As the helmet from the female warrior rose, brown colored locks unfurled. With shoulder length hair, long eyelashes, and a slightly toned yet round face, Ace was taken aback. He hadn't seen many girls growing up, but from just a glance he could tell she was very pretty. Shaking away the strange thoughts, he focused on what was important.

"How did you heal so fast?!"

The girl rolled her eyes, shook her head, and extended her right hand.

"Where are your manners? You're supposed to introduce yourself before you start asking questions. My name is Stellis... of House Steel."

Looking at her hand awkwardly, Ace raised his left arm and swatted at his empty right sleeve. After, he extended his hand.

"My name is Ace. And yes, I am Notched but only have one arm. I was born like this"

Stellis coughed in embarrassment before swapping to the other hand and completing the handshake.

When their hands touched, Ace felt her balance point again but left it alone and tried to disengage. However, the girl held his hand in an iron grip and stared at him expectantly. Not understanding what she wanted, he vocalized his confusion.

"Yes?"

She replied sternly.

"You didn't tell me. What house do you serve?"

Yanking his hand free, Ace responded proudly as he beat his chest. There was no need to lie.

"I serve no house. I am from the slums if you must know."

Expecting her to recoil in disgust, he waited keenly for her reaction. Keeping her face relatively passive, she narrowed her eyes at his words.

"Hmm. Is that the story you're going with? I don't see anyone else so you must be alone. It doesn't take a genius to see that there is absolutely no way someone could have survived out here by themselves. But... you saved my life so... I'll let it rest for now."

Finally releasing his hand, the girl walked away and began moving her comrades' bodies into a pile. After, she started digging a large hole in the ground. Ace watched her with a solemn expression.

'So this is a burial... Everyone back in the slums just gets burned when they die. There's no space for these kind of things.'

Unwilling to stand still any longer, Ace began to help Stellis. She paused briefly, confused by his actions.

"You don't even know these people."

Not bothering to look up, Ace continued digging.

"Don't get the wrong idea. The quicker we finish, the quicker we can leave. I could go now, but it makes no sense to not stick together. Trust me, I've been out here a while and another pair of eyes would certainly be helpful. I don't want to be around when whatever attacked you reappears."

Nodding her head in understanding, Stellis began digging again. The two finished in only a few minutes, aided by their superhuman strength.

Moving with quickness, Ace prepared to leave the clearing, making sure to grab any rations from the corpses before placing them in the hole. Stellis looked on disapprovingly but Ace could only shrug his shoulders. The dead would have no use for the supplies.

When they finished sealing the grave, Stellis stood over it and said a few words. While she was busy, Ace walked back towards the truck and looked for more supplies.

Unable to find anything, he jumped out of the truck and saw an object lodged into its side. It was a rock. He would have left it alone, but it was the perfectly sized object for something that he wanted to test. Unlike in the slums where he almost exclusively saw concrete and steel, he hadn't seen any rocks during his stay in the forest. Picking it up was a reminder of home. Maybe the rock would prove useful.

Once Stellis finished praying over the bodies of her comrades, she rummaged through all of the trucks, even the ones that were burning.

Clearly looking for something, her frustration grew visible with each successive vehicle, eventually ending in her slamming her hand into the hood of a vehicle, shaking it heavily.

Noticing Ace's concerned stares, she sighed before kicking the truck once more and joining him near a tree.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"I was looking for our navigational data and a compass... Both were destroyed so getting back home is going to be tough. We didn't exactly travel in a straight line either since there were too many... obstacles. I'm going to be honest, we don't really have many options besides just waiting for another team to venture out into this area. My team was unfortunately the first."

Ace raised an eyebrow.

'Compass? Navigational Data? She's using a bunch of words I don't understand... Thalia maybe mentioned the first one before but aside from that I'm completely lost. I was hoping this city dweller would know a way to get back, but I guess that's not going to happen.'

The two stood in silence, pondering their situation. Before long, slightly orange rays of sunshine started to peak through the canopy of leaves above. Sensing that nightfall wasn't far off, Ace hurriedly found the thickest tree in the vicinity and began to scale it using his crowbar technique.

Taking note of both the waning Sun and Ace's rapid ascent up the tree, Stellis joined him. She didn't to be told that it wasn't a good idea to be caught on the ground during the night. As she joined him in the climb she spoke up.

"So this is how you've been surviving here I take it? My envoy spent last night on the ground..."

Ace kept climbing, unable to remove his attention from his climbing tool.

"Yes, I have only been on the forest floor twice. The first time was out of necessity while the second time was when I met you. This place... This forest. It's dangerous. The skies, the floor, hell even the rivers aren't safe. You survive by going unnoticed. That's how I avoided trouble, until I didn't."

Intrigued, Stellis inquired further.

"Oh? And what happened then?"

Pausing briefly, Ace looked down over his shoulder at the city dweller. His expression was one of utmost seriousness.

"I was eaten."

Stellis coughed awkwardly.

"I see..."

***

The youthful pair continued their climb high into the tree until they had reached the height that Ace liked to sleep at. He quickly showed Stellis how to secure herself to a branch before climbing further up to secure a sleeping perch of his own. Uncomfortable with Ace being above her, she jumped to a neighboring tree before making her bed.

He was fine with the isolation. They weren't friends and he needed time to organize his thoughts.

The timer until the beginning of the second wave flashed in his vision.

---

[Trial Assessment]

Days Remaining in Combat Testing : 337

Days Remaining Until Next Wave : 7

Waves Completed : 1/13

---

Ace closed the window with a sigh. He had been in the forest for nearly three weeks and he wasn't any closer to finding a way to get back home. Unlike his previous nights in the forest where he was either training his Notch or practicing his healing speed, he couldn't bring himself to do either. The reality of the situation was starting to dawn on him. Thalia's words once again rang in his ears as he considered his predicament with frustration.

'I just wish I knew which direction to go in or at least how far away I am! I'm positive GQC-1 has to be a couple hundred miles away considering it took the city dwellers weeks to get here even in their exploration vehicles. If that's the case though, I really don't understand why the Raven's carried me so far. Matter of fact, why is it that they were the only one's from this forest to appear at The Wall?'

Talos chimed in his ear.

[The Raven's are the weakest species here. With each successive wave, more challenging beasts will be drawn to your installation in addition to any beasts that were previously a part of a wave. Beasts that are too strong for a current wave remain in their ecosystem.]

With a tone of annoyance, Ace responded to his floating helper.

'Alright you've told me this before, how does this help me?'

[While I am unable to tell you how to return to your installation, I can tell you that the Raven flock you arrived here with was not the same size as when it left the installation. With this information as well as what you already know, it is possible to deduce a way to return and evaluate the danger, even without the aid of navigational tools.]

Ace rose to his feet, confused and angry as Talos shimmered into invisibility.

'Hey get back here! What do you mean it's possible to figure out how to get back with all the information that I have now!'

Talos only remained silent and stayed hidden.

Even more confused than he was before, Ace slumped down against the tree trunk. He sat still for hours into the night, even maintaining his concentration as ferocious battles of Sever Beasts erupted beneath him. After a particularly loud crashing sound Ace could see the tree neighboring him sway slightly.

It was then that understanding dawned on him.

"Ah... I think I know how to get back."

It was then that he took a closer look at the swaying tree that was beginning to fall down.

"Wait a minute, isn't that the tree Stellis went to sle-"

He wasn't even able to finish his thoughts before the girl he was thinking of crashed into him, sending the both of them right into the tree trunk, cracking both it and his ribs.

Coughing up blood, he tried to look down at Stellis but she was already on her feet, brandishing her longsword at an unseen foe.

Following her gaze, Ace tried to find their attacker. He almost shrieked in fright when he laid eyes upon it.