The next morning Rory was still thinking about Steph while he was slicing and rolling up the last full piece of Lucifer’s skin. Everything he had said to her was true. He had no experience with girls and had no reason to trust any enough to allow them to get close. Not that any had wanted to get within touching distance of boney body, pale skin, freckles, and hideous scars.

Sure, Steph seemed harmless enough. Fun even. But he knew what could hide behind that. Maybe he should tell her they should slow down.

Yeah. That’s what I’ll say to her next time they were together. We just need to slow down.

Shaking his head hard enough to rattle those thoughts free, Rory filled two more vault shelves with the last of Lucifer and tried to figure out how to find a rainbow snake. GalNet was utterly unhelpful, so he gave up and decided to just wander around the edges of the jungle and slowly work his way in.

That was general advice for hunting specific prey when you didn’t have sufficient information or ability to find it. He discovered something rather amazing while walking the perimeter: the place was huuuge. How in the hell they had made something this expansive underground was beyond him. He figured it must be at least a square mile. It was like a bloody ginormous Soul Vault underground. And how big were the other areas with the birds, mammals, and fish? Rory reflected with a pleasant surprise that he might actually not have to move on from the mines as fast as he had feared.

His plan was to spend the entire day tomorrow on GalNet reading and watching vids about hunting, camping, and overall wilderness survival. He would go back to the western markets of Brompton and stay at the various cafes or restaurants. He had decided to try the fancy food and drink they offered and see what the fuss was about. As he had been so young at the time, he really had not understood or appreciated quality food back on Earth. And on top of that, having been nearly a decade ago, he couldn’t really remember anyway.

As he had over six thousand pounds, he figured a single day of splurging on food wouldn’t hurt. He would bring some home for his mum too, not that she’d appreciate it. While he was at it, he would buy some clothes, knocking that off his list. But all that was tomorrow.

Today was a day of hunting, so he started moving to the outer edge of the jungle.

***

{Adult Flora Scented Serpent} slain…

Calculating…

12% Myst Gained…

Vessel filled…

Summoning Tree Updated…

Finally! Rory wiped the sweat and blood off his face, but he was smiling. That bloody snake was shaped like a bloody flower! According to the bestiary, it ate insects by giving off the smell of pollinating flora. Apparently, it enjoyed eating Irish redheads too because it snapped its jaws closed over the top of his boot. They weren’t poisonous to humans, but still. A flower snake? He figured it would give agility when he eventually did a Withdraw Soul from it, which was great because his hadn’t gone up yet and he was supposed to have a “speed build.”

Stolen novel; please report.

He smiled to himself as he realized he was finally getting up on the lingo.

Sucking the snake’s carcass into his ring with the two others he’d killed in the hour he’d been wandering, Rory had affirmed that snakes were experts at camouflage.

That last flower one had given him an idea though. He would add one other thing to his list of purchases in the city tomorrow. But for now, he’d keep wandering and hope he got lucky with the rainbow snake.

***

Climbing onto the transbus home, Rory reflected that it had been an okay day. Not rubbish, but not good either. He had completed filling a vessel and more, getting him to level 4 and almost 5. He’d failed to achieve a single soul capture after the flower snake though. On top of that, all of his slithery victims had been level 1. So the day wasn’t what he had wanted, but he had gotten enough meat to pay for his meals and possibly more. No rainbow snake, but that was actually fine. He had a new plan, but it depended on a single purchase tomorrow.

When he got to the market to swap one of his mum’s empties, he saw something of a commotion. There were a lot of people running around and whispering. As he walked in, a bunch of folks were glancing at him with weird looks and side-eyes.

That can’t be good. Better be ready to run.

His attention was all over, looking for threats. Nothing happened though and when he got to Margie he asked, “What’s the kerfuffle about?” as he placed the empty bottle down.

She whispered so loudly Rory didn’t understand why she bothered. “Someone went and offed Mycroft!”

“No shit!” Rory exclaimed. “They know who?”

She cleared her throat and whispered at the same volume. “Some sayin’ you did it, Rory.”

Rory looked at her surprised. “Me? Who thinks that? And how could I?”

Another voice came up from behind. It was one of the guys he bought cheap tasteless food from named Cal. “You got better duds and shoes, nobody seen you in your school clothes no more even though you been takin the bus to the big city. And you also lookin clean and buying from Margie more.”

“And nobody’s seen Marvin neither,” Margie added.

“People saying you been taking out folk stealing their stuff,” Cal said after.

Thinking fast, Rory sighed dramatically. “Anyone else I supposedly killed while scrapping?” he asked.

“The biggies that was with Marvin and Mycroft. And nobody seen Henry neither,” answered Cal.

With a laugh, Rory declared loudly so everyone could hear, “So, I killed Mycroft, his guys, and Marvin and his guys all in a couple of days all by myself while also scrapping and killing Henry? Ya know how bonkers that sounds?”

“Then where you been getting the new stuff?” Margie asked.

Without lowering his voice, Rory said with a smile, “I had a good find. Sold it to Mick too. You know he doesn’t talk, but he’ll say that we had an agreement and I sold to him. That was also what happened to Henry by the way. He was in on it, took his cut, and left.”

The downside to these lies was that now folks thought he had money laying around.

“I bought the new clothes to get a small job cleaning in the city to help. But it isn’t much and, as you’ve seen, I was at the mine today again cause I still need to scrap to get by.” Sadly, Rory added, “Bad day though. Nothing. So, I’m burning through what I got for my mum. You know what it’s like if she doesn’t get any.” He looked down and shrugged.

Margie nodded and Cal walked away. His mother’s behavior when craving was well known in Whibley. Rory dropped a shilling and grabbed a bottle, then shuffled off.

All the way home Rory was berating himself. He had been so careless! Now they would need to move. It was guaranteed that someone would come by when he was out. He had bought himself maybe a day with all that blarney.

It was sooner than he had planned, but that didn’t matter. It was time to go.

***

Rory took the next morning’s earliest transbus to the Croxton Slums, the farthest from the Whibley Slums, and walked to the Chief’s house. He introduced himself and said he was new and wanted a cheap flat. This was the same routine he had followed all those years ago in Whibley. He and Chief worked out an arrangement and Rory paid three months in advance in cash. No questions were asked as long as money changed hands.

Could Rory have afforded an apartment in the city? Sure. He’d checked. But that didn’t account for his mum. She’d break, ruin, or sell anything in it when he wasn’t there. So that meant an empty dump in a different slum. He got a slightly better place so he could have a real bathroom, but otherwise, it was the same. Well, it smelled better and was cleaner, but that wouldn’t last.

He got the key and went to the city.