Patricia's base was a massive farm in the middle of nowhere. There were a few houses and other humans, but the general population of this camp could not be any more than 100 people.
Emily had never seen such a place before, and she had never been out in the rift either. This was a learning curve for her.
"Just give me a minute. I will put Lea down and then give you a tour of this place. What do you say to that?"
Patricia asked, but Lea opened her eyes before being put to sleep. Lea yawned, and her eyes looked alert.
"Woah, I had a good sleep. Hey Pat, you came to get me? Well, what did I miss? Did I do something fun?"
Lea asked while tapping Particia's arm to be let down. Emily was instantly alert and worried to see Lea awake. She still remembered the choking hold Lea had on her, and the fear made Emily tense up.
"You almost killed our new blood and caused an incident. Apart from that, nothing unusual happened. But next time, take your inhibitors early. You know that this happens too often to you."
Sara complained, indicating that this was not the first time Lea had gone berserk. And the small but sheepish smile on Lea's lips told Sara that this was not intentional.
"Oops, this is my fault. I will make sure this will not happen again. I am sorry, Emily. I promise to make it up to you later."
Lea promised, but Emily was not sure how willing she was to believe Lea's words. She did not want to overthink things, so she nodded instead.
"If you kids are done talking around, then let's go around the camp. I will show you the samples you need to mine and return them. It might take you the whole day, so you should pack lunch."
Patricia seemed used to Lea's shift in mood as well. Emily was the only one feeling out of place. But she forced her feelings down. She was sure that she would adjust to all this soon.
Lea skipped past Emily, causing her body to stiffen. The whiff of Lea's smell caused Emily's throat to become dry, and her eyes followed Lea's body.
This did not go unnoticed by Patricia, and she placed her hand on Emily's shoulder in sympathy.
"So, your sentinel part is attracted to Lea as well, huh? It must be tough to be out here with your crush and watching her shift mood like this. I know that I would never be able to handle all this."
"I used to have a crush on Lea, but in the end, I gave up. That girl has some heavy trauma, and I had enough on my plate without adding her to the equation."
Patricia admitted, causing Emily to look confused but worried. Emily discreetly took a few steps back from Patricia and upped her guard.
"You have some weird tastes. Isn't there too much of an age difference here? I don't feel comfortable thinking about it."
Emily complained, and Patricia paused. She looked at Emily with a new light again, and her eyes lightened.
"Of course, there is an age difference here. But then again, I always liked older girls who could kick my ass. I have not changed much, but I am too old to find a partner and settle down."
Emily still looked confused. Patricia was confident that she did not know about Lea's condition. It made Patricia feel sorry for Emily, but she also liked her.
...
"Here it is - the mineral sample you need to dig out. You can take your time and take as much as you want. But remember to be careful of your surroundings. There are too many rift monsters that are present near these minerals."
Patricia took the trio toward the center of the mine. The pinkish-mineral shined. It reflected light even in the dark cave, causing it to turn a pretty shade of pink.
This was the mineral that was used in rift potions. But it could not be taken in pure form since it was too powerful.
"Hmm, let me check how powerful this sample is. It will only take a minute.…woah, be careful with me, Sara. I am a delicate lady who can get hurt if you clutch me too hard."
Lea pretended to be startled when Sara pulled her back. She pretended to clutch her heart and look at Sara beggingly.
But Sara was not one to bow down, even when Lea begged her.
"Don't pretend that you would not touch the rift stone with your naked hands. Don't you know how dangerous that is? The radiation levels in our body would cause you to die instantly. If not, then you would be disfigured permanently."
"Is that something you want to do? If you want to kill yourself, then don't involve us all in your suicide attempt."
Sara complained and held Lea back. Emily had not even realized that Lea was not earning her gloves.
The madwoman had been seriously about to touch these minerals with her bare hands.
"Aww, what's the big deal, Sara? These minerals are pretty to look at but harmless to touch. Here, do I need to show…. ah, Sara, let me go."
Sara quickly pulled Lea back before she could cause any chaos. Emily looked awkwardly at the pair, not knowing what to do. But it was Patricia who ended up helping Lea out.
"It's alright, Sara. Lea is a weird one and would be right even if she touched these minerals with her bare hands. You need to worry about yourself and your recruit. I can tell that the poor girl is confused and scared."
Patricia turned everyone's attention toward Emily. Emily wanted to deny being scared, but her hands shook while looking at the wall of rift stone. Its energy was overwhelming, causing Emily to be scared.
Sara opened her mouth to protest but then closed it again. She looked at Lea annoyedly but ultimately chose to pay attention to Emily.
"Emily, don't worry. This is not as dangerous as you expect it to be. If you wear your gloves and do not touch the rift stone with your hands, would you be alright? Just make sure you remain quiet and…"
Sara was not finished speaking when the cave shook. A huge monster turned its head into the cave and looked at the group.
"Patricia, I know that I am asking too much from you. But tell me that this monster is one of yours. I don't think we can fight this monster so close to the rift stone."
Sara begged Patricia, and the old one complied with the request.
"This monster is one of mine-" Sara sighed in relief, "but that would be a lie. Look out, it's attacking."
Sara's relief turned into dread as soon as Patricia finished speaking. She looked at the raging monster, and it looked angry. It rushed toward Sara but changed targets in the last seconds.
"Emily, look out. The monster is coming after you."
Sara complained, and Emily looked up sharply. The monster raised its claw and attacked. Dust flew around the cave, obstructing everyone's vision.
Lea had been quiet until now, but she quickly took Sara's gun from her hand and shot at the dusty explosion. Sara hesitated to shoot because she did not want to hurt Emily accidentally.
But Lea had no problem doing the same thing.
"Hey, what are you doing? You might hurt Emily if you hit too close to home."
Sara complained while snatching her gun back. Having her gun in Lea's hand made Sara nervous. She did not want to experience that again.
It made Sara feel weird, and she bit her lips. But Lea was not paying her attention, making Sara's mood sour.
And then she wanted to flick herself for feeling this way. Emily's life was in danger, and all Sara could do was feel sorry for herself.
Finally, the dust cleared, and the monster lay dead on top of Emily's body. Emily had torn the monster apart with her bare hands and was now covered in monster mash.
"Ugh, I hate this feeling. I never knew how sticky the real monster blood could be. Sorry, but is there a place I can bathe? I need to get all this sticky business off my body."
Sara felt guilty, Patricia was amused, and Lea?
Lea looked turned on. Her inner guide always found the display of strengths from sentinels a little arousing.
"There is a small stream you can use further from here. You can head there with Lea and clean yourself up."
The sudden suggestion took Emily aback. But she did not get to protest when Lea grabbed her hand and dragged her out. Sara felt too guilty to go after them.
And that did not go unnoticed by Patricia as well.
"Sara, I know you want to take things slow, but you might want to hurry up with Lea. She is not a patient person, so she will not wait for you to decide."
Sara felt caught, but she did not answer Patricia's advice. She needed time to think over her options.