The four random youths looked at each other and grinned knowingly, before quickly running after Kane and Luna, surrounding them in the wide hall they were currently located in.
"I was talking to you, Glitch!" the leader of the group smirked, confident in his superiority of numbers.
The group, an even mix of Cybers and Mystics, exuded a raw, desperate energy. In the Outer Ring, survival trumped the societal rivalry between these two ideologies that was more pronounced in the inner districts. Here, the focus was on grabbing any opportunity to advance.
Kane quickly noted the low-quality weapons on the Mystics' backs and recognized the crude arm cybernetics of the Cybers as having equally low-quality weapons built into them.
He also noticed their power levels. Most Mystics exuded an aura based on their stage and cores. With a little bit of practice, and assuming the Mystic in question wasn't masking themselves somehow, it was possible to determine their power based on that aura.
Luna's core levels were surprisingly similar to Kane's, yet in a different configuration. Her spirit core was at level five, her blood core at level three, and her soul core at level one.
Meanwhile, Kane's blood core may be at rank one, but his strangely powerful body allowed him the power of a third ranked blood core.
This group's power, however, didn't exceed the second rank in any of their cores, and the Cybers only had TG1 cybernetics, which barely lifted them above dregs.
It was possible these four jokers simply weren't able to check the core levels of him and Luna, or perhaps they falsely believed their numbers would carry the day.
Either way, they didn't yet know how outmatched they were.
Luna's hand twitched towards her swords, but Kane quickly raised his hand, halting her. "Glitch?" he asked, genuinely curious, but mostly trying to deescalate. The last thing they needed was a scene that could jeopardize tomorrow's appointment with the Cabal.
Seeing Kane's gesture, Luna backed down, but growled, and kept her hands on her weapons just in case. Her eyes remained locked on the leader.
"Yeah, Glitch!" the youth laughed, as if the meaning was obvious. "You know, a glitch in the system! Something that's not supposed to be there. Something that doesn't belong, if you catch my drift!"
"Yes, very clever," Kane nodded, nonchalantly. "Was that all?"
He felt the itching desire to teach this guy a lesson and move on. People like these weren't worth his time. Unfortunately, he wasn't in the slums now. He couldn't simply leave a trail of blood behind wherever he went. Or at least, he needed a better reason than mere annoyance.
Becoming annoyed with Kane's attitude, the other members of the group started becoming restless, seemingly preparing for violence.
Their leader remained calm, however. "Actually, no," he smirked. "Do you know you're walking next to a beastling?"
"She's a beastling?" Kane replied dryly. "Now that you mention it, I guess the tail and ears should have tipped me off, huh? You're a smart guy. Anyway, I suggest you step aside now, you've already wasted enough of our time."
Next to him, Luna couldn't help giggle a little.
Finally, the leader was also getting annoyed at their clear ridicule. He growled, "Since you don't seem to be getting it, let me fill you in. Beastlings are worth a pretty penny, especially when they look like this one. Grab her!"
The leader and his Mystic companion drew their weapons, lunging towards Kane with a coordinated aggression. Meanwhile, the two Cybers attempted to flank Luna, their crude cybernetic limbs moving with a jerky precision.
It became immediately clear that these people had never fought a beastling before. Thus, Luna's lips split into an excited grin.
Her tail shot out like a bullet, hitting one of the Cybers behind her straight in his stomach, causing him to double over in pain and stumble back. At the same time, she drew one of her blades, and performed a backwards spinning slash towards the other Cyber, blocking her cybernetic arm.
Meanwhile, Kane didn't even pull out his blade. It's quality was far too high to be used against trash like them. He needed to be at least a little careful with it, lest someone discovered its true quality.
The male and female Mystic duo approached him with confident grins, but Kane simply rolled his eyes. They didn't even use their elements, probably afraid of damaging Luna, and overconfident in overwhelming Kane's first-rank blood core through quick, close-quarters combat.
A notion Kane quickly disillusioned them from by grabbing their swords with seemingly bare hands.
Only, not exactly bare. A thin sheet of shadows covered his hands, offering protection against these low-quality blades. This was a skill old man Cedric had taught him, allowing Kane to get some use out of his rank five soul core in physical combat.
The two Mystics frowned in surprise, and tried to pull their swords free, but it was like they were stuck in cement. "What… how are you doing that?! Your blood core is only at the first rank!"
"Who knows," Kane shrugged, not even lying. He had no idea why his physique was like that. Regardless, he ripped the swords out of their hands, and punched the leader in his face. The man flew backwards, and crashed against the wall. He didn't get up again.
Then he turned to the female Mystic, and tossed her sword back, before gripping the leader's sword, and taking a fencing stance. "I'm warning you. If you attack, I might decide to cut a limb off."
He didn't mind having a little fun, but where would his pride be if he didn't at least give this woman a fighting chance?
While Kane had always used a sword, his wielding of them had been crude up until four years ago. Luna, however, had been taught from a young age, so she had spent the last four years teaching Kane everything she knew.
The woman gulped. Losing a limb was a powerful threat to any low-stage Mystic. If she did, she'd be forced into either becoming a Cyber, or trying to survive as a one-armed Mystic until she found a way to regrow it.
Which wasn't impossible, but not usually accessible by those living in the Outer Ring.
Gulping again, and looking at their Cyber companions, both of whom were already down for the count, the woman stammered, "I— I'd like to give up." She quickly turned around, ignoring her companions, and ran towards one of the doors in this hall, likely her home.
Kane didn't bother following her. Instead, he tossed the weapon in his hand, and turned to watch the not unfamiliar scene of a greedy eyed Luna extorting her victims. She was currently holding one of them up by their collar, with a sword pressed against their metallic arm.
"Listen," Luna grinned in an impressive show of fake amicability, greed twinkling in her eyes, "you can either give me all your credits right now, or you can spend even more than that on new cybernetics after I cut these off. What will it be?"
Fortunately, both Cybers made the smart decision, and Kane and Luna walked off, a handful of credits richer.
Luna sighed contently as she counted her earnings, "This is why I like the Outer Ring. Things like this wouldn't happen to us in the inner districts!"
That was true, but not because the inner districts were safer. Rather, it was because both of them were wearing the Cyberkin colours, scaring of even second or third stage Cybers and Mystics.
A single beastling wasn't worth tangling over with a mid-level organization under the Mecha Cartel. These Outer Ring thugs simply weren't properly aware of gang colours from the inner districts.
After a few minutes they found an elevator, and started riding up towards the floor their target was on.
Kane did a quick sweep for listening devices and cameras, but found nothing. A screen flickered on the side and showed the 24 hours news, regularly interrupted by adds, and heavily propagandized by the WDD.
The newscaster praised the TerraGuard's quick actions in mobilizing a taskforce to secure the site of the newest rift that had recently appeared somewhere in Africa.
"Remember," Kane spoke as they rode the elevator. "We're only checking things out for now. No fighting unless they attack first."
"As you wish, Master," Luna answered, doing her best not to sound disappointed. Luna loved excitement and thrills, and what better way to get those than by fighting and killing?
They rode up the rest of the way in silence, mentally preparing themselves for the likely fight ahead, yet when the doors opened on their target floor, they halted in surprise.
In front of them stood a male beastling with a gruff appearance and a wary look in his eyes.