My child…it is harder to maintain a stable connection to this world.

Something is disrupting our connection…link costs are rising.

My child…your connection and abilities will be further restricted.

Local elements will be mandatory…off-world supply is severely capped.

My child…we shall converse again after this anomaly is resolved.

Ava sighed internally. Getting to this world was difficult enough and yet even more issues had cropped up. Did another Post Human had descended earlier? It seemed like it as according to her knowledge only Post Humans can interfere with each other.

Ava further concluded that whomever that was, they had broken several key treaties among Post Humans. Treaties observers branded them as rogue consciousnesses, dangerous and unpredictable. For Ava, she was compelled to eliminate them as mandated by the Treaties.

“Young Miss, let’s take a break here. My feet’s been hurting.” Akeila invited Ava to a crooked alley adjacent to the main street.

Ava snapped out of her trance and followed suit. Their hand cart was pushed to a nearby wall while Akeila dropped to the floor. She grimaced for a moment before swallowing green-coloured pills she got from Muzaid. Ava looked at her action with great interest.

“Sigh, brother Muzaid is a little too generous sometimes. But I can’t avoid taking them now.”

“Ava is sorry for the trouble.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it Young Miss! Nothing is more valuable than life. I owe him one this time. Look, no more injuries.”

The pills were miraculous indeed. Akeila no longer had visible bruises and she removed all of her hidden bandages. She was more spirited than before, a clear improvement. Ava recalled some information regarding medicinal pills but they were largely vague.

The associated memories she retrieved during her desert adventure were disjointed and made little sense to the Post Human. These medicines garnered Ava’s interest, prompting her to put it in her list of objectives. There must be explanations for such wondrous items.

Sou!

Ava jerked her head to her left, her ears picking up a distinct noise. Her golden eyes gradually adjusted to the dim light, a flash of silver entering her vision. It was a small ant, slightly larger than a grain of rice. The ant zipped across the dusty stone floor, too fast to track for most.

“Oh? A flash ant? How rare.”

“A flash ant, Sister Akeila?”

“Yup, Young Miss. One blink and you’ll miss it. People used to say if one encountered it, the gods will bless you but I don’t believe in such nonsense. No man in the sky will tell Sister what to do, haha!”

Ava went with the flow and nodded. The Post Human however had another plan with said ants; while Akeila was busy tidying herself, Ava produced several metallic objects from her hands. Then she thinly coated the objects with honey, to bait the ants to carry them away.

Chatters continued to ring the background as Eastern Kazar remained lively even at this point of the day. One of the conversations attracted Ava’s attention; it was about a customer refusing the shopkeeper’s offer to wrap their bought items. Why would they refuse it?

She directed her gaze toward them and saw an ordinary man handing a pouch of money to the shopkeeper. The man touched the items he bought and they suddenly vanished out of sight. The shopkeeper was stunned for a bit but then acted like nothing was wrong.

Ava looked again at the buyer; he was no different than other wanderers here. A loose robe, slightly baggy clothes and wide shoes. What was different however an unassuming ring on his thumb. Such ring might be some kind of storage device as he had no bags on himself.

No having to carry any bulky bags seemed quite convenient in the badlands. The Post Human extended her tiny hands at her handcart and stored it in an independent space. She materialized a simple metal ring on her pinky finger as a cover.

“Uh Young Miss, where is our handcart?” When Akeila turned around to face Ava, she was surprised.

“Ava stored it. Sister Akeila is tired right?” Ava raised her hand, showing the ring to Akeila.

A dimensional ring! She is definitely a high ranked noble or from a big sect! Akeila’s brows twitched for a moment. “Umm…I’d prefer if Young Miss just take the dao crossbow. Sister will be going back after this and would be troubled if Sister can’t have the materials.”

“Ava confirms. Here is the items Sister requested.” Ava pointed the ring finger to the side and the handcart reappeared, minus the dao crossbow.

The forgesmith nodded and took the handcart; she decided to stop being surprised at Ava or it will never end. Wanderers came in various forms and intentions so it was best if one did not pry unto them. As the duo exited the alley, a familiar voice called out to them.

“You look brighter than the Sun, Akeila!”

“Geez, what are you playing at, Muzaid?” Akeila blushed; this stout warrior was sure a smooth talker. Another was due to her guilt for using such valuable pills.

Muzaid shrugged it off, giving a faint smile in return, “Oh nothing, a little appreciation doesn’t hurt, does it? Life’s precious, I can always get the pills again! So, are you coming with us?”

“Why not, Muzaid? I want to see if something’s new at the association. You know, the usual. But I won’t be joining your trip this time, I have some business afterwards.” Akeila politely refused his invitation. Recent events were bizarre and thus she needed some mental break.

“What about this young missy? Just for a short visit like Sister Akeila?” Muzaid hunched down to be at the same height as Ava, his thin moustache twirling with the desert wind.

Ava balled her fists while her face remained deadpan. “Ava is very strong. Ava took care of bad people and monsters in the desert. Ava wants to join the trip, look for another black rock.”

“What a great fighting spirit, haha! I heard you were saved by her, Akeila?”

“News sure travel fast. Yeah, Young Miss is a wanderer all right, Muzaid.” Akeila faked a cough, she was embarrassed that a child fought better than her. The forgesmith brought up another topic as a diversion, “So…where are the rest of your team mates? Still shopping?”

As Muzaid was about to answer, a rumbling stomach can be heard. It was no other than Akeila, “That’s right…. well let’s go eat something first. I know a good stall; they make tasty bread!”

Muzaid led them to different part of Eastern Kazar, where food stalls started to outnumber other shops. These stalls were simpler than ones in Southern Kazar, with greater focus on easily carriable food. Everything moved fast in this part of the city and the food reflected it.

There were large number of roasts, kebabs and stuffed breads, foodstuff that can be eaten on the go. Savoury smell of loafs and meats went together, a mouth-watering experience. Akeila had long been salivating, her stomach grumbling in protest.

Muzaid tactfully stopped to one of the stalls, one that sold some meat skewers. He bought some and at the same time reminded the group; they shouldn’t eat too much now or they won’t be able to eat the dish recommended by him.

Ava however refused his offer as her mind was on something else. At the said stall, she put her hands on the skewers’ holder. To outsiders, she looked no different than a curious child. Ava then withdrew her hand, some of said skewers vanished without anyone knowing.

Some moment later, the group had reached their destination after weaving through the crowd. It was a simple stall, some wooden poles and tables, followed by dried tree trunks as chairs. The stall owner was a chubby man, a good friend of Muzaid as they talked at length.

The owner moved to some of his pots, digging something out of them. He brushed the sand away and opened the leaf cover of said objects. They were stuffed breads, filled with tender goat meat and some vegetables. The smell was irresistible, drawing more people to his stall.

Chomp!

The honours were done by Ava, the first to sink her teeth into the stuffed bread. It was tangy, crunchy and spicy at the same time. She had to admit, this owner is a pretty good cook. Ava gave her thumbs up and the rest of the group followed suit. The owner simply smiled at them.

After eating their fill, the group parted with the stall owner but not before him giving Muzaid a big hug. Muzaid replied in kind, saying he will bring rare spices next time. The owner was all smiles as even more people came to his place, attracted by the group’s prior feast.

As they moved toward direction of Wanderer Association, one of Kazarian Guards in the area met with them, “I’m sorry wanderers but my eyes saw something odd. Did any of you threw something, or anything? You know the rules around these parts.”

“Err…umm mister, we were eating just now. I’m pretty sure none of us caused trouble? We’re just eating and now going to the Association.” Muzaid stepped in, confident none of his current companions did wrong.

“Strange…am I seeing things? Haah, you may go. Sorry for the trouble.” The guard rubbed his left eye, unsure of what had happened. It might be the desert playing tricks on me. He closed the case and let Muzaid and companions go.

The group left the perplexed guard and after an earshot away Muzaid had some doubts as well. “So…anyone know what in the sand had happened?”

“Ava felt a bad guy was tailing. Ava took wooden skewers, threw them at bad guy.”

Wooden skewers? Threw them? At what? Both Muzaid and Akeila found it hard to believe. They did not detect anything out of the ordinary. Besides, this area was watched by some of the best of Kazarian City Guards. Who dared to make trouble here?

“Let’s…just go to the Association now. I’m sure my team mates had arrived. You sure not joining our trip to Sama’at Barchans, Akeila?”

“Sorry Muzaid, I still have something to do afterwards. Young Miss will join you, show her the ropes, will you?”

Muzaid nodded, breaking the awkwardness. I shouldn’t overthink this. He led the group once again, to easternmost side of Kazar City. A large building entered into view, plain and drab but more importantly built to last. Various sapient creatures streamed from said building.

Apart from administrative and military-related buildings in Kazar, this building was the next biggest one. For visiting wanderers, said building was one of many branches of Wanderer Association in the badlands which handled requests around the city it was based on.

The main building stood some nine stories tall, flanked by two smaller annexes. Majority of people here were concentrated at the main building, moving to and fro between its big iron gates. The interior was spartan, with some chairs there and there but crowds were constant.

Muzaid led them to one of waiting halls inside the main building before excusing himself for other matters. Akeila was next, when one of Association’s receptionists agreed to look after Ava for a moment. The Post Human remained silent, observing the people around her.

The female receptionist minded herself as well as Ava did not request for anything specific. As wisemen once said, there might be true masters hidden in plain sight, waiting for one to slip up. The receptionist thus skimmed through some papers while keeping Ava in view.

Chiu, chiu, chiu!

Ava turned her head around; she recognized this sound. It was a desert rat but what’s a desert rat doing in the Association? The sand-coloured desert rat was evidently lively, constantly shrieking at something. The people around here did not seem to pay it any attention.

Ava settled her gaze on said rat, it was a bit larger than her palm. It had a peculiar marking on its fur and tail. Other desert rats were not like this and way thinner. The rat was sitting on a wooden stool, next to a grown-up man. The man rested his eyes, ignoring the rat.

“Is Miss Ava interested with the rat?” The female receptionist gave a friendly smile to Ava.

Ava kept her eyes trained on the rat, trying to recall something, “Ava confirms. This rat is used for its services? A service pet? Like the Sand Komodo?”

“That’s one way to put it missy, but this rat’s a glutton. Name’s Firan and the rat’s Kas.” The grown-up man with grizzly hair suddenly opened his eyes, steering the conversation. “All Kas does is complain, complain and complain some more. And when it comes to work, he’s just plain lazy. Or escape even.”

“Yes…yes. No, mister is not bad. Consider the following; he provided you with sustenance.” Ava nonchalantly ignored Firan and started talking to the rat. The rat responded in kind, sometimes even patting its buttocks.

“Err…. you can understand what the rat is saying? Is he saying I’m handsome?” Firan scratched his thin beard, lifting his chin up.

The female receptionist gave a curtsy nod, giving them some space. “If Miss Ava needs me, please do so.”

“Ava confirms.” Ava nodded at her and then faced the burly Firan. “Kas is unhappy with his work conditions and asks for improvement.”

“Improvement? What improvement? He hasn’t seen anything yet, life’s cozy in here.” Firan frowned a bit. “Besides, he’s a rat, what else to improve?”

The rat took offense to his statement and then moved closer to Ava. Ava peered at it, “Ava asks, is Kas sure with the decision?”

“Um? Now what it is saying?” Firan wore an odd look, he had never seen his trained rat act like this. It seemed to favour Ava while occasionally jutting its tongue at Firan.

Ava stayed still and let the rat climb her left shoulder, “Kas says it want to follow Ava for a month.”

“A month? Hmm…” Firan contemplated the offer. When he thought about it, Kas was a real piece of work, incessantly shrieking at him. Other trained rats were more docile, not as bad.

Ava gave the grizzly haired man an upturned look. Her face however was plain as always. “Please consider, Mister Firan. Kas promised he will work harder after this.”

“An excursion eh? Not a bad idea. But I will require some paperwork as Kas is officially employed by the City. We can’t just let them go.” Firan threw his arms in the air for a moment.

Another female voice answered the man, “I can handle that, any special requirements, old man?”

“Oh, just some signatures and that’s it. No way around bureaucrats, haha.” Firan gave a brief laugh.

The newcomer had short brown hair and sharp eyes. Her body outline was fully hidden by her loose robes, leaving nothing to be seen. Suffice to say, she was no different than the crowd, indistinct in the sea of people. The girl kept her stare on Ava, trying to figure her out.

“Makya? When did you arrive? Why didn’t you join us for some bread earlier?” Muzaid intervened, happy to see this average looking girl.

Firan on other hand took it as a cue and excused himself, “Well don’t forget to give me the forms later. I have other works to do.”

“Sure, no problem Firan. I will bring you some drinks later,” Muzaid beamed a smile and then focused on Makya, “Hmm, are you okay? We need to be in top shape, are you unwell?”

“Nah…I’m just intrigued. So, she will…. join us?” Makya raised her brows, Ava looked a bit too young for the desert.

Muzaid lightly scoffed, a portion of his weapon on his back visible. “That’s…the way it is. Miss Ava wanted to get the dao core we got from the Sand Komodo we fought earlier.”

“You know I didn’t sign up for babysitting, Muzaid. What can she do?” Makya was unconvinced, whispering to him.

Ava perfectly heard it despite Makya’s best attempt to lower her voice, “Ava can confirm that Ava is very strong. Ava beaten bad guys and monsters in the desert before.”

“Ah don’t worry about it, you heard what happened to Akeila right? This young missy here was her knight in shining armour. We’ll depart as soon as Husan joined us.” Muzaid brushed it off as he had a gut feeling Ava was unordinary.

Makya stopped talking as she knew once Muzaid had set his mind to it, he wouldn’t budge, “Okay, we’ll see. But I won’t be responsible for anything bad that can happen, Muzaid.”

The girl vanished from sight when several people moved in front of Muzaid and Ava. Makya’s skills were indispensable to his party and thus he needed to put with her whims. Shortly afterwards, Akeila saw them and bid them goodbye as they wait for Husan to arrive.