Shadow Slave - After the Third Nightmare - A different Story

Charming Archer

A girl was on the journey to leave the NQSC. The thing wasn't so unusual. A great siege capital, including its defenses, can't be maintained without ever going outside. The unusual part, she was wearing a suit of armor. It wasn't a Memory. It was a piece of spelltech and a military uniform. No electricity, but no soul essence either. Crafted to serve common soldiers as protection, but can withstand only an attack of Dormant Beasts.

And the fact it can withstand wasn't a good consolation. The armor might endure but the one wearing would still receive bruises.

At her back there was a composite bow, an alloy sword, and a quiver of arrows. All were made of materials obtained from Dormant Beasts, and Monsters. It's madness to go there alone. And yet from external point of view one would think she indeed was doing such a nonsense thing.

She went through the gates, and was walking away from the gates till she was out of sight. Then from her shadow emerged another shadow, separating from her own, and turning into a form of human.

"Where are we going?"

"I've got an intel about a Dormant Beast living 20 kilometers from here."

"Intel? I haven't heard of anything being in this place."

"Because they appeared only recently. The point is your task will be to hunt one, and not always there's going to be an intel. Even if there is an intel, it can be inaccurate either due to poor observations, or by the fact facts are prone to change. I remember fighting a horde of abominations that was unintelligent at first, and wasn't able even to look consciously for humans, that gave birth to a Tyrant, which resulted in them rushing straight to a Siege Capital."

"When did that happen?"

"Two years ago. Let's go."

While she was curious she wasn't sure her morale wouldn't take a hit after hearing something more so she didn't pursue the matter.

She started her journey towards her target. Teacher ordered her to go for her first hunt. Because of her inexperience he will guide her to get her first kill. By guiding he means leading to the place it is. Figuring out the way to kill it is her job. For the questions about why it's like that the teacher was saying something about the she has to learn to solve such problems on her own, because that's the way of the strong.

The way was covered mostly by the roads in a good condition. Walking such long distances was training on its own. Along the way she could spot some magazines, military bases, and hydroponics. Very often there were also ruins, and long abandoned buildings. The reason they were abandoned was related to pollution, and bad defensive position. From time to time a pack of abomination finds its way close, and if you can't defend against them, you'll end up as food before someone can exterminate them.

After a few hours of walking her legs were mildly tired. At some point the Teacher said they're going off the road, further into deeper desolate plains. Desolation doesn't mean it's lifeless. There was vegetation.

Life always finds a way to continue even in radioactive, polluted wasteland. Another reason why people live in siege capitals is the fact that looking at the plants growing there in conjunction with the threat of hunger would tempt them to gather them. But pollution is still toxic, and the pollution would eventually posit itself in growing plants. If people were to eat them... their lives would be intense, thought very short.

With plants there were insects. Some decades of evolution caused the growth of insects capable of thriving on the pollution, especially beetles capable of consuming small amounts of old kinds of plastic, which by that time often turned into a compressed dust.