Blake and Innu were waiting for the sky to drop. Both of them were rather nervous; based on the time, there was still an hour left until their meeting was to take place. The two of them were on the rooftop of an apartment building.
After getting through the door of a storage room, there was a large square crate. It wasnât a regular crate; the outside was reinforced in thick metal, and if a regular person tried to open such a thing, it would be impossible.
Heading forward, Blake lifted the sleeve of his shirt, revealing a type of brace underneath that covered half of his forearm. As he tapped it against the crate, the sound of compressed air was heard, and the lid lifted up.
âWill you look at that, they came through for us,â Blake said.
Inside the crate itself, right at the top, two masks could be seen as well with other items, such as the suit they would wear that was plated in certain areas. Pulling off the top layer, they noticed there were several more things underneath.
âTake everything, weâre going to need it,â Roman commented as he was already dressed in his Altered Hunter uniform. Covered head to toe in the strange costume, the only part of him that was open was his shoulder where he had five stars tattooed on display.
On his back, he had what appeared to be a trident. Three pointed ends that were tipped in a green color.
âWhoa, you two boys look good, and itâs nice to see you with something a bit different for a change,â Roman commented.
Innu was holding onto two axes in his hand, one of them the base of it red, the axe from Damion, as for the other, it had a strange black and white pattern to it. The handle itself was made of dark iron, while at the very top, the bladed part wasnât metal but was more of an ivory-like color.
âItâs really light,â Innu said as he swung the axe and then flipped it and held the handle again.
âYou guys have been given five-star hunter gear since you were in the special class. Top-of-the-range masks, the suit can take quite a hit from Alteredâs, absorbing a large amount of the impact as well.â
âItâs crafted with special fiber from an old beast, apparently, which is why we donât have so many of those,â Roman answered. âIt shows how much trust Edvard is putting in the two of you, and you need to show him that he wasnât wrong about putting that trust in you.â
Blake carefully placed his two red swords by his side into the sheaths that would dangle by his legs. Despite being able to, he hadnât changed weapons. There was something about the red-bladed swords that he could feel were right for him.
The power in them, so he kept them. As for Innu, he had lost one of his axes in the fight against the Phoenix Gang; Sin had melted it. So he needed something to replace it, and one of the axes was his current reward.
âI can still place Qi in this weapon like the other axe. The power is coming back inside me as well, so itâs definitely a beast weapon. I wonder if thereâs anything else this thing can do?â
Right now, Innu even wanted to test it with his telekinesis powers, but he didnât do so in front of Roman. Roman still had no idea of the full capabilities of Innu.
âYou boys look different. You know, when I heard that Edvard gave you special permission to leave in the middle of all of this, I wondered why he was treating you in such a way,â Roman said. âLooking at you now, I might know the reason, but you still havenât proven yourselves; itâs time for us to move.â
Roman took the lead as he ran and then leaped from one rooftop and landed on the other, rolling as he hit the ground. It wasnât the leap of a normal person unless they were either getting powers from the weapons they used, an Altered, or knew how to use Qi in some way.
Roman looked back for a moment, but he saw both Innu and Blake jumping fiercely after him, clearing a ten-meter gap and landing on the roof. Unlike him, they didnât even roll.
âThis is not a contest,â Roman commented.
âWe never thought it was,â Innu replied.
Roman gave a cheeky wave as he tapped his mask and continued to move through the city. They didnât know when they would run into Altered, or⊠not quite Altered that they were going against.
Up ahead, he could see the large shopping mall next to the Botanical Garden. The top of it had the shape of what looked like a large flower. The Botanical garden was covered in a dome and a giant glass, making it look like a giant arena on the outside, but they were around the size of four arenas filled with buildings and greenery inside.
That was their ultimate target that they were to head to today, and who knew how strong their enemies would be inside.
âEdvard gave me strict orders. That there was another special crate left in the shopping mall itself. If it got too hard, to hand what was inside to Blake,â Roman thought, glancing behind him.
âHis skills with the sword are unmatched, thatâs for sure, no one can doubt that, and he has a keen sense in tough situations. In fights, he should have been underpowered, but his swordsmanship has gotten him on top.â
âBut⊠that crate, if it has the sword Iâm thinking of inside⊠everyone who has used it has gone mad. Why does Edvard think that Blake will be any different, or are we in that desperate of a situation that we need to use what we can?â Roman thought.
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