Off to see the Elder

It took me a couple of days to get everything sorted with living in a new world and coming to terms with being something other than human. But thankfully Barton and the others were kind enough to help me figure some things and let me have my time before throwing me into work.

Today was the third day of waking up in at the Base of the Midnight Shifters and today was the day I am to go and meet the Shifter Elder as per tradition to get his blessing before going off to fight the tears as part of the team.

The Elder already knew that basically I was a fugitive with the company that Jen works for but Barton said that the Elder didn't give a shit and that I had his full protection. So off we went, Barton said he had things to do so he was going to send me along with the others from Alpha team to make sure everything was handled.

I loaded up in the van with the others and off we went. I was in the back with 3 others that I didn't catch the name of. But before I could make conversation the driver spoke up. It was the one that used a sniper rifle that looked awesome.

"Name's Bryan, Bryan moon. Nice to meet you newbie, To get the introductions out of the way I'm the Long range for the team, This silent but deadly guy riding passenger is called Jasper, He uses a Katana with extreme skill and he is in charge of damage dealing."

"Back there is our team medic Shanna, Say hi honey."

"Fuck off, I told you not to call me that." The woman in front of me said that but as she turned away she had a smile on her face.

"Anywho, next to her is Liam, He is in Jasper's helper with DPS and uses a sword and shield, usually tanks use shields but this guy will beat the fuck out of you and he has his own unique fighting style."

"Nice to meet you newbie." Liam reached out and shook my hand.

"Finally we have our tech, Price, He is in charge of making sure we have the right info for the job and the best tactics to use to fight the enemy. He has a few tricks up his sleeve so don't think just because he's the tech guy, that he's weak.... I learned that the hard way when he first joined."

"Hi." Price said without even looking up from his phone while waving his hand nonchalantly.

I wave back with a hi but left it at that.

"We are going to Central City where the Elder usually spends his time partying and fucking around. He isn't exactly what you would think an Elder would be but trust me he earned his position so be respectful."

I wanted to be a smart ass but I didn't know these people well enough to be myself around them just yet.

I looked out the window and watched as the scenery passed me by. I saw forests with birds flying out of them next to sandy desert areas with what looked like worms shifting under the sand. I was getting confused by what I was seeing and I guess it showed on my face as Shanna started laughing next to me.

"Hahaha, Yea everybody gets that same look when they see this. It's because of the Tears.... After they appear and aren't cleared for some time, they start to change the land around them. Thankfully if they start to get cleared than slowly the changed are reversed but at the same time the monsters inside the tear become stronger because they are feeding off of the energy from this world."

I understood a bit of what she said since it was very similar to some of the manwhas and novels I used to read.

Bryan spoke up after that. "Basically newb it means that the more land around the Tear that's changed, The stronger the monsters you'll have to fight. But hey, like I love to say, the bigger the threat... The bigger the loot, and boy do I fucking love loot."

As he said that he stroked the rifle that he had next to him that was strapped for easy access in case of attacks.

We continued chatting for a few minutes to pass the time and soon I started to buildings in the distance, the city was outlined by a huge white wall that glowed with a brilliant crackling blue energy.

"That is Central City, the home of many a would be adventure and the base of the entire Unseen Government. They have an academy for newbies if you wanna check it out but I think Barton has already made plans for you to train under us instead. But besides that the city has a huge market district that sells alot of good beginner stuff and even some awesome food places, If we have time I'm sure my big brother would be fine if we stopped by and used the company card for some food."

"You know he's only fine with it if we bring him home some food to. Last time you went to his favorite restaurant and didn't bring him anything, remember what he did?" Shanna laughed and said.

"Oh man, don't remind me. That tear was a bitch to solo and even afterwards I go none of the rewards because he took them all and used the money to binge out at that place."

I raised an eyebrow at that and Price spoke up.

"Barton is a dick when he wants to be but otherwise he's a nice guy aslong as your nice to him, oh and use common sense for the majority of your actions. He's fine with being a leader but he hates micromanaging. He and Bryan were raised by their dad to be super independent so they use that as an excuse to fuck off most responsibilities."

"Hey shut up Price, the newbie don't need to hear about this right now. He's supposed to find out the hard way just like you all have."

Everyone laughed a little just as we arrived at a gate leading into the city, two guards stepped in front of the vehicle as another four surrounded us as one of them knocked on the window.

"Hey, license and entry pass Bryan."

Bryan smiled as he dug around for a couple slips of paper and handed it to the guard.

"Whatsup Mickey, hows the guard business treating ya? I heard a Tear showed up pretty close to the south gate, how'd that go?"

"Dude, don't get me started on that shit. We had to pull double shifts just to cover rotation as every jackass wanted first dibs on it. I don't know how many bastards from the Black Rose kept trying to sneak in. We eventually had to call over the Golden Tower brigade to help us keep em back so we could clear it."

"Haha, damn that sounds hectic, well hey nice chatting with ya. And if you ever need some help just let Barton know, I'm sure he would run ya a good price and maybe a friend discount."

The guard Mickey then looked at the guard near the rear of the vehicle and after a short nod he looks back at Bryan and smiles.

"Like I got the kind of money to afford you high ranking bastards. Go on and git I'll talk to ya later."

With a wave the other guards backed off and we drove on inside. As we passed the wall it was like a whole new environment. I saw holographic advertisements for different brands. Some showcased the newest sword and some statistics, another showed armor of different types, I even saw an Ad for a... Special building for blowing off steam. Guess this world has different mindsets than the human world.

"How about it newb? wanna go 'check the sites'? hahaha"

"I'm good for now thanks." I got a little embarassed thinking about visiting a place like that and just looked away hoping to hide my red face.

We kept driving and soon the buildings started to turn from corporate looking buildings to more stylized mansions with different architecture. On one side of the street I saw a feudal japan like mansion with wooden entrance and all, then on the other side was a miniture version of a medieval style castle complete with a freaking moat around the place.

"What the fuck? Who has this kind of money? I mean that castle has a damn moat for christ sake."

"Eh, hold up there bud, first thing ya gotta know is that in this world, things like gods have a more physical impact than back in the human world. You go calling down things like that and it can end pretty badly."

?????? "Explain"

"Gods hold more power in this world. The myths of the human world were mostly tailored by us from way back in the old days. Back before the Tears showed up and when the Supernatural mingled more with the Natural. Or well We mingled more with humans. Now we mostly keep the worlds separate on account of the monsters and also we are technologically more advanced now with the help of things like Cores from said monsters."

Price seemed awful chatty about some of the subjects. It seems like he only talks when he likes that topic, gotta remember that.

"And here we are." Bryan said with excitement as we pulled up to a white fence with a speaker box in front of it.

"State your business." Said a voice coming from said speaker box.

"Clan Midnight Shifters to see the Elder, we have an appointment to recieve his blessing for our newbie."

After a few seconds we hear a loud buzz and the fence in front of us starts to slide across the ground to open the way for us.

"Remember, be respectful and try not to piss this guy off."