We were ushered through the portal in our groups. We stepped through the portal, and went from being in a secret academy city to a foreign planet. It was a military settlement instead of a faction or guild one.
"Are there other settlements on this planet?" I asked when I looked at the portal attendant.
She raised her eyebrows, and gave me a dirty look, "I don't have time to give you a tour. Now get off the platform."
We stepped off the platform together as my temper flared. I wanted to set out right away, but if I didn't double check my chances of discovery. A map would be good to have as well.
"Let's go," I motioned for them to follow me.
We left the portal station, and stopped outside.
"We should grab a map so we can make sure we won't run into anyone else," I snorted, "If there are other settlements nearby we might run into people that might try to kill me."
We couldn't just run around without thinking. Since I was planning on fighting as myself. We crossed the street, and wandered into one of the shops close by. The shop had all sorts of randomly arranged equipment.
"Is this some sort of pawn shop for magical equipment?" I looked around slowly.
"You could call it that," The shopkeeper frowned.
She was middle aged, and of some sort of African American decent. She had a scar on her left cheek, and an expression that said that she didn't care to deal with wide eyed students anymore.
"Do you have a map of the nearby areas?" I kind of liked her attitude, "Then I'll get out of your way."
"How far do you plan on going out?" She looked us up, and then down, "Your equipment seems nice so you can probably pay for it."
"Used to getting stiffed," I smirked intentionally, "I'm not the type."
"I'll believe it when when I see it," she smirked back at me.
"What do you have for maps?" I leaned on the counter confidently.
"Classic paper map," she pulled out a few sheets of folded paper, "Cheap, only reliable when taken care, and easily destroy. Digital download map program. Not as cheap as paper, but harder to lose, and your watch would have to get destroyed for you to lose it. Digital world map with GPS." she set a watch on the counter next to the paper maps, "Tracks your location using the digital display. You can tag locations, and track any tagged tech as long as it's within a hundred meters."
"Can it do anything else?" I carefully flipped it over with a disinterested expression.
"Motion detection," she snorted, "It can flag anything within fifty meters, but you'd have to turn off the tech locating feature to use it. A full planetary map with updating threat level, and weather tracking. Plus the fact that it's armor plated, water proofed, and designed to survive even if you don't. Safety features keep the internal mechanisms running through shit that would destroy pretty much anything else."
"How much?" I picked it up.
"Twenty thousand credits," she smirked as if she didn't believe I had that much on me.
"Thirty-five," I tossed the one from the counter at Ethan, "And I'll take two."
"Thirty-five credits for two of them!" Her face scrunched up, "Give my shit back kid."
"No," I transferred the credits, "Thirty-five thousand for two of them."
Her computer, and watch dinged at the same time. After that I would have less than five thousand credits left. Her face went from anger to stunned disbelief.
"Holy shit," she stared at the screen for a few minutes, "Haggling me down five thousand though?"
Her expression turned serious.
"You shouldn't have assumed I wouldn't be able to pay," I smirked as Ethan buttoned the watch onto his free wrist.
She chuckled as she handed me the second watch.
"Cocky kid," She murmured as she watched me hand the other watch to Savannah, "Aren't you going to keep it for yourself?"
"I don't need it," I smiled, "I have an excellent sense of direction."
We turned, and left together before she could say anything else. We stopped around town to ask a few questions. Turned out that our stay in town was covered for free under military boarding payments made by the school. We could stay out at night as long as we check in hourly. I made sure to set a timer for when we needed to head towards the whole canyon event, and where we were supposed to meet up for it.
We headed out of the city together. I didn't want to stay in my human form anymore, and we could come back later if we needed more information. We walked a good hour before we lost sight of the teams that were sticking closer to the gates. I created ice walls around myself while so I could undress in peace. I threw my clothes in my bag, and stuck my bag between my wings on my back.
Securing it into place quickly as I started looking around for something worth hunting. Tier one, and tier two beasts were easy pickings for me by myself. Ethan, and Savannah could take them by themselves as well. Ethan seemed to be able to handle up to tier three before looking like he was actually having to work. Savannah struggled with tier two beasts.
We strolled along killing off any beast that approached us. When we got further from the settlement we starting seeing tier fours, and fives. Some of them would even move in packs. I was starting to get bored with keeping Savannah, and Ethan's pace so I starting scouting off by myself. If I ran into a lone beast. I killed it.
If I found a small group I signaled Ethan, and Savannah. Then we took them out together. I was expecting something bigger, and stronger to come by. I wasn't used to everything being so easy. I kept expecting something to go wrong.