Star Rail: The Aeon Hunters

Once far enough, the Trailseekers huddled together on bench near the fountain. The sound of rushing water and the tram nearby muffled their speech.

"I detect the presence of the Stellaron near and around the Supreme Guardian," Dan Heng explained. "Unlike Stella, this Stellaron is unstable, just like most Stellaron found in nature,"

March nodded. "And these Fragmentium monsters and the eternal freeze, those are also the byproduct of the Stellaron, right?" she looked down in deep thought. "In other words, more than likely, Madam Cocolia is under the control of the Stellaron too…"

Stella looked down in deep thought. The two are essentially talking about her right now, or at least something that is indirectly related to her. Should she feel bad for what this Stellaron is doing to this planet? Then again, they aren't exactly the good guy, right?

"Stella," March said suddenly. "We're gonna have to get the Stellaron, one way or another, but…" she gave her a smile. "We're not in a hurry, so don't think too hard about it, ne?"

Something warm spread across Stella's chest after hearing that. She nodded and took a deep breath. She began looking around at the scenery around her. The city of belobog and all its glory. Just take it all in, don't think too hard about things beyond her control…

It was then that she noticed a very familiar face walking into the Neverwinter Workshop. A little girl wearing a white hoodie with a pair of cat-like ears on top of it.

"Is that Lynx?" Stella asked.

"Yeah," March replied. "We're gonna visit that place soon too, but I think we should wait until Lynx left. I need to fabricate our second meeting after all."

Stella nodded understandingly. The word truth really don't exist in March's dictionary. To her, it's say what people want to know and need to believe.

After a while Lynx stepped out of the workshop. March motioned at Stella to walk up to her, giving her a thumbs up as she did so.

Stella nodded and walked up to Lynx. The little girl saw her coming and looked down nervously. "Umm, hi…" she muttered.

"It is I, Stella of the Trailseeker!" Stella announced before smiling sheepishly. "Anyway, we met your brother and the Supreme Guardian."

Lynx gave her soft chuckle. "I hope big bro didn't put you into too much trouble," she looked around. "Where's Miss March and Mister Dan Heng?"

"Your brother is great, just a bit scary…" Stella said while leading Lynx to the bench where Dan Heng and March is waiting. "Wait… huh?"

Only to find nobody there.

"Were they supposed to be here?" Lynx walked towards the bench and picked up a piece of paper on top of it. "I found something…"

"Alright newbie, your first mission as the new recruit is to learn from the locals! Explore the city, the history, the culture, and everything else. We'll see you when the time is right. Love, March 10th," Lynx read the paper out loud.

Inside, Stella felt a sudden thrill rush through her. All this time, both Dan Heng and March have done all the talking. But now, she's all by herself, to explore this place and keep up the cover.

"Well then Lynx," Stella sighed and turned to Lynx. "Can you help me with the exploration of this city?"

Lynx nodded. "Yes, I did say that I can introduce you to someone," she looked at the Everwinter Monument. "There, let's start there first,"

The two walked to the Everwinter Monument where a girl in Silvermane Guard uniform is leading a whole bunch of children in what seems to be a school field trip.

"Oh, she's busy," Lynx muttered. "Maybe we should…" she turned to Stella only to find her gone. She looked back at the group of children and saw Stella perfectly blending among them.

"So, let me introduce myself. I'm the Intelligence Officer for the Silvermane Guards, and a temporary guide for the "A Journey Through Belobog's History" program. My name is Pelageya Sergeyevna," the girl introduced herself to the crowd of children. "But you can call me Pela," she added.

"Yes~ Miss~ Pela~" the children, including Stella, said in perfect sync.

Pela glanced at Stella in slight annoyance. "...And perhaps the grownups among us could refrain from acting like children?"

Lynx winced a little as she watched it all from a far.

"Okay guys, take a look over here: This is Everwinter Monument. It was erected to commemorate the mighty Architects," Pela began her lecture on the Everwinter Monument. Stella paid full attention on her lecture, finding it pretty useful for her very first mission.

"So, any questions?" Pela asked.

Stella raised her hand. "What are Aeons?"

Pela raised an eyebrow at that question. "A bit out of scope of this field trip, but an interesting question," she paused for a moment. "Aeons are deities who govern some fundamental rule of mortal existence. Here in Belobog we follow Qlipoth, the Aeon of Preservation. They are the ones who graced the Architect into overcoming the Eternal Freeze," she explained.

Stella took note of that.

"Any other questions?" Pela asked.

"What are these made out of?" Stella gestured at the blue crystal all over the Everwinter Monument.

"It's Geomarrow that's undergone a change in color. The color of Geomarrow is related to the environmental temperature during its refinement," Pela explained.

"What's Geomarrow?"

"They are the main power source used to power all of our appliances. Including the heaters that kept us warm and fight the Eternal Freeze. Geomarrows are the very lifeblood of Belobog and kept the civilization alive."

"Where do you find these Geomarrows?"

"They are mined underground. Some pe…" Pela caught herself, as if she almost said something she shouldn't. "We have remotely controlled robots underground mining the Geomarrows,"

Stella took note of her near blunder. "That is all the questions I have, thank you, miss pela~"

Pela rolled her eyes. "You're welcome," she turned to the children. "What about you guys? Any questions? Go ahead and ask, we're not in a hurry."

Stella walked back towards Lynx who is mouthing apologies to Pela. "We can talk to her once her shift is done," Lynx said. "Let's not disturb her work," she looked around looking for somewhere interesting for Stella to do her research.

The two made their way around the city of Belobog. The Golden Theater in particular was interesting, there's an actress standing idly in front of the entrance who were quite cooperative for an interview. There's some preachers near the Goethe Hotel and more.

"What are they doing there?" Stella asked.

Lynx glanced at the alleyway behind the Geothe Hotel. "It's… it used to be the Backwater Pass. But now that area is off limits due to the corrosion," she watched as a man came running, begging and screaming for the guards to let them through. "The guards have a stern order not to let anyone into there."

Despite saying this, Lynx was noticeably disturbed at the sight of the man. A proof of property is basically your entire wealth and housing combined. Without it, the man truly has nothing. Added to the fact that this place can be very, very cold during the night, not having a proper roof to sleep in is death sentence.

"Oh right, I should probably take you to the Neverwinter Work…" Lynx's words faltered when Stella, once again disappeared. She looked at the guards and saw the Stellaron already conversing with them. "Oh come on…"

"Excuse me," Stella stepped between the guards and the distressed man. "My name is Stella, a researcher under the orders from Madam Herta. I have the express permission from the Supreme Guardian to conduct thorough research on the city, may I pass through this place?"

The guards turned to Stella, a surprised look on their faces. "Ma'am, the path ahead is swarming with Fragmentum Monsters, no one is allowed to step foot into this place,"

Stella simply smiled. "Don't worry, I can take care of myself,"

The guards looked at each other for a moment. "Alright, ma'am, please stay here, we'll dispatch another guard to protect you," he told her while the other went running off somewhere towards the fort.

"Thanks!" Stella then turned to the distressed man and lowered her face. "Hey, you seem to have left something in there," she asked him. "Can you tell me where it is so I can pick it up for you while I'm in there?"

The man almost cried in relief. "Oh thank the Aeons! Thank you so much for your offer," he took a deep breath to regain his composure. "My proof of property is located in a blue house near the Leisure Plaza. It's a document hidden inside a chest beside the bedroom upstairs… You can take anything that meets your fancy, just please find my proof of property,"

"Alright sir, don't worry, I'll bring it back to you if I find it,"

With that, Stella returned back to Lynx who gazed at him with wide eyes.

"Did you…" Lynx looked down. "Did you do that for research or because… you want to help that man?"

"Yes," Stella replied with a grin. "Anyway, Lynx, you wanna come? It might be dangerous and we might find some strange stuff in there, what do you think?"

Lynx couldn't help but chuckle at the way she worded it. 'Dangerous and strange stuff', that's just something that she couldn't resist. "Of course, what kind of explorer I am if I were to refuse a call to an adventure," she looked around hastily. "I really hope the guards here don't recognize me though…"

After a while, a few Silvermane Guards came walking in. "Stella from the Trailseekers, is it?" the one at the front spoke. "We are the guards tasked to protect you in your research within the Backwater Pass,"

"Pleasure to be working with you!"