Ch11 Forming A Team

The City Lord had barely disappeared before the plaza erupted.

Thousands of recruits began moving at once.

Names were shouted across the crowd. Friends shoved through clusters of strangers trying to find one another. Others abandoned familiarity altogether and started openly recruiting anyone whose Talent sounded useful.

Ryan watched one boy climb onto the edge of the fountain and yell that he needed a healer.

Three different people immediately shouted back.

Another group was arguing over whether six members was close enough to the City Lord's recommended five.

It was chaos.

Ryan turned toward Jessica and Raven.

"We need a squad."

Jessica looked around at the rapidly forming groups.

"Four or five."

"Five," Ryan said immediately. "More options, more coverage, more people watching each other's backs."

Raven's eyes swept across the plaza.

"Assuming the other two don't panic the first time something tries to eat us."

Ryan glanced at her.

"Optimistic."

"I'm practical."

Jessica rested a hand near her holstered sidearm.

"We shouldn't just grab the first two people we see."

"Agreed."

Ryan studied the crowd.

Everyone was doing the same thing now.

Evaluating.

Judging.

Trying to determine which strangers might keep them alive and which ones might become liabilities once they crossed the city walls.

The whole thing felt disturbingly close to a team-selection screen in one of Ryan's games.

Except nobody respawned here.

"Combat ability matters," Jessica said, "but so does personality. We need people who can keep their heads."

Raven nodded.

"And preferably something we don't already have."

Ryan looked between them.

His barrier gave them defense and battlefield control.

Jessica had ranged precision.

Whatever Raven's Talent was, she hadn't explained it yet, though Ryan suspected from her confidence that she'd figured it out last night.

They needed versatility.

"All right," Ryan said. "Let's look."

The three pushed deeper into the plaza.

They passed dozens of potential recruits.

One boy was loudly advertising a fire Talent while demonstrating tiny flames above his fingertips.

Another group had already formed around a girl who claimed she could accelerate healing.

Several recruits were lying about what they could do so obviously that even Ryan could tell.

Then he noticed two people who weren't shouting.

They stood near the edge of the large stone fountain.

The first was a girl with rich brown skin and long black hair streaked naturally—or perhaps deliberately—with silver. A pale scar crossed her left cheek, pulling the skin there into a slight indentation whenever she clenched her jaw.

While everyone around her scrambled to find teammates, she calmly studied a Skynet interface floating in front of her.

No panic.

No wasted movement.

Just information.

The boy beside her was almost the opposite.

He couldn't stop moving.

Short black hair, lean build, quick eyes.

He paced a small circle while studying everyone passing nearby. His attention shifted constantly between equipment, body language, weapons, and group sizes.

Then his eyes found Ryan.

The evaluation lasted less than a second.

His gaze moved to Jessica.

Then Raven.

Then back to Ryan.

The boy smiled.

A gap showed where one of his front teeth should have been.

"You three looking for two more?"

Ryan stopped.

"That obvious?"

"You've got three people and you're staring at everybody like you're shopping."

Ryan glanced at Jessica.

"He's observant."

"Or we're obvious," Raven said.

The boy shrugged.

"Both can be true."

Ryan liked him already.

"I'm Ryan."

He gestured beside him.

"Jessica. Raven."

"Ben."

The boy offered his hand.

Ryan shook it.

Ben jerked his head toward the girl beside him.

"And that's Dezzy."

The girl closed her interface.

Her dark eyes moved across Ryan's group with the same clinical attention she'd given the screen.

"Desiree," she corrected.

Ben rolled his eyes.

"You told me everyone calls you Dezzy."

"They do."

"Then why—"

"Because he introduced me before I could introduce myself."

Ben looked at Ryan.

"She's fun."

Dezzy ignored him.

Ryan suppressed a smile.

"What can you two do?"

Dezzy answered immediately.

"Body Control."

Jessica tilted her head.

"How broad is that?"

"Currently?"

Dezzy lifted one hand.

The muscles beneath her forearm visibly tightened.

For an instant, the structure of her arm seemed to change. The muscle became denser, harder, the tendons standing out beneath her skin.

Then it relaxed.

"I can consciously alter aspects of my body's physical configuration. Muscle recruitment. Density. Joint alignment. Metabolic output. Limited dermal hardening."

Raven's interest sharpened.

"You can make yourself stronger?"

"For short periods."

"Faster?"

"Yes."

"Tougher?"

"To a degree."

Dezzy folded her arms.

"Every adjustment costs X Energy, and pushing too far places physical stress on the affected tissue. I tested that already."

Ben snorted.

"She spent half the night punching her wall."

Dezzy looked at him.

"It was controlled experimentation."

"You dented it."

"That established useful information."

Ryan grinned.

"What about ranged attacks?"

"None."

Dezzy's answer was immediate.

"My Talent is entirely physical."

Raven nodded approvingly.

"Front line."

"Correct."

Ryan looked at Ben.

"And you?"

Ben's grin returned.

"Space Storage."

Ryan's eyebrows rose.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

Ben held out one hand.

The air above his palm distorted.

A dark slit appeared.

It was small, perhaps six inches across, but Ryan couldn't see through it. The opening looked less like a hole and more like a section of space had simply been removed.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from NovelPhoenix. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Ben reached inside.

His hand vanished to the wrist.

Then he pulled out a ration bar.

Ryan stared.

Ben took a bite.

"Breakfast."

Jessica stepped closer.

"You have an inventory?"

"Basically."

Ben tossed the ration bar back into the opening.

It disappeared.

The spatial slit closed.

"I don't know the exact volume yet. Skynet refuses to tell me, which apparently means I have to discover it myself. Putting things in and taking them out costs a little X Energy, but keeping them stored doesn't."

Ryan immediately understood the value.

"Food. Medical supplies. Ammunition."

"Monster parts," Ben added.

"Extra weapons."

"Crystals."

Jessica smiled.

"No backpacks full of disgusting alien organs."

Ben pointed at her.

"Exactly. Finally, somebody appreciates me."

Ryan glanced at Raven.

"Those two work."

Raven didn't answer immediately.

She studied Ben.

Then Dezzy.

"You both willing to fight?"

Ben's smile became slightly less playful.

"If I have to."

Dezzy simply said, "Yes."

"And if something goes wrong?"

Ben shrugged.

"I'd rather run away alive than die proving how brave I am."

Raven nodded.

"Good answer."

Ryan looked between the five of them.

"All right. Before we make anything official, we should probably know what everybody brings."

He tapped his chest.

"Absolute Energy Barrier. I create solid barriers from X Energy. They're expensive to form and take around two seconds, but once they're created, I can move them with Mental Energy or leave them fixed in place."

Ben's eyes widened.

"You can make portable cover?"

"Pretty much."

"That's useful."

Jessica rested a hand against her sidearm.

"Deadshot. Enhanced perception, trajectory calculation, weak-point identification, and I can reinforce projectile attacks with X Energy."

Ben looked at Ryan.

"She's scarier than you."

"I know."

Raven lifted her hand.

"Push."

Ryan looked at her.

"That's your Talent?"

"Yep."

"Just Push?"

Raven gave him a warning look.

Ryan raised both hands.

"Great name."

Raven extended her palm toward an empty patch of plaza.

"I condense X Energy and release it as kinetic force. Short charge gives me a shove. Longer charge..."

She curled her fingers.

"...gives me a much bigger shove."

"How big?"

"Haven't had enough space to find out."

Ben stepped slightly farther away from her.

"Noted."

Raven smiled.

"I can control the general direction, but it's not precise enough for single-target shooting. Think crowd control."

Ryan nodded.

That filled another gap.

His barriers controlled terrain.

Raven could force enemies away from them.

Jessica handled ranged offense.

Dezzy fought up close.

Ben gave them storage and logistics.

Not perfect.

But for five newly Awakened teenagers who had met half an hour ago?

Ryan liked it.

Dezzy appeared to reach the same conclusion.

"Barrier defense. Precision ranged offense. Kinetic displacement. Physical close combat. Spatial logistics."

She looked around the group.

"Minimal redundancy."

Ben stared at her.

"You make friendship sound incredibly exciting."

"Friendship was not one of the evaluated variables."

Jessica laughed.

Before anyone could respond, a harsh tone cut through the plaza.

Every recruit froze.

Ryan's Skynet interface flashed crimson.

A large notification expanded across his vision.

[ MANDATORY EXCLIPSE DIRECTIVE ]

[ FIRST HUNT ]

[ ISSUED BY: CAPTAIN UNKUD ]

[ OBJECTIVE: ENTER THE PERIMETER WILDERNESS ]

[ ELIMINATE LOCAL ESOTERIC FAUNA ]

[ ACQUIRE: 1 LOW-GRADE X ENERGY CRYSTAL ]

[ COMPLETION REWARD: 5 LOW-GRADE X ENERGY CRYSTALS ]

[ FAILURE TO COMPLY: DISMISSAL FROM EXCLIPSE TRAINING ]

[ DISMISSED CADETS FORFEIT CITY RESIDENCY STATUS ]

The plaza became strangely quiet.

Ryan reread the final lines.

Ben whistled.

"That's one way to motivate people."

Jessica's expression hardened.

"Dismissal means exile."

"On this planet?" Raven said. "Might as well be."

Around them, the panic changed character.

A moment ago everyone had been worried about forming squads.

Now they had a deadline hanging over them.

Ryan checked the directive again.

No completion time was displayed.

That didn't make him feel better.

Dezzy tightened one of the straps across her chest.

"We should leave before the closest hunting grounds become overcrowded."

Ben nodded.

"Thousands of people chasing the same weak monsters isn't going to work."

Ryan raised a hand.

"Not yet."

Dezzy looked at him.

"We have no map, no beast information, no idea what lives outside those walls, and no idea how the city economy actually works."

"We know we need crystals," Ben said.

"We also know we're on a Class-Three frontier world."

That quieted him.

Ryan gestured toward the enormous city surrounding them.

"If we run outside because everyone else is running outside, we're gambling that the first thing we meet is something we can kill."

Jessica nodded.

"He's right."

Raven looked toward the distant city gates.

"So what do you suggest?"

"Information."

Ryan pointed toward the market districts surrounding the plaza.

"There are people here who've survived this place already. Merchants. Older recruits. Hunters. Somebody knows what's outside those walls."

He looked at the others.

"Twenty minutes."

Dezzy's eyebrows lifted slightly.

"We split up, gather whatever information we can, then meet back here. Terrain. Creatures. Prices. Gate rules. Anything useful."

Ben grinned.

"Now that I can work with."

Ryan pointed.

"Jessica and Raven, talk to the older human recruits. Ben and Dezzy, check the vendors and equipment markets. I'll see what Skynet gives us and ask around."

Jessica smiled.

"Look at you giving orders already."

"I'm not giving orders."

"You literally just assigned everyone jobs."

Ryan paused.

"Suggestions."

"Very forceful suggestions."

Raven sighed.

"Can we argue about leadership after we know what wants to eat us?"

"Good suggestion," Ryan said.

Dezzy raised one finger.

"Potential problem."

Everyone looked at her.

"I already queried Skynet for a regional beast database."

"And?"

A display appeared above her wrist.

[ REGIONAL FAUNA DATABASE — PERIMETER ZONE ]

[ ACCESS FEE: 5 LOW-GRADE X ENERGY CRYSTALS ]

Ryan stared.

"Five?"

"For basic access."

"That's our entire mission reward."

"Correct."

Ryan immediately opened his own interface.

"Skynet, perimeter wilderness map."

A prompt appeared.

[ REGIONAL MAP DATA — PERIMETER WILDERNESS ]

[ ACCESS FEE: 5 LOW-GRADE X ENERGY CRYSTALS ]

Ryan's face fell.

"You've got to be kidding."

Ben laughed.

"Welcome to the economy."

Ryan dismissed the window.

"Fine. We do it the ancient way."

Jessica raised an eyebrow.

"Talking to people?"

"Terrifying, I know."

"Twenty minutes," Raven said.

They separated.

Ryan followed one of the main thoroughfares away from the plaza.

Now that he wasn't standing beneath the City Lord or surrounded by thousands of panicking recruits, he finally had time to absorb the city properly.

It was enormous.

The streets were paved in dark stone polished smooth by generations of traffic. Buildings rose hundreds of feet on either side, their facades mixing black rock, metal, glass, and materials Ryan couldn't identify. Holographic advertisements floated above storefronts, displaying weapons, food, armor, cultivation services, medical treatments, and products from species Ryan had never seen.

Ryan stopped beneath one.

Alien symbols shifted across the display.

He understood them.

Not vaguely.

Perfectly.

The moment he looked at the script, meaning appeared in his mind as naturally as reading English.

[ VARKESH COMBAT OUTFITTERS ]

[ ARMOR REPAIR — WEAPON MODIFICATION — BEAST MATERIAL EXCHANGE ]

Ryan frowned.

"Skynet?"

[ AWAITING QUERY. ]

"Are you translating that?"

[ AFFIRMATIVE. LOCAL LANGUAGE AND TEXTUAL TRANSLATION IS ACTIVE. ]

Ryan looked around.

Every alien conversation he could hear suddenly became more noticeable.

He had assumed they were speaking some common language.

They weren't.

Skynet was translating all of it.

"That's useful."

[ QUERY COMPLETE. ]

"Wasn't a compliment."

No response.

Ryan continued walking.

There were no conventional cars.

Most locals traveled on foot, while wealthier-looking aliens rode massive creatures fitted with armored saddles or used hovering platforms that moved silently above the streets. Far overhead, sleek spacecraft rested on landing structures built into the upper levels of towers.

Ryan couldn't stop looking.

For someone who had spent his childhood watching combat streams from other worlds, actually standing inside an alien city should have felt like a dream.

The locals ruined that feeling quickly.

They noticed him.

More specifically, they noticed that he was human.

A tall, four-armed alien looked Ryan up and down before making a disgusted sound and stepping around him.

Another pulled a child closer when Ryan passed.

A merchant stared openly at his Exclipse uniform, then turned away.

Ryan frowned.

"Okay."

He approached a heavily armored quadrupedal alien whose species looked vaguely familiar from school.

"Excuse me. Do you know anything about the hunting grounds outside the eastern—"

The alien walked directly past him.

Its armored shoulder clipped Ryan hard enough to turn him sideways.

Ryan caught himself.

"Or don't answer. That's fine."

He tried another.

Then another.

One ignored him.

One hissed.

A third looked at him long enough for Ryan to think he might answer, then said something Skynet translated as:

"Beg elsewhere, human."

Ryan stopped trying.

The message was clear.

Whatever place humans occupied in this city's hierarchy, it wasn't high.

He changed strategy.

Human recruits were easier to find once he knew what to look for.

Not the fresh ones.

The older ones.

Dirty armor.

Damaged equipment.

Eyes that constantly tracked the people around them.

Near the edge of a market square, Ryan spotted four resting beside a massive stone pillar.

One was repairing a strap on his armor.

Another ate from a small metal container.

The other two simply sat.

Ryan approached slowly.

"Hey."

A lean man with a scar along his jaw looked up.

His eyes traveled over Ryan's pristine uniform.

He snorted.

"Fresh."

"That obvious?"

"You still look clean."

Ryan glanced down at himself.

"Fair."

The veteran returned to the strap.

"What do you want?"

"Information."

"Costs crystals."

Ryan smiled.

"I don't have any."

"I know."

A woman beside him laughed quietly.

Ryan leaned against the opposite side of the pillar.

"I'm Ryan."

Nobody introduced themselves.

"Good talk."

The scarred man glanced at him again.

Ryan continued.

"Captain Unkud ordered us outside for a First Hunt. We need one low-grade crystal."

That got their attention.

The woman stopped eating.

"Unkud?"

Ryan nodded.

The veterans exchanged looks.

"You're new Exclipse intake?" the scarred man asked.

"Awakened yesterday."

His expression changed.

"Yesterday?"

Ryan nodded.

"And they sent you here?"

"Apparently."

The man muttered something Ryan couldn't make out.

The woman stared at Ryan's uniform.

"Rank?"

"Unranked. One Qi Point."

She swore.

Ryan's unease deepened.

"That's encouraging."

The scarred veteran leaned back against the pillar.

"When we came through, they didn't send people here straight after Awakening."

Ryan became very still.

"What did they do?"

"Training."

"How much?"

"Enough that we knew which end of a weapon pointed toward the enemy."

Ryan didn't laugh.

The veteran's expression remained hard.

"This isn't a beginner world."

"We figured that part out."

"No."

The man looked directly at him.

"You don't understand."

Ryan waited.

"This entire planet sits on a contested Dungeon network."

Ryan's brow furrowed.

"Contested by who?"

The woman answered.

"Everyone."

She set aside her food.

"Elves. Dwarves. Orcs. Sometimes smaller factions that change every few months. The Dungeon layers beneath this territory connect to resource zones worth fighting over."

Ryan thought of Lieutenant Walker's briefing on Earth.

Enemy species.

Dungeon warfare.

Exclipse operations.

Those things had been described as the future.

Something he'd face after years of training.

"You're saying there are active enemy forces here?"

The scarred man laughed without humor.

"Kid, this is an active front."

Ryan's stomach tightened.

"We're supposed to be training."

"Then someone has a very different definition of training than the people who processed us."

The woman pointed toward the distant walls.

"Don't panic yet. The immediate perimeter isn't the same as the deep wilderness. City patrols and hunters keep the worst things away from the walls."

"What's near the gates?"

"Mostly Rank-Zero fauna. Some Rank One."

Ryan focused.

"Mostly?"

"Nothing in the wilderness reads the signs telling it where it's supposed to stay."

Fair enough.

"What about Dungeons?"

"Stay away."

The answer came from all four veterans.

Ryan blinked.

The scarred man leaned forward.

"I'm serious. You see a Dungeon entrance, you turn around."

"Even a low-rank one?"

"Especially if you don't know who controls it."

The woman continued.

"Beasts are predictable. Rival factions aren't. If you walk into a Dungeon claimed by an Elven raiding party or Dwarven extraction team, they aren't going to stop and ask whether you're a trainee."

Ryan imagined walking around a corner and encountering an actual enemy soldier.

Not a simulated opponent.

Not a monster.

An intelligent being who wanted him dead.

He swallowed.

"What else?"

The veterans shared more after that.

Not freely.

Ryan had to keep asking.

Which areas near the wall were safest.

What creatures were commonly hunted.

How much ammunition cost.

Which vendors cheated humans most aggressively.

How the gates worked.

Which city districts to avoid after dark.

Some answers contradicted each other.

Ryan tried to remember all of them anyway.

Then the scarred man mentioned something that made him stop.

"Two crystals."

Ryan frowned.

"What?"

"Gate toll."

"City Lord said coming back costs crystals."

"Two low-grade crystals per person."

Ryan did the math immediately.

Five people.

Ten crystals.

Their First Hunt required them to acquire only one.

Even with the five-crystal completion reward, they wouldn't have enough to bring an entire squad back through the gate if each person had to pay individually.

"Wait."

Ryan straightened.

"If we leave broke, how are new recruits supposed to get back in?"

The woman smiled grimly.

"Now you're understanding."

Ryan stared at her.

"You need to earn enough outside."

"Or stay outside."

"That's insane."

"It's profitable."

Ryan looked toward the distant walls.

The First Hunt suddenly had a very different meaning.

They weren't being asked to kill one creature.

Not really.

They needed enough crystals to return.

The veteran tapped Ryan's sidearm.

"Don't waste ammunition."

Ryan looked down.

"Why?"

"Because replacing it isn't cheap."

"How bad?"

"Depends on the merchant. Five low-grade crystals for a standard refill if they don't decide to charge you the human price."

Ryan grimaced.

The veteran continued.

"Your sidearm will handle most Rank-Zero fauna if you hit something important. Rank One is another story."

"How many shots?"

"Too many."

The woman nodded toward a weapon shop.

"Buy a melee weapon as soon as you can afford one. Spear's good for beginners. Reach keeps teeth away from your face."

Ryan filed that away.

His twenty-minute timer flashed.

[ 01:02 ]

He pushed away from the pillar.

"Thanks."

The scarred veteran looked at him.

"Kid."

Ryan stopped.

"Yeah?"

"Don't mistake staying near the wall for being safe."

Ryan's expression sobered.

"I won't."

"And don't trust somebody just because they're human."

Ryan remembered the City Lord saying almost exactly the same thing.

"Noted."

The veteran returned to repairing his armor.

Ryan headed back toward the fountain.

Everyone else had arrived before him.

Ben sat on the fountain's edge.

Dezzy stood beside him.

Jessica and Raven were talking quietly.

Ryan approached.

"All right. What did we learn?"

Ben raised a hand.

"Aliens hate us."

Jessica pointed at him.

"That was also our primary discovery."

Raven crossed her arms.

"We tried talking to six different species."

"Seven," Jessica corrected.

"One threatened to eat you."

"I still count him."

Ryan looked at Dezzy.

"Same?"

"Most merchants would answer transactional questions."

"Meaning?"

"If we asked what something cost, they answered. If we asked for advice, they ignored us."

Ben leaned back.

"Apparently wisdom isn't complimentary."

Ryan nodded.

"Sounds about right."

Jessica stepped forward.

"We eventually found older human recruits. They said the perimeter immediately outside the city is the least dangerous hunting zone."

"Mostly Rank-Zero beasts," Raven added. "The stronger predators tend to stay farther out because there isn't enough prey close to the walls."

"City patrols also kill anything too dangerous that gets near the gates," Jessica said. "Not for our benefit. They just don't want large predators interfering with trade."

Ryan nodded.

"That matches what I heard."

Dezzy continued.

"The Rank-Zero beasts aren't harmless. They are simply considered economically worthless by stronger hunters."

"Which is good for us," Ben said. "Nobody else wants them."

"Except the thousands of recruits who just arrived," Raven pointed out.

Ben's smile faded.

"Right."

Ryan looked toward the gate routes.

"We'll need to move quickly."

"What did you learn?" Jessica asked.

"A lot."

Ryan explained the translation system first.

Then the Dungeon network.

The rival factions.

The warnings about deeper wilderness.

By the time he finished describing Elven raiding parties and Dwarven extraction teams, the mood had changed.

Ben no longer looked amused.

"We're on an active front?"

"Apparently."

Dezzy's expression remained controlled, but her jaw tightened.

"We should avoid all Dungeon entrances."

"That's exactly what they told me."

"Good."

Ryan continued.

"Next problem. The reentry toll is two low-grade crystals per person."

Silence.

Ben sat upright.

"Two?"

"Each."

"There are five of us."

"Yep."

Jessica did the calculation.

"Ten crystals just to come back."

"Before food," Raven said.

"Before lodging," Dezzy added.

"Before monthly taxes," Ryan finished.

Ben stared toward the city walls.

"Suddenly exile sounds less like a punishment and more like their business model."

Nobody disagreed.

Dezzy opened a market screen.

"Equipment pricing is equally unfavorable."

She shared the information.

"A standard ammunition refill for our issued sidearms averages five low-grade crystals."

Ryan grimaced.

"Same number I got."

Ben tapped his holster.

"So every time we pull the trigger, we should hear money disappearing."

"Approximately," Dezzy said.

"Please never become an accountant."

"I would be excellent at it."

Raven almost smiled.

Dezzy continued.

"Projectile weapons remain effective against Rank-Zero fauna. Efficiency declines substantially against Rank-One organisms without Talent enhancement or specialized ammunition."

Jessica rested a hand on her weapon.

"My Deadshot should help."

"Which makes your ammunition more valuable," Dezzy said. "Not less."

Jessica nodded.

She understood.

Ryan looked around the group.

"Then we conserve shots."

He pointed toward Dezzy.

"You handle close combat when it's safe."

She nodded.

"Raven keeps anything dangerous away from her."

"Works for me."

"Jessica targets weak points."

Jessica smiled.

"Obviously."

"Ben stays mobile and stores anything worth carrying."

Ben placed a hand over his heart.

"The noble duty of holding everyone's garbage."

"Monster organs," Raven corrected.

"Even better."

Ryan looked at them.

"And I'll keep barriers ready before we engage."

Jessica tilted her head.

"That puts you in charge?"

Ryan paused.

"I didn't say that."

"You've made two plans in twenty minutes."

"Somebody had to."

Raven looked around.

"He's been right so far."

Ben shrugged.

"I don't care who leads as long as the plan doesn't get me eaten."

Dezzy studied Ryan.

"Temporary field leadership is efficient."

Ryan blinked.

"Wait, we're actually voting on this?"

Jessica smiled.

"Congratulations, squad leader."

Ryan stared at her.

"You started this."

"I know."

He looked at the others.

Nobody objected.

Ryan suddenly became aware that four people were waiting for him to say something.

That felt different from joking around with friends.

If they followed his decisions outside those walls and he made the wrong call, somebody could die.

The thought settled heavily in his chest.

Ryan looked toward the distant gates.

Then back at the group.

"Fine."

His voice lost some of its humor.

"But nobody blindly follows me. If I miss something, say it. If you think a plan is stupid, say it. I don't care who comes up with the right answer."

Dezzy nodded once.

"Acceptable."

Ben grinned.

"Beautiful speech."

"Shut up."

"That's my leader."

Jessica laughed.

Ryan shook his head.

"All right. One more thing."

He opened Skynet.

"Create squad."

A new interface appeared.

[ SQUAD MANAGEMENT ]

[ CREATE NEW SQUAD? ]

"Yes."

[ DESIGNATE SQUAD MEMBERS. ]

Ryan selected the four people standing around him.

Notifications appeared in their vision.

One by one, they accepted.

[ SQUAD CREATED ]

[ MEMBERS: 5 / 5 ]

Ryan Lowell

Jessica Ashmull

Raven —

Desiree "Dezzy" —

Ben —

A final prompt appeared.

[ ENTER SQUAD DESIGNATION. ]

Ryan smiled.

Jessica immediately pointed at him.

"No."

"I haven't even said anything."

"I know your face."

Ben leaned forward.

"What's he thinking?"

"Something stupid."

Ryan dismissed the naming prompt.

"We'll figure it out later."

"Best decision you've made all day," Jessica said.

Ryan looked toward the metallic signs suspended above the avenue.

Glowing arrows marked the route.

[ OUTER GATE ]

Around them, other squads were already moving.

Some hurried.

Others argued.

A few recruits had apparently abandoned the idea of leaving immediately and were desperately searching for ways to earn crystals inside the city.

Ryan adjusted his utility belt.

His sidearm rested against his hip.

One Qi Point was open.

Nine X Energy.

A Talent he'd barely begun to understand.

Five people who had never fought together.

And somewhere beyond those enormous walls were creatures capable of killing them.

His heart began beating faster.

Fear was there.

Ryan couldn't deny it anymore.

But so was excitement.

This was the first real step.

Not a test chamber.

Not a school lesson.

Not a stream watched safely from his bedroom.

The wilderness was real.

The danger was real.

And whatever happened next would belong to them.

Ryan looked at his squad.

"Stay near the walls. No Dungeons. No unnecessary fights. We get enough crystals for everyone to return before we worry about anything else."

Jessica checked her sidearm.

Raven flexed her fingers.

Dezzy rolled her shoulders.

Ben opened a tiny spatial slit, checked something inside, then closed it.

Ryan took a breath.

"Let's hunt."

The five recruits turned toward the outer gates.

Above them, the twin suns burned through the reddish sky.

Beyond the black walls of the city, something distant released a long, guttural roar.

Ryan's smile disappeared.

Ben looked toward the sound.

"Rank Zero?"

Dezzy started walking.

"Statistically impossible to determine from a roar."

Ben stared after her.

"I was making a joke."

"I know."

For the first time, Raven laughed.

Then the five of them followed the glowing signs toward the wilderness—and their first real fight.