The ride to the checkpoint was quiet.
No one spoke. Only the engine hummed steadily, and occasional rattles came from the gear in the back.
It reminded Raith of his last trip down this road. Same path, same dust streaking the windows. But back then, they were Untuned, being shipped off for labor.
Now, they were Cadets. Free, in theory. Armed and uniformed.
And still, nobody spoke.
Not even the talkative Vanna.
Raith figured everyone was too nervous. This was their first time, while his wasn't. But still, this time felt different.
Still, it was not easy for him, either. This time, he was going on a mission. Not as a miner but as a Tuner and... as someone who sought answers.
After a few more minutes, they stopped at the checkpoint.
"Is that the portal?" Vanna asked, leaning toward the window for a better look.
Raith gave a quiet nod.
Demitri glanced over. "You look pretty calm for someone coming back here."
The others turned to him, curious.
Raith shook his head. "Not really. A lot happened the last time I was here."
Liria, who rarely joined conversations, spoke up. "You awakened here, didn't you?"
Her voice was soft, but certain. She'd been curious about him since day one—and knowing her background, Raith wouldn't be surprised if she'd already done some digging through family connections.
He nodded again, offering no details.
He didn't need to.
Before anyone could ask more, a pair of soldiers stepped toward the vehicle as it rolled to a stop.
Black armor, visors down, lances clipped to their backs. One of them gave a small nod when Ivara stepped out.
"Miss Ivara," he said. "Didn't expect a deployment this soon."
Ivara nodded before handing him a file. "You'll find the mission details here. We'll be entering immediately."
The soldier skimmed the file, then looked over the squad still dismounting from the vehicle. "Exploration?"
"Yes," she said. "A squad of Cadets. For experience."
She planned not to disclose the details of the mission. Besides, it was normal for Cadets to come to an F-grade Force Field for a mission, and luckily, this field was under Camp 70.
The soldier didn't press. He simply scanned each Cadet's ID, checked their Force classifications, and motioned them toward the portal gate.
The stabilizers surrounding it hummed faintly, a flicker of light dancing along their frames.
Most of the squad tensed as they approached.
Except Raith.
He stared at the portal ahead. He'd stepped through this portal before.
Only that time, he was just another Untuned thrown into the dark.
Now… he was a Cadet. A Tuner.
He could feel the portal itself was watching—waiting—like it remembered him, too.
"Move," Ivara said.
Squad C-707 passed through the portal one by one.
The moment Raith crossed, the world twisted.
Colors warped. Sound dulled. The light took on that same fractured shimmer, bending against angles that didn't exist.
They were inside.
Ruins stretched ahead—cracked roads, collapsed buildings half-swallowed by force-grown roots and crystalline bloom.
Broken lampposts tilted sideways, the ground was uneven and dusty, but familiar.
Raith looked around slowly. Every corner he passed had a memory pinned to it. The low ridge near the collapsed barrier—they'd taken cover there. But the hollow spot just ahead made his chest clench.
It was still there, the carcass of the mutated Feral Crawler, crushed.
Legs gone. A deep crater where its skull used to be. Its body was rotting, but preserved unnaturally by the Field's ambient energy.
Golden spores floated above its body like smoke stuck mid-air.
The squad slowed down as they passed the carcass.
Cael was the first to speak. "What the hell happened here?"
Ivara didn't turn around.
She simply said, "Ask Raith. He knows."
All eyes turned.
Vanna blinked. "Wait—what?"
Demitri's voice dropped. "Holy... Don't tell me... Raith did this?"
Even Liria glanced his way, her normally unreadable face flickering with surprise.
Cael stared at the crater, then at Raith, then at the crater again.
"You're saying he did this?"
Raith didn't answer. He just looked down at the body. No pride. No bragging. Just the weight of remembering.
Ivara turned away from the carcass and faced the squad. Her voice was steady, clipped, with that usual edge of don't-make-me-repeat-myself.
"This is what to expect in this Field."
She gestured to the crushed Feral Crawler.
"That thing isn't a normal Feral Crawler. Not anymore," Ivara said. "It's a mutation. Something caught between the ranks. Not quite F-grade, not quite E-grade. We call them half-grades."
Vanna's face paled. "Wait, that's... a real term?"
"Unofficial," Ivara replied, "but used often enough."
Cael narrowed his eyes. "You're telling us that we might face something stronger than an F-grade here?"
"Yes," she said flatly.
"Hold on," Demitri muttered. "How are we supposed to fight it?"
Ivara didn't answer. She didn't need to. In a mission, they needed to face it themselves.
Cael opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again. For once, the words didn't come.
Demitri whispered, "I haven't even fought a normal F-grade yet."
Liria shifted. Her arms were crossed, but there was a flicker in her eyes now. Curiosity? Caution? It was hard to tell.
But she was studying Raith. Watching the way he didn't flinch near the carcass. How he didn't even seem fazed.
Ivara crossed her arms. "Let it sink in. All of you."
She looked at them, not like a commander, but like someone trying to burn a truth into their heads.
"You're Level 1 Tuners. All of you. Late awakeners. And yet… you've been handed a Field with a mutated monster as your introduction."
She paused. Letting the weight hang.
"That thing? You wouldn't have survived it. Not yet."
The silence that followed was heavier than before.
"I'm not saying that to scare you," Ivara added. "I'm saying it so you understand the standard."
She gestured again—this time not at the carcass, but at Raith.
"You want to live in this place? Then that's the bar you're chasing."
Both Cael and Vanna swallowed hard. Demitri looked down at his hands. Liria didn't react much, but her stance shifted—tighter. Focused.
"I want this squad to progress faster than the others," Ivara said, voice sharp. "If we run into monsters—mutated or not—I'll assist. And when the time comes, I'll help you absorb their cores."
That caught Raith off guard.
Monster cores?
He'd heard the term, but only in passing. Tuners talked about leveling up, but no one ever explained it to Untuned. Now, standing here, hearing it like it was common knowledge, it stung.
His eyes drifted to the carcass again.
'That thing… has a core?'
Of course it did. And back then, he hadn't known to look. Hadn't known what it meant. They'd killed it, barely survived, and walked away with nothing.
He clenched his fist.
He'd missed it. His first kill. His first chance to grow. Gone before he even knew what it was worth.
Ivara was still speaking, but Raith's thoughts lingered on the crater and what could've been.
"Wait," Cael said, stepping forward. "You mean—actual monster cores? You're going to help us… level up?"
Ivara nodded once. "Correct. But only when I say so. And only if I believe you can handle it."
Demitri muttered under his breath, "That's… generous."
"Don't thank me yet," Ivara replied. "It'll hurt. Especially for those who had no experience in doing so. And the higher the grade, the worse the process."
The squad stood still, processing everything. Vanna looked pale. Demitri kept adjusting his grip on the strap of his gear bag. Even Cael, for once, didn't speak.
Raith didn't look at any of them.
His eyes were still locked on the crater—on what had been lost. On what might still be hidden.
He didn't know what kind of core had been inside that monster. But now, he had a reason to start looking.
"Move out," Ivara said, already walking ahead.
No one argued.
They followed her deeper into the Field, one step at a time, boots crunching against fractured ground, golden spores still dancing in the air behind them.
But Raith hesitated.
Just for a second.
He turned back one last time to look at the carcass.
Raith clenched his jaw and caught up to the squad.
This time, he wouldn't walk away empty-handed.