CHAPTER 14: MY PORTER THINKS HE’S A MAGE NOW?

The Gate transition felt like diving through hot syrup. Natalia’s stomach lurched as reality distorted around her, stretching and compressing in nauseating waves before snapping back into place. She landed in a crouch, one hand touching the rough ground to steady herself.

Her training kicked in immediately. Assess. Analyze. Adapt.

They stood at the mouth of a tunnel system carved into rust-colored rock. The air was dry and smelled of hot metal and ozone, like the aftermath of a lightning strike. Dim bioluminescent growths clung to the ceiling, casting an eerie orange glow that barely illuminated the passage ahead.

Natalia rose slowly, her senses heightened by adrenaline. This was it—her first real Gate. Not a training simulation, not a controlled academy exercise. Her heart hammered in her chest, but she kept her breathing steady. Behind her mask, she allowed herself a small smile.

"Gate transition complete," she said into her comm, her voice deliberately cool and professional. "Environmental assessment: desert-type cavern system. Limited visibility. Atmosphere breathable but metallic."

She glanced back at Satori—no, Oni—who was still regaining his balance after the transition. His hulking frame looked almost comical as he stumbled, reminding her that despite his recent improvements, he was still a Zero with no business being here.

"You good?" she asked, not bothering to mask the hint of condescension in her tone.

"Peachy," he grunted, straightening up. "Never better."

"Stay alert. According to the brief, we’re looking for something called a ’nest mother.’ These tunnels could go for miles."

She flexed her fingers, summoning her power. A purple aura materialized around her hands, casting violet shadows against the red walls. The familiar rush of energy flowed through her veins, telekinetic force gathering at her fingertips, ready to be unleashed.

"Moving forward," she said. "Stay behind me. Five meters back at all times."

"Yes, Captain," Satori replied, and she could hear the smirk in his voice even through the comm.

They advanced slowly, Natalia taking point with confident strides. The tunnel widened slightly as they progressed, branching occasionally into smaller passages. She maintained their course down the main tunnel, marking their path with small pieces of reflective tape at each junction.

Twenty minutes in, the first Rust-Mite appeared.

It skittered out from a side passage, mandibles clicking. The creature was the size of a large dog, with six segmented legs and a carapace the color of dried blood. Its compound eyes glinted in the dim light as it sensed their presence.

Natalia didn’t hesitate. With a flick of her wrist, she seized the creature in her telekinetic grip and slammed it against the ceiling. The Rust-Mite let out a high-pitched squeal as its exoskeleton cracked, green ichor spattering the stone.

Two more emerged from the darkness, mandibles snapping hungrily. Natalia dispatched them with contemptuous ease, crushing one against the wall and impaling the other on a jagged rock formation.

"These are E-Rank?" she scoffed, wiping a speck of ichor from her mask. "The contract oversold it. This is pest control."

She glanced back at Satori, who was observing silently from his position. "Stay back, Porter," she said over the comms. "I’ve got this."

The next chamber they entered was larger, a rough dome about thirty feet across. More of the bioluminescent fungi clung to the walls, providing better visibility. Natalia paused at the entrance, scanning for threats.

"Clear," she declared after a moment. "Let’s move through quickly. I don’t like the open space."

They were halfway across when Natalia heard it—a subtle, almost imperceptible cracking beneath her feet. Her combat instincts screamed a warning.

The floor collapsed.

Natalia’s telekinesis engaged automatically, surrounding her in a purple aura that arrested her fall. She hovered three feet above a pit lined with jagged, rust-colored spikes.

Before she could breathe a sigh of relief, movement erupted from every direction. Rust-Mites poured from hidden alcoves in the walls, at least a dozen of them swarming toward her suspended form from both sides. It was a coordinated pincer movement—a deliberate trap.

This is wrong, she thought frantically. E-Rank monsters don’t set ambushes.

No time to think. Natalia channeled her power, gathering loose stones and debris from around the chamber. The air filled with swirling projectiles as she created a vortex of telekinetically controlled matter around herself. The shield of whirling stone and dust shredded the first wave of Rust-Mites that threw themselves at her.

More kept coming. Maintaining the shield while keeping herself suspended above the pit took immense concentration. Sweat beaded on her forehead beneath the mask as she poured more energy into her defense.

"I’ve got multiple hostiles!" she shouted into her comm. "Stay back!"

The strain of maintaining both her shield and her levitation was beginning to tell. The purple glow around her hands intensified as she pushed her power to its limits. Rust-Mites broke against her whirling barrier of stone, their bodies torn apart by the razor-sharp debris.

She couldn’t keep this up forever. Already, her arms were beginning to tremble with exertion. I need to get to solid ground, she thought desperately. Just a few more seconds—

Something warm and bright shot past her right shoulder. A small, tight projectile of flame streaked across the chamber with a soft fwoosh.

Natalia’s concentration nearly faltered in shock. What the—

The flame struck something directly above and behind her—something she hadn’t seen. There was a wet, sizzling sound, followed by a high-pitched screech. Green liquid rained down, splattering the rock ceiling and dissolving it on contact with a menacing hiss.

Natalia whipped her head around just in time to see a larger Rust-Mite, different from the others with a greenish sac on its back, plummet from the ceiling. The creature’s underbelly was charred black, the acid sac ruptured and leaking caustic fluid.

The remaining swarm scattered, retreating back into their alcoves as suddenly as they had appeared. In seconds, the chamber was silent save for the hiss of acid eating into stone.

Natalia slowly lowered her telekinetic shield, the whirling debris falling to the ground around her. With a final push of energy, she propelled herself to the edge of the pit, landing on solid ground with a soft thud.

She turned, her legs suddenly unsteady beneath her.

Satori—Oni—stood a few feet away, his right hand extended, palm forward.

Natalia stared at him, struggling to process what she’d just witnessed. The "Zero" had used an Aspect. He had conjured fire from his palm and killed an Acid-Spitter that had been poised to attack her from behind.

"You—" she began, her voice catching in her throat. "How did you—"

"You missed one," he said simply, lowering his hand.

Natalia approached the dead Acid-Spitter, crouching to examine it without touching the caustic fluid still leaking from its ruptured sac. The creature was nearly twice the size of the regular Rust-Mites, with specialized glands visible beneath its carapace.

"This isn’t right," she murmured, half to herself. "Acid-Spitters are C-Rank, at minimum. And they’re pack leaders, not solitary hunters."

She rose and faced Satori, her mind racing. "What... was that?"