"Sir? The recruitment form?" The uniformed woman behind the desk pushed the tablet toward him again. "Blackstone Guild offers the best commission rates for new members. We have weekly strategy meetings, equipment subsidies, and—"
"Weekly meetings?" Magi handed the tablet back. "No, thank you."
The recruiter's smile tightened. "They're mandatory. For coordination and—"
"That's why I'm declining." Magi adjusted his backpack strap. "Thanks anyway."
He walked out of the gleaming Blackstone Guild headquarters, stepping into the changed streets of what used to be downtown.
The skyscrapers still stood, but their purpose had shifted. Banks were now guild halls. Office buildings had transformed into training centers, equipment shops, and healing stations.
Society hadn't collapsed.
It had reorganized.
Magi checked his phone, reviewing the contract he'd accepted that morning. A simple job, clear a minor Rift that had opened in an abandoned parking garage.
Low threat level. Low pay. But enough for rent, which was all that mattered.
The garage stood three blocks away, cordoned off with yellow tape and warning signs.
Two security guards nodded as they checked his freelancer ID.
"Solo?" One raised his eyebrows. "You sure, man? This is rated F-class, but still..."
Magi nodded. "I'm sure."
"Your funeral." The guard shrugged. "Timer starts when you cross the threshold. Payment on completion."
The Rift rippled at the back of the garage's third level, a tear in reality that revealed another world.
This one was small, about the size of a doorway, emitting a faint blue glow that pulsed like a heartbeat.
Magi activated his tracker app, which would record his completion time.
He stepped through.
The other side was a tunnel system, damp stone walls lit by glowed fungi. The air smelled of earth and something slightly metallic.
Magi started a checklist:
[Rift F-63 (Parking Garage)]
-
Locate monsters
-
Harvest cores (minimum 3)
-
Clear to end point
-
Return
He began walking, footsteps quiet on the stone floor.
The main passage branched into three smaller tunnels. Magi chose the leftmost path, reasoning that if the tunnels connected in a loop, he could systematically clear each section.
The scratching echoed through the passage, tiny claws scraping against rock. Magi froze in place, eyes locked on the shadows ahead.
The creature that emerged was rat-like but the size of a large dog, with six legs and bald, wrinkled skin. Its eyes gleamed red in the dim light.
[Task 1: Locate monster.]
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
Check.
The rat-thing hissed, revealing needle-sharp teeth. It tensed to leap.
Magi didn't raise his voice or make a gesture. He simply focused on his Wind attribute, compressing air into a tight bullet and releasing it.
The invisible projectile struck the creature's brainstem with surgical precision. It dropped mid-leap, dead before it hit the ground.
[Task 2: Apply Wind (Air Bullet) to brainstem.]
Check.
He crouched beside the corpse, pulling a small knife from his pocket.
The core sat just beneath the creature's sternum, a blue crystalline structure the size of a marble.
Magi cut it free and dropped it into a collection pouch.
[Task 3: Harvest core.]
Check.
'One down. Two more to go.'
He continued through the tunnels, repeating the process twice more. Each encounter followed the same pattern. Spot, kill, harvest. No wasted movement.
The fourth tunnel widened into a chamber where a larger version of the rat creatures nested among scattered bones.
This one had a crude necklace of teeth around its neck. Some sign of alpha status, perhaps.
Magi calculated distance and trajectory. This time, he added a touch more power to his Wind bullet. The alpha died exactly like the others, slumping to the ground without ceremony.
“Come to think of it, my wind skill is really like a gun.” He blew on his fingertips, miming smoke from a barrel.
The alpha’s core was larger, with a faint purple tint. Worth more, probably.
Magi added it to his pouch.
At the back of the chamber, a glowing portal marked the Rift's end point.
Magi checked his list again.
[Rift F-63 (Parking Garage)]
-
Locate monsters
-
Harvest cores (minimum 3)
-
Clear to end point
-
Return
He touched the portal, which registered his completion and began to shrink, the system recognizing the Rift as cleared. Magi stepped back through to the parking garage.
Total time elapsed: 12 minutes, 47 seconds.
He walked back to the security checkpoint, where the guards were sharing a thermos of coffee.
"Already?" One checked his watch. "You didn't even go in."
"I did." Magi held up his collection pouch. "Four cores. Where do I register completion?"
The guards exchanged looks. "Registration desk is back at the admin center. But they'll want verification."
"The system registered it." Magi showed them his phone screen with the completion notification. "The Rift is closing."
"Still..." The guard seemed uneasy. "That's the fastest F-class clear I've seen."
Magi shrugged. "They weren't very strong."
Twenty minutes later, he stood at the Freelancer Registration desk in what used to be city hall.
The clerk behind the counter, a middle-aged woman with tired eyes and a guild badge reading "Administrator Prescott," scrutinized his submission form.
"Twelve minutes?" She frowned, looking up at him. "For a complete clear?"
"Yes."
"With four cores collected?"
"Yes."
She tapped something into her computer. "What's your specialization? Speed?"
"I don't have one."
Administrator Prescott's eyes narrowed. "Everyone has specializations by now. It's been months."
Magi recognized the problem. If he seemed too capable, questions would follow. Questions meant attention. Attention meant expectations. He needed an explanation that would satisfy her without raising flags.
"I don't have a Speed specialization," he said, which was technically true. "I just ran past most of the monsters. The tunnel was straightforward."
Her suspicion didn't completely fade, but she nodded slowly. "Risky. Most freelancers at your level would engage everything for the experience points."
"I needed the money more than the experience."
That, at least, seemed to make sense to her. She processed his payment, enough for rent and food for the next week. She stamped his completion form.
"Next time, take backup," she advised, sliding his freelancer ID back across the counter. "Solo runs look suspicious in the system. Might flag you for audit."
"Audit?"
"The bigger guilds are looking for unaffiliated talent. People with unusual abilities." She lowered her voice. "Between you and me, they're not just recruiting anymore. They're drafting."
"I'll keep that in mind." Magi tucked his ID away. "Thanks."
Walking home to his small apartment, Magi considered the problem.
He wanted to work. He needed money. But he didn't want attention.
The solution was obvious. He needed a team, people who would assume his efficiency came from their combined efforts.
People who wouldn't question why things died so quickly when he was around.
He needed meat shields.
No, he corrected himself. That sounded callous. He needed teammates. People who would handle the social aspects, take credit for successes, and serve as a buffer between him and administrative scrutiny.
He passed a bulletin board plastered with guild recruitment posters and job listings. Among them was a handwritten note:
TEAM SEEKING ADDITIONAL MEMBER
Mid-level Rift clearance
Fair profit-sharing
No guild affiliation required
Contact Ana at Riverside Apartments #412
Magi took a picture of the note with his phone.
It wasn't ideal, working with others never was, but it might be the lowest-friction path forward.
As he turned to leave, he noticed a man in a Blackstone Guild uniform watching him from across the street.
The man looked away quickly when their eyes met, pretending to check his phone.
Definitely time to find teammates.
Before someone else found him.