Chapter 233: Chapter Two Hundred Thirty Four

The whole 'checking on stat gains' thing, didn't really happen until  the next day. We talked a while about the Pavilion, but eventually I  caught Jessie starting to nod off and we decided to head home. She'd  been life force juicing us all for most of the battle, so I wasn't  really tired yet, but I knew I was going to be. Jessie's ability was  damn convenient, but it wasn't infinite or free. The energy could be  supplied, the life force healed you and energized you, but it didn't  really fuel the actions you took with that energy, just repaired the  damage from them.

It sounded like a meaningless  distinction, until the charge ended, and you crashed. It wasn't too  serious after just one or two boosts, but I'd been spamming those damn  heal bursts all day, and I was going to drop like a rock when we got  back. Which I did. We made it back to the house just in time for me to  collapse in bed and sleep for about eleven hours, thankfully completely  unbothered by any outside forces as I recovered from an extremely  emotionally and physically taxing day of combat.

When I  woke up I dragged myself out of my room, yawning loudly and waving to  Cark and Cass, who were in the living room watching some cartoon or  other. Cark waved back, looking as drained as I was, probably from  constant power use. Benny was curled up on the other couch, and Jessie  was sitting on the floor next to Cass, watching with her. As I headed  into the kitchen I found Callie sitting on a stool, sipping a cup of  coffee and looking haggard.

I leaned down to give her a  quick kiss, and she pulled back. "Gross." She moaned in annoyance.  "Morning breath. Brush your teeth first." I plucked her cup of coffee  from her fingers, took a sip swished it around in my mouth, and spit it  into the sink before giving her a wide grin. I handed it back to her,  but she pushed it away. "Ew, no thanks. I'll make a fresh cup." Her eyes  narrowed. "Unless you're planning to replace that one?"

"Oh  come on." I said with a laugh. "Spitting it in the sink means I didn't  backwash." She glared at me venomously and I put my hands up in  placation. "Sorry, sorry. I'll make you a new one. It was just a joke." I  probably should have felt that out first. I knew some people were weird  about drinking after anyone else, and that had maybe been a bit far  since I didn't know if Callie was one of those. I made a point of  putting extra effort into her coffee, giving her a huge mug with exactly  the sweetener and amount of cream she preferred.

I passed  it to her, and she took a long sip. "Not terrible." She intoned  gravely. "I guess I can let it slide this time, but don't do it again.  Your jokes aren't funny when they're at the expense of my coffee." She  shooed me toward the stove. "As your final act of penance make me an  omelette. Goat cheese and fennel sausage. Five eggs."

That  got a laugh from me. "Oh I see how it is. Play up your emotional trauma  so I'll be forced to be your personal chef. Fine. Since I was in the  wrong, I'll play along just this once." Which was bullshit. I was always  happy to cook for Callie and we both knew it, but we were just  bantering. I took out a full dozen eggs, deciding to make one of me as  well. "So. I didn't get to ask last night, how many points did you get  after the fight? I'm assuming you got some like I did?"

She  grinned. "Yup. Twenty points of Creation, fifteen points of Might, ten  of Perception, ten of Fantasy, and weirdly five of Vitality. I'd guess  that we weren't the only ones either. Though I suspect Abel and Mel were  the subject of more of the stories about what happened than we were. My  totals are up pretty high, I broke eight hundred points overall, which  means I'm only two hundred away from F-rank." Her voice was nearly  shaking with excitement at reaching the same height our Guild Master had  been at back home, and so much earlier than she had ever imagine.

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