When we went to Esbee's End of The World Tavern — which was the name inscribed on the new sign hanging out front — we came across Bevel's sister, who was there talking with Esbee and Banya, though even as we approached, Esbee moved off to deal with one of her customers.

Keria raised her head, sparing us a glance before returning to the books spread on the table.

Seeing how full her’s was, we grabbed a separate table, asking Esbee for the promised smoothies. I also managed to score some fried meat that'd been glazed with something similar to honey.

In addition to her smoothie, Bevel drank half of mine as well as most of the fried meat. And then asked for another smoothie besides.

Calbern was just as bad. Seemed their enhanced bodies had left them both famished. My own hunger was far less pronounced, though when I’d quickly stopped by the crystal chamber for a diagnostic, I’d discovered why. My Agility had been enhanced by a little over one percent and nothing else had changed. While there I’d noticed that there was a fourth parameter that Tender hadn’t mentioned, the top level of which was labeled as Vitality.

After each of them had polished off another smoothie each, along with a stacked plate of green and purple vegetables with a suspiciously orange dip, we started talking about how their changes felt. Under the effects of a reversed sound shield, to keep the other patrons of the bar from overhearing us, of course.

"Like everything isn't where it should be," Bevel said, holding up the cup she'd just emptied of smoothie. "Or like it's all the wrong size. It feels weird that it's so light."

"It is rather unusual," Calbern admitted, stretching out his arm. "The aches I'm used to after a full Kinya bath are entirely absent. I'm not entirely certain, but I believe I could withstand a strike from one of lady Nexxa's spells. A single strike, mind you."

"Speaking of the lady Nexxa," Esbee said as she took away the empty bowl and cups, easily balancing it all on one hand. "Heard she was coming to visit. That true, Perry?"

"Not that I've heard," I said, realizing I hadn't seen Tamrie since we got back. "But I'm a bit out of the loop."

"Between her and that big wolf girl friend of yours coming by, sounds like you're getting all sorts of visitors," Esbee said, shaking her head, her stone hair tinkling softly. "Heard Alister nearly lost his head when she asked to bring that wolf of hers through the Waygate."

"I… why does it feel like I've been gone for longer than a day?" I asked, not particularly expecting an answer. Last I’d heard of Vaserra, she was… well, I hadn’t actually asked what she was planning to do, but she hadn’t mentioned coming for a visit.

"Not your fault. I run the only bar in town. Everyone talks," Esbee said, giving a little flourish with her right hand as she leaned forward. "And you know what they say, gossip’s the only thing that travels faster than the speed of light."

"Waygates,” I immediately countered, causing Esbee to blink, her eyelids managing to produce a faint click when she did so. Before she could respond, I added, “So, if I’m understanding correctly, Vaserra tried to use the Waygate today, yeah?"

"Not just tried," a voice said from over my shoulder. A very familiar and somewhat grumpy voice. "Truth be told, it took far too long to get that oversized mutt of hers through to Verdant Point."

"Hi Tamrie," I said, turning towards her with a smile while pushing my chair back from the table. "Sorry we were out longer than expected, we…" I trailed off as I saw her stormy expression.

Her frown cracked when she noticed my smile, but it didn't vanish entirely.

"Something wrong?" I asked, pulling out the chair beside me.

"Nothing but me being up in my own head is all," Tamrie said with an uneven smile as she took the offered chair, pulling it close to mine, then pressing against my side. "Today’s been more full of fattened fish trying to slip through my fingers than a lower hold fishtrap at the end of the Howl. Too busy."

"So I've heard. And I haven't even told you about what's popped up in Mistvale," I said, giving her a peck on the head.

She frowned again, but remained silent. She didn’t even pull out her notebook, which implied she wasn’t really in the best of moods to hear it. But it was important. Glancing towards Bevel, I started the explanation of Tender, and her forest paths, and the changes they'd had on the others.

"Thought I recognized that mop of hair," Tamrie said with a smile in Bevel's direction. "Shot up fast. Bet that's gonna get complicated right quick. You get any questions ‘bout womanly urges, you come talk to me and I’ll get you sorted right quick."

Bevel nodded, her cheeks turning crimson. Deciding to spare her any more embarrassment, I asked Tamrie about Nexxa’s visit, and she confirmed my sister was planning to stop by in the morning.

“She’s coming for the same prize that wolf woman is,” Tamrie said with a heavy sigh. “They both know you’re going back to that devil-clanger, and want to join you.”

I leaned back, my gaze sweeping over the busy bar as I considered that.

I'd mentioned in passing the benefits from Conflict's trials, as well as when Calbern and I next meant to take the next one.

They'd both expressed interest, though they'd also both professed to have other priorities. Obviously, things had changed. According to Tamrie, Nexxa had reached a point where people were no longer suffering from monster attacks. There were literally tens of thousands of possible refugees who'd be starting their march east, but that was, in the words of Nexxa, 'A problem for tomorrow.'

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Meanwhile, I'd been the one to solve Vaserra's biggest problem myself.

"Evening Tamrie, Perry, Calbern," Keria said, approaching the table. Her attention slid over to Bevel again, then paused.

Which was when I realized I hadn't told her about Bevel's changes yet.

"You… look familiar," Keria said, stone eyes blinking as she looked at Bevel. "Do I know you?"

"We've met," Bevel replied with a small smile. I'd been a bit distracted with everything else, but her voice had shifted slightly with her change, become a bit more mature.

"You remind me of my sister," Keria noted, squinting as she pointed at Bevel's cheek. "She has that same patch of freckles under her right eye."

"Huh? Really?" Bevel replied, reaching up to touch the spot Keria had pointed at. I suspected Bevel wasn’t even aware that patch was distinctive in any way. Hadn’t seemed distinctive to me before Keria pointed it out. It was almost like a bird in flight.

"Didn't think we had any cousins. Did you come in with the latest refugees? Heard the Defier had an unusual batch this evening," Keria asked, scrunching her stone forehead.

"Nope, just came back from Mistvale with Papa," Bevel said, her smile entirely too wide.

I rubbed at my forehead, glancing over at Tamrie then Calbern. Neither of them seemed particularly concerned. Nor did Tamrie seem upset about Bevel using the word Papa. I decided I'd let this continue to play out. Besides, Bevel seemed to be having fun.

"Really? Isn't that dangerous?" Keria asked, leaning forward. "Your Papa must be pretty strong."

"I mean… he's not as tough as me or his sister," Bevel said, holding up her gangly arms. "But he's pretty tough."

"I… when did we meet? Did your Papa bring you by when you were younger? Don't remember people visiting much the last few years. Especially not from so far west," Keria said, scratching at her chin, her brows scrunched up once more.

"I'm actually from around here," Bevel said, wiggling her eyebrows. "Really close."

"That's…"

It was at that point that Tamrie couldn't hold in her laughter any longer. And once she started laughing, I joined. And then, so did Bevel, who snorted out as she stood up and went over to hug her confused sister. "It's me, Keria."

"You… Wait… Bevel? What… what happened to you?" Keria asked, pushing Bevel away before she could complete the hug and taking another look at her. "You're… you've… what?"

"Surprise!" Bevel said, throwing both hands up and to the side, nearly knocking over Esbee’s tray, who'd been walking past.

"I need a drink," Keria said, leaning against the table. Then she glanced at her sister again. "Really wish I could still get drunk."

"Actually, think I've got that figured out," Esbee said, clapping her fellow stone woman on the shoulder with a loud clack.

"First bit of good news I've heard all day," Keria said, staring at her sister.

As she wandered off, I immediately went over to Bevel, giving her a hug. She was still chuckling softly to herself, so it seemed she hadn't taken offence to Keria's offhand comment and dismissal.

Still, we ended up staying up a bit later than we should've as Bevel recounted the story of the day again to Tamrie, though with a few extra embellishments mixed in. Or Em-Bevel-lishments, if I was feeling particularly dad like.

I wasn't. Not enough to say it out loud, anyway.

When I rose in the morning, I found one more potential participant waiting to take Conflict’s trials.

A certain gangly armed apprentice stood with a palpable aura of awkwardness next to the table. Despite her newfound mobility within the trial, she'd had a few uncomfortable reminders of her new size the evening before, and while she'd remained excited about 'finally growing up' it'd ate away at her confidence.

Despite that, when she saw me, she straightened herself out and declared, "I want to come too. To the trials, I mean. I've already done one, and its helped so much. If Conflict's do the same… I…"

Sitting down to my place, I motioned her to sit. Part of me wanted to refuse her request, to make her stay put and keep her safe. Except I knew she'd be able to handle the Rollerbugs even easier than I had. And Conflict's trials were painful, but unlike Tender's, I knew they were safe.

Not free of pain, but safe.

Honestly, if I was taking the role of parent seriously, having her take part in Conflict's trials was one of the safest ways I could expose her to the real dangers of Ro'an without danger.

It meant Calbern or I would be sitting out our session for the day, but that wasn't a great sacrifice. Conflict said I still wasn't ready for my next big upgrade, and would probably need dozens more until I was.

Speaking of Calbern… well, despite looking the same as ever, and maintaining the same poise as ever, since we'd gotten back he seemed almost… peppy. It was the extra little bit of motion in his steps, I realized, as he brought our food out. It couldn't have been more than a sixteenth of an inch in each stride, yet the difference felt massive.

Once he joined us, Bevel opened her mouth to further argue her case, but I held up a hand. "Eat. You're going to need it if you're going to be coming with us."

"I… really? Just like that? After yesterday, I thought…" Bevel stopped, likely realizing she'd started trying to talk me out of my decision. "I mean, thank you… Papa."

She said it testingly, as if still unsure.

"You're welcome, kiddo," I replied, doing my best to keep a smile on my face. "Did you ask your sister?"

"She didn't care," Bevel said, letting out a rather dramatic sigh. "Just told me not to come back unspun."

I had to blink to remember what 'unspun' meant in the local slang. Was pretty sure it had something to do with being crazy. It wasn't used too often, at least not among any of the Tethered I talked to. "That's… good?"

"Guess so," Bevel said, pushing at the berries and crunchy grains that served as our morning meal.

Not really sure if there was anything I could do about her apparent dissatisfaction with her sister, I focused on my meal.

Afterwards, I met Nexxa as she landed at the same arch where she'd struck down last time she visited. The flash of lightning that carried her down was almost lost amongst the rest, as the storm continued to rage around us.

Nexxa seemed to be in a much better mood than the last time I'd seen her, openly laughing and smiling as she approached, pulling me into a hug. "Good to see you, Per Per. Ready to smash some bugs?"

"Haven't actually done that since the first time we went there," I said, patting her shoulder while returning the hug. "Pretty sure it's just gonna be you, Bevel and Vaserra handling them."

"Where is this ice-cold warrior woman anyway?" Nexxa asked, releasing me while looking about the upper level where literally no one else was standing due to the constant storm.

"They’re all waiting near Verdant Point. Come on, we'll take the Waygate," I said, getting her to follow me through the back tunnels.

She remained quiet as we moved, though she found her voice as we emerged out of the renovated entrance near Verdant Point. She stepped over to the engraved wall, which instead of looking like a rough cave had been reshaped into a sort of garden motif. It had nothing on the Final Rest, but it was a nice step up. "Got a lot done since my last visit."

"We've been busy," I agreed, leading her out into the storm where Calbern and Bevel were already waiting on Fang, Vaserra astride Frost Lily just behind them. "Now, like you said, let's go smash some bugs."