Standard contracts were boring.
Jak's first week of reassignment involved grunt work. Goblin clearing. Bandit suppression. Wolf pack elimination.
No rifts. No void energy. No cultivation opportunities.
Just basic combat. Supervised operations. Another B-rank adventurer watching his every move.
The pay was adequate. Three gold per contract. Enough to support Mira. Enough to live.
But inadequate for growth. For development. For advancement.
Jak was stagnating. His baseline hadn't improved in two weeks. His techniques hadn't progressed. Even his void sense was getting duller from lack of rift exposure.
He needed void energy. Needed cultivation resources.
But the guild had blocked official access. All rift zones were restricted. Even low-activity areas.
Jak needed to find alternatives. Unofficial sources. Hidden cultivation sites.
The ancient journal had mentioned this. "When official cultivation becomes impossible, seek the forgotten places. Old battlegrounds. Sealed ruins. Locations where void energy saturates but civilization abandoned."
Jak researched. Spent evenings in guild archives. Looking for historical records. Battle sites from the old wars. Sealed locations. Forbidden zones.
Found three possibilities. All within two days travel from the city. All officially restricted but not actively monitored.
One was particularly promising. Ancient battlefield. Northern wastes. Major conflict four hundred years ago. Thousands died. Reality was damaged so severely the area was sealed and abandoned.
Guild records marked it as "permanently unstable. No entry permitted. Lethal void concentration."
Perfect.
Jak planned carefully. Standard contract during the day. Official supervised work. Clean performance. No suspicion.
Then at night, travel to the forbidden battlefield. Cultivate in secret. Return before dawn. Maintain the facade of compliance.
Risky. Exhausting. But necessary.
He started the dual schedule on his second week of reassignment.
♢♢♢♢
The forbidden battlefield was exactly as described.
Devastated landscape. Broken stone. Scorched earth. And void energy everywhere.
Thick. Concentrated. Almost visible even without void sense activated.
Jak stood in the center. Opened his void sense fully.
The energy here was ancient. Stable. Saturating the ground. The air. Everything.
Not as concentrated as zone eighteen. But consistent. Reliable. Unsupervised.
He sat. Meditated. Let Shade absorb energy. Let the bond transfer it to him.
Hours passed. The cultivation was slow. Without active rifts, the energy transfer was gradual. Passive.
But it worked. Jak felt his baseline improving. Slightly. Measurably.
His void regeneration was the first technique to show development.
During previous cultivation sessions, regeneration only worked near active rifts. Close proximity to tears. Strong void energy sources.
Now, in this ambient saturation, it was activating from distance. From the environmental energy alone.
Jak tested it. Drew his blade. Cut his palm. Deep. Painful.
The wound started closing. Slower than near rifts. But faster than natural healing.
Void regeneration was working without direct rift proximity. Using ambient energy instead.
That was advancement. Technique refinement. First progression milestone for regeneration.
Jak smiled. This proved the concept. Secret cultivation was viable. Unofficial sources worked.
He just needed to be careful. Avoid detection. Maintain the facade of compliance.
For as long as necessary.
♢♢♢♢
Jak maintained dual schedule for three weeks.
Days: standard contracts, supervised work, clean performance.
Nights: forbidden battlefield, secret cultivation, technique development.
His void regeneration improved steadily. The range increased. Wounds that used to require active rift proximity now healed from ambient energy alone.
By the third week, he could regenerate anywhere. Even in low-concentration areas. Even in the city.
The technique was becoming automatic. Reliable. Always active.
But the dual schedule was exhausting. Jak was sleeping maybe three hours per night. His body was strained. His mind was foggy.
His supervised partner noticed.
"You look tired," the warrior said. Marcus. B-rank. Experienced. Observant. "You sleeping okay?"
"Fine," Jak said. "Just adjusting to the new schedule."
"You sure? You've been distracted. Slower than usual. Making mistakes."
"I'm fine."
"If you say so." Marcus didn't look convinced. "But be careful. Mistakes get people killed."
Jak knew Marcus was right. The exhaustion was becoming dangerous. He needed more sleep. More recovery.
But stopping cultivation meant stagnating. Meant accepting the guild's restrictions. Meant giving up.
He couldn't do that.
So he continued. Pushed harder. Slept less. Cultivated more.
His void regeneration advanced to second milestone. Mid-combat healing. Wounds closing while he was still fighting.
That was significant. Game-changing. Made him much harder to kill.
But the cost was mounting. Physical exhaustion. Mental strain. Increasing risk of discovery.
Jak knew this wasn't sustainable. He needed better solution. More efficient cultivation. Less obvious methods.
But for now, this was what he had. So he'd use it until it broke.
Or until he broke.
Whichever came first.
Through the bond, Shade's concern. The fox was worried. Jak was pushing too hard. Risking too much.
But also understanding. The fox knew why. Knew the necessity.
They'd walk this path together. However dangerous. However exhausting.
Until they couldn't walk anymore.
Then they'd crawl.
Whatever it took to keep moving forward.