112. The Accumulation of a Life

With searches ongoing in astral space, the support camp is overrun by bronze-rankers. Silver-ranker Gloria Phael rejects a commoner’s authority, topples Vincent Trenslow, and installs her son Cassius. Cassius proves inept and removes Jason from assisting, further destabilizing operations.

Idle, Jason spends time with Gary and the unresponsive Rufus. Lacking supplies and clean clothes stored in Farrah’s space, Jason performs a careful ritual to extract Farrah’s belongings without defiling her body. They recover dimensional bags, sort Gary’s and Rufus’s gear, and Jason keeps Farrah’s magical theory books to honor her hopes for him.

Returning to the dorm tent, Jason and Gary find a bronze-ranker abusing Rufus and blasting aura. Rufus silently conjures his sword, poised to kill, but Gary restrains him and floors the man with a single punch, driving the agitator out.

Deeming the camp harmful for Rufus, Jason and Gary decide to trek to Boko on foot for quiet and distance. On the march, they recount past adventures. When Rufus finally speaks, blaming himself for Farrah’s death, Gary confronts him fiercely, insisting Farrah chose the risks and died a hero, and threatens to end their friendship if Rufus denies her agency again.

That night, under aura-suppression tents, Rufus begins engaging, sharing a story about an old contract gone wrong, signaling a first step out of his catatonia.

Meanwhile, Emir emerges from the aperture to a chaotic camp. Tracing leadership to Cassius Phael, he learns Cassius dismissed surveillance on the five untrackable suspects and blocked Jason. Emir forcefully reinstates Vincent and orders Cassius out of his sight, beginning to restore order.