CHAPTER 24: SELECTION

Rin stared at the mission board in the Association headquarters, dozens of available assignments scrolling across the digital display, each one color-coded by rank, region, estimated difficulty.

E-rank missions were highlighted in green, he had access to maybe thirty of them, everything from rat extermination to goblin patrols to slime cleanup.

None of them would get him stronger fast enough.

"You’ve been staring at that screen for ten minutes," Joy said, appearing at his shoulder with coffee. "Just pick something, they’re all going to be boring grunt work anyway."

"I know, just trying to find something useful."

"Useful how? They’re E-rank missions, they’re designed to be safe and repetitive, that’s the whole point." She sipped her coffee. "We grind these out for a few months, build our record, then we get access to better assignments."

Rin knew she was right but the thought of spending months clearing rat nests while Kazriketh was out there somewhere made his jaw clench.

[Mission analysis available]

[Reviewing objectives for optimal advancement path]

’Show me.’

[Analyzing 32 available E-rank missions]

[Filtering for anomaly probability]

[Filtering for combat experience value] [Filtering for material acquisition potential]

A list appeared in his vision, the system had ranked the missions by usefulness.

Top result: "Subway Maintenance - Sector 7, reported slime infestation with unusual energy signatures."

’Unusual energy signatures could mean anomaly.’

[Correct assessment]

[Probability of encountering anomalous entity: 23%]

[Higher than standard E-rank mission baseline of 3%]

"This one," Rin pointed at the subway mission on the screen.

Joy read the description. "Slime cleanup in the tunnels? That’s going to be disgusting, slimes are literally just sentient mucus that tries to dissolve you."

"Says here there’s unusual readings though, might be more interesting than standard cleanup."

"Or might be nothing and we spend four hours shoveling slime corpses." She pulled out her phone. "I’ll message Tayo, see if he wants to make it a three-person team again."

While she texted, Rin accepted the mission through the terminal, the system processed his request, assigned him as team lead again.

MISSION ACCEPTED Assignment: Subway Slime Suppression Location: Sector 7 Transit Station, Lower Platform Estimated Duration: 3-5 hours Team Composition: Matsuda (Lead), Castellanos, Okonkwo Supervisor: TBD Departure: 1400 hours

Three hours from now, enough time to gear up and review slime combat tactics.

Tayo confirmed he was available, they agreed to meet at the equipment depot at 1330.

Rin spent the time in the Association library again, pulling up files on slime-type monsters.

Slimes were F to E-rank threats typically, gelatinous creatures that absorbed organic matter, they reproduced by splitting when they consumed enough mass, their cores were valuable for alchemy but the extraction process was tedious.

Combat approach was simple, destroy the core which was usually visible inside the slime’s body, they had no real defenses beyond their acidic properties which could burn through unprotected skin.

The "unusual energy signatures" part of the mission report was less clear, could mean anything from a larger-than-normal slime to contamination from nearby dungeon activity.

[Additional data detected in classified files]

’You can access classified files?’

[Negative]

[But I can detect their existence]

[Sector 7 subway has recorded three anomaly events in past six months]

[Association has not publicly disclosed this information]

’So there’s definitely something weird going on down there.’

[High probability]

At 1330 Rin met Joy and Tayo at the equipment depot, they geared up with acid-resistant suits that looked like hazmat gear, collected sample containers for slime cores, grabbed extra first aid because the suits weren’t perfect.

A different supervisor met them this time, a woman named Kira, B-rank Hunter with short blonde hair and a scar across her nose.

"First slime mission for all of you?" she asked, looking at her tablet.

"Yeah."

"Great, here’s the important part, don’t let them touch your skin, the acid burns aren’t immediately painful which means you won’t notice until you’re already injured, work in pairs, one person watches while the other engages, the cores are worth about fifty credits each so collect what you can but prioritize safety over profit, questions?"

"The report mentioned unusual energy signatures," Rin said. "What does that mean exactly?"

"Probably nothing, slimes sometimes absorb weird shit from the environment, makes their readings wonky, but stay alert, if you see anything that doesn’t match standard slime behavior, call it out immediately."

They loaded into a van, drove to Sector 7 transit station.

The station was closed to public access, Association tape blocked the escalators leading down, a few guards stood watch to keep civilians away.

Kira led them down to the lower platform, the smell hit Rin immediately, damp concrete mixed with something chemical, the tunnels stretched in both directions, maintenance lights providing minimal visibility.

"Slimes were first reported three days ago," Kira explained. "Started as one or two, now we’re estimating between twenty to thirty individuals, they’ve spread through about a quarter mile of tunnel, your job is to clear them out, collect cores, report anything unusual."

She handed Rin a flare gun. "You see something you can’t handle, fire this, I’ll come running, otherwise I’ll be topside monitoring your progress."

"You’re not coming with us?"

"This is E-rank work, you don’t need a babysitter for slimes, I’m here in case something goes catastrophically wrong, which it won’t, probably." She checked her watch. "You’ve got four hours, make it count."

She headed back up the escalator, left them alone in the tunnel.

Joy looked at Rin. "She’s way more relaxed than Vrell was."

"Different supervisors, different styles I guess." Rin activated his flashlight, attached it to his suit. "Let’s move, formation from last time, I take point, you two stay close."

They moved into the tunnel, the sound of dripping water echoed off the walls, their footsteps sounded too loud in the enclosed space.

The first slime appeared after about fifty meters, a blob of translucent green goo about three feet across, it oozed along the tunnel floor toward them.

"Contact," Rin said quietly. "Tayo, sound blast it."

Tayo fired a compressed wave of sound, the slime’s body rippled from the impact, its form destabilized, the core inside became visible, a small crystalline sphere.

Rin moved in, punched through the slime’s membrane with fracture energy protecting his hand, grabbed the core, yanked it out.

The slime collapsed immediately, became just a puddle of inert goo.

"One down," Joy said. "That was easier than expected."

They continued deeper, found more slimes, the pattern repeated, Tayo destabilized them, Rin extracted cores, Joy watched their backs.

Twenty minutes in, they’d cleared eight slimes, collected eight cores, everything was going smoothly.

Too smoothly.

[Warning: Energy signature detected]

[Does not match standard slime composition]

[Anomaly probability increasing]

’Where?’

[Ahead, approximately forty meters]

[Signature is significantly stronger than previous entities]

"Hold up," Rin raised his fist. "Something’s different ahead."

"Different how?" Tayo asked.

"Not sure yet, stay alert."

They moved forward carefully, rounded a corner in the tunnel, found a larger chamber where maintenance equipment was stored.

In the center was a slime that made all the others look tiny, it had to be fifteen feet across, its body pulsing with strange light, colors that shifted in ways that made Rin’s eyes hurt.

Inside its translucent mass were multiple cores, at least a dozen, all connected by threads of energy.

"What the hell is that?" Joy whispered.

[Analysis: Mutated slime entity]

[Multiple cores indicate absorption of other slimes]

[Energy signature shows fracture contamination]

[Threat level: D-rank minimum]

’We’re not equipped for D-rank.’

[Correct]

[Recommend calling supervisor]

The mutated slime noticed them, its body rippled, pseudopods extended toward them, each one dripping with acid that hissed when it hit the ground.

"Back up slowly," Rin said. "Don’t run, don’t make sudden moves."

They retreated, the slime followed, oozing forward with disturbing speed for something that size.

Rin reached for the flare gun, but before he could fire it, the slime lunged.

A pseudopod shot forward like a whip, Tayo barely dodged, the appendage smashed into the wall behind him, left a smoking crater in the concrete.

"Contact!" Rin fired the flare gun toward the ceiling, the red light illuminated the tunnel. "Engaging hostile!"

He channeled fracture energy, formed it into a blade around his hand, slashed at the pseudopod.

The energy cut through the slime’s membrane, but it regenerated almost instantly, more pseudopods formed, attacked from multiple angles.

Joy hit it with her emotion manipulation, the slime’s movements faltered briefly, but whatever intelligence it had was too alien, her ability barely affected it.

Tayo fired sound blasts, each one created ripples in the slime’s body, but it absorbed the impact, converted the kinetic energy into mass, grew larger.

’It’s getting stronger from our attacks.’

[Confirmed]

[Mutated slime demonstrates adaptive properties]

[Conventional combat ineffective]

[Recommend fracture energy at higher output]

Rin increased his power, purple light spreading across his arms, the slime seemed to react to it, pulled back slightly.

’It’s afraid of fracture energy.’

[Negative]

[It is attempting to absorb it]

[Warning: Do not allow direct contact]

Too late, a pseudopod wrapped around Rin’s arm, the slime’s membrane touched his fracture energy, started pulling it in.

He felt the drain immediately, his power being siphoned, converted into more mass for the creature.

"Get it off me!" He tried to pull away but the slime held tight.

Tayo fired multiple sound blasts at the pseudopod, the appendage finally separated, Rin stumbled backward.

The slime had grown even larger now, absorbed fracture energy pulsing through its body, the cores inside glowing brighter.

Footsteps echoed from behind them, Kira appeared, took one look at the mutated slime, her expression went cold.

"That’s not supposed to be here," she said. "Fall back, now."

They didn’t argue, retreated to the platform while Kira stepped forward.

She pulled out a knife, cut her palm, blood dripped onto the ground.

The blood ignited, blue flames spreading across the tunnel floor, racing toward the slime.

The creature tried to retreat but the flames moved too fast, engulfed it completely, the slime’s body burned from the inside, the cores shattering one by one.

Within thirty seconds it was over, nothing left but ash and residual heat.

Kira looked at her hand, the cut already healing. "You three okay?"

"Yeah," Rin said, still processing what he’d just seen. "What was that thing?"

"Contaminated entity, happens sometimes near old fracture sites, slimes absorb residual energy, mutate into something dangerous." She walked over to the ash pile, used her boot to scatter it. "You did the right thing calling me, this was above your clearance level."

"The mission report said unusual energy signatures," Joy said. "That seems like an understatement."

"Report was filed three days ago, contamination probably accelerated since then." Kira pulled out her tablet, typed something. "I’m filing an incident report, this area needs a full sweep by C-rank minimum, you three are being pulled off this assignment."

"What about the other slimes we cleared?" Tayo asked.

"Completed work stands, you’ll get paid for eight confirmed eliminations, but the rest of this tunnel is now restricted until further notice."

They headed back to the surface, the adrenaline crash hitting Rin harder than the goblin fight had, his arm still felt weird where the slime had grabbed him, like something had been pulled out.

[Analysis: Minor fracture energy depletion]

[Regeneration required: 6-8 hours]

[No permanent damage detected]

They loaded back into the van, Kira drove them to headquarters in silence.

"Good instincts calling for backup," she said when they arrived. "A lot of new Hunters would’ve tried to solo that thing, would’ve gotten themselves killed, you’re smarter than average."

"Just didn’t want to die."

"That’s all being smart is in this job."

She filed her report while they decontaminated and returned their gear, Rin checked his mission completion screen.

MISSION TERMINATED: ANOMALY ENCOUNTER Status: Partial Completion Eliminations: 8 standard slimes Cores Collected: 8 Payment: 400 credits + 200 hazard bonus Supervisor Notes: Demonstrated appropriate threat assessment and emergency protocol adherence

Six hundred credits for three hours of work, not bad, but Rin felt like he’d missed an opportunity.

That mutated slime had fracture contamination, if he’d been able to absorb it properly instead of getting drained, it might’ve given him useful data.

[Correct assessment]

[Anomalous entities provide greater advancement than standard monsters]

[However survival takes priority over data collection]

’I know, just frustrating.’

Joy found him in the locker room. "That was intense, you okay?"

"Yeah, arm feels weird but I’ll be fine."

"Kira’s fire ability was insane though, did you see how fast that slime burned?" She sat down on the bench. "Makes me feel like my emotion manipulation is kind of useless in comparison."

"Your ability saved me from getting stabbed by a goblin."

"True, but I couldn’t even affect that slime, my power only works on things with emotions I can manipulate, anything too alien or too simple and I’m basically dead weight."

"So you work on expanding your range, finding ways to adapt."

"Easy to say, harder to do." She checked her phone. "Tayo wants to grab food, decompress, you coming?"

Rin thought about going home, reviewing the encounter, analyzing what went wrong.

But Joy was right earlier, he needed to actually take breaks sometimes, couldn’t just grind constantly.

"Yeah, I’ll come."

They met Tayo at a place that served actual burgers, not synthetic protein, real meat from whatever livestock farms still operated outside the fracture zones.

"So that happened," Tayo said after they ordered. "We just encountered our first anomaly, that’s worth something right, like experience-wise?"

"If it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger," Joy said. "Or it traumatizes you, could go either way."

"I’m choosing to go with option one." He looked at Rin. "You seemed pretty calm though, like you knew what you were dealing with."

"Just recognized the energy signature was wrong, called for backup, that’s protocol."

"Still, good call, I would’ve probably tried to fight it."

They ate, talked about the mission, about Kira’s ability, about how different supervisors had completely different power sets.

"Makes you wonder what the ceiling is," Tayo said. "Like, if B-rank can incinerate a mutated slime in seconds, what can S-rank do?"

"Level cities apparently," Joy said. "I read about this S-rank in Europe who can manipulate tectonic plates, literally causes earthquakes on command."

"That’s terrifying."

"That’s the point, S-ranks are walking disasters, they’re kept in check by other S-ranks, mutually assured destruction."

Rin listened, thought about his goal of reaching S-rank, about what that actually meant.

Not just strong enough to fight Kazriketh, strong enough to be considered a threat to nations, to be treated as a weapon rather than a person.

Was that what he wanted?

Didn’t matter, it’s what he needed.

After dinner they split up, Rin headed home, showered off the tunnel smell, collapsed onto his bed.

His phone showed a message from Fiona.

"Heard you encountered a contaminated entity today. Interesting. My offer still stands. Training tomorrow, 0600, Sector 9 facility. Don’t be late."

She’d sent the address of what looked like a private gym.

Rin stared at the message, weighing options.

Training with Fiona meant getting stronger faster, meant learning from someone who clearly knew combat better than he did.

It also meant spending time with someone who’d killed another person without hesitation, someone who might be using him for her own purposes.

[Analysis: Risk vs reward assessment required]

[Fiona Treacher possesses advanced combat knowledge]

[Her gravity manipulation is among strongest demonstrated at E-rank]

[However her psychological profile suggests potential danger]

’Everything’s dangerous, at least this way I get something out of it.’

He typed a response: "I’ll be there."

Fiona: "Good. Bring your real abilities, not the watered-down version you show everyone else. I want to see what you actually are."

She knew he was holding back.

Of course she did, she’d watched his fights, analyzed his patterns, probably figured out he was using maybe half his actual power.

Tomorrow was going to be interesting.

Rin set his alarm for 0530, gave himself time to wake up and eat before heading to Sector 9.

Sleep came eventually, his dreams filled with purple light and mutated slimes and Fiona’s unsettling smile.

Tomorrow he’d train with a potential psychopath.

But tomorrow he’d also get stronger.

That’s all that mattered.