Chapter 14: The Grey Zone; York

In the northern parts of England, it gave off the feeling of utter calm and peacefulness. The roads weren't as congested as London, railways were scarcely used here, the underground express cold and quiet.

The skies of York were dark and gloomy, clouds blocking our sunlight from reaching the earth, yet it was bright enough to tell it was still afternoon.

The buildings around this area seemed occupied, with the occasional dilipidated infrastructure here or there.

On the far northern reaches was a large over a hundred feet high wall, serving as a barricade to the lands beyond, and a military base for the ESRF...

Just ahead was a yellow Zone, an area where a few gates and Evo-Beast nests lay. The wall served as a barrier to stop land based Evo-Beasts from marching right into the grey zone it protected. For Air types, they had heavy anti air artillery meant to cut them down.

This Yellow zone bordered a black zone, which went as far as Kiev in Ukraine, and bordered the Russian Front Gate up north.

South of this area, Eze drove at top speed through the road. He'd been driving for four hours straight. With little traffic stopping him, he zoomed by without hindrances. Even if there was, his Ascendant License could exempt him from the local military force.

Inside his helmet, he was on a call with someone

"I'm in town, where can I meet you?"

'Just find your way towards the end of 3rd avenue, turn a left and you'd see a coffee shop named T-Cocoa...'

Eze looked at a holographic map that appeared in the corner of his eye. He swerved his body, causing his bike to make a sharp turn to the left, and then pulled the throttle, essentially drifting into a new road.

He zoomed past a busy street, before parking just outside a coffee shop with the exact name T-Cocoa. He parked his bike, pulled off his helmet and strapped his weapon box on his back.

Going in, he met a large black man with black hair and brown eyes. He wore a pair of thin rimmed glasses, fixing it's before looking up at Eze.

"Oh you must be the customer!" He spoke before getting up and showing Eze his seat. He then tapped a bell on the table.

Eze put his weapon box next to himself, before looking directly at the man before him.

"Ok, the names Jerry around these parts... Heard you needed a place to stay in this grey zone up here... So first things first, your pass or an affidavit signed by the court "

Eze passed him his license, looking at him directly and not saying a word.

"Oh! D-Class. You're new to the scene aye Bruv?" The man casually looked at his card before his eyes widened.

"Eh! Eze? You Nigerian? Bro wetin dey sup?" His reaction was wild as he beamed a smile, looking at the Eze now.

"Yes... From the Delta, you?"

"Benin. Bro I haven't seen a Nigerian in a good while, and an Ascendant one to be honest, we're so scarces in the ESRF, most of us run to the US"

"Nigeria isn't in much danger as we realize since it's Originator has been closed shut"

"Yeah... So what kind of place do you need?"

"A single self contained apartment. Room, kitchen and bathroom."

The man brought out his phone and began to scroll through, then he placed it on the table. On the screen were addresses, their perks and prices.

Eze looked carefully at his options and picked the one far north, close to the gate.

"Ahh, that house?... Well since you looking for danger we give you danger" he tapped the particular address. The map zoomed in, showing a four story apartment building that looked well kept.

"How much?" Eze asked, his arms folded.

Jerry lifted his left hand and opened them to signify the number 5.

"Send your account details" Eze spoke, operating his phone. Jerry called a series of numbers, whilst Eze clicked on his screen.

Soon Jerry's phone buzzed, signifying the success of the transfer.

"Nice doing business with you... Working with a homeboy is just so easy... Chai, can't all my customers be Nigerians?" Jerry asked jovially, standing up and bringing out a file and a box.

"These are the room keys and the documents. This will expire by the end of the year so try to pay up your rent... You get ba!!!"

"No wahala!" Eze replied shaking Jerry and smiling. He walked out of the coffee shop, jumped into his motorcycle.

He looked at the horizon as the sun set, covered by the towering walls that encompassed the Eastern parts of the town.

He started his ignition and drove off, entering traffic.

***

Back at the Association building that night, the entire board of Directors were in disarray.

The personnel who was in charge of monitoring Eze's test had submitted his report, and the entire building went crazy...

"How on earth did you miss such an entire battle?"

The white haired woman on the board yelled at the personnel, banging the table.

"W.w..well, the..the... Lady Li... I..."

"So you're saying instead of monitoring a potential talent and giving us instant feedback so we can advertise such... You... Do you know how much we lost in form of content?"

"I...I..!"

"Enough Maria, you can't blame the young man" another younger woman spoke up, defending the young man.

"How on earth can't I blame him, Iza? The money..."

"Money this, money that you're always so money focused "

"Shut it!"

"Enough!" A deep but calm voice erupted, coated with a slight amount of Quather.

The two women instantly flinched, before sitting upright.

"Has anyone done an analysis of the test, his weapons, his abilities, what his specializations are... We need more information"

"We have sir... This is what we know"

One of the board members looked at the video playing on the screen and frowned.

"I'm not too keen on the amount of tools he used, doesn't show promise at all"

Some of the board members agreed, others held speculations.

"Well, the files say all his weapons are made from mostly mundane metal, with a few upgrades from Evo-Beasts. It's even powered by a core... The arrows and knives are mostly steel weaponry. Except for the explosives and bow, most of his tools are mundane. The real thing is the fact that not only did he not miss, he always was preemptively aware of his opponents and where they were coming from before they did"

"... He did it with his nose sir" the personnel added, before cowering back in fear.

"So a heightened sense of smell, something related to clairvoyance, precise attacks that finds weaknesses, and the use of tools for taking out his foe with almost zero effort. That sounds like a smart but cowardly character, not something the media wants to project now would they?" Iza spoke up, looking at Maria with an eye open.

"But he did almost beat the records..." Maria cut in

"Almost isn't enough, am I right Director sir?"

They all looked at the General Director, who seemed lost in thought.

Eze Ugo, what a queer and peculiar name. It sounded so familiar to him. Then suddenly, it clicked.

He began to run an analysis on the Ascendants that has worked for the ESRF over the past thirty years on his tab. He then typed in the name Ugo, and a few results popped up... One of them instantly caught his attention.

"No need to send the video online, send it to the various corps in Europe, and across the globe, see who's interested in him" he ordered after returning back to his poker face.

"But wouldn't his age affect his chances?" One of the board members questioned, his brow lifted.

"Then it's their loss. If he can't be hired out, I can always extend our contract to him"

The board members immediately sat up. It was rare for the main association to give contracts to ascendants. Rarer still if they were low class ones. What did the Director see in this guy? They thought...

***

A few minutes later, various companies received the news that Li Mei had signed with military tech giant ASGARD. Many were in dismay as they were one of her suitors to hand her a contract. They all wandered what the team could have offered her that they couldn't.

Soon after, another piece news came. How an unknown dark horse almost broke the records under the corps noses.

The test videos were sent to these corps, with details of this new dark horse. Many corps were Interested at first.

Then they saw his age... And gave up.

Many even assumed he was an older unregistered Ascendant who came to break a record to make a name for himself...

In a particular part of the world, in a barely lit room save for a computer screen. A figure was hunched over multiple screens, typing at high speeds on a keyboard. The figure was female, dark in complexion, lean and wore large rimmed glasses. As she was typing, a knock sounded on her door.

She didn't even flinch, tapping a button on her chair, opening the door.

"Hey!" A male voice came from outside

"Hey! What you want?" The girl replied smugly, before stretching her hand to grab a bag of chips next to her.

"You seen the news?"

"About the hidden blade?"

"Yeah, we really missed such a talent"

"Bah... She's always had it good, though I do love her music"

"There's something new online why don't you check it out. It's had the big corps in Europe reeling"

"I know..." She replied, as she was watching Eze's video with rapt attention, a smile on her lips. "Oh I know!"