It didn’t take the full hour for Hiral to settle his thoughts, but that didn’t mean they left earlier than that. Getting to just sit with Seena and talk – about nothing, in a lot of ways – was the kind of break he’d needed for a while. They’d been on the move so much, it was hard to remember how refreshing doing nothing could be.

Still, all good things must end, and his peace with Seena expired as Yanily’s voice came over the party chat.

“Not that I want to interrupt whatever you two are doing,” Yanily started.

“They better be sitting quietly and staring at the rain somewhere,” Seeyela interrupted. “Instead of… other things.”

“She knows us pretty well,” Hiral said quietly just to Seena, and the party leader rolled her eyes.

“Anyway,” Yanily took control of the conversation back. “I’m getting pestered by two girls about when their brother is coming back. And, there’s this other guy here asking a lot of questions. Says he knows you.”

“Left and Right aren’t keeping Nat and Milly company?” Hiral asked. “Wait, a guy asking questions. Gauto?”

“Maybe that was his name? If he stopped asking questions long enough for me to ask one of my own, I could tell you for sure. As for Left and Right, I think they’re with your dad,” Yanily said. “Saw the three of them walk off together after they ran interference against your mother.”

“Sorry about all that.”

“Don’t be. We’ve all got stuff with our families,” Yanily said.

Hiral looked at Seena at the comment. He’d heard bits and pieces about Yanily having trouble with his father, but never gotten any details.

“I’ll tell you about it later,” Seena told him. “Though, maybe sooner is better. There’s a good chance Yan’s asshole father is down here for the raid zone.”

“It’s bad?”

“Yeah. Worse than with your mother, in some ways. Physically worse, I mean.”

“Yanily’s father hurt him?”

“Regularly.” Seena scowled. “Yan went down to the surface more hurt than when he came back up more times than I can count. Wule always fixed him up, but…”

“Hey, you still there?” Yanily asked. “I got six more questions in the silence. I don’t have answers to these.”

“Yeah, sorry,” Hiral said. “Can you tell Nat and Milly – and Gauto – we’ll be back in a few minutes?”

“Sure, just don’t make me a liar.”

“Of course not,” Hiral said, cutting off the party chat, and standing up. “I guess break time is over.”

“Looks that way,” Seena said. Holding on to his hand, she pulled herself up, then turned him to face her, and took his other hand as well. “You good now?”

“Good enough,” Hiral said. “I don’t think it’s going to be easy, but their party has to be strong. Makes sense to have them with us.”

“Yeah, it does,” Seena said. “You know, if I was in your shoes, I don’t know if I could’ve agreed to it. That was big of you.”

“It would’ve been selfish of me to risk everybody around me by not taking the best option available.”

“Which is exactly why you’re our raid leader.” Seena leaned in and up to kiss him as she said that. Maybe they stayed there for an extra minute longer than they needed to, but she finally pulled away, a blush running up her cheeks. “There is one other positive side to this.”

“Oh?” Hiral asked.

“Didn’t you hear what Ilrolik said?” Seena asked. “Sera specializes in buffs and debuffs. More toys for your Chord.”

“Oh yeah,” Hiral said. “She did say that, didn’t she? I guess I might actually get something useful from my mother for the first time in a long time.”

“See? Positives,” Seena said. “Now, about getting back – do we get to fly again?”

“For you? Of course!” Hiral ignited his pseudo-aspect, the scarves extending from his back to wrap gently around Seena. He even made sure Li’l Ur had one this time, so the poor little lich wasn’t left clinging to Seena’s hair for his unlife. A touch of solar energy, and they floated off the ground, hovering inches above the rock. “It’s getting easier and easier.”

“How many people could you carry?”

In answer, Hiral shifted them to the side a little, then up another few feet. “With the two of us – sorry, three – it’s pretty manageable. I think I could do the party, but nothing fancy. Just moving from point A to point B. Couldn’t do the whole raid group.”

“Yet?” Seena said.

“Yet,” Hiral agreed. “A bit more practice – or another Rank evolution – it might be possible.”

“Ah, that reminds me, we need to check in with Gran and see if she’s going to take that advanced class.”

“She will,” Hiral said. “I’m sure of it.”

“You saw something? With her PIM?”

“Not so much the PIM,” Hiral said, tilting his head back as he thought. “Remember I told you about Nivian and Yanily, and their concepts. Or their ideals, whatever you want to call them.”

“The ‘I protect’ thing for Nivian?”

“Yeah,” Hiral said. “I think Gran might be close to figuring hers out. Or, maybe the advanced class got her closer. It feels like it’s a good match.”

“Do you know what yours is?” Seena asked. “Since you’ve got your own advanced class…”

Hiral shook his head. “I thought maybe it was something about making my own path…” He shook his head a second time. “That’s not quite right. Maybe close? Or, part of it? Not all of it though. And, Seeyela got her advanced class without solidifying her concept too.”

“Pretty sure she’ll just steal that too,” Seena said. “She used to be such a good girl.” A dramatic sigh and a roll of her eyes, and the two of them were chuckling again.

“Ahem,” Yanily said over the party chat. “I’m pretty sure a few minutes have passed, and unless you two ran all the way back to the Hanging Garden…”

“We’re on the way,” Hiral said, forcing the guilt out of his voice of being caught in the act. “Almost there.”

“Mmm hmmm,” Yanily just said.

“We should go,” Seena said without the use of the party chat.

“We really should,” Hiral said, giving their little ledge one more look around. One of the scouts keeping an eye on the savanna gave them a small side-eye as they floated there, but he’d mostly respected their privacy. “This might be a good place for wine and cheese, though. We’ll have to remember it.”

“Wait, did you have wine and cheese with you this whole time?” Seena’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

“Gotta get back to Yan before my feral, little sisters eat him alive,” Hiral said before pushing solar energy into his runes. “Or he kills Gauto for one too many questions. I’ve definitely been there.”

“You didn’t answer…!” Seena started, only for her words to get left behind as they rocketed back the way they’d come. Traveling easily twice as fast as they had on their way out, it didn’t take them long at all to find Yanily using the direction-function of the Party Interface.

“Took you long enough,” the spearman said as Hiral and Seena landed near Nivian’s cookpot. By the envious looks shooting in that direction, the aroma was making its rounds throughout the camp.

“I hope you don’t mind I fed them,” Nivian said, nodding towards where the two girls practically had their faces buried in the bowls. It was hard to tell if they were even coming up for air between spoons of the stew.

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“Ssssssho gud,” Nat slurped.

“Why didn’t you introduce us to him earlier?” Milly asked, stew broth running down from the corner of her mouth and across her chin. She hardly seemed to care, diving back into the bowl.

“You didn’t know what to do with them, so you brough them to Nivian?” Seena asked Yanily flatly.

“When in doubt – food,” Yanily said. “Everybody’s happy. Also, it got him to finally shut up.” A thumb from the spearman gestured to where Gauto was heartily tucking into his own stew.

The man gave Hiral the barest nod of greeting before going back to the food. Hiral… couldn’t exactly complain. He understood how good Nivian’s cooking was. But, come on, this was his supposed best friend choosing stew over him? Another sniff of the smell from the cookpot and all of Hiral’s resentment faded. No, he couldn’t argue with Gauto’s choice. Not really.

“You doing okay, Hiral?” Wule asked from beside his brother. He had – as usual – a book open in one hand, but he wasn’t looking at it. No, all his attention was on Hiral.

“Yeah,” Hiral said, heart warming a little at everybody being worried about him. “I’m sorry that was all a little awkward, but I’ll make sure it doesn’t affect the raid group.”

“It’s fine,” Wule said. “And, just saying, but even though I’ve got a couple new group heals, I can still choose who they work on. Or don’t.”

Hiral laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Why didn’t you ask for our party to join your raid group?” Milly suddenly asked, looking up from her bowl. She seemed to finally notice the stew running down her chin, and she ran the back of her hand – and sleeve – across her mouth.

Before answering immediately, Hiral – still holding Seena’s hand – sat down to join the circle of people around the stew. There wasn’t any sign of Seeyela, Right, Left, Gran, or Romin, but a quick expansion of his sensory domain told him they weren’t far. And, like Yan had said, Elezad sat talking quietly with his doubles.

That confirmed, he turned his attention to his sisters. More specifically, to the flow of energy around them. He could’ve just used View to confirm things, but being able to feel the difference of his mother and father’s energy made him wonder.

Around Milly and Nat, the solar energy was noticeably weaker. No, weaker wasn’t the right word. Sparser? It was like there were pockets of energy circling them, small connections between them.

He turned his head to Nivian and Wule. For them, their solar energy was more like a thick fog. So thick, in fact, it almost had weight. And it was dense. The more Hiral focused on it, the harder it actually became to see the twins through it. More than that, there was something else running through the thick haze. Hints of more.

Ah, the ‘taste’ of their solar energy. Wule’s intense life force, and whatever is filling Nivian’s solar channels. Whatever the latter was, it felt cold.

Cold? Hiral nearly facepalmed. They still had the apple from the Lost Refuge of the Lost.

That could wait another minute, though, his attention still on the feel of the solar energy surrounding them. The representation of their strength to his senses. Practically night and day compared to what he’d felt from his parents. While they had the same kind of general haze around them – unlike his sisters’ clusters of energy – it had been so thin. Like soup compared to Nivian’s stew.

With density in mind – the difference between B-Rankers he was seeing – he looked again at his sisters’ energy. Each of them had between fifteen and twenty clusters of the energy circling them, and while a few of them – no more than three on either girl – were loose, most of them were packed tight.

That has to be the difference between getting experience through fighting, as opposed to how Artists or Academics normally do it. Speaking of Academics…

Hiral turned his senses to Gauto. Like his sisters, the man had a strong feeling of D-Rank, though the energy around him was even less dense. No surprise the man was probably still getting more experience through academic pursuits – it was also the name of his class, after all – than actual fighting. Then again, since he was there at the raid zone at all, that meant he’d cleared at least the three-dungeon requirement.

Huh, shouldn’t that be the same as the girls then? What’s different?

Instead of asking that question, he looked at his sisters.

“You two have gotten a lot stronger,” he finally said to break the silence dragging on. “Mid-D-Rank now? Already? That’s impressive.”

Nat and Milly sat up a little straighter at his words, though Nat blushed and took another slow spoon of stew.

“We each hit level seven before we came here,” Milly said proudly.

“Seven?” Seena asked. “Wow. You just barely hit D-Rank before we left. How’d you manage that?”

“We worked hard,” Milly said, then looked at Hiral. “Just like we were taught.”

Hiral nearly broke down at how proud he was of the two girls. They really had worked hard. No other way they would’ve gotten seven levels like that. If they were level seven, that could also explain the difference in energy compared to Gauto. Maybe he was only Low-D-Rank?

“After we did the wiggling pits…” Nat started.

“Her name for the Crawling Pits,” Milly clarified.

“Wiggling is more fun,” Nat said, sticking her tongue out at her sister. “The next zone after that one was D-Rank. We found all three dungeons pretty quickly, and ran each one the full three times before we got locked out.”

“They were all Low-Rank,” Milly said. “Or we’d be higher level.”

“Seven levels is nothing to scoff at,” Hiral said. “Really, it’s amazing. Good for you.”

Milly nodded like it was just expected she’d excel. Nat had the decency to look like she at least had a little humility. That – running each of the dungeons three times – also probably explained the energy difference. Nine full dungeons runs would result in a lot more kill energy than just the three Gauto probably did.

“You found yourselves a good party?” Yanily asked. Even though the three Growers hadn’t spent much time with the girls other than in the dungeon, they’d all gotten along well, and had become a little protective of them as well.

“We did!” Milly said, then narrowed her eyes at Seena and Hiral. “Did you have something to do with it? We had a pair of Growers come looking for us. Came right to our house.”

“Well, of course,” Hiral said, like the answer was obvious. “You were going to come down to run dungeons. No doubt about that. I… we,” he pointed between himself and Seena. “We wanted to make sure you had good people at your sides.”

“I talked to a few people before we all left,” Seena explained. “Got some names, and connected them with Arty. He took care of the rest.”

“Anybody I know?” Hiral asked Seena.

“Probably not on the Grower side of things,” she said after a second of thought. “The two people who really stood out were already Mid-D-Rank – barely – and came highly recommended. No reason you’d know them though.”

“Yeck and Wisilly are great,” Milly said. “Think Yeck even has a crush on Nat. You should see how he blushes when she talks to him.”

“Oh?” Hiral asked, turning his eyes on the middle sibling. “And how old is this Yeck?”

“Too old,” Nat said, waving a hand dismissively. “Not my type.”

“How are you even old enough to have a type?” Hiral asked, his joking mood evaporating in horror.

“Don’t be like that,” Nat said. “Even Milly was in a relationship.”

“Nat!” Milly practically shrieked in betrayal.

“She… she what?!” Hiral asked, attention going back to the other sister. “Who? Had? Did he hurt you? Where is he? I’ll kill him. No, I’ll do worse. I’ll rip the PIM right out of him and hang it outside your door as a warning to anybody else who even thinks about…”

A hand gently patted his knee. “Breathe, Hiral,” Seena said. “You’re as bad as Seeyela.”

That comment was like a bucket of cold water on his face.

“I… suddenly understand how she felt,” he admitted.

“Overly dramatic much?” Milly asked him. “It was just a fling.”

“A fling?” Seena asked, eyes widening. Then they narrowed very dangerously, and she lifted her free hand from where it had rested on Hiral’s knee. Flames burst from her palm. “Ur, prepare one of your legendary evil rituals – the non-reformed kind. We have a boy to remove from existence.”

Now it was Hiral’s turn to calm his partner, and he gently reached out to close her hand around the flames in her palm.

“You two are perfect for each other,” Nat said flatly. “Can we just get back to the important stuff? Why didn’t you ask us to join your raid group thing?”

“Hold on,” Hiral held up his hand. “Before that. Who are the other two in your party? If only two Growers came to your door, that means the others are Makers?”

“Shapers,” Milly said, fighting against the blush still running up her neck and cheeks. “Our tank is Geto. You probably at least heard of him.”

Hiral tilted his head back, the name sounding familiar…

“Ah, Geto! He was in my third Shaper test, so he’s a bit older than you two,” Hiral said, trying to remember what else he knew about the young man. “If I remember right, he was making a bit of a name for himself. He has the Force Armor tattoo doesn’t he?”

“That’s why he’s our tank,” Nat said flatly.

“It’s not a perfect armor,” Milly said. “But it has some interesting interactions with my abilities.”

“It counts as a shield?” Hiral asked, putting the comments together with some of the passive abilities Milly had chosen along with the Fool tattoo.

“Exactly,” Milly said. “He’s been a good fit, other than biting his nails. Yuck.”

“The other Shaper,” Nat continued, “is our area-damage dealer. For trash. You remember Tizzy? It’s her.”

“Oh, that’s nice,” Hiral said at hearing the name of one of Nat and Milly’s longtime friends. Tizzy was around the same age as his sisters, and even had a few tattoos done by his parents. Of course, she’d also been in one of Hiral’s Shaper tests, but at least she hadn’t been a jerk about it. She’d even tried to comfort him a bit when she’s seen him at the house the next day. Kind of made it worse – being consoled by a girl the same age as his sisters – but it was the thought that counted. Right?

“A friend of yours?” Yanily asked.

“Friends of theirs,” Hiral pointed at his sisters. “You’d like Tizzy, though, Yan. She uses lightning, if I remember her tattoos. She has the Orbs of Lightning tattoo. I can see how it would be great for taking out a bunch of weaker monsters. Probably decent against Bosses too, though costly. Her parents let her join your group?”

“Dad had to talk to them,” Milly said with a roll of her eyes.

“Now that you know everybody in our group, does it make you want to change your mind?” Nat asked. “About joining your raid group.”

“Nat,” Hiral said softly. “As much as I’d love to have you both in the group with us, you know that won’t work. We’re B-Rank. Anything we’re fighting is too dangerous for you right now.”

“But we want to help you!” Milly said.

“You are,” Hiral said.

“Don’t start with anything mushy and say something like ‘you’re helping just by being here’,” Nat said.

Hiral waved his hand at that immediately. “Nothing like that. We need more than three groups for this raid zone. From the sounds of things, there are going to be challenges and opportunities for people of all Ranks. And, we’re going to be busy with B-Rank stuff.” He pointed between himself, Seena, and Yanily. “Having people I can trust working on the D-Rank stuff? One less thing I need to worry about.”

“But who’s going to keep you out of trouble?” Milly asked.

Hiral looked at the Growers around the cookpot.

“No offense,” Nat said. “They haven’t done a very good job of that.”