[center][abbr=Ace Cadet][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/190924/544c85ab5c75bc61a4bb5ce40dc0caa6.png[/img][/abbr]
[color=salmon]Word Count: 1334 (+3 exp)[/color]
[color=salmon][u]Level[/u]: [b]9[/b] - [u]Total EXP[/u]: 451/90
[sub][i]Thursday Morning[/i][/sub]
[b]Location:[/b] the Frozen Highlands[/color][/center]
As it turned out, sometimes an empty house was just an empty house. A pretty nice one too, with no hidden hostiles or secret death traps.

It was still pretty dim outside when morning rolled around, but there were working clocks around to tell the time once everyone began to rouse themselves. Having slept in the spacious living room, Ace wouldn't have been able to stay asleep once the group got up and around even if he wasn't prone to waking up early. At first he laid still with his eyes closed, just enjoying a peaceful morning in the still relatively warm lodge. The ambient sounds of Seekers waking up and getting ready were more calming to him than he expected, but then again it did make sense. Lately he'd been sleeping solo in rooms all to himself, when back in his world it was more often that he'd bunk with other hunters, or at minimum his handler if they needed to camp out. This soft, early morning noise was nice; a different vibe than communal breakfasts or strategy meetings.

[color=salmon]"Hup!"[/color] Ace said to himself as he swiftly pushed himself up and got to his feet. Yes, the morning feel was nice even with the weather outside, but it couldn't last forever. He wouldn't want it to anyway. It was a quick thing to clean up his sleeping space (just stuff the things he'd left out into his bag and roll up the sleeping mat), so the hunter was redressed and ready to go within a couple minutes. 

[color=salmon]"Good morning everybody,"[/color] he greeted once just about everyone was gathered. Compared to the previous morning, Ace was more chipper today. He hadn't had any issues falling asleep, and his prior worries about being surrounded by so many magic-wielding allies had softened. The amulet Edward had forged for him was even worn properly around his neck rather than tied onto his belt.

Once all of the White Team was prepared and headed out to the coach, the discovery that the stew pot hadn't miraculously filled itself once more had been a pretty big damper on the morning though. There were still the fruits and such that Ace had collected last night, as well as what Ramattra had brought back in a second foray into the woods, plus the travel rations... but it was hardly a filling breakfast, especially when they had to be, well, rationed. 

But! It was fine. They'd been through a couple of towns yesterday so it stood to reason they would find at least one today. First chance he got and the Cadet was prepared to spend what remained of his zenny on as much food as he could stomach. Or carry. Or both, preferably. He heard Sandalphon's suggestion of hunting, but it really was tougher than it looked to carve off a piece of an animal or monster before it died and turned to ashes. 

He had been getting practice doing just that though, so Ace nodded to her and said, [color=salmon]"got it, boss."[/color]

This time Ace had opted to ride outside of the stagecoach this go around as given the carriage's size the driver's seat was more than wide enough to fit multiple people. He doubted his sense were as good as Heismay's but they were pretty good and he could still help keep watch. Not to mention it would be easier to quickly disembark to grab anything interesting or edible. 

Maybe they'd get lucky with some spirits, since sometimes they turned into food or entire plated meals. 

Either way, as part of his morning preparation the matched pair of blades (if one could really call them that) obtained from one of the leviathan spirits were somewhat eagerly hung at the Cadet's waist, meaning the the longsword Yato had been bumped to being sheathed at his back, and his native Master Bang was tucked into his pack. Even now it didn't feel wrong to hope to get a chance to use the new weapons soon, but even so he kept the thought to himself. He'd gladly venture out to test the dual blades if he got the chance, but he wouldn't invite danger onto the rest of the team if he could help it - so when the morning's journey got underway and nothing rushed to attack or sprang an ambush on the Seekers, he couldn't be too disappointed. 

And it even happened that the carnivorous impossible creatures did just fine on the hunting front, being able to strike out and then catch back up with the stagecoach much more easily than a human could. So it was that Ace had little to do while on the move but lean back and take in the snowy landscape. 

Eventually the Seekers did make it to another town, though it didn't seem likely there'd been any kind of grocery or restaurant in this one. As the coach slowed Ace stood up with the intent to hop down and explore it anyway. He patted Edward's shoulder as he disembarked, saying, [color=salmon]"let me know if you want a break driving today. I think I can get the hang of it pretty fast."[/color]

Besides his natural affinity for adaptation, he'd watched the man drive the steeds for long enough that he could at the very least sub in if needed... after getting through those weird ramps, though.

While Edward fiddled more with the creature chamber, and Tenna and Ramattra tried their hands at making and setting traps (only for Ace to let them know there were more robust traps in the coach, since neither had actually been around when they'd been purchased), Ace poked around the town. Besides the mammals it seemed totally abandoned. The hunter poked his head into various wilting buildings to see if he could spot anything interesting before making his way to the huge furnace to inspect it. 

[i]Place is a ghost town probably because it broke,[/i] the Cadet thought to himself as he walked up to it, looking straight up at its highest smoke stack before drawing his eyes back down its metal surface to the big door on its front. It look just like a regular furnace as far as he could tell, just giant sized. What could have happened to it? Was it fed in some special way that malfunctioned?

Ace walked around it, the change in perspective making something hanging on the cold furnace catch his eye. It was a little awkward to spot given his low vantage point and the darkness of the cloudy, snowing morning, but there seemed to be [url=https://oyster.ignimgs.com/mediawiki/apis.ign.com/the-midnight-walk/5/5e/Screenshot_2025-05-15_12-02-51.png?width=814&format=jpg&auto=webp&quality=80]chains[/url] wrapped around it. Pale, ghostly chains that obscured the hatch that would have otherwise been used to feed the fire inside. Was that the reason it had gone out, or had someone sealed it up after the fact?

[color=salmon]"Huh,"[/color] Ace murmured, intrigued. There wasn't a way to tell when the furnace had been chained up, but if they were gone then maybe it would bring some life back to this town: a warm little bastion in the Frozen Highlands. 

...or not, as the hunter quickly discovered the chains were very, very durable. He'd tried shooting them with a few arrows (so as not to startle his allies or anything else in the area with gunshots), but even if they were strong enough to pierce armored hides and metallic robot chassis they left not a scratch on the chains. After a moment to steel himself into getting closer to the lowest hanging chains he'd tried again with the Yato, and with the severed arm of that crimson Naytiba, but it was the same result. In other words, not something he could do anything about.

Anything besides report it, at least. [color=salmon]"That big stove is locked up tight, I couldn't get the binds to budge,"[/color] he said as he regrouped with the others, nodding towards the furnace. [color=salmon]"I thought it would have been nice to get it running again, but... guess that idea went up in smoke."[/color]

Though if anyone else planning to investigate or take a crack at it before they moved on, the Cadet would definitely accompany them to see if anything came of it.