Ethan stepped out of the VR training area, his body drenched i and his muscles ag. The D-Rank simutions had pushed him to his limit, demanding rapid reflexes, precise timing, aless endurance. He had pleted wave after wave of sarios: ambushes, multi-enemy bat, and high-pressure infiltration. Though exhausting, the sessions had honed his skills, f him to adapt and improve.

  As he walked back toward his quarters, the weight of ret events settled over him like a suffog cloud. No matter how grueling the training, it couldn't erase the memories etched in his mind. The dead outpost civilians, their faces twisted in pain from Syndicate experiments. Lyra, her final words urging him to plete the mission even as her body succumbed to the mind-altering on.

  Ethan stopped in his tracks, letting out a slow breath. He knew he wouldn't find pea his quarters, not tonight. He needed a ge of sery, a pce to quiet his mind, even if only temporarily.

  His feet carried him to Nara's , a tina tucked in one of Valeris City's busier streets. The hum of the city was a stark trast to the silence of the pound he'd infiltrated days ago, but he weled the he familiar buzz of life was grounding in a way that no training simution could match.

  The tina was alive with the sounds of ughter, king gsses, and the soft strum of live musi the er. It was a haven for meraries, traders, and locals alike, a pce where stories of missions and adventures were sed over drinks ay meals. Ethan stepped inside, greeted by the warm glow of hanging lights and the f hum of versation.

  Behind the bar, Nara looked up, her sharp eyes immediately catg sight of him. She offered a smile, waving him over as she finished p a drink for another er. Ethan made his way to the ter, nodding briefly at a few patrons whnized him.

  "Well, if it isn't Valeris' D-Rank," Nara said as Ethan slid onto a stool. "Word travels fast around here, Walker. gratutions on the promotion."

  Ethan gave her a polite nod. "Thanks, Nara. Just needed a drink tonight."

  She tilted her head, studying him for a moment. "Tough day?"

  "Something like that," he replied, his voice low.

  Nara didn't press further, setting a gss of amber liquid in front of him. "First round's on the house. sider it a celebration of your new rank."

  Ethan murmured his thanks, ing his fingers around the gss. The liquid glinted in the light, but his thoughts were far from celebratory.

  As he took a sip, his mind wandered back to Xelthar's pound. The faces of the outpost civilians he'd found there fshed before him, men and women whose lives had been stolen for experiments that twisted both body and mind. The memory of their lifeless bodies, piled like discarded tools, g him.

  His grip on the gss tightened. How could anyone justify such cruelty? The Syndicate's pursuit of power knew no bounds, ahar's operation had been a horrifying glimpse into the depths of their depravity.

  Then there was Lyra. He could still hear her voice, strained but firm, telling him to finish the mission. She'd known she wouldn't make it, yet she'd refused to let that stop him. Ethan had respected her resolve, admired her strength, and now, her absence left a hollow ache he couldn't shake.

  "You're carrying a heavy weight, aren't you?"

  Nara's voice pulled him from his thoughts. She leaned on the ter, her expression softer than usual.

  Ethan looked up, surprised by the question. "It's nothing I 't handle."

  "Is that so?" she said, raising an eyebrow. "Because it looks like you've got the world on your shoulders."

  Ethan exhaled, running a hand through his hair. He wasn't in the mood for a heart-to-heart, but Nara had a way of cutting through pretenses. "Just… thinking about the st mission. Some things you 't unsee."

  Nara nodded, her gaze thoughtful. "I've been there. Believe me, I know what it's like."

  He g her, curious despite himself. "You?"

  She folded her arms, her eyes distant as if recalling a memory she'd tried to bury. "A decade ago. My husband and I ran a small trading post oskirts. It was quiet, peaceful, until some Syndicate thugs decided they wanted what we had. He stood up to them, wouldn't let them take what was ours. They killed him for it."

  Etha a pang of guilt for his earlier dismissiveness. "I'm sorry."

  Nara gave a faint smile, though it didn't reach her eyes. "It broke me for a long time. I couldn't see past the ahe grief. But eventually, I realized something: the best way to honor his memory wasn't to drown in sorrow. It was to live, to make this pce-" she gestured around the tina "a space where people like us could find a moment of peace."

  Ethan was quiet, her words sinking in.

  "You've lost people," Nara tinued gently. "I see it in your eyes. And I'm not saying it's easy, but don't let their memory drag you dow drive you forward. Live, Ethan. Live, because they 't."

  For a momehan said nothing, his gaze fixed on the gss in his hand. Her words resonated in a way he hadn't expected, cutting through the fog of his grief and anger.

  Finally, he looked up, a small, sincere nod. "Thanks, Nara. For the drink, and… for the advice."

  She smiled, patting his arm before moving to tend to another er.

  Ethan finished his drink, the noise of the tina fading into the background as he collected his thoughts. Nara's words lingered, a quiet remihat while loss was iable, how he carried it was his choice.

  He set the gss down and stood, nodding to Nara as he made his way to the door. The night air was cool against his skin as he stepped outside, the bustle of Valeris City a stant hum around him.

  For the first time in days, his mi clearer, the weight on his shoulders a little lighter. He wasn't done grieving for the lost lives, not by a long shot, but Nara's words had given him a sense of dire.

  Tomorrow, he'd be ba the field, ready to take the fight to the Bck Sun Syndicate. But tonight, he let himself find a moment of peace, knowing that the road ahead would demand everything he had to give.