Ever since Austin had become an Altered it was hard for him to find opponents that he could brawl against. Completely overpowering a person might be good for one 's ego's but it wasn't good for sharpening one's skills.
At the same time, even though he could fight against Kai and Olivia, it didn't give him the variation in different opponents and skills to go against. One also fought differently when they knew their opponent and what they could do.
However, there was then the likes of Midwak, who was too strong for him, so he needed someone just right, and considering how a single person was able to take out around fifteen people on their own, Austin guessed this person was quite skilled.
'I won't transform, otherwise this fight might be a little too easy!' Austin said, as he threw out a heavy punch from the get go. He didn't hold back in terms of speed, and Austin was already strong before becoming an Altered.
However, the punch had gone on to hit nothing but the air, and his opponent had already moved to the side of him.
"Look, judging from your clothes you're in some type of gang right? I don't want to get involved in this mess, and as I said, it's best if you don't fight me." The stranger claimed.
In order to show the difference between the two, the stranger lifted his leg to kick Austin while he was behind him. When his foot landed and he pushed forward though, but instead of Austin falling over, he didn't even move.
'It feels like I'm pushing against a giant boulder or something, how much muscle and balance does this guy have?'
Austin swung his arm behind him, aiming to hit the man, and seeing this he quickly moved his feet out of the way. Instead of a punch though, Austin went to grab him instead and only managed to hold onto the sleeve of his shirt.
As the stranger pulled away, and Austin held on, a large ripping sound was heard and the entire sleeve had been ripped off completely.
"That's not good, that's the only change of clothes I had." The man shook his head.
Austin looked at the man's bare arm, and that's when he could see it, he had markings on his shoulders and they were little stars.
'Those stars, aren't they the mark of an Altered Hunter?' Austin recognised. '1…2..3…4…5 stars?'
Although many knew about Altered Hunters, not many knew the representation of the stars or what they meant, but Austin did know that in front of him was an Altered Hunter.
'If it's an Altered Hunter in this city, then they could be related to Blake. Gary told us to leave them be and not get involved with them.' Austin was deciding on what to do.
Meanwhile, the Altered Hunter himself was sighing to himself.
'This kid has a lot of strength… Could it be? I left my equipment at one of the safe houses since this was meant to just be a small task. I'm not here to look for Altereds. I should turn off my brain once in a while.'
Surprisingly, it looked like his attacker was no longer clenching his fists and had dropped them down to his side.
"I guess, I was a bit rash since I don't recognise you, but I'll warn you." Austin said. "If you see the Black and Gold uniform, don't get in the way of what they are doing. It's us that run this area." With the warning given, Austin started to walk away.
"Wait!" The man shouted out. "Do you mind giving me a few directions?"
As expected, the man had asked where a particular dojo was, and it was of course where Blake lived. Since becoming a full time gang member, and the Howlers taking over Slough, Austin knew of all the areas and gave him directions of where he needed to go. The man thanked him, and was off, but he turned around wanting to say one last thing to the boy.
"I just wanted to let you know, it was a good thing we stopped that fight." The man smiled, and lifted up his foot. "Because I would have won."
Soon after, he slammed his foot into the ground. It didn't shake, nor did it feel overly strong, just a simple stomp, and the man started to run in the other direction as he knew he was late.
Out of curiosity, as Austin mumbled under his breath, he went over to where the man had stomped the ground.
"What…. is this?" Austin quickly looked closer and his eyes weren't fooling him. There was a two inch sunken down footprint. That wasn't the only strange thing about it, as there were no cracks to the surrounding areas, nor on the other ground tiles.
"This, is just not something that's possible for a human." Austin said. "But I'm sure of it, he was an Altered Hunter, there's no chance that he would be an Altered, but then, how is something like this even possible?"
It was then that Austin realised that if the two of them had gone face to face with all of their strength, then maybe it wouldn't have been an easy fight like he thought, and there was a chance he might have lost.
——
Following the directions well, the Altered Hunter had finally arrived at the required location. He could see it just up ahead.
'I really should have kept my equipment with me. I just never expected to run into trouble in a tier-3 town.'
After a gentle knock on the door, Blake soon came, and when he saw who it was, he bowed his head down greeting him. Innu was stood by his side and could see the man and did the same.
"I welcome thy fellow hunter." Blake said.
Taking a peak, Innu noticed that his sleeve was ripped, and on there he soon could see the number of stars that were marked on his arm.
'Freaking five stars!!! Five stars! Of all the hunters they could have sent to Slough, they sent a five star hunter!' After learning of what a five star hunter had done and was capable off, it was only right for Innu to somewhat panic.
"I'm sorry I'm late. My phone died, and I had to ask some people for some directions." The man politely said. "You're Blake, correct. My name is Ashen, it's nice to meet you both. Sorry, but do you mind if I use your toilet?"
Blake, pointed towards the dojo, which had a toilet on the inside and Ashen soon ran past them both in a hurry.
"I have to ask, do all five star Altered Hunters go around, showing off their markings?" Innu asked.
"I'm not too sure, myself. This is the first time I've met a five star Altered Hunter. At least face to face like this." Blake was concerned, and from his whole body language, it was easy to tell. "We should get this test done as soon as possible, so he can leave.
"If he stays for a while, who knows what will happen if he finds out what's happnign."
Innu couldn't agree more, because if anything did happen, then he would feel a little guilty, as the whole reason Ashen was here in the first place was to see him.
"Alright, let's get this assessment started." A loud voice said from the dojo, with a big smile on his face.
If anything, the one saving grace was that Ashen seemed to be a happy person.
When they entered the training hall, both Ashen and Blake were talking back and forth. As stated, the two of them had to come up with a test of some sort.
Blake was trying to suggest a sparring match between the two, but since the two clearly knew each other, Ashen seemed to be against the idea. However, Ashen noticed that there was something that Innu had brought that was in a black bag. It was large in size, almost like one that was meant to hold ski's in.
"Do you mind, if I take a look in here?" Ashen asked.
Innu gestured that it was okay to open the bag, and when Ashen saw what was inside, his eyes lit up as he held onto the weapons. They were the pair of red axes.
"These are nice, really nice. I'm guessing they're yours?"
Still too scared to speak, Innu just nodded.
"Do you know how to use them properly?"
Innu wasn't so sure what he meant by the question but he had an idea, so he eventually answered.
"I think so."
"Alright, well if that's the case, just show me how to use the axes, if you can, I think that will be sufficient to pass." Ashen claimed.
Blake was left confused and in the dark, because even he didn't know what Ashen meant by this, but perhaps by meeting this five star hunter, both of them could learn something that would boost their strength.
*****
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