Chapter 306: Chapter 306

Just being inside their home and feeling the hearth’s soothing energies helped revitalize the fighting family. After a quick snack, Jake already felt like he had just woken up from a nap.

Still, many of them didn’t feel well-rested, the previous battles exhausting to their spirits. Wishing to meet the goddess at their best, they all piled into their bed. They had a few curious visitors overnight: their children, who somehow sensed that they were home.

They let some of their youngest in spirit tuck in, and promised the rest that couldn’t fit into the bed that they would stick around over the coming days.

In the morning, after confirming with Valtor that nothing had blown up overnight and gathering for a large breakfast, the family all gathered inside their sanctuary. The many trees with perpetually blooming flowers and vines were always a pretty sight, and the crisp air and the smell of nature relaxed Jake.

The kids went off to play, excited and relieved that their parents were home again, with promises to play later unless there was an emergency.

Yona’s tails were flicking happily as she watched them run and slither off, a small smile on her face. “They have been extra antsy in this past week. Many of them have directed their energies into training, especially the echidnas. Others… I’ve tried to help distract them with art and games, nya. It’s good to see them all having fun again.”

Avalara’s lesser avatar nodded. “Yes, it is a challenging thing, but they are starting to get used to it. Each of them deals with stress differently. And they’re all in a rush to grow up.”

Bree was in her humanoid form now, and she chuckled. “For me, fighting is the best way to blow off some steam.”

Fhesiah grinned. “Oh, but don’t you have a new way that is even better now?” Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⁂𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚⁂𝔫𝔢𝔱

After a few, ‘Daddy, watch this!’ and similar for the mothers, the party headed over to the large clearing with the shrines for their Divine. They were dressed in more casual wear since they were at home, the many girls choosing their go-tos of sundresses, workout attire, and cultivator robes.

Cernunnos’s swamp tree no longer felt ominous to Jake, but its power and size had certainly grown. Death and its energies were not foreign any longer, and near the presence of Brigid’s hearthfire tree, well, and statue, it felt like just another part of life.

Hestia, Guan Yu, Bastet, and Echidna’s statues sat near the two Celtic Divine, the six Divine of their family. Odds were, they would add to this number within their Refuge soon, as their various daughters and sons selected their Divine to give their oaths to if they became clergy.

Various stumps and seats were gathered around the shrines now, allowing people to sit down casually. There were even some high-backed chairs for the divine to sit in, should they decide to do so.

Jake eventually triggered Hestia’s statue, and had been somewhat expecting her projection, but was still a little shocked when the goddess appeared wearing her toga and sandals. The clearing warmed up, and he the woman’s loving, caring presence.

He said with a smile, “Welcome, Hestia.”

She smiled at him, and looked over everyone in the clearing with her hands held together in front of her. “Thank you, Jake–I’m happy to be here and to see you all. Congratulations on your victory, Hart family. You’ve won a significant battle for the Alliance, your guild, and this world. Once again, it was a big harvest, a complete defeat of the enemy. Thank you, for all of your efforts.”

Jake asked the question that was burning into them all. “The nameless monk is in fact dead, right? Can you say?”

Hestia nodded. “You’ve encountered and defeated all enemy divine or special entity presences on this world at this time, yes. And unfortunately, the three additional alliance special entities outside of your guild as well… Lastly, it’s as you thought. The Divine Aspirant is dead for good.”

The family let out a collective sigh of relief, including Jake. “That’s a relief. What can you tell us about this monk? We learned a little about the shears with Nessa’s sight…”

Hestia nodded, then looked to the chairs. “Ah! Let’s all have a seat. This will be a while.”

Everyone took a seat, except for Bloodberri and Fhesiah, the latter of whom was floating in her usual ‘laying down sideways’ pose.

Hestia continued, “Tyr told me. I must say, that when you called upon me for aid, I was shocked at what I sensed near you. That man was truly a monster, one that we have been gathering information on for centuries. We call these entities fixers: those that clean up betrayals or hide secrets of their most powerful champions or other entities. The nameless monk never leaves more than the tiniest of traces, and his power is beyond unique. Often, it’s the accounting that would give away his existence, causing us to take a more in-depth look with all our specialists. Otherwise, none had faced him as you did in all these years.”

Jake arched his brow. “The accounting? Really?”

Hestia chuckled. “That’s right. The memories of those he kills are removed from all existence, so normally, we’d be none the wiser on the issue, whether we won or lost the world. What happens is we see that the Alliance paid for Champions or Divine Descendants to enter the contest, but we cannot determine who. In those instances we can sometimes find a shadow of karmic interference in the loom of existence, but usually only when a larger price had to be paid.”

Fhesiah frowned in thought. “A larger price?”

Hestia nodded. “You could say that Divine’s karmic weight is just far greater than nearly everything else, but ultimately, it is only a multiplier of the many activities that produce karmic connections. Family is a powerful connection, but even just meeting another divine and having a conversation could create a karmic link that must be erased–paid for to eliminate someone completely.”

Fhesiah suddenly said, “Ah! Is that why you had us meet all the leaders and much of the divine of this sector? That meeting was interesting for us, but it didn’t feel all that…necessary at the time. But manipulating karma is a Buddhist magic; was this actually a part of your consideration?”

Hestia smiled. “Let’s just say that while karma is Buddhist magic, there are other names for the same, or adjacent things. And Odin and I, among so many others, are well-versed in understanding them, even if they may or may not be our personal tools. It was known that meeting so many held this advantage, yes, and that was a part of why we held it. Of course, there were other advantages, a butterfly effect of positives that had far-reaching implications, that are difficult to both predict and quantify.”

She looked deeply at Nessa, and she blushed a little. “Part of what…made me interested in Jake and Hearthtribe in general was a recording of that meeting.”

Jake chuckled, sending a mental hug to Nessa. “I see. So back to the shears, while he may have pre-loaded them with the blood of divines to erase their children, there may have been some other price he had to pay for other connections they had, besides. And that would be the evidence that you find afterward, the karmic ripples.”

Tanda asked, “What about other… fixers like the nameless monk? Is the monk the only one?”

Hestia sighed, and shook her head. “He’s likely far from the only one meant to prevent their betrayers and contraband items from being found, but perhaps, one of the most effective. Often, when we got close to catching betrayers such as these three you faced in the past, they would disappear. Sometimes, we’d find traces that they were killed or sacrificed, but this one was incredibly good at hiding those traces in a way that even we Divine could find little or nothing. And that’s if they didn’t just sandbag the world until it was destroyed, which prevents us from finding much of anything at all.”

Sati nodded. “After he secured the betrayers, he could have slowly impacted the war in other ways from hiding. He could make villages disappear off the map, feasting from their karma. Maybe he couldn’t have beaten us and our guild, but others…”

Bree shivered. “I’m afraid of no warrior, no predator. But…something about that monk freaks me out. Eating someone or something, I get. But their entire existence, even their memory…”

Jake tried to bring the discussion back to the original topic. “So we’re not the first time to stop the fixer necessarily, as you know about others. What would happen when you found out that someone like Cassius or Avaron betrayed the Alliance? I assume the parent would somehow just disavow their actions?”

“You got it. However, this is one of the first times we have obtained such a complete accounting of their tools and their plots, and defeated the fixer! This is unprecedented. We have had many powerful and talented champions and parties catch and defeat betrayers in the past, but they managed to self-destruct, the fixer escaped with the goods, or they had otherwise killed the betrayers before that could happen. You see, they often use seers or others with the power of foresight and prophecy. When they know they are fighting a losing game, they change it and cut their losses, rather than push harder and get caught.”

Fhesiah frowned in thought, before she narrowed her eyes on Hestia. “The monk did say something about the Nidhogg and Odin. What did he do to our Jake, and why didn’t he, or more importantly, you, tell us if you knew about it?”

Jake’s wives were rather conflicted about this detail, several a little unhappy having the wool over their eyes. Blood’s eyes had narrowed as well, as she had a skepticism of the divine from the beginning; she was the one who was the least trusting. But most of them, including Jake, had faith that Hestia had their best interests at heart.

Hestia sighed. “Once again, things have moved forward faster than we thought possible. We did not keep you ignorant due to lack of trust or faith in your abilities. The less you knew, the stronger the shield. Had I spoken, I would have made you vulnerable. Sometimes, the kindest gift is ignorance until the moment comes when you can bear the truth. And I suppose that time is now.”

Fhesiah and Blood relented a little, their expressions softening.

Hestia continued, “I did not know he had used the Nidhogg scale–I only knew that he had done something, not specifically what he had done. To answer your second question first, Faye, it was for your own good. What Odin gave was a gift, and the gift had to remain a secret to function. The more you know of the veil, the less it shields you. The item’s Mystery, its power, relies on unawareness. Once you begin to shape your path around it, the Mystery surrounding it unravels.”

She continued, “The void obscures prophecy and divinations, but on its own at early Tiers, it’s not enough. Those of a higher Tier can, with effort, pierce the veil surrounding the void. So Odin had given the gift, a growth item that, had a cost that you had borne the burden of–your encountering of a Champion in the zeroeth Tier was, at least in part, thanks to this item. In return, it protected Jake, and in many ways your entire family, from divination and prophecy far beyond what our enemies could account for.”

Fhesiah was shocked. “But…Odin had said it was my mother’s robes!”

Hestia replied, “And you, he had said–all true. I do apologize on his behalf for keeping the wool over your eyes regarding that, but he hadn’t misled you greatly there–I’d wager that his growth item, mythical as it might have been, likely did not impact the encounter any greater than you or those robes’ presence did.”

Tanda’s eyes widened, her ears going straight on top of her head. “Ah–but now the protection is ruined, since you’ve told us now?”

Hestia chuckled, and then grinned. “I did say it was a growth item, did I not? The stronger Jake is, the stronger the item will be. Him and you knowing of it has certainly weakened its strength, but his void grows. He was nearly at the level that he could handle the burden of knowing, though I would have wanted to wait until the Third Tier first. At this point, they have already decided or learned that their divinations and prophecies regarding him are not accurate, and in a way that they cannot fully account for. Isn’t their perception that it doesn’t work on Jake, almost as powerful as it not actually working?”

Blood grinned. “How devious, I love it. However, shouldn’t you have still kept this from us? You also said, once we shape our path around it…”

Hestia nodded. “Sadly, that is correct. We let fortune and fate guide you up to now on some level, and we have gotten lucky about a number of things. Knowing that Jake’s actions and decisions were the ones that were more heavily shielded against the enemy’s divinations, you would make him be the one to pull the trigger on all activities and decisions, right? But doing that, you weaken the power of it.”

Blood’s eyes widened. “Jake was the one who decided when to move on most of our assaults. Because he was the leader, it meant our activities were protected? But we could have gone a lot further, trying to take advantage of this in every way…”

“Exactly. So now, its effect is still present, but it is more marginal in effect. Really, it’s best you don’t think about it, and just continue as you’ve been doing. That gives it the most power.”

Jake let out a breath. “That…sounds impossible for most of us. I’m an overthinker.”

Hestia chuckled. “That is true. And while you thought I gave away the Nidhogg Scale’s purpose a little too easily, Blood, Jake had already looked the thing up and had a pretty good guess–the monk had truly let the cat out of the bag. I merely confirmed the suspicion he had, rather than keeping you all in the dark.”

Jake groaned at that, and couldn’t help but feel worried about their future. The scale had apparently been protecting them in all sorts of ways, and now it was gone.

Berri suddenly said, “Huh? What are we talking about right now? Did we get to the part about the rewards yet? We beat a really bad evil guy, we should get something really great.”

Hestia laughed at Berri, then smiled at Jake warmly. “Worry not. In my mind, the fact that we caught this fixer and the betrayers means that the item has served its purpose. It has earned its value and then some, granting you the time to grow into the powerful warriors and heroes that now sit before me. Without it, perhaps in the first Fortress Assault or the Clash of Champions, they could have picked the perfect counter to each of you and won each battle, or chosen a plot that had just a slightly higher chance of winning. Instead, the void and the scale’s mystery left their foresight in flux, preventing them from truly measuring their best chance at victory. And more importantly, luring them into a false sense of security–one of their favorite weapons against us.”

Tanda frowned. “How come we don’t get these kinds of foretellings helping us out? It seems like the enemy has all the information and all the advantages.”

Hestia pouted at Tanda. “You don’t feel like I’ve been setting you up for success? I’m hurt.”

Ophelia chuckled. “It’s just, it feels like we have all these restrictions on what you can tell us, but the enemies go in knowing everything about us and what we can do. You hadn’t warned us that they intended to ambush us when we got out of the Greater Rift, for example, let alone what kind of enemies would show up, which could have helped us significantly.”

Hestia nodded. “I understand why you feel this way. However, just as the enemy is restricted with their foresight thanks to the mystery of the scale, so am I. And, me taking advantage of the future… you get it, right? Finally, the difficulty, rating, and reward are often based on pieces of this, and by me telling you, it would have reduced just how much potential you could have earned for yourselves. Each piece of information has a cost, a price. So instead, I have focused on preparing you for any encounter, as opposed to specific encounters.”

The family was thoughtful, but Nessa was the one who spoke. “Foresight and divinations are truly challenging and beyond us at this time. However, there’s something I still don’t get. Why has Tartarus paid so much to try to stop this family in particular? If anything, they gave us more opportunities to earn more and become stronger. Wasn’t it better to just ignore us, so we gained very little? Not only this time, but others. That they have run into enemy Champions at nearly every turn is abnormal.”

Hestia looked troubled by this question, and she looked to Jake with concern. Her hearth flared in her chest, and Jake got a feeling of love and security. She trusted Jake, but there was another feeling that went along with it–a wish for him to trust her.

Jake had already experienced two instances in the last few days, where having all the information was not better for him. It limited his choices by having it, tainting his options.

In a way, Hestia just confirmed that there was something else he didn’t know about, and Jake had an inkling it was related to something else Odin had done. But it didn’t matter. If Hestia felt it wasn’t the time to share it, then he would just have to do his best to keep it out of his mind.

Partially. He now knew that there was some kind of explanation that made the entity want him badly. And that it wasn’t just an idiot Evil Divine feeding him stupidly over some kind of grudge or something . It meant that perhaps, it was better to be even more careful. Though, he wasn’t sure how he could be more careful than he already was, without giving up and letting innocents die.

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Blood groaned, palming her face at Jake’s thoughts. “Harmful secrets aside, can you guess why Tartarus may try so hard?”

Hestia smiled. “It’s impossible even for me to fully answer in truth, just so you know–and not just due to restrictions. Even I was shocked when it sent four Champions for the Fortress Assault in the First Tier–but it is clear that it wanted to destroy your potential, particularly worried about Clan Hart’s future strength…or perhaps some other reason. This time, however, I can say for certain that they paid a lot with the intention to frame you, Tyr believes. In Avaron’s Refuge, we found some fake recordings.”

Jake frowned. “Fake recordings? Really?”

Hestia nodded. “The plan was to make it look like you were the ones colluding with Tartarus, and for them to look like they tried to stop you in the destruction of the world and failed. If you had lost the Battleground or had been unable to stop the moon threat, this may have happened. The fixer may or may not have been involved, but if he twisted your karmic links, it’s definitely possible for him to tie you to an item undeniably. Even I may not have been able to argue on your behalf in that case, with your guild and actions causing the loss of multiple worlds–a cascade of them occurring on each that you sent your people.”

It was a sobering thought to Jake and the rest. “What about the other worlds? Their plots? Do we need to get moving?”

“We’re still working on our investigation. It seems their plots on other worlds, while still malicious, were not quite at the level of this world, and, likely required one of the three divine sons to carry out or bring them to fruition. This is also where the scale had helped you–their plan with the moon: they could have made it far beyond the point of no return by the time you showed up if they knew when exactly you arrived. The other plans are likely similar in this way.”

Hestia suddenly clapped her hands together. “Now, there isn’t much more for us to talk about until we learn more, but let’s change the topic to something a lot more exciting than betrayers and scary monks. Like the rewards for your incredible service to the Alliance.”

Berri applauded, and danced a little, swaying side to side. “Oh, goody! It was getting boring for a minute there, but I always love this part.”

Ophelia frowned. “We didn’t have a Quest this time. Can we still be rewarded beyond the sparks?”

Hestia waved it off. “Quests with requirements and restrictions can increase the rewards we can grant, but ultimately rewards can always be granted for achievements. In this case, five Aspects and one champion, all in the Third Tier. Then, a Fourth Tier Champion.

Jake frowned. “Fourth Tier Champion? You mean…”

“As the prompt had said, the Divine Aspirant you faced, likely for stealth purposes, entered this world restricted down to Champion levels. That means your personal achievement was a bit higher than defeating other Champions, but definitely not quite at the level of a Chosen. He did essentially bring out the peak of Divine Essence that a Champion at your Tier could, so there is no question that this was significant. You can be rewarded something amazing, at the level of the Enforcer, roughly.”

Jake’s eyebrows rose. “So not quite the maximum, but still an impressive victory. It’s a good thing I had those bells, huh?”

Hestia chuckled. “Don’t sell yourself short, Jake. I know you had several plans on how to deal with that monk, and some of them would have worked quite well. The bells with my Divine Energy were just the optimal path, that prevented certain bad ends. Pushing your dao a little harder to keep your void blanket firmly grasped around him for a bit longer, you should have been able to call your wives and blast him good. That would have weakened him enough that escape would have been unlikely, just as you had planned. However, there would have been a tiny chance he might have fractured his soul and managed to escape, wounded. It would have taken him decades or even an entire century to recover from that, but after that, he could have hunted your family as he threatened. It was a low chance, thanks to Ira, who would have hunted him down if he had done that, but it could have happened.”

She added, “And in some scenarios, he could have drained the karma from Avaron, and managed to use the shears on Cassius before escaping, too.”

He supposed it was pointless to think on it much further about what-ifs, but the nameless monk was a wake-up call, for Jake. He would work hard on some kind of sealing or extradimensional protection as soon as he could, working hard with Ira to test these things and more.

Hestia smiled at him. “Now… for the good news. Your service definitely meant a lot to me and the Alliance, Jake, as you earned a lot more than a singular Fourth Tier Divine Spark for me when he died a true death. And this is the reason why it was not awarded right away. The twenty-three Divine Sparks of various qualities and Tiers he had earned during his lifetime would have caused you to explode, dying on the spot.”

Many of his wives let out shocked gasps, and Jake’s eyes widened. “Twenty-three?”

Hestia replied, “In truth, he likely was responsible for even more deaths of important alliance figures than that. But he said it, didn’t he? He traveled between debts. In many cases, he likely earned a bounty and accomplished goals for Tartarus. In some of those, he harvested a spark for his efforts, and other times, he didn’t or traded for them. Odds were, he was saving up for a more important trade: paying for what he required to ascend to godhood. As you might imagine, he wasn’t great in a straight-up conflict on equal footing, and so it is harder for him to claim such a thing. Whether he kept all of those he earned inside himself or not, I cannot know. But he had twenty-three at the time he was slain, and because he’s dead for good, those are all mine.”

The family was shocked by the sheer number, the kill of the monk being a major harvest for Hestia.

“So I must thank you from the bottom of my heart, Jake and Clan Hart–your victory was due to everything you worked together to accomplish. I wish I could grant you much more than the Framework would allow me, and I will push for you to get as much as possible in our forthcoming hearing. And while I have never been stingy with you, please believe that I will always have you and your family’s back, no matter my personal cost.”

The family all beamed at that, proud of their victory.

Fhesiah hummed as she thought about the monk and his personal ascension. “As a cultivator, that means merging their Nascent Soul with the Heavens, or what I call the Old Heavens, on a significant level and reaching the Spirit-Severing Realm. And for those under the Framework… Was this monk guy close, or what? Twenty-three seems like a lot.”

“I cannot talk about this topic with you at this time, except I can say one thing. All inside the Framework’s barrier, this Great Game connected to the Yggdrasil, must meet the same requirement to enter or remain at the Fifth Tier, no matter their path, magic, or Origin.”

Jake considered what this meant, and intuited that it was related to what Guan Yu was attempting to earn within this Frontier Sector, and what Tartarus was attempting to earn.

Berri frowned. “This blows. So Jake earned you twenty-three sparks, but he only earned or gets to use one?”

Hestia pouted. “You mean you don’t like that he did such a good thing for me? That’s right, that is all he’ll be able to use, unless we negotiate a larger reward in Tartarus’s punishment. Though, it is a Fourth-Tier spark, which is an amazing reward, all on its own. Didn’t he want one for something?”

Avalara perked up, her deer tail flickering suddenly. “Ah! We can try to make a Hearthian Bond with me! Um, can we, though?”

“He also earned a significant reward. That means I can give him something pretty special, don’t you think?” Hestia ignored her question, likely unable to give her an answer without paying a cost. To Jake, he took that to mean…well, that his plan would probably work out in the end, somehow, as she likely knew about it. That he planned on forming the Hearthian Bond with Nessa, and now Sati, to be familiar with the process first, before trying with such a difficult target like Avalara.

Avalara suddenly looked let down, losing all the previous enthusiasm. “Aw, but that monk guy was too creepy, and he was burned away in the flames. I wanted Jake to crush the big, powerful enemy, and then stand over their body with his shirt off, and then–”

Fhesiah interrupted, “Fun fantasies that I want to hear more of later, and perhaps act out with you, aside, I’m excited for Hestia’s reward! Jake’s Divine weapon is amazing, but he already has Mythic armor, and his shield is nearly at that level. At this point, upgraded armor or a shield feels kind of lame–no offense, Lia.”

Ophelia looked like she wanted to argue for a moment with a frown on her face, but relented. “I see your point. After seeing what that crazy monk could do, I’d feel a lot better if we increased our resilience to…odd things like that. Maybe there’s something like that?”

Hestia replied, “That can certainly be arranged. But how about this? You’re all still a little early in the Tier, and we don’t know just how many sparks your family might earn before the end of it, and what else you might make for yourselves as you maximize your skills. As you recall, the ones we used for your ascension were… quite significant and effective, yes?”

She continued, “Not only that, but while he earned one spark, more rewards should be forthcoming, for the important achievement, and also those items you captured. They are yours by right, and even after our forthcoming trial, whatever is decided, you should receive them back to you, once our evidence gathering is completed. That all said, I will start us out with a significant…let’s call them freebies or bonuses, because they are nearly rounding errors compared to how much you’ve earned. They’ll be about ten percent of what you’ve earned, and we’ll bank the rest. From your Fortress Assault rewards, combined with your defeat of all the other Aspects and the Champion, and the Divine Aspirant.”

A token appeared in her hand. “This is the most expensive reward of the bunch, the [Skill Tier Upgrade and Evolution Array]. I do imagine you have something stuck in the First Tier that is rather critical to use it on? This is a powerful, extremely rare item!”

Berri lit up. “Oh yeah! The breeding move!”

Ready for the sex jokes to come in, Jake brought out the Body and Soul Tempering Manual: The Chaotic Voidborne Soul Harmonization, absolutely certain this was what she planned on him using the item on.

It was thanks to this book that his bloodline rating had progressed to become his strength, and his family had tempered their bodies and souls far above where they should be, especially when they had taken a vacation.

This book’s method strengthened them against all challenges–including the deadly monk–improved their bonds, and even had the special side effect of teaching them more about mysterious energy types than even the Advanced Energy Manipulation skillbook did. Finally, it was the entire reason they were always broke.

Of course, Jake had already looked into improving the manual to the Second Tier, but he had gotten stuck because the token could not be purchased with mere Contribution Points. Without participating in the war or dungeon, they hadn’t gotten the opportunity. Even then, it would have been a stroke of luck; they hadn’t earned the ability to purchase what they liked from their Battleground and gate opening in the dungeon, for example. They’d have to wait until they unlocked a special store, much like they had in the past.

Without much ceremony, he grabbed the token with his pyrokinesis, and saw Hestia’s smile at this as he brought it to the manual.

“Thank you, Hestia. As always, you’ve provided us with just what we needed.”

Hestia smiled gently. “I do my best, but it’s only because you have done your best and won where few could, that I could make it happen.”

He used it, the manual flashing in golden light, until he suddenly had two. The old book remained, but he now had another one in his hands. “Soul and Body Refinement: Chaotic Voidborne Essence Crystallization.”

Fhesiah was impressed, floating over and beginning to look over the new manual with her divine sense. “Not just tempering but refinement, and from harmonization to essence crystallization. Wow.”

Jake asked, “Why’s that special? While it was called tempering before, wasn’t it also refining us? And what is essence…in this context?” Of course, Jake had Divine Essence, he knew, but just because the word was used didn’t mean they were connected.

Fhesiah seemed to be looking up what it said in the manual. “In simple terms, essence is the condensed, purified, and refined form of various energies, at the level of Source energy that I am familiar with. In a sense, what you did with Sati qualified–where she handed you the Shakti, and your body refined it into a form of essence. On some level, you had always been making essence during our tempering sessions. It’s just that the amount of it you made and how much we kept within ourselves was limited. With this, the essence is crystallized in your manipura chakra, your furnace, and then we all absorb it over time.”

Jake was interested, but he wondered, “Did we waste our time…or perhaps more importantly, a giant mountain of money, because we didn’t have this manual sooner?”

Fhesiah shook her head. “This manual actually requires your void flame as part of the essence crystallization process, so, hardly–your bloodline wouldn’t have advanced without the prior activities. Even if it didn’t, you required a high level of harmonization with all of us, both for our Hearthian Bonds and for balancing the void within you. So–”

Berri cleared her throat. “Um, I know you all love nerding out on all of this, but isn’t the goddess still here?”

Tanda chuckled, and crashed into Berri from the side with her tail wagging, hugging her. “We don’t need Blood to tell us you’re just wanting to see the rest of the rewards, Berri. You’re so impatient.”

They turned their attentions to Hestia, and she smiled. “Don’t mind me. I love seeing how much your family has benefitted by having a resident sage. But it’s true that my time here does have limits. I have something for everyone.”

Several more skill books appeared in her hands, and each book began flying out to each recipient. Ruby, Sati, Nessa, Avalara, and Bree did not receive one, however.

“I’ve noticed that each of you has continued with your crafting, and while you can’t really say you’ve mastered them within your Tier, perhaps you just require another push to bring you closer to the peak.”

Berri beamed. “Oh, goody! We get two!”

Hestia smiled wryly. “Our dear friend Echidna just had to include that one for you.”

One of the books was a subskill for Savage Boneforging, which would allow them to better infuse the properties and attributes of the monster’s essence into the bones and leather. The other girls received something similar: Ophelia a skill for her Runic Forging, Tanda something that would further her botany profession, and Fhesiah a book on alchemical refinement of more advanced energies, such as dealing with essence and Source Energy.

However, the second book for Bloodberri was titled, “Mastering Motherhood: Eating for Two or More,” and rather than a system manual, it looked rather mysterious. It was worn and looked much more like a Necronomicon or something nearly malicious.

Berri hugged the book to her with a beaming smile, and Jake’s eyes widened. “Now wait a minute…”

Hestia cleared her throat. “Moving on, for those just joining the family, I’ve aligned something else you might find interesting instead. Perhaps if you found your calling regarding crafting, I’d have gotten you something, but I did not wish to push my finger on the scale too much with this and choose for you. It is up to you to find your passion, should you have one regarding this. Or perhaps, you already share a passion with another–and already have the perfect teacher next to you…or inside of you.”

The others, minus Avalara, all received special boxes that contained pills inside with a card description of what they were. And Jake assumed she was talking about Nessa for sharing her passion for alchemy, but perhaps there were others among them, and he hadn’t realized.

Ira received a special box as well. Hestia added, “And you, Ira, I shopped for something extra special, for your important achievements. Thankfully, not overly pricey, but unique enough that you should find it valuable. Well deserved.”

Jake was interested to see what was inside Ira’s box, and he agreed that the creature had really pulled through this time. Ira was truly his trump card that made a huge difference in the outcomes.

Hestia continued, “So with that, these are all the rewards I believe I should grant at this time, with, hopefully, more to come after the upcoming hearing. While I think many of you could benefit from an expenditure of the earned Divine Sparks at this time, I’d like to hold onto them for a little while longer. To see how you decide to grow as you near the peak of the Tier. Unless you have desires you wish fulfilled right now?”

Ophelia frowned. “That’s the tough thing, isn’t it? We don’t know what we could be missing…but perhaps we could also see our mentors later. Once conquest finishes on this world, we can meet up with them again and go over our fights.”

Jake nodded. “True enough. Also, what about Ava? She didn’t get anything.”

Hestia sighed, and shook her head. “She’s the toughest to shop for. Expensive to influence her main avatar and thus her core, and her skills… I’m afraid we may just need to bank some more merit for her first. Then I may have something. Definitely before Highlands enters the Third Tier.”

Avalara was definitely an odd case. She could certainly forge and improve her battle avatar in ways, but her avatar’s strength was tied to her world’s strength to a significant extent. Her avatar could still level, which made her vines and tree or beast flesh denser or harder, but it was a minor influence when comparing the density of her auril and nethril she drew from Highlands itself.

Hestia added, “In the days to come, I’m certain we’ll have more news regarding the betrayers. I am quite busy at the moment, helping my allies prepare for the inevitable trial. You have performed a vital service in defeating this monk, and we plan on not allowing it to go to waste. Justice will be swift. There is one more piece of business, and I wasn’t sure if I should speak too soon on it.”

Jake asked, “What is it?”

“Because of your service in defeating the nameless monk, a scourge on this Frontier Sector and perhaps several others, you should be made Count. Normally, there is a requirement of owning a Third Tier world, but your achievement bypasses this.”

Blood beamed at this. “Finally, Milord is rising in status! How wonderful.”

Fhesiah and Nessa also seemed rather excited about this, and Hestia added, “It may be some time before the ceremony, thanks to the issues regarding the betrayers, but I will let you know when to prepare.” She stood from her seat. “And so with that, I must take my leave. I do look forward to seeing all of you soon, and likely in the flesh once more.”

Jake said, “Thanks, Hestia. We look forward to seeing you soon.”

“Goodbye, Hart family.”

The girls all shared their goodbyes before she disappeared in motes of light, and while some of them were itching to open up their skill books, they all felt the same way.

Berri said, “Okay, now let’s have some fun! We busted our butts for a whole week and beat that creepy guy and all those small monsters. We deserve a break! A few breaks, even.”

Jake chuckled–the ‘small monsters’ she was referring to were the Aspects. After being enlarged by Echidna when she Descended, he supposed that for once, that might have actually been fair. “We can certainly spare some time. What do you have in mind?”

Berri was about to say something, but Ophelia interrupted, “And not baseball. You could say you just played that at the fortress.”

“A-Aww… I mean, I wasn’t going to say that–”

Blood took over and interrupted, “She was.”

Berri groaned. “Whatever! I’m just…thinking of the kids! What’s your idea, then?”

Blood replied, “Isn’t this the exact reason we built the Mana and Auril Hot Springs and Spa? The kids can enjoy the activity rooms, arcade, and laser tag, while we take turns helping Milord and each other relax, or joining the kids for the fun. Everybody wins.”

Jake chuckled. “Not a bad idea. We definitely could use a little more relaxing than fun this time.”

Fhesiah grinned. “Ah yes, I do love the spa. Plenty of private areas for a little extra fun, too.”

Ophelia stretched her arms over her head, and twisted at her waist as she stretched, her wings fluttering. “I could go for some of that. My body really aches after all that fighting and flying.”

Tanda’s tail was wagging. “I like it! I can tell all my clanmates need some rest, and I’m sure the kids will enjoy it.”

Nessa smiled, looking at Jake. “And you know I like the water. It’ll be like our honeymoon at the lake.”

Berri narrowed her eyes. “I’m definitely doing some laser tag, Blood, and that means you’re coming with me. It’s a deal if you accept this.”

Blood narrowed her eyes further. “Sure…but we are pampering Lord Husband. That is not up for debate.”

Berri said, “That’s fine! You know I love to take care of Daddy too. Let’s go tell the kids, and Yona!”

Jake chuckled as the girl raced off, and let out a happy sigh as he confirmed all was well on The Burning Steps. Now that the main battle was won, they could have a little bit of fun. They would rush to put out fires and help some more people soon enoug.