Adrian received all five offers before he made it back to his apartment.
The first came from Argent Dawn.
The second surpassed it less than four minutes later.
By the time he stored Lyra inside Sovereign Territory and finished cleaning the Spinecrawler’s blood off his shoes, three more guilds had requested urgent meetings.
They all used different words.
"Development."
"Partnership."
"A shared future."
All five meant the same thing.
Ownership.
The meeting was held at ten that morning on the thirtieth floor of Meridian Academy.
A long table occupied the center of the room. Examiner Bennett, Marcus Venn, and an academy lawyer sat along one side.
Representatives from the five guilds occupied the other.
Adrian chose the seat at the head of the table.
No one had offered it to him.
The Argent Dawn representative was the first to slide a contract his way. The document projected its terms across the table.
[ARGENT DAWN — EXCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT CONTRACT]
[Term: 3 years.]
[Signing Bonus: 1,500,000 credits.]
[Monthly Salary: 80,000 credits.]
[Starting Equipment: B-Rank.]
[Dungeon Access: Up to C-Rank.]
[Material Distribution: 60% Guild / 40% Awakened.]
"Argent Dawn has thirty-two active teams," the woman explained. "We would assign you specialized instructors, provide access to our facilities, and give you a full party for your first expeditions."
Adrian skipped to the final page.
"The guild gets to decide which classes I register."
"We need to prevent you from acquiring incompatible abilities."
"You can also prohibit me from using any class you consider dangerous."
"Only for safety reasons."
"And any skill I create through combination becomes shared intellectual property."
The representative maintained her smile.
"We can negotiate the wording."
Adrian closed the document.
"You’d have to negotiate almost every page."
Iron Vanguard placed its offer on top of hers.
[Signing Bonus: 3,000,000 credits.]
[Term: 5 years.]
[Materials: 50% / 50%.]
[Mandatory Participation in Guild Operations.]
[Right of First Claim over Class Souls and Unknown Artifacts.]
Adrian read the final condition.
"You want to choose which corpses I’m allowed to absorb."
"We want to ensure the most valuable resources benefit the entire team," the representative replied.
"The entire team can’t use them."
"But the guild would assume the risk involved in obtaining them."
"Then the guild can awaken a class capable of absorbing them."
The Iron Vanguard representative stopped smiling.
The third offer came from Azure Tower. It required fewer expeditions and offered access to top-tier laboratories.
In exchange, Adrian would have to allow them to study Infinite Sovereign for six hours each week, provide energy samples, and submit a complete record of every new class he acquired.
"No," he said before finishing the first page.
The Azure Tower researcher adjusted his glasses.
"You haven’t even looked at the bonus."
"Does the bonus eliminate the six hours of experiments?"
"They aren’t experiments. They’re analysis sessions."
"Then you can analyze my answer."
He closed the contract.
Radiant Crown presented the fourth proposal. It was the guild with the largest public presence in Meridian. Its offer included a residence, sponsorships, a percentage of all merchandise bearing Adrian’s likeness, and a team to manage his social media.
It also required one hundred and twenty days of mandatory public appearances each year.
"You want to turn my class into a brand."
"A unique class needs a narrative," the representative replied. "If we don’t create one, someone else will."
"My narrative begins with me rejecting this contract."
The Nightfall representative waited until the end.
She was the same woman who had given Adrian a black card after his evaluation. She didn’t project a contract.
She simply placed a folder in front of him.
"I knew you’d reject the other four."
Adrian opened it.
Nightfall offered less money than Iron Vanguard, but the contract only lasted one year and imposed no training schedule. Adrian would retain seventy percent of all recovered materials and could choose his own classes.
It had one unusual condition.
[Mandatory Confidential Operations: 6.]
"What kind of operations?"
"Confidential ones."
"That doesn’t answer the question."
"The answer becomes available after you sign."
Adrian slid the folder back.
"Then my answer will become available after you tell me."
The woman rested her arms on the table.
"What exactly are you looking for?"
Adrian opened all five offers in front of him.
"Dungeon access above the normal limit for a newly Awakened. Equipment with no restrictions on how I use it. Every material and item I find. No exclusivity, no mandatory operations, and no rights to my classes."
The Iron Vanguard representative laughed.
"That isn’t a contract. It’s a list of gifts."
"Five guilds called me before breakfast. It seems like you can afford it."
"No serious organization would finance an expedition without receiving anything in return."
Adrian looked at the representatives.
"You’d receive the opportunity to prove your guild can offer me something better than the others."
"And after the expedition?"
"I’d decide whether to speak with you again."
The Argent Dawn representative shook her head.
"We wouldn’t invest resources just so you could sign with a competitor."
"Then we’re finished."
Adrian stood.
All five representatives stared at him.
No one had expected him to walk out.
His class was still Level 1. He only possessed one registered class and had never entered a dungeon. Any other student would have accepted the first million before examining the terms.
Adrian already knew what Infinite Sovereign could give him.
He didn’t need to sell it for a set of B-Rank equipment.
"Sit down," Venn said.
Adrian looked at the senior examiner.
"Do you have a contract too?"
"No. I have a proposal that will keep us from wasting another hour listening to adults pretend they’re offering opportunities."
The representatives did not appreciate the comment.
Venn projected a map of Meridian.
A subway station appeared west of the academy.
[HOLLOW STATION]
[Public Classification: E-Rank.]
[Status: Active.]
[Administration: Meridian Academy.]
Adrian recognized the name.
Infinite Sovereign had detected a source compatible with Lyra inside that dungeon.
Venn enlarged the map. A second level marked in red appeared beneath the explored areas.
[Special Sector.]
[Estimated Classification: C-Rank.]
[Access Restricted.]
[Exploration Attempts: 3.]
[Completed Expeditions: 0.]
"The upper section of Hollow Station is an E-Rank dungeon," Venn explained. "Nine days ago, a new entrance appeared on its lowest level. Three teams attempted to explore it. All three retreated before clearing the first section."
"Deaths?" Adrian asked.
"None. The sector ejects anyone who takes critical damage."
"Then it’s a trial."
"That’s our assumption. The monsters are stronger than E-Rank, but the internal rules appear to prevent immediate death."
Bennett watched Adrian.
"Your provisional license permits supervised access up to C-Rank. Under an academy evaluation, that supervision can be handled remotely through certified monitoring equipment. If you agree to complete your practical evaluation there, the academy can authorize entry."
The lawyer projected a new proposal.
[MERIDIAN ACADEMY — SPECIAL EVALUATION EXPEDITION]
[Advance Payment: 250,000 credits.]
[Field Equipment Provided by the Academy.]
[Authorized Access: Hollow Station — Special Sector.]
[Certified Academic Supervision: Remote.]
[Rights to Recovered Materials: 100% Candidate.]
[Duration: One Expedition.]
[Exclusivity: None.]
Adrian reviewed the remaining terms.
The academy would have the right to observe his performance through the equipment’s safety devices, but it could not demand information about Infinite Sovereign or the precise mechanics of his classes.
It was almost everything he had requested.
"I keep any items I recover too, not just the materials."
The lawyer amended the condition.
[Rights to Recovered Materials and Items: 100% Candidate.]
"I also need to register an entity linked to my class as a member of the team."
Bennett frowned.
"What kind of entity?"
"A general."
The guild representatives stopped reviewing the contract.
Venn was the only one who didn’t look surprised.
"Your class can produce units?"
"It can register them."
"You didn’t have that function yesterday."
"Yesterday was a long time ago."
Bennett studied him.
"We’ll need to evaluate her."
"You can confirm that she’s linked to Infinite Sovereign. Her class and abilities remain private."
"Is she intelligent?"
"Very."
"Can she follow orders?"
Adrian remembered Lyra’s threats.
"When she agrees with them."
The Nightfall representative leaned forward.
"Nightfall will match the academy’s proposal."
"Argent Dawn will raise the payment to half a million," the first woman said. "We would retain rights to twenty percent of the recovered items."
"Iron Vanguard will provide A-Rank equipment."
Adrian examined the new terms.
The competition had started again.
He spent the next twenty minutes increasing the value of the proposal without accepting a single offer.
Argent Dawn raised its payment.
Iron Vanguard added consumables.
Azure Tower offered analysis devices and a loaned dimensional container. Radiant Crown eliminated all public appearance obligations for the first month. Nightfall offered access to its private maps of Hollow Station.
Adrian took every improvement and placed it in front of the Meridian Academy lawyer.
"Match Iron Vanguard’s equipment, add Nightfall’s maps and Azure Tower’s consumables."
The Iron Vanguard representative slammed his hand against the table.
"You can’t use our offers to negotiate with the academy."
"I’m doing it right now."
Venn concealed a smile.
The lawyer consulted Bennett before modifying the agreement.
[Advance Payment: 400,000 credits.]
[Combat Equipment: A-Rank Training / B-Rank Operational.]
[Recovery Consumables: 5.]
[Dimensional Container: 106 cubic feet.]
[Complete Maps of Hollow Station.]
[Certified Academic Supervision: Remote.]
[Rights to Recovered Materials and Items: 100% Candidate.]
[Subsequent Obligations: None.]
Adrian read the document one last time.
"I accept."
He signed with the academy.
All five guild contracts remained untouched on the table.
[400,000 credits transferred.]
[Special Expedition registered.]
[Destination: Hollow Station.]
[Entry Time: 2:00 PM.]
The Nightfall representative picked up her folder.
"You’ll end up signing with someone."
Adrian stood.
"Then you’d better improve your next offer."
The guild representatives began gathering their contracts.
None of them looked particularly satisfied.
Adrian considered that a successful meeting.
He left before any of them could make another offer.
The door closed behind him.
Bennett waited until Adrian’s footsteps disappeared down the corridor.
Then Bennett looked at Venn.
"He can’t enter that sector with only the class entity."
Venn leaned back in his chair.
"He defeated a Spinecrawler less than twenty-four hours after awakening."
"That isn’t the point."
"He’s also the best unawakened combatant Meridian has produced in years, broke academy equipment during his evaluation, and just negotiated against five guild representatives without blinking."
Bennett pulled Adrian’s expedition file back onto the table.
[Candidate: Adrian Vale.]
[Registered Class: Infinite Sovereign.]
[Official Dungeon Expeditions: 0.]
[Known Class Functions: Incomplete.]
[Registered Class Entities: 1.]
"He’s a prodigy."
Venn’s eyebrows rose.
Bennett immediately pointed at him.
"Don’t."
"I didn’t say anything."
"You were about to."
"I was going to appreciate this historic moment."
"What historic moment?"
"You admitting Adrian Vale is a prodigy."
Bennett ignored him.
"Being talented doesn’t change the fact that this will be his first official dungeon exploration as a student. His class is Unique, we don’t know how half of its functions work, and yesterday we didn’t even know it could register intelligent entities."
Venn glanced toward the door.
"To be fair, neither did he."
"That somehow makes it worse."
"The academy will be monitoring him."
"Remotely."
"Which satisfies his provisional license."
"I’m aware of our own regulations, Marcus."
Venn smiled.
"Just checking."
Bennett enlarged Hollow Station’s special sector.
"If his vitals become unstable, I can terminate the evaluation. If the beacon detects critical damage, the dungeon should eject him automatically. What I can’t do from this office is physically intervene if something unexpected happens before either safeguard activates."
Venn considered that.
"You want someone inside."
"I want an observer. Someone strong enough not to become another problem, but not someone who’ll treat this like an excuse to control every decision he makes."
"Someone he trusts."
"Preferably."
"That’s a shorter list."
Bennett looked at him.
Venn smiled.
"We’re thinking of the same person."
A sound came from outside the office.
THUD.
Both of them turned toward the door.
Silence.
Bennett stared at it.
"Did something just hit my door?"
"No idea."
Another few seconds passed.
Venn stood and opened it.
Evelyn Hart nearly fell into the room.
She caught herself against the frame and immediately straightened.
Nobody spoke.
"Good morning," Evelyn said.
Bennett looked at her.
Then at the empty hallway behind her.
Then back at her.
"How long have you been standing there?"
"I wasn’t standing here."
Venn looked at the door.
"You were leaning against it."
"I was passing by."
"This hallway doesn’t lead to the student training wing."
"I took a different route."
"For what?"
Evelyn hesitated.
"No particular reason."
Venn’s mouth twitched.
Bennett crossed both arms.
"You heard about Adrian’s expedition."
"I heard a rumor."
"The expedition was approved less than five minutes ago."
"Rumors travel quickly."
"Apparently."
Evelyn stepped into the office.
"If Adrian needs someone inside Hollow Station, I can go."
Venn looked at Bennett.
Bennett looked at Evelyn.
"You awakened at practically the same time he did."
"I’m aware."
"You have no field-supervisor certification."
"I didn’t say I did."
"You’ve never supervised another student."
"I don’t need to supervise him."
That answer made Bennett pause.
Evelyn continued.
"You already said the academy handles his official supervision remotely. You need someone inside who can recognize when something has gone wrong, contact you, and keep him alive long enough for the emergency system to matter."
Venn nodded.
"She was listening very carefully."
Evelyn ignored him.
"I’m S-Rank. Blade Dancer is suited for close-range combat, and Adrian already knows how I fight."
"You’ve known him for less than a week."
"He still trusts me more than an instructor he’s never met."
Venn coughed into his fist.
Evelyn looked at him.
"What?"
"Nothing."
She turned back to Bennett.
"And if Infinite Sovereign does something unexpected, he’ll be more likely to explain it to someone he knows than to some academy observer following him around with a scanner."
That part was harder to argue against.
Bennett studied her.
"You would not be his supervisor."
"I know."
"You would have no authority over his class development, which abilities he uses, or how he conducts himself unless his actions directly threaten the expedition."
"Understood."
"Your official role would be field observer and combat support. The evaluation remains my responsibility."
Evelyn nodded.
Immediately.
Far too immediately.
"If Vale suffers critical injuries, you activate the emergency protocol."
"Understood."
"If Infinite Sovereign manifests another unknown function, you report it."
"Understood."
"If he attempts something obviously reckless—"
"I report it."
Bennett paused.
"Yes."
"Then I’ll do it."
Venn watched her for a moment.
"You seem unusually enthusiastic about spending several hours inside a dungeon with Vale."
Evelyn’s expression didn’t change.
"I’m taking academy responsibility seriously."
"Of course."
"What’s that supposed to mean?"
"Absolutely nothing."
Bennett looked between them before updating the expedition file.
[Additional Team Member Approved.]
[Name: Evelyn Hart.]
[Class: Blade Dancer.]
[Combat Potential: S.]
[Role: Field Observer and Combat Support.]
Evelyn glanced at the screen.
"When do we leave?"
"Two."
"I’ll be ready."
She turned toward the door.
Venn waited until she reached it.
"Hart."
Evelyn looked back.
"Yes?"
"You can use the hallway this time."
She stared at him.
Then left.
The door closed.
Venn looked at Bennett.
Bennett spoke first.
"Don’t."
"I didn’t say anything."
"You were going to."
"I was only wondering what other rumors Hart accidentally hears while leaning against office doors."
"Get out."
The equipment was waiting on the preparation floor.
Adrian received a black suit woven from fibers resistant to B-Rank claws and blades. The protection covering his chest and joints could harden automatically when it detected an impact.
The gauntlets were reinforced to withstand unarmed combat techniques.
[Gauntlets: Kinetic Frame V.]
[Compatible with Starbreaker Fist.]
[Maximum Safe Output: B-Rank.]
The boots included mana stabilizers. He also received five medical injectors, two communicators, and a dimensional container attached to his belt.
The equipment didn’t belong to him.
Anything he found did.
Adrian stored the consumables.
Evelyn entered while adjusting her sword sheath. She wore a similar suit, though hers was lighter and left the joints Blade Dancer needed unrestricted.
"So you rejected five contracts."
"There’s still time for you to offer me one."
"I have eight hundred credits in my account."
"You’d need better terms."
Evelyn handed him a tablet.
[MERIDIAN ACADEMY REPRESENTATIVE]
[Name: Evelyn Hart.]
[Class: Blade Dancer.]
[Combat Potential: S.]
[Role: Field Observer and Combat Support.]
Adrian read the final line.
"Field observer?"
"Bennett is handling your official supervision remotely. She wanted someone physically inside the sector too."
"And they chose you."
"Apparently you’re difficult to supervise."
"You’re not my supervisor."
"Bennett made that very clear."
"Good."
"I’ll still be responsible for reporting any stupid decisions you make."
"That sounds subjective."
"You destroyed two machines during your evaluation."
"Bennett broke one."
"The report disagrees with you."
Adrian looked at the tablet again.
"You volunteered."
Evelyn paused.
"Why would you assume that?"
"Because Bennett wouldn’t willingly inflict me on you."
"Maybe she thinks I’m responsible."
"You volunteered."
Evelyn pulled the tablet from his hand.
"We leave at two."
Adrian smiled.
"That’s not a denial."
Golden light appeared behind him.
Lyra emerged from the General Archive.
This time, Infinite Sovereign deployed her standing upright. She wore her white armor with a modern dark coat over it. Adrian had given her a B-Rank training spear, but Lyra still refused to consider it a weapon.
Evelyn drew her sword.
Lyra already had one hand on the spear.
Adrian stepped between them.
"This seems like a good time for introductions."
Evelyn didn’t lower her weapon.
"I know her."
Lyra studied her.
"I don’t know you."
Evelyn opened the tablet and displayed an image taken by a municipal security camera. It showed Lyra leaving the alley where they had encountered the Spinecrawler. The photograph was blurry, but her silver hair and the armor beneath her coat were unmistakable.
[PERSON OF INTEREST.]
[Identity: Unknown.]
[Probable Involvement in Creature Elimination.]
"The municipal team found the monster dead," Evelyn said. "Security cameras recorded both of you leaving the area thirty seconds before they arrived."
Adrian examined the image.
"They didn’t get my good side."
"Who is she?"
"Lyra Voss. My general."
"That doesn’t explain anything."
"She’s bound to Infinite Sovereign."
Lyra released the training spear.
"I don’t need you to defend me."
"I’m not defending you. I’m preventing the destruction of equipment I have to return."
Evelyn kept her eyes on Lyra as she held the tablet near the woman’s armor. The device initiated a scan.
[Name Confirmed: Lyra Voss.]
[Class Contract Detected.]
[Bond Type: General.]
[Class: Unable to Identify.]
[Rank: Unable to Identify.]
[Civil Registry: No Record Found.]
[Awakening Registry: No Record Found.]
[World Database Compatibility: 0%.]
Evelyn repeated the search.
Nothing appeared.
"There’s no record of her class."
"You just saved yourself thousands of years of searching," Adrian said.
Evelyn looked up.
"Where did she come from?"
"My territory."
"That doesn’t explain anything either."
Lyra approached Evelyn. Her gaze dropped to the sword.
"Blade Dancer."
Evelyn adjusted her guard.
"You can identify my class?"
"Your feet identify it for you."
"You’ve never seen me fight."
"You place too much weight on your left leg for an ordinary swordswoman. Your shoulders remain relaxed even when you’re prepared to attack, and the marks on your sheath indicate that you draw from four different angles."
Lyra looked at her face.
"Epic. S-Rank potential by the primitive standards of this era."
Evelyn slowly lowered her sword.
"Primitive?"
Adrian picked up the training spear and handed it to Lyra.
"Let’s try to reach the dungeon before you start comparing ranks."
Evelyn looked from Lyra to Adrian.
"Did she stay at your apartment last night?"
"For part of the morning."
"He made me appear in his bed," Lyra added.
Adrian stared at her indignantly.
"As far as I remember, I bought that bed."
Evelyn stopped walking.
Adrian opened the elevator doors.
"Both of those statements need more context."
"You deployed me on top of yourself without warning."
"That didn’t help."
The doors closed before Evelyn could respond.
Hollow Station had been closed since the Rift appeared.
The old entrance stood between two commercial buildings, surrounded by security barriers and Authority checkpoints. The public transit symbol was still visible above the stairs, though thirty years of corrosion covered the metal.
The personnel verified their licenses.
Adrian was authorized through his provisional permit.
His tablet connected to the academy network.
[Candidate: Adrian Vale.]
[Provisional License: Valid.]
[Authorized Dungeon Classification: Up to C-Rank under supervision.]
[Certified Academic Supervisor: Examiner Bennett.]
[Supervision Method: Remote Monitoring.]
[Connection Status: Active.]
Evelyn’s identification appeared next.
[Name: Evelyn Hart.]
[Role: Field Observer and Combat Support.]
[Entry Authorization: Approved.]
The tablet refused to recognize Lyra as an Awakened.
Infinite Sovereign opened the General Archive and projected their contract.
[Registered General linked to licensed candidate.]
[Entry Responsibility Assigned to Adrian Vale.]
The guard read the classification several times.
"I’ve never seen a class entity registered as a physical person."
"She isn’t impressed with the system either," Adrian replied.
Lyra passed through the checkpoint without looking at him.
They descended to the old platform level.
The Rift occupied the space where the tracks had once been. It resembled a vertical opening filled with dark mist. Several lights marked the entrance, and a display showed the official information.
[HOLLOW STATION.]
[E-Rank.]
[Registered Monsters: Spinecrawlers, Tunnel Stalkers, Ash Mites.]
[Known Boss: Bone Conductor.]
Adrian opened the map Nightfall had provided.
The normal route passed through three distorted stations before reaching the boss chamber. The special sector, discovered nine days earlier, appeared beneath it.
It hadn’t been present on any previous map.
"The compatible source is there," Adrian said.
Lyra studied the red zone.
"I can feel it too."
Evelyn looked between them.
"What source?"
"The reason I accepted this expedition."
"Are you going to explain anything before we go inside?"
"When I know what we’re looking for."
The three of them crossed the Rift.
The air changed.
The walls of Hollow Station imitated the old subway system, but the proportions were wrong. The tunnels were too tall, the tracks curved toward impossible ceilings, and roots of stone grew between the seats of abandoned trains.
They encountered no monsters in the first section.
Nor did they find any trace of the previous teams.
They followed the markings on the map to the final platform. There, a staircase that had never existed in the original station descended beneath the tracks.
They found a door at the bottom.
It wasn’t a rock formation or a dungeon barrier.
It was metal.
Burn marks blackened its white surface, but the material was identical to the alloy used inside the Unified Combat Center of the future.
Lyra touched the door.
"This was manufactured in Meridian."
Evelyn passed her tablet over the material.
[Composition: Unknown.]
[Estimated Age: Inconclusive.]
"It doesn’t exist," she said. "No company manufactures this alloy."
Adrian searched for an opening mechanism.
An inscription had been carved above the frame.
The symbols didn’t belong to the modern language. Evelyn tried to scan them, but her tablet found no matches.
Infinite Sovereign did.
[Written language detected.]
[Temporal linguistic reconstruction available.]
[Translate?]
Adrian accepted.
The characters rearranged themselves.
Lyra stopped breathing.
The first line identified the structure.
[MERIDIAN CENTRAL DEFENSE — EMERGENCY TRANSIT GATE.]
A date appeared beneath it.
Adrian had seen those numbers before.
They had been written on the memorial plaque in humanity’s last city. They had also appeared in Lyra’s preservation system.
The date marked the day Meridian fell.
[Construction Date: July 18, 2892.]
Adrian had been born in 2008.
The door inside that dungeon had been built eight hundred and sixty-six years in the future.