Jin pulled up an interactive map on his biotablet, “I think we should go through the eastern birch forest. It’s supposed to be relatively unpopular, so there should still be leftover ruins. We might run into a few androids, but they’re supposed to primarily be old humanoid types without functional long-range weapons.” Zeirdin nodded, having no objections.

“How big is this floor compared to Floor 1?” Zeirdin asked. Jin tapped around on his biotablet and read something.

“According to this tower manual, the floors vary a bit in size but stay relatively the same area until around floor 30. Then they progressively get smaller. It doesn’t matter because the population decreases with each floor after 30,” Jin said. “The largest floor by area is floor 20.”

The two exchanged ideas and chatted for another few minutes.

After the quick briefing and gear check, the two boys left the inn, covered head to toe in their new gear. The air smelled wet and the sky was gray. Zeirdin did not want to get soaked wearing the bodysuit. It would probably stick to his body.

They reached the gate of the city and exited without looking back. Rolling green hills extended endlessly in front. The waist-high emerald strands of grass swayed in the increasingly turbulent wind. The asphalt turned to gravel, and then to packed dirt. Taking the far left fork, they headed northeast, towards the birch forest.

“I wish we rented hoverbikes,” Jin complained with labored breathing.

“Nahh, we need to get used to carrying our gear,” Zeirdin retorted, happy to finally be walking. The gear was heavy and they needed to be able to run with it. They encountered a few people on the path here and there. It was barely wide enough for two men to walk shoulder to shoulder. In the distance, an indistinct gray shape moved through the grassy hills. It was best to leave it alone.

The two boys reached the first trees of the birch forest an hour later. The white tree bark with black stripes was an odd sight for someone like Zeirdin, whose homeland was primarily composed of evergreens and oaks. Thin and tall, the birches were spaced far apart enough that one could walk through the trees without much trouble. The path abruptly ended. A gust of wind blew and the birches swayed, many leaves rustling in unison. The first drop of rain landed on the tip of Zeirdin’s nose and without hesitating, he took his backpack off and pulled out his poncho.

“We’re here,” Jin said, making an astute observation.

“Fuckin’ rain,” Zeirdin grumbled. He hated being wet. He pulled the gray-green poncho over himself and his backpack. He looked slightly ridiculous. The rain slowly started to fall in quicker intervals, a light sprinkle became a shower, and the shower became a downpour. Within a minute, the entire forest floor was soaked, the rain intensely pattering against the leaves of the birches. Jin grumbled too as he donned his thin rain jacket.

The duo continued deeper into the forest, boots squelching on the soft and now wet forest floor. While the incessant rain masked all other noise, Jin and Zeirdin both stayed as alert as they could. They were no longer in safe territory, this was a yellow zone. Zeirdin had his rifle against his body ready to fire if necessary, shield generator ready to activate at a moment's notice. As they got deeper into the forest, the number of metal scraps and junk increased. A large screw, a mechanical hand, a hunk of scrap metal. It was all worthless, but they were getting closer. If they found anything containing zinnium they would be set for quite a long time. Acquiring money was a priority as it would allow them to focus on getting stronger and clearing floors, rather than trying not to starve.

As they reached a large clearing in the trees, Zeirdin spotted something out of the corner of his eye. Without wasting any time, Zeirdin dropped onto his stomach, dragging Jin with him. The ground of the clearing was badly charred. In the center were a crater and the wreckage of a large autonomous war machine. Melted metal pieces and debris lay strewn about the entire clearing. To the far right of the clearing was a single android. Coated in a thin spotty layer of rust, the battered android stood still. Two blue lights were nestled in its eye sockets, the only thing on its otherwise smooth white rusting mask. The rain must’ve jammed its sensors, as it did not notice them, despite looking in their direction. They both refrained from activating their shield generators because the energy signature the shields gave off would immediately give them away.

Zeirdin was in a dilemma. He couldn’t consult with Jin or the android would immediately notice them. It was dangerous to be around it because it could be hostile if the wreckage was its programmed defense point. However, the wreckage and the android were bound to contain some valuables, but shooting the android could cause unwanted attention. In the span of a few seconds, Zeirdin made his decision. This was their best opportunity because the rain would mask most of the sound. Zeirdin cocked his rifle, Jin coming to the same conclusion. Zeirdin aimed for the light in the center of its chest. Aiming for the head was not a reliable vital point due to variations in design. However, most humanoid androids possessed a central gyroscope in the chest cavity for stability. Destroying it was guaranteed to cripple it, if not completely destroy it. Zeirdin held his breath and lined up the pins with the red dot along the barrel of his rifle. It was a pretty far shot, at least 40 meters away. If he missed, there was no telling what the android might do. As he was about to squeeze the trigger, Jin unexpectedly sneezed. Fuck. The android’s white face with blue lights flicked directly onto their position. In an eerie manner, the rest of its body rotated to match its head. Then it bolted toward them in an awful mechanical stride that ate the distance too quickly. Zeirdin squeezed the trigger. His rifle bucked against his shoulder and let out a thunderous crack, a fraction of a second later, the android's shoulder was blown off. In a screeching explosion of metal fragments, the android sprinted toward them, unfazed. FUCK. It had all but closed half the distance in four seconds. It was too fast for them to fight in close quarters. They were as good as dead if it got into range. Emptying his mind of all thoughts, Zeirdin once again lined everything up, lungs emptied of all air for stability. Zeirdin squeezed the trigger in a smooth motion of his index finger. The android’s chest exploded in a small plume of brilliant blue, metal fragments sent whistling in all directions in a deadly crack. The blue lights on its mask went out and its legs stopped moving. However, its momentum still carried it toward them. Flipping in the air, it landed with a crash and slid in the mud for another five meters before finally standing still. Zeirdin’s heart was pounding in his chest. Jin lay next to him still frozen. Sound finally returned to the silent world and the roar of rain came back. Zeirdin exhaled heavily, heart pounding in his ears. They both stood up from their positions on the ground.

“Holy fuck, you saved my ass there,” Jin said, sheepishly.

“Why did you sneeze, you dumb ass,” Zeirdin said with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

“Let me explain. I think a gnat flew into my nose,” Jin explained. Zeirdin snorted, trying to alleviate some of the leftover tension in the air. It was one of the stupidest, yet most amusing reasons they could have died.

After scanning their surroundings and the clearing, they deemed it safe to leave cover and scavenge. Zeirdin squatted down and examined the remains of the still smoking android. The upper body of the machine wasn’t exactly intact. The edges of the large hole in its chest were still glowing molten orange, the rain hissing as it made contact with the hot metal. Zeirdin brushed aside some debris but the outlook wasn’t looking good. While he had succeeded in quickly dispatching the android, the resulting explosion had vaporized, and or destroyed what little value the android could’ve contained. Zeirdin stood up and give it a final kick before joining Jin at the larger wreckage. It was a spherical machine, about three meters tall. The gray metal plates that it was made up of were covered in rust and moss. It looked like it had been a quadruped, with two legs still connected. Another two jointed leg lay mangled a few meters away, but the last one was not in sight. Zeirdin examined the massive hole in the machine’s hull that had most likely caused its demise. It was about the size of his head and the entry hole was jagged and sharp. The possibility of an energy weapon or spell was ruled out. Zeirdin pulled out his vibroblade and poked around inside the hole while Jin messed with something on the other side of the machine. He was looking for anything that still emitted light or blue wires. Anything else had a high likelihood of being garbage without an expert around. The blue wires were valuable due to their coating that insulated them from mana interference, and the fact that no one could manufacture them anymore. The coating could be reused in other machines.

After a few minutes of digging around and prodding, Zeirdin found a cluster of blue wires. Finding one end of the cluster, he carefully cut it with his buzzing vibroblade before giving it a yank. It gave away quite easily with a clank, and he now held a one-meter length of blue wire.

“JIN! Check this out!” Zeirdin yelled. Jin walked over scratching his head.

“Oh shit. Jackkkpotttt!” Jin said as he gave Zeirdin a high five. “That wire alone paid for this trip and lodging for the next four days,” Jin said excitedly.

They searched for another half hour but the only other boon they collected was a half meter length of blue wire that Jin found. There was no zinnium anywhere in the clearing. It had most likely already decayed into nothing from reacting with atmospheric mana. It was still pouring rain without signs of stopping. Despite it being 11 AM, it was dark. The two boys agreed to start heading back to Lestag. There was no reason to get soaked to the bone when they already made a decent profit. Zeirdin’s boots squelched with each step, water having made its way into them and soaking his socks. This sucks. The rain still got in his eyes, even with his hood pulled up as far as it went. Looking over at Jin, he was fairing much worse. His rain jacket had long since been completely saturated with water and was sticking to his skin. The thin birch trees swayed precariously in the wind, some so thin they looked as though they might snap.

At last, they made it out of the forest. Jin and Zeirdin were both grumpy from the weather and refrained from speaking to each other. They had come out of the forest 50 meters from where the path ended which wasn’t bad. They continued forth on the path, the rain and rain much stronger out of the shelter of the trees. Zeirdin could feel each stinging drop of rain splattering against his face as it was slung toward him by the wind. Off the path in the distance, Zeirdin could see a few figures standing facing each other. As they got closer, it was evident to see that it was not a peaceful encounter. Jin and Zeirdin luckily hadn’t been spotted yet. The two boys dropped to the tall grass off the path and crawled toward the people. Zeirdin stopped Jin from getting any closer once they reached the closest they could be without being spotted. It was difficult to hear what was being said over the never-ending song of rain. There were two parties. One consisted of two rugged men with hoverbikes brandishing their rifles. The other consisted of two teenage boys, a little older than Zeirdin, maybe 17, and a girl of the same age. The two men clearly were the aggressors. All Zeirdin could hear over the sound of the rain was “leave”, “girl”, “life”, and “bag”. Something bad was about to happen. One of the boys’ hands was slowly reaching for the pistol at his hip. Their expressions were grave as they stood in silence, unyielding. The boy to the left of the girl suddenly drew his pistol with an experienced swiftness. Without hesitating, he fired at the man wearing the green helmet. The crack of the gunshot filled the air. However, the man did not collapse. The telltale blue transparent sheen surrounded the man in a semisphere, signifying the use of a shield generator. Everyone sprung into action. The two men jumped behind their hoverbikes for cover, while the other boy drew his rifle. The girl took a defensive stance as she began to channel mana, eyes glowing. They were at a standoff, whoever made the next move first would have the initiative, but also took the highest risk of death. Zeirdin assumed that the win condition for the teenagers was the girl casting her spell. However, they needed to buy time. Her channeling was slow and inexperienced, especially under pressure. Zeirdin wasn’t exactly better, but he also didn’t rely on his galma.

The two boys took defensive positions on either side of the girl, ready to sacrifice themselves. Jin and Zeirdin lay hidden in the grass facing the two men undercover. If they decided to choose a side, they could completely annihilate the two men. However, Zeirdin wasn’t going to choose just yet. He knew that if he was in the position of the teenagers, he would want help. However, it also had to be morally justified, as well as beneficial for himself. He knew that Jin would take longer to come to a decision, due to his pampered upbringing.

“ONE LAST CHANCE. We’ll let you live if you leave the bag and the girl!” one of the men yelled. This time Zeirdin could hear it over the rain.

“NO WAY IN HELL,” one of the boys shouted. The standoff came to an end as the man with the green helmet rolled out from behind his hoverbike, firing a burst of four rounds into the boy on the left. The high power rounds boomed over the roar of the rain. The boy tanked the rounds with his shield generator as he and the other boy returned fire. The sound of a thousand woodpeckers filled the air, the muzzles of the guns flashing and lighting up the surrounding area like lighting. Not many of their rounds hit the man as he dropped to the ground once more. The man without the helmet suddenly popped up from behind the hoverbikes and threw something. This distracted the two teenage boys for a split second, barely long enough to get a clear shot at the girl. However, they didn’t stay distracted for long. The man quickly fired toward the girl, unable to properly aim his weapon, before dropping behind cover. Unfortunately, by a sick twist of fate, the shot penetrated the girl's shield and connected with her shin. The glowing green light disappeared from her eyes and she collapsed to the ground, concentration shattered. The two teenage boys roared in response and charged toward the men.

Zeirdin had already made up his mind. There were some things that he just couldn’t tolerate. Greed and lust were a couple of them. With an icy heart of rage, Zeirdin lined up the shots with an expert coldness he didn’t know he possessed. He fired two shots. They both connected. Shield generators typically were weaker on the rear side to conserve energy. The first hit the man with the green helmet in his jaw from an upward angle. Nothing stood a chance against the high-powered rifle ammunition. The man’s head exploded into a nauseating crimson mist, sending crimson lumps flying in all directions. The second shot hit the remaining man in the neck, destroying his spine. The two lifeless bodies collapsed to the ground in a bloody mess.