Sam stretched in the sunlight. The warmth cascaded over him as if he could feel its tangibility on his skin. He sighed, pulling the hood of his cloak back as they walked up the rocky path. It was different being outside. The air was clean, and the colors were vivid, like illuminated paints. He inhaled, closing his eyes to hold on to the sensation. When he opened his eyes, a little Scavenger boy stared up at him. Sam smiled, turning away from the kid. Veena chuckled, waving the boy away. A small woven basket was strapped to her back, her hair braided in a complex pattern that was both beautiful and intriguing. Sam smiled back, turning up the path they were on. The boy held on to Veena’s hand, still giving Sam those weird looks.

  “There,” Veena said, pointing to a crowd of trees in the distance, not too far from where they stood. Behind them was the path to an obscured opening to the Scavenger’s cave. Somewhere to the west was the river that split into the cave, creating the Scavenger’s well of cool, crystal-clear water. He had wanted to check that out, but Hendal had been serious when she instructed that he follow Veena for herb fetching. So he was stuck on this errand that was supposed to teach him something. He pulled up his stats again; the points remained unchanged, even though he’d spent most of the day before doing basic workouts to see if that would increase anything.

  “Kieran, stick to me,” Veena said to the smaller boy. His robe was longer than him, grazing the ground and collecting dirt. The boy nodded, turning to look at Sam one last time before they continued walking.

  Veena turned back to Sam, her face scrunched up in a frown. “D’Araks don’t hunt during the day,” she said.

  Sam turned from the system’s dashboard to peer at her. Then he realized she might have confused his frown for a look of worry. And suddenly he felt stupid for not even thinking about that. He should be more alert. . She turned on the path again. Everywhere Sam looked there was some kind of vegetation. Trees stretching, distanced but populated. It was beautiful and strange. The trees were robust and healthy. Perhaps he was overthinking it, but he felt a steady stream of energy in the environment.

  Sam scoffed. Of course, there is something weird about this place. I am walking with people who look human but aren’t.

  They reached the distant trees faster than Sam thought they would. He felt the chill when they crossed into the clustered forest. The canopy overhead blotted out much of the light and warmth. Sam shuddered. A memory of snouts howling made him pause in his steps. He touched his gun, feeling the reassuring hardness of steel. He sighed, smiled at Kieran, and continued. Veena walked leisurely, as though she knew everything that lurked here and found them tame. Sam tried to be just as nonchalant, but he couldn’t stop thinking of claws and howling wolves.

  “I am sorry they asked you to leave,” Veena said suddenly, without turning back. Sam shrugged. He wasn’t sure he blamed them. After what Veena told him, he was happy they let him stay for the five days he requested. That was why he didn’t much like being out, instead of back in there, in the room they’d given him. He wanted to learn everything about the system, about this Omark Colony. He needed to be equipped with as much knowledge as he could gather before venturing out into the unknown. Yet, he couldn’t help basking in the sweet-smelling air that filled the forest. It was different from the dullness of the cavern.

  “I understand,” Sam said. “They are tasked with protecting you and the others, and this is the only way to do so.”

  He believed it, but still, he couldn’t help thinking it would have been a relief to have a place to rest, to learn things. The system was a puzzle. The more he learned, the more he found that he didn’t know. And if the system brought him here, then it had to be useful somehow. He needed to find out what kind of uses it had.

  “Hendal said you have the Profession Quadrant,” Sam said, recalling something the Elder had said. “What is that? Some kind of job?”

  Veena shook her head, pulling Kieran excitedly when she found something. Sam hurried to see what she’d found. She knelt beside the trunk of a thick, tall tree; its rough white bark spotted in black. Fire-red flowers grew from most of the black spots, dotting it all the way up. The higher they were, the more they seemed to fade. Veena went for the ones near the root. She snipped them at the stem, where they were attached to the trees. She grinned back at Sam, eyes twinkling as though sprinkled with stardust. Sam watched with curiosity as she lifted one, her eyes scanning, and then she tossed it away.

  “Blood petal,” Veena said as if catching wind of Sam’s thoughts. “Ferians call them Flowers of Life because they help with fatal wounds and sickness. Mixed with Galean root, you can stay awake for days.” She pulled one up, standing so she could show him. “Look at the edge, you will see it. Just there,” she pointed.

  Sam looked, eyes widening for what she was pointing at. He searched for half a moment before he found the tiny cut in the petal, the edges showing rusty brown. He frowned. She’d told him of the Scavenger's innate abilities, but still, he was shocked she’d been able to see that so quickly. Veena grinned and tossed it away.

  “Profession is a quadrant domain,” Veena said, leaning back for Kieran to throw in more flowers after she checked them to be sure they were good enough. “I’m aiming toward an Apothecary skill. Something to give me the ability to identify herbs and their potency. Faulty blood petals are bad for brewing. They sometimes carry foreign elements that could kill, depending on the intensity and volume.” She ruffled Kieran’s dark hair and the boy smiled.

  Veena led them away from the tree, walking farther into the forest. Sam spent most of the next minutes thinking about what she’s said. From his gaming experience on Earth, she’d be a healer class. He could see why Hendal and the other Elders respected her. He had so many questions, but as he thought of how to ask, something occurred to him. He didn’t have a quadrant domain.

  “How do you get a quadrant domain?” Sam wondered out loud as Veena continued her exploration. Sam suddenly pulled his cloak tighter. He’d originally been worried about heat with the large cloak he had on, but now he was thankful for it. His exposed hand felt cold, as though they were walking in a snow mountain. He placed his hands on his face, cringing at the sensation. Yet, little Kieran seemed fine with the temperature. Veena grinned at him, her eyes knowing, and yet she said nothing.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  “What is happening?” Sam asked. He felt the cold increase until he couldn’t breathe anything. His heart raced. He felt hands on him and was about to shove them off when he saw Veena’s worried eyes. She placed something under his nose, the fragrance was strong, like a kick to his brain. Sam stumbled, but Veena held him. Kieran stared at him, brows pulled together. Sam trembled slightly, a shiver passed through him, and he took in a deep breath. When he opened his eyes, Veena’s basket was down. She knelt beside him, her face folded in a confused frown. Her eyes were like a milder form of Hendal’s. She pushed the squashed leaf to Sam’s nose.

  “What was that?” Sam asked, trying to sit up. Veena let him. “I thought I was better. I just suddenly felt…”

  He wasn’t feeling it anymore. The shiver was gone. And there was something else—his senses were sharper. He could see the brown in Veena’s eyes clearly now. And the gold was more like a shade of yellow. It was sharp, liquid. He took a breath in, inhaling the scent of leaves, upturned soil, and droppings. Everything assaulted him, merging. He shook his head, needing the sounds to stop. Wind scraping grass, the rattling of creepers, Kieran and Veena’s breathing, the smell of the leaf in Veena’s hand. His heart hammered and panic was beginning to build in him.

  “Focus,” Veena said. “I am sorry, I should have warned you. This place is overflowing with essence. You need some form of mastery of essence to survive here. I thought the Elders…” her words faded. Sam fell back, convulsing. It was too much. But he’d heard what she said. He simply had to focus, and he was good at that. He was an expert at dragging his attention to one thing. He needed an anchor, something present. He found it almost immediately. Veena’s hand on his shoulder and her voice. She was panicking. Sam anchored himself to that, dragging himself towards her voice, her touch. It was grueling, but he felt himself move—slowly. There was no pain anymore, just pressure. And it was fading, ebbing. Like waves receding into the sea.

  He opened his eyes to the dim light. He was exhausted, all his energy zapped by that experience. Veena searched his face, her pale lips moving from a frown to a slight smile. She fell back down, sitting beside him, her breathing almost as ragged as his own. On the side of her neck was a small spiral, inked delicately.

  “I am…sorry,” Veena said. “I thought they had introduced your body to essence. This only happens when your body encounters a large flow of essence. And you haven’t eve—”

  Sam couldn’t hear her. He was staring at the message in front of him. Once again, the system was giving him very little information.

  [EoM established!]

    —Essence of Mastery count is important for advancement!

  [EoM: %10]

  “What is Essence of Mastery?” Sam asked, cutting through Veena’s babbling. His heartbeat was slowing down. Kieran was sitting beside Veena now. The boy looked confused, but he stayed silent. Veena stood up and pulled him up. Sam stretched, suddenly feeling hungry. He felt physically depleted, but he was also excited. This was progress. He waited as Veena shrugged her basket back on her back.

  “Essence of Mastery measures your progress from level to level. It awards points, depending on what you do, I think. Hendal thinks it is about effort, but no one knows. It simply quantifies efforts and shows you how close or far you are from progressing. It is slower for Scavengers. Our bodies, our minds naturally assimilate things easily, but with the system, it works in the opposite.”

  The message vanished when Sam took his mind off it. He still found the whole thing strange, but he imagined there was no need to get stuck on it. He followed Veena and Kieran. The boy stared at him curiously, but Sam ignored him. He wanted to ask why the kid was alright, but he pushed away the thought. Instead, two things troubled him.

  “Are there monsters in this place?” Sam asked. He’d heard something that sounded like a growl. He imagined there’d be some wild animals, but from the look of the flora here, he didn’t think there would be normal animals either. And from his experience with the D’Araks, he didn’t want to be caught by surprise.

  “Yes, some,” Veena said, pointing east. “They don’t come this way though. We are safe. The large ones feed farther inside. They sometimes come for the Vanuri grass, but only the herbivores travel that far for Vanuri. And it is a common plant here.”

  Sam nodded. He wasn’t sure that assured him, but there was nothing he could do. They walked some more in silence, Sam’s mind filled with thoughts and Veena harvesting herbs. She plucked a mushroom-looking plant. It was the only one in the whole area. The umbrella top was silky and blue. She explained what it could be used for and threw it in her basket. She climbed trees for a climber with vines and dug up roots of a soft-stalked plant with long leaves. She hummed as she worked, explaining excitedly to both Sam and Kieran.

  On their way back, he asked the other question he’d been curious about.

  “What other quadrants are there?”

  “There are three I know of,” Veena said. Sam adjusted the basket on his back. He’d offered to carry it for her after she finished gathering. She covered the basket with a large patched fabric. “There is Magic, Martial, and Profession.”

  “Why choose the Profession Domain?” Sam asked, frowning. They had veered from the clear path, and now he had to hop over fallen trees or crush dead wood underfoot. They’d found the remains of a small animal, and Veena showed them a clump of fanged plants. He wished they would get back on the path again.

  “It is most compatible with Scavengers.”

  “It pairs well with your natural abilities?” Sam asked. Veena nodded.

  “Of course, there are exceptions,” she added. “But most Scavengers can only achieve one domain. And most of those go for the Profession Domain because our proficiency in any of the others is low. Martial domains are mostly for humans and perhaps monsters. Although, Elder Maxim has heard stories of distant Scavenger clans that can use the Magic domain efficiently. No one has seen these clans. And there aren’t many Scavengers left in Saheruta.”

  “This place should be big enough to hide a lot of things.”

  “True,” Veena muttered. “Not many of us have traveled much either. We were all slaves or waiting to become one. Or looking for a noble family to buy our indenture. Now we hide, move in the shadows. Not much of a life in that.”

  “Not for long, right?” Sam asked, hoping that would cheer her up. Kieran snorted, and Veena placed a hand on his head. The boy inched closer to her, grinning.

  “I hope so,” Veena whispered, but Sam heard it. He heard something else too, and apparently, so did Veena. She stopped suddenly, turning left, where Sam was staring at. He prayed silently, hoping he was wrong. But he wasn’t. That growl he’d heard had been real after all. And what a terrible reality it was. Veena gripped Kieran to her, and Sam’s hand went to his holster.

  “Don’t move,” Veena said, but Sam could hear the fear in her voice. The monster slinked out of the shadow of trees, getting closer. It moved like a large tiger, but it was too furry, too large, and its fur was glossy black. It moved like a shadow, fierce blue eyes fixed on them. Then its jaws widened, and a pink-red tongue slipped out to lick its nose. It sniffed the air and growled deeply, and Sam knew they were going to die.

  “Run!”

  He shrugged off the basket smoothly, pulled his gun, aimed, and cursed because he was too late. The creature was already lunging for him. Sam dove to the side, miscalculated, and slammed his hip into a tree. The pain was annoying, but he settled on his knees, aimed, and prayed to all the gods that ever existed that he wouldn’t miss. The gun roared, the sound filling the forest. The beast slowed, and Sam didn’t wait to know if it died. He bolted, picking Kieran up when he caught up with the boy. His heart was a ticking explosive in his chest, but he didn’t feel exhaustion, just fear.