The Green Zone looked deceptively peaceful. Everything always appeared normal until something tried to eat you.

Ravenna watched the scenery quietly as they moved deeper into the green zones. She didn’t know which sector they would be going to, Silver hadn’t told her.

She spoke breaking the silence.

"I’ve been hearing rumors going around the Sanctuary."

Silver briefly glanced over.

"What kind?"

"There have been sightings of an elemental beast around the green zones."

Silver hadn’t known of such a thing, which was understandable, he hadn’t been in the base when it started.

Ravenna continued.

"People are going crazy over it."

Silver nodded. That wasn’t surprising, elemental beasts represented enormous value, entire teams would compete for one.

"I heard five different stories."

"Only five?"

She laughed.

"One person claimed it was fire, another said lightning, and a third said wind. The others didn’t even mention the type. "

Silver smiled. Rumors rarely improved with distance; they always ended up convoluted, and the truth went with it.

Ravenna leaned back comfortably and glanced at him.

"Do you think it’s real?"

Silver considered. Using the novel’s logic, it might be true that an opportunity was placed for one of the heroines or protagonists, but in reality, it might just be someone bored who decided to spread the rumours. It wouldn’t be the first time it happened. But Silver held hope it was true.

"I think something exists."

That answer seemed reasonable enough. Whether they found it was another matter entirely.

Several kilometers later they finally reached a quieter sector. There was less traffic, fewer contractors, and fewer vehicles. Exactly what Silver wanted, training required space.

"Let’s stop here for a moment, I need to confirm something," Silver said, glancing briefly at her.

She nodded. The vehicle stopped. The wilderness and dead buildings stretched before them. Ravenna climbed out first and Silver followed right after.

The morning sun had only just cleared the horizon its golden light spilling across the landscape. The air felt fresh and cool, momentarily blinding them to the place they were standing.

That only lasted for a few seconds, a fast shadow passed overhead. Both looked up instantly. Several winged creatures circled above. They were bird-like but far too large; their feathers looked almost metallic and their beaks resembled hooked blades.

Ravenna immediately reached for her knife. Silver smiled, a small smile.

"Relax, they’re not that dangerous."

"I know, but I’m more tense than I want to be."

"Understandable. Steelwings can be deadly in a hoard but these are only Tier One"

Ravenna nodded and put her knife back in her belt. "They look worse even at the lowest tier."

One of the creatures suddenly dove, faster than normal birds.

Silver moved immediately, and his pistol appeared.

[Phantom Draw Lv3 Activated]

Bang! 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

The shot echoed through the land. The Steelwing tumbled from the sky. The remaining creatures scattered instantly, the moment the other started to fall from the sky.

Silver lowered the weapon.

"...That was fast."

Silver smiled.

"A little."

The fallen Steelwing hit a cracked pavement, hidden by the overgrown crawling grass, with a sickening wet thud. Its metallic feathers scattered across the road.

For a moment, neither moved then Ravenna walked forward without hesitation. Silver noticed that she looked more eager than curious.

She crouched beside the beast and pulled a short extraction knife from her belt. Her movements were practiced and efficient. The knife slipped beneath the sternum.

A quick cut later, an opening was formed. Her hand disappeared into the beast’s chest cavity. A few seconds later she pulled out a translucent crystal, roughly the size of a thumb.

A Tier One core.

Silver stared at the core and then leaned into the car through the window, searching for something, while speaking.

"You’re really good at that, it took me a while to get my first core out."

Ravenna glanced back.

"Practice. I was bad at first, especially the blood."

"Yeah, it’s disgusting."

Silver walked towards her with an open bottle of water he had gotten from the car. She stood and casually wiped the blood from the blade.

"It took me a while to get used to it," she said," Mallory was the one who mainly did it but I couldn’t bring her with me often since she’s just a normal person."

Silver didn’t know how to respond to that so he gestured to the bottle of water.

She tossed the core lightly and caught it, then stored it inside a pouch attached to her belt. The motion looked natural.

She extended her bloodied hands towards him and he poured the water over them.

"You know this is a waste of time, we’re still going to get blood on us."

Silver was busy staring at the water as it went from red to colorless.

"We’ll deal with that later."

She wiped her hands on the side of her trousers and walked to the car, getting in. Silver followed right after.

Before starting the car, Silver checked the map displayed on his module. The screen projected a simplified layout of the surrounding Green Zone Sector. Most Sanctuary contractors carried one, getting lost outside the walls was a quick way to die.

"We’re here, Sector 13."

He pointed toward the display. Ravenna leaned closer until their shoulders almost touched and he could feel her breath. Silver focused very hard on the map.

"This road continues north," he pointed on the map, "there’s a commercial district around one kilometer ahead."

"A mall?"

"Looks like it."

Ravenna raised an eyebrow.

"That’s usually a terrible sign."

Silver laughed. She wasn’t wrong, large structures attracted beasts since they had lots of hiding places and territory. Still, they needed experience and cores.

The two continued down the ruined roadway. Morning sunlight filtered through broken buildings. Nature had reclaimed most of the city and entire roads had disappeared beneath vegetation.

Eventually, the massive building came into view, even though it was ruined, it remained impressive. The mall stretched across several city blocks, broken glass reflecting sunlight, collapsed sections with exposed twisted steel beams and massive vines crawled up the outer walls. Nature had spent decades dismantling human civilization piece by piece.

They slowed down to a stop and stepped out of the car at the same time. Silver walked around and stood beside her.

He whistled softly.

"That’s bigger than I expected."

Ravenna looked equally impressed. But then, she pointed.

"Movement."