The chill of the early morning was still in the air. Though all the trees leading up to Lumina had been cut, wild grass grew everywhere and was covered with dew. The smell of fresh air was invigorating and filled with temptatious welcome.
Shades of pink and blue filled the sky, and unseen insects were croaking and singing a morning welcome. The wind was pleasant and refreshing.
It seemed like the day was calling out to them, telling them to seize the opportunities life presented, and revel in the beauty of the world. A field of daisies lay in their path, as if welcoming them to wonderland.
But the more it was like this, the more cautious Nero became. The reason why no one gave them any last minute briefing was because they had all been given a file containing all the information about it. There was nothing left to do.
"Don't drop your guard," Nero reminded everyone, a grim expression painting his face.
Surrounded by flowers, lush greenery and sunshine, Nero knew they had entered a dastardly place.
From time to time, between the tall grass, Nero spotted vines on the floor that looked much too familiar. Even among vines there were differences, but these ones were the very ones that had nearly destroyed Aetherpeak.
His fire squad was not taking this casually, and all of them kept an eye out for danger, which was good. They could never drop vigilance.
Should anything happen to Nero, the chain of command dictated that leadership would fall to Jackal, after whom was Gabriel, then Wendy, then Harold. If there came a time when all of them were lost or indisposed, and only Remi remained, then being in command would do her little good.
The pale, petite girl held her gun close to her chest, doing her best to hide her trembling. She was the only one in the group who was using a firearm, which dictated just how weak her constitution was.
Guns had been around for a while, but they were hardly in use anywhere for a few reasons. The first and most important reason was that even a simple Neophyte card could easily block bullets. Then, upon reaching the Initiate level, unless taken by surprise, it was fairly simple to dodge the bullets just by predicting their trajectory before they were shot.
That was considering a situation where they didn't just block the bullets out right.
They were most effective against people who had not even become Neophytes yet, so basically just children. As if that was not enough, keeping sufficient ammunition was a hassle, not to mention the fact that they were the least effective against curses most of the time unless extremely special, very expensive and entirely unviable bullets were made using rare ingredients.
So in summary, while a gun was not entirely useless, as it could distract targets and force them to use defensive cards, in case the target was human, they were the least preferable option anyone could take.
The issue was that normal bullets could not ordinarily be enhanced with aether unless more specialised cards were used.
As a support based member of the team, however, it would be best if she never had to fight.
The truck drove right up until it reached a 100 metres (300 feet) of the first building in Lumina, which was a tall tower that looked like it might be a spot for archers, or scouts.
"You're on foot from here," the driver said. "Walk right up to the city and you'll find an escort. Do not try to travel in the city on your own, and follow the exact routes that your escort takes."
The group disembarked and gathered all their gear. Most of them were wearing a light backpack of some sort. Even though technically they were right next to the garrison, the fact that they had packed even rations foretold just how little the army knew what to expect.
Nero grabbed his spear which he had been training with and checked if everyone else was ready before beginning their march to the city.
Maybe because everyone was nervous they were expecting something to go wrong, or for an enemy to pop out from somewhere at each moment, though nothing of the sort happened. They had been spotted long before they reached the city, and a number of soldiers were waiting for them.
"Identify yourself," yelled one of the soldiers as they stepped close.
"Fire squad Azure-1," Nero yelled out, and then waited until the soldiers signalled them to come closer.
"This is your first time entering the city, correct?" the soldier asked as he looked at their young faces.
"Yes," Nero answered, while everyone else just gathered up silently behind him.
"Why are you lot here before the bulk of the mission? I thought that all the Neophytes would be coming together."
Nero took in this piece of information, though he showed no doubt or hesitation on his face. The fact that they had been sent earlier might have been an attempt from the major to avoid the other groups in the cathedral. That might not be the best plan, since now they would have to deal with all the obstacles on their own.
"Just following orders," Nero stated simply.
The soldier gave them one look before shrugging.
"Follow me. I trust you have been briefed at least about the state of the city."
"Yes, we have."
"Good. Since the entire city is still operational, that means the city's self defence mechanism is also still operating. If you enter the city unregistered, or enter an area of the city where you are not authorised to enter, you will receive one warning before the city attacks you. This is quite inconvenient, since as Neophytes you have the least authority.
Your mission zones might actually end up being in places you're not authorised to enter. In that case you need to be escorted by someone who does have authority.
"For now, follow me as I get you registered. Do not resist the probe, you cannot hide anything from them."
The soldier led them through an opening into the tower that had obviously only recently been created. The interior of the tower was immaculate, and at the same time extremely confusing.
Dense streams of aether seemed to be flowing throughout every portion of it, and machines of various types were placed everywhere, but Nero could see no terminal through which they were supposed to be used. There was no interface screen or buttons or anything of the sort, but Nero was certain that they did something, because a number of soldiers surrounded almost every machine doing something.
"What do these do?" Nero asked their escort as he looked at a soldier waving his arms around, seemingly interacting with things that only he could see.
"This is a toll tower, which is used to control entry and exit into the city," the soldier stated. "Although we only have access to the lower levels. The higher levels are restricted with powers even the sages cannot penetrate. It's enough for your needs. As for the specifics of what these machines do… that's on a need to know basis. Now step onto the platform one by one.
I'm reminding you once again, do not resist the probe."
The soldier brought them to a circular platform at the end of a room with many chairs pointing towards it, indicating that many people were originally supposed to be watching this process. As of right now, this was a mostly ignored portion of the tower.
Nero tried to understand what the machine was, but upon being unable to discern anything, just obeyed the instructions and stood in the middle of the platform.
A thick layer of aether was pushed out from the platform underneath him, and gathered around his body, as if squeezing him tightly. Nero felt Radix Augmentation heat up, as if the card was being used, but after a moment the feeling disappeared and the layer of aether travelled up along his body.
The process was extremely uncomfortable, not because of the tight squeeze, but because he could feel the very aether within his body being pulled and prodded as the scan passed his body. He felt the urge to resist or fight back, but following the instructions of the soldier, he tolerated it.
Each of the cards the aether crossed would heat up, though not nearly as much as Radix Augmentation. Eventually, Nero's entire body was scanned successfully, leaving him strangely drained. It was as if he had been using his aether extensively, and was on the verge of depletion.
Once he got off the platform he looked at his escort, who was looking at Nero oddly, but did not explain why.
"Alright, no point in wasting time. Everyone, get on the platform one by one. After this is over I'll have someone take you into the city."
Jackal climbed up, but Nero could not help but notice that his scan was nearly twice as fast as his own.