I admit, my mind was a mess after finding out about my sister. My mom had another kid. Was she dad's? Did mom have a new family? Was that why she left us? But what role did dad play in that? I'd come to the conclusion from things Zeke hadn't said that dad had chased mom off, or at least was involved in her leaving.

Callie sat next to me, holding my hand and looking worried. I appreciated the concern, but I forced down the bad feelings. I was going to see my mom soon. I could ask her this in person. I wasn't going to let it ruin my time with my friends. Family drama could wait. I looked up at Benny, who was nearby, waiting quietly with Celine. Clearing my throat, I forcibly changed the subject. "So, Ben, how did you do? During the meeting."

Gabriel had long since left, and we'd retreated so I could get my head on straight, grouping up in a clearing. My best friend looked surprised, but also relieved to have the out. "Pretty well, honestly. I was kind of worried since I didn't play a big part in the final battle, but I guess all the calculations and mapping I did during the hunt for the conduits left an impression, even after Yvette showed up."

Benicio Cortez- F-rank. Ability: Intermediate Mechanical Embodiment- Allows the integration of existing inventions into the users body for the purposes of strengthening and enhancing them.

Might- 405 Impact- 32 Fantasy- 56 Vitality- 41 Focus- 683 Perception- 82 Creation- 71 Progress to next rank: 1370/10,000 Soul Strength: Orange- 19% Pet- Wolf named Rolf Current integrated tech 9/10. Torso: G-ranked intangibility for short bursts. Right fist: triple punch. Left forearm: F-ranked energy barrier or variable shape. Left fist: minor slow acting tranquilizer effect. Right foot: Density shifting to create heavier kicks and more powerful jumps. Left Foot: momentum neutralization to allow stopping instantly. Head: slight cognitive boost to allow more thinking time. Back: ability to grow a shell to tank damage. Chest: Pair of golden G rank spider legs that arch up from the shoulders. Waist: Belt of spiritual calming Skills: Minor Cooking Mastery, Intermediate Inventing Mastery, Minor Haggling Mastery, Minor Stealth Master

"Not a massive bump compared to you guys." He said after sharing. "But two hundred twenty one points in Focus as well as some natural creep in most of my other stats isn't bad at all." He glanced over at our resident healer, who had been extremely quiet, clearly as worried about me as the others. "How about you, Jess? Bet you did pretty well, considering not only did you heal most of the wounded, you also helped Abel make that crazy bear construct."

She brightened a bit, looking excited. "Yeah, that helped a ton I think. As usual, technically everything I do leans mostly to Vitality. I got a bit of creep, and some Might, but I got a LOT of Vitality."

Jessica Evans- F-rank. Ability: Intermediate Lifeweaving- Infuse living things with life itself and direct their actions while the users power flows through them. Control had limited effect on sapient entities. Prolonged exposure to life energy may cause lasting effects in controlled subjects. Might- 375 Impact- 32 Fantasy- 78 Vitality- 1292 Focus- 55 Perception- 65 Creation- 58 Progress to next rank: 1955/10,000 Pet- Wolf named Lily and bear named Randall(Beginner Beast Bonding with Jessie) soul strength: Orange- 14% Skills: Beginner Horticulture,Beginner First Aid, Minor Herbalism, Minor Flower Arrangement, Minor Beast Taming Mastery, Beginner Beast Bonding, Intermediate Shape of the Wild

"Five hundred points of Vitality, two hundred of Might, plus various bumps to lower stats." She said proudly. "I'm right on the edge of two thousand total. Plus my soul is up to fourteen percent. Benny's got his spiritual calming so he jumped higher there, but my bond with Randall is a steady and consistent stress on my soul. I think it's really helping."

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

Seeing it laid out like that, I realized Benny was right. He was lagging behind. Sure his Focus was a huge help here, but he hadn't been in the fight as directly. He needed my focus for the next few months until we could catch him up. Not to mention his soul improving at the temple meant he might be able to push up to Expert in Inventing, and exert more control over what he made.

"Well, sounds like we all made some progress." I said cheerfully. "Now, why don't we talk about getting some more Dew before we leave. Now that Suvaya is gone its just free floating impact. Think we can buy some off Ladrigan or some of the other outsiders? We still have plenty of things worth trading for. The metals from the mining complex, the spellbooks we got from the wizards tower."

"You want to trade those?" Said Callie in shock. "I thought for sure the thought of learning magic would have been too big a temptation to pass up."

I shrugged. "It normally would, but in the end, more Skills are just going to pull focus. Sure I could merge them into my DS Mastery, but honestly I need to learn to use the Skill as it is, complicating it more won't help. Meanwhile Impact is a method to pull ahead of our competitors and keep ourselves safe. It's kind of a no brainer."

She shrugged. "You're not wrong. It's a solid plan, I was just surprised. I can call up Anna-Marie and set a meeting if you want. There must have been other teams that arrived after we left, at least before this whole mess, plus they had native forces searching. With the dungeon open to the world again, Impact is going to be less valuable to the locals than support from larger organizations."

I nodded. "I could see that. Any random E-ranker should be able to take on the king, and if not one, then two. Being exposed to the whole universe like this, they're better off finding a backer. No way they can hoard all that Impact for themselves, if they don't sell to us chances are good someone less pleasant will just take it by force."

"That's a good point." She said with a wince. "In the meantime we should definitely talk to some of the others. Gabriel mentioned finding some Dew didn't he? I'm not sure he'd trade it normally, but the spellbooks we found are rare and hard to get too. I'd bet we have some options that would fit well with some of his people." She grimaced. "I wish we could just ask Zeke to find the stuff for us, but that would definitely violate his geas."

"True." I said with a nod. "But with so many people showing up, I'd bet we could arrange for some Dew another way." I glanced over at Nat. "Twelve wishes. Think we can get some of the teams from the other factions to do our work for us?" Between the wishes, the metals, the spellbooks, and Nat's first dibs on materials, I was betting we could scrounge up enough of the stuff to get some for everyone.

Her eyes sparkled. "That's a fantastic idea. Most of the smaller time faction members won't be able to hold onto their Dew anyway when the big boys start arriving. Better to sell it off for something as incredibly valuable as a wish. I'll go talk to some of the other teams about the wishes and the spellbooks while Callie reaches out to the locals." She gave me an encouraging smile. "You just buck up ok?"

My groan of exasperation got a chuckle from my best friend as the scattered, Jessie heading off to try to feel out some of the people she healed while Celine went with Nat. Abel was around somewhere, probably nursing a headache after the soul damage plus the stats. I sighed, looking at Benny. "You gonna give me the 'it's ok pal' treatment too?"

He shrugged. "Honestly, I don't think it's as bad as it seems to you right now. Sure, it's not ideal, but you and Maria always got along great. Doesn't it seem like it might be kind of cool having a sister? Sure you don't know her, but you can change that. Did Gabriel tell you her name?"

"Chelsea." I said matter of factly. "Her name is Chelsea and she's eighteen. My mom took her away for some reason when I was two, not that I remember her, hell I barely remember mom. She clearly cares a lot about her, since she's taking up the chaperone position on this trial. Based on what I've heard, she isn't the type to babysit. She's supposed to be my grandfather's iron fist."

I tried not to be jealous, but the thought of my sister living the life I could have had. Raised by mom, considered a princess by the Church and taken care of with the best of her generation...well, it was difficult not to resent that a bit. Benny nodded sympathetically. "Maybe so. Have you talked to Zeke about all this?"

"What's the point?" I asked with a shrug. "He can't tell me anything. I'd imagine the reason the geas tightens up so much when my mom comes up is specifically because my dad didn't want me to know about my sister. Gods only know why, but then, who knows why my dad does anything."

He shook his head. "Your family is a mess, man. But hey, at least you've got Nat and Zeke. Plus your sister might be cool, and you can still try to talk things out with your mom."

"I will. For now, let's go check in with Bethy and Satala, see how they're doing after all this." The silver haired girl had been present for her mother's gruesome death, so I wanted to make sure she was ok. Plus Bethy was going to be leaving much later than the rest of us since she was waiting for her dad, I wanted to say goodbye at least.

We found her easily enough, she had Donuts and Poptarts both out, and they seemed ok. Whatever damage being out of her shadow had done to Donuts at the beginning apparently it could be staved off under the right circumstances. When she saw us she squealed and clapped her hands. "Shane! Benny! It's good to see you guys. I was just helping Tala pick her new clothes. She's decided to stay on as one of my thralls!"

She gestured grandly to where the former A-ranker was standing shyly, wearing a pair of dark blue pants covered in buckles, a white tank top with a silver snow flake on it, and some lilac sleeves that weren't attached to anything. The finishing touch was a dark blue beret sitting askew on her head. She seemed...better than I expected, a bit lost, but not as upset as I'd have figured.

Despite that, I could see Bethy was trying hard to distract her, and of course the vampire fashionista had decided to dress her new thrall up. I smiled and waved at her. "Hey Satala, haven't seen you since the fight, hope things are ok."

"Of COURSE they are!" Squealed Bethy energetically. "Tala is going to stay and keep an eye on this place. Daddy says he's going to claim it and give it to me as a present. It's only F-rank so no one is going to fight him too much on it, though he says he's going to have to let them take some of the Dew. Cost of doing business and all."

I just gaped at her, having not expected THAT even if I probably should have. Then I chuckled, shaking my head, and Benny and I sat down to catch up with the both of them. Good for Bethy, it was nice to know this place would be taken care of at least. Satala obviously cared about it a lot. Until then, I'd leave the others to work on sourcing that Dew, if they couldn't get enough we could ask Bethy for some before we left. For now I'd just enjoy spending time with friends.