Chapter 8 – Exploration

As Sal left Quest’s office, he wondered how he was going to spend the rest of the day. Divinity had messaged to say that she’d be working on her essence control in the Skill classroom. She told him that if he wanted to join her, that he could, but not to interrupt her.

Sal wondered whether the pressure of being the top ranked out of the first-years had made her more driven to succeed. Either way, he respected her choice in wanting to break through a barrier she was having issues with. He thought about going to join her and working on his own essence refinement, but it would be drastically reduced results without Lucia and Whisper helping him.

It wasn’t that he was scared of hard work; it just didn’t feel like the smartest use of his time when it was so much more efficient with their help. Even though he had joked about paying them in Q-Cred for boosting his aptitude for essence control, he was considering paying them to help him blast through the required gates for passing the class.

Chatfield had soured his experience in the workshop, and he didn’t want to risk bumping into him again so soon. Even if there was no risk of encountering the surly lecturer, Sal didn’t really have anything to do at the workshop other than drawing up designs for a new gun.

Despite Barry and Quest’s insistence, Sal didn’t feel any desire to make a weapon like that. The tracker, on the other hand, occupied a lot of space in Sal’s mind, and he wanted to start getting all the skills from the list, but he didn’t really know where to begin.

Should he message the students who had the skills he needed, then just look at them for a few seconds and leave? Should he pay them for inspecting their ability? Maybe get them to explain how it worked, to see whether that would help him add it to the Mythcrafter ability?

He discounted those thoughts as his mind wandered to the revelation about the Mythcrafter ability having Skill Master as a part of its creation. There was so much that he didn’t know about it, and even though it was starting to make sense, Sal felt like he barely knew anything about his own abilities.

A memory of Lombardi identifying Vanessa’s skill instantly popped into Sal’s head, and he was curious whether the Skill professor would be able to teach him much about Skill Master and Mythcrafter. Because it was a day off, Lombardi was likely busy, so Sal shelved that idea for later in the week.

As he walked through the campus, he became painfully aware that he hadn’t really explored much of the area. There were five skyscrapers dedicated to Quest Academy, and outside of the workshop, classrooms, training area, and canteen…Sal had no idea what took up the majority of space.

A thousand rooms for first-years dominated a lot of the floors, but there had to be more on offer than accommodation. With nothing better to do, Sal set his mind on exploring the campus without going in any particular direction.

His first area to discover was a tower he had never interacted with. It had windows that stretched across multiple floors, which made Sal suspect that they were designed to hold something big. Sal laughed unconsciously. He was apparently one of the top Appraisers in the city, and his best method of describing something for the first time was to highlight it as, “hold something big.”

Unlike the other towers that just had a few landing pads on the upper floors, there were closed-off gardens and what looked like biomes attached to the sides of the tower. Sal set off toward the entrance to the tower that was connected by a walkway to the amphitheater.

The doors were already slid open, but nobody was in the lobby. A smile crept onto Sal’s face as it felt like he wasn’t supposed to be there, combined with a small sense of adventure that was welling from within. Glancing around, he saw a map of the tower with a list of the different floors. It had the instant effect of popping his excitement balloon.

All sense of mystery disappeared as he learned the purpose of all the biomes.

• Floors 71-80 - Wildlife Department: Animal Rehabilitation & Recreation Zones

• Floors 81-85 - Wildlife Department: Animal Husbandry & Care

• Floors 86-90 - Wildlife Department: Animal Taming & Essence Bonding

• Floors 91-105 - Wildlife Department: Gauntlet Training Room

Sal had to do a double take when he saw how much space was dedicated to animals. Almost thirty-five entire floors, with private gardens and enclosures, just for animals. From the descriptions, it looked as if it had everything they could possibly want, but Sal didn’t really understand why there was such a focus on them.

Were there that many students who had animal companions? His eyes flicked down to the Gauntlet Training Room, and he wondered whether it was a paired obstacle course for students and animals. The next list of floors was for lower down, and many of them looked to be administrative in nature.

Sal went to the opposite side of the list and was pleasantly surprised to see that it held floors exclusively for luxury apartments. He was reminded of the ridiculous price of five thousand Q-Cred per month for the premium apartment on the Credit Store. Hot tubs, private workshops, and multiple bedrooms only scratched the surface of what they offered, and Sal genuinely wondered whether any of the students were in a position to afford something like that.

With his efforts in the tournament, and his windfall in getting all the appraisals for the Reavers Guild done, Sal was sitting on nearly six thousand Q-Cred, but it wouldn’t last long if he was serious about setting up his own guild in the future. Just the cost of doing a single Masterclass was enough to make Sal wince.

“You need some help, buddy?”

A voice called out from behind Sal. When he turned around, he saw a familiar-looking face, but Sal was pretty certain he’d never met this man before. His dark skin contrasted with the white lab coat he wore, and the friendly smile was mixed with confusion.

Sal gestured to the sign. “Sorry, I was just looking around. Realized I’d never stepped foot in this building before.” Curiosity got the better of him. “By the way, have we met before? You look familiar.”

The man laughed and shook his head. “No, we haven’t…but, let me guess? You’ve gotten injured pretty badly at some point?”

Sal blinked, not sure how he had come to that conclusion. Sure, he had been knocked out a few times from exhaustion, but nothing actually bad.

With a shake of his head, Sal smiled. “Afraid not, so it must be something else. Forget I said anything.”

The man frowned before clicking his fingers. “Doom Society, perhaps?”

Sal finally realized the resemblance. He looked like Doctor Bob, who had run the initial check on him before he had done the visions for the Doom Society. The man in front of him, though, was much younger and…friendlier.

As if seeing his cue to add context, the man gave a mock bow to Sal. “Doctor Bobby. Bob is my father. Strong resemblance in looks, not so much in personality. He looks after people, while I tend to focus more on animals.” He gestured to the building around him with a smile. “So that tells you who I am. Who might you be?”

Sal apologized as he realized he hadn’t introduced himself. With a step forward, he extended his hand with a smile. “Salvatore Argento. I’m a first-year here at the academy.”

Bobby’s face lit up. “You’re the super-crafter! I heard about you from some of the faculty members. They said that you’ve been making all sorts of war machines for the guilds!”

That descriptor stopped Sal in his tracks, and he couldn’t help but frown.

“War machines? No…I helped the guys in the workshop with an upgrade project. I’m hoping to make cool technology that will help people in the future. I will take Super-Crafter as a nickname, though…just hope it doesn’t translate into my future Hero alias.” Sal laughed as he spoke, and Bobby’s grin grew wider as he raised his hands defensively.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to sound like I was accusing you! Weapons for sure have their place in the war efforts, but I’d love to see someone talented making equipment for healing. You should come by sometime when we’re open. I could show you what we’re working with and introduce you to some of our live-in residents. You won’t regret it, I promise.”

His smile was infectious, and Sal found himself agreeing earnestly. He had no real interest in animals, but Bobby’s enthusiasm rubbed off on him.

Sal gestured back at the sign with the list of floors. “Don’t suppose you’d give me the rundown of the cool stuff I’ve been missing out on? Feels like I’ve been going to classes, eating, sleeping, and spending all other available hours in the workshop.”

Bobby nodded and pointed down at the floor. “Research and Development are on the basement levels. Some cool people in those departments, but most are eccentric. They’d not be the type to give you a tour, but they’re the ones who keep us ahead when it comes to technological advances. I’ve tried my absolute best to understand when they’re talking to me, but it sails straight over my head. I got as far as biometric-essence programming before my brain disengaged completely. Maybe you’ll have more luck!”

Bobby frowned as he looked off into the distance for a second, as though deep in thought.

“Mostly it’s the Wildlife Department and the Research & Development people. You have some private residents, which is your typical VIPs staying over from other guilds, visiting lecturers, government officials, loaded students. Stuff like that. Oh, and then there’s the Sky Deck! You’ve seen the Sky Lounge in the main tower?”

When Sal nodded, Bobby continued excitedly. “This one is way better. It’s an open-air biome with private gardens and loungers. Great place to unwind when it’s open to us. I’d highly recommend checking it out sometime…especially when we get to take up the animals to stretch their wings.”

Bobby was about to continue when a beeping noise sounded out from a device on his belt. With an apologetic smile, Bobby pointed behind him. “Need to get back to the lab or my colleagues are going to kill me, but it was nice to meet you, Salvatore.”

Sal nodded. “My friends call me Sal.”

Bobby paused as he turned. “Well, everyone calls me Bobby. But if I’m in trouble, Roberto works better.” With a laugh, he waved at Sal before jogging off to the nearby elevator.

Sal only noticed a tray of fresh coffees that sat on the ground beside the elevator when Bobby picked it up. He had the good grace to look guilty as he gave Sal a sheepish shrug, before disappearing behind the doors.

Sal decided that he’d come back one day to check out the Wildlife Department. The Sky Deck sounded great, but Sal was thinking about the kinds of equipment they’d be using there.

No matter what he came up with in his head, he had no idea what sort of technology made sense for an animal care department. Sal took out his tablet and checked the time. He wasn’t hungry and he wasn’t in the mood to go back to the dorm just to sit around bored.

With a resigned sigh, Sal decided that the best thing to do would be to join Divinity in the Skill classroom and work on his essence refinement. It seemed odd to be studying on his day off, but he didn’t have anything better to do, and if it made him a little bit stronger, it would be worth it. At least, that’s what he told himself.

Just as he made his way to the walkway, his tablet vibrated with a message from Vanessa. She asked to meet with him on the Credit floor whenever he had a chance. Relief swept through Sal like a wave. He had absolutely been lying to himself about wanting to study. With a grin and a spring in his step, he changed course and made his way to the Credit floor.