Opening my eyes, I was surprised to find myself in Grandpa’s manor study in Sunhome. It wasn’t somewhere I had a lot of memories of, but all of them were positive. I looked around at the gleaming golden implements of his Defender of the Sun title, not that they ever left his office. The scepter, cloak, and diadem each stood upon different mannequins around the room, something I never understood and Grandpa always avoided answering whenever I brought it up. Looking around, I noticed the stairway leading down to the rest of the tower was missing, so I figured Dominus would show up soon and relaxed on the well-loved couch Grandpa had taught me to read Draconic and Undercommon on so many years ago.

  Nearly half an hour later, I felt a surge of energy and the room was suddenly flooded with golden light. Blinking a few times, my eyes widened when I saw a pair of unexpected guests alongside Dominus.

  “Starchild!” Grandpa blurred toward me before picking me up and crushing me to his chest as Dominus and the other being looked upon us with wide smiles. “It has officially been too long since I got to see you.”

  He craned his neck to shoot a withering glare at Dominus, who had the good graces to raise her hands in a way that screamed “It wasn’t all me”. He snorted before giving me another big squeeze and setting me back down.

  “So, tell me everything. What have you been up to for the past four months? Hildy was slowly going insane until a month ago, but then she stopped complaining about not talking to you so I figured you’d made contact. I didn’t make any silly promises about not seeing you before the end of a year, so I figured I’d call in a favor to make it happen.”

  Seeing him nod gratefully to the kindly looking elderly elf standing next to Dominus, I soon realized who I was looking at–Light, the god I grew up praying to the most–and he nodded to me with a smile and a shake of his head when I opened my mouth to address him. Dominus pulled her favorite son over to the side and a barrier of semi-opaque white light blocked me from seeing them much more than their silhouettes. Snapping my gaze back to Grandpa, I pulled him in for another hug.

  “I missed you, but I think I understand you better now than I ever did before.”

  I pulled back to find him looking down at me like I was the most precious thing in the world. I guess, to him, I was just that. I was the only son of his only daughter, so I represented the culmination of his and his wife’s bloodline. Looking at my wrist, I found the [Soulfire Monitor] was missing despite my unusually clothed state in these dreamscapes.

  I guess that would be too easy, wouldn’t it? There’s no way Grandpa hasn’t hit more of those milestones than me, I’d bet almost anything he’s close to evolving his race.

  “I’m sorry to hear that, because only losing someone would do that.” He blinked a few times and I noticed a few tears trickling down his cheek. “I’m sorry for your loss, Starchild. Do you want to tell me about them?”

  A soft popping sound later and Jaegan’s staff snapped into existence leaning against the sofa, making me laugh. “I guess that’ll do. Grandpa, meet Jaegan “Wallbreaker” Toretto, the man who finally got me past my mental block and convinced me to use combat Spells again.”

  It took him a second, but Grandpa’s eyes widened as they flicked between me and the staff. “You mean…”

  Mercifully, Jaegan decided to speak before Grandpa could make things any more awkward. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Archibald, I’ve heard mixed things. Only good things from your grandson, which I’m sure are the most accurate of the bunch.” Jaegan’s wry laugh made me smile, even as my heart broke a bit.

  It still hurts to hear him talk, despite the month since it all happened. I just hope it gets easier at some point, like everyone says it will though I have my doubts.

  Grandpa’s gaze was locked onto the staff. “Did Starchild just call you Wallbreaker?” His eyes sparkled. “Of Dullahan fame?”

  “You’ve heard of me?” Jaegan sounded genuinely surprised. “I can’t say I expected that. How did that happen?”

  “One of Light’s least favorite priests was working for the wrong side in the conflict. He sent a prayer up asking for help and it got passed down to me as a favor to his family.” Grandpa grinned wolfishly. “I refused and he died, the usual when someone unkind to children tries to get me to help them.”

  “Ah, that makes sense, you see…”

  I let the pair of them talk for a while, just enjoying Grandpa’s presence until I noticed the barrier blocking Light and Dominus off from us was down and she didn’t look happy. She waved for me to join her and all it took was a nod and Grandpa let me go as he talked with his new bestie in spirit.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  Joining the deities, they raised the privacy barrier again and I bowed to Light. “Thank you for what you’ve done for my family, I’m eternally grateful even if I chose to serve your mother.” I straightened up and shot her a wink. “So, to what do I owe you both the pleasure of this meeting?”

  Dominus shot me a cheeky grin as she addressed her son and I. “Light here decided to make your grandfather his Chosen, despite having refrained from doing so for longer than a lot of the current countries on Genovia have existed. In doing so, he upset the balance among the pantheon. That, combined with your recent actions, allowed me to sneak in and steal back a small smidgeon of my power from Devourer.” She winked and a tiny swirl of void formed on the tip of one finger. “The cult your family has a feud with is going to be pissed, but I don’t think the lot of you are going to be mad about that.”

  “What Mom’s trying to say is that she stole control of the void back from Devourer and his secret cult,” he chuckled, “isn’t going to have access to their most powerful assets going forward because they used to store them in void pockets they can no longer access.” Light stepped in and beamed at me. “I have to thank you. You’ve done more for my mother in the last four months than me or my sister have in millenia, for which you have my eternal gratitude.” I waggled my eyebrows and his eyes sparkled, he appreciated me picking up on his joke. “Granting Archibald access to his Starchild was a negligible cost in the grand scheme of things, especially since it let me meet and thank you.”

  He looked at Dominus before taking a knee. “I’ll be leaving my Chosen in your care, Mother. Please don’t do anything Darkness and I wouldn’t.” He turned to look at me. “Enjoy your time with Archibald, he’s missed you fiercely.”

  In a totally unnecessary flash of light, Light disappeared and Dominus groaned. “He’s a good boy, but he’s a bit stuffier than necessary, no?” She winked before banishing the privacy screen. “Let’s join those two old war hounds, or they’ll eat all the time you have in here.” She looked down at her bare wrist and whistled. “Four whole levels at once? You spoil me! We can stay here as long as we want, as long as you stay asleep of course.” She took the opposite end of the couch and motioned for me to sit next to her, with Grandpa a cushion away where he was still jawing away with Jaegan.

  She frowned, shifting her lips to the side as she thought for a moment. “You know what? Let’s handle your level ups now, then deal with those two after? If I’m not careful, that old coot’ll change your mind and you’ll screw up the build we’ve been working on.”

  I opened my jaw to disagree before realizing she was entirely correct. I would absolutely take anything either Grandpa or Jaegan said as gospel, even if it wasn’t what I thought was best, and if Dominus wanted me to go through it on my own, I would do as she asked. Part of me was sad, Grandpa and Grandpa had worked with Mom for the first hundred years of her life on what her build should be, but I never got that training. My System Day coming nearly twenty years early on average had messed those plans up, along with my previous reluctance to use my Spellcasting talent.

  Settling in against her side, I pulled up the Level Up menu. As I did, she began to massage my scalp with her fingernails and it was all I could do not to settle in and just enjoy it…after I stopped doing just that for ten minutes.

  [Level Up - Step 1 of 2

  Stat Distribution:

  Might: 56

  Agility: 178

  Toughness: 140 (Currently 197.6 due to bond with Ylsa)

  Charm: 151

  Wits: 222

  Perception: 180

  Arcane: 350

  Divine: 350

  You have 120 gained points to spend.]

  Alright, so I have enough points to really define my build all at once here, I’ll have to be careful, or I’ll screw myself moving forward. Spending too many points on Stats I won’t really use could genuinely get me killed.

  “Dominus,” I muttered under my breath. “Do you have any advice for me on Stat distribution? If you don’t feel comfortable doing that, I know you had two previous [Suzerains], can you tell me about their builds?”

  She growled and I felt it where my head rested beneath her bosom. “Let’s just say they’re not the best examples I can give you, alright…” She hesitated before sighing. “I guess it’s not fair, asking you to redesign the wheel with your Class, it’s too complicated for that even with your [Wits].” She stopped scratching my head and pulled me in tighter to her body. “How about this? I’ll answer any three questions you have to ask about your level up starting now. Does that sound fair?”

  Seizing the opportunity, I nodded vigorously, making her laugh. “That sounds amazing.”

  She went back to scratching my head with one hand, but kept me close with the other. “First question?”

  I sat there as she massaged my scalp for a couple of minutes before replying. “What is the minimum level you recommend me to get each Stat to before reaching level forty, or arriving in Sunhome?”

  “Clever,” she chuckled. “In that case, I’d aim for around a hundred as your minimum Stat, but make sure your two or three main Stats are as high as possible. [Charm] should get some special attention, given what you’re going there for.” She leaned forward to check my face. “Are you happy with that answer?”

  “Yes. Now I know what I should be shooting for on a pure numbers basis.” I sighed and relaxed once more against her. “Second question time.” I rubbed my hands together greedily. “What would you do if you were in my place for a build?”