Ch20 Going back to the city

The walk back felt longer than it should have.

Nobody complained.

Nobody suggested taking a shortcut.

Nobody asked whether they should squeeze in one more hunt before returning.

After the Umbral Ravager, all five of them had developed a sudden appreciation for walls.

Ryan kept near the front with his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. Jessica moved beside him, periodically scanning the canopy with Deadshot-enhanced vision. Raven watched their rear while Dezzy studied the terrain ahead.

Ben remained in the middle.

The Rank-One corpse stored inside his Talent had reduced his available X Energy capacity enough that nobody wanted him anywhere near the edge of the formation.

Ryan's creator drone followed silently overhead.

He hadn't restarted the stream.

Not yet.

His mind was too busy replaying the fight.

The Ravager dropping from the trees.

Ben disappearing beneath its attack.

Dezzy getting thrown.

Jessica's shot.

His barrier.

That was the part Ryan kept returning to.

The creature had hammered it repeatedly.

Claws powerful enough to kill a human with one hit had struck his barrier again and again.

Nothing.

No cracks.

No visible damage.

The only thing that had nearly failed was Ryan himself.

His Mental Energy.

That distinction mattered.

He just didn't know how much yet.

A notification appeared at the edge of his vision.

[ CREATOR PROFILE ]

Subscribers: 17

Ryan dismissed it.

Later.

Right now, seventeen subscribers were considerably less important than making sure all five members of his squad reached the gate alive.

They did.

Nearly an hour after leaving the site of the battle, the immense outer wall of Elpida emerged through the trees.

Ben almost sagged with relief.

"Beautiful."

Jessica looked at him.

"The wall?"

"The wall."

Raven nodded.

"Agreed."

Ryan couldn't argue.

Yesterday, Elpida's walls had felt like a prison that charged admission.

Today they looked wonderful.

The guards barely reacted when the five blood-covered humans approached.

Ryan wasn't sure whether that was reassuring or deeply concerning.

One alien guard looked over them.

Then toward Ben.

"Harvest?"

Ben nodded.

"Yes."

"Declare restricted biological materials."

"We don't know if it's restricted."

The guard sighed.

"Species?"

"Umbral Ravager."

That got a reaction.

Small.

But noticeable.

The guard's eyes moved across them again.

"Rank?"

"One."

"You killed it?"

Ben pointed toward Ryan.

"We emotionally supported the monster until it died naturally."

Ryan closed his eyes.

"Ignore him."

The guard stared.

Ben smiled.

"Rank One."

The guard entered something into his interface.

"No quarantine alert. Declare carcass at market inspection if selling whole."

Ryan nodded.

"Got it."

Then came the painful part.

The toll.

Two crystals each.

Again.

Ryan confirmed his payment.

[ GATE REENTRY FEE: 2 LOW-GRADE X ENERGY CRYSTALS ]

He watched the deduction occur.

"Every time," he muttered.

Jessica heard him.

"Still hate it?"

"More every day."

They crossed.

The temperature changed almost immediately.

Elpida's environmental systems stripped away the worst of the heat, and Ryan felt his body relax despite himself.

Safe.

Not truly safe.

He understood that distinction now.

But safer.

He would take it.

Their first stop was the market.

Ben needed the Ravager out of his storage.

They returned to the same butcher district where they'd sold the Velkar Grazer.

This time, they attracted attention.

A lot of it.

The moment Ben released the corpse onto an inspection platform, conversations around them stopped.

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The massive black predator appeared with a spatial shimmer.

Its body hit the reinforced slab with a heavy thud.

Merchants turned.

Hunters looked over.

One armored alien walking past stopped completely.

The butcher they'd dealt with yesterday stared at the corpse.

Then at the five humans.

Then back at the corpse.

"You killed this?"

Ben grinned.

"People keep asking us that."

The butcher stepped closer.

He examined the destroyed shoulder.

The axe wounds.

The abdominal slash.

The puncture beneath the jaw.

"Juvenile Umbral Ravager."

Ryan nodded.

"That's what Skynet identified."

The butcher grunted.

"Messy."

Ryan's smile faded.

"Thanks."

"Damaged hide. Damaged shoulder. Several glands intact."

The alien inspected the claws.

"Claws good."

Then the teeth.

"Jaw mostly good."

Ben leaned toward Ryan.

"I like this guy. Very encouraging."

The butcher ignored him.

Ryan removed the harvested nucleus.

"We also recovered this."

That changed the merchant's attention immediately.

His eyes fixed on the crystal.

"Complete Rank-One nucleus."

Ryan noticed the wording.

Complete.

"How much?"

The merchant looked at him.

"Carcass or nucleus?"

"Both."

"Separate valuation."

Of course.

Ryan glanced at Dezzy.

She nodded slightly.

Get the numbers.

The butcher ran scans.

A trade interface appeared.

Ryan read carefully.

The Ravager carcass had value in its claws, hide, muscle tissue, several glands, and other materials Ryan didn't recognize. Damage from the fight reduced the total considerably.

The nucleus was different.

Its value dwarfed everything they'd harvested from Rank Zero.

Ryan's eyebrows slowly rose.

Ben looked over his shoulder.

"Oh."

Jessica stepped closer.

"That's..."

"A lot," Raven finished.

Ryan didn't accept immediately.

"Skynet. Compare local registered market range."

The butcher gave him an annoyed look.

Ryan smiled politely.

"First Rank-One sale."

Skynet processed the request.

The offer fell within the normal local range.

Good enough.

Ryan confirmed.

The carcass and nucleus transferred to the merchant.

Digital crystal credit entered the squad's shared accounting record.

For the first time since arriving on the planet, Ryan understood why people risked hunting stronger creatures.

Rank Zero kept you alive.

Rank One could actually make you money.

That realization was dangerous.

Ryan knew it immediately.

One good kill could convince someone they were ready for another.

And another.

Until eventually luck ran out.

He looked at the others.

"Nobody gets ideas."

Ben looked innocent.

"About?"

"Hunting another one."

"I wasn't."

"You absolutely were."

"Maybe briefly."

Jessica shook her head.

"We nearly died."

Ben nodded.

"Which successfully ended the thought."

They divided the proceeds evenly.

Ryan watched his crystal balance increase.

Not rich.

Not even close.

But comfortable enough that food and lodging no longer felt like immediate emergencies.

That alone felt incredible.

They bought breakfast.

Real breakfast.

Ryan refused to negotiate on that point.

They found a market stall selling roasted meat verified by Skynet as human-compatible, along with dense grain cakes and cooked root vegetables.

The five of them claimed a stone table.

Nobody spoke for the first several minutes.

They ate.

Ben consumed his first plate so quickly Ryan wasn't convinced he'd chewed.

Then ordered another.

Jessica stared.

"How?"

Ben looked confused.

"How what?"

"How are you still hungry?"

"I almost died."

"That's not an explanation."

"My body requires healing materials."

Dezzy nodded.

"Technically, he is correct."

Ben pointed at her with a grain cake.

"Science."

Ryan laughed.

His own hunger wasn't much better.

Between cultivation, the fight, and the long walk back, his body felt hollow.

He ate until the trembling in his hands finally stopped.

Only then did Ryan lean back.

"Inventory."

The mood changed.

Jessica checked her sidearm.

"Ammo first?"

"Yeah."

She inspected her magazines.

"I used several rounds this morning, including the reinforced shot."

Ryan looked at her.

"How much did that shot actually cost?"

"Everything I had available."

"All your X Energy?"

Jessica nodded.

"Deadshot let me channel it into the round, but controlling that much was..."

She searched for the word.

"Bad."

"Useful metric," Ben said.

Jessica kicked him under the table.

He flinched.

"Very useful metric."

Raven checked her own weapon and reserves.

"I used more ammunition than I wanted against the Ravager. My X Energy recovered somewhat during the break, but repeated Pushes are expensive."

Ben checked his sidearm.

"I'm worse."

"How many rounds?"

"Not enough for another fight like that."

Ryan looked at Dezzy.

"My ammunition expenditure was limited. Physical strain is the larger concern."

She pressed a hand against her bruised side.

"Body Control protected me from serious injury, but it does not eliminate transferred force."

Ryan nodded.

Then checked himself.

His X Energy had recovered substantially during the walk and rest.

Mental Energy was another matter.

Still recovering.

Slowly.

"Moving my barrier is the problem."

Everyone looked at him.

Ryan tapped his temple.

"Once I create one, it stays without draining X Energy. But repositioning it uses Mental Energy."

Jessica nodded.

"We knew that."

"I didn't realize how fast combat movement would burn through it."

Ryan remembered the Ravager feinting.

Changing direction.

Forcing him to react.

"Against slow targets, it's fine. Against something like that..."

He shook his head.

"I went from nine Mental Energy to almost nothing in less than a minute."

Raven considered.

"So static placement is more efficient."

"Way more."

Dezzy nodded.

"Then your optimal fighting style is not reactive defense."

Ryan looked at her.

"What?"

"Pre-positioning."

She moved two cups on the table.

"Create barriers before engagement. Control lanes. Restrict movement. Force enemies to enter predetermined attack zones."

Ryan stared at the cups.

Jessica smiled.

"Battlefield control."

Ryan remembered their first conversations about his Talent.

Doorways.

Corridors.

Cover.

Traps.

He had gotten excited during the Ravager fight and treated the barrier like a shield attached to his arm.

That worked.

But it was expensive.

"You're right."

Dezzy nodded.

"Dynamic movement remains useful for emergencies. It should not be your default."

Ryan filed that away.

Then Raven spoke.

"We made other mistakes."

The table quieted.

She looked around.

"When the Ravager appeared, we panicked."

Nobody disagreed.

"We ran without formation. We didn't identify retreat order. We didn't establish who covers the slowest member."

Dezzy nodded.

"I was the limiting factor."

"No," Ryan said.

Dezzy looked at him.

"Your Speed was the lowest."

"That's not the same thing."

Ryan leaned forward.

"We're a squad. Our retreat speed is the speed of the slowest person."

Ben nodded.

"If one person can't escape, none of us escape."

Jessica looked toward Ryan.

"Which means we need retreat formations."

"Exactly."

Raven continued.

"Canopy surveillance too."

Jessica nodded.

"I can handle that when terrain allows."

Ryan thought through it.

"We also need an emergency command."

Ben frowned.

"What kind?"

"If somebody sees something that means immediate retreat, they shouldn't have to explain it."

Ryan tapped the table.

"One word. Everybody moves."

"Run?" Ben suggested.

Raven stared at him.

"Creative."

"It works."

"Too common," Dezzy said. "Could be spoken during ordinary conversation."

Jessica smiled faintly.

"How often do you casually scream run?"

Dezzy considered.

"Fair."

Ryan smiled.

"We'll work on it."

The conversation continued.

Ammo thresholds.

Energy reserves.

Formation.

How far they were willing to travel from the wall.

When to abandon a hunt.

What counted as an unknown target.

For the first time, they weren't merely talking about how to kill things.

They were talking about how not to die.

Ryan preferred that.

Eventually, the discussion returned to the larger problem.

Strength.

Jessica rested her elbows on the table.

"We can't keep relying on equipment."

"No," Ryan said.

Ben leaned back.

"Especially because equipment is expensive."

"Also yes."

Dezzy opened the cultivation manual.

A familiar diagram appeared.

360 QI POINTS

40 PER PRIMARY RANK

SUBRANK THRESHOLD: EVERY 10 POINTS

Ryan stared.

Ten.

He had two.

Jessica had one.

The others had begun progressing.

Raven spoke first.

"The manual warns that later points become increasingly difficult."

Ryan nodded.

"But ten is still our first major target."

Jessica looked at him.

"What are you thinking?"

Ryan considered the question carefully.

Yesterday, he might have said they should hunt again tomorrow.

More crystals.

More combat experience.

More subscribers.

After this morning?

No.

"We stop hunting for a while."

Ben's eyebrows rose.

"How long?"

"Until we're stronger."

"That's vague."

Ryan enlarged the cultivation diagram.

"Ten Qi Points."

Everyone looked at him.

Dezzy was first to respond.

"First subrank threshold."

"Exactly."

Ryan pointed toward the number.

"We don't know exactly what happens at ten."

He looked at his own status.

"But the manual treats every tenth point as a threshold for a reason."

Jessica nodded slowly.

"You're saying we cultivate until all five of us reach it."

"That's what I'm saying."

Raven frowned.

"That could take days."

"Probably."

"We still have expenses."

Ryan nodded.

"Which is why we don't do it blindly."

He began counting.

"Lodging is already covered for the current period. We have today's hunt proceeds. We have the faction reward. We buy enough cheap food and water to last."

Ben raised a finger.

"Good food."

"Cheap food."

"Ryan."

"Affordable good food."

Ben lowered his finger.

"Continue."

Ryan looked toward Jessica and Raven.

"Taxes?"

Jessica smiled.

"We don't pay the standard resident tax while we're registered under the Sovereign Administration."

Ben stared.

"What?"

Raven nodded.

"Faction benefit."

"You're kidding."

"No."

Ben leaned back.

"I chose wrong."

Dezzy looked at him.

"The Whispers provides information access that may exceed the value of ten crystals per month."

"That's not the point."

Ryan laughed.

"What about you two?"

Dezzy answered.

"The Whispers does not waive municipal taxation."

Ben looked devastated.

Ryan pointed toward himself.

"Streamer Guild doesn't either."

"Good."

"Why is that good?"

"Shared suffering."

Jessica looked unbearably pleased with herself.

Ryan ignored her.

"Fine. Taxes are still a problem for three of us."

Ten crystals every month.

Food.

Lodging.

Equipment.

Ammunition.

Gate fees.

Cultivation couldn't become an excuse to stop earning indefinitely.

"But a few days?"

Ryan looked around.

"We can afford a few days."

Raven crossed her arms.

"And your subscriber requirement?"

That stopped him.

10,000 subscribers.

Thirty days.

Except now closer to twenty-nine.

If Ryan disappeared from the stream for a week, that wasn't exactly ideal.

He thought about it.

Then smiled.

"Who says I stop streaming?"

Jessica groaned.

Ben laughed.

Ryan looked toward the drone hovering nearby.

"Bo said audiences watch training."

"You're going to livestream yourself sitting in a room?"

"People watch cultivation streams."

"Do they?"

Ryan paused.

"I assume."

Raven stared at him.

"Excellent business research."

Ryan ignored her.

"I'll figure it out."

Then he became serious again.

"Ten Qi Points."

He looked around the table.

"We don't return to the wilderness until everyone reaches the first subrank threshold."

Dezzy considered the proposal.

"The safety advantage is substantial."

Jessica nodded.

"We can train our Talents inside the city too."

Raven added, "Assuming we find somewhere legal."

"The Sovereign Administration might have training facilities," Jessica said.

Ben looked toward Dezzy.

"The Whispers?"

"No."

"You answered fast."

"We are information brokers, Ben."

"Information brokers need gyms."

"No."

Ryan smiled.

"Streamer Guild definitely has training facilities."

Everyone looked at him.

Ryan's smile slowly disappeared.

"...Probably."

Jessica laughed.

Ryan leaned forward.

"Either way, cultivation comes first."

He thought about the dead cadet.

One second alive.

The next—

Gone.

"We got lucky today."

Nobody joked.

Ryan continued.

"I don't want our plan for the next Rank-One beast to be hoping Jessica lands the perfect shot before I pass out."

Jessica nodded.

"Neither do I."

"I want more X Energy."

Ryan looked toward Raven.

"Stronger Pushes."

Ben.

"More storage capacity and enough strength to actually use that ridiculous axe."

Ben smiled.

Dezzy.

"More room for Body Control."

Then Jessica.

"More shots."

Finally Ryan looked at his own hands.

"And more Mental Energy."

He closed his fist.

"Whatever happens at ten points, we find out together."

Ben extended his hand toward the center of the table.

"Ten."

Jessica placed hers over his.

"Ten."

Raven followed.

Then Dezzy.

Ryan looked at them.

Five human teenagers.

Three different factions.

A handful of Talents they barely understood.

Not even one full rank between them.

Yesterday, that might have bothered him.

Today it didn't.

Ryan placed his hand on top.

"Ten."

They spent the remainder of the afternoon preparing.

Food first.

Enough for several days.

Water.

Basic medical supplies.

Replacement ammunition where they could afford it.

Nobody bought anything flashy.

Not even Ryan.

That surprised him.

A day ago he'd been thinking about armor.

Better weapons.

Equipment.

Now every crystal had a different value.

Ammunition meant another chance to survive.

Food meant better recovery.

Lodging meant somewhere safe to cultivate.

Information meant fewer surprises.

Power wasn't just what appeared on a status screen.

It was preparation.

By evening, the squad returned to the Kerath Boarding House.

They stopped in the hallway.

"Check in twice a day," Ryan said.

Jessica nodded.

"Morning and evening."

"If somebody hits ten early?"

"We tell everyone."

Ben rested his axe against his shoulder.

"And if somebody gets stuck?"

"We help however we can."

Dezzy nodded.

"We should record breakthrough times and attribute changes after every opened point."

Ryan looked at her.

"You want cultivation data."

"Yes."

"Of course you do."

"It will allow us to identify patterns."

Ryan considered.

Actually...

"Do it."

Dezzy blinked.

"Really?"

"Shared spreadsheet."

Ben frowned.

"What's a spreadsheet?"

Four people looked at him.

"What?"

Ryan shook his head.

"Tomorrow."

They separated.

Ryan entered his room.

Locked the door.

Set his sword beside the mattress.

The drone floated in after him.

He looked at it.

Then at his subscriber count.

[ SUBSCRIBERS: 17 / 10,000 ]

Twenty-nine days.

Ryan sat on the mattress.

"Skynet."

[ AWAITING QUERY. ]

"Start broadcast."

The drone's indicator turned red.

[ BROADCAST ACTIVE ]

[ CURRENT VIEWERS: 0 ]

Ryan changed the title.

ROAD TO FIRST SUBRANK — QI POINT 2/10

He stared at it.

Better than Hunting in the Woods.

Probably.

Then Ryan crossed his legs.

Straightened his back.

And looked directly toward the camera.

"For anyone who watched this morning..."

He paused.

His expression became more serious.

"We almost died."

No performance this time.

No exaggerated grin.

"So I'm doing something about it."

Ryan closed his eyes.

Inhaled.

Ambient Esoteric Energy entered his lungs.

His core stirred.

Warm X Energy began moving through his pathways.

Qi Point 003 waited somewhere ahead.

Eight more.

Across the hall and throughout the boarding house, four other humans were beginning the same process.

They had survived their first Rank-One predator.

Next time, Ryan didn't want survival to depend on luck.

He breathed again.

Gathered the energy.

And began.