“I cannot help but feel guilty every time someone joins up.” The major shook his head. “But I will accept your resolve. Should anything happen to you, I will take care of your sister like my daughter. This I swear.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“No need for thanks, Harvester Gaius.” Major Degurechaff cast another dark look at the wooden pavilion. “You should return to your tent now. Lieutenant Ornielle will brief you on what to expect in Heritage in greater detail.”

“Yes, sir.” Gaius turned and retraced his footsteps back to the tent. As he approached the two lines of snow figures that flanked the path to his tent’s entrance, Gaius noticed the lieutenant standing near a particularly well-made snowman.

“A work of yours, ma’am?” Gaius asked quietly. “It’s quite the work of art.”

“Your sister is the one who made it, not me.” Lieutenant Ornielle smiled gently. “She has talent in this field, it seems.”

“Art doesn’t sell well in a post-war world, unfortunately,” said Gaius. “Being a soldier is all the rage now. Food security, shelter and training are all provided.”

“You’re quite the realist, Harvester Gaius.”

Realist? Gaius was stunned for a moment at that word, before mocking himself about being stunned by it. Orb was a world whose culture had been reshaped by people from Earth, so he shouldn’t have been surprised. That word, however, had made Gaius feel a pang of poignancy for some reason.

“Let’s put that aside for now, ma’am. The briefing, please.”

“Naturally. I’ll brief you inside the tent.”

The two of them trudged towards the tent flap and entered it. Nakama was sitting on a bed, kicking her legs as she stared the boxes piled up beside the other unoccupied bed in the tent. Her eyes brightened up when the Lieutenant and Gaius walked in.

“Gaius, Gaius! What do these boxes have inside?”

Lieutenant Ornielle laughed. “We’ll be opening them now, so sit tight. Now, Gaius, turn your attention to these two boxes.”

Gaius turned to the boxes that the lieutenant was pointing at, and instantly recognised them as the packages that he had carried back to the tent. It seemed that the major had certain considerations when he chose to leave these two boxes to him.

Gaius nodded. “I know one of them contains material I can use to make tools, but what’s in the other?”

“Open it up and see.”

Gaius opened the box. Speaking of the box, it was made up of something that looked like cardboard and was clearly styled after a briefcase, but what was most surprising was that the interior of the box was actually padded with something soft and cushy.

Which probably explained why he couldn’t hear metal clinking on metal when he carried the boxes back. There were eight knives that were just slightly longer than his finger, four L-shaped pieces of metal that Gaius suspected were icepicks, something that looked like a breastplate, and an extendable metal rod.

“Very simple.” The lieutenant motioned at the small mound of metal items. “These are extendable knives; I’ll go through how to use them later. You can find their leather sheathes underneath them. Standard protocol is to strap them all around your winter gear when you go digging for gems.”

She opened another box, revealing a flowy cape of light fabric, a long-sleeved tunic and trousers. “Your prescribed attire has small openings for you to place the knives in, leaving only the handle exposed for easy removal. The four icepicks go into the openings of your sleeves and that of your trousers leggings, so you can climb on snow and soil.”

Gaius looked at the icepicks. They could inserted into a sleeve or trouser opening, and then fastened by small loops at the shorter, perpendicular metal piece. “Got it.”

“Remember to secure the picks before you use them, and to remove them when you come back. A sentry was scarred when a Harvester who didn’t remove these picks collided into him.” Lieutenant Ornielle shook her head. “Poor guy. Finally, this is your breastplate…well, we call it that, but it’s actually part of a shovel.”

“While it can be inserted into the front or back of your chest in the event you meet an enemy, its main use is to shovel snow to create a small shelter, or if you somehow think that there are gems under a layer of snow.” The lieutenant took the pole and inserted it into a small hole at the broad side of the armour piece. “The pole can also double as a melee weapon. Any questions so far?”

Gaius looked at the small mountain of metal items and shook his head. “No, ma’am.”

“We’ll talk about gems now. By and large, the smallest gems can be found randomly embedded in the snow and rock walls. Your picks will generally suffice for that.” She took out a small, glowing diamond. “After prying them out — you don’t need to be gentle with them, they’re nearly indestructible by physical means — place them into any pocket lined with the velvet material.”

She caught sight of Gaius’ thoughtful expression. “Yes, the same one that lined the inwards of Major Degurechaff’s gem box. If you don’t do that, you might run the risk of qi deviation when you exit Heritage.”

“What the hell kind of gem does that?” asked Gaius.

“The kind that can power Ark City’s defences. Any other questions?”

“Are there any places I should avoid?”

“Silly me, I forgot.” The lieutenant took out a small notebook. “For beginners, avoid places where the air seems to be warping. Gemstones are largely inert in Heritage, but they do emit ambient power. When enough of them are in the same place, weird occurrences began to happen, like monsters made of energy and the like.”

“Second, do not approach places that are covered in shadow. In the same vein, always make sure that light from Heritage’s firmament can touch some part of your body. It’s safe here, in this place between Orb and Heritage, but…” The officer’s face paled slightly. “…on the first explorations of Heritage centuries ago, thousands of people vanished because they were engulfed by shadows. But if it’s any consolation, there isn’t a night in Heritage.”

“The other no-go areas are generally static, and we’ve plotted out a map of the area. Take a look later.” The lieutenant passed a map, covered in what looked like clingfilm, to Gaius, who accepted it gingerly.

“Finally, if at any point you’re forced to fight a monster that looks human, but has a skull and blazing fires in its head, remember only your knives can harm it, as they're coated with true silver. So either you attach one of the knives onto the pole to use it as a spear, or you wield the knives directly. Artefacts can also harm them, but that's another story.”

“Silver?” Gaius repeated. “Are they vampires?”

“I’m not sure what a vampire is, but we call these monsters snowpyres. Now, the last portion of your initiation will probably take up the most time, so get yourself comfortable.”

“What, a combat test?”

“No.” She opened another box, revealing a veritable stack of paper. “Documents. Read through everything properly, and sign your legal name afterwards.”

“Nakama.” Gaius called out to the girl who had, in something rather novel, been quiet for the last fifteen minutes or so.

“Yes?”

“Come help your big bro read and sign these papers.”

“Don’t wanna!”

“Please?”

The little girl didn’t reply, leaving Gaius to stare at the stack of documents alone. It seemed that the afternoon wasn't going to treat him well...