Mission Board

After Rustler and his crew had left, Alex and Emily enjoyed a meal together before returning to their quarters. Before the two departed Emily presented Alex with a gift. In her hands was a quilted vest that shimmered as if it were metallic. It did not take long for Alex to realize what this vest was made out of.

The vest was made out of iron-silk that had been carefully spun, and quilted into multiple layers, acting as some form of gambeson, though it was in the appearance of a modern quilted vest. Alex stared at Emily with curiosity as he was hesitant to accept such a valuable item.

The shy girl finally insisted Alex take it with flushed cheeks "Take it! It can help you return safely."

After accepting the gift, Alex took off his fur-lined parka and placed the vest over his long sleeve shirt. The lustrous material matched the rope wraps on his hands and wrists perfectly. After ensuring the vest was comfortable and agile he placed his parka over it, concealing the iron-silk vest beneath it.

Internally he was shocked, he never expected the iron-like material to be so light-weight, and mobile. The vest in no way hindered his bodily movements and also provided an extra layer of protection against threats. After all, he couldn't always rely on his passive skills as a form of defense. Lately, there had been an increase in powerful monsters, and they wielded weapons capable of inflicted harm upon his body.

After shifting around, and getting used to the vest he petted Emily's hair and smiled graciously

"Thank you, I shall cherish it."

The timid girl said nothing, however, her cheeks became noticeably more flushed as she turned away from Alex and returned to her sleeping quarters which were inside her shop. As a merchant, she was afforded luxuries such as a separate sleeping space most survivors could seldom afford.

For the most part, humans who resided in the Airport, whether it be part time or full time had to struggle for sleeping space. Those who could find an available seat would sleep better than those who curled up on the floor.

After spending time with Emily, Alex regrouped with his party, Cassie and Brandon had been searching for a mission at the mission board. However, they quickly found themselves in a heated debate with a rival slayer party. While Derek tried to mediate the conflict. Unless the conflict came to physical violence the C-Gate Gang would not intervene.

While there was competition and sometimes fierce rivalry between the slayers, those who resided in the same area generally gave a decent level of respect to one another, and would not outright target each other for the most part.

However, the bounty on their heads had caused many other slayers from not just the Airport, but the other survivor camps to come after Alex and his party. As a result, they had to constantly watch their backs when around other slayers while outside the safety of C-Gate.

This rival party was one who had been constantly harassing Alex and his party while they were out scavenging. They gave up on the bounty a long time ago as Alex's party had considerable strength, they were all level 8 or above, and there were few parties in the region who could match their strength. Those who were on their level were generally the elite forces of a survivor camp, and as such had no interest in the bounty as they were too busy managing affairs in their own territory.

However, because this party could not collect the bounty, they had grown salty and elected to harass Alex's party, by stealing kills, resources, and other things, before Alex and the others could react they would scatter and retreat. Usually, this squad dwelled in B-Gate, but for whatever reason, they had passed through the B-Gate Gang's territory and ended up in C-Gate.

Cassie who was searching for a suitable mission nearby noticed the party and took it upon herself to approach the bastards who were a constant pain in her neck. If it weren't for C-Gate Security, she would have already taken a swing at the pricks who endlessly harassed them.

Alex approached the group who wasn't backing down from Cassie and Brandon's provocations and put his hand on the shoulder of their leader from behind. With a frightening glare and a fierce grip, he spoke with a level of malice.

"You fucking pricks better run back to B-Gate with your tail between your legs before you get yourselves hurt."

The man who just seconds ago fearlessly got up into Cassie's face now felt the cold hand of death grasping onto his shoulder from behind him. He could practically feel his shoulder cracking from the pressure of the grip as he winced in pain and attempted to grasp the devilish hand digging into his upper body.

A nearby patrol of security noticed the scene and began to make their way over to Alex's position. Seeing this in his peripheral vision Alex slowly released the grip on the man's shoulder and returned to his friends.

The man gripped his shoulder and gritted his teeth, a malevolent glare stared into the depths of Alex's azure eyes as he hissed at his rivals "You better watch your backs"

Alex clicked his tongue in response to the man's threat and sneered in contempt at the rival slayer's

"Bold words for a dead man"

Though Alex had yet to outright murder somebody, or even kill a human in self-defense. The line between friend and foe was beginning to blur to him. Humans had proven to be every bit as despicable as the monsters he hunted on a daily basis, and he was starting to view justifiable homicide as a legitimate tactic against those who sought to do harm to him and his friends.

As such, he returned the man's threat with every bit of murderous intent. Against parties like this, the time for words was long over. The fact that Alex and his party still attempted to engage in civility within this uncivilized world showed just how naive their actions were. Luckily for them, they had yet to be pressed to the point of taking another human's life. Well, aside from the mercy killing Alex engaged in.

With security quickly approaching, and Alex's blatant threat, the rival slayers retreated back to B-Gate. Whatever their objective in coming to C-Gate was, it would have to wait. They could only curse their luck for running into Cassie.

Security arrived only after the B-Gate Slayers retreated, they exhaled in relief as the conflict had been avoided. Rumors had already begun to spread that Alex had reached level ten and unlocked a class. They did not believe they had the capacity to nullify Alex should he go on a rampage. The head of the squad approached Alex and questioned him on the incident immediately.

"What was that all about?"

Alex smirked and shrugged his shoulders

"Just some B-Gate trash looking for trouble in the wrong place"

The security official cursed beneath his breath

"Fucking B-Gate, those bastards need to be more careful who they let into our territory!"

He then raised his head and thanked Alex

"Thanks for getting rid of those idiots peacefully, I'll have a talk with the boss about pressuring the B-Gate Gang about their loose security."

Alex shook his head and dismissed the security's thanks

"No problem, I was just doing as I should as a resident of C-Gate"

The security official nodded

"Alright, I'll let you guys get back to whatever you were doing, try to stay out of trouble"

Alex grinned and gave the security a thumbs up "Will do!"

With that, the security departed without incident, and everyone nearby could breathe a little easier. Alex walked up to Cassie and checked to see if she was okay. She was a little flustered, but aside from that, she was alright.

After checking on her condition the party began searching the mission board for an appropriate mission. Missions were different from quests, they were posted by Human Survivors, and contained a variety of objectives.

If someone needed something but didn't have the strength to obtain it themselves, they would post a mission, and offer a reward in exchange for the services of unaffiliated slayers. This was also how Emily and the other merchants got ahold of the supplies necessary to practice their craft.

Quests, on the other hand, were randomly triggered by the system, up until now nobody knew how or why they were set up, they appeared to be completely random. Quests usually gave rewards like experience, favor, and sometimes items. A quest could be shared with a party by the person who received it, and on rare occasions, there were penalties for failing them.

After searching the mission board for some time, they eventually came across a mission posted by the owner of the Swang Song Tavern. The mission was simple, the owner of the tavern needed to restock on alcohol, and was willing to give vouchers for some free drinks, which could either be consumed by the party who completed the mission or traded for other items.

Though the reward did not seem like much at first glance, anyone who had survived on this wasteland long enough knew how precious this reward was. Alcohol was in rare supply, and due to the desperate situation everyone found themselves in, it was in extremely high demand. These vouchers were worth a fortune.

However, the job was one of high risk, most liquor stores in close proximity to safe zones had already been raided. If one wanted to complete this mission they would have to go deep into the monster-infested areas, and without proper intelligence, they were practically rolling the dice.

There were a few information brokers among the slayers, buying and selling all kinds of information. However, it would cost them quite a bit to find a location with sufficient alcohol that was untouched.

Despite all of these factors, Alex and his party unanimously agreed to take on the mission. They grabbed the flier and returned to their quarters. For now, they would get some rest, tomorrow they would gather intelligence, and set the ground work for the mission.