11 Preparations are essential (2/2)
Mel Melanie-
Rank: Scrub
Class: ???
Affinity: Ally
Type: Goldfish and old-maid specialist
Club: Card
Jessica Volz-
Rank: Scrub
Class: ???
Affinity: Ally
Type: Poker specialist
Club: Card
Eden Ions-
Rank: Scrub
Class: ???
Affinity: Ally
Type: Memory Game
Club: Card
Nora ???-
Rank: ???
Class: ?
Affinity: Ally?
Type: All-rounder
Club: Co-Leader of Card Club
Racheal ???-
Rank: ???
Affinity: Playmate
Type: ???
Club: Office Guide
Kirsten Luvlin-
Rank: Legend (7)
Class: 1A.U
Affinity: Playmate
Type: Brawler
Club: ???
Skylar Novaa-
Rank: Polished
Class: ???
Affinity: Friend
Type: Runner
Club: Track Club New Captain
Mina Novva-
Rank: ???
Class: ???
Affinity: Friend
Type: ???
Club: ???
Amorira Aro-
Rank: Polished
Class: ???
Affinity: Enemy
Type: Runner
Club: Former Captain of Track Club
Barron Vexon the fourth -
Rank: Legend(8)
Class: 1A.U
Affinity: Rival
Type: ???
Club: ???
Lira ???-
Rank: ???
Class: 1A.U
Affinity: Ally
Type: ???
Club: ???
Yumo ???-
Rank: ???
Job: Owner of the clothing shop
Affinity: Business Partner
Type: ???
Natalie ???-
Rank: ???
Job: Owner of the Accessories shop.
Affinity: Business Partner
Type: ???
Freya Mendoza-
Rank: ???
Job: Owner of the Bakery Shop
Affinity: Ally
Type: ???
Mary Mendoza-
Rank: ???
Class: ??? / Daughter of Freya Mendoza
Affinity: Friend
Type: ???
Deyo ???-
Rank: ???
Job: Owner of Arms and Armor
Affinity: Business Partner
Type: ???
Henry ???-
Rank: ???
Job: Butler for the Marvin family
Affinity: Ally
Type: ???
Club: ???
Cira Marvin-
Rank: ???
Class: ??? / Daughter of Maverick Marvin
Affinity: ???
Type: Brawler
Club: ???
Mimi ???-
Rank: ???
Job: Hostess of Gambit's Arcade
Affinity: Fan
Type: ???
Vex ???-
Rank: ???
Class: 1A.U
Affinity: ???
Type: ???
Club: ???
The male would scroll through the list which held more names to it than last he checked. Stopping on Kristen some more information had also been updated. It was just Coco had stated from earlier that she would automatically update his Companions list with people he interacted with. Tapping upon Kristen's name a text bot would appear that read.
'Invite to party' 'Whisper' 'Track'
From here he figured he would just put the other two options on hold and press the 'track' option. It was then a smooth guiding stream of light appeared on his UI for him to follow as well as another text box.
'Passive Skill acquired. Tracker Lv. Max.'
Another maxed skill? Just what was he in his previous lives anyway? Regardless, he was thankful for the fact that this skill was maxed. If it wasn't who knew how effective the tracking would have been. ”Nice! Looks like you'll be able to follow them all the way from here. You should get going.” Coco stated in which Riyku nodded and proceeded out the bathroom door. Since the lights weren't on he seemed to blend right into the darkness; if anything the moonlight from outside was the only glimmer that allowed anyone to even see him at this point. Taking note that Racheal was still asleep he would hastily move out of the door but remained quiet nonetheless down the hall to the elevator he went. Only to race out of the building and down the road; of course, with his attire the way it was he would probably be mistaken for an actual thief. So the male would maneuver onto a rooftop of the housing around. Thankfully this area did have housing which seemed to connect with the shopping district that the tracker was leading him on. So he was able to keep from the view of anyone while making way towards Kristen's Location. ”Don't do anything too rash...” He muttered under his breath.
Meanwhile, Kristen and Vex seemed to have already been investigating the lower quarter. The place was a slum. Law did not seem to reach down it; since around every corner happened to be either drug deals or prostitution going on. Sick families also seemed to have been trying to make a living down here as well. It was like the poverty of the country. ”Shouldn't we head back.” Vex seemed to tremble lightly as they drew eyes from around. Kristen held her nerve though; ”No. We need to find Lira before anything happens.” Kristen replied just as firm as her resolve had been. ”But... What if we get into trouble? Who will help us?” Vex seemed nervous to no end. ”I've already sent word. If anyone... I know he'll come.” Kristen stated boldly; with full confidence that who she was talking about would indeed show up. ”Who?” Vex asked, but before Kristen could answer a group of bandit looking men surrounded them. Hysterical laughter filled the air as one of the men walked up to Kristen. ”Hey... cutie. What brings you down here? Looking for a fun time? Need some money? I can show you around.” The men would offer with a cold tongue and devious smirk. Kristen would smack the male's hand away with a growl. ”Like hell, I would allow you to even touch me! You pigs need to know your place!” Kristen shouted furiously. The male growled, ”Damn bitch!” He would hastily move to grasp the dagger hidden in the sheath under his sash only to swing at Kristen who would step into the male's space and knock the attack aside by slapping his wrist. Quickly she brought a fist upward to strike at the male's chin which sent him skyward and away from her into his group of buddies who all seemed to make way for the poor sap to land on his back out cold.
”Is that all?” Kristen taunted them with a snicker to which the men around them growled angrily before the sound of heavy clapping came from behind them. The men suddenly made room for this humongous man who looked like some kind of tank with how his body was built. ”Impressive. Tell me, girl, why are you here?” The man's deep voice held a certain evil to it; one that meant he wasn't to be trifled with. The men around him seemed to all hold a deep respect for him as well; which probably meant he was the Boss of the Lower Quarter or something like that. Vex seemed to hide behind Kristen with a trembling body meanwhile Kristen only glared up at the tall man who was probably taller than Riyku. ”I am looking for my friend, Lira. A violet-haired woman so to speak.” Kristen replied firmly to which the man nodded in understanding. ”I see. I do recall my men bringing me in a violet-haired woman.” The man stated to which Kristen's expression brightened. ”Where is she!?” Kristen exclaimed to which the man snickered with a wicked grin. ”Probably on her way to the Whore House if she isn't already there. The Master of that place bought her the moment we caught her. I guess she was a special order.” To these words, Kristen's bright expression turned grime; almost horrified. ”Oh, do not worry. You two will be joining your friend shortly. After all women of your quality are hard to come by down here.” The man remarked with an evil laugh to which his men followed up.
”Like hell!” Kristen shouted in anger. ”Tell me where this damn place is! I'll go get her!” Kristen shouted to which the man chuckled darkly. ”Why? I'll be taking you there myself. After I have some fun with you two first. Men! Get ready!” The male commanded to which his men all took up arms from daggers to swords and maces. The man himself seemed to equip spiked brass knuckles which he slammed together with a dark grin. ”I can't wait to hear you two scream. We'll be sure to engrave pleasure all over your bodies before handing you off.” Vex would plop on the ground while Kristen looked around hastily for anything to use as a weapon. A nearby two by four seemed to be the only thing; racing to it she would pick it up before racing back to her friend. ”I'll protect you Vex, and defeat these guys. We'll go find Lira.” Kristen stated boldly as she took to stance. It wasn't anything like a whip, but it was still something to be used.
A bandit would charge her with a battle cry and thrust his dagger at her. Stepping forward she swung the board wide to smack the bandit's hand before stepping in closer and stomping upon the male's foot. She would bring the end of the board across his face which sent him flying as she released his foot before turning around just in time to block a slash from a cutlass. Since the blade was stuck in the wood she would release it the board and push the guy away only to receive a sudden sharp pain in her side before her body went flying across the street. An evil laugh parted the Boss' lips as he smashed his brass knuckles together yet again. ”You need to watch your ass girl.” ”Kristen!” Vex shouted as she noticed her friend struggling to get up; only seemed to take a continuous beating from various unarmed bandits. ”No!” Vex shouted as she sobbed heavily, but her cry seemed to draw in the attention of other Bandits who approached her as starving wolves did for meat. ”No No no! Go away!” Vex shouted as she crawled away but was stopped when her ankle was grasped and she was turned over onto her backside. ”Where are you going, missy!? The fun has just begun!” The bandit he tossed her over had stated as he crawled on top of her and ripped her top off; revealing a plain white bra. Another scream would erupt from Vex which caused Kristen to look in her direction weakly. Her clothing in tatters from the beating before several men began ripping away at her clothing to reveal a pair of exotic black underwear. ”Hell yeah!” ”Woohoo!” The cheers would erupt from amongst the men.
”I get this one first, boys. You go have fun with the other one.” The men seemed sad about it, but would not defy their Boss and they all went over to Vex. ”L-Leave her alone... You can do as you please... to me. J-just leave... her alone.” Kristen would plea, yet the man would snicker evilly. ”I'll do as I please with or without your word; now then....” He would unzip his pants and remove an erect shaft from his pants. Rubbing the thick meat against Kristen's thigh he would watch her squirm in disgust. ”Bastard...” She cried out. ”No!” Vex shouted as her clothing flew into tatters into the air and several men seemed to have already begun pulling out their rods and stroking them in front of her. Some even pushed theirs up against Vex' body. One of the men was about to push the rod into her mouth until his movements stopped. ”You going to do it or should I?” A man questioned the man who would halt while Vex's eyes grew wide along with the man who would look up to see that the guy who stopped no longer had a head. The body would fall limp and the head would roll onto the ground in which the group of bandits would all cry out in terror. ”What the fuck!?” Someone shouted. The boss who was about to shove his rod into Kristen stopped to look back at the sudden screams of his men only to see several more heads fly off bodies and blood spew forth. Standing up the man would zip himself up; no longer erect from the sight of his men dying after all, and looked around.
”Are you done killing my men, Stranger?” The boss stated firmly with a serious glare in his eyes. Though only a wicked laugh would echo from the shadows around, almost undetectable. Even Vex and Kristen could not pinpoint where the laughter was coming from. ”No.” A voice parted; Kristen knew whose it was right away and relaxed her body. Tears had been coming from her eyes; and in shock, Vex seemed to keep looking around. It was right after the voice stated 'No' did the rest of the men died the exact same way as the previous men. ”Now I am.” The tall dark handsome male who was dressed like a rogue moved from the shadows with a wicked grin only visible upon his face thanks to the hood. ”Riyku!” Kristen shouted happily in which Riyku's eyes shifted to Kristen. The sight of her alone seemed to cause something to build up inside of him. It wasn't because he was angry with her, but because of what had become of her. Vex looked towards the man who appeared from the shadows, but could not tell it was Riyku. Perhaps only Kristen could tell since it was by his voice.
”Oh? So this whore belongs to you? Tell ya what, you can have her, but I keep the other one and we go our separate ways.” The boss would attempt to strike a deal with Riyku and for a moment it looked as if Riyku was going to accept but that wasn't the case. ”A whore?” Riyku would shake his head as he brought his hands up. A single gun and curved blade would appear in his hand. Though they were not the Trainee Atomic Gun or Trainee Steel Sword. No, the gun looked like your typical handgun; while the sword appeared to be something similar to a long sharp blade. The way these weapons appeared were through dim lights in a blink of an eye. It was most like from his skill Weapon Summon, but clearly, he had not used the blade or gun to kill the bandits earlier; it was something else. Angling the gun at the man he would glare at him if he could see it anyways. ”Kristen is nothing of the sort. She may not be any Saint, but her heart is in the right place. I'll be damned if I let you taint what is mine!” Riyku exclaimed which caused Kristen to blush brightly and the man to burst into laughter. ”You got a neat trick kid, but just because you executed my men from the shadows does not mean you can win this battle. You threw away your only advantage when you--” The man was caught off when he noticed Riyku was no longer in sight. Hastily he began to look around before looking down when he felt a strange presence from beneath. Stepping back he would avoid the sharpness of a blade, but did not anticipate the follow up of a gun. The shots would be blocked by the man's beef arms to which he growled at Riyku. It seemed Riyku had used his skill 'Shadow Surprise'. ”The hell was that!? Some kind of Martial Skill? Are you Hunter?!” The man questioned both in anger and shock, but not fear.
”Hunter?” Riyku would inquire as he angled the gun back up at the man. Kristen seemed shocked by the sudden display of attack as much as Vex did. ”Yeah. A Hunter, one who hunts Demons and Angels as well as other monsters.” Riyku would shrug. ”Who knows.” This caused the man to click his tongue and reach into his back pocket to pull out some kind of cramped up piece of metal that seemed to transform into what looked like a Gunblade. Riyku had seen such a weapon in the catalog but did not actually purchase it since it would have consumed nearly all of his points to obtain. ”So that's a Gunblade,” Riyku stated as he lowered his gun to examine the weapon from a distance. ”Damn right! However... I did not want to use it since the kick on this thing is absurd. It's not just any normal Gunblade after all. It's from the Prototype Serious: Sin.” The man stated proudly as if it was his favorite toy or something.
”Sin?” Riyku would look confused, but Kristen seemed to understand completely. ”Are you insane!? Do you plan to take all of the Lower Quarter with you!?” Kristen shouted though soon choked up blood afterward. ”And?” The man stated before pulling the trigger on Riyku without warning. Riyku blinked rapidly before his body seemed to suddenly move on its own.
'Critical Evasion activated.'
Did he just dodge an attack that would have surely killed him? Was that was Critical Evasion was? Now he seemed more than pleased that he had this buff and bought this Gear. Kissing his teeth he glared back at the man who dashing towards him. Did it take time to recharge the shot? Maybe. Dashing forward, Riyku would bring the blade upward to clash with the Boss' before angling his own gun for the body. Pulling the trigger rapidly; bullets would fire into the man as he grits his teeth and growled shoving Riyku away before stepping back. ”Bastard!” The boss shouted though Riyku was never nice about openings like this. Quickly he would dash forward again and swing the sword around in several arcs that seemed to be blocked by the Boss; it was then that he took a stance to angle his gun when the Boss jumped back in which he pulled the trigger several times.
'Active Skill Learned. Chaser Lv.1'
It seemed he learned yet another skill through simple combat like this. The crying pain from the man who fell onto one knee brought his attention back up to him. ”Damn you!” The boss shouted as he angled the gun at Riyku yet again before pulling the trigger. Since it was a fifty-fifty chance with that evasion he would need to figure out something and fast. It was in that microsecond that time seemed to slow down. ”What?” Riyku looked around. ”Did everything stop?” He thought before taking note of the bullet still heading in his direction. ”No... Everything just slowed down, but why?” It was then that a text box appeared before him again.
'Passive Skill Acquired. Chess Master Lv. 8'
”What the?” He did not understand what that meant or even why it appeared right now. Chess? Wasn't that some type of game? Why did he gain something like that? All these questions; but who knew how much time? Right... There was no time. Using whatever time he had at this moment he would rack his brain before coming up with an idea. It was then that his body vanished from spot and time seemed to resume its normal pace. The bullet flew at no target which caused The Boss as well as the girls to wonder where Riyku had gone, it was that same second that their answer was relayed. Riyku had appeared before the Boss and slammed his sword right through the neck only to rip it upward while leaping over the man and bring the blade back down through the body before tearing it out from the side while turning on his heel in a stylish manner. No, It was a stylish execution!
'Passive Skill Learned. Sword Execution Lv.1'
It was too late for the Boss to comprehend what happened, his body hit the floor with a loud thud and this left Riyku standing behind a corpse. The Gunblade also seemed to slam into the floor as well. A heavy breath escaped the male as he released his weapons to return to his inventory with weapon return before looking at Kristen and Vex. ”Riyku!” Kristen called out happily as she struggled to get up. Moving to her, he would help her stand before helping her over to Vex. ”You are late...” Kristen stated weakly as if she were about to cry. Not wanting to know what would have happened if Riyku had not shown up. Vex seemed awestruck, her body shivered in fear from what just happened recently. ”Vex... It's alright. Riyku saved us. Everything is going to be okay now.” Vex looked up at the two but did not move towards them. Instead, she just sat there shaking like a scared puppy. ”Wait... this woman...” Riyku muttered. ”She is from our class. She is my other teammate, Vex. Though this is a terrible time to introduce each other. Vex is going through a mental shutdown right now. I'll explain later. Please carry her, we should get out of the Lower Quarter.” Kristen seemed quick to compose herself, but maybe that was before who was standing next to her. Riyku nodded and let her go easily so she could stand on her own, but moving to reach for Vex who would smack his hand away and scream, ”Go away!” ”Vex it's alright. I am here, Kristen... Look at me.” Kristen would reach out to touch Vex lightly on the cheek which caused her to calm down just a bit. ”K-Kristen?” Vex muttered softly to which Kristen nodded lightly. ”Yes. We are going to get out of here now. We are safe. It's going to be okay.” Kristen seemed confident of her words yet again, this confidence seemed to touch Vex to where her dead eyes lite up and tears ran down her face. ”R-really!?” Vex began to sob to which Riyku hastily scooped her into his arms. ”Pardon me, but we really need to get going. I doubt that was all of them.” Riyku stated in which Kristen nodded. ”Just hang on Vex. We are leaving now.” Vex would nod as she clung to Riyku while burying her face in his chest. Was this really that strong-willed woman from his class?
Without delay, they had made it out of the Lower Quarter and at the outskirts of the Upper Quarter. ”Kristen! Vex!” A voice called from afar. It was Mina. ”Are you two alright!?” She shouted as she raced towards them. It seemed they had exchanged contact information a while back, but when? Well, who knew. ”Thanks to this guy.” Kristen pointed at Riyku to which Mina blinked. ”Who?” Mina inquired as he looked up at the man. ”Riyku,” Kristen stated who seemed astonished. ”Vex it's okay now.” Kristen would tap upon her shoulder lightly, but Vex seemed to hold tight to Riyku and shake her head. ”No.” She whined. ”No! No!” She continued. ”Vex...” Kristen whispered softly. Mina had reached into a backpack she brought her with and pulled out two cloaks one she wrapped around Kristen. ”Thanks,” Kristen stated lightly to which Mina nodded before trying to offer Vex the other one. ”Vex, You need to let go of Riyku. We are safe now. We are out of the Lower Quarter, they won't follow us up here.” Kristen stated softly. ”No! They were up here! They took Lira! I don't want to go through all of that again! I won't!” She seemed more traumatized than she perhaps should have been. It did not take a scientist to figure it out, but it appeared that Vex probably went through something terrible in her past.
”Vex!” Kristen shouted now which caused her to shake. ”Lira is still down there. If anyone can save her it would be Riyku. The police are not going to do anything. Riyku would you please?” Riyku looked at Kristen. ”I already planned on it.” He replied. ”See, now please Vex. Let go so Riyku can go save our friend. Please.” The plea from Kristen was enough to cause her to release him to which would make sure she was capable of standing on her own two feet for releasing her fully. Mina would wrap a cloak around her to cover her up once she was able to stand. ”Please... save her. I don't want Lira to go through what I did. Please...” Vex seemed to beg him to which Riyku nodded. ”Of course.” He replied hastily before taking off down the Lower Quarter, a serious expression on his face. ”Come. I'll let you three stay at my place for tonight. I don't live far since I live off campus.” Mina seemed to have called a cab which rode up next to them. ”Come back safely... Riyku.” Kristen stated softly before turning when Mina called out to her and entered the vehicle last.