The contract clerk looked at Kael’s newly issued identification card for several seconds longer than necessary.
The words Unmeasured Hunter were written beneath his name in clear black lettering, but the clerk still checked the card twice before looking back at him.
Most escort contracts posted on the Greyhaven board were designed for teams, and the caravan Kael had chosen was no exception.
“This contract normally requires at least four experienced hunters,” the clerk explained.
“The caravan is carrying valuable goods, and the route to Veyrun passes close to several dangerous territories.” Kael pointed toward Rhea.
“Two.” Rhea immediately looked at him.
“I’m apparently being counted now?” “You’re my disciple.” “That didn’t answer the question.” The clerk looked between them and wisely avoided becoming involved.
Because Kael’s classification fell outside normal Guild ranks, she contacted the caravan leader before accepting his registration.
The conversation lasted longer than Kael cared about, though it ended surprisingly quickly after a senior Guild official apparently told the merchant something over a communication device.
The clerk returned.
“Caravan Master Darren Voss has approved your participation.” Kael nodded.
Rhea waited until they were outside the Guild before turning toward him.
“Master.” “Hmm?” “When exactly did I agree to take this contract?” “You didn’t.” Rhea stopped walking.
Kael continued another two steps before looking back.
“You don’t have to come.” That answer removed most of the irritation before it could properly form.
Rhea had expected Kael to simply assume she would follow because she was his disciple.
Instead, he had already treated the decision as hers.
She looked toward the road leading north.
Remaining in Greyhaven while Kael traveled for several weeks would defeat most of the reason she had asked him to become her master in the first place.
Rhea sighed.
“I’m coming.” “Okay.” That was all.
For some reason, she felt mildly offended that he hadn’t even tried to convince her.
The caravan gathered outside Greyhaven the following morning.
It was considerably larger than Rhea had expected.
Twenty wagons stood in two organized lines beside the northern road, each loaded with different goods beneath reinforced covers.
Drivers checked wheels and harnesses while workers secured ropes around crates.
Nearly a dozen ordinary guards moved between the wagons, and several registered hunters had also been hired for protection.
Altogether, more than fifty people were preparing to leave.
Darren Voss stood near the first wagon.
He was a broad, middle-aged merchant with graying hair, practical clothing, and the expression of a man who had spent many years worrying about damaged wheels, bad weather, dishonest traders, and monsters appearing at the worst possible time.
When Kael approached, Darren looked past him at first.
Then he checked the description on the Guild notice.
“You’re Kael?” “Yes.” “The Unmeasured Hunter?” Kael looked at the card hanging from his belt.
“Apparently.” Darren studied him.
Kael looked young enough that most people would have assumed he was an ordinary hunter in his twenties.
He carried no weapon and wore no heavy armor.
Then Darren tried sensing him.
Nothing.
His expression changed slightly.
Rhea noticed.
“You get used to it.” Darren looked toward her.
“Do you?” Rhea considered that.
“No.” The other hunters introduced themselves soon afterward.
Toren was an experienced spear user in his thirties with a practical personality and little interest in unnecessary conversation.
Mira served as the primary scout and tracker.
She was younger than Toren but carried herself with the alertness of someone accustomed to noticing small changes in terrain.
Bram was a large shield user whose broad build made him look intimidating until he opened his mouth and immediately began discussing which roadside inns served the best meat stew.
None treated Kael badly.
They were simply curious.
That made Kael considerably more willing to speak with them than he had been with people who introduced themselves through demands.
The caravan left Greyhaven shortly after sunrise.
For the first several hours, Kael walked beside the central wagons.
Darren had offered him space inside one of the better carriages, but Kael refused.
Rhea glanced toward him.
“You don’t want to ride?” “No.” “Why?” “I’ve sat enough.” Rhea understood the words differently now that she knew he had spent roughly a hundred years inside the Hollow Depth.
Kael looked around as they traveled.
Fields spread along both sides of the road.
Farmers worked near irrigation channels while small houses appeared between stretches of cultivated land.
Children occasionally stopped what they were doing to watch the large caravan pass.
None of it was extraordinary.
Kael still found it interesting.
Rhea noticed.
“You’ve really never seen any of this?” “Not this world.” She assumed he meant this region.
Kael didn’t correct her.
By midday, Rhea discovered that traveling with the caravan did not mean training had stopped.
Kael walked beside her.
“Where’s wagon seventeen?” Rhea looked backward.
“Don’t look.” She stopped.
“Master.” “Where?” Rhea concentrated.
She had been tracking the caravan as Kael instructed.
Wagon seventeen had been behind the merchant carrying dyed cloth.
“Rear section.
Left line.” “Driver?” Rhea frowned.
“Old man with the red scarf.” “Good.
Guards near it?” She tried remembering.
“Two.” “One.” Rhea’s expression changed.
She focused on the sounds around her.
One guard had moved toward another wagon several minutes earlier.
“One.” Kael nodded.
“Again later.” Rhea sighed.
Mira had been walking nearby and finally asked, “What exactly is he making you do?” “Remember everything.” Mira laughed slightly.
Then she realized Rhea wasn’t joking.
Kael continued asking questions throughout the afternoon.
How many wagons?
Which driver had changed position?
Where was Bram?
Which horse had begun favoring its front right leg?
Rhea missed several answers.
Each mistake annoyed her more than the last.
She gradually stopped thinking only about what stood directly in front of her.
That was precisely what Kael wanted.
His own perception, meanwhile, covered vastly more than the caravan.
Small animals moved beneath the fields.
Several travelers followed another road kilometers away.
A shallow underground water channel crossed beneath the caravan route.
Farther ahead, thirty-two humans waited among the trees.
Kael noticed them long before anyone else.
He looked toward Darren.
“People ahead.” Darren turned.
“Travelers?” “No.” “How many?” “Thirty-two.” Mira’s expression became serious.
She moved ahead to scout.
The caravan slowed.
Twenty minutes later, Mira returned.
“Bandits.” She looked directly at Kael.
“Thirty-two.” The other hunters became noticeably quieter.
Darren unfolded his route map.
“There is another road east.
It adds several hours.” He looked toward Kael.
“What do you think?” Kael shrugged.
“It’s your caravan.” Darren seemed surprised.
“You don’t care which route?” “I’m escorting you.
You’re deciding where you’re going.” That answer told Darren more about Kael than any rumor had.
After considering the situation, he chose to remain on the main road.
Thirty-two bandits were dangerous but manageable with the guards and hunters available.
The caravan continued.
The ambush became visible less than an hour later.
Several trees had been dragged partially across the road.
Armed men emerged from both sides while hidden archers remained among the surrounding branches.
Their leader stepped forward.
“Toll.” Darren remained calm.
“This is a registered merchant route.” “Today it’s ours.” Negotiation began.
Kael stood near Rhea and watched.
He could have ended the situation immediately.
There was no reason to.
Darren knew what he was doing, and the guards were capable of handling ordinary bandits.
Then one of the hidden archers fired.
The arrow wasn’t aimed at Darren.
It was aimed at Rhea.
Kael raised one hand.
The arrow stopped between two fingers.
Rhea looked at him.
“I could’ve dodged that.” “I know.” She stared at him for a moment.
Kael pointed toward the bandits.
“Training.” Rhea’s expression changed.
“Now?” “Best time.” She drew her short blade.
Kael gave one instruction.
“Don’t stop moving.” Rhea stepped forward.
The first bandit rushed her with a curved sword.
Several days ago, Rhea would have blocked, reset her stance, then countered.
This time she moved differently.
She slipped past the attack.
The movement became a turn.
The turn carried her blade into the man’s wrist.
He dropped the weapon.
Rhea continued without stopping.
Another bandit came from the side.
Her previous strike became the beginning of the next movement.
Step.
Turn.
Elbow.
Blade.
The man fell.
Toren noticed immediately.
“That’s clean.” Mira nodded.
Rhea barely heard them.
A third attacker approached.
“Left,” Kael said.
Rhea shifted.
A hidden knife missed her ribs.
“Too much force.” She corrected her next step.
“You’re looking at the sword.” Rhea broadened her awareness.
Movement behind.
She ducked.
A club passed over her head.
Her turn carried directly into a strike against the attacker’s knee.
He collapsed.
Bram watched from beside one of the wagons.
“He’s coaching her during an ambush.” Toren glanced toward Kael.
“That’s terrifying.” The bandit leader apparently reached the same conclusion.
He abandoned Darren and charged toward Kael.
Kael continued watching Rhea.
The leader swung.
Kael stepped aside.
The man’s momentum carried him past.
Kael touched his back lightly.
The bandit flew several meters and landed face-first in the dirt.
Kael didn’t look at him again.
“Rhea.
Breathe.” She corrected immediately.
The battle ended less than ten minutes later.
Several bandits fled.
Most surrendered once their leader stopped moving and too many of their companions were disarmed.
Rhea stood among the defeated attackers breathing heavily.
Kael approached.
She looked at him expectantly.
“Good.” Rhea froze.
Her eyes widened slightly.
“Good?” “Yes.” A smile spread across her face.
Kael frowned.
He still didn’t understand why individual words from him had apparently become official milestones in her training.
Before he could ask, something beneath the road caught his attention.
His Spatial Sense descended.
Far below the soil, beneath layers of ancient rock, was a small artificial chamber.
Most of it had collapsed.
Inside lay a dull red cube.
Kael stopped.
Rhea saw his expression.
“No.” He looked at her.
“What?” “That’s the same face you made before finding the underground structure.” “There’s something down there.” Rhea closed her eyes.
“We’ve been traveling for less than one day.” Kael looked toward the caravan.
Darren was already organizing the captured bandits and checking for injuries.
The buried structure wasn’t moving.
The cube wasn’t going anywhere.
Kael had accepted an escort contract.
He memorized the exact location.
Then continued walking.
Rhea stared after him.
“You’re leaving it?” “For now.” “You’re not curious?” “Very.” “Then why?” Kael looked toward the wagons beginning to move again.
“I said I’d escort them.” Rhea became quiet.
That answer mattered.
Kael ignored authority imposed upon him.
Kings, Guilds, families, and gods could demand whatever they wanted.
Their demands meant nothing unless Kael chose to care.
But a promise he made voluntarily was different.
That belonged to him.
And Kael didn’t allow even his own curiosity to decide that his word meant nothing.
The caravan continued north.
Far beneath the road, the dull red cube remained inside the collapsed chamber.
Kael’s Spatial Sense gradually moved farther away.
Just before the buried structure passed beyond the edge of his current perception, the cube rotated once.
By itself.
the link is in the synonyms.