The training room of the Stellaron Hunter's hideout – his new home– was a place that he had gotten to know very well, very quickly.

"Not too bad," Blade commented as he easily subdued their newest member with a combination of his vast experience, skills, and mastery over the sword. The newcomer is ignorant about many things about the cosmos but that was rapidly rectified thanks to Silver Wolf's efforts. The two youngsters had many common topics of interests and could be frequently seen together, although half their conversations were filled with sarcastic remarks, sassy comebacks, or just outright bickering for the sake of bickering.

"Man, no wonder Silver Wolf said that she could speedrun any job as long as you are around," Zind released a slow and painful groan as he slowly sat up after Blade released his hold over him. He might be a clueless ignorant barbarian from the backwater planet of Velura but he's confident in his skills and clearly knows where he lies in terms of combat power. He knows that he's not weak; he could easily overpower Silver Wolf at any time of the day, for instance, it's just that Blade is just too good.

A cold shiver also crawled up his spine when his thoughts wandered over to the few lessons that Kafka "helpfully" volunteered herself to coach him herself. Silver Wolf was right, he would take Blade over Kafka anyday.

"Your mastery over Type energy is coming along well. Skills wise, you are advanced for your age. As for experience… That can only be accumulated with the passing of time, there's no point rushing it."

Blade took a pause to contemplate if there's anything else he's missing out on in his comments to their newest member.

"Your Path… It seems like Preservation, but at the same time it gives me a feeling that it may not be Preservation."

"Blade, you know all this weird talk about Aeons goes over my head. I barely understand half of how this Pathstrider thing works."

"Nevermind," Blade dismissed the suspicion from his mind. He probably was overthinking and besides, what Path his newest colleague strode on is honestly of no concern to him.

"That said, I don't think I ever asked about which Aeon our organisation worships or follows? Is there even one?"

"Terminus, the Aeon of Finality."

"Oh so we do follow an Aeon. And what does it mean by Finality?"

"Terminus is an Aeon that moves backward in time, and prophecies that are destined to be fulfilled all tend to be traced back to Terminus. Terminus and Akivili, the Stellaron Hunters and the Nameless; you can view us as factions with vastly opposite ideologies, like shadow and light, because the concepts of the respective Paths which these Aeons walk upon are in direct conflict with each other."

"I see, I see," Zind stroked his chin in thought. "So no wonder our boss' epithet is the Destiny's Slave and why he can hand out "scripts". It's because he's a Pathstrider of Finality, I take it? An Aeon that travels through time from the future?"

"I have to take on a job tomorrow, so I won't be here to oversee your training," Blade informed Zind with his usual inexpressive voice. "Fortunately, Sam will be back to assist. You can continue to hone your skills under Sam's supervision."

Blade took a small pause as if trying to contemplate if he should add more details, but ultimately did.

"Word of advice, Sam is not very good at holding back. Be… mentally prepared."

And then he's out, leaving a very confused Zind in the training room. Is he supposed to dread his lesson with Sam tomorrow?

It was with these thoughts that Zind fell asleep that night. Thankfully, he had a fruitful rest and he's actually looking forward to meeting the last member of the team which he had not met yet.

And imagine his surprise when he saw who's in the room – no, what was in the room.

"W-W-What is –"

"Greetings, Zind. I am Sam. I was told to supervise and assist in your training in mastering Type energy," the robotic voice of a freaking mecha spoke to him and Zind's mind sputtered to a stop. He already had some inkling of what Sam is thanks to Silver Wolf: Cool metal humanoid, can transform, nice guy overall because he always helped Silver Wolf to help clear her games, and more importantly had a lot of firepower from what he interpreted from Silver Wolf's description of the man – no, mecha.

He had imagined for a very long time how a cool metal humanoid would look like, but he wasn't expecting Sam to be this cool.

"You… You…"

The mecha standing opposite him tilted its head a little but still waited patiently for Zind to complete his sentence.

"... are so darn cool."

"..."

A brief pause of silence filled the air between them. The look of awe in Zind's eyes shone brighter than the rays of the sun. A mecha, a god to honest real-life mecha. He knows gods exist in this universe but he couldn't help but proclaim his thanks to whatever Aeons up there who could hear his voice right now– Terminus Akivili Q-whatever-poth – for granting him the chance to see a real-life mecha with his very own eyes.

"... Sam."

"Yes."

"Can I… touch you?"

"Request denied," Sam's refusal was swift and brutal, one made without hesitation as if it abhorred getting touched with every fibre of its metallic being. "Time is running short, can we get started on our agenda today?"

"Sparring with you to get a better understanding of Type energy, right?" Zind clarified and Sam nodded his metallic head. Zind mentally swore to get himself a similarly cool looking visor that Sam wore, it's too darn cool.

"Come at me with the intention to kill. Anything less wouldn't allow you to beat me," Sam made its advice not out of confidence or arrogance, but merely reciting a factual statement. Zind materialised his energy shields and they appeared with a soft hum, Blade's warning to him yesterday was already long forgotten.

"I'm made out of tough stuff too. I don't want to brag, but I can take a hell lot of beating. Come at me, baby, give me your worst. Pummel the hell out of me."

There was an obvious freezing of Sam's body as if it had no idea what to reply to Zind's (overconfident? overenthusiastic?) claim.

"Are you certain?"

"Come at me, sweetheart, give me all your love. It's not everyday I get to trade punches with a goddamn mecha."

"... I've never heard of such an unreasonable request in my entire life, but sure."

The next thing Zind knew, Sam's metal fist was already inches away from colliding with his face.

" – must have gotten hit too hard on the head. Seriously, which screw did he loosen when he wanted Sam to give me your worst."

"Um, Silver Wolf, we should lower our volume, he's still resting."

"I'd say he deserves it."

Hearing Silver Wolf holding a conversation with an unfamiliar voice was what reached his ears when he finally roused. Argh goddammit, Blade really was right that Sam is not good at holding back. Sam's punches were swift and don't get him started on how Sam can fly, use swords, and blast fire all over the place all at the same time…

In short, so darn cool.

The conversation stopped abruptly and Zind knew that the occupants in the room had noticed that he was rousing. Zind finally managed to open his eyelids which felt like lifting a ton of steel. His vision was still blurry although it steadily regained its focus in a matter of seconds.

"Argh…" He still cannot help but hiss out a painful groan at how sore and painful his body felt, like he got rammed by a train, which honestly wasn't too far off from the truth. He got pummelled by a freakin' mecha for goodness sake. Yes, he asked for it, but he still didn't regret what he asked for.

"Finally awake, bumpkin?" If Zind still felt a little groggy earlier, he was immediately back in tip-top shape upon hearing Silver Wolf's sassy voice. Silver Wolf's sass just had a way of triggering him for some reason and vice versa. "Come at me, baby, give me your worst. Pummel the hell out of me. Pfft," Silver Wolf couldn't conceal the laughter that she tried to smother and failed spectacularly after she repeated what Zind said to Sam back at him. "What gave you the confidence to take on a level 100 boss when you are at level 10? Level diff bro, skill diff bro. Grind some more before taking Sam on!"

"Blah blah blah, at least I was able to go toe to toe with a freakin' mecha for ten whole minutes… I think. Pretty sure you would have been steamrolled in thirty seconds," Zind shot back.

"Trust me, Sam was definitely going easy on you, noob," Silver Wolf retorted. Zind then finally noticed the last occupant in the room and his breath was taken away once again for the second time that day.

So… So… cute…

"Um, hello, I don't think we have met yet. You can call me Firefly," the sweetest girl that Zind had ever met introduced herself with the warmest smile he had ever seen and Zind swore that his heart stopped beating for the second time that day, the first time being when he first laid eyes on Sam earlier. It felt like the room brightened and blinded him when she smiled.

Too… Too bright…

" – ello? Hello? Silver Wolf to bumpkin?" Silver Wolf obnoxiously waved her hand in front of Zind's face and finally caught his attention. "Jeez, the beating Sam gave you must have given you more than just a simple concussion. Should we send you for an X-ray?"

"Hey, don't talk shit about my cool mecha buddy like that," Zind immediately replied in defence to the cool metal humanoid that had landed him here in the sick bay.

"Whoa, now you are buddies with him? Since when?" Silver Wolf asked in mild confusion, her gaze alternating between Zind and Firefly although the look she was giving the girl went unnoticed by Zind since he's still a little concussed. If he did, he might have noticed the anomaly.

"He's a freaking mecha, gremlin. Mecha."

"... And that's why he's your buddy?" Silver Wolf deadpanned, finally realising that her newest gaming buddy must be one of those mecha fans… wonder how he will react after he learns of the truth.

He'd probably love Sam even more. Lol.

"Where's Sam anyway?" Zind asked and looked around, finding nobody here but the three of them.

"About that –" Firefly was about to tell him the truth but her voice was too soft and Zind had also coincidentally immediately moved onto the next topic when it was apparent that Sam wasn't present in the room. Her words went unheard.

"And seriously, gremlin, you didn't tell me that we have another member among the hunters. Hey, Firefly, was it? Name's Zind, nice to meet you. If there's anything that you need help with just let me know, I'd be happy to help out."

"Uh, okay. Nice to meet you too," Firefly meekly shook the hand that Zind offered, whatever she wanted to say previously that was on the tip of her tongue now going back down her throat. Umm, nevermind, Zind's not going anywhere soon. There will be time to clear up the misunderstanding. Now, what he needs most is sufficient rest.

"Firefly was here longer than most of us. She joined after Kafka."

"As a support staff? A nurse? Was that why you never told me about her, cos she's not a combatant?" Zind's conjecture was met by confusion from the two women until Silver Wolf gave Firefly a lookover once more. Medical supplies right beside her, surgical gloves that she had not taken off from her hands when she was helping with treating Zind's wounds earlier, that harmless face and petite frame… Oh, she's starting to see where this misunderstanding arises from now.

"Nurse? I… guess so?" Firefly's words trailed off to a soft hesitant whisper when she thought back to her experiences since she joined the Stellaron Hunters. It's… kind of true that she's not a combatant because Sam is the combatant, not Firefly. She's also very well protected in her armour so she never got injured while doing her jobs, but the same could not be said for her partners. Every single time when they returned from their jobs and someone needed a little patching up she would be the one to do so. She's actually pretty good at the job too.

Now that she looks back, Zind's really not wrong in saying that she's the nurse among the Stellaron Hunters.

"A nurse is a very important job too," Zind nodded his head sagely and Firefly's face started to heat up at the praise. To her, helping to patch up her partners when they were injured is something very natural to her, but now that she's being complimented for it…

It actually… Feels a little good that someone acknowledges her efforts?

"What the hell…" Silver Wolf muttered inaudibly under her breath as she noticed the weird atmosphere between her two friends. What is this? It feels like the air has turned pink all of a sudden. Is this some cheesy teenage high school drama that she's now a side character of? Hoh, once Zind learned that Firefly is Sam and Sam is Firefly…

A sly grin slowly spread across her face as an idea bloomed in her mind. Maybe it would be fun to purposely not correct Zind's misunderstanding that he has for both Firefly and Sam.

Firefly excused herself soon after, almost like she's trying to make an escape with how she's scurrying out of the door, leaving Silver Wolf alone with her newest gaming buddy who immediately shook her by her shoulders once Firefly was out of earshot.

"What?"

"Silver Wolf, I think I'm in love."

"Har?"

"It's love at first sight. She's totally my type," Silver Wolf was rendered utterly speechless at how dreamily Zind proclaimed those words. "Today's my lucky day. I get to fight against the coolest mecha in the universe and I get to meet the girl of my dreams… I can die happy now."

"That's easy. Just throw yourself into space right now," Silver Wolf gave her heartfelt and honest suggestion. "We are followers of Finality, I'm sure finding our endings comes easier for us than most."

"Tch, you are of no help. Where's the bro code? At least give me her number or tell me her likes or dislikes or something. You are a disappointment, Silver Wolf."

"Sis over bros, bro," Silver Wolf gave him a thumbs down. "I have known Firefly far longer than knowing you and seriously, she's a very great girl. Silly, naive, foolish, but if you dare hurt her I will edit you out of existence."

"Not gonna happen. If she needs my credits, she can take it. If she needs my heart, she can have it," Zind stated confidently and Silver Wolf pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"You are like one of those stupid male leads from one of those trashy otome games. The moment you meet the female lead – boom, your IQ drops by a hundred points."

"If she needs my IQ, she can take it too."

"Bruh," Silver Wolf groaned in frustration before deciding to just give up entirely. "You know what? Nevermind, have fun living in your delusions. Go romance her or whatever, I don't care, but – and I'm saying this But with a capital B – you hurt her, break her heart, or make her sad in any way, shape, or form I will freaking learn how to recode your entire DNA if I have to and turn you into chargrill trotter. Geddit?"

"Yes ma'am," Zind saluted the petite hacker and his promise made Silver Wolf feel a little better. Firefly's a very nice person and honestly, Zind is too. The Stellaron Hunters all have their own individual agendas and like Blade once said, by banding together, they reach their goals.

That said, that does not stop them from forming close-knitted personal relationships with each other. Their entire little ragtag group felt a little like a small defunct family, if she has to be honest with herself.

"So…" Zind slowly drew out his words, "what would I have to do to bribe you for you to tell me her likes and dislikes?"

"Making a move already? Bro, just focus on recuperating first, you got pummelled by Sam for frick sake," Silver Wolf scoffed with her arms crossed over her chest. "But… if you really want to know…"

"That game we played yesterday, the five star loot that I got, it's yours."

"She loves oak cake rolls from Penacony."

"Anything else?"

"... The other game we co-op three days ago… the banner of the limited five star character…"

"I will top up your account with enough credits to C6 the shit out of that character."

Silver Wolf's head swivelled towards him so fast that she might have heard a crack. Zind? Topping up her account with his credits? She knows just how much Zind loves his money, this guy can be so infuriatingly stingy with it at times and that's why he's now the newly appointed treasurer of their organisation's funds. She would forever remember how Kafka was all smiles when their funds grew a few more zeroes in their bank accounts just shortly after Zind took over the role of managing it. Her new gaming buddy apparently is very good at managing and growing money, it seems.

Guess he's really serious about wooing Firefly and is not just all talk, no show when he said that Firefly can have his credits.

"She tries to keep up to date with the latest fashion trend. Dresses, lipstick, accessories, those kinds of girly things."

"Okay, anything else …?"

"Ah, hold on, talk later, I need to grind enough to pull for my character's BiS weapon –"

"I will R5 that shit out for you."

"She likes to go out to interact with some wildlife from time to time. Wild grass, berries, butterflies, experience a cool breeze... that sorta thing. She likes to see and touch them for herself from time to time but please take note, Firefly, she… Her body's not exactly in the best of health for reasons that it's not my place to disclose. If you ever bring her to such places please keep an eye out for her."

She then held out her palm expectantly and the smug grin that adorned her face when Zind topped up the bunch of credits into her game account could not be wiped off even if she tried. So many zeroes.

"What a bro you are, bro. Now we are talking," Silver Wolf immediately logged into her game account through her phone and started pulling on the gacha banner. The sound effect of the banner being pulled could be heard loud and clear as Silver Wolf began to chant like the game addict she is.

"Five star five star five star –"

"Sis over bros… yeah, right," Zind rolled his eyes at the reminder of how easily he had bought Silver Wolf's loyalty over and his words were promptly interrupted when Silver Wolf started screaming "ARGH FRICKIN' QI –".

Guess she must have lost her pity. Why is he not surprised?

AN: So I saw a comment that suggested having Zind not associating Firefly and Sam as one entity due to a series of misunderstandings and I'm like… Hey I like that idea. I think it's gonna be fun, Aha approves, so thanks for the prompt.

So the newest update just dropped and I like Divergent Universe cos it make things easier for me to farm the 2-set relic thingy (dk what its called) for my SR account that's like perma stuck at equilibrium level 50 (Any higher and I don't think I can even complete story quests or grind for anything lol). The good thing is that I successfully pulled Firefly and holy shit, she does a lot of damage in Divergent Universe. She's worth the stellar jades you spend on her as a F2P player and now I'm trying to see if I can get Ruan Mei to come home as well. If you want a good DPS as a F2P and are unsure if Firefly is worth it, look no further. Just pull for Firefly.

May all Firefly wanters be Firefly havers!