The kobold dungeon contract came through on Jak's second month anniversary.
Merchant quarter. Underground. Old structure. Kobold infestation. Twenty creatures estimated. Traps expected.
Standard C-rank dungeon clearing. Pay was three gold plus salvage rights.
Jak took it. Not because of rifts. The merchant quarter had low rift activity.
But because dungeons often contained old structures. Ancient ruins. Sometimes documentation.
The journal he'd found in the goblin hoard had been invaluable. Maybe he'd find more.
The dungeon entrance was beneath a collapsed building. Stairs descending into darkness. Stone walls. Pre-dating the current city.
Jak lit a torch. Descended with Shade.
The kobolds had established territory here. Crude markings on walls. Traps in corridors. Defensive positions.
Smart creatures. Not as intelligent as humans. But tactical. Organized.
Jak moved carefully. Watched for tripwires. Pressure plates. Pit traps.
Found the first kobold nest in a side chamber. Eight of them. Armed with crude spears. Poisoned tips.
Shade killed three before they could react. Jak took two more. The remaining three fled deeper into the dungeon.
He pursued. Following their retreat path.
The dungeon was larger than expected. Multiple levels. Extensive tunnel network. This wasn't just a collapsed building. This was old city. Pre-war construction.
Jak found more kobolds. Killed them. Cleared chamber after chamber.
By the fourth level, he'd eliminated eighteen kobolds. Close to the estimated total.
But he kept descending. Following tunnel networks. Exploring.
The fifth level was different. Older. The stonework was pre-war style. Carved symbols on walls.
Tamer symbols.
Jak stopped. Examined the carvings carefully.
Bond marks. Dozens of them. Different types. Wolf bonds. Hawk bonds. Serpent bonds.
And one he recognized. Shadow fox bond. Same crescent moon mark he carried on his palm.
Someone had bonded a shadow fox before. Centuries ago. In this place.
Jak followed the symbols. They led deeper. To a sealed chamber.
The door was stone. Heavy. But not locked. Just closed.
Jak pushed it open.
Inside was a library. Preserved. Protected by preservation spells. Ancient but intact.
Shelves of books. Journals. Records. All related to beast taming.
Jak's heart raced. This was treasure. Knowledge. Documentation.
He searched systematically. Looking for anything related to void cultivation. Shadow fox bonds. Technique development.
Found three relevant journals. All from 380-400 years ago. Before the purge.
One was written by a shadow fox tamer. Same bond. Same path.
Jak sat on the ancient floor. Started reading.
The journal documented everything. Void sense development. Timeline. Progression markers. Void regeneration techniques. Training methods.
And further techniques. Void step. Void form. Things Jak hadn't learned yet.
Void step he'd seen Shade use instinctively. But not consistently. Not controlled.
This journal had instructions. Practice methods. How to develop conscious control. How to extend range. How to use it in combat effectively.
Jak read for hours. Absorbed everything. Committed it to memory.
The journal's author had reached B-rank. Documented the threshold crossing. Described the experience.
"The crossing happens when beast and tamer synchronize completely. When the bond becomes absolute. You'll feel it building. Pressure. Tension. Like something inside wants to break free.
"Don't resist it. Embrace it. Let the bond expand. Let yourself and your beast become truly mirrored.
"The pain is significant. Your body will resist. Your mind will resist. Push through.
"When it's done, you'll be different. Fundamentally. Your rank will update. The guild will notice.
"But by then, it's too late. You're B-rank. Verified. They can't take it away."
Jak closed the journal. His hands were shaking slightly.
This was the roadmap. Complete instructions for everything he needed to do.
He took all three relevant journals. Carefully. Wrapped them in cloth. Put them in his pack.
The guild didn't need to know about this. These were his now. His guide. His advantage.
He finished clearing the dungeon. Killed the remaining kobolds. Documented the ancient library location.
But reported it as "minor historical ruins. No significant findings."
The guild didn't need to know what he'd actually found.
♢♢♢♢
Back at the guild, Jak turned in the contract. Twenty-one kobold kills. Clean completion.
Three gold payment. Plus salvage rights he didn't exercise.
The clerk processed it routinely. No questions about the extended dungeon time.
Jak went home. To his room. Read the journals again. More carefully this time.
The shadow fox tamer's journal was most valuable. It described techniques in detail. Training schedules. Cultivation methods.
And it described what came after B-rank. The A-rank threshold. The techniques beyond that.
"A-rank is where void cultivation truly begins. B-rank is just foundation. The preparation for what comes next.
"At A-rank, you begin void manipulation. Not just sensing or absorbing. Actually shaping. Controlling.
"The guild will try to stop you at this point. A-rank attracts national attention. They'll investigate. They'll discover what you are.
"Be ready. Have allies. Have resources. Have places to hide if necessary.
"Because they will try to stop you. And you'll need to be strong enough that it doesn't matter."
The journal ended at A-rank threshold. The author never documented what came after.
Either they died. Or they went beyond guild territory. Beyond documentation.
Jak closed the journal. Stared at the ceiling.
He was maybe two weeks from B-rank. After that, he'd have months or years before A-rank.
Time to prepare. Build resources. Establish allies. Create fallback positions.
The guild would try to stop him eventually. The journal was clear about that.
Jak needed to be ready when that happened.
Through the bond, Shade's presence. Calm. Steady. Certain.
They'd face whatever came. Together. Mirrored.
That was the only certainty Jak had. Everything else was unknown. Dangerous. Unpredictable.
But with Shade, he wasn't alone. With the journals, he wasn't blind.
He had path. He had knowledge. He had power.
That would have to be enough.