, but I made sure to send some affection, and got grudging forgiveness along with a warning feeling that I was pretty sure was a promise of vengeance.

Her presence retreated back into the bond, always with me, but it was less…well, present. I finished the steaks and brought them to the dining room, dropping the plate piled high with meat onto the table. "I did what I could." I shrugged. "The meat here isn't amazing quality. It's a little lean for my taste and it's only F-rank."

Not that I was surprised. This was a small place, E and D-ranked meat was far too upscale for them to keep on hand in their stores. I took a bite and grimaced somewhat. It wasn't BAD, but it wasn't great.
To my surprise, everyone else froze when they bit into their food. "Holy shit, this amazing!" Shouted Ray. "Fist you're a culinary genius!"

I shrugged. "It's just pan seared in butter. If I'd had time I could have done a marinade. I was able to use a very light touch of corrosion to tenderize the meat. Don't worry though, the skill fades when I dismiss it." It was one of the possible uses for my Skills I'd picked up on the Acheron. I was surprised they liked it so much though.

Although…I'd been eating food from a master chef recently. For the last month I'd only been ingesting professional quality meals, so my own read on what was good might be off.

Vesper shook her head. "He's right. This is fantastic. I've never had food this good."

"I have." Said Cavallo. "But not often. This is an exceptionally well prepared meal." I nodded to him, and he returned to eating with a slow, methodical intensity that I was pretty sure meant he was trying to reverse engineer my exact steps when cooking the steak.

"Well, if we're already sharing a meal, why not share a bit about ourselves." Said Vesper cheerfully. "We know each other's names, but not much else. If we might work together in the future, even if it's once we all pass the selection, it might be a good idea to make some new friends."

Ray nodded slowly. "That's a good idea. Well, I'm local, as you might have guessed. Not to this planet, but to the cluster. Me and the twins are from Crayton Seven. And no, I don't know why they decided to name all eight of the planets in our system the same thing. It's super rare because of how confusing it gets, but hey, I didn't name them."

"You named one of them." Said Desria with a grin. "Or renamed it anyway. Your family had to have smuggled off world when the governor found out it was you who started it."

He shrugged. "In my defense, I had no idea Shitworld was going to catch on. Sure, it was accurate, but come on people, have some decorum. Anyway, I wasn't really the kind of person who would fit in with the Empire, and I find the Unity kind of pointless and childish. When I got wind of the selection I decided to give it a shot."

Desria chuckled. "We don't let him go anywhere alone, since he has zero filter and tends to get into trouble." I remembered Jerry the guard mentioning someone with eyes like Ray and knew what she meant.

"We're local too. We're from this system actually." Said Vesper. "We're looking for a chance to change our fortunes a bit. No powerful factions nearby, so we can't join anyone. When we heard about the selection we knew it was our big chance. But…well, with the whole dark gods thing we're still deciding if we'll actually take part or not." She bit her lip, looking a little worried.

I fed them some story about wanting to get away from the Cult which was technically true based on my wording, and then steered the conversation away from the subject and back to general getting to know you stuff.

By the end of the night, I was in a surprisingly good mood, and ready to take on tomorrow. My hunt for my target would begin, and it would be time to head off on my own. I couldn't wait to see what I was really capable of.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

As much as I wished I could just charge off to find my target I had to figure out who the hell he was. I only had a real name, and while Chester Baddington might not be the MOST common name, I was sure there was more than one around. Being a D-ranker should help narrow things down, but this WAS a B-ranked planet. Most of the people I'd met so far were D-rankers.

Which meant I needed local information, which meant I needed a source, and I needed some way to pay for it. I had some cash on hand, as well as another eight scrolls on hand just in case. But using those to pay for anything seemed premature. Instead, I decided to see if there was some sort of census or information database for the planet. I headed for the nearest library, which was sadly three towns over, but I made decent time with my Waltz.

It was about noon when I arrived, and the clerk at the library was, in a reaffirmation that people everywhere can be the same regardless of environment, a bored teenager reading a book and trying to ignore everyone who showed up.

"Child." I boomed, really leaning on the demonic voice. Sure, it might be a bit mean, but I didn't have time to deal with disaffected youth, I had shit to do. Luckily, I was fucking terrifying, so I was able to lean on my intimidating visage to pressure him to do his job a bit more quickly. I MIGHT have stifled a laugh when he squeaked and fell out of his chair, looking up at me with confused panic. "I seek knowledge."

I was back in character since I was away from my new friends. Plus it was way more ominous when I talked like this. He swallowed, scrambling to his feet. "Yeah, ok. I mean, sure. I can find…knowledge. What do you want to know?"

"I seek the Ascendant known as Chester Baddington." The guy himself was actually an Ascendant, an F-rank from the looks of it. I'd have assumed this planet would be too much for him, though the building seemed to offset the Impact slightly. He was wearing an odd bracelet that interested me, maybe some kind of offloading device for Impact. I'd have to look into it later.

He snagged a mirror from under the counter, fingers flying over the glass. "Um…is he like…historical or something?"

"No. He yet lives." I said gravely.

He grimaced. "Hold on. Population records are sort of buried. He might not be on there. They haven't been enforcing the census as heavily lately. But maybe…huh. I found him. I think. There's three of them. How old is he? One is a baby, one is an old man, and one seems to be like…mid forties."

"The third, I believe." I said thoughtfully. "He is D-rank, if that helps your search."

He tapped the screen. "Ok. Got him." He glanced up at me nervously. "This is a census, man. It's not exhaustive. I only have his hometown, his eye and hair color, and his next of kin."

I reached into my ring, withdrawing a piece of paper, and handed it to him along with a pen. He copied down the details, and I returned the paper to my ring. I withdrew a single chit, E-rank, and pressed it down on the counter. "My presence, will you conceal it?"

His eyes widened and he snatched up the chit. "Hell yeah!" He said excitedly. "You were never here, man. Big scary demon mask who?"

Nodding, I turned and walked out. As I strolled, a cloaked, shadowy form coalesced beside me, keeping pace. It didn't speak, at least not out loud, but my wife's voice rang in my head. "You had far too much fun scaring that kid. This planet is a bad influence on you."

I smirked at her. "You could talk to me mentally without the shadow clone. Miss me that much? Because I'll be honest, I don't know much about hunting down a target, and I could use all the help I can get."

Her laugh tinkled in my head. "You're doing fine. If you really need help we can ask Cark, but I thought this was your big moment running solo?"

"Well sure." I laughed internally. "But you're my wife. We share everything, so asking you for help doesn't count. Your successes are my successes. Except in a literal sense, because I got none of that sweet, sweet, godslayer renown."

She snickered. "Poor Shane can't coast on his wife's success. The world is so unfair. Anyway, I was just on break in my training and I felt you were alone. I missed you. I love you and good luck." She popped up on her toes, pecking me on the cheek before the shadow construct dissolved.

No one had seen, she'd covered us in Stealth before she'd done it, and I smiled under my mask at my wife being thoughtful enough to try to preserve my fake reputation. I walked for a bit longer, then stopped and leaned against a tree, withdrawing the paper. The information was sparse. I'd hoped Chester had some kind of unique hair or eye color, as sometimes happened with Ascendants, but no. His hair was brown, his eyes were green.

His next of kin was listed as "Millicent Baddington" and his hometown was called Runkleton, Which was objectively the towniest name for a town I'd ever heard. Sighing, I pulled out the map I'd bought earlier today so I could reach Bentworth, where the library was situated. It was a pretty decent area, and it covered enough that I was able to find Runkleton easily enough, albeit barely, since it appeared to a literal blip up in the mountains.

Sighing, I turned and began my Waltz, blasting forward, though not bothering to go all out. My travel speed was staggering, and I was moving so quickly, I almost missed the ping from my Danger Sense. Almost. Instead, I pushed off the ground, my next burst of movement taking me up into the air.

As I vanished, a whistling sound broking out, and a dozen arrows from a dozen directions smashed into the ground where I'd just been. "Surrender or die!" Bellowed a voice as I dodged. I expected another volley, but instead I heard a voice howl. "No,no, no STOP. Lower your weapons. Who the hell told you all to fire?"

I landed, State of Grace letting me balance casually on the shaft of one arrow as I glanced around at the slowly revealed forms of those surrounding me. The leader was a short woman with close cropped red hair and bright blue eyes. Her pixielike nose was scrunched up in annoyance as she glared at the other figures, most of whom wore identical leather armor and cloaks.

One of the men in the back raised a hand. When she raised a brow at him, he cleared his throat. "Beggin' your pardon miss, but it was David."

"Fucking snitch!" Shouted one of the others. "I was just saying he looked scary. Letting him know we were there seemed dangerous. I thought we should shoot first and worry about decorum later is all."

"I SAID." The girl said, "That we would offer them a chance to surrender. I don't PAY you to think, David."

I glanced at them with a sigh. "You seem to be vagabonds and cutpurses by trade." I said stoically. "Might you know of a man named Chester Baddington?" My fate had caused weirder shit to happen, might as well see if they knew my target.

The girl whirled on me. "Excuse me." She snapped. "I am TRYING to discipline my employee, giant demon man. Can you please wait until we get back to robbing you?" She turned back to her people. "Honestly, rude."

I stepped off the arrow, my foot touching the ground as I unleashed Pit of Despair. I pulsed my corrosion through it, the dust turning black as green energy sparked through it, and they all shrieked as they fell into the pit. I heard shouts of pain and alarm as the toxic dust burned their skin and some of them even inhaled it.

Sadly, Dust Construction was a very noticeable and unique Skill, but Pit of Despair fit my destructive motif to a T. I cancelled it, leaving them all stuck in the dirt as they gasped for air. Immediately after, I reached for Belial's power, and I pushed, converting the still hot ground into hardened magmatic stone, pulsing with toxic heat. "My mistake." I drawled menacingly. "Please, resume your conversation. You can stay there for as long as you like."

The leader chuckled nervously. "Oh. Never mind. I was the one being rude. We'd be happy to help you kind stranger. Maybe you could…let us go first." She whimpered. "This really hurts."

I realized that I'd accidentally used my full corrosion, the combo with Mephistopheles, and I pulled back on it a bit. They all relaxed. "I'm looking for Chester Baddington. Do you know him?" They had never answered my question.

"No sir." The girl squeaked. "Never met him, why? Did he do something to you? We can help you find him."

I frowned, thinking about the other bit of info. "How about Millicent Baddington?" I asked.

"Millic-" She froze, eyes widening. "You're looking for BAD MILLIE? Listen big guy, you're really tough, and very scary, but Bad Millie runs half the thieves guilds on Rackham. Helping you find her would be suicide. She'd kill us."

I walked over, shoving my hand into the dirt and grabbing her arm. I released the stone hold on the ground and pulled, lifting her effortlessly into the air. "And what?" I growled as I leaned in close. "Do you think I'M going to do to you if you say no? You accosted me unprompted mid travel, confessed to be seeking to rob me, and are now standing in the way of my hunt. Where I'm from people have sold their homes to try to repay a tenth the insult you've given me this day."

I decided Mephitopheles was the kind of scary asshole who would demand tribute, and I thought it would play well here. I wasn't going to hurt a bunch of idiot thieves too badly, but she didn't know that.

Her eyes were wide, and I could literally see the reflection of my terrifying mask in her pupils as she quailed under my glare. She closed her eyes, puffed out her cheeks, and said. "Just me." I raised a brow and she demanded. "Promise you'll just take me with you. That you'll tell everyone I was the person who sent you. Let my friends go. If you don't I'll just fight to the death, I don't care."

I dropped her, letting her feet hit the ground. Honestly, I was impressed. She was clearly scared shitless, but she refused to back down. She wanted to take care of her subordinates more than she wanted to be safe. "Fine." I said shortly. "They may leave. As may you, after you escort me to her location. I won't have you running off after giving me a false lead."

She looked offended at that but snorted and turned to the others. "Get lost, you sorry sacks of pig puke." She said loftily. "You're cramping my style."

David, the one who had been arguing to kill me, stared at her in horror. "But boss…what if he kills you? You can't just go off with some scary monster guy. We can totally take him. He's just D-rank like we are."

She shook her head. "Not a chance. That attack had several more Impact than a D-ranker should have. He's probably here for that evil god contest or whatever. If we kill him we might piss them off. Better to play along." She squinted at me. "I'm Beladonna Darrow." She said, holding out her hand. "And I hope my instinct about you being an ok guy is right. Lets go."

I was impressed she'd picked up on the selection thing, and by her instincts. I shook her hand thoughtfully. "Mephistopheles." I said in a booming demonic bass. And you will come to no harm as long as you complete your task." Internally, I was excited. I already had another lead. This manhunter thing was super easy.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

Bad Millie apparently made her home in a town called Sparsburg. It was actually fairly close to Runkleton, which convinced me I was on the right track. Her place was, nostalgically, a casino. It reminded me a bit of the one in Doomtown all that time ago, though less…flashy. It was still incredibly over the top, but in a more residential way. Like a super high end mansion rather than a crazy casino.

The door was guarded by a pair of D-rankers, and to my immense surprise, my Danger Sense started whispering in the back of my head as we approached them. I didn't know who they were, but they were at least partial threats to me. I'd gotten way too used to being invincible at the same rank.

"Well if it isn't little lady Darrow." Said the shorter one, a woman with dark skin and purple hair. "I didn't know you were coming to visit. Look Theo, the little princess is here. We'd better be kind of her daddy might scold us."

The taller guard, a man with a thick blonde beard and a scar over one blue eye, sighed. "Be nice Tessa." He nodded to Belladonna. "Miss Darrow. Who's your friend?"

Belladonna froze. "This is…Dan." She said, searching for a plausible lie. "He's my stylist."

I almost sighed. She should have just given my name, no one on this planet really knew me yet. But it didn't matter in the end. I nodded solemnly. "Fashion is my life." I intoned in a demonic baritone.

They both stared at me in stupefaction, and I had to fight the urge to burst out laughing. Tessa raised an eyebrow at me. "You don't seem like someone who takes fashion too seriously. You're dressed like something that lives under a kid's bed."

"It's called Grimpunk." I boomed snidely. "It's the next big thing."

They stared at me for a minute. "...right." Said Theo. "Well, if you're with Miss Darrow, I guess you're good. But don't start any trouble, demon man. You probably think you're hot shit, but we've got a dozen people your level."

He was bluffing, but it was confusing to hear, because I was so low in D-rank. I shouldn't have even registered as a threat with my level of development…and then I got it. People used Impact to detect how strong someone was within their rank. Even people at the same rank had differences, that had been what Abel had taught us way back at the fish punching lake.

But my Impact was three points above where it should be. I was literally on an entirely different spectrum. They couldn't sense where I was in relation to where I should be, because they hadn't interacted with any people with one hundred and five Impact that they could compare it to. All they could sense was that I was stronger than a normal D-ranker in terms of Impact. I could be at any spot in D-rank from their point of view, and it was clearly making them nervous. Cool.

They stepped out of the way, and we stepped into the casino. Deciding to risk using a form that wasn't one of my main three for this mission (if only because of the nature of the form itself) I triggered Bael, using its enhanced Stealth to cover us both as I turned to Belladonna. "Your stylist?"

Stomping her foot in frustration, she whined. "I'm not good at lying! I'm a very honest person!"

"You're a thief!" I said incredulously. "You were ROBBING me when I met you!"

"Yes, but I was very honest about it." She countered. "I always try to be up front with my targets. It's important for people to feel comfortable and well taken care of when you're stealing from them. Otherwise nonsense like that sneak attack happens. David's new, he doesn't really get how we do things yet."

I shook my head incredulously. "So, where exactly is this 'Bad Millie'. I have questions for her, and it would probably be smarter to try to ask them peacefully. I have a sneaking suspicion she's going to attack me, so you might want to leave before I meet up with her, but I'll at least give it a shot."

To my surprise, she shook her head. "I promised to bring you to Bad Millie, and that's what I'll do. You spared my friends, so I need to follow through on my end. Besides, I'll be fine. I, the unstoppable Belladonna Darrow, possess the unique ability of Escape." She struck a pose. "That's why they call me Belladonna the Blur."

"Does anyone actually call you that?" I asked curiously.

She slumped. "No, and I tried REALLY hard to get it started. I even paid some people to spread it around."

Weirdly, she reminded me a lot of Jessie, just in terms of her demeanor. Laughing lightly, I clapped her on the shoulder. "Don't worry too much about it. If things go bad, just get out of here. I can handle myself."

Between my pseudo Domain, my C-rank armor, my extra Impact, Abomination Engine, and Mornax, even a bunch of normal peak D-rankers would have trouble putting me down. With the speed of my Waltz, I could escape if needed, so unless they had a serious elite with a Solid Path here, I was pretty confident in my odds.

She nodded, and I added her to the list of pretty decent people I might extend an invitation to after this mess was over. She wasn't sticking around out of loyalty to me, she didn't know me, but the fact that she took her word so seriously spoke well of her.
I dropped Bael, switching back to Mornax as my third, just in case anything went down, and I followed Belladonna into the casino, keeping an eye out for possible threats.

There were a LOT of possible threats. Like…so many. The place was crawling with enemies, even though a lot of them seemed to be trying to blend in. I spotted several dealers, waiters, and bathroom attendants that my Danger Sense pinged off hard. Bad Millie wasn't the type to take risks it seemed.

Belladonna (she insisted I start calling her Bella because it wasn't as stuffy) and I headed for the center of the casino where a poker game was ongoing. Leading me around, Bella stopped in front of a pretty blonde woman who looked to be in her mid twenties, wearing a blue dress and sipping a cocktail. When we approached, two men in suits appeared (literally appeared, they'd been in Stealth) and blocked our path.

Millie smiled, waving them off. "No need to be so testy boys. Walthrum's daughter is always welcome at my place. Bella, darling, give your aunt Millie a hug." She smiled, spreading her arms, and Bella stepped up, pecking her on both cheeks before meekly stepping away. Despite the familiar greeting and the smile, Millie's ice blue eyes never thawed or warmed for a second. It was like looking into the eyes of a venomous snake. Those predatory orbs turned to me. "And who is your enormous friend? I don't think we've met. I thought I knew all your friends."

That statement seemed to make Bella deeply uncomfortable, and I could imagine why. That innocuous comment implied a level of observation most people would balk at. I didn't bother to be polite about it, given her icy demeanor. "My name is Mephistopheles. I'm looking for someone."

She fluttered her eyes at me. "A seeker of romance? Have I perhaps caught your attention? Or were you hoping to court our darling Belladonna?"

Purposefully misunderstanding me was annoying, but only briefly. I decided to be MORE blunt. "I'm looking for Chester Baddington. I heard you know where to find him." There was a sort of snap in the air. One second everyone was talking and gambling, and then it went eerily quiet.

Millie's eyes lidded dangerously. "Oh? And what might you want with my nephew?"

I felt my Danger Sense ramping up as the people around us slowly started to close ranks. It might have been subtle if I hadn't been expecting it, but as it was, they mostly just looked silly trying to casually shuffle into a formation around us.

"That's my business, but I mean him no harm." Once I caught him I just had to report to Echelon by burning the scroll, at least according to the item. He had to be immobilized, but once they confirmed the capture he would be released.

She snapped her fingers, and the people around us stopped being subtle, forming a wall of flesh between us and the exit. I cracked my neck slowly. "You should let Belladonna go." I said bluntly. "She was forced to be here, and you've got bigger things to worry about."

I called my staff from my ring, gripping it tightly as I triggered Abomination Engine, letting myself start to build power. Nothing impressive until I started fighting, but the cascading energy inside my armor began the process. Millie smirked at me. "Well, aren't you the confident one. But I have you surrounded, how exactly do you think she's going to le-"

Triggering Mephisto's Waltz, I blasted myself past her, right at the circle of waiting minions, my staff horizontal and acting as a bar as I smashed into them at top speed. The staff and my own momentum knocked them all flying, leaving a large gap in the circle. Bella bolted at top speed, vanishing into a haze of red mist, and I turned back to Millie.

"Now. I need some information, and you have it. So you can give it to me, or I can take it." I felt the power rioting inside me as I rumbled my demand. Shane would have been more circumspect, asked more questions. But Mephistopheles was a being of force and violence. This was far more his style.

She scowled as she took in the crumpled forms of her people, writhing on the ground. My staff was imbued with the dark corruption of my overlapping forms, and it had seeped into them on impact. While there were plenty of top level D-rankers here, I'd hit some of the weaker subordinates to make a point, and the corruption had seeped in and was burning away at them.

"You've just made a grave mistake, boy." Said Millie coldly as she stood. "I don't know who you think you are, but this is MY place. No one comes in here and hurts my people without paying a price for it. The only information I plan to impart to you is the exact process by which you can die in the most pain."

My Danger Sense went off when she was mid sentence, and I triggered Double Trouble, appearing behind the back of the guy on the opposite side of the circle as two nearby people assaulted my illusionary double.

My fist lashed out with an explosion of black flame, stoking the Annihilation Engine just a bit as I blasted one of her helpers. Still, that wasn't going to be enough. I needed to put them all down as economically as possible.

I grinned as I reached into myself and called forth Limbo, the world rippling as the space around me filled with divinations of possible futures and responses to those attacks. I brought my staff up, readying to start the battle, and glared at Millie, who had whirled to spot my attack when I made it.

"One last chance." I boomed. "I don't plan to harm him. Give me the information and this doesn't need to get violent." I knew she wouldn't take the offer, she couldn't let this provocation go, but some part of me felt the need to make it fair. I'd come in here spoiling for a fight, I might be Mephistopheles, but I was still Shane too. I needed to at least offer her an out. Sure enough, she howled at her minions to attack, and they all converged. Which was fine by me. Now the fun could start.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

Limbo was a fundamentally different place when I was up against so many fighters. In my last battle (if you could even call it that) against the Minotaur, I'd simply destroyed every possible timeline, whittling away his options until he had no choice but to walk headfirst to his destruction.

This time, things were a bit more complicated. I could still see the timelines, but I was running into a new issue. While I could destroy a series of events to ensure one came to pass, I couldn't find one where everything went perfectly. With this many attackers, the longer I went on, the more compromises I needed to make to keep up.

But that was fine. I had my Abomination Engine active, and as I exploded forward into my Waltz, the power inside me roared to life, stoked higher and higher by each blast as the energy cascaded around inside my armor.

Deciding to worry about potential sacrifices later, I focused on doing the most damage possible in the shortest time. I found that future, blasting toward a specific spot in the circle. I appeared in front of an innocuous random minion, slamming my staff into his foot, releasing an explosion that lifted him off his feet. My staff came up, slamming into his side and imbuing him with my corrosion as I whirled and tossed him into the crowd forming as they converged.

Stepping two feet left, I slammed my staff back, grinning as it met the kneecap of one of the faster minions, the blast of black flame taking out the leg as I hopped up and blasted off the shoulder of another as they fell, launching myself at a group of them.

Deciding to cheat JUST a little I used my bond with Callie to retain Mornax in the air, using her planted feet to offset the requirement for my ultimate defense, and then the dance began.

My staff whirled and smashed, batting aside bodies and blasting attackers away. For the first few minutes I avoided all the responses, my body filling with power as Abomination Engine roared to life inside me.

Four minutes in, the numbers caught up to me. I felt a spike of red energy slam into the joints between my plate mail, skewering my shoulder.

Even Mornax couldn't stop it, some kind of layered energy attack with a piercing attribute. It had been intentional. Tanking that hit would save me from being impaled through the spine in five minutes. The next hit I had to take cracked a bone, then a sprain, slowly I was worn down, but it didn't matter. Their numbers fell one by one as I danced, destroying them, getting stronger and stronger.

Until my Limbo hit something new. I lashed out to destroy a possible timeline, pushing the battle toward my perfect victory…and my staff slammed to a halt. I stumbled backward, eyes wide as I realize I'd been knocked OUT of my pseudo Domain.

A man stood in front of me, looking solemn, with plain brown hair and brown eyes, holding a ragged looking metal blade. The edges were chipped and torn, and his clothes were dirty and matted with blood. Millie was standing off to the side, glaring at me, and she turned and spat at him. "Took you long enough, Bount."

I realized quickly what he was, and why I'd lost my domain access. C-ranker. Not a strong one, or he wouldn't have been here working for her, but still, even a beginner C-ranker had too much Impact for my domain to effect.

My body was already moving before I made the decision to attack, Abomination Engine still pumping me up to absurd levels of power. My staff crashed against his blade, sparks flying up as I forced him back a step, my staff blurring as it became an ocean of crashing wood and metal, raining down on him like a dark hurricane.

Explosions of corrosion erupted at the point of Impact, and his blade batted them aside, slowly being tainted by the energy, but too slowly. His Might stat was lower than expected, or mine was so absurdly inflated it bridged the gap, but I suspected the former.

Bount, as she'd called him, was a bare minimum C-ranker, and I was pumped up with energy to the limits of my nearly unbreachable reinforcement form, but even so, without my armor I'd have died right there. His blade lashed out, seeking gaps in my assault, and scraped off C-ranked plate as he took the openings he could.

He stared me down, and I clenched my staff. My wounds were gone, I'd used the weapon to pass them to my enemies as I'd walked among them, cutting them down like firewood, but Abomination Engine was reaching its cap. I didn't have a way to take out a C-ranker yet.

So I did what any reasonable person would do in that situation. I bluffed. Lowering my staff, I put away the weapon, turning to Millie. "This is pointless. Are you really going to waste a C-ranker taking out some random person you've never heard of? What is it going to do to your business if you lose him?"

I figured that her grip on the section of Rackham's underworld that she currently held had a lot to do with this guy, and that he was an asset she couldn't afford to lose. She stopped, looking at me suspiciously.

"What do you mean?" Her voice was cautious, which made sense. From her point of view, I was able to punch up a rank. She, much like her people at the door, couldn't see where I was in D-rank. The ability to hang with him meant I was probably peak of D, and fighting up against him was clearly possible.

I sighed, shaking my head. "You can see from my armor I'm not lacking in funds. I HAVE weapons to dispose of your guard. But wasting them on someone at the very bottom of the C-rank would pain me. You'd lose, I'd lose, there's no point."
I dropped Abomination Engine, letting the power drain from my body. It was a risk, but honestly not a huge one. I was GOING to lose this fight if it kept going. I didn't have the power to kill him yet. By dropping my technique like I was so confident it didn't matter, I gave myself a better chance of selling this.

"So what, you want me to give you my nephew's location to save a hassle?" She said hostilely. "That kind of cowardice would ruin me.." The fact that we were still talking told me they weren't hard limits, but that was fine. By giving me a problem to solve before we did business, she was showing me the path forward.

"What if you didn't give it to me?" I asked bluntly. "What if I bought it? You're a businesswoman. I have no intention of harming your nephew, but I know how things work."

She paused, clearly thinking. Looking at Bount, she glanced at his sword, then at the armor where it had barely left scratches. I said a silent thank you to my grandmother, because this shit was WAY too high level for me, and it made me seem way more powerful and influential than I actually was.

"Make your offer." She said after a moment, nodding to her C-ranker. He lowered his blade and I let myself relax marginally. I'd played this as well as I could have, given the information I had on this place. No D-rankers I'd seen were threats, and this guy had shown up later. Sadly, my divination apparently didn't even WORK on him, because I hadn't seen him among the futures I'd destroyed. Something to take note of for later.

It was a stark reminder that there were threats here that I had no way to counter. I was walking the line that other Ascendants had to walk, daring vs. stupidity. No Zeke here to bail me out, and if anyone on the Acheron stepped in I'd forfeit my shot at pulling this off.

That said, if I shied away from conflict and backed off at any inconvenience I'd never advance either. Reaching into my ring, I withdrew a small bag of D-rank chits. Tossing it over, I waited for her to check them. Fifteen. Not too much, not too little. Enough that she could save face, since it was nominally paying for the location of one relatively unknown D-ranker.

"Fine." She said eventually, storing the bag. "Since you avoided killing most of my people." She glanced around at the broken bodies, mostly still breathing. The corrosion had countered their Vitality, but it was hard to kill a D-ranker, especially with so little time to focus. I was disabling them, but most of them were fine.

Not all, I saw a few bodies here and there, people who took a blow to the head or spine that hadn't managed to survive. Small numbers compared to the total though. It was staggering, this casino had as many D-rankers as my entire home planet. I was just lucky they were all pretty unimpressive. I guess if they weren't they would be working for someone stronger than Millie.

Still, I was proud of what I'd just done. I could push back a relatively week C-ranker, and my attacks had been fast and hard enough to convince him I'd be able to actually fight him, even if I knew that was VERY untrue. It made me believe I would have a chance against ACTUAL peak D-rankers soon. At least under the ideal circumstances that they let me ramp up fighting dozens of disposable goons first.

Millie passed me a small piece of paper with direction to a town and an address. The town was apparently so small it didn't have a name. She seemed less upset than I'd expected about having to cave though. Maybe it really had been all about her reputation.

Belladonna was staring at me with a weird glitter in her eyes, like she just found her new personal hero, and as I left, she trailed behind me peppering me with questions. "That was AMAZING! What was that? Can you do it any time? What was that stuff that was exploding? Why did it feel like everything changed around us for a while? Can you teach me?"

"That was a pseudo Domain, yes, corrosive energy, domain stuff, and no." I replied in order. "And why are you following me. You accomplished your promise. I appreciate your assistance and your friends are safe."

"But I don't want to LEAVE!" She gushed. "That was amazing, you're the toughest person I've ever seen!"

I shrugged. "Statistically that says more about you than it does me. Plenty of people on this planet are stronger than I am. Not even just C or B-rankers, but other D-rankers higher up into mastery.

She shook her head stubbornly. "No WAY. You're awesome. I want to learn from you. Teach me!"

I blinked at her. "Teach you what exactly? How to use a staff? Techniques? Do you even have a Path yet? Plus your ability is obviously completely different than mine. What am I supposed to be teaching you."

She stopped, putting her fists together and bowing. "Anything you wish, master. Your humble disciple is eager to learn."

"That's…what? Don't do that." I was appalled. I didn't need a fucking APPRENTICE here. That was crazy. Especially one who was already a D-ranker. I mean I guess I could train her in techniques but- NO. I wasn't considering this. That was ridiculous. "I'm not your master. I'm not training you."

I turned and strode off in the direction the paper indicated, and Bella jogged after me. "Wait, did the training already start? Is THIS training? Like if I give up I was never worthy in the first place? Master? Is answering me making things too easy? Stop moving so fast, my legs are so short compared to yours!"

 

[Malcolm Tent]

Bella was still following me. In my head, Callie was howling with laughter over my new 'apprentice'. I thought it was much less funny, but I didn't dignify her mockery with a response, opting to take the high road (which is much less effective when the person can FEEL how much they're annoying you). Still, I wasn't willing to beat her up or anything to get her to leave, so I'd had to get used to her incessant questions.

"Your armor is so cool, should I get armor too? Should I start wearing all black? Or using a staff? Maybe a really big mace. Oh, should I change my name? But Belladonna is already a pretty cool name, maybe I should change my last name. What about "Nightshade"? Or is that redundant?" She chattered happily as she trailed behind me, until finally, I couldn't take it anymore.

I whirled on her. "Fine!" I snapped. "You can be my apprentice. I will teach you my ways. First lesson, we are people of mystery, and we let the silence speak for us. Practice looming menacingly, and more importantly QUIETLY as we walk."

She squealed in excitement, bouncing up and down. "Yay! That's so exciting! And you're so right, silence can be so intimidating, like you've been silent this whole time and you're super menacing and now that I know I should be silent I can totally practice that too and I'm gonna be so good at it, I'm gonna be the most silent silent person to ever silence and everyone will see me and be like wow she's so quiet-"

I slammed all my attention into my Focus, blocking out the sound as my new apprentice fell into one of the longest run on sentences of all time without a breath as she completely ignored my instructions.

My wife's smugness and amusement radiated over the bond, but I did NOT contact her directly. I didn't need to hear her gloat about how hilarious it was that as both a teacher and a student I was absolutely miserable in the instructor disciple dynamic. I understood Abel's sadism a little better now, even if I was sure I'd never been this annoying.

We came to a stop on the edge of a towering cliff, overlooking a small valley. The valley in question (more of a divot really) was set far up into the mountains, and could only really be seen from directly above. Bella whistled in amazement as she stared down at it. "Wow, I didn't know this was here."

"Pretty much no one does, from what I can tell." I admitted. "It doesn't even have a name. The locals just call it 'town' when they refer to it at all. I doubt I'd have ever found this place without directions."

Which made me wonder, had my fate pushed me along the path that had led to me being ambushed by Bella and co? Without them, I wouldn't have found Millie so quickly. Granted, I was pretty sure, given how close to Chester's hometown she had been, I'd have found her eventually. My research had definitely paid off in that department, even if I'd also kind of tripped over the answer. Better to be lucky than good, but being both was obviously better than either.

"So, do we go down and look for him now?" She asked excitedly. "I bet you'll find him in like…five minutes."

I laughed. "He has a Path dedicated to Stealth. Finding him won't be quite that easy." Unfortunately, busting out Bael right now would be a difficult thing to explain away, given my established powerset. Using it to hide a conversation was fine, but a long term usage dedicated to finding someone in hiding would draw far too much attention.

Eye of Revelation, however, would be fine. I could pass it off as a side effect of my mask, which was pretty eye catching on its own after the changes. I told Bella I'd be using it before I triggered my observations Skill, scanning the cliffside for traps out of habit before I descended to look for the man in question.

I paused. There were…several traps on this cliff. That was odd. Maybe Chester HAD prepared for company. They looked kind of old, to be fair, so he wasn't expecting me specifically. I glanced over them, then turned to Bella. "Second lesson, landing." I grabbed her by the back of her coat and tossed her off the cliff.

While that might SEEM harsh, Bella's ability was escape, which lent itself to landing just fine. I'd thrown her over the traps, and she managed to adjust in midair, landing perfectly safely (if somewhat disheveled and put out) in a small field at the bottom of the cliff.

Double Trouble put me right behind her, and I was in time to hear her cursing me under her breath as she stared up at the illusionary copy of me on the cliff face. "Sorry." I said calmly. "I didn't catch that. What did you say about my mother?"

She jumped out of her skin, whirling to stare at me, then spinning back to note the now vanished illusion. "Master!" She squeaked in terror. "How? When? It's so nice to SEE you! What a stylish and well executed descent. I was just saying your mother must be an amazing person to have given birth to such a suave and debonair master of the arts of…mountainclimbing."

"You should work on your lying." I informed her. "You're terrible at it. That's a character flaw. Lying is important. Now, what did you learn from that experience?"

She paused. "That…I need to be ready for the unexpected? Because danger could happen at any time? Was that what you were trying to teach me?"

I shrugged. "Oh I wasn't trying to teach you anything. I just needed you down here so I could teleport. Being able to learn from any experience is certainly important though. Good for you." I patted her on the head, ignoring the expression of horrified disbelief as I moved on. I definitely DIDN'T grin under my mask at a petty victory to pay back her incessant babbling.
To my shock, her sulking actually made her stop talking for a minute, and I peeled my eyes for any sign of…anything. I had the image of Chester in my scroll, but I'd never seen him. Still, upon searching the town as best as I could for anyone currently outside I didn't see him, or any sign of secret buildings or anything.

Resigning myself to asking around, I decided to take a horrible risk. I asked Bella a question. "So, what's your Path?" I realized earlier we were D-rankers, so both of us had to have Paths. I'd questioned if she had one earlier, but that had been stupid. She had to have a Path.

Her eyes brightened, her previous annoyance blown away in a storm of exuberance as she answered me quickly. "Oh, I'm on the Path of Escape! I decided to double down on my ability, that way I'd be super good at getting away. What's your Path? It must be really strong for you to be able to do all the stuff you can do."

DS Mastery might be a unique Skill, but Doom Sovereign itself was a very common game, especially in cult territory. Still, the less links between me and Solomon the better. "It's complicated." I said, brushing her off. "Has to do with my father's infernal heritage. I won't be teaching you my Path anyway. I'm going to teach you my staff art."

That was something of an experiment. Theoretically, if she could practice my staff art she could learn how to use my forms. Eventually. I'd have to teach her the stances first, but the forms themselves WERE fully functional skills constructed with proper Skill construction. I should be able to teach them the same as any other Skill. My Skill was Unique, but part of the reason those were so hard to create was because you were blazing a trail no one had taken before.

If nothing else, this little experiment would help me learn more about Skill construction and legacies, which should be valuable when perfecting Skills before S-rank. Seeing how Skills (even unique Skills) could be learned and passed down should help me better understand the way bloodlines worked.

There was a small chance I couldn't teach her, but I hadn't ever been told Unique Skills couldn't be learned, just that they often stalled out early because of the difficulty of development. Of course, from a Skill construction standpoint, I knew that most likely, the people making those Skills constructed them badly because they went in blind, and didn't have the soul strength to hold it all together through the bad engineering.

Mashing Skills together like I had been, or trying to invent new ones from scratch, was undoubtedly way harder without the ability to see and study the way Skills were put together. It made me damned glad for that book I'd gotten.

We walked through town, Bella going on about her Escape Path, and me looking for any sign of our target. Finally, we came to the place I was most likely to hear something, the tavern. We stepped inside and sure enough, all conversation cut off. I strolled over to the bar, dropping a pair of E-ranked chits and asking for a drink and a meal. As the barman scurried off to make the food, a woman emerged from the back. "Haven't seen you around here." She said blandly as she let both hands slip under the bar.

"Haven't been here." I answered, my demonic voice putting all of them on edge instantly. "Just here looking for a friend. Chester Baddington." The woman was older, maybe mid forties, and definitely an Ascendant, though only E-rank.

She glanced around. "Well, do you see him? I ain't seen anybody like that around, how about you Lyle?" Her icy blue eyes flicked to the man seated at the bar. She ran a hand through her thick black hair, showing the streaks of grey at the temples.

Lyle the bar fly, an older man who looked fifty and was probably MUCH older given his D-rank cultivation, just shrugged. "Doesn't sound familiar."

"There." She said triumphantly. "Doesn't sound familiar. And Lyle would know. If he's not here and Lyle don't know him he's probably not anywhere in town." She very carefully did NOT look at the table in the middle of the room, the one with a trapped door under it that I could see with Eye of Revelation.

I shrugged. "Maybe not. Maybe I'll just eat my meal and go."

She relaxed a bit…and then my apprentice decided to speak. "But master, Bad Millie told us he was here, if she lied we have to go back right? I don't want to go back, that big fight with all those guys was super scary, even if I wasn't fighting myself. I bet he's here and they're just lying about it!"

I closed my eyes, sighing in resignation as every person in the bar tensed up. I turned to look at Bella. "We need to have another discussion about the benefits of silence." I said tiredly. And then I moved, pushing her out of the way of the jagged knife Lyle had drawn from his sleeve and tried to open my throat with.

My fist lashed out, battering him off the chair with an explosion of black flame as I got in front of Bella, making sure Mornax was active.

"Look." I said bluntly. "I'm here for Chester Baddington, and I think we all know he's in your basement. Why don't you hand him over and this doesn't need to get ugly. Because you're not going to win if this turns into a fight."

I felt my Danger Sense scream and triggered Double Trouble on reflex, only for Lyle's knife to bisect not just my copy, but the fucking WALL behind it. I grimaced as I watched him cut the building in half on one side. That had been a technique, and a pretty nasty one too. Great.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

"That was rude." I said dryly as I stared at the bisected wall. "I just came here looking for someone and you try to cut me in half. That's objectively bad manners. Don't you people have hospitality here?"

Lyle grinned at me. "Sure, I can put you in the hospital right quick, just stand still."

His arm blurred, but my Danger Sense warned me. I leaned to the side, the slash missing me and cutting into the wall behind me at another angle. Bella had backed up, giving the fight some room, and Lyle started to circle, drifting closer to the hidden door in the floor.

Once Bella was clear, i triggered double trouble, appearing behind Lyle, staff smashing down toward his collarbone.

Despite me lead, he spun on his heel and sort of…blinked. Like he skipped part of the motion. I had Mornax active, which was good, because that fucker had aimed at my throat, and the blade clashed off my neck in a shower of sparks. I grabbed him by the collar as he stumbled back, and then punched him in the face with the fist still wrapped around my staff.

Howling in pain, he lashed out again with his knife, and again he blinked. I was expecting it this time, triggering Double Trouble and vanishing as he tried to jam his knife into the joints of the illusionary armor.

I rubbed my neck in annoyance. He'd fucking CUT me. Not deeply, it had mostly bounced off, but there was a scratch.

Solid Path, at least. And that technique was GOOD. He'd spent time on it. Refined it. "You were cutting through the space." I said bluntly as he whirled. He'd already realized the illusion wasn't me and started looking, so I didn't try to be sneaky. "That's how you moved so fast."

He was starting to look concerned. Which was fair, I'd be concerned too. He was very obviously an incredibly dangerous person, and was probably used to killing his enemies in a strike. Priding yourself on cutting power and having your knife bounce off a guy's neck was probably a pretty unsettling experience.

His eyes narrowed as he adjusted his grip on his knife. "I don't know who you are, but you aren't taking Chess."

I adjusted my own grip, activating Limbo and Abomination Engine as I prepared to attack. Before I could though, a sigh echoed through the room. "Enough, Lyle." Rang a voice from the surrounding area, everywhere and nowhere at once. There was a ripple and the hatch I'd seen became suddenly visible, pushed open as a lanky blonde guy climbed up out of it.

"Chester Baddington I assume." I said mildly. Or as mildly as you can when you sound like a demonic bass drum.
"Friends and terrifying armored harbingers of doom call me Chess." He said, smiling winningly. "Especially ones with such lovely company." He winked at Bella, who glared back in a way that I suspect was supposed to be intimidating, but mostly just made her look like an annoyed kitten who'd just been dunked in a sink.

My apprentice must have realized her wrathful glower wasn't doing the job because she switched to a sneer before saying. "I'm Belladonna Darrow. Apprentice of Mephistopheles, the kingbreaker, avatar of destruction, ender of worlds, and sewer of…mean endings." She petered off a bit at the end, and I sighed.

"Bella, please don't make up titles. I haven't broken any kings…" I trailed off, thinking back to the Glade, I hadn't really broken Anna-Maria's father. "In any case, I'm here for the selection, and I've been given the task of tracking you down. Once I've accomplished my mission I can be on my way." I took out the scroll. I'd double checked the actual confirmation process and it was pretty simple. "I just need you to let me tie you up and slap you in the face with this paper."

He paused. "Well, that's…direct. I'll be honest, I'm not sure how to respond to that request."

I considered doing something ominous or threatening like telling him it wasn't a request, but…he seemed to be considering it. I had no reason to burn bridges without trying to cross the damned things first. "Can we sit down." I gestured to the bar. "I just paid for food and I'd like to eat it, if possible."

"Of course." He said seriously. " Heloise?" He called to the woman behind the bar. "Be a dear and fetch us my rocking chair."

That seemed like an odd seating choice to me, but I wasn't going to tell him how to sit. So when the woman left and came back with a heavy chair made of dark stone and studded with gems, I was surprised when it had four legs. "That's…not a rocking chair." I pointed out.

He shook his head. "You misheard, I said Rock King Chair. It's made from the bones of a rock king. I stole it from some Imperial Viscount passing through here a few years ago. Shockingly comfortable for a chair made of stone." He plopped down in the chair, holding out a hand as Heloise deposited a bejewled goblet of…probably wine?

Taking a sip, he hummed in bliss. "An excellent vintage, thank you." He gestured for us to sit, and our dinner was served, along with glasses of the same wine, at least based on the smell. I wasn't a wine guy but I tried a sip. It was actually pretty good.

"So." Said Chester as he swirled his wine. "What are you offering?"

I cocked my head. "Offering?" I said. "For what?"

"For my help." He said cheerfully. "You need me to agree to help you, or else this becomes a big mess, and sure, you might win, but you'd waste so much time and energy. It'd be so much easier just to pay me for my trouble, don't you think?"

Raising a brow, I considered the man. "You're trying to extort me?" I asked lazily. I let Limbo leak out, specifically the form of it with the mist bank. Moonlit Night's obscuring fog filled the room slowly, climbing from our feet and slowly creeping up our legs.

"Whoa!" He said, his face paling as he backpedaled. He clearly had decent instincts, since he recognized my domain for, if not what it was, at least a threat, just at a glance. "I was just saying that this is an inconvenience for me. A bit of compensation isn't out of line, is it?"

I stared at him murderously for a minute, letting the silence build…before nodding. "Fine." I said. "You want money? Because I doubt I have enough on me to catch your attention."

"Not at all." He said smoothly. "Just a favor. You seem like a civilized…product of my nightmares. I'm sure you'll honor a deal later on, and I have a good feeling about you. Plus your armor is stupidly well made. That's some bespoke shit right there. Anyone who can afford that is the kind of person I could stand to have owe me a favor."

I relaxed a bit. "I suppose that's not too much to ask." I admitted. "I'm asking you for a favor, after all. Very well." I held out a hand. "We will shake on it. Or do you require a contract?"

Glancing nervously at the fog still swirling at our feet, he gave an anxious laugh. "Not at all. I trust you." He took my hand and we shook, sealing the deal.

"Great!" Said Bella enthusiastically. "I can tie him up. Being a former elite bandit leader, I know how to subdue a target." A coil of rope appeared in her hands. "Lay down on the ground, and I'll show you all how a master criminal takes down her prey."

Raising an eyebrow, the thief laid down, and Bella knelt in front of him. "Now, observe, master!" She raised the rope…and then stopped. "Wait…through the loop, and then under." She paused. "Put your hands out." Smirking, Chester did so. "Alright, so I'm supposed to loop it back twice, and then fold over…wait, no that's not right. Two folds? Yes!" She wrapped him in a complex web of rope and knots before proudly holding up one end. "And now all I do is pull this and…"

Yanking the rope, I watched the hope die in her eyes as the web of restrictions disintegrated like sugar under a waterfall. Chester tried not to laugh, I really believe that, but he couldn't help it, and my apprentice slumped to the ground, broken and defeated as she held a pile of loose rope on her lap.

I sighed, took the rope, stood the thief up, and then wrapped the rope around him from top to bottom, tying the two ends in a simple double knot. "There." I said with an eye roll. "Now I just have to slap him with the scroll." She opened her mouth but I cut her off. "No. I have to do it. Sorry."

Sulking, she went back to her slump as I withdrew my scroll. "Hey, is that a unicorn?" I looked up over Chester's shoulder. Confused by the sudden change in topic, he looked up…and I slapped him clean in the face with the scroll. It glowed briefly, and then the image of him dissolved in a flash of red light, the ink rearranging itself into directions.

"Alright." I said with a nod. "Now we're done." Chester grinned, and with a slight flourish, the rope fell into pieces.

"Sorry about your rope." He told Bella a bit smugly. "I'll buy you a new one."

She stared at it, apparently devastated. "My mother gave me that rope before she died. It was woven from strands of her hair."

Chester looked horrified. "Gods, really?"

She grinned. "No, I bought it at a store. Honestly. Serves you right for laughing at me earlier though." She stuck out her tongue at him, and he gave her a rueful smile, but nodded, conceding the point to her.

We all sat back down, digging back into our food, which had lain forgotten after we dealt with the business at hand.

It was pretty damned tasty, and the wine was still pretty good, especially paired with the food. "So." Said Chester as he flirted shamelessly with my apprentice. "I don't suppose you'd have need of a wily handsome rogue on your team for the rest of this selection? I could probably be convinced to help for another favor."

Despite my amusement at his transparent attempt to get closer to Bella…I didn't immediately turn him down. Two people wasn't much of a team, and neither of them were part of the selection, so it wasn't a conflict of interests to get help from them, even if they might try my patience a bit at times.

"Fine." I said after a brief pause. "We'd like your help. Of course, we don't know what the future tasks will be." The Delthrys line of tasks was open to me since I passed this one. I could just drop out now that I'd finished the first, but what if Felicity's tasks were beyond me. It seemed stupid to pass up a possible in with a god who might KNOW where the world I was looking for was.

So I'd take the next Delthrys meeting, see what they had to say. If the next task wasn't too crazy I could do it while I waited for my proper task line to start up. I was sure I'd find SOME use for the favor of a god.

With that settled, I sat back and enjoyed my meal, letting my apprentice and our new partner bicker about whatever it was they were talking about. I had to admit, the nonsense chattering reminded me quite a bit of being home, bickering with Benny while Callie rolled her eyes at our antics. It wasn't a bad ambiance to eat a meal to. Maybe letting him come along wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.

 

[MichaelSuave]

And now I know it was a bad idea...

 

[Malcolm Tent]

The trip back to the inn I was staying at was surprisingly long. Not necessarily because of actual time spent, but because the bickering between Bell and Chester had gone from charming to unbearable fairly quickly. I'd retreated into my Focus as best as I could, but I needed SOME Perception active so I didn't trip and roll down a hill or something. I didn't want to trip and break my neck…at first.

When we finally arrived, I had them pay for their own rooms and went up to mine. I had barely gotten through the door when the shadows across my bed rose up into a familiar form, cackling her heart out.

"Your FACE!" Crowed my wife. "I couldn't even see it, but I could HEAR your expression when she bullied you into being her master."

I glared at her as she dissolved in near sobs of laughter. "It's not THAT funny." I grumped. "You could try being a bit more sympathetic you know. She's going to massively complicate this entire-"

"Suicide mission?" She said, her laughter cutting off. "Shane. Darling. Light of my life. I get that you're trying to be all serious and focused here, but you're overdoing it."

I snorted. "I'm not trying to-" I cut off, thinking over my new 'persona'. She…might be right. I might have picked this personality because it was hyperfocused on my goals. "Well, so what. This is a serious job. I can't afford to screw around. Lives are on the line."

"Lives are ALWAYS on the line." She retorted. "That's the world we live in. Black Sorrow isn't the first god to consider killing you. We live with danger every day, and if you don't take CARE of yourself, you're going to burn out and get murdered making a stupid mistake that could have been avoided. You're a charismatic and energetic leader, babe, but this dark avenger bullshit isn't you."

Which was fair. I'd never wanted it to be. This had been supposed to be a role I was playing, a way to separate myself from who I normally was…but that was the rub, wasn't it. I had taken it too far. I missed my friends, missed my wife, missed my family, and I'd decided to HIDE in Mephistopheles.

I considered what Abel had told me so long ago. About how he just had to be true to himself and screw the rest of the world. Zeke had told me something similar about rolling with the punches.

Wearing a mask was fine, but letting it wear me was going to get me killed.

"How the hell could you tell from all the way across the galaxy?" I asked her sheepishly, removing my ACTUAL mask. "I didn't even realize it was happening and I'm right here. You're making me look bad."

She sniffed loftily. "I'm your wife. I know you better than anyone. But I had some clues. For one, I did something similar when we first came to Rajak. Trying to be perfect all the time and never taking a minute to process. Not the same situation, granted, but you need to stop hiding behind this new persona."

"You think taking an apprentice will help?" I asked incredulously.

"I can feel your emotions, darling." She laughed. "It already has. She reminds you of Jessie. Benny may be your best friend, and I may be your wife, but Jessie was always the person who believed in you most out of all of us. Having someone like that around is good for you. You're not built to be alone."

Sighing, I conceded the point. I could do solitude, like I'd discovered in the temple, but…why would I want to. Just being able to endure something didn't make it positive. I had the strength to be an island, did that mean I should be?

Obviously not. I might not be pure support like most of my family, but I worked better with a team.

"So I should trust them?" I said with a frown. "Because that seems reckless."

She rolled her eyes. "Contrary to your experience, most people's alliance options aren't 'nothing' and 'friend you would trust with your life'. Trust, but verify. I know you've been with close friends since pretty much day one, but sometimes you need to work with people you don't implicitly trust with your life."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you." I sulked. "Getting to play the wise mentor again."

She smirked at me. "Comment on my 'wisdom' much more and you aren't going to touch me for the next decade. But yes, I have to admit, this is…kind of cool. You needed so much help when we started, and then before I knew it you caught up even surpassed me a few times. I miss you needing my advice."

"I'll always need your advice." I smiled softly. "I'm hopeless without you."

"You'd better not be." She laughed. "You're alone on a hostile alien planet doing a series of trials to serve a dark goddess."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm trying to be romantic. Must you ruin all my moments?"

"Considering you'd better only be having moments with me, I think I must." She giggled. "If I find out you're having moments I'm not ruining I'm going to be pretty upset. But I miss you too. Training isn't the same without you. Waking up alone makes everything seem so much emptier." Her shadowy hand took mine and squeezed, and I returned the gesture. I knew just what she meant.

"Speaking of training." I said, changing the subject forcefully. "How is yours? Any new techniques since we talked last?" We communicated at least once a day, but we hadn't talked about training in a little while.

She lit up (which was a weird phrase to describe a concrete shadow being). "Oh, I HAVE been working on something. I can tell you about it, since sharing the story will help reinforce it. I'm calling it…the Anti-Nova." I'd never been more in love with her than when she paused to announce the name of her technique with so much gravitas.

"Interesting." I said slowly. "Show your work."

"Well, supernovas are the explosions from a collapsing star. An Anti-Nova is what happens when an Anti-Star explodes. I'd been working on the Abyss thing with your mom and grandma, and I realized that just because I have an inverted image and theme, doesn't mean i can't use their star based techniques. Not just the shape, like you do, but also the form."

I hummed in interest, flopping down on the bed next to her shadowy form. "So you made like a dark star. How does that work?"

"It burns in an inverted universe." She proclaimed seriously. "The dark fire burns with the cold chill of the abyss, and when the dark star goes supernova, that chill expands, consuming the universe in concentrated heat-death. It's solid entropy, the flames from the end of creation, and one day, it will take us all."

Snorting, I grinned at her macabre enthusiasm. "A bit melodramatic, but still interesting. I wish I could use it. Sadly we both know it doesn't work that way, so I'll have to wait until I see you again."

We'd realized early on after our rank up, that while Callie could use my forms, and even the techniques from those forms, I couldn't do the same. Basically, because my Path was a part of my through my second ability, it was within reach of the bond as a Skill. Callie's illusory Path was still separate from her soul, having not gone through the same condensing that mine had when it had become Solid and then part of my ability.

She snickered. "Poor you. I tried using that new technique of yours and almost blew my chest apart. How the hell do you stand it?"

"Mornax, mostly." I admitted. "It's enough to help my body hold up under the enhancement. Also your Might is a lot higher than mine, so there's a higher requirement for durability. You can do two at a time, right? Try using Mephistopheles and Mornax together."

She shook her head. "Two is hard and I can barely hold it, much less do a technique. I can use your forms, but they're not really mine. That combo I used on the Wendigo was the best I've got for the moment. Maybe when the bond hits Master."

"Which might be years at this rate." I seethed. "It's impossible to progress it when we barely see each other. I mean, we use it all the time, but I don't feel like it's getting any stronger."

Her shadowy hand reached up to lay on my cheek. "Peace, love. I know its hard to be so far apart, especially just after our wedding, but we have thousands of years together, or more. A little patience will help put things in perspective. We're already growing faster than anyone has a right to expect."

"But is it enough?" I asked with a sigh. "The candidate competition is coming in less than a year. Do you know how SCREWED we are if we're not strong enough? There will be actual A and B-rankers."

She shook her head. "Not really." She corrected. "I mean, some probably, but only a few. Don't forget, you're not the only one who was expecting this to go on longer. They moved it up because of the war, but that means everyone else is losing just as much time. Your mom says most of the strongest are C-rank, with a FEW B-s as outliers. Not to mention this is a faction building competition. You have some serious power players on your team. Especially if you get this done and your mom can actively support you."

That was one thing that made me feel a bit better. I did have some built in support from my mom's side of the family. Grandpa and grandma would help (not directly obviously, I wasn't even sure we COULD bring an S-ranker to the inheritance competition) but they had access to quite a few A-rankers at the church, which would bridge the gap between me and some of the more powerful candidates.

Hearing that there wouldn't be a bunch of A-rank wishmaster candidates running around helped too. I probably should have discussed this with mom, but I hadn't exactly been flush with time before leaving.

"Tell her I said I love her." I told my wife. "Chelsea too. I miss them. It's weird, I spent so much of my life without them, but having them around for just a short time they became such a big part of my world. I guess that's family for you. Anyway, you'd better go. I need to try to get some sleep before Echelon wakes me up dramatically in the middle of the night."

She giggled at my sulky tone, then leaned up and gave me a soft kiss. "Sweet dreams." She said as she leaned against me and dissolved. I sent the same sentiment back over the bond and rolled out of bed, dragging off my giant set of plate armor. I put my mask back on before i went to sleep though, just so my face was covered.

I woke in the middle of the night to a rapping on my door. Groaning, I got up, stretched, and took the time to re-armor before I walked to the door and pulled it open.

"You are requested." Said Echelon in that raspy creepy voice. He dissolved into feathers again, and I rolled my eyes, walking down the hall and banging on Bella's door, and then on Chester's. If they wanted to be part of this they could wake their happy asses up just like I had to.

They looked fuzzy, but excited as I led them downstairs where Echelon waited. Their first exposure to the creepy bastard seemed every bit as tense and portentous as mine had been, but I'd kind of gotten used to him. "Alright." I said after a minute. "Can you hurry this up? I want to go back to sleep." Callie had been right. No more doom and gloom personality to hide behind. I was Mephistopheles in name only. Shane Wyndham was back, and he was going to kick the asses of everyone in the selection.