Our journey back to Daptel was uneventful, seeing as everyone was spent from the shopping trip. We chose to get on a road-driven transporter for our return trip, seeing as we didn’t want to wait for an airworthy one spacious enough for the four of us.

The highway traveled through Caper Plateaus and Daptel, stretching to the horizon and beyond. Apparently, wide roads like this one branch throughout Udepra’s continents, connecting between its major cities and settlements.

How would they deal with the tectonic activity and challengers ruining these roads? Rebuilding them every time they get destroyed seemed like a futile effort, but I couldn’t think of an alternative solution off the top of the head myself.

The taxi we were on was another 3x2 seater. This time, Timayther took the front seat beside the rather silent Magna driver, Ludawon sitting in the middle, while I settled on the left seat at the back.

I laid down on the length of cushion provided by the two seats, enjoying the extra space all to myself. It was a little awkward doing so while two members of my favourite girl group were watching, but none of us really minded.

I considered checking the chat or managing my inventory to pass this in-between time, but resting ended up being the higher priority. From the silence permeating the inside of the cab, I could tell that everyone thought the same.

After the transporter arrived at the airport, we split the fare between all four of us and alighted off the road. I dusted off whatever got caught on my spacesuit, while Luda and Dawon stretched their limbs. Timayther shook his head in an effort to stay awake.

“Funny that you’re not paying for Tim this time around, KC.”

Dawon saw me going along with their plan, and asked about my change of heart.

“Seeing him paying for his own shopping, I guess he didn’t need my help in the first place.” I sighed.

“It’s the budget my company gives me, Mr KC.” Tim explained. “Not much, but I save up for the things I want to get.”

“At least your label gives you allowance, Tim.” I shrugged at him, glancing at the other two. The girls didn’t say anything back.

The departure terminal wasn’t full of travelers, but as the main airport of a city as large as Daptel was, there was still a lot of people walking around. Thankfully, we had no business staying long in the building, so we didn’t have to deal with this crowd for long.

Immigration for departure was not that much slower as it was for arrival, and we met up back with one another at the lift lobby.

“Timayther, you’re going on the Steadfast 07, aren’t you?” I asked.

The Mun Shaen nodded, exchanging glances with his partner in music.

“Okay, see you up there, everyone.” I looked around the other three people.

“You too, KC.” Luda replied.

Luda and I got on one elevator, while Dawon and Tim rode another. Only three other people got on the carriage we were in, before the doors closed and we descended into the vertical tunnel area where our ships were parked.

Luda was the one who got out first; meaning, her ship was parked in the highest level out of everyone in the elevator.

I was the fourth. Nodding to the bored Mun Shaen clerk remaining in the elevator, I got out of it onto the level where the Wandering 14 was held. As the doors closed, I saw them move their eyes in my direction, but nothing more.

The hangar was a little mustier this time of the day, but it was still plenty warm and humid. I quickly looked for my ship and got on, wasting no time to activate its air conditioning systems.

As I took my seat in the bridge, a call came into my transmission system. I accepted the connection, and,

“Flight control here. You’re third in line to leave, please stand by for when your turn comes.”

The voice belonged to a different person from the one who instructed me to land before.

“Copy that.” I replied.

I had no idea how long the waiting time was, but surely it’ll be long enough for me to unpack my shopping, right?

Peering into my inventory, I could see the modules in one corner of the window, still in their plain, unlabeled boxes.

I took each box out of the inventory, unpacked it, and placed both the component and the box back in the inventory.

Doing this was unnecessarily filling up my storage space, but I figured I could use the boxes for something.

At that time,

“Flight control here, we’re ready for your departure. Please confirm that you’re ready to leave.”

Whoa, that was close!

I pulled away from my inventory and dismissed the window, barely making the cut.

“I’m ready, thanks.” I managed a reply back.

The controller disconnected from my transmission channel with a click. Soon after, the smaller turrets stationed in the hangar turned to point their ends at my ship.

They waited for me to run the Wandering 14’s engine, then fired their blue-white energy beams on it.

Assisted by the tractor beams, I hovered my ship out of the hangar, into the vertical tunnel that ran down the middle of the airport. This time, suspended mid-air by the core operating four turrets, my ship pointed to the sky.

“Engage full ers, Wandering 14. Have a good trip.” The transmission from flight control arrived for the last time.

The engine roared as I put it through its paces, boosting the exhausts on the rear of my ship to their limits. Then, as if a strained rubber band was released, the tractor beams let go, and the Wandering 14 shot itself into the skies of Udepra with an incredible velocity.

The g-force that came with the sudden acceleration pushed me back on the pilot seat, before the localized gravity function adapted to the speed fully.

I looked to the side of the cockpit and saw the cityscape of Daptel, as well as the volcanoes and arid red soil that made up the scenery beyond.

The last time I’ve been on one celestial body this long was probably back on Hub Influx-3A, and that was an extraterrestrial colony.

For what I’ve heard about it, Udepra was surprisingly a calm place. Sure, with the tectonic activity and challengers running around destroying stuff, it wasn’t a stable planet to live on, but the time I spent here was not as chaotic as I thought.

But then again, we didn’t stay to help rebuild Mavacena, so that’s that.

Maybe Nadeum would be more interesting, but on the other hand I don’t wish to get caught up in another invasion so soon.

There’s that annual performance thing by the rainbow fish, at least. Maybe I’ll have time to see that today.

I broadcasted my transmission channel as soon as my ship stabilized its velocity and began to leave the atmosphere.

Two responses, which means everyone is here already.

Speaking into the control board,

“Are you going back to Meritus Selatan, Dawon? I don’t know if I’ll have time to come with you.”

It should be night in Meritus Selatan now, but I don’t know what time it is on Mara Artemis. I’d like to speak with Carthena about the Accolade while she’s still awake, if possible.

“I’ll drop Timayther off there, then I have some of my own business to attend to.” She replied.

“You’re not coming with us?” Luda asked.

“No, I’m not.” Came her reply.

“We’ll be fine with the two of us, Luda.” I recalled what the tour guide told me this morning. “I don’t think we’ll come across that much danger in the largest city on Nadeum, at least.”

On our private chat window, I sent her an additional message.

Plus, I think Dawon’s thing might be really important to her, seeing how quickly she refused your invitation.

“Alright, then. Stay safe.” Luda finally replied on the transmission channel.

“You stay safe too, Mr KC! Miss Luda!”

From Dawon’s channel, Tim’s voice bid us farewell.

“I don’t know when I’ll see you again, but stay alive until then, okay!?”

There was that hint of desperation in his voice we were all familiar with.

I realized that parting ways with Dawon meant parting ways with Tim as well. Unlike Dawon, who was a real person I could meet out of Hyperspace Frontier, I have no idea when I would see the Mun Shaen again.

This was a real farewell.

“Stay strong, Tim. I’ll be cheering you on from wherever I am.” I answered him.

“See you around, Tim!” Luda followed.

“You too!” He responded.

“…You know we have twenty more minutes until we reach Nadeum, don’t you?”

Dawon interrupted us.

“Oh, right.” I muttered.

It’s at times like this that I’m grateful that the transmission channel was voice-only; looking at Tim and Luda’s faces would be too embarrassing otherwise.

As the dusty air of Udepra receded from the view from the Wandering 14’s cockpit, I finally saw Luda and Dawon’s ships to either side of mine.

The ‘branchy’ structure of Dawon’s Steadfast 07 was a sight to behold, as usual; the extensions on the back of her ship emitting unusual light streaks that propelled it forward in some unknown way.

However, seeing Luda’s ship took me by surprise as well, seeing it for the first time. Not much bigger than Yeoreum’s Indignant 11, it looked like a cross between a stealth bomber and a manta ray; the wide wings of her ship swayed gently in the vacuum of space, while a pair of sensory extensions wiggled around in front trying to pick information up. From the alien-looking exhausts by its ‘tail’, nearly invisible blue rays streaked gently.

The ships I’m seeing get weirder and weirder, I thought. Maybe I just haven’t been out sightseeing that much.

“What’s the name of your ship, Luda?” I asked. “Mine’s the Wandering 14.”

“My ship?” She answered. “Umm… Ah, here it is: The Observant 06. I call it Manta though.”

“Manta… That’s a nice name.”

I think it’s cute how some of the members have given nicknames to their ships. As for me, Wandering has a nice ring to it, so I used that name instead.

“I assume it’s biological?” I continued.

“Partly, if I’m not mistaken.” Luda stated. “Mostly for the detection and evasion systems, from what I found out.”

“Must be fun to work with.”

The three of us talked about our ships for a while, before the conversation fell silent. Seeing as none of us felt like talking any longer, I switched off the transmission input and stood up from the bridge.

---

“Set automatic guidance to Mara Artemis, Wandering.”

A rising chime answered, indicating that my ship received the voice command.

With autopilot engaged, I was free to return to the crew quarters. Tidying it up, I sat on the bed and began unpacking my shopping.

First up were the reinforcement modules. I installed the jet propulsion upgrade on the shoes I bought on C’ssun-R, while attaching the stamina boost and internal armour components directly to the personal system. Like the Hazard Shield core, the modules affixed themselves to my inventory.

Evasion and escape; this was the strategy I devised to survive as long as I can. The internal armour system was extra insurance.

Before I forget,

I also fitted the Depth Paint mod into the upgrade uptake slot for the ship in the weaponry room, along with the coating jar. A few mechanical clicks and whirs sounded as the Wandering 14 integrated the new technology into its structure.

After that, I took out the Sver-Mod crossbow and familiarized myself with its operation and use. Taking out one of the empty boxes and propping it up a distance away from me, I set it up as a target and practiced shooting a few bolts at it. The bolts I fired all pierced through the box without losing momentum and bounced wildly around the walls of the weaponry room.

That was dangerous!

Thankfully, the ship’s weapons and computers were unharmed, though the bolts left some ugly skid marks on the interior near the bridge.

I found out how strong the crossbow was at the cost of my ship’s interior appearance. Perhaps I should do these tests outside next time.

Finally, I brought out the materials from the warehouse, sorted the pile and divided it into two parts: One for personal storage and another to put inside the ship. I could carry them all on me, but having some stowed away felt like a good move.

I think that should be all for now.

Resting on the bed in the crew quarters, I opened up the group chat and began to catch up with the girls.

Eunseo: And then!?

Yeonjung: We left the bazaar and got out of town as fast as we could!

Yeonjung: We thought we’d lost them, but they were right on our tail!

Yeoreum: Ut’u did all he could, but it wasn’t enough.

Bazaar? U’tu?

You: What’s going on?

Chengxiao: Oh, KC.

Chengxiao: Yeoreum and the rest are on the run from some mobster guy and his minions, apparently.

Chengxiao: He’s after something Yeoreum’s holding, from what I hear.

Yeonjung: In the end, we had to rely on the thing the developers gave Dayoung to save ourselves.

You: The thing? What is it?

Dayoung: ‘Immaculate Recall’, I think that’s the name? It takes everyone away to the nearest safe place.

Exy: A way to instantly escape the danger you’re facing… The devs have thought well.

Dayoung: We’re on Hub Nimbus-HA2 now. It’s smaller and much less well known than Ramvin Ser, so they shouldn’t be able to find us that easily.

You: Glad you got out of it safely, girls.

Yeoreum: KC!

Yeoreum: Do you know anything about the patterned cylinder we picked up back on Nillon?

Patterned cylinder, patterned cylinder on Nillon…

Ah!

You: The one from the Schor Tabem?

Yeoreum: Yeah, that one.

You: I’m sorry, I don’t have a clue.

Yeonjung: Do you know anyone that might?

You: No, I don’t.

Yeoreum: Looks like we’ll have to ask around, then.

You: Did Uzzu tell you anything about it?

Dayoung: It told us that it was an encrypted key, nothing more.

Encrypted key, huh. The Schor Tabem must have given something really important to Yeoreum if it would land them in trouble like this.

You: Be careful out there.

Yeoreum: 👌

As for the others…

You: Anything from Boxuan? Seolbin?

Luda: No comment on you using ship names to group the unnies together, KC 🤥

“Whoops.” I spoke into the transmission channel; there was no reply.

Eunseo: I haven’t heard a lot from them either.

You: How about your group, Eunseo?

Eunseo: We’ve just got out of the wasteland on Designation 8NE, where Gilbert and his army was stationed.

Chengxiao: It’s part of a Magna ritual, apparently. A company of warriors would embark out of the Frontier to fight ruthless hordes of aliens to prove themselves.

Chengxiao: Guinness’s core is safe with him now.

You: Phew, that’s good.

At least that’s done.

Meiqi: I didn’t expect Gilbert to look like that, considering how humanoid Guinness was!

Meiqi: And his ‘Gulliver’ form 🤯 you must see it to believe it.

You: I’ll keep that in mind 👀

I was hoping that they wouldn’t have met him yet, seeing as I wanted someone to put in a good word for me when I eventually have to talk with the Magna.

Eunseo: We’ll be taking part in the Trials on Kamag after this.

You: Trials?

Yeonjung: Sounds cool, Eunseo unnie 🙆‍♀️

The three of them explained that the Magna’s recognition of your capabilities was needed if you wanted to walk among their cities on Kamag and Sadus. The trials must be completed to achieve the minimum level of this recognition.

A people steeped in tradition,

That was the impression I got from this mechanical race of lifeforms.

You: Thanks for the information, girls.

You: I’m planning on dropping by Kamag after we’re done on Nadeum.

Chengxiao: Really? Should we meet up somewhere?

You: I don’t know how long we’ll take to get there, you don’t have to wait for us if you have something else planned.

Meiqi: The Trials we’re going to take will probably take some time as well.

Meiqi: Let’s just contact each other after we’re done with our own business, sound good?

You: Yup.

I closed the chat window and sat up from the bed, fixing my hair. The ship systems told me that we were arriving to Nadeum in a few minutes, so I adjusted my spacesuit and went back over to the bridge.

The deep blue planet was already in view from the windshield of the cockpit. At this distance, I could barely make out three clusters of tiny islands patched around its mostly water surface.

Alright then,

I modified the input on Wandering 14’s navigation systems to pinpoint it to Mara Artemis’s location instead.

The pin showed up on my HUD, corresponding to a point on Nadeum close to the edge of the globe from my angle. That part of the planet was still illuminated by the rays of the system’s purple-red sun, albeit only barely.

It should be morning or evening, then.

Turning on the transmission channel,

“So we’ll be going straight to Mara Artemis, Luda, unless you decide to see Dawon off?”

“It’s fine, KC. I see her every day anyway.” She responded.

“Tired of me already, Luda?” Dawon chimed in.

Laughing off Luda’s attempts to deny her words, Dawon insisted that she was only joking.

“Get in touch if anything happens, alright?” Her gentle voice saw us off.

“For sure.” I replied. “Tell Timayther not to miss me so quickly, won’t you?”

“I heard that, Mr KC!”

The distant voice of the Mun Shaen made all of us laugh.

“…See you around, then, Dawon.” I told her.

“Mm.” came her reply, before her link to the transmission channel disconnected.

Soon after, I saw the Steadfast 07 pull away from us, heading to its own destination.

There’s always something lonely about parting ways that I could never get used to. What more with the two people I went through pretty much an entire battle with.

Still, we all have our own things to do, and it’s not right to hold each other back from doing them.

My ship continued to cruise towards the location, while Luda’s Observant 06 trailed behind me.

Speaking of which,

“If your ship looks like a manta ray, Luda, can it swim underwater?” I asked her.

“Yep.” She answered. “Manta’s hull should hold it up to the abyssal depths of most aquatic planets, according to the statistics I got.”

“No Depth Paint needed?”

“The equipment is all waterproof.”

“Lucky girl.”

Guess she happened to have the right tool for the job.

We breached Nadeum’s atmosphere and stabilized our ships against its breezy weather, closing in on the location where Mara Artemis should be under the ocean.

As my ship detected our proximity to the water,

‘Depth Paint Deployed’

The notification came up on my HUD.

An inky blue liquid covered my entire view for a split second, before disappearing out of sight.

That should be it, right? I hope the water doesn’t break my ship otherwise.

Soon after, via some automatic signal between my ship and the city itself, a landing guide overlaid itself as a hologram in front of me, sort of like an augmented reality projection. Lines of light seemed to take the shape of a runway that ran deep underneath the water surface, indicating the angle at which I should point my ship.

From this position, I should be able to take the instructed approach if I fly ahead a little and make a turn back onto the beginning of the virtual runway. Seeing the Observant 06 still following me, I assume Luda received the same guidance as well.

Here we… go!

At the end of my maneuver, I tilted the nose of the Wandering 14 down as indicated, then dove straight through the face of the ocean.

The resistance from the seawater shuddered my ship as it parted to make way for its entry into the underwater world, bubbles of atmospheric air obscuring my view from the cockpit.

Soon after, the frothing cleared itself from the windows, revealing to me the gaping view of an endlessness of blue. We weren’t close to the shallower areas, so not seeing any coral was a given; but there were barely any fish in sight. The few I could see out of the corner of my eye already swam well outside the vicinity of the area.

Looking up, even the surface of the sea was no longer visible. Just a blank, infinite world with nothing but blue around me.

Only the gradual darkening of the ocean indicated my descent into its depths, with no other way to tell up or down, left or right, from my visual cues.

If not for the landing guide still leading the way in front, and the humming of Luda’s ship giving way its position on my back, the feeling of isolation would have struck a deep existential fear inside me.

“Looks like we’re going real deep, Luda.” I stated with a low voice.

“The deep sea…” She pondered. “I can’t imagine how terrifying the monsters down there are, if horrors like the anglerfish and giant squids already exist in our own world.”

That’s for sure, I replied. At this moment I realized how much worse an invasion on a Nadeum settlement would be. Not only will they have to fight off the abyssal horrors of their challengers, they’ll also have to deal with the water breaches that will bring in other scary things into their homes.

Dawon and Timayther definitely made the right move to look for stuff to arm themselves.

We continued to move forward in pure darkness for a few minutes, before the branches of the underwater railway network revealed themselves to us. Dimly lit blue, they carried lines of carriages which moved like swimming caterpillars along them.

Soon after, the largest city in Nadeum came into view, the lively yet lonely colours of its lights assailing our senses: Mara Artemis.

---

The virtual runway that overlaid itself on my windshield led us straight towards a hangar, similar in structure to the overwater hangar I saw this morning except for the slanted roof and teal blue colour.

‘Welcome to the East Spaceship Port of Mara Artemis. Please stand by while our pathrunners adjust the course of your ship towards your designated parking space.’

Following the notification I received, I stayed put as the hangar’s guidance systems took over the navigation of the Wandering 14 and led it to land on an inlet to the side of the hangar.

This wasn’t the landing space I was expecting.

The depression on the wall barely fit the structure of my ship, which barely hung on to keep itself from falling off the port into the depths of the ocean.

My suspicion was cut short as the inlet opened up to reveal a watertight, secure chamber, which pulled the platform my ship landed on into it.

Immediately after, the gates to the space closed, then air was compressed into the chamber, draining away the seawater from around my ship and even drying its exterior surface and windows.

This must be the airlock Tim was talking about.

Unlike the rather unassuming entrance, the process itself was impressive considering the pressure and size of the ship we were dealing with.

Once the chamber was free of water, another gate opposite the one I just entered opened up, and I could almost feel the dry air of the hangar’s interior as the rows of parked personal spaceships came into view. With the exception of a lower ceiling room, this part of the port was just like all the other ones I’ve been to.

The platform carrying my ship breezed past the others before stopping in front of an empty spot. Then, with a snap, the pad shoved itself into the spot, and the landing was complete.

Making sure I had all I needed with me, I opened the hatch of the Wandering 14 and set down on the hangar of the port. A few other empty platforms whizzed around as I made my way out of the place. The exit was a little too far away for my taste, but eventually I reached the door and climbed up the few stairs leading up to the immigration area.

The rest of the process was as we’ve come to expect from the game, though it was interesting that the officers wasn’t as curious about the Accolade as I thought they would be.

I waited for a few minutes as Luda took care of her own landing. Gazing out the tall glass windows by the arrivals terminal, the view of Mara Artemis’s cityscape was a gleaming blur of lights. Unlike the cyberpunk or utopian image I felt from the other cities, the pastel colours of its nightlife felt nostalgic, more than anything.

The clock hanging from the ceiling had a format I wasn’t familiar with, and there was little otherwise to tell me what time it was here. However, looking at the size of the meals the various races were eating at a nearby restaurant, I assumed that it was the evening.

At that time,

“KC.”

Luda came up to my seat, having finished with her immigration process as well.

“Alright then, shall we?” I got up and asked her.

Seeing the girl nod, I pointed to our exit through the main entrance and we left the port in the direction of the city.

---

“Do you have any idea how we’ll find Carthena?”

As we waited in line at the taxi terminal, I brought the topic up to Luda.

“I thought you knew where she is? Did Isket not give you any way to contact her?” She tilted her head.

“No, she didn’t.” I mulled over the situation.

“…Did she expect me to find her on our own?”

A test for me to earn my right to upgrade the Accolade; it made sense for the Armament Meister of a legendary party to come up with something like that.

“Sounds like it.” Luda pursed her lips.

We reached the front of the queue, and got in the next transporter that arrived.

I sat next to the Mun Shaen driver while Luda sat at the back.

“Where to?” He asked, seeing as we haven’t already told him our destination.

“Hmm,”

Considering the options right in front of us,

“Does Mara Artemis have an alchemy workshop?” I asked him.

He raised an eyebrow back at me.

“Uh, which one? The industrial furnaces or the weapon forges?”

He listed off what he knew.

“The ornamental casters? The harmonic tuners?”

I shook off the volume of information coming into my head and answered, “The weapon forges, please.”

“I’m don’t really deal with them so I can’t give you any recommendations.” The driver shrugged, running the engine and driving the vehicle out onto the main road.

“Pilline’s Smithy fine with you? That’s where everyone goes to, at least from what I heard.”

I peeked a glance at Luda, and her eyes told me to just go for it.

“Yes, please.” I answered.

“Alrighty then. Roads are a little heavy this time of the day, but we should be there in a jiffy.”

He floored the pedal at once and weaved through the traffic like a seasoned street racer. Unfortunately, this was before we could secure ourselves to the seats with the seatbelt equivalent on this vehicle, so we were thrown about everywhere. With more empty space around her, Luda suffered the worse of it.

“What are you doing!?” Luda yelled at him.

“Making the trip as quick as possible for us, miss.” He responded. “Even if you’d rather stay on the road for two hours, I sure as hell won’t.”

“You madman.” She snapped.

“Mad is my middle name.” He responded.

“How would that even work?” I retorted.

As we zoomed past the multitudes of cars and bikes and drew the attention of all sorts of lifeforms driving them, I barely fastened myself to the chair and held on for dear life. The Astronaut physique prevented any motion sickness we would otherwise suffer from, but the constant dragging and lurching wore us out quite a bit.

The pink and yellow city lights melded together into a blend of soft colours, barely illuminating Mara Artemis’s barrier dome which arched well above the skyline of the city. The buildings themselves quickly became bland and repetitive to look at, the transporter whizzing through entire blocks too fast for me to catch any details on them.

Still, that did take our otherwise two-hour trip down to around thirty minutes, so I’d give the driver props for that.

After the vehicle finally stopped at our destination, I transferred my payment to him, declining the option to tip.

As we got out of the carriage, I turned back towards the guy.

“For not being very nice to the missus.” I winked.

“Whatever.” He rolled his eyes. Then, seeing the wrapped piece of candy by the transaction terminal, “This is?”

“Well, you did save us time.”

“Hmph.”

Wasting no more time with us, he drove off into the distance, leaving us at the street leading into the commercial district where Pilline’s Smithy was.

I gave Luda a look,

“How nice of you to give him one of your sweets, was he your type or something?”

“In your dreams,” She glared back. “That’s just a freebie I got back from Bishinna.”

Well, that’s that, I thought.

It didn’t take a long walk from where we were dropped off to reach the smithy, which looked more like a bar than an actual forge.

I entered the shop after Luda did, and wandered through the wooden aisles, on which simple, almost primitive weapons neatly arranged themselves.

Why do I feel like this is a souvenir store instead of a workshop?

As decorative and impractical they were, all the wares were still weapons; the driver didn’t really lie.

I reached for the Mun Shaen tending to the counter and asked,

“Do you know anyone named Carthena here? She’s a Nadeum alchemist living here in the city.”

“Haven’t heard that name anywhere.” She shook her head.

Speaking to another employee cleaning a finished hatchet,

“No, I don’t think so.” He shrugged. “I run through our products weekly and I don’t remember that name at all.”

After receiving the same answer from a third shop attendant, there was no one left to ask in the smithy.

“Do you know anyone that would? Someone familiar with Mara Artemis’s alchemists, or something.” Luda pressed our case with them.

“Our manager used to hang with a few of them,” They rubbed their left limb on the sticky skin below their snail-like face. “He’s rarely around, though.”

“Who’s rarely around?”

Behind us, a hoarse voice bellowed.

Turning around, I came face to face with a beefy, hairy beast of a bipedal lifeform. With human-like brown skin beneath all that black hair, I would have mistaken him for a human if not for the shimmering star-like particles gathered in the void he had in place of his entire face.

Seeing our eyes widen in shock,

“I left my mask in the back room.”

He quickly shuffled through the staff-only door behind the smithy, before coming back out with a leather carrycase and wearing a white shell mask on which triangular patterns of lines were drawn.

“There you are, Manager.” The attendant said.

“You’re the one that’s rarely around, Mrrob, with all the other jobs you’re taking.”

The manager slapped the back of the mollusc employee.

“Let your colleagues cover your shift for once, alright? The pay will still be yours.”

“That’s not right, boss. It’s not money I earn.” They refused.

“…I might need to marathon this workplace drama series, KC.” Luda whispered to me.

Heh, I smirked at her. Calling out to the masked manager,

“I heard that you know a few alchemists in this city?”

He turned to me and nodded,

“Yeah, I do. The few decent people in that academy of pricks I used to go to.”

…Luda was right. It took all I had to suppress my curiosity about these people’s stories and mind my own business.

“Have you heard of a Carthena, then?”

“Carthena, Carthena…”

The manager held the chin on his mask, trying to recall the name.

“Ah, Carthena.” He finally struck upon something.

“The worst prick I’ve ever known.” He muttered, “Or the best of them, depending on who you ask.”

“So you do?” I continued.

“Where is she?” Beside me, Luda brought her face closer to him.

"…You'll find her at the Power Saver Mart on the south edge of the city. It’s the building on Jeynne Lane, opposite the old distillation site."

Power Saver Mart, huh.

“Thank you.” I reflexively bowed my head towards him.

“You’re lucky I’m one of the very few people in the city who still remembers her.” He sighed. “People will remember talent, but only if it serves them.”

What?

Before I could ask him further, the masked person waved us off and carried the case with him out of the smithy’s door.

“The union’s meeting should be done before the day is over, but go ahead and close the store if I’m not back by then.”

Leaving those words to his team, the manager left the store and blended with the crowd, and then he was gone.

The three of us looked at each other; me, Luda, and the snail-headed employee. The latter quickly realized that he wasn’t one of us, bowed his head, and went back to his duties.

Luda and I were left standing in the middle of the smithy, as if everything didn’t happen at all.

---

“So, Jeynne Lane.” I brought out my search window.

As the two of us left the store, I typed the name of that road and examined the location that came up.

“That’s quite the distance away.” I groaned.

“Should we get a taxi again?” Luda suggested.

From where we were, getting to Jeynne Lane won’t use many major roads, so there was less chance we would get stuck in traffic.

“I was thinking of trying out the public transportation, but that sounds better.” I agreed.

We made our way through the sparse crowds in the commercial district, heading back to the street we were at before.

Reaching the road, it took a while for us to hail down a cab, but a car finally noticed and picked us up. Rather than the hovering transporter we rode before, this vehicle had the form of a more conventional car, minus the exhaust in the rear.

“Jeynne Lane, please.”

Speaking to the Gray driver, this time it was Luda who took the front seat. I settled on the back, making sure to secure myself this time around.

“Right-o.”

Fortunately, the journey this time was much more comfortable, both owing to the driver’s calmer disposition and the rather luxurious interior of the car.

“…Is this a premium cab, by any chance?” I asked the driver in front.

“Yes, it is. There are drinks in the fridge to your left, sir, though they will come with an extra charge.”

“Alright, thank you.”

In any other situation, I would cringe at the unfailingly steep fare of a taxi like this. However, this was Hyperspace Frontier, and I had a ton of money here.

Still, opening the fridge,

“I could use a sports drink right now.”

Most of the beverages looked like they would have a strong taste instead.

“Want anything, Luda?”

I turned to see her taking a sip from her own drink, a hydroflask of water.

“I’m fine, KC.”

Oh well. No point wasting money on something I don’t really want anyway.

After some time, we reached Jeynne Lane, in a part of the city that looked more like a ghost town than anything else. The streets were unkempt, and the buildings showed signs of disrepair all over the place.

This looks like the last place I would find a working alchemy workshop.

Still, I decided to trust the manager’s words.

Paying the relatively good-value fare and alighting from the cab, I looked around the area, trying to adjust my eyes to the dimmer environment lacking the overbearing neon signboards of the commercial district.

“Is that the place?” Luda tugged at my sleeve and pointed in a direction to our left.

At the end of her finger, a non-operating plant and an apartment stood on the opposite sides of a widened road. On the ground floor of the apartment building, a range of small shops hung devoid of activity, but open. Reading the signs on them,

“Let’s go.” I nodded back at her.

Crossing the road, we reached the Power Saver Mart and entered. The doors to the convenience store opened with a jingle, but no other sound followed. There was no one else browsing the groceries, and the cashier by the counter didn’t respond to our entrance, her eyes remaining on the screen in front of her instead.

“Excuse me,”

I called out to the human shopkeeper. Seeing her raise her eyes from the screen to look at us,

“I’m looking for a Carthena? Is she around?”

The shopkeeper scratched her temple, then,

“…Ah, that girl. She quit just the other day.”

I raised my eyebrows, surprised.

“Quit? She worked here before?”

“Yes, she did. Got an offer at an aquarium store, though, so she’s over there now.”

“An aquarium store…” I fell into thought.

This was the alchemist Isket personally told me to look for about the Accolade! Why would she be working in retail instead?

Seeing me mull over with such an expression on my face, Luda asked her another question.

“Where is that aquarium store, then?”

Behind the counter, the shopkeeper brought her window up, typed something in, and turned it to show us what she had.

“Massar Boulevard, the newly built mall west of here, near the city boundaries.”

“West!” I blurted out.

This shop is in the south! We’ve taken two taxis already!

“Yes, it’s closer to her apartment, apparently.” The shopkeeper shrugged. “A no-brainer deal, really. I’m working here because I live just upstairs myself.”

“…Got it, thank you.” Luda said, eyeing the stuff the shop had for sale.

Seeing her croon her neck to look over the aisle,

“Let’s get something while we’re here, why don’t we.” I let out a deep sigh.

It’s been a tiring trip so far; we should give ourselves a break, at least.

Luda bought herself a chocolate bar while I helped myself to an ice cream cone.

Munching on the dessert outside the convenience store, I tried to figure out how to find a taxi with the streets empty like this.

We were already lucky last time that that luxury cab bothered to pick us up. Here, there weren’t even people walking around, let alone any form of transportation.

“You know,” In between gulps of her chocolate bar, Luda made another suggestion. “Rhea’s taxi companies had websites I could use to get in touch with them, just like in real life. I don’t think Nadeum is any different, unless there’s something I’m missing?”

Oh, right!

I’ve only been using the explorer’s personal systems for navigation and chatting so far. The idea to use this game’s version of the Internet to make my life more convenient slipped through my mind, despite having unwittingly learned about Udepra’s fashion trends through them.

Searching for ‘taxi contact’ on the search window, I quickly found one that looked decent and looked for the option to connect with an operator to request a cab for us.

After I pressed the corresponding button,

‘Using the commercial network on this planet will consume 7 units per minute. Proceed?’

Seven units per minute… A scam in any other situation, but that’s what comes with a universal communications function, I guess.

I approved the connection and waited a few seconds before my request went through.

“Good evening, how may I help you?” A calm, professional voice rang in my ear, bypassing the external audio of the system.

“Hi, this is Jetxi Rentals, right?” I began.

“Yes, we are. Are you calling to request a cab from us?” She asked.

“Yes, please. From, um, Apartment C11 on Jeynne Lane, to Massar Boulevard, thank you.”

“Massar Boulevard near the West Border?”

“Yep.”

“Great. When do you need your driver to come pick you up? As soon as possible?”

“Yes, please.”

The operator repeated the details of my request, to which I confirmed. With a concise ‘thank you!’, she disconnected from the call.

And that should be it.

“Thanks, Luda. I should remember to use the information network more often instead of sticking to my own logic.”

The girl beside me only shrugged in response.

“Different world, you tend to trust no one but yourself in such an unfamiliar environment.”

I nodded in agreement to her words.

After ten or so minutes, our ride finally came to pick us up. The driver of the sleek transporter was also a Mun Shaen, but seeing his more professional approach to driving relieved us.

This trip took us another thirty minutes, but considering that we were travelling from one edge of Mara Artemis to another, it was already something to be thankful for.

---

[Day 2, Evening]

Stepping out of the taxi, the two of us gazed at the white shopping arcade in front of us. It was a white, rather tackily designed building that was still unfinished in places. Scaffolding and construction sheets could be seen both on the outside and in the arcade itself, covering store spaces that were still being built. Of the finished stores, though, most were open.

With the building half-done, though, a shopping directory didn’t exist anywhere in the space or on the information network… Which meant that we’ll have to look for the aquarium store ourselves.

“I don’t think there are many aquarium stores in any one place, KC.” Luda reassured. “We should find the right one before long.”

“Yeah.” I agreed with her. At least we’re in the right place now, hopefully.

We walked through a dusty atrium keeping our distance from the areas under construction. Climbing the stairs to the top floor, I finally caught sight of a shop that looked like it sold aquariums. At least, the lifeforms in the water tanks inside the store didn’t look like seafood to us.

“Mewseal Domestics and Cultures”

Not a very welcoming name for a pet store. Was this more of a collector or enthusiast’s place?

As I read the name of the shop, Luda made her way inside. Following her in, I carefully trod around the glass water tanks lit by violet lights, looking for anyone to talk to.

The only person we found was a dugong-like person with glasses on its face, peering around the displayed exhibits in silence.

“Do you think that person’s a customer?” I asked Luda as the two of us peeked at it from behind a corner.

“How would I know?” She replied. Pushing my shoulder, “Go on, KC. We don’t have all day!”

“Okay, okay.” I told her to stop urging me. Then, putting on a façade of confidence, I strutted towards the person.

“Excuse me,” I began. “You don’t happen to work here, do you?”

The lifeform that looked like a sea mammal shook its head.

“I run the tailor shop just across the alley.” It said with a soft, airy voice.

“Ah, I see.” I breathed a sigh of relief. At least it wasn’t a total stranger to the place.

“Do you know where Carthena is?” I continued.

“So you were looking for Carthena.” It nodded. “I was wondering why the two of you were skittering around.”

As Luda walked over to join us, the owner of the tailor shop went on.

“Carthena asked me to keep an eye on the shop earlier: She said that she'll come in late tonight.”

Taking off its glasses and rubbing it on the shirt it wore,

“Her landlord sent in people to repair her apartment's walls and she only found out at the last minute, so she had to rush home to make sure they did everything right.”

“Sounds like she’s had a long day.” I commented.

“She’s seen worse.” The dugong-like shopkeeper added, before going back to peering at the marine life it was interested in.

“So we wait here, then?” Luda asked me.

“Yeah.”

Going all the way to her home was too much, even for me.

Still, working in a shop like this, living in such a hectic home… Carthena was far from the prolific person I thought her to be.

Looks like the only way I can find out more about her is to meet her in person.

With nothing more to do, we strolled around the aquarium store and looked at the glass aquariums the shop displayed.

The luminescent wigglers that swam in one tank caught our interest: I imitated the way they squirmed and Luda lost it seeing how ridiculous I looked.

Hey, I still made her laugh, okay?

The animals the aquarium store sold were as exotic as they come: tiny glowing jellyfish, worms which swam around with their cilia, not to mention the school of small fish that change their colour to communicate with each other.

The miniscule parade of lights and colours performed by the creatures entranced me so much, that I didn’t realize someone else had already entered the shop.

“I’m back, Walpol, thanks for looking after the store while I was away… Oh?”

The lethargic voice broke my focus on the fish, and I saw the slender, long-limbed person by the entrance of the store stop in her tracks.

The Mun Shaen looked at the two of us, then turned to the tailor shop owner.

“These people are looking for you, Carthena.” It stated.

“…Ah, right.” She recalled something.

The person called Carthena approached us and sheepishly apologized for her absence.

“The repairmen were a little slow so I had to show them everything, but they're trustworthy.” She said to us. The owner of the tailor shop nodded in understanding, then went out of the place to leave us alone.

Her gemstone-like eyes sized the two of us up, checking me out in particular. They were dimmer than other Mun Shaen I’ve met, but behind their gloomy colour was a depth I couldn’t miss.

“Isket paged me about you.” She explained. “I thought there were three of you? Where is the other one?”

“Ah,” I responded. “The other two are in Meritus Selatan.”

Glancing at Luda next to me, “Luda is another friend of mine. She wasn’t there when we were at the Grand Apothecary, I hope you don’t mind.”

“Another friend.” She closed her eyes, trying to keep her focus. “Young people these days get around so much, don’ t they?”

Neither of us responded to her comment.

“Can you take a look at this, then, Ms Carthena?”

Moving over to a more spacious place inside the store, I took out the Everest Accolade and leaned it on the wall.

“Carthena will do.” She waved me off. “The… Accolade, right?”

I nodded.

She squatted down and took a closer look at the charged shield. She was barely able to turn it over with her thin hands, examining the finer details on them.

Seeing her figure huddling in the corner of the aquarium store, I couldn’t help but ask.

“Seeing Ms Isket personally recommend you to us with her authority, I thought you would have an important position like she does, Carthena.”

“Position?” She repeated, her eyes still on my weapon.

“At least, I thought your life would be more comfortable than this.”

“Comfortable, huh.” She chuckled.

Standing up, she went over to sit behind the counter of the shop and motioned for me to bring the Accolade over.

“The title of ‘Genius’ tends to accompany that spark of serendipity people are looking for, more often than not, am I right?” She went on.

Luda and I looked at each other, then tentatively nodded to follow along her story.

“I just happen to not be as lucky with getting those sparks, like the others did.”

Disassembling the composite plates of the shield, she continued.

“Without recognition and the status that comes with a brilliant breakthrough, I’m merely a child of gifted alchemy, little more. My finest crafts won’t reach the level of worth the Li Shaen regard Isket’s artifacts to be, even if our talents were equal.”

Carthena leaned back on her seat, taking out a lens device and affixing it to her head.

“But there are plenty of alchemists at work out there in the city.” Luda argued. “I heard that a good commission can easily net you millions of credits in one go! That’s still better than being stuck here, right?”

“Those ‘commissions’ are for armaments and technologies full of added features and embellishments, specified to the finest level by the clients looking to own the next big thing.”

Carthena shot her an indifferent look.

“It’s all too much noise for me. If I don’t agree with the way they want their stuff to be made, there’s no convincing me otherwise; I work my own way or I don’t work at all.”

“Not a good habit for a business to have, as you can see.” She sighed. “Pretty much no one on the planet remembers what I really do.”

Operating the device, she examined the Accolade more closely, particularly at the channels that carried the lifeforces of Khibu and Timayther.

“But it’s not like I hate my current situation, you see.”

She continued to talk, losing no tempo of her work.

“Alchemy remains a hobby I’m passionate about, but I’d rather have the peace and quiet in a day job like this than the attention that a legend like her would get.”

I looked around the store she worked in. A shop dimly lit in blue and purple lights, full of aquariums with their own range of colourful marine species.

It was certainly a tranquil, comfortable place to be in, but I’m not sure if it’s too good for my eyes.

“I use the community workshops if I ever feel like forging something. One for my own use would be nice, but my income is nowhere near enough to rent and maintain one.”

Silence took over the aquarium store afterwards, as the two of us stood by watching Carthena work her way into my weapon.

“A blood of a mighty Li Shaen, and that of a commoner Mun Shaen…”

She ran her hand down the energy lines that covered the Accolade’s surface.

“What a piece of work, Isket. Only you could come up with something like this.”

Hearing her words, I wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved or alarmed.

Then, fiddling around the additional components that lay below the blue channels,

“As I thought.”

The Mun Shaen shone a light on the gaps between them.

“Isket had already laid down the foundation for me to merge my own alchemy with hers… Considerate as always.”

With a chuckle, she turned back to us.

“Having a legend recognize the way I work does make me feel pretty good, you know? Even if no one else does.”

“So…?” Luda asked her.

“Yep, it’s definitely doable.” She nodded, “As per Isket’s conditions, I’ll waive the commission fee as long as you pass our test.”

“Really?” I exclaimed.

As much money as I had, it wasn’t on the level that I could afford to pay for Carthena’s work. Being offered a way around the payment was definitely a lifeline, and whatever test they had for me would take less time to complete than having to farm for the credits instead.

Luda, however, still had her suspicions.

“What kind of test, Carthena?”

“Oh, it’s simple, really.” The thin-framed alchemist smirked. “We’re just going to have you work a little.”

The two of us tilted our heads.

“The structural gaps Isket left for me to fill are designed to work with, and only with, the molecular structure of Borejawn Enamel.” She began.

“Borejawn Enamel…” I pondered.

I haven’t seen the material listed in any shop I’ve been into at all. From the name, I’m guessing that it’s an organic material?

“No one sells it here on Nadeum, or anywhere else for that matter.”

Carthena shrugged,

“It’s tough to shape and fortify, useless as an alloy constituent, and ugly as a decorative mineral. Pretty much everything else we’re using on Nadeum is better than it.”

I found myself confused at her explanation.

“Why would you need it, then?” I inquired.

“I studied a couple of these ‘useless’ materials a few years ago.” She continued. “Isket knows that I’m pretty much the only person in the entire Frontier who knows how to preserve its self-coalescence ability.”

Carthena took out a piece of paper from under the counter and wrote a few things on it. The pen she used looked normal enough to me.

“That Li Shaen trusts that I’ll be able to make it work with your Accolade.”

Finished, she handed the piece of paper to me, which contained a list of materials and their required quantities.

“All the resources on that list should be easy to find. They’re as common around this city as drunken men are.”

“As long as they’re not rare, it should be fine.” I nodded. I was good at working towards any challenge I’ve ever seen in a game, but RNG was never a strong suit of mine.

“They’re common, alright.” She smiled. “All you have to do is venture out of the city boundaries and swim to one of the hundreds of gas geysers outside. A bunch of them should be thriving there.”

I felt my expression froze.

“Swimming.” Luda repeated, still taking it in.

“Yep, swimming.” Carthena finished reassembling the Accolade much quicker than she took it apart, then handed it back to me.

“What will we get into, Carthena? Any dangers?” I tried to get some more information out of her.

“You're explorers, aren’t you?” She raised her eyebrow. “For all I know, you have more experience in the wild than I do.”

Rising from her seat,

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, these tellytailed pixies need some feeding.”

She cleaned the counter and opened the door of the storage room behind her.

“Good luck out there.” She gave us one last look. “I’m sure you’ll be fine, you survived Mavacena after all.”

Carthena entered the room, and we were once again left alone.

---

“We'll need defenses against whatever that is out there, KC.”

As we left the aquarium store, Luda brought out her inventory window and checked what she had.

“This aluminum pipe won’t do anything in this situation.”

Aluminum pipe?

Why would she be carrying around something like that?

“I remember that Dawon got something that allowed her to move freely in water.” I told Luda. “What was its name again… Filmed Bubble?”

“Are you thinking of going all the way to Meritus Selatan to borrow that thing from her?” She glared at me. “And what about oxygen? And weapons that work in water to fight off whatever creatures we will encounter?”

“We’ll need a lot of preparation for this. None of us have ever been in an underwater battle, unless I’m mistaken?” The girl scrolling through her inventory said.

“Yeah, no, you’re right. We should make sure we’re ready before we do this.”

I opened my own inventory window and checked my roster of equipment.

PBS, Blaster, Crossbow, Rake…. I'll have to test the Bitter Howl, but the Accolade is definitely too heavy to use its axe form.

I also tested the new modules installed on me, making sure that they worked properly.

“Should we drop by an explorers’ shop, get all the things we need?” I suggested.

Luda was focused on her own window, so I didn’t wait for her answer. Opening up the half-empty container of Assaudine Solution, I filled up three vial crossbow bolts with the fluid of exertive microbes. There's still enough in the jar for a few more vials, but I'll save both the liquid and the bolts for later.

“Good idea.” She finally replied. “I’m sure they’ll have the underwater gear we need, plus I could use some more firepower on my side.”

“Got it.” I brought up my navigation window and searched for anywhere that sold weapons and equipment for explorers.

The results that came up… weren’t that satisfactory. Most of the better ones are closer to the centre of Mara Artemis, though there was a dispensary not too far from here.

Luda peered at the holographic screen from over my shoulder.

“The closer one should work for us, unless you want to take yet another car trip to the others?” She glanced at me.

“…Yeah, forget about that. The dispensary it is.”

Preparation is crucial, but wasting time overpreparing wasn’t our play style either.

We left the shopping arcade and headed for the dispensary on foot. With our in-game physique, a bit of power walking wasn’t an issue.

As we crossed the quiet streets and passed by the dilapidated buildings that made up the outskirts of the city,

“I still regret missing out on the Quad Rocket Launcher from my Day 1 login bonus, you know.” Luda sighed. “It would make missions like this a lot easier.”

“I don’t think it'll work in the water anyway, Luda.” I doubted. “What did you get instead?”

“A Resource Reticulator. It makes looking for resources really easy, but my current in-game career means I haven’t got around to really using it that much.”

While she talked, the member beside me took out a rather cool-looking gun, white-painted metal all over the medium sized rifle and a barrel ending with a triangle of extensions instead of a muzzle.

“I tried making it up with choosing the Positron Scattergun this morning, though. Looks like I’ll get the chance to use it today.”

“Hope it works against whatever we’re facing in the waters.” I told her.

Speaking of which,

Back on Mavacena, the fighting team mentioned that most of their weapons weren’t effective against the Flagrant Roar; that was why the suppression took longer than it should, it seems.

“I should look up whatever we’re dealing with while we’re still inside the city.”

I brought up a hologram screen and used the search function to look up a whole bunch of stuff: Nadeum’s natural environment, Borejawn Enamel, swimming outside the underwater cities, among others. I read through all the pages from the results that came up, all the guides to hunting in the deep sea and important information regarding the wildlife in the deeper parts of the ocean.

“Careful, KC.”

Luda warned me just in time for me to avoid the opening in the pedestrian walkway, in which pipelines of various sizes could be seen running under the road.

“That’s a huge gap.” I gasped. “Thanks.”

“What did you find out so far?” She asked about my progress.

“From what I’ve seen.” I tried to summarize the information I learned.

The Borejawn Crowncelp…

True to its name, Borejawn Enamel was a biological material, obtained from the crown of the Borejawn Crowncelp. It was an immobile organism that looked halfway between a coral colony and a seaweed plant, though the laminar extensions on which the crowns grew resembled more like limbs than leaves.

Reading the information about the creature, I began to learn what we were getting into.

“This is going to be a tough fight, Luda.” I showed her the contents of the window.

Reading about its behaviour, her small eyes became almost a size larger.

“…It punches its prey with the crowns!?” She exclaimed, her voice echoing through the city blocks that were devoid of life.

“Looks like it’s carnivorous after all.” I shrugged.

I looked at the list Carthena gave me again. Some of the materials could be mined from the seabed, but about half of them came from monsters as well.

This was a test, indeed.

I belatedly realized what a good decision it was to read up on our possible enemies. Being allowed the leisure of time and access to information about our assignment made a night and day difference to our priorities.

“You look up the locations of the geyser and mineral deposits, while I'll make a list of the stuff we should get from the dispensary.” Luda suggested.

“Got it.” I nodded.

“Of course, I’ll be using the Reticulator as well, but it’s good to know where the good places are.” She advised.

“Reminds me, Luda,” I turned to look at her.

“Is your energy transport system done? Just in case we run out of power in the middle of the assignment.”

I had a ton of power cells in my inventory from shopping in the warehouse before, so it wasn’t really an issue; I was more curious about her project, really.

“Yep, built the whole thing and set it up while we were flying in space.” She puffed out her chest.

“Still, with my ship powered down in the hangar I can’t really use the system to its full potential.”

“Huh.” I raised an eyebrow at her. “How much, by estimate?”

“25%, 30% at most.” She calculated.

But it’ll still supply her with a near-endless supply of energy regardless of the distance from her ship, she reassured me.

“That’s good.” I nodded.

At least energy won’t be an issue. Getting caught without lights or propulsion in the abyss is the last thing I want happen to us.

We spent the rest of the journey using the information network for our allocated tasks, sharing what we learned with each other.

---

The two of us finally arrived at the weapons dispensary, a one-level building that stood alone on its side of the road, surrounded by unused lots of land. It looked more like a hardware store from the outside, offering a range of mechanical tools and machinery in addition to the explorers’ equipment it claimed to sell.

Inside the rather humble store, a single human shopkeeper greeted our entrance. I asked him about the dispensary, and he explained that the weapons are cleared for civilian use, provided that they have a hunter's license to show before the payment.

“Explorers get a free pass by default, so you don’t have to worry about doing last-minute paperwork here.” He joked. “It’s not worth the hassle for equipment this grade, really.”

I examined the tools on display and nodded in response. They were at the bottom of the rung as far as grade was concerned, but it only meant that they weren’t as advanced as the others. These machines were far from weak.

“How about this, Luda?”

I held up a harpoon and showed it to her. The launch mechanisms were rudimentary, but it had a lot of power in it.

“That looks good, we can reel in our catch after we’re done too.” She agreed.

“What about this one, KC?” She then called me over to look at the mouthpiece in her hands.

I read the description that popped up for the item.

“Aquifer Standard-Issue Air Filter…”

It was a device that extracted dissolved air from seawater, basically allowing us to breathe underwater. Power wasn’t an issue, so as long as the breather doesn’t break, we should be able to stay in the water indefinitely.

“We can’t talk with this in our mouth, so we’ll have to communicate in some other way.” I held a hand up to my lips.

“Not like we’ll hear each other in the water anyway.” Luda stated. “The chat function should be good enough.”

“Let’s go with that, then.” I nodded.

For each of us, we settled on the hunting harpoon and water breather, as well as some emergency air tanks and a pressure adaptation module. Luda also invested in a hydropump grenade launcher and underwater movement assistance tech. Having a jet module already installed in my shoes, I chose a danger and hostility sensor instead.

Payment for our stuff went by without a hitch, and we left the dispensary for the edge of the city.

Mara Artemis’s barrier dome loomed tall above the city’s building, making me feel as if we were trapped in a giant snowglobe. Still, it would be quite a while before we would reach the boundary on foot.

“It's quite far, isn’t it?” I commented.

“Should we get a ride to the boundary after all?” Luda suggested.

“I’ve had enough of taxis for now.” I shook my head.

Suddenly, an idea came up in my head.

“…Say, Luda?” I turned to her.

“What is it, KC?” Her eyes made contact with mine.

“Well, I happen to have a jet and stamina module installed on my system, you know.” I began.

“So, if I carry you on my back, we can technically make our way to the boundary more quickly.”

Luda stared back at me, silent and expressionless.

“I mean, only if you want to, of course.”

I didn’t mean to take advantage of the situation, so I gave her the call.

At this time, her lips began to curl upwards.

Leaning in close to my face, she gave me a confident look.

“I have a better plan.”

---

“Keep up, KC, or I’ll leave you behind!”

Boosting herself from roof to roof, she called out to me back down on the streets.

“At least let me see where you’re going, Ludaaaa~”

My voice cracked into a whimper as I struggled to sprint through the city catching up to her.

The plan Luda explained to me involved having her use my jet module to travel on top of the city, making long jumps from building to building. On the ground, I would use the stamina module still on me to keep up with her speed of travel.

Her plane left me with the short end of the stick, but it made enough sense that I had no reason to object.

As we moved nearer and nearer to the boundary, people began to appear on the streets. Still not as much as the busier sectors of the city, but the few that were there all had their attention on us, with the noise we were making as we quickly traversed our route.

Mara Artemis’s western boundary appeared before us at last. A wide road led up to a giant hatch that served as the exit from the city into the abyss outside, separated into multiple layers to accommodate the airlocks.

After we joined back up with each other, Luda gave me back the jet module and began to install the ones she bought. I followed suit, equipping the sensor and pressure adaptation module and going over my inventory again.

“Leaving for the ocean, guys?”

A glowing eel-like lifeform uncurled itself from inside a large aquarium, somehow ‘talking’ to us in a friendly voice despite its closed mouth.

Situated in a booth by the entrance to the hatch, its eyes looked at the two of us, and indicated its hospitability using a method I couldn’t understand.

“What’s your business?” It asked.

“We’re, hunting, I think, that’s the term?” I began. “We’re going to get some Borejawn Enamel at the geysers.”

“Ugh, Chiggubas.” It muttered. “Sorry, that’s what we call the Crowncelps, explorers. We’re not fond of each other.”

“Wait, are they sentient?” Luda asked. “Are we allowed to kill them?”

“Hmm? Oh, no, it’s not like that!”

The lifeform swung its head to both sides.

“It’s like, uh… You’re humans, right? It’s like how you humans and your, erm, ‘cockroaches’ don’t get along, if I’m not wrong?”

“Ah, I see.” The member beside me got the message it was trying to convey.

“Quite a risky undertaking, guys!” It swam around in a loop. “Borejawn Enamel isn’t exactly what I’d go for as a souvenir, you know? Aquamarine Eyes or Notam Jellies would be better in my opinion!”

“Nah, it’s alright.” I shook my head. “Though we’ll keep an eye out for those anyway.”

“Right over here, then.”

The eel-like in the booth directed us to the terminal on the wall of the booth. The prompt that appeared seemed to register the record of our exit as well as its purpose. The personal details that appeared on the record were similar to our own in real life, though the birth date was not in a format I recognized.

“That should be it.” The lifeform in the aquarium confirmed our approval. “Stay safe out there!”

We thanked it and made our way over to the hatch. However, I turned back to look at the lifeform and asked.

“…Say, you should be a Nadeum native, aren’t you?”

I hesitated.

“What do you think of the Mun Shaen, then?”

The eel-like officer pondered with its tail below its head, then gave me its answer.

“Communities like us still have some issues to work out with them, and I don’t think we’ll ever really see eye to eye, if I’m being honest.”

Still,

“They do pay me for this job, though, which is good enough as a step forward.”

“I see.” I made a slight bow towards it. “Thanks for your answer.”

“No problem, explorer.” It responded. “Go out there and learn, and maybe one day you’ll change the world.”

I joined back up with Luda by the entrance. With a pneumatic fizz, the hatch opened, and the two of us entered into the intermediary layer on the eel-like lifeform’s instructions.

We readied all our equipment, put on our breather and braced ourselves for the pressurizing process.

The hatch closed behind us, and then water set in, filling the entirety of the closed chamber around us. Even after no air remained in the space, the pressurizers still operated, bringing the pressure up slowly to the level equal to the ocean outside us.

As the lights in the intermediary layer dimmed, I turned to look at Luda beside me.

As we looked at each other, I held up an OK hand sign.

Ready?

She held up her own OK sign in response.

Ready.

At long last, the second hatch in front of us opened, and the underwater world of Nadeum’s natural wilderness revealed itself in front of us.

Terrifying darkness, enchanting luminescence.

Taking all of this in, I inhaled my first breath of filtered air and swam into the abyss.