[attr="class","tristanimg"]

[attr="class","tristanbt1"]CATCH UP.

[attr="class","tristanf2"]This mission especially resonated with Tristan. To be more exact, it gave him hope. At this point, he already knows what the system was capable of, and reading his mind and wishes would not be out of the question. Parker - his brother. It had been a long time since he had seen his face. He has no photos to remember him by, but his memory of him, if nothing else, was absolute. Parker’s pure smile at their makeshift dinner table. If he had survived the tutorial, there was a possibility he’d be here at the location of the mission. That was a big if though, considering how many people had died in Tristan’s own tutorial. Plus, it was unlikely a child of Parker’s age would be taken in to a place such as this one. But he had to hope.

He glares at the building. Surrounded by a provisional barricade made of gathered wood and rocks, the gray of its walls remind him of the lifeless cities from before. Most of the windows are dark - probably boarded up. They aren’t covert, though. Guards patrol the perimeter of the lot, as if protecting a treasure trove. It might as well have been one, though, if the prompt in the system was true. After some more observing, he notices something he should not have missed at all: a floating person. It seems she had noticed him at the same time. He approaches her at a pace just slightly faster than a walk.

“Yeah. You’re my party member?” he asks, straight to the point. As she responds and gives a recap of the mission objective, he is slightly amused by her carefree behavior - there are lives at stake here. Surely she could afford to be a bit more cautious. After all, this mission was personally important to him. If they were going to be working together, he needed to know if she was going to be a vulnerability or not. He doesn’t smile back, instead returning a nod with a sober expression.

“Let’s see what we’re dealing with first,” he says in response to her question. Tristan extends his steps into longer strides, making his way closer to the building. The material of his jacket starts to glow a neon gray, matching the background of the Big Apple. He points to one section of the barricade that is less heavily guarded than the others. “There,” he says, leaving the rest to interpretation. It wouldn’t be so difficult for her to follow, he assumes, when she is floating with such ease. He remembers - he has this habit of not giving out his name. Maybe that would not work so well going into a workhouse this densely populated. “Call me T, for now.”

Accelerating even more, he sprints towards the spot in the barricade he had pointed at. Running up the rugged wall as if by second nature, he makes it over to the other side, landing on the ground. His eyes dart around instinctively, scanning for threats. Clear. Good. The actual building itself isn’t too far ahead - but in front of him is an open field, too risky to burst through without getting noticed. There’s only one guard a distance in front. If they could be taken out, they’d have access to the inside.

---

Notes:
+1 flow from movement
+1 flow from running start
+10% to SPD and MAGI from blessed sneakers
Morgana

[attr="class","tristancf2"][break]

level

21

stats

POWER 5 f
DEFENSE 11 e
SPEED 78+8 b>a
MAGIC 20+2 d
VITALITY 11 e
WILLPOWER 10 f
LUCK 2 F
[break]

stacks

flow 0(+2)
[break]

abilities

concrete jungle
turns active 0/2
cooldown 0/2

runner's high
turns active 0/3
cooldown 0/4

expressway to hell

items

- edgedancer's regalia
- blessed sneakers
- slingers

[attr="class","tristanimg"]

[attr="class","tristanbt1"]CATCH UP.

[attr="class","tristanf2"]He figured she was a magic user of some sort. It was a good thing, too, that her magic was potent to down one of these guards with one blow. ”Got it,” he responds as he runs past the fallen enemy, hastily checking to see if he was truly knocked out for good or not. Closer to the building now, he hears loud sounds of all sorts from the back of it. Nodding to Morgana, he sprints towards the direction of the source. Turning the corner, there is a door with two guards serving as sentry - they carry no weapons, but they were most likely players with some sort of ability. It’s too late to react - they had already been spotted. The only solution is to knock them out before they warn their comrades.

“Take the right one!” he exclaims to Morgana. To assist, Tristan throws a slinger at Morgana’s target, striking him in the knee. He dashes straight towards the guard on the left, who swings a clumsy punch at him - his hand seems to be wrapped with some sort of energy, but that doesn’t matter. The attempt is too slow. Easily avoiding the trajectory of the attack, Tristan returns a strike of his own, bringing his knee into the player’s stomach, dropping him to the ground instantly. It seems the levels of these guards weren’t that high. Maybe that was something to be happy about. On the other hand, though, what could that say about the threats behind the door?

Opting to climb over the wall instead of opening the door, Tristan’s eyes are exposed to a scene resembling hell. Level 1 players, presumably, are being dragged in and out of the building through the backdoor. Their bodies seem emaciated, the chains on their wrists barely hanging on. Of course, there are guards situated across the whole field, some engaging in idle chatter as if nothing was going on. If it was this bad on the outside, he wonders what was going on inside the actual building itself. A certain anger boils up in Tristan - maybe it really was time to ‘make a ruckus’, as Morgana had said. He looks to her, waiting on her to make the final decision.

---

Notes:
+1 flow from movement
+1 flow from dodging
+1 flow from attacking with SPD
B-rank damage to Tristan's target, B-rank damage to Morgana's target's knee
Morgana

[attr="class","tristancf2"][break]

level

21

stats

POWER 5 f
DEFENSE 11 e
SPEED 78+8 b>a
MAGIC 20+2 d
VITALITY 11 e
WILLPOWER 10 f
LUCK 2 F
[break]

stacks

flow 2(+3)
[break]

abilities

concrete jungle
turns active 0/2
cooldown 0/2

runner's high
turns active 0/3
cooldown 0/4

expressway to hell
cooldown 0/3

items

- edgedancer's regalia
- blessed sneakers
- slingers

[attr="class","tristanimg"]

[attr="class","tristanbt1"]CATCH UP.

[attr="class","tristanf2"]“It is fucked up,” he responds, eyes still trained on the ever-flowing stream of poorly-treated players. Surveying the situation again, the options Morgana had offered seemed solid. If they went for an all-out frontal assault, he is quite certain he can avoid most of the damage directed towards him - he couldn’t say the same for his new friend, though, considering she had come close to having her gut pierced. The other plan is a much safer option. “We’ll go with B,” Tristan says, referring to the undercover strategy.

Making sure there are no guards looking in their direction, Tristan drops and rolls on the ground, waiting for his floating partner to descend as well. ”Those bracers of yours can pass as handcuffs - these idiots won’t know the difference.” Grabbing her arms behind her back firmly but without intent to cause any pain, Tristan escorts Morgana forward. The closer they get to the door, the more stares they receive - a dude in a glowing jacket and a witch must not have been a common sight around here. Still, no one bothers to check up on them. They must have been doing something right.

They get to the building’s door, guarded by two stronger-looking players. “A new one - need to check her in,” he says, after waiting for another parade of enchained Level 1s to pass. Tristan had lied a lot to save his own skin back before the world changed. By no means did that mean that he was a good liar, though. But in an organization as haphazard as this, the chain of control and security probably isn’t anywhere near solid enough to warrant suspicion in the guards of Tristan and Morgana. The rough men share a look with each other, then nod towards the open doorway. Tristan shoves her in with as little force as possible to make it seem realistic enough, following close behind.

---

Notes:
-1 flow from slowing down
Morgana

[attr="class","tristancf2"][break]

level

21

stats

POWER 5 f
DEFENSE 11 e
SPEED 78+8 b>a
MAGIC 20+2 d
VITALITY 11 e
WILLPOWER 10 f
LUCK 2 F
[break]

stacks

flow 5(-1)
[break]

abilities

concrete jungle
turns active 0/2
cooldown 0/2

runner's high
turns active 0/3
cooldown 0/4

expressway to hell
cooldown 0/3

items

- edgedancer's regalia
- blessed sneakers
- slingers