Chapter 68: Chapter Sixty Eight

In the end we made off with about ten trolls. Aside from the two Jessie and Benny took down they were a bit worse for wear, but still we did take them down. My Touch of Tears was instrumental in managing it. I avoided the second tier poison skill because it would have melted them into puddles of sludge, but the tier one was meant for prolonged combat and managed to down them after one hit, doing enough consistent damage to offset their regeneration and allowing me to just pummel the big bastards unconscious.

Once we finished collecting them we headed back to the tower. We used the street entrance for drop-off this time, and we collected a thousand H rank chits. Once that was done we retired upstairs to rest, all exhausted from a long day of battle and work, before finally heading to sleep. The next day I got a call from Zeke right after I woke up. I answered the call groggily, still waking up. "Yeah, what is it?" I didn't bother to play polite for my Uncle, he wouldn't have believed it anyway, and he'd have been just as snappish if I called so early.

He must have been up all night because he laughed at my expression when the screen connected. "Well aren't you Mr. morning sunshine? I'm calling because I finally got the living quarters sorted out for us all. You're still bringing your posse with you right?" Because finding a place for all of us was a pain int he ass on short notice, and if you tell me it was a waste of time I'm going to be pissed."

I laughed at that, starting to get my brain working as I sipped a deep pull of coffee I'd just made in the kitchen. "No. They're coming with, it's fine. I even told them my secret. That's...not a problem is it?" I hadn't considered Zeke's reaction to revealing myself. I wasn't sure he was actually going to be on board with me spilling the information about myself and the WCP.

To my shock though, he just laughed and shrugged. "Not my neck on the line kid, and not my friends. I don't know them well enough to tell you if you can trust them or not, and in the end it's all your call anyway. You're the only one at risk from sharing. If you think they're going to be with you for the long haul then that's up to you. They seem like ok kids to me from what my sources say though. The question is, do YOU think you made the right call telling them? Do you have any regrets?"

I paused to think about it before shaking my head. "None. They've been there for me since this mess started. Jessie shared so much with me about how she was feeling after her loss, and Callie..." I blushed a bit and he gave a booming laugh. I cleared my throat, brushing past his knowing smirk. "Callie and I have a lot in common. I'm excited to see what we can all do when we're working with all the assets we have available."

He chose to let the blush slide, shrugging again. "Well, there you go then. If that changes then handle it. I've never been one for worries or second guessing. Do what you want, and make a spectacle of it. Life's more fun if you put on a show. If things go wrong just call for curtain, and try something different the next time." His casual smile told me he was being entirely serious about his advice, and I had to chuckle at how very him it was. Zeke might not have told me everything while I was growing up, but I clearly knew the real him, absurd powers aside. It was a comforting thing to be sure of.

He seemed completely unconcerned by my thoughts on his philosophy, which was also just like him. "Alright, I'll get the others and head over. We can take a skyride right? Or is it far enough away to have to request an air shuttle?" I didn't even know if they would let us use one of those things. They seemed expensive, and as much as Academy membership and my seed contract made me valuable, I had no illusions that I was a high ranking member of the Unity. There were probably tens of thousands of people with more authority here than any of us.

Zeke smirked. "Ah, I see you've started to get an idea of what travel can be like in larger cities. Trust me, it gets so much worse. You should see a capital on an A rank planet. This one barely counts as E rank. As a general rule the higher the rank the larger the planet and population. Anything higher than E will be an superplanet. Or a cohesive planetary system connected with spatial transport. But no, I kept you in mind. It's part of what took so long. I found a place nearby."

I blinked at the concept of places bigger than this. I wondered how people even got around, but that was a question for another time. I was just glad we could actually get to the new digs. Not to mention being close meant it should be within easy travel distance of the Academy, which was another big concern. I thanked Zeke and got directions before heading down to the garage to try to get a new skyride. I texted the others the basic shape of things on the way so they could meet me down there.

When they arrived we set off, choosing to head out before I filled them in on the details, making sure to use Seek Hidden to check for any listening devices. Once I confirmed there were none I caught them up. "So my Uncle Zeke contacted me about a new residence he managed to secure. I think having our own place will make everyone more comfortable, I know it will for me. Zeke is my guardian for all this candidate stuff, and is crazy high rank, so he had a lot of contacts and was able to get us a nice place on short notice. If you guys don't want to move in you don't have to of course, we can just treat this as a visit."

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I was pretty sure they did though, and the laugh from Callie confirmed it. "I for one can't get out of that place fast enough. I wouldn't have stayed at all if this city didn't have such a problem with securing housing." I smiled a bit, knowing she just wanted to get away from Shadowthorn, but still, it was nice to know she didn't mind the team getting a place of our own.

The others felt the same, Benny and Jessie both being fairly unattached to the tower, and we were all excited to see our new home. Judging by what Zeke said I was thinking it was something similar to the megaplex's but on a MUCH smaller size. I got the feeling that individual or even small group dwellings were kind of a rarity here, so I was curious what the neighborhood around the place would look like. Since the individual housing locations were probably expensive I was guessing we were headed for a nice area.

We flew for about forty minutes before finally ending up in the place we were heading to. The streets became much more open, with actual lawns on them, but the houses themselves were...small. Benny leaned forward. "Aren't they kind of tiny? I mean I thought we were going to be staying in some big compound or something, not a literal shack." His house had been like ten times that size, and while it had been unusually large, I definitely agreed that the places on the road we were settling onto were much smaller than expected.

Callie rolled her eyes with a laugh. "You're sitting in a car with a spatially expanded trunk, and just came from a building that was bigger on the inside. It should be pretty obvious most buildings here are bigger on the inside than on the out. If his Uncle is so high rank I can only assume he got us an expanded place." Her tone was teasing, not genuinely mean spirited, and Benny just snorted and flipped her off, causing her chuckle to devolve into full blown laughter.

Jessie was basically bouncing in place with excitement. "It has a GARDEN! And a yard! I'm going to grow SO MANY plants here. It's going to look gorgeous!" I hadn't actually considered that benefit but I added it to the list of things to thank Zeke for. I was guessing he took that into account when looking for the place. I wouldn't be surprised if it had a crafting workshop for Benny and I and a training room for Callie too. It seemed like my Uncle thought of everything.

We climbed out of the car, leaving it parked on the side of the road. There were actually parking structures atop then houses, but we wanted the full experience of entering the front door for the first time. It was probably kind of stupid but I couldn't resist getting the chance to see everything that way. Zeke was waiting for us outside the house, leaning against the wall next to the door, and he nodded when we approached. "Took you long enough. Remember to buy a nice model of skyride or even an air shuttle when you have the cash. Really cuts down on travel time."

Callie nodded, making a face. "Yeah the unity car pool is mostly meant for quantity not quality. There's an executive garage too, but we don't have the standing in the guild to have access." That answered my earlier question about air shuttle's at least. Still, that was an intriguing idea. I hadn't considered buying our own air shuttle. It would probably be a while before I could afford it, but I was betting I could collect quite a bit of chits with wishes if I switched over my compensation, and that would be so damn convenient.

Zeke held out a hand with a chuckle. "Since the kid is off in dreamland thinking about a new ride, I'll introduce myself." He gave me a pointed look before continuing and I flushed in embarrassment. "Ezekiel Cavendish, but you can call me Zeke. My nephew tells me you know the score already so no reason not to share my name. I won't tell you my cape name though, it'll be more fun to see if you can figure it out." He winked. "It isn't Harlequin in case you were wondering, that's just a throwaway identity."

That I hadn't known for sure, though I had assumed it. The others looked almost as intrigued by it as I felt, but they avoided focusing too hard on it because we were so close to seeing our new place. Zeke grinned in appreciation. "Not getting sidetracked by the identity tease. Very nice. Most people spiral into theorizing about that kind of thing pretty fast. Though from your lack of interest I'm guessing Shane didn't tell you exactly HOW high rank I am."

That intrigued them even more but he just laughed it off. "I'll quit teasing. I'm sure you're anxious to see the place. I admit my dramatic nature tends to lend itself to a big build up. I'm probably dragging this out more than is fair." He turned to the door, taking out a key with a chuckle and slotting it in, turning it with a click to open the entrance. As he pushed it open and stepped inside he gestured for us to follow, clearly anticipating our reaction to our new home. "Please, come on in, let me know what you think. I hope you find the premises to your liking." I groaned internally. With this kind of buildup I just knew he had gone overboard. Time to see for myself.

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