Set looked around, seeing a completely empty apartment that echoed with hollow silence under the faint glow of a single flickering bulb. He scratched his head while walking around a bit, his footsteps echoing off the bare walls. He went into the bathroom and saw a letter. It was laid neatly on the raggedy counter, the paper crisp against the chipped porcelain; he picked it up and read it.
---
"Dea- Cough... Sir I mean, Sir. I hope you had good training session, when you come back you may wonder what happened. Well, I recently stepped out of seclusion as well and reached the Epic Rank. For some reason I could go no further.... anyways I remember you mentioning buying a mansion. I did it in your stead... this is the address ---"
Set smiled a bit reading this as he was currently maskless. His beyond handsome features were eye-catching as ever, the golden eyes sparkling with genuine warmth in the dim light.
"That was nice of her... Well, let's go check this mansion out." He said before activating a skill he created.
|Null Stride|
In the next moment he disappeared as he made way to the mansion. This wasn't actually a created skill—he just liked the name. All he did was use his void affinity to erase the distance between him and his destination. Right now, he could only travel 4,999 meters per step, the world folding like paper around him.
------
Outside of the mansion in the huge front yard, a group of hunters had gathered, and more were still pouring in, their boots crunching on the pristine gravel driveway under the afternoon sun. These were all workers of the Association, every worker received the alert. Those alerts served as bounties—if they could kill the target they would receive money and a few cores.
This was of course luxury for hunters, so even without knowing any information besides the appearance and location, every hunter in the immediate surroundings came, their eyes gleaming with greed amid the manicured hedges and sparkling fountain.
"Who would have thought such a beautiful woman would go against the association?" A man said, his voice carrying over the murmurs.
"Right, not only that this property is one of the best I've ever seen." Another guy said, gazing at the sprawling marble facade with envy.
"What if this is an heir of some family? Wouldn't this be the beginning of a war?" A woman asked, her tone laced with nervous hesitation.
This questioned some of them to show worried faces, however before they could even speak three figures arrived at the same time. Dustin and Elise both descended from the skies further in front of the group, even though they weren't wearing any symbols their appearance was well known—their landing stirring a ripple of hushed awe.
Seeing the two Sunbelt heirs arrive caused everyone to swallow their words. To the right of the siblings was Tristan, who just like the siblings was well recognized, his casual stance belying the danger he exuded.
"What the hell is going on here? Not just the sunbelt heirs, but the son of the President is here too?" A woman asked while slowly backing away, her voice trembling. The power of these three was known enough for these hunters to know this target must be much more dangerous than expected.
Tristan looked at Elise with a smile and then looked at Dustin. "If it isn't the two heirs of the 'most powerful' family."
Elise didn't even bat him an eye which caused Tristan's lip to twitch. Dustin however spoke. "Hmm, Tristan? Old man Jake must have found something interesting as well..." He spoke in a way without revealing private information, but also to let Tristan know they were here for something as well.
Tristan of course caught onto this, but he had a card to play. "Tsk, so what? You do know that there's an Epic ranked hunter living in that mansion right? What will you do as a mere S rank?" He asked with a smile.
Dustin smirked as he was about to gesture towards Elise however she stopped him.
'If I fight that woman, would Set hate me?'
Yes, these were Elise's current thoughts. She came here fully ready to give Kaiya a good pummeling but now she hesitated. She looked at Dustin and said. "Just let him go.."
'He can test things out for us... If push comes to shove then I'll step in.' She thought. She didn't want to fight Kaiya... well she did but she wouldn't for Set's sake.
Hearing this Tristan laughed and walked up to the front doors of the mansion. He fixed his hair a bit, made sure his breath was fresh and his clothes were straight.
'Got to present myself well for a beauty right?' He thought as he knocked on the door.
KNOCK KNOCK
-------
Inside of the mansion was Kaiya, one might wonder 'how the hell didn't she notice so many people?' Well..... she had been decorating the entire house. Filling it up with furniture and etc... this had been going on for about an hour or two. As an Epic rank she could move much faster than a normal human, but every time she had something, she would redo it, her hands blurring as she adjusted vases and cushions with frantic precision.
'Ugh! What if he hates this color?!' She grumbled internally. She was about to change it again until a knock was heard.
"Hmm, Set?" She thought happily as she rushed to the door. It only made sense for it to be him because he was the only one who had the address. She opened the door with a bright smile, however standing there was not Set.
"Oh what beautiful smile you have.." Tristan said as he smiled in return. He then reached out a hand as his blood red eyes flashed a bit. "My name's Tristan, yours?"
Kaiya's smile instantly changed into a frown as she stepped back preparing to close the door. However behind Tristan she noticed an entire group of people gathered, not only that she spotted two people she only could see from afar normally.
"The Sunbelts?" She questioned in confusion her eyes then went back to Tristan. "You're.... the Son of the Hunter's Association President, right?" She asked him recognizing him.
"That would indeed be me...."
"Uhhh, why the hell are you here then? Shouldn't you be doing something more fancy?" She asked. Her tone wiped Tristan's smile from his face.
'She didn't even answer my question.... this bitch!' He thought before speaking in a more serious tone.
"Tsk, listen here Kaiya Mose." Kaiya smiled slyly hearing her name. She knew this was no random appearance, well at first, she thought so until she noticed the group of hunters and the Sunbelts.
'This many people wouldn't show up for no reason...' She thought
"You killed a high ranking member of the Hunter's Association. There is a bounty on your head for your capture." Tristan spoke as a flash went through his red eyes.
"A bounty? Tsk, how much is it? I'll pay it." She asked nonchalantly.
"...." Tristan looked at her blankly. 'Offering to pay your own bounty off?'
"There is no payment. What you hold is more valuable than any money."
Kaiya's ploy was almost working. To be truthful she wouldn't dare pay off a bounty placed on her head. She was more likely to tell them 'Come get me bitches!' But she was also no idiot, she knew something was up, so she needed information.
"What could I possibly have that's valuable? I am merely a driver who stumbled upon a fortune with a Gate." She said shrugging.
"That's right..... you and those fortunes is what we need to speak about." Tristan said.
And it worked.... 'Hmm, so are they looking for Set? Or is it something else?' She thought quickly before speaking.
"Alright, this is taking too long." Kaiya said randomly before moving. She clenched her fist and punched out towards Tristan.
BANG!
The punch was so random that he couldn't even block. It landed squarely in his face sending him flying backwards. Kaiya walked out of the house and floated into air while speaking.
"Look, I don't know why you idiots came here. This idiot said I gained a bounty by killing a High Ranking member of the Association?" She spoke gesturing to Tristan who was getting himself unstuck from the gate. "If that's the case then leave before you add to my next bounty count...."
Hearing this a few of the hunters scrambled. Most of them were only B or A ranks anyways.
"Bitch... stop talking so tough!" Tristan said floating to eye level with Kaiya. He wiped the blood from his lips and moved. He bit his wrist allowing blood to flow before activating a skill.
|Crimson Twin Blades — 125 Mana|
[24,875/25,000 Mana Cap]
Two swords formed made up of blood as his eye color darkened. In his vision he could see tiny red points in various points on Kaiya's body. These were her weak points or critical point. With this he was ready as he went on the offensive.
He swung his swords blitzing Kaiya, but she didn't sit idle. She formed daggers made up of shadow and the two began going blow for blow. Tristan dodged several attacks before hitting a critical spot, it was like he was the perfect counter puncher. The clash continued for a while leaving Kaiya on the lower hand of it.
Tristan landed a kick right to her midsection sending her flying into the Mansion.
BOOOOM!
The crash caused a human-sized hole to be made in the roof.
"Just give up, you won't win against me." Tristan declared before Kaiya rose up once more.
|Umbral Velocity Surge — 125 mana per min|
[24,750/25,000 Mana Cap]
She looked at him and spat out blood. This time there were no words—only focus. She activated a movement skill and her form blurred for a second as she moved with absurd speed. She moved so fast that it forced Tristan to retreat.
|Eclipse Tether — 150 Mana|
[24,600/25,000 Mana Cap]
In the midst of retreating his shadow was binded to Kaiya's, this basically connected the two as long as it was active. With this move Tristan's movements will become slower and more restricted as it would be trying to move with strings on his limbs.
------------
While observing the battle between the two Dustin and Elise were talking.
"...Do you think he will win?" Dustin asked seeing Kaiya push the fight to more even grounds.
"I'm not sure... you know Tristan has those weird eyes." Elise responded as she eyed Kaiya more so than anything.
Dustin looked over to his younger sister noting her recent oddities. "Elise.... do you know her? Why have you been so tense lately?"
Hearing this Set's image flashed into her mind causing her to blush. Tristan caught this and his eyes widened. "S-sister.... don't tell me you're into women!" He spoke in shock. This completely snapped Elise out her fantasy. She elbowed Tristan in the arm.
"You dare utter such ridiculousness?!" She said as she gave him a light beating.
Meanwhile the fight in the skies was beginning to ramp up more.