Limitless Path

Before Beth or the others could do anything, a tall man, a very tall man, walked forward and grabbed Sera in a hug before rubbing her horns. "My favorite niece!"

"Uncle," Sera growled, trying to escape his grasp. Blood and Val crossed their arms while watching on, but Beth equipped her heavy gauntlets and flexed her hands, the popping of all her knuckles clearly audible. Before she could do anything more, Val's hand landed on her shoulder and the kresnik stepped forward, clearly in diplomacy mode.

"And who is this honored Elder?" Val asked smoothly as Sera still tried to extricate herself.

"Ah, forgive my manners," the dragon said, noticing Beth's gaze burning a hole right through him and taking a small step away from her with a slightly sheepish look. "I'm Terrimane Schwarzdracchen, this young lout's favorite uncle."

"That's great uncle," Sera said with a sigh, grabbing her jacket and tugging it straight. "Make that four times great uncle."

"But who's counting?" Terrimane said.

"Well, uncle Terry," Sera said in a derisive tone, the older dragon wincing while trying to maintain his broad smile at the nickname. "We have some business to discuss with my parents, as well as some things to discuss among the team…"

Terrimane didn't get the hint at all, likely intentionally, as he said, "Wonderful. I have some things to discuss with my little niece and nephew, too!"

Val turned to Beth and mouthed 'Little niece and nephew,' receiving only a shrug in response, before turning back to try to mediate again. "I'm sure we can discuss everything in the palace like reasonable people. Come, now, let's greet the clan head."

Terrimane allowed himself to be pulled along in Val's pace, going along over to Sera's parents where they greeted them before following them back inside. Some of the other teams shot them some dirty looks, but Beth was really not concerned with what they thought. They wouldn't have any more power to do anything to her outside the instance, other than call in their more powerful elders and seniors to attack them, and if they wanted to play that kind of game, Beth would bet on her trump cards being just a little bit, just an oh-so-tiny bit, more powerful than theirs. It wasn't like she had a pair of lovers, right alongside her fiancée, who were a Peak Ascended and Exalted and would be more than willing to burn a dragon clan to the ground if they tried anything.

"From the complaints of the others, I assume your team performed rather well, Seraphinalla?" Sera's father asked once they had all retired to her parents' suite.

"We did alright," Sera said with a shrug, adopting a lopsided grin when her parents both sighed in frustration.

"Come on, tell your favorite uncle just what you got," Terrimane, who had followed them in with no care to Sera's father's frowning look, wheedled.

"I will do no such thing," Sera said, holding her arms up in an X gesture.

"Aw, what's the fun of that?" Terrimane said.

"I really don't mean to be rude," Beth said, causing Val to wince, Sera to grin, and Blood to sigh, "but, uh, who the fuck are you, exactly?"

"Why, I'm Seraphinalla's beloved uncle," he said.

"Great uncle," the rest of Sera's family corrected.

"You also don't seem very beloved," Beth added with a sarcastic bent to her tone.

"Well, that's just rude," Terrimane said.

"Good," Beth replied grumpily.

Terrimane looked over at Sera's parents, who both just gave him blank stares, before he slowly nodded. Looking back at Beth, he said, "So, you've got something quite special, is that? I have to imagine it goes beyond your Presence, as those are so rarely exceptional. Your Mana Physique might be powerful, but I doubt that would cause this kind of reaction. You're a human and I don't recognize you as being even a hidden card of one of three factions. Hmm, I do love a good mystery, let me think. There really are only two possibilities left; either you have an incredibly powerful backer that would make my little niece and nephew play nice, or you have some power yourself that goes beyond the norm. Perhaps you have fully realized your Ideal, or even found the degree of Oneness needed to Transcend, at your rebirth."

Beth turned to Sera, saying, "Ser, can I punch this guy? Preferably in the face."

"Well, you could try, but he's the family's only currently known Exalted, so he might give even you some trouble," Sera replied with a laugh. "You might just surprise him, though, so it would be worth it."

"Cool," Beth said, suddenly teleporting off the couch and appearing beside Terrimane.

"Now, let's talk-" was all the Exalted got out before Beth hit him with enough force that space around the two cracked like a window pane that had popped out a tenth floor window. She hadn't hit him with everything she possibly had, but she had used her spatial domain, Spatial Obliteration, Celestial Annihilation, and Light Beyond The Edge to bolster her attack to a level that would have had most early Ascended asking for the number of the truck that just ran them over. Terrimane had managed to block the attack with his palm; not surprising, really, considering he had had time to try to dissuade her before her fist landed. Sera had been right, however, in that the attack did surprise him with its strength, but it wasn't enough to actually injure him; the gap in stats, skills, mana density, and even strength of Ideal was just too much. Though Ideals and Presences and the like didn't have ranks, they would become more powerful over time as one both got used to using them and as one increased in overall rebirth. Despite having her Ideal already, Beth's paltry ten rebirths wasn't enough to really let her play with the big dogs. Yet.

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"Incredible," Terrimane said once the attack was over and space had normalized a bit. "You certainly have your Ideal already, which is a grand enough notion, though you haven't really understood the next step yet. Unless you were holding even more back in that punch than I'm able to gauge, but I'm usually pretty good about these things."

"I didn't hit you full power," Beth replied, getting a slight reaction from Sera's parents. "But I did hit you really hard. Disappointing that I don’t have the rebirths to really affect someone at your level of power just yet."

"Well, most Ascended would have felt something from that, and lower rebirth ones would have been in some trouble, so don't discount yourself just yet," Terrimane said, moving to finally sit down, as he had been standing off to the side and throwing barbs before Beth hit him. The sitting room of Sera's parents was made of both very fancy, and very durable, materials and thusly had suffered almost no damage due to her attack. There were a few hairline cracks on the floor that could pretty easily be sealed up or even lacquered over and left as something with a bit of a story, the day a fresh Enlightened punched an Exalted and got a reaction out of it.

"I'm so glad you're approving," Beth said sarcastically as she resumed her seat beside Sera. The dragon wrapped an arm and her tail around Beth and reached her other arm over to scratch her head, which calmed her a little bit.

"Most would be a bit more…what's the word?" he said, glancing around.

"Scared?" Sera's mother supplied.

"Respectful," her father said sourly.

"Circumspect is more what I was thinking," Terrimane said. "Not many would take such an attitude with an Exalted. I worry that completing your Ideal might have given you a big head, as it were."

"Well, my mentor is an Exalted," Beth said, ticking points off on her fingers. "And my fiancée here was working for an Exalted that we've worked with several times. Oh, and I am basically a regular employee and often guest of the Lord of Traversal, another Exalted. Ah, yes, there's also the Peak Ascended and Exalted couple who are, how should I put it? Romantically interested in Sera and I, perhaps? Oh, right, of course, there's also the two Manumitted who we've met and who gave us their contact information. So, if you're a little curious why I'm not overly impressed, my contact list probably has at least a little to do with it."

"I'm sorry, but I just thought I misheard that last time. Did you just say you know two Manumitted? And have their contact information?" Sera's father asked, looking poleaxed.

"You just have to move in the right circles," Beth said with a very blasé shrug.

"Move in the right circles?" Sera's mother said a bit faintly, looking like she was trying to decide between lecturing them and asking for advice.

"The looks on their faces," Terrimane cackled, grinning massively as he took in the expression on Sera's parents' faces. "I had worried that you might be getting a bit of a big head after having accomplished something so monumental so early on walking your Path, but I see I might have been just a touch hasty."

"Always good to keep in mind the lesson, 'Never assume,' " Beth replied with another casual shrug.

"That is a good one to understand, yes," Terrimane said with a nod. "Can I ask, on a bit of a more serious note, just who your mentor is? Exalted aren't exactly the rarest thing in the Milky Way, but there really aren't all that many of us, particularly right now."

"Not sure why right now is different, but my mentor is Baelvyr Kron," Beth replied simply.

"Ah, yes, coming up through the Association," Terrimane said. "That makes a lot of sense, including your attitude and fighting style, though I mean no offense by that comment. Baelvyr just has a certain, uh, style that he professes and that often shines through in people he decides to teach."

"You know him pretty well?" Beth asked, giving Terrimane a bit of a raised eyebrow.

"We aren't longtime drinking buddies, if that's what you're asking, but we know each other. I think the last time we were together I won a bet about a Forbidden Land, so maybe don't mention how you were spending lots of time with me the next time you see him," Terrimane said with a bit of a small grin. "But he and I have worked together, and butted heads, a few times in the last few centuries, so we know each other. Based on what you said, Laselle and Mortaine are two of the others, but I do not know who your little extra-marital tryst is referring to."

"I think some things are best left to the imagination," Sera said, laying a finger over Beth's mouth to keep her from blabbing, though Beth had had no intention of revealing that tidbit for free.

"And going back to my lovely and definitely favorite niece," Terrimane said, rubbing his rather large hands together. "What say you give us just a hint? A little bit of a taste, hmm? That surely wouldn't hurt."

Sera sighed deeply before saying, "Fine, I'll cave, at least a little bit. The skill I got is called Eternal Evolution."

"Oh my, a skill with evolution in the name, that must have quite a bit of potential," Terrimane said, rubbing his hands together as he examined Sera, an action he stopped after Beth cracked her knuckles again while glaring at him. "But, do tell, what kind of skill is it."

"It's a boosting skill that grows stronger over time, that's all I'll say about it for now," Sera said, putting her foot down on the subject.

"Well, what about other hints?" Terrimane said, looking at the rest of the group.

"I hit you with mine, among others, and that's all I'll give you for free," Beth grunted out.

"Mine's called By My Blood, Blood Is Mine," Blood said. "I think the name makes it kind of obvious, and I won't give the full details."

"Even sharing the name is a lot of trust," Val said when everyone looked at her. "But, in the interest of fairness, I will at least say the name of mine; Burst Transcendence. I don't if the name makes it obvious, but it is a powerful burst skill, if you can believe it."

"All at least tier seven skills, if I don't miss my guess. Tier six and up usually have more fanciful names and are the better rewards of the Grand Palace, and these seem very powerful," Terrimane said. "Though, we are still missing one name to complete the set."

"Is he always like this?" Beth asked Sera, ignoring the man's question.

"Sadly, he can be even more annoying if he wants. Something about being an Exalted does that to people, I think. Not that you're like that, my love," Sera said, quickly hurrying to assure Beth that she wasn't included among the vitriol.

"Well, I can be rather obstinate," Beth said, giving Sera an even more graceful out.

"You two are very nice together, but I still want that juicy name," Terrimane said. "Call it a curiousity from someone who has spent some time studying skills and their evolutions."

"If the name will really get you to leave off…" Beth said, giving the man a glare. When he nodded eagerly, she sighed and said, "Light Beyond The Edge."

"My, fascinating," he said. "A skill that likely uses either a general light mana or something even greater, like celestial mana. Considering how well the four of you supposedly did, I'm guessing it has even further advanced properties than that, but even the name gives a feeling of power portending."

"Surely you came down for something more than just harassing us," Sera interjected before Terrimane could poke any further into Beth's skills.

"Ah, yes, I did want to see my nieces and nephews, but I also need to head out for a while," Terrimane said with a sigh. "I'm in need of a concentration of sacred mana, and I don't have any connections that can supply me with what I need. I'll have to go roam around a bit to find just what I'm looking for."

"What's your budget?" Beth immediately interjected, getting raised eyebrows from both Sera's parents and Terrimane.

"Well, considering you have your Ideal at rebirth ten, I'm not going to just dismiss you out of hand, but what do you have?" he asked.

"We know the location of a site that has an array set up to gather holy mana and convert it to sacred mana," Beth stated calmly. "Would that be something that might interest you?"

"By the heavens, that's just what I need," he said with a deep laugh. "Fortune really does drop unexpected gifts on my lap! Now, let's talk price…"