Three days later, it was time for Acacia to meet the rest of her new team. They had gathered in the now-familiar training building.

There was of course Scalpel, the insectoid leader of the group whose mana-imbued rope dart could split a maglev in two, and Vessel, which was in charge of supplies and appraising the loot.

There were three other people Acacia hadn't met, though. First was a tall, bulky humanoid with grey skin which looked like tough leather, his left leg wrapped in a white cast.

Krag, he/him, Scavenger living in Sector 5-B.

She pushed mana into her own ID - she finally got one - and received a nod of acknowledgement.

"So you're the one who's gonna replace me?"

Krag asked while tilting his head.

"Yep, I'm your substitute bullet catcher." Acacia replied with a smirk.

The tall man grumbled under his... he actually didn't have a nose. His face was mostly flat. "We'll see about that. Being the group tank is not just being able to take a hit. You gotta know how to make sure it's you getting hit, and not the squishy folk like Scalpel here."

"I'll have you know my carapace was regarded as the sturdiest among my clan!" The leader of the group protested.

Krag waved his remark off as another member of the team entered.

Clive, se/ser, Scout living in Sector 5-B.

Clive looked like straight out of dinosaur movies Acacia used to watch in her human childhood. Se looked like a velociraptor, about as long as Krag was tall, and came up to Acacia's shoulders. Ser hands were covered in dark green feathers, and ser head sported a red frill like that of a rooster. Clive's large, slitted eyes narrowed in at Acacia as soon as se entered the room.

"You. The rookie?" Se asked. Every couple of seconds, ser head flinched that way or the other, reacting to sounds Acacia couldn't hear.

"That's me. You're the group's scout, huh?"

"Me. Senses sharp. Talons sharp. Teeth sharp. You? Wood brittle. Level low. Clive doubtful."

Acacia smiled. "I understand your scepticism. I've been working on making my fibers denser, and I heal well. Yesterday, I managed to regrow my whole arm in five minutes."

Clive took a moment to examine her. "Not lying. Clive less doubtful."

The scout seemed to consider the conversation over and se approached Vessel to talk about something.

The last member of the scavenging team entered.

Acacia's jaw dropped as she looked at the gorgeous, almost human woman. The difference was that her skin was a deep purple, and instead of hair she had small black scales covering the top of her head. The scales also covered the backs of her arms, like natural bracers. Unlike most people in Citadel, she was clothed, wearing burlap -or it looked like burlap, at least - overalls and ankle height black leather boots.

Rocebo, she/her, Engineer living in Sector 5-B.

"Holy fucking shit you're gorgeous." Acacia blurted out.

Rocebo raised an eyebrow. "Nice to meet you too. Your name?"

"Ah, sorry." Acacia activated her ID for the second time:

Acacia, she/her, Apprentice Scavenger living in Sector 5-B.

"Hm. Alright, Acacia, what are you bringing to the team besides a pair of eyes to stare at my tits?"

"I, uh, I'm gonna be a tank. I'm sturdy, I heal fast, I can shoot fire if needs be." Acacia stammered out.

"Hm."

Rocebo walked a full circle around Acacia, examining her like a specimen to be dissected. Acacia felt a spell hit her back; some kind of probe.

"Sturdy, huh? I admit, the fiber weave seems pretty solid. Though it's hard to judge just by looking, there isn't much wood in the Barren."

The engineer completed another lap around Acacia, then casually took out a hammer and swung it at her chest.

Acacia had no time to raise her arms, and the hammer crashed into her sternum.

The attack left a shallow, square indent.

"Hm. Not bad." Rocebo commented. "Though we need to improve your reaction time."

"What the fuck?!" Acacia shouted at her.

"You're gonna be a scavenger. Get used to surprise attacks. In rifted structures, there is no telling what and when will jump at you. Scalpel, you're going to spar with her. Go."

Scalpel nodded, and took out his rope dart. He got into a ready stance a few steps away from Acacia. Helen noticed what was about to happen, and cleared the stone targets from around them, forming a rudimentary arena.

"Do you bleed?" Rocebo asked Acacia.

"I leak sap if you cut deep enough, yeah." Acacia replied, resigned to her fate.

"To first blood, then. Start when I say 'go'."

"3, 2, go!"

Scalpel launched himself with a burst of speed, holding the dart like a dagger instead of throwing it. He wasn't pushing any mana into it, either.

He's holding back. Thank fuck for that. Acacia thought as she raised her arm to guard her torso. She activated [Growth Spurt] and grew even thicker bark to reinforce her lower arms.

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Scalpel raised his blade high in the air, and struck down at her, only to pivot a moment later into a sideways swipe. Acacia's newly grown armor now sported a deep groove.

Scalpel clicked his mandibles in disappointment. "That was a simple feint. How did you even survive into adulthood without knowing how to fight?"

She didn't answer, and instead reshaped her hands into spears, stabbing in his direction.

Scalpel avoided the strike without much effort, and countered with another two slashes on her bark skin.

"Stop!" Rocebo suddenly shouted. "Match over. Scalpel wins."

Acacia quickly looked at her arms, and sure enough, there were a few droplets of sap quickly hardening within one of the grooves Scalpel had made.

"That was a disaster." Rocebo summarised.

"I-"

"You have no instincts for fighting." Scalpel added.

"No spacial awareness." Clive threw in.

Krag just shook his head. Vessel said nothing.

Acacia felt like she was about to cry. Was this really how this was going to end?

She sighed. "Alright then. Sorry to disappoint."

She started walking in the direction of the exit, when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, where are you going?" Scalpel asked.

"Well, since I'm not cut out for this, I was going to go home and think about what other job I could be doing."

Scalpel's face dropped. "Oh, shit. We- okay, miscommunication. We aren't telling you you're not fit to be a Scavenger. Well, we are, but that doesn't mean you're hopeless case or whatever. You just gotta learn how to fight. Sorry if we sounded harsh. We usually don't sugar coat our feedback. In the field, you gotta tell it how it is."

Acacia swallowed, and turned back to the group.

"Come on, rookie, you've got pros teaching you here. You're gonna turn out fine." Krag said.

"You. Not the worst. Bad. But not the worst. Will get better."

Acacia's lips turned a bit upward. "Thanks. I have this problem that it's really tempting to give up if I'm not a natural at something. But... yeah. Well then, train me, dear professionals."

Rocebo smirked. "It's not going to be easy. We're going to give you quite a workout."

Acacia cracked her neck, the wood creaking as she did. "Better than boredom."

"That's the spirit!" Scalpel nodded.

A few moments later, Acacia had her injuries mended and was ready to go.

"Okay, so you're going to need a weapon. You're to slow to just use your fists, and the hand spear trick is only really good as a fallback option." Scalpel said.

"It's gotta be a polearm." She replied confidently.

"For someone with no fighting experience you seem awfully sure of the choice." He commented.

"I remember having heated discussions about the topic of what melee weapon is 'the best'. I settled on polearms. Good reach, and if the shaft is well made, it can be used as a good defensive option when the enemy does get too close. My species invented various weapons over the ages, but nothing beats the ability to stab someone from three meters away."

"Hm. Glad this was quick, at least." Rocebo commented. "Hey, Helen! What training polearms have you got in here?"

Soon, Acacia was presented with three choices: a spear, a pole axe, and staff. The staff was thicker than the other two weapons' shafts, and both ends were capped with a wider cylindrical bracing. As Acacia examined the weapons, she noticed they were all made out of some sort of plastic-like composite, similar to what her house's furniture was made from.

"What even is this material?" Acacia asked.

"Detrolite. Metals in Citadel come from scavenging or transmutation. Both methods are limited, so we stretch the supply out with magically compressed dirt." Rocebo answered.

"Like dealers cutting drugs."

The engineer snorted. "Sure."

"Are there even restricted substances in Citadel?"

"Depends on a sector's specific rules, but high yield explosives or homebrew plagues will generally get you in trouble anywhere. Enough chit-chat, take something and let's get you in proper shape."

After a moment of consideration, Acacia grabbed the staff. There was more heft behind it, and she had some ideas about making her own weapon in the future.

"Great. You're going to fight against us one after another in a rotation. Each one of us will focus on a different aspect. We'll give you pointers as you go. Clive, go first, you'll teach her attacks first and foremost." Rocebo pointed at the raptor.

Se approached Acacia. "Stance." Se commanded.

Acacia took on a stance similar to what she remembered from the movies. Which wasn't much.

"Legs wider apart. Staff higher. Lower now. Good. Looser grip. Tighter. Looser. Good enough." Clive rattled off instructions as Acacia adjusted.

"Strike me."

Acacia swung the lower end of the staff at the raptor's head. Se moved it slightly, the strike going wide. Se then swiped ser talons at her legs, curling the hand into a fist at the last moment, and causing Acacia to stumble.

"Bad balance. Not the worst. But bad."

"I thought I was supposed to just learn attacks with you?"

"If you fall, attacking difficult." Clive responded. "Whole body attacks. Not just hands."

The lesson continued, Acacia trying to land a hit on Clive, while se tried to knock her off balance. She had never gotten close to connecting the hit, but by the end, she was slightly better at avoiding Clive's counters and maintaining her stance.

"That's enough for now. Krag, you're up. Teach her to block melee attacks."

At first Acacia wanted to protest due to Krag's injury, but the man confidently took Clive's place in the arena, and his serious expression made her think better of questioning his readiness.

"You're gonna need to use mana sense for this."

She nodded, and focused her mind on the mana around her. She'd gotten better at it. She had found it easier to process the information by mapping the sensations onto her sight; a kind of synesthesia. When the mana sense clicked into place, she saw a figure made of mana emerge from Krag.

The figure was the same height as Krag, but instead of his balanced constitution, its muscles were almost cartoonishly enlarged, like a dehydrateed bodybuilder on steroids. Its skin shimmered like silver in her mana vision, its face covered with a black metal mask. Its left leg was withered and blackened. The being stood right between her and Krag, not moving even to breathe.

Acacia blinked twice. She tried to hold in a laugh, but failed.

Krag scowled. "What?"

Acacia calmed herself after a few moments. "I'm sorry, it's just... that's a stand. That is a fucking stand, straight out of a comic book I used to read in my home world."

"I don't get it." Krag said, crossing his arms.

"So, in the comic, there were these people called stand users, and they basically did what you do. Conjure a dude out of their soul and have it fight other stands. The fact that you can do the same thing caught me off guard. Kind of like seeing a creature of myth casually stroll up to you."

Krag slowly nodded. "Stories turned reality can be jarring. This is called a servitor. My casting style involves using the servitor as a conduit for my magic. Lets my techniques strike harder. More concentrated. The servitor also has a bit of self awareness, so it can react on its own to stuff. I'm going to have it punch you, and you're going to try and block. Ready?"

She took a deep breath to center herself, shifted into her stance, and nodded. "Ready."

Krag's sta- servitor threw a probing punch at her. She moved the staff to intercept the strike, but only managed to hit the ethereal fist on its side, after it had sneaked behind her guard.

Without waiting for her to recover, Krag launched another attack, catching her in the shoulder. When the third strike came, she jumped away.

Krag narrowed his eyes, and his servitor burst into motion with incredible speed, punching her in the stomach so hard she flew backwards and crushed a stone pillar on the way.

"No dodging. Youre supposed to learn to block. Rocebo will teach you how to dodge."

"Fucking. Ow."

Acacia was sure that if she had bones, most of them would be broken right now. As it was, her Health dropped below half, and she was leaking sap from a few cracks on her back.

"Heal, get up, and block."

The rest of Krag's lesson was similarly brutal. Acacia asked the team to end for the day, and they reluctantly acquiesced.