Verlon let out a relaxed sigh as he put on a fresh set of clothes. He had come home and immediately hopped in the shower after getting through the rather annoying entry process. He still felt a little lightheaded from the blood loss…

Next step, go see his sister, the Sekorium, and then his employer. His sister was closer and more important, so he decided to start there. He tossed his tools and gear into his study and locked the door behind him. He felt naked standing there without his armor or gear, though he did keep his revolver and a dagger. The nerves from Endenheim weren’t quite gone yet and he didn’t want to be without a weapon even knowing nothing would probably happen in the city.

And it isn’t like he doesn’t have his gear entirely. The bracelet, and Ai for that matter, was still firmly embedded into his flesh. That, and he had Hypon Flash in any case. That had to be worth something in regards to equipment.

Verlon left his apartment, ducking below the pipes hanging from the doorframe- had he gotten taller? He never had to duck below the doorframe before. Granted, it wasn’t much growth, and the doorframe was rather low to save space, but the fact he almost hit it remained. Weird.

He mentally hyped himself up as he stood in front of the door across the hall. Then he knocked on, letting out sharp drums as his knuckles rapped across the wood. Nicole laughed at someone inside the room as she opened the door, freezing for a second before a brilliant smile bloomed on her lovely face. “Verlon!”

He always thought she was pretty every time he saw her. Her luscious blonde hair reminded him of radiant sunshine plucked right out of the sky. Her emerald gemstones for eyes twinkled with life that few had in Preshen. “Hey, Nicole.”

She happily pushed the door wide open and greeted him with a hug. She was his closest friend, so the hug wasn’t too out of place. They met back before he dropped out of school to take care of his sister. She was one of the few people he managed to keep in contact with, partly because they coincidentally moved into the same building.

“Big Brother!” A childish voice full of joy cried as the soft pounding of footfalls came from further within the room. Robin appeared quickly, almost outpacing the fallen in her lunge at him.

Verlon resisted his urge to flinch back and caught his little sister, wrapping her in a big hug. “Robin! I missed you.”

“I-I missed you too. I’m glad you’re back safely.” Robin’s voice was choked with tears, though she refused to let them fall. It was the same every time he came back from a voyage. It was as if she was afraid he was only an illusion and would disappear if her eyes blurred up for even a moment. Her head fell slightly as her hair covered her eyes. “Y-you are okay, right?”

Nicole caught his eye as she clapped her hands together. “You’re just in time! I just pulled out the stuff to make food. Please, help yourself. Oh, and Robin? Didn’t you have something to show Verlon?”

“Yes!” He noticed the two shared a conspiratorial glance before his sister ran off to the guest room.

Now that Robin was distracted for a moment, Nicole turned back to him with a far more somber attitude. “You are okay, right?”

He sighed as he followed her into the kitchen. “Yeah. A little banged up, but nothing too bad.”

“Ugh! I hate it when you say that. ‘A little banged up’ always means you got injured. You can't keep pushing off your injuries to save money! What will you do if the injuries finally get to you and you can't go out anymore? Do I need to call a medic?” She slapped her hands onto her hips like a mother getting onto their unruly kid.

Verlon sat down wearily at the kitchen table. “No. It's mostly healed, thankfully. I just had a rough go with a tree branch is all.” A very rough go. Not that he would tell her it impaled him through the arm and into his ribs.

“Steamglade?” A hint of worry was in her eye as she returned to preparing food. He shared with her what he knew, for the most part, so she was fully aware of the explosive disposition of the forest. In fact, she probably knew more than he did about the dangers of steam considering her job as a mechanus.

“I fell off a-” Verlon cut his words with a smile as his sister came back in. "Thank you though."

Robin faltered for a moment as the atmosphere turned from somber back to cheerful, but smiled nonetheless as she came back in holding something behind her back. “Y-you have to promise not to laugh, okay?”

“I promise.” Verlon chuckled as he ruffled her hair. Or attempted to. She ducked out of his range before he could bring his hand down.

Robin pulled a weird-looking box thing from behind her back. He looked at the mess of cogs, gears, and wires for a moment. What looked to be a glass bulb with a wire through it sat caged in on one end of the device, and the other had a small crank. “Umm… I-I made you this to- to help you on your trips.”

He carefully picked it up as he looked over the device. It was far sturdier than he thought it would be and even the bulb's metal cage seemed as though it could take a hit or two. It looked to be welded- Nicole probably helped shore up some of the structural weaknesses. After a second longer, he recognized it as a flashlight. He had been putting off buying one since his lantern worked just as well - and fire was a deterrent for some creatures - and he had been saving money.

He twisted the crank and the bulb flickered to life as light erupted from it. “This is perfect. Thank you, Robin.” Verlon set it down and gave the girl another big hug as she giggled. “I just lost my lantern too, so this really is perfect.”

“So, what's the plan for today?” Nicole asked as she brought over a platter of sandwiches for the trio.

Verlon looked down at the sandwich. “You are a saint.” This would be the first bit of real food other than dry rations and poor soup since he left. He ravenously dug into it, making the sandwich disappear in a matter of seconds. “Um… I need to go to the Sekorium and see my employer… I should also probably go check out the weapon shop…”

“Do you need me to watch her for a bit longer?” Nicole asked as she passed the platter over to him. "I don't have to go in till Tuesday."

Verlon finished his fourth sandwich as he thought about it. He glanced at his sister for a moment before replying, “What do you think, Robin? Want to come with me or stay here?” She was starting to get to that age where she could make her own decisions. From the books on child raising he had glanced through, it was best to give children options to promote decision-making skills. Or something like that.

“C-can I stay here?” She asked as she looked toward the blonde woman.

“Of course, dear.” Nicole smiled encouragingly. She was so good with his sister, of which he appreciated to no end. Far better than the last caretaker he entrusted while on his voyages beyond the walls... may she rest in torment.

Robin staying behind saved him some hassle. He wouldn't have to worry about her while taking care of business for a few hours. Verlon cleared his throat. “Well, I better get going before they send an enforcer after me… I'll be back in a couple of hours. Come by for dinner tonight? My treat.”

Nicole smiled as he stood up to leave. “Of course.”

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Verlon grabbed his stuff and headed back to the Sekorium to have his miasma levels checked up. It was a complimentary and enthusiastically encouraged free service for all Seekers above red. A nurse drew a small vial of blood and left the room. A few minutes later she returned with a complete analysis of his blood work.

A fair bit of miasma was still in his blood, though not enough to produce symptoms. The nurse recommended he spend at least an hour sunbathing, though it would naturally decline with about a week's worth of ambient sun exposure. He had already burned off most of the excess miasma from the ruins in his days of travel through the sunny Gravitic Highlands, though the Steamglade and Craggy Chasms didn’t offer quite as much sunlight.

Sunlight quite literally burned away miasma, which is why the corruptive force had a thicker presence in the shadowy spots back of Endenheim. This was most noticeable in the Graviton Highlands. When the winds blew from the shadowed places, they carried with them the increased amounts of miasma gathered below the flying bits and mountain peaks. That isn't to say every shadow definitively had a higher presence of miasma though, as evident by the Craggy Chasms only being a tier-one contamination zone. There were a variety of factors regarding the dissemination of miasma, but it was generally accepted that the further one got out from the empire, the higher the levels.

Sun tablets, the medicine to relieve miasma contamination, were effective since they came directly from the sun. They were the pinnacle of human medicinal practices. The tablets were made from a dilution of the ultra-valuable resource Dawn’s Dew, which was quite literally liquidized sunlight. The manufacturing process was top secret in the military, so he wasn’t sure exactly how Dawn's Dew was made, but even the tiniest bit in the Sun tablets was damn impressive.

After the blood check came the money-making part. He met up with a Sekorium staff member in a rather nice office. Sparing the details to save a bit of time, and since the staff member likely wouldn't care too much, he loosely reviewed most of his notes. He earned fifty copper coins for every new beast den and POI added to the Sekorium’s list for the first two zones. In the Graviton Highlands, he received a silver piece for each spot he marked down.

He also got an additional two silver coins for his descriptions of the Gargantian and its movement direction. An additional three silver was given for his warning of the possibly insane levels of danger in that crack in the earth he found on the side of the mountain, the one that plummeted super far down into the underground lake. Even the Gargantian didn’t trigger his danger instincts as much as that place had. The official promised to send a team to investigate further.

In total, he received thirty-three silver off his scouting capabilities. He then sold some plants for an additional five coins, rounding up his total to thirty-seven silver coins. It was a rather nice sum, especially considering his rent was only twenty-seven. Scouting was quite a lucrative business, though dangerous to get into. Also, part of the reason the Sekorium handed him so much money right away was due to his reputation as a reliable scout. Newby scouts would usually have to wait until a trusted scout, most of the time those with injuries or getting older, was sent out to confirm their intel to get paid.

He ultimately decided not to say anything about the ruins he had found. The one on the Floating Mesa he didn’t speak of for obvious reasons. His employer had hired him specifically to find it, so he wouldn't stab him in the back. The one on the mountains was for more selfish reasons. He wanted to go check it out himself. There was a high chance the ruin contained nothing, but it could've also just been uncovered and yet to be looted.

He definitely didn't speak of Ai and the mysterious relic on his wrist. He had a feeling it was best to keep such a thing secret, especially since he himself didn't know much about the two. Speaking of Ai, Verlon hadn't heard the mechanical voice since his return to the city. He attributed it to not directly seeking the mechanical being out, so it had remained silent. Perhaps in the future, he would be more comfortable with conversing with the tech, but for now, he simply didn't know enough about it yet. He was partly afraid that saying the wrong thing would get him killed considering the neurotech's ability to project into his brain. He figured it would be rather easy for it to send electricity into his head or something.

Then, he got into a more somber topic. Verlon pulled out the two Crosses he grabbed from the deceased as well as the personal effects he found on the orange cross. The official took them with a promise of notifying their families, which he greatly appreciated. There was nothing worse than having to notify families their loved ones had fallen. Or Fallen in the later Seeker’s case. On occasion, the Sekorium had been too loaded down and requested to tell the families of their loss.

After that heavy business, Verlon left the Sekorium thirty-seven coins richer and his bag vastly lighter. Next stop - the Continual, the richest and most posh hotel in Preshen. His employer was staying there and it was about time he got to the meat of his pay.

He hated coming to this side of the town. Everyone here was either rich or wanted to seem rich. He stood out like a sore thumb amongst the fancy three-piece suits and extravagant dresses of the south side. The fact he didn’t have a gold-inlaid cane nor a genuine ‘Endenheim’ lined top hat didn’t help matters. He got several sneers and looks of derision from the rich and ‘powerful’ people walking the streets alongside him.

Honestly, it was quite laughable. They who considered themselves ‘rich’ were still walking around just like him. If they were truly ‘powerful’ they would be aboard the newest line of automobiles that were slowly making their way to the north side of the empire. Not only that, their so-called power was quite lacking. He would bet a single Stormhound could wipe out the entire lot of them if they were to come to blows.

Military families were where all the power truly lay in the Empire of Dawn, both combat power and political strength. High-ranking Seekers were a distant second that far outpaced the true ‘rich and powerful’. These upstarts who had a bit of money or were small business owners couldn’t even compare, no matter how much they attempted to show off. They were simply small frogs in an even smaller well. This very fact allowed Verlon to walk without the slightest hitch in his step even with all the scornful looks.

That, and the sudden loss of scorn as people moved along upon noticing his cross. He was a yellow rank seeker, after all. He technically had the same authority as a nobleman even if he would likely never gain a rank. Only the most famous Seekers were officially granted titles by the empire for their accomplishments.

The streets on this side of Preshen were far nicer. His apartment was in a nice part of town, but it was still outpaced by the ‘rich’ side of town. There wasn't the crazy mess of pipework bloating out along the sides of walls like there was back near his home. Most of them were buried below the ground as they did their duty invisibly. The pipes, the few that were exposed, were all neat and orderly as they moved along the sides of buildings artistically.

The streets themselves were wide enough for two lanes of traffic, so the movement of carriages and the occasional automobile was far faster than the rough streets by his house. The pavement was smooth, allowing a vastly improved walking experience as he headed to his destination. While the walk was rather pleasant, he couldn't help flinch at every crack of an automobile's engine and occasional bursts from relief pipes.

Even the buildings were far nicer. They attempted to show off the imperial architecture of the capital with roving arches and pillars supporting the colorful assortment of shops and living spaces along the streets. The buildings were also a bit taller than usual. Most reached up to four or five stories with living spaces and offices stacked on top of storefronts just like his own area. Further off to the east from here he knew would become the more residential areas with large homes and estates.

He saw his destination long before he reached it. The Continual, as a branch location of the richest hotel chain in the empire, stood out like a sore thumb amongst the mediocrity of south-side architecture. The entire building was free-standing, unlike the rest which were butted up against each other. It stood in the middle of a vast and extravagant garden filled with plants and flowers he knew to be taken straight out of Endenheim for a flare of exoticness.

The building itself soared into the sky at an impressive ten stories. It could be seen from almost anywhere with clear visuals around Preshen. The building itself was almost a work of art. It was entirely black, an oddity amongst the colorful south side to be sure, and lined with gold accents. It exemplified imperial architecture with arches and pillars that put the cheap copies of the south side to shame. Arching domes capped off the top of the building's several spires in a feat of architectural ingenuity that could only be seen elsewhere in places like the Sekorium.

It was an unfair comparison between the Sekorium and the Continual. Both aimed for rather different aspects of their architecture, so it was very difficult to put the two together and say which was better. The Sekorium's design and engraved dome spoke of valor and bravery, inspiring courage in those who walked its halls. The Continual's clean-cut imperial designs worked towards a suave, and dare he say, sexy design that almost spoke of its inevitable nature as the 'happening' place for the wealthy, hence its name of 'Continual'.

He walked up the pedestrian's gated entrance and was stopped by several armed guards. They took security very seriously at the Continual considering some of the richest and most influential people of the empire stayed in it while they had dealings with the surrounding area. He got through with a bit of explanation. Realistically, the guards probably only let him in since he was a yellow cross Seeker. It wasn't unusual for the guests of the Continual to hire Seekers considering their almost mercenary-like position in the world. Sometimes they were hired to go out just as he was, though there were a fair amount of contracts for inside of the empire. They were hard fought, so he usually didn't bother for them unlike some of his fellow Seekers.

He sighed as he walked amongst the garden towards the entrance of the hotel. It was time to face his employer.