Tonight, Drai was standing right before a long field riddled with shooting targets of various shapes and sizes, some of which were stationary while others were moving. Judging by the devastation of the field and many of its targets, along with how tired Drai looked, he seemed to have been here for some time. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

After Drai was done catching his breath, he picked out multiple targets in his head before conjuring arm-length white javelin and launching it forward with a light punch. Without pausing, he repeated this countless times until he was out of breath again.

Amid his panting, he checked his targets and saw that every single one of them was either riddled with holes or had been shredded to pieces.

’It’s good that I managed to demolish them all, but my accuracy still needs work,’ he inwardly concluded as he eyed the torn-up ground around said targets.

Drai rested on the spot again before picking out more targets and conjuring another energy bolt, but before he could send it forward, he heard steady footsteps coming toward him. Upon seeing who it was, he instantly dropped his bolt and froze for a second before rushing toward the figure.

Arriving before the bookish man, Drai eagerly asked, "When did you get out, Frost? Have you completely recovered? And what are you doing here?"

Instead of replying, Frost proceeded to bow deeply, which startled Drai. But Drai’s bafflement didn’t stop there, as Frost began to speak in a voice he didn’t recognize that sounded too emotionless even for the sergeant’s standards.

"Please forgive me, Drai. I’ve found out what my father did during your hearing."

Ignoring the squad leader’s uncanny voice, Drai hurriedly helped him up and said, "Please don’t do this, Frost. Even without your father’s doing, I’d still get detained the moment anyone suggested to check my dimensional storage. Your father merely pushed the matter forward. I never blamed him for what I’ve gone through, really."

Frost didn’t voice it, but his expression seemed to soften a bit from Drai’s words.

"Congrats for leveling up. So that’s your new skill?" Frost then said after noticing the shining white bolt on the ground ahead that disappeared shortly.

"Yeah," Drai replied while conjuring another bolt for Frost to see. "I’ve been practicing with it since this evening—my fist hurts a bit because of it." Drai then showed his reddened knuckles to Frost before offering the bolt for him to hold, which he instantly refused.

"Sorry, but after living with Mandy for years, I’ve grown an aversion toward touching others’ creations, especially those that aren’t really meant to be safely touched or consumed by others," he reasoned, still with that odd voice. "Anyway, I’ve been released just an hour ago. After I finished dealing with some matters and your squadmates, they told me you were at the intermediate shooting range, so I followed you here to apologize."

Frost then walked to the platform before the long field, silently observing the mess Drai had made.

"Captain Ailem recommended this place to me after I was released by the MP1 a few days ago," Drai mentioned from behind as he recalled the exhaustive interrogation he had to undergo before his eventual release. If he had been introduced to this place beforehand, he probably wouldn’t have recklessly tried out his new skill at the squad’s usual training ground, though he would probably end up destroying a section of this range instead.

"Speaking of which," Frost spoke again after a long pause, "honestly, I’m partially at fault for the explosion that day. I trusted my skill and judgment too much—I never once suspected that an insurgent would do that thing to their own comrade."

"What do you mean by ’that thing’?" Drai asked in confusion. Up until now, he hadn’t really heard any further details related to both incidents. He knew they had been a hot topic ever since they happened, but most of what was circulating among the foot soldiers was merely speculation.

"Rigging them with a bomb," Frost answered. "This is supposed to be confidential, but I owe you that much."

"You owe me nothing," Drai blurted.

Ignoring Drai’s remark, Frost continued, "Our investigators found traces of an unknown pair of fuel and oxidizer from the explosion site. And after investigating the identity of the man you caught, they discovered that he had no history of employing either skill-based explosives or external explosive devices, meaning that this was done by another person. It’s currently impossible to find out whether the man consented to it or not, but since the past insurgents were inclined to kill themselves by poison upon capture, there’s a high chance that it was voluntary."

Seeing the slightly grim look on the sergeant’s face, Drai somehow got the implication of this matter as he remarked, "I guess we should be expecting every insurgent we encounter in the future to explode the same."

Nodding, Frost said, "Which is why our upcoming mission could be really troublesome."

"You mean the one where we’ll be raiding a smuggling den? So it isn’t canceled after all?"

"No, I’ve just received word from the high-ups that it will proceed as planned. But after looking at the additional info they gave me, I believe our mission objectives could change depending on the situation on the field. After all, our target is slightly suspected to be a major source of funding for the insurgent group."

Drai was a bit stunned as he pictured facing human bombs that could explode at any moment. But at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel excited, thinking that this might just be a chance for him to gather a lot of essence. He’d rather drain all the insurgents dry if they were going to blow themselves up anyway.

Thus, although Drai knew it was wrong, he still prayed that the intel was accurate and there would be countless insurgents there, ripe for reaping.

***

Above the vast forest, a small, dark aircraft parted the night clouds without much sound. A few moments later, the military’s latest stealth hovercar lowered its flight until it finally landed on a small clearing right on top of a hill.

The doors opened, and the Seventh Squad quietly disembarked, fully clad in their night gears. They swiftly moved out of the landing site without taking a single glance at the departing vehicle.

As they made their way through the vegetation, Frost’s new voice whispered through their earpiece, "As per our briefing, incapacitate whoever we encounter along the way by your quickest means—lethal or not. Our flight back will only wait until daybreak. I’m sure you all would rather not go back on foot."

Running at the front right behind Beachball, Drai held back from mentioning that he could just leave them all and fly back alone.

’I suppose Cubes can also do that with her boosters if she has enough fuel,’ he thought.

Shortly after, Beachball reported, "Three at one, two hundred meters. Looks like a patrol group, though they’re busy chatting."

"Nas, deal with them," Frost ordered.

Just as Drai noticed the parting grass nearby that signaled his elusive friend’s departure, Beachball reported again.

"Five at eleven thirty, three hundred meters. They’re huddled by a fire."

"Daniel, Drai, go," Frost immediately ordered.

Drai sped up ahead with Danny following closely, wielding a pair of machetes. Glancing over his shoulder, Drai spotted a rare expression on Danny’s face.

’Does everyone become so serious like this in actual missions or is it because of Frost’s recent recovery? Or maybe it’s because we might encounter insurgents...’ Drai wondered as he recalled the truly odd sight of Gramps running alongside the group instead of getting piggybacked.

A few seconds later, the group of five was right before their eyes. Without hesitation, Drai launched a radiant bolt at one of them, piercing the man’s head and startling the others, which created an opening for the pair.

Emerging from the darkness, Drai activated Nova Flux and elbowed a man on his face with close to maximum strength before swiftly swatting the cheek of a woman nearby. The result was the grotesque bursting of the man’s head and the woman’s extreme neck twist.

Looking at his side, Drai saw two headless figures limping to the ground while their killer flicked his weapons clean. Without a word, the two dashed away and soon rejoined the main group.

"They’re fucking careless for a patrol group," Danny remarked.

"That means our mission hasn’t been leaked out or compromised yet," Frost flatly replied.

Meanwhile, Drai kept quiet, but his hand was slightly trembling. His victims just now were his first kills that didn’t involve the Crimson Order or the mysterious organization, so he was rather unsettled. It didn’t help that the process had been disturbingly easy, with his targets not getting a chance to fight back and their heads being way softer than the things he usually punched during his training.

Besides, Drai also wondered how Beachball and Frost were really sure that these people were part of the smuggling ring and not just random innocent bystanders like campers. But despite his concerns, he figured now wasn’t the time to bring them up.

If Ailem were here, she would’ve sensed Drai’s inner turbulence and perhaps try to ease him, but since she wasn’t and the surroundings were completely dark, none of Drai’s squadmates realized this as they simply assumed that Drai was used to the grim realities of being a soldier.