The Hart family prepared to leave the world of The Burning Steps, making a few visits before they left. They would return for the Dungeon Raid, while the Ravenwolf Clan continued its efforts here.

  They stopped on the earth continent, hoping to win over an important ally. Jake, Sati, Bloodberri, and Nessa went over to Garona’s nest, where she was surrounded by troll priests pampering her and taking care of her mountain. After the earthquakes, it required a fair amount of work to fix her alcove, where a pond and plenty of gem plants were being grown.

  “Not a bad setup, Garona. The trolls are happy to worship and take care of you.” Berri patted the giant turtle’s long neck, smiling at it. “But you should really join Hearthtribe. We’ll have an even better one for you on Highlands. The food is better too. Try it.”

  She revealed a giant head of Highlands lettuce that Tanda had painstakingly altered. Somehow, it held the powerful vitality of their world mixed with earth mana. Often, the two energies would not combine, but this plant had been engineered with her Verdant Weaving to somehow accomplish it.

  Garona’s eyes narrowed in pleasure as she ate it in large, rapid bites, the massive creature clearly enjoying it.

  Berri added, “We have a lot more like this in our Refuge. If you become Jake’s Permanent Summon, you can come along and–”

  A troll priest of the earth temple whined, “Stop trying to recruit our child of the world. She is important to our people and connected to the very heart of the world itself!”

  Berri frowned at the troll priest who spoke. “Garona has a connection, but it is weak, and leaving will not harm the world or her. Sati already knows the best connection to your sacred moon is deep within your world’s crust. So you should instead be happy that Garona has an opportunity to grow far faster. She can become more elsewhere.”

  Jake added, “As she is now, she won’t be able to participate in the Dungeon Raid. But if she gets a little stronger, she can grow and be a part of the big battle. It means she will gain much, maybe even a chance at ascending. And helping this world do the same.”

  Berri turned to Garona. “We’re going to have to leave soon. If you come with us, you can explore some other worlds and get stronger. If you do, Faye-Faye and Tanda will deck out your nest with more powerful formations–even better than those array flags. And all the lettuce you could want.”

  Jake could easily summon any of his permanent summons to him, even from another world–it would just take a few seconds longer than usual. The issue was he didn’t currently have a great way of sending them back, hence why he had the Monster Menagerie to store them.

  This was actually something that would be solved in the Third Tier; his mastery of the void combined with dense enough mana would allow for Jake to generate portals with or without the Framework’s help. This would be what enabled him to actually act like a summoner instead of an odd mana shaper and manipulator that he was now.

  Garona nodded her assent, pushing her head into Berri’s chest. “See! She wants to fight, get bigger, and get stronger.”

  The troll priest groaned, rubbing his face. “We do understand that we never would have succeeded over the enemy without your help, but it is still a bitter pill for us to swallow that you now take an object of our worship. Our ancestors saved this world, and our choices led to us being far too weak to handle the threat this time.”

  Nessa replied, “It was the enemy’s terrible, cheating plots that you suffered, and the villains have been brought to justice. And know this: when this world is victorious in this contest, there will be significant gains. It will soften the blow your people suffered.”

  It may seem relatively callous, but what Nessa said was correct. The victory of winning the war would provide substantial benefits. It was akin to turning a lifeless wasteland into a prosperous forest, teeming with life.

  The density of the mana across the world would rise, and likely, some damage done to the world would be healed further. Their previous victory had only been enough to stave off the world’s destruction. This time, it would become more.

  Sati floated over to the troll priest, offering him a book. “I have transcribed this for your people. You may have heard that those in the fire temple have a new means of worship and empowerment. If you master these methods, you may be able to aid the great moon even from your temple.”

  The troll priest started flipping through the pages, curious. Diagrams were shown, detailing an earth-focused yoga technique compatible with the earthen mana the priests would see in their grand temple. “Mana flows, poses…mantras. You give these freely, without strings attached?”

  Sati said gently, “Suffering is born of unknowing. When wisdom is shared, the fire of awareness spreads. The darkness has less to cling to.”

  The troll priest’s face went through several emotions at once. His jaw clenched, his eyes widening as he searched Sati for something. “Yes, you are right. For too long we holed up in our temples and kept all knowledge for ourselves. If we had focused on sharing the wisdom, perhaps our enemy would have been unable to get their foot in the door.”

  Jake added, “And if you join the Framework and gain some levels as you defeat the invaders, you will progress much faster and become stronger–years of progress in mere months. It means you will be able to give so much more to your god and better protect it in the distant future. Consider it.”

  The troll priest sighed. “I suppose… we must accept the Framework this time. And seeing a true manifestation of a Goddess of the Framework, many of our people are shaken. It will take some time to rebuild.”

  “Whatever your people do, Hearthtribe will protect the worlds it is able.”

  Nessa decided to add something else. “One last thing before we leave. The War Trial is coming soon. It is an opportunity to take even more from the enemy. Perhaps…even bringing this world to balance once more.”

  “What…do you mean?” The troll priest asked.

  “Recreating the moon you lost and bringing the world back into balance is not impossible. We’ll talk more when we return for the Dungeon Raid, but we may even be able to begin some of the work from the victory itself.”

  The troll priest looked thoughtful about this, and Jake went ahead and formed the binding on Garona, his flames forming the Framework’s seal on her soul and establishing her as his permanent summon.

  He had a lot more slots now that his core and soul had grown to the point where finding unique entities worthy of being his summons was going to be the real challenge now.

  Next they would visit the elves, and Sati would make a stop at the Fire Grand Temple before they left the world.

  ***

  Having completed their tasks on the world for now, the Refuge began heading to its next destination. The Conquest Progress on The Burning Steps would take months to reach 85% for the Dungeon Raid, though Clan Hart certainly could have sped that up.

  After some discussion, Bramvalen was their choice for two important reasons. For one, the Conquest Progress, despite their people’s efforts, was still in the danger zone–they had stopped it from descending further, and it was trending back toward 50%, but it was going to be a hard-fought war. The second reason was that it was actually the closest world to them, which made the choice simple.

  Morvalis was Jake’s first choice thanks to the sheer number of betrayers, and their potential for upsetting the balance of the war was too risky to ignore. But even with Jake’s faster Refuge, it would be several weeks in transit, whereas Bramvalen was only a week away. It was how they could make the most impact in the shortest amount of time.

  That meant his family had quite a bit of spare time–more than they had while they were on-world while traveling. Each family member had projects they wished to work on, as they began mastering the techniques outlined in the books Hestia granted them. Loot from their Auto-loot ability had to be processed and sold, and plenty of monster parts were available to work with for their various trade skills.

  And Jake had plenty to work on too, but he could only stare at runes and their formations for so long before they began to blur together. As he added rules of three and recursion into the mix, he was noticing this was even more so, though his progress in a short period felt rewarding.

  Jake would soon catch up to his balanced approach in terms of being able to produce a peak, or empowered, Second Tier spell in this fashion. And that likely meant a true Tier 3 Runic spell was not far off–or so he hoped.

  After checking on each of his wives, he teleported next to his coldest wife–temperature-wise. The small hut, which sat on a frozen island in the middle of her lake, was much larger now–expanded for a bigger alchemy room. There was a large formation of glyphs and Demonic Runes running along the walls, supplying Qi to the room and focusing the energy of Nessa’s lake.

  Nessa was in her cultivation chamber using her alchemy cauldron, her tail spiraling around her like an odd half-sphere as it often did. A projection or manifestation of what had been merged within her, the mystical Frostheart Cauldron sat in front of her as various items floated within. Filled with her lake Qi and her cold flame, the water did not bubble, nor was it frozen.

  But the items inside definitely appeared to be. What looked like black and red crystals floated to the top, and Nessa scooped and discarded them away with her Qi, looking like telekinesis.

  The chilling cold generated from the cauldron was immense, and it was easy for him to see just how different Nessa and Fhesiah’s refinement of materials truly was. Fhesiah would transform materials by force, whether she was using her draconic flames or her kitsune flames.

  And Nessa refined and purified the materials with cold inevitability. So he knew hugging her from behind wouldn’t interrupt her process overmuch and did so. His large body enveloped her smaller, softer one from behind, having appeared within her odd tail-sphere when he teleported.

  He kissed her partially exposed neck, and his arms wrapped around her waist as she reacted, turning to meet his lips and sinking into his embrace. Her tail wrapped around the two of them, and the kiss deepened for a time until she backed off to speak.

  “Mmm, what a nice surprise. I hoped you would visit soon.”

  “I felt like we were a bit overdue for some time together–alone, that is. We have a pretty decent excuse coming shortly.”

  “Ah! Right. Varuna’s spark…”

  No doubt, it was a concerning but exciting topic for her. Still, he wasn’t in a rush. “What is it that you’re working on? It looks like frozen blood.”

  She turned back to the cauldron as she leaned back into him. “It is. I’m refining some high-level tainted blood bought from the market for Ruby and Faye’s research and testing.”

  “Faye has you doing that? Is there a reason?”

  “I excel in it. Of course, she can accomplish it on her own. But her two flames are rather destructive. Devouring flames that transform and flames of creation that purifies through destruction…both greatly reduce what is left.”

  Jake looked back to the cauldron, paying attention to what was happening with his Umbral Gaze, careful not to use his mana senses because it could throw the entire process off. “And yours purify through condensation and isolation, preserving as much of the original as the blood is purified. You remove the impurities and condense, even compress, with your cold waters.”

  “Right. It makes me well-suited for processes like this. It’s slower, but the results are good and repeatable. Her kitsune flames are yin too, but her transformations often result in pills that are different nearly every time.” She turned to him to look at him significantly. “I have a bit more to refine, but since you’re here, I wanted to try something else. With your help.”

  Jake smiled. “Of course, I’ll be glad to help out if I can, though I find it hard to imagine something where Faye isn’t a better alchemy partner. What about–” He pointed over to the cauldron, and then Nessa flexed her Qi, pushing much more cold flame out of her, the flame erupting from beneath the cauldron. The contents within it froze into one chunk and then floated out to be set aside.

  New lake water rushed inside, and her cold flame underneath it continued. “No problem at all! Before I take in Varuna’s spark, I want to shift my lake a little to match it.”

  That felt a bit alarming to Jake. Her lake was a part of her path, her sanctuary and home. “Shift it? How?”

  “By shifting the contents of my Dantian–the cold lake Qi that makes up my core. As to what to shift it to… I desire a higher energy.”

  Jake frowned in thought. The Framework didn’t allow one to merely buy something above their Tier off the market really. Power like that must be earned, and so he wondered how she came about something better.

  He knew she won the Mystic Expanse and Aetheris’s Dungeon Raids, but her expenditures or loot granted were on things like her armor, improving her soul purification scripture for her lake, and a few other odds and ends. She did not buy a higher energy.

  So that left only a few ways for her to obtain such a thing, and the first thing that came to mind was highly corrupted items, much like the shears.

  Nessa smiled at his guess. “You’ve got it. The restrictions on these sorts of things are that we must be able to achieve usage ourselves, and as always with the Framework, it listens to our intent. It won’t let us merely drink from a tainted well. And this is not all. I don’t just seek the higher energy of the river god water and also have a hope that it will help me… change myself.”

  “Change yourself? I love the way you are. Unless you’re talking about your means of fighting. I’m a fan of that too, but I’m well aware of what you feel are your shortcomings. They’re also strengths.”

  Jake remembered their talk about selecting her State of the Justicar. In many ways, her path was all over the place. Cold, home, sanctuary, and purity through her still lake. Justice through her blade and poison, and truth through her eyes of truth. Early, she had also used her pure lake to hide her attacks with the mirrors, but beggars can’t be choosers when it comes to techniques they find sometimes.

  He knew that she desired a more active means of dispensing justice. More movement and flow. But her lake’s protection was strong just like it was, even if its usage was limited in their rather…offensive and sturdy family.

  “I know that’s how you feel. And thanks for supporting my choices, as you always do. But your thoughts have hit the nail on the head. My desired path is at least in part contradictory. I love my lake, the sanctuary, the purity, and the stillness it provides. And my mother’s bloodline supports this in so many ways. But my path also involves justice, pursuit, and momentum. That is the opposite of a lake.”

  Jake’s eyes widened as he understood the issue. “And your cultivator core must represent your path, or it will work against it and weaken you. You have to shift your cultivator core.”

  Nessa nodded. “That’s right. Unfortunately, I pushed the problem down the road too far. I should have solved this issue before I formed my core, as I knew it was a part of what I wanted.”

  Nana, her bloodline ancestor, suddenly interjected in her mind, “I had warned you, but I did also reassure you that we could fix it if you pushed forward. Just that it would be that much harder.”

  Jake frowned in thought. “I see. So what did you get? This will help?”

  Nessa nodded resolutely. “It will. There was a fallen tributary sovereign–a river god. Perhaps he only had a few slivers of divinity in him, but it was at a level far above what we could see on The Burning Steps since it was a Tier 3 world…well, at least per cubic meter.”

  Jake’s eyes widened as he realized just what they might be working with. “Oh boy–cubic meter? How much of this river god did you get?”

  Of course, this was not a true god–they didn’t even quite qualify as a demigod under the Framework. But there was likely a form of faith and spiritual energy being gathered from worship, a lesser density that was still qualitatively better than an energy without it.

  Nessa replied, “A whole pond’s worth, and including what should be the shard of his core current. But…there’s a problem. Well, several, probably.” She brought out some water she had separated into its own small jar, opening it. “The first is, even with my purification technique and its ability to keep more of the original material, it is removing all traces of divinity or higher energy in it.”

  Jake frowned as he examined it with his Umbral Gaze. It was definitely a lake or river Qi, much like what Nessa had, and dense at that. But it was lifeless–lacking of spirituality–and actually worse than Nessa’s lake contents. “This seems a bit like our rust and acid problem–our reason for being unable to purify corruption in people. Nothing is left after stripping and purifying the corruption.”

  Nessa sighed. “Right. This is just some of the river I tested–it’s clear that with the core, the outcome may be even worse and more lost, in addition to being dangerous to refine. But I thought maybe with your help… you can preserve enough for it to matter.”

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  Jake was thoughtful for a moment. He didn’t think Hestia’s flame would be much different in its result, and fire was the antithesis of a cold river. “Are you interested in how my void flame might be able to help?”

  “Yes. What I want…is for you to use your void flame to create a boundary. To decide what the divinity is and preserve some of what might be considered corrupted. To keep some flaws.”

  “Flaws? From a corrupted god? I thought much of your lake was about purity. Won’t that be a detriment instead?”

  “I believe without something to latch onto, short of providing it a higher energy, it might be the only way. And Faye agrees. As for it being a detriment… that might be right. I believe that over time, my lake will purify itself and be all the better for it.”

  “That sounds risky. So what are we wanting to keep, and what are we intending to burn away?”

  She triggered something on her Menu, and a considerable pool appeared to their side. The glyphs from the formations connected, and the water swirled almost violently against the walls and what appeared to be a Framework barrier.

  Jake frowned. “It’s…still alive?”

  “Its spirituality remains, its corrupted will, but not its mind, its ego. What do you feel?”

  No longer concerned about harming in-progress alchemy, he expanded his magical senses and looked with his Umbral Gaze. There were a lot of shapes and colors touching the astral and spiritual planes from the pool, making it easy to see the power contained within. His mana sense felt the same, that the Qi within was incredibly dense.

  It was his ability to sense with his Presence the divinity within that he got a feel for this trapped river. It was difficult to parse the authorities through the corruption, however. There was a feeling of hate, a weight bearing down on him. A hunger, a curse… and a feeling of duty. Responsibility. The weight was nuanced, and without knowing the story, it was difficult to understand what he was feeling.

  One of the strongest feelings of the bunch was a feeling of sanctuary, a feeling of safety. The tributary sovereign provided protection; this Jake was sure about. There was also motion, an endless flow.

  Jake asked, “What’s the story of the river?”

  “A river god provided protection for worship. Over the centuries, he grew from the people’s faith. His strength was an ample safeguard, while his river’s purity provided fertility and abundance. What I also enjoy about the river is that it has a feeling of momentum. That it won’t ever stop flowing.”

  He looked back to the river swirling around the pool. It was difficult to feel the fertility and abundance at this point, but now that he knew it was there, it was a bit easier.

  Nessa continued, “But the river god was not all-powerful. He took on more followers than he could truly protect, hungering for more power. When those at the edges of his domain were endangered, in favor of self-preservation, he shirked on his duty, allowing people to be killed and consumed by a nearby foe. And when those who worshiped him were going to find out about his failures, he washed away the inconvenient truths, killing witnesses and those he was meant to protect. When the rest eventually learned about it decades later. He was then cursed by those he worshiped and destroyed during the weakness that followed.”

  There were many types of faith in the multiverse, and the information available to them was much of what was available before the Framework came about and what Fhesiah knew from her family about the cultivator equivalents. It was fair to say that it was often a double-edged sword.

  The power granted was not free, and to go against their truths and the faith put into them, the things that made them divine, would diminish them. As would losing or being spurned by too many of their followers, and cultivators that sought this sort of path were no different.

  Jake had so many questions. “It’s surprising this river’s spirituality is this strong even after going against his people and dying. I guess this material is quite valuable. How did you afford it?”

  “It was an amazing find, made dirt-cheap because of the difficulty to make it have any value, no doubt. You can buy Third Tier energies with Credits you’ve personally earned in the dungeon and in Raids, but they are on a scale of currency far above us.”

  “Bargain bin river god water, huh?” She chuckled at that, and he continued with a smile, “I find this a little odd. You’re wanting to become a worshipped river goddess? How does this fit into your… Daoist path?”

  “It’s a piece of it. If we want to make it to the Fifth Tier and become Eternal under the Framework, there’s not much of a choice, and we must think of it at some point. I’m partial to this divine path instead of the cultivator’s path, where their truths merge with the heavens themselves to become a part of them. What kind of god are you wanting to become?”

  Jake frowned. “I hadn’t given it much thought. I’m thankful to be admired and respected. A role model, perhaps. Worshiped or revered is not something I was ever aiming for or hoping for. I wanted to matter.”

  “Those things are closer than you might think, and you’d be surprised at how strong some people’s feelings already are for you. It’s worth considering. As for worship, it’s easy to see that every Pantheon and even each individual Divine decide on how those deeper emotions of faith best reach them. Prayers and worship. Rituals and sacrifice. Adherence to the Divine’s principles or values, all of these things gather faith energy in the divine. And I do believe providing sanctuary and justice in return for worship is fitting for me.”

  Jake arched his brow at that. “In return for… really? But wouldn’t you do that anyway, regardless of worship? I can’t imagine you withholding justice or protection due to lack of worship and faith, for example.”

  “You could certainly see it as their worship empowers me, enabling me to provide sanctuary and justice instead, but the wording is not critical. Ultimately, it’s a mutual benefit no matter what you call it, as you’ll often see. People will stop praying to the rain god when they stop receiving rain, losing their faith. And the rain god will stop making it rain as much for those who don’t pray.”

  “I suppose it would be normal to want to give the most back to those most loyal and faithful. Still, abundance, fertility, and sanctuary…these are not truly a part of your Daoist path, except the latter perhaps.”

  Nessa froze in place and struggled to speak for a moment. Likely, she had some knowledge about divinity and was unable to share it. Eventually, she managed to say, “Let’s just say that I seek a…non-combat aspect of my path, and this also supports the combat version of my path that I am desiring to shift to. The endless flow, the momentum… I need this to have my lake be more compatible with Varuna’s essence, as I’ve been thinking about this a lot.”

  “I see. So what all are you wanting to keep or gain from this river god water, exactly?”

  “I’m hoping to gain motion, a pursuit of justice as part of my waters–so that when I add Varuna’s, I can also add the evil-destroying poison, the essence of justice. What I would like you to keep with your flame is the river god’s failures that go against his promise of sanctuary and erase his unrelated failings. To keep the memories.”

  “Memories of failures? Why would you want to keep those?”

  “To take on the spirituality of a Divine, pseudo or not, is like taking on their mantle, their promise. I don’t believe that can be done unless I bear the burden of his failures. And it will serve as a cautionary tale for me.”

  “Something tells me you wouldn’t make the same mistakes as him.”

  Nessa sighed. “I’m the daughter of Tyr, raised valuing justice and protecting those free of sin. It was only a few years ago that I believed those pure of spirit were the only ones worthy of protection or for me to be associated with. If I didn’t listen to Nana, I wouldn’t have given Astalder a chance, or so many others. I may have continued to believe I was entitled to perfection rather than just inconvenienced by my bloodline. I’m glad I stuck it out until I met my heroic husband, but it is definitely better I got rid of my sense of entitlement first. You wouldn’t have liked me as I was.”

  Jake remembered her attitude and failings from their time on the bridge of certainty and the waters of reflection. “You might be right. And curbing your attitude would have been a challenge for me. Until you feel repercussions for your actions, lessons or words don’t truly sink in. And those lessons often carry a heavy price.”

  Nessa nodded. “One that I did pay, when I failed. We are still young in the big scheme of things. I am not perfect, nor is any Divine. I’ve made numerous mistakes and learned many lessons. The truth is many people are just one or two bad decisions away from a downward spiral–like the river god’s unrelated failings. For strength and seeking the truth, my Daoist path… I am willing to take on the burden of the river god’s failures.”

  “I see. And it’s a good thing we have each other to help us bounce back from our failures, isn’t it? But you have me curious now. Which of the failures of the river god is unrelated?”

  “The hunger for power. This doesn’t go against his domain and instead supports his ability to provide sanctuary. The true failures of his were choosing to make his promise for protection absolute, just as much as it was taking on those he was unable to protect. There’s nothing wrong with self-preservation, and it can be noble in purpose–one cannot continue to protect if they fall; the needs of the many outweigh the few. Hiding his failure and betraying his promises were also unrelated and a result of these other choices–the downward spiral I mentioned, one failure leading to another. There’s also the curse within the water. This corruption must all be removed.”

  It was a lot to take in, but Jake understood what she was getting at. The river god’s purpose was noble, but he had made a few poor choices that spiraled out of control. “So you said you want me to hold onto the domain-related failures. I take it that you will remove the others and the corruption?”

  “That’s right. Let’s try it? It’ll put your ability to use the void flame and your ability to sense and use spirituality, your will, to the test. It may be good practice for what you are about to do with the Hearthforging.”

  Jake nodded, and Nessa gestured to the pool to the side. A small, thin stream shot out of the barrier, and it was drawn into the cauldron through her Qi manipulation. It swirled around inside as it was chilled and slowed, coiling around like an unruly snake as her frostheart cauldron’s pressure and cold bore down on it.

  He did not send a flame at the cauldron in front of him–it was merely a manifestation of what was within Nessa. He sent it through the strongest, shortest path–through his hearth bond. His void flame carried through, arriving in her hearth and surrounding the incoming river water in the center of the cauldron. Flexing his will, he tried to hold on to the feelings described and ignore what she wanted to ignore.

  It took him several tries to find the correct feeling. The null flame of void, the silverish flame, at first was eating everything. He flexed his will to hold onto the sanctuary, duty, and the memories of the failures. At first this just caused the void flame to eat those and ignore the rest. It was like he had to find a state of harmony and being and reject the rest in order for it to properly hold onto what he wanted rather than just blanket consumption.

  It was a strange feeling, as Jake had to almost imagine he was the river god. The stream was slowed by the cauldron’s frost, then was seared by the void flame before it coiled and was pressed down on with the cold inevitability of Nessa’s pure frost. His void flame was only holding onto the material and not consuming much that passed through it.

  It only took a few minutes before some river water was purified, droplets, and eventually a steady, thin stream exited their purification cycle with the corruption rising to the surface. The water seemed much more powerful than what was stored in the container previously. But as it snaked out of the cauldron and arrived in Nessa’s container in her hands, it started losing much of its efficacy, and rapidly. The spirituality drained so fast it wouldn’t be worthwhile at all.

  Nessa looked down at it, sweeping it with her Divine Sense. “I think I’ll have to merge it with me as we go. It’ll become inert if I merely store the result. This makes sense, as it’ll be like me taking on the responsibility.”

  “You’re sure? There won’t be any going back then if you cultivate it and put it in your dantian, will there?”

  “I wouldn’t say that. It’ll just be time-consuming. Even if it is like a poison, I’m certain you can help me remove it, especially with Fhesiah and Sati’s help.”

  “Alright, but don’t you think the water feels a little odd still?”

  The water looked and felt a bit tainted or corrupted. It felt like while there was sanctuary and memories of failure, there was nothing desirable. No positive memories or virtues.

  Nessa frowned in thought for a moment, then sighed. “You’re right. Maybe it will just have to be materials for my soul purification scripture. I can use it to strengthen my soul so I can find a purpose for this no matter what, so don’t worry.”

  Jake thought about their options, looking inward to the flames he had at his beck and call. “Why didn’t you just use Sati’s flame? Surely compassion, mercy, the flames of truth, and her pure heart flames would have been perfect for this.”

  “We still needed the separation, or the spirituality would dissipate even more so. I didn’t have enough of the flame to draw it in fast enough; my soul purification scripture was simply better. When she tried helping me, her flames just ate much of the spirituality, stripping it from the water without her being able to give it to me. She benefitted, so that was another option for us to make use of this water if this didn’t work out.” She paused, then added, “I think it is still worth trying to take it in as it is. Let me try?”

  As the water entered, the lake recoiled. Its surface tightened, and frost raced outward as if trying to lock the foreign water in place rather than absorb it. Nessa took a shuddering breath as she tried to keep the water in motion and merge it together, but her water went still compared to how it was moving to draw in the energy.

  Nessa was struggling, her breaths heavy. Veins under her flawless pale skin brightened a cold blue. “My body and cultivator core do not like this.”

  Nana suddenly spoke, “Your bloodline is recoiling at this addition, just as I said it would. Your lake serpent bloodline seeks purity and stillness. You will need the treasure that Fhesiah and Ruby refined.”

  Nessa let out a breath. “This is going to be…expensive. But I am prepared.”

  She took a drink of the Bloodright Dissonance Draft, and from her thoughts he learned it was a bloodline inhibitor and transformation concoction made by Fhesiah and Ruby. It reduced bloodline rigidity without weakening the bloodline.

  The water in the lake settled a little more, and Nessa’s veins faded until they could no longer be seen over several minutes.

  As it was, this may just work. But Jake could feel the water’s spirituality and thought it was not good enough.

  To accept this water as is was like Nessa accepting sins and failures that she did not commit. And the water was still largely the same, in that it kept the river god’s flawed scope of responsibility. They could do better.

  Jake said, “I’m going to try something else.”

  He continued with the void flame, but he inserted the flames of Hestia. He reinforced the feeling of sanctuary, holding the river water in place, and still letting out what Nessa wanted to have purified. The void and the flames of Hestia formed a demarcation from Nessa’s cauldron and the corruption, and then finally, he drew in Sati’s pure heart flame.

  It burned away the corruption and revealed the truth–the love the river god had for his people and his purpose. Centuries of memories were contained within, not only his failures near the end.

  The water that came out was both high in spirituality, and it didn’t only contain the burden of sad lessons. It contained what was the river god’s prideful responsibility, the times the god protected his domain and memories of the many people living within.

  It contained the faith and gratitude of his people served for hundreds of years. Because Nessa also took on the burdens, she was able to draw it into her dantian, the waters of her cultivator core making it a part of Nessa, with as little loss as possible.

  Because lessons were not only learned through failure. Success also provided lessons, and so did purpose. There was even more for the nascent divinity to cling to, and the water entering Nessa’s lake within her dantian was much closer to the original, pure in purpose, even if not pure in makeup.

  That didn’t mean that it was easy. As the river god’s water merged with her lake, the spiritual weight, the weight of the burden, sloshed violently and sent ripples throughout her core. Her body began to sweat as her breathing picked up; the dense Qi combined with the spirituality was difficult for her to take in and make it hers. The draft had helped, but the bloodline still fought.

  To top it off, she felt the weight of the people’s expectation, the desire for the river god to save them all. And the cold realization that she could not.

  For a moment, Nessa’s breath caught–not from pain, but from the certainty that one day, she would stand at the same edge, and no amount of refinement or strength could decide for her. But she accepted the truth, resolved in her purpose. She was not perfect, nor would she ever be. Nessa would only promise those in her domain to do her best to provide sanctuary, and she would never deny the truth.

  The cold in her core deepened–not harsher, but heavier, as if the lake had gained depth rather than volume. And beneath the surface, something started to move. The beginnings of a current.

  Nessa gave a small smile as she let out a tired breath. “It’s working. And now…a little Aether.” She took a purple pill into her mouth, the energy within it dense. He knew she had been using Aether on some level, but the reason she hadn’t made a larger portion of her lake have the energy was that she was lacking a viable material to mix it with.

  Jake’s gaze wandered over to the massive pool and the size of the small stream they were purifying. “This is going to take a while. My void flame, if anything, is growing from what it is eating, but I think my mind will get a bit tired eventually.”

  “You’re right, but I think I can tune this to go a bit faster once I’ve absorbed enough. We can get comfy for a while?” She relaxed into his embrace, closing her eyes as he hugged her tightly from behind. Her snake coiled even more tightly around him as her hands held his across her chest. While she was focused, she was able to enjoy their time together.

  Nessa was right in that it was good training. As the spiritual essence within the river came in, he was choosing which portions of the corrupted divine to keep, just as he would as he used the spark to forge her essence within her hearth.

  It was not at the same level, and the process was different, but it was at least similar. He also began reinforcing their hearth bond, empowering the things that made Nessa special as they went.

  After several hours, even though she increased her overall pace of the water incoming, Nessa relaxed. He could feel that it was easier for both of them to continue, their skill in maintaining the process increasing, and her bloodline fighting it just a little bit less. The Aether also helped, and he started feeling a different energy coming from her lake. It was feeling more like Nessa, her righteousness and desire for truth coming to the fore.

  On some level, she was still making it her own. Jake did what he could to aid in this process, picturing Nessa as the river god as she took on the old one’s mantle.

  Eventually, he said to her, “So how was it? The Burning Steps was the first true contest you were a part of since you joined our family. Was joining Clan Hart everything you imagined it would be?”

  Nessa smiled, clinging onto him even more tightly with her snake tail. “So much better. I thought Faye was overselling, but it turns out she was underselling.”

  Jake chuckled at that. “She’s a powerful wingwoman and matchmaker. Though I hear you may have her beat in the latter.”

  “I do have a bit of a knack for it. As for the overall contest, I wish my impact was nearly as high as others, but I have some tough competition. Sati was the dark horse this time.”

  Jake grinned and squeezed her hand. “It’s difficult to compete with destiny and fate like that, and with Champions to boot. Though Tanda said Calix might have gotten away if not for you, and the overall battle on the wind continent was close. You brought him to justice and helped us win, and that’s a big deal.”

  “It was a joint effort, but you’re right. If I weren’t present there, he may have escaped and somehow joined the enemy in truth, taking some of his secrets along with him. When enemies can read the future, it gets even more complicated to know how they may have acted.”

  Jake ran his fingers through Nessa’s short hair, scratching her scalp with one hand, and running his hand over her snake tail wrapped around him. “Our alliance members were about as successful as they could possibly be. Love and Justice the guild, and the clan alliances you formed as you built it have truly fed into Hearthtribe’s success. To me, it seems like you’ve exceeded your goals, and certainly my expectations.”

  Cultivators were definitely strong, but they were also insular. Her ability to rally them to fight alongside Hearthtribe had been a big help. It was true that they only made up a small percentage of their overall fighting force, but they made a big impact with their unique talents and mobility.

  Jake felt Nessa’s heart surge with joy as she experienced his admiration over the same. “I’m happy for the praise and the pampering, but is there a reason for it? I can feel your respect for me and pride that I am your partner and wife.”

  “Just letting you know that I appreciate you. You’ve gone above and beyond and proven your worth. I think it’s important to say it out loud, even if you already know it to be true. I see you and the things you do.”

  She still continued what she was doing with drawing the stream over from the river god, but she turned to face him and kissed him. “Thanks for that. I’m really glad you and the other girls are a part of my life. I’m never alone–my worries are the family’s worries, and our victories are my victories, and so on.”

  “What do you say I shoulder a little more of the burden here and help you refine a whole lot of this? I doubt we’ll get through it all in one sitting, but… if you let me, maybe we can get through everything but the core.”

  Nessa frowned. “You’re already helping a lot. And this is really comfy though. What did you have in mind?”

  “Well, as much as I enjoy having you in my arms, I’d rather connect with you in a deeper, more intimate way.” He flared his desire for his lake serpent wife, letting her feel how he wanted her.

  Nessa smiled at that, her breath picking up as she realized what he was getting at, her tail tightening around him more as she wrapped her legs around his waist, her lips meeting his. But then she grinned and said, “Well, I just might have been a bit prepared and hoping for that too.”

  She retrieved a new vial and drank it down. “I’ll tell you what that was later. Let’s just enjoy each other for now.”

  That was something Jake would be glad to do.