The Tier 2 Shroud deployment was routine.
Well, routine for Mara. Still dangerous enough that most students her rank avoided volunteering.
She'd been assigned to a breach near Central's eastern border—a warehouse district where reality had thinned enough that Crawlers were manifesting semi-regularly. Military teams handled the major threats. Students were sent in to clear out the smaller incursions and gain experience.
Mara worked methodically.
Her Clear Mind core kept her anchored despite the exhaustion clawing at her nerves after weeks of relentless deployment. Fatigue registered. Pain registered. But neither ruled her.
Her twin daggers moved with clinical efficiency—throat, kidney, spine, heart, if the crawlers actually had some of this organs.
There was no wasted motion.
The patterns had long since stopped feeling like techniques and started feeling like reflex.
She eliminated seven Crawlers over four hours.
This wasn't spectacular or record-breaking.
