The next morning, Yuriko was up bright and early. Last night’s meditation session wasn’t fruitful at all. Most of the Animus she channeled into her Facet went into the Golden Silhouette demonstrating the same Animus Circulation techniques as before.

She vaguely remembered her long dream during her coma, of what he had done as training. It was an intriguing concept but the details were too fuzzy for her to even make a credible attempt. The nightly sessions only pointed to her needing to build up her strength.

Monotonous training wasn’t something Yuriko did before the Atavism Ritual. It didn't bother her so much now but she felt she was approaching her limits. Before the training camp, she had already been doing the same foundational exercises and now, she was doing variations of the same.

The circulation patterns were new and exciting but she had been doing them for weeks already. Her mind craved something else. However, a part of her knew that she had to persevere no matter how boring it got and that drive was what made her start her day with the same routine.

Before the sun completely rose above the Zarek Mountains in the east, she was already out on the streets, running. She sprinted for a hundred paces, slowed down to a jog the next hundred, then sprinted all out again.

She usually tired after the second longstride that she did this and often returned to an even jog for the rest of her route but today, she felt she could keep it up until she came back home. So she did. She alternated sprinting and jogging until she returned home and headed to the back yard for her cool-down stretches and flexibility training.

The odd thing was that as soon as the sun came up, she felt a rush of energy. She didn’t even feel winded by the route’s end and her forehead was not even damp with sweat.

“Should I go for another round?” She muttered to herself.

“An...ces...tors…no!” Krystal gasped. Her friend had joined her for the morning run and, as usual, didn’t even make it halfway before falling off Yuriko’s pace. “If...you’re going…to run...leave…me…here,” Krystal panted, as she bent over with her hands on her knees.

“You’ll only get dizzier if you lean over like that,” Yuriko half-carried Krystal over to an armchair. “I’ll grab some water for you.”

“Please…”

Afterwards, Yuriko did several stretching exercises and stances designed to keep her limber. By the end of her usual routine, she could definitely feel the change. She was nowhere as tired as she would have been.

“The Golden Silhouette’s Strengthen Physique worked,” Yuriko nodded to herself. She then did bodyweight exercises designed to build strength. As she expected, she was able to perform twice as many repetitions from her previous best.

Three exercise sets finally did the trick. Her clothes were now soaked in sweat with the morning sun grilling down on both of the girls. Krystal joined her with callisthenics but complained loudly the entire time.

“You really want to get into Agaza like that?” Yuriko scoffed.

“I’m good enough for it!” Krystal moaned.

Kato walked into the backyard with his shirt soaked in sweat. “Oh, good morning.”

“Big bro. Good morning.”

“Thought I needed to get back in shape. Haha. I ran around the circumferential road.”

“Oh, good on you,” Yuriko smiled. “Rami’s still asleep?”

“I dunno. What are you making for breakfast?”

“Oh, uh, was it my turn today?”

“Didn’t you look at the board?”

“Sorry, I forgot.”

“Then, it's your turn.”

“Fine, fine.”

“I’ll help you,” Krystal chirped.

The two of them mixed up pancake batter and started cooking them by ladling a tiny bit of oil on a hot pan. Yuriko liked her pancakes bite-sized with a generous dollop of butter on each piece, so she portioned them to be just a couple of inches across. By the time she finished, Kato was done with his other exercises and Rami had been lured downstairs by the scent of her food.

“I thought today was my turn?” Rami yawned.

“Huh?”

“Look.”

Kato started snickering. On the corkboard near the chiller, under the labelled “Breakfast” under the thirty-eighth Day of Fire was Rami’s name.

Thonk!

“Ow!”

_____

“Are you using Fri’Avgi later?” Krystal asked later that morning.

Yuriko nodded. “Yes. My side-blade is broken and so is my Plasma Caster. I could use a spear, but I’d rather continue using the greatsword. What are the chances we encounter a Wanderer?”

“Pretty low, I think.”

“And you? Are you using your Plasma Lancet?”

“I need to work on my melee skills so spear and side-blade.”

“Shield?”

“I don’t need it, I think.”

Yuriko rummaged through her closet and eventually drew out a forceweave jacket and breeches. The pair she had used during the training camp had been damaged and it would be another week before repairs on it could be completed.

Forceweave was actually at least three layers of cloth--silk or linen--with the middle layer inscribed with runescript and stitched together with threads soaked in a Chaos dust solution. The resulting fabric resisted Animus or Chaos easily and absorbed blunt force nearly as well. Slashing and piercing attacks aren’t as well defended though, which was how the swarmlings eventually managed to damage her jacket and pants.

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The older jacket she had was similarly blue in colour though it was a deeper blue, closer to purple, and the breeches were black. Both were already short for her, exposing her wrists and ankles, though not noticeably tighter.

Krystal had remained unscathed for the entire trip so she was using the same set as before. She carried her Plasma Lancet on her hip, opposite the side-blade.

The two of them made their way to the training hall where the entire team had agreed to meet. The twins were already there, along with Yuriko’s other childhood friend, Mikel, and Heron. Heron was the only one carrying a shield as befitted his role as Warder. Mikel only had his side-blade, while the twins each carried a spear, side-blades, and Plasma Lancets.

“Good to see you up,” Heron greeted Yuriko as soon as they came close. “You had me worried; I had to carry you to the rescue team when you collapsed.” He eyed Fri’Avgi. “It took a dozen men and women to carry that thing too.”

Yuriko cleared her throat. “I guess thanks are in order.”

“No need,” Heron shook his head. “My plea--I mean, it was my duty.”

“Anyway,” Orrin interrupted, “the Circuit Trams are being used to ferry bounty hunters outside of town. The next one should be coming up the shed soon.”

“Did you two walk all the way here?” Yuriko asked.

“Not at all. They already restarted the Circuit Tram routes.”

“Huh, then why weren’t there any yesterday?”

"You must have missed them,” Orrin shrugged as they walked. “There were only a few trams slated for inter-town travel.”

The waiting shed was actually filled with people. All of them goggled when they saw Yuriko, or rather, when they saw her carrying a greatsword that was taller than she was over her shoulders.

“How does that even work?” one of the young men in the shed muttered out loud, though he reddened when he realized he had said it out loud.

Yuriko flipped the weapon over, pressed the tip on the cobblestones, and leaned on the cross-guard. She looked at the mutterer and just smiled.

Trouble came when the Circuit Tram arrived. The side of the landcraft tilted heavily on its side when Yuriko boarded, prompting the driver to protest loudly.

“I’ll stay in the middle!” Yuriko yelled, cheeks aflame. Krystal sniggered while Mikel tried to conceal a grin.

The Tram started off with a jolt. Yuriko held onto the overhead handle with one hand while the other kept Fri’Avgi from crushing anyone. They continued to a couple more sheds before the transport was filled. Yuriko noticed Ashley boarding the tram at the last stop alongside a couple of older kids, all armed with worn spears.

She nodded to her former classmate who tilted her head and tittered nervously but they were on the opposite ends of the tram and conversation would have been awkward at best. They headed towards the town limits, and it was only then that Yuriko noticed how much damage the swarmlings had caused. Towards the edges of Faron’s Crossing, the streets and lamps were torn up. The lamp posts were a key feature of defence as they held and powered the draining cubes that weakened a Wyldling’s Protective Field. All the posts were twisted or melted.

There were workmen who tried to salvage what metal they could but each of those would have to be melted down and reforged.

They were dropped off at the southern side of Faron’s Crossing. Their original team of five plus Braden gathered themselves while the other would-be bounty hunters streamed out into the wheat fields.

“Which way?” Orrin asked.

Everyone looked at Krystal.

With a low sigh, Krystal closed her eyes, and when she opened them, her green eyes glowed blue with her Animus. She scanned the fields around them, frowning. Once the glow faded away, she shook her head. “I can’t see anything from here.”

“Let’s just pick a random direction then,” Braden coughed.

“What, are we just taking a stroll in the countryside?” Heron asked snidely.

“Aren’t we?” Orrin countered. “There are hundreds of bounty hunters going out every day, how many swarmlings do you think will remain after?”

“Well, I wanted to hunt swarmlings,” Yuriko confessed sheepishly.

“Oh, of course. But if we don’t find any…?”

“Then it’s good exercise.”

“Recovering man here,” Braden raised his hand.

“Light exercise then,” Yuriko smiled. “Besides, Krystal said she wanted to work on her spear skills.”

They headed further south, following the road that would eventually lead to Cierra Village some twenty-five leagues away. Krystal and Yuriko were in the lead, followed by the twins and Mikel, with Heron bringing up the rear. A longstride from Faron’s Crossing, they took a sideroad, little more than a dirt path through the fields, east.

Most farms, if their fields survived the Wyldling Wave, should have already reaped their wheat. Some farmers were threshing beside the harvested fields, with a single man or woman keeping an eye out for errant Wyldlings.

‘Their presence pretty much says that there were no swarmlings in this location,’ Yuriko thought.

The area around Faron’s Crossing was relatively flat, but as they continued south and east, the plains gave way to rolling hills. A league south of the town, most of the land was pastures for cattle and sheep. The herds weren’t out and about now though, not on this side of the Caradec River.

“Can we stop for a break?” Braden begged after an hour of nonstop walking.

“What’s the matter, you…?” Heron coughed into his hand. “I mean, Yuri?”

“I guess.” Yuriko sighed. Maybe she should have borrowed Virgil’s flying shuttle for this. No, no, she didn’t have a license to fly it yet. Though she could already apply for it this year; having gone through the Atavism Ritual, she had the Animus reserves for it.

The six of them settled under the shade of a broad acacia tree. Yuriko stabbed Fri’Avgi into the earth. Even though the artefact was essentially a blunt greatsword, its weight was more than enough to displace the loose soil. She left it standing there and leaned against the trunk.

Braden guzzled water from his canteen, his face pale.

“How are you feeling?” she asked him.

“I’ll be fine, after a bit of rest,” Braden muttered, “and a session of Recovery, probably.”

He settled into a seated meditation pose and started activating his Recovery technique. The foundational Animus technique was something taught to everyone as soon as they were able. Results varied greatly though, with most only capable of using it only to get rid of fatigue at night. Orrin was quite adept at Recovery and Yuriko assumed Braden was too.

Still, she asked Orrin in a low voice, “How is he, really?”

Orrin glanced at Braden. “Not very good, really. Although his wound was healed, it drained the strength out of the rest of his body. He needs good food, rest, and he needs to rebuild his strength.” He leaned closer to Yuriko and whispered, “He really shouldn’t be out here now, but he insisted on accompanying us.”

“Why did he insist then?” Yuriko whispered back.

Orrin gave her an amused look but didn’t answer.

Krsytal yawned into her hand while Mikel and Heron were meditating. Braden winced every now and then, his face twisting in pain. Recovery accelerated the healing of wounds, but it also compressed the pain one would feel over the normal course of healing by a factor equivalent to how much time was shortened. Braden’s skin exuded a shadowy light, barely perceptible in the daylight. He was barely using his Animus for Recovery yet he looked to be in great pain. Why?

“Shouldn’t he stay in bed to recover instead of straining like this?”

“He insisted.”

“Ah.”

Half an hour later, the team picked themselves up and continued the search. They passed by several teams composed of farmers, shopkeepers, and other common folk. After walking over a hill, they finally found some swarmlings.

Unfortunately, another bunch of bounty hunters had already cornered the three swarmlings. Yuriko recognized little Ashley, using a spear nearly twice her height to poke the critters. The spearhead didn’t have a coating of Animus, so the point only skittered off the carapace. A dozen spearmen surrounded the Wyldlings and enough of them were proficient enough in Empowered Strike to take the enemies down.

A ragged cheer rose from them and one pulled out a vial with a small cuboid that drew in the Chaos dust from the deceased monsters.

“I think we’ve wasted enough time,” Heron sighed.

“Let’s get back to town,” Krystal agreed.

It was well past midmorning and Yuriko didn’t fancy having more ration bars for lunch, so she readily agreed. It took them nearly an hour to get back to town, stopping once to allow Braden to rest.

“The Old Sweet Shoppe?” Krystal suggested.

“Sure, why not,” Mikel, and the twins answered. Heron grunted his agreement. However, as soon as they entered town, a messenger crane fluttered in front of Yuriko, knocking its head against her shoulder. She took hold of it and tapped its head to unfold it.

“After Founding 2997

38th Day of Fire

Ms. Yuriko Mishala Davar

21 West Avenue, Central District

Faron’s Crossing

Dear Ms. Davar,

At your earliest convenience, please make your way to the Town Hall, communications department. A letter from beyond the plane has arrived for your perusal.

Sincerely,

Karr Linden Ramus

Celebrant

Church of the Everlasting Order”