Hector’s torn trousers scrunched as his grip tightened. Frustration bubbled in his chest as Lincoln’s mother tapped the table in a gentle rhythm, an easy smile resting on her dry lips. “So do you want to hear the good news or the bad news?” she asked, tracing a circle with her finger.

  “I don’t suppose the good news is that you’re going to have to heal me for free, is it?” Hector asked, his back flaring as he shifted in the wooden seat. Nyx stood on one side of him, and Jodie on the other. The two women both had varying looks.

  Miss Clearwater glanced up at him, a tight smile coming to her lips. “I don’t run a charity, young one. I need to eat just as much as anyone else in the slum.” She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. Behind, a chesty cough split the air, followed by several grunts.

  Medical beds, rows upon rows of them, lined either side of the ward. Patients occupied most of the beds—unsurprising given yesterday’s events at the festival. A soft light filled the room from the lamps that crackled on the ceiling. Hector’s grip tightened on his trousers as his eyes moved to the burns on his arm.

  The flesh was still raw and blackened, with chunks of it peeling in places. “So, how much is it going to cost?” Hector asked, meeting Miss Clearwater’s eyes. “I can’t promise we will pay it all today.”

  While they had secured a substantial pile of silver, it had yet to be divided. He couldn’t say for sure how much he would receive and if it would even cover just his wounds.

  It’d annoy me if I did all that just to lose it all for some healing.

  Her gaze shifted to Jodie, and the coffers held under the ginger’s arm. “Don’t worry, I won’t try to rob you. I’m not a monster; I can see the trouble you went through to get your earnings.” She leaned forward, steepling her hands on the table. “And that’s the good news; your wounds won’t cost too much, but the boys.”

  “What, how?” Jodie snapped, her brow creasing. “He’s just got a few cuts. It’s not that bad.”

  “Oh, I didn’t realise I was in the presence of another qualified healer.” Miss Clearwater smiled. “If you are so knowledgeable, why don’t you teach me a thing or two and heal him yourself?”

  Jodie’s head fell, and she went silent. Miss Clearwater had a playful smile on her face, as if she’d just put someone rightfully in their place. Did she have to be so smug? It was a wonder she had clients at all.

  A rancid smell flittered by Hector’s nose as he shifted in his seat. Someone had probably soiled themselves. Miss Clearwater didn’t seem to mind—which wasn’t a surprise. Hector glanced behind him and into the room just outside the ward.

  Lincoln stood over a table with Sasha’s body on it—covered with a white blanket—with Griffen standing next to him. The boy showed an odd attachment to Lincoln. “So the good news is that it will be cheap, and the bad news is that we have to pay extra for Harry?” Hector asked.

  “Oh no, my dear boy.” Miss Clearwater chuckled, reaching under her desk and pulling out some papers. “All that was the good news. The bad news—for you anyway—is that I’m going to need an extra fee to keep your little secret. I can’t imagine your father will be too happy to find out what you’ve been up to.”

  Hector’s eyes dropped into a glare, and before he could speak, Jodie cut him off.

  “Oh, you have to be taking us for a riot, right?” she snapped. “There is no way you think you are getting money from us just to not say anything, right?”

  Miss Clearwater tilted her head to the side and brought a finger to her lips. “Actually, I think I am. You don’t really have a choice in the matter; just be thankful you are friends with my son. You will get quite the discount.”

  “You—”

  “Stop,” Hector said, raising a hand, causing Jodie to fall silent. His other hand dug into his trousers’ pocket as he bit his lip. Did he really have to pay her for such a minor… no, he did. He couldn’t risk his father finding out and stopping him from meeting up with his friends. Not that the man could do so physically, but he was a dutiful son.

  His head dropped. “We’ll pay. I don’t mind using my share of the loot.” He glanced at Nyx, who stood there, her face as calm as ever. “Is that fine with you?”

  She nodded.

  “Hector, you can’t,” Jodie murmured.

  But she was wrong; he could, and he had no choice. Though this showed him exactly where Lincoln got his personality from. If anything, they should be glad Lincoln wasn’t way worse.

  After wrapping up the pricing and paying Miss Clearwater the required silver—far more than he’d been hoping to give—she brought Hector to a medical bed, where she used a specialised soul circuit to treat his injuries. Hector didn’t know how they worked, but he’d been told they followed a similar principle to a mana armament—not that he’d ever used one of those.

  A few hours later, as the pale sun rose over the slums, Hector left Lincoln’s house with Jodie and Nyx; his wounds healed. They had agreed to meet later that day with everyone else to go over the loot, and Nyx had taken on the responsibility of holding on to the coffers until then.

  Hector let out a deep sigh as his hand rested on the scratchy wood of his home’s front gate. He’d made it home. If he could—without getting a splinter in his lip—he’d kiss this damn gate. Even with it half falling off, it was the most beautiful thing in the world right now.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  —— —— ——

  He braced against it, pushing as slowly as he could, careful not to scrape its edges on the cobblestone. A man walked by, grumbling to himself as he scratched his messy beard. He was one of many waking up early and going to the refineries—Hector’s dad would be one of them.

  But if Hector was lucky, his old man wouldn’t be up yet. While he could come up with a good excuse for coming in late, especially now that he was healed. It would be best not to. He needed time to prepare a good lie, one that his dad wouldn’t see through—not immediately, anyway.

  I don’t doubt some of his friends heading to work have seen me coming in. But hopefully, they just think I was out shopping or something.

  Hector kept himself low as he walked around the side of the house and stopped to peep through the window into the kitchen. Through the ajar window, a slightly nutty smell drifted out, causing him to smile as on the stove a pot of grim-grain bubbled.

  He’d have to get himself a bowl once he was in. It was probably his father’s morning bowl. But Mirae would get up later, putting on another one. He dropped back down onto all fours just beneath the window’s edge and crawled forward. His dad was up, and he’d have to be a bit more cautious.

  Suddenly, a sharp clang came from the side near the fence, followed by a gentle meow. Sitting atop a trash can, Maribell, the neighbour’s ginger cat, swallowed as its eyes followed Hector. He tensed, his hands digging into the dirt. What did he do now? If he shooed it away, his dad might hear.

  The cat’s yellow eyes lingered on him for a moment, and Hector lamented [Street reader] being on cooldown. Then he wouldn’t be stuck on all fours having a stare-off with a damned cat. Thankfully, after a moment, the cat looked away and jumped onto the fence before dropping into the neighbour’s garden.

  Hector let out a breath and crawled the rest of the way, scuffing his trousers. Finally, he made it to his room window, glancing about to see if anyone was around. But the area was empty. Mirae wasn’t in the garden—and thankfully, his dad wasn’t either.

  He placed his hand on the windowsill and gripped the window, stifling a grunt as his sore muscles tightened, sliding the window up.

  “Late night?” A voice asked at his side.

  Hector paused and slowly turned his head. There, arms crossed and leaning against the rotten wooden wall of the house, was his father. The man had bags under his eyes as his gaze lingered on him, the early morning sun seemingly not helping him much. “You must have had quite the night,” He said, glancing at Hector’s torn pants.

  Hector swallowed. Thankfully, he’d borrowed a fresh shirt from Lincoln before he left his house. The burns on the clothes would have made this harder to explain. Not that it was easy, but he’d have to do his best. “We got a bit carried away last night,” Hector said, scratching his neck.

  “I see.” His father nodded, running his tongue across his bottom lip as his brow tightened. “I’m glad I sat up all night waiting for you to come home while you got a little carried away. That’s brilliant.”

  “Dad, I—”

  Hector’s father raised his hand, and Hector paused. The man then glanced off to the side. “I know you’re upset with me. But this level of disregard for me and your sister is unacceptable. What would we have done if something had happened to you last night?” His father shook his head.

  As Hector went to speak, he was interrupted. “I don’t want to hear it. We are going to talk more about this later. I have to get to work.” The man then pushed off the wall and stormed away, not even looking back.

  Hector’s gaze lingered on his father as he rounded the corner and disappeared. He’d caused his dad more stress and, from the looks of it, a lack of sleep. He’d probably drink again today—though he hadn’t smelt like alcohol just now. That was a silver lining.

  Shaking his head, Hector pushed up his window and climbed into his room. He couldn’t think about his dad right now. After all, the rewards wouldn’t digest themselves. Thankfully, meditation was just as good as sleeping, so he could recover from last night’s toll on him. He clambered onto his bed and sat in a lotus position, smiling as the world fell away.

  —— —— ——

  A smile tore across Hector’s lips as he studied the words the system had just said; its white text box floated in the air before him. This explained why he’d been able to take both those Talents from the Void Singer—this upgrade was brilliant.

  Hector rapped his knuckles on the cool marble of the pedestal—one of the two recent additions to his soul garden. He was buzzing.

  ————————————————

  ///: Upgrade one: The user can now extract up to three Talents per day from a target of their choosing. Access speed to the soulscape of the target has also increased. The user has also unlocked [Trait Up]. Further information on this feature can be found in the Talent Garden.

  ///: Upgrade two: The user can now house five Talent plants in total. Watering efficiency has also been improved. The user has also unlocked [Talent Grafting]. Further information on this feature can be found in the Talent Garden.

  Notice: The amount of equipable Talents has also gone up by +3

  ————————————————

  I haven’t even looked at what I’ve received from the Void Singer, and the upgrades are already so good. What could [Trait Up] and [Talent Grafting] do? Well, I guess the name of one gives it away, but still. This is crazy.

  His feet sloshed through the waters of the Talent garden as he swiped away the screen and moved to the two Talents he’d called down when he arrived in the Talent garden. They both floated in the air, their surfaces shimmering with a green light.

  Uncommon. The Void Singer had two uncommon Talents. If it was that strong after coming out of its egg, Hector couldn’t fathom how strong it would have been if they hadn’t interrupted it during its growth. He doubted the Farmhands had planned on it waking up so soon.

  Bringing a hand to his mouth, Hector smiled and scoffed into his hand. The upgrades could wait. Right now, he needed to see what made this thing so strong. He reached forward, resting a hand on the first of the two Talents.

  ————————————————

  ///: Blazing Arsenal (Uncommon): The user creates a three-meter diameter fire pool that can be moved around and within a range of fifty meters. The pool can launch fireballs at a target, which explode on impact. However, the pools can only move at a light walking speed. A pool can only fire five fireballs before being depleted and having to be re-summoned.

  [?○○] (1/3) Duration: 1h Cooldown: 1h30mins

  Note: Further acquisitions increase the number of fireballs by two. It also increases the intensity of the explosion and lowers the cooldown time. When the user has three blazing arsenals, a second pool can be summoned.

  ————————————————

  Hector stepped back, his hand falling to his side, and he took a deep breath. The nothingness smell of the void, for once, provided some solace. Thank heavens that thing had not moved the pool around when they’d been fighting. That would have been a disaster.

  Burns on his back would have been the least of his worries.

  He glanced at the second Talent that floated just to the side. Uncommon was a different ball game—[Volt Runner Harness] had proved that, but this. He couldn’t imagine what the next Talent would be like.

  .

  How was the pace of this chapter?