The shimmer of early evening in winter cast a beautiful orange glow over the metal skeleton of a ruined bridge. At the broken edge, just above the water, ten people surrounded a hovercopter, seemingly waiting for something—or someone.
About ten meters away, three figures hesitated momentarily before striding purposefully towards the group. Kane and Luna led the way, with an anxiously excited Nova following slightly behind.
As they approached, Kane inspected the people they were meeting. They were clearly relaxed and unconcerned. Which was reasonable, as Kane quickly noticed they stood absolutely no chance if it came to a fight.
Although his own strength was insufficient to gauge their exact power, the aura emanating from them told him enough.
"Why did they bring so many people?" Luna asked telepathically, her tone more curious than anxious. "Whether they want to kill us or actually trade, having so many powerful people here makes little sense, right?"
"You're right," Kane nodded, frowning. "But that's also a good sign. Even if there's more going on here than a mere trade, they're also unlikely to simply want us dead."
Suddenly, a thought entered his mind which he immediately shared with Luna, "You know, if this appointment had not been set before I even had that dream, I'd almost think the two events were related…"
Yet, despite having a perfectly valid reason for why this would not be related to that dream and the strange rune he received, the thought remained stuck in his head.
Luna agreed silently, while Kane shifted his focus to the group's appearances and expressions.
They were dressed in a manner that screamed class, yet it was a more casual form than most businessmen would wear. This was typical of Mystic criminals, who considered themselves more sophisticated than their Cyber counterparts.
At the front of this group stood a man about a head shorter than Kane. His head was bald, and his face was lined with enough wrinkles to suggest the later stages of middle age. Yet, Kane didn't dare underestimate him. A Mystic's lifespan increased with every stage, so his actual age was hard to guess.
He quickly identified this man as being the leader of this group, partly because everyone's attention was on him, and partly because his aura was nearly suffocating.
'He might even be in the Domain Awakening stage…' Kane realized, causing him to quickly become even more wary of this entire thing. Yet, it was far too late to turn back now.
As they neared talking distance, the Cabal enforcers and their leader had already been watching them for quite a while, clearly indicating they had noticed their arrival long before.
"Kane Mercer and Luna Shadowtail," the Cabal leader grinned jovially at the approaching pair, his smile only partly reaching the shrewd eyes scanning every inch of their bodies. "It's a pleasure to meet the both of you. I've heard a lot about you two."
"I find that hard to believe," Kane responded calmly, suppressing his true feelings of anxiety and wariness. "I'm perfectly aware the two of us aren't particularly interesting."
"Perhaps, perhaps not…" the man smiled mysteriously. "You should know that the Cabal doesn't trade with boring people, Mister Kane."
Kane was about to suggest they were only trading with him to annoy their rivals, the Mecha Cartel, when the man turned his attention to Nova.
"And who is this lovely wolfling?" he wondered in a curious tone. "I don't mean to be rude, but if you brought her here for protection, I'm afraid she's just as outmatched as the two of you are."
Upon being called out as a wolfling, Nova immediately jumped into defensive mode. She took a step back and snarled, "How do you know that?!"
Seemingly unconcerned with her tone, the man chuckled casually, his eyes appearing to shine a little. "Although you've done an admirable job of hiding your features, there is very little that still escapes these old eyes, my dear."
Kane, Luna, and Nova now realized that this man really was in the Domain Awakening stage. Only those in the fourth Mystic stage gained a sort of sixth sense that could see far more than mere natural senses.
'There really is something strange going on here,' Kane thought warily. 'Fourth stage mystics and Cybers are essentially the most powerful people on Earth, as what few fifth stages there are almost never leave a city's core sector.'
He frowned, 'There's no way they would send one of them just to trade with two Core Awakening stage Mystics. Not unless there was something else going on…'
Despite his increased suspicion and wariness, Kane's expression remained unchanged. He quickly explained Nova's presence, "Her name is Nova, and we brought her here for an introduction."
"Ah!" the supposed trader exclaimed as if enlightened, before addressing Nova. "That's a little surprising, but not a problem. You'll have to wait while we settle our business with young Kane and Luna, however."
Having just been found out, Nova was still shifting her weight and keeping a hand on her weapon. The wolfling realized something strange was going on here, and didn't like that they had discovered what she was.
Still, she wasn't about to give up on the chance to get those techniques and improve the lives of her fellow beastlings in the survivalists, so she nodded and took a step to the side, while the Cabal leader focused back on the pair in front of him.
The enforcers behind him had already faded into the background, clearly not a part of this conversation.
"Alright, let me introduce myself first. My name is Archibald Thompson, but most people just call me Archy," he began, his tone amiable, like they were old friends. A small smile hung on his lips, and his stance was open and inviting, but his eyes remained ever shrewd.
'A charismatic upper layer with a dangerous core,' Kane analysed and increased his wariness of this man even more.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mister Archibald," Kane said, preferring not to get too familiar with this man until he got a better idea of what he wanted from him.
"I'm afraid this is our first time doing this, so we're not sure how this works," he quickly continued, deciding to pretend he noticed nothing wrong. "Do we tell you what we're looking for, and you give us a price?"
"Ahaha," Archy laughed. His laugh, not unfriendly or dismissive, but rather warm, despite the words that followed, "I commend you, Mister Kane, for continuing to pretend what you and your companion have already realized: the promise of trading techniques with you was merely a ruse. We are here for a very different reason."