Chapter 5 – Tracker

“Could you give this to the headmaster from me, please?” Sal asked Quest’s assistant, Joanne. He placed the tracker on her desk, and she looked at it thoughtfully before recognition crossed her features.

“Ah, yes! He mentioned that he had given it to you the other evening. As far as I’m aware, he wasn’t expecting it back for a while, but I’m sure he’ll be pleased. He’s in a meeting at the moment, but it’ll be wrapping up soon, if you’d like to wait and give it to him yourself?” She gestured over at the seats in the waiting area, and Sal deliberated on what he should do.

He was eager to get answers about some of the skills on the list that Quest had given to him. If anyone could point him in the right direction, it was the headmaster.

On the other hand, he had planned to spend the rest of the day doing some meditation to get ahead in the Skill class. He had let that fall to the side due to the stress of the tournament and all the training that went into it. He couldn’t always rely on Whisper and Lucia to boost his progression.

Sal blinked and noticed that Joanne was looking at him expectantly. With a smile, Sal moved toward the waiting area. “Thank you. I’ll wait for him. Just trying to figure out what other things I need to get resolved today.”

“So proactive! It’s refreshing to see such work ethic in a first-year, but please don’t overwork yourself! I see so many talented young kids burning out because of the expectations on their shoulders. Studying here is a marathon and not a sprint, okay?” Joanne pointed at Sal with a mock expression of suspicion, but Sal raised his hands defensively.

“I don’t even like running! No need to worry about me, I promise.”

Joanne shot him a warm smile before turning back to her interface.

Just as Sal was about to reach into his pocket for his tablet, the sound of raised voices came through the door, and both he and Joanne looked at it in concern. When he gave her a curious glance, Joanne got to her feet and walked over to where he sat and gave the door a sideways glance.

In an almost conspiratorial whisper, she filled him in. “Some military hotshot came in about an hour ago and has been tearing into Quest about how we do things here.” She crossed her arms and shook her head before turning to Sal with an incredulous look. “If it was left to the likes of him, we’d be a military academy by now…and we know exactly how that would go!”

Sal nodded, even though he didn’t understand what point she was trying to make. If Joanne wanted to vent about her frustrations, Sal wasn’t going to stop her. It was as Jez had said: information was power.

Just to ensure she knew she was in safe company, Sal voiced his own opinion. “Was it Chatfield? Met him for a minute or two in the workshop, and he was rude as hell.”

“The very same! Didn’t even spare me a glance, just sauntered in there. The door wasn’t even closed when he started berating Quest for how the second-years did in their excursion with him. I hate types like him, who just barge in and shit over the hard work everyone else is doing. We’re already a month into the term, and he’s talking about changing the curriculum! Can you imagine? Sweeping everything we’ve established to one side and replacing it because he says so!”

Joanne’s voice gained strength with each word, and she was practically fuming by the end.

Sal doubled down to find out more. “He’s just a professor, though? He won’t be able to make any changes outside of his own class, right?”

Joanne gritted her teeth as she leaned on one foot, her arms still crossed. “I wish! Chatfield holds a stupid amount of sway with the United Guilds Association and the bureau, so if he campaigns for change, he’ll get his way. Quest is probably doing damage control, which is infuriating. Nobody knows how hard that man works to keep the students safe!”

Just then, as though a light went off in Joanne’s head, she seemed to realize she was venting to a new student in the academy. The look of surprise on her face was followed by an awkward pause. An embarrassed blush crossed her face, and she waved her hand at Sal.

“Don’t worry yourself. Everything is going to be fine. Chatfield and Quest want the best for the academy, so whatever the outcome, it’ll be sure to be in our best interests.”

Her words held no sincerity, and Sal didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable, so he didn’t press the issue.

“I understand. Quest is a great headmaster, and I trust his judgment.” He left the implication that he didn’t trust Chatfield, and Joanne’s smile was reward enough as she returned to her desk.

Sal was left even more confused as he waited. Was Chatfield truly pushing for a change to the curriculum? What would it even look like?

A few minutes passed as Sal flicked through his tablet, going over his notes and looking through the list of abilities to see whether anything else caught his eye.

Just as he was going through the details of the Interface Creation ability, the door swung open to reveal a very agitated-looking Quest and an enraged Chatfield. Apparently their conversation was still winding down, as Chatfield walked through the doors mid-sentence.

“Can’t just hope for the best! This is our only way forward, Quest!” Chatfield’s eyes caught sight of Sal, and his eyebrows raised. “Twice in one day? Are you following me, Mr. Argento?”

There was an edge to his tone that Sal couldn’t identify, but thankfully Quest came to his rescue, with a strained voice.

“He’s here to see me. You’ve said your piece, Captain. That’ll be all for today.”

Sal glanced at Chatfield, who was still studying him curiously.

Ignoring Quest, he finally spoke to Sal. “Word of advice, kid. Switch to the Controller class, if you actually want to be of use out on the field. A Controller who can equip their team is a godsend in this day and age.”

Chatfield turned to Quest as he continued. “You might not realize it from how carefree the learning environment is, but we’re at war, Mr. Argento.”

Quest didn’t engage with the comment and instead gestured to the interior of his office. “This way, Salvatore.”

Sal got to his feet and met Chatfield’s gaze. “My parents are both proud Support classes, and the Argento Auction provides a valuable service to the war efforts.”

He had been caught off guard earlier in the workshop by Chatfield, but he could think clearly now. Sal wasn’t going to let him treat the Supports as a useless class.

“I’ll remain in the Support class and show everyone like you just how vital we can be.”

Maybe it was because Chatfield had been so rude to Quest and Upgrade, but Sal had no intention of saving face in front of him. He was happy to align with the people who put their trust in him.

Chatfield’s face broke into a grin as he shook his head at Quest. “At least you’ve learned how to indoctrinate them.” With that said, Chatfield left the office without so much as a passing glance at Joanne.

Quest watched him leave with a passive expression before forcing a smile in Sal’s direction. “Sorry about that. What brings you here today?” Quest moved back into the office as he spoke.

Sal picked up the tracker from Joanne’s desk and gave her a grateful smile before following Quest into the office. He raised it and held it for the headmaster to see, only for Quest’s expression to turn into a frown.

“I didn’t need that back so quickly. I was hoping you’d learn how to use it in your upcoming Analysis class. You sure you want to return it?”

Quest reclined in his chair with a sigh and turned to face Sal’s direction. He gestured for Sal to sit and thanked Joanne as she closed the door behind them. Sal placed the tracker on the desk before taking the offered seat.

“I’ve already analyzed it and drew up a blueprint for it. I’m going to craft my own tracker, using yours as a template.”

Quest’s eyebrows shot up. “Already? You’ve barely had it a day. Are you going to make any changes, or recreate it as it is?” He pulled his seat closer to the desk and rested his arms on the surface as he looked at Sal intently.

Sal smiled as he walked through the ideas that he had. “I’m not certain about any of this yet, but Upgrade and I have a theory that I’m able to imbue crafted items with my Mythcrafter essence. Any ability or internal weave that I’ve seen with my Skill Master ability is apparently usable in crafting.”

Quest’s face broke into a wide grin, which surprised Sal. He tapped at his interface and started to read a list that Sal couldn’t see.

“Looks like Beck’s theory was correct! He hypothesized that your Mythcrafter ability is much more powerful than we originally suspected. When he analyzed your ability at the meeting in the Sky Lounge, he said that it was truly extraordinary in terms of Synergy. Your Skill Master ability already synergized with your Appraisal ability that you took from Petro. Which resulted in you using your eyes to see skill threads!”

Quest typed excitedly as he spoke, and Sal couldn’t help but be swept up in the headmaster’s enthusiasm. He didn’t want to interrupt him, so he sat and listened.

Quest pointed at something on his screen and turned it around so Sal could see it.

“We’ve been looking at Synergy very closely for the last few years, with the introduction of Skill Implanting and Imprinting. We wanted to maximize the inherent abilities with the implanted ones, and calculated which ones would work best together. We started with the categories, which seemed to make the most sense, but there were a few that worked together outside of that. In your case, Replication combined with Invention and Psionic? It’s new territory for us, but it’s incredibly exciting.”

Quest glanced at Sal and saw the confusion on his face. “Ah, sorry! Got a little caught up there. Where did I lose you?”

Sal laughed guiltily as he spread his hands. “I don’t have a Psionic ability, so I was trying to think of where that error popped up. Mythcrafter is Invention as far as I’m aware, and Skill Master is Replication.”

Quest clicked his fingers and shook his head. “Not quite! Your Skill Master ability breaks down the barriers between the categories, as you’re able to change your essence output. We’ve already seen you replicate the Analysis and Divination abilities, which both fall under the Psionic category. But what makes me sure that you’re able to bridge into the others seamlessly is your ability to change or unknot the skills of others. That should fall under Body Manipulation, but you did it without touching Divinity…which sounds like Psionic influence, wouldn’t you agree?”

Sal nodded hesitantly as he followed Quest’s logic. It made sense, but it didn’t seem to be that big of a deal. His ability to replicate other abilities across the categories had already been established, so he couldn’t understand why Quest was so excited by it.

As if sensing his confusion, Quest smiled reassuringly. “You already know it’s an incredible ability. What’s truly interesting is how versatile it is across the categories. What do you think made the Mythcrafter ability?”

The sudden question made Sal pause for a moment. He knew that Quest already knew the answer, but he decided to humor him.

“It was the combination of Appraisal, Restoration, and Upgrade.”

Quest shook his head, which surprised Sal. The headmaster grinned as he pointed at Sal’s chest. “There was already an existing ability that you used to craft the weave. It was combined into the creation of Mythcrafter.”

Sal’s eyes widened at the sudden realization. “Skill Master?”

Quest laughed at his reaction. “Incredible, isn’t it? It would explain why you’re able to assign recognized skills in your crafting. There should be a number of interesting applications that we’ll have to discover as you continue on your crafting journey. Lombardi and Beck will be better suited to figuring all this out, but I’m delighted that the hypothesis is seemingly correct!”

Quest looked back to the tracker on the table. “Ah, yes! Sorry, the reason you came here was this. I just derailed our conversation a bit. Is there anything you need from me to make your new tracker? Perhaps you want to add the System ability to it?”

“Actually, I wasn’t sure I would be allowed to use your ability. From the limited information I was able to see with it, I could see personal details of students…” Sal began awkwardly, but Quest waved his hand like it was nothing.

“Nothing that you could view in the System ability would compromise other students. Simply knowing their aliases and ranks is stuff you could find out by asking them. So, what else were you thinking of adding? Have you thought about what grade it’ll be?”

Sal smiled at how quickly Quest brushed past his concerns. Taking out his notes, Sal slid them across the desk.

“You can ignore the top part about the gun…that was an idea from Barry to increase my combat capability.”

Quest smiled as he went through the list, nodding as he read through each line. His eyes suddenly widened. “Evolutionary trait? That would work very well with Indexing. Great foresight!”

Sal wasn’t sure what he meant and asked him to explain.

Quest glanced up with a raised eyebrow. “Indexing with these other abilities, at least to my limited understanding, would allow you to create a rigorous database of information. Data has an essence signature, just like everything else. Adding more data to your tracker would be considered essence accumulation. Just looking at a demon would give you insight into its vitals, power level, threat analysis, abilities…hell, you’d have a full behavior report from it. It’s a remarkable concept!”

Sal found himself sharing in the headmaster’s excitement. It sounded as if he’d found a solution to the essence gathering for the tracker.

Quest continued to read through the list with a wry smile on his face. “Not sure how to break it to you, Salvatore. If you want to collect all these skills…”

Sal’s excitement evaporated at Quest’s next words.

“You’re going to have to go on the next outing with the Paradox Guild.”