Collection had begun; I had captured a vicious beast.

Not a dangerous beast, mind, but a vicious one.

The tiny lizard was no longer than my finger. I cupped it between my hands as I carried it back to my territory. It squirmed and tried to gnaw off my fingers, but its wimpy bites didn't even sting. I was kind of surprised this tiny thing even qualified as a monster, actually. But 'assess' had assured me it was, so I probably wasn't wrong.

Well, it was larger than a Crystal Ant, I guess. And even dragons had to start somewhere.

I brushed my musing aside as I reached my territory. I had one more experiment I wanted to try before I got serious about exploring the jungle. As I stepped in, I got the expected warning:

"You are being invaded!"

I stood there, hands cupped, waiting. I watched my hermit crab's rock. He didn't move.

"Your subordinates are unable to attack."

Huh. He didn't even try. Was it because he was defense-oriented? Or because I was holding the lizard? A moment's concentration summoned the door. Well, that still worked. I dropped the lizard near the crab. The crab ignored it, and the lizard scooted under a rock and was gone.

So there were more complexities to this system than just invasion/not-invasion. Good to know. For now, I was happy enough that Mr. Crab could keep my door open as long as he was in my territory.

"A stalemate has been reached."

I thought about that as I double-checked my pistol and riffled through my pockets. Was there anything else I needed to check before I began an expedition? I mulled over my stats, and realized I should probably adjust my job.

Most people couldn't just adjust their job on the fly. They either waited for an occupation to form naturally once they were using enough classes, or they went and found an Administrator. I, however, had spent enough time dabbling in business that I picked up the 'Administrator' class myself. That whole episode of my life had been a bit of a clusterfuck, but, well, it had its uses.

"Job Change: Edmon Valli," I said, activating the one ability from Administrator I was actually glad I'd learned.

Edmon Valli

Active classes:

Thief Sailor [empty]

Job: Smuggler. For some, crimes does pay!

Large bonuses against betrayal and searches.

Small bonuses to subterfuge and sailing.

Large negatives to reputation and approachability.

Small negatives to trustworthiness and conduct.

Oh-hoh, an empty slot! I'd totally forgotten that Lord of the Land bumped me up to nine classes, which meant I could take a third-level job! Just for kicks, I slotted 'Gunner' into the mix.

Edmon Valli

Active Classes:

Thief Sailor Gunner

Job: Pirate. Spit on your palms, hoist the black flag, and start cutting throats.

Large bonuses to intimidation, charm, and against mutiny.

Small bonuses to cooking, sailing, and critical hits.

Large negatives to honor, peaceful negotiation, and thriftiness.

Small negatives to personal hygiene, approachability, and peaceful rest.

Unencumbered by prosthetics.

Hah. Interesting, but no thanks. Third-level jobs were definitely powerful, but none of the bonuses would help me here, even if none of the negatives would hurt me too much either. The trick to picking a good job was specialization; choose classes that were useful in the moment and synergized well. As long as the situation made use of the jobs strengths and minimized its weaknesses, jobs were very powerful. In the wrong situation, though, the weaknesses would be a huge drag and the strengths wouldn't help anything.

Lesse, clear all this out… alright. First class? I mulled it over for a minute. The first class added to the job would steer the whole thing. For example, if I used Sailor-Gunner-Thief, I'd probably end up with a stealth-spec Marine instead of Pirate. In the end, though, there was one I definitely had to try: Lord of the Land.

Secondly, I chose Explorer. It was a class I hadn't really used a lot recently, but I could definitely use its bonuses when trying to survive a trackless jungle.

And for third, I eventually went with Navigator. Explorer would get me out there, but I needed to get back as well. Hopefully the emphasis on travel would keep me safe.

Edmon Valli

Active Classes:

Lord of the Land Explorer Navigator

Job: Conquistador. Sometimes, fighting bureaucracy is worse than armies.

Large bonuses to survivalist skills, looting, divide-and-conquer.

Small bonuses to negotiation, supply chain, and logistics.

Large negatives to legitimacy, quarantine, and archeology.

Small negatives to efficiency, communication, and honor.

Rumors of your exploits give both fame and infamy.

…Eh. Not exactly what I wanted; too much focus on dealing with people and not monsters. Was it treating Lord of the Land like a normal 'ruler' type class because the only part I'd advanced any amount was the title? Maybe I should cut it… I frowned, and started swapping out classes. After a while, I found a job I liked:

Edmon Valli

Active Classes:

Navigator Trader Sailor

Job: Voyageur. There is no life so happy… or exhausting.

Large bonuses to carrying capacity, survivalist skills, and dealing in animal commodities.

Small bonuses to singing, camping, and portage.

Large negatives to fidelity, saving money, and settling down.

Small negatives to avoiding overwork, injury resistance, and dealing with paperwork.

Promotes a sunny disposition.

This was much better. The positives were more in-line with what I needed, and the negatives would have very little impact on what I was currently doing. As long as I made sure to stay well-rested, I should get a lot of utility out of this Job without having to worry about it dragging me down.

I cracked my knuckles and stood, dismissing the screen with a wave and heading for the forest. Collection begin!

"Mark!"

"Eciton corundis (Crystal Ant (worker)) added to Archive."

Ah, I could Mark creatures outside my territory. Good.

….

"Mark!"

"Strelitza reginae (Fire-of-heaven flower) added to Archive.

And plants, too. Good, good. Well, Archive and Mark didn't seem to have any restrictions on what they could target; I'd been able to create my pistol, after all, and it was only magical in a very rough sense.

…

"Mark!"

"Oonops insularis (Goblin Spider) added to Archive."

Ick, spiders. Good thing I'd marked it before I realized what it was.

"Voice, simple names only, please."

…

"Mark!"

"Witchmoss added to Archive."

…

I was probably three hours hike from my Dominion now, and I'd come to a fairly obvious conclusion: jungle creatures were really good at running away. While I had managed a few good finds, like the Crystal Ant, I wasn't at all sure they would be useful, except possibly for trading.

"Common lowlands banana added to Archive."

I paused at that and inspected the half-eaten fruit. I hadn't even Marked this. But then, Archive was a passive, and I had eaten a few of them earlier. Oh, right, I'd also gotten the Snow Moth from killing a bunch of them. Maybe there were better ways to do this than trying to manually Mark each creature? Not to mention, I was beginning to wonder if Marking a bunch of things outside my territory would have some sort of negative effect on my development.

I propped my chin on my palm and considered that for a bit. I was sitting on a mossy boulder, next to a small waterfall. Looking down into the stream, I saw blue fish, as long as my hand, swimming lazily in the pool beneath the pounding flow.

Ah, a chance to experiment, and a chance to eat some meat.

"Incarnate."

A length of twine and a steel hook didn't take much magic at all. I waited until a not-venomous-looking insect landed next to me, before clapping my hand over it and carefully piercing the hook through its abdomen.

Plop. The ripples of the hook were immediately swallowed by the waves from the waterfall. I wound one end of the twine around my finger, and settled in to wait.

…

"Assess."

"The Azurefin is a weak monster that lives in warm, fast-moving fresh water."

Even these were considered monsters? I looked the fish over as I worked the hook out of its lip. I slipped the other end of the twine through a gill, adding it to the six on my stringer. After a few minutes its struggles grew weaker, and I felt a wisp of pneuma coil through my lungs.

"Azurefin added to Archive."

So, killing things could add them to my Archive. Well, I'd already known that, but now I knew it took about seven. Or did it have to do with the amount of pneuma I gathered from them? Then again, I didn't get pneuma from bananas. Then again again, I had eaten the bananas.

I shook my head and pushed the matter aside. Hopefully things would become clearer as I continued investigating.

I stood and stretched, before deciding to head upstream. I'd ford the creek and travel up the mountain until I left the jungle, so I could walk along the edge of the trees to get back to my Dominion. I'd be giving up opportunities to add to my collection, but trekking through the underbrush was hot and dirty work, and I'd had about enough of it for one day. I could grill the fish I'd caught, and search my Sanctum for a proper bed to sleep in.

After a few minutes scramble, I found a place where the stream narrowed in a cut between two boulders. I hopped across easily.

"You have entered a Marked area."

I froze.

After a few moments of nothing happening, I slowly scooted over to a nearby tree and stood with my back to it, scanning my surroundings.

Nothing seemed any different here than it did on the neutral side of the stream.

I cautiously hopped away.

"You have left a Marked area."

And back.

"You have entered a Marked area."

And forth.

"You have left…"

I stood on the unclaimed side of the stream, pondering. Then I looked into the opposing jungle and let my eyes unfocus. I tried to spread my perception of the opposite side as wide as possible, trying to encompass the idea of 'over there' in my thoughts as clearly as I could.

"Assess."

"The territory of the Prince of Metzli."

Oh-ho. In the Road of Dreams, I'd seen a book labeled 'the journal of the former Prince of Metzli.' So this was his territory? Or rather, his former territory? Interesting.

Was this… a dungeon?

I frowned at that. I had no idea how dungeons really worked, to be honest. I mean, I know how humans used them, but that's a far cry from really understanding them. I used fire on a daily basis, but I had no real idea how it worked.

A quiet noise pulled my attention back to the jungle.

…shhhhhshhhshhhh…

At first, I thought it was wind in the treetops.

…ShhhhShhhhShhh….

But... the air was still.

…SHhhSHhhhSHhhh…

Suddenly, a flock of birds was startled into the sky somewhere down the mountain, and my eyes went wide as I realized I was hearing something moving. Something big.

I needed to leave. Now.

"Mark!" I yelled. "Pleaseworkpleaseworkpleasework…"

"You are unable to Mark this territory."

…SHHHHSHHHSHHH…

"Fuck!" Too far from my Dominion? Not enough magic? Didn't matter. I flattened myself against a tree, and tried my very best to look unthreatening. For a moment, I considered running, but dismissed the idea as stupid even before I felt the ground tremble. The noise was nearly on top of me now. It sounded like an avalanche, but it was coming up the mountain.

When I saw the monster, I had to clench my fists to stop my knees from shaking. I'd known, in an abstract way, that deep in the monster zones lived Behemoths, Leviathans, and Dragons, kings of land, sea, and sky.

I had just really, really hoped I'd never actually see one.

It looked something like a snake - if a snake had eyes as tall as me. Its scales were multicolored, a dazzling pattern of blue, green and purple, touched with red. They had gentle fringes at the edges, fuzzing its outline and shredding anything it brushed past. I couldn't see much of it, comparatively; its gigantic body receded into the gloom of the jungle, quickly cut off from view.

It stopped directly in front of me, turning its head to fix one ice-blue eye directly on me.

My breastpocket felt scorching hot.

"Interesssting."

Its voice filled the air. I could feel those silibant words in the pit of my stomach.

"I sssee the Heart has been found."

Oh, thank goodness.

It wanted to talk.