The fateful time had come. Nestra was summoned to attend preparatory training for the Sword King enclave mission, and the first and most important one would be survival training. Well, summoning was perhaps pushing it. She could do some remote learning in a training center for military augs, or she could stay at home. Let’s see. Remote training center: Yeah that wasn’t even a choice, so wearing clean pajamas and with a cup of nice Qahwe within her grasp, Nestra set out to learn the basics of survival. It would definitely be more exciting than negotiation and cultural sensitivity training, also on the program. She wasn’t a negotiator. When would that ever be useful? And the cultural sensitivity training was just designed to make her hate the enclavers less. The same guys who justified her participation by being so prejudiced against baselines that her existence offended them. Anyway, survival. Survival came first. Those lessons would likely help her beyond the scope of the enclave expedition, especially with raids taking longer and longer. Some of the content was pretty obvious. The same basic precautions that were taught in MaxSec also applied in the wilderness, unsurprisingly. Others were more specific, like camping and orientation. Those would be expanded upon during the in person training, which would happen after she completed all the online classes. During the first day, Nestra studied the basics. To her surprise, there was a lot of emphasis on mental preparedness, on how to stay calm and so on. It felt like a critical part of the program, though she was barely concerned. It helped to have a backup monstrous self if a problem arose. The rest covered shelter, navigation, water, fire, and food, with nice questionnaires and tests designed to help identify flaws in her understanding. Nestra grew bored at 6PM, had an Aszhii nap, and then went raiding as Crescent in a rare low C-class cold biome. The enemies here were weird creatures that were really good at blending into the environment, which would be more annoying if Nestra couldn’t see their beady eyes following her as she approached. At least she got some cold resistance out of that. The next day, Nestra validated the safety and mental preparedness modules before moving onto fire, which she also validated before lunch. It wasn’t very difficult considering all modern gear came with multiple ways of lighting fire. The difficulty was in building a safe fireplace that wouldn’t block sight or send all the smoke into her eyes. Or attract predators. Water was quickly completed as well, considering their new continent was rife with fresh water sources, which could easily be filtered even if they were not boiled or chemically purified. She worked on the shelter module before her nap, then it was time to meet Sereth. “It’s my shotgun, sir.” “I can tell it’s a goddamn shotgun, you damn blockhead. Where is your regulation gun?” “It’s my gun per MaxSec clearance, sir.” “Are you going to carry that thing all the way through the exam?” “Yes sir. Because it can, in fact, kill D-class monsters.” “Are you sure about that?” Nestra had an unexpected amount of fun during training. The dragoon riders were a kind bunch who were more than eager to nerd out about their own gear. Major Cortez proved delightfully easy to deal with: if she knew the answers, he was happy. If she didn’t, he was less happy and she learned. There were no games and no tip toeing around topics of conversation. It was kind of relaxing, not to mention Cortez had a few ways of preparing plantain bananas in the wilds by wrapping them with special leaves. “You can also add meat. Use the fattiest parts, white girl.” “Whatever you can get your hands on. Aya, I told you you couldn't bring your spice rack.” The two looked at each other in silence. “It’s very small,” Nestra stated. “You’re going to smuggle it in even if I tell you no, di ba?” “I’d rather have salt than a pair of socks. I’m a strong girl. Really.” The major left, swearing in tagalog the whole time but mostly Nestra was doing very well and he had other people to handle. Some of the dragoons were city birds to the core. They found guts icky. They could always find other stuff to eat but if Nestra had to be honest, it was a bit weird that people who drove flame-spitting combat walkers could find entrails revolting. Maybe because they were supposed to char things to death first? Whatever. Finally, the fateful day of the exam arrived. In order to test their skills, the trainees would be dropped in the jungle alone for seven days, with gear but only three days worth of food and half a day of water. It was their goal to stay alive until evacuation. It meant surveillance drones so Nestra would be limited to her human form for a longer time than what she was used to, but such was the price of good knowledge. It would be fine. Most likely. Nestra watched the thick jungle trail behind the gunship through its open back bay. Thick trees, gnarled and twisted to drink as much sunlight as they could, fought for every centimeter of soil and still, crags emerged between the canopies, showing the dark bones of the Threshold continent still uncovered after all of these decades. It was an endless tapestry, never the same but always so similar it didn’t really matter. The place smelled of damp air and the pungent scent of green things both living and dead, so overwhelming it reached even here. Half of the team was already on the ground, somewhere. She was next. The Silent Horn was a rather mysterious territory to Threshold’s northwest, so called because it had very few portals to speak of. Even the air felt thin to Nestra’s senses, the mana sluggish and sleepy. It didn’t mean there were no monsters, of course, just that there were few and barely D-class. The rest preferred to stay in livelier pastures. That was where the test would take place to avoid unnecessary deaths. She looked at the drone that would monitor her life signs and possibly send a rescue request if she were in serious danger. It was a slow thing with solar panels at the back, designed for autonomy and not much else. It would stay afloat above her unless she gave up. She had no intention of doing so. “You’re up next, Palladian!” the major yelled. She fastened her suit to the rope as the gunship slowed down. A quick look around showed her where the nearest vantage point was while she rappelled down. That would be useful later. Her boots hit the ground and she released the rope. A moment later, the gunship flew off. The drone lazily followed. Her Wellington suit beeped as she turned on the cooling and life Read the latest chapters on NovelHub - completely free! She was alone. She took a deep breath. The smell here was just pungent, overwhelming her with its diversity. Trees fought for space alongside lianas, bushes, and even mushrooms here and there. Insects buzzed loudly. Nothing was really thriving here, not like in the carefully manicured parks of the city. Dead leaves, rotting wood, fading plants, the sickly and the dead mixed with the living and the strong to form a whole devoid of any reason or purpose beyond its own survival. There was so much to see, to feel, though for now, the Wellington suit offered a nice layer of safety against the outside world. No immediate danger. She checked her shotgun one last time before setting out to the elevated outcropping, taking her time to do so. Effort consumed calories and water. She would need three liters a day to function optimally. Food was less important but still a factor. Everything cost calories. Now, they would be in shorter supply. Nestra climbed with measured steps. She stopped to drink at the base of the hillock even though she wasn’t thirsty yet. Easy footholds led her atop flat volcanic rock. A single tree struggled to take root in a shallow crack, roots seeking nourishment like grasping hands. The wind had turned it gnarly and starved, so fragile Nestra didn’t dare use it for Read the latest chapters on NovelHub - completely free! She surveyed the place. She couldn’t even see the gunship anymore. The wind brushed against the skin of her face, and the little hair that fell from her hood. Far in the distance, she spotted the shimmering azure of the sea. Birds flew low over the canopies now that the strange steel predator had left, and their cries echoed each other in high-pitched arguments. She looked for water and, at first, didn’t find much. Pulling down the hood, she turned on the optics. The onboard AI found patterns consistent with rivers. A careful study showed a small brook nearby, but it was rather exposed. A larger river in the distance attracted her gaze. She carefully studied it. She found a bend where the water would flow more slowly, just what she needed. It would still be a trek of a few kilometers, but this was the first day. She had to pick a good spot. Using the Wellington’s navigation made keeping track trivial. Unfortunately nothing would help her cross several kilometers of untamed jungle. Brambles got in the way. Trees got in the way, their branches jealously spreading to catch rays of sunlight. Rocks got in the way, some of them impassable. A distance that would have been a fifteen minutes walk in the city turned into an hours-long trek, forcing her to take out her emotional Read the latest chapters on NovelHub - completely free! Even with the Wellington cooling her body, she was sweating heavily halfway through, and considering giving up on preventing mosquitoes from landing on her nose. Her mind wandered, even as she kept looking around. Her weight seemed fixed now, but it ought to fluctuate just from water loss. Was the human mask drawing moisture and nutrients from her true self? Could she even get dehydrated? Sereth had said that even if the human mask were destroyed, her true self would progressively rebuild it. That didn’t mean she would slack off now. Pain was still pain. Also, her pride wouldn’t allow it. Nestra missed her destination by a hundred meters due to the vagaries of the place, but it was fine. On the way, she’d spotted and noted down a few promising foraging points. There were even mushrooms, though she wasn’t super confident about identifying them. The promising bend of the river she’d picked proved to be just as good as she’d hoped. The river widened and slowed over a rare piece of flat ground, gurgling happily as it moved downstream. Boulders cut through the placid surface at regular intervals. The water was surprisingly clear and she could spot fat fishes following the eddies. It was perfect. Her quest for a resting spot proved more challenging. The nearest rock was steep and smooth, offering no shelter. She lucked out by finding an overhanging rock a short distance away. Tufts of hair showed it had been used for shelter before. Nestra cleared some debris, picked her shovel, and got to work. It took Nestra a whole morning to clear and prepare her shelter, but it would be worth it. Moss and Liana would make for a nice nest to supplement the comfort of the armor. For water, she used a large gravity filter bag she hung next to her hidey hole. It was a nice piece of gear that took almost no space when folded, yet could filter five liters at a time. All the while, she kept her eye out for predators. This was a good spot to drink. If she thought so, then others certainly did, but nothing came to bite her ass. The weirdest part of it all wasn’t the survival, because she’d been drilled by the major. The weird part was being alone with her thoughts. She wasn’t raiding or training, so the sensation of urgency was different. Here, she was just, well, surviving? No connection, just herself and her own mind. There were some basic media stored in the Wellington, mostly music, but she refrained from using them as it would needlessly drain the battery. It was just… quiet here, and she wanted to experience that for a while. Nestra ate energy bars and had some fresh water for lunch, then she started her first project: building a fish trap. By using one of the boulders near the edge and quite a few rocks, she slowly built a sort of pool that fishes could swim into, but not easily leave without fighting against the current. It was a nice trick she’d learnt from Major Cortez and she was looking forward to making it work. Next she built small snares. That carried her into the late afternoon. The sun set quickly in this mountainous region, even in the late summer. She would forage for those tubers she’d spotted the next day. There was no rush. Even though she was tired, it took a long time for her to fall asleep. The next morning, she washed herself with fresh water then climbed down to check on her fish farm. As soon as she approached, she knew something had gone wrong. Blood and scattered gore stained a rock by the shore, the remains of a nightly buffet. Of her fish. “WHO THE FUCK STOLE MY DAMN FISH!” First that stupid void squall thief, and now another? This would not stand. “You’re so dead. No one steals from Nestra. I’ll find you, and I’ll eat you.” Major Cortez and his second dropped down from the gunship with some measure of apprehension. The girl wasn’t at her sleeping spot, which wasn’t unusual since the pick up was ‘sometime during the seventh day’, but still… Most people just waited there. He climbed the gentle slope to her encampment with care. Some people didn’t come out because predators were around. His artificial fingers tightened over the handle of his rifle. His optics searched for heat bleeding through the dense vegetation. “I’ll be,” the lieutenant whispered. The girl’s base was… something. A well-trodden path led to a rudimentary fence decorated with bleached bone totems, and beyond that, a garden of carefully dug up aromatic herbs waited. Despite his advice, a tightly packed food container hung from a nearby branch. He could see a lot of meat there. Sichuan pepper dried on nearby leaves while a smoking pit lay quiescent to the side. He spotted her sleeping spot under a rock, past another layer of wooden fences. Moss and flower formed a thick bedding though it was more a den than a true bed. Of the girl, there were no signs. “Signal says she’s father north.” They had a look at the food. It was a stupid thing to do to keep meat around like that. Damn, that was a lot of meat. She had to have depopulated the entire grid coordinate. “Let’s go. The gunship can’t stick around forever.” They picked up the pace, using the ping provided by the surveillance drone. The jungle was thick but they plowed through without much care, until they came upon a tiny clearing nestled between two sheer cliffs. There, a pile of steaming entrails greeted them, already buzzing with flies and all manner of insects. A noise. A roar. Angry fur and slavering teeth emerged from the nearby patch, aiming straight for her. Major Cortez recognized a lesser mana ursus just as his gun automatically jumped up to acquire the target. A magical bear, dangerous, resilient— Its head exploded in a shower of brains and skull fragments. The girl surged from behind a bush, screaming in triumph. She was wearing a sort of homemade ghillie suit that had made detection difficult. Only her furious eyes peered out from behind her hood. Fierce sigils were drawn in mud across the Wellington’s camo, making his mind skip a beat. He averted his eyes. Probably just a glitch. “That fucking thing kept eating my damn fish. Who’s meat now, huh? Well played, idiot.” “Miss Palladian, the gunship…” “Sorry, yeah, sorry. Gotta go. No time to skin it, I suppose. We’ll just swing by home to get my meat.” The lieutenant’s voice came in private convo. “Sir, I think it would be faster and wiser just to play along.” The girl frowned, aware of something. Cortez got the feeling he was right. “Fine. Let’s hurry then.” “Good! Oh, major, I got smoked river fish with fresh local pepper and salt. It’s such a good snack. I got garlic and scallion rabbit liver skewers as well. And mangoes. I would kill for a beer though.” The major chuckled. He might just accept. Unfortunately for Nestra, the quarantine department seized her entire stash due to contamination risks, and it was destroyed at the base camp. The same evening, in a C-class portal world. “MY FUCKING MEAT,” a voice roared in Aszhii. Limbs flew through the air. Despite the portal lizards’ programmed aggression, their primitive brains could not help but flinch before the onslaught. The intruder was a storm of blade and magic tearing through them with vicious precision, and impeccable timing. The largest of them spat bolts of cobalt light. The intruder merely powered through as if it were merely an inconvenience. The beast fell from a devious thrust that caught it in its blind spot. Like a demon, the irate being tore through the last of the resistance with unbidden fury. “THREE DAYS I SMOKED IT. THREE. FUCKING. DAYS!” Her bloodthirst still unquenched, Nestra raced up a volcanic path towards the arid plateau where the guardian waited, under a sky as thunderous as her heart. Suddenly, a shift in space made her flinch. She turned, surprised. Something had just come through the entrance portal behind her, back into the pine forest. Surely, that wasn’t right. The portal was reserved for Crescent and Crescent alone. An intruder? A cop? As a precaution, she reached for her mask. She didn’t make it. The intruder was already here. He was a Japanese man of medium height, completely shaved all over. A kind smile on his gentle face gave him a fatherly appearance, though the green and silvery eyes of a high gleam said otherwise. Muscular shoulders hid under an humble orange robe. In his hand, he held a staff. He was one of the only people on the planet who would never need to introduce himself. “Oh shit,” Nestra squeaked. Shinran’s response never began. His mouth, which had opened, closed shut. An immense pressure crushed Nestra then and there, forcing her to her knees. She couldn’t stand. She couldn’t even breathe. It took all her will to remember she existed. The ground shook with strange tremors like a breath, like a heartbeat, moaning with fear and anticipation. Something pierced space like a dagger pushed through thin paper. Nestra screamed from sympathetic pain when the world was gutted. A fist emerged from the breach, though she couldn’t see it, couldn’t even look up. She knew it because she felt the fist like one felt a mountain at one’s back without a need to look. The thing that walked through the breach might have been Sereth, once, but now it was the mountain. Not the Face of the Mountain, as was its path, but the mountain, moving. A titan of hardened armor as unstoppable as time itself. The colossus’ sheer presence warped reality around it. Nestra forgot to even fight for that missing breath.