Changeling

It was night and Nestra was hunting, this time in the depth of a derelict recreation center. She scrunched her nose as another puff of dust rose from the room’s old tatami. The portal’s pale blue light didn’t do the abandoned dojo any favor. She checked the corners just in case but saw nothing but discarded equipment and the sad, dusty portrait of Jigoro Kano, the founder of Judo. She would have taken it away. It was almost sacrilegious to leave it behind.

Nestra made sure all of her gear was secure before walking in. The benefactor had been clear. The void shark would not stop until one of them was dead, and the size of the portal showed it wouldn’t be an easy one. She didn’t really have a plan to deal with the shark but now she could feel it move under the surface of reality and that gave her an edge. It would be their third meeting. She would make it the last one. And then she would make void soup.

Salivating, Nestra slipped through the portal and found herself in a small recess leading to a circular arena. She recognized the setup immediately. Giddy, she took a few steps forward on a sandy ground and a door slammed shut behind her, splitting her from the entry portal. She now stood at the edge of an arena surrounded by high walls leading to rafters populated by elaborate stone statues. Magical torches provided a very bright yellow light that bathed everything under the natural rock ceiling, including her opponent as it kneeled on the ground. The entire room gave a feeling of a secret underground fighting pit for the discerning Roman patrician. This time, her opponent was a golem. A metal, manufactured one filled with energies. Light flashed behind the helm as it stood.

It was a dueling ground portal. Finally, the perfect set up to try her Scornful Crescent against a peer! So exciting! Well, not exactly a peer, she thought as she watched the scuffed construct take a few steps towards her.

Some golems were made of solid material and it was actually extremely difficult to pierce through solid metal with just the strength of one’s arm and another piece of solid metal. Portal worlds avoided difficulty spikes, to some extent, so this one was clearly a training model of rather low quality. The metal looked damaged and poorly made with defects and impact marks. Some of the runes let out occasional showers of sparks like a faulty outlet. For all its shabby make, it walked with confidence as it removed a massive two-handed sword from its back. Nestra thought the aesthetic was interesting. It reminded her of fantasy armor from the late twentieth century, more decorative than practical, and there was an emphasis on the upper parts as if it were meant to block overhead blows. Maybe it was. She took out her sword and moved forward to engage.

The golem pointed the blade forward and charged. Nestra charged as well, then twisted on herself while parrying at the last moment. As expected, the golem thrusted and she managed to push the blade aside, immediately moving into its guard. They exchanged fast blows while the golem moved back to try to use its superior reach but Nestra didn’t let it. Greatswords were extremely fast, much faster than some people believed, but so was she and her technique was better. She struck the chest plate several times and the helmet once though it failed to penetrate. She could use precision but she was having entirely too much fun! This was the first fencer she’d fought since maturing and she wanted to test her limits. She also wanted to see if the shark would come while she was fighting a relatively weak opponent.

Nestra managed to puncture the breastplate of the fifth try. Even with infusing her blade with mana, she was contending with thick enchanted metal, so, a decent enough result. She decided to take some distance and rely more on her strength. The armor was slightly more powerful than she was so contesting it required a bit of skill. She would strike at its arms and face before it could wind up for strong attacks. Their dance was an unequal one, and the golem couldn’t learn so she pushed it back, little by little. The golem’s defenses were whittled down until it suddenly disappeared. Nestra’s blade missed its leg just as it was aout to hit.

The golem now stood two paces back with its blade behind itself. She recognized the posture from training with her father an eternity ago. A pang of nostalgia and anger filled her heart. It was a mana art.

Gleams could manipulate mana into patterns that led to greater effect. Those were standard spells and mana arts. They were essentially the same thing but one threw energy and the other stabbed, so humans, as was their wont, split them and then argued for hours about which attack belonged to which. Nestra barely had to think. She charged and struck.

Mana arts were powerful. They were also rigid and predictable. Just as the golem delivered a devastating swing that could have cut her in half, she dove under it and struck, blade slamming into the golem’s elbow. The power of the attack worked against the golem and its arm was smashed, the armor dangling uselessly by a thread. Thick white energy bled from the opening like molasses leaving a broken container. The fire in the helmet dimmed. Nestra stood and lunged, catching the golem in the eyes.

“Hah!”

Her sword pierced through the helmet.

Runes flared and the golem collapsed. Thick, jelly-like essence bled from every hole until it fully evaporated into the air. It left behind nothing but mangled, cheap metal in a small pile.

Nestra felt the usual triumph and even a boost of power, this time directed to her resilience. She felt it could be comparable to actual metal armor, at least for her class now. It was… very strong. She really wanted to face human users, sometimes. Was just a shame they couldn’t be allowed to survive the experience.

A door opened at the end of the arena. Nestra took her time to check the golem’s remains first, in case she could find something interesting. Magical metal could fetch a decent price but this looked like a poorly mixed alloy and it would only be sold at scrap prices. She was looking at a couple hundred credits at most and she would have to lug it around to the end of the portal world and then back to the Nestracave. Again, if she lived in a more primitive society, this would have been a boon but here in Threshold they had systematic mining operations in recurring portals. Scrap magical metal was cheap. The sword was just an ugly slab of metal no one in their right mind would use. It wasn’t even properly sharpened.

Maybe she could bite it and see if this was what she was meant to eat? She hadn’t tried something new in a long time. She chomped on the golem’s sword and bit clean through the enchanted metal.

It sucked ass.

Nestra spat the scrap out. Not a steel muncher, thank whatever gods looked after her species. A part of her wondered if she could bite through weapons as a tactic but usually, when her head met a weapon, the weapon won so that sounded kinda stupid. Better not risk it.

She tried to feed the armor parts to her symbiote skin and received a dull, confused answer along the lines of ‘Are you seriously expecting me to eat THAT?’ Shrugging, Nestra moved through the gate. This one slammed shut behind her as well.

The next arena was slimmer and longer, more corridor than circle. The same elaborate statues sat above her to form a silent crowd. A bipedal beast stomped on the ground at a distance in the usual angry and confused routine she’d seen in foes who had not yet spotted raiders. It, no, he, she thought, noticing a loincloth. He reminded her of a minotaur but with a single horn and a head that was closer to an otter in shape if the otter had suffered from sudden decompression. Its body was muscular, reddish, and slightly asymmetrical. He wasn’t wielding a weapon, instead displaying impressive calluses on his hands. Damn, that thing could probably pick fritters directly from the billing oil. The most striking feature was a pair of human-like eyes deeply set in his skull. They shone with muddled intelligence. Yet another portal creature denied sentience to serve as a stepping stone to raiders. Or as their end. She took a step forward and drew her blade.

The false minotaur spotted her in the same instant. He charged and the knuckles of his meaty fists gained a reddish hue. In the narrow corridor, the charge would be dangerous.

Above Nestra, reality churned like disturbed water.

“So you decided to show up,” Nestra muttered.

She moved forward. The creature took a wild swing.

Predictable.

Momentum carried Nestra under the blow. She put her left hand behind the pommel and infused the blade with mana. Precision guided her powerful strike between two ribs. The false minotaur’s inertia turned a dangerous attack into a suicidal one. Nestra carved through thick muscle like butter with enough strength to skewer her foe. She used her newest ability, immovable, to become a rock upon which the charge would break. She was over two meters tall by now so the false minotaur was barely higher than her, and the charge crashed against her like a wave upon rock. The false minotaur gasped. She’d skewered him, front to back.

She looked up in that moment between moments and saw the glint of surprise and panic in his eyes. A brief flash of relief turned that brutish face into a disturbingly human one when he realized he was dead but it was so fugacious she might have dreamt it.

Nestra struck to the side with a roar, gutting the beast and spreading a flood of blood and severed organs on the nearest wall. Her foe made a last ditch effort to grab her shoulder. His bloodied fingers slipped on her skin, the red light fizzling as he fell. He gasped for a few moments and then he was dead.

Above her, the shark swam through invisible eddies. She had been ready for it but, strangely, it didn’t attack. She glared at its agile form and realized why.

It was badly wounded. The bite mark on its dorsal fin had not healed yet, and new gashes had come to mar its shadowy skin. Sucker marks near the tail spoke tentacles as large as a car. There were deep gashes like teeth mark on its flanks as well. Some still oozed the milky liquid that acted as its blood. One of the eyes, the one Nestra had punched twice, remained puffy and sore. The beast tried to swim with its predatory grace but even she could tell pain made its movement more gauche. She lifted a brow.

“Well?”

It was in bad shape but it was still a predator, one the benefactor had said never let go.

The shark approached her and then rolled on its belly. The lazy movement exposed a lighter, softer expanse of skin, this one miraculously still intact. It remained here for a second before floating away. Nestra wasn’t sure but it looked surly. Its beady eyes followed her as it turned around to expose its belly again. A harsh, whistling sound emerged from its fanged mouth. It expressed frustration. Spite. Humiliation.

“You… want me to kill you.”

Another whistling hiss. It could understand her? It could understand her! Well, not really the words but more… the underlying emotions. And she could understand it. The hisses, they were not exactly familiar but the beast operated on the same level as she did. It was a raider. It was also a loner. And it was very, very arrogant. Probably an apex predator of some sorts.

Quite possibly a baby given the small size.

With a terrible sense of dread, Nestra anticipated the emotion welling into her chest.

“Oh no.”

Sympathy filled her. Here was a widdle shawk trying to survive by raiding worlds for food just like she did, and it was way on over its head like she was and now it had come to face death with dignity, giving the victory to the one who’d caused its fall and not some outer space squid opportunist or one of its siblings. The shark was here to die by the hand of the true victor, the only one who deserved it. Her. So, of course, she couldn’t kill it.

“OH NO.”

The sight of shark soup faded into the recess of her mind. There would be more opportunities for soup but only one for friend and it was cute and a little bit like her and she was so very, very, very lonely.

Maybe it could be tamed. It could, at the very least, communicate.

“Truce,” she said in her hissy language.

“Truce. Here.”

With more enthusiasm than skill, she hacked off the false minotaur’s forearm. She would check the actual species’ name later because she loved to feel smart knowing the latin name of monsters but that wasn't urgent. A toss of the severed limb and the shark struck out, making the meat disappear down its tenebrous gullet.

“More? More.”

Nestra fed the shark which sounded confused and not exactly grateful but cautiously curious, at least. The whistling gurgles coming from its maw felt more fierce and less, well, depressed.

“Fuck I’m already tamed. Ah whatever. You, void shark, shall be the first of my minions. I told Stib I wouldn’t be a leader but you are different. You have no social skills, just like me, hence why I accept your fealty. I dub thee… Sashimi.”

The newly named Sashimi let out a hiss of confusion. It was already looking better, possibly due to accelerated healing. The cuts on its flanks were visibly closing though the bite mark on its fin stayed there, the scar even more obvious now. It was a fair trade since the bite marks on Nestra’s triceps hadn’t completely faded yet. Also proved she was the top biter with the best teeth. Nestra decided that she felt good about herself despite how ridiculous this all was, and that worst came to worst, she could still eat the shark if it tried to betray her.

All good.

Probably.

For a couple of minutes, the shark circled Nestra, sometimes approaching her with a pissy hiss she returned by waving her sword. Come to think of it, the blade was growing increasingly short compared to her so she might have to upgrade later. More expenses… The shark continued to circle as she waited and kept throwing pieces of false minotaur. After a while, the movement felt less predatory and more relaxed, less guarded though the creature’s beady eyes kept glaring at her as if personally offended by her existence. Nestra wasn’t in a rush since D-class portals were lax when it came to time management. Eventually, she decided to move on. The void creature turned to face her then it shrieked one last time before accelerating. The meaning behind was painfully obvious.

Hunt.

Contest.

It… it was going to raid her world! Maybe eat her food!

“Sashimi noooooo!”

Needled by the entirely predictable betrayal, Nestra raced after the void shark and through another door. The next arena had platforms floating inside of a sphere-shaped cage. The spectator statues stood in lodges hanging in a void by mysterious means while flood lights bathed her with a blinding radiance. A fish monster as long as Nestra swam around, a sword-like protrusion on its nose shining a light blue color. She knew that one. Lesser Manaxyphias Managladius. An elemental swordfish, attuned to electricity apparently. Not a bad matchup.

At the edge of her arena, Sashimi cast the creature a disinterested glance before moving onward. It was going for the guardian.

“Accursed thing! You dare!”

She only received a laughing shriek in return.

“Aaaaaah!”

Nestra jumped on the nearest platform. The monster fish ambled towards her, horn shining more intensely.

It was about speed now, She wouldn’t lose the guardian to void food buffet after feeding the damn thing. Her mind’s focus narrowed to just victory. Jumping on a higher platform, she prepared her strike.

The horn flashed. Nestra planted her sword in the ground to redirect most of the attack. Whatever was left fizzled uselessly against her skin, barely more than a tickle. She jumped at the monster but leftover mana energized it and it lurched forward with a burst of speed.

Nestra’s trajectory finished with her two feet planted on the next platform, just as she had planned. She pivoted and jumped, using momentum to reach the fish’s back as it retreated.

Her strike carved through its dorsal fin and the flesh beneath. The fish shook from the monstrous power of the blow. It was fast and powerful but it wasn’t resilient and now, it would pay for it. Nestra climbed on its back even as indigo lightning tried to push her off. Thick red blood spurted from the ghastly wound. She grabbed her sword’s blade with her other hand and pushed down. It dug deep through the dying flesh until something cracked and the fish fell from the sky, dead. A flash of energy greatly increased her mana pool.

Wanted to harvest that. No time. No time! Thinking quickly, she dragged the entire corpse after her in her mad rush to what ought to be the last arena. A short corridor led her to a large cave, this time without spectators. Red light and heat radiated from the wall as if the cave was near a volcano. Racks of crude weapons stood at nearby intervals along the wall, under the watchful gaze of a fantastically muscular colossus with its head fully ensconced in a metal cage as dense as plating. It was almost half again as tall as she was and its arms were thicker than her thighs. Of the shark, there was no trace.

The creature let out a gurgling laugh when Nestra appeared. It grabbed two unwieldy hammers in its large hands and charged.

Really fast.

Finally, a challenge!

Nestra dropped her fish, then hissed and pointed her finger to cast a thunder spell. The dot of potential manifested just as the creature placed both his weapons in the way. It landed on a shaft. With a thunderous crack, black lightning closed the distance and annihilated the weapons but the creature dropped them almost immediately. It grabbed two halberds from a nearby pile while Nestra rushed him. Her blade bit into its thigh and struggled to penetrate. The muscle was so damn dense! Again, the creature chuckled in amusement. Nestra ducked under a swing, then moved in to stop another sweep before it could fully wind up. The power behind it still sent her rolling away on the dusty ground.

The creature was on her before she could stop but she sprung up, striking as it tried to pin her. A blade clipped her arm while hers dug a small furrow in his shoulder from where dark red blood slowly seeped. The two opponents separated.

The colossus checked his polearm’s blade and found no blood. Nestra’s skin wasn’t so easy to pierce anymore.

“Two can play that game,” she said.

The colossus snarled and attacked again. Nestra used momentum to get into its guard and then precision to stab up, finding a gap between the bars of the creature’s strange cage helmet. It howled in pain, though it was short, and moved forward to grab her. She used the opening to try to attack its wrist but it failed to penetrate, then she was forced to momentum away. Only experience allowed her to fall on the ground and avoid a thrown halberd. A roll and she dodged the next, dust flowing into the air from the strength of the impact.

That thing was stupidly strong! And fast! Probably near the top of D-class. As Nestra stood up to close the distance again, he grabbed two axes with short hafts. Nestra extended her fingers to see what he would do but an axe whistled past her head and she knew she’d need an opening against such a reactive opponent. Always the trouble with smart foes. She still had her gun but… it was cheating. Her ace. She wanted to win like a raider would.

The two opponents circled each other, moving in for fast strikes before disengaging. Nestra judged the creature to be experienced with all weapons present in the room from the way it was set up, so breaking them would be of no use. Its body was tough as well. She would need to hit the head, clearly a weak point.

She had an idea but the timing would be problematic.

Having taken her measure, the monster charged again. This time, it fought with a flurry of fast axe blows. Nestra was forced on the defensive now that he was using her own tools against her. The Scornful Crescent focused on relentless interruptions but it was now her foe overwhelming her with disruptive attacks. Only her mana tool’s sturdiness and great strength let her survive the onslaught, but that was fine. This was a fight to the death with a physically superior opponent. He even had a decent technique.

She lived for that shit. She wanted to win so badly.

“Yes yes yes yes.”

Finally no politics and no masks, just her and him and the promise of the end. Nestra used momentum to reposition every time the creature was about to strike her, drawing his blood with a thousand cuts. Tiny gashes covered his arms but he didn’t stop. He thought he was cornering her. A powerful strike sent her back and this time, she felt a burning line across her flank where she had failed to completely twist away. Gray blood glistened on the axe, turning red as she watched. The creature growled with excitement. Nestra smiled. That was fine. She’d bled before and she would again and now, she was ready.

She blocked a powerful attack and was pushed back. Her hand ached from the constant abuse even if her blade didn’t dull. Her enemy chuckled as it closed the distance once again, eager to finish it. She let him and closed the jaws of the trap.

The Stalk of the Scornful Crescent didn’t suit her so much because it was about stopping attacks before they came. That was only the first, most basic aspect. She liked it because it was about preventing her foes from doing what they wanted. This time, she didn’t block the attack as she’d done the previous five times. Instead, she took a half step back. The axes whistled through the air and missed her completely. The colossus was off balance.

She stepped in and stabbed up with the help of precision.

Nestra must have hit something important because a lot of blood gushed from the unseen wound under the helmet, and the creature’s pained gasp told her it had been effective. Nestra dodged another attempt to grab her and struck his nether but the blow was stopped by something. Well, it had been worth a try.

He was scared of her now. The part of Nestra that learned the Scornful Crescent felt it seep into her essence, the underlying principles understood. One could fight and win against a wielder of the Crescent, but one could never, ever feel confident. There was always a counter, there was always a deception, always the promise of unexpected pain. Now he knew and he was afraid. The monster threw his axes at her, easily blocked, and went for two swords, slightly longer. That was fine. He charged again and struck her at full range without overextending. She allowed the attack to hit her blade and push her back. That was what she wanted, after all. Her naked heels touched a discarded pile of weapons.

The beast charged again.

Nestra used immovable to stop the next blow. Blades collided in a titanic shock, ringing like bells in the red cavern. Her body screamed in protest but she didn’t relent, instead crouching while her foe recoiled from the unexpected resistance. Her fingers closed on the haft of a massive warhammer. Nestra grabbed the borrowed weapon and swung with all her might.

The hammer smashed against the helmet with a deeply satisfying clang. The colossus crashed against the ground.

Above it, a shadowy maw manifested under two beady eyes. The void shark was going for the kill like the ambush predator it was.

And then a demon bolt hit the dazed colossus’ helm.

It exploded and sent gore and pieces fuming of metal flying through the air. Some of it rained on the void shark’s skin while it shrieked with outrage.

“HAH! HAHAHAHA! BITCH YOU THOUGHT!”

Sashimi shrieked in dismay just as the most powerful rush of strength Nestra had ever felt filled her essence. Her power increased drastically along with her mind speed. She felt so strong now, like she could lift an entire car and bash someone with it. The rush filled her with euphoria and the vindication of having denied Sashimi its moment of stolen glory.

“You’ll have to make some more effort you lazy, good-for-nothing discount handbag. Stealing my kill? After doing fuckall? You little baby!”

The void shark endured her demonic gloating with sullen hisses. Since Nestra was a generous winner, she let the freeloader feed on the fallen guardian as she went over the loot, shaking with excitement. This was the BEST. The altar in front of the newly open exit portal held a dagger she was probably keeping for herself, a dull, seemingly chipped weapon that stank of blood. It felt perfect for her. She picked the five — FIVE — low mana crystals and returned to the real prize: her fish. Sashimi squealed excitedly.

“You are deluded if you think I’m sharing that one with you. Eat the guardian and be grateful, idiot.”

The disgruntled void shark swam around her a couple of times, then it grabbed a piece of leg and disappeared back into the void. Nestra didn’t mind. She was just in a fantastic mood, and no amount of voidquatic sulking could change that. She dumped the fish on the altar and butchered it there in the most blasphemous manner imaginable, thanking past-Nestra for packing extra-large freshness bags. Mana fish filets! Mana fish head soup! Oh, she bet the cheek would taste amazing. Oh, and sashimis, obviously, since the meat was so fresh. Should she make ceviche? She could probably bring a shutome poke on rice to work tomorrow. This was going to be great!

Nestra hummed under her breath when she left the portal and smiled even wider when she saw the benefactor’s message left behind on a nearby chair. There was a letter and a book using the same homemade cheap DIY appearance they had used to write the Scornful Crescent manual. She checked the letter first.

“Little Nezhra!

I can’t believe you didn’t kill the shark! I don’t think any of us ever tried to tame one, wow! Humans will truly try to turn anything into a pet, huh? I didn’t think you would be so affected by their urges! This was very well done and I am so proud.

This portal was meant to push you to your limits but it seems it was still a little easy.”

“Easy?” Nestra sputtered. “Easy? Seriously?”

“So next time I will push you more! You are growing faster than I anticipated. It’s only been two weeks and you are already nearing the peak of D-rank in some regards! Good because you will need it. Concerning your gear, your skin is growing too slowly compared to you. I suppose you could try to feed it more blood but I would recommend buying defensive artifacts for it. Human-made gear will do well.”

“My moneyyyyyy,” Nestra lamented. “Why don’t YOU give me artifacts since you’re so smart, huh?”

Grumbling more, Nestra continued. This was a long letter.

“Finally, I have one last gift for you. It’s a technique that you can use to replace your sword! Most of us don’t use tools in combat so this is the best I could come up with on short notice. Have fun!”

Nestra opened the manual next to her and —

***

A gray demon standing on a field of purple grass, tiny steps carrying him forward. He was shorter and lighter than the female demon Nestra saw in her previous vision, the one that taught her the Scornful Crescent. This one smiled at a large, wolf-like being with spikes covering its back. The beast snarled. It jumped. In slow motion, she watched mana coalesce from the demon’s essence, flowing lazily along his hand and the straight edge of his delicate fingers. It hardened and formed a long blade, longer than the beast itself. First, the blade was a dream, then an idea, then a slab of mana hanging at the tip of claw-like nails, then an edge as sharp as the finest artifact. Then it was death. The dark and gray blade contrasted with the colorful scenery in an ominous manner, like a tear in a tapestry. Nestra gasped when demon mana made solid cut through the beast in a single, casual slice. The air wailed at the violation and reality itself shivered, only spared by the demon’s perfect control.

The image faded.

***

Nestra breathed long and deep. This vision had been intense. Just watching the memory of that blade… She touched her nose and found a single droplet of blood.

“Ok, so SHARP sharp.”

But she got it, and that was what mattered. A flick of her fingers, and a tiny blade extended from her index. It was small and weak and it would barely cut butter but that was fine. She got it. And if she kept practicing, she would eventually get a sword and that one would always be the size she wanted.

But enough of that.

It was time for fish.

***

It was morning again in Threshold and the summer sun pierced through the precinct’s dirty windows. Nestra resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Some things never changed. She was now sitting in an office, alone and facing a gleam from the Special Crime division as well as her two administrative stooges. The gleam was one of those who’d landed near the crime scene and ignored her completely to talk to Valerian the day before in what was the classical ‘if you’re a dreg you don’t exist until I need something’ approach to teamwork. The problem was that they wanted to talk to her now and this wasn’t a discussion. It was a trial. She surveyed the three idiots and leaned a little more in her seat to show her annoyance.

It was psychological warfare. Seeing someone relaxed or even pretending to be so tended to piss the gleams off and in this instance, she wanted to piss her off. Because Cleaver was outside looking for Nestra and she was stuck here with someone who cared for theatrics. Nestra kept quiet while they fiddled with stuff and just generally glared at her.

The gleam had the gray iris of a metal user like her dad with the short hair many close-quarter raiders favored. She was also fairly powerful, probably a C-grade. Nestra could feel controlled mana wash over her which was the only pleasant thing about this whole encounter.

“Before we begin, I would like to know why you felt free to leave the crime scene?”

Ah so that was what it was.

“What do you mean?”

“Yesterday, you notified us of a crime scene on… landfill 37 of District Fifteen.”

“Yes.”

The gleam waited.

“I still don’t understand your question.”

“Your behavior is doing you no favor. You notified us of this discovery and then you left.”

“Yes.”

Another bout of silence.

“Was there a problem with that?”

“You were not relieved, Officer Palladian.”

Nestra carefully calculated the safest way to annoy the gleam. A part of her was aware she was being childish but the core of her mind wouldn’t budge. It was nasty and it wanted to bite, but smartly, in a way that wouldn’t lead to a significant punishment.

“If you say so,” she replied noncommittally.

It was enough to set the gleam off.

“We are the Special Crime division, the one rampart between rogue users and the general public. Our activities always take priority, am I clear?”

“What activity? I stayed until I was sure the place was secured and then I left to work. At no point did your people interact with me or ask me to stay.”

“Is common sense such a rare commodity these days?”

“Whatever do you mean?” Nestra asked innocently.

The gleam glared harder, mana now pushing on Nestra’s ever-gluttonous mana circuit and disappearing down its bottomless depth. It was rude so Nestra felt free to fight back a little.

“I followed protocol. I don’t see what the problem is.”

“We had questions for you.”

“And you called me and here I am, so maybe ask them?”

“Our time is eminently precious, Officer Palladian. We have better things to do than to run after rogue elements.”

There was a clock on the wall, an old-style analogue affair that also displayed the current temperature and mana concentration for legal purposes. Nestra made a show to check it in order to imply that, for people who saw time as precious, they sure enjoyed wasting hers.

“I see. I’m terribly sorry you feel that way. Now, you had questions?”

“Please note that we will make a request for disciplinary action.”

Nestra pushed back a smile but the gleam saw the minute curl of her lips, and it was enough. Internal Affair was a fortress unto itself and Nestra was currently under their jealous umbrella. Any rat squad agent who was found stealing or accepting bribes suffered the worst possible consequences, such as being sent to Red House with the violent criminals and without protection. In return, the rat squad obstructed any and all outside interference with their own business, including from gleams. They were quite famous for that.

“Noted, request away. So, you had questions?”

The gleam smoldered in her seat. Nestra wondered if she would try to escalate. Her two subordinates were looking at Nestra with a mix of shock and horror. Obviously they weren’t used to a dreg talking back. Nestra was connected so she could afford to do it. Actually, the iron gleam should know her father. It was a rare attunement and he was the strongest user of this type in Threshold. Maybe she had an axe to grind.

“This isn’t over, Palladian. I would like to know how you managed to detect the tomb at a distance and what made you decide to investigate.”

“There was blood mana, though it was a little weird. And I decided to investigate because I’m a cop.”

“How do you know it was unusual? Do you have experience with blood mana?” the gleam asked with a predatory gaze.

Blood mana had a somewhat bad reputation. Case in point.

“I was exposed to many types of mana as part of my training. Blood included.”

“Are you telling me MaxSec gives its employees mana training?”

“No? Surely you haven’t failed to recognize my last name?” Nestra asked. “As a metal-aligned user yourself.”

The gleam grit her teeth and made a note on a datasheet.

“We’ll be checking that. Now elaborate on ‘weird’.”

“Just that,” Nestra said, switching to useful mode.

It was one thing to piss off the gleam but she wouldn’t do anything to hamper the investigation.

“It had a sort of smell, not a physical one but more an induced synesthesia. It was potent enough that I perceived it from a nearby street.”

“And yet your partner didn’t.”

“Officer Shinoda is a baseline.”

“Officer Valerian of House Nephrite did not, however?”

“He landed right on top of the mausoleum if that’s what it is. The mana saturation was very high there.”

“I’m curious how you would be able to recognize mana with such precision.”

They were checking if she wasn’t an accomplice drawing attention to the crime scene, which made sense. The way it was structured hinted at some measure of exhibitionism. The killer or killers would want it to be found. Demon Nestra understood the hunter on a fundamental level without a need for deep thought. That hunter was a cruel one and proud of their work, but they were not willing to display it without someone trying a little, hence why it was camouflaged yet also baited. Someone had to work to enjoy the show, to deserve it. She thought there was also a domination game hidden in the maneuver. The hunter was showing they were smart enough to set up an elaborate display under the Special Crime division’s nose. Or close to it. Nestra was not an apprentice, just one of the few mana-sensitive people who remained close to the ground.

“I can feel mana. It’s in my profile,” Nestra replied.

“It’s not. Your medical information is sealed to us. Care to explain why?”

Mazingwe was apparently looking out for her in his weird protective way, though in this case it was giving her grief. She didn’t really mind people figuring out she had a full circuit and no core. In fact, it would be enough to explain most of the weirdness surrounding her.

“Nope, but I can tell you I have a circuit. You should be able to tell since you’re C-grade,” she replied.

The gleam bristled a bit. She really couldn’t take any backtalk at all, not even the most benign.

“So you claim you could sense a sort of… trail?”

“Yes. It was laid on purpose. There was even a, hmm, direction to it. The person or persons who built it, they wanted it to be found, I think. Although that’s speculation.”

“Hmm. You saw what was inside, yes?”

“A glimpse through the door only.”

“Do you think it was a ritual?”

Nestra shrugged.

“No idea. That’s not my area of expertise.”

“And the eyes?”

“Same. I don’t know enough to formulate an educated opinion.”

“Strange turn of phrase. Well, I believe we have all we need for now.”

Sure you do, Nestra though, sure you do. Wait for it. Wait for iiiiiit.

“One last thing. Hypothetically, if you were in my shoes, what lead would you pursue?”

Nestra blinked. Not the question she’d expected. That was the first time the gleam caught her off guard and when she looked up, the silvery iris remained carefully neutral. Nestra gave it some thought.

What would she do?

“Hm, knowing what I know, I’d look for more sites.”

“You think there are more victims?”

“Probably? Feels like… a show. Very arrogant. It wouldn’t make sense to stop at one, I think? The hunter is very proud.”

“What did you say?”

Shit.

“The, uh, hunter. Like a cat. Showing a trophy. Sorry, just the impression I got.”

The gleam kept staring and Nestra was growing a little uncomfortable.

“The victim was a user.”

“Ah,” Nestra replied.

That made sense. The hunter wanted to show they were competent. Dangerous, even.

“A raider with the Blazing Blades guild. C-rank. A pyromancer.”

Nestra gasped. She couldn’t help it. Someone had murdered a C-rank raider? And gotten away with it? Completely? That was… terrifying. Raiders fought back. Mage raiders demolished entire blocks. And this had all gone under the radar?

Inconceivable.

“Holy shit. Wow. A raider. Wow that’s… bad.”

“An understatement, Officer Palladian. Thank you for your time and see you later.”

***

Before returning to Shinoda’s side, Nestra stopped at the coffee machine for a nice cup of java and a donut. It was a nice one, not too greasy with pseudo-maple syrup glazing. There was one thing she should do that she’d promised to do twice: talk to Mazingwe before he managed to corner her. He picked up after only one ring.

“Nestra Palladian. Good morning. Are you bleeding out in a ditch and require urgent care?”

“And good morning to you too, doctor. Is now a good time?”

“You mean there is no urgency in your request?”

“No requests. I just wanted to inform you of a small change. Hmm. I had synesthesia with a mana signature and my sense of smell. It’s new so I thought I would inform you.”

“It is a good thing I am currently sitting, Miss Palladian, or else I might have fallen from the surprise. Your update is much appreciated. And yes, this is a common feature for nose-reliant quirkies though usually other senses are also enhanced. Can you see mana?”

“No, not yet.”

“It appears that your body finally adapted to a lack of core, though I will admit it was rather sudden. Your case being unique, I am unsure what ‘normal’ constitutes, but I can tell you this latest development is consistent with quirkies profiles. You might develop other abilities including more active ones such as sudden bursts of strength. Please keep in mind that since you only regain mana from the ambient layer, so to speak, the first triggers might leave you completely exhausted. Are you feeling any discomfort?”

“Just hunger.”

“Monitor your weight please, just in case, but so far you seem to be in top shape. It was good listening to you but now I must attend to my next patient. Feel free to send me regular updates in written form and I promise to reply as soon as I can.”

“Thanks doctor. Have a great day.”

“I am pleased that you would trust me, Miss Palladian. Your well-being matters to me.”

“You spoil me.”

“I spoil all of my patients, Miss Palladian. It is my prerogative as an old man. Have a good day and kindly do not get killed.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Nestra hung up.

She was sure she was getting stronger because demon power seeped through her true form into her mask. She could feel it, the way she was mostly cut off but not completely. It wasn’t a quirkie thing but what mattered was that it looked similar enough that she could explain her change through it. Maybe she could study quirkies and imitate them.

She still wished she’d been born with a core. That would have made everything easier, including, apparently, being a conceited bitch.