Sera woke slowly, eyes blurred from dizziness. She propped herself up, leaning against a nearby wall, only to see her surroundings much too quiet. In fact, she felt the silence hanging over her to be much too eerie. It was only then that she remembered the reason she had lost consciousness.

I need to get out of here and fast!

She rose to her feet in a single leap, scanning her surroundings with her eyes, yet there were no traces of the Dustborn that had assaulted her and her former squad. In fact, she believed herself to be alone until she felt the end of a metallic rod pressing deeply on her back. Her eyes widened as she realized what it was. She couldn't help but freeze, unwilling to produce any movement that could betray her nervousness.

“Very good,” Ning Shan said, standing behind the woman, his new weapon in his hand. “Any sudden movements, and I’ll have you join your former comrades in the underworld.”

Hearing this voice, Sera felt a shiver creep up her spine, yet she managed to restrain it through gritted teeth. She took a deep breath and calmed herself. At the very least, she was still alive, and her captors didn't seem to want to end her life—at least not in the short term.

"What do you wish to know?" she managed to say, yet her fear permeated her tone.

Ning Shan smiled slightly, feeling a slight interest in this individual born of a different world.

“I do have some questions needing answers," he replied, yet the words felt awkward on his lips.

He didn't notice earlier, as he was too absorbed by the heat of battle, but this language was foreign to him, yet he could speak it. He figured this was another of the system's functions, yet it all seemed too convenient.

While he could understand the words in his brain, the mouth gymnastics he had to use to formulate the sounds weren't something he was used to. As such, his speech pattern was crooked at best. So much so that Sera could hardly understand him.

“Who are you, and what are you doing here?" Ning Shan asked, speaking slowly, articulating the words as best as he could. Still, regardless of his will, they seemed to come out as if on auto-pilot.

“Sera... that's my name. Uh... at least that's what people call me while trying not to insult me. Otherwise, it's 'Hey' or 'You Bastard!'..." Sera rambled on, not making much sense, letting her nerves do the talking. Still, Ning Shan opted not to interrupt her. Hearing the dialect firsthand did wonders for his own pronunciation.

After a while, however, Ning Shan felt this was going nowhere and brought her back to the matter at hand.

“I asked what your purpose here is." He pressed slightly harder on her back with the metallic rod in his hand, prompting her to tense up involuntarily.

“We’re Dust Hunters... at least we were," she said, then hesitated nervously before adding, "The others... are they... dead?"

“They attacked me, so I responded in kind,” Ning Shan replied in a calm tone of voice, almost dismissively, yet this had the opposite effect on Sera, prompting her to tense up even more. Still, Ning Shan couldn’t care less and prodded further,” What are Dust Hunters? What are they for?”

“Do you not know?” Sera replied, almost instinctively, her eyes growing wider.”

“Enlighten me...”

Ning Shan's tone was grave, bringing another shiver to her spine. Still, she took a deep breath and calmed herself. Somehow, she knew that this man wouldn't hurt her if she remained cooperative. At least, that was her feeling, and she had learned to trust her instincts.

“You've at least seen the red stuff spewing out of those creatures, right? We're paid to bring back as much of that stuff to the city as we can. It seems they use it as some sort of power source and all other kinds of stuff."

While rudimentary, it gave Ning Shan an idea of the structure of this world. This dust seemed to be a resource just like any other, prompting an industry to spring up around it, with hunters being the primary resource gatherers.

“So you hunt those creatures, the Dustborn you called them?" Ning Shan added after pondering for a bit.

Hearing this question, Sera only showed a wry smile, yet she knew that being dishonest wouldn’t bode well for herself.

“We were a Red-Class squad; hunting Red-Class Dustborn was our limit. However, such Dustborns are barely worth hunting. It’s a waste of time and effort.”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Ning Shan could only agree. Compared to the orange crystal he had absorbed, the red ones were barely enough to give him a few dust points each. If he were to translate the amount of dust to something he was familiar with—namely spiritual crystals made from condensed qi—Ning Shan could see that most red crystals would be barely enough to afford a meal.

"How do you transport all this?" Ning Shan asked. "I'm sure you don't just stuff it all in a bag or something."

Sera paused; she couldn’t help but grow some doubts, yet Ning Shan pushed the tip of his weapon even deeper into her back, prompting a small yelp to escape her lips.

“Didn’t you find the spiderbot?” she replied, her voice cracking.

Indeed, he had seen the construct but had opted not to approach it. After all, this was an unknown world, and he had no idea what security measures these machines had. Thinking back to his own world, artifacts exploding as new owners tried to refine them were a common occurrence. More than once, his subordinate had been replaced following this fate.

“So these Dust Hunters... is this some sort of organization?” he asked.

Sera froze, unable to answer as she now knew something was wrong.

Nobody living in the city hasn't heard about Dust Hunters, she thought. It doesn't seem like he is toying with me; he honestly doesn't know... Who is this guy?

As her mind raced, trying to find a way out of this precarious situation, Sera heard a sound coming from above. Her body froze completely, and her eyes grew wide open. Sweat began to pour out of her skin, drenching the clothes beneath her large jacket.

Feeling that something was wrong with his captive, Ning Shan's gaze rose, only to rest upon a winged creature standing upon what seemed like a metal pillar curved at the top with a glass bulb at the end.

The creature's wings seemed to be made of metallic feathers, and although they were retracted, covering its body, judging by the creature's size, they should span at least two meters. Its neck was long and curved, ending in a sharp beak that glistened slightly. Its large claws were wrapped around the metallic pole, leaving small indents as they scratched its surface. The creature's eyes seemed dull, almost non-existent.

“What is that bird?” Ning Shan asked. “Is everything around here made of metal?”

“Quiet!” Sera hissed quietly, her body tensing under the creature’s watch. “Don’t let it hear you!”

Ning Shan's eyes narrowed, feeling slightly vexed at being commanded. How long had it been since someone had dared to take this tone with him? Still, as he was new to this world, the most prudent thing to do was to listen to the locals in matters of survival.

“Isn’t it just one dumb bird?” Ning asked, his voice a whisper, just like Sera had asked. “Don’t tell me you can’t even deal with that? And you call yourself a hunter?”

“Just one bird?” she asked as she turned around, ignoring the weapon that Ning Shan pressed on her back. “Are you trying to get us killed?”

Ning Shan failed to react, as he was taken aback by her brazenness. She held the collar of his clothes with her gloved hands. Still, Sera was lucky that she had shown no violent intent; otherwise, Ning Shan might have reacted instinctively. Truthfully, all this time, he had felt no threat coming from her, almost as if she was a small animal he could crush at any moment.

"Is it so dangerous?" Ning Shan asked, intrigued as he looked at the oblivious creature above them. "Just seems like a dumb bird to me... too bad you can't barbecue them."

“Barbecue? What the hell are you talking about? Are you mentally challenged, or just thick of hearing?”

Ning Shan's eyes narrowed as his casual atmosphere dissipated, leaving only a coldness that chilled her to the bone. Ning Shan caught her by the throat, squeezing just enough to allow the barest amount of oxygen through.

Sera tugged on his fingers, trying to pry them apart, yet they felt like steel. No matter how she tried, her efforts were in vain.

"Listen here," Ning Shan said as he whispered next to her ear, bringing her face close to his own. "I may be new here, but that doesn't give you the right to insult me. I may have allowed you some leeway until now, but you better remember who holds your life in his hands... understood?"

She could only nod slightly while fighting through the pain of suffocation; only then did Ning Shan release her, his expression losing his earlier contempt, returning to his casual atmosphere.

“With this over with, mind telling me what’s so dangerous about those things?” he asked. “This one’s been staying there for a while. Not even trying to attack us.”

Sera coughed quietly as she tried to regain her breath. Knowing how futile it would be, she had to fight the urge to flee. She raised her head, looking upon the man who held her captive, only to be stunned, only just now realizing that he wore no mask.

“How are you fine breathing in that dust?” she blurted out, feeling an overwhelming dread.

“How are you not?” Ning Shan replied dismissively. “Can you stop wasting time and answer my questions?”

If Ning Shan could see under her mask, he would have seen her biting her lips, almost drawing blood. She had to use every bit of her self-restraint not to run.

This guy is way too weird!!! she screamed internally.

“Okay, listen...” she said, almost as if to herself. “These vultures feast on anything that contains dust. They’re scavengers, congregating anywhere they feel like dust might be. While they are almost blind, they have a great sense of smell, allowing them to easily find their score. Some hunters even use them as recon to find dust veins. Still, despite their size, they aren’t a threat individually.”

“If so, why isn’t it interested in us?” Ning Shan replied. “Better yet, why can’t I just get rid of it?”

"Listen!" Sera shrieked almost inaudibly. "Just because one isn't a threat, doesn't mean many aren't too. Besides, these Dustborns rarely travel alone. Getting swarmed is asking us to get killed. Furthermore, once you kill one, it emits an ultrasonic wave, alerting its peers to its position. Meaning, if you kill this one, we'll have to deal with countless others..."

"Slight problem," Ning Shan interrupted, his gaze slightly more solemn.

He used his hands and slowly turned the masked woman's head around, gazing at the most dreadful sight. Her eyes grew wide open as her body became cold and still with fright. It was as if her heart had stopped.

Before her were countless other vultures, looking down on them with dead, glassy eyes. Their numbers were overwhelming, so much so that even Ning Shan felt slightly threatened.

"What now?" Ning Shan asked, his voice much more quiet than before. "Any genius plan, miss know-it-all, or should I just deal with them?"

His voice brought her back to reality. She took a deep breath and nodded, keeping the metallic vultures in her sight.

"I do have a plan," she said quietly before screaming, "RUN!" She left a stunned Ning Shan behind as she darted in the opposite direction of the horde.