Robert opened the door. A blur of green, beige, and brown fur jumped at him, knocking him to the ground. Something started to lick and slobber on his face. A big dog, or dog-like creature was expressing its joy at finally meeting him. It felt as if the critter and him were long-lost friends who finally reunited.

"Okay, okay," Robert gently pushed the "dog" off of him and sat. He retrieved a towel from his storage ring and dried his face. Always know where your towel is.

"He's so adorable, isn't he?" Amanda purred.

Robert took a good look at the dog. its fur seemed to be perfect jungle camouflage but he was pretty sure dogs didn't come in this color or with three colors. Wasn't three fur colors something exclusive to only female cats?

"What breed is he?"

"He is a Taulusian hound. You need to give him a name to finish the bond."

Robert tried to remember a name but his mind blanked out. Pet names? No. Pluto? No. He wanted a name with a "good boy" vibe. He tried to remember any name that wasn't already taken by someone he cared about. Or someone he wouldn't meet in the street and then explain why his dog had the same name. Only one came to mind. The image of a good boy was a picture at a certain supermarket, labeled employee of the month.

"His name is Freddy."

*

*

"Doctor, we think Mr. Vane's symptoms are returning. He's sneezing again."

*

*

Freddy, the Taulusian hound stood obediently next to Robert. Its master sat on the living room couch, across from the female who gave him treats.

"Not every creature on the other side of a rift is hostile," Amanda said. "Taulusian hounds were found in a distant passage and a small group was captured and brought back to Earth. They are bred and sold to select collectors, you won't believe how long is the waitlist."

It only made things worse because he knew she had paid to skip the wait.

"They can bind to an Archhuman by smell and will remain loyal to death. Their intelligence is greater than a chimp and they learn really fast. They live as long as their bonded human."

"Can they use essence?"

"No. They are ordinary critters. Otherwise, they'd be considered monsters."

"I believe Freddy was bound to me before we even got here."

"Yes. I used the clothes you discarded the day we went shopping."

Robert pinched the bridge of his nose. "Amanda, I'm serious. No more gifts. Tell you what. Forget that. You can gift me anything you want, so long your father explicitly approves. You need to get his signature on the gift's receipt."

She made a shocked face. Her father was extremely busy and... running any gifts past him would be catastrophic. But she needed to respect Robert's boundaries. The teen magazine she read said so.

"Okay," she relented. Now, how to get her father to approve and sign something without him knowing he approved and signed something?

*

*

Later that afternoon, Robert and Amanda walked into the passage facility through the front door, just like anyone else. Their interactions with Samson could be explained away to the general public as being part of the privileges they earned after the deviant squid incident. While some individuals they had direct contact with knew more, it was in everyone's best interest to keep the information contained.

The delvers who escorted them back yesterday, for example, would have to end their careers because no passage would accept them, even those unaffiliated with Samson.

The two went to the LFG area, with Robert in the lead. It was a misdirection tactic because he was more famous than her. If she was the one leading, people might rub their two brain cells together.

"Hey!" Chris shouted. "Over here!"

"Hey!" Robert responded as they shook hands. "Ready to delve?"

"Sure thing!"

"Looking hot in those leathers, Robbie!" Karla teased.

Robert took a step to the side. "Guys, this is Amanda, a Nature Arch. Amanda, these are Chris, Earth; Liz, Light; Xiao, Fire; and Karla, Air."

"It is a pleasure to meet you guys formally," Amanda beamed. "I am sorry for delaying this, we were under duress."

"We should talk more about that later, inside the passage."

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Sure, let's go," Chris said. "Does anyone have anything they need to do before going in? no? Excellent."

The six identified themselves at the front desk and were promptly cleared to go down the tunnel.

*

*

The first four groups of Mollusks didn't have a chance. Now that his Essence pool was bigger, Robert could maintain lesser haste on the physical combatants for longer. Amanda used her powers to entangle the Mollusks with vines, and roots, and even do some harm by making the roots grow thorns if time allowed.

"Can we do another group?" Chris asked. He received unanimous approval as the others nodded. "Rob, do you want to fight this time?"

"Sure."

"Okay. Xiao, you go caster in the next group, Rob takes your spot. Amanda, great timing on the entangles. Liz, remain mobile in case Rob needs support."

Xiao just nodded, Amanda grinned, and Liz rolled her eyes.

"Chris, seriously? Robert can solo a party of Mollusks. Especially if his new sword is the one I believe it is."

Chris took a good look at Robert's sheathed blade. The pommel had the manufacturer's logo engraved on the bottom. Liz was their blade expert. Chris made eye contact with Robert, the question implicit.

"Liz, thanks for the vote of confidence but I'll be more comfortable with everyone assisting me."

Karla chortled. "Assisting him, he said. Where is the meek and timid healer we all know and love?"

"He got black leather armor and a fancy blade," Robert replied in kind. Now he's sort of--"

"An edge lord," Karla laughed then stopped the moment she saw her fellow females were unamused. "Okay, geez."

They moved on, searching for a mollusk group.

*

*

Robert gave his sword some test twirls, rotating it with his wrist. The blade whistled as it cut the air. He glanced at the rest of the party. Liz nodded, Amanda smiled, Chris tapped the edge of his helmet with his arming sword, and Karla poked her tongue out. Xiao returned a thumbs up.

The Mollusk party broke past the bushes. Three slugs, armed with their spears. Robert dashed, empowered by his lesser haste, and slashed in a broad arc. Two slugs lost their hands. The third stabbed at him from a blind spot. Robert dodged as he foresaw the attack with prescience.

"Left," he shouted. Chris angled his shield and Amanda caused some vines to grow explosively. The two snails rolling to attack from the side were thus blocked.

Liz dashed and struck with precision, her saber burying to the hilt in the snail's exposed mouth and then sliding out graciously, aided by the creature's rotation. The other snail ate a spear of fire thrown by Xiao. Stuck as it was on Amanda's vines, it was an easy target.

Robert spun and slashed on a wide arc with his sword. It sliced open a big gash in the third snail's shoulder, crippling that arm as it lost hydraulic pressure. At the same time, three arrows found their new home on its chest.

Robert used no more fancy moves to dispatch the disarmed snails. The sword was worth every penny of the half million he paid on it. His old cheap sword felt like a round metal pipe now.

He used life sense at the maximum range and felt no other creatures at one star and above.

"Clear," he announced.

"Clear," Karla confirmed.

"Clear," Amanda said just to keep from being left behind.

"Loot and camp, guys," Chris commanded. "We did great for six hours of hunting."

Robert took body bags from his backpack of holding and stored the slug corpses. Liz approached.

"Hey, do you wanna spar?" She proposed.

"Sure. I've been practicing and I'm eager to get your opinion."

"Okay," she concluded in her usual detached way.

*

*

They camped in a clearing half a mile away from the site of the last fight. While Chris kept guard and Amanda, Xiao, and Karla cooked a stew, Robert and Liz smoothened a circle and cut the undergrowth.

With no vegetation to ruin their footwork, they sparred. Amanda had gladly shaped two branches into training swords for them. Liz was still the more experienced combatant but Robert closed the gap considerably. He had three years of training alone in the liminal void.

And that meant he had three years of training without a peer or an instructor to correct his little mistakes before they turned into vices.

"No, that stance is wrong. Placing your back foot that far behind will ruin your balance. Don't move. Here," Liz shoved at his shoulder. Robert spun and fell like a sack of rotten potatoes. Liz offered a hand to help him get on his feet. "You have obviously practiced a lot but you still have all the usual rookie errors. Did anyone tutor you?"

"Other than you? No. I just trained on my own." For three years in the liminal void.

"That explains it. Stand by my side. Try to imitate my moves."

They gave up and changed their sparring session into a lesson on basic stances and correct positioning. Robert knew all the guards and basic attacks, but most of them had some basic mistakes that would vanish on the second lesson had he attended a proper class.

They split the watch into five shifts, each of them with Robert plus one.

*

*

"Man, it's too bad our break is over," Xiao complained as they ate breakfast.

"And you still haven't written your essay for the field combat credits," Chris said. It was not a question and it was spot on, considering how Xiao reacted with guilt.

"You attend the District Twenty-four Academy, right?" Amanda asked.

"We all do, what about you?" Karla inquired.

"Imperial," Amanda replied.

"Damn, we have a princess-- I mean, another princess in our party," Karla said as she stole a glance at Liz and smirked.

"What about you, Rob?" Chris asked.

Liz lifted her eyes slightly to better watch him.

"I got a scholarship. Starting next week, I will attend Imperial too."

"Whoa!" Karla squealed! "That's huge!"

Amanda couldn't keep the pride from creeping up across her face. Liz glanced between the two.

"I'm happy for you, man!" Chris beamed.

"Who's your sponsor?" Liz asked. "Is it Samson?"

"Yes," Robert shared, unaware of how Amanda reacted. "I work for them. Security forces."

"Hey, remember your friends when you reach the top of the arcology," Karla teased.

Robert choked on a piece of bread. Weeks ago, they seemed like very wealthy kids, and now they looked up to him? He felt a surge of impostor syndrome.

But all he had, he earned it. Even the gifts Amanda showered on him. He gained her trust, right?

"How old are you, Robbie?" Karla asked. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

He stared at the nosy brunette, drawing the silence. "Thirty-one and not right now."

He kept eye contact longer than necessary, daring her to follow up. He wasn't the only one staring at her.

"Okay, okay," Karla raised her hands in surrender. She looked somewhere past Robert and smirked.

He glanced behind him and only saw Liz and Amanda busying themselves with their breakfast. Why did they sit like that instead of in a circle?

*

*

Each one of them made fourteen hundred dollars after taxes. Chris and the gang departed with big smiles on their faces. Robert made another forty thousand on top of that because delving with Amanda counted as paid overtime.

Robert and Amanda left a little after the others. They walked for a while, enjoying the morning sun.

"I can't believe how oblivious you are!" Amanda complained.

"Whoa! Where did that come from?"

"That girl, Karla, she was flirting with you!"

"Was not," Richard moved a bit away from her.

"She was!" Amanda pressed, closing the gap. "I can't believe you didn't notice."

Amanda's hunch was right but her accuracy was horrible. She got too distracted by the obvious and missed the big picture.

"Did not," his reply was mechanical. Robert wanted to end the conversation but knew she wouldn't let it go until she reached the end of her script.

"Well, she was," Amanda repeated herself.

Seeing it would just go in circles, Robert changed the focus of his defense."Wait, was I flirting back?"

"I don't think so."

"Did you prefer if I was a jerk to Karla?"

"No, that's not--"

"Then, I don't see the problem."

"It's against company rules to flirt on the job!" She protested.

"Which we determined I wasn't doing anyway."

"Well, I don't like it!"

"Your preferences were duly noted, Miss."

"What? Again with the—"

"Good morning," Robert greeted the two uniformed Samson employees coming their way.