Chapter 235: Chapter Two Hundred Thirty Six

Celine and Martin were both thrilled to see us, though with Celine it  was hard to tell. Still, I had enough Perception to pick up the minute  signs of her excitement to have her boyfriend back. Not that it was at  all obvious from the sedate way she approached him for an admittedly  warm but brief hug. Jessie all but tackled her in a hug of her own after  that, then hugged Sarah for good measure because she hadn't had a  chance to do so earlier, and it was hard not to smile at our shortest  team members enthusiasm.

We dropped into chairs around the  room after the greetings, none of us in too big of a rush to get to the  information hall. The points weren't going anywhere. I never stopped  enjoying the moments of relaxation, mostly because I knew how few and  far between they were. "So." I said jovially. "What have you all been up  to while we were getting involved in political bullshit that was way  over our heads? I get the feeling it was way more sensible than what we  were doing for the last week or two."

I was curious what a  'normal' few weeks of advancement looked like for an average G-ranker,  as much as that term could apply to any hero. Though I supposed some of  the only job type cultivators on the planet were a bad example if I was  looking for someone typical

Celine, who sat down next to  Benny with graceful and remote poise (though not without slipping her  hand into his surreptitiously) spoke up with a small smile. "Mostly we  just did missions for the crafting hall. They aren't as lucrative as the  ones at the information hall, but they're safer on the whole. Still, we  haven't been lax. We've been developing quite the reputation among our  classmates for efficiency and effectiveness. We've all made some decent  gains from some of the feats we've accomplished. Nothing huge like the  scavenger hunt, but enough small tasks add up."

"I bet." I  said in interest. "I imagine that's a more stable way to progress.  Don't you stop gaining points for the small tasks eventually though? Not  that I know what kind you were doing, but I know that gains are based  on the spread of your legend, and when people expect something from you,  your renown doesn't exactly grow. Does doing the same level of task  repeatedly really pay out over and over?"

Celine's placid  expression broke into a shark like smile. The flash of teeth appeared  and vanished too fast for most people to even notice, but none of us had  trouble spotting it. "They might, except they seemed to be under the  impression that we were suited to much lower level tasks. We may have  been the first place team in the scavenger hunt, but people weren't sure  how much progress we made. We started missions only slightly above the  level of the last one we took, and people were shocked at how quickly we  completed them."

Callie's jaw dropped open. "You sneaky  bitch!" She said admiringly. "I would have never thought of sandbagging  so I could put on a show of rapid growth." She cursed. "Shit. That would  have been a great plan. I'm pissed you didn't share, not that I can  blame you. Still though, I wouldn't be too smug about it. We might not  have been as clever, but we made some damn good progress during our time  away. You'd barely even recognize us if you saw us in battle after all  we've been through."

It was hard to read her, but I was  pretty sure I saw a flash of competitive interest in Celine's normally  tranquil eyes. Benny, who probably DIDN'T want to have to deal with his  girlfriend being annoyed when we unilaterally curb stomped her team in a  friendly sparring match, interrupted before things got too far. "By the  way Cel, did you guys hear about this new tournament for this special  F-ranked dungeon? Apparently a ton of the strongest fighters from the  whole star system are heading here to compete in it."

Whether  he actually wanted to share, or had told her last night on the phone  and was trying to change the subject I had no idea, but if he had she  hadn't mentioned it to the others, because Sarah looked intrigued.  Tournament? I knew there was a regular one around here, but it sounds  like you're talking about something a bit bigger. What can you tell us  about it? Sounds like you guys are signing up, and if you're in we might  have a shot too." She gave us a wide grin at that last part, obviously  meaning it half in jest, though also being half serious.

I  picked it up from there, figuring I'd help my buddy out with his  distraction. "It's aimed at peak G-rankers. Apparently the participants  will be expected to break through after the winners are decided before  being allowed to actually get in. I've been thinking over the reason,  and while supposedly it's to prevent the larger forces from using their  foundations to bully the smaller ones, I'm pretty sure it's meant to be  an equalizer of sorts. Ranks can span a wide range of stat totals. By  making sure that only newly Ascended F-rankers enter, they ensure that  the fighters all have around a thousand points total."

I  didn't mention that this was Callie's theory, though my girlfriend gave  me a slight smirk for taking credit. I didn't care though, I would have  come up with it eventually. It wasn't my fault she was a sneaky  political mastermind. Besides, she got credit for all the stuff-punching  I did. We were a team, which meant we should share all of our  accomplishments equally. I paused for a second before sighing, even I  couldn't think that with a straight face. So I added. "At least that's  what Callie thinks. It sounds legit to me though."

She  gave me a look of surprise tinged with gratitude, and I was suddenly  much less embarrassed to be giving up credit. I'd have given up plenty  more of it to see that look on her face. I don't think it really would  have bothered her if I took credit, but it definitely meant something to  her that I didn't. I kind of felt like I'd just passed some kind of  boyfriend test that neither of us realized I was taking. I wasn't going  to question it. If I'd made her happy that was good enough, no need to  think too much about it.

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Celine, coughed politely, drawing  my attention to the fact that we'd kind of been having a moment that  excluded everyone else in public. I cocked my head inquiringly, not  bothering to feel abashed or self-conscious about that. She smiled  slightly. "That certainly sounds like an interesting event to  participate in. Do you know any of the details of how it's going to  work?"

"Sure." I said casually. "We know that much like  the majority of Ascendant events it's aimed at groups of ten. The winner  gets ten slots to the Moonsong Glade. We have an agreement for slots  with another group, so if we win we'll need to give up three. You guys  can sign up as well, I'm told that it's an open tournament. There's  going to be G-rankers from other planets all over the system though. I  think there will be more than just the ten entering, maybe from other  systems, but I haven't had a chance to confirm that."

I  made sure to point out that they could sign up, because we weren't going  to be inviting them to come with us. As much as I'd have loved to bring  them, there was no chance they were at a level that they could help us  actually win. With possible access to powerhouses like Cark, Abel, and  Mel, it would be stupid to team up with relative newbies like  Grimmengap. Of course, I didn't say that directly, and Callie could  change her mind, but I knew my girlfriend well enough to understand how  pragmatic she could be.

They didn't seem to take offense  at least, Celine looked intrigued and kind of excited, and the other two  just looked interested in the event. I breathed an internal sigh of  relief at the fact that I hadn't accidentally started a fight by  excluding them. I flicked my eyes to Callie, mentally passing the ball  now that the explanation was done, and she stood, clapping her hands  once purposefully. "Well! We can look into that more on the way, but I'd  love to hit the information hall. We have a mission to turn in, and I'd  really love to see how high it pushes our ranking up."

Everyone  stood at that, not bothered to be done relaxing. We still weren't in a  hurry, and I doubted we would run or anything, but where we all hung out  didn't matter, and advancement was always at least partly on all of our  minds. Besides, we could still talk on the way, being around others  would just limit the topics a bit. We headed for the information hall,  and as we went, Sarah dragged Jessie ahead and started asking her all  about our adventures, and catching us up on theirs.

Grimmengap  had been on several interesting missions while we had been away, I had  to admit. Hunting a red cap tribe, a village of goblins out in the  wilderness, an actual fucking minotaur, and tracking down and capturing  an Ascendant with a specialized racial trait (a lamia) who had been  poisoning search parties recently. Sarah's priest abilities left her  able to neutralize poisons pretty well ( the church dealt with the black  sorrow cult often, and the cultists LOVED poison) which made them an  ideal party to track down the G-ranked devil.

The  more monstrous bearers of racial traits were often lumped in as devils,  while the more abstract ones were often called spirits. Not that devils  should be confused with Devils, who, as we had been told, were a  subspecies of that overarching group that were a whole other level of  scary. The Wendigo had been a devil, and the lamia was the same, making  it really impressive Grimmengap had managed to subdue one. I was pretty  sure it hadn't been as scary as the one we fought, but even being in the  same category made it terrifying.

In  turn, Jessie filled our friends in on us joining up with the Beast Lord  Garden, and a sanitized version of our adventures in G-district, minus  any sensitive information. That left her more room than I'd have  suspected. It always amazed me how clever Jessie could be while keeping  up that same impression of cheerful obliviousness. She was sharp as a knife when she needed to be.

By  the time she finished talking, she'd managed to tell most of the story  without giving away any  secrets, and had roused Grimmengap's interest  in the Starchaser Pavilion as a whole, getting them to promise to come  visit after we finished our business on campus. Considering how small  the Pavilion currently was it would be amazing to have them come check  it out and possibly join up. Especially if word got out about the place  and some of the other Academy students got involved as well.

As  a guest elder, I was allied with the Beast Lord Garden, but not exactly  part of it, which meant the Pavilion had the unique benefit of being a  new and completely separate G-ranked force with explicit E-ranked  backing. We were too new to matter to the old timers, and too powerful  to be messed with by upstarts, and I looked forward to seeing what we  could do with a  faction like that. Especially after we kicked ass at  the tournament, I had a feeling people would be hearing all about the  Starchaser Pavilion in the future, and I couldn't wait.

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