Chapter 360: A Reason to Go

Chapter 360: A Reason to Go

The notice arrived on Thursday morning while Jin was weighing Flicker’s breakfast.

[Meridian Academy — Fieldwork Record Updated]

[Source: Tamer Association license record, verified]

[Hollowmere Interior Bounty: Stonejaw Boar ×3 — recorded]

[Hollowmere Interior Bounty: Brushfang Jackal ×4 — recorded]

[Cumulative contribution: updated]

[Academy Points awarded: 260]

He read it with the feed scoop in one hand. Crowe had explained how licensed work entered their academic records, but seeing his own jobs listed was more satisfying than Jin had expected. The payments were already in his bank account. These points were something else he could spend.

Flicker made an impatient noise from her rope perch.

"Sorry," Jin said, and finished measuring.

Her new portion still looked enormous beside the amount she’d eaten before evolving. Earlier that week, he’d taken Verrick’s care sheets, her weight log, and the flight-yard records to the stable feed office. He had prepared an explanation for every increase.

The clerk had looked through the figures and approved it without an argument.

"She needs it," she’d said. "You’ve shown she needs it. That’s what First-Class provision is for. We’ll review it monthly, or sooner if something changes."

Glitch’s allocation had already been adjusted after his breakthrough. Jin knew how the provision worked, yet he still caught himself budgeting for every extra scoop. Years of watching his mother reconsider ordinary purchases were harder to shake than he’d thought.

He put Flicker’s bowl in its holder and watched her eat. At least neither beast’s appetite was something he had to dread anymore.

That evening, Jin opened the academy resource catalog on the feed crate while Glitch settled behind him.

He went straight to the specialized development section. Ordinary feed was covered, but the catalog offered conditioning courses formulated around a beast’s build, affinities, and current growth. He’d looked before without seriously considering an order.

Now he had points.

[Paired Development Package — two bonded beasts]

[Individually formulated after care-data review. Six-week course.]

[Cost: 1,500 Academy Points]

Not nearly enough points, unfortunately.

The available courses included armor and joint conditioning for heavy beasts, and affinity supplements for developing avians. Glitch was carrying more weight on his evolved frame. Flicker had changed so quickly that Jin still occasionally reached toward the wrong height when she came in to land.

He wanted something useful for both of them.

Another twelve hundred and forty.

He checked the fieldwork board. More interior bounties would build the balance eventually, but a red-tagged posting near the top caught his attention.

[Regional Resource Survey — Thornwatch, Sector 4]

[Registration closes Saturday]

[Objective: assess Kindlewind Sage at the Ember Shelf and establish a collection route]

[Eligibility: Rank 2+, practical hunting license, garrison registration and sector clearance]

[First frontier outing: registered local team mandatory]

[Payment: survey fee in Credits. Eligible for academy contribution assessment.]

Jin sat up at the plant’s name. He’d seen Kindlewind Sage listed in fire-and-wind supplements, including some of the courses he’d just been browsing. The survey would assess a resource site for regional collectors, and its advertised academic contribution was substantial.

He opened the details. This was a contract fee, not a hunting bounty; the frontier bounty multipliers didn’t apply. Even so, the opportunity was worth considering.

Flicker had tucked her head beneath a wing. Jin looked from her to the timetable.

The displayed airship service ran on Tuesdays and Fridays. Four hours each way. Registration closed Saturday, which meant leaving tomorrow.

"Of course it does," he muttered.

He’d pictured investigating Thornwatch at a comfortable pace, preferably after someone else had done the annoying parts. Instead, he spent the next hour comparing travel costs and reading the team requirement twice.

The student fare helped. Glitch’s heavy-beast pen cost extra, as did handling at both ends. Jin allowed for three hostel nights and a night in the field, packed academy-issued feed, and kept money aside for delays. The remaining jackal earnings covered the trip with a buffer.

Tuesday’s return would also put him back before Brand’s Thursday follow-up.

The contract included an overnight equipment list. He added a bedroll and borrowed a weatherproof feed container from the stable office. Flicker immediately climbed inside it, forcing him to lift her out before he could find out whether the lid sealed properly.

He submitted his application before he could find another reason to postpone it.

Crowe signed the field authorization at seven on Friday morning, a cup of coffee beside his elbow.

"You’ve read the first-outing rule?" he asked.

"Local team. Mandatory," Jin said.

"Good. Listen to the lead. And have you allowed for transporting that drake of yours?"

"Including the pen fees."

Crowe handed the form back. "Then bring me a useful report. You’ll have plenty to compare with our route exercises."

By the time Jin reached the airfield, Glitch had decided the morning involved too much waiting. He kept nudging Jin toward the open cargo ramp, then stopping whenever a handler approached his harness.

Jin called home while the crew checked the booking.

"Thornwatch," Arthur repeated after hearing the plan. "You’re going with a local team?"

"It’s required for the first outing. I get assigned when I register."

"Good." Arthur paused. "Ask about a port-side pen toward the bow. On the ships I used, the starboard pens sat over the exhaust duct. Check with the crew; the fittings might have changed."

Jin smiled. "You said you’d tell me which ones leak."

"I’m starting with the hot ones," Arthur said. "When are you back?"

"Tuesday afternoon flight. I’ll call when we land."

Elena took the phone next. She wanted to know whether he had a coat and whether the hostel served proper meals. Behind her, Elsa called for him to bring something back.

"What kind of something?" Jin asked.

"Something from the frontier!" Elsa called.

"That’s a whole place, Elsa," Jin said.

"Then you should have plenty to choose from."

He promised to look, and heard her pleased laugh before his mother reclaimed the conversation.

The call left him less irritated about the journey. He wished he could show Arthur the ship instead of describing it: the armored hull beneath its ribbed envelope, the cargo doors standing open, the handlers guiding beasts up separate ramps. His father would have known what half the equipment was for.

The crew confirmed that the port-side pens ran cooler and found one with room for Glitch. Jin watched them fit the padded restraint harness, then ran his hand along the drake’s neck.

"Four hours," he told him. "Then somewhere new to walk around."

Glitch looked at him with wounded patience.

Flicker was no happier about her ventilated carrier. She had stopped protesting, but every passing handler received a suspicious stare. Jin carried her upstairs and found his seat beside a thick little window.

Below, crates marked MEDICAL and FEED were being winched aboard. He checked his return reservation once more, then put the phone away before he could check it again.

The cabin speakers crackled.

"All passengers, please be seated. Departure to Thornwatch Frontier Base in five minutes."

Jin fastened his belt and settled the carrier on his knees. Flicker turned toward the window with him as the ground crew began clearing the ropes.

He hadn’t expected to be here when he’d opened the catalog yesterday. Now, despite the cost and the early start, he wanted the ship to hurry up and leave.