PoV: Opal Kingston - Gem

  I heft my sword onto my shoulder, the familiar weight of the [Bound Armament] calming my nerves. It’s solid, reliable, and I like it. Thatch and Jess stand with me, in line to be let into the city.

  For a little while, I wonder if they’ll actually let us in, but then I look more closely and dang. I’m real crap at picking out the difference between the fuzzballs or the slender things. They look so similar. Sure, differently long arms, different fur somewhat, but… well. It’s new, and I’ve still gotta learn it, so I’m not good at it yet.

  If we’re lucky, the same will be true for the guards. If we’re super lucky, none of the ones that first let us in will be here. Snow sure drew a lot of looks - which hopefully kept them off the rest of us.

  If not, I guess I might have to figure out how to take people with me across [Blinks] sooner rather than later. A small smile spreads on my face, finding its usual resting place there, and I scratch at my beard.

  Honestly, I don’t think we’ve been doing half bad at this whole integration thing. Man, when a werewolf challenged me to a duel I sure was scared. And then, Snow showed up, looking unshaken as ever. Even thinking of that bitch’s face makes me wanna compete, dang it. If Snow has a resting blank face, then I guess my resting expression is a grin.

  Life’s better enjoyed when humorous, after all! Gotta find some joy in it, or it’s all pointless.

  Thatch elbows me. “You’re starting to stare,” he says.

  Ah. Right. I look down at him and flash the handsome bastard a grin. “Thanks for the reminder, will be sure to stare at you instead.” I wink. He rolls his eyes.

  Jess looks on with that frozen look on her face. I think she’s using one of her skills on herself. It’s kinda scary, and I don’t think it’s good for her. Maybe I should mention it. Ah, but then, it’s kinda troublesome…

  I do it anyway. “Jess,” I ask, quietly. “You doing okay?”

  Thatch has the audacity to look at me with surprise, as if I’m not the most empathetic of our little friend group.

  Okay.

  Maybe I’m not.

  Still, though!

  She looks at me, with an entirely level stare plastered across her dark face, then nods. “Just fine, thank you.”

  Her tone is so even, I get goosebumps. In reply, I smile, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I’m glad to hear it. It’s okay to cry, y’know?”

  The words come easily from my mouth, and I find that I mean them. It’s our slogan, a little bit. It’s silly, but… well. What isn’t? I’m cool with being a bit sappy sometimes. Jess remains level headed, though I see her flinch for a moment. She takes my hand off her shoulder, holds it for a moment, then drops it. “Thank you,” she says quietly. “I’ll consider it.”

  I nod. Her hand was freezing. Like a zombie. Damn, cold! I don’t say the pun out loud but still smirk at it.

  Waiting in line is so boring I almost start humming, but then I remember that there is a way more fun thing to do. I focus on my skills, on the one I developed myself. [Diamond in the Rough]. It’s a silly name for an elegant skill, and I think it suits me. I’ve always been good with stones.

  Hence why I named myself after one! Opals are cool. And I’m cool, so I’m Opal. It suits me.

  With a light tap of my knuckles on my forehead, I focus again. [Diamond in the Rough] activates, and I feel its effects propagate through me. It’s a crystalline kinda magic, turning myself more… solid. Rooted. Like I’m weaving a protective casing? No, that’s just not quite right.

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  Truth is, I don’t fully get the skill, but I know it makes me sharper. Faster, stronger, and even enhances my vessel. It feels like thin, crystalline growths sprout on me, burrowing in the parts of my body that are supposed to be sturdy, reinforcing my bones and stuff. It’s cool, honestly.

  Gems are cool. I still don’t have a job, which kinda feels like an insult. I was the only one out of all of us with a full-time gig! Now, Snow and Sylves already have jobs, and Inu’s basically set for hers. I have an inkling of what Thatch wants to do, but I’m not pushing. He’ll get there when he gets there. Gotta let him pursue it himself.

  Ahhh, I really am bad at focusing. I let my mind drift to gems and jewels again. I used to collect them, but the collection got lost pretty fast when the world went to shit. Maybe I can start a new one, though! That’d be cool. I want more gems. I wanna make them, I wanna carve them, I wanna see them put into jewelry.

  Maybe I can get Bay to set them in rings and necklaces, and Snow to enchant them? That’d be a suitable job for me. A jewelcrafter. With crystalline magic bones, named Opal, with the anonymous name Gem.

  Now that’s funny. I love it.

  By the time I am grinning ear to ear at my internal monologue, we make it to the gate. “More humans,” the guard groans, then launches into a spiel about not killing anyone, blah blah blah. I don’t care. We’re here to cause trouble, after all. Let’s be real, we aren’t winning the auction.

  Thatch gets us in. I steal the eggs. Then, with Jess’ help, we get back out.

  If I’m planning to break the laws already, then hearing them doesn’t really matter all that much, right? I zone out a bit, letting Thatch handle the negotiating. How nice it is to have friends that can focus for more than five minutes.

  - - -

  Walking to the auction house is more fun. People in the city stare, some more unabashed about it than others. It feels a little like I’m back home. Rural places are usually like that, too. Everyone gives you that look that makes you think you don’t quite belong.

  Here, it’s a little different. I feel like a curiosity, like something new and fascinating. A few give me longer looks; I suppose I stick out a little compared to the other two, given that I’m taller. I return a few checks, and whenever someone’s mana sense brushes up against me, I make sure to poke them back in that way Snow showed me. What a clever critter my friend is.

  It creates an annoying sensation, and I see multiple of them yelp. Idiots.

  But, at the very least, there is something to do. I like the noise in the background, listening in and focusing on different conversations to see if I can’t pick something out. A younger climber getting scammed. A team planning to go on an excursion. Someone having just come back from an ascendancy well, having lost most of their team.

  There’s a hodgepodge of experience here. People laughing, people crying, having good and horrible days. It smells alive. I can feel my heart beating in the middle of it all, and as we walk through the streets, I see stalls, too. Selling food, minor artifacts, some offering advice or maps from jobbed cartographers, and so on.

  We ignore them all and move for a big, opulent building. All lacquered and fancy-like, boards of dried mushroom being used as wood, bits of giant bone, and stone, all melding together to somehow display extravagance. It’s carved and crafted… and it screams posh.

  Ahhh, I’m excited. I kinda wanna tear it down, but I guess I’ll have to make do with stealing from it. Nothing quite like taking a blade to the rich.

  A pair of guards scans us, asking if we have an invitation to the auction, and we pull out three sheets. Another reason why only three of us went - that’s how many invites the ants pulled from dead bounty hunters.

  The guards grumble, looking at us suspiciously, probably wondering how humans came about these. “Any trouble?” Thatch asks with a small smile. “We won these off a more established bounty hunting team for helping them when they were swarmed in the tunnels. They said it’d be a good place for newbies to start getting renown, and that credibility was worth its weight in gold.”

  He puts on a smile, and I can already tell we’re through. One of the guards starts looking at the group behind us, and the other one gives Thatch a smile. “You got a good deal out of ‘em, sir,” he says to our resident handsome bastard. “Come on inside, then. Do make sure you have the funds for any item you bid on.” Dang pretty privilege.

  Thatch nods and smiles back. “Any advice?” he asks.

  The guard smiles a little. “Sure. Keep an eye out for synergies. Don’t buy the flashy stuff if you don’t need it, invest in your skills, not gear. Don’t get fleeced,” he adds with a cheeky wink.

  My friend replies with a happy nod. “Thank you.”

  “Alright, in you go, don’t cause any trouble,” the guard says, waving us forward, and we head through the red curtains draped over the entrance.

  I draw in a deep breath, grinning. I can’t wait to cause trouble.

  is 40 Chapters ahead!!!