Chapter 78:Final preparation.
Chapter 78: 78:Final preparation.
Eventually Silver remembered something.
"Oh."
He opened the system inventory. A warm orange flame appeared inside a crystal vial.
Ravenna’s eyes widened.
"What is that?"
Silver carefully placed it on the table.
"I got it today," he said with a smile, "It’s called a Soul Tempering Flame."
Ravenna looked confused.
Silver explained, "It improves synchronization between contractors and their beasts. It’ll make training with your fire much smoother."
She stared at the flame then at him.
"...You’re giving this to me?"
Silver nodded as though it were obvious.
"I don’t need it."
"...You do. You might find another fire wolf and..."
"No," he cut her off firmly.
"I have something else."
That wasn’t entirely a lie. The Void Tempering Fruit suited him far better. Ravenna looked at the crystal for several long seconds then quietly accepted it with both hands.
"...Thank you."
This time the words carried even more emotion than before. Silver simply smiled.
"You’ll need it more than I do."
Ravenna nodded and carefully placed it inside the pockets of her jumper.
"You should integrate it during the night, we’ll be training nonstop as we go. We’ve only got three weeks to master everything since we’ll have to arrive at Alpha 3 a week before or we’ll probably end up sleeping in the car."
Ravenna nodded. "I know, the traffic during that week will probably be crazy."
Silver nodded. "Yeah, it’s not going to be pretty."
He stood up and stretched slightly. Ravenna followed right after.
"You should rest, things aren’t going to be easy," he quietly said.
Ravenna nodded. Silver turned to leave.
"I should get going."
"Okay, take care."
Silver glanced back then closed the door softly behind him. He leaned against the wall for a second, to catch himself before heading outside.
Silver checked his watch when he stepped outside, the sun had already set and it was around seven o’clock, the time when traffic was at its peak.
The streets had changed completely from how they looked during the day; large floodlights illuminated the roads, contractor patrols moved between intersections and restaurants were packed with hunters returning from expeditions.
Everywhere he looked, people carried weapons stained with dried beast blood. Some laughed loudly over successful hunts while others silently mourned empty seats at their tables.
That was simply life in a Sanctuary, some people returned while others never did.
Silver climbed into the family-issued vehicle and rested both hands on the steering wheel. He didn’t start the engine immediately, instead, he stared at the navigation display.
Tomorrow they would leave Delta-3. The journey to the Academy would take weeks even with a contractor vehicle, long enough for dozens of things to go wrong.
He wasn’t traveling alone anymore or only responsible for himself. Ravenna would be beside him which meant one thing, he had to prepare properly.
He started the car a few moments later. The vehicle quietly pulled away from the hotel. Instead of returning home, Silver headed toward one of the largest contractor markets in the Sanctuary.
Even late into the evening, the district remained brightly lit. Massive electronic billboards advertised beast cores, protective armor, healing medicine, navigation equipment, and weapon upgrades.
Rows upon rows of stores stretched into the distance. Some sold everyday contractor supplies. Others dealt in equipment worth hundreds of thousands of points.
Silver parked in a paid parking lot, locked the vehicle then entered the market.
The foot traffic was enormous; there were contractors everywhere, and everyone was trying to make a purchase.
The first stop was obvious.
Weapons.
He already possessed decent firearms provided by the family but "decent" wasn’t enough anymore. He needed equipment that could survive a long expedition.
The bell above the door chimed softly as he entered one of the Sanctuary’s oldest weapon stores. The interior smelled faintly of machine oil and polished steel.
Every wall displayed weapons; long swords, short swords, combat spears, heavy axes, reinforced bows, and modified firearms. Even strange weapons Silver couldn’t immediately identify.
An elderly man looked up from behind the counter. His left arm had clearly been replaced by a mechanical prosthetic. His right eye glowed faintly blue.
A veteran. Silver could tell immediately.
The man smiled.
"Looking for something specific?"
Silver nodded.
"I’ll be leaving the Sanctuary tomorrow."
The shopkeeper’s expression immediately became more serious.
"Academy?"
"Yes."
"Then don’t waste your money on flashy equipment."
Silver smiled.
"I wasn’t planning to."
"Good. I’ve seen enough children not listen to my advice."
It felt weird being called a child but there wasn’t much he could do.
The old man walked around the counter.
"What style?"
"Balanced. Anything from Guns, swords, and knives."
The shopkeeper nodded approvingly.
"Reasonable."
He led Silver toward a rack near the back.
"These are military quality. Reliable and no unnecessary decorations."
Silver appreciated that. Most contractor weapons tried far too hard to look impressive. He preferred practicality.
The old man picked up a combat sword.
"The blade is reinforced using condensed beast bone. It’ll comfortably kill Tier Three beasts. It can injure Tier Four. And it’ll survive clashes with Tier Five."
Silver accepted it. The balance felt excellent; not too heavy and not too light. Almost as though it naturally wanted to move.
"This is good."
The old man smiled.
"I thought you’d like it."
Silver purchased two identical swords. One for himself and one spare, or perhaps eventually for Ravenna if needed.
The old man approved of that decision.
"Always carry a backup."
Silver also bought several replacement combat knives, a cleaning kit, extra firearm magazines, armor-piercing ammunition, general ammunition, and emergency maintenance tools.
The total climbed painfully rapidly. Still... these weren’t luxuries, they were necessities.
His next stop specialized in contractor electronics. Compared to the weapon shop, the building looked almost futuristic. Holographic displays floated through the air, portable drones buzzed overhead and navigation equipment filled entire shelves.
A young saleswoman approached him.
"What can I help you with?"
"I need a long-range direction module."
Her smile immediately became professional.
"Personal? Or Convoy?"
"Expedition."
She nodded.
"This way."
Several modules appeared on the counter. Silver ignored the cheaper ones since he’d been using those.
The saleswoman noticed.
"Planning a dangerous route?"
"Yes."
She reached beneath the counter and then produced another case.
"This one isn’t displayed."
Silver looked inside. His eyebrows rose slightly. The craftsmanship alone looked exceptional.
The saleswoman smiled.
"The newest military contractor model, only a few in the market. Sourced from one of the Alpha Sanctuaries. It maps Sanctuary roads, updates damaged routes, detects environmental hazards, stores thousands of kilometers of travel history, works without a network connection, and the best part, extremely difficult to jam."
Silver immediately chose it. It was painfully expensive but worth every point. Navigation mistakes kill contractors every year. He refused to become one of them.
"Anything else?"
"Trackers. Good ones."
She laughed.
"How good?"
"The best."
That answer surprised her. She nodded approvingly. Moments later she returned with several small black devices.
"Signal range?" He asked
"Nearly five hundred kilometers. It’s waterproof, shockproof, heat resistant and they automatically reconnect after signal interference."
Silver bought three; one for himself, one for Ravenna, and one spare. If they became separated... Finding each other could mean the difference between life and death.