Chapter 60: Early Bird Special

Chapter 60: Chapter 60: Early Bird Special

Jared had spent more than a week in the hospital.

Nine days. A couple days of dragging himself down to the training hall for 3 hours at a stretch, then dragging himself back, collapsing into bed, and doing it all over again.

He used his beasts every day. That much he could say for himself.

But the results were minimal. Pathetic, really. His mana cap had shrunk a little more each morning, 31,000, then 27,000, then 22,000, and every time he summoned something, it ate a chunk. He could drop a gem, say hello, and put it back. He could run a short drill. He could stand there for 10 minutes and pet a wolf. He couldn’t actually train anything. There wasn’t enough in the tank to properly exercise them.

And one morning, midway through the week, the Dragonfish had devolved.

He’d been checking the status panel, as he did every morning, and he’d seen it. A single tiny letter missing from a line of text.

[Dragonfish (SS Rank)]

He had stared at it for a long time.

It was a blow. A real one. The Dragonfish was his strangest, quietest beast. The best, in some ways. And now it was one step down.

But it was the only other one that devolved. The cat held. Starfire held. The toad, the snake, the gorilla, the ant, all of them stayed at the top.

Sadly, the two that had devolved earlier didn’t get back up.

He’d tried. He’d asked the system, again and again, to spend his beast points. 1,780, sitting in a neat, glowing pile. Surely that would be enough. But the system had cleared its throat, apologetically, and pulled up a small notice.

[Restoring a single rank costs 30,000 beast points per beast.]

Others without a system had no actual way of gauging this. They just had to grind with their beasts and hope to undo the devolution.

Jared had stared at that, too.

30,000. For each. His 1,780 wasn’t even close. The wolf and the turtle stayed at SS. They were still strong. Still far beyond most beasts in the world. But they weren’t what they’d been.

He was seemingly doing the bare minimum. A little here, a little there, scraping by.

But now he was mobile again.

The doctor had signed him out that morning with a stern lecture, a bottle of vitamins, and a list of instructions. Jared had nodded through all of it.

He couldn’t wait for the next mission.

He rushed to the main building as the sun came up.

* * *

The corridors were silent.

He pushed open the door to the Team C briefing room.

It was empty.

He blinked. Then a grin spread slowly across his face. He walked to the long oak table, pulled out a chair, and sat down in the front row, folding his hands on the wood. He was the first one there. Even before Karl.

[You look like a dog waiting for its owner,]

’I’m early.’

[You’re still way too excited. Stop that. ]

’I’m ready.

Minutes crawled by.

Then the door swung open.

Karl came in, rubbing his eyes, a paper cup of coffee in one hand and a clipboard in the other. His coat was rumpled. His hair stood up in the back. A fresh bandage covered a cut on his jaw. He looked like he hadn’t slept at all.

He stopped in the doorway.

"Well," he said. "Look at that."

Jared stood up.

"Good to see you," Karl said, and smiled.

Jared felt his own face crack into an answering grin. He couldn’t help it. The last time he’d seen this man, he’d been lying in a hospital bed, tearing up over a pat on the shoulder. Now he was standing here, upright, ready, alive.

"What do you got for us today?" Jared asked.

Karl dropped into a chair and set the coffee on the table.

"I gave everyone a break."

Jared frowned. "What do you mean, everyone?"

"The whole team. The others. I told them to take today off."

"You mean the ones who went with you yesterday."

"Yeah."

"Is that everyone?"

"That was everyone." Karl took a long swallow of coffee and grimaced. "An A rank gate. A big one. It took a bunch of us to clear it. More than I expected. We went in with the whole team C. and we came out with 8."

Jared’s stomach dropped.

"Eight?"

"A couple of beast masters lost their beasts yesterday." Karl said it quietly, studying the cup. "The boss of that day was more fierce than even the one you took down.It had a way of going straight for the gems."

"I’m sorry."

"It happens."

Karl stared into the coffee for a long time.

"I’ve been thinking about the day you beat that boss," he said.

Jared blinked. "Which one?"

"The A rank. The invisible one. The one you killed with a finger." Karl shook his head slowly. "It just seems like a miracle. A rookie, with 100 mana, taking out an A rank boss in one shot. It’s not possible. It doesn’t add up. You might be..."

He stopped.

Jared watched his face. A strange, tired, shadowed look had settled over it. Karl’s eyes had gone distant, fixed on something far away, something that maybe wasn’t in the room.

’He’s not talking to me.’

Jared understood it slowly.

"So you blame yourself," he said. "Is that it?"

Karl didn’t answer.

"You think that if you’d brought me yesterday, those who lost wouldn’t have lost their beasts."

"I didn’t say that."

"You didn’t have to."

[Jared,]

[Calm down.]

"I’m not blaming anyone," Karl said, finally.

"You are."

"I’m not."

"You’re sitting here with a face like a funeral and telling me it’s a miracle that I beat a boss. It’s not a miracle.

" Jared leaned forward, his hands on the table. "I’ve been away for more than a week. Excuse me if I need some action."

Karl lifted his eyes.

"Call it selfish," Jared said. "Call it whatever you want. But if you have to move me to Team B, then move me. I could care less. I need some action. I need it right now."

"Jared..."

"My beast needs the exercise afterall. "

The words rang in the quiet room.

He stopped. He realized, with a faint jolt, that he’d just said my beast. Not beasts. Singular. As if the Ground Dragon were still with him.

He bit his lip.

Karl smiled.He leaned back and folded his arms.

"Don’t worry," he said. "I’ve got something."

"You do?"

"And for next time," Karl said, "I think you should know. There’s no world where I hand you over to Julius."

Jared froze.The comment caught him completely off guard. He opened his mouth, closed it, and said nothing.

[Interesting,]

[That was a very deliberate sentence.]

"The two of us," Karl said, "can handle a couple more barren gates."

Jared blinked.

"A couple more?"

"Yeah."

"You mean there’s still more of those?"

"Yeah." Karl rubbed the back of his neck. "It’s weird. It’s a new occurrence. Since we cleared the first couple, the guild has had Team C on it. Full time. We get a notice, we go in, we clear it. And a day later, there’s another."

"How many?"

"Eleven, so far."

"Wow." Jared sat back. "That’s... that’s serious."

"It’s very serious."

"Why aren’t they sending more teams?"

"Because nobody else has handled it before. " Karl gave a thin, humorless laugh. "They’re not like regular gates. They don’t follow the rules. No core. No boss, most of the time. Just that illusion, and the wall, and the endless beasts. You need someone who can break the wall."

Jared nodded slowly.

"I think something is coming," Karl said.

He said it quietly.

"These gates. They’re so unusual. They don’t make sense. It can’t be nothing." He turned the paper cup in his hands. "Something is behind them. Something big. And I don’t think we’re going to like it."

A chill crawled up Jared’s spine.

"I agree," he said.

He sat there, thinking. Then, very quietly, in the back of his mind.....

’System. Do you know anything about this?’

[I can’t say,]

’You can’t, or you won’t?’

[Maybe,]

[Maybe not.]

’That’s not an answer.’

[It’s what I’ve got.]

’You’re infuriating.’

[Thank you.]

Karl stood up.

He brushed the crumbs off his coat ,he checked his watch, nodded to himself, and strode toward the door.

"Let’s head out."

"Yeah," Jared said, scrambling up. "Just wait a bit."

Karl paused. "Why?"

"I have to go home. To pick up a vial."

"A vial?"

"A mana boost." Jared tapped his pouch. "I’ve only got a fraction of what I need. If we’re going to be hitting more of those gates, I can’t run on empty. I’ve got one at home."

"Ah." Karl nodded slowly. "Smart."

"It won’t take long."

"I’ll drive you."

"You don’t have to."

"It’s no trouble. I’ve got a car outside." Karl swung the door open. "Come on. It’ll be faster."

"Okay, then."

They walked down the corridor side by side, boots echoing.

"I stay at..." Jared began.

"Oh, don’t worry," Karl said cheerfully. "I know where you live."

Jared stopped walking.

[Oh, creepy,]

[How very creepy.]

’Shut up.’

[Seems like someone has a secret admirer.]

’I said shut up.’

Jared stared at the back of Karl’s head as the man strolled on down the hall, whistling.

He swallowed.

Then, slowly, he followed.