Tessa struggled to focus on the orb she held in front of her. The device next to her ticking away while her head pounded. She grit her teeth as hard as she could, putting her everything into maintaining it, but this was as far as she could go for now. Quickly, the orb began dimming and turned unstable.

C’mon! Just… a bit… longer…!

She gathered as much strength as she could, but there was nothing left. The palms of her hands felt scorched and her muscles began feeling like pins and needles were being stuck in and pulled out repeatedly. This was as far as she could go for now.

With an explosion of light, the orb scattered into a shower of shimmering shards. Flopping onto her back and letting her legs fully extend, she stared at the sky and watched the clouds go by.

I’m spent…

Turning her head to see how far she made it this time. It continued ticking, but she had at made it to the half-way mark this time.

Five?

Looking back at the sky, she sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. And just as she did, Hei returned.

“Done already?”

Opening her eyes, she saw her mentor standing right above her.

“I’m… at my limit.”

Tessa tried to move, but her body demanded a break. Right now, she was stuck on the ground.

“As expected, but you got further than I expected you to.”

Taking hold of Tessa by her arm, he helped her back to her feet. Then, taking out a small vial of something, he popped the top and handed it to her.

“Drink this.”

Tessa took it, but was hesitant to ingest it after what Torgrak did to her the last time.

“What is it?”

“Something to help you recover your stamina and to prevent your muscles from chaining you to the bed tomorrow.”

She shot Hei a hesitant look, but quickly downed it. The texture was nothing to write home about, being somewhere between snot and viscous slime. But it did taste of a sour and citric fruit pie filling.

Once it was down, Tessa passed the vial back, and Hei pocketed it.

“Alright. Your training for today is over. Now you just need to rest up for tomorrow.”

“Okay… but I don’t have anywhere to stay. I could find lodging at an inn or something, I guess?”

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“Don’t worry about that. Since you’re our student, we provided you with some lodgings ourselves.”

Hei then pulled out something that looked like a combination of a wooden bookmark and a punch card.

“I pulled a few strings with a contact of mine and got you a room all to yourself. There’s no bathroom or such amenities, but there are publicly available place within walking distance.”

The sudden kind gesture caught Tessa off-guard. She half-expected her mentors to have her sleep out on the streets or fend for herself.

“Thank you! I… I don’t know what to say…”

“Don’t worry about it and just rest up. There’s still much ahead of you, so rest up while you can. Outside of missions, you’ll be spending every three days training with us and get one day off.”

“I… I understand.”

A determined look flared up in Tessa’s eyes. She wasn’t sure how she felt about her mentors exactly, but they at least seemed to look out for her. Whether it’s a good or bad thing was likely never to be determined until much later in the future.

“But… may I ask where exactly the place I’m staying is at? I’m still not familiar with the city’s layout.”

“Head to the Residential District and hold out the piece of wood out. It’ll show which direction to go, where the building it is, and what room is yours. You should be able to figure it out from there.”

Turning around to leave, Hei waved to her before putting his hand in his pocket and walking away before she had any questions to ask. Uncertain of what to do, Tessa quickly bowed and graciously thanked Hei.

“Th-thank you very much, Hei!”

Now left to her own devices, Tessa held the piece of wood in her hand.

Guess I’ll go find the place now.

Much like with finding Redbrick Park, Tessa asked for help from a couple guards along the way before entering the Residential District.

Hei said this thing would help me figure out where to go. Do I just hold it up or point it in a direction or…?

On its own, the thing glowed with light at the top. At the moment, it was yellow.

Does that mean I’m close?

Turning in one direction, it quickly changed to red. And upon turning in the other direction, it turned back to yellow and then green.

I guess I go this way?

Navigating the streets of the district, Tessa slowly made her way. Turning at corners when the light changed back to yellow and kept following the light when it returned to green. It took a bit of time, but eventually she found herself at the doorstep of a kind of dormitory. It was considerably smaller than the one she stayed in at Unity Academy, but Tessa felt a kind of comfort from it.

I guess this is the place.

At the front door, there was a slot in the door frame. Assuming what she had to do, she put the piece of wood into it. Sucked through to the other side, the door’s lock clicked and swung open. Stepping inside, she noticed that there wasn’t a receptionist or front desk. Perhaps any staff for the building were elsewhere.

Now inside, the door slowly closed behind her and locked. Turning around, Tessa saw her key and took it. Once again, the light shone, and she climbed up the building’s stairs to the second floor. And with a bit more walking, the light guided her to the door of room 205. Again, the door had a slot, and she did the same thing as before. It clicked, but didn’t open on its own. Turning the handle, she walked into her assigned room.

Walking into her room, she noticed it was roughly half the size of the dorm room she shared with Sylvie. It already had a bed with sheets, a blanket, and two pillows. There was also a small closet, nightstand, table, two chairs, and a window that looked eastward. It wasn’t the nicest room she’d ever been in, but it was something she could call home for now.

Sitting on the edge of her bed, she felt she could genuinely relax for the first time. It was only midday, and she was exhausted. Falling back onto it, her eyes instinctively closed. All she wanted to do right now was relax. And soon enough, Tessa was out like a light. The ceiling being the last thing she remembered before the darkness took over.