CHAPTER 66: CHAPTER 61: BUILDING CONFIDENCE

Location: Dark Forest - Outer Ring | Doha (Lower Realm)

Time: Days 373-376

Dawn light filtered through the cave entrance like liquid amber, painting the rough stone walls in shades of gold and shadow. Jayde sat up carefully, rolling her right shoulder in slow circles, testing the range of motion.

The wound pulled. Barely. Just a whisper of tightness where the boar’s tusk had torn through muscle three days ago.

Healing progression: Excellent. Tissue regeneration approximately 85% complete. Full combat capability restored. Shoulder cleared for standard engagement.

(It barely hurts at all now. Gods, those healing pills are worth every merit.)

Three days since the boar. Three days that should’ve been wasted on recovery, but hadn’t been—not really. She’d spent the last 2 days working, thinking, building. The Sparkcaster prototypes sat in her storage ring now, two functional weapons that married Federation engineering with cultivation mechanics.

Not perfect. The essence channels needed refinement, the Qi efficiency was maybe 60% of the theoretical maximum, and the effective range was shorter than she’d like. But they worked. In an emergency—a real emergency, the kind where blade and basic Sparkcasting weren’t enough—she had options now.

Sparkcaster status: Two units, functional. Reserved for critical situations only. Current mission focus: Standard technique mastery through practical application.

(We’re not using them today, right? We’re doing this the proper way?)

"The proper way," Jayde agreed softly. "Build the foundation first. Emergency weapons stay emergency weapons."

She stood, stretched carefully, and felt her muscles respond without protest. Better than good. Combat-ready. The healing pill had earned every one of its five merits—it bought her three days of productive work instead of three days of useless pain.

Outside, the forest sang its morning chorus. Bird calls she was starting to recognize—the three-note trill of the azure flutter-wing, the harsh caw of the ember crow, the liquid warble of something the Old Man’s notes called a dawn singer. Each sound was a thread in the pattern, a piece of the forest’s living tapestry.

Learn the pattern. Respect it. Hunt it.

Jayde checked her gear with methodical precision. Twin blades—sharpened to razor’s edge. Combat leathers—cleaned, oiled, the tear from the boar’s tusk stitched tight with sinew. Water skin—full. Dried meat—four days’ worth, rationed carefully.

Everything she needed. Nothing she didn’t.

Time to hunt.

***

The tracks were fresh—maybe an hour old, pressed into soft earth beside a fallen log thick with luminous moss. Four-toed prints, claws retracted, moving in the careful, deliberate pattern of a creature hunting rather than fleeing.

Track analysis: Mistclaw badger. Weight approximately 35-40 pounds. Cultivation tier: Sparkforged (Early). Threat assessment: Moderate. Known for defensive aggression and a tenacious combat style when cornered.

Jayde crouched, studying the trail with the patience White had beaten into her. The badger had paused here—she could see where its claws had scraped bark, marking territory. There, a tuft of grey-brown fur caught on thorns. And there, scat that still held faint warmth when she touched the earth beside it.

Close. Very close.

(First hunt since the boar. Let’s not screw this up.)

Recommend maintaining cautious advance. Previous engagement errors: Overconfidence, insufficient reconnaissance, premature commitment. Current approach demonstrates appropriate tactical awareness.

She followed the trail with careful steps, placing her feet on moss and stone, avoiding the dry leaves that would crunch and betray her position. The Old Man’s journals had been explicit about mistclaw badgers—territorial, aggressive when cornered, possessed claws that could tear through leather like paper.

But they were also predictable. They hunted in patterns, favored certain terrain, and their defensive instincts made them readable if you paid attention.

The trail led to a rocky outcropping maybe twenty meters ahead, stones piled in a natural jumble that created dozens of small caves and crevices. Perfect badger habitat—defensible positions, multiple escape routes, good visibility of approaching threats.

Terrain assessment: Advantage defender. Recommend against direct assault. Alternative strategy: Provoke at range, engage defensively, deny retreat into fortified position.

Jayde nodded, circling wide around the outcropping, staying downwind. The badger’s scent was strong here—musky, sharp, with an undertone that reminded her of wet fur and coiled violence. She could hear it now, too—low grunts, the scrape of claws on stone, the sound of something digging.

She positioned herself thirty feet from the rocks, clear line of sight, escape routes mapped, and back to open ground. Then she channeled Ember Qi through her Crucible Core, felt the familiar heat build in her palm.

"Hey!" she called out, voice sharp and carrying. "This is my territory now!"

The grunting stopped.

Silence stretched, thick and expectant.

Then a low, rumbling growl that seemed to vibrate through the ground itself.

The mistclaw badger emerged from a crevice like liquid shadow—low-slung body, powerful shoulders, head massive for its size. Its fur was grey-brown with silver streaks along the spine, coarse and thick as wire. But it was the claws that drew the eye—four inches long, curved like scythes, gleaming obsidian-black in the filtered light.

Target confirmed. Sparkforged tier essence signature detected. Estimated combat capability: Low-to-moderate threat with proper engagement distance maintained.

The badger’s small eyes fixed on her with pure territorial rage. It huffed once, twice, then charged—

Not at her.

Unanticipated behavior. Subject is—

The badger slammed into a tree trunk ten feet to her left with a resonating thud that shook leaves from branches. Claws ripped gouges in the bark deep enough to expose pale wood beneath. Then it wheeled, positioned itself between her and the outcropping, and released another bone-shaking growl.

(It’s not attacking. It’s... protecting something?)

Correction: Threat assessment revised. Subject is defending the nest site. Probable offspring present in rocky crevices. Defensive aggression, not predatory behavior. Recommend tactical adjustment.

Jayde adjusted her stance, moved laterally, testing. The badger tracked her movement but didn’t charge again. It wanted her gone, not dead. Fair enough—but she still needed the kill, needed the points, needed to prove she could do this right.

She channeled Qi, shaped it with practiced precision. "Flame Spark."

The bolt of Inferno essence shot forward—not at the badger directly, but at the ground three feet in front of it. Earth exploded in a shower of dirt and smoking pebbles, heat washing over the creature’s face.

The badger flinched, backed up two steps, eyes never leaving hers.

Jayde fired again, this time to its left. Then its right. Not trying to hit it, just pushing it, herding it away from the outcropping and the nest it was protecting.

Tactical innovation: Terrain denial through area suppression. Effective. Qi expenditure: 12 total. Continue current strategy.

The badger huffed, claws scraping stone, eyes tracking her with frustrated fury. But it was moving—slowly, grudgingly, but moving away from the rocks and the young it was trying to protect.

"That’s right," Jayde murmured. "Just need you away from home. Then we can really talk."

She fired another Flame Spark, this one close enough that embers singed the badger’s shoulder fur. It snarled, lurched forward three aggressive steps, but still didn’t fully commit to a charge.

Ten more feet. Fifteen. Twenty.

Twenty feet from the outcropping, the badger’s body language shifted. The defensive posture eased slightly, replaced by something more offensive. Its weight shifted forward onto its front legs, claws digging into the earth, muscles coiling.

Warning: Subject combat threshold reached. Anticipate aggressive response in three... two...

The badger charged for real this time—low, fast, claws extended, a grey blur of fury and muscle.

Jayde was already moving, angling left, drawing her right blade with her healed arm. The badger’s momentum carried it past where she’d been standing, but it pivoted with shocking speed, claws raking air where her legs had been a heartbeat before.

She didn’t try to match its ground speed. Instead, she created distance, fired another Flame Spark as she backpedaled. This one caught the badger’s shoulder, burned fur, drew a pained yelp that echoed through the trees.

First blood. Target mobility reduced approximately 15%. Recommend continued ranged engagement until vitals are accessible.

The badger came again, but slower now, favoring its left side. Jayde circled, maintaining distance, forcing the creature to turn and expose its wounded shoulder. Another Flame Spark, precisely placed. Then another. Each one costing four Qi, each one landing exactly where she intended.

(It’s working. We’re not rushing in, we’re not getting cocky, we’re just... doing it right.)

Affirmative. Textbook engagement: Terrain manipulation, range advantage, target weakness from a defensive position. Minimal Qi expenditure, zero injuries sustained. Significant improvement over previous performance.

The badger tried one more charge, but its strength was failing, its shoulder a mass of burned fur and blistered flesh. Jayde sidestepped easily, brought her blade down in a clean arc that severed the spine just behind the skull.

The creature dropped, twitched once, and went still.

Jayde stood over the body, breathing hard but steady, shoulder aching only slightly from the movement. She looked back at the rocky outcropping, at the crevice where young badgers were probably huddled in the dark, waiting for a parent that wouldn’t return.

(I’m sorry. Didn’t know at first.)

Apology noted but tactically irrelevant. Survival requires difficult decisions. The young will either adapt or perish. Such is the forest’s law.

"Doesn’t mean I have to like it," she murmured.

But she did take the body. Dragged it away from the nest site, field-dressed it quickly with the efficiency White’s training had burned into her muscle memory. The pelt would be useful—mistclaw badger hide was tough, water-resistant, and perfect for patching her leathers or trading. The claws could be sold. And the meat, while gamey, was edible if cooked properly.

The Divine Tome flickered at the edge of her consciousness:

SPIRIT BEAST ELIMINATED

Species: Mistclaw Badger

Cultivation Tier: Sparkforged (Early)

Points Earned: 50

Conversion: 5 Nexus Merits

Total Points: 300/10,000

Mission Progress: 3% to Level 2 Contractor

Eighteen points. Nearly two merits for one careful, methodical hunt where nothing went wrong.

Efficiency ratio: Excellent. Time invested versus reward gained demonstrates proper tactical planning. No injuries, minimal Qi expenditure, clean execution.

(We’re learning. Actually learning this time.)

"Yeah," Jayde said softly, bundling the pelt into manageable sections. "We are."

***

The herb patch was an accident—or maybe not, given how the forest seemed to work.

Jayde had been tracking an ember fox through dense undergrowth late morning on Day 373, following a game trail that wound between ancient trees whose roots created natural archways through the earth. The fox’s scent was strong, its tracks fresh in the soft loam, but it had gone to ground somewhere ahead, probably denning up to wait out the warmest part of the day.

She’d been about to turn back, mark the location for later, when the smell hit her.

Sharp. Sweet. With an undertone of something that made her Crucible Core resonate faintly, like a tuning fork responding to a matching pitch.

Essence signature detected. Origin: Botanical. Classification: Cultivation-grade herbs. Multiple varieties present. Recommendation: Immediate investigation.

(Herbs? Like, actual valuable herbs growing wild?)

Affirmative. The Old Man’s journals reference extensive herb gathering as a supplementary merit source. Investigation strongly advised.

Jayde pushed through a curtain of hanging vines, ducked under a low branch heavy with strange purple moss, and found herself in a small clearing maybe fifteen feet across. Sunlight actually penetrated here—real sunlight, not the filtered twilight that dominated most of the forest—creating a golden pool of warmth in the perpetual dimness.

And growing in that sunlight, in soil that seemed to shimmer with faint Verdant essence like heat waves in summer...

Red blossom lotus. Dragon grass. Moon thyme. Fire lavender.

She recognized them from the journals—detailed sketches, careful notations about properties and uses, and market value. The red blossom lotus alone was worth five merits per flower, used in pills that enhanced Ember Qi regeneration. Dragon grass could be refined into essence ink for runeinfusion. Moon thyme and fire lavender were common ingredients in healing salves and cultivation aids.

(This is... this is a fortune just growing here.)

Correct assessment. Estimated total harvestable value: 30-40 merits if properly collected and preserved. Recommendation: Exercise extreme caution. Valuable herb patches are frequently defended by territorial spirit beasts.

Jayde froze mid-step, extending her senses, listening hard. The clearing was quiet except for the rustle of leaves overhead and the distant call of birds. No growls, no movement through undergrowth, no sense of being watched by predatory eyes.

But she stayed alert anyway, hand near her blade, as she approached the first red blossom lotus carefully. The flower was beautiful—delicate crimson petals that seemed to pulse with inner light, stem thick and healthy, roots visible through the translucent soil.

The Old Man’s notes had been explicit about harvesting technique—cut at the stem with a clean blade, preserve in sealed containers if possible, avoid bruising the petals, which reduced efficacy by up to 30%.

She had no sealed containers. But she had her water skin, now empty after the morning’s hunt, and strips of cloth that could serve as improvised wrapping.

Improvised solution: Acceptable for short-term preservation. Quality degradation estimated at 10-15%. Still commercially viable at reduced value.

Jayde harvested three lotus flowers with careful cuts, moved to the dragon grass next, and gathered handfuls of the silvery-green blades that felt cool and smooth between her fingers. Moon thyme after that, its tiny purple flowers releasing a scent that made her think of calm nights and clear thinking. Fire lavender last, the red-gold blooms warm to the touch even without channeling Qi.

Twenty minutes of careful work filled her makeshift herb pouch with enough material to supplement her hunting income nicely. Not a complete harvest—she deliberately left enough that the patch could regenerate, would be here when she needed it again in a few weeks.

Strategic thinking: Sustainable resource management. Correct approach for long-term operation in this environment. The forest provides, if treated with respect.

(The forest provides. If we don’t get greedy.)

She was turning to leave, herbs carefully bundled, when she heard it—a low, irritated chittering from the trees overhead.

Jayde looked up slowly.

The ember fox watched her from a branch fifteen feet above, amber eyes bright with what looked like resigned annoyance. It had been there the whole time, probably denned in a hollow in the tree trunk, watching her harvest herbs from what was clearly its territory.

But it wasn’t attacking. Wasn’t even threatening. Just... watching. Waiting for her to leave.

Curious. Territorial behavior is absent despite a clear intrusion. Possible explanation: Mutual benefit arrangement. Fox protects the herb patch from major predators, tolerates minor harvesting by visitors in exchange for maintaining the resource.

"Thanks for sharing," Jayde said softly, inclining her head slightly to the watching fox.

The fox’s ear twitched. Then it yawned, showing needle-sharp teeth, and retreated into its hollow without apparent concern.

Jayde smiled and walked away, herbs carefully bundled, feeling like maybe—just maybe—she was starting to understand how this forest really worked. Not just as a hunting ground, but as an ecosystem. A living thing with its own rules, its own balance.

Respect that balance, and it would provide.

Break it, and it would kill you.

***

The next two days blurred together in a rhythm that felt almost meditative.

Wake at dawn. Check gear. Scout terrain. Track prey. Hunt with patience. Return to the cave. Process kill. Rest. Study journals. Repeat.

The ember foxes were her primary targets—Sparkforged tier, relatively common in the Outer Ring, and their pelts were consistently valuable at the Nexus Exchange. She hunted three on Day 374, using the same careful approach that had worked with the badger. Track, position, engage at range, finish clean.

Each hunt taught her something new about timing, about reading body language, about knowing when to press an advantage and when to back off and reset.

Combat performance metrics: Consistently improving. Average Qi expenditure per kill: Decreasing. Average hunt duration: Decreasing. Injury rate: Zero. Current tactical doctrine proving highly effective for sustained operations.

(I’m actually getting good at this. Like, really good.)

Two more foxes on Day 375, both clean kills, both harvested efficiently. She was learning which parts of the carcass were most valuable, how to preserve pelts properly, where to make cuts that maximized usable material.

The Divine Tome tracked it all:

Day 374 Progress:

3x Ember Fox (Sparkforged) = 150 points (15 Merits)

Running Total: 450 points

Day 375 Progress:

2x Ember Fox (Sparkforged) = 100 points (10 Merits)

Running Total: 550 points

But the thornback lizard that afternoon—that was something different. Bigger challenge. Bigger stakes. And a chance to test whether she’d really learned anything from the boar incident.

She found it basking on sun-warmed rocks near a stream, its body as thick as her thigh, maybe five feet long from snout to tail tip. The thornback’s name was literal—rows of bone spikes jutted from its spine, gleaming white against scales the color of dried blood. Its eyes were cold, reptilian, tracking movement with the kind of patience that came from being an ambush predator.

Target assessment: Thornback lizard. Sparkforged tier (Mid). Primary threat: Venomous bite causes progressive paralysis. Secondary threat: Tail strike with sufficient force to break bone. Tertiary threat: Defensive spine deployment when grappled. Recommended engagement distance: Minimum fifteen feet.

Jayde had read about these in the journals. The Old Man had warned that thornbacks were ambush predators despite their size, capable of explosive speed when prey came within range. And their venom wasn’t immediately fatal, but it paralyzed muscles progressively, made escape impossible while the lizard took its time killing you.

Don’t get bitten. Don’t get close. Don’t assume it’s slow.

She approached from downwind, moving with glacial slowness, using rocks and ferns for cover. The lizard’s head swiveled slightly, tracking something in the stream—fish, probably, or maybe one of the small water serpents that lived in the shallows.

Thirty feet. Twenty-five. Twenty.

At twenty feet, the thornback’s head snapped toward her with mechanical precision, faster than something that big had any right to move.

Subject aware. Recommend immediate engagement before it reaches optimal striking distance.

Jayde was already channeling Qi, forming the technique with practiced ease. "Flame Spark!"

The bolt caught the lizard square in the shoulder, burned scales, drew a hissing shriek that echoed across the water. But instead of charging like she’d expected—like the boar had done, like aggression usually demanded—the thornback did something that made her reassess everything.

It dove into the stream.

Unanticipated behavior. Subject utilizing terrain advantage. Water environment will significantly disperse Sparkcasting effectiveness and provide defensive cover.

"Smart bastard."

Jayde circled the stream bank, keeping her distance, eyes scanning the churning water where the lizard had disappeared. The thornback was smart—using the water for protection, waiting for her to either give up or get close enough to strike from concealment.

Fine. Two could play the patience game.

She settled onto a boulder, blade across her knees, and waited. One minute. Five. Ten. The forest around her went about its business—birds called, insects buzzed, leaves rustled in the breeze.

The lizard surfaced downstream, head barely breaking the water’s surface, eyes fixed on her with cold reptilian intelligence.

Subject attempting to relocate to superior ambush position. Recommend denial of terrain advantage.

Jayde fired a Flame Spark at the water’s surface just ahead of where the lizard was moving. Steam exploded upward in a violent hiss, the creature flinched away from the superheated water, dove again into deeper sections.

But this time, she tracked the shadow moving beneath the surface. Watched as it tried to circle around behind her position. Waited until it was in shallow water near the far bank, rocks just below providing limited cover but also limiting its mobility.

Then she channeled more Qi than usual, shaped it with careful precision, and tried something she’d been thinking about since the boar fight.

"Ember Shield."

The defensive barrier appeared not in front of her where it was supposed to go, but above the thornback’s position—a disc of solid Inferno essence two feet across, superheated to the point where air shimmered around its edges, held rigid by her will.

Then she dropped it.

The shield hit the water with explosive force, creating a pressure wave that slammed the lizard against the streambed. It thrashed, tried to escape, but the superheated barrier was pinning it, cooking it, boiling the water around its body into rolling clouds of steam.

Tactical innovation: Offensive application of defensive technique. Unorthodox but highly effective. Qi expenditure: 12 for shield creation, additional drain maintaining position. Recommend termination within fifteen seconds to avoid excessive resource depletion.

The thornback went still. Steam rose from the water in lazy spirals that smelled of cooked meat and scorched scales.

Jayde let the shield dissipate, waded carefully into the stream—boots getting soaked but that was fine, they’d dry—and confirmed the kill with her blade through the base of the skull.

SPIRIT BEAST ELIMINATED

Species: Thornback Lizard

Cultivation Tier: Sparkforged (Mid)

Points Earned: 50 + 25 for difficulty

Conversion: 7.5 Nexus Merits

Total Points: 625/10,000

Mission Progress: 6.25% to Level 2 Contractor

Seventy-five points. Her biggest single kill yet, and she’d done it without taking a single hit, without wasting Qi, without rushing in like an idiot.

(That was amazing! Did you see that? I used the shield as a weapon!)

Affirmative. Demonstrates increasing tactical flexibility and creative problem-solving under combat pressure. Current combat development significantly exceeding projected growth curve. Federation doctrine integration with cultivation techniques proceeding excellently.

Jayde grinned, dragged the lizard’s body to shore through knee-deep water, and started field dressing with practiced efficiency. The spines could be sold for crafting, the hide was tough enough for armor applications, and the venom glands—properly preserved in the cold stream water—were worth serious merits to alchemists.

She was learning. Actually, genuinely learning how to be both things at once.

Marine and mage. Tactical and magical. Federation and cultivation.

Not choosing between them anymore. Using both.

And it felt so, so good.

Evening on Day 376 found Jayde cross-legged in her cave, firelight dancing across stone walls while she sorted through four days of successful hunts.

Six ember fox pelts, cleaned and stretched on improvised frames. One mistclaw badger hide, thick and serviceable. One thornback lizard skin that she’d carefully salted for preservation. Various claws, teeth, spines, and venom glands bundled in cloth. And a collection of herbs wrapped carefully in her spare shirt—not ideal preservation, but it would hold until she could trade them.

But more than the physical rewards laid out before her, something else had changed over these four days.

Her shoulder barely twinged at all now when she moved through combat forms. Her combat instincts felt sharper, more reliable, less like desperate improvisation and more like actual skill. The forest’s patterns were becoming readable—not completely, but enough that she could anticipate creature behavior rather than just react to it.

And her confidence... that was the biggest change. Not the reckless overconfidence that had nearly gotten her killed fighting the boar. Real confidence. The kind that came from doing things right, again and again, building success on success until it became habit.

The Divine Tome’s interface flickered with its now-familiar golden light:

4-DAY SUMMARY:

Total Points Earned: 346 points (34.6 Merits)

Starting Total: 300 points

Current Total: 646/10,000 points

Progress: 6.46% to Level 2 Contractor

Wait. That was... more than she’d expected?

Correction noted. Herb collection also generates points. Red blossom lotus flowers: 3 units at 5 points each. Dragon grass bundles: Approximately 2 points. Moon thyme and fire lavender: Combined 4 points. Total herb points: 21.

(Oh. I didn’t realize herbs counted toward the mission total.)

All resource gathering contributes to contractor advancement. Combat, harvesting, exploration, quest completion—everything feeds the growth system.

So her real total wasn’t 625, it was 646. She’d overshot the target by 51 points without even realizing it.

SKILL ASSESSMENT UPDATE:

Combat Integration: Expert → Master (Through sustained practical application)

Tactical Planning: Advanced → Expert (Through successful mission execution)

Wilderness Survival: Competent → Advanced (Through forest immersion)

Sparkcasting: Proficient → Advanced (Through combat repetition)

Performance analysis: Four days, 346 points earned, zero significant injuries sustained, sustainable hunting practices established, tactical innovation demonstrated. Overall assessment: Excellent progress. Mission parameters for extended deployment confirmed achievable.

(We’re actually doing this. We’re actually surviving out here and getting better.)

"Better than surviving," Jayde said to the empty cave, watching shadows dance across the bundles of pelts and herbs. "We’re thriving."

Tomorrow, she’d venture deeper into the Outer Ring. Maybe scout the territories she’d been avoiding, test herself against more challenging prey. The Divine Tome had mentioned rare herb locations on the map—47 of them marked throughout the forest. Finding even a few more patches like the one she’d discovered would accelerate her merit accumulation significantly.

And the Sparkcasters... well, they’d stay in her ring. Emergency backup. Insurance against the truly dangerous situations. But she didn’t need them for standard hunts anymore.

She had her blades. Her magic. Her tactics. Her growing understanding of how this forest worked.

That was enough. More than enough.

The Dark Forest was dangerous. Deadly. Full of creatures that could kill her if she made mistakes.

But it was also teaching her something the Pavilion never could have.

How to trust herself. How to blend the two halves of who she was into something stronger than either piece alone. How to build confidence not through reckless risks, but through careful preparation and methodical execution.

Tomorrow’s objectives: Explore deeper Outer Ring territories. Locate additional herb patches. Engage higher-tier Sparkforged targets if opportunity presents. Continue building combat proficiency and tactical flexibility.

(Sounds like a plan.)

Jayde lay back on her sleeping pallet, watching firelight paint patterns on the ceiling, feeling the pleasant ache of muscles well-used. Tomorrow would bring new challenges. New hunts. New lessons.

But tonight? Tonight, she’d earned rest.

And tomorrow, she’d prove that these four days weren’t a fluke.

They were the foundation.