Sitting in Hinata's car at 5:30 a.m. on our way to the gate we're scheduled to clear, I decide it's a good time to get more details.
"Any idea what kind of gate it is?"
"Yeah. It popped up inside a supermarket two days ago, gave the staff and customers quite a scare. Since then, a number of wolf-like creatures have been seen leaving the gate, raiding the butcher section, then vanishing back inside."
"Wolves, huh? I wonder what flavor they are."
Wolf-type beasts can be notoriously hard to classify. They come in a variety of sizes: basic wolf, great wolf, dire wolf, and even the mythical fenrir. Strength and size scale dramatically between types. To make things more confusing, they often appear in different elemental variants: fire, thunder, shadow, ice, take your pick.
"Hopefully, we get a mix," Hinata replies. "The more variety, the better the test run for your Genoforge abilities."
The drive from my apartment to the supermarket takes about thirty minutes. When we arrive, I notice we're the only ones here. Despite having superhuman abilities, most gate-runners are still very much human, most of them hate waking up this early unless they absolutely have to. Hinata and I prefer to start early. It means we usually get first pick of any newly opened gates.
We flash our ID cards to the guards stationed at the entrance, and they wave us in. A familiar swirl of green mist shimmers at the far end of the now-cleared supermarket. It waits, pulsing faintly, daring us to enter.
All the shelves have been pushed aside to create space, and a thick layer of yellow tape forms a wide perimeter around the gate, warning civilians to stay back.
This is one of the indirect problems gates cause. They don't physically damage their surroundings, but monsters can still leak out. In the event of a surge, or worse, a stampede, anything within a one-kilometer radius has to be evacuated. Businesses lose revenue. Homes are abandoned. It's devastating for communities, which is why swift gate suppression is so important.
I glance at Hinata, now fully dressed in her battle gear.
She wears a white kimono trimmed in deep crimson, its flowing fabric hugging her form with graceful precision. A high slit up one thigh reveals smooth skin and silent confidence, the kind of presence that doesn't need armor to be intimidating. Her black scale-patterned obi is cinched tight with a red cord, ceremonial in appearance, but everything about her speaks of tightly coiled readiness.
Her long silver hair is tied into a high ponytail, threaded with golden rings that catch the early morning light. A katana rests at her hip in a sheath dark as obsidian, radiating a faint, eerie aura. It's not just for show. That blade has a presence, silent, waiting, dangerous. It sleeps only because she allows it. (picture)
Her job class is [Lightning Blade], a rare and deadly combat specialization that pairs lightning-based techniques with expert swordsmanship. She excels at dispatching enemies up close with surgical precision or blasting groups from a distance with arcs of high voltage. One of her abilities even cloaks her in living lightning as a form of protection, but it comes at a cost: she can't wear any conventional armor. Anything that restricts her movement dulls her power.
Inspired by her Japanese heritage, her mother a second-generation descendant of immigrants, Hinata commissioned her weapon and outfit to resemble a traditional shrine maiden's, reimagined for battle. Her grandfather, a retired kendo instructor, taught her how to fight long before she ever awakened. Back when we were kids, we used to spar with sticks. I never won.
My own gear is much simpler, light mana-steel armor to keep me mobile. I rely on speed and distance to throw spears, so anything bulky would just slow me down. Now that I've unlocked the Smithing Pillar, I'm curious to see what kind of gear I can eventually craft for myself.
"You ready?" I ask, stretching my shoulders.
"Yeah. This run's all yours," she says with a grin. "I won't interfere unless I absolutely have to. Show me what your new abilities can do."
We step into the gate, and in an instant, the world changes.
We emerge onto a barren wasteland. The ground is cracked, dry, and lifeless, packed dirt scattered with jagged rocks. No trees, no grass, no sign of water. Beast-type dungeons usually look like this. It's as if nature gave up here.
In these dungeons, monsters roam the land, hunting anything they can catch before retreating into dens. Mana crystal concentrations are usually low, so profit relies heavily on monster corpses. Luckily, wolves are worth more than something like goblins, and often easier to deal with.
Goblins, while weak and chaotic, sometimes spawn warbosses or shamans who can lead and strategize. Wolves, by contrast, are simple. Pack hunters, yes, but they attack head-on. There's no trickery, just raw aggression.
"Summon your golems," Hinata says.
"Alright, watch this."
I reach into my [Item Box] and summon the five golems I've stored inside. They appear in formation, silent, still, waiting for instructions. Then I kneel and place a hand on the earth.
"[Earth Golem Creation]."
A sixth golem rises from the ground like a creature out of a sci-fi movie, solidifying as dirt and stone swirl together to take form.
"Nice," Hinata says. "How much mana-steel do you have left?"
"Six ingots."
"Great. Turn them into swords."
I nod. If Hinata's telling me to do something, there's a reason. I suspect I know what it is, but I follow her lead. Using the smithing pillar, I convert the six ingots into three plain longswords, each taking two ingots.
"Perfect. Now give them to the golems."
I hand a sword to three of the golems. Their arms, though rocky and crude, are more than capable of gripping weapons. They hold the blades upright with a kind of eerie loyalty, like silent knights waiting for war.
"Now," she says, "let's go find out what flavor these wolves really are."
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Bonus chapter goals !!!
25 Power stones - 1 bonus chapter
50 Power stones - 3 bonus chapters
100 Power stones - 5 bonus chapter