As Aerion and I threw on nondescript robes and darted away from the procession as quickly as possible, I couldn’t help but wonder whether I’d inspired anyone, or simply made a fool of myself.

  I ultimately decided it didn’t matter.

  We met back up with the guys at the inn we’d rented upon our return from the Cataclysm dungeon. The top floor penthouse suite with an epic view of the Trial. When we first came here, I’d found that view quite mesmerizing.

  Now? I’d be ecstatic if I never saw that damned Trial ever again.

  “So, what’s the plan?” Richard asked. “That caravan you’re supposed to protect’ll be heading out soon, yeah?”

  “Tomorrow,” I nodded. “And it’s already late afternoon.”

  “Bollocks,” Richard said. “No pubs, then?”

  “No pubs,” I said with a sigh.

  “No time for forging, either,” Rogar commented. “Least, not enough to make any weapons or armor.”

  “About that,” I said, turning to Rogar. “Would you and Philip mind purifying those exotic ores? It’ll be a lot easier to carry than the crude weapons we made. Guessing there’s a good bit of slag left in those from the portable furnace.”

  “Aye, that I can do,” Rogar said with a nod. “Give me the ore, then. I’d rather not be up all night ahead of a long journey.”

  “Actually,” I said. “There’s something we need to discuss. With the both of you. How, uh… How’d you like to be a noble’s regents?”

  Philip and Rogar exchanged confused glances.

  Philip pinched the bridge of his nose. “You wish for Rogar to build his forge on your premises, and for me to act as governor?”

  “Well, eventually,” I said. “You’ll be more like his bodyguard and manager initially. Doubt we’ll have anyone else living on the premises to start. Before any of that, you’ll need to survey the land. It’s close to the capital, which is great, but I’m guessing it’s somewhat of a dump. We need to figure out if we can even build on there, how best to connect it to the nearest roads, that sort of thing.”

  “Quite the responsibility,” Philip said.

  “It is,” I replied. “But also quite the opportunity, don’t you think? You’ll both be well paid, and you’ll be free to pursue whatever business ventures you like. You can build a home of any size on the place, and since our plots are adjacent, I’m thinking we’ll have a pretty sizable area to deal with.”

  Philip stroked his chin, while Rogar scowled. But Rogar always scowled, so that didn’t say much.

  “Be quite difficult to spin up a new forge in a remote location like this one,” Rogar said.

  “If by difficult, you mean expensive, then you have nothing to worry about. Have you forgotten? Aerion and I are loaded!”

  Rogar’s eyes lit up at that. “Let’s say I want the best blast furnace money can buy. You’ll pay?”

  “We’ll give you as much gold as we can spare,” I said. “Say, around two thousand gold?”

  That was about half of what we’d earned from our Cataclysm Dungeon exploits. We had a bit more than that from before as well, so it wasn’t like we’d be hurting for coin anytime soon. As Sinclair said, that was enough to live comfortably for the rest of our lives.

  “T-two thousand!?” Philip all but spat.

  “It’s up to you two to split it how you see fit. Remember, if you do end up living there, you’ll need to build quarters for yourselves. And if you hire hands, they’ll need to be looked after as well. Stables, mills, whatever you build, it’ll come out of that pot.”

  Philip waved his hand dismissively. “Even still, those can all be had for cheap, if you know where to look. Rogar and I can handle much of the construction as well. Just need some hired hands, and that’s not altogether expensive. With two thousand gold…”

  “Likely won’t be the last you’ll see, either,” I said. Aerion and I fully intend to clear more Dungeons, and the difficulty is only going to ramp from here. “I’m guessing the higher rank Dungeons pay a helluva lot more than a lowly Emergence Class.”

  “They do,” Aerion confirmed. “And should we perish, the remainder of our funds will transfer to you, to do with as you see fit.”

  “Hey, don’t go spoiling the mood now! We’ve almost hooked our fish!”

  Aerion shook her head, while Philip chuckled. “Think you snared us some time ago. I’ll be honest, this sounds like a dream come true for me. A chance at a greater purpose in my latter years. While I’ve never managed a city, I’ve learned a thing or two from leading and instructing in the Basecrest Guard.”

  “With that much gold, I could outfit my shop with the very best. Gods, maybe even elven machinery!” Rogar said, glancing at Aerion. “Now that I’m a delving smith, I’ll have no end of business.”

  “Just make sure you give us priority when we need new weapons and armor,” I said. “And, uh, discounts would be appreciated.”

  “Not just discounts,” Aerion said. “Have you forgotten? We’re paying for their business costs. He should make our items at cost.”

  Rogar scoffed. “Laddy, you’re off in the head.”

  I was about to argue, but what he said next threw both of us off.

  “No chance under all the gods I’m charging you if you give us all this. You got me this Boon,” Rogar said with a sigh. “Even if it be useless, it opens doors. Doors that would have been sealed shut to me. That alone warrants free gear. And then you go and pay to outfit the forge of my dreams?”

  He was practically shouting now, but I didn’t mind. I wish Rogar got this way about things more often.

  “I’ll do ya one better,” Rogar said. “Not forgotten about that apprenticeship, y’know? Whenever you’re in the area, I’ll strive to impart everything I know. Forget the proceeds and earnings going to me. You keep everything. I’ll teach for free.”

  I nodded slowly. “That would be extremely helpful.”

  I honestly didn’t care if Rogar kept the earnings from whatever I made and sold—compared to our other income streams, that was bound to be paltry. Still, I appreciated the gesture. The man really had come a long way since the ways he used to exploit me.

  “Oh, that reminds me,” I said. “About your Boon. Don’t think it’s as useless as you think. Got a few minutes to experiment? I have a few ideas…”

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Turned out explaining the theory of the conservation of energy was a lot harder than I anticipated. Even still, Rogar had dealt with fire all his life, and so he was intimately familiar with the concepts of tempering and quenching. Applying that knowledge proved easier than I’d feared and more difficult than I’d hoped.

  After an hour of coaching, with tips from both Richard and Aerion, I felt like Rogar was beginning to get the hang of it, showing the faintest ability to regulate the heat he sucked away. That part came easily for him, but what proved difficult was learning how to store that energy first, which was something like a prerequisite to getting his power to do much of anything useful. While he couldn’t put it to practical use yet, I was sure this lead held promise. With some practice, he’d learn the trick.

  Unfortunately, he’d have to do that on his own, because the sun was getting low in the sky, and we still had a whole boatload of tasks to handle before we set out. One of which was buying supplies.

  Luckily, money solved many problems, and Aerion had sent runners off with lists of everything from food to tents to having our weapons repaired. Ordinarily something Rogar would handle, but with him and Philip burning the midnight oil processing our exotic metals, they didn’t have nearly enough time to focus on anything else.

  The sun was just setting now, and Richard, wanting some alone time, decided to head out to a pub. I initially refused, but upon seeing Aerion’s longing eyes, told him we’d join in an hour or so.

  I just hoped an hour would be enough to handle what we needed to discuss. If not, well, we’d have plenty of alone time once we parted ways with Richard on the way to the Sylvanglade.

  Richard bid us farewell, giving me the slightest of nods, which I returned, and closed the door behind him, leaving us alone.

  “So,” I said.

  “So,” Aerion replied, turning to face me with her hands clasped behind her back.

  I had to admit, she looked amazing, even in her basic one piece lounge dress. It accented her hair, with sleeves that ended at her elbows. She was barefoot, as she usually was indoors. In fact, it seemed most of her ancestors went barefoot when they lived in the forest, or at most, wore thin sandals. Seemed it made them more in tune with nature and allowed them to feel the footfalls of nearby animals.

  It was a common elven trope in fantasy games and sounded good in theory, but in practice, I couldn’t see how that was anything other than horribly painful.

  I sighed. I was distracting myself.

  “We need to talk,” I said.

  “Yes, we do.”

  “About us. Feel like a change of locale?”

  When Aerion said nothing, I held her wrist, guiding her out onto the balcony where we first tested [Launch]. The damaged furniture had been replaced, and with the last rays of sun casting long shadows upon the city, silhouetting the hovering Trial pyramid, it made for quite the picturesque scene.

  “I never thought I’d say this,” Aerion muttered. “But I am quite sick of seeing that Trial.”

  I chuckled. “Thought the exact same thing earlier.”

  I took a deep breath. “Alright. I know how much you want to hang out with Richard at a pub, so I’ll cut to the chase. I like you, Aerion. Now that I’ve acknowledged those feelings, I find you irresistible. You’re attractive, you’re insanely smart, and you’re more driven than anyone I know. That’s fire.”

  “But?” Aerion asked, turning from the view to look up into my eyes.

  “But our relationship has some serious problems. For one, should we really be distracting ourselves with a world-ending Cataclysm on the horizon? Are you really okay with that?”

  “Rather, I see nothing wrong with it,” Aerion said. “We put our lives at risk for the sake of the realm. Surely, we deserve what happiness we can, when we can still appreciate it? As you said yourself, we know not whether we’ll live past the next Dungeon. Should we not live life to its fullest? Should we not appreciate the beauty of every sunset? The warmth of a loving partner?”

  “That’s…”

  I found I had little to say in the face of that. Philip was right. This wasn’t the case of a soldier leaving a new wife back at home while he fought in some distant war. Aerion was right there with me on the front lines. We fought together, and we risked our lives together.

  I let out a breath. “Okay. I think I see your point. Can’t say I’m entirely alright with it yet, but I can see myself coming around with time. The other issue, though…”

  “You’re worried about the fact that my powers, my Blessing, stems from you.”

  “Well, yeah,” I said, looking into her beautiful half-blue-half green eyes. “Doesn’t that bother you? Like, at all?”

  “It does not,” Aerion said. “For yours is not my only Blessing, I’ll have you remember. Dominion granted me [Shock], which has proven immensely useful. Not to mention any further Blessings I might earn in Trials we’ve yet to delve.”

  “How many Blessings can you get, by the way?” I asked. “I always assumed it was unlimited, but I’ve never seen anyone with more than two or three.”

  Aerion nodded. “That is correct. It varies depending on the individual, but three is generally the maximum. I’ve heard of rumors of those possessing four, but never more than that.”

  “I see,” I said, wondering why that was. Some innate capacity restriction? Or was it because earning them was so damn risky?

  “Anyway, back to the point,” I said, shaking my head to clear those thoughts. “Even if you have [Shock], let’s be honest. You rely on your [Sylvan Reaver] Blessing way more in combat. It’s a whole class—a whole set of powers, not just a single thing. A meta Blessing.”

  “It is, and for that I am immensely thankful,” Aerion said. “Is it wrong to feel gratitude to the one I love?”

  “Well, no, but—”

  “Or do you mean to say my gratitude is one-sided? That you do not appreciate my contributions?”

  “Not at all!” I said, flustered. “You’ve been incredible ever since we met! Jury-rigging those subs the first time around, your general knowledge and assistance in combat, the Siege Bolts… The list is too long to remember. I’d 100% have died without you. Not to mention, you’re pretty good company,” I said with a smirk.

  “Then?”

  “I dunno,” I said. “Just feels unequal. Like I hold some power over you.”

  “And what power is that, exactly?” Aerion asked, genuinely confused. “You rid yourself of the ability to Uninitialize me, did you not?”

  I nodded vigorously. “First thing I did once we got out of the Trial back then.”

  “And I believe that you are not the God of Order,” Aerion said. “You’ve proven that much to me. If anything, is it not I who holds the power here? Is there anything stopping me from going my own way?”

  “None,” I said, shaking my head. “You could walk out on me, and I’d be left holding the baggage. Your Essence Consumption is permanent and grows with every level my Blessing gains.”

  “There you go,” Aerion said. “What you did, giving up that power… It meant a lot to me. Not because you did it—I would hope anyone in your position would do the same—but because you did it without even telling me. Without my asking you to. That, and the dozens of times you’ve shown your mettle, tells me all I need to know about your character, Greg. I love you. I am attracted to you. More than I let on. Is that not enough?”

  I chuckled. “Y’know? This conversation? The fact that we can talk this openly about this sort of thing? Weird as fuck.”

  “Is it?” Aerion asked quizzically.

  “Hell yeah, it is! Most couples don’t ever bring up stuff this deep. And if they do, it’s either drunk or in a fight. Having a civilized, level-headed conversation? That’s rare. It’s… weird.”

  “Weird?” Aerion asked, a small smile on her face. “Or special?”

  “Well, you could say that,” I said, scratching my neck.

  “So? Any other stupid reasons you won’t court me?” Aerion asked. “Or can we officiate now? Mind you, this whole courtship process is very foreign to me.”

  “O-officiate?” I asked. “What do you—”

  Aerion stood on her toes and kissed me on the lips, whispering a “shut up.”

  Aerion used [Kiss]. It was very effective.

  I did shut up as I leaned into the kiss, savoring the sweet, soft feeling of her lips. I wrapped my arms around her thin waist, bringing her closer. Neither of us let up, and with our Vigor stats, we had considerably more stamina than the average person.

  One thing led to another, and well, let’s just say that if the penthouse staff were pissed before, they’d never let us rent here again. Not after we broke their patio furniture for a second time.

  Albeit for an extremely different reason.