Chapter 33: A Week of Quiet

Chapter 33: Chapter 33: A Week of Quiet

The next day

The yard had mostly recovered from the Crimson Blaze incident, patchy new grass filling in over the scorch marks, and Jason ran through the same set of stances for what felt like the hundredth time that week.

The Stoneborn Spear answering every motion with the same smooth, effortless weight he still hadn’t fully gotten used to.

"Elbow," Novaria called from her usual spot in the shade.

He adjusted his stance without breaking rhythm.

"That’s better."

The week had passed like that, quiet and steady, nothing dramatic, just the accumulated weight of small corrections to his fighting style.

His nightly cultivation sessions slowly compounding into visible progress. He’d stopped needing her to catch every mistake. She still caught plenty anyway.

"You’re getting predictable," she said, watching him finish the set. "In a good way. Your body’s starting to trust the weapon instead of fighting it."

"Why thank you my dearest wife." Jason said with a grin

"Don’t let it go to your head."

That evening, his phone buzzed.

**Reeve**: Don’t forget, C-Rank Labyrinth’s in two days. Big one, they’re pulling in a good number of E and D-Rank hunters for headcount. You still in?

He typed back a quick confirmation, then sat down beside Novaria’s bed once she’d settled for the night, cultivating late into the dark the same way he had every evening that week, mana drawn in, refined down into his Core.

---

The morning before the raid, he pulled up the Hunter Association’s marketplace on his phone.

He’d been putting it off, mostly out of stubbornness, but the truth sat plainly in front of him. The Stoneborn Spear was a D-Rank weapon nearing C-Rank in durability, and there was no version of "found it lying around" that explained that kind of quality to anyone who actually knew weapons.

’Can’t exactly tell Reeve a golem’s corpse forged me a spear that outclasses half the market. Time to buy a cover story.’

He found a plain E-Rank spear for five thousand pounds, unremarkable in every visible way, no enchantment, no name, nothing worth a second glance from anyone paying attention.

He picked it up from the Association branch that afternoon, turning it over once in his hands.

’Feels like holding a stick after the other one.’

Still, it sat comfortably above his current rank, and that was really all it needed to do.

---

The Gate itself sat four miles out, and Jason decided to run the distance rather than take transport, spear mounted across his back to keep it clear of his stride.

He fed a steady trickle of essence into the Sun Shift technique the moment he started moving, holding the burn active continuously rather than in short bursts.

He was testing exactly how long his reserves could sustain it under constant load rather than single short bursts of speed here and there.

By his own count, he managed just over twenty minutes before the drain finally outpaced what his Core could keep feeding it, forcing him to drop back to a normal sprint for the remainder.

’Good number to know. Twenty minutes of sustained speed before I’m running on empty. Better than not knowing at all.’

A car slowed beside him partway through, and he recognized Wen behind the passenger window before it had fully stopped.

"Get in," she called. "You’ll wear yourself out before we even get there."

The man driving offered a hand once Jason climbed in, easy and unbothered. "I’m Henry. It’s nice to meet you"

"The name’s Jason."

"Wen’s mentioned you. The new one keeping up with her usual crowd."

"Working on the keeping up part."

They talked easily the rest of the way, Henry talking about his marriage, with an enthusiasm Jason found charming and soon enough Jason found himself trading notes with two people who’d apparently been married about a year now, longer than his own by a wide margin.

"The trick," Henry said, "is remembering that a good day for her isn’t always going to look like a good day for you. Learn to read that early, saves a lot of arguments later."

"Noted."

Wen rolled her eyes fondly from the front seat. "He gives that speech to everyone."

"It’s a good speech."

"It’s an accurate speech," Henry said. "That’s different from good."

Jason tucked the advice away regardles.

---

Reeve and Skyler were waiting near the staging area when they arrived, and standing beside them was someone Jason didn’t recognize, grinning like the day itself was a personal gift.

"This is Cassius," Skyler said. "Met him twenty minutes ago. He’s decided we’re friends now."

"Correct," Cassius said, extending a hand toward Jason with enough enthusiasm to make Jason wonder if he was an idiot.

"I’m currently an E-Rank, though don’t let the rank fool you, I’m scrappier than I look."

Jason shook it, quietly clocking the man’s cultivation, Initial Stage Second Level, a full stage above the number on his official rank.

’Interesting. Underranked on purpose, or just hasn’t bothered updating it.’

"Look out for me in there," Cassius said, "and I’ll look out for you. Deal?"

"Deal," Jason said, mostly out of politeness, still faintly wondering why the man seemed so relentlessly cheerful about walking into an oversized monster-infested labyrinth.

"Great." Cassius clapped him once on the shoulder. "You’ll learn to like me eventually. Everyone does."

Before Jason could respond, a murmur rippled through the gathered auxiliary hunters, heads turning toward the Gate’s staging platform.

Five figures approached from the transport line, clearly the expedition’s main strike force, the one in front unmistakable even from a distance, clad head to toe in gleaming bronze armor, a massive war hammer resting easy across one shoulder.

The other four walked behind him, considerably less flamboyant, though something about the way they carried themselves left little doubt they belonged in that same company.

Jason watched them approach, spear settled against his back, and felt something in his chest sharpen with quiet anticipation.

’Alright. Let’s see what a C-Rank actually looks like.’