Celine and Martin were both thrilled to see us, though with Celine it was hard to tell. Still, I had enough Perception to pick up the minute signs of her excitement to have her boyfriend back. Not that it was at all obvious from the sedate way she approached him for an admittedly warm but brief hug. Jessie all but tackled her in a hug of her own after that, then hugged Sarah for good measure because she hadn't had a chance to do so earlier, and it was hard not to smile at our shortest team members enthusiasm.

We dropped into chairs around the room after the greetings, none of us in too big of a rush to get to the information hall. The points weren't going anywhere. I never stopped enjoying the moments of relaxation, mostly because I knew how few and far between they were. "So." I said jovially. "What have you all been up to while we were getting involved in political bullshit that was way over our heads? I get the feeling it was way more sensible than what we were doing for the last week or two."

I was curious what a 'normal' few weeks of advancement looked like for an average G-ranker, as much as that term could apply to any hero. Though I supposed some of the only job type cultivators on the planet were a bad example if I was looking for someone typical

Celine, who sat down next to Benny with graceful and remote poise (though not without slipping her hand into his surreptitiously) spoke up with a small smile. "Mostly we just did missions for the crafting hall. They aren't as lucrative as the ones at the information hall, but they're safer on the whole. Still, we haven't been lax. We've been developing quite the reputation among our classmates for efficiency and effectiveness. We've all made some decent gains from some of the feats we've accomplished. Nothing huge like the scavenger hunt, but enough small tasks add up."

"I bet." I said in interest. "I imagine that's a more stable way to progress. Don't you stop gaining points for the small tasks eventually though? Not that I know what kind you were doing, but I know that gains are based on the spread of your legend, and when people expect something from you, your renown doesn't exactly grow. Does doing the same level of task repeatedly really pay out over and over?"

Celine's placid expression broke into a shark like smile. The flash of teeth appeared and vanished too fast for most people to even notice, but none of us had trouble spotting it. "They might, except they seemed to be under the impression that we were suited to much lower level tasks. We may have been the first place team in the scavenger hunt, but people weren't sure how much progress we made. We started missions only slightly above the level of the last one we took, and people were shocked at how quickly we completed them."

Callie's jaw dropped open. "You sneaky bitch!" She said admiringly. "I would have never thought of sandbagging so I could put on a show of rapid growth." She cursed. "Shit. That would have been a great plan. I'm pissed you didn't share, not that I can blame you. Still though, I wouldn't be too smug about it. We might not have been as clever, but we made some damn good progress during our time away. You'd barely even recognize us if you saw us in battle after all we've been through."

It was hard to read her, but I was pretty sure I saw a flash of competitive interest in Celine's normally tranquil eyes. Benny, who probably DIDN'T want to have to deal with his girlfriend being annoyed when we unilaterally curb stomped her team in a friendly sparring match, interrupted before things got too far. "By the way Cel, did you guys hear about this new tournament for this special F-ranked dungeon? Apparently a ton of the strongest fighters from the whole star system are heading here to compete in it."

Whether he actually wanted to share, or had told her last night on the phone and was trying to change the subject I had no idea, but if he had she hadn't mentioned it to the others, because Sarah looked intrigued. Tournament? I knew there was a regular one around here, but it sounds like you're talking about something a bit bigger. What can you tell us about it? Sounds like you guys are signing up, and if you're in we might have a shot too." She gave us a wide grin at that last part, obviously meaning it half in jest, though also being half serious.

I picked it up from there, figuring I'd help my buddy out with his distraction. "It's aimed at peak G-rankers. Apparently the participants will be expected to break through after the winners are decided before being allowed to actually get in. I've been thinking over the reason, and while supposedly it's to prevent the larger forces from using their foundations to bully the smaller ones, I'm pretty sure it's meant to be an equalizer of sorts. Ranks can span a wide range of stat totals. By making sure that only newly Ascended F-rankers enter, they ensure that the fighters all have around a thousand points total."

I didn't mention that this was Callie's theory, though my girlfriend gave me a slight smirk for taking credit. I didn't care though, I would have come up with it eventually. It wasn't my fault she was a sneaky political mastermind. Besides, she got credit for all the stuff-punching I did. We were a team, which meant we should share all of our accomplishments equally. I paused for a second before sighing, even I couldn't think that with a straight face. So I added. "At least that's what Callie thinks. It sounds legit to me though."

She gave me a look of surprise tinged with gratitude, and I was suddenly much less embarrassed to be giving up credit. I'd have given up plenty more of it to see that look on her face. I don't think it really would have bothered her if I took credit, but it definitely meant something to her that I didn't. I kind of felt like I'd just passed some kind of boyfriend test that neither of us realized I was taking. I wasn't going to question it. If I'd made her happy that was good enough, no need to think too much about it.

Celine, coughed politely, drawing my attention to the fact that we'd kind of been having a moment that excluded everyone else in public. I cocked my head inquiringly, not bothering to feel abashed or self-conscious about that. She smiled slightly. "That certainly sounds like an interesting event to participate in. Do you know any of the details of how it's going to work?"

"Sure." I said casually. "We know that much like the majority of Ascendant events it's aimed at groups of ten. The winner gets ten slots to the Moonsong Glade. We have an agreement for slots with another group, so if we win we'll need to give up three. You guys can sign up as well, I'm told that it's an open tournament. There's going to be G-rankers from other planets all over the system though. I think there will be more than just the ten entering, maybe from other systems, but I haven't had a chance to confirm that."

I made sure to point out that they could sign up, because we weren't going to be inviting them to come with us. As much as I'd have loved to bring them, there was no chance they were at a level that they could help us actually win. With possible access to powerhouses like Cark, Abel, and Mel, it would be stupid to team up with relative newbies like Grimmengap. Of course, I didn't say that directly, and Callie could change her mind, but I knew my girlfriend well enough to understand how pragmatic she could be.

They didn't seem to take offense at least, Celine looked intrigued and kind of excited, and the other two just looked interested in the event. I breathed an internal sigh of relief at the fact that I hadn't accidentally started a fight by excluding them. I flicked my eyes to Callie, mentally passing the ball now that the explanation was done, and she stood, clapping her hands once purposefully. "Well! We can look into that more on the way, but I'd love to hit the information hall. We have a mission to turn in, and I'd really love to see how high it pushes our ranking up."

Everyone stood at that, not bothered to be done relaxing. We still weren't in a hurry, and I doubted we would run or anything, but where we all hung out didn't matter, and advancement was always at least partly on all of our minds. Besides, we could still talk on the way, being around others would just limit the topics a bit. We headed for the information hall, and as we went, Sarah dragged Jessie ahead and started asking her all about our adventures, and catching us up on theirs.

Grimmengap had been on several interesting missions while we had been away, I had to admit. Hunting a red cap tribe, a village of goblins out in the wilderness, an actual fucking minotaur, and tracking down and capturing an Ascendant with a specialized racial trait (a lamia) who had been poisoning search parties recently. Sarah's priest abilities left her able to neutralize poisons pretty well ( the church dealt with the black sorrow cult often, and the cultists LOVED poison) which made them an ideal party to track down the G-ranked devil.

The more monstrous bearers of racial traits were often lumped in as devils, while the more abstract ones were often called spirits. Not that devils should be confused with Devils, who, as we had been told, were a subspecies of that overarching group that were a whole other level of scary. The Wendigo had been a devil, and the lamia was the same, making it really impressive Grimmengap had managed to subdue one. I was pretty sure it hadn't been as scary as the one we fought, but even being in the same category made it terrifying.

In turn, Jessie filled our friends in on us joining up with the Beast Lord Garden, and a sanitized version of our adventures in G-district, minus any sensitive information. That left her more room than I'd have suspected. It always amazed me how clever Jessie could be while keeping up that same impression of cheerful obliviousness. She was sharp as a knife when she needed to be.

By the time she finished talking, she'd managed to tell most of the story without giving away any secrets, and had roused Grimmengap's interest in the Starchaser Pavilion as a whole, getting them to promise to come visit after we finished our business on campus. Considering how small the Pavilion currently was it would be amazing to have them come check it out and possibly join up. Especially if word got out about the place and some of the other Academy students got involved as well.

As a guest elder, I was allied with the Beast Lord Garden, but not exactly part of it, which meant the Pavilion had the unique benefit of being a new and completely separate G-ranked force with explicit E-ranked backing. We were too new to matter to the old timers, and too powerful to be messed with by upstarts, and I looked forward to seeing what we could do with a faction like that. Especially after we kicked ass at the tournament, I had a feeling people would be hearing all about the Starchaser Pavilion in the future, and I couldn't wait.