The first thing a longer expedition would do was establish a base camp, so the raiders descended at the edge of the chasm to find a suitable spot. There was a relatively flat space on the right side, by a cliff, with a good view of the valley so that was the place they chose. Led by the three TKers, the rest put down their tents. Nestra’s own basic sleeping bag got a few pitying looks. They were really looking down on her. As for Nestra, she was getting pissed off. It wasn’t the others’ reactions — she didn’t care about them — it was all the fucking delay. This was a hunting ground, so hunt? No? She pushed a few pebbles with her foot in annoyance while Satoshi placed a proximity alarm enchantment at the center, next to a neatly dug firepit. It was fine. She just had to look at it from another angle. From C-rank on, expeditions took a day at the minimum. Raiders lived and died on preparation. Humans conquered earth not through physical prowess but through tools and communication, and those took work. She couldn’t simply get prissy because Sereth tossed her into portals with vague instructions as a ‘learning experience’. Besides, she was here to study her prey. And then kill them. Nodding to herself, Nestra did a perimeter walk. No one stopped her so she assumed she was doing something right. Her thoughts wandered to her father as she inspected the cliffs for anomalies. He’d briefly brushed upon camp preparations during training, but he’d left the details for later. For when she ‘came of age’ as he used to joke. Back when she had potential and Ulysses dicked around with his drunk friends. That was a long time ago. Nestra frowned at bird tracks near some thorny shrubbery. There would be avian fliers here. Had to keep an eye out because the briefing didn’t mention them. Naomi had torched her ally without a second of hesitation. Nestra reached Valerian just a moment too late. His arm flew, still holding a blade. She grabbed him and felt vertigo overtake her, lessened by her resistance. Strix and Satoshi stumbled with the small man moving back fast with a burst of electricity. Fire rose again. Valerian was bleeding heavily in Nestra’s arms. Sheryl gasped, then she made a run for it. Nestra decided that saving Valerian was more important than killing right now. She ran as well. Still disoriented, Strix and Satoshi were just a little late, but Nestra was forced to dodge fire arrows in quick succession. It was a pain running without momentum. Nestra also turned to see if Sheryl was following but to her dismay, the armored woman raced down another path. As for Gobbet, he was nothing but a charred corpse at the feet of a very angry woman. Nestra ran. The side chasm she’d picked was long and rough with plenty of loose stone but that wasn’t a problem for her. She would be much faster if she could use momentum. Even then, the others didn’t pursue and she eventually slowed to a jog, wary of ambushes. Valerian’s hard breathing rang in her ears. She dropped him down. He was fine right? “I’m ok,” Valerian said, clearly not okay at all. He was sweating, pale. His traits were drawn and gaunt. Nestra must have looked worried even through the mask because Valeriane insisted. “I’m serious. This is nothing.” He shook the stump of his arm. It was already regrowing through the mangled remains of his armbraces. The bone practically pushed from underneath the skin. At this speed, he would regrow the entire hand in an hour or less. Nestra didn’t need to be a real gleam to understand how good little Valerian was. ‘Yeah, well, can we find a place to hunker down?” “I’ll need food as well.” “Not hunker down but…” She looked up, certain she’d find something suitable. There, in the craggy wall. A sort of opening. She doubted there would be full caves but they just needed an alcove for a little while. Nestra climbed the wall with a very confused Valerian on her shoulder. It was really easy finding footholds, and she finally reached a suitable spot after only a minute or two of effort. It was spacious enough for two people to lie down. Sadly, Nestra was no longer human-sized but she could at least sit down. There was a nice green-colored bird there. It squawked noisily. Nestra realized it was building a nest. Its beak glowed silver. Nestra’s hand struck like a snake, grabbing the creature’s neck before smashing its skull against a nearby rock. She dropped Valerian near the pile of twigs in the same smooth motion. “Hey, nice bird. Oh…” “Focussss on healing.” “Do you need a potion? I have one.” Valerian shook his head. “No, the wound is already closed. It wouldn’t help.” He suddenly looked very embarrassed. “Look, regrowing flesh consumes a ton of calories, even with high efficiency and my affinity. I, errr, I had energy bars. I ate them while you were carrying me.” “They’re bite sized but very dense. It’s just… an entire forearm is very large…” Nestra could tell where this was going. She fidgeted. Valerian was a friend. It was ok. And she could also cook the bird as a snack, after recovering those nice feathers. It would be fine, right? Oh, and there was the guardian as well though crawfish wasn’t nearly as tasty as crab in her own humble opinion. With a sigh of regret, she grabbed for her backpack, removing a neatly wrapped pastrami sandwich. “You can have thissss.” “If it’s too much of an issue…” “I already ssssaid yes!” she grumbled. Valerian wordlessy took her food, biting down on that delicious enclave beef brisket over artisanal cheese and mana-infused rye bread. “Hmph. Wait. A La Tourelle delivery sandwich? They’re a hundred twenty a pop!” “You’re bringing gourmet food into portals?” “For which I am very grateful, but you were offering me a C-class potion freely though it’s clearly more valuable in a portal and also costs thirty times as much as a sandwich. Are you… alright? Food wise?” Of course she was alright food wise. She had plenty of food. Stashed everywhere. “Did you starve in your childhood?” “Of coursssse not. My family took good care of me.” And they did, the human ones that is… She was just… She’d just been mana starved. For most of her adult life. She’d cannibalized her human core for it. Wait a minute. Waaaaaait a minute. “Sorry, not important right now. First, we should get rid of our radios. They could be tracking us.” Nestra blinked. Food insecurity didn’t matter, haha. She was fine. “Oh, right,” she said. Immediate survival took precedence. She’d completely forgotten about the radios. Stupid stupid. It was so strange having them in true form, even after relying on those for her entire human career. Just as they were about to toss the things, they crackled with static. “Help? Anyone? Help?” a timid voice came. “We’re here Sheryl,” Valerian replied immediately. “Are you okay?” “No… No I’m not. Can’t stop… the bleeding.” Nestra wished Sheryl had stayed with them but the women had no real reason to trust anyone after the surprise attack. Running alone wasn’t bad but… the arrow was in her back. She, yeah, she probably couldn’t even reach it. “Ok, I need you to calm down. Take deep breaths.” “What the FUCK is going on?” Valerian licked his lips, then used his intact hand to wipe the sweat off his brow. “I think they’re here to kill me. And you got caught in it. Sorry.” “But that’s not important right now. Look, we saw which gorge you were headed in. Are you safe right now?” “I… I found a small hiding hole.” “Ok, can you apply pressure to the wound?” “No, no, I can’t, it’s in my back. I can’t reach it. It hurts!” “Ok Sheryl, stay with me,” Valerian said in a calming voice. “What I need you to do is to raise the wounded area. Don’t hesitate to lie on your flank, alright? I’ll get to you very soon. Your raider constitution will help you. You just need to hold unt—” “No, no, get away, get away. FUCK Y—” “Sheryl?” Valerian asked without much hope. There was silence for a while. Nestra looked down towards the valley just in case. She saw movement. “I’m afraid Sheryl is indisposed,” Satoshi’s voice came. It was calmer than before. Valerian licked his lips. He breathed deeply, and for the first time, Nestra saw something really dark cross the man’s features. She’d always considered Valerian to be a good-natured person so this flash of… malice. That was a little unsettling. “You’re gonna regret this.” “You know, we weren’t even here to kill you. Just to capture you.” “Right. Like that’s much better.” “If you knew then you could have ran, but you decided to bring a bodyguard, and now, two more people have died.” “Oh so it’s my fault now.” Nestra could see him. Strix, advancing along the canyon. He was staring dead ahead with some sort of electronic device in his hand. Probably a tracker. Damn, they were really well prepared. “Your choice, rather. I’d apologize but I don’t feel sorry. It’s just business. Nothing personal.” “It’s always personal to the one who gets shafted but don’t worry. I left you a little gift. You’ll get the time to reconsider,” Valerian hissed. Then he tossed the radio out. Nestra watched it arc out into the air, then it fell with a loud click of metal on stone. Strix jumped in surprise, but then his eyes looked up, up. Nestra leaned back before he could spot her. She signaled to Valerian that there was one hostile down on the ground. He nodded gravely. He was in no position to fight. Nestra was though. In fact, with no one to protect and a single opponent, she could really let go now. It wasn’t as if she was going to leave any witness anyway. She removed her mask, to Valerian’s surprise, then she unzipped her suit. The poor man paled mightily, but he shook his head when he realized she wasn’t naked underneath. The Skin covered her from neck to toe now. The wind in her hair, the damp air on her skin, her horns fully exposed, she could feel so much. She was free now. Free. And more than a little pissed off. She waved a baffled Valerian goodbye. He would be safe here for the two minutes this would take. Strix was climbing towards them. She could feel his mana. Nestra used passe-muraille to merge with the stone under her, traveling down until she could feel the buzzing presence of the team killer right in front of her. She released her hold on the technique. Angry, thick reality expelled her forward. Nestra formed a fist as she came out, pushing a little bit of void mana into it though there wasn’t much time. She punched Strix in the face. It was a wrathful blow, filled with much more rage than she’d expected. Strix exhaled with pain and surprise. Spilled blood flew in fat droplets through the canyon. Strix fell. She could kill him here and now, she realized. A dot on the chest before he recovered and there would be no more Strix. But that wouldn’t be fun. Something dark filled Nestra’s heart. Her concern for Valerian took a backseat while a voice in her mind whispered he was fine, safe where he was. Satoshi went after Sheryl and he wouldn’t leave Naomi unprotected so she obviously went with him. That meant that right now there was only Nestra, Strix, and the dry arena that was the canyon. Just the two of them down here. Nestra with a grudge and an entire day’s worth of tension, and one of the assholes who’d caused it. Another swordsman. One who’d kept provoking her. Strix landed in a roll, a pretty good one. He came to his knees and made to draw. Nestra used momentum to appear in front of him, grabbing his fist with her hand because she knew where it was going to be. Strix was really predictable. Her hand crushed his bones groaning against the metal of the handle. Her face was close to his and in his eyes, she saw the terror and realization that she was here, and very much… not an artillerist. “Well?” she hissed. “Draw?” The man struggled in vain. His knuckles cracked under her grip. Again, she could kill him here and now but instead she let him go. She wanted to win so badly right now. Nestra drew her sword, slowly. Strix breathed fast. He opened and closed his hands to lessen the pain. “You could still get money for him, you know?” he said. Nestra hissed her displeasure. Words. Disrespectful. Electricity arced around Strix, showing his power but lack of control. Technique incoming. Better. He charged faster than she could move. A trail of iridescent light followed his mad dash forward. He unsheathed his sword in the same fast movement as before, striking smoothly. The Scornful Crescent guided Nestra’s instincts. Strix moved faster than his own mind could process, therefore, he decided where to attack beforehand. She didn’t need to match him. She merely needed to predict him. observe his stance. The way his right foot stomped, the orientation of his wrist. With minimum effort, she moved her blade right side, outward. The blow was powerful. It landed on her blade with a resounding bang and she was forced back. The electricity coursing through Strix’s body exploded outward in a ravenous wave that scoured the rock, leaving glassy scars that bled smoke. Nestra felt it tear through her but the void grabbed that power and ate it. This was electricity. Her primary stolen power. She twisted on herself. Strix stumbled, surprised, still recovering from his own assault. Nestra’s blade kissed his neck in the same flowing motion. Power, raw and familiar, filled her. Her mana pool expanded by a significant amount as it drank deep from Strix’s compatible essence. At the same time, the fake electricity core in her shifted to accommodate a new spell. Ah, so that was how it was done. First flood the body with mana, guiding it to muscles and nerves until the blade hit, then release it all at once. Broadly. Of course, it was damaging to humans and would probably tire her but… this was a nice addition to her capabilities. Her first spell since the change. Nestra leaned back and laughed. Feeding the hubris felt so good. So damn good. Strix had deserved it so much that crushing him was just the cherry on top of a really nourishing cake. She chuckled and stretched. The radio. Not hers, but Strix’s. She recovered the device from a protected pocket, probably insulated to prevent the dead idiot from frying his own shit. “Strix, do you copy?” Kind of reckless to call an infiltrator mid operation on a common radio. They really didn’t think much of her. That made her next action that much more satisfying. “I’m afraid Strix is indisposed,” she purred. Satoshi didn’t reply but Nestra heard Naomi’s gasp of grief in the background. Ah, yes. Schadenfreude. “I’m going to kill you,” the warrior enunciated with deceptive calm. “Nothing persssonal. Just business.” She gave him a moment to stew in his grief before applying a fresh layer. “Oh, and you’re missstaken. I’m not a bodyguard.”