“Knight Davar,” the messenger said as she extended an envelope to Yuriko. “I’m afraid the militia admin office doesn’t have good news. These are the records of your brother Kato Davar’s deployment and last contact.”

Yuriko practically snatched the proffered paperwork off the woman and ripped the envelope open. She scanned the papers, squelching a burgeoning headache by sheer force of Will, and skimmed through the contents. The messenger woman simply stood at attention.

Last contact: Fall of Rumiga City.

Last seen: Heading northwest.

What followed was basically a summation of Kato’s tour of duty, as well as his recorded off days, his team and company, as well as a record of the chain of command he followed. It wasn’t too long as his length of service had not exceeded two years.

Taking a deep breath, Yuriko looked at the messenger and said, “Thank you. And I’m sorry for keeping you waiting.”

The woman bowed and said, “My pleasure.” She moved past Yuriko at a light jog.

With a strained sigh, Yuriko leaned on Eli’Theria’s knee. The Colossus had managed to repair herself, though it was mostly the heavily damaged and ruptured portion of her chassis. The gash on the side was covered by a thin layer of orichalcum, and there was no musculature or internal machinery and components that were exposed. The sheen on the armour wasn’t there yet as much of the surface area was scratched up or pockmarked. That one required a bit more time. Actually, far too much time. It would be better to return to the Watchtower and use the Silver Tiger’s Animus Engine to supply the Colossus with the power to quickly repair herself. There was no way Yuriko would be comfortable scouting with Eli’Theria damaged like that.

Which brought her to her current dilemma. Kato had vanished near Rumiga City, on the way towards the Chaos Fortress, she assumed. Why he was there she didn’t know. He had not been given a scouting mission. He was actually not on duty then, as far as she could tell with the papers. Was he looking for something? Or someone?

Many people were missing. The dwellers on the lower ring of the city…most of them were lost, wounded, or more than likely, dead. Those numbers were given along with the report on Kato’s activities. And it wasn’t really because of the city’s collapse. At least, Yuriko didn’t think so.

It was what came after. The Ivalans and the Chaos dwellers, along with the barbarian remnants of the frozen north…all of them fell upon Eastern Rumiga like a landslide. The elites in the upper ring and the merchants and travellers of the mid ring were able to evacuate safely. Easily. The commoners of the lower ring, not so much. But not all the mid and upper ring dwellers made it. So who was it that Kato was looking for?

Where was his girlfriend? No, wait, fiance? She wasn’t sure, but she knew that Caera Sawthner wasn’t in Faron’s Crossing. Had she been lost in the collapse and Kato went looking for her?

Him going north made it all the more likely that it was the barbarians or the Chaos dwellers in the so-called Chaos Fortress who were the culprits.

How long ago did this happen? Two weeks ago? It had not been that long, but even so, that was more than enough to transport prisoners to the Fortress, and probably to the Telurian Court’s Forge.

Anxiety gnawed at her belly. She needed to go! She needed to track him down, rescue him, and bring him home! Caera too, of course.

But Yuriko grabbed that impulse, squished it into a little ball and pushed it at the back of her mind.

She couldn’t. Not yet. She wasn’t done with the Ambrosia and Eli’Theria was not yet fully healed. She needed a day. Two days probably, to get ready. She needed to grow stronger. She needed to reach Transformation.

So she bit down on her lower lip hard enough to make herself bleed and shuffled towards the private space between Eli’Theria and the wall.

She paced for a few minutes, worked off her anxiety and anger, before turning in. She curled up inside her bedroll and forced herself to sleep. But she tossed and turned for nearly an hour before she succumbed.

The next morning, feeling awful, she did her morning ablutions inside the pilot lounge’s bathroom, grabbed a plateful of sausages and ham for breakfast, then flew off to seclude herself. She needed a stream to bathe in and wash the gunk away, as well as a relatively secluded nook to avoid the stares. She also didn’t want her Mien and her Anima to create more devotees, so no training near people.

She settled for the same place she trained in yesterday and went through several dozen cycles before midday. After a short break for lunch, she continued well into the night as she was so close to the threshold. She opted to continue until she was done, even when it was already close to midnight, but ultimately, had to stop as she had grown too weary to continue.

The next day, she ate a quick breakfast and continued, and by midmorning, she was…

Ninety-nine paces. Ninety-seven percent in both Radiant Body Refinement and Radiant Anima Refinement. Her Animus core had a quarter of its volume infused with Radiant energy and her Mien was stronger than ever. She could feel how her tendrils took control of people, and while it was automatic, she was now aware of its every movement. Which meant that as long as she paid attention, she could prevent anyone from arbitrarily becoming her slave.

She had less than a hundred drops of Ambrosia, just enough to reach ninety-eight percent in either body or Anima refinement, or reach ninety-nine paces and thirty-nine inches. Just an inch short of a hundred paces. But when she was just about to drink, her subconscious screamed at her.

She froze, panic suddenly grabbed her heart. Her Anima perception unfolded, covering more than three times her previous range.

There was nothing there.

Even after she waited for several minutes, there was no threat. No. There was one, but it wasn’t an external thing. Instead, when she looked down at the canister of Ambrosia, she suddenly felt dread.

She suddenly felt that if she took that last step, to advance either her Anima, her body, or her reach, then she would cross a point she couldn’t return from. But why? She wanted to grow strong. She could reach Transformation with what she already had now, and it just made sense to do it with as strong a foundation as she could.

But…

The thought of advancing as she was now suddenly rang alarm bells in her head.

What’s wrong?

‘I don’t know. I’m…hesitant.’

Why?

‘It feels like I’ll make an irreparable mistake if I drink the last drops and proceed to Transformation now.’

Hesitation? Doubts? Do you know where it comes from? Damien’s voice was understandably curious, but there was a hint of impatience there as well.

‘It just doesn’t feel right.’

Hmmm, are you sure? Maybe it's just in your head.

‘It is, but also not,’ Yuriko mumbled.

There was an impending sense of wrongness if she continued. And she couldn’t bring herself to raise the canister to her lips. It was as if some part of her knew that it was wrong and she would doom herself if she continued.

It was that very same sense she had when she had been confronted with the three choices during her World Trials. If she had picked one of them instead of none, then she would…limit herself.

Are you alright?

‘No. this is wrong.’

I see. There was more than a hint of frustration in Damien’s voice now, but he quickly mastered it. Then you must follow your instincts. Remember, it is your path not mine.

Her path?

That was right. It was hers. And if she followed through with what Damein taught her, then she would be treading the same ground he did. It would be his path, not hers. And while she had made choices before that distinguished her from him, she knew that choosing wrong might return her to the same path he previously trod.

Just focusing on body, Anima, and Radiant was not enough. She felt it was not enough. There was something fundamentally wrong with her approach. No, not that, or rather, not quite that. It was missing an element. Something that was hers. Something that she…enjoyed?

Intuition and instinct flared in her awareness. She capped the canister and returned it to her hip satchel. The Ambrosia had brought her to the threshold but there was a missing ingredient. She didn’t know what it was, but she knew if she proceeded without it, she would forever regret the lack. And it would be that much harder to reach Exaltation.

With a sigh, she leaned back against the boulder and dangled her toes into the cold stream. She had looked forward to advancing, but then again, she had been racing through the Anima levels far faster than was normal. There was a reason not to rush after all. Already, she could barely control her Anima kinesis. She hadn’t figured out a better way to use condensed Anima to protect herself, and more often than not, she knew she could barely make use of her potential power. And if she kept racing higher and higher, then she would be stuck in an endless loop of clumsiness.

And when the next World Trials come, she would be woefully unprepared.

‘Well, time to go get Kato.’

She dunked herself in the cold stream, to wash away the gunk. Then she put on her clothes and flew back to Eli’Theria.

When she reached the hangar, she stared at her Colossus. The extra two days of repair had not been enough. She was still riddled with scars and pockmarks. It ruined Eli’Theria’s aesthetics, and she could feel the animating spirit’s distress at not appearing at her best. Still, Yuriko’s choices were to bring Eli’Theria along, leave her here, or return her to the Silver Tiger.

She was going to scout, but she wasn’t sure if she would face combat. If she had the opportunity to rescue Kato, she would take it. And if she had to fight, she’d prefer having Eli’Theria along.

She was leaning towards bringing the Colossus even if she’d be terribly exposed when the animating spirit popped out.

‘Hmmm.’ Eli’Theria hummed. ‘Hmmm. Hmmm. Hmmmmm! You’ve grown stronger. Much, much stronger.”

“Er, thanks?” Yuriko said dubiously.

‘You have. And you haven’t reached the next Stage either. But you’re strong enough.’

“For what?”

‘To bring me inside you,’ Eli’Theria grinned.

“Eh?”

‘Like you do with Fri-fri.’

“Er, alright?” That would solve one problem, but “Would you be able to repair yourself while inside my Anima?”

‘Not at all!’ she answered cheerfully. ‘But that’s beside the point. You’re worried about discretion. Well, aside from the fact that trying to be discreet seems like a moot point for you, having my body inside your Anima is the perfect solution. Just don’t keep me in there for more than half a day.’

“Alright, so how do we go about it?”

‘You have to come aboard and use the same process you use on Fri-fri!”

So she did. She changed into her piloting outfit, which was stored in her Anima just like the Orb of Authority. The process was easy, but the downside was that she had to keep wearing the piloting outfit, and the Orb of Authority had to stay outside, too. Better than walking around in a Colossus. She kept her backpack and overcoat out so she wasn’t feeling too exposed.

She flew out of Misttyre before noon but had to return to the ground when she was halfway to the ruins of Rumiga City. It would hardly be stealthy to fly while glowing like the Radiant Sun after all.