Since my ability awakened, I'd done plenty of amazing things. Seen places I couldn't imagine, done things I'd never dreamed of. I'd fought fucking undead dragons, stolen from evil necromantic castles, stood on the blade of a sword the size of a skyscraper, and dozens of other unbelievable things. Despite all that though, there'd always been a sense of...unreality, of being on the other side of the looking glass.

Flying was beyond all of that. I don't know what it was about this type of flight that seemed so much more amazing than taking shuttles, but as we sailed over hundreds of miles of jungle, I knew this was an experience I'd never forget.

Maybe it was the fact that I'd helped to do this, that Callie and I had made this possible together, just us, but it was...transcendent. I knew it wasn't just me, either. I could feel Callie through the bond, her amazement, her joy. She was experiencing every bit of this that I was, and as she took my hand and squeezed it, I couldn't help the smile that plastered itself across my face.

"Damn." Said Abel in awe. "Now that ain't something you see every day." We could see the jungle far off into the distance, and behind us we could see the mountains that made up the closer side of the ring. I saw buildings out on the distance too, closer to the ground. Towers, temples, fortresses. All spread out among the trees and cleared of brush and debris in a way that made it obvious that they were long since claimed by forces unknown.

Bethany whistled. "This is so beautiful." She said in a surprisingly somber voice. "Thank you. For letting me see this. I've never witnessed anything quite like it. It's not just the sight, it's the fact that I know this place is unspoiled by those above us. F-rankers and the only people who can get in here. This view is just...just for us."

I nodded. "That's it. That's what I couldn't put my finger on. We own the sky. Sure there are birds up here, but they're obviously leaving us alone. This is...the view from the top. At least temporarily." The beauty was remarkable, but there was more to this feeling, under all that.

We all stared in awe, taking it in. The knowledge that we were literally on top of the world right now. It was a heady sensation. This was a preview of what it would be like, I thought, to be an S-ranker, or even a god. Even if we lost the Impact somehow and never gained anything else from this trip, this moment was enough. This made everything worth it.

It was more than just feeling like a big shot. We were feeling it together. Me and my friends on top of the world as a group. I wondered how many Ascendants lost their perspective climbing up this high in the outside world. How many abandoned their loved ones for these heights, never remembering the whole point of wanting to get here.

This was nothing less than a reminder. To stick together. To keep climbing as a group. To help each other, so someday, we could be here in reality, we could stand above everything together like this and REALLY know we made it. The feel of the wind, the sound of the rushing air, the green blanket of beautiful trees stretched out below us, I memorized it all. So that when it came to it, the next time I felt unsure, I could remember this moment.

I saw Callie's eyes tear up, though she subtly wiped it away. She'd needed this, just like I had, needed the perspective. She'd been feeling small since we left Callus, and lost. But it was impossible to look down from here and feel like anything less than a giant.

We sat, and watched, and enjoyed, for hours. Our starting point was so damned high (and the spatial distortion had kind of launched us as we got clear) that we'd been able to glide for most of the day. Slowly drifting lower, even more slowly for the use of my State of Grace. Its increased hangtime was a massive boost to the already lengthy trip, though I had to use it sparingly when we started to hit a downdraft, at least after the first shot.

Finally, after most of the day had passed, we came down. I used State of Grace to land us, so we could avoid any bumpy contact when we touched down. We aimed for a clearing relatively nearby, and the landing was pretty smooth. Hopping down, I offered Callie a hand and helped her to the ground as everyone disembarked. Taking out the magic map we'd bought, I checked out current location versus the temple's position.

"Alright." I said as I eyeballed it. "Three quarters of the way there. It's about..." I checked my scan ring. "Three P.M. I'd say if we rush we could arrive by nightfall, but I think that would be stupid. I think we should keep a steady pace, and then camp a few dozen miles out. Let the night pass before we plan our attack. I don't know if these undead are stronger at night but...well, they do worship a moon goddess."

Everyone paused. "Yeah." Abel chimed in. "I actually hadn't considered that, but it seems like a stupid risk to take when we can just avoid it." At the shocked looks he got he shrugged. "What? I like a good fight, I'm not suicidal. The less godly bullshit we deal with the better, I'm reckless, not nuts."

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I chuckled at that, nodding along. "Alright, lets head out then." Using the map to orient, we headed for the temple as best we could. We made good time, of course, given our stats, and weirdly, we didn't run into anything that might slow us down. Not because we were keeping track, but because they seemed to be avoiding us. No monsters, no animals, nothing.

On the way to meet up with Renaldi we'd run across a few monsters we'd had to scare off or fight, though nothing that had slowed us down much. Now though, it seemed like we'd been left completely alone so far.

Triggering my Eye of Revelation, I'd pushed my soul to try to pick up what might be causing it, and I'd come to the conclusion that they could sense that we were traveling with a bigger predator. Bethany was so fucking scary everything was avoiding us out of sheer terror at her presence.

That kind of...aura, reminded me of Abel in some ways. That presence of danger he exuded when pissed off, but with Bethy it seemed to be completely unintentional, just a natural side effect of her being an apex predator. Once the sun started going down we all slowed to make camp. Yvette filled us in a bit on the details of how the temples worked at we made dinner.

I wished we'd brought one of the compasses, but the search parties had needed them more. My wishes for yesterday had gone toward making sure they all had a method of finding their targets, and the twenty five points of Might I'd gotten off it had been useful, but the assumption that having a stationary map would render the compass unnecessary might have been a bit hasty. At the very least I still had today's wishes, since I'd used the other ones last night.

"The conduit we're approaching is Jainus." She said as we sat down. "The tower master did extensive research on all of them. Jainus has a summoning ability. He creates dogs made of storm elements. Water, wind, lightning, sometimes combinations of the three."

I grimaced. Summoners were annoying to deal with. On the upside it meant the actual undead should be easier to deal with. Heavy fantasy stacking would mean less physical power to offset, especially with Yvette here to help.

The ability to tank higher Impact attacks would be crucial for us going into this, and someone who could take Abel's strongest attack to the face and barely budge certainly had that ability. After she went over everything she knew about Jainus, we set up the bunker and Callie used up all my wishes for today. She traded me another six shadow jumps for thirty Might just to be prepared, and I didn't complain given how useful that would be for me.

In the morning, we woke up to get ready, everyone enjoying the fresh scent of grass and trees as we made breakfast and got ready, then headed for the temple with the sun overhead. Despite the sun being out, the moon was still visible huge and menacing in the blue sky, but the light was muted by the daytime sky, which for some reason made me less worried about whatever tricks Suvaya might pull.

Of course, that was nonsensical, because she was a literal god and being in the daylight probably wouldn't stop her if she roused and decided to interfere, but comfort didn't have to be logical.

The last leg of our trip to the temple was peaceful, more of a morning nature hike than anything, and once we got there, we had Callie do her intel gathering thing while the rest of us warmed up just in case. Going into battle with something like a conduit rusty and tired would probably be the last mistake any of us would make.

Bethy, alone amongst those of us who were human (Yvette was unfazed as always), seemed to be mostly relaxed and excited, deciding to use her captive cat as a spy to scope out the inside of the building in ways Callie might not be able to pick up. After a few minutes she skipped over to us. "Donuts says there are other kitties inside." Her gleeful enthusiasm sent a shiver through the rest of us.

Callie, who had just returned, nodded in confirmation. "I caught the edges of the night pride too. Couldn't get any actual information on them, like I said before they're a weird kind of unnatural darkness. We should be able to use the same trick as last time. As long as we don't...where is Bethany?"

We all looked around to find that the vampire girl had vanished. Callie knelt down and her fingers dipped into the shadows. "Shit, I think she...yep. She went in by herself. She seems to be...I think she's chasing them." She turned to look at the temple, only to see the Vampire emerge from the temple dragging a now corporeal shadow cat a bit smaller than donuts by the tail as she shouted after a series of fleeing shadows.

"No!" She shouted petulantly. "Come back! I just want to love you!" We all stared in disbelief as she stomped back over to us, still dragging her newest captive. She yanked it forward in front of her, where the cat laid down motionlessly, its eyes locked on the small form of our team member. "This is Poptarts." She said in annoyance. "He's the only one I could catch."

Abel raised a hand slowly. "I'd like it known that, though this isn't something I'd normally admit to, you scare the shit out of me."

Bethany's smile was WAY too full of teeth to be comfortable to look at. "Well aren't you sweet." Her smile flattened into a pout. "Anyway, there aren't any more kitties in there. DONUTS." She said the name spitefully. "Tried to warn them I was coming. He's such a naughty kitty. He's going to stay in time out for a while. I guess Poptarts will get all the cuddles."

The huge terrifying shadow beast flinched when she said the name. I noticed her shadow was actually touching it, though not an angle it should be. I guessed that was how it was manifesting. Deciding it was better for my sanity not to think too much about how Bethany did anything, I decided to refocus the group. "Well." I said jauntily. "That happened. Somehow. Anyway, I think we're about ready to head in." Hopefully fighting the conduit was as easy as getting rid of his guards.