They'd only been walking for about ten minutes when the ground began to shake.

Tatehan froze, his senses sharpening.

"Get ready," he muttered.

And then the creature appeared.

It burst from behind a cluster of boulders, charging straight at them with terrifying speed.

The rhinoceros monster was even bigger than the hologram had suggested, easily four meters tall at the shoulder, with a body covered in thick, stone-like armor plating. Its six eyes glowed with a sickly yellow light, and its massive horn jutted from its snout, spiraling upward and glowing faintly with energy.

It roared, a deep, guttural sound that echoed through the canyon.

And then it charged.

Tatehan reacted instantly.

He raised his hand and activated his gravity manipulation, increasing the gravitational pull around the creature. The rhino slowed, its legs struggling against the sudden weight pressing down on it.

But it didn't stop.

The creature was strong, stronger than Tatehan had anticipated. It pushed through the increased gravity, its horn aimed directly at him.

"Move!" Riven shouted, raising her explosive rifle and firing.

The shot hit the creature's side, detonating on impact and tearing a chunk out of its armor. The rhino roared in pain, stumbling slightly, but it kept coming.

Tatehan's heightened perception kicked in.

Time seemed to slow.

He could see every detail, the way the creature's muscles bunched as it prepared to ram, the trajectory of its horn, the exact moment it would collide with him.

He had maybe half a second.

With his enhanced reflexes, Tatehan sidestepped smoothly, moving just out of the creature's path.

The rhino thundered past him, its horn missing by inches.

And then Tatehan struck.

His armor's kinetic absorption had been active the entire time, storing energy from every impact, every movement. Now, he released it.

He lunged forward, his fist glowing faintly with stored kinetic energy, and drove it into the side of the rhino's face.

The impact was devastating.

The creature's head snapped to the side, armor cracking under the force. It staggered, dazed, and Tatehan didn't give it a chance to recover.

He hit it again, a second punch, this one even harder.

The rhino's face caved in, bone and stone splintering under the blow. Its legs buckled, and it collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud, dust billowing around its body.

Tatehan stood over it, breathing hard, his fist still glowing faintly.

The creature was dead.

Riven lowered her rifle slowly, staring at him.

"Damn," she muttered.

Tatehan dismissed the glow from his fist and walked over to the creature's body. He crouched beside it, examining the horn.

It was still intact, glowing faintly with that same internal light.

He gripped it firmly and twisted, breaking it free from the creature's skull. The moment it came loose, it glowed brightly, and a system notification appeared in his vision.

[Rare Horn Core Acquired]

Tatehan smiled faintly, then reached into the creature's chest cavity, searching for the second core. His hand closed around something solid and warm, and he pulled it free—a smaller core, red and glowing.

[Beast Core Acquired]

He stored handed both cores to Riven who collected it with shock.

The fight didn't even take up to a minute, it might be thirty seconds for all she knew.

She was still staring at him, her expression unreadable.

"What?" Tatehan asked.

Riven tilted her head slightly.

"You have more than just gravity manipulation, don't you?"

Tatehan felt a spike of panic rise in his chest.

"Which ability did you see?" he asked, trying to keep his voice casual but feeling his heart rate pick up.

Riven looked at him, her expression thoughtful.

"The kinetic stuff," she said. "When you punched that thing. Your fist was glowing. That's not gravity manipulation."

Tatehan laughed, maybe a bit too quickly, a bit too forced, like she was being silly.

"Oh, that," he said, waving his hand dismissively. "I forgot to tell you. It comes with the armor. It absorbs kinetic energy and lets me release it. It's technically not an ability since I can't use it without the armor."

Riven blinked, then nodded slowly.

"Ohhh," she said. "Okay. That makes sense."

She grinned.

"That's pretty cool, though. Useful."

Tatehan felt the tension in his shoulders ease.

"Yeah," he said. "It's saved my ass more than once."

Riven clapped him on the shoulder.

"Well, let's get these cores sold before someone else shows up looking for a piece of this thing."

———

An hour later, Tatehan sat in a coffee shop near the center of Waython Hollow, sipping from a steaming cup and munching on a donut.

The place was small but cozy (the place Riven and brought him to when he first came to Waython hollow), it had a few tables scattered around and a large screen mounted on the wall displaying the local news.

The broadcast was cycling through stories, something about trade routes reopening, a minor skirmish in the outer settlements, weather patterns shifting in the southern hemisphere.

Tatehan wasn't really paying attention.

He was more focused on the coffee, strong, bitter stuff, but good. And the donut, which was glazed and surprisingly fresh. The Dust Rider was parked outside, gleaming in the afternoon sun.

Riven had gone to sell the cores.

Tatehan had wanted to keep the his core, maybe use it on the spaceship or save it for something important, but he'd decided against it. He needed money. Real money. And opening a bank account required an initial deposit.

Besides, the regular beast core was enough for now.

He'd offered to go with Riven to sell the cores, but she'd waved him off.

"You'd just slow me down," she'd said with a grin. "Trust me. I know the right people."

Tatehan had a sneaking suspicion "the right people" meant black market contacts, dealers who didn't ask too many questions and paid better prices than the official vendors. He didn't press her on it. Some things were better left unasked.

So he sat, sipped his coffee, and waited.

An hour passed.

The news cycled through the same stories twice. A few other customers came and went, a couple of workers in construction gear, an older woman reading a datapad, a teenager who ordered something overly sweet and left immediately.

Tatehan was halfway through his second donut when Riven finally walked through the door.

She was grinning.

"Got it," she said, dropping into the seat across from him.

She pulled out a small credit chit, a sleek card with a digital display showing a number that made Tatehan's eyes widen.

"That's... a lot," he said.

"Told you the horn core was rare," Riven said, sliding the chit across the table. "Your share."

Tatehan picked it up, staring at the number.

It was more money than he'd ever had. Back on Earth, back in his time, this would've been... well, he didn't even know how to compare it. But here, on Mars, in this century? This was enough to live comfortably for months. Maybe longer.

"Damn," he muttered.

Riven laughed.

"Come on," she said, standing. "Let's get you a bank account before you lose that thing."

Opening a bank account turned out to be surprisingly easy.

Riven led him to a sleek building a few blocks away, all glass and steel, with holographic displays advertising investment opportunities and savings rates. Inside, the process was automated. Tatehan stood in front of a terminal, followed the prompts on the screen and all that. He deposited the credit chit.

Within five minutes, he had an account.

Riven stood beside him the whole time, occasionally pointing out which options to select.

"See?" she said when it was done. "Easy."

Tatehan stared at the confirmation message on the screen, then at the new account balance displayed on his wrist interface.

He had money.

Real, actual money.

"Thanks," he said, turning to Riven.

She shrugged.

"No problem. You earned it."

They stepped outside, and Tatehan stretched, feeling a strange sense of relief. One less thing to worry about.

Riven glanced at her own wrist interface, checking the time.

"I should get going," she said. "Got some stuff to handle before tomorrow."

Tatehan nodded.

"Tomorrow morning," he said. "Red Crest Clan base. Don't be late."

"I won't," Riven said.

She stepped forward and gave him a quick hug, brief, but genuine. Tatehan returned it awkwardly, still not quite used to physical gestures like that for the opposite gender.

When she pulled back, she grinned.

"Try not to die before the mission, alright?"

Tatehan smirked.

"No promises."

Riven laughed, then turned and walked off down the street, disappearing into the crowd.

Tatehan stood there for a moment, then mounted the Dust Rider and started the engine.

He'd withdrawn some cash before leaving the bank—actual paper money, physical bills that felt strange in his hands.

The city operated on a mix of digital credits and physical currency. The physical ones were just like Earth had in his time. But the money here was different—foreign, with unfamiliar designs and colors. The bills were printed on some kind of synthetic material that felt almost like fabric, and they had holographic watermarks that shifted when you tilted them.

It was weird. But it was money.

Tatehan decided to explore the city a little.

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