Chapter 408: Ledge by Ledge

Chapter 408: Ledge by Ledge

By Friday night, Glitch’s avatar was back at full condition. Jin took him in again with a different plan, and the plan was mostly patience. Flicker scouted the route while Glitch waited beneath the first overhang. She checked the boulders above the moss terrace, then circled wide enough to watch the approaches between them. Jin moved Glitch only as far as the leaning slab at the terrace’s left end.

The lynx appeared on the higher ledge, watching him. When Glitch edged forward, it shifted too, staying above his unprotected side. Jin let him withdraw beneath the slab. The lynx stopped.

You want him out there.

He had Flicker cross the higher ledge with plenty of air beneath her. Her first pass drew only a turn of the cat’s head. On the next, she put an Ember Shot against the rock beside its cover, then climbed before it could spring.

It followed her along the ledge. She curved back, lower this time, while Glitch waited at the slab’s edge. Jin could see the cat gathering itself. Flicker began her descent before its hindlegs straightened.

The lynx sprang after her. She dropped below the lip and used Crosswind Turn to cut sideways across the terrace. The lynx twisted after her, claws reaching, but her new line carried her past Glitch’s shelter. It landed on the moss several paces in front of him.

Its hindlegs folded for another leap. Glitch placed a brief Gravity Press beneath that push-off. The cat’s weight sank back onto its haunches instead of carrying it clear. Jin had Glitch release the pressure as he lunged. The lynx recovered quickly enough to rake his shoulder, but Harden took the glancing strike. Glitch drove it against the slab’s foot before it could turn uphill.

It tried to climb past him. Flicker swept toward the escape line, making it duck, and Glitch caught the exposed flank with his claws. His jaws closed behind its neck before it could regain its feet.

[Cragclaw Lynx — defeated]

[Reward: 45,000 Coins]

Jin sat back and breathed out. He hadn’t realised how tense he’d been.

On Saturday, after checking the avatar’s recovered condition and the resource’s compatibility, he gave Glitch the first nodule.

[Mineral nodule — compatible: Glitch (avatar)]

[Development support: moderate]

[Mineral nodules — 5 stored]

He set the next portion aside. He wanted to see how Glitch handled this one before giving him more.

The second lynx lived somewhere else.

On Sunday he found it on the west side of the grotto, where a long, narrow ledge ran along the wall beneath the crystal crust he’d seen on the first night.

It was a single shelf, three meters wide, and it ran for thirty meters before it ended in a tumble of boulders. Above it, the wall rose straight and smooth, too smooth for anything to cling to. Below, there was a drop to the grotto floor.

There was nothing above it to jump from. That was the good news. The bad news was that this lynx didn’t jump at Flicker. Flicker made a wide pass near the boulders at the shelf’s end. The lynx watched without moving. An Ember Shot against the stone made it crouch deeper, but it didn’t chase her into the open.

This one wasn’t taking the same bait. Glitch advanced from the broad near end of the shelf, stopping short of the boulders. Jin kept him away from the drop. There was room to turn here, but little room to recover if he rushed past his target.

The lynx moved behind the rocks. Glitch lowered his head, listening through his feet. Through the bond, Jin felt Tremor Sense come back clear: the soft, heavy pad of a big cat’s weight moving behind the boulders, ten meters ahead, then stopping.

There.

He couldn’t see it. Glitch could feel it.

"Flicker. Look behind it."

She climbed above the boulders and found the cat crouched in the passage between them. Once Jin had the view, he sent a light Ember Shot into the space behind its hindquarters.

The lynx burst onto the shelf, then checked at the sight of Glitch. For a moment they faced each other across the open stone. Glitch held his position, leaving the narrow uphill side apparently clear.

The cat took it. It ran along the wall, preparing to spring past his shoulder. Jin waited until its front paws came down and its weight began to gather behind them. Faultline Rush carried Glitch through a short, straight line into its shoulder before the leap could develop. The impact drove it toward the wall, away from the drop.

The lynx struck back, claws scraping Glitch’s crest. He stopped rather than overrun it. When it twisted to escape, he turned with it, Harden holding across his exposed side. Flicker came around above the boulders. A quick Ember Shot cut off the cat’s retreat toward the boulders. It recoiled into Glitch’s reach; he pinned its forequarters and finished the struggle with a bite.

[Avatar Condition — Glitch: 81%]

[Cragclaw Lynx — defeated]

[Reward: 55,000 Coins]

He did the sum while Glitch’s avatar lay on the crystal ledge, breathing hard. Forty-five and fifty-five. A hundred thousand. Half went into the family note, which went from a hundred and seventy thousand to two hundred and twenty. Half went to operating funds. The heart in the corner still said five. Neither encounter had triggered a blood charge.

He withdrew after the fight. By Monday evening the avatar was moving evenly again, and its condition had recovered. Only then did he give it the second nodule.

[Mineral nodules — 4 stored]

The development reading had been rising through the grotto work, building on what was already stored. The nodules supported it; neither had produced a Star by itself.

[Controlled Sync — Glitch]

[Stored development: sufficient]

[Recipient readiness: assessment required]

Jin booked a check for the next morning. On Tuesday, Verrick examined the real drake. He was as thorough as ever: plates, joints, weight, the incline ramp twice. Then he signed the sheet.

"Sound," he said. "Good shape. You’ve been working him, but not too hard."

That evening, Jin checked the Engine’s readings separately. The avatar had recovered from the expedition, the stored development was stable, and the real Glitch’s condition agreed with what Verrick had found.

[Recipient readiness: good]

[Projected result: Rank 2, 2-Star → Rank 2, 3-Star]

He did it on Wednesday morning, in the private stall, with Flicker on the perch bar and Glitch lying in the middle of the floor, filling most of it. He sat against Glitch’s shoulder with his hand on the plates of his neck, the way he always did.

"Ready?" he asked.

Glitch opened one eye, looked at him, and closed it again. Jin took that as yes.

[Transfer in progress]

It was slow and heavy, like the last time. The warmth gathered under his palm in the plates of Glitch’s neck and spread, as if a stove had been lit somewhere deep inside the drake.

Glitch’s breathing slowed and deepened. His tail swept once across the straw and stopped. Flicker, on the perch bar, leaned down to watch. It went on for a long time.

When it was over, Glitch let out a long breath that blew straw across the floor, and lifted his head.

[Controlled Sync — complete]

[Glitch — Rank 2, 3-Star]

[Quality: Gold (Low). Skills unchanged.]

Glitch stood up. He unfolded himself carefully, paused, then shifted his weight between his forefeet. He stood in the middle of the stall with his head low, and Jin could feel through the bond that he was taking stock of himself.

It was the way Jin felt after a long sleep, checking whether everything still worked. Then he leaned his head round and pushed Jin in the chest, gently, with the flat of his horn.

"Yeah," Jin said. "Me too."

Flicker dropped down off the perch bar onto Glitch’s crest and sat there, looking smug, as if she’d been personally responsible. Glitch shook his head, very slightly, to dislodge her.

She didn’t move.