Midnight descended on the city. Nestra was wide awake after a deep nap in the late afternoon. A quick look outside her window confirmed that the city was mostly asleep. In her human shape, the night was clearer but not ‘clear’, not like in her true form. She called electric mana to her hand. A trickle made it through, barely enough to light a bulb. It appeared the mask smothered her ability, which didn’t surprise her. If a baseline started to manifest stuff around, people would ask questions. And that led her to a real issue. Moving in secret around Threshold was not something baselines could manage, especially not affluent ones like Nestra. Her house recorded her ins and outs. Her car had an integrated GPS, every prompt relayed to, and recorded by, a central AI which sent her to her destinations via the least congested roads. She could not even visit the place mentioned in the quest without a data trail, and that was just the beginning of it. Even transients without IDs still showed up on security cameras, which Threshold was absolutely chock full of. That was a necessity when portals could open anywhere. If Nestra went close to that place, her house would show her leaving, her car would show where she went, and every camera around would record her face in precise details, including the demon one. Calling a taxi meant that a company would have her ID in storage, since she would have to pay with her account. Nestra checked the map again. That part of the district was empty. Maybe it would be fine. She picked it up and inspected it. The mana was there, at the tip of her finger, ready to be withdrawn. She had killed her first monsters and she’d stolen her first resources. Just had to keep going. Nestra moved on. This world was as basic as they came, pretty much a linear path to the end. In more complex worlds, raiders took supplies with them including food and automatic map-makers. Some biomes could get so large, it took powerful users like Aunt Claire a week to clear, if they survived. She would be more prepared for the next opportunity. Nestra cleared another group, this one of four drones at the center of a cavern. The last one managed to pinch her leg but the MaxSec armor resisted well enough. She was on her knee, inspecting the light damage when a noise alerted her. Nestra turned and blocked in the same motion, sword raised in front of her. Heavy mandibles clanged against the blade. She saw an armored head, more powerful limbs. Dark, insectile eyes. The creature was larger with a thicker shell. She immediately pressed the button. Powerful current shook the warrior’s body. Something hissed and popped in its thorax and it fell back, meaning she got a full view of the second warrior charging her. No time to wind up an attack. It was time to use mana. She pulled a thread from her body and pushed it into the sword, the mana tool easily accepting it. Gray, alien energy coursed along the edge. crackling as it went. The warrior’s mandible slammed against her weapon in its urge to clip her neck. The blade slid into the warrior’s skull before she was even attacking. With a roar, Nestra struck down. The blade sliced through the warrior’s entire body like a knife through butter. Heavy limbs convulsed, barbed tips raking her armor without penetrating. It fell, dead. She turned and struck the first warrior just in case but the beast was slain, cooked alive by electricity. Nestra breathed hard. Using mana took a lot of stamina. “Now that’s more like it.” Her voice rang hollow in the surrounding silence. She was talking aloud because she was… scared and alone. That was fine but she still ought to stop. The warriors left her feeling marginally stronger but it was so weak, she might have been mistaken. She checked around for more mana crystals but found nothing. She did, however, find two recesses in the ceiling, sleeping spaces used by warriors to conserve energy. Normally, those would be in the central chamber but apparently not this time. Had to be more careful in the future. Nestra kept going, coming across a couple more groups of drones who fell as easily as the first. Some light ahead warned her that she was approaching the end of the portal world. She moved up as quietly as she could, leaning against the wall to take a look around the corner. There, in a large central chamber, a large creature waited. The insectile being was larger than Nestra and stood upright over a bulbous, fluorescent yellow sack. It faced the entrance with attention. Nestra recognized it as an acid ant. Technically, the acid ant was not a combat member of a hive. They used their acid to smooth surfaces. That would make no difference to her skin. Worse, it was actively expecting her. She did her best to remember. Acid ants used pressurized glands, she remembered. They didn’t have great control over them and it took a long time for the glands to refill. Maybe she could bait out an attack. She strode out, staying near the entrance. The acid ant attacked the moment it spotted her. It reared back and opened its mandibles wide. Nestra stepped back into cover. A long, slimy string of transparent liquid splashed on the wall in front of her, as well as the ground, and pretty much everything in sight. The stench was atrocious. The spray weakened quickly. She jumped over a puddle and out of cover and charged ahead. Thankfully, the acid ant was alone. Her first strike was stopped by a limb, which was fine. She used her sword’s battery again and the creature jumped back, twitching. She pursued, attacking with narrow, fast swings. It was taller than her. She blocked quick strikes from its upper limbs. The strength pushed her back despite her effort. Meanwhile, the creature’s throat pumped noisily. She had a limited amount of time. It was too strong for her, and just fast enough to fend her off. Nestra pulled more mana and shoved it into the blade. With a desperate cry, she pulled back and struck with a powerful overhand strike. The sword cut through a limb and almost severed another. It finished lodged in the creature’s shoulder, digging a deep furrow. It screamed. Acid spilled from the open mouth, splashing over the ant. A few droplets landed on Nestra’s armor. The beast convulsed and dislodged Nestra’s grip. The acid ant fell, crashing heavily. The two middle limbs managed to grab her boots. Nestra was disarmed. Out of options, she slapped her hand against the creature’s face then pushed all the mana she could. Gray, crackling energy coursed through the ant’s skull. An eye popped. The limbs retracted and she was free. She crawled away, exhausted. She felt the ant die. It still twitched a few times but she knew it was gone. A deep feeling of satisfaction filled her body like a warm embrace. Things were not quite right but they were certainly better. It felt fulfilling, like a cold void fading away. Nestra let out a deep sigh. Then she hurried to recover her sword and washed it. The ant was melting under the influence of its own acid and she didn’t want her precious sword to suffer the same fate. Thankfully, the blade was intact. She wiped it just in case. Behind her, a portal opened. She’d cleared a world. Nestra stood up, satisfied for now. The acid glands could probably be sold for something but she had no tools to harvest them and, if she had to be honest, no buyer. The sales of portal prizes was as heavily regulated as portal ownership. No drab like herself could just show up and offer monster parts without some serious questioning. Not unless she found a black market. Hmm. There was an idea. More importantly, she’d cleared a portal world. Ok so she wasn’t a gleam, clearly. They were sucked in by portals while she pushed through. They got stronger by slowly absorbing mana, including the mana of creatures who died around them while, as far as she understood, she stole power from the entities she killed. And there was the whole demon thing. Nevertheless! Nevertheless, she was kind of like a user. No, users could manipulate mana. She was more than that. She was a raider like her parents and Aunt Claire and her brother Ulysses and some of the asshats who thought she was out of line for breathing in their general direction. That changed… everything. All of those years, she’d been a victim defending her dignity and her little strip of self-esteem with the knowledge that it was the best she could ever achieve. That was over. Provided she could progress like raiders did, the heights of power were no longer closed off to her. She could become strong, as strong as her family. Maybe as strong as Shinran, given time. Maybe as strong as Riel. All that it would take would be to follow the crumbs left by the one who sent her message. Do that, and she could progress. Nestra didn't forget that power was only a means to an end, and fortunately, she had an easy end in sight. The fuckers who’d almost killed her and gotten her allies killed so callously, the guys who thought themselves out of reach, having spent pawns to take other pawns so their plan could move forward, they were at the top of her shit list. Oh, she wouldn’t fix Threshold and certainly not mankind in general, but those assholes? She would get them. They would pay for the rest. And who knows, with enough time, she could spread that lesson around.