Bonded Summoner

Book 9. Chapter 24: The Covenant Armory

Jake stood in the center of the Refuge’s armory, carefully guiding a thread of golden Hearthflame along the polished surface of his new armor. He let out a slow breath, sealing the final demonic rune into the matrix.

“You really don't realize what you’ve managed to accomplish, do you?”

Jake blinked, pulling his focus away from the glowing metal. Nessa was leaning against a weapon rack a few paces away. Her arms were crossed beneath her chest, her snake tail coiled comfortably beneath her, and a look of profound, loving disbelief was plastered across her face.

“I just finished the last of my armor’s Covenants,” Jake said, tilting his head. “Is the resonance off?”

“The resonance is terrifyingly perfect,” Nessa laughed, shaking her head. “Jake, in the Core Sectors, they teach that Runic Covenants of this complexity are strictly restricted to the Third Tier and above. Absolute laws carry a massive metaphysical weight. Standard runic ink literally boils and evaporates if you try to bind it with the kind of restrictions you just wrote. And...don’t get me started about how you’ve managed to do it not fully leaning on the Nords.”

Jake frowned, looking down at the Mythic Champion Vestments in his hands. He couldn’t fully upgrade the item as he wished yet, but he had managed to tie the core gem into his new Resonant States. “But it held.”

“Because you aren't using standard ink, along with Mythic-grade materials supplied by your goddess.” Nessa said, gliding forward to inspect the armor. She traced a finger inches above the glowing runes. “You are etching directly with your Void-Divine Hearthflames. You combined that with the absolute highest quality monster cores and materials our entire guild has farmed across four different worlds. I couldn't even warn you about the ink limitations because the Framework restricts sharing higher-tier crafting secrets. But you just organically bypassed the bottleneck.”

Jake rubbed the back of his neck, a bit sheepish but undeniably proud. “Yiming and Amara helped me understand that I was achieving something special a long time ago. Still, I’m glad we can talk about this a bit more now. It almost felt like you were avoiding me.”

Nessa chuckled at that. “Well, now you know just about as much as I do when it comes to the enchantments, so it is much easier for me to speak freely.”

Jake kept the thought to himself, but he thought that was a hint of its own, even if it wasn’t likely given intentionally. He now knew what she knew about enchantments, not Runic spells. He still had a lot to learn, it appeared. Still, her current situation was one where it wasn’t like she could use much regarding Nordic Runes. Not only was she not much of a spellcaster anymore, but her Lake and Frostfire Qi being the entire makeup of her dantian meant that she could only use a few percent of the mana of her sister-wives’ flames–not enough to achieve anything meaningful alone.

It was a mere inefficiency that prevented her from using the environmental mana in its stead. It taxed the mind in the same way as using her Daos would, so if she was to bother with that, why not just use the more effective thing? Just like Fhesiah and Sati, she would likely only join others in a group spell, and she was learning Demonic Runes along with the rest of the Qi-users in his party.

Regarding him knowing that there was still much to learn, that was fine. He was still working on cracking some Tier 3 Runic spells, and he thought he was getting close to making something repeatable and without leaning on Pyros, Divine Energy, or sacrificing an immense amount of Hearthflames and regeneration.

The two chatted about the runes for a while, as she probed him about his choices for their armor sets. A few had unique challenges or outcomes, but for the most part, not much had changed.

With the armor, Jake had decided to keep it simple, at least for now. In a way, the Covenant with their armor was a mere quality of life upgrade. It would reserve a portion of their energy, whichever the bearer used, and its regeneration, but that didn’t exceed how much it cost to keep the defensive and supportive enchantments going by very much; it was worth the gain it provided. It meant his team didn’t have to think to have energy running through the armor–the Covenant now did this for them at all times.

This way, they could focus on their body and weapon when it came to energy flow. Aside from that, the armor did as armor was meant to do. It protected them, granting them a minor boost to strength and speed, the usual side benefit of flooding their bodies and armor with their special energies in the first place.

Nessa floated over to the wall, where Jake had a grouping of schematics. More than ten special items were lined up, essentially one for each of his wives and himself. “Amazing... are these the special items you’re planning? Some of them have most of the materials crossed off. Oh, and your weapon is done.”

“That’s them. Yours is there too. As to why they have most of them crossed off, in most cases, those were the cheapest or easiest to obtain ones. My weapon is already Divine and didn’t require anything but some minor shifts and then the enchantments.”

They were the capstone items that Jake had painstakingly been working on. Hours of planning went into each item so that when they received the materials, Jake and Ophelia, or Bloodberri, would be ready to work together to make the finalized item.

Many of them would be upgrades that would push their items to the peak of their Tier. There was a small chance that if they crafted them perfectly, they could become Divine-grade items that matched his Pyros.

Nessa smiled wryly at hers. It was an odd schematic for what appeared to be the head of a snake meant to attach to the tip of her tail. “Is it too late to change it? The prototype is a little too weird.” She groaned as she closed her eyes–Nana was whining in her mind. She replied to the snake ancestor out loud, “I know you love driving it, but it feels strange. You get to fight with the snakes of ice already, remember? Don’t be unreasonable.”

Jake chuckled. “Are you sure you want to change it? It seemed quite effective. More effective than me just adding the poison to your sword. Reach is a powerful tool that you can make use of.”

Nessa sighed, resigned. “It is. I can only imagine how strong it will be when you have the true item. It is...expensive, though.”

Jake couldn’t help but grimace at that, his face tightening like he was punched in the gut. The mere mention of their finances was enough to deal a near-physical blow. “Don’t remind me. You and Blood are doing a goddess's work, but it feels like it’ll never be enough.”

Once again, market forces and economics were becoming the true bane of Hearthtribe.

“Don’t forget Valtor. The man and his people have done wonders, and now they have even more help. You becoming Provisional Count is allowing them to ramp things up so much faster now.”

As a Baron and Knight, Jake was limited to a single administrative clan and Head Administrator. While he could have had more administrators, the issue was about Framework integration. New administrators couldn’t have access to create the Quests that helped his kingdom at different layers, which truly allowed resources to be funneled upward and for benefits to be earned for accomplishing this at all levels of the process.

Valtor and his people had done a fantastic job, but they were running into various limits of dealing with the burden alone–a limit to the number of quests and directives each could have active, and more. He had been forced to prioritize the war for the last year, and this had long-term implications–especially, economic ones.

Now, those limits had been drastically raised, and Valtor had brought on two more administrative clans. But between Clan Hart’s requirements for resources for their dual cultivation, gear crafting, and ascension preparations, they were always broke.

It had been a grueling three months of non-stop warfare, crafting, and travel across the multiverse, but looking at his own progression, the sheer grind had paid off in dividends. He pulled up his interface, taking a moment to review exactly where he stood.

[Jake Stats Level 45]

[Strength: 392]

[Dexterity: 373]

[Constitution: 384]

[Intelligence: 387]

[Wisdom: 394]

[Charisma: 370]

[Jake’s Level 45 Combat Skill Sheet]

[Expert Hearth Control: 4]

[Expert Hearth Runic Magic: 4]

[Hearth Spells: Scorching Ray, Barrier, Spear, Renewal, Hearth Blade, Pyrokinesis, Construct]

[Expert Energy Control: 4]

[Advanced Spell-forms: 4]

[Spell-forms Known: Clean, Mana Bolt, Force Push, Mana Blade, Flame, Telekinesis]

[Technique: Resonance Bound: 4, Subskills: Sympathetic Link, Resonant Covenants]

[Auril Enhancement, Healing, Manifestation: 5]

[Nethril Enhancement, Affliction, Manifestation: 5]

[Expert Divine Energy Manipulation: 1]

[Expert Champion Magic: 4]

[Champion Spells: Hearth, Divine Reinforcement, Call Goddess, Hearthian Aura, Fusion Summon, Fusion Ascension, Bound Resurrection]

[Framework Spells: Bolster, Reinforcement, Haste, Cure Wounds, Advanced Stamina Regen, Summon Arcane Eye, Call Summon, Enhanced Capture Template, Manifest Template, Reverse Summon]

[Monster Menagerie]

[Permanent Summons: Zephyr the Garuda, Jasmina the Naga Siren, Garona the Earth Mother(Titanic Stone Tortoise)]

[Jake’s Level 45 Non-Combat Skill Sheet]

[Expert Cooking 4]

[Expert Enchanting 4]

[Subskills: Investment, Runic, Hearth, Manaweave Reinforcement, Demonic]

[Void-Divine Hearthian Core: 4]

[Hearthforging: 2]

[Hearthian Bonds: Ophelia: 4, Fhesiah: 4, Blood and Berri: 4, Tanda: 4, Nessa: 2]

[Hearth Bond: Avalara: 5, Sati: 5, Yona: 3 ]

[Summoner’s Bond: Bree 5: Love, Ruby: 4]

[Misc Skills: Eternal Oath, Energy Nexus, Energy Sharing, Auto-Loot, Purifying Flames]

In all, Jake’s stats were getting crazy. Since before he began fighting the war at Level 35, they had gone up over a hundred. Largely from his +5 to All Attributes per Level, Nessa’s Hearthian Bond, and his Core Level increasing. Finally, the Dual Cultivation, which increased his stats at a steady pace and qualitatively improved his body and soul.

The other big change was finally reaching Expert with Divine Energy Manipulation. Jake had noticed the change during their transit between worlds as he had done his testing, that it followed his will much better.

It was as if gathering more and more followers and acting in adherence to Hestia’s faith had somehow moved the skill up, all on its own. By acting as her Champion, it had enabled him greater ability to manipulate the energy with his will alone–he could still pray and move it much faster, but it was no longer the sluggish energy it was before.

And it had a new, interesting effect. To some extent, all magic would follow or be transformed to the user’s will. But magical energy, especially mana, had foundational principles and rules, and going against them would drastically lower their output or entirely cause the spell to fizzle out. Jake found that he could use Divine Energy and not only just improve the output of spells but almost rewrite reality to make spells achieve what he wanted.

Jake could make an ice spike that healed when stabbed into a heart. He could make a burst of flames that healed allies and destroyed enemies. He had even launched a fireball that repaired an earthen wall.

Through just a bit of testing, Jake learned he had the highest efficiency and best results when he remained true to what matched his goddess best. He could make that ice spike, but the fireball that healed was something that Hestia’s flames already did, so it took a fraction of the energy–while boosting the outcome significantly to boot.

He and his wives were nearly all level 45 thanks to their constant Rift closing over the months, killing Boss monsters that pushed the edges of what it meant to be in the Second Tier. Along with their essence crystallization–their dual cultivation, Jake was fundamentally a different being than he was when he first entered the Tier.

And now, all of his Champion wives, except Fhesiah, had Resurrection spells. Jake could now truly revive any of his wives on the battlefield with the [Bound Resurrection] spell, just as Bloodberri had been, and Tanda and Ophelia could too. It truly would not change a whole lot in terms of their strategy, but it was a feature that was reassuring to have just before the Dungeon Raid. Most likely, much of their Clergy classes inside the Battlegroup would have them too.

Nessa had wandered around his workshop, looking at everything. She came upon the current iteration of Jake’s ultimate defensive item sitting on the bench–the mobile hearth.

Dismissing the Menu screen, Jake stepped away from the armor stand and moved over to it. It was his shield, which still mirrored much of Ophelia’s Winged Kite Shield in its looks. But now, in its inner section, the crystalline skull sat with a near-peak of the Tier hearth Jake created. It was still a bit lacking in its materials, but the item was nearly complete in terms of accomplishing what he desired from it.

Nessa thumbed her new All Hearts as One necklace. “I can’t wait to see this one in action in the Raid. You’ve spent so much time on it, and it is truly something that I thought I could only see in the Core Sectors or in the Third Tier.”

“Surely, some descendant of Hephaestus or Prometheus, or someone like this, could have come up with something like this.”

Nessa thought on it for a moment before conceding. “In a Frontier Sector, though? Perhaps, after a few decades of practice or instruction that led it to become less valuable in the first place, they could have. Probably, without your guild benefits, they would have to invest quite a bit of Nascent Divine Essence to make the item even function at all. You’ve removed many of the stops thanks to being strong both in combat but also here in the lab.”

That felt like a bit of a leap to Jake, but he wasn’t about to argue the item’s worth or power. He had truly turned the impossible to possible only by using what made his family unique...and some souped-up items recovered from evil enemies.

Jake did have doubts that others could make such a powerful item so effective at this Tier here in a Frontier Sector, as they would be lacking in either materials or know-how. And even if they could, they would likely cap out and move on to the Third Tier, which they considered the only battlefield that mattered.

Jake had done a lot of fine-tuning on the Covenants, and he was sure he would do a lot more as he tested them out in the raids and gathered the final materials. The goal was, of course, to be ready for anything in the War Trial. Jake wasn’t about to show weakness in the dungeon, but in his mind, the Dungeon Raids were already a foregone conclusion.

Without the enemy cheating, his family was ready for anything. Tyr was supposedly going to watch over the events himself. This meant that if the boss suddenly became invulnerable and the tentacle thing happened at the end, he would be able to step in himself and slap it away and call it their victory.

The heavy oak doors of the workshop suddenly swung open. Fhesiah strolled in with her kitsune form, a teasing smirk on her lips as she fanned herself lazily, and her tails danced behind her with amusement. Ophelia, Tanda, and Bloodberri followed close behind, moving with a synchronized, confident grace that immediately commanded the room. They were dressed in their matching tribal outfits–bold red, black, and gold halter tops and skirts that left their new All Hearts as One necklaces on full display just above their glowing Hearthian flames.

Jake actually paused, his breath catching in his throat for a fraction of a second as he took in the sight of his wives. They looked absolutely breathtaking, a perfect blend of strength, sexuality, and elegance. It never got old to Jake, seeing and feeling how they could light up a room with both their presence and their Presence.

He stared at the fox-woman for a long moment as her tails danced behind her, all too pleased with herself. Eventually, he finally broke his silence. “Did you seriously just teleport to the hallway just so you could open the door dramatically? You could have just appeared right here.”

“Queens must make their entrance, Husband,” Fhesiah chuckled, snapping her fan shut with a sharp clack. “We’re here to pick you up for the party in the training area. One last bit of fun before we head off to the Dungeon Raid.”

Jake groaned, his shoulders slumping even as a fond smile tugged at his lips. “That is just tedious. This was your idea, I take it? You could have just called me straight to the training area.”

“I’m afraid I have to agree with Faye on this, Lord Husband,” Blood’s smooth, commanding voice echoed from the massive lamia as she coiled the rest of her long tail into the room, her dark aura flaring with approval. “Queens should make an entrance, and Kings should not be beckoned, except perhaps to the royal chambers–they should be escorted.”

Ophelia blushed and looked away as her golden-horned owl wings fluttered softly, realizing that she had gone with the flow without thinking about it much. “I didn’t hate the idea...”

“I am not sure ambushing him in his lab counts as a proper royal escort,” Tanda pointed out with a wry smile and her tail wagging in amusement, gesturing toward the blue-haired snake-woman already leaning against the weapon rack. “Especially since Nessa was already in here and could have done that. You just wanted an excuse to show off.”

“Do not sweat the small details, Little Bird-dog,” Fhesiah purred playfully, stepping right into Jake's personal space, her tails dancing behind her. “And I would never miss the chance to pull you away from your workbench myself.”

Before Jake could formulate a proper response, Fhesiah grabbed his arm and playfully shoved him backward into a tear in space.

So much for kings requiring a respectful royal escort, Jake thought wryly as he tumbled backward through the void.

With a familiar pull of spatial magic, the group vanished from the workshop, reappearing upright instantly on the reinforced stone tiles of the Refuge’s massive training arena. And Jake noticed she had somehow managed to both undress and redress him with a thought, finding himself wearing his tribal chief clothing. His bracers held his wives’ adornments, the coins with symbols matching what made each of his wives unique.

The rest of his girls were already waiting, ready for their final little party before the big battle. Ruby and Sati were floating in the air next to the benches, talking about Ruby’s recent sword array practice, while wearing the same Clan Hart tribal outfits. Nessa had also changed into the same attire–it seemed she was ready for this moment.

Even Yona was there, getting the food laid out across the big table. Avalara’s barely showing pregnant lesser avatar was already seated, smiling and waving at Jake as he arrived.

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“Enough looking at your flowers, Husband.” Fhesiah called out, her purple, red, and gold Qi flaring to life as she stepped to the center of the mat. “Show us the new Hearth item. I want to see what you made from the monk; we only have so much time before we need to go.”

Jake nearly groaned again–she just pulled him away from the item she wanted to see! However, this was not an issue, and he supposed the other girls would love to see it too. He summoned the bound item, and it arrived next to him.

It was a somewhat macabre but beautiful creation, built around the core of the skull. Fused into the bone were the melted bells of the Nameless Monk, perfectly intertwined with the simple metal, bone, and wood of the odd karmic bike bell he had used to help defeat the monster in a man’s skin.

“It is not fully complete,” Jake warned, hefting the artifact. “During the fight with the monk, I channeled so much of Hestia's Divine Energy through those bells that they permanently shifted. Combined with the odd burned bells he had that manipulated our minds based on karma in some way, I made something new. But they are basically starving for a resonance I cannot fully provide yet. I need other superior materials, along with enhanced All Hearts as One necklaces, to properly anchor the matrix. For now, I have throttled the output so the item doesn't burn out.”

Ophelia said, “Throttled or not, we all wanted to see it! You were so busy on the item set we nearly ran out of time. I’m excited to see what has had you holed up for so long.”

Jake nodded. With a single thought, he activated the artifact and brought it to what would be its permanent resting state, the golden flame of Hestia igniting within it. Anywhere they traveled on a contested world, the dungeon, or the War Trial, it would remain active at all times.

A pull came from his wives’ bonded necklaces, drawing their energy through his Hearthian Nexus and then through his bond to the hearth within the artifact. A torrent of golden Hestian flames blazed from the runic burner underneath the skull, the runes throughout the object lighting up. The bells vibrated with a soft, lovely chime, and mixing with some of Yona’s unique moonlight and starlight flames, they emitted a slight hum.

“This is its passive state,” Jake explained. The artifact began to float, and he moved it with a thought through the air as the hum settled into a quiet, almost imperceptible frequency. “Concealment and absolute anti-assassination. It wraps directly around your Hearth bonds, just as my Presence always does.”

Fhesiah and the rest of the girls touched their necklaces and looked inward to their Hearths, feeling the profound, invisible layer of protection settling over their bodies and spirits.

“I call it Sanctum. It covers all of you no matter where you are,” Jake continued, though he offered an apologetic glance toward the stands. “Bree, Ruby, you two will need to stay within my immediate Presence to get the same benefit since you don't have the bond. But as long as this is active, if anyone attempts an interplanar ambush or a hidden attack, the artifact will autonomously trigger. And if it's in my direct Presence, or domain, it will lock the trap in place.”

It did mean that, in theory, his wives could still be ambushed by the Nameless Monk while separated. However, he was confident in the secondary protections that this particular threat would have had some difficulty going unnoticed as he had done, even if he might have been able to get away.

Fhesiah hummed as she scanned the area with her Divine Sense. “How does it accomplish its concealment? I don’t really see or sense an illusion, though I do understand it’s not meant to conceal from me.”

Jake replied, “It’s not hiding from sight. It’s from a mixture of Yona’s flames and karma. Those who seek us out with ill intent will find it difficult to find us from afar or read our fates, among other things. We are still a beacon to those that search nearby...think of it like a campfire in the fog that pushes the fog away. Close enough, it can be found easily, but far away, it is still obscured by layers of fog–layers of fate and destiny.”

Ira had looked over the special resonance created and had shared its approval. Jake hadn’t really understood the feelings it transmitted, but he got the feeling that the warded domain effect created through it somehow made it impossible for an attack to get through without the domain reacting. While it wasn’t impossible for Ira to force its way through in this passive state, it was like a wall made of paper or a soap bubble. A small tear in order to pass through would surely cause the intrusion to be known.

Jake looked down at the karmic bells fused to the bone. “The Nameless Monk would never be able to get close to us again or predict exactly where we might show up. Then, my Champion Aura and then the upgraded Presence always offered autonomous protection, but Sanctum enhances it. If Calix’s sniper arrow, a curse, or a spatial tear tries to breach this ward to attack us in this domain, it won't just give a token effort to block it as the previous Aura did. It will violently work to destroy the threat with the combined strength of our hearth flames.”

Between his whole family’s flames, they had plenty that could handle special threats like curses or malevolent alterations of fate, whatever their source. The issue was mostly quantity and applying them meaningfully.

In a sense, Jake’s Champion Aura was always able to strike down any minimal to low-rated threat autonomously–an arrow or a weak spell that likely couldn’t pierce any of his wives’ personal defenses anyhow. And many of them had Purifying Flames that could nearly delete a medium-level status-ailment-type threat, curse or otherwise, without issue.

Now, they just had a method to strike even a high-level clandestine attempt down before it caused them harm. Their enemies would truly need to face them from the front or with overwhelming force if they wanted a chance at defeating his family.

It had limits, of course–for example, if there were two Calix arrows heading for someone, it would stop the first but likely be unable to stop the second until the defense recharged. But Jake felt it was worth paying the reserve for. And part of the Covenant meant the superior blast protection was reserved for these attacks at all times, not for the errant arrow or a random spell coming their way on a battlefield. For that, they would have to rely on the old protection.

“A perfect countermeasure,” Ophelia breathed, her owl wings fluttering in profound relief–the same feeling mirrored among his party, especially Ruby, who had taken that arrow for her. She continued, “And what about when we aren't traveling or resting?”

“Then we dig in. This is what will trigger if someone tries to sneak or break into my Presence across the planes, too.” Jake smiled.

He mentally commanded the artifact to shift. The draw on his wives and the mana in the surroundings increased significantly, and the physical weight of Sanctum anchored heavily toward the floor, the flame brightening.

The quiet humming condensed and grew with a crescendo. A fire erupted outward like a gentle version of Ophelia’s Consecration, forming a massive domain of flame-like mist. Then, on the outskirts, four spiritual flaming shields began to orbit the edges of Jake’s domain slowly.

It was breathtaking, and several of the girls seemed to smile as they felt the shift. It gave a feeling of safety and home, and on an intense level that exceeded his Champion Spearstaff and Pyros.

Bree paced the edges of the domain in her humanoid form, giving it a critical eye. “This is powerful, I can feel it. But it is not free. You are paying a deep cost to truly transform this area into your domain; there is no question about this.”

Tanda nodded at this. “I can feel the pull on my reserves.”

The girls thumbed their necklaces, closing their eyes and monitoring their cores. Nessa’s eyes snapped open, and she breathed, “It’s a lot! Is it... about 10 to 15 percent from all of us Hearth-bonded? It was a lot less before this state activated.”

Jake nodded. Including himself, eight of his party members had reserved that much to accomplish this. “That, and the mana of the surrounding area, both near the domain and also near you where you may be spread out. The draw from you may become greater if the area we’re fighting in is resource-starved or, worse, an enemy domain we must work against. Still, that draw isn’t just to power the item. It does more than just protect us.”

Fhesiah held her hand out, and the flaming mist drew up and into her hand. “It’s gathering mana. There’s plenty of Hestia’s flames, or non-aspected mana for us or our allies to use here near the font.”

The artifact acted like a localized mana-font, constantly feeding the barriers without draining Jake’s internal reserves. Thinking back to his odd first Mana Fonts–the cages and the unraveling box monstrosity used in their first Dungeon Raid–this was a vast improvement. And Hestia’s hearthflames were truly unique, he had found in his testing. All of his wives could draw from them and convert them to what they required with a fair efficiency–even his Qi-powered wives.

Even throttled, it was a staggering defense. The spiritual shields were a manifestation of Jake’s border, signifying to all that this was a sanctuary, and they were able to respond autonomously to threats to those within or with a thought from Jake. It perfectly tied into his Champion Presence, making it an area where his aura greatly defied a mere defensive buff.

The size of the domain was decent, enough for an entire raid's worth of oversized warriors to hide inside. And his Presence still continued for quite a bit outside of it. It was just the area within the Sanctum that was enhanced greatly.

If the Nameless Monk had forced his way through the void into this area while in the passive mode, this mode would trigger on its own, and he would now struggle to leave, even across the planes. And Ira had checked–it was no longer a mere soap bubble that it could pass through. If someone like the Nameless Monk wanted to break in once deployed, he would have to bring his full might, allowing Jake and his family to respond.

Fhesiah tapped her Menu, her tails swishing with predatory excitement. “Let us see how well this battle mode holds up to a real siege.”

Bree chuckled and stepped inside. “Now this I want to see too.”

The training arena’s arrays hummed to life. Space distorted at the far edge of the stone-tiled training ground, simulating a localized Rift opening. A swarm of massive, armored Carnex hive-guardians poured out–the exact same gem-thieving, brutal insectoid monsters their allies on Serthune had spent weeks exterminating across the overland and underground campaign.

They charged the domain, mandibles clacking and vile, highly pressurized acid spitting from their maws. It seemed the constructs hadn’t consumed any gems, so these were the only weapons at their disposal.

The acid splashed against the flame-mist boundary, sizzling harmlessly as the domain purified it on contact. The massive insectoids then slammed bodily into the barrier, their scything claws scrabbling against the edges. The four orbiting spiritual shields instantly reacted, shifting into the path of the heaviest kinetic blows and flashing brightly, completely halting the beasts' momentum without Jake needing to lift a finger. The fire automatically blasting them was intense enough that the monsters were wounded and shoved away.

“Oh, this is wonderfully convenient,” Fhesiah purred. She barely had to even draw on her own reserves. She simply breathed, drawing a massive volume of the ambient, regenerating Hestian fire directly from the domain's mist into her chest while combining it with the opposing kitsune flames. Her alchemical lungs processed the divine flames in the span of a long breath’s time, and she blasted it back out as a wave of searing, blinding plasma that instantly vaporized the front line of Carnex.

“Not bad! Now it’s our turn!” Berri and Blood launched their eclipsing sun attack, the black and white flames weighing down on the rest as they were scorched with radiant, flaming light.

Ophelia and Nessa cast a runic spell together, Nordic Runes mixed with Demonic. A roiling river of frostfire snaked outward, electrified with righteous, flaming lightning. The monsters froze over rapidly as the river washed over them, parts of their bodies bubbling, exploding, and shattering as it passed through.

And Ruby and Sati combined their Demonic Runes, launching a fist of bloodfire mixed with compassionate flames. It smashed into a final Carnex, obliterating its body and erasing what would have been its spirit, had it been truly alive and not a mana construct.

These were their joint attacks they had all been practicing recently. Much like at the peak of the First Tier, they had pushed things to their limits and practiced group spells with different partners, enabling them to launch coordinated assaults that would devastate the enemy. As the dungeon often required a marathon of fighting, maximizing their damage for resources spent was critical, and Jake found this was the best way to produce something greater than the sum of their parts.

Fhesiah smiled, dispersing the training simulation with a final tap of her Menu. The arena arrays powered down, and the scorched stone immediately began repairing itself.

Jake mentally commanded Sanctum to power down as well, the massive domain receding into the quiet, invisible anti-assassination ward wrapped securely around their souls.

Ophelia stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Jake's neck, pressing a warm, lingering kiss to his cheek. “You have been working yourself to the bone for three months, Jake. The armor, the Covenants, and now Sanctum. It is a masterpiece. Thank you.”

In truth, Jake couldn’t believe how fast they had influenced these overland wars. They had expected the campaigns to take even longer than Highlands; Tier 2 Conflicts were meant to take longer, with larger, sprawling worlds.

But such was the nature of a tug-of-war, conquest-focused game. When one team got ahead in such a dominating position, the game ended quickly. And their people truly dominated, and that was without even talking about themselves.

Jake wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning into the embrace while looking around at the rest of his family. “I just put the pieces together. None of that happened without the ridiculous materials Blood and Nessa hunted down. Berri’s Savage Boneforging and hide manipulation for the bodysuits. Lia’s Runic Crucible and smithing for the rest. Avalara and Tanda’s advanced magical plants for the necklaces. Ruby, Sati, and Faye’s combined alchemy and resource processing pushed the absolute limits... and our flames and strength combined, including Bree and Yona’s. You all built this just as much as I did, and while becoming more. We’re a team.”

“He is right,” Sati said, floating down to wrap an arm around Bree's shoulders. “We forged ourselves in the mud and the dark these last few months. Every single one of us pushed beyond what we thought was possible. We are ready.”

“And you kept us all moving forward,” Nessa added, bumping her shoulder gently against Jake’s arm. “Do not downplay your logistics or your choices as a monarch. You inspired many heroes and built a kingdom that can actually support our ascensions and bring justice to this terrible enemy.”

“And now,” Yona called out brightly from the sidelines, waving a pair of wooden tongs, “we feast! The food is getting cold, and you all need your strength before you go crawling around in the blood and the dirt again.”

The tension of the impending raid evaporated, replaced entirely by the warm, chaotic energy of their family. They gathered around the massive tables Yona had prepared, shedding the heavy mantles of Sovereign and Champions for just a little while. They laughed, shared plates of perfectly roasted meats and spiritual fruits, and traded exaggerated stories of their heroic moments–the times when they were certain they touched people’s lives, and not just the warriors they would be forced to interact with.

Because they didn’t just close Rifts by killing monsters like playing an MMO, gaining levels in an endless grind. The Rifts always spawned near people, so that meant there was almost always someone nearby that could use their help in some way.

Ophelia shared a moment where Valora happily pulled a person’s cart to safety since their beast of burden died. Berri shared how she gave a bunch of troll kids a ride on Garona’s back to a nearby village. Sati shared a moment where she cleansed a family of death mana poisoning, and Ruby had a few stories where she saved people fleeing from monsters, her wave of violence saving more people than she imagined she ever could. And yet the people of Serthune weren’t afraid of her bloodsoaked self, thanking her for the timely rescue.

For Jake, it was a moment of pure, grounding peace. A reminder of what they had fought for.

As they finished their meal, the heavy doors of the arena opened once more, and he realized another reminder had appeared. A chaotic swarm of teenage-like children poured in, their wings flapping and claws scrabbling or scales slithering across the stone as they rushed their parents. Stumpy legs from his treant children stomped as they rushed, doing their best to catch up to their faster siblings.

Avalara’s other lesser avatar chuckled, waddling slightly as she guided the youngest ones forward toward Jake and his wives, with Yona beaming, her tails flickering with glee.

Jake knelt, catching two of his kids in a massive, crushing hug while his wives were similarly swarmed. He breathed in the scent of their hair, feeling the profound, unbreakable reason for everything he did. The grinding war, the treacherous dungeons, the cosmic game... it was all to keep this exact moment safe, not just for him, but for anyone else to experience on these worlds.

The kids happily shared some moments of their own, talking about Space Wars and their recent projects, anything they were excited about, and dug into the food. But eventually, they were out of time.

“Alright, you little monsters,” Jake laughed, standing up and ruffling a head of hair. “Moms and Dad have to go to work for a few days. Behave for Mommy Yona and Ava, and remember, if you want to hear our voices...we’ll find time.”

Avalara smiled at this. “Yes! I’ll happily be the telephone for you.”

Blaze slithered forward, her face set in an expression of absolute, deaRPan seriousness that Jake hadn’t often seen from her. “Dad. Listen to me.”

Jake blinked, pausing. “I am listening, Blaze.”

“Do not push into the fog of war with your armies without scouting,” she ordered firmly, holding up a single finger. “And if the boss has a second phase... just drop the orbital strike on it and run. It always works in Space Wars!”

A chorus of genuine, unburdened laughter erupted from the family. Nyxa and Nora were happy to tease Blaze for her joke, pointing out times when her strategy didn’t work. Jake could feel their hearths, even if they weren’t bonded.

There was a bit of tension in their spirits, there was no doubt about this. But he could feel that they also had faith that their parents were going to come home, triumphant and ready for the next battle. Just like his wives, they were excited and hopeful for the future.

With a single thought, Jake engaged his Storage Ring. His casual tribal clothes were instantly replaced by the radiant, red and gold majesty of his Mythic gear. Around him, his wives did the same, their auras flaring with divine power as their weapons materialized.

“Let's go,” Jake ordered softly.

***

The subterranean staging cavern miles away from the Crystal Citadel was deafeningly loud. But as Jake stepped through the portal from the Refuge, flanked by his wives, a respectful hush rippled through the gathered army.

Jake looked out over the thousands of warriors gathered to take part in the Dungeon Raid. Adventurers from all over the Sector had arrived to participate and earn loot as well as potential for themselves, but the vast majority of those present were Hearthtribe and its allies, and the natives of Serthune.

Conspicuously absent from the Prime Battlegroup were several of Hearthtribe’s heaviest hitters. Morwen and Bedwyr, Rookard and Taron, Drysander and Nadessa, Seamus and Takoda, Timone and Dahlia, and more were all present in the cavern, but they were standing at the heads of their own massive, secondary raid groups.

It wasn't a slight; it was a tactical necessity. The months-long campaign had been a grueling success. They had rooted out the betrayer factions, crushed the Tartarus armies, and pushed the Contested Worlds into a stable, defensive farm status. The battlefronts were secure, meaning their absolute best commanders could be spared for this exact moment.

Jake needed those elite officers anchoring the secondary instances. If a normal adventuring raid wiped, it fed Tartarus its potential back. By placing his most seasoned, unyielding commanders at the helm of those secondary raids, Jake essentially guaranteed a safety net. They would guide the guild members, protect the native forces, and ensure every single instance they could ended in a net positive for the Alliance. When the time came to liberate their respective connected worlds, those officers would get their turn in the Prime spots.

But here, on Serthune, the Prime spots belonged to the top merit earners and the Hearthtribe Alliance elites who had bled in these specific tunnels. Vesuvius and much of his, Roxo’s, and Darris’s old tribes. The Asiatic warriors of Warrior Brotherhood and their unique talismancers and battle maidens. The Sons of Rome, their legionnaires, and their supporters who focused their power on them. Love and Justice, the mixed Nordic Warriors and Cultivators, was an odd combination, but somehow it just worked out–kind of like Jake’s party.

Jake walked to the center of the cavern. It was time. They had triggered the Dungeon Raid button weeks ago, and this was the marked safe area for the dungeon’s descent and entrance.

Something shifted, and golden hexagons of the Framework appeared in a barrier in front of them. The world went entirely still.

Then, the bedrock screamed.

The cavern floor violently lurched, throwing several beastkin off balance. Jake planted his boots, his Hearthian Presence flaring outward.

He remembered the day Tartarus had fully descended upon Highlands. Back then, it had manifested from the heavens as a twisted, rotting, tree-like root–a corruption of life. But Tartarus was a living, adapting nightmare. It molded itself to the world it sought to consume.

High above them, the miles-thick ceiling of the subterranean realm began to crack. A deafening, grinding roar echoed through the tunnels as the bedrock gave way.

A titanic, jagged finger of earth and corrupted stone pierced through the ceiling. It was impossibly massive, a physical manifestation of the dungeon forcing its way into the reality of Serthune.

The earthen pillar was encrusted with massive, chaotic geodes that pulsed with violent, nauseatingly bright mana. It slammed into the cavern floor a hundred yards away, sending a small shockwave of dust and debris their way and around the Framework barrier.

As the dust cleared, the massive, geode-encrusted pillar slowly split open, revealing a swirling, abyssal vortex in front of a door covered in Framework Script. The entrance to Tartarus. The gems on the stone roots hummed and cast a haunting, terrifyingly beautiful light.

His Champion Presence rolled outward, an invisible, crushing wave of golden Hearthflame and absolute sanctuary. It didn't just cover his people, those meant to enter the Prime Instance. He pushed his aura to its absolute limits, letting it wash over the thousands of warriors gathered in the staging grounds. The residual fear and exhaustion from the dropping of the dungeon simply evaporated under his profound, protective warmth.

“Take a breath,” Jake’s voice echoed through the cavern. He wasn't shouting. He was projecting his voice evenly through his mana, letting the calm authority of his aura carry the words to every single soldier as he stood in front of all of them.

“Serthune has bled in the dark for a long time,” Jake began, his gaze sweeping over the assembled natives and Adventurers. “Long before Hearthtribe arrived to help turn the tide, you fought to survive. To the native Vouivre standing here–we know you have lost family. We know we cannot bring them back.”

Jake shifted his focus. “To the Adventurers of the Alliance–you are immortals. You do not face the same permanent end as the people of this world. But over the last year or more, you have fought in the earth and the ravines alongside them. You have witnessed their suffering, and you have chosen to bleed to defend their homes today.”

He created a managram that most should be able to recognize, a giant image of the Crystal Citadel. “And look at what that shared blood has built. The Crystal Citadel stands again, brighter and stronger than before. We rebuilt it together, and that is the absolute proof that we are going to win this war.”

He turned back to the massive, swirling vortex, his tone shifting from comforting to razor-sharp. “The children who lost parents in this conflict are waiting on the surface. We are walking into this dungeon to reclaim the potential that Tartarus stole so we can build a future where those children never have to know this kind of fear again. But we do not build that future by throwing our lives away for pride.”

“A warning to every single raid leader stepping into the dark today: Survival is your primary objective. Leave your greed at the door. I want you clearing encounters, claiming the enemy’s potential, and extracting safely. Our healers have grown, and many of your clergy now carry Resurrection magic. Do not allow that miracle to become a crutch. Tearing a soul back from the veil is a violent act. A revived fighter returns crippled, their battle power halved, requiring days of recovery. If you overestimate that magic and treat it as a substitute for sound tactics, your Battlegroup will fail quickly. If your people are dying, it means your strategy failed. The dungeon found a weakness, and it will exploit it.”

He let the heavy reality of the mechanics settle over the thousands of warriors.

“If you clear a boss and feel your group is not ready for the next floor, you extract. You take your loot, and you come home alive. If you push forward out of greed or blind retribution and your raid fails, you are not just getting your people killed. You are actively feeding the enemy. A fallen raid gives the dungeon its potential back. That is a direct betrayal to the natives of Serthune who bled to give us this opening.”

Jake looked back to his Prime Battlegroup–Vesuvius and his reptilian brethren, Lissandra and her native Vouivre, the Hearthtribe elites, and his family.

“Fight smart. Protect your brothers and sisters. Take back what belongs to this world, and then get out. Do not let greed become the weapon Tartarus uses to break you.” Jake’s golden aura flared, a blinding beacon in the subterranean gloom. “For Serthune. For the Alliance. Move out!”

A deafening, unified roar shook the cavern, drowning out the grinding of the dungeon itself. Beastkin howled, cultivators clashed their weapons against their shields, and the Emberborn and Servants of Arawn struck their chests in a terrifying salute.

Jake turned, his family at his side, and led the Prime Instance vanguard into the abyss.