Chapter 349: A Little Farther

Flicker landed on Glitch’s new horns, slid sideways, and ended up clinging to a ridge with one foot.

Jin reached for her, but she hauled herself upright in a furious flutter before his hand arrived. She resettled, fluffed her feathers, and looked down at the horn as though it had moved deliberately.

Glitch held still while she inspected the damage to her arrangements.

The old hollow behind his horns had changed. Heavier plating rose through it now, and the horns swept farther back, leaving the perch she had claimed awkwardly sloped. Flicker tried the crest, then the base of the left horn, rejecting both with an irritated shuffle.

At last she found a shallow notch beside the right horn’s ridged root. She pressed herself into it and tucked one foot beneath her feathers.

Glitch lowered his head carefully to the straw.

“Found it?” Jin asked.

Flicker closed her eyes. Apparently, the matter was settled.

He stayed beside them a little longer, watching Glitch breathe. The size difference between them had become ridiculous again. Flicker could disappear behind one of his horns if Jin stood at the wrong angle.

Still, she had made that landing herself, recovered from the slip, and searched for a better spot without exhausting herself. Those things would have been beyond her once.

Since the awakening, Jin could feel room for her bond within the network where there had previously been a firm limit. Her existing contract had settled into the second active slot, though the fuller benefits still depended on what her body could support.

Brand had explained that clearly enough. He couldn’t hurry Flicker through her own development merely because Glitch had reached Rank 2.

He could, however, look at what she was ready to receive.

On Sunday morning, Jin reviewed her care notes before opening the Engine.

Verrick’s latest entries were reassuring: stable weight, good appetite, reliable short flights, and improving landings. He compared them with what he had watched over the past few days, including how quickly Flicker recovered after reaching the high beam.

Her avatar’s stored development was far ahead of her living body. That gap made the transfer tempting, but it also meant he had to decide where to stop.

Jin selected a small portion of the banked growth, keeping well below the amount he wanted to give her.

[Controlled Sync — Flicker]

[Active bond slot: occupied]

[Selected transfer: partial]

He reviewed the selection once more. There was no reading that could substitute for watching her response, and he would have to wait afterward before deciding whether to transfer anything else.

Farther down the inventory sat the Dual Fire-Wind Core and the Cinderstorm Fragments. He left them there. Today was about giving her a little more strength to use, not forcing an evolution because the material had been waiting.

Flicker was still nestled against Glitch’s horn.

“Come here,” Jin said, offering his wrist.

She opened one eye, considered him, and stepped onto it. He settled her on a folded cloth beside him, close enough that she could lean against his hand if she wanted. Glitch raised his head to watch.

Jin shut the stall door and confirmed the transfer.

Flicker’s feathers flattened. Her wings eased halfway out, and her feet gripped the cloth while her breathing quickened.

He put the phone down where he could still see it and watched her. The impulse to do something with his free hand was strong, but fussing at her would only make it harder to tell how she was responding.

Her breathing steadied, quickened briefly again, then began to settle.

After about a minute, she ruffled herself from head to tail.

[Sync complete.]

Jin waited.

Flicker blinked at him, turned her head, and began working a crooked feather back into place. When Glitch lowered his nose to inspect her, she leaned away from the warm breath and gave a small protesting chirp.

Only then did Jin relax enough to laugh.

“All right. He’s checking.”

Glitch withdrew his nose, though he continued watching until Flicker finished preening and hopped onto Jin’s wrist.

He let her rest. The next temptation was already there: she looked comfortable, the first transfer had gone well, and plenty remained in the bank.

Jin closed the Engine before he could turn that into a reason for a second attempt.

Verrick came by that afternoon and found Flicker trying to prise open the fold of her food pouch.

“Patient as ever,” the specialist said, rescuing the pouch.

“She’s been waiting almost a minute,” Jin replied.

Verrick weighed Flicker and examined her wings and feet. Jin stood close enough to see the specialist’s expression without getting in the way.

“Her wing muscles feel a little fuller,” Verrick said. “Any change to her feed?”

“The same plan.”

“Keep recording what she actually eats. Let’s see how she moves.”

Outside the stall, the central aisle stretched between the pens. Jin checked that it was clear, then carried Flicker to one of the low perch rails. Verrick stood farther along, leaving an open stretch between them.

Flicker leaned forward on his wrist.

“Easy,” Jin said, though the eagerness across the bond made him smile.

She launched before he had quite lowered his arm. Her first wingbeats were quick, but as she passed the neighboring stall they settled into a steadier rhythm. Instead of dropping onto the nearest rail, she kept going.

At Verrick’s position, she turned.

It was wider than she seemed to intend. One wing dipped, and Jin took an involuntary step forward. Flicker corrected, lifted past the rail, and came back toward him.

He held out his wrist.

She ignored it and climbed to the crossbeam above Glitch’s stall. Her feet met the wood cleanly. For a moment she leaned forward, balancing, then folded her wings and looked down at them.

Jin’s arm was still extended.

“Fine,” he said, lowering it. “That’s better than my hand.”

Verrick smiled but kept watching Flicker, whose beak had opened as she caught her breath.

“That’s enough for today,” the specialist said. “A longer flight, a turn, and a good landing. Let her recover before she decides to show us again.”

Jin conveyed a gentle request to rest. Flicker shifted along the beam, looking toward the aisle, then settled.

“She’s been working hard,” he said.

“It shows.” Verrick recorded the flight. “Keep building on what she can repeat comfortably. One good effort isn’t her new everyday limit.”

After they returned to the stall, Flicker let Jin help her down to Glitch. She squeezed into her new notch beside his horn and went to sleep, leaving him to watch her with a pleased ache in his chest.

That evening, Jin opened his notes on the feed crate while his beasts rested.

The Life listing was still bookmarked. Ten thousand Coins for the first purchase, then a reserve he could replenish before attempting difficult runs. He would need to judge routes by what they reliably earned, not just the best reward he had ever seen drop.

The real-world expenses belonged on another page. Glitch needed more feed, Flicker needed continued conditioning, and Jin would need field equipment before hunting alone.

Selling manifested materials could bring in Credits, but that still required items, a legitimate buyer, and an explanation for where they came from. A posted hunt offered another way to earn resources he could openly use.

He brought up Hollowmere, the managed interior zone from Crowe’s lesson. Two hours by road, a waystation along the route, regular patrol culls. He reread the current board until a posting at the eastern farm margin caught his attention.

[Target: Stonejaw boars — crop-fence damage]

[Minimum Combat Rank: 2]

[Licensed hunters only]

Ground beasts, accessible terrain, and a reason to be there beyond seeing what he could beat. He saved the listing as a possible first job, provided the conditions still suited them when he was licensed.

Then he opened the practical-assessment booking page.

A Friday slot gave him time to complete the field-safety module and practice coordinating his new skill with Glitch. He checked the requirements before confirming.

[Practical Hunting License Assessment — booked]

[Candidate: Astor, Jin — Combat Rank 2]

[Bring: bonded beast(s), identification, completed field-safety module]

From the straw, Glitch rumbled in his sleep. Flicker shifted between his horns without waking.

Jin set a reminder for the module and opened its first lesson. Friday was close enough that he couldn’t put the work off.

For once, he didn’t particularly want to.