Alex said before rushing forward to stop the suspect. Ross was only a few tens of metres away from Alex, and when he saw him, the distance rushing forward in a particular direction, he quickly followed suit. He had lenses on connected to his smartwatch that gave him a heads-up display of the map of the area and dots representing Julia and Alex.
"Focus on Alex!" He commanded his AI assistant, Conix, manoeuvering the people around him to not lose sight of them.
But soon after, he saw Alex running after the target. The target decided to make a run for it, hopping onto the track for vehicles with Alex in hot pursuit. The speed of the moving vehicles could not compare to the speed they moved. While vehicles had speed limits, hunters had no such problem.
The commotion quickly captured the attention of the people around.
"Hey, what are those guys doing?! Don't they know hunters aren't supposed to be using their abilities outside on the street?!"
"Leave that to the authorities, they will handle it?"
"Yeah… I just hope no one gets injured before then."
Of course, the law-breakers were already out of sight, long since disappeared. Ross was a few tens of metres behind them. They moved too fast.
'Tch! And here I was thinking we had closed the gap somewhat.' He snorted inwardly, trying to keep up. Whoever Alex was after was definitely not a Class F awakened like them. But since Alex's stats were within that range and had even increased over the time spent at the academy, he could keep up.
The honks of the vehicles the trio ran past echoed, causing a bit of chaos, but nothing major happened. The systems built in the vehicles had safety measures that prevented accidents from occurring irrespective of the problem. Magic integrated with technology made everything possible.
"Alex! You guys are too fast. I'll try and see if I can cut corners!" He exclaimed as the wind whooshed past his face yet experienced no discomfort at all.
[Got it!]
Alex's response came through. He then instructed his assistant on what to do next.
"Conix, plot an intercept course using Alex's movement patterns…" For some reason, the suspect was not being picked by the system, but he didn't have time to think about that now.
"…and use real-time traffic patterns to predict where this road leads to!" He quickly instructed, still hot in pursuit and waiting for his intercept course.
[Planning intercept course…]
He was quickly losing sight of the two as they swiftly changed lanes and jumped around.
'Alex, you bastard! You never mentioned you got this fast!'
He was getting annoyed that his friend did not mention anything to him. But his thoughts were interrupted when Conix came back with a response. From the direction the group was headed, it looked like they would end up close to the outskirts of the city.
[Take the path leading to your west. The path Alex and his target is on seems to be headed for a cluster of buildings used as a storage facility. However, be warned. The area has little to no surveillance systems.]
Without wasting any time, he jumped off the road that was a height of fifty metres above ground. The chase lad led them on different roads, with some going up and curved around the surrounding buildings.
Ross did not have time to waste as he was losing sight of them. He even ignored the warning. With what he and Alex were currently doing, sooner or later, the authorities would be on them.
With a loud bam that got the attention of the people around, Ross dashed away, leaving the people guessing what was happening. Some even decided to vacate the area as there might be other people after him.
Ross checked his display once again and noticed Alex's mark taking a curve leading to the direction he was moving.
'Good. Maybe I can intercept the person and stop him in his tracks.'
His focus returned to the path before him. However, because he was entirely focused on the path ahead, he failed to notice another figure on his tail. Just like the one Alex was after, this person did not appear on any kind of radar or camera.
Whatever method they were using seemed to make them invisible to technological means. The only way to know they were there is if you actually saw them with your eyes.
Ross was now close to the cluster of buildings and about to make a right turn to appear before their suspect. The area he was in was low in human activity or the like, but his mind was occupied.
Suddenly, he felt something rush past him, almost knocking him off.
'What the…' he looked ahead and noticed someone standing a few hundred metres away from him. Whoever the person was, Ross's instinct told him he was there for him.
He quickly slowed down and came to a stop about thirty metres before the person. The individual was a normal human, blonde and looked to be in his twenties. Both of his hands were behind him with a smug grin as he faced Ross.
"Are you with the stalker?" Ross asked cautiously. The speed at which the person appeared made him realize that he could have been attacked. He glanced around, noticing how deserted the place felt.
The person chuckled before nodding. He found the term funny. 'Well, given what we've been doing the last few days, it wouldn't be strange.'
Ross found his carefree attitude disconcerting. However, his thoughts were cut short when the dot representing Alex suddenly disappeared from his display.
'What?!'
Ross's expression morphed into that of surprise and worry. But the person spoke up, addressing his current concern.
"No need to worry. Your friend is fine. In fact, I will personally lead you to him soon enough. He just needs to take a test first." The person explained.
Ross narrowed his eyes when he heard the person say 'we'. He was not alone. He muttered under his breath to Conix, "Reconnect with Alex."
[…]
However, there was no response.