The two continued to aimlessly walk around the city, heading towards one of the factories on the street. What they didn't know was that someone had spotted the two strangers a while ago.
Sitting opposite the bus stop, in a black t-shirt and jeans, was a young middle-aged man named Elijah. He brushed his hair to the side, making sure it was intact, before grabbing his pencil and continuing to write notes.
It was his regular spot since he had entered the city, and he had been jotting down notes on many people who walked past. But these two caught his eye. For one, Austin was a large individual, with a strong build and a good set of muscles.
Then there was the green-haired kid he could see. He couldn't see the mask, but based on their clothes, he assumed they were young, with an athletic build. But it wasn't that which stood out to him.
It was the fact that they were walking through the streets so comfortably. They looked quite out of place.
"Are they from out of town? But then, what would a bunch of youngsters like them possibly want to come here for?"
1
In the end, his curiosity peaked, and closing his notebook, he decided to follow them. He stayed on the opposite side of the street, keeping a distance of around 100 metres. He couldn't hear what they were talking about, but he was curious to see where they would go.
------
Suddenly, Austin stopped, and Gary turned around.
"What's wrong?" Gary asked.
"Well, I was just thinking. You want to train, right?" Austin asked. "Then don't you think it's better if the two of us split up? I mean, I doubt anyone will be able to cause me or you trouble. I can explore the place a little, try to find something interesting, and you can do the same.
"Besides, when you're on your own, I feel like you're more likely to run into trouble anyway."
1
Placing his finger on his chin, Gary started to think. He felt like Austin did have a point. Maybe if he did run into trouble because Austin was by his side, the system would still think everything was too easy for him to gain experience.
He was thinking back to the situation when he was at AJ Entertainment. Although the opponents weren't difficult, he still received a quest due to the particular situation.
"I think you're right, and besides, it's not like the two of us can't contact each other. I mean, we have our phones, right? We can just send a message if one of us is in serious trouble," Gary said.
Austin agreed, giving a nod.
"Where are you planning on going?" Gary asked.
"Since you're heading to the factories already, I might go around a few of the schools here. I've never been to a Tier 4 city before. Maybe the kids here have more bite in them compared to the ones in Slough."
It would be a lie if Gary said he wasn't a little nervous. Austin was already stronger than most kids before he had turned into an Altered, but surprisingly, compared to Austin's looks, he was usually quite sensible.
"Alright, remember, write to me if anything happens," Gary said.
With that, the two of them decided to split ways. Austin walked back in the direction they came from, while Gary continued forward toward the factory.
Elijah, who saw this, was unsure of what to do.
"The two of them split up? Are they looking for something? Well, the question is, who do I follow?" Elijah thought.
Flipping a coin in his mind, he decided to follow the green-haired teenager instead. He continued to tail him until there was a man in a hoodie standing by the side of one of the alleyways.
"That man..." Elijah thought. "The colour of his hood... I recognize him. He was the one who attacked me on the first day I was here!"
It was so unexpected that Elijah hadn't even reacted, but in the end, he had lost precious items.
"Hey, kid," the man in the hoodie called out. "Do you know what time it is?"
1
Gary thought it was a simple question, and unlike Kai, he didn't have a watch. So instead, he decided to pull out his phone to look at the time.
"It's 4:34," Gary answered, but when he looked up, the phone was snatched out of his hand, and the man was already running in the other direction.
Gary looked at the lack of a phone in his hand for a second, his eyes twitching. "Did I just... get robbed? The phone... I need that phone!" Gary thought to himself.
2
Not wanting the thief to get away, Gary ran after him, and with great speed, he caught up to the man almost instantly. He leapt up in the air and latched onto the man's back. They tumbled to the ground, stopping the man right then and there.
"Hey, you bastard! You shouldn't steal from people. If you do that, then who is going to want to come to this city? You're giving it a bad reputation!" Gary shouted, but the man had stars in his eyes as the weight of Gary smashed his chin into the ground, knocking him out.
"Ah, this is not worth my time," Gary thought as he went to retrieve the phone from the man's hand. However, when he looked at the phone, the screen was completely cracked. He tapped it a few times, trying his best to get it to work, but nothing was responding.
"Crap... Now how are Austin and I meant to get in touch with each other? Well, let's just hope nothing happens."
1
Elijah was ready to go after the thief. After all, his phone should still be with him, but it was unlikely unless it was pawned away. With no other choice, Elijah bought a new phone. However, Gary was fast— incredibly fast.
"That was too fast for a human... He must be the one I'm looking for," Elijah thought.
******
*****
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