Nightfall in the Endless Storm didn't exactly look like nightfall.
The sky didn't change colors, there was no setting sun, and the thunder never gave us a moment of peace. Instead, the endless flashes of lightning began to space out just slightly enough for the world to darken into a deep navy hue.
The ABR didn't slow but it softened into a near-meditative rhythm, like a drum beat lulling you to sleep if you were psychotic enough to find comfort in a thunderstorm.
Inside the dome, our shelter glowed a soft azure, and we finally had a moment to breathe. We had been breaking rock and gathering ore for nearly ten hours straight, soaked and sore, so naturally… it was food time.
And that's when things got hilarious.
I activated the inventory bracelet on my wrist and scrolled through the stored files. The little UI display popped up like a soft hologram above my palm, glowing with blue text.
[Inventory Loaded: Ration Package - Grade Ennéa Two (Personalized)]
Tapping "Deploy," I felt a warm bzzt pulse through my bracelet, and out popped a whole sealed food set, steam still rising from the containers.
Now, when I say food, I don't mean rations. I mean Food.
My pack contained a bowl of slow-cooked beef stew with root vegetables and exotic grains, a garlic rice dish with spices I couldn't even name, a butter-soft brioche roll still warm to the touch, and a bottle of fruit nectar chilled to a perfect five degrees. Dessert? A chocolate-glazed custard tart that actually had a tiny fleck of gold on top. And the kicker?
Everything was still hot, like it had just left the kitchen of a luxury restaurant. I actually don't know why they have ingredients from Earth but meh...
I didn't even have to say anything. The moment I opened it, the aroma hit like a culinary nuke.
Baldie, Sunglasses, and Buzzcut turned their heads so fast I thought they had snapped their necks. Rythe actually gasped beside me.
"No way… is that basil?" She whispered, leaning in with eyes the size of moons.
I looked at her, shrugged, and pulled out a spoon.
"Personalized ration loadout," I said casually as I dipped the spoon into the stew. "Ennéa Two benefits."
The others stared. Rythe's stomach literally growled like a small animal. She immediately blushed and looked away, but I just chuckled and held out my hand.
"Want some soup?"
She hesitated for like, half a second.
"Yes, please."
I handed her the secondary container that had roasted squash and a light broth. She held it like I'd just gifted her a piece of heaven.
The three others just glared.
It was obvious that their food wasn't in the same tier. Baldie had pulled out some bland protein packs, Buzzcut had a literal nutrient gel tube, and Sunglasses was chewing on what looked like industrial cardboard wrapped in foil. Well, that is what it looked like at least. The smell of my stew must have been driving them insane.
I leaned back against my seat pad, savoring a bite with a smirk.
"If any of you want some," I said, swirling the spoon around the bowl, "all you gotta do is ask."
The silence was heavy. Sunglasses glared harder. Buzzcut's jaw clenched. Baldie didn't say a word. Their pride was physically oozing out like toxic sludge. It was almost funny watching them debate internally whether to keep being jerks or get a bite of real food.
Finally, Sunglasses grunted. "Fine. Lemme get a bite."
I grinned. "Nah-uh. Terms first."
"Terms?" Baldie asked, frowning.
I held up two fingers. "Twenty percent of your Synsiline haul. Tomorrow. Each."
They collectively lost it.
"That's robbery," Buzzcut snapped.
"It's favoritism," Sunglasses muttered. "You give her soup for free and charge us? What is this, some girl's club?"
I didn't flinch. Just raised an eyebrow.
"She didn't try to shove my face in mud without noticing two hours ago."
"You said you were over it."
"I am. I'm also smart. This stew?" I pointed to the bowl like a host on a cooking show. "This isn't regular rations. This is luxury-tier. You want meat cooked by an actual chef or not?"
Rythe chimed in, stirring her bowl delicately.
"She's right, by the way. Higher-ranked Flux Elites get food from five-star chefs. My brother's in Pente and he told me about it. Ennéa Elites? They basically eat like royalty."
Sunglasses blinked. "You're joking."
Baldie looked down at his flavorless mush and sighed so hard it probably took a year off his life.
"Twenty percent?" he muttered.
I nodded.
Buzzcut rolled his eyes. "You're a demon."
"And you're eating glue. Decision time."
Eventually, all three of them grunted out their bitter consent.
______
I leaned back against a spiky rough boulder, chewing slowly through the last bite of that ridiculously rich roasted meat. Yeah, it was gourmet as hell, like something a celebrity chef would've plated back in Singapore, complete with that stupid balsamic swirl on the side.
Only this time, it was vacuum-sealed and injected into my storage bracelet like I was some kind of VVIP out here.
Baldie broke the silence.
"You got ties, don't you?"
I blinked. "Huh?"
"To Suprema Gamma," Buzzcut said, nudging his empty food packet into the trash slot of his bracelet. "Or to Phaser."
Sunglasses crossed his arms and leaned forward. "Especially Phaser."
"He was just my trainer. I mean—yeah, he pushed hard, but we weren't exactly bonding."
That's when they laughed.
"You don't know, do you?" Rythe said, her voice small but kind of amazed.
"…Know what?"
They all just stared at me like I had dropped from orbit.
"Phaser," Sunglasses said, "isn't just some hotshot Elite with a tragic stare and god-tier hand-to-hand."
"He's the Commander," Baldie added. "Second in Command of Reversal Cradlepoint. Reports only to Gamma herself."
My stomach dropped. "You're joking."
Buzzcut shook his head. "Nope. He leads field ops, trains lower levels like us, and personally greenlights high-tier missions. I've only seen him once before during a joint mission briefing. Thought he was just a well-dressed warlord. Turns out he's practically royalty."
"Better than royalty," Rythe whispered. "He's the most eligible figure in the five Eresnae. Daughters of Supremas line up with gifts and marriage proposals like he's some divine auction item."
"Yeah," Sunglasses muttered, rolling his eyes. "And the guy's so detached, he turns them all down. Every. Single. One."
I blinked hard. "Wait. Are we talking about the same guy who made me fight a holographic beast for four hours with a broken rib and called it 'light warmup?'"
Baldie laughed. "That's him."
"Commander Phaser," Buzzcut emphasized, pointing with a fork. "The broody bastard with the blade and the bloodline. Seventy-five percent of every breathing woman on Eresnae wants to marry him, and the other twenty-five want to copy his combat strategy."
Sunglasses grinned. "And you trained with him. Alone."
I stared into the firelight, absolutely stunned. The man never once even hinted at being someone that important. He treated me like I was barely worth his time, not in a cruel way but a you'd-better-survive-or-die way. Like he needed me to harden, and fast.
They were all still watching me, waiting for some scandalous reveal, some confession. Instead, I just said:
"There's nothing between us."
Buzzcut raised a brow. "Sure about that?"
"I'm just an Ennéa. That's it," I said, picking at the stew remains. "No secret romance. No bloodline link. He just made sure I didn't die during training. That's all."
They didn't push it. Maybe they believed me. Maybe they didn't.
Rythe, sitting next to me, finally said, "If that's true, then you're probably the only one in the Eresnae he treats like that. Lucky or cursed, who knows."
I nodded, but my thoughts were racing. If he was the commander, then why me? Why give me that serum? That training? Why not someone with an actual legacy? An elite pedigree? Sure he said to protect me but why the extra spoiling.
Unless… there was something I didn't know yet.
Either way, I didn't say another word and just curled tighter into my bedroll, the fire crackling beside me while the Endless Storm roared outside.
As far as I was concerned… I was still just trying to survive the week.