The sensation of being watched lasted only a few moments before disappearing. Yuriko looked around, but figured that the logical place it came from would be towards the ruins on the hill.

Even so, she couldn’t see anyone looking.

She was tempted to flare her Anima to its full brightness, as doing so would undo whatever stealth technique of whoever was in reach. None of the marine scouts had been able to weather the revealing light when they tested it, so it was safe to assume it would work on whatever the locals’ version was.

Even Saki, whose Ennoia had a lot to do with concealment, couldn’t fight the revealing nature of Yuriko’s Radiant light. The drawback to doing so was that she’d become a beacon that would be visible for leagues around her. The darkness of the skies would only make her Radiant light stand out even more.

Well, it was close to dawn by now, and at that point, her light would blend into the daylight. But that wasn’t the point, she supposed. They were hiding from the aggressors and she didn’t wish to subject herself and her friends to a fight that would only waste their resources. Those mobile Steam Cannons were frightening. She didn’t detect any Animus technique or Chaos usage either, which probably meant that for her, as long as she wasn’t pinned down and showered with hundreds of shells, she should be fine.

Sighing, she retrieved the stolen enemy Plasma Casters from her pack. They didn’t actually create plasma though, so they couldn’t be called that. Her Anima perception permeated into the weapon’s mechanism, noting every spring, bolt, and trinket that made up the weapon. It was easy enough to figure out how it worked and how to use it. Similar to a Plasma Caster, hold the stock up against her shoulder, aim along the sightlines, and pull the trigger. There was a bolt that she could pull to bring up the metal arrows from its cartridge to the barrel, and the trigger pull caused a narrow metal needle to poke the bottom of the arrow.

The action should ignite the powder encased in the metal, which would then shoot the arrowhead out of the barrel. She hadn’t tried doing it yet, remembering how loud the sound it made was. There were no conduits to channel Animus into the metal arrows, no runescript lines to do it for them. This meant investing Empowered Strike into the metal arrows would take more focus and lumens than normal. Entirely useless.

Her watch rotation passed and one of the marines took over from her post. She settled into a lengthy meditation session and managed to create several droplets of distilled Chaos. She fed half of it to Desire, who then sang her hymns to heal the wounded. The rest of the droplets were greedily absorbed by her Anima.

The past few weeks had given her some solid gains when it came to her Anima expansion, which was currently at three hundred eighty inches from her skin. Just twenty more from the first threshold, then she could focus on increasing her Radiant Body Refinement. That one had only moved by a single percentage point.

Close to noon, she woke up from her sleep and felt somebody watching her again. She glared but couldn’t pinpoint where the feeling was coming from, and it faded after a few moments. A quick check of the surroundings showed her that nothing was nearby, other than a few local farmers who had taken shelter from the robust sun after tending their fields. The nearest one was more than a longstride away.

The stolen weapons lay next to her bedroll, and once she sat up, Sheamus, Heron, Orrin, and Braden came up to her.

“These things…Plasma Casters?” Heron asked.

Sheamus gestured to the weapon, wordlessly asking if he could hold it. When Yuriko nodded, he picked it up and eagerly examined it. Of course, none were foolish enough to point the muzzle at anyone. All four men were trained in Plasma Caster use after all.

“They shoot solid metal arrows,” Yuriko said as she got out of her bedroll and accepted the bowl of ration bar porridge from Gwendith. She noted that the nearby marines were also curiously looking at the weapon, faces holding intense interest.

“Curious,” Sheamus muttered. “We’ve been on the receiving end of these weapons, and Field can stop them…but…” He frowned. “These things don’t use up Animus, right? I don’t see any jade or runescript input.”

“Nope,” Yuriko answered after swallowing a spoonful of porridge. “There’s some kind of mechanism in the weapon and an explosive material in the arrows. Those propel the arrowheads. No Animus use, so it's useless against Wyldlings.”

Sheamus eyed her and grinned. “Ah, but there don’t seem to be any Wyldlings here. And Chaos dwellers do not make up our foes.” He hummed. “But those sanguine apes…I’m not sure if these weapons would work.”

“Probably,” Yuriko said. “If enough arrows overwhelm their defences. Same for us, really.”

“I see.”

“You know, these would make a useful replacement for our Plasma Casters,” Braden said. “As it were, it takes several hours to gather a single lumen. Even our weakest techniques cost two to three lumens…”

“My thoughts, too.” Sheamus mused, “It’s not as if those people use Animus techniques, or employ a Field. And I’m tired of not being able to fight back.”

Yuriko blinked at them in confusion, prompting all four of them to chuckle. She heard a few giggles behind her, too, and she threw a glare over her shoulder. Gwendith returned it innocently.

Oh, right. “I suppose those warriors each had one of these. At least. Oh, and here.” She pulled out a smaller weapon that was shaped almost like a Plasma Lancet. The handle on these weapons was more perpendicular to the barrel though. These ones had the cartridges with the metal arrows set into the handles too and had fewer and smaller arrows than the larger weapons.

The explosives on sticks were stashed in her backpack. The cylinder at the tip contained letters in a language she couldn’t fathom no matter how much she stared at them. The alphabet was close enough to Verdanian that felt she only had to try harder to understand.

“Hmm, so do you think we can get more of these things? There are less than fifty metal arrows across all four weapons,” Sheamus remarked.

Yuriko snorted. “Next time they attack us then.”

Sheamus looked towards the distant hill. Only the crest was visible from here, and they must have travelled nearly twenty longstrides away. “Do you think they’ll pursue or is their goal the portal site?”

“We’ll have to recapture that place later, so we can get back to Rumiga,” Yuriko muttered. “Although, perhaps there are other portals. I think Siderious has more than one portal, right? If it’s where Synkrasia’s portal leads to.”

“And how would we find it?” Heron asked, his tone carefully neutral. “Can you sense them, Yuri?”

“I don’t know. Just…I’m still getting an urge to head north.”

“So why are we going south?”

“Er, to get away from those warriors?”

“Yuri…you can wipe them off the face of the plane all by yourself.” Heron pointed out. “Why didn’t you do that?”

“I…” Yuriko hesitated.

Heron snorted angrily. “It’s because you’re worried about us, aren’t you? We aren’t children. You…do what you have to. We’ll manage on our own. We’re here to help you, not the other way around.” He paused and smiled slightly, “Although we’ve come far afield of our original mission objectives. Our home awaits. Just go do what you must.”

“And what of all of you? I don’t want to come back to Rumiga carrying your ashes.” Yuriko said stiffly. There was a weight on her shoulders threatening to crush her to the ground. She didn’t expect Siderious’ environment to be so hostile! She thought they could help her find what she needed, but the way things were going…

As if reading her mind, Heron said, “You don’t have to take the burden of our choices.”

At the back of Yuriko’s mind, she doubted his words. Were they not drawn to follow her because of her Mien? Even after she severed the connections, they, Heron, Gwendith, and the twins, bound themselves to her again. Even without considering Saki, who was her handmaiden and Shadow Guard, and Desire, she knew that everyone around her now were dancing to her Mien’s tune. She wanted to cut them free…she wanted to stop her Mien from forming such connections, but she couldn’t stop it. It was like trying to stop breathing. Impossible to keep up for long.

Gwendith’s arms wrapped around Yuriko, and she heard her friend say, “We chose to be with you because we didn’t want you to be alone.” Gwendith squeezed Yuriko tighter. “You’re taking on too much guilt. Don’t. Just do what we have to do so we can reach our goal and go back.”

Yuriko took a deep breath, then sighed, “Alright.” Then she pointed north. “Before we entered the portal to Siderious, I felt something pulling at me, and now that we’re here, I know that whatever’s on the other end…well, it’ll help.” She frowned and said under her breath, “I think.” The pull was different, she suddenly realised, as if the object she was looking for changed… Or perhaps now that she was on the same plane, the feeling became stronger.

She closed her eyes for a long moment, and sought the dreamscape, Only to be bounced back to her body. Along with a splitting headache.

“Urk!” She gasped. The ambient Chaos was so thin that it was hard to envision the dream. Perhaps if she found concentrations of ambient Chaos? Even as she activated Chaos Sight, she saw very little ambient Chaos. There were glimmers of them farther north. Towards the portal site, actually.

What were those warriors doing there? There was a noticeably thicker concentration of ambient Chaos there now. Were they opening rifts? The portal rods siphoned every bit of ambient Chaos and Animus it could. There was an Animus user in that group of warriors, she was sure. Hopefully, their presence wouldn’t open more rifts to wherever those apes came from.

“So then, we’re moving north?” Braden asked.

After a long moment, Yuriko nodded. “Yes. I guess we might as well get what we came here for. Then we’ll return to the site and figure out how to fix and reopen the portal.”

“Hmmm, but for now, let’s see if we can trade and take supplies,” Braden said. “Shall we go around the lake and head to one of the villages for it?”

They all agreed, and since there was no sign of pursuit, they opted to travel after noon. About three hours later, they were within sight of one of the villages along the lake’s southern coast. It would be too conspicuous if all of them went at once.

“Shall I scout the village out first?” Saki asked.

“None of us understand their language,” Yuriko said, “but look for warriors. Uhm…does it cost you Animus to hide in the shadows?”

“Not really, young mistress,” Saki shook her head, “a little bit, but just a lumen or so every few minutes. Most of the technique is borne by the shadow essence produced by my Ennoia.”

“A few lumens used still means days to recover,” Yuriko said grimly.

“I will be quick,” Saki promised. “I’d rather the young mistress not walk into a trap.”

Yuriko sighed, then shook her head. “Do not waste your lumens. Let’s all go. Er, I mean, a small group of us should go to check the place.”

“But!” Saki protested, to which Yuriko quelled with a look. Saki sighed and bowed. “As you command.”

After a while, they decided that Sheamus, Braden, Heron, Horace Greenfield of the marines, and Saki, would accompany Yuriko towards the village. Hopefully, they’ll be able to buy meat and vegetables in enough quantities to last them a while.