Walking out of the Defensa, Gray was agitated. Federica blew away the Market Dr clients that he had. It's only a matter of time for them to raid the place. Changing his plan, Gray heads to Green St. Remember the map in the office, Green St is south of here, near the most open area in the Entertainment district.
The streets were crowded as the weather cleared up, and the increase in foot traffic was expected. Having difficulty moving around, looking up Gray had an idea. Entering an alleyway, cracking the floor, Gray jumped and cleared multiple stories. Placing a barrier on his feet, Gray had a clear view. Checking his right arm, seemingly normal.
Taking a deep breath, Gray took a leap. Feeling the wind brush against him, the sense of freedom built up inside him. Place the second barrier, and he pushes off, gaining more momentum. Passing multiple buildings and noticing the buildings were becoming tall, Gray places the third barrier gaining more altitude. Bracing himself, Gray landed on top of a building.
In front of him was a tower, but the design was odd. The tower seems to be made out of limestone with columns engraved evenly spaced around, as the tower thins near its top, but at its base had pipes in and out of the tower and went under the street. It emitted a purple glow, which Gray recognized as Aether particles. It is also heavily guarded, at most letting people around it reach the other side of the plaza.
Looking at the street layout, it seemed to match the one on the map, but the amount of foot traffic there was, Gray had to scale into an alleyway, using two more of his barriers to get down without being seen.
Exiting the alley and walking among the crowd, Gray noticed something. Seeing a group about his age, taking a photo, but the strange thing was that they all had black veins and showed them off to the camera. Looking at the person in front of him, also the same age, they had black veins on their neck showing off to the person next to them. The more he looked the more disgusted Gray was.
"Why? Isn't the surface supposed to be peaceful? Why do they have early symptoms of dead veins? Why do they look so proud to have it? Why?"
Gary was rapidly breathing, and his heart was racing. Clenching his chest, he moved closer toward a building. Leaning against the wall, as memories flood his mind.
"Please… help… me." a voice cried as a twisted smile formed alongside the black veins creeping along its face. "Why are you looking like that?"
Snapping back into reality Gray slowed down his breathing to regain his composure and let go of his chest. Moving away from the wall, Gray spotted a crowd gathering near a vendor.
The vendor was small with newspapers stacked outside while magazines were neatly arranged on the side. The vendor was placed near a Cafe, and tables and chairs are nearby, attracting more customers. There was a TV hung on the vendor that everyone's eyes were glued to while it played a broadcast.
Watching the broadcast, it was a woman, well-dressed, sitting down, crossing her legs, and having a forced smile. And sitting across her is the person who was being interviewed, a man with blonde hair, dressed in a suit. The headline read "Adrian Waller planning to buy the Rover INC."
"Mr.Waller I understand you and Rover both companies work under the Aether extraction, but can you tell us what causes the stock of the Rover to have a drastic crash?" She said in a pleasant tone.
"Sure thing Ms.Kari," Adrian said with confidence.
"The Rover company had a series of mismanagement. Just recently a town had power outages, and the cost was poor maintenance. One of the transfer pipes that carries Aether particles had a leak. The particles went to fill up the source of the leak, causing a buildup that eventually blew up the pipe. There was also corruption within the company; embezzlement, fraud, buying cheap material, the abuse of employees, but again that for most big companies, unlike mines."
Kari gripped her hands tightly without changing her expression. Clearing her throat, she asked, "How are you sure that there is no corruption in your company?"
Adrian finds her comment amusing, covering his mouth just to stop himself from laughing, but disguising it as a way that looks like he was thinking.
Uncovering his mouth, he placed his hand on his chin, and with a smile, he said, "For me liars give themselves quite easily. The way they breathe, where they look, their emotions, and the subtle movements. Liars are easy to find when you look for details that give them away. Isn't that right Kari"
Kari was unfazed by his answer; putting on a face was nothing new to her. Continuing to speak in a pleasant tone, she asked her final question, "What are your plans after purchasing the Rover company?"
"It's simple, expansion. This society runs on Aether Ruins that power not just the homes but our livelihood. Some towns are currently using one of our Ruins, and yet there are towns that have no Ruins. That is the reason why, and that is what separates me from the other company. I expand for the people."
Both crowds from the vendor and the set started cheering as Kari began to say her farewell to the city of Mensford and to her audience, and the hope to see them again next week, and just like that, the broadcast ended.
Deep in thought Gray was processing the interview. By the sound of it, Rover might have a connection with Monarch, but again, the way that Adrian presents himself with both confidence and arrogance. His words are targeted at his competitors and perseverance to the people. Rover, without a doubt, is corrupted, but Adrian, for someone willing to say this for approval, is just as bad.
Speaking with the owners of the vendor, Gray asked, "Where is Green St?" With a look of disgust, the owners pointed across the plaza.
Crossing the plaza, Gary entered Green St, and the sight was unexpected. Unlike the plaza filled with people, stores, and lights. Green St looked abandoned, trash filled the streets, the stores here had been boarded with graffiti on them, and the roads looked like they hadn't been paved in years. No wandered the vendor was disgusted
Due to the poor state of the building, he couldn't tell if he was going in the right direction, and Gray only memorized the map for the street, not the exact location.
Crossing the street, laughter was heard. Two men came out of the corner, one was tall with a larger build, his hand was placed on the other, small and frail looking, he gave an expression like the world was collapsing. Instead of confronting them. Gray decided to follow them.
Maintaining his distance Gray followed them for several minutes, eventually leading him to a staircase that went into the underground subway station. Before going down. Gray looked to his right seeing an abandoned butcher shop that had an eleven barely visible.
A faint purple glow illuminated the subway, and it looked no different from outside, with large piles of debris on the track, multiple puddles of water, and fallen pillars. There was an Aether pipe that was given the purple glow, and underneath it were the two men by a metal door.
The tall man knocks on a metal door, and a panel slides open. In a deep voice, he asked, "Do you have an invitation?"
Taking a silver coin out of his pocket, "Will this serve?"
Opening the door, revealing the bouncer who was the same height as the tall man, and letting them both in. Gray waited a few seconds before approaching the door. Knocking on the metal door, the panel slides open. "Do you have an invitation?"
"No, I don't, but how much would this door cost if I broke it down?"
Looking at Gray seeing his thin body. He smirked and said "Nice try." before slamming the panel shut. The bouncer sat down on a stool next to the door, but all of a sudden half the door fell over. Startled, the boucher quickly stood up, Gray walked in and gave him a cold stare.
Collapsing onto the floor and gasping for air, the bouncer felt overwhelmed by the presence of bloodlust. Struggling to lift his head, he asked, "What… are… you?"
Looking at Gray, his face turned pale.
"You're a monster."
For the bouncer, Gray eyes can only be described as those of a killer, taking countless lives, as a crimson aura wraps around him, forming a beast. He was cold and empty, but his soul was raging.
As the breast slowly approaches, showing its fangs. "Where is your boss?" Gray said as he eased his bloodlust allowing the bouncer to breathe properly. Petrified, the bouncer got up almost immediately.
The bouncer escorted Gray through a long corridor, which was lined with Aether pipes running along the right side. Stopping, the bouncer turned left into a brick wall. Placing his hand on one of the bricks and pushing it, a door opened, revealing a staircase that led deeper underground.
"This is how far I can go." Without protest, Gray sighs and walks down the stairs.
Falling against the wall with a sigh of relief, taking a phone out of his pocket, he made a call. "Honey, does your brother still have that job offer?"
Eight years ago
"What is an Ethercore?" Adahlia said in a charismatic tone while showing a slideshow. "Ethercore is a power container in your body, and it is the key factor that gives you the ability in different categories."
Enhancement type: Increase one's or others' physical capabilities, many cause a visible change or transformation to the body.
Creation type: It materializes things from thin air, but without knowing their fundamentals they tend to be weak.
Manipulation: It requires a pre-existing concept, like a lit match just to control the flames.
Specialist: It defines a mix of two out of the three other categories or can't be defined at all.
"These four Ethercore are the main branches that have both strengths and weaknesses."
Enhancement type: is mainly locked to close-quarters combat, but there are cases where boosting allies will increase the overall output.
Creation type: has the most for range, but after creating the desired objects, it cannot be changed.
Manipulation type: is mainly defective, but without a proper source, it can leave the user to defend less.
Specialist types: are complete wildcards.
"Now, on paper, it sounds simple, but the complexity of one ability can go further. For example." Placing her hand on the desk it split in half. Witnessing the demonstration the class was astonished. Clap her hands together. "That's all for today. I'll see everyone next week."
Approaching her, Gray and Kim had puppy eyes while Diaz tried to hold them back. "No," She said, knowing those two were going to ask for more training. She looked away, trying not to fall into their trap, but with one glance, she caved in, hugging them both and agreeing to their demand. Diaz can't believe she fell for it again.
"Alright, I'll show this just once, ok" with two wooden swords in hand, she began to swing her body.