"So, how exactly were you thinking of celebrating?" Leahna asked after settling in on the couch, keeping one eye and a smile on where Izzy was playing with Arphin and one of her spinners.

Rylan held up a finger, and walked to a cabinet hung from the wall, from which he produced a small bottle of cherry wine and two long-stemmed glasses.

"No way!" Leahna gushed, her eyes widening. "I haven't had any in so long; where did you even get that?!"

"Burtrand gifted me this when I joined his staff," Rylan said with a shrug. "A token of his appreciation. I never really found an occasion to pop the cork before."

Leahna bit her lip. "I feel like I ought to refuse, but I really don't want to!"

Rylan laughed. "Hey, I'd say you've earned it. You're a great coach."

"Thanks. Maybe I should put that on my resume; commended on her coaching Skills by the elusive Chef Ironbeard."

"Yeah yeah," Rylan mock-grumbled. "I haven't poured your glass yet, you know..."

"I meant marvellous, of course. Slip of the tongue."

Shaking his head, Rylan made short work of the cork. He poured each of them a glass, and sat down next to his sister, half-turned to face her with one leg propped up on the couch.

"To Ethereon's blessings," Leahna proposed, lifting her glass for a toast.

"To Ethereon's blessings," Rylan echoed as they clinked their glasses together.

He took a sip of his wine, his first in a long time. He liked how it managed to be fruity and sweet, yet refreshingly sour at the same time.

Leahna savoured her own wine, and let out a sigh. "So, I've been meaning to ask... What's next for you?"

"Gaining my first Sapphire-Grade Skill, ideally," Rylan replied, smacking his lips. "Other than that, I've got plans for Augmentations for my other Skills that I'm working on, but I'm not ready to make an attempt for any of them. I don't really have the space to do the Jumping one either way..."

"Interesting as all that is, I actually meant the question a little... broader," Leahna said, putting her glass down on her knee and slowly twisting the stem. "I mean, you came here to get to know us, right? And now you're staying to help Dad—which I really appreciate. But what's next? If he gets better—or, you know... stops improving... What else do you want to do? Because I'm assuming you don't want to stay cooped up here hiding behind a non-existent beard forever."

Rylan sighed, putting his own glass down on a little wicker side table. "No, I do not. However... I've decided I don't want to just run away either. I've considered it, you know? Heading off to the Northern Isles, soak up the heat there. However, while I do want to maybe travel and see more of the world someday, I don't want to do it because I'm hiding or running. That's actually a big part of why I'm so focused on improving as a Quinthar; I want to grow strong enough to make anyone think twice about going after that bounty. Ideally, I even want to grow strong enough that I can tell the Talons to get fogged."

Leahna laughed. "Well, that seems like a tall order."

"Maybe. But why not dream big, right?"

Making it to Sapphire probably wouldn't be enough, but there was still his Unknown Affinity as well. Whatever it was, it was still slowly building up in his body, about 3.7% done by now.

He just hoped it would turn out a good thing, and actually allow him to make tinted mana and reach the Ruby Grade someday. Then the Talons would have to take him seriously—there were only about a dozen Rubies in the Kingdom, and they were all powerhouses in their own right.

He should really get around to picking Artoran's brain about his Affinity some day. The original reason he hadn't told the man was simply because it felt like sensitive information, and he hadn't known his father that well yet. By now, he trusted the man completely—and had shared far more sensitive information to boot. He wasn't entirely sure why he hadn't shared this yet. Perhaps he'd been too focused on Sapphire, or perhaps... perhaps he simply hadn't wanted to worry the man.

Still, it was probably about time he told his family about the events surrounding the Champion's Dungeon.

"Fair enough," Leahna replied. "But if I might make a slightly more reasonable counter suggestion about trying to get rid of the bounty... Have you given any thought to reconciling with your mother's side of the family, and asking them for help with the Talons?"

Rylan groaned. "Did Dad put you up to this?"

Leahna laughed. "He would, but no, this is all me. I guess... I guess it just seems like a waste, how sour your relationship with them has become. And especially with your mom."

Rylan shifted in his seat. "I mean, I did kind of like her best already—apart from Soren. She was good to me... under the circumstances. But it's all just so weird. It's hard to think of them as my actual family, rather than the people who did a rather poor job of adopting me."

"But they are. It's not going to get less weird until you confront them about it."

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Rylan took another sip, the slight burn in his throat soothing the ache there. "I don't know... I haven't heard a peep from them since I got here. I mean, Soren might still be hiding my location from them, but he hasn't contacted me either."

"Maybe they're worried about the Talons tracking their letters to you?"

Rylan frowned. "Maybe. I've been writing my friend Zahra, though, and no one has come knocking."

"It's much harder to track a sender," Leahna replied, shaking her head. "Assuming you haven't added a return address."

"Obviously not."

"I had to ask. It's my job as the older sibling to worry."

Rylan snorted. "You're like a season older."

"And yet you will always be my wittle baby bwother," Leahna cooed, pinching his cheek and laughing when Rylan swatted her hand away. "So... have you considered writing your mom a letter?"

Rylan scrunched up his nose. "I really wouldn't know what to say. My feelings are way too complicated."

There was a part of Rylan that had actually been quite moved to learn that, in truth, he hadn't been abandoned by his mother. That Helen had, in fact, been there all his life, watching over him. Fog, he remembered multiple occasions where she'd tucked him in and told him a bedtime story. Another part was, of course, rather bitter that he'd been kept in the dark and increasingly at arm's length as he grew older.

How was he supposed to reconcile the woman he'd always viewed as a kind of older sister, with his long-standing fantasy of a loving mother that had been cruelly forced to abandon her child?

"Well, maybe writing your feelings down will help you make sense of them," Leahna suggested. "I, ehm, I used to write letters to my mom... Addressed to the Spiritvale and everything, if you can believe it. I stopped when I got a bit older and met my pen pal, but I do think it helped me cope. I still have them."

"That's very sweet," Rylan said softly. "I'll think about it."

Leahna smiled. "That's all I ask. Now let's talk about something more fun."

The conversation quickly turned back to Rylan's Augmentation, his progress with Cooking, and their hopes for what it could do for Artoran.

When Leahna casually mentioned having tried to gain Cooking herself once upon a time, Rylan was initially surprised, then realised he really shouldn't have been.

Their father was a Sapphire-Grade Quinthar. Of course Leahna had seriously attempted to become a Quinthar as well when she came of age.

"What else have you tried?" he asked.

Leahna blew out a breath. "What haven't I tried?" she joked. "Just about everything, I reckon. Right up until I no longer had the time or resources, and had to concede that it wasn't going to happen."

Rylan's brows drew together. "Right... I've been meaning to ask, what exactly is the, ehm, household's financial situation?"

Leana pressed her lips into a thin line. "It's... stable. We still have some debt to clear, but our creditors are being quite reasonable, thanks to Dad's status, and we're working our way through it."

"Yeah, about that, why are you in debt at all? Is it because Artoran could no longer work and you didn't have a job yet?"

Leahna shook her head. "No, Dad took on the debt before... before what happened. Basically, he took out a loan to pay the entrance fee for one of the city's Challenge Dungeons; it's the cheapest way to get, well..."

"Enhancers and Pearls of Inspiration," Rylan finished, his eyes widening. "For you, right?"

Leahna nodded. "The city has three Challenge Dungeons under its control. Dad paid the fees for the first two from our savings, and they both gave out Enhancers; one for Mind, and one for Perception. When I failed to get a Skill with just those, he took out a loan for the third Dungeon, hoping to get another one or a pearl. But unfortunately, he failed the trial in that one."

"So you've already had two Enhancers?" Rylan asked in surprise.

Leahna sighed. "I have, yeah. We figured it would be a worthwhile investment if I could just become a Quinthar. Now I wish we'd sold them."

Rylan stared at her, his mind churning.

Leahna took another sip of her wine, then glanced over. "What? Is something wrong?"

"Yes," Rylan finally said, before reaching for the cord around his neck and pulling up the black velvety pouch hanging beneath his shirt. "But I think we can fix it."

Like before, the moment the translucent sphere was allowed to spread its shimmering multi-coloured glow beyond the confines of its container, tingles ran up Rylan's limbs, all the way to the middle of his chest. It was faint, but they seemed to be urging him to move, to do something spectacular.

[Woah!] Arphin sent, while Izzy darted in closer, seemingly tasting the air around the pouch. [I can never get used to that appearing out of nowhere! But I still don't mind, because it's so pretty...]

Meanwhile, Leahna's jaw dropped. "Is that a Pearl of Inspiration?!" she asked, her voice pitched higher than usual.

"It is," Rylan said, before drawing the pouch shut again. It was best not to take any chances; he wasn't sure how well non-Quinthar could sense the pearl's presence.

"Where did you get that?! I thought you said you'd gotten a Strength Enhancer when you completed that Challenge Dungeon!"

"I did. This was a gift from Soren. And now... it's yours."

He reached up to move the cord over his head.

"I... I can't accept that..." she stammered, holding up her hands with her eyes wide. "You should use that to become a Sapphire!"

Rylan shook his head, the corners of his mouth curling up. "I don't need it," he said, feeling the truth of the words as he spoke them. "Thanks to Dad, I have a clear path towards Sapphire. I'm confident I'll get there. Could I use this little bauble to get there sooner? Probably. But the truth is, his help has been far more valuable than this pearl could ever have been. For you, on the other hand... it could change everything."

"But... wasn't it a gift from your uncle?"

Rylan narrowed his eyes at her, having caught the slight quirk of her lip on the word 'uncle.' "Don't ruin the moment now. My friend Soren actually said he'd hoped to get an Enhancer to gift me, because a Quinthar using a Pearl of Inspiration is kind of wasteful. So I'm confident he'd wholeheartedly agree with my decision."

Leahna bit her lip, her eyes flicking between the pouch and Rylan. "You're really serious about this?"

He nodded solemnly. "I am. Consider it compensation for all the birthday gifts I failed to give you." She finally smiled at that, and he continued. "Honestly, it would be a waste if I took this, and... I want this for you. I would love to be able to do this for you, to help you become a Quinthar. Fog, I've been thinking about helping out more financially, but after you become a Quinthar, you won't even need my assistance anymore!"

Leahna swallowed. "But... what if I take it and fail again anyway?"

Rylan shrugged. "Then that's the will of the spirits, I guess. But I don't expect that to happen. You've already had two Enhancers; there must be a Skill you're eligible for. I bet all you need is a little... inspiration."

With that, he held the pouch up in front of her, and dropped it in her hand.

She stared at it for a moment, then clenched her fist around it, and flew forward to give him the fiercest hug of his life.

Rylan had just given up one of the most valuable items he'd ever possessed. And already, he felt that it had been worth it.

This... this must be what having family is like.

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