Limitless Path

Their next stop was the lounge again, which was somewhat bustling with people, to Beth's slight surprise. Then again, she and Blood spent most of their time in the middle of nowhere, and the little they didn't they spent sequestered in their room. It was good to see more people in the Hall, as it meant more people able to deal with even the moderate threats like the two dungeons by Beth's family's house.

They plonked back down at Baelvyr's table, though it wasn't going to be a very long stay. Beth sent their lists to the large ogre, and he took a few moments to peruse them before rummaging through his storage item, or likely power. Beth wasn't sure that he had anything that had a storage space linked to it, finding it much more likely he had some kind of skill that also gave him some way to store things.

"I ain't got most of that," he finally grumbled before laying a few gems on the table. "Only thing I got are four of them Diamond Hearts."

"How much?" Beth sighed, not grabbing the four but waiting for a price to also appear.

"Hmm, they're kinda rare, girlie. I can't charge ya less than four plat per piece," he said.

"Damn. Fine," Beth sighed, something she did a lot when making purchases, and slapped sixteen platinum coins on the table.

"Ya need anythin' else?" the ogre grunted out.

"Not right now," Beth replied with a sigh. "We're gonna take a day or two and then we'll head out. I'll come get you when we're ready."

"Sounds good to me, girlie," he replied, sitting back and staring at one of the TVs on the opposite wall.

Beth got up and gave Blood a tilt of the head, indicating for her to follow, heading out of the lounge and back down to their room. Now that she had most of the information she wanted, she just wanted to rest for a day or two before doing anything else. She also had to make a trip home at some point, as it wouldn't really do to leave the Earth for a few months, or even years, without at least saying bye to her parents.

But another day of doing nothing, not even visiting the forge, was just what she needed. She spent the whole day sprawled on the couch, bare feet propped on the coffee table while Blood curled up next to her and mostly slept. She did do one other productive bit of work, though calling it work would be a slight stretch, as she finished looking up what it was that Liveria added to her drink to give it that taste.

Turned out it was a fairly common additive that people with just a slight bit of wealth would use in place of something more common like sugar. It was, for lack of a better comparison, something like honey that people would use to sweeten a drink. She found that the CRA had a small stock of it, though she would have to buy it from Jaq if she wanted any. Otherwise, there was, of course, none of it on Earth yet, so she would have to buy any of it she wanted. Noting the name of the additive as redgold salt, she would ask Jaq about it later.

She spent the rest of the day watching arena fights and cozied up with Blood, petting her companion quite a bit. They spent some time in the bath that evening, Beth discussing the little bit they could plan for in their upcoming adventure. They turned in a bit early after that, Beth sleeping sprawled back on the couch with her legs propped up while Blood draped herself across Beth's lap.

Beth woke to warm, smooth skin pressed against much of her body, finding Blood had wriggled against her during the night and increased their contact. Beth had an arm draped over Blood's back and one over her thighs and she dug her fingers in, scratching the lupine woman until she awoke. They both got up and got ready for the day after that, Beth leading the way out of the room and out of the Hall, heading for her parents’ home.

It was early morning, and the two moved through the frigid air with great ease, killing anything that got close to them. They found the new (though they weren't quite that new, at this point) walls of the town standing strong in the early morning light. Beth didn't know if it was her high level and stats, or her rebirth and better mana, but she could feel the working of the runes in the walls. They gave her a more…neutral feeling, as if they were things that were part of the world, neither friendly nor hostile. She also got a sense of the strength of the enchantments, feeling that they were quite strong, but something that she could punch through given some time.

Not that she would do that, as they made their way to the gate, finding two small sentry towers had been built to either side of the gate. There was only one person in one of the towers, the tower to Beth's right as they stopped in front of the closed gate. The person had noticed them as they approached, though far too late for Beth's liking, and shouted at them as they stopped just short.

"Who are you? And what do you want?!" the woman exclaimed nervously. Beth didn't recognize her; she was likely one of the family members or people from the surrounding area that had moved into the neighborhood after the world changed.

It didn't help that Beth and Blood first exchanged a sarcastic glance, something like, 'get a load of this.' Beth turned back to the woman, who was clutching a crossbow in slightly shaking hands and glaring at them. Before the woman could freak out and take a shot at them, a shot that would likely do little more than annoy them, Beth responded.

"Beth and Blood," she said, continuing as the woman opened her mouth to snap something at them. "We're from this neighborhood and our family still lives here."

"I'm going to have to verify that-" the woman started, but Beth ignored her, tapping a foot on the ground to launch herself up and forward, easily clearing the gate and landing on the other side with Blood following after.

"Intruders!" the woman shrieked, causing both girls to roll their eyes in unison. "We're under attack!"

The woman then tried to fire her crossbow at Beth, who didn't move at all, as she had seen that it was no threat. Not because she would let even such a low-level attack hit her, but because the woman was so nervous the bolt went high and wide, almost hitting one of the two houses near the gate.

Beth was a bit surprised, pleasantly so, by the response to the woman's commotion, as people flooded into the streets and came towards them. It was a bit sloppy, and there were definitely people just sticking their heads out to see what was happening that should have been laying low, but it was much better than she had thought the response would be. A group was quickly forming up in front of them, weapons ready, until one of the group waved at the rest to stop.

He stepped forward as the rest watched on and addressed the girls, saying, "It's Beth, right? And Blood? What's this about an attack?"

"I didn't want to wait an hour going through security just to get into my own damn home," Beth said with a shrug. "After identifying myself, I got a canned response about doing verifications or something. We're just here for a minute."

As soon as she was done explaining, she started forward again, with Blood trailing behind her. The guard tried to wave her to stop, but Beth just ignored him, and he was stopped a moment later as Zack finally arrived at the scene. He ignored the girls, obviously recognizing them even in their armor, and started asking questions about what was happening. Beth continued down the street, leaving him to sort it out, while heading for the small community center.

She bumped into their parents on the way, as they had been alerted by the growing commotion as well, but Beth explained to them it was fine. The group made their way back to the community center after her parents were brought up to speed, entering the room they used as their office. Beth made to lean against one of the tables but thought better of it when it creaked very ominously under only part of her weight. She had become somewhat heavy these days, and the tables they had in the room were those large folding tables with a thick plastic top and two sets of fold-out metal legs, not exactly the strongest things around.

She wound up leaning against the wall with Blood squatting on the floor next to her, Beth saying, "Sorry I haven't been around in a while."

"We know you've been very busy, dear," her father replied.

"You still should try to check in more," her mother scolded. "We worry about you, Beth."

"Yeah, I know, but I'm fine," she replied with a slightly awkward shrug.

"So, how are you doing, sweetie?" her father asked, trying to move them on from the awkwardness.

"Oh, you know, alright," Beth said with another shrug. "I've been leveling up really well, got a lot of stuff to do. Blood and I are set to head out on a big job here soon."

"I see you didn't bring any of your sisters with you, nor Sabrina. How are the two of you doing?" he continued.

"Oh, uh, well, Sabs and I are, uh, not a thing anymore," Beth said, glancing to the side before looking down.

"Oh, honey," her mother said, moving over to give her a hug. "What happened?"

"I mean, it was my fault," Beth explained slowly, sighing. "I didn't really treat her right. I ignored her a bunch and wasn't really there for her and she got tired of it."

"Well, that wasn't great of you, but we all make mistakes in relationships," her mother said, hugging her tightly before stepping back. "As long as you learn to do better, it'll all be alright."

"I hope so, but I think I'm back to the single life for a good while," she said, shaking her head slowly.

"It's never a bad thing to take time for yourself," her mother said.

"Right, that's certainly true," her father added in. "But tell us, what was that you were saying about an upcoming job?"

"Take a look," Beth said, making the envelope appear in her hand, seeing her parents' eyes widening at that. She flicked the note to her father, who caught it rather adroitly. She noted that both of her parents moved much more smoothly than they ever had before and hit them both with Identify as they put their heads together over the Lord of Traversal's letter.

Rachel Bell, Level 89 Novice Runecaster

Thomas Bell, Level 90 Apprentice Spellblade

She hadn't known that her mother had picked the early version of runecaster, having never Identified her after she picked her class, mainly because her mother had wanted to keep her class hidden. Oh, right…oh well.

"So, you're going to leave the Earth?" her mother asked, a little heat in her voice. She caught herself though, closing her eyes and sighing before taking a deep breath. "I'm trying to be better about this. I know you're out there doing dangerous things, and I've accepted that. You should just know I…we worry about you." Her mother glanced at her father at the end and received a warm smile and nod.

"That's right," he continued the thought. "We understand you're an adult and your own woman, Beth. We know you're going to go out there and do amazing things; I never had any doubts about it. But, we still worry about you. Just try to keep yourself safe."

"I understand," Beth replied with a small sigh. "But we're getting pretty good at this. I'm not as worried about going out into the unknown as I was even a few months ago. I take it you haven't checked our levels?"

Both her parents paused for a moment before their eyes once again widened, getting far larger this time than from her earlier trick. Speaking of which, she pulled the letter back and made it vanish with a simple gesture. Everyone was growing rather used to seeing magic in their day-to-day lives, but seeing somebody having hundreds of levels was rare for any who weren't spending a large amount of time at the CRA.

"You're over level two hundred?!" Rachel exclaimed.

"I thought two hundred itself was the cap," her father said, pulling out his ubiquitous notebook to jot a few things down.

"Yes and no, Dad. The limit is two hundred…the first time. After undergoing a rebirth, the limit goes up by ten percent of your base. Apparently, it does that for the first twenty rebirths, but it changes after Ascendency," Beth explained.

"Fascinating," her father said, writing. "And you've undergone one of these 'rebirths' now?"

"Yeah, Blood and I both underwent one a number of months ago," Beth said. "We've already managed to get back up to max level, though it took us a lot more time than you might think. But that's beside the point; even if we don't do another rebirth for a while, we're damned strong. And I know, before you say anything, to not let it get to my head."

"'Pride before the fall,'" quoted her father quietly as he jotted another note.

"Something like that," Beth said with a very small smile. "But I just wanted to stop by and see the two of you. It's been…a while, and I didn't want to run off for months, or even years, again without even saying anything."

"While I appreciate it, do remember you got us those communicators," Rachel said. "Your father and I each have one, and you can call us anytime, it doesn't matter when."

"Give me your contact information, then," Beth said, her parents passing the information with a hug. "Thanks, and sorry, I should be in contact more."

"You should," her mother said sternly, but then smiled slightly. "But you're your own woman now, Beth, and we understand you’re not going to come running for every little thing. Especially with just how strong you've gotten, though you'll still always be my little girl. I remember when you were still carrying that teddy bear around and-"

"Alright, I think we're done here," Beth said, pulling Blood up by the scruff of her neck and started for the door.

"Oh, Beth, don't be like that," her mother said, but there was only warmth in her voice.

"I'll catch you two around," she said as she left, before throwing over her shoulder, "and I love you, bye!"

She slipped out of the building with Blood, almost walking face-first into Zack, though her reflexes prevented a collision. Zack did a half-step to stay on his feet before giving the two of them a glower, Beth noting he was in basically full plate. He also had gained quite a few levels, tying her father at level ninety.

"I haven't seen you two layabouts in weeks, and the first time you're back it's to cause an incident. You're lucky you're not in my command, or I'd have your hides," he barked at them.

"You and what army," Beth replied in a teasing tone, shading her eyes from the morning light with one hand and bending forward at the waist, twisting back and forth to take an exaggerated look around.

"Me and this army right here-Jesus H. Christ on a bike! You're over level two hundred!" Zack started by patting the mace he had sheathed at his hip, but cut himself off with an exclamation when he used Identify on the two of them.

"That we are, and now they know about it for five states around," Beth grumbled, miming rubbing her ear at the volume, though there was no way for Zack to be loud enough to bother her hearing.

"Well, damn, maybe I'm in your command," Zack muttered before giving them a glare. "I know it pisses you off, but follow the fucking procedures next time. I know it's all cool and easy for you to just saunter in and scare the locals, but I have to spend a ton of time cleaning up the mess!"

"Right, sorry," Beth said with a contrite little nod before waving to Blood and turning to walk away. As they stepped away from Zack, she threw over her shoulder, "Too bad I was never told the procedures."

Before Zack could respond, they piled on the speed and disappeared, vanishing from his sight as little more than blurs. He muttered a few choice, very soldierly curses before turning and entering the small community building. Beth and Blood, meanwhile, flew by the main gate and the security there so quickly several of them didn't even notice someone passing by. Before any cry of alarm could go up, they were already halfway back to the Hall, laughing and enjoying the cold air as they pumped their legs and blurred across the terrain.