Chapter 77: Prodigy Consultant
The red text kept scrolling.
YEAR-END BORDERLANDS EXPEDITION
ALL FRESHMEN REQUIRED
SURVIVAL DURATION: ONE MONTH
GRADUATION REQUIREMENT: MANDATORY
Renna was jumping with excitement. "Oh my gods, oh my gods! A whole month in the borderlands! Do you know what kind of beasts live out there? I’ve read stories about shadow panthers and crystal stags and there’s supposedly a mutated wyvern nest near the northern ridge and we actually get to hunt them!"
Emric had already pulled out a small notebook and was scribbling furiously. "The borderlands represent an untamed ecosystem with approximately three hundred documented species and an estimated two hundred undocumented. The survival data we could gather in thirty days would be very useful for our school projects next year."
Lyra smiled calmly. "It will be good experience. Real combat conditions. No safety nets."
Holden didn’t share their enthusiasm.
One month. Thirty days in the wild borderlands, miles from the city. Thirty days away from the Prime Zone. Thirty days away from Maeve.
He turned to Lyra, keeping his voice low. "I can’t leave her alone for a month."
Lyra’s smile faded. "The expedition is mandatory, Holden. All freshmen have to participate."
"I know that. But Maeve is thirteen. She can’t defend herself if something goes wrong."
"Nothing will go wrong. The Prime Zone has the Aegis Ward. Vespera’s protection extends to your estate."
"Vespera’s protection didn’t stop Draven’s family from hiring the Iron Fangs."
Lyra had no response to that.
Holden ran a hand through his hair. "I need to talk to Vespera. Figure something out."
At Inspector Vespera’s office.
Holden walked in with Maeve beside him. His sister had the Ashen Bestiary clutched under one arm, her glasses slightly crooked from the hurry to get here. She’d been in the middle of a new research when he’d grabbed her.
Vespera sat behind her desk, reviewing documents. She looked up when they entered. Her eyes landed on Maeve, then on the book in her arms.
"Is that the Ashen Bestiary?"
"Yes, ma’am," Maeve said politely. "The original journal version, not the academy’s condensed textbook."
"Why do you have it?"
"Holden found it for me during a mission. I’ve been using it to cross-reference academy records. There are massive gaps between the original reports and published versions."
Vespera’s eyebrows rose slightly. She set down her pen.
"Such as?"
Maeve didn’t hesitate. She opened the Bestiary to a marked page. "The academy textbook lists the Thornback Wyvern as a solitary ambush predator that hunts from above. But the original journal notes that Thornbacks actually hunt in mated pairs, with one acting as a decoy while the other strikes from below. The textbook got it wrong because the researcher who published the findings only observed one specimen and assumed the behavior was universal."
Vespera leaned forward. "Interesting. Tell me something else. What’s the primary weakness of a Rank 3 Abyssal Lurker?"
Maeve pushed her glasses up. " Its senses are all in its lower jaw. The academy textbook says to target the eyes, but Lurkers don’t have functional eyes. They hunt entirely through vibration detection and chemical sensing, both located in the soft tissue beneath the chin. A precise strike to that area completely disables their tracking ability."
"And how would you deliver that strike against a creature that moves at approximately forty meters per second?"
"You wouldn’t strike it directly. You’d use a contained chemical irritant to overload its sensory nodes, causing it to thrash and expose the jaw region. Then a piercing weapon at a downward forty-five degree angle. The academy’s recommended horizontal slash is inefficient because the jaw bone is reinforced vertically."
Vespera stared at the thirteen-year-old girl for a long moment.
Holden watched the exchange, slightly stunned. He knew Maeve was smart. He didn’t realize she was this smart.
Vespera stood up from her desk. She walked around it slowly, studying Maeve.
"You corrected my textbook," she said.
"The textbook is incorrect, ma’am. With respect."
"You’re thirteen years old."
"Age doesn’t affect data accuracy."
Something changed in Vespera’s expression. The coldness didn’t disappear, but it softened at the edges.
"Your sister is more useful than half my staff, Voss," she said without looking at him.
"I told you she was smart."
"You undersold her."
Vespera returned to her desk and pressed her palm against a crystal panel. A machine in the corner hummed to life, printing something on heavy cardstock. She picked it up and handed it to Maeve.
It was an ID badge. Silver border. Official academy seal. The title read: JUNIOR BEAST ANALYST, BORDERLANDS EXPEDITION.
Maeve’s eyes went wide behind her glasses. "What is this?"
"A job offer. You’ll be stationed at the Instructor Base Camp in the borderlands. Heavily guarded. Maximum security. Your task will be analyzing monster cores and biological samples that hunting teams bring back. You’ll have access to equipment that most third-year researchers would kill for."
"The Instructor Base Camp?" Maeve repeated. "The one that never gets attacked because it has Rank 4 instructors and layered energy barriers?"
"That’s the one."
Maeve looked at Holden. Her eyes were shining.
"I can come with you?"
"You can come with me," Holden confirmed. "Safe and sound."
Maeve hugged the badge to her chest. "I need to pack. I have to organize my research notes. And my specimen kits. Do you think they have microscopes at the camp? I should bring my own just in case. And the second volume of the Bestiary, obviously, and—"
She was already at the door when Vespera spoke again.
"Maeve."
Maeve turned.
"Don’t let the researchers push you around. You know more than they do. Act like it."
Maeve smiled. "Yes, ma’am."
She disappeared through the door.
The office went quiet.
Holden let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. The tension in his shoulders released. Maeve would be safe. Right there in the camp. Protected by Rank 4 instructors and enough barriers to stop a small army.
"Thank you," he said.
Vespera didn’t acknowledge the thanks. Instead, she leaned back in her chair and lowered her voice. The shift in tone was subtle but unmistakable. This was no longer instructor speaking to student.
"There’s something else."
Holden straightened.
"Deep in the borderlands, past the mapped territory, there’s an Ancient ruin. My sources indicate it contains artifacts of significant value, but the terrain around it is too dangerous for standard exploration teams."
She slid a folded paper across the desk. Holden picked it up and unfolded it. Inside was a rough hand-drawn map showing a section of the borderlands marked with a red circle. No labels. No coordinates. Just the circle and a single word.
FIND IT.
"I want you to locate this ruin, clear whatever’s inside, and map the interior," Vespera said. "Quietly. No other students. No other instructors. You report directly to me."
Holden folded the map and tucked it into his jacket.
"And if there’s something dangerous inside?"
"You’re Rank 2, Voss. Act like it."
He nodded once.
"Consider it done."