Flynn helped them get their official Hunter licenses, which were actually laminated cards… Thomas forgot that this world actually had access to advanced materials sometimes. It was so weird to see people walking around with medieval weapons and rubber soled shoes. He wondered if the lack of guns wasn't due to the lack of an ability to make them, but due to the fact that they didn't really have a use for them, like bows. Once an Essence Cultivator reached the peak of Core Strengthening, their Essence armor should be able to stop a bullet… right? How much force was in a bullet? Thomas shook his head, again feeling that small ache where a search engine used to be.

"There, you're all set." Flynn grinned as he handed them their licenses. "Missions are posted on that wall, and you can talk to one of the attendants if you want more details."

Thomas and Ursa nodded, thanking him, before turning towards the mission board. "So, what do you think we should go for first? Something easy? Something hard? Something in the middle?"

Ursa shrugged. "Whatever you want. You know this isn't my idea, I'm just here to help you stay safe."

"So… something easy?" Thomas grinned. "If you want me to be safe, that is."

Ursa rolled his eyes. "That would be great if I wasn't sure that you could turn a one star mission to hunt a newborn rabbit into some sort of death-defying ordeal because somehow that rabbit was related to the freaking forest lord."

Thomas blinked. "That… does sound like something that would happen to me." He sighed, before shrugging. "Fuck it, let's see what they have, eh?" He walked over to the board, checking out the missions available for the middle stages of Core Strengthening. Since the point of this was to get cores for him to drain for points, Thomas was looking more for quantity than quality. He'd rather breeze through a couple missions to take down some fifth stage Core Strengthening Rune Beasts that would get him about five hundred points each than struggle with a single ninth stage Core Strengthening Rune Beast that would only get him nine hundred.

Thomas looked over the missions, getting a sense of what he could expect. A lot of them were bounties for materials, bones for making weapons, hides for making armor, organs for alchemy, and cores for cultivation. There was even a standing bounty that would pay one copper per pound of meat, times the stage. Thomas briefly wondered if a higher cultivation would actually make meat taste better, or if it was just a status thing. There were also a lot of requests from farmers asking for someone to take care of the Rune Beasts preying on their herds or ruining their crops, though they didn't pay very well. Probably because they were farmers.

Thomas considered the farmer missions for a bit. Should he just take care of these? Sure, they didn't pay much, but he wasn't really here for the money, and why not do a good deed while he was at it? Plus, there was a sizable amount of these types of missions, all in easy to reach areas, which meant he could take care of a bunch of them in practically no time at all! It was perfect!

Thomas was hoping there wasn't a limit on the amount of missions you could take at once, when a girl standing beside him sighed loudly and looked over at him. "Slim pickings, huh? These one star missions don't pay for shit and anything that does pay well is immediately bumped up to two stars, cause we can't have the rookies making money, now can we?" She griped bitterly.

Thomas blinked, looking over his shoulder, then back at her. Was- was she talking to him? Did she think she knew him? "Uh… yeah? I guess? But, I mean, it's not that bad, is it? These are all standing missions with no rating, for resources, so if you do one of these bounties, you don't just get the money from completing it, but also the money from whatever you can sell the Rune Beast's materials for. Even this bounty to kill a stage one Core Strengthening goat could get you like fifty copper from just the meat alone, plus the ten, which gets you sixty. Then you could probably get another twenty for the bones and hide, depending on the condition it's in once you're done, but you could at least get ten. And then another ten for the organs and ten for the core, and that's a whole silver right there. You can live for a good month off a silver."

The girl snorted. "More like a week. Commoners can get by spending the bare minimum, but we Hunters have expenses!"

Thomas shrugged. "Sure, a week, but with the amount of these kinds of missions, you can do one a day easy, which means you're still putting away six silver a week in savings, which you can use to improve yourself, which will improve your rating, which will let you make more money, which will let you improve yourself more, and… well, you get the picture."

The girl shook her head. "No, cause I gotta split that silver between my entire team of four, cause hunting Rune Beasts on your own is a short road to an early grave, but most of my team can't hunt every day because they have other obligations cause most one star Hunters don't make it their full time gig, only hunting on weekends or shit for some extra cash, which means I'm only making fiftyish copper a week from hunting, and I gotta make up the rest as a freaking server in a rundown Hunter bar the rest of the week! And I probably already could raise my damn rank, but it costs ten damn silver for the damn retest, which I can't get cause I'm barely making enough to get by!" She ended in a huff, before flushing as she took in Thomas's taken aback look. "Sorry, just… I-I get a little frustrated sometimes."

"No worries." Thomas replied slowly. "That does sound a bit… rough."

She gave him a twisted smile. "Yeah… I'm Elena, by the way." She introduced herself, sticking out her hand.

"Thomas." He smiled back, giving her hand a firm shake. "I take it you've been a Hunter for a while then?"

Elena shrugged. "Eh, a few months. Ever since I hit Core Strengthening. Which yes, I know this'll all get better once I raise my cultivation a bit and I can start hunting stronger Rune Beasts, but it doesn't change the frustration that it isn't better now." She added with a grumble. "Plus I'm gonna need to find a new team, cause my current one is just fine where they're at." She spat bitterly.

Thomas paused. Should he? If she was only at the first stage of Core Strengthening, she wouldn't be that much help, but… with Ursa and Tiffany around, he didn't really need more help, did he? He could help her out a little, right? Plus she was kinda cute… *You are not bringing that girl along just because she's cute!* Victoria interjected firmly, shutting down that line of thought.

*Hey, you don't get a say in this! You have a cute girl to warm your bed, I don't!* Thomas protested, half-jokingly. He wasn't going to lie and say that finding someone wouldn't be nice, cause obviously, but he wasn't specifically pursuing something like that at the moment. Mostly because he wasn't really sure how to pursue something like that… his relationships with Jessica and Beatrice just kinda happened, through no fault of his own. At least, not anything he could actually point to and say 'oh, that's why she liked me'. *Besides, this is more about the fact that she could use some help, and I have the ability to do so, so why not?*

*If you want to help her, just give her the ten fucking silver she needs to get retested!* Victoria protested.

Thomas blinked. *That could work, too…*

*Yeah, and this way you aren't in the awkward situation where the girl is dependent on you, making it so she doesn't feel comfortable telling you no.* Victoria added.

Thomas's expression twisted. He'd gotten glimpses of Duke Duhallis using exactly that kind of situation to manipulate girls into doing what he wanted when he'd been messing around in Foratuna's mind. Definitely something he wanted to stay away from. *You're right, you're right.* He sighed, before pausing as he realized something. *Hey, do you think our minds work differently in different bodies, or is it just the outside perspective?* Thomas hadn't even thought to consider how helping Elena might put her in an awkward situation, yet Victoria had picked up on it almost instantly.

*Well… our brains are wired differently, so we probably think differently? But the outside perspective probably helps too…* Victoria replied, frowning slightly.

Thomas shrugged. *Eh. Doesn't really matter, does it? That isn't something I'd be comfortable messing with anyway. Don't want to cross the wrong wire and turn myself into a psychopath.*

Victoria rolled her eyes. *It doesn't matter now, but can you say we won't continue to make new bodies, which will inevitably take on new forms, which will possibly think much differently than we do? What if one of them does turn out to be a psychopath? The amount of damage we could do if we were truly looking to hurt people…*

Thomas frowned. *Wouldn't they still be us though? At their core? Even if the thought processes change, at our core we're still the same, right? At least, that's how I feel…*

*I honestly don't know, which is why I think we need to test it out.* Victoria replied. *We need to make sure any potential instability is accounted for before we do anything rash.*

*Yeah, we totally think differently… I never really considered the consequences of the system, I just put it out there cause I thought it'd be neat.* Thomas sighed.

*And look where that got us.* Victoria snorted.

*To be fair, I don't think I could have predicted literal gods showing up and casting down judgment.* Thomas pointed out.

*No, but we could have predicted that the system would overturn any previous form of government as people got powerful enough to ignore laws. Especially when we got powerful enough to ignore laws.* Victoria retorted.

Thomas paused. *Okay, point. Less acting, more thinking.*

*I don't think it's a problem of a lack of thought, but that you focus more on the benefits than the problems.* Victoria replied. *The system was beneficial enough that it should be spread, you just forgot to compensate for the problems with spreading it until you were forced to. Every action has consequences and we need to be as aware of those consequences as we can before we act.*

Thomas nodded. That pretty much clinched it, didn't it? Victoria was simply more conscientious than he was. Which seemed weird, because he'd never felt like he and Victoria were any different, at least not truly. They were both… him. Or her. Or it. Or whatever you wanted to call the consciousness which bridged the gap between the two, the one that existed in the points. But Victoria was right, they should probably take the time to figure out which part was the core and which part was the… expression.

Thomas came back to himself, the entire exchange between him and Victoria only taking a few seconds, partially because of their enhanced mental abilities and partially because they knew what the other was thinking before they even expressed it, condensing complicated thoughts into short bursts. "Uh, this- forgive me if I'm overstepping, but if you need money to pay for the retest, I could lend you ten silver." Thomas offered.

Elena's eyes widened. "You- you would do that for me?"

Thomas shrugged. "Sure, why not? I have the money, I don't particularly need the money, so why not help someone out? If you know anyone else in a similar position… which I assume you don't, cause if you did, you'd just be teaming up with them and hunting more often, which would solve your issues without the help…" Elena flushed at that comment. She did know a few others in positions similar to hers. Specifically, some of her fellow servers. But they always had different shifts, so they were never free to hunt together… which suddenly felt like a stupid excuse, since if they just quit and started hunting together, they wouldn't need to worry about shifts, because hunting could more than cover their expenses. She felt like an idiot for not considering it earlier. "But, you know, if you do know anyone, I can spare like… fifty silver?" Albert had given him some gold to live on, but he didn't want to seem too rich. Plus, with points, expenses weren't really an issue.

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"I- I think I know some people who might be willing to take you up on that offer." Elena muttered in embarrassment, before hesitating. "But… what- what if we don't manage to raise our ratings?" She was fairly confident she could do it, but she didn't want to be on hook for anything if she couldn't. She narrowed her eyes slightly. If this was some sort of trap…

Thomas shrugged. "Eh? I mean, you'll be right back to where you started, so I guess you'll just have to wait until your cultivation increases and you can start making money to pay me back. As I said, I don't particularly need the money, so you can pay me back whenever, or if not, pass it on to help give someone else a chance. Hell, I'd actually prefer you help someone than get any money back. Start a cycle, make the world a slightly better place, you know?"

Elena blinked at him, opened her mouth, before snapping it shut with a click. He just wanted her to… pass it forward? That's all? Why- why would he be so generous? She couldn't shake the suspicion that he wanted something, but she couldn't see any trick or trap in his offer. He wasn't asking her to sign a contract or anything, so even if she just ran with the money, it'd be his word against hers. He could claim she'd taken ten silver from him already and it'd be the same situation! Of course, someone with a lie detection Rune would be able to find the truth, but in that case, she could also make it clear that he'd given her the money free and clear, so again, he wouldn't be able to make her do anything using it. Of course, if he had this much money to spare, he was probably pretty powerful… Maybe it was all a ploy to get her somewhere private so he could take advantage of her?

Those thoughts froze as Thomas pulled out ten silver and handed it over to her. "There you go. If you find anyone else who needs the help, I'll be around, so don't be afraid to ask." He commented before turning back to the mission board and taking down five that were all close together, giving a stunned Elena a small wave as he headed towards one of the attendants to make sure it was okay that he took them all.

Elena looked down at the pile of silver in her hands, not quite believing what had just happened. He'd just- He'd just given her the money and left! She turned watch numbly as he talked with an attendant, who gave him a weird look before nodding, after which he grabbed who she assumed was his partner and left. Unless there was some really elaborate ruse going on, the man was just… honest. And kind. Elena gripped the silver in her hand tightly. If this didn't turn around and bite her in the ass somehow, she swore she'd find a way to pay him back somehow. Not with money, which he obviously didn't care about, but somehow.

*

"Are we seriously doing this?" Tiffany asked petulantly.

Thomas sighed. "Yes, we're doing this."

"You actually became a Hunter just to go out and kill one star shit-tier Rune Beasts? Seriously?!?" Tiffany asked again, a slight sneer to her tone.

Thomas shook his head. "Does that mean they aren't still an issue? Sure, I could go hunt down a three star peak of Core Strengthening Rune Beast, but those Rune Beasts are all deep in the forest. People want them dead because they have a use for them, not because they're causing problems. These Rune Beasts may not be powerful, but they are causing problems. I'd rather fix problems than kill Rune Beasts."

Tiffany snorted. "Oh great, you've developed a hero complex. Feeling guilty about betraying your nation or something?"

Thomas shot her a scowl. "I do not have a hero complex. I'm simply aware of my capabilities and willing to do what I am able to help when I can. Heroes are self-sacrificing. I'm simply… charitable."

Tiffany rolled her eyes. "Whatever you want to tell yourself." She turned to Ursa. "Don't tell me you're comfortable slumming it like this."

Ursa grunted. "What's our first task?" He asked Thomas, ignoring Tiffany.

Thomas grinned slightly, pulling out the bounty and looking it over. "A fox, about stage five, Qi Beast. It's apparently been terrorizing the local farms, killing livestock. You know, like a fox."

Ursa scowled. "Ugh, foxes are a pain. All their Runes are built for trickery and deceit. Be prepared to deal with tricks, traps, and illusions."

"I'm aware." Thomas shook his head. "I got nine points on my knowledge test, unlike some people." Ursa's scowl deepened as he devolved into some incoherent grumbling, though Thomas distinctly heard 'stupid test' mentioned quite a few times, which made him smile. He sighed slightly as he realized that 'stupid test' was the only reason he and Ursa were on the same level. Otherwise he'd only be a two star. Absently, Thomas wondered if he should spend the money to retest. Or if it was possible to use those formations for training… Suddenly the ten silver cost to retest made sense. Without it, Thomas could see people going in for the test every day, just for training. Even for ten silver, it might just be worth it… Thomas would have to consider that once he got back.

The area the fox was active in was a few miles out of town, but once the three of them decided to get serious about traveling, that distance became nothing. Much like when he and Jessica ran back from Washington, Cultivators had enough physical power to move at speeds that would make modern transportation… not irrelevant, but unnecessary beyond convenience. A light jog got them into the area in about five minutes. *The five minute mile can suck my dick.* Thomas chuckled to himself as they arrived, surveying the stretch of farmland and the distant forest where their prey most likely made its home. Thomas paused for a moment as he looked over the rather large area they'd need to search to find the fox. "Huh… so, do either of you have tracking skills?" Trying to track down a Qi Beast in this large an area without any skills would be… challenging.

Tiffany frowned. "I have one, but it requires me to be familiar with the target. More of a mark, really."

Thomas glanced hopefully at Ursa, but he just shook his head. "My Qi skills are stealth focused, not tracking focused."

Thomas sighed. "Damn." Though, now that he thought about it, they weren't without any advantages. Thomas still had his point visions, which would let him pick up any concentration of energy within a ninety meter radius. He could also use his skills from his Study Rune to make a bunch of eyes to go out and search… or at least a couple. He wasn't confident in controlling too many at once, even though it would probably take less concentration than daggers. If only he could use more points. With the amount he had stored, he could probably cover this entire area ten times over. But no, he was forced to store the points elsewhere- Thomas paused. "I'm just not very bright sometimes, am I?" He muttered, designating an area on the edge of his point vision as a point storage location and transferring the points over, before doing it again, and again, until- "Okay, I found it." He announced. "Probably. I at least found a fifth stage Qi Beast." Man, if he could bring points into the tests… Thomas shook his head. That would defeat the point, now wouldn't it?

The other two turned, blinking at him. "You- how?!?" Tiffany asked incredulously.

"It's a point thing. Don't worry about it." Thomas waved dismissively.

"Then why did you ask if we had tracking skills?" Ursa asked with a frown.

"Uh… I forgot it was an option?" Thomas shrugged. "I'm not exactly an expert with this shit, you know? I'm just as new to points as I am to cultivation, and I don't have anyone who can actually teach me about it either."

Ursa grunted. "Let's go then."

"Wait, I have questions!" Tiffany interjected. "How can these points help you track down a damn fox?!?"

"I can use my points to sense energy, like Qi, so I just spread some points around out there looking for a dense concentration of Qi and boom." Thomas explained.

Tiffany blinked, before narrowing her eyes. "So that's how you keep finding me."

Thomas grinned. "Exactly."

"So what else can you do with these points?" Tiffany asked, narrowing her eyes. She'd been suspecting Victoria had more capabilities beyond what her little 'system' suggested. It was obvious they made her stronger, because even without any cultivation, 'Thomas' had capabilities approaching the peak of Core Strengthening, and her ability to detect her presence was suspicious. Plus, she could clearly drain others' cultivation somehow. And then there was this second body… Tiffany paused. On second thought, it was absolutely clear Victoria could do more with the points than she let on, it was just somewhat confusing as to why she didn't seem to be trying to hide it. She just did whatever she wanted and damned the consequences. Wasn't she worried she'd tip her hand too far and force the Hidden Blades to act against her? Talent was one thing, but the things she was capable of… if she was in the Unification realm, it might make sense, but barely stepping into Core Strengthening? Tiffany shook her head. She was just lucky she'd been found by Jocelyn, rather than any of the other Elders. Jocelyn believed in turning dangerous individuals into useful tools. Unless Victoria managed to prove herself… unmalleable, she'd be safe.

Thomas shrugged. "Lots, but is this really the time to talk about it? Come on, we have a fox to kill."

*

Thomas examined the fox sleeping in its den through an eye formed of points, studying it for a moment as he considered their next move. Of course, the smart move would be to attack while the fox was sleeping, before it was even aware they were there. Quick and easy. However… Thomas thought back to his original reason for becoming a Hunter. He wanted to study the abilities of powerful Rune Beasts, see how their Runes worked, how they affected them. Rune Beast cultivation was slower than human cultivation, but it did have some benefits to it. Unlike humans, who had to learn how to manipulate their skills, Rune Beast's skills were sort of built into their Runes. They obviously still had the basic functions available to them, so they could still create Spirit threads and Essence armor, but they could also simply channel their energy through their Rune to create an effect. For example, Ursa could channel Spirit through one of his Runes and create Spirit claws, which Thomas found fascinating. The Spirit claws were some kind of dense construct that Thomas didn't even think Spirit should be capable of. All this to say, Thomas was interested in studying what the fox was capable of. He couldn't replicate any of Ursa's abilities, but maybe on a weaker Rune Beast, he'd have some insight?

"You want to fight the fox." Ursa stated blandly.

"Yeah? Is that an issue?" Thomas replied.

"You don't fight a fox. You either kill it, or it runs away." Ursa shook his head.

"I feel like that perspective is a bit warped by the fact that you were a big, scary bear." Thomas commented. "Foxes do run, but only when they face an uncertain foe. They're risk averse, not pacifists. If they see something they're pretty sure they can kill, they can be quite vicious."

Ursa frowned. "I fail to see your point. That fox wouldn't stand a chance against us."

"Sure, but it doesn't know that, now does it?" Thomas grinned. "If I pretend to be weak, I can lure it out and get it to attack."

Ursa gave Thomas a skeptical look. "I suppose, but I fail to see the point. Are you fighting to challenge yourself? Because then the moment you use your full strength, the fox will run, which defeats the purpose. Or are you doing it to make the fox vulnerable? Because I believe it is already quite vulnerable."

"I just want to see its skills in action." Thomas shrugged. "The way Rune Beasts make use of their Runes is fascinating, isn't it? It's obviously still Qi or Spirit, but transformed in some way that makes it more."

Ursa raised an eyebrow at him. "I wouldn't say more. The energy is bound to a function. Within that function, it is powerful, but it has no use outside it, meaning it lacks versatility."

"Still, it's interesting." Thomas insisted. "It suggests that energy is capable of more than we use it for. Spirit could be used to create detailed structures, Qi could be used to meld with elements, Essence… Well, we kinda got Essence. Makes your body stronger, lets you do things like turn your fist into iron, etc. The Rune Beasts can just do it on a deeper level, so that their hide actually becomes iron… I'm just saying that the way Rune Beasts use their Runes could offer insight into a deeper nature of how energy works."

Tiffany gave him a wide eyed look. "Essence lets you do what now?"

Thomas blinked, before holding up his fist as it took on a metallic sheen. "This?"

Tiffany blinked at his fist. "You just- how did-"

"You… didn't know you could do this?" Thomas asked hesitantly.

"No! Where did you learn how to do it?!?" Tiffany asked incredulously.

"Shush!" Ursa hissed. "Don't disturb the fox!"

"Dude, we're like a hundred meters away, we're fine." Thomas rolled his eyes, quickly checking his Spirit eye to make sure that yes, the fox was still sleeping.

"Then answer the damn question!" Tiffany growled.

Thomas shrugged. "I learned it from Horace. I thought you'd be aware of it too, since, you know, you're from a sect."

Tiffany shook her head. "We don't- we can help each other figure out different uses for energy, but copying a Rune given skill?!? That's- that's insane!"

"It's just intent." Thomas frowned. "Well, I shouldn't say just… apparently getting your energy to accept a new intent is pretty difficult, but it is possible."

Tiffany frowned, considering this new information. If it was true… she glanced at Victoria's hand. Obviously it was true. She- she needed to talk with Jocelyn. No, she needed to interrogate Horace! Tiffany paused. On second thought, she wasn't going to interrogate the Unification realm Cultivator… but she was going to talk to Jocelyn.

"Are we killing this fox or not?" Ursa growled, interrupting Tiffany's thoughts.

"We are. After I see what it can do." Thomas replied.

"Whatever, let's just do it." Ursa grumbled.

"Right, fine, let's go." Thomas agreed. "You guys stay back while I bait it." Ursa let out a weary sigh. This was going to be a long day.