It had been nearly three days since Jake forged the Hearthian Bond with Nessa, and she had been cocooned within her cultivation chamber. He had made some visits to check on her a few times and see how things were going, finding everything proceeding smoothly. Otherwise, he had focused on taking a bit of a break–spending time with his kids.

  But Jake didn’t need sleep, so he also kept up his usual crafting, research, training, and dual cultivation with each of his lovely wives. Thanks to the new technique, they could achieve greater results in much less time.

  The essence crystallization part of the dual cultivation technique was starting to have noticeable improvements with each of his girls, even though it had been less than a month since they first gained the technique. Their spirituality was increasing in measurable ways, and he could feel something building inside of him during each refinement.

  As to how he could measure, the big impact was in the girl’s daos–the manifestation of their spirits. Ophelia’s shield, Tanda’s deathly wolf bite, Fhesiah’s yin, yang, and golden alchemical flame, Berri’s holy baseball bat, Blood’s will of a monarch, and Sati’s three flames each struck harder now or had a greater spiritual weight.

  And now, they were also having other epiphanies as Jake crystallized the truths and shared them over their bond. He thought it was only a matter of time before they could manifest new daos entirely, as this process had improved the efficiency and outcome in numerous ways. It wasn’t just them benefitting–the weight of his bonds and his void of family were improving as well.

  Finally, his Void Cells did appear to be taking the extra energies in, saturating a portion of his cells with the superior energy. Thanks to this, they were confident enough that having a second Trait was achievable, so Fhesiah was trying to align Yin Flames of Death as much as possible for his sessions.

  This was the best first thing to complete to keep him in balance, both because it matched the other benefit and also because more than half of his girls could be tempered and refined by the same flames. If successful, they had a blueprint for achieving more void cell benefits. Each one was only marginal in effect, but he could be working toward something greater. Who knows what it would evolve into?

  Jake was tossing the ball with Timothy, Taiki, and his treant son while he waited for what he was sure were the last few hours before Nessa awakened. He could already feel his Hearthian Nexus shifting to accommodate the bond, so he thought it wouldn’t be much longer.

  Spending time with his boys was always fun, though it was odd that he had to downsize himself to truly enjoy it using his Framework items. If he didn’t do that, a basketball would fit in his hands like a baseball, and a baseball might as well be a ping-pong ball.

  Jake could easily maintain a game of catch with all of his boys at once, and he tried to encourage and give them all the right amount of attention. But eventually, he noticed that Timothy seemed a little down, and he was looking at his other brothers and back at Jake, hesitating.

  He said to Timothy, “You want to talk about something, Son? Let’s let your brothers toss the ball with each other for a little bit.” Timothy nodded, and the two boys took their que well enough.

  “Thanks, boys. I’ll be back in a bit, and we’ll play more, I’m sure.”

  Timothy’s expression was a mixture of relief and anxiety over that–his ears were flat on his head, and his tail only wagged slightly behind him as his wings fluttered, and they moved off to the side to talk.

  The ravenwolf boy spoke with a slightly teasing smile. “Dad… do you think I can ask you something without you turning it into a lecture?” He then tossed the ball a little forcefully.

  Jake held his chest and gave his son a hurt expression as he caught the ball. “You wound me. I thought you liked my advice. Calling them lectures… sorry, I suppose that’s fair. I guess I do get too… descriptive sometimes. I’ll do my best, but I’ll make no promises.”

  Timothy chuckled at that. “Guess that’s the best I can get.” He hesitated, then let out a breath. “I’m getting stronger. But it doesn’t matter. Most of the girls could fold me in half. Aren’t I… supposed to be the strong one? That’s how it is on Highlands. Or… was.” He frowned.

  That was a tough and complicated subject that someone could talk for hours about and debate on an opinion. Even on Earth, gender roles and norms had left many people confused and millions of couples out of alignment as the world had changed rapidly. And that was before magic was introduced to throw things out of whack even further.

  And Jake’s daughters…they really defied any kind of norms being applied to them. Jake and Timothy threw the ball back and forth a few times in silence as he came up with the right tact.

  Jake knew his son at least liked baseball, rather than only tolerating it. “On a team, is the pitcher more of a man than the catcher, you think?”

  Timothy denied this immediately. “No way! A good catcher guides or even directs the pitcher. They call the shots!”

  “Is the shortstop weak because he isn’t on the mound?”

  “No. They command the defense!”

  “You should know that all roles are important in their own way. Stop measuring yourself by the wrong stat. You want to be strong? Be strong in the role you choose. Choose it, and you’ll be counted on for it. Don’t drift, and don’t doubt when someone is counting on you. Own it. That’s the only important thing.”

  Timothy hesitated, thinking on that for a moment as they threw the ball back and forth, the ball thudding in their mitts, the only other sounds being Taiki and his brother tossing the ball back and forth too. He said, “But if I decided to be the guardian of our party, won’t that still be pointless? They can take hits much better than I can!”

  “You want to take a beating for no reason? Are you okay, Son?” His son teased him about lecturing, so he figured it was fair to tease him back a little.

  “Huh? Oh… you’re joking.” He sighed, smiling a little wryly. “When we practice fighting against monsters in the simulator, I feel… an instinct. Like I should be the one protecting. But it feels… stupid around them. I just… get hurt for no reason.”

  “Around your sisters? I can see that. Instinct isn’t stupid. It just isn’t law. You just need to find the right way to protect them. They need it too.”

  “They do? So what should… I do?”

  “You can still focus on protecting, if that’s what you want. You just need to know that protecting isn’t just about taking hits. It’s a role, and there are countless ways to achieve it. Sure, all guardians probably have to be able to take a hit. But it can be more about capturing and commanding the enemy’s attention. Or it can be protecting your allies from threats from all sides, monitoring the field, and intercepting them. It can even be just leading your allies from the front and making the best calls. That can help protect them just the same.”

  Timothy chewed on that for a moment. “Won’t my sisters be so much better at it still? Why should I bother?”

  Jake shrugged. “You’re different from your sisters, with different strengths thanks to your auril. If you get great at drawing the enemies to you, it will allow even powerful allies–like your sisters–to focus on offense, which is valuable all on its own. I’m sure you’ve experienced how challenging it is to land a significant blow with a maw or weapon coming at you. If it’s focused on someone else, you can strike unprotected flesh.”

  “Y–Yeah. I can see how… not having to worry about that can help. And… I suppose if we get extra enemies, that they can take a hit just as well as I can would be reassuring.”

  Jake nodded. “It isn’t always about protecting those who are fragile, but it can be that too. It depends on who is in your party–a party can even have more than one guardian, you know. Whatever the case may be, if you get good at a role, whether in battle, professionally, or in your personal life, there’s going to be a team or partner who needs and can value you for that role.”

  He tossed the ball and added, “Don’t worry too much about outliers like your sisters. You’ll be great as long as you focus on what you can do…what you want to do.”

  Timothy had caught the ball and frowned thoughtfully as he spoke. “I… see. Thanks, Dad. Though it did become a bit of a lecture at the end there.”

  Jake chuckled. “I didn’t promise it wouldn’t–I just said I’d do my best.”

  Their talk done, Jake did go back to playing catch with all of his boys at the same time. Eventually, Jake felt a stirring in his connection, and he realized–it was time. “Looks like I have to go now, boys. We’ll bring Nessa to meet with you soon, no doubt. It was fun.”

  “Yeah. Great! See you later, Dad!” Timothy’s tail was wagging as he hugged him, then dashed off, flapping his wings and taking to the air.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  Taiki chirped in the affirmative, running off to rejoin his sisters, and his treant son smiled and gave him a thumbs up before taking off toward his rooted sisters.

  Jake teleported into Nessa’s cultivation chamber, along with his wives and soon-to-be–aside from Yona.

  The chrysalis cracked, but instead of sending shards falling to the ground, a silverish-blue frostfire emerged from the center and began spreading across the surface of the gem cocoon. The flames then rushed inside Nessa’s chest, revealing the woman as she woke up and floated off the ground, her snake tail spiraling beneath her.

  Her Hearthian Presence washed over Jake and arrived in his hearth, her cold heat wrapping around his and his wives’ flames in a loving, cherishing embrace. As a seeker of truth and justice, Nessa and her presence gave a calm reassurance to those who were good that an arbiter and protector of law was nearby. And Jake knew those with something evil to hide would feel the opposite–that she would find their secret and punish them.

  She stretched her arms above her head, and Jake took in the changes to his wife with his Umbral Gaze. The silverish-blue flame flickered beneath her robes in the center of her chest, just like the other Hearthians.

  In all, not that much had changed. She still had blue scales around her eyes like permanent eyeliner and eyeshadow. The tips of her short, dark blue hair were now frosted silver, and her snake scales around her eyes largely remained the same. However, there was a thin silver pattern of scales throughout her snake tail, like rivers flowing down its blue back.

  Nessa looked down at her chest, where the flame peeked out of its hole where a necklace would be. “Now I’ll have to change all my clothes and armor…”

  Ophelia smiled at that. “We’ll be happy to assist you with that.”

  Jake realized he was staring at her chest, feeling a bit of longing–so he grabbed her hips and brought her body to him, his lips meeting hers. Their hearths connected from chest to chest, their two presences merging for the first time in this unique way–his State of the Justicar activating unbidden.

  Nessa smiled once he pulled away. “Now that’s a nice way to wake up.”

  Sati asked her suddenly, “How does it feel?”

  Nessa placed a hand over her hearth and did her best to feel. “It feels wonderful. I thought the Hearth Bond was already spectacular, but this… It’s difficult to put into words. Before, it felt like not even death could separate us, except it would cause us to be apart for a time. But now… it’s like nothing can, not even for a moment.”

  “It’s a great feeling. Welcome, snake sister!” Berri hugged Nessa against her huge chest, and her tail coiled around her tail and tightened, snuggling the two girls together. “Now show us your snake flame! I want to see it.”

  Nessa chuckled. “It’s more of a cold river flame… but I suppose snake flame is fair.” She sent the flame snaking out of her chest, and Jake thought the look was interesting. It was like a liquid and a flame at the same time, the cold blue water having flickering silverish tips of fire that danced across the water’s surface.

  Jake asked, “What about your lake?”

  The lake rushed out of her from all sides as it was released into three-dimensional space, even while Bloodberri was wrapped around her.

  It spread out rapidly and in a much thicker fashion than usual–it was up to Jake’s knees and took up more lateral space than usual. The water then curved upward and compressed into the orb she often used.

  The giant orb was easily thirty percent larger than before, Jake guessed, but the most significant change was just how quickly it moved now. Berri let her go, and as she changed the water’s forms and then flew inside, it was clear that the utility in battle had improved drastically.

  A silverish-blue snaking flame roamed around the orb, and she sent it outward on the attack before leaping out of the water with her sword like she regularly did. It appeared that even within the river, she was within the spatial location that allowed her to hide and attack from it.

  Nana appeared as another frozen snake, and Ruby tested entering inside the spatial waters as blood once more, finding no issues. A nice upgrade to the overall mobility and overall offensive capabilities.

  Nessa then retracted her orb into her chest and landed next to Jake, and Ophelia commented, “We’ll have to fight again! Your new lake and river look strong.”

  Bree grinned. “You’ve got that right. I can definitely use some practice facing some powerful cold for facing my sister.”

  Jake chuckled. “Of course. I’m sure we’re all going to have some spars soon enough.”

  Now that Nessa was out of the cocoon and her evolution complete, Jake could view the notifications that she had received related to her core formation. The party reviewed her new Essence of Justice together, Nessa leaping into Jake’s arms and wrapping her tail around his waist and leg as she often did.

  [Divine Trait: Essence of Justice]

  [Nessa Hart’s Essence manifests as a self-sustaining current of consequence and enhances the effects of her lake serpent bloodline.

  Her frostfire river currents are accelerated and empowered against oathbreakers, corrupt beings, and enemies aligned with malignant powers. Resistance to her judgment is reduced, and condemned targets suffer amplified suppression, soul burn, and refinement effects.

  Corrupted essence defeated beneath her river’s authority may be converted into refined essence and empowerment within her lake’s depths.]

  Jake noted, “That last part sounds a lot like your soul purification scripture.”

  Nessa nodded. “You’re right. My Sinbane Frost Sanctification Scripture is now unnecessary or has been merged to become a part of it. The current and cauldron should achieve it automatically, Nana says.”

  Ophelia smiled at Nessa. “Those are some great gains, in addition to your new powerful core and improvement to your flame. Though I know you hoped for an Essence of Sanctuary too.”

  Nessa didn’t seem to mind it, her smile not faltering. “I’m more than happy with what we’ve achieved so far. It’s because these two were what I inherited from my father, finally coming to fruition as my own. It will take me just a bit more effort to claim something from scratch. I can feel something related to Sanctuary already taking root within my lake, I just need to continue to nurture it. Of course… I can use your help, Jake.”

  Her tail tightened around his leg. More dual cultivation, then. “Of course,” he replied.

  And Nessa’s Bloodline rating had actually improved as a result of both the Molting Draught and establishing her Hearthian Core. She now had a new bloodline trait showing, and he knew this included something that she had desired.

  [Bloodline Trait: Serpent’s Poison]

  [Can produce various toxins within the body mixed with Qi and use them within her bodily fluids at will or store them within her cauldron for usage. Enhanced by her Essence of Justice within her Hearthian Core, any poison produced by Nessa’s glands and refined within her cauldron carries this same essence.]

  Nessa smiled at that. “I think this means… I can make a true evil-only poison now.”

  Jake asked, “Evil only?”

  “A poison that is inert to regular people. But those that are evil betrayers, like Calix or Cassius, would die from the poison. It may be useful some day.”

  Fhesiah grinned, her kitsune tails flicking behind her. “Ah, yes. The Framework works on intent when it comes to preventing you from attacking others, and so you could make a harmless poison and give it out to Adventurers. This way, we can find people like them and take them out of the equation.”

  Ophelia frowned. “Could be useful, but getting someone like Cassius to drink something made of your poison? I am not sure how you’ll manage that, especially on the battlefield.”

  Nessa shrugged. “I may be able to make it work with some needles. If the intent is to protect others or heal, it should allow me. Jantaka’s Truth Seekers do have a few methods for finding betrayers and preventing them from acting, though things widen up a little in the Third Tier. Our noble ranks and other merit achieved can allow us to be marked as trusted enforcers.”

  Blood grinned at that. “If we had such a position of authority, they wouldn’t have been able to force us away at the temple gates. It would have saved us some valuable time… and annoyance.”

  Sati smiled. “So this was a great success in the end. I am so happy for you, Nessa. Our lord truly helped you forge a beautiful Hearthian core. I cannot wait for mine, and I know Ava is giddy with excitement.”

  Ava giggled. “I just realized. Our mate has to do a lake, then a moon, then a planet? He has his work cut out for him.”

  Jake sweated a bit at that. “I’ll have to get it done. But even financing that last one is going to be a monumental task. We spent nearly all that we just earned on The Burning Steps. It’s just money, but it’s like it’ll be a race to collect enough of it just for the materials.”

  Nessa nodded. “I understand. Blood and I will be doing everything possible to leverage all of our connections. We’ll truly need to farm tons of materials on these worlds during the Conquest. Then refine them for maximum profit to trade for what we might need.”

  Fhesiah chuckled. “Don’t forget we’ll be earning plenty from four Dungeon Raids. That reminds me. I do want to see what your cauldron can do, but I do think there’s another important milestone first before we lock ourselves in my lab for days.”

  Tanda’s tail was wagging. “Yes! It’s been three whole days, and the boys and girls haven’t seen Aunty Nessa.”

  Nessa chuckled. “Ah. Yes, it’s like everyone gets to meet me all over again, thanks to my new presence, huh? I’d like to see what they think of it.”

  Avalara and Yona gathered the kids in the sanctuary near the main clearing, the group teleporting there. The children all gathered around, welcomed, and congratulated Nessa.

  Nessa received plenty of hugs and well wishes and hugged them back with her long tail. Clara noted, “Her presence feels a lot like my Mom, but different. She’ll protect me from bad guys but also make them pay!”

  “Like a mix of my mom and yours!” Nora nodded, her wings fluttering, and Jake had to agree. Her presence was a bit like a mix between Ophelia and Tanda’s, but of course, different still.

  Nessa enjoyed the attention they gave her and allowed them to enter her lake and try out the water currents.

  Now that her lake had a higher level of spirituality, it was easier for her to tune down the deep coldness so that it would not harm them. She had always been able to do this to some extent, but it wasn’t enough that non-magical children would survive–not that any of Jake’s children were all that vulnerable any longer.

  With Nessa awakened, they weren’t that far off from arriving at Bramvalen. They had a few more days of moderate relaxation, and then it was back to the grind. A grind that saved lives and won a war against a vicious enemy, but one nonetheless.

  They would change their Champion seals, swapping Bloodberri and Ophelia for Fhesiah and Tanda. As far as they understood, the sanctions, combined with how their family already faced several divine beings on The Burning Steps, meant that the possibility of running into another was nearly zero. They had already been reassured that their presence on another world would not be harmful to the world’s success, and this applied to each of the worlds they could travel to.

  They just had to maintain the number of Champions that remained sealed. Challenges that could be scaled up depending on their presence would be increased in difficulty moderately. It would be like Life’s Haven, where the boss’s level was increased a fair amount.

  Thankfully, things were completely different now. They weren’t ill-equipped or lacking in strong allies, needing to carry entire encounters. In many ways, things were even now on many of these worlds, and they just had to do the work to claim these worlds.