Chapter 144: Common Path
Veric drags me out of Rae’s office without breaking stride.
The conversation hangs unfinished in the air behind us.
Which is exactly what I wanted.
Rae has just learned that the rat from the entrance exam isn’t a rat anymore, and from now on he’ll think twice—maybe three times—before trying to leverage me, blackmail me, or do anything pejorative in my direction.
He won’t risk losing me to Rector Dean.
In my last life, Rae climbed all the way to academy chancellor to buy himself influence and a high seat in the Deepwarden. Right now he’s just another soldier trying to get noticed.
Losing a Rank D prodigy to a rival house would be the worst possible move at the worst possible time.
He’ll feed me something on my father. Anything. Just enough to keep me on the track.
That’s the breathing room I gave him.
The door clicks shut behind us.
"You disappeared for two weeks, you absolute jackass!"
Veric releases my neck the second he hears the latch catch. He does it loud enough to make sure Rae’s office hears the dismount through the door. Performance. He’s always good at it.
We start walking together across the campus quad. Cadets stream around us in both directions. Veric matches my pace.
"We had problems," I say. "But you were on Earth. What do you care? Ninety-six hours up there is twelve days down here."
"Being a noble down here comes with responsibilities."
I don’t blame him.
Nobody picks where they’re born. He didn’t choose to land in a family that owns multinational conglomerates and signs contracts most countries can’t read. He’s just dancing to the music they handed him. Most of Thirstfall’s noble class is built out of corporations that dominate Earth surface logistics—he’s one of the heirs.
"Even so. Your father is still a Deepwarden puppet. He doesn’t have real power."
Veric stops half a step. Looks at me, eyes narrowing, trying to read between lines I haven’t even drawn yet. He gives up with a sigh and lets his ego fill the gap instead.
"That’s exactly why I want to climb. I’m going to replace my father. But with real authority. Authority that lets me actually lead something."
"Nice confession. You know the Deepwarden won’t allow that to happen."
"How do you know so much about Thirstfall, rookie?"
"Doesn’t matter. What matters is that I can help you."
Veric stops walking entirely. Turns to face me. Crosses his arms. One hand drifts up to his chin. He stands there thinking hard enough that I can almost smell the neurons cooking.
"Every day I talk to you, I understand you less and you get more interesting." He squints. "You’re dangerous, Sands. My instincts won’t shut up about it."
"I never offered you clarity. I offered you means and motive. We want different things. The road to those things is the same."
"...Deepwarden."
"Exactly."
He exhales. Real one. Not the performed kind. He scrubs a hand through his hair and tries to change the subject back to walking.
"I saw Leec—Rhayne, sorry. And a big older guy following her. But I didn’t see the little bomb. Where is she? My party HUD shows her alive."
A beat.
"She got separated. We have to find her. You’re going to help me."
"You’re really going to drag me into your problems."
"If you want to actually reach what you want, there’s no ’you and me’ anymore. It’s ’us’ now."
Veric stops again for a moment, processing. Then he laughs—a real one, head tipped back—and gives me a sharp grin. He extends his right hand.
I take it. Firm grip. He pulls me in and out in a quick noble’s half-shake—theatrical, two-handed, designed to be photographed.
"Deal. But you have to teach me how the hell you made 18 Plates in two weeks, you maniac."
I just smile and don’t answer.
"What does your father want with me?"
"My father?" Veric tilts his head. "Oh. Right. Nothing. He doesn’t even know you exist. That was just to get you out of there."
I let the silence answer for me. Long enough for him to realize how stupid that was.
He has the decency to wince. But the play worked, so neither of us pushes it any further.
We cross the quad and stop near the western gardens, out of earshot.
"I need to go back to Earth," I say. "Look after Rhayne and Oliver here in Thirstfall if they can’t make it back too."
"And what do I get?"
"You know what. When I come back, I’ll tell you about a plan to make money. A lot of money."
His eyes light up.
"Now you’re speaking my language."
"Good. Let me move, then. Find Rhayne and Oliver. The three of you start hunting any information on the whereabouts of Alden Sands. Offer three Shards as a reward."
I leave him standing there with his mouth slightly open, still chewing on the last name I gave him. He’s seen the surname Sands on academy paperwork. He hasn’t connected it to anything yet.
But He will.
I walk to the Oathmark in the central plaza of Azure Prime.
The crowd is moving, as it always does in a downtown, like zombies dealing with their own business. Vendors. Cadets in clusters. A pair of harbor inspectors arguing over a cargo manifest.
But I feel eyes on the back of my head.
Two pairs, maybe. Maybe three. I don’t turn to check. I don’t need to know whose they are right now—Rae’s, Freya’s, or someone wearing a uniform that hasn’t been issued in this academy.
They can watch me leave. That’s fine.
I stop in front of the Oathmark portal. The blue distortion between the columns hums quietly. I check my OXI.
[OXI: 2,215 / 2,500]
I reach into my pocket. Pull out the small white pearl. Hold it between my fingers.
[Reentry Pearl]
I look at it for a long second. Thinking about what to say. How to say it. Thinking about who got left behind. Thinking about a hoodie with bear ears that gave me back the chance to go home by taking itself away.
I close my fist around the pearl and activate it.
[Reentry Pearl Activated.]
[30% of maximum OXI consumed.]
[OXI: 2215 -> 1465 / 2,500]
A flash of white light wraps around me from every direction at once.