Aio glanced at Nyx as they neared the western gate of Magrest. As one of the seven major districts which make up the last great city of Neo-Kamakura, Magrest was known as the premier militarized compound of Neo Kamakura and one of the two major entrances into the city from the Fringe wastelands. The city could only be accessed from the Fringe by going in through the western gate at Magrest, or through the eastern gate located at the Tresgate district, from what he knew.
Magrests’ fortress walls spanned across the entire western front, miles to each end, and were fitted with battlements, infantry, and turrets used to halt the advance of local Enthipid hordes. Though attacks seldom occurred this close to the city, it has happened in recent history, during the war of the Fringe, which nearly led to the collapse of one of the major sections of the fortress – nearly.
Such were the consequences of laxity, as the city council was reminded and since then, a small contingent of patrolmen were stationed at each section of the wall, rotated each half-day, so that Magrest was never caught off guard like that again. No Enthipid had reached within half a mile of the walls since, not alive at least.
The Clan of Voices wouldn’t like what we’re doing to their “deities”, Aio thought. Just another problem hunters have to deal with on the day-to-day.
Without considering the presence of the Divisions, Magrest already had enough armies, vehicles of war, technicians, engineers, and local militiamen in this city to maintain a concentrated war effort for years against any number of hordes. But now, three hunter Division groups currently resided in Magrest, which was unprecedented for a district. Any single Division is enough to wipe out an entire army or even contest against Elite Enthipids, the advanced form of the giant carapaced monsters which lived out in the wastelands.
It isn’t just the hunters. All of Magrest has been more active than I last remember, Aio thought.
As the gate neared, Nyx looked up. The patrolmen spotted the pair, watching warily from a distance. There seemed to be more of them here than she remembered. Her thoughts aligned with Aio, though in her case, she knew the reason.
Aio was sweating buckets at this point. He couldn’t wait for the cool air inside the city walls. Honestly, he never expected he’d be in this predicament, carrying the core of an Elite Enthipid in his own hands, living the life of a hunter – a Division-hunter no less. He was a war orphan who didn’t remember much of his childhood outside of the orphanage. All he could recall of life, before all this hunter business began cropping up, was the warm broth Madam Roberta made, his brothers and sisters at the orphanage, and his time volunteering to save up money for an education.
It was at that orphanage, however, that he came face to face with Casimir Lionnane, renowned hero of the underground, and set a series of actions which would see him part of one of the most feared Divisions in Neo-Kamakura: The Blackbirds.
Aio looked at the core of the Barbed Enthipid they killed in his hand. It was orb-shaped and still beat like a heart in his hand. The core was always so small, and only ever seemed to exist within Elite-Class Enthipids or higher. The carapaces were a different matter however. Why were they so heavy?
Unfortunately, without Calliope’s pocket-space or Magrest’s vehicles to load the rest of the metal they carved out of the Elite, the best Nyx and him could bring back were enough parts to craft him a weapon and a pair of armor pieces. Still, Elite Bastion metal and its Johrei were considered high-value commodity in the city. Pieces strong enough to withstand artillery munition; cores with special capabilities specific to each Elite which could be added onto weaponry or armor as modifications or, in the case of Supplementors, surgically grafted to replace one’s own heart; armor pieces, which Augmentors grafted onto their body for increased benefits to armor-set abilities without the limitations of being stuck with one core as Supplementors were. The list of benefits was endless, and soon, Aio was about to get his own set. He smirked to himself.
Nyx hand-chopped the back of Aio’s neck, wringing him out of his thoughts.
“Ow!” Aio said. “What was that for?”
“We’re here already”, Nyx chimed in. The gates of Magrest loomed over them, towering over at least three-stories high.
Nyxandria didn’t seem to have trouble carrying the heavy armor parts. The extra strength boost she received when donning full plate Standard-Grade armor made from the carapace of a strength-based Enthipid they had killed a few weeks back gave her plenty of leeway with manual labor like this. Still, it wasn’t as if she enjoyed the haul any more than Aio did.
“Halt”, the captain of the gate guards called out from the wall as the pair approached. “Name, affiliation, and purpose please.” This was standard procedure, as new information from the Fringe had to be recorded on the hunter board database for future use by the city.
“Nyxandria Imeraza, Clan of Venerers, Blackbirds”, Nyx answered back. “I’m here to bring back parts of the Elite Enthipid we hunted to a blacksmith”.
A murmur rose from the walls.
“That Division?”
“Wait, did she just say they killed an Elite? Just one team?”
“I’ve heard their leader single-handedly took out an entire hunter squad once.”
“And the rebellion at Lucens Mundi – ”
“Could you soldiers pipe down!” the captain bellowed. “Nyxandria was it? Your words have been recorded. You may proceed.” He motioned for the guard next to him to raise the gates. A minute passed, and the sound of metal grinding echoed throughout the walls, as the heavy metallic gate lifted up. Johrei shimmered on its surface, and once it stopped, Nyx and Aio passed through.
Curse the Lost Clans and their promotional strategies. Can’t have my guards idolizing every hunter that walks through the gate, the captain thought, resuming his patrols.
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As they walked, Aio said, “Sorry I wasn’t of much help.” He kept looking away from Nyx, embarrassed and, if he was being fair, partially intimidated by her.
She looked at him while dragging the Johrei net containing the Bastion metal parts behind her. “It’s fine. That wasn’t half bad for your first Elite encounter. Not like I was any better the first time I became a hunter. You’re still new at this kid. You’ll get used to it.”
“Really?” Aio said, eyes beaming. “You struggled too? Like me?”
“That’s all your getting from me”, Nyx replied.
“Oh”, Aio replied, embarrassed.
A large town square appeared before them, a fountain sitting at the center. Children ran around the stone-tiled ground, playing pretend games of The Hunt, whilst the parents smiled and conversed, enjoying lunch under the shade of the local restaurant’s canopy. Despite its military focus, Magrest residents molded their own little pockets of quaint charm within sections of the district. Her brother might’ve liked this but Nyx cared little for this type of lifestyle.
“C’mon”, Nyx said, “blacksmith’s a few blocks down”. As the pair walked towards the center of the square, passersby gave them quick stares, curious about the latest hunt. However, Nyx shot them a sharp glance, and the onlookers jumped and went back to their own business. However, some still shot wandering looks toward the pair’s direction.
“Stupid Lost Clans, putting hunters in the spotlight”, Nyx mumbled angrily as she hauled the Johrei net over her shoulder. A certain gate captain would have been ecstatic to find such shared sentimentality, though neither would ever know of the other’s feelings on the matter, sadly.
Aio looked up at the looming black building in the distance. According to his studies, Magrest was known for its state-of-the-art octagonal defense platform – a towering structure which contained all the latest wartime gear and equipment. The platform, called the Era of Peace, was capable of deploying hundreds of Suncycles, Skytrains, and Strato-Rollers to fend off against waves of Enthipid hordes in record time. Thousands of soldiers were stationed in the building and the base itself was rumored to have access to a special type of rail-cannon and additional defense turrets which lined the walls for the day the gates of Magrest were finally breached. Though it has yet to occur, it didn’t seem anyone was naïve enough to believe that it wouldn’t happen one day.
I wonder if that’s where the Division hunters lived too, Aio thought, before Nyx’s words cut his thoughts short.
“Wrong way, rookie. Keep up. We’re almost there.”
“Coming”, he said, catching up to her. Time passed as the pair walked past rows of alleyways, buildings, intersections, and the like. Aio put his hands above his head, shielding his eyes from the sun, which shone above brightly. It was bright out today, but the city itself wasn’t too hot. He looked up. A large Johrei shield shimmered up in the sky above them. Originally intended to protect the city from airborne Enthipid attacks, it served a secondary purpose of regulating the extreme heat which persisted in the Fringe. Where the shield spawned from, and how it managed to mitigate the heat, Aio was unsure of, but he was grateful for these small blessings, nonetheless.
After walking for a few more minutes, the pair pulled up by a shoddy looking shop. A hologram blinked dimly above the entrance door which read “Open for Business”. The garage door next to the entrance was lifted up and locked in place by chains. The sensation of heat wafted towards the pair’s direction as the sounds of bustlin’ men and women, and the whirring and grinding of machinery, could be heard inside. A sign hung above the entrance, which simply stated “West Wing Forge” and carried the symbol of a hammer and anvil.
Aio noticed an open fire sitting in the center of the room, surrounded by various mechanical hands working efficiently at an unknown piece of equipment. Consoles were placed in neat rows in different sections of the shop, manned by groups of men and women, and as the pair entered, they were greeted by an older lady in her late 40s, wearing a dusty apron lined with mechanical sockets and a simple Johrei face shield. Hair wrapped up in a bun, and a bandana tied around the top of her head, she exuded a surprisingly commanding presence for someone with such a motherly face. Her body was all muscles, hardened by work and grit, an indicator of her work ethic in the forge.
She turned off the blowtorch in her right hand and eyed the incoming pair with a welcoming expression until her eyes landed on the net behind Nyx.
Her eyes hardened for only a moment. “Pa!” she yelled. “We got ourselves a big one!”
“What you say, Ma?” a gruff voice responded in a piercing, but muffled tone. A moment later a bulky man with gray hair, bald at the scalp, who looked to be in his late 40s as well had walked up towards the pair. Muscles bulging under his sooted work sleeves, Ma and Pa were match made for each other. He also donned a similar dusty work apron as the woman, except his had various tools strapped alongside the surface. As he eyed the pair up and down, he kept his gaze on the net and then turned to Nyx.
“I know you. You’re that gal from the Valkyries. I don’t forget a face like yours.” he said, lifting his face shield while while pointing a held wrench at Nyx. “Nyxandria, was it? I apologize, I’m not particularly good with names.”
Aio was confused. “Valkyries?” Aio asked. He knew of the infamous all-girls hunter Division which were stationed in the district of Necronova. All he knew was that its members were devastatingly efficient at completing hunts, but not much more. They were actually quite secretive, now that he thought about it. And Nyx was part of that group?
“Yeah, old story. Don’t think too hard on it, Aio. I haven’t been with them since Caz recruited me a few months back.” Nyx mentioned.
The old man’s ears perked up. “Caz? As in Casimir Lionnane? You’re with the Blackbirds now?” He laughed heartily. “Well, pick me up and toss me to the Fringe, Caz is one of my best customers. Any member of the Blackbirds is welcome.”
Aio, however, was somewhat surprised. The old man didn’t question Nyx’s status as a defector, something that brings all hunters chagrin. Division hunters were family essentially and loyalty was the law of the land. Leaving one, though nothing in the books says you can’t, amounts to the deepest form of betrayal, and in a society dictated by the hunt, not every defector meets a happy end.
As if he could read Aio’s thoughts, the old man chuckled, “Don’t worry lad. I don’t pry. So long as the metal’s good and the money flows, you can count on me to get you what you need.”
The old woman interrupted, patting Pa on the shoulder, “Pa, look at her face. She’s got to be related to that Imeraza fellow.”
“Curse the clans, you’re right. Well, well, I would have never guessed it. Are you-”
“Yes”, Nyx interrupted, putting her hand up to stop him. “Cyriak Imeraza is my twin. Now can we get to business? I would love to chat, but the Blackbirds just killed an Elite out in the Fringe, and we need to get this kid some more armor, and maybe a better weapon. We’ve got a high-priority hunt coming soon and I don’t like wasting time.”
Ma nodded approvingly but Pa narrowed his eyes at the both of them.
“Hello, I’m Aio”, Aio said meekly, raising his hand. “I’m new. Nice to meet you, sir.”
Pa’s stern expression lingered for a moment before turning into a toothy grin. “Well, Aio is it? Well-mannered, I see, unlike the young lass here.” Nyx stared daggers at the old man.
“I’m Soren, and this is my wife Mirelle. You can just call us Ma and Pa.” He looked back at Nyx. “Yeah, we can get you what you need. There’s a reason why the Blackbirds come to us for their blacksmithing needs, and I aims to get you only the best. Let’s step into the office so I can do an appraisal. We’ll work out the contract details inside.”
Despite his soreness, and exhaustion, Aio felt excited.
A new weapon, he thought, looking at the core he held in his hand, which still pulsed gently.