Ryan studied the paste.
It was thick, slightly steaming, and an entirely unappetizing shade of gray. When he poked it with his spoon, the indentation remained.
Ben sat across from him. "Eat."
"You first."
"You ordered the same thing."
"Exactly."
Jessica took a bite while everyone watched her. She chewed, swallowed, and considered the taste with an expression that revealed absolutely nothing.
Ryan leaned forward. "Well?"
"It's nutritionally responsible."
Ben groaned. "That bad?"
Ryan tried his.
The paste coated his tongue with a bland, chalky texture, followed by something vaguely herbal that reminded him of wet grass ground into oatmeal. He swallowed with effort and immediately reached for his water.
"This tastes like insulation."
Raven tried hers. "How do you know what insulation tastes like?"
"I have imagination."
Dezzy continued eating without complaint. "It contains adequate carbohydrates, moderate protein, electrolytes, and essential micronutrients."
Ben stared at her. "Do you enjoy anything?"
"Yes."
"What?"
"Useful information."
Ryan laughed, nearly choking on his next spoonful.
Despite the terrible food and the unpleasant knowledge that they'd left valuable meat in the forest, the meal did wonders for his mood. Their first hunt had been dangerous, exhausting, and far more expensive than he'd expected, but sitting around a table with the others made the day feel less like a series of near-death experiences and more like something they'd actually accomplished together.
By the time they finished, Ryan was already thinking about what they needed to do differently tomorrow.
Their first priority was still completing hunts efficiently, but the economics mattered almost as much as the fighting. Every shot Jessica fired had a replacement cost. Every trip through the gate took two crystals from each of them. Food, water, equipment, medical care, and lodging would steadily drain whatever they managed to earn.
And somewhere in the background, the city's monthly tax was waiting.
They needed to make each hunt count.
After eating, they headed toward the equipment market.
Ryan's newly purchased map made navigating dramatically easier, guiding them through a series of narrow streets toward a district where the smell of hot metal and machine lubricant replaced the aromas of the food stalls. The armories here were nothing like the polished stores near the central plaza. Weapons hung from open racks, armor pieces were piled into bins, and several displays carried obvious signs of repair.
Some blades were chipped. Others had worn grips or replacement components that didn't quite match their original construction. A few still bore dried stains Ryan chose not to examine too closely.
He loved it immediately.
"Oh, this is more like it."
Jessica watched him drift toward the nearest weapon rack. "You look way too happy."
Ryan lifted a plain longsword. The blade was made from a dull silver metal that looked similar to steel, with a worn grip and a simple guard. He tested its weight, adjusting his stance as he remembered the basic melee instruction he'd received on Earth.
Not bad.
Then he noticed the price.
[7 LOW-GRADE X ENERGY CRYSTALS]
He sighed. "Seven."
Jessica smiled. "Can't afford it."
"Yet."
Ben lifted a heavy axe from another rack and checked its price before putting it back with an offended expression.
Raven found a short spear.
"Five."
Ryan immediately looked over. "Five?"
She held it out. "Better reach than a sword. Easier to keep something away from you."
Ryan tested the spear, feeling its weight settle into his hands. The shaft was sturdy, the point narrow, and the weapon offered considerably more distance between him and anything trying to bite his face off.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
It was a sensible choice.
His eyes still drifted back toward the longsword.
Jessica noticed. "You're going to buy the sword eventually, aren't you?"
"Absolutely."
"I don't know why I asked."
Dezzy examined a rack of reinforced gauntlets, studying the joints and protective plating before setting them aside.
"Cheap equipment could interfere with Body Control. I'd rather wait until I can afford something suitable."
Ben nodded. "That's a very intimidating way of saying you're broke."
Dezzy looked at him.
He smiled. "We're all broke. It's fine."
They checked several armories before leaving the district. Basic melee weapons generally cost between five and ten low-grade crystals, while even refurbished ranged weapons were far beyond their current budgets. A standard ammunition refill still cost five crystals, an expense that made Ryan increasingly grateful Jessica had managed to finish the three fights with sixteen shots.
He glanced at her ammunition pouch.
"Thirty-five rounds left."
Jessica looked over. "You've been counting?"
"Every shot is money."
"Then stop making me shoot things that refuse to die."
Ryan smiled. "I'll put that on tomorrow's agenda."
By the time they left the final shop, the twin suns had begun sinking. Golden light mixed with crimson across the city, stretching long shadows between the buildings as the streets filled with hunters returning from the wilderness and workers heading toward the residential districts.
Ryan checked the local time.
"We need rooms."
Ben groaned. "More money."
"Welcome to civilization."
Ryan filtered his map for affordable lodging, eliminating most of the results almost immediately. The central district was out of the question, and even several outer-district establishments charged more for a single night than he'd earned after paying the gate toll.
Then he found something near the inner side of the outer wall.
[KERATH BOARDING HOUSE]
[BASIC PRIVATE ROOM]
[1 LOW-GRADE X ENERGY CRYSTAL / 7 LOCAL CYCLES]
Ryan blinked.
"Found one."
Jessica looked over. "How much?"
"One crystal for seven cycles."
Ben immediately pointed down the street. "Take me there."
The boarding house looked exactly as cheap as it was.
A narrow stone building stood wedged between a repair shop and what appeared to be an alien laundry service. The interior smelled faintly of disinfectant, old stone, and too many different species living in one place. Its walls were bare, the lighting was dim, and the attendant behind the reception counter seemed more interested in a floating display than in the five exhausted cadets approaching.
The process was simple.
Payment. Identity scan. Room assignment.
Ryan confirmed the transaction.
[PAYMENT ACCEPTED]
He checked his remaining balance and winced. After the gate toll, the map, dinner, and lodging, he had less than one whole crystal left.
But he had food in his stomach, water, and a roof over his head for seven local cycles.
That mattered.
The five gathered near the stairwell before separating.
"Tomorrow," Ben said, stretching until his back cracked.
"Nine at the entrance?" Jessica suggested.
Raven nodded, and Dezzy agreed.
Ryan looked between them. "Nine. Eat beforehand if you can, fill your water, and make sure your equipment's ready. We stay near the same perimeter until we're confident we can handle something worse."
"No experimenting deeper yet," Raven said.
"Definitely not."
Jessica opened Skynet. "We should probably figure out communication before we disappear into five different rooms."
Dezzy requested the local communication protocols and read through the information as it appeared across her interface.
"Direct messaging and voice communication are free within the city network. External communication requires energy expenditure based on distance and routing."
Ryan's attention sharpened.
"Beyond the city?"
"Yes."
"Earth?"
Dezzy scrolled through the information, then paused.
Ryan noticed immediately. "What?"
"Interstellar civilian communication is restricted through Exclipse military channels."
"Can we request access?"
"Apparently."
"Cost?"
"Not listed."
Ryan thought of Sarah.
He'd promised to contact her whenever he was allowed, and after everything that had happened since leaving Earth, he desperately wanted to tell her he was still alive. He could already imagine her reaction when he described the twin suns, the enormous alien city, and the six-legged monsters that had nearly eaten him.
He would probably leave out the part about almost dying.
At least until he was safely back on Earth.
"Later," he said.
Jessica looked at him for a moment but didn't push.
They exchanged local identification tokens, allowing Skynet to establish direct communication between them. One by one, the system confirmed the connections.
[CONTACT ADDED: JESSICA ASHMULL]
[CONTACT ADDED: RAVEN]
[CONTACT ADDED: DEZZY]
[CONTACT ADDED: BEN]
Then another prompt appeared.
[LINK EXISTING SQUAD NETWORK?]
Ryan accepted, and a shared communication channel formed automatically.
A message appeared almost immediately.
[BEN: test]
Jessica replied.
[JESSICA: Unfortunately, we can hear you.]
[RAVEN: Muting this immediately.]
Ben looked offended. "I hate all of you."
For once, even Dezzy smiled.
Ryan leaned against the stair railing, enjoying the brief moment of normality before exhaustion caught up with him again.
"Nine tomorrow. Don't be late."
Jessica gave him a pointed look. "And no sword."
"I don't own one."
"Exactly."
"Yet."
She shook her head, smiling as she headed toward her room.
They separated, leaving Ryan to climb the stairs alone.
His room was on the third floor. He tapped his wristband against the door sensor, waited for the lock to disengage, and stepped into a narrow stone chamber barely larger than the one he'd occupied aboard the orbital station.
A raised sleeping slab occupied one wall, covered by a thin mattress and a folded blanket. There was a small storage recess, a dim overhead light, and a shared bathroom somewhere farther down the corridor.
No window.
No decorations.
No luxuries whatsoever.
Ryan looked around.
"Home sweet home."
The door closed behind him.
For the first time all day, he was alone.
He set his equipment beside the bed and sat down, immediately becoming aware of how badly his body ached. His feet hurt, his shoulders were stiff, and his throat still felt dry despite the water he'd drunk. There was dried alien blood beneath one fingernail, and a long scratch ran across the side of his boot where the first beast had nearly caught him.
Ryan stared at the blood for a moment.
Yesterday, he'd never killed anything outside a game.
Today, his squad had killed three living creatures, cut energy cores from their bodies, and nearly been crushed, bitten, or trampled more times than he cared to remember.
And tomorrow, they were going to do it again.
He wasn't sure how he felt about how quickly that had begun to seem normal.
Ryan lay back on the mattress.
It was terrible.
He didn't care.
His eyes were beginning to close when a Skynet notification appeared.
[CULTIVATION PROGRESS]
[CURRENT RANK: 1 BEGINNING]
[QI POINTS OPENED: 1/360]
[NEXT QI POINT: 002]
Ryan stared at the display.
One.
He'd opened one Qi Point, and there were three hundred fifty-nine left before he reached the end of the known cultivation pathway.
He groaned.
"I hate you."
[NO QUERY DETECTED.]
"Wasn't talking to you."
The notification disappeared.
Ryan closed his eyes again, but the memory of the forest returned almost immediately. He could still hear trees breaking somewhere behind them and feel the ground trembling beneath his boots. He remembered how helpless he'd felt when the third beast charged him before he could reposition his barrier, and how Dezzy had been forced to throw herself into him to keep him from being crushed.
His Talent was powerful.
He'd seen that much.
But the barrier didn't make him faster, stronger, or capable of controlling every threat around him. Its effectiveness depended on how quickly he could think, how accurately he could position it, and how much Mental Energy he could spare.
Against something larger than the beasts they'd fought today, those limitations could get him killed.
Ryan sat up.
He'd wanted to become stronger long before leaving Earth. He'd imagined fighting monsters beneath alien skies, earning enough money to bring his father home, and eventually streaming battles that millions of people would watch.
Now that he'd taken his first step toward that future, he understood just how much work stood between him and any of it.
He crossed his legs on the mattress and straightened his back.
His Mental Energy had gradually recovered during the return journey, and the time they'd spent eating and shopping had given him additional rest. His X Energy was also full after their cultivation break in the forest. He was tired, but he wasn't completely depleted.
There was enough left in him to try.
Ryan closed his eyes and turned his awareness inward.
The sensation came more easily now than it had during his first attempts at cultivation. He could feel the faint presence of ambient Esoteric Energy drifting through the room, an invisible current that existed everywhere but remained inaccessible to anyone who hadn't Awakened.
He drew it in with slow, measured breaths, guiding the energy through his body toward the core behind his heart. The familiar warmth spread through his chest as the raw Esoteric Energy was refined into X Energy, and he allowed his breathing to settle into a steady rhythm before directing his attention toward the pathway he'd learned from the cultivation manual.
The first Qi Point was already open.
Now came the second.
He found it gradually, tracing the faint resistance along the energy pathway until his awareness settled on a point that felt like a tightly closed passage. It wasn't a physical obstruction, at least not in any way he could explain, but the resistance was unmistakable.
Ryan gathered a controlled stream of X Energy and directed it toward the blockage.
At first, nothing happened.
He increased the pressure.
A sharp pain spread through his chest.
His breathing faltered, and the carefully gathered energy scattered before he could stabilize it.
Ryan opened his eyes and exhaled slowly.
"Okay. Too much."
He sat quietly for a moment, allowing the discomfort to fade while he considered what had gone wrong. Opening his first Qi Point had required patience and careful control, yet he'd approached the second as though he could force it open simply by pouring more energy into it.
That wasn't going to work.
He closed his eyes again, steadied his breathing, and returned his attention to the pathway behind his heart.
This time, he gathered a smaller stream of X Energy and guided it toward the obstruction, applying pressure gradually while carefully observing how the energy responded.
The second Qi Point resisted.
Ryan adjusted the flow.
The pressure returned.
He held his concentration.
And began again.