Felicia clicked her tongue.
"That brat is getting more and more brazen every day."
Redy tilted her head slightly.
"I don’t see your point."
Felicia looked at her as if she had just heard sothing unbelievable.
"Are you serious?"
Redy simply chuckled.
At least the teasing had helped ease the tension she felt about what was coming next.
She stepped toward the door.
"Let’s hurry," she said. "If we miss the timing, we’ll have to wait until tomorrow."
Felicia imdiately followed.
"Well then," she said, pushing the door open, "what are you waiting for, Angel?"
Redy shook her head with a faint smile and stepped outside after her.
****
Redy and Felicia headed toward the forest behind the manor.
The dense trees swallowed them quickly as they walked deeper into the quiet wilderness.
When they reached the edge of the water, Redy raised her hand.
A small remote appeared in her palm from her storage ring and she pressed a button.
Monts later, the surface of the lake rippled.
Then...
A sleek vessel slowly rose from beneath the water.
It was the sa transport Redy had used when bringing Adam to Tristan.
The hatch slid open with a soft chanical hiss.
Felicia didn’t hesitate.
She hopped inside.
Redy followed imdiately after.
The hatch sealed shut.
A second later, the vessel subrged again and began moving swiftly through the water.
Their destination lay far beyond Tristan.
Beyond even the Wild Zone controlled by the sector.
Because the place they were heading to, was an Incursion.
Incursions were territories permanently altered by rift breaches.
They rarely appeared inside sectors.
That was thanks to the Mission Hall and the martial artists constantly going on runs in the rifts before they could fully breach.
But in the vast Wild Zones beyond the cities, breaches sotis slipped through.
When they did, the land changed and those regions beca Incursions.
Strange environnts filled with valuable resources.
Every incursion produced sothing unique.
For example, the Siren Swamp Incursion generated Soul Pearls, a highly sought-after cultivation resource.
The incursion Redy and Felicia were traveling to had its own special resource.
And that resource...
Was where they planned to get their beer.
The vessel glided silently through underground waterways, following the natural river currents.
Soon it left the controlled territory of the sector.
The environnt outside beca wilder.
But the vessel kept moving.
An hour passed.
Then the craft finally slowed.
It surfaced quietly near the riverbank and docked.
The hatch opened.
Felicia jumped out first.
Redy followed.
Behind them, the vessel subrged once more, disappearing beneath the water as if it had never been there.
After making sure the vessel had completely disappeared beneath the water, Redy turned toward the forest ahead.
They were already inside the Incursion.
Unlike the incursions managed by sectors, where wired fences and pulse containers kept monsters trapped within the periter, this place had no such protection.
Deep within the Wild Zones, incursions were left mostly unchecked.
Here, monsters were free to roam.
And the incursions themselves never stayed the sa.
They expanded relentlessly.
As they spread, different incursions sotis collided with one another, overlapping and creating strange environntal anomalies.
These chaotic regions could beco extrely dangerous.
The Alliance occasionally sent high-ranking martial artists to clear such anomalies.
But only under specific circumstances.
Unless an anomaly posed a real threat to a nearby sector, the Alliance rarely intervened.
Most monsters inside incursions were too busy fighting each other.
Encroaching rifts constantly spawned new creatures, and territorial conflicts between species kept them occupied.
The only real danger ca when a powerful apex monster erged.
Such creatures could lead monster tides, organizing lesser beasts into massive attacks.
But the Alliance monitored those threats carefully.
Any monster capable of leading a tide was eliminated long before it could grow out of control.
For now, however, Redy and Felicia stood calmly at the edge of the forest.
The environnt around them felt heavy.
They had entered a Hell-Class Level 5 Incursion.
Hol Bear Woods.
****
"Alright," Redy said calmly. "Let’s move."
Felicia nodded.
The two won stepped into the forest, as Redy drew her rapier, its slender blade gleaming faintly in the dim light beneath the trees.
Felicia flexed her fingers inside her gauntlets, tal plates sliding softly as she tightened them.
Both of them were already prepared for a fight.
Despite that, their movents remained relaxed.
They knew exactly where they were going.
The path they followed wasn’t a human trail.
It had been created by the rulers of this incursion,
The Hol Bears.
If soone followed the trail correctly, the chance of being attacked dropped significantly.
But it would never reach zero.
Which was why both won kept their conduits ready.
The trail itself was almost invisible.
It was just faint claw marks on certain trees... slight disturbances in the soil... and subtle environntal shifts that only a trained eye could notice.
Anyone unfamiliar with the woods would walk straight past it.
Or worse, stray off the path.
And beco prey.
The trail constantly changed as well.
The Hol Bears adjusted it over ti, maintaining their territory and guiding those who understood the rules.
Because at the end of this strange path...
Was the place where the greatest alcohol in existence was brewed.
Felicia grinned slightly.
"Still can’t believe bears make better beer than humans."
Redy didn’t respond.
Her eyes remained focused on the path ahead.
Deep within the forest, low growls echoed through the trees, heavy footsteps sounded, branches snapped and predators moved through the shadows of the trees.
But the two won remained calm.
They walked forward steadily, careful not to stray from the trail.
Then, the shrubs beside them suddenly rustled.
And a Hol Bear stepped out onto the path.
The massive creature stood nearly three ters tall, its thick fur a brilliant golden color and its claws curved like hooked blades.
Its golden eyes locked onto the two won.
For a mont...
Everything went silent.
A Hol Bear was exactly what its na suggested.
A golden bear the size of a small car.
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