Nova woke up from a small nap with Nero in her lap. She tried to give the cat to Claudia, but Claudia refused vehemently.
"How am I gonna take a cat with me to a battlefield?" Nova pondered how to get rid of the little guy.
Nero looked up at her surprised. He rubbed his head along her arm. Suddenly, Nova felt a slight pain and looked down. Nero used his sharp nail to cut a little into her forearm.
Nova moved her arm in shock. He had never attacked her before. A throbbing sensation took over her entire arm.
"What-" Nova was about to question Nero, but he suddenly disappeared. Countless questions ran through her head.
Then, he suddenly appeared back in her lap. Nova poked Nero to see if he was real. He purred and pointed toward her cut. Nova gasped when she saw a dark tattoo on her pale skin.
It was a simple black cat enclosed in a circle. Nova tried to rub the mark off, but it did not fade. She looked back at Nero questioningly.
"You're not just a regular cat are you?"
Nero quickly fell asleep in her lap.
***
Eventually, she gazed out the window and saw stone tall walls hundreds of meters high. "Seems like we are here little guy," she pet Nero awake. Shortly after, the carriage stopped at the edge of the border settlement. The driver quickly left without any care for Nova.
"Where is everyone?" She saw empty tents and small buildings.
WEEEEWOOO
Loud alarms began blaring in the distance. Nova could see smaller gates around the tall wall open. She rushed forward.
She smiled when she saw people entering but quickly froze. The people hung their heads down in defeat with bloodied clothes. A group of around 3 dozen entered the gates. Nova waited as they passed her. She saw a carriage full of dead bodies and limbs.
She turned around and immediately threw up. Suddenly, someone stopped in front of her. "Are you the newbie?" A tall man with black hair and brown eyes peered down at her.
Nova wiped her mouth and nodded her head. "Let's go. We are burying the bodies." Nova awkwardly followed behind the man. A different group moved the carriage of bodies to a deserted area.
Her mouth hung slightly open as she saw a vast amount of tombs. The man ordered her to help bury the bodies, and Nova did so without questioning him.
She quietly helped move the bodies even though the rotting stench was unbearable.
After hours of working under the burning sun, they were done. She lingered around the gravestone until the same man as before appeared again.
"My name is Jacob. Mr. Oliver already told me about you," he was a lot less cold toward Nova.
"Since you're a newbie, you'll be the porter for an expedition team. All you have to do is carry the team's belongings and get used to going outside, We'll see how you perform after that."
Jacob began to briefly explained how the border sector was organized. Multiple expedition teams took turns exploring past the border in different directions. Jacob was a manager who controlled and organized the groups. There was one main headquarters, but several smaller buildings for the teams to live together.
He walked Nova toward a small building. "You are a part of Expedition Team D. It is relatively small and explores less dangerous areas." Before he could knock on the door, it swung open.
"Hi," a young lady opened the door energetically. "Is this our newbie?" she asked Jacob excitedly. The lady pulled Nova in and thanked Jacob before closing the door.
'I'm scared,' Nova was unfamiliar with eccentric people besides her father. The lady beckoned for the rest of the team to come.
Nova sat straight up in the chair as the rest of the team began to surround her.
The lady from before began, "I'm Mary, the healer for the group."
"David. I'm the captain and tank," he had light brown hair and strong muscles.
"Damage dealer, Lance." His light blonde hair caught Nova's attention.
"I'm Jack. I use a bow." He was relatively short compared to David and Lance.
Nova waited briefly before she said, "I'm Nova."
An awkward silence filled the room. 'I hate it, I hate it, I hate-'
"So, why did you choose the borders?" Mary asked. Nova thought briefly before she replied, "I want to get stronger."
The captain, David got up. He harshly said, "That's a horrible reason. Leave while you can kid."
Nova stared at the man hatefully, "Well isn't it great that I never asked for your opinion."
The two glared at each other, but Mary quickly broke the tension. "We have an outing next week, so be prepared!" She pushed David away. The rest disappeared as well.
Nova sighed out loud and moved to the room Mary told her. It was tiny and old, but manageable. Nova pulled her sleeves up and quickly went to work. Within a few hours, the entire room was cleaned.
She plopped on the bed and quickly fell asleep.
***
*1 week later*
Nova sat at the table with the rest of the group and silently ate. She quickly picked up on everyone's behavior. Mary talked the most but Jack and sometimes even David entertained her. Lance was the most quiet out of the group.
"Be ready by 10," David got up first and went to his room. Today, was the outing. Nova quickly went to her room.
Nova ran several experiments to better understand her power. Every day, she circulated her Est, which helped strengthen her vessels and increase her output. Her meditations focused on controlling her Est throughout her body through repeated motions- similar to training a muscle.
She found a small white marble near her heart, which was her Circuit. Usually, the Circuit would be the color of an Affinity, but Nova still did not have one.
On top of this, Nova also did continuous physical and swordsmanship training. She was at a disadvantage because she did not have any Affinity, so she needed to push herself to new physical limits.
She tested different Arts as well. Of course, she could only perform basic techniques with no Affinity available, but that was good enough for her.
When it hit 10 o'clock, she went outside. The rest of the team was early. David turned to Nova and gave her several bags, "protect it well. It has all our food, water, first-aid kits, potions, and more."
Nova strapped on the bag. It was not heavy to her, even though the bag was easily around 45 kg (~100 lbs). For the rest of the group, the scene was a little surprising. A tiny girl carried more than half her body weight.
'It will just be harder to attack with,' she shrugged her shoulders. 'I shouldn't be needing to anyways.' After all, her job was just a porter.