“Oh my goodness, look at you both!” Pelenia yelled, running away from what looked like some very tired officials to make her way to them before he or Thera could find anyone else, picking up Mora and Delair before anyone could react and largely ignoring both Ben and her own daughter at first before focusing on the new girl trapped in her arms. “Please please please tell me you both adopted another one and that this little cutie is my new granddaughter.”

“That would actually be Ben’s apprentice,” Thera sighed. “Delair, this is my mother. If she’s bothering you then just let me know.”

“I think it’s fine,” Delair said, putting up with the extreme show of affection without much fuss. Given her old village, everyone treated each other like family there, and for the most part actually were family. She was used to being so openly loved, even if the stranger had caught her off guard while Pelenia looked lost in thought for a moment before settling on something.

“Alright, apprentice is close enough to a parent. Delair, sweetheart? You can just call me grandma. Let’s get along well from now on, okay?”

Having instantly decided that Ben’s role with the girl was just as parental as Thera seemed to think without any words on the topic exchanged between the two, Thera herself picked up on none of the irony of that, instead looking at the small group her mother had just run away from, already beginning to feel a similar level of exhaustion as they all so openly displayed.

“So, do any of you want her tied up so you can drag her back to work?” Thera asked, seeing a couple look all too tempted by the idea before being silently elbowed by some others.

“No, my grandchildren are here, so what we’re doing is taking a break,” Pelenia called back to them. “We’ve already discussed this matter to death, and the decision has been made, so follow it instead of endlessly trying to adjust things. If any problems pop up, then we’ll fix them, but we aren’t wasting more days trying to plan for everything.”

She walked away as she said it, carrying both children in her arms while Ben and Thera followed, both of them casting apologetic looks to the ones they were leaving behind as they made their way to a lounge to talk while they were there.

“Mother, please tell me that you’re not brushing off something important here.”

“Pfff, hardly. We’re constructing a few regions in and around the city to take in some of our outer communities, as well as races with naturally high dark resistances before the next wave, there’s just some fools who want to do some last-minute city planning for something that’s already a done deal. Really, we’re too far in for anyone to think it could be a good idea to worry about however many last-minute changes, but still people keep trying to bring things to my attention and… oh, don’t let me complain your ears off. I’m assuming this isn’t entirely a casual visit, so who exactly are you here for?”

“I was hoping to ask Abrus and Ogilt for some help,” Ben admitted, with plans in place that required the two great spirits, seeing Pelenia nod before ringing a bell to summon a maid, telling her as much while also asking for Lux as well, knowing that the great light spirit would want to hear about Thera’s arrival too.

Nodding once that was done and they were alone again though, Pelenia looked torn, clearly wanting to focus on the children but stopped herself to turn to her daughter instead, an accomplishment there that couldn’t be ignored.

“So,” her mother said, wearing a bright smile on her face. “I hear my daughter’s become a soul mage.”

A comment that got a surprised look from Delair, the girl having been present for the awakening but not actually known it was one for the third tier when it had happened, both Ben and Thera made mental notes to ask the younger girl to avoid spreading that fact around town when they got back, while Thera chose to react lightly.

“I did. I can tell you how it happened later if you must know, but for now-”

“For now, we need to discuss how we’re going to announce it,” her mother laughed. “Oh, there’s quite a few people I can’t wait to see how they’ll react. They thought I was smug when you first awakened? Now-”

“Mother,” Thera cut in. “What exactly makes you think we should announce this?”

“Hmm? Lots of reasons. It’s a bit of excellent news for our nation as a whole to brighten things in an otherwise dark time, it’s the first time this has happened for a succubus, meaning Anailia is going to be thrilled and want to properly celebrate too, it will be a great thing to shove into the faces of anyone that had any problems with you when you were a child and a great way to make sure plenty of people regret not properly appreciating you when they had the chance, it will be another excellent point in your favour if you want to try and be elected after I retire-”

“Sorry, you’re right, let me rephrase that,” Thera stopped her. “What makes you think that I would want to announce this?”

“The fact that it would be a good, peaceful way to spite anyone you don’t like and still the election bit-”

“I don’t want your job!”

“Fine, fine, focus on the spite then,” her mother encouraged in a way that would have made any of her advisors sick with worry if they were there to hear it. “I know well enough that even with my position, plenty of people gave you trouble when you were growing up; this is the perfect way to lord your success over them. You’re now going to be a goddess of the succubi and tied with the timing of things, before the next wave comes, I’m sure there’s plenty who’d want to make sure to try to give you some proper respect now before they have to worry about you rising to godhood to lord it over them.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“So you think I should tell everyone this out of pettiness?”

“Why not? Have you tried being a little petty? It feels great.”

“A pretty compelling point,” Ben nodded, getting a firm elbow in his ribs for the comment.

“Okay, both of you, stop being bad influences around the kids, and mom, I’m not going to announce it right now because I don’t want to. I don’t need faith from them, Anailia has already pointed out that I’m going to be getting more than enough from the spirits whenever I die, and if that doesn’t happen any time soon then building up any believers among the succubi won’t even matter because their great great grandchildren might pass on before I do. I don’t need to trade my peace to make anyone who was a bit mean to me while I was a kid scared.”

“Mmh, boo, but fine,” Pelenia gave in. “But, my first point still stands. Not just here, the wider world would love to know that we got a new third tier, and even if I can’t interact with them myself, your father has made it more than clear that the little spirits love talking about you. Word is going to spread eventually, anyway.”

“... Well, I’ll worry about that when it becomes a problem.”

“Fine, then if you change your mind, let me know,” Pelenia chuckled. “I’ll have banners filling the streets as soon as you give the word.”

Before Thera could say just how much she didn’t want that, the door opened again, bringing four more through.

Lux came with Seren of course, her husband still off enjoying his own awakening, while the presence of an even younger child led to Pelenia releasing the ones in her arms, letting Mora and Delair interact with the juvenile half-spirit, while Lux, Abrus, and Ogilt all conveyed their congratulations to Thera in their own ways.

Her aunt hugged her, expressing sheer joy at the idea that, unlike other mortals she’d known or grown close to, that was one connection that could now last forever, while her father’s mind went to a more immediate direction, desiring a rematch now that his daughter should have had skill beyond him and twice his mana, yet still ended rejected. Thera wasn’t so ready to risk losing her victory over him from their last spar, at least not until she’d grown a fair bit more comfortable in her power, and as for Ogilt, he offered his congratulations in a far more humble way. He was still new to the world and new to her life, but when it was clear how much the other spirits, great and small, were overjoyed with the news, it was enough for him to understand the value they saw in it.

With the conversations with her from there taking up another hour of time and likely to go on far longer if any of the other great spirits learned she was there, new or old, but they didn’t have all day to give up to it and they had two kids with them that could only stay up for a few hours more themselves, so with those points set, they eventually managed to get things managed enough to move on to why Ben had originally wanted to come, leading them all outside to the lawn beyond.

“Alright,” Abrus said, still stealing glances at his daughter and hoping she’d change her mind about whether she’d spar while she ignored his attempts to lock eyes. “So, what’s this favour that requires two great spirits, Ben?”

“Simple,” he said, taking smaller versions of his mini-gates out of his ring, with one of them being attached at one end to what looked to be an incredibly sturdy box. “I was hoping you guys would go up and place this in orbit around the planet.”

“... Dare I ask why?” Abrus wanted to know, while Ogilt just looked confused to receive such a request, both of them seeing Ben smile brightly as he answered.

“Because I’m going to try to make something, and if I succeed, I’m going to need to do a bunch of tests on it to make sure it doesn’t violently explode in a way that would erase this city from the map. Technically, an explosion might be a risk for a failure, too. Experimenting in space is the safest option, and if it does explode, then it will just destroy the gate it’s attached to, breaking the path and meaning no damage is going to leak through to this side. Pretty safe if I do say so myself.”

Abrus looked at his daughter, Thera shaking her head before anyone could ask. “He didn’t warn me about this, but if you don’t do it, I’m pretty sure he’s going to try to get to space himself, so please, if you don’t mind…”

“Listen, if it’s a big deal, then getting it to space myself isn’t actually that much trouble,” Ben added. “This way is just a bit more controlled than I can manage in any reasonable timeframe and means I won’t have to worry about it crashing down to the planet by mistake. I asked you guys because I assumed your domains meant you’d be comfortable getting it into a stable orbit, but if it’s a problem-”

“It’s not a problem,” Abrus told him, holding up a hand. “It’s just, you always know how to surprise with your requests, don’t you?”

“I’m just very lucky to know so many handy people I can count on.”

“Ha, I’m sure. Give us just a moment then, and we’ll put it in place.” 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Lifting it up, the two great spirits flew off into the sky above while the rest of them watch on, waiting only a few minutes before they returned, the tool now safely away from where its future contents could harm anyone while the half connecting it to the world stayed at Ben’s side, activating it to join the two.

With the half in space having a small, one-way barrier blocking the entrance to ensure that nothing he made within it would accidentally get out without his intent, everything Ben needed was ready. That was the best he could do to make sure that he wouldn’t accidentally blow himself or anyone else up, and with it he focused on his attempt to materialize a mythic item.

It already felt like he was low on realistic options, with even his current attempt pushing the limits of the word ‘realistic’. In theory, he could think of endless designs that would absolutely qualify as mythic; the issue always came down to what he’d actually be able to apply. It was always the edge of what was possible that he was going to have to walk, with that project needing only a single step.

Reaching out, making sure that his magic took form within the other side of his gate, Ben spent his mana, bending it and giving it shape as all of his thoughts were dedicated to the structure within his head while his pool quickly emptied, making a fraction of him worry that he didn’t have enough. That despite the tens of thousands of points he held, he’d miscalculated, but as he reached the depths of his reserves, all of it snapped into place. Mana turned into matter, the closest to being unnatural to that universe while still being able to exist within it that he could make, and he was left staring at the mysterious form of the knife-like thing he’d just created.