Chapter 262: Chapter Two Hundred Sixty Three

The rest of the visit home went by in a blur. Between finally getting  Maria her ability (magnetism of all things), going out to hang out  around town with Callie, spending time with Amelia, and catching up with  Maria while she got to know Celine, the days just flew past. By the  time we were ready to head home I had to basically force myself to  leave. It had been so relaxing and peaceful since we got here that the  thought of returning to Rajak to deal with the tournament nonsense  almost wasn't worth it.

In the end though, I knew that  none of us would be happy long term just lounging around. As nice as it  was to decompress, we all really loved getting stronger and having  adventures. We'd just been a bit burned out on training and this trip  had certainly helped. Of course, I kept up my wishes, getting another  nine clone charges from Callie and granting one last wish for Amelia to  bump her to H-rank before we left (since she was I-rank and it was a  single point she was able to get by paying me promises to cook us a  bunch of snacks for the return trip). I still had today's wishes, but  I'd deal with those later, for now we were on the road and heading back  to the capital.

Callie sighed heavily as she looked  through the curtains at the rapidly shrinking city. "I'm going to miss  it. Being home. It was...fun. Hell, even seeing Ashley was kind of nice.  Granted, mostly I just enjoyed rubbing my growth in her face. We've  been at each other's throats since we were both twelve though.  She's...like my nemesis. It's really kind of sad she isn't getting  strong as fast as me." Her eyes snapped to mine. "Don't you dare tell  anyone I said that."

I held up both hands placatingly.  "Whoa, no sharing secrets, I've got it. I don't think it's that weird  though. She's been on your heels for more than half a decade. That's an  important relationship. Just because someone is kind of an asshole  doesn't mean they aren't a big part of your life. Nobody likes leaving  people they care about behind." I reached out to take her hand,  squeezing it. "If it helps, we're not going anywhere. This team will be  sticking together for the long haul, at least as long as everyone wants  to stay."

Jessie, who was lying on a couch across from us  with her feet up, cheered. "Hell yeah! You aren't getting rid of us that  easy. Just watch, you'll be sick of us before long." She winked at her  slightly teary friend, who chuckled at our healer's enthusiasm. "Anyway,  I feel you. I'm going to miss it too. Honestly Shane I'm surprised you  didn't bring Maria with us. She could totally keep up, especially with  your help."

Benny cut in. "No." Jessie looked surprised at  the vehemence in his voice. He just gave her an apologetic smile.  "Sorry Jess, but I don't want my sixteen year old sister in the fast  lane. She's only a couple years younger sure, but so much of the shit  we've gone through has been insane. We could have all died multiple  times over." He looked at me. "I love you like a brother, man, and I'm  happy to stick it out, but I don't want Maria in this shit. She can go  slow and steady and work with Amelia."

Callie sighed.  "Honestly. I get it. It's kind of condescending, but based on the things  we've seen and done it isn't exactly crazy. She's in a better spot than  I was at sixteen for sure. Mom will help her out, and she has those  F-rankers Uncle Alex is sending to look after her. She's arguably in a  better position to grow than we are. She doesn't have wishes, but she'll  have powerful team members to boost her up, plus none of your enemies  trying to murder her."

At my hurt look she leaned up to  kiss me softly. I wasn't wearing my mask on the trip, but at the moment I  wished I had. She gave me a soft smile. "Hey, we all know what we're  doing. I'm not saying anything that has happened was on you. I'm just  saying you tend to attract trouble, and while that's great for fast  cultivation, it's less than ideal for slow and steady progress."

Zeke  snorted from off to one side. "She's right kid. Any shortcut to the  peak will draw ire. Her current advantages are good for the moment. If  it helps you can always come back and give her a hand once you get  higher ranked and can more easily protect people. It should be insanely  easy to help her rank up with that kind of power. Speaking of easier  rank ups. How are you feeling about this tournament?"

Blowing  out a breath, I let myself relax into the seat. "I feel...good. The  downtime definitely helped clear my head. I'm still a bit nervous but I  think relaxing helped some of it sink in. I know that Abel is going to  kick our asses for the next two weeks, but still, making it this far  into the training gives me a serious sense of accomplishment. Especially  seeing how Callie did in her dust up at the club."

"Dust  up?" Callie snorted out a laugh. "Are you six hundred years old? Though  admittedly it wasn't much of a fight. But yeah, comparing myself to  other G-rankers definitely helped me realize how far we've come. We're  nowhere close to done obviously, but it feels good. I can't wait to win  and get that bump to Impact. Imagine being just that much tougher than  any other person your rank." She paused. "Actually Zeke, have you ever  gotten extra Impact?"

That surprised a laugh from my  uncle. "Oh sure. Not many times, but I've gotten a few points. Comes in  handy at higher ranks, and it sets a foundation. You'll learn about why  later. Its definitely worth doing though. And it has compounding  effects. The more you demonstrate capabilities beyond your rank, even  slightly, the more you stand out. People who can buff Impact early tend  to build up a lot of momentum. It's not universal but it happens more  often than not."

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I had figured that would be the case.  Having that little bit of extra durability against others of your rank  would mean the weaker ones wouldn't really be able to do much of  anything and even middling Ascendants would have to put in effort. Not  as good as a full rank difference, but also not nearly as obvious.  Though that little tidbit about Zeke brought up a question I hadn't  considered. "So wait, are you watching our training? I never bothered to  ask. If so I'm curious about your feedback."

Zeke grinned  widely at me. "That is a fantastic question. The answer is...kind of? I  keep an eye on you most of the time but its vague. Just a general sense  for anyone E-ranked or higher who might be nearby. If you're in  proximity to someone strong enough to need my intervention I'll focus a  bit harder. I try not to intrude too much since I cant help with lower  ranked enemies either way. I did check out your training when you  mentioned it though."

It made me feel a ton better that he  wasn't just watching me all the time. The idea had only just occurred  to me but it was creepy as hell. I looked at him expectantly. "Well?  What did you think? Was it impressive? Mediocre? You've seen what things  are like at the top so I'm damn curious what you think of the whole  thing. How does Abel measure up to the big dogs in the universe? I think  he's the strongest I've seen here level by level, though I'm not  exactly an expert so some of the E-rankers might be better."

"Oh."  Said Zeke in mild surprise. "That's what you wanted to know. Figured  you were fishing for sympathy. He's decent. He's not the first battle  nut to try to perfect his own heritage. His is pretty incomplete but its  better than most of what you would find on this backwater. He's bit  exactly the strongest for his level per se. But he's definitely powerful  for his age. There are some E-rankers that could keep up because of  their rich experience, though not all of them by any means. In the wider  universe I'd call him mediocre probably. For a world at this level he's  a top tier talent though."

That kind of scared me  honestly. The idea that Abel, who was damn near invincible as far as I  was concerned, was mediocre in terms of combat standards. I had the  feeling that Zeke was counting those huge forces with a heritage though,  and that was definitely a factor to take into consideration. I shook  off that thought though. We'd deal with what came as it came. For now we  just needed to focus on the tournament. I had to trust anyone coming to  an event at this level would be something we could deal with at least  with Mel and Abel's help.

Not  wanting to get sucked back into tournament prep before we got home and  were forced into it, I turned to Benny, who had seemed quiet. He and  Celine had been sitting to one side and he'd been staring into space for  a bit. Aside from his comment about not wanting Maria to be on the team  he'd been mostly silent, and it struck me now how out of character that  was. I waved a hand to try to get his attention. "Hey man, you doing  alright? You seem out of it."

He  started a bit. "Huh? Oh, sorry. When you guys got back onto the  tournament I sort of spaced out. I'm fine. Just weird seeing my parents.  I spent so much time growing up in my dad's shadow. I didn't mind it  even, it was comfortable and I wasn't really ambitious. I liked being  able to relax and just let my family name help me coast. Then I started  doing this and you guys all outpaced me so fast. I had to buckle down  and work my ass off to catch up. Now I've been doing that so long I  don't even recognize myself."

I  got where he was coming from, but I also knew he wasn't done, so I just  waited for him to continue venting. He stopped to think for a bit  before he went on. "Now though...seeing my dad, who was this larger than  life person, and comparing him to some of the people I've seen...it  just kind of highlights the huge differences. Part of me envies him for  being able to stay the same, but I know I couldn't go back to who I used  to be with what I've seen." He sighed. "I don't know. I guess I'm just  having an existential crisis."

Celine  smiled and put a hand on his. "Introspection is hardly a flaw. Seeing  one's roots can make a person rethink their path, or affirm it. It's not  a bad thing that you're choosing to mull over where you are in life.  Just know that no matter what conclusion you come to, I'll be hear to  listen." We all turned and blinked at her in shock. That was...a lot of  emotion for Celine.

The  taciturn elf was intentionally closed off most of the time, a side  effect of her upbringing. Hearing her express that level of fondness and  support was jarring to say the least. I had to wonder though, if Benny  wouldn't be a bit less down if he had something to focus on. I couldn't  exactly find him a teacher, since he was kind of doing his own thing,  but we could look into buying him some more inventing materials. Maybe  an upgrade would help him find a bit of purpose. If not it might help  him break stuff more effectively. That always made me feel better. Either way it  was something to think about as we started to descend. We were finally back.

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