The weekend arrived with a heavy, expectant silence hanging over Bill's household. The living room furniture had been pushed against the walls, clearing a space in the center where Bill had arranged six black awakening stones in a precise hexagon.
He didn't need a Spirit Hall deacon to do this. With his rank and his knowledge, channeling the awakening energy was a trivial matter of physics.
"Alright," Bill said, dusting his hands. He looked at the triplets standing in a line. They wore the velvet crimson outfits Sarah had bought, looking like miniature nobility, but their eyes held the sharp focus of soldiers. "Who's first?"
"Me!" Finn stepped forward, his chest puffed out.
Bill smiled. "Step into the center, Finn. Close your eyes. Remember the breathing. Don't pull the power; welcome it."
Bill injected his own soul power into the stones. A golden light erupted, forming a pillar that enveloped the boy.
Finn gasped, his small body trembling. Speckles of golden light floated from his body, coalescing behind him. A low growl echoed in the room.
A phantom shape emerged. It was a hound, but unlike Sarah's sleek Faithful Hound, this one was bulkier, its fur bristling like wire, with faint sparks of electricity dancing around its paws.
"Open your hand," Bill commanded.
Finn obeyed. A crystal ball Bill held out sucked in the boy's energy. It glowed brilliantly, filling almost to the brim.
"Soul Power… Level 8," Bill announced, his voice thick with pride.
Sarah let out a squeal of delight, clapping her hands. Level 8 was phenomenal. Most commoners awakened with Level 1 or 2. Even nobles usually started at 6 or 7.
"Next," Bill said, his Analysis eye already dissecting Finn's spirit. Mutated Lightning Hound. High agility, high burst damage.
Jory went next. Same result. A hound, but his was darker, shadowy. Shadow Stalker Hound. Level 8.
Then Elara. Her hound was slimmer, with larger ears and a faint wind swirling around it. Gale-Ear Hound. Level 8.
Bill stood back as the kids celebrated, jumping up and down with their mother. He felt a strange mix of emotions. Three Level 8s. Three powerful beast spirits. It was a triumph of nurture over nature.
But not a single Scroll.
"No little scholars," Sarah whispered, appearing at his side. She slipped her hand into his. "Disappointed?"
"Hardly," Bill chuckled, watching his children summon their spirits to chase each other. "They are strong. They will be safe. That's all that matters."
"But…" Sarah stood on her tiptoes, her lips brushing his ear. "I know you wanted someone to carry on your legacy. Don't worry. We have money now. We have health." She gave him a look that was both mischievous and promising. "We can have a few more. We'll keep trying until we get a Scroll."
Bill laughed, the sound genuine and deep. "Is that a threat or a promise?"
"It's a plan," she winked.
—————
That evening, the celebration ended, and the real work began.
Bill took the triplets into the study. He locked the door.
"What you did today makes you special," Bill told them, his voice serious. "But talent is just a multiplier. Effort is the base number. If the base is zero, the result is zero."
He had them sit in a circle.
"The breathing you did before was for your body," Bill explained. "Now, I will teach you how to move the energy inside. This is the Void Vortex method. It is my secret. You do not teach this to your friends. You do not show this at school. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Daddy," they chorused, sensing the gravity of the moment.
This technique was a refined version of the Active Cycle he taught the Year 4s, but far more potent and dangerous. It involved spinning the soul power in the body in a counter-clockwise rotation to create a vacuum, then reversing it to compress. One slip could damage their young organs.
"I will guide you," Bill said.
He placed his hands on Finn and Jory's backs, while keeping a soul-link active with Elara. He acted as the governor of their engines.
For an hour, he sweated as much as they did, micro-managing the volatile Level 8 energy coursing through their meridians. When they finished, the kids were exhausted but glowing with a healthy, vibrant aura.
"Good," Bill exhaled, wiping his forehead. "We do this every night. No skipping."
—————
Two days later, the routine of the week had settled in, but the undercurrents of Bill's life remained turbulent.
He stopped by Jenny's house to drop off some paperwork from the academy—a convenient excuse. The kids were at school.
Jenny opened the door. She wasn't wearing her office clothes. She was wearing a loose house robe, and her hair was down.
"Bill," she smiled, pulling him inside before he could even say hello.
"Just dropping off the…"
She cut him off by backing him against the hallway wall. Her hands, emboldened by weeks of confidence and the steady climb to Rank 19, planted themselves on his chest.
"The paperwork can wait," she said, her voice husky.
She looked up at him. She wasn't the weeping widow anymore. She was a woman who had found her footing, and she knew exactly who had placed the stones for her to stand on.
"You've been spending so much time with the triplets," she murmured, her fingers tracing the line of his jaw. "I was starting to get jealous."
"I have responsibilities," Bill said, his throat dry.
"I know," she stepped closer, pressing her body against his. "And I'm one of them, aren't I?"
She didn't wait for an answer. She kissed him, slow and deliberate, while her hand moved to the belt of his trousers. There was no hesitation, no shame. She had cornered him, and frankly, Bill had no desire to escape.
He dropped the papers. He let her lead him to the bedroom, playing the victim to her aggression, allowing her to take control—a gift he could give her to balance the scales of power between them.
—————
Three weeks flew by.
The summer heat began to bake the streets of Silvershade. The Academy term was drawing to a close.
Bill felt the shift in his own body first. The constant feedback loop from his family, his students, and the printing press "consultation" finally pushed him over the edge.
[Rank 45 Reached.]
He was now a mid-stage Spirit Ancestor. His soul power was thick, almost liquid in its density.
Sarah, fueled by the best resources money could buy and Bill's nightly "dual cultivation" (both physical and spiritual), solidified her position at Rank 35.
But the biggest surprise was Jenny.
She hit Rank 20. The bottleneck.
She needed a ring.
"I'll take you," Bill said to her one afternoon at the academy. "This weekend. The kids can stay with Sarah—she thinks you're going to a Spirit Hall training seminar."
"A seminar?" Jenny raised an eyebrow.
"A very intense one," Bill smirked.
—————
They traveled to the Sunset Forest on a rented carriage, then hiked into the periphery.
It was strange to be here again. The last time Bill walked these woods, Kael was alive, and Bill had two eyes. The phantom pain in his socket throbbed, but he pushed it down. He was stronger now.
"Stay close," Bill said, his Celestial Scroll hovering beside him, the Analysis skill painting the forest in heat signatures and energy flows.
"What are we looking for?" Jenny asked. She held her Silver Needle in her hand, her eyes scanning the brush.
"Your needle needs piercing power," Bill said. "But it also needs a payload. A needle that just pokes is annoying. A needle that leaves something behind is deadly."
They searched for hours. Finally, Bill's eye caught a peculiar energy signature near a rocky outcrop.
"There."
He pointed to a plant growing in the cleft of a rock. It looked like a cactus, but its skin was iron-grey, and its spines glowed with a faint yellow light.
Iron-Spine Cactus. Approx. 700 years.
"Perfect," Bill whispered. "It shoots its spines when threatened. They explode on impact."
"How do I fight a plant?" Jenny asked, nervous.
"You don't fight it. You dismantle it."
Bill circled the plant. "I will draw its fire. When it opens its central flower to reload, you strike the pistil. That's the core."
Bill stepped out, releasing a burst of soul power. The cactus reacted instantly, firing a volley of spines that whistled through the air like arrows.
Bill didn't panic. He saw the trajectory before the spines even launched. He dodged with minimal movement, the needles embedding into the trees behind him with loud bangs.
"Now!" Bill shouted.
The cactus shuddered, the top opening to reveal a fleshy pink center.
Jenny didn't hesitate. She channeled her Rank 20 power into her needle.
"Go!"
She threw the needle. It flew true, guided by her newfound focus. It pierced the center of the flower.
The cactus shrieked—a high-pitched sound of escaping steam—and withered instantly. A yellow ring floated up.
"I did it," Jenny breathed.
"Absorb it," Bill commanded, standing guard. "I'll watch your back."
It took an hour. When Jenny opened her eyes, the yellow ring joined her white one.
"Second Skill," she said, standing up. "Explosive Tip. I can inject soul power into the target that detonates after a delay."
"A time bomb," Bill nodded approvingly. "Nasty."
Night had fallen. They set up a small camp in a clearing safe from beasts. The fire crackled, casting dancing shadows on the trees.
The hunt was over. The adrenaline was fading, replaced by a different kind of heat.
Jenny looked at Bill across the fire. The wilderness, the danger, the stars overhead—it stripped away the pretenses of civilization. She wasn't the clerk. He wasn't the teacher.
"We're alone," she said softly.
"We are," Bill agreed, watching the flames reflect in her eyes.
She stood up and walked around the fire. She sat in his lap, her arms wrapping around his neck.
"Thank you for the ring," she whispered. "Now… I want to give you something."
There, under the canopy of the ancient forest, with the sounds of spirit beasts calling in the distance, they didn't hold back. It was raw and primal, fueled by the thrill of survival and the secret life they had built together. The moss was their bed, the stars their witness.
As Bill held her, looking up at the vast, uncaring universe of the Douluo Dalu, he felt a supreme sense of control. He had conquered grief. He had conquered poverty. And now, he was conquering the path to power, dragging everyone he cared about up the mountain with him.
[Current Status: Bill][Rank: 45][Party Status: All Safe / All Stronger][Next Phase: The School Year Ends.]