“Phoenix, hurry up. It doesn’t take that long to find the Rabearus and lure it out here,” Rayna’s voice said in annoyance over the group voice chat.

  Phoenix was making use of the [Bckest Night] effect of her armor and was quietly slipping through the dark shadows of the cave thought to be holding the rge angry three-headed por bear-looking monster. The blurring effect of her [Embrace of Shadows] aura on top of the armor’s Boon turned not only the armor itself a deep bck but also caused her hair and eyes to shift to bck as well in the dark cave, making her all but invisible.

  As she became one with the darkness, she felt focused and sped through at a quick but cautious pace. Her [Moonlit Eyes] made navigation in the dark a breeze and she truly felt like a master ninja assassin as she stalked her prey. She had been able to convince her team to let her practice her scouting and stealth skills in the few encounters that actually presented the opportunity.

  She mentally responded to her teammate while remaining silent in the shadows, “Shush. If you distract me, it will take even longer.”

  “Don’t give me that. I know you’re just trying to make us te to the party,” Rayna retorted, “You’re literally the entire reason there even is a party and we need enough time to get you prepared. Your hair is not going to be quick to tame.”

  “How would you know how long it will take?”

  “I’ve seen you do that shoddy braid enough times to get a basic frame of reference. Even with having three tails worth of fur and hair to brush, yours will take longer.”

  “What do you mean ‘shoddy’? It’s a perfectly acceptable braid.”

  “Maybe for fighting monsters with. Not for impressing nobles.”

  “Can we please focus on the mission?” Dazien’s voice cut in. “Phoenix, we do have a schedule to keep.”

  “He’s just afraid of Paul berating him for you being te to your party,” Rayna provoked and added, “You should be too Phoenix. You don’t want to let him down, right?”

  “Rayna… you should know better. We don’t weaponize love and try to guilt-trip people,” Saiya cut in with a disapproving tone.

  “Right, sorry, but she really should hurry up. I don’t want to be te either,” the bard replied.

  That was when Phoenix noticed the hulking mass of white fur seemingly asleep in the middle of the cave tunnel and tuned out the voices in her head. It was a decent size for a Crystal Caste monster but was rather dumb. They relied on brute force attacks that she recalled from some of her earliest fights training with Paul before ever arriving in Tulimeir. She vaguely pondered just taking it on herself but the tight space of the rocky tunnel would be a hindrance to her movements.

  Phoenix decided to open with a sneak attack at one of the heads to hopefully deal some massive critical damage upfront before kiting it back out of the cave where her team was waiting to pounce. However, she hesitated for a moment.

  Rayna was correct in the assertion that Phoenix was stalling for time. She would rather fight a hundred of these Rabearus monsters than the political monsters in fancy clothing that were awaiting her.

  The bard was also right about her not wanting to disappoint Paul or Patricia, who had both put a lot of effort into making her feel welcome and truly at home over her months on the tundra and even more so since the adoption offer. Her evenings the past week alone had reminded her a lot of the time she had spent with her mother on some of her better days, full of ughter and acceptance.

  Phoenix had even met the rest of the horde of children Patrica had with her husband, Marcus, who was also part of the Cultivator’s clergy and was great with trees. How any couple could deal with raising and managing seven children was beyond her understanding, even if some of them were almost adults and older than she was.

  Finally deciding not to dey any further, she swiftly and silently used her gravity ability to pull herself toward the closest giant head, conjuring her bdes mid-flight to plunge deep through the soft tissue points. It gave a deafening roar from the other two heads that weren’t hanging limply, then she heard more roars coming from deeper down the cave.

  “Oh shi—” she started to say aloud and over the mental chat but cut herself off to dodge a massive paw that filed towards her.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?” Dazien asked with concern.

  “Did you finally find it?” Rayna inquired.

  “And more!” Phoenix yelled as she forwent stealth and sprinted down the cave as the sound of irate bears echoed around her. For a brief moment, she feared the sound might cause a cave-in and found herself morbidly thinking that death would be one way for her to get back to the city in time for her party. However, the thought of the price for that revival made her push herself more.

  She poured more mana into her [Ruler of Retivity] as she pushed and pulled her way over and around the bends in the tunnel.

  “Might want to start setting those gems now,” she warned Rayna and Uriel as she got closer to the entrance.

  “How many are we expecting?” Dazien asked.

  “Yes,” was all she answered as she felt the tremors in the ground. The hulking beasts were charging around and into corners as much as into each other. Perhaps she would get lucky and a few would get trampled to death in their enraged chase after her.

  When she reached the entrance, she spotted Dazien standing with his shield raised towards her. She jumped and pulled herself towards him with a sudden burst of mana, being careful to avoid the [Arcanist Gem] crystals floating off to each side.

  Ability: Arcanist Gem

  Type: Utility (construct, elemental, magical, arcane, gem)

  Cost: Low mana.

  Cooldown: None.

  Current Caste: Sapphire 1 (2%)

  Crystal Effect: Construct a floating gem that quickly absorbs ambient mana which can be used to fuel rituals or the mana cost of abilities before bursting upon reaching capacity or if destroyed and inflicting Gem and Arcane damage to nearby enemies.

  Sapphire Effect: Each gem can store an ability to be triggered upon destruction, automatically targeting the nearest enemy.

  With Dazien using [Stand Your Ground], he became an anchor point for her to aim towards and she nded against his shield with practiced grace before releasing her gravity ability and spinning around him to stand back to back. She took a moment to trigger her mana tattoo after spending much of it in her mad dash to freedom.

  The next few minutes were a bloodbath. Fur and flesh exploded and froze over as the stampede triggered the defenses awaiting them. Uriel had worked with Rayna to imbue the gems with an instance of his [Frost Touched] ability to see how well the combination would work and it proved to result in a slurry of half-frosted monster bits.

  The Adventurers, along with their Familiars, moved in to finish anything still standing after that initial mess. By the time the st monster’s head stopped trying to take a bite out of them, the entire group was drenched in blood, dirt, snow slush, and bear bits. While effective, the whole group decided to use that method as a messy st resort in the future.

  As the party made their way from the field of white ash that soon filled the area, Saiya used her [Cleansing Stream] ability. Unfortunately, that ability was missing out on gaining experience with how often they ended up filthy after a fight, since it didn’t bond to one of her Spirit Gems earlier.

  “I think that ability alone saves me a fortune in undry fees or buying those weird Golden Shower potions. You should be careful that some hygiene-obsessive alchemist doesn’t try to steal you,” Phoenix said as the refreshing effects of the water flowed over every inch of her body and armor.

  “Alright, enough cleaning and get that portal open. We have a party to go to,” Rayna promptly said with a soft cp of paws to indicate the urgency.

  “We have time for one more mission, right Daze?” Phoenix asked with the rgest puppy eyes she could manage for the party leader.

  He chuckled and shook his head, “Rayna was right about me not wanting to cross Lord Waynd. Let’s get you and them back to the city now,” he said with a nod towards the twins.

  She gave a pout and crossed her arms, “It still sucks that you and Uriel can’t come.”

  Dazien gave her a sad smile and shrugged, “Can’t be helped. Unfortunately, the aristocracy of Tulimeir don’t see kingship over a group of orphans as legitimate nobility.”

  “Their loss,” Uriel stated firmly, coming up to join the pair, “We can at least be there to wish her good luck, though. Shall we go?”

  Phoenix reluctantly nodded her head and used [Transversing the Stars] to open a portal back to the city. She let herself be dragged over to “Cssy Curls and Dashing Domes” where another BEL had been arranged to take on the epic challenge of attempting to exert authority over the redhead’s wild mane.

  Four hours ter, she was back in her bedroom awaiting the dreaded moment that Paul would come to collect her. Saiya and Rayna had departed much earlier to get themselves ready and would see her again at the party after her “grand” introduction.

  The twins had been satisfied with how her hair had turned out, at least. It had been arranged in an impressive crown of delicate braids, decorated with tiny golden star pins, that allowed for a tail of loose curls to trail down her back.

  The emerald green satin-like dress she wore was cut in a way to wrap up over her shoulders then around her neck and stay tight around her torso to keep everything in pce while clearly dispying the divinely touched symbol in the center of her chest just above the slight bit of cleavage that she was very unaccustomed to dealing with.

  While she had gained more of a chest with her transition into this world, then again upon becoming Crystal Caste, it wasn’t anything to brag about. She found herself slightly envious of Saiya’s curves, especially after she ascended, and hoped her own ascension would be kind to her in that regard. The tight fabric hugged her form until it reached her hips where it suddenly fred out to allow her leg movement and barely brushed along the floor.

  Her softly glowing arms were wrapped in shiny gold wire that was surprisingly flexible and didn’t hinder her arms while remaining exactly where they were pced. She also had matching cuffs covering her Oathbond around her wrist. Her shoes were ft golden sandals that had the same flexible wire wrapped around her calves up to the knee and a matching belt of wire woven in Celtic-looking knots hugged her waist. Despite its elegance, she felt it accentuated her scrawny body a bit too much. While she had been putting on muscle with all her training and attribute growth, she was still rather slight.

  A knock came at the door and her heart leaped into her throat as she moved to open it for Paul. She was surprised to find a different warrior instead, having forgotten in her panic that Uriel had mentioned they would visit beforehand.

  Dazien and Uriel both stared at her with wide eyes that took in every detail of her altered appearance. As the moments passed with them remaining speechless, she blushed in embarrassment and muttered, “Yeah, I know it doesn’t really suit me…”

  At a shove to the shoulder from Uriel, Dazien managed to snap himself out of his apparent shock as well and sputtered, “No! I mean, you look great! Amazing actually…” His face began to flush slightly as he continued to stare. With another nudge from his friend, he shook himself and said with a teasing grin, “You look just like the Princess we always knew you were.”

  She rolled her eyes at him, “Funny. I feel like Lilly’s doll that she likes to dress up so much,” she retorted. Phoenix had been joining her two companions on the weekends, when they could manage it, to visit the other orphans at the Temple of the Parent. After the Ruwenas no longer became a threat to her, she felt much more comfortable going out. It was fun visiting the children who loved her little illusion constructs, giving Ta all the pets, and climbing all over Rex, who would often manifest to let the kids py with him.

  Uriel chuckled and said, “I agree with Daze. You look like royalty dressed like that. The presence of your Soul Mark is also stunning in its own right.” He gnced at his best friend, then added with a smirk, “Nobody will be able to keep their eyes off you.”

  “Uhg,” Phoenix groaned, “Please don’t remind me… I feel like I’m going to pass out just from the anxiety this is causing.”

  “Well, I’ll be there to catch you if you fall,” Paul’s voice said, coming from behind her two companions, and they all jumped slightly at his sudden appearance. He chuckled and smiled at Phoenix, simply nodding to the boys in greeting before asking her, “Are you ready?”

  “If I say ‘no’ will you go without me and just tell them I got sick?” she pleaded.

  He raised an eyebrow at her and pointed out, “You’re Crystal Caste and we have healing magic, remember?”

  “What if we tell them the car broke down and I got stuck in traffic?”

  “I’m not sure what a ‘car’ is exactly, but you have a portal.”

  “Um, Timmy fell down a well, and a dog came to let me know, so I had to rescue him?”

  “Besides the fact that I don’t believe your transtion ability lets you speak to dogs, you could just portal Timmy out of the well, or pull that rope you insisted every good Adventurer has out of your dimensional storage. It’d take five minutes tops.”

  “Bloody magic taking away all the good excuses,” Phoenix mumbled as she acquiesced and sadly left the safety of her room and friends behind.