Interstellar Beast Master

Chapter 24: Skyglass Heights I

But never before had he mistaken her. Never before had he called her by the name of his dead wife.

Then again... never before had she slept at his place, trembling from trauma, plagued by nightmares so bad she physically couldn’t sleep.

He stood, stretching his aching body that had spent the night sitting upright. Every joint popped like cheap firecrackers. He moved to check on the little beast-the reason he might just end up changing his entire fate.

Kitsuul was sprawled across the bed, lost in dreamland, a light smile on her fox-like face. Apparently, the feast, of which she’d devoured ninety percent, was treating her just fine.

One of their many unanswered questions about Kitsuul was how exactly she grew by eating. Were the things she consumed even meat? Or were they something else entirely? Was it possible for someone or something, to level up just by devouring lobster?

Either way, learning more about her and Interstellar Beasts in general, depended entirely on today’s mission. The infiltration of ZENTHRA.

Only then would he find out how to empower the little beast and, by extension, himself.

And maybe, just maybe, the impossible mountain that was the Drunken Butcher... wouldn’t seem so impossible after all.

Anastasia stepped out of the bathroom in the same clothes as yesterday, except now she wore her ZENTHRA jacket openly like a badge. Her posture was confident. Sharp. Her eyes focused with purpose as she pushed her glasses up her nose. The woman who’d cried her soul out last night? Nowhere to be found.

She glanced at his disheveled figure before speaking.

"Get everything. Get changed. I’m going to confirm the equipment."

"Mmm..." Damian gave a nod, still mid-stretch, and wandered toward the cramped bathroom. He grabbed a change of clothes from the even smaller closet, moving like muscle memory had taken over.

In the corner of his eye, he noticed Anastasia opening the tech crates. She glanced briefly at him just as his shirt came off before the bathroom door shut completely. Her eyes flicked back to her screens without a word.

—

By the time Damian finished surviving the dreadfully cold shower, he stepped out combing his dark hair and fully dressed in his usual black gear.

And then he stopped.

His entire bedroom was now... a tech bunker.

High-tech computers with specs he couldn’t begin to comprehend filled every corner of the room. Anastasia sat at the center like a spider in a digital web, already connected to half the machines.

He recognized one thing- the Neuro VYPER-19 that was a sleek AI-integrated laptop hybrid.

The rest? Complete gibberish to him.

Without looking away from the screens, she spoke.

"Your apartment’s so small, your bed is the biggest surface to set up on. I’ve confirmed the NeuronEdge-99 Neural Console, UmbraNode CloakChip, and the Cypher Root Core Key. Everything I need to breach ZENTHRA’s systems undetected. It’s all ready. Now it’s on you. Are you ready to do it?"

She asked it calmly, like nothing from last night ever happened.

Damian studied her closely, then asked seriously, "Are you feeling okay?"

Her reply came just as calm.

"Yeah. I can’t be crying every day. We’ve got shit to do, and we’re the only ones who can do it. I’ve set the system to auto-copy every file. So now... we go."

...!

They could go.

From the Hollow Stacks, straight toward the Skyglass Heights.

Many had made that journey—some Stackborn lucky enough to land low-level jobs somewhere in the depths of Ebonreach Metropolis.

Even Damian used to do odd gigs at the library junction, perched between the Stacks and the Heights.

But today was different.

"I’m actually...fucking nervous," Damian admitted, watching his hands shake slightly as the elevator descended.

Anastasia gave him a side glance, then nodded. "Good. Means you’re still cautious. Not cocky. The second you go in thinking nothing will go wrong—that’s when it all does. That nervousness? Might just save your life."

He nodded slowly. She wasn’t wrong.

He glanced again at the new message scrawled on the inside of the elevator:

[This elevator has two modes: ’Might Make It’ and ’Final Destination.’ Guess which one it is today?]

These ominous messages were becoming a regular thing. He still didn’t know who had time to keep posting them, but one day, he would find out.

"You ready?" Anastasia asked as the elevator doors creaked open.

Damian stretched his neck. The invisible Kitsuul perched on his shoulder, now wide awake and active, shimmered her veil over him again—he vanished instantly.

"I’m ready," he said with resolve.

...!

And with that, he stepped forward. Anastasia followed at his side.

They were off.

To the Skyglass Heights.

—

The Skyglass Heights!

The epitome of wonder and wealth that made up a major portion of Ebonreach Metropolis, stretching hundreds of miles and housing tens of millions of people.

Just thirty miles into the Heights, nestled in its corporate heart, stood a monument to fear and power—ZENTHRA.

A grandiose building not far from the elevated line that Damian and Anastasia traveled, the Skyrail of Glass- a levitating high-speed mag-line bridging two worlds.

From the rusted veins of the Hollow Stacks to the gleaming bones of the Heights, the Skyrail cut through the city’s vertical maze like a blade of silent light- precise, clean, and mercilessly surveilled.

Damian and Anastasia stepped off at the very back of the Skyrail, its Mirrorsteel Alloy surface shimmering against the skyline like liquid mercury.

The train was divided into three main classes.

Lower-Class Compartments—nicknamed "Stack Rider Cars"—were made of dark steel, flickering neon route maps, and standing-room only. Surveillance drones hung like spiders from the mesh ceilings.

On this ride, only Anastasia was visible—her ZENTHRA uniform ensuring she wasn’t questioned.

Ads bombarded them: synthetic nutrition pills, limb upgrades, skyflesh implants. The windows? Tinted, of course—so the poor couldn’t see the world they were heading into.

After all, they can’t show the lower class too much of the riches—even if they’re technically riding into it!