Emily's eyes couldn't quite leave Liam's back as he walked further and further away. A dull ache took root in her heart. Not physical, emotional.
For a split moment it seemed as though Liam would let her in. Confide in her but...
Her eyes drifted to her empty hand. She could still feel the warmth of Liam's skin, still feel the pulse that had quickened in that moment.
'Just when will you learn to not bottle everything up'
With a helpless sigh she turned away and took the opposite route. Her steps carrying a hidden resolve.
'I may not be able to now but I swear I'll make it so that you never have to carry your burdens alone'
And if the world tried to stop her...the wind suddenly got colder.
She would be sure to make it so it doesn't.
***
Liam absentmindedly walked down the road through Central District.
He used this path so often he practically knew it like the back of his hand. This part was reminiscent of what was once known as the New York Towns Square.
With a large white stripped crossing where six wide roads intersected just before a large multi-story building where a large flat paneled billboard flickered with motion. The screen illustrated a man in a red leather medieval looking armor that would have been worn by rouges.
The hilt of a large great sword peeked from his right shoulder. He was a large burly man with wild red hair, a devilishly handsome face with a rough looking beard that somehow added to his charm.
The man was sitting on a large couch before a female presenter sitting opposite from him, a glass coffee table separating them.
At the bottom of the screen a bulletin headline read 'Talk with Red Lion's S-Rank guild leader'
"So tell us Mr. Bryce this is the third A-Rank Zone that you and your hunting team have conquered and yet you're clear time remains undisputed. Is there a secret that the other guilds can take?" the female presenter asked.
Michael Bryce, one of the ten strongest hunters of the country. A Mid-Level S-Rank Hunter who led the number one guild in the country, the Red Lion's Guild.
He was Liam's role model. Before he awakened his ability Liam once had aspirations of joining the man on a heroic quest to conquer all the Zones and finally reclaim the land that was once lost...but alas that was never meant to be. After all with his awakened ability and his fragile body how could he ever pull that off.
It was beyond him.
Michael Bryce laughed boisterously, not caring at all that he was on live national television.
"There's no secret at all and I know I might come off as arrogant when I say this but that's just the kind of strength we have as a guild" he said with a wide grin.
The presenter seemed to be eating it all up as this would be a major scoop.
Liam would have certainly loved to see where this all went but he had to get home.
He walked away, passing through an alley. This was a path he frequented quite a lot as well.
It wasn't long before he was walking down a street lined with warehouses and stores.
By now it was dark such that the only source of lighting should have come from the orange light of the street lights on the side of the road.
So why was he seeing a blue light coming from one of the warehouses?
Liam wondered. It wasn't necessarily the light that caught his eye, it was the fact that the light was coming from a warehouse that had been abandoned months ago. It shouldn't have any light at all.
'Lets just take a quick look then I'll go straight home' Liam told himself as he approached the worn rotor doors of the warehouse.
It was a simple rectangular structure. Its large opening at the front covered by steel rotor doors. The doors though were not in good shape, far from it. It was riddled with holes of varying sizes all over its surface. There was also a small window boarded by wooden planks just above.
The closer Liam got to the doors the more he felt that felt that something was wrong. The air became slightly heavier, breathing becoming difficult to do as well almost as though there was a small film shrouding his nostrils.
It was only after a few heartbeats that he realized what was going on.
'The Aether in the atmosphere has increased!'
Liam's mind raced. Aether could only increase in one of two ways. Either it had to be attracted to an area using a certain device that was invented for that sole purpose and used by Hunters to cultivate or...
Liam rushed forward. In his haste his tripped over his feet and fell forward. His shoulder glanced the steel of the warehouse's door sending a jarring ache that travelled through his entire body. The doors rattled with an irritating noise prompting irritated looks from those passing around.
One man in particular seemed to take it personally. He stormed towards Liam.
"Hey!"
Liam gave him a deaf ear as he stood frozen, his brain failing to understand what it was seeing.
It was only when he felt a hard grip on his shirt that he seemed to snap out of it. The man spun him around before slamming his back against the steel door, causing it to rattle even more loudly than before.
A small crowd gathered in the street to see what was going on.
"Are ya outta ya mind boy?" the man growled.
"I-inside" Liam managed to stammer. The man raised an eyebrow, then turned towards the slightly large gap in the door.
"What the hell are ya on about..." his voice trailed off and his face paled at what he saw.
There standing in the middle of the empty abandoned warehouse a portal of swirling blue energy stood like a wound torn through space itself. The Aether density around it was enough to make mundane human feel as though they were moving through murky waters.
At first glance it would be the most beautiful piece of art anyone has ever laid eyes on. But to the well informed...it was an absolute nightmare.
Because what stood there was not a work of art. It was an inter-dimensional gateway that led to another world or at least part of another world. It housed the very creatures that drove humanity to the brink of extinction 80 years ago.
It was a Zone.