The Calm

While Rowan was undergoing another metamorphosis, several things were happening in Evergreen city. The moment Garda fell, golden words lit up the sky [Congratulations to Rowan Raid and Akari Abe for clearing the first dungeon of Evergreen City!] It sent waves through all the survivors who now had access to the system, some of them under the mayor, but others dotted throughout the city, choosing to survive on their own, looked up at the sky in wonder. Some of them had even received the quest to kill Garda themselves, but they had all come to the same conclusion.

Garda was not an existence that they could kill without several high-level mana users. Some had approached him in an attempt to gauge his abilities and the act had led to many casualties, but now, while various groups in the city were gathering their strength, the message in the sky popped their plans like a bubble. There were several dungeons within the city so there were other opportunities, but they all had caught on to the game that the system played and, being the first to complete, something came with rewards.

The real thing was that on top of the rewards, the exp alone was reward enough. All of these groups focused on Garda for the exact same reason, which was that he was situated in the middle of an open field whereas the bosses from the other dungeons had not even been sighted, who wanted to engage in a battle with no info in the subway dungeon. No one wanted to welcome that death with open arms. Across the city, various groups talked about the message and the completion of the first dungeon.

Some made it their new business to find these two people so that they could plunder the treasures of the dungeon. In one specific back alley, a small figure weaved from shadow to shadow before bursting into a room that led into the back of an old warehouse. He ran down several hallways past several groups of survivors and burst into the room in the back. "Tiger! Tiger!" The exclamation was met with swift movement and the sound of a heavy smack while the shouting figure slammed into the wall behind him. He shot up holding his cheek and looking flustered "Boss Tiger! Why'd Ya hit me?!"

The man he was speaking to completely towered over him, a rippling mass of flesh and muscle. His skin seemed to shine with a metallic light as he revealed his full stature. "How many times have I told you Rat, stop charging through my area like it's your goddamn sewers?" Rat stopped holding his cheek and finally realized there was a woman on the bed behind Tiger. The woman's eyes flashed, and she realized that despite the show, the man called Rat was not even injured. She gently flipped her purple hair over and laid back down, her naked body laying there face down and content.

Tiger let out a grunt and sat down in the chair at the desk that was off to the side but facing the door. He lit a cigarette, before looking back at Rat, who was still waiting. "Alright Rat, you rushed all the way here what's up, the zodiac shouldn't be meeting for another couple of weeks, our last meeting was yesterday and we all have our own directives, what brings you here?" Rat pulled a phone from his pocket, the screen still on what looked like a paused video. "I was forming a plan of attack for the Evergreen College dungeon just like boss Azure told me to, so I was there when that storm started."

Tiger now sat up with full attention, his eyes now focusing on the phone in his hand. "I managed to capture video of the fight between Rowan Raid and Garda in its entirety." The purple-haired woman stood up and wrapped herself in a light robe.

The action caused Rat to interrupt himself as he audibly gulped while ogling her, which caused tiger to slam one hand onto the desk. The room shook and Rat refocused as the woman joined them and spoke up. "You mean you captured the fight between Garda and the duo of Akari Abe and Rowan Raid." Rat shook his head furiously. "I don't know why the message announced both of them, but I saw the whole thing from where I was hidden. Only one person showed up the entire time and that one person was Rowan Raid,I would know that pretty boys face anywhere."

Rat finally put the phone down and hit play, but the purple-haired woman got annoyed, snatched the phone up and tapped several things before the video, then began to play on the large TV present in the room. They watched as Rowan dropped from the sky covered in lightning and the battle began. They watched the entire thing from start to finish and then watched it again just to make sure what they saw was real. Tiger immediately looked at the purple-haired woman.

"Was that truly his own strength? If he were to execute that strike and any of the members of the Zodiac gang other than boss Azure, they would be chopped to little pieces. Not to mention his ridiculous speed." Her eyes glowed with a purple light and she watched the video for a third time, this time without even blinking. "No, while this may be a state he can eventually reach on his own and while watching it through video made it harder to see, his name appears different from what I've once seen. For one, it's the color of that strange purple lightning, but whatever he's doing, his name appears as [Rowan & Akari]. I suspect that he used some powerful ability to make whatever that was possible, and this Akari woman must have helped him."

She paused for a second, before she hesitated, but chose to speak, anyway. "I also think whatever he did may have weakened him. You may not have noticed, but the wind itself picked up those items at the end. Rowan was in control of that storm from yesterday. He should be on empty." Tiger's eyes began to gleam. "So what you mean to say is that now may be the best time to take Rowan Raid off the board and, at the same time, we can take everything that he gathered from the dungeon. He Shot up out of his chair when the purple-haired woman put a hand on his massive chest.

"Wait, don't go yourself. You are one of the three upper echelon of the zodiac gang, Tiger and believe or not Rowan Raid is much more than a pretty face. Send bunny and Pig to feel out the situation first. I have to return to the stadium. The mayor is meeting with someone from another city and wants me there. Tiger held her hand to his chest before leaning down and kissing her. "Darling, I don't know what I would do without you." She only smirked and sauntered away towards a shower that was connected to this office.

Boss Tiger had chosen this place for a reason. The previous owner operated this warehouse but loved his comfort, so his room came complete with a shower and a comfortable bed. He had popped the man's head like a grape and taken it for himself the moment he realized the luxuries that were hidden inside, while the rest of the warehouse could be repurposed to meet his needs for the tiger gang.

Tiger sat back as Rat set out to go tell Pig and Bunny that they would have a job to do. Fiona shook her hair in the sunlight as she recalled the last couple of days in her mind as she walked down the street towards the stadium. The perimeter now came out so far that she had no fear of zombies; she was easily let by and into the halls towards the mayor's office.

She walked in right as the mayor was offering some old man a seat. The man had aged yellow skin that was reminiscent of bad cheese but he sported a long beard no wider than a lighter, but the wispy thing went all the way down to his knees as he sat. Fiona originally felt strange in the man's presence but it was then that she realized that there was a young child sitting next to the man with a leash around his neck, the chain attached to it being held tightly by the old man's left hand.

The first thing that Fiona noticed is while the man's name showed itself in her vision as some type of obsidian, the boy, on the other hand, would mark the second time she had seen a name this color. The boy had rainbow lettering that left a light that seemed to burn itself into her eyes. He was called Feng Bo shí.

Her abilities had not progressed as much as Camille's, so she was only able to pull that much info. The older man, on the other hand, his obsidian name, seemed to hunger to steal the light from the room. There was no last name. It simply reads Genma. Fiona just sat next to the mayor and paid attention to what was being said. Her only wish ever was to be comfortable. She noticed she was special with the seer ability and sold herself to the highest bidder where she was at, which turned out to be one of the leaders of the already famous Zodiac gang.

She then came up with the idea to infiltrate here, but truthfully, she did that to expand her options in case something ever went wrong; her true loyalty rested solely with herself. Now she was a trusted aide to the mayor. The mayor had been kissing the man's ass and giving pleasantries for the past couple of minutes while she had been zoned out when the old man finally spoke, his voice cold and detached; it was like it was coming from a loudspeaker instead of his mouth.

"Gwyn city has become a land for the lawless, the government has collapsed and the council has risen, while we still respect the old ways and will help our fellow brethren, it is not so easy anymore and there will be a price to pay, humans are too precious a resource now to simply waste."

The mayor nodded. "You are right. There is only one problem I have, and it's why I have asked for your help here. There is a man in this city who, left to his own devices, will undermine my rule and hinder Evergreen city from joining the council and contributing to the greater cause of humanity.He has recently taken an entire dungeon for himself."

Genma stroked his beard and raised an eyebrow "Oh really and who might that be?" The mayor laid a folder on the table complete with a picture and a short explanation of some of his ability as he folded his hand across his lap and sat back "His name is Rowan Raid, and he must die."