The ceiling hadn't changed.
Kaelen lay on his childhood bed, studying the familiar web of hairline cracks spreading from the corner where water damage had left its mark years ago. His father had promised to fix it. Never got the chance. Now the cracks were just part of the landscape, like everything else in this small room that suddenly felt smaller than he remembered.
Or maybe he'd just grown.
Five weeks had passed since he'd stood before the Council and walked away with his future intact. Five weeks of grinding through the academy's rhythm until it became second nature. Wake before dawn. Complete the daily quest. Train. Study. Fight when necessary. Cultivate when possible. Sleep when exhaustion won. Repeat.
The System chimed softly in his vision, responding to his idle thoughts.
...
[Host Status]
[Name: Kaelen Burn]
[Class: Chrononaut]
[Race: Human]
[Title: Novice Beast Hunter (F-Rank)]
[Effect: +2 to all stats when facing Beast-type monsters]
[Energy Level: Initiate Basic]
[Stage: Latent Point]
[Classification:
[Ability Grade:
[Base Level: 12] (2520/4000 XP)
[System Level: 11] (2620/3300 XP)
[HP: 435/435]
[A.E.: 555/555]
[Stat Points: 59]
[Shop Points: 5,825]
The numbers were satisfying in their own way. Concrete proof of progression. He dismissed the interface and rolled onto his side, the mattress creaked under his weight in that specific way it always had.
Fifty-nine unallocated stat points. The result of five weeks of relentless daily quests. Thirty-five consecutive days of push-ups before sunrise, pull-ups until his arms burned, five-mile runs through the academy grounds while the city still slept.
The weekly quests had been trickier. Some weeks he'd managed five out of seven categories and claimed the enhanced rewards. Other weeks, three was all he could squeeze out between classes and unexpected complications. But he'd never dropped below the minimum. The System was generous with experience but demanded consistency in return.
Two E-rank items sat in his Oblivion Pouch now, rewards from those weekly completions. He pulled up their descriptions, reviewing them more from habit than necessity.
...
[Bloodline Thread]
[Rank: E]
[Type: Neck Cord]
[Class: Accessory]
[Durability: E-rank]
[Effect: When HP drops below 25%, grants +8 Defense, +6 Vitality
Effect lasts until HP rises above 40%
Limitation: Triggers only once per combat encounter]
The cord rested against his collarbone now, hidden beneath his shirt. A thin blood red thread that looked decorative but served as emergency insurance. He'd tested it once in the sparring dome, letting an opponent land a solid hit just to feel the activation. The surge of defensive enhancement had been immediate and substantial.
...
[Black Vein Draught]
[Type: Elixir]
[Rank: E]
[Class: Consumable]
[Effect: Instantly restores stamina to full
Removes fatigue and minor physical debuffs]
The draught stayed sealed in his dimensional storage alongside the Silent Emotion pill. Both were last-resort tools.
His gauntlets were there too and the Cinder Serpent Chain coiled beside them. The five serpent E-rank crystals were also stored away.
Kaelen touched the pendant beneath his shirt, feeling its familiar warmth. His father's pendant. The gear-shaped charm that had reacted during his desperate moments but still refused to reveal its secrets to Analytical Scan.
His cultivation had progressed steadily. Still Initiate Basic, still stuck in the Latent Stage, but the breakthrough to Channel Stage felt close. Another week, maybe two at most. His aether channels were stabilizing, the flow smoothing out as he spent hours meditating with Lira's harmonizing stone. Professor Nyra's breathing techniques helped significantly.
After Channel Stage came Bond Stage, probably another month and a half of consistent work. Then the real threshold. Breaking through from Initiate to Adept cultivation. The academy estimated seventy percent of first-years wouldn't make that jump until their third year at earliest.
Kaelen planned to be in the other thirty percent.
Hec still had his credit. Over one and a half million credits. Enough to change everything for his mother.
Except she would refuse. He already knew that. His mother was stubborn in ways that made his own determination look half-hearted by comparison.
But he'd figure that out and he won't step down and still do what he wants for his beloved mother.
A knock on his door frame pulled him from his thoughts. His mother stood in the doorway, wiping her hands on a kitchen towel. Her dark hair, streaked with silver, was pulled back in the practical style she always wore when cooking. The lines around her eyes had deepened since he'd left for the academy, but her smile was the same. Warm. Patient. Understanding in ways that sometimes made him uncomfortable because it meant she saw through him more often than he liked.
"Dinner's ready," she said. "Come eat before it gets cold."
Kaelen sat up, his body moving with the fluid efficiency. His mother's eyes tracked the movement, something flickering in her expression. Pride, maybe. Or concern. Probably both.
"Thanks, Mom."
The kitchen was small but tidy, the way it had always been. His mother kept their home spotless despite the limitations of seventh-tier living. The meal was laid out on their small table. Synth-grain pasta, the cheap kind that tasted faintly of chemicals no matter how you cooked it. But she'd added real vegetables, the expensive ones from the upper-tier markets. Carrots, peppers, even some leafy greens he couldn't identify. And hot seasoning. The good stuff she saved for special occasions.
The single Aether lamp overhead provided steady light. Kaelen had repaired it himself months ago, before the academy. Before everything changed. The memory felt distant now, like watching someone else's life through a cloudy window.
Outside the narrow kitchen window, the perpetual twilight of the lower tiers painted everything in shades of gray and blue. The towers of the upper city glowed in the distance, their lights sharp and steady. Untouchable. Or at least they had been.
"You've been training hard," his mother said, watching him eat with quiet satisfaction.
He looked at his mother with questioning eyes.
"I can tell."
"Well... the academy keeps me busy."
"That's not what I meant." She set her fork down, her silver eyes studying him with that particular intensity mothers reserved for their children. "You move differently now. More... certain. Like you know exactly where every part of your body is at all times."
He hadn't realized it was that obvious. "Combat training is pretty intense."
"I'm glad." She smiled, but something melancholy touched her expression. "Your father would be proud. He always said you had potential."
The pendant warmed against Kaelen's chest. He touched it through his shirt, the familiar gesture grounding him.
They ate in comfortable silence for a while. His mother had always been good at that. Knowing when to push and when to let things settle on their own.
Kaelen waited until they were halfway through the meal before speaking again. His tone was careful, testing the waters.
"Mom... I've been thinking."
She looked up, waiting patiently.
"About the apartment. This district." He set his fork down, meeting her eyes. "We could move. Somewhere better. Fifth tier, maybe. Even fourth if we wanted."
He didn't mention the credits explicitly. He didn't need to. His mother wasn't naive.
His mother's reaction was gentle laughter. Warm but dismissive. She reached across the table, touching his hand.
"Kaelen, this is our home. Your father and I chose this place together." Her smile carried memories he couldn't fully access. "I appreciate the thought, truly. But I'm comfortable here. My work is here. My friends are here."
"You could have a better life up there," he insisted, hearing the edge of frustration creeping into his voice despite his best efforts. "Better air. Better security. You could work less. Maybe not work at all if—"
"And what would I do in the upper tiers?" she interrupted gently. "Pretend I belong? Sit in a clean apartment all day while you're at the academy, surrounded by people who think I'm beneath them because I'm not of noble blood but a humble beginning?" She squeezed his hand. "Thank you for caring. But no."
Kaelen bit back his immediate response. Arguing wouldn't accomplish anything. His mother was as stubborn as he was. More, probably. She'd survived raising him alone in the lower tiers for years. That required a particular kind of strength that had nothing to do with aether or combat ability.
But her refusal didn't change his mind. It just meant he'd have to be smarter about it. Handle everything first, then present it as already done. Find a place, arrange the transfer, deal with all the logistics before telling her. Harder to refuse when everything's already set up.
"How's Lira?" his mother asked, deliberately changing the subject.
Kaelen allowed the shift, recognizing a strategic retreat when he saw one. "She's good. Probably planning something reckless."
His mother smiled, genuine warmth in her expression. "She reminds me of your father. Always moving forward, never looking at consequences until they hit him in the face." She paused, her eyes distant. "He would have liked her."
The gear-shaped pendant grew warmer beneath Kaelen's shirt. His father's legacy. The mysterious artifact that had saved his life multiple times but still refused to explain itself. He wanted to ask his mother about it. Wanted to know if she understood what it was, why it reacted the way it did. But she'd just gotten him back after 3 months. Troubling her with questions about mysteries she might not have answers to, could wait.
They finished the meal in comfortable silence. His mother cleared the plates, waving off his offer to help. "You're my guest this week. Let me take care of you for a change."
"I'm staying the whole break," Kaelen said. "Four weeks before spring semester starts."
"Good." She smiled over her shoulder from the sink. "Though I suspect you won't be here much. You never were one to sit still."
He didn't deny her assumption but didn't explicit state he would spending significant time hunting beasts in the Scourged Zones, building his experience and materials. The worrying would just hurt her, and there was nothing she could do to stop him anyway.
...
The evening air outside was cool, carrying that particular quality of lower-tier atmosphere tinged with the metallic scent of old machinery and the faint chemical tang of industrial processing. But it was familiar. It was Home.
Kaelen stepped out onto the narrow walkway that served as their building's common area. The street below was quieter in the evening. Day-shift workers had returned to their apartments. Night-shift hadn't departed yet. This brief window of calm between the city's two primary rhythms.
Distant above, hover-transports left light trails across the darkening sky. The towers of the upper city glowed steadily, their illumination sharp and clean. The Veil's glow was faint this far down, filtered through layers of smog and distance until it was barely more than a suggestion of light.
Kaelen leaned against the railing, his mind turning to practical matters. The five E-rank serpent crystals in his Oblivion Pouch. Davos had given him advice weeks ago, back when he visited the still recovering Davos in the medical bay.
"Sell them to a guild," the Sentinel had said, his tone matter-of-fact despite his injuries. "Academy will buy them, but they'll lowball you. Guild rates are better. But you'll need credentials. Merchant's license or adventurer registration."
They'd exchanged contacts then. Davos had been surprisingly forthcoming for someone who'd nearly died. Maybe facing death together created bonds that transcended normal social hierarchies. Or maybe the Sentinel just respected competence regardless of rank.
"Visit the Ashford Guild in the fifth tier," Davos had told him. "Tell them I sent you. They'll register you without much fuss."
Kaelen had put it off during the intense weeks at the academy. But now, with four weeks of break stretching ahead, it made sense. Register officially. Sell the crystals. Start building a proper reputation in the adventurer circuit. Second-year students were required to complete at least one sanctioned expedition per semester anyway. Getting ahead of that requirement couldn't hurt.
He'd go tomorrow.
Footsteps echoed from the corner, familiar in their rhythm and pace. Kaelen turned, already smiling before Lira came into view.
She appeared from around the building's edge, her copper braid catching the dim light from the overhead lamps. Her silver eyes gleamed faintly. She wore casual clothes, not the scavenger's practical style. The academy might have changed her taste.
"Thought I'd find you brooding out here," she said, stopping beside him at the railing.
"I'm not brooding. I'm Thinking."
"That's what brooding people always say." She leaned on the railing, mirroring his posture. "How's the break treating you?"
"Quiet. Which is good after... everything."
They both knew what "everything" meant. The Scourged Zone mission. The Mauler.
They fell into comfortable silence, watching the city breathe around them. The distant hum of machinery. The occasional shout from the street below. The soft whir of maintenance drones checking power lines.
"I'm registering as an adventurer," Lira said suddenly, her tone casual but weighted with significance.
Kaelen turned to look at her properly. "Yeah?"
"Yeah." She didn't look at him, keeping her eyes on the distant towers. "I've been doing scavenging runs for years. Might as well make it official. Get licensed. Do it properly instead of working unlicensed like some desperate Null."
There was no bitterness in her voice. Just practical assessment. She'd been awakened before hitting 12. Had a valuable Trait. But she'd stayed in the lower tiers, since her family's death incident.
"Perfect timing," Kaelen said. "I'm heading to a guild on the fifth tier tomorrow anyway."
She raised an eyebrow. "Business?"
" Yeah... Davos told me they'd register me without much fuss. And I've got crystals to sell." He paused. "We could both go. Register together."
Lira's expression brightened, genuine pleasure crossing her features. "We'd have to register anyway as second-years. Might as well get it done early." Then, teasing: "Though they might make you take a competency test. Think you can handle that, Sentinel?"
"Please don't joke about the rank," Kaelen said, feeling heat rise to his face. "And we're both taking the test."
"Fair point." She straightened, her energy shifting to something more purposeful. "Guild opens at eight. We should get there early. Licensing might take a while."
"Meet you at the transit station? Sixth hour?"
"Deal." She squeezed his shoulder once, the gesture carrying warmth and solidarity. Then she turned to leave, her braid swinging behind her. "See you tomorrow, Beast Hunter."
"You could spend the night here," Kaelen called after her. "My mom wouldn't mind."
Lira glanced back, grinning. "And hog your room to myself? Tempting, but no. I'll see you in the morning."
He watched her disappear around the corner, her footsteps fading into the ambient noise of the district. The evening had grown darker while they'd talked. The sky above shifting from twilight blue to deep purple. Stars were invisible this far down, blocked by layers of smog and light pollution.
Kaelen turned and headed back inside, the door sliding closed behind him with a soft hiss. His mother was already in her room, the faint light under her door suggesting she was reading. He moved quietly through the apartment, returning to his own small space.
The bed creaked when he lay down. The ceiling cracks stared back at him, unchanged and unchanging. But he felt different now.
Kaelen closed his eyes, letting exhaustion pull him down. Sleep came easier these days.