"Well if it isn't the lovebirds." Said Benny as we walked into his room with Jessie on our heels. He was leaning back in his chair, and Celine had her feet in his lap, which he was rubbing. Her head was tilted back, and she was snoring lightly, but when he spoke she snapped awake, falling off the couch they were sitting on with a mortified squeak.

Benny laughed, then groaned as she punched him in the leg with a scowl. Scrambling to her feet, she fixed her…I didn't actually know what to call her clothes. Some kind of green tunic dress. It was very elfin, but I hadn't seen her wear it before. Then again, I wasn't exactly the king of noticing people's wardrobes.

"Benicio and I were just decompressing after a long day." She said loftily, cheeks red as Jessie whistled suggestively. It was kind of hilarious to see graceful, steady Celine so out of sorts.

Callie giggled at her, gripping me arm as she leaned around me. "You're ALLOWED to sleep, Cel. Or do other things. We promise we won't tell your mom." She winked and the elf girl turned such a bright red I was briefly worried about her head exploding. My wife took pity on her though, and turned to Benny. "We wanted to check in on our bestest buddies and see how they've been progressing. It's been like half a year since we checked."

I doubted either of them hit Callie levels of stat gain, nevermind mine, but six months was bound to be a big windfall.

Benny shrugged modestly. "I did alright. A little better than Jessie but also substantially less concentrated, obviously."

Our healer friend blew on her nails, buffing them on her cloak. "Everybody loves the healer."

Laughing, we all headed out to a side chamber. They had some built up points from their own efforts helping out around Callus. Benny in particular was very popular, given his parents connections. He'd been much more involved in the local social scene than I had growing up, just by virtue of being dragged to so many parties by his mom.

"I'm not even close to D-rank." He cautioned. "But I think I've definitely grown a ton compared to your average joe. With the residual fame from helping kill a D-ranker, even obliquely, and all the renown from our repair efforts and helping liberate the planet, or close enough, I've been sailing through E-rank."

I could see the shift in his posture when he allowed the renown to hit him. It wasn't much, he didn't really stockpile like I did. He shuddered theatrically when it was done, then pulled out some paper and copied his stats. "And here you are." He said smugly. "Check that out."

Benicio Cortez- E-rank. Ability: Expert Body of Inspiration- Allows the integration of existing artifacts into the users body for the purposes of strengthening and enhancing them, two items per placement. Might: 20,044 Impact: 65 Fantasy: 3486 Vitality: 2441 Focus: 18,141 Perception: 3582 Creation: 5471 Progress to next rank: 53,230/100,000 Soul strength: Sapphire Soul Body Pet: Wolf named Rolf Current integrated tech. 14/20. Torso: G-ranked intangibility for short bursts, Three times multiplication of Might for five minutes. 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, Three times multiplication of Focus for five minutes. 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, Three times Multiplication of Perception for five minutes. Heart: Illusionary double, Three times Multiplication of Vitality for five minutes.

Skills: Minor Cooking Mastery, Intermediate Inventing Mastery, Lesser Haggling Mastery, Minor Stealth Mastery Path of the Dracolich-Illusory. Proto Technique: sword art, Dance of the Dracolich

I let out a low whistle. "Holy shit man, that's not bad at all. I know it's been a while, but you really bulked up. Your Might is almost as high as mine. Really focused growth too. Like you got some buzz on your other stats, Creation and Fantasy especially, which makes sense given your Path and your hobby, but still you really kept your renown locked in."

He shrugged. "I have to manage my legend a bit more carefully than you, since I don't have the wish thing to fall back on. Cel acts as kind of a PR person for me. She's excellent at managing perception because of all the political training." He smiled at his girlfriend. "I don't know what I'd do without her."

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Starve, presumably." She said with a soft smile. "Or possibly decompose from wearing old unwashed clothes." She shot Callie a wry grin. "Does yours have problems with cleanliness too?"

I barked out a laugh. "Me? She's the biggest slob I've ever met. Besides maybe Jessie. I think Randall cleans up her room these days. Apparently even wild animals aren't comfortable in the environment she lives in."

My blonde friend scowled at me. "That is a hateful lie! I'm as clean and graceful as a princess. My room is the height of organization. I can find anything in there. Just last week I found a whole chicken I wasn't even looking for. I'd just left it there-" She trailed off. "Shit, that might have been a counterproductive story."

I just laughed, unable to resist reaching over to ruffle her hair. "It's fine, Jess, we love you anyway. And hey, at least you can drive."

"Excuse me!" Said my wife in an offended tone. "I'm an EXCELLENT driver! You're just a big scaredy cat who's afraid of a little vigorous space redistribution. Vehicles are specifically made to withstand dents."

I threw my hands in the air. "Vigorous space redistribution isn't a thing! It's called rear-ending, and it's ILLEGAL and DANGEROUS. And vehicles are made to withstand dents when they HAVE to. Your crash test safety rating is not a fucking MANA bar in a video game you can spend to make your trip faster!"

She just shrugged. "Agree to disagree."

"I don't think that phrase means what you think it means." I said flatly. "But fine. In any case. Jess, you were going to do yours? I'm curious what you got, though I can probably imagine where most of your points went."

Our healer grinned at me. "Hell yes you can!" She cheered with a fist pump. She reached into the air and whipped out a piece of paper. "Read it and weep, nerds!"

"You asshole!" Scolded Callie. "You were supposed to wait like the rest of us! When did you let yout stats in."

"On the way here." Shrugged Jessie. "You guys bore me." She winked to take the sting out of it, but we all grumbled as we reached for the paper. Benny and I went for it, but Callie snatched it first, then smacked our hands away when we tried to grab it.

She nodded sagely, stroking her chin in a ridiculous imitation of a wise old man with a beard. "Very curious."

"Yes." I said flatly. "We ARE very curious. Now spill, or I'll drop you in the Pit of Despair and fish the page out." I waggled my fingers at her. "My control of the Dust is not of this world. BEWARE!"

"I'll eat it if you try." She threatened. "You may not believe me but-"

We all shook our heads, putting up our hands in surrender. "We believe you." I said bluntly. "You'll eat anything. Paper isn't a stretch."

"Hey!" She shrieked in outrage. "I have a VERY discerning palate. You can't just- SHIT!" She whirled as Benny dipped back, clutching the paper he'd snatched from her distracted hands. I just grinned. Having the old team back together like this on Callus…it was like the last few months never happened. I felt so at peace here.

Benny read over the paper and then handed it to me. It was about what I had expected, honestly.

Jessica Evans- E-rank. Ability: Expert Lifeweaving- Infuse living things with life itself and direct their actions while the user's power flows through them. Control has limited effect on sapient entities. Prolonged exposure to life energy may cause lasting effects in controlled subjects.

Might: 3625 Impact: 65 Fantasy: 2758 Vitality: 37,256 Focus: 1755 Perception: 1765 Creation: 2958 Progress to next rank: 50,182/100,000 Path: Path of the Green Sun Pet: Wolf named Lily and Undying Lifestorm Ursa named Randall(Intermediate Beast Bonding with Jessie) Soul strength: Sapphire Soul Body Skills: Intermediate Horticulture,Intermediate First Aid, Minor Herbalism, Minor Flower Arrangement, Intermediate Beast Taming Mastery, Intermediate Beast Bonding, Intermediate Shape of the Wild

I clicked my tongue. "Damn, your Vitality is out of this world. Highest stat in the whole damned party. You think you'll hit fifty thousand before D-rank?"

"I do." She said excitedly. "And I'm pretty sure my ability will upgrade if I do. You know that specific milestones can influence changes on rank up. Honestly I'm not even sure what it'll turn into. I'm about to be a Master, who knows what that'll look like." The anticipation in her voice was heartwarming.

She had a point too. Her power was already absurdly strong, most likely BECAUSE of how hyperfocused her stat distribution was. Master was a watershed, and I was seriously looking forward to what her lifeweaving was going to become.

More important than that though, was the entry I hadn't noticed until my second glance. "You created a Path!" I said excitedly. "It's…weird sounding. What is the green sun?"

She grinned widely. "It's my own creation. I actually started telling stories about it recently. During cleanup. It helps me cement the image in my head. Like I'm creating a new mythology. People seem to like hearing about it. The green sun is native to a planet called Mercuria. It's a harsh world, and large, and as it turns in place, the suns travel across the surface, meaning there are nine 'days' happening there at a time.

"Each sun does something unique. The green sun is the sun of life. It burns with the fires of creation and Vitality, and its light causes plants to grow and wounds to heal." She sounded so animated I almost got sucked into the story myself, forgetting she'd made it up. "Animals grow fast and large under the green sun, their bodies imbued with strength"

We listened as she went on and on, filling us in on the other suns, the native flora and fauna. It all came bursting out, and it occurred to me that Jessie hadn't just been resting on her laurels while we were all pulling ahead. She knew she needed a Path, and she was doing her best to make an amazing one. I couldn't wait to see what it was capable of.

After Jessie filled us in, we all headed to one of the empty caverns, and I cooked for us. So much of my interactions with my team were based on food and the sense of community that came from sharing a meal, and cooking for them all after months without my wife and then a month of cleanup was…peaceful.

We'd had some downtime together during the month off, but nothing quite like this. Maybe because it was the eve of battle, so to speak, but this felt…different. Like old times. I loved it. By the time the night wound down my face hurt from smiling so much, and I had to carry Callie to bed because she'd worn herself out doing shadow puppet theater (in three dimensions) of HER favorite movies, as revenge for making her watch soul puppet. Tomorrow we'd begin preparations for the final battle, but for now it was just the five of us, the old gang plus one, and it was all I needed to enjoy my night.