Nestra checked her helmet status. The air was technically breathable if one thought tear gas was an acceptable fragrance. By her side, Miu’s head was encased in a transparent bubble that made her look like a vintage cosmonaut. She slowed down as the tunnel she was in widened into a vast cavern. The black volcanic rock of this world was covered in thick yellow slabs of sulfur. Surprisingly, half of the cave was submerged under a shallow layer of water, and plumes of yellow gas bubbled out of numerous pools with vulgar gurgles. The temperature would have been suffocating were it not for the Bellerophon armor’s current ice coating. Nestra’s mana reserves were massive for a mid D-class, and she was putting those to good use. “Think there are more of them here?” Miu bleated. She didn’t like giant, slime-covered worms. Go figure. “I know there are more. Stand back. Let me get their attention.” Nestra confidently stepped towards the water. It was close to boiling temperature and would flash-cook any baseline on contact, but she was a gleam. An ice gleam. She had this. Nestra looked up before beginning. Through the cracks of the ceiling, she could see glimpses of a shockingly blue sky, not unlike Earth’s own. Right. Enough of this. Wordlessly, Nestra activated her Zero Aura. It was getting faster and easier every time. Water particles turned to floating ice around her. A wind pushed the toxic fumes away, dispersing them and clearing sight. Fingers of ice crept from the edges of the pools towards the center with quickening hunger. Nestra adopted a low guard. She’d been using that one very often recently. “How’s the situation outside?” he asked once everyone was more or less stabilized. Nestra wasn’t sure, but they must have spent around three hundred thousand creds in emergency shots within the past ten minutes. At least they were insured. “I killed two of the widows.” She got quiet looks of surprise. Nestra tilted her head to the side, curious. “I’m surprised you didn’t manage to finish them off. They were on their last legs.” “Everything went wrong,” a swordswoman complained. “We are meant to focus on one at a time but… everything went wrong. They move too erratically. And they cover each other.” The raiders cursed and argued in a mix of Thai and Filipino Nestra couldn’t follow without her visor. Right. She was wasting time. Time better used on pizza. “Are you ready for me to kill the last widow, or do you need more time?” Nestra asked. The Enjoy reading on NovelHub - your free online novel platform. “We’re not harvesting more cores. We need to leave immediately so Klahan here can receive help.” She returned his gaze. “Just checking if he can be transported right now, or if you need more time.” “I apologize for the assumption. Please, Miss… Crescent?” Wow, Nestra was semi-famous. “Accepted. I’ll be right back.” Nestra slipped through the nearest wall. She charged herself with electricity at the same time. It was very bright outside. The last widow dive bombed her at maximum speed. Nestra feinted, forcing the beast to adjust and also because the energy just made her want to move, move, move now, now, now! She unleashed a hail of thunderbolts;. The spell was enough to mess with the widow’s limbs. It faltered. She rushed in to deliver the final blow and it… parried it. With its beak. Light covered the appendage. It could infuse its own beak. Nestra watched the creature pull out. She used momentum to close the distance, even as it flew away as fast as it could. She kicked its side. That was where the arrow was still planted in its flank. The blow, backed by precision, was almost clean, The shaft went deep but snapped at the same time. Red blood sprayed from the grievous wound. Charging one last time, the widow closed the distance, using the pull spell despite the fact it would slow it down. Nestra used immovable to negate the effect. Blade up, blade down. The widow exploded. A core popped to the side. Nestra pocketed it since it was right there, just as a wave of power filled her. She was well on her way to B-class, abilities wise by now. It made her want to face the widows at full power… “The portal is opening!” The Tiger Dens moved out of their shelters at good speed although their fencer did grab the material on the prize altar. Nestra followed at a leisurely pace. As soon as she was back on the other side, she sent Ragnarok a message. The answer was almost instantaneous. “That was fast. Thanks. Payment wired.” Nestra checked the money. Fifty thousand creds for the emergency service, an absolute smash. This really went to show the difference in power between gleams. One could make four hundred creds in a shithole portal for two hours or work, or one could get paid the yearly salary of an office worker for ten minutes of emergency rescue. Or one could be paid one hundred and twenty creds a day monitoring drones in a warehouse for nine hours. Or one could heat dumpster food on a barrel fire. She sighed. That was half of the contractor fee to turn her warehouse into a bunker. At this speed she’d be done even sooner than expected. Gotta protect the precious naval cannon. Nestra turned. It was the sentinel mage, the one tasked with keeping an eye on the team. Half of the raiders were being loaded into hover ambulances with the first one already on its way out — presumably with the tank. The mage seemed tired but otherwise much more chill than he’d been before. “Everyone’s safe now?” Nestra asked. As an Aszhii she didn’t really care in her heart, but on an intellectual level, she knew the safety of raiders was important. “Thanks to you. It was a bit touch and go. Your reputation for… efficiency is well deserved. I am happy that you were around.” “So you heard about me?” “Yes. One of your clips went viral?” That was news to Nestra. Surely Helena would have mentioned it? “Well, not viral, but we oldheads certainly had a good laugh.” The mage took out a datasheet and pulled a famous video host website. A short search later, Nestra was looking at a twenty seconds clip of her dragging a protesting guild recruiter out of the job fair she’d bounced for. The way she casually tossed that asshole off the stairway into the nearby fountain was highlighted with cute sounds and silly visual effects. “He had it coming. He was trying to have his recruit sign ‘secondary contracts’ to bypass the AI’s monitoring on unfair proposals. Absolute weasel of a man.” “Oh I expected that much. Airborne justice is one of my favorites. Anyway, I had never seen anyone beat the widows that fast before.” “They were almost dead,” Nestra grumbled. “Wish I could fight them at full strength.” The Tiger Den guy gave her a long look. “You know, we were going to have a senior team take care of it next week for our last rotation before the world goes for open bidding again. I can make a request to get you on the roster if you want a rematch.” “Yessss. Absolutely. Here’s my number.” “A secrecy phone, huh? I guess it comes with the mask status. Very well, I’ll let you know.” Fuck yeah. Networking! Nestra had her car’s AI drive her back home while she meditated in human form. Meditation after a raid was the best way to reliably improve one’s core in humans. Ashzii didn’t have to do that which was blatantly unfair but then, Aszhii were blatantly unfair to the fucking marrow. And so were gleams. So there. The pizza was cold and Albert had left by the time she arrived. Helena was there though, watching vids on the couch. She was pungent. Nestra sighed. It was time for her to act as the big sister. “So, how did it go?” she asked. “Oh, we talked to the cat woman. She was marginally less batshit than the photo made it seem. She has a shelter for wild cats — do you know that some of them are awakening? I didn’t.” “I, uh, I think I read an article about it a while ago. It’s slow, right?” “Right. Humans are adapting the fastest, somehow. Apparently scientists are not sure why because there is no correlation between intellect and animal awakening rate. Anyway! We placed those cameras and Albert cooked up some program to monitor suspicious movement using the city AI’s framework as Enjoy reading on NovelHub - your free online novel platform. Apparently it’s a monthly subscription fee. Nothing weird so far. He said he’d text me if something came up.” Helena blushed at this moment. It was absolutely obvious because she was so damn pale and now her ears were the color of tulips. “Look,” Nestra said, “you did more than just place the cameras, right? And something else went up, right?” “Dammit. The asexual woman is making innuendos.” “I’m sorry to make it awkward, sister dear…” “Ok, we made out. Like, a lot.” “Yeah, I just wanted to give you a heads up since the adults are raiding. I mean, the older adults. Yeah, you smell like arousal.” It was awkward as fuck but it had to be done. “I was spared this but if you want to avoid heavy looks and veiled questions… Look, mom and dad are nice but, you know, just be aware they can tell.” Helena slapped her forehead. She was embarrassed as hell, and even if embarrassing Helena was pretty much Nestra’s sworn duty, she still felt bad about it. “Life’s hell for gleam teens. Riel.” “I’m sorry. I thought it would be better if I warned you, you know.” “Ugh. Shower time, I guess. What about you?” “I still need to return to the sulfur portal to finish off the Guardian. I’m busy tomorrow so I thought I’d get it out of the way.” “I thought you insisted we go two by two for safety’s sake?” “For your safeties,” Nestra explained. “You guys are still school kids. I’m an adult, and I have my secret weapon.” “Ah, yeah. Well, I’m not going. My nose has had enough for today.” So did Nestra’s but she wisely decided to keep it to herself. The guardian turned out to be a larger version of the worm/fleshballs/mudballs hybrids and since it wasn’t very mobile, Nestra just turned it into an icicle-ravaged ice cube before moving it for the decapitation. The final reward turned out to be a small slab of lapis-lazuli, a pleasant surprise that would sell well with the city’s makeup industry. It was apparently a rare reward for this repeating world. She meditated more on her way home. By that time, it was already past ten and human Nestra was completely beat. Aszhii Nestra still raided until 4 AM in a low C-class world. It was a more dangerous version of the fae wars with a plethora of low level spellcasters that kept spamming attack spells. They improved her mana regen, which tended to lag behind. She still felt like she needed something more dangerous to really progress, but the most challenging worlds were locked behind contracts or were guild properties. She needed options, or she needed crime. Her shadow manipulation was steadily improving. Maybe it was time to put it to good use… Or maybe she could raid outside of the walls. That would be interesting. It was a dangerous hellscape hidden behind cavernous walls, a world with its own rules, where prey didn’t exist yet predators abounded. It was one of the most dangerous locations of Threshold where fortunes had been made and lost, hearts had been broken, and mercy was but an amusing concept. Nestra should never have come here, yet duty pushed her forward in the frigid temperatures anyway. Girding her loins and her courage she boldly stepped forward into the bowels of the beast while promising herself a nice slice of eighteen months old comte cheese on toasted full bread with a glass of Pinot Gris on the side later to make up for the ignominy. “Good evening, and welcome to the Guild Association charity gala! May I see your invitation?” Nestra sent the polite aug her virtual ticket. Her parents were raiding with aunt Claire while Ulysses had some kind of private evening with his girlfriend so it fell to her, the eldest daughter, to defend the honor of the family. The fucking fuckers had to have planned it on purpose Riel dammit. “Enjoy your evening, ma’am.” The gala would take place in the titanic receiving room of the Town Hall, the only part of the Trinity she almost never visited. While the Beacon focused on gleam affairs and the Guardian housed the city’s military, the Town Hall was the den of the government and, as one of its lower cogs, Nestra had never been invited. This was the mayor’s seat, where that great apparatus kept the industry running, the trade flourishing, and guilds from getting out of hand. Her steps carried her up marble stairs and past elected officials, celebrities, and guild representatives to the monumental gates of Threshold’s beating heart. It looked really nice and she couldn’t miss the sealed domes of concealed turrets on the ceiling. Inside, she was directed to her table by a fussy man with an impressive hairstyle and the ability to make visitors feel like they were a pushy friend they’d always known or something. Nestra retreated behind her freshly forged Ice Princess persona. Since she looked cold, had power, and muscles, and also because she was conventionally attractive, then it was fitting to remain quiet and pretend she entertained profound thoughts. The alternative was to stuff her face with canapes while avoiding eye contact. As tempting as it was, she was here as a Palladian. She would not let her parents down out of spite. Or hunger. A massive gathering of tables awaited in front of a large platform covered by a thick red curtain, the only gaudy concession to a building that otherwise favored Art Deco. The representative of the Century Guild greeted Nestra warmly as she arrived on her own, a favor she returned. There were a few other distantly aligned guilds sitting nearby, so Nestra found herself greeting old family friends who seemed genuinely pleased to see her here. “Ah, your parents were so worried, little one. It makes me pleased to see you here all grown up. And with such good mana control right after your awakening! I am eager to see how you will progress.” Nestra smiled and nodded. Those old men and women hidden under the timeless appearance of C-class gleams formed the social fabric that held the city together, oiling the hinges of bureaucracy, diplomacy, and trade so the raiders could focus on killing. She had a surprisingly pleasant time getting acquainted with House Palladian’s network of acquaintances — perhaps because they kept praising her, until a sudden cry made her raise her head. “Nes? It really is you!” Nestra found herself nose to nose with a tall, lanky woman with pale skin and very dark irises. She recognized an extremely rare obsidian affinity from the sharp and unyielding mana. The woman was high D-class but her aura was too smooth and fragile to be one of a raider. There was nothing familiar about her. “Hmm, sorry I can’t place you.” The woman was trailed by a slightly shorter man with broad shoulders and a worried look. Even being a gleam, he had a receding hairline of thin dark hair. Like his partner, he was not a raider. Her own ice reacted with his water by attempting to freeze it which forced Nestra to consciously hold herself back. “I’m Sysy!” the tall woman said excitedly. Nestra blinked. She gasped, her mind dragged to a sudden trip down memory lane. “Wait Sylvia? You’re all grown up!” “Hahaha, yes! You too. Obviously.” She blushed, readjusting long brown hair. Her dress was nice but not too nice. Similarly, the man’s suit lacked the high end polish of custom works. “It has been a very long time. How are you holding up?” “Oh, Larry and I are on the cusp of some major improvements with high tensile strength… but that’s not important, haha. We’re researchers with the Threshold branch of Aegis Inc. And you, I’d heard from Luna that you’d recovered! She follows raider news. I don’t. Ah, but I always wanted to say… I’m so sorry I didn’t reach out after you dropped out of school, and after we were such good friends in the preparatory class too. I betrayed your trust.” “It’s fine,” Nestra replied as she remembered all those severed friendships in the wake of the disastrous discovery. “I don’t think I was ready to face any of you. It was a… difficult moment. We were all teenagers.” “Still, I can’t help but feel like I let you down.” “No you did not, Sylvie,” Nestra said with confidence. “There is nothing you could have said to regrow my core. By the way, this is…” The man gave her a friendly nod though he stayed a step behind his partner in a display of low confidence. “Larry, my husband. Don’t be shy!” “Larry and I have been married for three years. Oh, we have a little one at home but we left her with her grandma so we could finally have a night out. We must sound so boring, haha.” Nestra considered her old friend’s words. A year before, Nestra had been waiting to see if her body gave out or if a monster finally killed her as she fought off chronic mana starvation with the stoic strength of despair. “Actually it sounds like you have your shit together, pardon the expression.” It apparently meant a lot to them. “So you are a raider now, right?” Larry asked, to which Nestra nodded. She was more or less sticking to her icy persona but with her friends in front of her, she allowed a slight smile to express her pleasure. It was weird meeting Sylvie after so long. It felt a bit like reconnecting with the lost years. “Oh you HAVE to come with us one floor up. They have those dueling arenas with novelty plastic weapons for people to fight!”