The gates slammed shut behind us as we stumbled into the fort's inner courtyard, gasping for breath.

"Holy shit. You guys look like hell," Frostburn chuckled, shaking his head as he leaned against the wall. "Sorry about that! We elected to stay out of the way while Sunlit Majesty did her thing. Much of a bitch of a nag that Sparrow is, she can put on one hell of a fight."

Elysia smirked, raising a brow. "And where's your partner in crime, anyway?"

Frostburn rolled his eyes, jerking his thumb toward a large, metal door. "Birds for brains is inside trying to figure out this training center's capabilities. She thinks we can use it to get an edge over that... thing."

I looked around the courtyard, noting the thick concrete walls and the armored shutters lining the windows. "This place looks like it was built to withstand a siege. What the hell is it doing on school property?"

Frostburn shrugged. "Who cares? We have bigger problems to deal with. And that monster is probably going to be at our door any second now."

"You said Sparrow's inside? We need to get her out here to help us deal with that thing," Elysia said, stepping toward the door.

"Heh," Frostburn sneered. "That's the thing. She thinks we have some kinda edge in here. A way to beat that monstrosity."

Elysia crossed her arms, sighing. "I think I have an inkling of what this facility is capable of."

"Really?" I asked, turning to her.

She nodded, pointing toward a pair of thick concrete bunker doors on the far end of the courtyard. "The islet here is used by both the university and our secondary education academy for field testing and exercises. I've heard they ran drills to simulate supervillain lairs and apocalyptic threats. This fort and the systems inside are only the tip of the iceberg."

"Hmm," I grunted, looking around the courtyard. "Okay, so what kinds of systems would be involved, then?"

Frostburn scoffed, gesturing toward the bunker. "Shit, the list is a mile long! We have automated turrets, simulated villain bots, drones, traps and traps, and traps, and more traps, and an endless array of traps and gadgets. Did I mention traps? We've got plenty of that."

"Dude, shut up," Vanna muttered, shaking her head.

"Aww, did you miss me, lightning bug?" Frostburn smirked, flicking his hair as he chuckled.

"Not on your life."

Elysia tapped her chin, crossing her arms as she thought. "But what would even be able to dent that thing? We threw everything we had at it, and it just keeps getting back up."

Frostburn shrugged. "Well, you did say you knew what the shit in here can do. So, if you're ready to take point and show us what we're dealing with, I'll gladly follow."

I blinked, looking at him in surprise. He didn't strike me as the kind of person who liked to follow anyone. I supposed even the most conceited assholes could swallow their pride for a good cause.

Elysia stepped forward, nodding toward the door. "Let's go. We need to make a plan."

"I'll stay up here and continue to pick off what I can," Forest Willow stated. "Clipboard should head up with me too."

I gulped, nodding. "Understood."

"Hey um, how are you doing on mana, Lux? That Art of yours looked pretty rough," Clipboard asked, worry written across his face.

I sighed, rubbing my head as I nodded. "I'm fine. Running a bit below half my gas tank."

"Be careful, okay?" Clipboard said, turning to follow Willow up the ramparts.

Frostburn turned to Vanna. "Coming with, sparkplug? Or you gonna stand back and watch?"

She huffed, rolling her eyes. "You can go shove your foot up your ass."

Frostburn laughed, "That's the spirit! Do something, you know? Even if it's just bugging that annoying little Sparrow."

With that, he gestured for Elysia and me to follow him as he turned and opened another heavy set of doors.

As we entered the small room inside, we found a brightly lit control center with a bank of computer monitors covering one entire wall. Sparrow was standing in front of a control panel, staring intently at the screens.

For a girl around my age, she really had an... imposing presence.

Her hair was now tied up in a ponytail, and she wore a red and silver short dress with a silver breast plate and a large maul on her back. She was a good head taller than me, and despite her young age, had an aura of regality and power that made her seem years older.

She turned as we entered, her eyes narrowing as she stared at me and Elysia. "It's you."

I nodded. "Yeah. Me. Um, hi?"

She continued to stare at me, and for a moment, I thought she was going to hit me.

But instead, she walked over and handed me a small, hexagonal device. "Here. Take it."

I blinked, feeling the object's weight in my hand. "What is this?"

"Apparently it's called a HESTIA," she replied, turning back to the monitors.

"A what now?" I asked, looking at her in confusion.

She sighed, shaking her head. "It stands for Harmonic Energy Supply Transfer Integration Array. It's part of the new wave of tech the Guardians have been pulling out of nowhere and granting high command. It's a type of advanced energy transferal device linked up at the university nearby. This will probably be the only way for you to refill your mana enough to keep fighting. They serve the same role emergency refreshes used to under the World System, and the instructions say your body is good for one refill until you get a good night's sleep."

Elysia frowned, taking and flipping the device over in her hands. "So, where did they get it?"

"No clue, but if you need a boost, you guys should use it. There's a few of these in a bin in the side room to my left and we don't have much time. Just channel some mana through it in one hand."

I nodded, stepping back from the group as I examined the device closely. It was the size and weight of a remote control, and it had a green crystal embedded in the center of its frame. I could sense a trickle of mana emanating from it, and I flipped it around, feeling its smooth metal surface.

There was an infinity symbol with a silver tree sprouting through its center printed on the bottom of it, and the words 'Per amorem perditum, cras avertitur' were inscribed in tiny, elegant script underneath.

I had no idea what that meant, but as I pressed the button on the HESTIA, it flickered to life, glowing with a warm, yellow light. A surge of mana flowed through me, and I gasped, feeling the energy fill my chest and wash over me like a warm wave.

In moments, the HESTIA grew dim, and I felt its power dissipate.

Elysia turned to me, concern on her face. "Feeling better?"

"Hmm," I muttered. Feels like it helped, but I'm nowhere near full capacity."

"Well, it's better than nothing, right?" Elysia smiled, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I summoned my Nexus to check my status screen, and promptly flinched as a chime dinged and several boxes appeared in my view.

[Congratulation!]

[Your Luminary Nova proficiency has increased to: Rank 3]

[Your Constitution has increased to 5]

[Your new level is: Level 55]

[Aberrants slain since last refresh: 63 Beowulves, 4 Ayakashi]

[You have acquired: 138 Chaos Points to spend freely.]

My mouth fell open as the messages rolled through.

"Wait... what?" I stammered.

Elysia turned to me, frowning. "What is it?"

"Points?" I asked.

She blinked, tilting her head. "Points?"

I shook my head, closing the screen as I looked around.

"Guys? Pull up your personal status screens."

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Elysia summoned a snowflake-themed phone in a swirling blue light, while the rest of the group summoned theirs as well.

After a few moments, they all turned to me with similar looks of confusion and excitement on their faces.

"Huh!" Elysia smiled. "Well, I guess that's something we'll have to ask about later."

"I got a level up, too!" Vanna grinned.

"Yeah, whatever. Let's just figure out a plan," Frostburn grunted, dismissing his own phone. "I have a feeling we don't have much time left to prep."

Elysia nodded. "Right. Sparrow, what have you got?"

She pointed toward the screens. "See for yourself."

We all looked at the monitors, seeing the juggernaut slowly lumbering toward us, its massive body taking up almost the entire screen.

"Shit," Vanna cursed. "That thing is huge."

"Yeah, and it's not alone either," Sparrow said, pointing to another screen.

On it, we could see packs of the wolf-like monsters that had been attacking us earlier, along with a small army of shadowy creatures. Now that the shadow creatures were closer, I could see that they were raptor-like monsters with long, sharp talons and razor-sharp beaks. Their bodies were covered in thick, shadowy wisps that shifted and shimmered in the light.

Sparrow tapped a button, zooming in on the image. "These things aren't from our world, clearly. But there are... so many of them."

"Yeah..." Elysia frowned. "These things definitely aren't being simulated. They're the real deal."

"Oh? What do you mean?" Frostburn asked, raising an eyebrow as he crossed his arms.

"I mean, these things aren't being created by any of the systems here, and they're not being controlled by the school, or anyone else," she explained. "They're actual monsters like the ones from the Cataclysm."

"Well, that's great," Frostburn grunted. "Just great."

Vanna sighed, shaking her head. "Maaan, if Tesseract is pulling this on us for our first lesson, I don't want to think about what the rest of this course is going to be like. So, what do we do?"

"We need to stop that thing from getting inside," Elysia said, pointing to the juggernaut. "But we can't just focus on that. Sparrow, do you have any way to get in contact with Sunlit Majesty?"

Sparrow shook her head. "I don't know what the hell happened to her. I tried to contact her, but I got nothing. There's something stopping our Nexus devices from working properly in this training field."

"Well, that's just fucking wonderful," Null snorted.

"Okay," I nodded. "So, Frostburn said that the armory is loaded with traps?"

Sparrow tilted her head at me. "Yup. Anything from explosive charges to landmines to electrified nets."

"Alright," I said, turning to look at the others. "I don't think any of these conventional weapons will be able to put much of a dent in that thing, but it could help with these raptor and wolf things. If we can get those things inside, we can use the traps and defenses to keep them at bay while we focus on the juggernaut."

"Okay, but what are we supposed to do with the juggernaut?" Vanna asked, crossing her arms as she tapped her foot.

"I'm built more for speed," Elysia shrugged, "I don't think I can throw out attacks nearly big enough to put that thing down as... as I am. I can slow it, but I won't be able to do much to take it down without getting time and room to really work at it.

Furrowing my brow, I turned to the redhead who'd been so antagonistic toward me.

"I'm assuming Sparrow is another front line fighter, correct?" I asked.

She nodded with a huff, patting the heavy weapon on her back. "Yup."

"And Frostburn? What's he got that Elysia can't pull off? They're both pretty ice-themed," Vanna asked, cocking her head. "And she's CRAZY strong."

Frostburn flashed a smirk, giving Elysia an appraising look. "Well, I do have a hunch that she has me outclassed in terms of speed, skill, and finesse. Welll... I haven't been a knight for very long, but I've developed some tricks for fighting big, stupid, and resilient enemies. That said, we should probably use her to clean up the trash faster while I keep the big lug busy."

"Crazy strong, huh?" Sparrow gave Elysia a look. "I'm guessing your magic is ice-based too?"

Elysia nodded, holding up her hand and summoning a swirl of snowflakes.

"Hmm," Sparrow hummed, stroking her chin with a scary grin as she leaned in with a sultry gaze. "Well, you might be worthy enough for a spar when this is over, then!"

"Uh... what?" Elysia blinked. "Are you... hitting on me?"

Sparrow shrugged. "Nope. Just seeing if you're worth the time."

Frostburn chuckled. "What a weirdo. A total battle junkie. And to think, the Guardians actually chose her to be in the running to become a magical girl. The world is a crazy place."

"Would you shut up already?" Sparrow scoffed, glaring at Frostburn.

"Make me," he grinned. "Come on, give me a reason not to treat you like a bitch. Sorry, did I say bitch? I meant witch. You are a witch, right?"

"You're an asshole," she snapped.

"Ooh, nice comeback," Frostburn grinned. "Praise her! Sparrow of Rage. Raging Sparrow? Truly Kaleidoscope's finest wordsmith."

"Guys, enough!" Elysia shouted, throwing up her hands. "We're all tired and stressed. We need to focus on the problem at hand. So, if you two are finished bickering, we should move forward and decide on a plan of action."

The two of them glared daggers at each other, but they reluctantly fell silent and turned their attention back to the screens.

"Okay," Elysia nodded. "Now, what are our options?"

"We could try to draw the juggernaut into the forest," Sparrow suggested. "Set both ice users on stalling it outside. I don't know what the others can do, but impeding its movement is the most important thing."

" I erm..." Vanna started. "I guess this is probably the time to say I can absorb more magic than just lightning."

"Lightning gives you physical enhancements, right?" I asked.

She nodded, "Yeah. But it's not just lightning. I've only practiced with harnessing lightning because of Neo, but I can theoretically convert other energy attacks to my own mana, too. I'm just not used to absorbing anything outside of lightning and electricity."

Elysia tilted her head at her. "Wait, you're a multi absorber?"

"Yeah," Vanna nodded, looking down at her feet. "Learning to use electricity alone was a real pain just on its own, and I didn't want to risk taking in the wrong kind of energy, you know? But I think I could help with that thing out there. Create a bit of chaos. Keep it off balance."

"Okay," I nodded, looking at the others. "So, we have Frostburn, Vanna, and Elysia to take care of the juggernaut. Anyone else?"

"Me," Null said, raising his hand. "I don't think I can put it down outright, but trust a guy when I say Void Curtain can shred it up nicely."

"A void curtain?" Sparrow asked.

Null smirked. "You could say it's my personal ability. I can shred anything to ribbons. Lemme get one of those HESTIA things or whatever."

Elysia handed over one of the hexagonal devices. Null grinned and channeled a visible flow of inky mana into the HESTIA.

Then, he blinked.

"Um. It's not doing anything."

"Hmm... You aren't transformed, are you?" Sparrow asked.

He shook his head. "No."

"Can you?"

"Er, no," he answered, pushing his sunglasses up.

"Then you aren't worth the mana."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Null frowned.

Sparrow huffed, glaring at him. "Well, you aren't worthy enough to use it."

"Wow, okay. This is just getting ridiculous, you know?" Null threw the HESTIA to Vanna, who fumbled to catch it.

"I'm just stating a fact," Sparrow replied, crossing her arms to stare at him. "And I don't care if it's a problem or not."

"I don't know what I did to earn this hostility," Null muttered, glaring back at her, "What's your deal?"

"I'm not hostile," she replied, crossing her arms. "I just think that this is the way it is, and I have to deal with it. You didn't earn the right to be here. You can't transform. And that's all that needs to be said. You're a liability."

"Okay, seriously?" I asked, looking at the others. "Are we really doing this right now? Are we really arguing over this?"

"She's right," Frostburn smirked with a chuckle. "I did say we were second-rate emergency contract holders, and the fact is that she's right. I'm not gonna deny it. I agree with her on that point."

"You too, Frostburn?" I asked. "You're going along with this bullshit now of all times?"

He shrugged. "Hey, don't get me wrong. I'm not going to go all hardliner and try to bury us in the dirt, or something. But I'm also not going to pretend we're all equals, either. At least not in terms of ability or potential. That said..."

Frostburn walked over and towered over me, flashing a smile. "All of us with one did have to beat the odds, to fight tooth and nail against hell itself to make it this far. That's gotta mean something, right? It's more than the rich, spoiled brats like Sparrow's team ever did."

Sparrow bristled. "Watch your tone with that."

He shrugged. "Yeah, you're probably better than most. That doesn't change the fact that you had a silver spoon up your ass, didn't you? I know your lot. All three of you reek of privilege. The way you hold yourselves, the way you speak... it's not hard to figure out."

"I don't know what the hell your problem is, but you're going to regret opening your mouth, asshole," she growled.

"Squawk, squawk, little birdie," Frostburn chuckled. "Aww, she can't take it as well as she gives it, huh? Well, I'm not here to argue with you. We're on the same team, after all. But that doesn't mean I have to like you. And it sure as hell doesn't mean I respect you."

Sparrow was seething at this point. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.

"I've had enough of you. You're a piece of trash. An absolute piece of trash, and I'm going to enjoy wiping that stupid smirk off your face."

"Hey, I just said what I had to say," Frostburn said. "It's your choice how you take it, little bird."

Sparrow began to glow, a fiery aura forming around her body as her face turned bright red.

"That's it. I've had enough of you. I don't know who the fuck you think you are, but I'm going to show you just what a 'rich spoiled brat' can do."

"Ooh, are you gonna cry now?" Frostburn laughed, clearly enjoying her reaction.

"Enough!" Elysia snapped, standing between the two of them. "This is getting out of hand. We have a fight coming, and we need to be working together, not at each other's throats."

"Oh shut up and stay out of this," Frostburn shrugged her off, stepping around her to get closer to Sparrow. "You act so tough, but you're a coward, Sparrow. A big fat coward who can't take the heat and loves to throw her weight around. And that's what I can't stand about people like you. You're a disgrace to everything the knights stand for. You're just another one of these self-entitled pricks, and I'm tired of putting up with it."

"Oh yeah? What about you then, Frostburn?" she shot back. "You think you're some sort of hero because you fought some monsters?"

He chuckled, grinning. "No. Like I said, I'm a second-rate cadet who has no right to stand next to someone like her," he pointed to Elysia, who jumped in surprise. "But at least I'm willing to put my life on the line. And you? Coddled in your safe little house with your mommy and daddy? What do you know of fighting? Of sacrifice? Of the real world? I see those calluses on your hands and nowhere else, princess. You've been fighting for fun, not your life. You're the furthest thing from a hero."

Sparrow's anger was palpable, but instead of lashing out, she simply glared at him.

And then Elysia slapped him.

Frostburn staggered back a step, clutching his cheek with a smarmy smirk.

"You're out of line, asshole," Elysia said.

Frostburn rolled his eyes, still grinning. "Whatever."

Elysia glared at him cooly. "I don't know what your deal is, but you need to cut it out."

"I happen to be one of these 'privileged' magical girls you despise so much, and yet I don't have an ounce of hate for people like you. We all came from the same place: we all fought tooth and nail and earned our place here. One way or another, we've all been forged through hell, and now we're all fighting on the same side. That should count for something," she said, gesturing around the room.

"So, cut it out with the bullshit," Elysia said. "We're better than this. All of us. We've all earned the right to be here."

Sparrow's eyes widened. She looked at Frostburn, who had an incredulous look on his face, and then at Elysia.

Elysia looked back at her with an unflinching gaze.

And then, Sparrow sighed, her anger draining away.

"I... you're right," she muttered. "You're right."

"Hey, I didn't mean to offend anyone here," Frostburn chuckled. "You shoulda known better. I was just having some fun. Besides, it's not like you weren't asking for it."

"Fuck off," Vanna and Sparrow said at the same time.

He just laughed. "Whatever."

"Anyway, let's get back to business," I said. "So, we have Frostburn, Null, and Vanna to take on the big monster, and we've got the rest of us to handle the rest of the horde."

"Right," Elysia nodded, turning to the screens. "And it looks like we're out of time."

I looked at the screens, and sure enough, I saw the monsters had already made their way through the forest and were quickly closing in while Forest Willow peppered them with volley after volley of projectiles.

"Alright... alright, let's do this then," I said softly.