"So." I said, holding the pair of pills. "This is going to fucking suck, isn't it?" We were back at the inn, Callie and I sitting across from each other. Chelsea was sitting in too, having volunteered to be the one wishing for the eight points I'd need to rank up after I took the elixirs. "Our souls are pretty sturdy, but nine hundred points is a decent chunk of our current values. Especially in the stats we have. Almost a quarter of each for me."

Callie grimaced. "The Might won't be a problem, percentage wise five hundred is much less for me than it is for you. Four hundred Vitality is literally more than a hundred percent increase for me, though. It's going to be agony, especially since I don't even have an Azure Soul Body like you do to blunt the pain."

I reached out and took her hand, squeezing it gently. "I'll take as much of it as I can handle. We can go one at a time, so it'll be more like both of us are doing the upgrades together. Do you want to go first?"

"Oh sure." She said shakily. "Soulrending pain is my favorite thing ever. I guess I'd better do Vitality first then. We can deal with it when we're both in peak condition. You sure you want to help me ride this one out? You can't do much more than take some of the pain. It might not be worth it. It's not like it's going to kill me."

Rolling my eyes, I pushed the emerald pill in the box closer to her, and she sighed, nodding as she used the hand I wasn't holding to pick it up. Popping the clear crystal box open, she picked up the shimmering green pill. "Wish me luck." She said as she tossed the thing back like a shot. She sat there for a second, waiting, and then her back arched and her body slammed back against the wooden floor.

Life energy blazed through her, manifesting like a tidal wave of pure Vitality rolling through her whole body. Her hand clamped down around mine like a vise, and my eyes widened as several of my bones cracked. I hissed in pain, but I didn't pull away, letting her grind them together as she choked down screams of pain. It honestly helped me focus as I tried to withstand the flood of agony coming through the bond.

I was taking as much of her pain as I could, this was a weight on my soul sure, and on hers, but more than that, this was her body and state of being adjusting to suddenly being more than twice as strong. I was regretting picking Vitality as the stat we used the elixir for, and I could feel she was too.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour but was probably more like thirty seconds, the pain faded. Callie slumped back, panting in pain and releasing my hand. I triggered a heal burst immediately, using my other hand to try to shift the bones into the right positions to make the healing easier. "That..." Panted Callie. "Was the worst idea we've ever had. Why would I possibly have considered doing that? On the upside I got a full fourteen percent to my soul strength for weathering that shitstorm."

I flexed my hand with a grimace. "Yeah, probably would have been smarter to let Vitality drag up naturally as you ranked and pumped the points into Perception or something else that could have taken it better. On the upside Might should be a cakewalk after that."

She shrugged. "Our logic was solid. It would have been stupid not to fortify my Vitality. Even with the extra Impact from the rank up, the extra stamina and regeneration will be vital. Let's get this moving. Might time." She grabbed the second box, popping it open and tossing it back like she had the first.

This time, there was some strain as she adjusted, but it didn't really HURT. Callie was heavily invested in Might, and the five hundred points she was gaining was far less of a shock. There was still a bit of difficulty as she withstood the E-ranked pill as it converted to an abundance of F-ranked Might, but between the two of us withstanding it was easy.

She completed the stat acquisition simply enough, and after allowing herself to rank up, she ascended smoothly to E-rank. It was almost anti-climactic after everything else. But her soul was strong, and she was able to handle the growing Impact easily enough. In fact, it was stronger than mine now. As she ranked up, it made the shift from green to blue officially sublimating into a form that prevented any further breakage of shackles. Not that she would have a problem with that.

I felt the weight of her beat on the air as she Ascended, breaking through to a rank that I knew she'd been dreaming of since she was a little girl. She was officially an E-ranker like her father, and with a Path already to boot. She was already ready to take the step into D-rank that he could never take on Callus. She opened her eyes, tears spilling down her cheeks as she stared at me in wonder. I could feel the emotion crashing through the bond like a tsunami, her new and weightier sense of self almost overpowering to my weaker being. Almost. She grabbed a piece of paper, writing out her new status and handing it over to me.

Calliope Reynolds. E-rank.

Ability: Expert Abyssal Infiltration- Enter the shadows and emerge where you will within range, shape the darkness to your call, moving it as if it were part of your body, and even extend your senses through the shadows to spy on your enemies. Might 3350 Impact

65 Fantasy

2105 Vitality 742 Focus 908 Perception 2375 Creation 485 Progress to next rank:

10030/100000

Soul strength:

Blue-64% Pet: Wolf named Rellia Skills: Minor Tracking, Minor Dual Dagger Mastery, Beginner Stealth, Beginner Trap Mastery, Beginner Disguise, Lesser Balam Mastery, Intermediate Shadow Manipulation Mastery. Intermediate Paired Dueling. Path: Path of the Abyss- Illusory

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"I...I can't believe it." She said quietly. Staring at the paper. "I'm finally here. Finally as strong as he is. Maybe not as far along, but I have my Path, and that has to count for something. Plus my soul is definitely way stronger than his. I bet I could kick his ass."

I laughed. "Maybe hold off until we hit D-rank. Might as well make a big spectacle when you prove to him what a dumb asshole he is."

She lunged forward, throwing her arms around me. "Shane...you don't know what this means to me. Or maybe you do, but still...I love you. Thank you so much." She giggled. "Apparently helping me achieve my lifelong dream was at least worth a Skill rank. Paired duelling ranked up. I should be able to help you withstand your own stats way easier with a blue soul." She puffed out her chest as she pulled back, proud to be able to help and of how far she'd come.

Blue. The soul of a Master. It was a heady thing. My own upgrade would bring me to the next soul rank, and I was curious what that would be. What was the complete sublimation state after Azure Soul Body? A halfway step into Indigo, I was sure, but what would it be called? Deciding I was going to find out, I grabbed my own pills. One and then the other, I took them, tossing them back and then waiting.

It wasn't...pleasant, but it didn't hurt, not really. Just some pressure, and the small amount of discomfort Callie helped with easily through our new and improved bond. She seemed almost annoyed she couldn't do more, and it was hard not to smirk at her pouting for not being needed during this.

Chelsea, who had been watching the byplay with an amused smile, smiled at me. "Alright, you ready for this? I wish for eight points of Might, and I'll pay with eight points of Fantasy." She enunciated clearly.

Wish detected. Grant wish?

I agreed without hesitation, holding out a hand and grabbing hers, letting the rising static of my power carry the last eight points I needed. I was glad I'd been right about the bump being enough to get me to eight points per wish. It would have been hellish getting stuck at one point away from E-rank. As soon as it settled, I felt the weight of my incoming shift in self.

Impact. The conceptual weight of a being. Thirty points of Impact was nearly as much as I already had. But I wasn't worried. Impact weighed on the soul. Stats affected the body, especially ones like Vitality, so there was bound to be difficulties in a big jump, but Impact? The soul weight settled onto my Azure Soul like a warm blanket.

I was uplifted. Ascended. I became more than I had ever been before. My Path of the Doom Sovereign, an ability I'd clawed and scraped together and worked to refine, seamlessly rose alongside my wish power. I couldn't wait to see what kind of changes that brought about. New subskills, sure, but changes to the ones I had I was sure. The changes were gradual to that one. It would take time to settle from its first rank upgrade. I'd check those later, for now I was more focused on the earlier portions of my status and how it had changed.

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

Expert Path of the Doom Sovereign- A Solid Path toward a great destiny. Might 2975 Impact 65 Fantasy 950 Vitality 2162 Focus 1120 Perception 1204 Creation 1554 Progress to next rank: 10030/100000 Soul Strength: Sapphire Soul Body Stored:

7 shadow attacks, 10 shadow jump (seven in reserve), 10 Stealth charges, 0 fire attacks, 10 triple strenth tranq blows (ten in reserve), 10 triple strength density shifted attacks (ten in reserve). 10 spider leg attacks (ten in reserve), 9 heal bursts (4 reserve), 3 gravity attacks, 10 shadow clone (2 in reserve), 19 scan heals (I-rank ability so Shane can hold more) Pet:

Wolf named Jin Financial resources: 10 E-rank chits Skills: Expert Path of the Doom Sovereign, Lesser Valtek Mastery, Lesser Cooking Mastery, Lesser Inventing Mastery, Beginner Balam Mastery, Minor Piano Mastery, Minor Guitar Mastery, Minor First Aid Mastery, Intermediate Paired Dueling

There was a lot to unpack there. Seeing Expert instead of intermediate thrilled me, obviously. Seven wishes would come in handy and let me stockpile more for the territory while fulfilling my contract with Camden still, and I could feel my body shaking off the bonds of the pressure it had been under. Not completely, obviously, but some of my old strength and speed were returning.

Then there was my soul. Sapphire Soul Body. Each rank of the soul had its own peak sublimation. The Azure Soul Body was the first, but each rank up would reveal another. I'd never bothered to ask what the peak of blue was, and seeing it, I wasn't sure how to feel. I didn't feel different really, though I suppose I wouldn't. The new clarity I'd gained in the temple had been a result of same rank soul changes. Ascending was the natural method of growing the soul, and it wasn't really supposed to alter the way I felt.

Turning to Callie, I scribbled out my own status, passing it to her, and let her read over it. I could feel her pride and excitement against my soul, the combination of new bond and new us making me feel even closer to her. She finished reading it and threw herself at me again, and I held her as bright, shimmering laughter spilled out of her, pure exultation at we had accomplished together. I started laughing alongside her, and I didn't even care that Chelsea was looking at us like we were lunatics. It was good to be alive.