Mr. Forsythe was staring at Rory over a tablet in his office, his eyes so intense Rory was getting concerned. “Master Rory,” he said in a slow voice, “you seem to have found us another conundrum.”

“A good conundrum or a bad conundrum?” Rory asked nervously.

A smile crept on the man’s face. “Oh, I assure you, it is an excellent conundrum.”

“Oh, good,” Rory said, relieved. “So tell me about it.”

Forsythe put the pad down slowly and explained. “Well, you see, you have now provided for us four extraordinary materials. It is quite rare that receive such materials by individuals or teams we do not employ. We buy all sorts, of course, but nothing like what we have received from you over a period of weeks. I wish I could convince you to tell me the details. I’d pay well.”

Rory’s head tiled, especially curious about one thing Mr. Forsythe said. “Four materials?”

“Oh, yes. If you count your first mystery skin, four,” he confirmed. “That green snake inside the larger one is an excellent specimen as well as the basilisk. You may or may not have noticed, but its scales are quite resilient to acid. A terra basilisk’s acid, even an especially young one as you have provided, is one of its primary weapons. That species grows immensely large and uses mainly brute strength and acid as its attack vectors, as we call them. In this case, the basilisk’s poor victim did not actually die of the acid. It suffocated. Its scales resisted the acid and that is why the basilisk choked to near death. Adult terra basilisks know better than to take on one of those snakes; but as a baby, yours had not been taught that yet. Hence the situation we find ourselves in.”

Rory nodded. He had wondered about that.

“To continue, the blow to its brain was quite clever on your part and saved almost the entire value of the beast, as I am sure you intended. As for value, the acid, the skin, and the bones – even of an infant – are all invaluable to us. We use acids to etch into material, the bones and of course the skin will make excellent medium and heavy armor plates for tier one or even perhaps tier two techarmor. And the Repellant Forest Spitter, that’s the green snake, can be used to make very specific enhancements and armor add-ons that involve acid resistance. So, yes, four: the first skin, two snake bodies and the acid itself.”

Rory nodded. Outside of Lucifer’s molt, none of that had seemed terribly valuable to him. But what did he know?

Thinking about it, he figured that, one day when he’s level a million, he might go after the mum and da basilisk. But not any time even remotely soon.

“I’m happy to hear you’re interested,” Rory said. “So, talk to me about value. You’re dancing a bit,” Rory said, unsure what was really going on.

“I admit, I am,” Mr. Forsythe said ruefully. “I apologize but I’m awaiting some additional approvals. Because of that, I am going to try to poke at the source. Feel free to just tell me no. I’ll understand.”

Rory appreciated his honesty, if not his nosiness. That said, his first statement surprised Rory.

“Did you know that reptile skins are actually superior to mammalian pelts for armor?” Forsythe asked Rory.

Rory shook his head. He knew nothing about armor at all except what Steph had shared, of which almost all was over his head. That said, the fact that snakes were worth more to him than other creatures meant he was even less motivated to open that mammal door. As for the fish door, Rory barely knew how to swim.

“It has to do with the way the scales overlap,” he explained to Rory. “A mammalian skin stretches and the fibers separate over a large area. We can’t do anything to stop this, it is simply biology. For most reptiles, however, each individual scale is like its own fibrous body, so any molecular movement is far more localized. On top of that, our process allows the scales to move, compress, and support each other – something impossible on a pelt. In short, the products we can produce are much higher quality from scaled creatures.”

“And more expensive,” Rory finished the thought.

The man smiled knowingly, tapping his nose. “Indeed! And so far, you have provided four excellent materials in total, all from reptiles. Specifically snakes.” Rory nodded. “As I do with all major clients, I researched you.” Rory stiffened, but the man continued. “Please don’t be offended. As I said, we do it with literally every single major client or partner. As for you, Master Rory… you seem to be something of a mystery. Just appearing out of nowhere on this planet a few weeks ago. Your address is obviously fake and your background empty. As such, I continue to wonder who you really are.”

Background empty? What the—

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Ignorant of his confusion, Forsythe continued. “But it is none of my business in the end. All I know is that you have access to creatures and materials most would sell family members for. I think we both know you have more of that first material. Probably enough to make you a million pounds or more.”

He was right of course, but selling it wasn’t happening. Lucifer had saved him from a daily torment lasting almost a decade and gave him hope for the future. The idea of selling a part of him made Rory sick.

No. He had received enough from Lucifer and would earn what the snake had given him with his own hands, proving he was worth both Lucifer’s and Leilah’s sacrifice.

Oblivious to Rory’s soul searching, the man proceeded along his logic path. “The fact that you haven’t sold that material, but instead used it to create armor tells me money is not a concern for you. Yet you’re still on this planet, widely considered a rather poor one if I may be so bold to say. You’re a Soul Warrior working as a hunter, growing stronger at a rate that should be damaging your body, but isn’t. According to what I can find, you are not spending very much to facilitate your hunts, and seemingly living a simple unsupported Soul Warrior’s life, which is further evidenced by your age. Someone such as yourself should have sponsors banging at your door, but I cannot find you in the database of any major galactic sponsor. Yet, you are advancing with resources and at the speed of those who are being supposed by the best.” Forsythe then placed both hands together on the table and leaned forward. “In short, I can’t figure you out. How is it all connected? Who are you and where do you come by these extraordinary creatures? Does your family own some sort of rare reptile preserve that you use as a funding source while out on your own? Are you trying to prove yourself? Does your family make its youth grow up away from the family as a right of passage? Are you estranged, yet still have access to materials and funding? Frankly, I. Am. Baffled. Are you willing to tell me anything? Anything at all?”

Rory tapped his fingers on the table and pondered Forsythe’s presumptions and questions. First of all, why was his history erased? Did the Walshes do it to help erase him and any connection they had with him? That seemed the most likely thing to Rory. But, if it was them, they had actually helped Rory and his mum disappear, intentionally or not. That thought made him question the idea. But then, if it wasn’t the Walshes, then who was it?

Well, I won’t figure it out today, and certainly not here in this office when I should be focusing on the future rather than the past.

Speaking of, as far as Forsythe’s rather shocking leaps in regards to his family, money, etc., Rory saw ways that those could be useful to him. He figured he could maybe drop a hint or two and lead the man down a path he was already following. That could lead to a goal that was good for Rory. At worst, it wouldn’t hurt in any way that he could think of because none of the information he was going to share was actually about Rory. And just maybe he could make a good payday from it. The only risk was sounding like a cracked loon.

Deciding to start the process, Rory let out a breath and thought, Here goes…

“Okay, Mr. Forsythe. I’ll give you something, but not about me. I’ll tell you a bit about that first skin.” Forsythe looked like he could kiss Rory. To prevent anything like that from happening, Rory promtly asked, “Tell me what you know of the elements that are wielded as weapons and tools.”

The man’s gray eyebrows rose. Rory figured he likely wasn’t expecting that question, but he answered it anyway. “The four primary elements – fire, wind, water, and terra – are the basis for what we view as the wielded elements. Two of the elements can combine to create an advanced one. Air and water produce ice for example, which you have shared with Cosmica that you have access to. Accept my compliments on having access to such an extraordinary tool by the way. But to cut to the chase, there are a total of eight that humans are capable of wielding.”

“Thank you,” Rory said with a nod. “So, to your knowledge, are the creatures and Cursed of the galaxy the same in that way? They can use the elements and also have access to those eight?”

“Yes, of course,” he confirmed with a nod. “Generally they can start wielding it between Tiers one and two. Twenty-five is the galactic average.”

Rory nodded and tapped the table as he thought about how to say what he wanted to. He decided to just put it out there. “What if I told you that was wrong?” Rory asked the man across from him. “Not the levels, but the elements themselves. That there are only eight.”

Forsythe looked shocked. “Well, there are rumors, of course. There have always been stories of other mysterious elements. It’s all just myth and legend. In nearly a thousand years no creature was ever proven to have something other than the eight. Claims, all debunked, pass through every now and again. And certainly no human has used an element outside of the eight. It would change everything we know of Soul Constructs. You are telling me you believe the stories?”

Rory turned his hand palm up and another tiny piece of Lucifer’s skin appeared. “I agree about humans, of course,” Rory lied. “But what if I were to tell you that the creature this skin came from used an element not of the eight?”

Forsythe leaned back in his chair, his mouth open. He looked like he was trying to say something but nothing would come out. Then his face changed to one of realization.

Rory nodded. “Does it make sense now? Might that not explain how your company has no knowledge or reference for what creature this is? Perhaps something never publicly recorded?”

Forsythe then looked at the skin in Rory’s hand with a truly deep hunger.

“What would the information be worth to you?” Rory asked.

His answer was a whisper. “More than the skin itself. Many times more.”

“And if you and your armorers knew, could they make armor specifically benefiting from that element?”

Forsythe nodded again, never taking his eyes off the skin.

Rory closed his hand over the skin and sent it back into his ring.

The man was looking at Rory with desperation then, but Rory said, “Your pad beeped.”

Forsythe blinked and then looked at the pad lying to his right. He read something and looked back. Still in something of a daze and obviously thinking of their previous conversation, he said with no inflection, “I’ve been authorized to offer two million pounds for the two snakes and all materials associated with them.”