Laia didn't spare the high-tier merit rewards a second thought. Treasures of that caliber weren't for people like her. Even if she could somehow scrape together a billion merits, holding a relic valuable enough for great houses to fight over would be a death sentence. A nobody with no clan, no backing, and a top-tier artifact? It was just asking to get her realm shattered and her core harvested. She had enough trouble paying her monthly essence bills without adding bounty hunters to the list.
Her first day of hunting done, she collapsed straight into bed in her villa and fell asleep before her head hit the pillow. Most deities outgrew the need for regular sleep once they hit Third Tier, sustaining themselves on raw essence instead. For Laia, sleep was still a habit—and a practical one. It cut down on essence consumption, and it kept her from burning through extra crystals stressing about budgets. The other new recruits chatted late into the night in their own quarters, laughing and trading stories about the academy. Laia didn't bother joining in. Rest came first.
She was up before dawn the next day, lacing up her scuffed hunting boots and hurrying down to the assembly grounds for morning drill. The schedule was lenient enough: roll call, basic combat and endurance drills, four hours total, then the rest of the day was free to hunt or rest. She'd been looking forward to settling into a routine.
Then she spotted the familiar figure standing at the edge of the formation, and her steps slowed.
Liora Voss turned and smiled when she saw her, lifting a hand in greeting. "Fancy running into you here. Remember me?"
Laia's face stayed perfectly neutral. She'd seen the older Voss sister once or twice, hovering in the background during Lyra's rare visits to the academy. She gave a short, curt nod.
Liora's gaze swept over her, curious. "Lyra talks about you all the time. I never expected to find you out here on the border, though. What brings you to the abyss?"
"Bills to pay," Laia said flatly. "Though I'm a little surprised to see a Voss here. One sister runs off to the void chasing magic herbs, the other signs up for abyssal hunting duty. Has the family fallen on that hard of times?"
Liora's smile faded, and she shook her head, staring out at the purple mist curling over the distant hills. "You wouldn't understand. The clan has run out of options. This is the only path left to us. I suppose some curses just don't break, no matter how hard you run. What else can we do?"
Laia blinked. Not my problem, she thought. We're not even friends.
"If you can't outrun it, then you'll die stuck in it," she said, plain and unvarnished. "Look, I'll give you one piece of advice. Grab your sister and leave the clan while you still can. I get along with Lyra, that's it. I don't do family drama, I don't do clan politics, and I'm not getting dragged into whatever mess the Voss house is in. I'm here for three months to mind my own business and finish my work. Let's keep it that way, yeah?"
Liora's mouth opened and closed for a second, then she sighed and nodded. It was what she'd expected, honestly. A stranger had no reason to throw their lot in with a failing noble house. She turned back to face the front of the formation, and said nothing more.
A minute later, the drill instructor stepped up onto the stone platform at the head of the grounds. He was a broad, heavily built man with a scar slashing across his jaw and a presence so heavy it felt like the air itself thickened around him. Commander Rourke, the name plaque on his chest read. He swept his gaze over the ragged line of new recruits, and his voice boomed out without the aid of amplification.
"Listen up, rookies. I'm your commanding officer for the duration of your posting. Let's get three things straight right now. First: you signed a contract. You serve out your full term, you get your merits and you leave. No early discharges. No sob stories. Don't even bother asking. Second: I don't care if you're imperial royalty or a street rat from the outer slums. As long as you're in this garrison, you're a soldier. You follow my rules. You cause trouble, you deal with me. Third: orders are absolute. When I say jump, you ask how high. When I say stop, you freeze. Understood?"
"Sir, yes, sir!" the line shouted back.
Rourke nodded, and started walking down the line, stopping in front of every recruit one by one. "You. Why are you here?" "Sir! To fulfill my mandatory military service, sir!" "Empty duty with no conviction. Special training detail. Move to the side."
The next recruit straightened up taller. "Sir! To defend the empire and protect the border, sir!" "Pretty words, no heart. You too. Special training."
One by one, he sent every recruit he stopped in front of to the side penalty line. He stopped in front of Liora, and she lifted her chin. "Sir! To carve a path through the abyss, earn enough merits to restore my clan, sir!" Rourke snorted. "Honest, but delusional ambition. You're with the others." Liora's jaw tightened, but she bit back any argument and stepped over to join the rest.
Finally, he stopped in front of Laia. "You. Why are you here?"
Laia stood at attention, her voice steady and plain. "To do what I need to do to get by, sir. To survive."
Rourke's eyebrows lifted, just a fraction. He stared at her for a long beat, then huffed a short, dry laugh. "Finally. Someone honest. Take your place on the drill line."
By the time he'd made it down the full line, every single recruit had been assigned to the special training course—Laia included. No exceptions.
The drill was brutal by mortal standards, but mild for deities: endurance runs, essence control drills, formation practice. The catch was that it forced constant, low-level essence expenditure, wearing down even mid-tier gods slowly but surely. By the time the four hours were up, most of the rookies were gasping for air, sweat dripping down their faces, their divine cores thrumming with faint exhaustion.
Liora leaned against a stone post, heaving, and stared at Laia like she'd grown a second head. Laia was standing perfectly straight, not even breathing hard. "What kind of constitution do you have?" she gasped. "That whole drill and you don't even look winded."
Laia shrugged, a faint, nostalgic look crossing her face for half a second. She thought back to two months prior, when the campus shuttle fare had gone up by a whole crystal. She'd run the ten kilometers to campus and back every day for three weeks, burning essence instead of coin, just to save the money. It had been miserable at first, but you got used to it. She'd probably still be doing it if the fare hadn't dropped back down after the student council protested. "Poverty builds endurance," she said simply.
Liora stared, blank-faced. She had no idea how to respond to that.
Rourke walked along the line of exhausted recruits, shaking his head. "Pathetic. All of you. You've spent so much time meditating to refine your essence you've forgotten how to use your own bodies. If your essence control was worth anything, this drill would be a warm-up. Soft. All of you."
His gaze lingered on Laia for a moment, and he gave a faint, approving nod. This one was different. Solid. Unflappable. With a little proper training, she'd make a fine border hunter. Even if she was only here for three months, he'd whip her into shape. The abyssal incursions were getting worse by the month. Every competent soldier counted.
"Alright," he said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Drill's over. Head to the mess hall for breakfast."
One recruit perked up, raising a hand. "Sir! The contract said unlimited rations. Is that true, sir?"
Rourke barked a rough laugh. "True enough. All you can eat. We don't run out of food out here. You'll get sick of it before we run out. No fancy noble dishes, but roasted fowl, root vegetables, bread, fruit, mineral water—all you want. One rule, and one rule only: no wasting food. You take it, you eat it. Waste a single bite, and you're fined fifty merits. Twice, and you're on kitchen duty for a week. Clear?"
The recruit's eyes lit up. A murmur of relief and excitement rippled down the line.
Standing at the back, Laia's eyes were glowing. Unlimited food. No extra cost. She'd thought the villa was the best part of the posting. She'd been wrong. This was the best deal she'd ever made in her life.