The vulture fell in three pieces. The young man could not grasp when it had happened.
The woman was already there.
He heard no footsteps, sensed no presence before seeing her standing before the remains.
Her white armor radiated life. The red patterns, fine and elegant, seemed to shift softly under the sunlight. Her eyes were deep, marine.
Beautiful.
And dangerous.
The young man stared at her, unable to look away.
An angel?
The thought shattered upon seeing the disemboweled corpse at her feet, upon perceiving the smell of iron, blood, and mud that saturated the air. His throat tightened. He swallowed. A faint tremor ran through his fingers.
With a playful expression, the woman crossed her left arm over her torso and rested the index finger of her right hand against her lip.
"Hey, seeker."
She tilted her head slightly.
"Did the vulture eat your ears? I asked if you found anything good."
The young man did not answer immediately.
Seeker? Anything good?
His mind, still clouded, tried to make sense of what he was seeing. The woman had picked up a sphere from the vulture… if that was "something good," then it must be something valuable.
Without answering directly, he asked:
"What happens if I didn't find anything good?"
The woman seemed to consider the question with total seriousness for a moment.
Her eyes, however, turned cold all at once.
"Then you would be more useless than this piece of meat at my feet."
She nudged the vulture's corpse lightly with her foot.
"This one at least gave me a singularity."
Singularity…?
The spheres. That was what they were called.
Their value was still uncertain, but the fact that she collected them was enough.
The young man pressed his lips together slightly, measuring every possibility before speaking.
"I only have four singularities," he said carefully. "I'll give you the first for sparing my life, the second for a bit of food, and the third if you help me reach a safe place."
He paused for a moment.
"But I won't give you the fourth."
His fingers tensed faintly.
"It's my loot… and I want to sell it. I can't go back empty-handed."
The woman watched him in silence. Her eyes traveled over every detail: his posture, his breathing, the tension in his hands.
There was something strange about him.
The young man held her gaze, though a slight flicker betrayed his state of alert.
Then, the woman burst out laughing. She brought a hand to her stomach, closing her eyes, clearly surprised.
But the atmosphere changed.
The air grew heavy.
A chill ran down the young man's spine and his knees gave way slightly, as if what little strength he had left was fading. The laugh, light at first, began to grow denser, more charged.
The woman drew closer. Her steps were slow, rhythmic, impossible to ignore.
The young man's body reacted before his mind did. One of his knees touched the ground.
He was looking up at her.
"What makes you think I can't cut off your head this instant?"
Her voice was low, but firm.
"Take the singularities… and bury your body as if you never existed."
Her eyes did not leave his.
"Why not just hand everything over?"
The young man held her gaze. Pain and exhaustion coursed through his body, but in his eyes there was something more.
Fear, yes.
But also a taut conviction, almost irrational.
"Because I risked my life to earn it."
The woman stopped.
Their faces were inches apart.
Their stares crossed without wavering.
His eyes were a dark reddish hue, deep, hard to read. There was fear… but also something that didn't fit. Something she could not define.
The silence stretched on.
Ambiguous. Dense.
Everything around them ceased to matter for an instant. And that made it all the more dangerous.
Finally, the woman spoke.
"I'll accept the deal… but listen closely."
The young man did not answer with words. He only nodded, focusing all his attention on what she would say.
"First."
She raised a finger.
"Your attire. You're a seeker apprentice. Red suit, fox insignia… you belong to Rusett's group."
The young man looked down, surprised. Until that moment he had not even paid attention to his own clothes. His mind began to spin once more.
"Second."
Another finger.
Her expression shifted slightly.
"That guy is a bastard."
"The most despicable, disinterested man I know."
Her eyes hardened for an instant… and then returned to normal.
"And third."
Her gaze lowered toward the bag.
"If you really have four singularities, carrying them alone will get you killed. Some beast might sense them… or someone worse."
She paused briefly.
"Rusett isn't the type to report all his earnings. But going back empty-handed… is worse."
The young man swallowed. His mind worked tirelessly, trying to grasp the rules of this world.
"If you give him one," she added, "he'll probably give you a few silver coins. Enough to survive for a while."
The young man took a deep breath.
"I understand," he replied carefully.
The woman nodded and looked directly at the bag.
"I won't ask how… but what did you find?"
The young man hesitated an instant before moving his hand.
His fingers touched the green sphere.
The eye blinked against his skin.
A chill ran down his arm.
He stopped.
Not that one.
No one could see that one.
He pushed it carefully toward the bottom and searched among the others. His fingers traveled over the surfaces, feeling their differences.
He knew the choice mattered.
He raised his gaze to the woman once more. He gripped one of the spheres.
And began to pull it slowly from the bag.
The woman's blue eyes remained fixed on the young man's bag. She knew there were singularities inside. The symbols engraved on the fabric flickered, giving everything away.
The young man did not hurry. He watched her cautiously.
Despite the recent shift in her attitude, he did not trust her.
He was in a hostile place, full of dangers, of things he did not understand.
And the greatest danger, at that moment…
was her.
Even so, he could not help but notice the expectation in her gaze. Her eyes, vast and deep, seemed to have swallowed the whole sky, clouds included.
He knew himself well. He had never been good at trusting.
A memory crossed his mind suddenly, laden with nostalgia, sadness… and a strange tenderness.
A memory that did not quite feel like his own.
As if it belonged to another world.
In his adolescence, his grandfather had told him not to trust beautiful women.
If they treat you well without knowing you… it's because they want something from you.
Although, sometimes, being deceived by a beautiful woman can even be pleasurable.
The thought faded.
His mind snapped back to the present, with the sensation of something squeezing his chest.
He pulled out the first sphere.
It shone with a deep brown hue. Inside, a kind of galaxy spun slowly. At first glance, it represented an elemental power: earth. Like a contained sandstorm, golden particles danced without rest.
The woman's eyes widened slightly.
She said nothing.
But she swallowed.
The young man noticed.
Her expression barely changed, but her eyes betrayed her.
And that put him on alert.
He could not back out now.
He did not know where he was. He did not know what else lurked in this place. He had no food or water.
And his body was still weak.
He looked up.
Enormous vultures circled in the sky, waiting.
The mere presence of the woman kept them at a distance.
He tightened his grip on the sphere between his fingers.
In this place…
she was not just a threat.
She was, probably, his only chance of survival.
He extended his hand and gave her the earth singularity.
The woman received it with both hands, with unexpected delicacy, as if holding something fragile.
The young man returned to the bag.
Another sphere responded to his touch.
Small bolts escaped from its surface. Inside, a yellow galaxy vibrated with instability.
Lightning. Electricity. Thunderbolt.
He was not sure of the name.
He had never been good with fantasy, nor with science fiction.
As a child he had almost no toys.
And when he was old enough to hold an axe… he started working.
Woodcutter.
Later, one job after another. He never lasted. His sticky fingers always got him into trouble.
The yellow energy vibrated between his fingers, restless, dangerous.
He smiled faintly.
He had always been like that.
Something useful… until it ended up burning whoever held it too long.
The woman took out a leather pouch. The symbols on it glowed a purple tone. Then she took out another, dull one. She placed the earth singularity inside. The symbols reacted instantly.
But when she saw the yellow sphere, she stopped.
This time she frowned.
Her fingers tensed slightly.
Her breathing changed.
A spark crossed her pupils.
She was calculating.
And yet, she kept silent.
The young man missed no detail.
He knew he was being cheated.
The singularities themselves screamed it.
But he had to live.
He went back to the bag.
When he pulled out the third sphere, both of them reacted.
Red.
A contained hell swirled inside it. Dense. Alive. It radiated heat.
Not because it was more valuable, but because of its very nature.
The woman raised her hands almost by instinct.
But the young man stopped.
He looked directly at her.
"The earth one is for my life."
"The electric one, for food and water."
He raised the red sphere slightly.
"This one is for you to take me to a safe place."
His eyes did not waver.
"Do you understand?"
The woman took a second to answer.
She had not expected that haul.
She composed herself, but the greed did not disappear entirely.
"It doesn't seem fair. These are tier-three singularities. Very valuable."
She sized him up.
"Are you sure?"
A gleam crossed the young man's gaze.
Tier three.
Valuable.
Without answering, he placed the sphere in her hands.
The woman understood.
She stored it with the same care.
Then she turned and extended her arm.
A shadow detached from her body and took shape.
An enormous Bengal tiger appeared before them.
The young man stepped back instinctively.
The size hit him first.
In his previous life, he used to fall asleep watching documentaries on an old animal channel. He remembered tigers, their way of moving, their silent presence.
But this one was not like those.
It was larger.
Two small golden horns emerged from its head.
And its tail ended in a mass of spikes of the same color, gleaming faintly.
Something about it did not fit with the world he remembered.
Magic.
He found no other word.
The tiger seemed calm. Almost domesticated. It observed him with curiosity, without aggression.
"Is it a singularity?" he asked.
"Yes," she answered. "It will be our mount."
The young man studied it more closely.
In this world, the rules were different.
"What tier is it?"
"Tier two."
Simple. Unimportant.
They approached. The tiger barely moved its tail. The woman placed a hand on its back.
"The fourth sphere," she said. "What element is it?"
The young man understood.
It was not an innocent question.
"That information costs a tier-one singularity."
The woman turned slowly.
The atmosphere changed.
The young man's stomach clenched.
Perhaps he had gone too far.
But he knew no other way to negotiate.
He held her gaze.
Information is power.
He had learned it late.
In his previous life he had never studied. He thought effort was everything.
That strength moved the world.
But no.
Knowledge decided who gave orders… and who obeyed.
And by the time he understood it, there was no time left to change.
Only to survive.
The woman sighed. She reached into her pouch. The symbols glowed. She took out a purple sphere and tossed it.
The young man caught it.
Then he pulled out the fourth.
Deep blue, like the sea at night. Inside, an entire ocean churned silently.
When the woman saw it, her eyes lit up.
"Water…"
She smiled.
"I have a proposal. Keep the thunder one. It's perfect for Rusett. He'll pay you more."
She extended her hand.
"Give me the water one."
The young man studied her.
"I'm willing to negotiate, but you're asking me to betray my capital."
His eyes did not move.
"If you want it, you pay for it."
"A tier-two one."
The wind passed between the trees.
The woman's blue eyes narrowed.
"Hey…"
"Audrey."
The young man frowned.
"What?"
"My name," she said. "Don't call me 'hey.'"
The air between them tensed slightly.
And the young man did not back down.
He did not trust her.
And he had the feeling that… she did not trust him either.
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