Several Obsidian Tails slept on the shores of the many islands like dark obelisks covered in serrated edges. There were a handful of them and they were rather large. From her vantage point, Nestra could see a meandering path edging their resting grounds as it snaked across the apocalyptic landscape. It disappeared near a forest of reddish crystals populated by bobbing ruby lights — probably some sort of environmental challenge. One of the reasons old religions had survived the Incursion was the overwhelming evidence of intelligent design. Portal Worlds told a story. They were journeys, first basic ones, then increasingly complex challenges that taught the raiders how to adapt. They gave the local users a chance as well as at least one, and sometimes several ways forward. She could guess from the layout that the lesson today was that not all fights were wise, and that she was supposed to dodge the obsidian tails so she could reach the Guardian unscathed. Probably in a way that would ambush it. This was a valuable lesson for normal, human raiders. There was a certain irony about the obsidian tail she’d killed outside lying in ambush for potential groups who were supposed to learn how to avoid it. Portals might be schools, but outside? C-class breach monsters would happily eat D-class trainees on their way to learn. That was why smaller enclaves struggled a lot with keeping casualties to a minimum. So yeah, fuck that hidden trail. She wasn’t here to learn how to be sneaky. She was here to kill shit. Nestra frowned. In the distance, one of the giant lizards stood to allow its other flank to bask in the nourishing heat of the magma. She was, in fact, also here to learn how to be sneaky. Sereth couldn’t help her with shadow training because she was ‘too weak and awkward for him to tell if she would be strong enough to fool a monster’. That damn A-class asshole. So yeah, trying her budding shadow powers on the closest Obsidian Tail would help her improve the most basic of abilities: cloaking. It was tricky to use because cloaking was a skill she had never trained before. Nestra raised her hand, calling shadows forth. They pooled from her core alongside her limbs in large, oily strands. It was a far cry from the living darkness Teneru had managed. She knew the current issue, and forced the mana to cycle faster, more lightly. The shadows crawled over her wrist, then her fingers like wispy nimbi, but they left behind patches of unprotected Skin, like moonlight visible behind a thin cloud cover. Had to work on it more. Nestra wondered what it would take to get a proper helmet. Surely, this was more important than protecting an elbow? She had two of those. But the Skin remained unfazed by her protests, and the exit portal beckoned. Nestra returned to the much colder air of Earth. The thin mana made her feel like she was choking before she got used to it again. She was already missing the comforting radiation of the portals but all desire to complain died on her lips when she saw a few Aszhii runes carved into a nearby rock. Her intuition screamed that something was wrong. The writing said: ‘mask on’. Her brother had carved a smiling emoji next to the dire warning, signifying she was not in mortal danger, and therefore completely on her own. She took her mask and sighed when the uncomfortable layer settled on her skin. Even that ergonomic, high-tech one felt like manacles. She didn’t like it. She liked the alternative even less. Mostly, she knew what to expect. That was because of the smell. Her own sense of smell wasn’t that good but even with skill, she could tell if a sweaty person stood downhill. Especially if they didn’t contain their mana very well. She could always run, but to be honest, she was a little curious. And also a little frustrated. “Come on out, or I ssseek you.” Five men and women emerged from rocks and boulders, with a sixth staying hidden farther up the flank of the volcano, at Nestra’s back. Only two of them were C-class and they were clearly not the best. In fact, the entire squad had seen better days. Their leader, a rather beautiful woman with sharp features, wore a ratty body armor with its patch stripped out. It looked like entry-level gear for a small guild. The rest wasn’t much better. Only the other C-class sported a mishmash of decent protection while their only archer stood in a fucking hoodie. That could only mean one thing. “Oh, so you must be a Threshold corpo slave. A bit far from home, you are.” The mix of black hair and the red irises of a fire user gave her a slightly demonic bent, one reinforced by a ghastly smile. She looked confident. Nestra ignored her. She turned to the short-sword wielder at her back. The woman had been peeking over a ledge when she was caught, and her embarrassment turned to fury. “How did you know we were here?” the second C-class asked. Compared to the fire woman, this one had the green irises of a nature mage. He was calmer too, more composed. “New rocksss,” Nestra explained. They hadn’t been here when she arrived. One of their users must have placed them because the slope was otherwise devoid of good hiding spots. “Also, bad mana control.” “Sorry to disturb you ladies but I think we’re getting off-track. See, there’s a problem.” The fire woman took a step forward. Nestra drew her blade. The fire woman stopped. The others drew as well, at least those who were not already holding theirs. “Do tell,” Nestra said, tilting her head to the side. “See, looks to me like you’ve been poaching on our territory. That nice portal behind you had a lot of magical obsidian in it, but now it’s closed, and it’s probably not a repeating one.” “I can’t even begin to imagine how much money we lost on this. Has to be two million credits at the very least.” Nestra smelled the air. Nothing new there, and no abnormal mana signature either. Weird. She moved forward, only for one of the D-class flankers to try and follow. A pointed sword at his chest stopped him. “You are bazaar. This is not the territory of the bazaar enclave.” The fire woman took a step to the side. This started a little dance that Nestra found funny. “You are a patrol. Come to check on the wild Obsidian Tail here, perhaps,” Nestra continued. The gleams exchanged glances. “No, come becausssse of the noise. Curious. Found it dead. Asssssumed portal presence. Stayed because… why?” “You say it’s not bazaar territory. I say it is,” the red lady insisted. She was not very wise. “I think you will leave this bag here along with that nifty sword of yours and we will consider the offense repaid, otherwise, maybe you’ll come with us and we will see what the bazaar decides.” “Ssso you laid in ambush. Curious. You are too weak to take on the Obsidian Tail,” Nestra said with confidence, especially with a fire and nature C-class. Terrible matchups. “And now you try to extort the one that killed it.” Behind her, the portal closed. Nestra took another step. This time, only the fire gleam stood her ground. “Enclave gleams look down upon Thresholdersss because we like lattes and not having to wipe our asses with leavesss, but you are not better at killing. Especially not you. I don’t see lone wolves here. I see jackals. Bottom feeders.” She chuckled. The nature mage took another step back. Smart. “You fucking bitch, I was trying to be nice and this is how you want to do it?” the fire gleam spat. Her aura pulsed erratically. Loss of control. “Rosa. Don’t,” the nature mage whispered. “Fuck off. And you, keep acting high and mighty and I’ll —” “No. I give you one chance,” Nestra warned. The fire gleam huffed. Her blade ignited. Even with her immensely boosted resistance, it still hurt her to do so, but watching the fire gleam’s expression of pure dismay as she pushed it to the side made it all worth it. The fire failed to sear her skin while the blade didn’t penetrate. Nestra tossed the woman aside like a ragdoll. She recovered immediately but her aura didn’t. It burned like a blaze. Fire erupted from the gleam’s body; its many tongues burning holes in the shitty gambeson. The gleam growled. It did so in defiance. Nestra chuckled, eager to see what it would do. It was not understanding its position. It was no predator. Not to her. It had been warned. It still wanted to fight. Nestra waited. The human thing lost its temper. Nestra saw the moment it snapped, disregarding warnings from others. It had emotions, so many emotions boiling over until it could not think. Such a brilliant light full of anger and nonsense, yet enough power to reach the second sphere. Curious. Arrogant. Mad. Nestra snuffed that flame. “You… you killed her!” The nature mage whined while Nestra sheathed her claymore. It was already showing signs of damage. She would have to buy a new one. Fire gleam’s head came to a stop on one of the boulders. Nestra wondered if someone would pick it up. So far, all her ‘friends’ could do was look on in horror. “You didn’t have to kill her! You were strong enough to stop her without doing that. Dammit! Rosa had anger issues, but she didn’t deserve to die, you insane bitch!” “You were happy with the trap, and with the extortion, and with her striking first… but it’s now that you’re faced with consequences that the blaming commencesss,” Nestra growled. “If I were weak, you would have seen no problem with what she would have done to me. You were not even willing to stop her. You just called her name half hoping she would calm down. When she did not…” Nestra lowered herself to his face even as guilt replaced outrage. “You let her go. And now, you know you do not ssstand a chance, so you are letting me go, too. That was the extent of your sense of justice. This is the extent of your loyalty. Willing to crush the weak so long as there are no repercussions, to fight for your ally so long as there are no risks. And now you whine like the dog you are. Get away from me.” Nestra left, even angrier than before. “I’ll report you to Threshold,” he said at her back. So Nestra laughed. Just laughed. It was kind of funny. “You can. You can even bring your allies as witnesses. Feel free to camp in front of the embassy, also, but no one will do anything because your friend had a minor guild gambessson with its patch stripped off. I asssssume her temper got the better of her at a bad time, hm? An exile. I know what the force says every time one of you enclavers come to complain: have you tried to rape and steal less? Report all you like. It will lead nowhere.” Nestra walked away at a sedate pace just to see if they would try anything, but they made no effort to do so. She was still walking ten minutes later when Sereth appeared at her side. “Did the hunt go badly?” “I wrecked the eggs by accident.” “Ah, I am sorry. And the murder?” Nestra sighed. Maybe that had been a mistake. “Bazaar assholes. I cannot stand them.” “It is unlike you to leave witnesses.” “I didn’t need to kill them. There is nothing preventing Threshold gleams from raiding outside the walls so long as it’s not in a controlled region. And they were going to rob me, I think. Not kill me. This does not carry the death penalty, in my own opinion.” “In my world, any drifter who raised their hands against a scion of a noble family would face their death and that of their entire entourage. It was common sense. I find your culture disturbingly merciful.” “It’s when the hand of justice serves itself and not the ruling class that a civilization can truly call itself just. Or so my old ethics professor used to say. And I was defending myself. Ugh, I fucking hate enclavers. They’ve completely reverted to tribalism. They have honor between themselves but anyone else is fair game. It’s like we’re not people.” “You seem to despise those who abuse their powers to inflict pain upon those they see as inferior.” “But that is the norm everywhere, is it not?” “I don’t know, you tell me.” “It is the norm in most of the civilizations I have infiltrated.” Nestra spread her hands out in annoyance. “Then I can hate all of them equally, each in their own special way. Was there anything else?” Sereth remained silent for a while, and Nestra immediately felt like shit. “You are angry. I understand and accept it. Most Aszhii your age would have fully given up on idealism, yet you have not. I cannot decide if it makes you driven, or a fool.” “Guess it depends on whether or not I can back my beliefs with a sword.” “Ah, I see. If your vision becomes the truth, then you were the wise one, yes? But let us change the subject. What is this bazaar enclave?” “Oh you may have bought some of the stuff they sell us. Errr, how should I put it? Threshold heavily limits access to enclavers due to a variety of reasons. Most of those relate to the fact many enclavers don’t see baselines as people.” “There are few non-users outside of the wall?.” “They are dead outside of the wall, Seth. Well, not here since this is a brand new continent, but elsewhere. Threshold has agreements with the most powerful enclaves but when smaller ones want to buy toothpaste, they can come to the bazaar. It filters everything. It also filters rejects and exiles. You have seen what kind of people they can be.” “Ah, do I detect a hint of prejudice, little Nezhra?” “By the way, little Nezhra, what took you so long?” “Oh, yeah. I was playing hide and seek with Sashimi to practice my shadow cloaking. Very useful. I feel like I make faster progress when I am under pressure.” “Yes, although that is a training game that you will never win.”