The World Outside

Getting through the Third Sky was a mere formality as the land past that was still mostly considered public space. If you were not working as a farmer or industry worker, you would mostly go there to enjoy walks in man-made parks or forests. However getting through the Fourth Sky's checkpoints was already much more troublesome, if ever possible for most people. The car that transported the five youngsters, as well as the four soldiers, could get through these extremely easily thanks to being directly affiliated with a Clid, which were more or less considered as military organisations. But getting past that point was something most people would never do in their lives as it required special credentials. You basically had to be working for one of the Clids to be allowed through, which still meant quite a few people would get to drive through. Professions such as janitors or mechanics could be contracted fairly easily for jobs past the Fourth Sky, but quite a few scientific professions also were located there and were overseen by the Scientific Clid. For instance, most researchers working on biology would end up working in that area in order to have easy and direct access to the corpses of monsters, wild animals and wild flora brought back by expeditions. There were also quite a few doctors working in the military zone since all clids had their training grounds in that area as well.

Reaching close to the western exit, the car pulled out in front of a set of buildings that had the Trader's Clid insignia on them. There were seven soldiers fully equipped standing on the side solemnly discussing amongst themselves. Four heavy-duty cars were also parked at the front visibly ready to get going. As the car parked and everyone descended it, the soldiers came towards it and greeted the captain with somewhat heavy faces. Viktor then turned around and put up a warm smile before saying :

"So this is the whole team. Usually, our mission would be done by a team of four to six but we always overshoot whenever we have newcomers. We will get into the four cars now. Cars one and four will solely be for us veterans and I'll be in car one. You all split into two groups and get into cars two and three with Sarah and James respectively. You'll also have one of the guys behind me as a driver in each car. Also, notice this small building behind me. This is the exit of an emergency tunnel. We'll show you the entry later. Okay now let's go, the faster we get going, the early we're all back home!"

John ended up going in car three with James and the two girls of the group of first-timers. His excitement far outweighed his fear, and it seemed to be somewhat contagious as everyone started talking in a more casual atmosphere than earlier. The driver that had seemed rather anxious seemed to finally lighten up after a couple of words from James. The small convoy arrived in front of the Fifth Sky West Exit and stopped in front of one of three large doors. The captain got out of his car at the front of the convoy and met up with three soldiers guarding this exit. After showing them papers, they took a quick walk around the convoy to check everything was in order. Once done, they got the door to open and signalled the cars to move past it and stop in front of a second door. The captain did not get back in the car and simply walked there with one of the soldiers, deep in talks. Once the cars were in and parked again, Viktor moved to the second door and the gate closed behind them. He then pressed a button and walked back into the leading car.

As the second door was opening, John was watching the outside world with undisguised awe. That was freedom. That was a place where only very few people would ever get to. But the scene was rather dull for now. It looked like a mere rather flat plain stretching far with woods at the edge of the horizon. As the car drove forward, John was still watching everywhere around him with glee. But the truly impressive scene was once they had approached the trees enough to see that it was an actually dense wild forest. They had access to such views from pictures but seeing it in person was a very unique experience, especially since they had nothing like it within the city limits.

Arriving at the edge of that forest, the cars parked on the side next to a small building nearly entirely buried underground. Once everyone had stepped out of the cars, the soldiers went to pick up their packages from the trunks. Meanwhile, the captain gave a quick explanation to the five young adults.

"This building right there is the entry to the tunnel that leads inside the city. We're already halfway to our destination but it's now the real trip begins. I hope you're ready for a good walk. And remember to keep your eyes open."

The group of fifteen got together and started walking at a slow but steady pace into the woods. Walking into such a dense forest was a very alien experience for someone like John. In and of itself, the forest was not all that dense, but compared to the sparse trees you would encounter in the city's parks, it sure was impressive. Being well in shape was absolutely required in order to have any chance to ever step foot outside, so all the rookies obviously had been allowed to participate in the excursion after having been tested for physical aptitude. Walking was something John had to do very often and he had always worked out to keep his shape up so this kind of exercise should be fairly easy for him to keep up with. Inside the forest, everyone walked along a trail that was likely made after countless years of people walking on it. John could not stop looking around him, fascinated by the extreme density of nature around him.

But there was something else happening that was leaving him dumbstruck inside: he could feel his magic much more than normal. This feeling had slowly been creeping up on him ever since they left the city's walls. But it was now, in the middle of nowhere in the forest, that he was able to perceive it the strongest. It had scared him at first since he didn't want to accidentally lose control of his magic and thus be exposed in front of the soldiers. After a couple of minutes, John started getting used to this change and it actually felt extremely pleasing, almost as though there was an extra pocket of energy inside him that he could use any time he wished to.

After about half an hour of steady walking, the group reached a crossroads. Two very clear trails were going to the right and left forming a sort of T shape. There were also three barely noticeable paths branching from right in front of the group. After checking all the paths were free, the soldier at the head of the column that acted as a scout took the smaller trail in the middle.

As the path had become more windy and busy with tree roots and bushes, the pace of the group slowed down accordingly. Another half an hour of walking passed by rather casually before the group reached the clearing. The column leader had barely entered it before he signalled to stop, crouch and keep quiet. Everyone instantly obeyed and the atmosphere instantly turned serious. The captain walked up to the leader and exchanged looks briefly. After both men focused their attention somewhere deeper within the forest on the left side of the clearing, the captain silently ordered everyone to walk to the edge of the clearing and group up. This decision basically confirmed that there was a beast roaming not too far away and that this was not any mere wild animal. John was half-anxious, half-excited as this might very well be his very first encounter with a monster after all.

The party set up right by the edge of the clearing still within the forest with the five youngsters in the middle surrounded by soldiers. The scout and the captain were both right outside the forest still observing whatever was coming to them while one of the soldiers stood a little further back keeping watch over the rear. Everyone had their weapons on standby.

Five minutes passed very slowly before the beast finally showed itself. It walked out very casually giving it a domineering aura while watching the group with a small grin. It looked like a regular black bear, around one meter tall as it was walking on all four legs. Its body was not particularly massive but you could see its muscles with the naked eye very clearly. Thankfully all five rookies had paid enough attention in class to know this was an Ursa and that its looks were deceptively meek. As was the case for all the now-monsters, their physical appearance usually had not changed drastically with only having a slight increase in their average size and a more muscular body. However, in reality, their strength, as well as resistance, had increased more than twofold. An Ursa such as this one could withstand a couple of gunshots to the head and still live long enough to kill whoever shot at it.

The Ursa kept its watch over the group, seemingly sizing them up, before deciding to test the waters by standing up. Instantly its height more than doubled and looked a lot more impressive already. The captain stood up looking straight at the Ursa, seemingly in a staring standoff. The beast's gaze slowly turned more and more dangerous, making it look like a monster ready to pounce at any moment. Though regular Ursas would not attack groups of more than three people, this one had a gaze that seemed much more vicious. Ursa attacks had increased steadily over the last few months and the number of casualties had followed, seemingly those monsters were getting stronger and bolder. There were even instances of them working together with one attracting attention and the other attacking from behind.

After an entire minute of an atmosphere thick enough you could cut through it with a knife, the Ursa slowly settled back down on all four before casually turning around, walking the way it came. Another five minutes passed with the captain standing still, observing the surroundings as well as where the Ursa headed to. Finally, he gave the signal to get going once more. John had been mesmerized by the beast, at first it looked like a regular wild animal but he quickly understood why these were called monsters. Its gaze and facial expressions were engraved deep in John's mind and he hoped he would never face one ever again. But he knew he was doomed to eventually if he were to work for the Trader's Clid as a soldier.

The trip to the meeting zone proceeded smoothly and they got to drop everything off to the Explorer's Clid team. The way back took a bit longer as they circled opposite where the Ursa was headed. But luckily they reached the spot where they left the cars without any further encounter and got back inside the city after four hours and a half.

Once back at the operational branch under the Third Sky, Viktor congratulated everyone for reacting perfectly and announced that all five passed the first test. They would have a set of training exercises the following week before a second excursion the very next Saturday.