The alarm never had a chance to ring, Silver woke up before it rang. His eyes opened automatically, years of military habits. One lifetime from another world refusing to disappear.

For several seconds he simply lay there, watching the pale morning light creep through the curtains. The Sanctuary was still mostly asleep. Only the earliest workers and contractors would be awake at this hour.

Ravenna crept into his thoughts at the moment, he was going to spend the whole day with her. The thought made him smile.

He instantly sat up, any lingering sleep or excuses gone. Training came first.

An hour later Silver stood inside his private gym, sweat dripping down his arms while his breathing remained steady.

The ape integration continued showing its effects. The increase wasn’t dramatic anymore, it simply felt natural. As if his body had finally accepted the additional strength as its own.

Heavy weights moved through controlled repetitions. His muscles strained, then recovered and strained again.

After a while, he shifted toward speed training. He learnt to control his footwork, movement, and balance at a much faster speed than he was used to.

Speed kept contractors alive. A contractor who couldn’t move became a corpse very quickly. After an hour of back and fourth he eventually drew his pistol.

The weapon appeared almost instantly in a blur. A movement too fast for ordinary eyes.

[Phantom Draw LV3 activated]

• Draw Speed Increased

• Weapon Stability Enhanced

• Reaction Synchronization Active

Silver fired.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The targets fell almost instantly. His movements flowed smoothly into the next draw. He did that over and over again without wasting any motion or hesitation.

The skill felt less like a technique now, more like instinct, like his body simply understood firearms.

Then he switched weapons. The pistol disappeared and the sword appeared.

A practice blade, nothing expensive. Shawn had taken his sword back the moment they had gotten to the rookie checkpoint.

[Beginner Swordsmanship Active]

The sword cut through the air, Silver stepped, turned, then Sashed. He repeated the motion, again and again. His knowledge of swordsmanship wasn’t nearly as complete as Phantom Draw, yet it continued improving. Through every fight, practice session and swing Silver could feel it.

The sword felt less awkward and foreign now, still nowhere near mastery but progress existed and that was the only thing that mattered.

By the time he finished training, sunlight had begun spilling over the Sanctuary walls. The day had officially begun. He finished his training an hour later and went to prepare himself.

After showering and changing, Silver headed downstairs. A family vehicle already waited. It wasn’t the luxury transport from yesterday, this was more practical.

It was one of the many types of armoured cars built for contractor travel. The sort of vehicle designed for survival. It wasn’t as big as the one Shawn had gotten but it was still better.

A driver stood nearby.

"Young Master."

Silver nodded.

"The request was approved?"

The man handed him a key card.

"The Patriarch approved temporary use."

Silver accepted it. That was perfect, one less thing to worry about.

The vehicle itself could travel through the Green Zone sectors safely. More importantly, it meant he wouldn’t need to rely on public contractor transport.

His next stop wasn’t Ravenna. First, he needed breakfast. The Sanctuary was finally beginning to wake up. Vendors opened storefronts, workers filled the streets, and contractors prepared for expeditions.

Silver stopped at a small breakfast stand. He purchased enough food for three people. Warm sandwiches, coffee, and fruit just a simple breakfast, one that was portable.

Then headed toward the Contractors Hotel. The hotel was much quieter than expected. The morning crowd hadn’t appeared yet.

Silver entered.

The receptionist recognized him immediately. She smiled.

"Good morning young master."

Silver returned the smile as courtesy.

"Morning Ester, have you been here the whole night?"

She shook her head." No, I’ve just started my shift."

Silver nodded and walked towards the stairs.

"Well, good luck today. "

"You too," her voice faintly followed behind him.

A few minutes later he stood outside Ravenna’s room. He knocked twice. A muffled voice answered.

"Coming."

The door opened. Silver immediately paused, as expected she was beautiful even in the morning, but what surprised him a little came from the fact that she’d clearly been preparing to leave.

She was in dark combat clothing, boots, and a small backpack. Even a knife strapped to one side while her sword was on the other.

Silver smiled and stepped closer.

"You were ready."

Ravenna raised an eyebrow.

"You said we’d leave early."

Then Silver remembered something he had completely forgotten. A skill he’d thrown at the back of his mind since it was useless.

He glanced toward Mallory whose eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Silver ignored her.

He activated the skill.

[Poller Trick Activated]

A small pulse of energy gathered in his hand. Both his spectators froze, including himself. It only took three seconds then a red rose slowly appeared.

It was growing from absolutely nothing; petals unfolding naturally and the stem twisting gently into existence.

Silence filled the room. Silver looked at the rose then at Ravenna.

He offered it to her.

"For you."

The silence somehow became worse. Mallory covered her mouth while Ravenna simply stared.

Several seconds passed. Silver began wondering whether he’d accidentally done something embarrassing, then Ravenna carefully accepted it.

Her expression remained unreadable.

"...I have absolutely no idea how to react to that."

Silver laughed.

"That’s fair."

She looked down at the flower then at him then back at the flower. A faint smile appeared on her lips.

"Thank you," she quietly said.

Silver nodded. "That’s my good morning."

She chuckled. Silver turned toward Mallory and extended his arm.

"What’s that?" She asked without taking the bag.

"It’s your breakfast, I thought I might have come a little earlier. "

She smiled and took it.

"Thank you."

Silver nodded. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Anytime."

He turned to Ravenna who was still looking at the flower.

"Let’s go."

She nodded. She waved at Mallory before leading the way with Silver behind her.

A few minutes later they sat inside the vehicle, breakfast spread between them as the city slowly passed outside. The atmosphere felt significantly easier than yesterday, just comfortable.

Ravenna bit into a sandwich then glanced sideways.

"This is good, where did you buy it?"

"Some random stall, outside the gates."

"... I should have known. The ones near the hotels, taste so bad you wouldn’t want to eat that a second time."

"I could buy you breakfast from the Elite district, they’re good."

"You’d do that?"

"Of course."

"Don’t do that, you’ll have to go back and forth every day. I’m used to the food around there."

Silver nodded. He absentmindedly tapped on the steering wheel while they continued forward.

"Did you buy a phone?"

She glanced at him then nodded.

"Yeah, the one I had was too broken," she placed the half-eaten sandwich down and pulled out the new phone," I forgot to thank you."

Silver narrowed his eyes and glanced at her, meeting her eyes. Ravenna’s eyes widened when she noticed her mistake.

She went on defense instantly.

"You were a stranger, I wasn’t going to just give you my phone number when you asked for it."

Silver chuckled.

"I didn’t say anything."

That earned an eye roll, which somehow felt like progress.

The vehicle reached the outer checkpoint shortly afterward. Contractor identification was verified, weapons registered and travel permits checked.

The gates were opened right after. The massive gates of Delta-3 slowly slid apart, allowing passage into the wilderness.

Silver never got tired of seeing it, the contrast remained striking. Civilization behind and danger ahead. Beyond the walls were the remnants of the old world. Humanity’s graveyard and hunting ground.

The vehicle rolled forward, leaving the Sanctuary behind.