Bonded Summoner

Jake was floating in water as soon as he arrived on the floor, and said, “So this is a 36-37 zone, huh,” through his mental communication.

Tanda groaned. [A water level! I hate getting my fur and feathers wet…]

His party appeared in what looked to be the middle of an underwater cavern, on Floor 23D. After returning to the Outpost, they entered a party-sized dungeon floor, which limited the number of normal party-members to 5. With the exception of those that could bring out allies with special abilities, like summoners, beast tamers, and similar, that was certainly the limit.

After they entered, Ira immediately took in the surrounding area, finding no significant threats, but numerous monsters not far away in the vicinity.

Berri shrugged. [I love being in the water. This feels a little…wrong, though.]

Fhesiah was scanning it with her Divine Sense. [Yes, the water is certainly dense in energy with a corrosive element. We are just stronger than it, at least at the entry here.]

Jake knew that most second Tier races and people could live a significant amount of time without breathing at all. By that point, most would become significantly magical, sustained even further by the mana or special energy stored within their bodies. At the same time, this magical density also helped reject harmful elements, much like this corrosive water.

Since his party was all in the third Tier race-wise, and from the effects of the body tempering, this was even more so. They could hardly feel that the water was corrosive. Still, the beastkin and Elysians shouldn’t have much trouble with this floor, and the Emberborn and the nethril beastkin should have even less of an issue with corrosion, as it seemed most undead were resilient to such effects.

Humans without magical energies would have quite the challenge, but he was sure Yiming and Longwei using their Valor would have little trouble. The talismancers in their guild would likely come up with some kind of ward against the corrosion.

Fhesiah said, [Can’t say I’m a fan of this either. I do wonder if this will lead to another Outpost, or if it will be more of a standard floor?]

The Outpost system, while somewhat common within the dungeon, did not encompass all of it. Some worlds when they explored wouldn’t run into the Outpost system at all. Most floors simply had challenging environments and monsters, that lead to special bosses that granted loot and other rewards, such as the potential improving items and crafting resources, before allowing them to move on to another floor.

And on these floors, it was nearly required to move as a single party rather than a Battlegroup. It wasn’t that you couldn’t after you entered and met up, but the dungeon encouraged exploration with small parties by a generally more fair experience. Traveling in large groups usually meant monster swarms would form, and this usually caused more deaths.

Probing his summons, he couldn’t help but chuckle as Bree and Avalara both gave him a sort of, ‘I’d rather not’ type of responses to the environment. They both were more than willing to fight and could be powerful underwater, but it was not a preferred place to fight.

Jake couldn’t help but grin in anticipation. He had plenty of perfect monsters for this environment, and had hoped he would get the chance at some point. Jasmina was summoned first, the giant Naga Siren appearing in motes of light. Upon reaching the second Tier, the snake-fish girl had become even larger.

Plus, Berri had fed the girl plenty of special meals, and Jake had allowed her to gain strength within their Refuge by providing her hearthfire-cooked meals and allowing her to enjoy the Refuge Hearth’s dense Auril energies.

She did not become much more human-like, and actually grew a second set of arms. Jake handed her the special tuning fork staff, and now she was ready for battle.

Then, he manifested one of his many friends he’d gained over the years: the invisible auril beast octopus, that he fed crab meat to numerous times.

After the creature had reached and continued to rise within in the second Tier, it had only gotten even larger and more powerful. This creature was both fast and deadly, and he couldn’t wait to see it fight something in the dungeon here. When Jake was only summoning a handful of creatures, he was sure to add his Divine Reinforcement to each of them, making them truly formidable.

Bloodberri shifted their armor, causing the articulating bone structures that held her wings to fold inward and out of the way. Fins grew outward, and now, she was ready to move through the water just like Jasmina.

Fhesiah’s draconic flight could work through the water just the same, but she still held on to one of his octopus’s arms, and Ophelia sent Valora away for the time being before holding on as well, and Tanda joined her. It seemed Valora really did not like this floor, and while she would fight if she was needed, she would prefer not to.

Jake joined Bloodberri in her carriage once more, and they began to move. Jasmina swam rapidly through the water, and so did the giant octopus and Bloodberri. The naga siren began her song and created an auril current within the water, allowing them all to move smoothly.

And monsters did come. Jasmina would shock them with the power of her shriek combined with her auril tuning fork, amplifying and directing the vibrations. The octopus then made quick work of them, ripping them apart with immense strength, and auril manifestations of terrifying beaks. Not only that, but the auril in the creature was dense, and much like a beastkin warrior could create a cutting edge on their weapons or claws, the octopus could do the same.

Ira and Fhesiah quickly mapped out the area, and Jake got some practice with using his Umbral Gaze to filter out seeing what he didn’t want to see. The dense mana water filled his view with a bright light, making it difficult to see until he tried to shift his sight.

He found controlling his Gaze to be intuitive, and he likened it to working with a microscope with many dials. It was still a little odd to see through materials and understand what he was looking at, but he was getting used to looking around the walls some distance away. His odd 360 degrees view was a lot like a bubble, allowing him to perceive everything a decent distance away as long as he focused his mind on it.

The floor was massive, and it took some time for the party, despite their speed, to explore and traverse.

To Jake’s surprise, there were in fact treasure chests that granted loot hidden in different corridors and difficult to find places. Challenging monsters and ambushes were often in the same alcoves, which had to be cleared out by his summons or the girls because they were bored.

The last event hadn’t challenged them, so they did remove a single seal when they were back at their Refuge. He swapped Ophelia for Tanda and Bloodberri for now, giving them the opportunity to gain Divine Sparks and the higher dosages of Faith energy for victories.

As for using another Divine Spark, Hestia did think they might be able to withstand another before the end of the Tier, just not yet. For now, they stockpiled them, waiting for a usage for them. Hestia hinted that as a result of holding on to them, she and Guan Yu just might be establishing more Champions in their Sector, which was certainly a plus.

Valtor was still meeting with the numerous people freed by the world being reclaimed. There were thousands, and most of them were still recovering from resurrection illness. There were a few smaller guilds, and it seemed some of them would be interested in joining Hearthtribe or one of its less motivated subguilds. Most of them appeared to be human or very human-adjacent, and their specialties were quite varied.

It would take time for the Energy Rating from Torrentia to be infused into Highlands, but it was already in progress, like a lemon being slowly squeezed by a juicer. It still cost them a fair amount of Guild Points to accomplish this, but in the instance where a world was rescued in this way, it was at a severe discount.

The 10 million they had earned from the Battleground was more than enough for the Tier 2 world’s energy to be joined with Highlands, bringing them one step closer to Tier 3. A few more worlds like that one, or perhaps a few years of this Resource Wars weekly Battleground, and they would have it.

A swarm of piranha-like giant fish came toward them, with drill-like tendrils of water in front of them causing them to pierce through the water rapidly. Jasmina was ready, and she hit them with a powerful sonic shriek once more. Their water control spells disrupted, Jake’s octopus tore apart their bodies with its auril-infused tentacles.

Berri patted the naga siren’s head, smiling. “Good job, Jasmina. You’re amazing in the water! Such a good girl.”

Jasmina beamed, and nuzzled into Berri’s hand. She was very pleased at receiving her praise.

Tanda’s ears went flat on her head as she watched the two. “Why do I feel let down, for some reason?”

Berri turned her gaze over to her with a smile, and then she patted her head too. “You too, Tanda. You’re such a good girl!”

Tanda’s tail started wagging, her ears perking up and a smile coming to her face. But then, she frowned. “For what? I didn’t do anything.”

“Just being you. You’re so wonderful. A great mommy and mate, and a warrior! Right, Jake?”

“Definitely. Tanda is a very good girl.”

Tanda laughed, her tail picking up pace even in the water. “You too, Berri! You’re a super good girl too!”

Berri’s smile was wide. “Of course.”

They continued on the way, and were forced to fight in numerous encounters with the underwater monsters. Despite their party’s rapid speed, they couldn’t avoid all of the fights. The powerful currents in the strange underwater labyrinth would shift suddenly, and would normally be somewhat dangerous to traverse, for those that were weaker swimmers.

The corrosive strength became stronger as they got deeper as well, but it was still no issue for Jake’s party to handle.

Eventually, they arrived in an immense chamber, which Ira had identified to potentially be a boss room. There was no enemy in sight, but they assumed one would spawn inside.

And they were proven right.

A giant purple kraken appeared in motes of light, one that was nearly three times as large as Jake’s octopus.

[3 Alliance Champions Detected. Difficulty has been increased.]

Malevolent energy was infused into the kraken, its body hardening and growing. Scales began to cover the kraken’s tentacles, and bone spikes grew from the tips of its nasty limbs. Its face grew into a twisted, horrifying visage, with long, giant teeth and reminding Jake of an angler fish.

[Yuck. I say we kill it with fire.]

Jake chuckled. “We can. But I know what else will work well.”

Drawing out a fair amount of his hearth mana, including much of Tanda’s auril and nethril she had stored from all the killing, he manifested a new template to join the others: the Naga King. The giant held his two tridents, and his auril and nethril hearts both pulsed as they infused power into his body, and Jake added his Divine Reinforcement, causing it to grow further.

Berri clapped. [Yay! He’s on our side now, and he didn’t even weaken like they do in the video games!]

The Naga King was still classified as a humanoid, making it a part of his specialty, and thus it received a bonus to its strength. Creatures like the octopus received no penalty, which was good, but it was certainly better to use humanoids where he could.

Drawing in some mana from his wives since now his reserves were empty, he added a few more of the octopuses, and buffed them all before sending them at the giant kraken. Jasmina’s song sent pleasant vibrations, the auril in their bodies stirring and being empowered.

Then, since Bloodberri was unsealed, they were also boosted by her Twilight Monarch aura. This improved their defenses, and increased their self-healing capabilities as they leeched life from the boss. Combined with Jake’s Champion Presence, the defenses of the creatures were quite formidable.

The Naga King swam toward the kraken rapidly, his speed underwater impressive.

When they had fought the giant naga originally, he was not in his home element, simply utilizing the nearby river they had brought with it. Here, he was a true force to be reckoned with. When the girls dueled Jake’s buffed Naga King underwater, they had to pull out all the stops just to defeat him.

The four giant octopi still didn’t match up to the kraken’s size, but they managed to keep most of all of its angry arms busy. They took blows to their bodies and the kraken’s many tentacles stabbed and tore at them, but their Jasmina-boosted auril energy defended and healed them without issue. This meant the Naga King came around with its giant coral tridents, and began stabbing its body.

As always, his ally’s attacks were enhanced by his Aura. Their bites, slices, and stabs were enhanced with explosions of heavenly flames, which shredded the monster’s body. Jake decided to enter the state of the Avenger, wanting to focus on offense against the giant creature.

The girls focused on testing attacks, trying to see if it were weak against any elements. It seemed, if any was better, it was Ophelia’s purifying lightning or their powerful divine-enhanced flames. Still, they tried them all, from ice to wind and shooting rocks and more.

Another octopus snuck up behind it, and wrapped around the monster’s head and began twisting and biting it, sending manifestations of beaks and more into its flesh. The boss sent out a corrosive liquid, like a dark and horrible oil. It began to melt the octopi’s bodies, but they held on and drained health from the boss for survival.

The Kraken had powerful healing, and with Jake’s Umbral Gaze, he saw a powerful well of energy in its numerous, beating hearts. As the Naga King alternated its life and death energy stabs with its giant tridents, the total energy within it decreased.

The boss being contained, the girls rushed in with their Hearthblades. They began hacking at each of the held tentacles, weakening the boss. Corrosive blood filled the water, which seemed to drain and draw in mana. But Jake and his girls were still only lightly effected, their protective rune-covered armors and tempered bodies far too resilient against the acidic poison.

Bloodberri was happy to use her Twilight Divide. The holy light and dark covered and clashed as they tore away at the kraken, and then her bronze colored swing cleaved through, sending an explosion of holy twilight cutting through the boss. Several hearts were destroyed–wells of energy that was required for the monster’s healing.

And Tanda bulked up with her Sublimation, much like Vesuvious or Jarrix, covering herself with fur and bestial strength. Her Avenging Strike caused her to blur through the water with speed, before she cleaved into the boss deeply with her crescent moon halberd. This cut through some more hearts, bringing the boss low rapidly.

Meanwhile, Fhesiah and Ophelia sent their usual attacks into the boss, and had no difficulties keeping away from the many tentacles of the kraken.

Jake was forced to use Renewal a few times on his giant Naga King and several of the octopi as the kraken’s poison harmed them, and the kraken’s tentacles managed to pierce their flesh. Eventually, the Naga King’s many stabs had pierced the kraken’s final heart, and the boss was torn apart by the octopi and defeated. A loot chest appeared, and they found various potions and tonics that would be valuable for Hearthtribe.

[1 of 4 Bosses Defeated before new Path available.]

Berri was disappointed by the difficulty. [That was easy. Just a tank and spank, huh? His oil was just gross, not even strong.]

Fhesiah replied, [That was mostly thanks to Jake’s summons being so effective here. We are weaker in the water, and his many summons kept it busy. Even ice spells didn’t work well.]

Ophelia smiled at Jake. [But that’s always going to be true. He’ll always have some templates worth using and taking risk from us. You know that from all the training duels, right?]

Fhesiah grimaced. [Please don’t remind me. It was infuriating being beaten by a dozen turtle men and copies of Vexana.]

Blood hummed. [It’s true, our dear husband is powerful even without Divine Energy. I wonder, he does have some Fusion Summons left, doesn’t he? Fhesiah’s remains, and he should be close to doing one with Avalara. And if he hearth bonds with others…”

Jake had the Garuda from Ophelia, Avalara’s battle avatar was established with Tanda’s, Bree’s was established by Blood and Berri, and so that made Blood correct on who was left. He had been saving them for the right moment, as he never knew when he might find the special Framework-assisted skill able to solve an issue that they had.

The Boss defeated, they continued on their trek. They weren’t sure how much time they would spend on this particular floor, but they also weren’t going much deeper until they let the chips fall from the Resource War on the previous floor.

Monthly, their people would need to make the trek there to face the Bloodwrought, and they still needed to build up the Outpost further to prepare.

***

After exploring and clearing much of the water floor, Clan Hart didn’t go much deeper as planned, only entering a few different Floor 23’s to explore and level up.

One of the gates they found on Floor 23D was another event gate meant for a smaller Battlegroup. They took on the challenge in hopes that they could earn something substantial or face new Champions, but they only received more potential improving items and gear that they were not truly interested in and would trade.

Upon defeating the event gate, the corrosive element on the floor increased, and the currents became just a little more turbulent. New gates showed up on the floor with bosses protecting them, but they reasoned it was better for Hearthtribe to work to open them. At least one or two of them would lead to what would be the fifth floor, and their subordinates were not quite ready for the difficulty.

They spent a little over a month in the dungeon going down the other branches of the dungeon that had been unlocked, earning faith energy from bosses, exploring and unlocking different areas and mapping them out for the guild.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

The party took breaks where appropriate and spent time with the family nearly every chance they could. A routine of crafting and training in the mornings formed once more, and handling their administrative tasks and meeting with their kids before heading into the dungeon almost daily.

Then at night, they would once again manage to say goodnight or even make it home in time for supper, only missing it a few times in over a month.

Facing off against bosses really didn’t challenge them much, even with two of them sealed. However, they pushed themselves and did their best to utilize the Framework’s guidance on their skills that were lagging behind, and many of them finally rolled over to the third level thanks to their efforts. They used the dungeon to improve their training routine, testing and trying out runic spells and auril abilities.

They did participate in more events, and they were a bit disappointed that they had not run into more Champions. It seemed that Tartarus was still trying to figure them out, or was perhaps preparing the right chess pieces to counter them. Even in the dungeon, it could not simply move Champions from just anywhere to arrive at any moment.

The positive was that their guild had benefited substantially as a result, many receiving more potential improving items and special crafting materials. An exciting happening was that one of the treants had actually formed an Auril Heart.

It seemed when the Elysian had evolved into the second Tier on Highlands, something had shifted them–much like was noted with many of the dryads. With the infusion of life energy tincture, the organ finished forming.

The special organ acted a little differently and at a lower level, but it filled everyone in Hearthtribe with excitement, especially Valtor and Amara. They were each tracking these pieces of information and now committing to doing some magical research. If they could repeatedly give people in Hearthtribe Auril Hearts, this could give them all a significant advantage.

And Fhesiah of was very interested in this. Jake had met with the Paladin of Lugh treant, and updated his captured template, while she also scanned him. The paladin had quickly awakened his heart like a level 1 beastkin did, nearly in the process of it forming. He had stated that he had wished for it, and had directed the energy from the tonic there when he drank it.

As Jake often was, he was now practicing with his Hearth and his spellforms in one of the training areas. His Hearth Control enabled him to create spellforms out of flames, and their effects were quite versatile.

While it was true that he also had Runic Magic and he needed to work on that, he thought he might actually have a strong path to power if he focused on something he saw within the forms he learned from Hestia’s spells.

When he recreated Hestia’s Spear and Renewal, he was merely copying them–memorizing them, and recreating them on the fly. But in doing so, he had noticed that parts of the structure were meant to be a lot like scaffolding, rather than a simple shape that reproduced an effect.

He believed this to be the Construct listed within his status sheet. The Divine Script, a language of the gods, was scrawled on the shapes generated, in addition to other designs, and he wondered what power this represented. It looked like a more complicated magic circle.

Comparing the Constructs of Spear and Renewal, they were very different. The symbol Hestia had used for Renewal was a chalice, while the spear was literally a spear. The only thing that remained the same, was they both had Divine Script written on them, and that they both contained the same meander pattern–that is, the Greek Key pattern that was a lot like the Celtic Knot.

It was a geometric lining that formed an endless pattern, and it reminded Jake of what he would also try to accomplish with Manaweave Reinforcement.

Ophelia’s Hearth of Hestia spell was extremely complicated, in fact, more than ten times so, and Jake was absolutely not able to reproduce it, at least not yet.

Some more inspiration had come from Tanda’s Rampant Growth spell. That one was Brigid’s, and this Construct was in the shape of an acorn. It was covered in Celtic knots, however, and Jake found that he could not reproduce the effect of the spell–the Divine Script would not activate.

Unless Jake cheated. Using his Dao of the Family and infusing his will, the script activated. It was like by utilizing Tanda’s soul within him, he could do it.

So Jake started to understand that the magic of the gods all used these Constructs and patterns, so surely, they must have some kind of significance. He started playing with his own shapes, and tried adding runes instead of Divine Script, which were beyond their understanding.

The effects of this were not easy to see at first. The Nordic or demonic runes still activated, but he had trouble seeing an advantage of creating this Construct, this scaffolding, around them. More mana was spent making the complicated construct, and it didn’t actually produce a better result, from what he could tell. Or, the improvement was marginal at best.

It wasn’t until he tried a rune combination that he knew didn’t work that he saw the difference. The spell sputtered to life, an empowered fire spear spell that he had shaped the construct a lot like a spear.

It was the same spell that he had created his very first spell-rod of to test. But it had not worked until he switched the runes to form a ball of flames instead, and destroyed the boss bear that had been charging toward him.

And the reason was because it wasn’t fully balanced. The sudoku-like puzzle Jake had to make in order to link many rune words together, it appeared that this construct would allow him some additional leeway rather than only one working order or combination that could possibly work.

So this would allow him to create spells that weren’t fully balanced. Not only that, but it would improve experimentation, as he would be able to see if he was getting close to finding a perfect balance because he could see where the construct was straining. That was much more useful than the spell just completely sputtering out.

He also realized that there was another intersection with his enchanting. He could, in a sense, enchant the construct with an effect, and that would empower the spell. In effect, it was using two spells to make one, two exclusive sets of runes that were not interlinked. With this, he could make much more complicated spells, and even stages of spells if he wanted.

With this, it wasn’t as though he was instantly able to make amazing spells. It would still take him quite a bit of experimentation to reach what he considered an Empowered Tier 2 spell–a spell that nearly transcends the Tier, and eventually, a true Tier 3 spell.

However, it had brought him one step closer, and that he reached Level 3 in Runic Magic after just a few tests was proof enough for him that this was the case. He had hit Level 2 in the first year, but had not managed to hit Level 3 in the following three years, until this very moment.

It was a tremendous find, and he immediately sent messages to Amara about the success and his theories, and shared it with the girls, though they were right there with him in his mind as his thoughts were racing. Except for Berri, who was busy with something else.

[Oh! Jakey! Nessa says it’s time to come to their celebration! She wanted to talk to you first, they won Aetheris!]

Tanda said, [Ohh, is it about that?]

Fhesiah chuckled. [Oh boy, is she going to propose to our Wifey? I don’t know, has she presented the proper dowry?]

Blood grinned. [I do believe ownership of a few worlds is quite the dowry.]

Jake knew they were playing, and already knew all of their opinions on the matter. He chuckled and wasn’t bothered by them at all, just smiling at them having fun. He teleported to where he could have the call, a simple conference room that resembled what they had in the HQ, strictly prepared for these kinds of purposes.

Jake switched to a more formal red toga with golden accent lines, as was appropriate for being Hestia’s Champion. It was a weird vibe being a Grecian hero, but Jake didn’t mind it overly much. The toga was comfortable, and his wives would always swoon at his bare arms and shoulders on display. They did seem to like the beastkin chieftain outfit better, however.

Nessa appeared on the viewing screen, and he found her hair and scales to almost shimmer compared to before. She now had more uniform, blue scales around her eyes, making it almost look like she permanently had blue eye shadow.

She was sitting proudly, poised, much like a royal princess. The area surrounding her looked extravagant, and she had her short hair filled with shining golden pins.

Jake spoke first, “It’s good to see you once again, Nessa. It feels like I should have been the one calling to congratulate you.”

“This is usually the case, but, it’s my fault for contacting you right away instead. We are on a short timetable. I wanted to formally invite you and your family as well as anyone else you’d like to be there to the celebration, which will be taking part on Aetheris itself in a little over two weeks. If you weren’t a Baron, you wouldn’t even be able to make it in time.”

Many of the cultivator worlds were off the beaten path, as it were. Traveling to them simply took more time, though if Nessa added them to the relay network, that would be partially resolved. Odds were she had already begun adding them for this very reason, but it took time for them to be enabled.

For witnessing the ceremony with Nessa, aside from the Divine, only Jake’s stand-in father, Timone came to mind. While he would be available soon, Jake didn’t think he would be able to make it there in time. He supposed Cernunnos would have to stand in for that…

“I see, so it seems we need to get our Refuge moving soon then because we’ll definitely want to be there for that. But you wanted to talk to me alone, I’m sure Blood could have handled those formalities?”

Nessa’s poise disappeared, as she seemed to squirm in her chair. “Yes. Well…it’s because I thought it would be…or I hoped that we could…get to know each other a little better.”

“Now, you mean? Of course, I’d like to.” Jake gave her a smile.

“Yes. Because if things work out well between us, I think this celebration is a good time for us… to proceed with formalizing our union. I have made my interest known, and I hoped that… you wanted to continue with these plans.” Despite her words being formal, she was blushing and barely stammered the last words out.

Seeing her having difficulty made him feel like she was much more relatable than the initial princess poise, not that it had lasted for very long. Every time he had seen her, she had been much more formal and brief. Jake didn’t mind that, but he definitely wanted to feel a connection to anyone he was going to marry.

“I like that expression on you a lot better than the ice princess look. Of course, I know you and Blood have discussed this. I suppose you need a formal answer, to continue with plans for the formal union.”

“It would certainly help. I wanted to get that out of the way so that… I could speak with you more… normally.”

Jake arched his brow at her. More than once she had reached for something out of view, that came into frame for a moment, and just barely stopped herself from grabbing it–it looked like her tail. It seemed she was filled with anxiety over this.

“Then, I’d like to move forward with our union. I still hope we have more chances before the ceremony to get to know each other better.”

She let out a breath. “Thank you for that. And that was the real reason I hoped to speak with you alone. I know that a video call isn’t exactly the best place, but I hoped we could at least begin, for now. I’ve spent much more time speaking with your wives instead of you. What…would you like to talk about?”

Jake couldn’t help but chuckle a little at her difficulty. “It’s an awkward thing, isn’t it? Don’t worry–I feel the same way. This is going to be tough when you are on the outside of a large group and trying to work yourself in, no matter how you slice it, I think. I know you’ve been spending time speaking with Berri, Blood, and Faye, and I’m sure that helps make this a little less difficult. I like how you’re already getting along well with them.”

“Yes, well, Berri is a bit aggressive in her desires for me to join you, or at least that I have some fun–she is always sending me movies from Earth to watch, or asking me to play some baseball game on that…gaming device.”

“You’ve been watching movies and playing games? Really?”

“Yes, well…she says you often watch and play them as a family, and… I’ve found them to be fun, in addition to being quite convenient. I have enjoyed many a plays back when I was younger, and these were like ones that I could watch at any time.”

She continued, “Then, Blood is often contacting instead of Valtor with some of our alliance coordination and plans. Faye has stayed in touch since our little adventures together, and she always wants updates on Ruby and Sati. I haven’t had…many excuses to work with Tanda, Ophelia and Avalara much, so I did hope to spend some time with them as well. I know that’s important to you.”

Jake smiled. “You’re right. I’m sure that will change quickly. We’ll start heading over for the celebration. Hopefully then, we’ll all be able to spend some more time together.”

“I’d like that, and it was my plan. So what is it like being back in action? You had a long vacation, right? Though you seemed to be plenty busy the past few years, just less fighting.”

Jake let out a breath, as he thought about the dominos in the dungeon and facing off against the champions. “We did. After beating out the major plots that Tartarus had in store for us, it wasn’t too challenging. We got to explore some finally, and it was mostly fine. I was surprised–Tartarus really seems to have backed off, no longer attacking us with Champions or strange plots after the first.”

Nessa chuckled. “Not every foray into the dungeon or Contested World should involve an enemy Champion. That you’ve run into one at nearly every turn in your careers as Adventurers shows how badly it wants to set you back. It really didn’t want me to win The Mystic Expanse or Aetheris, and so they had sent them in addition to other odd dangers.”

“Which Champion attacked on Aetheris? It was Balor on The Mystic Expanse, right?”

“That’s right. Then, oddly, it was a Champion-equivalent, I guess related to the cultists themselves. I still received a spark of divinity from it when their tainted wraith died. Once again, Sati was an immense help. She had gotten something special from it as well.”

He told her about their more recent forays, and Nessa told him a little bit about her recent Dungeon Raid, which he was happy to learn more about.

Their Boss fights were rather similar to theirs, but the way that cultivators fought felt quite different from how Hearthtribe fought in general. Qi based attacks just felt quite different from those based on mana, with many having esoteric and strange, mysterious effects.

Jake noted, “It sounds like you have really established a strong guild, with valuable allies. It is a surprise to me that you are pursuing this marriage with me, with you being so successful and busy. It’d help me understand you a little better if you could tell me…a little more about this.”

“I have my reasons, and I’ll of course share them with you. Did Faye really not tell you?”

Jake frowned. “Tell me what? I didn’t hear anything like a reason about why you wanted to pursue me.”

Nessa paused. “I…guess it shouldn’t be a surprise, she did promise to keep it to herself, after all. I have a few reasons. It shouldn’t be that much of a shock that I’m interested in you at all, should it? You undoubtedly have countless women wanting to barge into your door? Blood did tell me there were quite a few Lamia queens and princesses from Ganestra offering themselves to join you.”

Jake chuckled. “True. But you’re the daughter of a Divine. Surely, you could have had your pick, whether from Sector 87 or the Core Sector you were born in? Not only that, but of a man devoted only to you, no doubt? I’m also interested in learning more about your life from there.”

Nessa frowned in thought, perhaps looking to choose her words. “In a way, I can certainly have my pick among many men, or powerful warriors in this Sector. And there are certainly many heroes–but then again, not so much within our age group. But… I have an issue, that…let’s just say disqualifies them, for me. You are a hero, and one that both my Gaze and my father approve of. That is why I choose you among all the others in this Sector.”

When she said Gaze, it definitely sounded like she had some sort of vision ability much like Jake’s Umbral Gaze.

She added, “And when it came to the higher Tier worlds among the Core Sectors, everything is heavily regimented by the strong. Children are rare among those in the third Tier or above, so when they are born, their entire lives are often planned out for them, including their future husband or wife.”

Jake frowned. “Are they really that rare? We… don’t seem to have this issue.”

Nessa laughed. “No, I suppose you don’t with over thirty children in just a few years, and how that works must be one of Hestia’s great secrets or a part of her Essence somehow. But it’s certainly true that children of those of a higher Tier, typically have a higher potential as well. And those of a higher Tier have issues or challenges procreating reliably.”

“I thought someone at that level could control their own bodies in significant ways. Even making a lower Tier avatar is possible. Couldn’t they just have children with those?”

“This is true, and there are some that do this–but it usually means if they can get around this detail, the child will be lesser. As a parent, could you really choose to have a child of lower potential, knowing you could have one at a higher one? And if you had some at varying levels, wouldn’t the children themselves be born with jealousy and resentment, knowing they were born underprivileged, and could never match up to their brothers and sisters?”

Jake frowned. “It is a difficult subject, and something I’ve thought about a bit, as each of my wives’ children are very different. There has already been a little bit of this, as the echidnas have shown to be powerful and grow rapidly, the younger and smaller children looking at their growth with envy. We’ve done our best to celebrate the differences, but I know that in the end, there might be some negativity that grows. Thankfully, in a way, I kind of feel the Framework makes most of this a smaller matter. Because those born with less potential and who desire it greatly, can simply just work hard and earn it for themselves.”

“And this is true, and I’m happy to hear that it hasn’t caused you much strife. But you realize that when one earns it instead, they can still feel resentment toward those that didn’t, and were simply born with it? That said, we’ve gotten a little off-topic.”

Jake chuckled, and had nodded at her point. “Right, sorry. I am interested in learning more about the Core Sectors and what it was like for you to grow up there. But I am more interested in you and your… reasons for pursuing me.”

Nessa sighed. “Father…he had such a plan. An arranged marriage, for me. When I was in my early teens, he laid it out for me. I would complete my training as a warrior and Cleric of Tyr, marry a son of one of the Divine or peak Tier 4 heroes he set me up with, and we would participate in the war, however my husband, and if I was lucky, I decided. Odds were, Father would have had me put in stasis, until the proper husband was lined up. Like a present waiting to be opened, placed on ice.”

Jake felt a little weird about that, and remembered something else. “Wasn’t that what the summoning token would have been like, waiting in the void?”

Nessa laughed. “I suppose you could look at it like that, but that was because my initial plan had already gone awry in the first place. Avaron backstabbed me and lost that world I worked so hard to rescue. That had really broken my resolve to fight for what’s right. That my very presence had caused harm, even if it were his evil who struck the blow… I was so full of fury, and some resentment, too. So when Father placed me in the token, he was sort of… meeting me half way, in that fate would decide who I sort of ended up with, since that’s what I had wanted. Thankfully, being placed into this different vessel after that had…shocked me enough as I got my bearings. Of course, Nana was also a big help in helping humble me.”

Jake knew that was her bloodline ancestor, like a snake familiar that spoke in her mind. “Fate? What was your original goal or dream for finding a husband, then? You didn’t want your father’s arranged marriage.”

Nessa blushed. “It’s…a little childish. Growing up, I have heard many tales as well as met so many Nordic heroes, as well as many others from the Greek and Roman Pantheons. Stories where the man went through trials or challenges to win his bride, and more. Those were exciting and stood out to me, but I think what I wanted most was that I wanted to let fate and circumstance decide, rather than my Father himself. Any true hero working toward rescuing a Frontier Sector would be a worthy pick, and I imagined meeting him while fighting for justice and truth. On the battlefield, fighting side by side and back to back. This was why I came to Sector 87, in hopes of finding my purpose and…hopefully love, some day.”

Jake frowned, thinking on it. “It is different from some. You have expectations for how your ideal romance should happen or how you should find love because it is significant or meaningful to you. On its own, I don’t believe that’s childish at all. You’ve already proven to be flexible on the matter, which shows your maturity.”

Nessa blushed, smiling at him. “That…is very insightful. I suppose that’s why you are a Champion of Family, it’s at least adjacent to love.”

Jake chuckled. “Still, what you wanted didn’t really happen. We’ve never fought on the same battlefield.”

Nessa gave him a small smile. “It’s true we weren’t fighting side by side in the literal sense. But we were facing injustice and fighting evil side by side together in truth. We were both facing the tools of the Obsidian Blades and winning, and we’ve been fighting to win this Sector ever since. Together, we’ve dealt a significant blow to their operations here, and have saved many worlds from the dungeon’s evil already.”

Jake returned her a smile. “That’s true, we’ve already been fighting on a much larger battlefield together. It just sounds like it’s just a little different from what you pictured.”

“That’s alright. I’m both proud and satisfied with the result already. And even if we have sort of skipped to the end with a political marriage, it is not all that different from what I had originally pictured. When I saw the Highlands’ Final Boss battle, I knew you were a worthy warrior. And when I saw you meet my Father, I noticed that your virtue was worthy as well. That’s when I had made my choice–that I would try my hardest to…pursue you, to make myself worthy of you and your family. We’ve been fighting on the same battlefield in my mind, ever since.”

At the end of her proclamation, Jake could see the depths of her feelings for him already, and he now understood just how hard she worked.

Jake groaned internally as he remembered the god grilling him about his thoughts on justice, in relation to his issues with War, Glory, and Profit. He had told Tyr that even if his family and friends might come to danger, he would not easily back down. Because by backing down, the evil they committed would grow and fester, until his enemies would make him wish he never backed down in the first place.

It certainly helped that both his wives and his people were willing to fight injustice carried out against their friends and family, even if it was dangerous. Perhaps, he wouldn’t have been able to say so, if any of them were a lot more fragile.

“I see, so you’ve…already got strong feelings for me, even if you’ve leveraged your standing to arrange a marriage.”

Nessa blushed, and nodded. “It’s as you said, my joining your party as an outsider was going to be strange no matter how I did it. I wanted to use it to motivate myself to accomplish more, and…it worked.”

“You really did. As for the meeting I had with Tyr, you saw that? Your father was…intense.”

Nessa smiled. “He shared it with me. And he always is, but he is the truest to himself of all of those I have met. And I’ve met many divine and their offspring before I came of age.”

“I did get that feeling about him, too. So, this celebration and wedding ceremony. Are we going to have time for a date as well? For me, I’d like to spend some time with you in person most of all, and probably with my wives as well. I suppose meeting my kids is important too, now that I think of it…”

Nessa laughed. “That’s new for you, isn’t it? I suppose I’ll be the first since you’ve become a Father. We should definitely spend some time together, and I would like to meet all of your family. It is my desire to join it in truth, after all. While I chose the path of a political marriage, I have wanted romance and family more than that from the beginning.”

“And I’m happy about that. It’s a date, then. I look forward to seeing you in person.”

“And it was good to learn more about you as well, Jake. Sati and Ruby are excited to see all of you again–they’ve missed you all. I already know a lot about your kids thanks to them, besides.”

It would take a few weeks to arrive on Aetheris, but Jake and his family’s life would change once again when he did.