Months after training with Nox, he finally wanted to begin his plan for revenge, and Nox gave him her old cloak, resewn and updated with the latest technology, with the "N" on the chest replaced with an "A". The cloak possessed new technology similar to that used by the Federation but stronger, using Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene as its base material. With that, it should be enough to stand against the Heroic Federation. Azure named the cloak 'Cloak of Umbral'—it resonated with the shadow element he possessed, and he could activate it with just a snap of his fingers.

  "Zapire," he murmured, testing the city's name on his tongue. A smaller neighboring city, known as a center for metal processing and energy before the Federation standardized everything. A place where old machines still hummed, and where, according to Nox, "people who want to be forgotten" tended to gather.

  His mind returned to their conversation a few hours earlier, in the warm underground room.

  "Your basic training is complete," Nox had said, her finger tracing a line on an old map spread across the table. "Now you need to see the world with your own eyes, but with a new perspective. You need experience, connections, and information I can't get on my own down here."

  Azure nodded, his heart racing with a mix of anticipation and anxiety. "Where should I go?"

  Nox's finger stopped at a point on the map, about two hundred kilometers east. "Zapire." The city was marked with a faded gear icon. "There's someone there. A young woman. She's about twenty-two. She is... a very valuable source of information for us, and perhaps the only person in Zapire I can trust to help you."

  "Why would she help us?" Azure asked, curious.

  Nox let out a thin sigh. "Because, like us, she has personal reasons for disliking the Federation. And because she is the younger sister of someone who once... worked with me." A shadow of sadness flickered in Nox's gray eyes. "Her name is Akari. Her hair is blue—not dyed, but naturally blue due to a rare elemental mutation in her family. She works as a mechanic at a shop called 'Gear & Spark' in Zapire's old market district."

  "What should I do?"

  "Find her. Introduce yourself with this passphrase." Nox handed him a slip of paper with a phrase: 'Nox sent me. The seagull needs oil for its broken wing.' "She'll know. Then, listen to what she says. She has her ear to the ground in ways we do not. She can tell you about Federation activity in Zapire, about suspicious supply shipments, about people coming and going. You will learn to gather intel from a live source."

  "How long?"

  "Until you get something useful, or until I call you back. This is also a test for you, Azure. Survive on your own in a foreign city, use your disguises, and do not draw attention."

  Azure studied the map, memorizing the route and the shop's location. "I won't let you down."

  Nox placed a hand on his shoulder, a rare gesture. "I know. Be careful. And Azure... remember. Out there, you are not a Null, but you are not a hero either. You are a shadow. Move like one."

  Now, on the cold rooftop, Azure took a deep breath. This was his first real mission. Not just safe training in a cave. He had to travel two hundred kilometers, infiltrate an unfamiliar city, and find a blue-haired girl who might not be happy to see him.

  He reached out, focusing. His 'Umbral Thread' extended from the rooftop shadow, forming several strong, thin cords. With a skilled motion, he descended the side of the building like a spider, soundless, merging with the darkness.

  The journey to Zapire took three days. Azure avoided the high-speed trains strictly monitored by the Federation. Instead, he used old freight trains crossing the countryside, sneaking between shipping containers at night. He practiced using his 'Cloak of Umbral' to stay hidden and his 'Shadow Sense' to detect security personnel. He slept on the roofs of freight cars, ate from his supplies of dried bread and water, and felt a strange mix of freedom and vulnerability.

  On the third day, the scenery changed. The air began to feel dusty and smelled of burnt metal. Zapire appeared on the horizon, not as a city of light like Asterion, but as a city of smoke and sparks. Old factory chimneys rose high, and the constant rumble of never-stopping machinery became the background noise.

  Azure entered the city like a ghost—through a half-derelict drainage channel, emerging in a narrow alley behind the market. The difference was immediately palpable. If Asterion was a repainted stage, Zapire was the workshop behind that stage—dirty, honest, and full of sharp edges.

  It took him a day to get his bearings and find 'Gear & Spark'. The shop was located at the end of a busy market street, sandwiched between a used parts store and an oil vendor's stall. The sounds of hammering, grinding metal, and welding sparks filled the air. From outside, he saw a girl with bright blue hair tied high, covered in grease, busy dismantling a large portable generator. Her welding visor hung around her neck. She looked completely absorbed in her work, cursing softly as a bolt got stuck.

  This was her. Akari.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Azure watched her for a moment from across the street, hidden behind a stack of old tires. She was exactly as Nox described: young, cheerful in her intense concentration, but with a tension in her shoulders, a hidden vigilance beneath her casual demeanor.

  After making sure no one was watching, Azure decided to approach. As he crossed the street, he deliberately made his footsteps a bit noisy so as not to startle her.

  "Excuse me," Azure said, controlling his voice to sound neutral.

  Akari didn't immediately look up. Her hand twisted a wrench hard until the stuck bolt finally turned with a screech. Only then did she glance over, wiping sweat from her brow with her forearm, adding another smear of grease to her face. Her sharp, blue-green eyes scanned Azure from head to toe.

  "Yeah? What do you need? A repair? Parts? If you're just asking for directions, I'm busy," she said, her voice bright but flat, straight to the point.

  "I'm looking for Akari," Azure stated.

  Immediately, the light in Akari's eyes changed. Her cheerfulness didn't vanish, but it became sharper, like a thin layer of ice over a bright lake. "Lots of people look for Akari. Who are you?"

  Azure remembered the passphrase. "Nox sent me."

  Akari's hand holding the wrench paused for a moment. There was no dramatic change in expression, only her eyebrows raising half a millimeter. "Oh yeah? Go on."

  Azure took a step closer, lowering his voice. "The seagull needs oil for its broken wing."

  She fell silent. Then, suddenly, her face broke into a wide smile that didn't match the sharpness in her eyes. "Ah, Nox! Haven't heard from her in ages. Still lurking in dark corners, huh?" Her voice suddenly turned friendly and loud, intended for anyone who might be listening. But her eyes signaled for Azure to follow her into the workshop. "Come on, in here. This generator needs some extra muscle to get it apart. Give me a hand."

  Azure followed her into the cluttered yet organized workshop. Akari walked straight to the back, past piles of machines and shelves of parts, to a small storage room that also served as an office. Inside, the smell of grease was thicker. She closed the door, and instantly her cheerful expression vanished, replaced by a cold, wary demeanor.

  "Proof," she said shortly, hands on her hips.

  Azure was slightly confused. "I have the passphrase—"

  "Anyone can get a passphrase if they catch the right person," Akari cut in. "Nox is paranoid. She must have given you something more personal to prove it."

  Azure thought for a moment, then remembered. Nox had told him, "She'll ask for proof. Tell her that her thirteenth birthday present was a mini toolbox with an owl carved inside the lid, and that her brother made her promise never to tell anyone where she got it."

  Azure repeated those words.

  Hearing that, the tension in Akari's shoulders eased slightly. "Okay. So you really are sent by Nox." She leaned against a workbench covered in scribbles. "She didn't say she'd be sending someone... especially someone as green as you."

  Azure was slightly offended. "I'm trained."

  "Oh, I'm sure," Akari replied, sarcastically. "It shows from the way you stand like a kid cheating on an exam. But whatever. Nox has her reasons. What's your name?"

  "Azure."

  "Azure. Nice name. But in Zapire, you'll use another name. Pick one. I'll call you... 'Oil' for now. 'Cause you showed up while I'm fixing a cranky generator." She gave a thin smile, but it wasn't a friendly one. It was more like a testing smile. "What does Nox say you need?"

  "Information. About Federation activity in Zapire. Suspicious shipments. Anything unusual."

  Akari sighed, wiping her sweaty neck. "You came at the right time, 'Oil'. Or maybe the wrong time. Something's been off for a few days now. Federation convoys have been coming more often, but not to the main factories. They go to the old warehouses in industrial zone 7-B, near the old power plant. They bring in big crates, escorted by C-class heroes, not just regular security. That's not normal."

  Azure was instantly alert. "What's in them?"

  "I'm not a psychic," Akari snapped, but then added, "But some workers who operate near there say they heard... groaning. From inside the crates. Not machine sounds."

  "Monsters?" Azure guessed.

  "Or something else," Akari smirked humorlessly. "The Federation has a side project they don't want to show off. That's what you're looking for, right? The bad stuff they're hiding?"

  Azure nodded, his spirit burning with purpose. "I need to see it."

  "Obviously. But you can't go alone. Zone 7-B is like a maze, full of old motion sensors and heat cameras from back in the day that are still active. You need a guide."

  "You'll show me?"

  "Me? No," Akari answered quickly. "I've got a shop to run. But I know someone who can. A 'scavenger' who knows every inch of that zone. He can get you in through paths not on any map."

  "When can I meet him?"

  Akari looked at an old, scratched watch on her wrist. "Tonight. The spot is down below, in the main drainage tunnel near Factory 7. He shows up at midnight sharp to look for... 'discarded' items. I'll give him the code. You wait there. He'll find you."

  She scribbled something on a scrap of paper—a symbol resembling three interlocking gears. "This is the identifier. Show him this. If he asks 'who sent you?', say 'the chatty blue-head'. He'll know."

  Azure took the paper, feeling his heartbeat quicken. This was real. He was getting close to something.

  "One thing, 'Oil'," Akari said, her voice suddenly serious. "People here aren't like in Asterion, blindly trusting heroes. Here, the ones who survive are the cunning and the wary. Don't trust anyone too easily. Including me. And don't... don't get caught. If you get caught and they can trace it back here, I'll cut ties and say I don't know you. Disappointing Nox? Maybe. But my life is more important."

  The warning was delivered in a flat, emotionless tone. It was a hard, clear reality.

  "I understand," Azure said. "Thank you."

  "Don't thank me yet," Akari retorted, already picking up her wrench again. "Thank me if you're still alive tomorrow morning. Now get out of here. I need to get back to work before people get suspicious."

  Without another word, Azure left the workshop, merging back into the bustling market crowd. He had his lead. His official mission had begun.

  As dusk fell, Azure found himself hiding behind the ruins of an old factory, staring at the dark, rusty entrance to the main drainage channel. The night wind in Zapire whispered tales of dust and secrets. In his hand, he turned over the scrap of paper with the gear symbol.

  Today, he was no longer a student in a training room. Today, he was 'Oil', a foreign shadow in an industrial city, ready to infiltrate the heart of one of the Federation's secrets. And somewhere beneath his feet, a mysterious 'scavenger' awaited him.

  Azure took a deep breath, steadying his heartbeat. Then, with a confident stride, he stepped into the mouth of the darkness, ready for whatever awaited him in the labyrinth of metal and concrete that was Zapire.

  (To be continued)