Adam relaxed into the first-class seat as the train moved smoothly along its route.
There was plenty of space and it was quiet. Exactly what he needed.
He exhaled and summoned his martial spirit.
In the next moment, an apparition formed before him, an armored skeletal warrior, blackened plates layered over bone, green flames flickering faintly in its hollow skull.
Adam leaned back and grinned.
"Hey, big guy. I got you something."
He pulled out the manual the commander had given him and held it up.
"I know," Adam added shamelessly. "I'm great."
The spirit just stared at him expressionlessly.
Well, expressionless as far as skeletons went.
Adam shrugged and stopped bothering with it. He opened the manual.
Compared to the forty-page yellow-grade technique, this was dense, a full hundred pages. But Adam had time. As the train hummed forward, he read.
And read.
The deeper he went, the clearer it became.
