After gathering their things, the rest of our party left–Gareth insisted that I stay behind to have our “longer chat.”

I narrowed my eyes at our scout leader after he offered his proposition. I didn’t quite understand what he was asking of me.

He wants me to join an “elite group of scout supports…?” It sounded strange–unnecessary, even.

“What you’re essentially saying,” I responded, “is that you want to create scout parties made of just the supports? What is the point of that?”

Gareth nodded as if he understood exactly where my confusion came from.

“The city leaders, including Headmaster Bohin, want us to train more supports into becoming full-on scouts–we need more fighters,” Gareth whispered to me within the shadows of a corner near the city entrance.

He continued, “We can’t stand by any longer for the allotted two years people must wait before selecting a new job. And even if supports are offered the opportunity to become a main scout after their two years, most choose not to, for various reasons.”

Two years before I could select a new job?! I definitely didn’t want to stay a scout support for that long. I disliked the idea of remaining a pack animal for two years. So, maybe this proposition of Gareth’s was worth listening to….

“But why?” I said. “Why do you need more scouts right now?”

Gareth leaned forward, eyes staring to the side to ensure no one came by to listen. “Has anyone mentioned the opening of rifts to you?”

I raised an eyebrow. “I haven’t heard anything, but that doesn’t sound good.”

“I’m not surprised you haven’t heard anything. It’s been kept quiet from the general population.”

I felt like the answer to my next question was obvious, but I asked it anyway, “Are these… rifts… dangerous?”

“Very. They’re like giant cracks–fissures that open along the surface. And within them are… We don’t know how to explain it.”

I tapped fingers against my thigh impatiently. “Try.”

Gareth flashed me a dissatisfied look, but he ignored my insubordination. “New monsters–hordes of them–appear inside every rift. And they seem to respawn somehow in the rifts, no matter how many times we kill them. It’s becoming a major problem, and a new rift is opening about once every two weeks.”

My eyes widened. I’d never heard anything like it.

“So,” I breathed, “you want to train more people in fighting as groups–as scouts. And you plan to do this by creating parties of ‘elite’ scout supports?”

Gareth nodded. “Ideally, we want to rid of the ‘scout support’ position completely and have more scout parties set up to cover more shifts.”

“Why didn’t you take us to one of these rifts tonight?”

“I was planning to, but we got attacked. And you…” He pointed at me with a small smile creeping onto his face. “You were an essential piece to us surviving against those three landwalkers.”

I couldn’t stop myself from grinning at his praise. At first appearances, Gareth had seemed somewhat cold and ruthless, but getting to know him a little better proved him fair and, dare I say, just?

“The first meeting with these scout supports I and other party leaders have selected is set for tomorrow evening. We’re meeting at nine in room number 101 in the academy. Think on it tonight, and if you don’t show up, I won’t worry you about this again.”

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Tomorrow evening?

I already had training scheduled with Nic in the morning, and I didn’t know how long that would take. I also needed to find Cinthara and try to make amends for missing the meet she’d requested just the night prior. And I needed to find out if my teammates in the quest project from our Mastering Group Combat class had discovered anything.

“Here…” Gareth dug something out of his sack, then held out his clenched fist with the biggest smile I had ever seen from him. “You deserve it.”

I outstretched my hand under his and breathed a sigh of relief that I still had my gauntlets on as the core, about the size of my entire palm, dropped from his grip to mine. If I hadn’t been wearing the gauntlets, just my bare skin touching the core would have immediately drained the essence from the marble, which would inevitably make me look very suspicious to Gareth. As far as I knew, no one else could drain cores of their essence just by touching them to their skin.

I hefted the weighty landwalker core in my hand, excitement making it difficult not to bounce up and down.

“Are you sure this isn’t a bribe? To make me feel obligated to come to this elite meeting of yours?”

Gareth chuckled, slinging his sack over a bronze-armored shoulder. “I’m not confirming or denying your accusation, but I will say this: You fought well today.”

He then touched a finger to his lips and whispered, “Don’t tell anyone about the core.”

I instinctively puffed up my chest as pride swelled within me. I’d just met the man, but receiving his approval really boosted my confidence. It made me feel more inclined to join this elite scout support group of his.

“The other scouts and I are also in charge of selling spoils we gather on excursions; meat, cores, hearts, and whatever else we come across. Once everything is sold, we split 80% of the credits earned between the main scouts, then the other 20% is split among the scout supports. You should see some credits come to your neural implant within the next three days.”

That was a relief to hear. I needed money desperately. I even considered selling the core Gareth had just given me so I could pay for food and new equipment. In fact, that might be the best thing for me to do.

“Wait,” I said, a thought crossing my mind as I stared into the water-like pools of essence streams spinning within the biggest core I’d ever held in my life, “won’t the other scouts suspect there’s a core missing based on the money you earn selling the other goods? I don’t want to cause any problems.”

“I’ll often reward a scout who performed exceptionally well on a shift, and I never tell the others who that recipient might be. They won’t suspect a thing.”

After his reassurance, I shoved the core into the satchel hanging at my hip without hesitation. The core was so big it stretched the monster skin my bag was made of, creating a significant lump that poked my side.

“Thanks,” I said. “This really helps me a lot.”

Gareth nodded. “Use it wisely.”

***

After our scouting trip, I was too exhausted to think about anything other than throwing myself onto my bed. There were a few things I could have done… Like trying to find Cinthara or any of my quest teammates from my Mastering Group Combat class.

I could also decide on how to use my landwalker core. I felt more inclined to trade it for credits than to use it for cultivation. I was quickly getting to the point where I was overstaying my welcome in Emmett’s room and his food stores. And my Tier 2 armor would soon become almost worthless as I was about to advance to Tier 4. Not to mention all the other little things I needed to buy to survive both my classes and my scouting shifts.

Even without using the core’s essence for cultivation, advancing to Tier 4 was another thing I needed to do. And I had a lot of essence filling all of the spaces in my Soul. Honestly, it was amazing that my desire to sleep trumped any desire to cultivate, break through to Tier 4, and receive a new Skill.

Even with so many things to accomplish, my tired eyes and aching limbs made me have to hope that everything on my to-do list could wait another day.

As it took me minutes instead of seconds to peel off each part of my armor, I knew I must have overdone it on the excursion. We had hiked through sand for a total of three hours, which I’d learned was nearly impossible with my inferior boots, and we’d had a full-on battle with giant landwalkers. I’d also put way too much stamina into my stolen water manipulation spell–I’d felt as much while casting it. My muscles had shaken and burned as I channeled all of my strength and every bit of essence within me at the time toward the spell. It had paid off in the end, but in the future, I needed to be careful not to stretch myself further than I was capable. Though, it might help to know exactly what those limits were.

Dex would know, I thought as my body crashed onto the mattress.

I tried to ignore the pang in my heart as thoughts of Dex crossed my mind.

He’s… It’s not a real person. It’s not like Dex had died.

Then why did I feel so sad?

I turned over to my other side and squeezed my eyes shut. It took a moment, but once I finally relaxed, I released a heavy, relieved sigh. I wrapped the covers around my tired body and refused to think any more of Codex–at least for tonight. The best thing I could do for myself now was to rest as much as possible. I wanted to prove to Nic that I would train well with him. I had high hopes about what a more experienced Solomon clone could teach me.