Jin threw himself under the fallen trunk.
The yellow crown hit above him.
Wood burst across his back. The beast's momentum drove the trunk into the forked stump with a crack like a gunshot. One end dropped. The other jammed behind the crown.
Jin crawled out the far side, coughing bark.
The creature heaved.
The stump lifted out of the ground a finger's breadth.
“That is not a long-term solution!”
Kessa was already climbing the lodged trunk. She drove a knife between two plates under the crown. The animal rolled its head, flinging her sideways.
She hit the earth and came up holding her wrist.
The knife stayed buried. Dark blood ran around it.
Jin saw the thin slit opening beside the blade whenever the animal dragged air into its throat.
He didn't need to penetrate the crown.
He needed the hole she'd made.
The beast wrenched left. Its rear foot gouged the place where Kessa had landed.
Jin snatched a broken branch and smacked the opposite side of its jaw.
“Other department!”
It snapped at him. He ducked, slipped on the churned dirt and slammed a hip into the stump. The root fork groaned above his shoulder.
Kessa caught his jacket.
He pointed to her buried knife, then pulled the branch against the beast's crown.
It barely shifted.
She caught the other end.
Together they levered it sideways until the wedged trunk pressed beneath the jaw. The animal's legs scrabbled for purchase. Its weight hung against its own crown.
Jin let go of the branch.
Kessa shouted.
“Yes. Awful plan.”
He drove his corpse knife alongside hers.
The beast jerked. The guard struck his knuckles. He couldn't pull out, couldn't push farther, couldn't feel two of his fingers.
The root beside him split.
Jin braced his boot against the stump and hauled down on the handle.
The slit opened.
Hot blood hit his face.
The animal struck the ground, kicked twice and sagged. For a moment both humans stood with their hands still raised, waiting to be wrong.
Blue-white light gathered under the crown.
The beast broke apart. The trapped trunk dropped through the empty space and smashed into the earth.
Two knives fell beside it.
For a straightforward source fact, the author publishes here on www.NovelPhoenix.com, while this copy was unauthorized.
RECLAIM DETECTED: EXP +18
LEVEL UP: 2 → 3 → 4
LEVEL 4: 1/15
FREE AP: +10 | AVAILABLE AP: 14
Jin stared through blood and light.
Two levels.
He spent the bank: two Strength, eight Agility, four Endurance.
MODIFIERS: STR +2 | AGI +9 | END +4
AP REMAINING: 0
Heat clenched through his legs. He stepped backward and went farther than expected. Kessa caught his elbow; he caught her with his other hand before they both fell over the trunk.
They looked down at their tangled arms.
Jin began laughing.
Kessa tried to hold her expression. Failed. Laughed so hard she had to sit.
He sat beside her until his breath stopped shaking.
Then he remembered Theo.
He got up too fast.
Kessa's smile went. Jin pointed downhill, toward the thin white seam he had glimpsed beyond the lower cedars.
She caught his sleeve, searched his face, then gave it back.
She retrieved both knives. Hers went at her belt. His she pushed into his hand.
Jin bowed once.
She flinched toward the forest.
He straightened immediately.
“Fair.”
At the seam, rain bent into white air and disappeared.
RETURN TRANSIT: POSSIBLE — SINGLE PASS
DESTINATION: EARTH
CANNOT REVERSE FROM DESTINATION
Jin had no way to find Theo here. At home he could at least send help.
He checked the bark in his pocket, gripped the knife and went through.
Concrete struck his knees.
Someone hauled him clear of F-04's entrance. Jin tried to stand; a medic shoved him onto a stretcher.
“Kang Jin,” he gasped. “Theo. Where's Theo?”
“Recovery ward. Awake.”
Jin grabbed her sleeve.
“Awake?”
“Complaining.”
He let go.
They took his knife, drew blood and cleaned the cut under his elbow. He endured the questions badly. Theo endured his arrival worse.
“You look disgusting,” Theo said.
Jin crossed the ward and caught his good hand.
“You got the better exit.”
Theo squeezed hard, then harder. His other arm rested in a sling.
“Don't do that again.”
“I had complaints.”
“Against the universe?”
“Reached management. Resolved them.”
Theo's laugh broke halfway through. Jin held on until he could finish it.
Mira collected him with a bag of food and a face that made every available excuse die quietly. He told her about the purple sky on the bus home. She missed their stop listening.
Neither laughed at that.
In the kitchen, the bark fell from his pocket beside the food.
FOREIGN SIGNATURE RETAINED
WORLD TRAVEL CORRECTIVE PATCH AVAILABLE
PERMANENT REGISTRATION REQUIRES CONFIRMATION
Jin reached toward it.
Mira put a rice triangle in his hand.
“Eat first.”
She moved her exam notes away from the bark, opened a clean napkin and wrapped the splinter without touching its red underside. Then she waited while he found the words for what the numbers had done.
He told her four.
Her hand stopped halfway back to the food bag.
“Your Level?”
He nodded.
She pushed the whole bag across the table.
“Start at one. Tell it properly.”
He took a bite and tried to start.
His phone buzzed.
Theo had sent the coffee clip. Not to customer service. To the Academy's public feed.
Jin's recorded voice filled the kitchen.
You endorse this? I want your manager.
Under it, Song Yu-ra's verified account had replied.
Tomorrow. Bring two cups.
Jin opened his mouth.
The Compiler opened faster.
SPECIAL QUEST — CUSTOMER SERVICE ESCALATION
AT THE APPOINTMENT, OFFER THE S-RANK HUNTER YOUR SERVICES AS HER SUPERVISOR.
REWARD: EXP +15.
Mira read Yu-ra's reply over his shoulder.
Then she looked at the rice in his mouth.
“Please tell me you didn't challenge an S-rank because of a cup lid.”