Ascenders Rift

Chapter 164: Watched by An Unknown Party

Evan was wandering the streets with a strange snack in his hand, something that looked no different from a hot dog that he munched down while moving forward. His eyes swept around at the various sights as he took in this rare moment of peace.

'If we can stay here for the remainder of these two months, depending on the strength of these monsters we kill, we should be able to grow to a certain standard. It would be nice if the Insect Hive and Mother Nest start a battle, but I still have to take into account the possibility of it not occurring. In that case, we will still need to keep an eye on their party...' Evan thought while walking around, he found that he had unknowingly arrived at a park.

Looking around, one would see neatly trimmed grasses and flowers as well as three statues, one showing a robust man, the other a busty woman, with the last being a slender man. Evan stared at these statues in detail, noting the names underneath it, Morison, Andersons, and Briggs.

A few others were also nearby, as even a teacher was speaking to some budding teens with pride on her face.

"Before you is the statues built to honor the three leaders of the city. If it weren't for any of them, today wouldn't be possible. So, always remember, that no matter what you do, the glory of our kind is forever to their efforts," The teacher said with a gentle smile.

"Yes, man!" The students replied as they looked at the statues with beaming eyes.

Evan smiled as he looked at this scene, he noticed a few others were doing similar things in the area, he lifted his head and stared at the sky before the spoke in a soft voice, "Already past noon, I suppose it's time to head back."

As he said this, he turned and prepared to leave, but as he moved, Evan's eyes narrowed as he felt malicious intent directed towards him.

He didn't stop his movements but continued to walk like normal, but even while doing this, he could feel like someone was staring at him with a poisonous glare.

'Well now, this is interesting, we've just got here and are already the target of some strange enemy. Ha, I really want to see which group of fellows have such backbone,' Evan thought to himself.

At this time, within a crowd of individuals, an unassuming woman walked at a casual pace in the direction of Evan. She wore simple clothing as her attention was mostly on her wrist band, which had a projected screen.

However, if one paid closer attention to her eyes, they would notice that she was staring at Evan in a cold light. She whispered in a soft tone, "Target confirmed, commencing observation..."

The woman had continued to follow Evan for a reasonable distance, but soon, he had crossed to the other side of the road as a long vehicle swept by him. 

When this vehicle passed, the woman soon noticed that he had vanished from her sight, causing her to look around in shock.

'What? Where the hell did he go?' The woman thought as she looked around, but all she saw was an endless crowd of citizens moving back and forth.

'Shit, it looks like I must have been noticed, I'll have to call the captain...' The woman thought as she hurriedly left the area.

Unaware of his presence, the woman didn't notice that Evan was now standing in an alleyway. He gave her a deep look before he turned around and vanished, leaving the scene.

Back within the resting quarters of the Angel Abode, both Leo's party, along with Joe, Rick, Emilia, Breya, and Layla, were seated as they conversed in their small groups about various topics. It seemed that they took the time to get to know each other some more before Evan returned.'

"Layla, I find that your hair is a bit unique. Did you dye it that way?" Irene asked as she looked at Layla's uncommon purple hair, it even seemed to have a hint of sparkle in it, as if each strand had its own mystery.

Emilia and Breya noticed this from the beginning, but they said nothing, they looked at her, waiting for her words. Layla grasped one of her hair strands wrapping it around her finger as she replied with a profound look in her eyes, "I was born this way."

Irene hearing this looked at Layla curiously, but didn't continue to question as she thought to herself, 'She's a bit strange... much different from the other two.'

Oron, Razel, and Rick were sipping wine as they spoke to each other. Rick looked at the duo and casually asked, "I couldn't help but notice that there has been quite the number of disappearances in your city, do you have any idea as to what this might be about?"

Both Razel and Oron's eyes flickered for a moment as they stared at Rick deeply.

Oron shook his head and replied while staring out the windows, "It's a case that has only started occurring recently, typically we would know of any crimes no matter how petty due to our surveillance teams. However, things have been quite troublesome as of late. It is also one of the reasons why Irene and I weren't deployed to the front lines."

Rick's eyes showed a look of understanding as he spoke, "Oh, so that's why you were at Heaven's Parlor..."

Oron nodded and replied with a somewhat embarrassed look, "Well... yes and no, sometimes you have to lake a little break from tedious chores."

Razel, hearing this laughed as he spoke, "Haha, I guess that part of you will never change Oron."

"Che! Whatever," Oron replied, not minding him as he chugged down his wine.

Rick remained silent at everything as he pondered in silence, his thoughts unknown to all around him. Currently, Joe and Leo were talking about their most unforgettable encounters. Joe, who seemed to have formed a strange bond with Leo, spoke about his conflict with Micheal.

"Oh, and what did he do?" Leo asked as Joe was questioning his story.

Joe looked look Leo and replied, "Well, it was like this, back when I was still a junior of a famed high school. I was always overprotective of my little sister; you see, we've just always been a bit reliant on each due to our mother passing and our father out for work."

When Joe said this, his mind began to recall a few scenes of the past, images of only him and Emilia playing in a lonely estate. 

He spoke with a deep gaze, "Because of this, we grew rather attached. So when that bastard tried to make a move against her, I couldn't help but grew enraged and fought him, but this, in the end, ended sparking a deep grudge than necessary. Ever since then, he tried to find countless ways to get back at us. I've always found his actions bizarre, maybe he wanted to prove his pride or something, I really couldn't quite understand it myself."

Leo gave Joe a deep look before he spoke, "Oh, this fellow sure was quite petty, so where is he now?"

Joe thought for a bit before his eyes flashed as if came a realization, he replied, "You know, I really have no idea where he went, one day he just vanished. Now that I think of it, he probably..."

Joe was about to say something, but right at this moment, the door of the room opened, creating a loud noise that pulled everyone from their conversations.

Layla's eyes brightened when she saw Evan walked in, she wanted to say something, but Leo beat her to it as he spoke out loud, "Sir Evan, you had us waiting for quite the while, where did you go?"

Evan scratched the back of his head as he made an embarrassed smile and replied, "Haha, come on, it's not that long, plus I only went out for a walk, that's all."

Leo looked at Evan with a deep look before sighing as he rose to his feet and spoke, "Okay, well, since everyone's gathered, I guess that it's about time we get moving. The day is almost out, and after speaking with the city council, our meeting is scheduled for early tomorrow. If we are to compete, we have to do it now and get back early to rest."

"Fine, with me, I was getting bored sitting down for so long," Rick said as he sat himself up from the chair.

"Hmph! Evan, you should be more mindful of us, going off like that and making us wait, I say you treat us all later," Joe said while glaring at him.

Layla and the others also thought the same, Evan looked at them, knowing he couldn't avoid it. However, as if he thought of something, he replied, "Oh, well, I would, but you have to remember that our currency doesn't work here."

"Eh? Darn!" Joe cursed as he only now remembered they were in a different place.

Leo, who saw his new friend's plight, smiled and spoke, "Don't worry, we accept any kind of valuables that can be used as a form of common exchange. Now then, let's all get going!"

Not long after, Leo then led everyone from the room, as Joe and the others looked at Evan's sullen face with a sneering expression.

Evan, on the other hand, showed a dark look towards Leo's back as he followed along while thinking, 'Oh Leo, oh Leo, you did the wrong thing...'

Soon, the room returned to silence as Evan and the others had ventured towards the Training Quarters. 

***

Author's Note:

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