Changeling

2.2

Midnight descended on the city. Nestra was wide awake after a deep nap in the late afternoon. A quick look outside her window confirmed that the city was mostly asleep. In her human shape, the night was clearer but not ‘clear’, not like in her true form.

She called electric mana to her hand. A trickle made it through, barely enough to light a bulb. It appeared the mask smothered her ability, which didn’t surprise her. If a baseline started to manifest stuff around, people would ask questions.

And that led her to a real issue.

Anonymity.

Moving in secret around Threshold was not something baselines could manage, especially not affluent ones like Nestra. Her house recorded her ins and outs. Her car had an integrated GPS, every prompt relayed to, and recorded by, a central AI which sent her to her destinations via the least congested roads. She could not even visit the place mentioned in the quest without a data trail, and that was just the beginning of it. Even transients without IDs still showed up on security cameras, which Threshold was absolutely chock full of. That was a necessity when portals could open anywhere.

If Nestra went close to that place, her house would show her leaving, her car would show where she went, and every camera around would record her face in precise details, including the demon one.

Calling a taxi meant that a company would have her ID in storage, since she would have to pay with her account.

Nestra checked the map again. That part of the district was empty.

Maybe it would be fine.

Nestra’s car sat waiting for her in the underground garage. She’d bought it second hand from a taxi company renewing their fleet. It was dark gray and unassuming which was all she needed, really. When she packed her gear in the back, she realized it was the first time she would go out to do anything truly wild. It was weird. She’d stuck to the rules for so long, not least because she was under scrutiny as an odd case. Going out like that felt liberating in a way that gave her vertigo.

“I’m not even doing anything illegal. I have the right to carry all of this with me. I need to calm down.”

The pep talk didn’t work very well.

Nestra drove the car herself. A quick journey on the outer ring highway led her to a deserted offramp. Old traffic lights spread a bleary pale blue light on cracked tar. Some of the bulbs had died, not to be replaced. She drove past old warehouses and rent-a-space storages. The only light came from security booths and a single delivery pizzeria.

The rental spaces gave Nestra an idea. She could always rent one to use as a… transition spot. Ugh, this wasn’t even technically illegal but she still felt terribly guilty. Here she was, joining the ranks of the illuminaughty.

She stopped in an empty parking lot in front of a shuttered mattress company. No wonder since the mattress market was firmly cornered by BaiHua. No cameras there, at least. She grabbed her large bag containing everything and went for a walk.

The bag was heavy as hell.

Maxsec armor wasn’t designed to be carried on the back. By the time she’d crossed the lot, Nestra was already sweating under her hoodie. The coordinates led her past a deserted street into an empty factory. The gate stood open, the chain broken. There was an arrow on the ground drawn in fluorescent paint. She stopped.

She was expected.

Nestra walked into a deserted lot. She spotted the spherical shapes of cameras near the roof. All of them were busted. Her perception picked up when she approached a breach in a nearby wall. She felt it before she could see it.

A portal.

In the middle of an empty building, it waited for her. It was a tiny one, the blue of its surface dim, the flow of mana coming to her pathetically weak. It was the sort of portals guilds would be paid to clear instead of having to purchase them. And even then, they would send a pair of D-class raiders as a punishment detail.

It was still the most beautiful thing Nestra had ever seen.

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She shed her mask without thinking. Immediately, the night cleared and the bag on her back was not so heavy anymore. She took a deep breath of dusty air. Being near the portal was just so deeply pleasant. And now she had this one just for herself. It felt great. With a sigh, she opened the bag and retrieved her armor, changing in record time but leaving the visor interface off. She strapped her sword to her back. The revolver had no bullets and taking the gun felt… wrong. Her ammo was category one as well, just plain mundane. She left everything there.

There was only one thing left to do.

She hoped it would work.

Nestra placed her hand against the surface of the portal and felt a resistance. It was the first time she touched one. Even as a child back at the estate, children were kept well away from portals for security reasons. Her mom had described the sensation in detail. It was like being sucked into a cold bath, apparently, a slightly unpleasant sensation Nestra braced against. Instead, there was the smallest amount of resistance and then she pushed in through the membrane.

She was in.

Excitement rose in her chest. She was in. She was in! Only users could enter portals! And she could! That meant… well, not much since she clearly wasn’t a vanilla human. But still! A childhood wish, finally fulfilled after so many years. A stronger mana concentration made her breathe deeper. The portal world! It was… It was…

Well, it was a little bit underwhelming.

Nestra sighed. She was being silly again. This was a tiny portal, so obviously to a tiny world. A rocky tunnel extended in front of her before veering sharply to the left. There were no sources of light. The mana also didn’t feel particularly good.

The sense of wonder she’d felt earlier evaporated. She’d waited for this for so long that, in truth, she’d given up on it. And now that she finally had it, it just didn't feel the same. Like a trophy delivered a year after a competition. The pleasure was gone as surely as the expectation.

She felt a little hollow but that didn’t last long.

“Right. This is just the beginning.”

And it was. Memories returned from all the classes she’d taken before she was sixteen, all the training she’d undergone back at the manor when she was heir apparent and dear brother Ulysses was still slacking off. This was the lowest class of portals in an underground biome, the most common. That meant either giant ants or mycoids. There were no spores, so, giant ants. Really a shit portal.

Nestra shook her head. She was lucky. This was perfect for getting started, and giant ants could still be dangerous, hence why D-class always went in pairs. She unsheathed her blade and made a few experimental low cuts, a technique that allowed for effective downward thrusts. Her body remembered the movements despite not having practiced those specific cuts for a long time. The tunnel would be too narrow for anything else anyways.

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She should grab a knife as well. Better luck next time.

Right, she was ready.

Nestra moved forward, then turned with the tunnel. It smelled mustier now and she could hear grating sounds overhead as the tunnel snaked deeper in. She crept and turned until she came across a slightly larger cavern.

Three giant ants dug despondently, their backs turned to her. Giant ants were thin and a bit human-like in their silhouette but their heads were what one would expect complete with a powerful mandible that could cleave rock, though those specific specimens were struggling. Their brown bodies easily melted into the background. Nestra recognized drones because they lacked any sort of plating. She felt giddy.

That was it.

She rushed forward and lunged low, catching the first worker at the base of the neck. It let out a sharp hiss as it died and the other two reacted immediately. One stood up and turned just in time for Nestra’s side strike to cut it in two. She barely felt resistance from the thin chitin. She braced for the last one’s charge, her downward attack crushing its back. It died against her combat boots.

Nestra walked to the wounded beast, delivering the coup de grace as it moved away, trailing thin intestines.

Silence returned to the grotto. The entire fight had lasted less than three seconds.

She’d won. Handily. And she felt better. She had hunted and she had triumphed, and although the prey was weak, it was also… new. A pristine entry to her list of victims. She felt just a little bit better. Something changed as well. If she focused, she could hear more digging sounds from up ahead across the cave’s only exit.

She kept going.

The giant ants were probably weakened by the lack of mana. Portal monsters were usually stronger than those found in the wild, the offspring of the first portal break escapees. This was clearly not the case here. They were too sluggish, as confirmed when she turned again and found more drones trying to dig a side tunnel. Two worked while one rested.

Nestra charged forward just as the resting one became more alert. She lacked space to swing her sword properly. She killed the first as it moved and the second in another lunge as it moved. The third locked its jaw on her blade and pushed, but she knew what to do. Giant ants were tremendously strong but also quite light so she turned on herself and slammed the creature against the nearest wall. Before it could recover, her handle strike cracked its skull, causing it to fall. She delivered the last strike while it was temporarily stunned.

Once again, the battle was over before it could begin and once again, she felt just a little bit more aware. There was something else though, something she wasn’t sure about. She cleaned her blade of the ichor and turned around, eager to find more prey. Giant ants body parts held no value so she didn’t consider harvesting anything.

What they were digging for, however…

Nestra carefully picked up her prize from where the creatures were excavating. It was cracked and transparent, the lowest possible quality, only good enough to be crushed and used as fuel… and she didn’t care.

It was a mana stone.

Her first treasure.

“Hell yes. Loot.”

She picked it up and inspected it. The mana was there, at the tip of her finger, ready to be withdrawn. She had killed her first monsters and she’d stolen her first resources.

Amazing.

Just had to keep going.

Nestra moved on. This world was as basic as they came, pretty much a linear path to the end. In more complex worlds, raiders took supplies with them including food and automatic map-makers. Some biomes could get so large, it took powerful users like Aunt Claire a week to clear, if they survived. She would be more prepared for the next opportunity.

Nestra cleared another group, this one of four drones at the center of a cavern. The last one managed to pinch her leg but the MaxSec armor resisted well enough. She was on her knee, inspecting the light damage when a noise alerted her.

Nestra turned and blocked in the same motion, sword raised in front of her. Heavy mandibles clanged against the blade. She saw an armored head, more powerful limbs. Dark, insectile eyes. The creature was larger with a thicker shell. She immediately pressed the button.

Powerful current shook the warrior’s body. Something hissed and popped in its thorax and it fell back, meaning she got a full view of the second warrior charging her. No time to wind up an attack. It was time to use mana.

She pulled a thread from her body and pushed it into the sword, the mana tool easily accepting it. Gray, alien energy coursed along the edge. crackling as it went. The warrior’s mandible slammed against her weapon in its urge to clip her neck. The blade slid into the warrior’s skull before she was even attacking.

With a roar, Nestra struck down. The blade sliced through the warrior’s entire body like a knife through butter. Heavy limbs convulsed, barbed tips raking her armor without penetrating. It fell, dead. She turned and struck the first warrior just in case but the beast was slain, cooked alive by electricity.

Nestra breathed hard. Using mana took a lot of stamina.

“Now that’s more like it.”

Her voice rang hollow in the surrounding silence. She was talking aloud because she was… scared and alone. That was fine but she still ought to stop.

The warriors left her feeling marginally stronger but it was so weak, she might have been mistaken. She checked around for more mana crystals but found nothing. She did, however, find two recesses in the ceiling, sleeping spaces used by warriors to conserve energy. Normally, those would be in the central chamber but apparently not this time. Had to be more careful in the future.

Nestra kept going, coming across a couple more groups of drones who fell as easily as the first. Some light ahead warned her that she was approaching the end of the portal world. She moved up as quietly as she could, leaning against the wall to take a look around the corner.

There, in a large central chamber, a large creature waited. The insectile being was larger than Nestra and stood upright over a bulbous, fluorescent yellow sack. It faced the entrance with attention. Nestra recognized it as an acid ant.

Technically, the acid ant was not a combat member of a hive. They used their acid to smooth surfaces. That would make no difference to her skin.

Worse, it was actively expecting her.

She did her best to remember. Acid ants used pressurized glands, she remembered. They didn’t have great control over them and it took a long time for the glands to refill. Maybe she could bait out an attack.

She strode out, staying near the entrance. The acid ant attacked the moment it spotted her. It reared back and opened its mandibles wide. Nestra stepped back into cover.

A long, slimy string of transparent liquid splashed on the wall in front of her, as well as the ground, and pretty much everything in sight. The stench was atrocious.

The spray weakened quickly. She jumped over a puddle and out of cover and charged ahead.

Thankfully, the acid ant was alone. Her first strike was stopped by a limb, which was fine. She used her sword’s battery again and the creature jumped back, twitching. She pursued, attacking with narrow, fast swings. It was taller than her. She blocked quick strikes from its upper limbs. The strength pushed her back despite her effort. Meanwhile, the creature’s throat pumped noisily. She had a limited amount of time.

It was too strong for her, and just fast enough to fend her off. Nestra pulled more mana and shoved it into the blade. With a desperate cry, she pulled back and struck with a powerful overhand strike.

The sword cut through a limb and almost severed another. It finished lodged in the creature’s shoulder, digging a deep furrow. It screamed. Acid spilled from the open mouth, splashing over the ant. A few droplets landed on Nestra’s armor. The beast convulsed and dislodged Nestra’s grip.

The acid ant fell, crashing heavily. The two middle limbs managed to grab her boots. Nestra was disarmed. Out of options, she slapped her hand against the creature’s face then pushed all the mana she could.

Gray, crackling energy coursed through the ant’s skull. An eye popped. The limbs retracted and she was free. She crawled away, exhausted.

She felt the ant die. It still twitched a few times but she knew it was gone. A deep feeling of satisfaction filled her body like a warm embrace. Things were not quite right but they were certainly better. It felt fulfilling, like a cold void fading away. Nestra let out a deep sigh.

Then she hurried to recover her sword and washed it. The ant was melting under the influence of its own acid and she didn’t want her precious sword to suffer the same fate. Thankfully, the blade was intact. She wiped it just in case.

Behind her, a portal opened.

“Right. Okay. Good.”

Things were good.

She’d cleared a world.

Nestra stood up, satisfied for now. The acid glands could probably be sold for something but she had no tools to harvest them and, if she had to be honest, no buyer. The sales of portal prizes was as heavily regulated as portal ownership. No drab like herself could just show up and offer monster parts without some serious questioning. Not unless she found a black market. Hmm. There was an idea.

More importantly, she’d cleared a portal world.

Like users did.

Ok so she wasn’t a gleam, clearly. They were sucked in by portals while she pushed through. They got stronger by slowly absorbing mana, including the mana of creatures who died around them while, as far as she understood, she stole power from the entities she killed. And there was the whole demon thing. Nevertheless! Nevertheless, she was kind of like a user. No, users could manipulate mana. She was more than that. She was a raider like her parents and Aunt Claire and her brother Ulysses and some of the asshats who thought she was out of line for breathing in their general direction. That changed… everything.

All of those years, she’d been a victim defending her dignity and her little strip of self-esteem with the knowledge that it was the best she could ever achieve. That was over. Provided she could progress like raiders did, the heights of power were no longer closed off to her. She could become strong, as strong as her family. Maybe as strong as Shinran, given time.

Maybe as strong as Riel.

All that it would take would be to follow the crumbs left by the one who sent her message. Do that, and she could progress. Nestra didn't forget that power was only a means to an end, and fortunately, she had an easy end in sight.

The fuckers who’d almost killed her and gotten her allies killed so callously, the guys who thought themselves out of reach, having spent pawns to take other pawns so their plan could move forward, they were at the top of her shit list. Oh, she wouldn’t fix Threshold and certainly not mankind in general, but those assholes? She would get them. They would pay for the rest. And who knows, with enough time, she could spread that lesson around.

She smiled.

Yes, that sounded like a good prospect. Get stronger for the sake of her growth and for the sake of justice.

Ok, enough distractions. Nestra moved to the exit portal. The shaky nature of this exit portal proved that this was a temporary world that would break away soon after she removed the final treasure, here a simple mana crystal of the lowest grade waiting on the ground. She picked it up. The blue light of the portals gave it a strange tone and if she looked closely, ephemeral rainbows danced over its surface. For a moment, Nestra enjoyed the pleasurable sensation of basking in the portal’s radiance, then it was time to leave.

No one was really sure what happened when a portal world untethered, or what happened to the unfortunate people left behind. She wasn’t eager to find out so she pressed her hand against the membrane and pushed. It offered little resistance.

And she was back on earth.