Chapter 55: Zero

Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Zero

"AAAAGH!"

Jared jolted upright, hands clawing at the air. The sound bounced off white walls and died. His heart was pounding. Cold sweat plastered his shirt to his ribs. For a second he had no idea where he was.

Then the pain hit.

He gritted his teeth, squeezed his eyes shut, and pressed both palms against his temples.

’Oh, that’s bad.’

It was a serious headache. The kind that made the light hurt.

He sighed, slowly, carefully, and cracked one eye open.

A thin blue curtain hung on a rail beside the bed, and beyond it he could hear the muffled squeak of rubber shoes and the quiet beep of a monitor. A smell of antiseptic hung in the air.

The infirmary.

He looked down at his hand, still frozen in front of his face.

"What is that?"

His voice came out thin and cracked.

He tried to raise his hand. It wouldn’t move. He tried again, concentrating, and his fingers twitched, trembled, and flopped back onto the blanket like a dying fish. His whole arm felt like wet clay. His legs felt like lead. Every muscle in his body had turned to jelly.

He was weak. Absurdly, impossibly weak.

"What’s going on?"

[Well,]

[you overexerted mana through one single point.]

"What?"

[That’s what happened. You pushed everything you had through a single fingertip. All of it. At once. It’s a miracle you didn’t burst a vessel.]

"Is that bad?"

[It’s not good.

[There’s a reason beast tamers train for these things. You can’t just dump your whole reserve in one go. Your body isn’t built for it. You have to condition it. Spread it out. Learn the flow. You skipped all that and went straight to the finale.]

"Okay," Jared whispered. "Okay. Pull up my mana."

[Are you sure you want to see?]

"Just do it."

It’s not like seeing it was going to change anything.

[Mana: 0]

It was a clean zero.

"Crap," Jared sighed.

He let his head fall back against the pillow and stared at the ceiling.

"Let me guess," he said. "They went on without me."

[That they did.]

"Karl took the team to the next gate."

[And the next. They’ve been gone for about 6 hours. They’re probably on the last one now.]

"Great."

[They said you were out cold. A bit of a hero, actually. A few of them wanted to carry you home personally.]

"Great," Jared repeated, without enthusiasm.

He lay there, listening to the beeping of the monitor.

"My wages are going to take a cut, right?"

[Funny.]

"What?"

[That’s funny. It’s the first time I’ve seen you be so vain.]

"Vain?"

[Money minded. Interested in the paycheck. It’s good. It’s healthy.]

[I’m rubbing off on you.]

"Whatever, man."

[It’s a compliment.]

"It’s not."

[It is, a bit.]

He didn’t answer. He closed his eyes and let the headache throb.

The curtain rattled.

A man stepped into the little cubicle, brisk and tired, with graying hair, round glasses. A clipboard was tucked under one arm. A stethoscope hung around his neck. He glanced at the chart at the foot of the bed, then at Jared, and gave a small, professional nod.

"You’re awake."

"Barely."

"Good. That’s a start." He pulled up a stool and sat. "I’m the doctor on call. You’re in the guild’s bay. Captain Karl brought you in a few hours ago."

"I figured."

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit by a truck."

Seeing the doctor reminded him of his previous life. His tune in the hospital.

"That’s accurate." The doctor clicked his pen. "Let me explain what’s happened. You expended a very large amount of mana in a very short time. More than your body was prepared for. It caused a kind of overload. Your system went into shock, and you blacked out."

"The bottom line is, you won’t be going on missions for a week at least."

Jared’s eyes snapped open.

"A week?"

"At least. Your body needs about that long to get used to the amount of mana you exerted. It’s like a muscle that’s been torn. It has to knit. If you push it too soon, it won’t heal properly."

"But..."

"No buts."

Jared closed his mouth.

The doctor peered over his glasses.

"You’ve got a beast ranked at least S, I guess," he said. "Possibly higher. A powerful animal. Strong. And yet your mana isn’t up to snuff. That’s quite a mismatch. It’s no wonder you collapsed."

Jared kept his face blank.

"Don’t worry," the doctor went on, gentler now. "These things happen. Young masters overreach. It’s part of the learning curve. But I have to warn you. Overdoing it, for people in your situation, can lead to death."

"Death," Jared said.

"It’s rare. But it’s real. Burn out your reserves too far, and you can damage the core. Permanently. People have died from it." The doctor held his eyes. "So take it easy. Please. For your own sake."

"Okay," Jared said.

"Promise me."

"I promise."

"Good."

The doctor took Jared’s wrist, checked his pulse. He jotted a few readings on his clipboard, nodded to himself, and stood.

"Rest," he said. "Plenty of water. Light food. Someone will bring you dinner."

He swept out of the cubicle, and the curtain swished shut behind him.

Silence settled.

Jared lay still, staring at the ceiling, listening to the monitor.

"I can’t believe I lost my chance at getting beast gems twice," he said at last.

His voice was flat and tired.

"Twice in one day. And now this. I could have gotten a gem from either of them. I could have had a new beast by now."

[You didn’t,]

"I know."

[And you wouldn’t have.]

"What?"

[The scorpion would never have turned. Neither would the other.]

"You don’t know that."

[I know it’s unlikely.]

Jared groaned.

"Is this how hard it’s always going to be?" he asked. "Every time I fight something, I’m one step short. I do everything right, and there’s no gem. I put in all this work, and nothing comes out of it."

He stared at the ceiling.

"Is this just how it is?"

[Well, that’s only if you want to gain them ethically.]

Jared blinked.

He turned his head, very slowly.

"What?"

[I said that’s only if you want to gain them ethically.]

"I’m not going to steal."

[Who said anything about stealing?] the system said, in a thick, snarky voice.

Jared frowned.

"Then what are you saying?"

[Haven’t you wondered how the association has so many gems?]

"Well," Jared said, "not really."

[I’ll tell you,]

[Dumb dumb.]

"Hey."

[I already alluded to it, back in the scorpion’s plain, but here’s the full picture.]

Jared didn’t like the way it said that.

[The association doesn’t really kill beasts,] [Not the ones it wants. It captures them. It takes them alive. And then it tortures them.]

The word hung in the air.

Jared’s stomach turned over.

[It brings them close to the point of death,]

[Right to the edge. Just when it seems like it’s over, when the beast is about to slip away, they revive it. With special potions. They bring it back. And then they do it again.]

"No," Jared whispered.

[It’s a crude cycle. They repeat it, over and over. Dozens of times. Hundreds, if they have to. The pain builds. It grows and grows and grows, until it’s more than any creature can bear. And then, finally, the beast breaks. It can’t take any more. And it unwillingly turns itself into a gem.]

A drop of sweat slid down Jared’s temple.

[That’s how most gems are made,]

[Not through choice. Not through sacrifice. Not through any kind of noble last resort. Through pain.]

Jared couldn’t speak.

[Imagine what you’d have to be subjected to, to finally yield and turn.]

He stared at the ceiling.

His mind was spinning. He thought of the grand beasts in their gem cases. He thought of Zoey’s lizard, tucked in her pocket, humming against her hip. He thought of the Ground Dragon. He thought of the nine other beasts in his own pouch.

’Did they...?’

He couldn’t finish the thought.

[So, Jared,]

[Will you do what you need to?]

"Shhhish," Jared hissed.

[Hm?]

"What do you want me to say?"

His voice cracked.

"You seriously mean the association does that? That’s how they get them?"

[That’s what I said.]

"That’s..."

[I’m not lying.]

"That’s monstrous."

[It’s the system.]

Jared’s hands trembled against the blanket.

[Don’t worry,the next one we meet, we’ll catch it. We’ll take it home. I’ll prove my point.]

"No."

[I’ll walk you through it. It’s not complicated. A few hours, a few potions. You’d be surprised how fast...]

"No. No."

[Jared...]

"Jesus Christ, no."

He was sitting up now, in spite of the pain, in spite of the weakness. His face was white. His eyes were wide and shining. A tremor ran through his whole body.

"No," he said, again. "I won’t. I can’t. I won’t do that to anything."

[Even for a chance to take them down? Julius? Karl?]

"I said no."

The system didn’t answer.

He fell back against the pillow, breathing hard.

’I can’t do that. I’d never be able to.’

He thought of the beasts in his pouch, and of the choice they’d possibly made in a void, a long time ago, to survive. He

"We’ll find another way," he said.

His voice was small and unsteady.

"We’ll... we’ll find another way," he stammered.