Alex and Olivia stood at the checkpoint with the sounds of the Safe Zone all around them. Val subtly shifted around Alex’s shoulders, his illusion reactivated to maintain the appearance of a deep blue cloak with gold trim. The amphiptere had been unusually attentive since they’d left the Guild, perhaps sensing the importance of what was to come.

Cars waited in line to enter, with only a few exiting. Dozens of men and women in uniforms moved in and out of the traffic, speaking to those in the cars. As they waited, a lithe man in uniform approached them with a look of irritation etched on his face.

“Identification, please,” he said please, though his voice made it sound more like a demand.

“We don’t have any identification. We’re expecting some representatives from the Hunters Association to guide us through,” Alex replied.

“Hmm okay, well, come on in. We can get the paperwork started then,” he turned and waved them toward the same small building that they’d entered when coming to get Sam.

Alex shook his head. “I think we’ll wait here.”

The man looked back and had a frustrated look on his face before shrugging. “Whatever, you’ll have to come and do it either way. Just trying to be helpful.”

Soon after, Evan appeared at the front of the line, stepping out of a car with a figure that Alex didn’t recognize. The two couldn’t have been more of a contrast if they tried. Where Evan looked every inch the young scholar, the other figure’s build and fluid movements spoke of high stats and combat experience.

He scanned the man.

Alex was impressed. While the man wasn’t quite as high leveled as he and Sam, he was almost on par with Olivia, though his build seemed to lean into the full physical category rather than her magical-agility hybrid.

I didn’t realize that the HA had someone this powerful here in the Safe Zone. Did they send him to escort us as a message?

“Alex, Olivia,” Evan greeted them with a nod. He gestured for them to follow, and the other man didn’t say anything as he peeled off and walked to the office building. “You can leave your car here for now. It’ll be fine in this lot.”

Alex felt a bit uncomfortable at the idea, and Evan seemed to pick up on it.

“You could bring it in if you really want. But riding with us is going to be way faster, and we’re hopping on a plane soon anyway.”

“We are?” Olivia asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, yeah. Sarah didn’t tell you guys?”

Both Olivia and Alex shook their heads.

“Hmm. Well, the New Jersey branch is pretty small. Whatever you guys did, it’s really stirred up the whole organization. They want to fly all of you down to DC to brief the Director and Assistant Director.”

Olivia looked at Alex, and he felt a bit hesitant. He was coming off of the surge of frustration that still felt pent up after not finding Rylan at the Guild Headquarters. He took a deep breath and centered himself, using his colossal Willpower. He was enjoying the recent discovery that all he needed to do was force himself to be calm, and it happened. His pulse slowed, and a large amount of tension he’d been holding in his shoulders without realizing it released. He shrugged his shoulders and said. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. This is exactly why we wanted to tell them. At least they’re taking it seriously.”

“Alright.” A few minutes went by while the brawler worked out whatever needed to be done in the building before rejoining the group, and they all walked through the checkpoint to three waiting SUVs.

When they piled in, Evan jumped into the middle vehicle with Olivia and Alex while the brawler went to the one up front.

“I didn’t realize you were so highly placed in the HA,” Alex said to Evan as they began driving through the Safe Zone.

“Oh, I’m not,” Evan replied. “Sarah told them it might be a good idea to send me since I was a familiar face. Nicer than having a bunch of awakened in suits greet you and get you into some cars, huh?” He said the last line with a knowing grin.

Alex and Olivia both chuckled, knowing very well that they wouldn’t have wanted to go if that were the case. The vehicle had lights on the top that flashed like a cop car might and parted the crowds and most traffic with ease. As they drove, Alex’s gaze roamed the streets. His heart sank at the sight of people sleeping on benches or in tents, looking dirty and fatigued. He had expected more from the Safe Zone, which had been described early on as a sort of oasis and safe haven against the monsters and Rifts. But… the reality was jarring. Gratitude washed over him for his own fortunate circumstances, and he was happy that he’d managed to get clear of the Safe Zone rather than being trapped within the sense of security.

As they pulled up to the HA building, he felt a further sense of disappointment. Instead of an enormous skyscraper, crammed with awakened, they were greeted with a mundane three story office building.

They got out of the SUVs and were led inside. Alex was disappointed at the lack of awakened presence and sense of wonder he’d expected to see. After all, the Hunters Association was the group with the government’s backing. He must not have been able to keep those thoughts from appearing on his face since Evan leaned over and snickered at his side.

“This is just the part that they let others see.” He lowered his voice. “All of the real work is done downstairs.”

Alex looked at his feet and realized that the structure must have sublevels. They continued to move through the entryway and into the lobby, where they saw the three of their friends waiting for them.

“Hey,” Sarah called as they approached. She seemed to be the most at ease of their group.

“Hey. So, they’ve got us getting on a plane?”

Sarah nodded in response. “I got to talk with Jonathan and Director Matthews on our way here, and they both thought that the threat was big enough to get things moving immediately.”

“But why DC?” Olivia asked.

“DC is the main headquarters for the entire country. Their best teams are there, and it’s just an hour on a private plane.”

“A private plane?” Alex asked with a scoff. “Who are you?”

Mark chuckled from beside Sarah. “I said the same thing. She said she makes the flight every other week!”

“Why do you-”

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For the first time, the Brawler spoke up. “Can we have this conversation as we move? I was told to escort your group to the main branch as quickly as possible, as this entire situation is time-sensitive.”

The group looked to Alex, and he gave Sarah one more thoughtful look before nodding. “Yeah, let’s go. This is going to be our best shot at making something real happen. The moment someone starts trying to force me to give over my information or record all of my stats, though, I’m out.”

Sarah rolled her eyes, and Alex even caught Olivia giving him an exasperated smile.

They moved through the building and to a new set of vehicles. They were forced to spread out to fit in with the drivers and security. Alex called Edwin during the drive to let him know where they were going. They got to the edge of the Safe Zone, where a small, private airfield and a plane were already waiting for them.

Once settled, the group sat in cushioned chairs that faced each other, similar to how they might sit on a train. Alex spoke up. “Alright, Sarah. You’ve always been a bit secretive when we ask to you about what exactly you do with the Hunters Association. Want to share now, before we get there?”

Sarah brushed her hair back and wrapped the loose strand around her bun to keep it in place. “It’s not really any big secret. And what I do isn’t really the important thing here. It’s more to do with who I do my work with.” She let out a breath. “I guess I should explain a bit more about why I got recruited in the first place…”

Sarah told an abbreviated version of her hiring process for the whole group. "When you were still in the Rift, I got approached by the Hunters Association. They offered me a job, and at the time, I thought you had died. I didn't really expect things to progress as quickly as they did, and it wasn't until I'd finished signing the necessary paperwork that they filled me in on everything. There was an extremely powerful Awakened working with them, though they were scared about his mental stability. They wanted to have someone come and work with him directly and personally to conduct psych evaluations and help him heal if necessary."

"Right. You said they helped you awaken, right?"

"Yes. I wasn't the only one brought in, either. But after the group of seven of us was awakened, they hired me on—likely because of my trait. Their teams saw the potential uses of it before I even thought about how to apply it. Even after the first few days of having the trait and being able to see auras, we knew that it would aid me in my work. So, I started to work with their Awakened… Jonathan."

"Jonathan? This is the guy you wanted me to meet?" Alex asked.

"The same. He is the strongest Awakened that I've seen." She paused for a moment as Alex and Olivia glanced at each other.

“Like… stronger than him?” Olivia asked, pointing sideways at Alex.

Sarah nodded and continued. "That's the main reason I wanted you two to meet. His aura is immense and moves naturally, though he doesn't seem to be able to control it consciously—like you can. Anyway, my job has shifted a few times, but because of the urgency for Jonathan to get help, I was working with them within a few days. I've gone to DC a few times to meet with Director Matthews, and like I mentioned to you a few weeks ago, he seems to have some different ideas about how he could place me in the organization to work with my trait… but I don't want that. I enjoy my job and have a passion for helping people heal through their trauma. And Jonathan…" She shook her head, and the story tapered off.

"Alright, well… that makes some more sense," Olivia said. "The few run-ins that we've had with the Hunters —when those two came to the house and then again when you guys had to help Sam at the checkpoint—you came to the rescue with your connections. I'd assume that it helps when you have a direct line to the freakin' Director of the entire organization."

Some color rose to Sarah's cheeks, and she nodded.

The group continued to talk in private throughout the plane ride, and Alex felt like their arrival still cut the conversation short.

Upon landing, the difference became stark. Everything felt larger, more spacious, and more organized. It seemed as if things had been planned out ahead of time, compared to Jersey, where things seemed to be crammed together as an afterthought and out of necessity. The private airfield was attached to the Hunters Association complex and was just a short walk to a hangar, where they were politely greeted by a team and led into a more permanent building.

The people working there seemed to move with a purpose and all of those that Alex scanned were awakened. He was shocked at the number of them that held noncombat classes, and he wondered how much better that made them at their jobs.

He noted how clean and well-maintained the premises were, and as they approached the security system within the main building, he couldn’t help but be impressed. It reminded him of airport security prior to the integration, though it scanned mana levels, and they had asked them to put on some sort of limiter band.

Alex immediately started to refuse, but when the Brawler spoke up and said that it wasn’t necessary, they weren’t pressured to do so any further. He contemplated stealing one of them and tucking it within his spatial ring but thought it would be best not to do something like that without any knowledge of what they did or how they worked.

Probably wouldn’t be great to start this relationship off by stealing from them before we’re even in the front door.

The entire experience of moving into the main complex seemed so different to him compared to everything he’d seen from the Guild. From the start, they’d met at someone’s house, and even though it was a really expensive house, it was still just Elana’s home in the mountains. They’d used an app and recruited people through suspect means by hosting their own site and scrubbing information that came in to find newly awakened.

The main complex of the Hunters Association stretched out around them, and Alex had to stop himself from making constant comparisons to what he knew of the Guild. There were polished floors and busy personnel. His gaze swept over the stream of workers moving through the space with purpose.

The different uniforms caught his attention as well. Some people wore suits, some wore lab coats, and others yet wore gear he’d begun to associate with adventurers and Rift delvers. Regardless of the apparel, all of them had the Hunters Association insignia on them somewhere visible, either on the clothing itself or, in the case of some of the combat-focused awakened, on armbands tied over their upper arms.

He used his Heavenly Eye to scan some at random and was surprised at the number of noncombatants that he saw. A level 10 Alchemist here, a level 12 Censor there. There was more variety than he’d expected as well. The majority of people weren’t combat-focused at all; they were specialists in their fields, using their abilities to enhance their work. He glanced at Sarah and realized that was exactly what they’d done with her and, to a lesser extent, what he’d done with Edwin and Gabby.

Through their bond, Alex could feel Val’s fascination with the various magical signatures around them. The beast’s illusion remained steady, but Alex could sense his desire to investigate the different types of mana being used throughout the facility and had to urge him, more than once, to stay concealed.

They approached a bank of elevators, and once inside, Alex noted the panel of buttons with interest. There were five more floors above the first, but there were ten floors that stretched down into basement levels.

Descending in silence, Alex’s breath caught as the doors opened, and they emerged in the fourth basement floor. The Brawler began walking with Evan closely behind, and Alex looked with interest at the several rooms that branched off to either side of the wide hallway.

The rooms on both sides had floor-to-ceiling glass walls that reminded Alex of racquetball rooms that he had seen at the gym near his parents’ old house. The rooms were bare and were cube-shaped, allowing them to stack next to each other in even measure. Outside of each occupied glass room was a person in a lab coat holding a tablet and tapping away as training was performed. Through his mana sight, he could see the faint glow of mana from the glass itself and recognized it as some sort of enchantment.

Smart. They can observe training while keeping everyone safe.

Alex thought about how he wanted to eventually turn his workshop into something this safe and had to rein in his thoughts from thinking about future upgrades to the house.

He looked up as they continued to walk and saw that the ceiling stretched high over head, hinting that each floor of the ten-floor basement was several stories in height. The escort soon led them to an open area beyond the training cubes and he found many people already assembled and were waiting, some talking and debating enthusiastically.

Most of those gathered wore lab coats, though quite a few in adventuring gear stood off to the side, watching the exchanges. When they were guided to a table and many of those around them quieted, Alex realized that this was their destination.

“Oh, wow,” Sam said while doing a small circle.

Sarah was smiling and waved at a group of adventurers on the other side of the open space.

Alex could see a towering bald man with huge muscles who might make Mark seem small. He thought back to Sarah saying her friend Jonathan was the strongest Awakened that she’d seen and idly wondered if that was the man. Evan drew his attention back to their own group.

“Are you ready?”

“Ready?”

“Yeah. To talk about your magic?”

“What? Here? I thought I was just going to answer some questions, not give a lecture.”

Evan gave a short laugh. “Well, it was supposed to be a few questions, but a lot of these people have spent the last months studying magic almost every waking moment. If you really did make something unique, they want to hear about it.”

Alex felt a bit anxious but just shook his head. “It’s not complete, though. I only came here so we could make progress on the Sun Elf threat, not to give a class on magic.”

“That’s the reason all of these people are here. Magic researchers from all over the country were brought in to help on this situation, and even more of the combat personnel were called in, too.”

“Alex Moore?”

Alex turned to see a tall, older man striding up to their group. He had white hair and a neatly trimmed beard. If it weren’t for his awakened physique, Alex would expect the man to be in his sixties or seventies.

A high Vitality build, then?

Sarah nudged him, and he responded smoothly. “Yes, that’s me,” he said.

“My name is Joshua Matthews. You can call me Joshua or Director Matthews. Thank you to you and your team for coming on such short notice, Mr. Moore.” He extended his hand. Alex could see the scars of cuts across his skin and knew that the man had been through his fair share of fights, either before or after the integration.

Alex extended his hand and shook it in a tight grip.