Surprisingly, Alex had come a long way with maps. It had been something that he had asked Krizzik personally for. It was of the utmost importance and Alex couldn’t leave it off for another second.

He could see it in the distance, he scouted out the surroundings for any threats. When he saw none, he advanced. It was getting so close, so very close.

His precious.

He made his way into the mess hall, grabbed a tray, and nearly knocked a Saxan warrior in his hustle to be next in line. Alex could feel his skin crawl as he had to wait patiently behind nearly twenty soldiers. He started pacing in place to give his body something to do until it was his turn.

Am I an addict? I feel like these are mannerisms for addicts. Can you even be addicted to food? Probably, if it’s as good as the goop is

After several grueling minutes, it was finally his turn. He stepped up, barely able to contain his glee. He held out his tray and…something else was placed on it. No longer was it the thick paste he had grown to love. Now, a slimy green gelatin type food was there.

“What happened to the other stuff? The goop?” Alex cursed himself for not ever finding out what the name of it was.

“We ran out. He took the last helping of the day,” he said pointing the warrior that had been standing directly in front of Alex.

Alex quickly glared at the Saxan punk, before turning back to the lunch worker.

“Surely you’re making more though, right? There has to be more,” he said frantically.

“No I already said. That was the last of it.”

“Will you have more tomorrow?”

“We have run out, we will get another shipment within the next week. Now take your food and move along, you’re holding up the line.”

Alex looked back and saw the angry Saxans boring holes into him with their eyes. He wasn’t sure, but they seemed more angry now than when he had been branded a heretic.

That can’t be right. They probably think that I took the last of the goop.

He stepped forward, not wanting to incur more wrath than he already had. Just another thing to add to the list of grievances. It was probably safe to say, he wouldn’t ever return to Saxar IV ever again.

He ate his food with sadness evident on his face the entire time. He actually enjoyed the meal, but it wasn’t the same. He had lived for months, dreaming of this exact moment, and he had missed it by moments. There would be a shipment in a week, but Alex was leaving for Tristix in the morning.

He had found himself wondering if there were a higher power in the universe many times in his life. Now, he wasn’t sure he wanted to meet it. It clearly didn’t like Alex and wanted him to suffer every moment of his life. He didn’t even feel like he was that bad of a guy. Aside from the people he killed in self defense. And the ones he just flat out killed. And the animals he farmed for experience. Ok, maybe he wasn’t a great guy. He still didn’t feel like he deserved all of this punishment. He just hoped it was banking him some favor or something. Maybe he was suffering all the bad stuff, so he could experience some of the good stuff later. That would be a nice change of pace.

He spent the rest his day gathering the various supplies that Krizzik had outlined for him. He wasn’t even sure what half of the items were. Scratch that. He knew what precisely one item was used for. There was a slightly more portable version of his water container. It expanded to a much smaller size, but this one could fit in a pants pocket. He didn’t really have pockets, so he just kind of absorbed it into his suit and let it rest against his body.

He would need to talk to Krizzik to get a detailed description of what each item did, so when the time arose, he would be able to actually use them for their dedicated purpose. He didn’t want to look like a caveman that had just found fire. Plus, he would need every advantage he could get in his heavily skewed battles to come.

Still miffed that they’re sending me alone.

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Joorir had made impressive strides in the last few months. She had been cleared for light duty, which included patrolling the city and quick excursions outside the city limits. She was impressed with herself. Her whole life, she hadn’t ever considered herself resilient, but now, she felt like she could take on anything. If she kept up at the pace she was going now, she would be cleared for full duty in no time.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

She hadn’t told her family about her breakdown. They were already worried enough, if they knew about this, they would be begging her to come home. She was worried if they started begging, she wouldn’t be able to resist.

She needed to see this through.

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The sun was barely peeking above the small ridge in the distance when Alex was starting to set out. They were camped out in the outskirts of the city, so it wouldn’t take long for him to make it there, but he wanted to get a better lay of the land when there would be minimal movement, but enough light for him to see.

He had his map, but it just wasn’t the same thing as seeing it with his eyes. He was always more of a hands on learner. He needed tangible things to help him understand. Technically a map was tangible, but it seemed too abstract in practice. If he could put landmarks to the names in the maps, it would make his own navigation much better. In a pinch, it could mean the difference between life and death.

He reached the top of a crest and pulled what essentially were binoculars provided by the Saxans. It was two blue gems connected by a thin wire that you placed on the bridge of your nose. It was more geared towards their physiology so it felt a little awkward, but it still did its job. He could only use one lens at a time though so he was currently performing a record time wink.

He panned across the cityscape, slowing down whenever he saw groups of Zotari. There were camps scattered throughout the entire city. His original plan was to mark all of their camps and numbers so that he could avoid the larger ones and pick off the smaller ones. Now, he knew that plan would take work. More work than he was capable of with the short amount of time he had. There was no way he would be able to keep every camp straight and the soldier count at each one. He would just need to pick his targets and do some reconnaissance around that area.

His first priority was to take out the power grid. He looked to the southern tip of the city to find the building Krizzik had described to him. It took him a minute of searching, but he finally found it.

Most of the buildings were spherical, but this one was more geodesic. He wasn’t up to date on his Saxan architecture, but there was one thing he did know. Those are two different shapes. It would make it easier to pick out when he was in the streets, so that was a plus. Now, he just needed to find a way in. He watched the ins and outs of the building, writing down routines and timings of patrols. He did this for as long as he could, which translated to about an hour.

“Man! Spy work is hard. My brain is fried,” Alex said, rolling over to lay on his back. He pulled Eonsteel over his eyes to block out the light of the sun.

“I never had much of a taste for it either. One of the joys of being king is that I could send someone else to do it. It was much too tedious and I would much rather spend my time elsewhere,” Nagaar said.

“Yeah well I don’t have a bunch of lackeys, so I guess I have to do all the legwork.”

“It appears that way. I do hope you get to something a little more interesting soon. If you think that you’re bored right now, I have it way worse. I’m just a passenger for this entire debacle,” the king groaned.

“I don’t really have a lot of say in what I do either. I’m basically on autopilot all the time.”

“And yet…I don’t really care. At least when you are fighting, I have some form of entertainment,” Nagaar said.

“Yeah, I’m not your own personal gladiator. I’m going to do my research because I don’t want to die. I don’t really care if it isn’t that interesting to you.”

“We will need to come to some sort of agreement eventually. I don’t see our relationship being fruitful if it continues to be antagonistic.”

“Well, I don’t really know what to say to that. For the most part, my goals are being met. I don’t really care too much about your goals. So, in reality, is there really that much a of a relationship at all? You know, aside from a parasitic one. From what I can see, the only one gaining anything here is you. I got the Eonsteel, but I don’t see you two as the same entity. Somehow, you are leeching off of it and me,” Alex huffed.

“I have told you my relationship with the Eonsteel. If you do not wish to see how it is affecting you, that is your problem. I am a victim of the parasite, not the other way around. I would’ve rather died with my men than live for eons longer, only to be awoken to see the fruit of my efforts torn to shreds. My legacy is that of a failure. Had I died, I wouldn’t have to live with that. I did not ask for this, I am merely trying to make the most of it. I believe that is achieved with both of us working together. Maybe we can overcome the Eonsteel’s side effects.”

Alex stayed silent for a long time, thinking about the king’s words. He didn’t like it. It felt like every time he had a conversation with the king, he was being manipulated somehow. Talking to Nagaar was nearly as exhausting as his hour of surveillance was, just condensed into five minutes. He felt like every word was constructed with three ulterior motives, and Alex was sure he wasn’t smart enough to see every potential pitfall. This was why he kept his conversations to a minimum. Sometimes he tried to lean on the king’s knowledge, but most of the time, it didn’t seem worth it.

Sometimes it didn’t matter what Alex wanted. The king would insert himself into Alex’s thoughts whenever he pleased. Alex did have a bad habit of talking to himself. This left many one sided conversations with open dialogue. Nagaar must have just assumed he was talking to the snake each time he left a question or statement hanging. He wasn’t, but he could see the confusion.

Alex had the same confusion a couple times with one of his coworkers. She had gotten these Bluetooth earphones that she would wear at work. Sometimes, she would just start talking, and Alex would think she was talking to him and he would start responding. She always got this puzzled, yet annoyed look on her face whenever he did it. Only when she would point to her ears, would Alex finally see what was going on. It had happened an embarrassing amount of times.