Chapter 137: Where To?
Makun looked up into the skies of Austin, it felt right and wrong at the same time, he was on his way to where Orel had mentioned and everything felt normal, but for someone like him who climbed to the second tier of the mystic path, he could sense a subtle disturbance in the atmosphere.
His brows wrinkled the slightest bit.
It is hidden, but in plain sight.
Back in Naija City, Makun could follow the particles using his sight, it had led him to the night markets of Naija City without fail. That happened back when he was not even properly initiated.
Back at Old Town Spring, once in the forest, it had been easy for him to spot the chalet, once again his sight had been very useful.
However here, on his way towards the chapel, except for the subtle feeling of disturbance in the atmosphere, there was nothing out of the ordinary.
His sight could not even catch anything peculiar.
I doubt first grade initiates can tell this place is peculiar.
If it was not for the growing number of people, mostly mystics, Makun would have doubted if he was really heading towards the Chapel of St. Elmo.
The road to the chapel was quite wide and despite the growing numbers of people, no one bothered him, as if they were absorbed by their own matters.
Most of those present were dressed casually, nothing out of the norm, formal attires for some, traditional attires, Kente, Kimono, Agbada, Sari, the clothes came as diverse as the population present on the way to the chapel.
There was nothing out of the ordinary radiating from them, they looked like your everyday people, doing their everyday tasks, the only reason Makun knew these were not normal humans was because of the high variation of concentrated Ashe flowing through them.
An Ashe filled crowd of around 150 people, it seemed Ashenvale was even busier than what Orel had told him in the SUV.
This was an opportunity for him, an opportunity to properly get to know more about this world, experience it in real time.
For that, he needed contact.
...
A pair, a young man and a young woman walked in a corner of the large streets, St. Elmo Chapel not far from them.
The structure defied reason. Said to have been crafted by knife and chisel alone, yet it surpassed anything modern architecture could achieve. Every line, every curve breathed life.
The facade was a tapestry of tiny patterns, statues frozen mid-motion, animals caught between myth and reality, vines carved so delicately they seemed to sway in an absent wind.
Despite being called a chapel, nothing about it related to Christianity, no crosses, no saints, no stained glass depicting scripture. It was something older, something that predated faith as mortals understood it.
Such a building should have been a popular touristic place for people, however the young man and the young woman knew very well that no normal human could approach this location, even with it still being behind the veil, non mystics were blinded by what seemed to be an invisible barrier.
All they could see was part of the Old Warehouse District.
"Marifa..."
"Stop." The young woman, Marifa, immediately shook her head, her hand raising to her mouth. "Do not speak of any sensitive topic, everyone here are Ashe enhanced experts, and we do not know if we have been tailed."
Marifa was dumbfounded, this brother of hers, was strong, really so, rare were warriors of his level that could defeat him, but it seemed as though he had traded his strength for his brain, why could he not deduce the danger of the task they had to perform. He was next in line to take reign of their company, but she doubted they would prosper under him.
"I got it, you can stop scolding me." Konrad muttered, while chewing on a gum. "Not like we have been followed, with all the precautions we took, as for that thing..."
"Stop" Marifa scolded yet again.
We are doomed, our family is doomed, the business is doomed.
Marifa knew she was pessimistic, and had sworn to make things better, but Konrad, the fool, as she liked to call him always made it hard for her to have an optimistic view on life.
"Look here, if you want the resources promised by dad, just stay quie..."
She stopped, something was coming.
Before she could even turn, she felt the impact of a body against her own, momentum carrying her backward, feet scrambling for balance. She threatened to fall, but before she could, Konrad sprang into the middle, one hand shooting out to grip the stranger by the neck, the other wrapping around his sister’s waist, steadying her in a single fluid motion.
The commotion attracted some of the crowd’s attention. People heads turned, in direction of Marifa and her brother. Some even halted their conversations mid-sentence, to get a better look at what was happening, their eyes narrowing with a mixture of curiosity and wariness.
This place was under high surveillance and no one dared to create trouble unless you wanted the Aegis Consortium after you, and that was something none of them wanted.
"Who are you?" Even before Marifa could take a proper look at the newcomer, she heard her brother’s hardened voice questioning.
His mood had shifted, from an innocent, dumb looking 20 year old to that of a man that could kill without a single thought behind his actions.
She liked calling him a fool, she liked scolding him and she knew he could not do anything that needed a brain, well, except for fighting.
At least there he was reliable, even as an expert herself of a similar grade and tier, she could not deny Konrad was superior to her in that aspect.
But then again, was it necessary to fight meaninglessly, no, not when one was not sure of the situation.
"Konrad, stop." Marifa said, lifting her head to look at who had just collided against her.
It was a well built tanned skin man, a fade on his head, dark jeans, a dark shirt clinging to his body and a dark coat falling from his waist downward.
When she looked at his eyes, all she could see was exhaustion, the kind that seeped into the bones, and behind it, a flicker of something volatile.
His expression was that of someone exasperated, almost lamenting, yet entirely indifferent to the hand wrapped around his throat, as if Konrad’s grip was nothing more than a minor inconvenience when compared to whatever it that troubled him.
Who is this guy?
"Let him down" She ordered Konrad.
He feels off.
He was dressed nice, looked nice, but his energy was a mess, he felt like someone who could explode at any given moment.
And doing that now, here was putting a target on their heads, not only would it attract people who might be after them, it would create enmity with the Aegis Consortium.
That had to be avoided.
"Sorry" The man said in a voice that was non apologetic.
Marifa nodded, "Konrad, let us go." She did not want to be associated with this man.
But before she could even take a step forward, the guy spoke again "Where to?"
What does he mean where to? Why is life so terrible?
Marifa knew, trouble had come to them.
