The security center of the Starborn Association branch building was a small room secluded away from the rest of the area. It wasn’t exactly big, but it was as big as it needed to be. The room had a simple setup, with a single chair and desk, with a wall full of monitors displaying the camera feed from every room.

  Frozhe sat in the solitary chair with eyes glued to one monitor. The feed it showed was of a remarkably well-decorated prison cell, currently being used by two people. Frozhe leaned forward, placing his elbow on the desk to support his chin and tapping his fingers against the wooden surface of the desk.

  So far, everything had more or less worked out.

  When Frozhe was first assigned to this unit with the weak truth-seeker and the playboy healer, he thought that it was the worst thing that could have happened.

  He needed money. That was the only reason he didn’t go rogue during the cascade. Sure, he could kill a lot of Celestials on his own, but it would be much more dangerous. He’d have no backup, and if the Association caught wind of what he was doing, they’d be after him. All in all, it was safer to stick with the Association for now.

  That was his thought until he met his teammates, who numbered a woman who was afraid to fight, and a misogynist. So they weren’t exactly dependable.

  Never in a hundred years did Frozhe think that these pathetic partners would have some use. Cirai especially.

  Finding the mundanes in the stargate had been a massive stroke of luck. When Frozhe first arrived on the scene and saw the naked young man standing over an attractive woman, he acted on instinct to pin him to the floor.

  But then Cirai identified him as Arden.

  Under normal circumstances, Frozhe wouldn’t have cared about a mundane street rat, but his story was interesting. When Frozhe first arrived in the slums, he heard that the local guild was going through a crisis regarding one of their members and the Arden boy.

  As someone who worked in the slums, Cirai had the details about the event. According to her, the Miasma guild placed a bounty on Arden, and it was worth a lot of credits.

  And then the cascade happened. The bounty quickly disappeared from the memory of everyone in the slums to focus instead on survival. But Frozhe never forgot. He believed himself to be blessed by the god of luck to have found Arden in a stargate.

  “It was pretty much a needle in a haystack,” Frozhe said to himself.

  Staying with the Association continued to give him boons in the form of authority. As the only combat focused Starborn on the team, he had more authority than either Cirai or Podren. He couldn't overrule both of them just with his rank if they went against him, but he could overrule one of them.

  Despite his claims about how suspicious the boy was, both Cirai and Podren were reluctant to take the slum rats in. They both felt that to imprison the group because of mere suspicions was wrong, which it was, Frozhe readily admitted.

  But so was being poor.

  And would anyone really miss a trio of slum rats?

  The slums were a place that no one cared about. It was doomed to be ignored and forgotten, just like the people who lived there.

  Frozhe pulled a slip of paper from his inventory and held it up to the screen of the prison cell. With the picture of Arden held side by side with the real one, Frozhe could tell that they were the same person.

  The only real difference between the picture and the real thing was that the one currently imprisoned had a bit more meat on his bones. He also looked much happier now than in the picture. Perhaps because of his attractive company.

  Frozhe stood up from his chair and summoned a Satellite from his soul cluster. Red sparks came together in the shape of a war axe designed to be held with one hand. The sharp bit was rounded to the point that the edge almost touched the wooden haft. This was his reward for completing his trial, and he was going to put it to good use.

  Frozhe knew that he was the strongest person in the building, but even still, it was going to be impossible to take on three people at once. He was a Starborn with a combat ability, but he was still only a red protostar. He was just one step above being a mundane. Of the three people that were wandering around, Podren was the only one who could prove to be difficult if he utilized his healing ability.

  Podren would have to be the one to go first.

  Frozhe needed to kill him in one move. If he survived, it would be trouble.

  He turned his eyes back to monitors, trying to find the healer. After scouring the camera feeds, he saw Podren relaxing on the far side of the building from Cirai and the Blight Walker. That wasn’t odd. Most people were uncomfortable with Blight Walkers, if not completely hostile to them.

  “Works for me,” Frozhe said.

  Frozhe left the security office and walked through the mostly empty building. He could hear portions of Cirai’s conversation with the Blight Walker, but he wasn’t interested. It was something about being strong. He moved along, hiding his war axe as he went until he found Podren sitting back in a chair with his feet up reading a book emblazoned with the design of an hourglass.

  “Hey Frozhe,” Podren said, greeting his partner. “What’s up?”

  “Not much these days. Thanks to our prisoners, we’re exempt from going out in the field. On one hand, I like the safety, but on the other hand, I’m bored out of my mind.”

  “Tell me about it. I like to read, but I need to do something else.”

  Frozhe eyed the book Porden was holding. He didn't recognize it.

  “At least you’re into reading,” Frozhe said. “I’ve tried it, but I can’t get into books at all anymore. They just don’t grab me the way they used to.”

  Podren laughed.

  “Try reading this one,” he said, waving the book. “It’s called Codex Momenti Proximi. I’ve been hooked ever since I first got it. Come on, read over my shoulder for a little bit. It's super interesting.”

  “Will the story make sense if I start from there?”

  “Absolutely. That’s one of the best things about this book.”

  Frozhe pretended to be hesitant as he walked behind Podren and leaned over his shoulder to read the text. Inwardly, he was grinning ear to ear for having been given such a grand opportunity.

  Frozhe began to read. A cold chill ran down his spine as he did.

  The traitorous axe man enters the room under the guise of small talk.

  The traitorous axe man attempts to lower the reader’s guard.

  The traitorous axe man believes that his ploy was successful.

  This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  But the reader is aware.

  The traitorous axe man attacks, but misses.

  ‘What is this?’ Frozhe thought, as cold sweat ran down his neck.

  “See?” Podren said, turning his cold smiling face to Frozhe. “I told you it was interesting.”

  ‘He knows!’

  Frozhe stopped hiding his axe and brought it down from above. With its aspect, it was sure to split Podren’s skull in two before he was able to move.

  That was why Frozhe was shocked when Podren nimbly threw himself forward off the chair and over the table before the attack landed.

  “You damn doctor,” Frozhe snarled. “How’d you do that?”

  Podren chuckled.

  “It’s hard to react in time to a sneak attack. But if I knew about it beforehand, then it wouldn’t be hard.”

  A non-combatant out maneuvering a fighter was something Frozhe’s pride wouldn’t allow. Now he wanted to pay Podren back for the humiliation. Frozhe tried jumping forward to close the distance.

  “I knew you’d do that too!”

  Instead of Frozhe’s axe coming down on Podren, the edge of the axe bit into the coffee table that Podren threw into the air. Splinters danced in the air, and in the second that Frozhe’s view was obstructed, Podren had disappeared.

  “Damn it!”

  There was only one place Podren would go, and for one purpose.

  Some distance away, Frozhe heard Podren yelling and gave chase.

  “Frozhe has gone rogue!”

  *****

  “So for the love of god, stop thinking in terms of being strong or weak. You’ll get nowhere,” Sya finished.

  Sya looked at Cirai’s face, and noted that she was deep in thought. A small smile appeared on Sya’s face and she continued walking away, humming. It felt good to do some good.

  She was going to find someplace quiet to eat, but that train of thought was interrupted by a desperate shout coming closer to them.

  “Frozhe has gone rogue!”

  The pleased with herself expression fell from its place and was replaced with a serious one. She turned back to Cirai.

  “Is he telling the truth, truth-seeker?”

  Cirai nodded gravely and got to her feet, Red sparks took the shape of a pair of knives in her trembling hands.

  For the first time, Sya regretted her choice of food. If she had gotten something that needed to be cut, she would have a knife, or if she got a pasta dish like Cirai she would have gotten a fork. Instead, she was stuck with a spoon.

  “Shit,” Sya said.

  Just then, Podren came sprinting around the corner clutching a book in his arms like it was a newborn. A mere second later, Frozhe came around the corner too with his axe above his head.

  “I miss my slingshot,” Sya said.

  Sya threw her half-eaten can of food at the hulking goliath of a Starborn. It didn’t do any damage to him, but it was enough to cause him to miss his attack on Podren.

  She acted on instinct and didn’t realize she did it until the man’s ire was redirected towards her. She was unable to get any paler, but she believed she would have if she had more fair skin.

  ‘What the hell can I do with a goddamn spoon!?’

  Before she knew it, Frozhe was already right in front of her. From the position of his arms, she could tell that he was about to perform a horizontal strike. Using all of the strength in her legs, she jumped back to avoid the attack. And while she managed to avoid the attack, she fell down from tripping on a piece of furniture.

  Before Frozhe was able to capitalize on Sya’s blunder, Cirai rushed forward with her dual blades. She wasn’t good with them, but they were faster than an axe. If she could keep the pressure on, then that would give Sya a chance to escape.

  Podren helped Sya to her feet and handed her a key.

  “Get your friends and run! They’re who he's after!”

  “What about you?”

  “Don’t worry about us. This is our job. Now go!”

  Sya yelled in frustration and turned away from the fight towards the staircase that led into the bowels of the building.

  “Just don’t die!”

  Podren sighed and opened his book, his first Satellite. He read the words and slowly closed it, somber.

  There was no changing fate.

  It was impossible.

  It had only been a year since he completed his first trial, became a Starborn, and was rewarded with the Codex Momenti Proximi, but he was already familiar with its kinks. The pages would reveal a few moments into his future. But right now, the pages were empty.

  Podren had no future.

  Regardless, he wasn't going to go out without a fight.

  “Do you think you can stop the both of us?” he asked, withdrawing a spear from his inventory. It wasn’t a Satellite, but against a red-tier protostar, it might as well have been.

  Frozhe managed to block most of Cirai’s attacks with the haft of his axe. His skills were nothing great, it was just that Cirai’s were incredibly subpar. Even still, he wasn't able to block all of them.

  Several attacks slipped through his defense, but Frozhe paid them no mind. When the knives hit his skin, only a small amount of his blood was drawn. It was like he scraped himself, not stabbed with a knife.

  Cirai paled but couldn't pull back her weapons fast enough. The back of the Frozhe’s axe struck her in the stomach, immediately knocking the wind out of her. Her vision blurred and she couldn't collect any air.

  The only thing she could make out with clarity was the emotionless face of Frozhe staring down at her.

  Before he could seal the deal, Podren charged in with his spear. He knew that it wouldn't defeat the rogue Frozhe, but if there was a chance that he could delay the death of himself and his comrade by even a second, he would cling desperately to it.

  He stabbed forward with as much force as he could muster. All he wanted to do was keep Frozhe away from Cirai.

  “You get the hell away from her!”

  The spear cut a little deeper than Cirai’s knives, but not by much. Blood trickled down the wound in Frozhe's stomach, but it was far from enough to cause meaningful damage.

  Frozhe brought his axe down on the spear’s shaft. If the power of the spear alone wasn't evidence enough that it wasn't a Satellite, the destruction of the spear certainly was.

  Following up, he caught Podren in the side of his head with the flat of the axe. Podren saw white, and then black in quick succession, and then he fell forward.

  Frozhe looked down at the pair of Starborn beneath him. One of them was unconscious and the other lost the will to fight.

  “I don't want to kill you,” he said, his voice absent of emotion. “I will if I have to, but I'd rather not.”

  Cirai looked up at him with pained, wet eyes.

  “Why are you doing this?”

  “Money. Simple as that. That friend of yours is worth a lot of money.”

  “Enough to betray the Association?”

  “Enough to do it twice over. Of course, I would have betrayed the Association even without the bounty. But doing it this way gets me more than illegal stargate looting.”

  Podren sputtered and coughed. He groaned in immense pain and slowly sat up with a hand on his head. With his free hand, he reached for his book.

  Frozhe turned his attention to him.

  “You got me good back there, Podren. I didn't expect to be outplayed by a doctor. That's a pretty good Satellite. A book that shows the future. That's something I'll be taking along with the boy.”

  Podren spat a bloody tooth at Frozhe's feet.

  “Go to hell.”

  Podren tried to resist, but it was futile. He was concussed, Frozhe was not. Frozhe had a good ten kilograms of muscle more than Podren, so it didn't take long for an outcome to be decided.

  It only took two chops to sever Podren’s arm. Podren cried out in pain, while Cirai could only watch in horror at the brutality of the scene before her.

  In his mania, Podren had forgotten to dismiss the Codex, so Frozhe was able to pick it up. He injected it with a little bit of stellar essence, and opened it to a random page.

  The previous reader succumbs to his wounds.

  The traitorous axe man becomes the sole owner of the Codex.

  The new reader escapes.

  Frozhe closed the book with a satisfied smile on his face. He felt he was on top of the world.

  Right up until he felt what felt like five claws dig into his back.