Mugen Hx

I. It has been a while since Jam Rock got well developed. The Trade Association are able to create jobs for each jobless people, earning them the chance to gain credit in exchange for their labor. Some begin working to create resources for future projects such as new facilities and commodities. The Local State Police, despite having arguments with others, had been keeping the peace for everyone where every trouble that happens, they resolve it. Unfortunately the solution will have to be through force since the police are dealing with thugs thaf were having power trips. The Rock Gang just made another branch which is the Hard Steel Mercenaries.

Hard Steel Mercenaries are still Rock Gang but they are responsible of managing thugs into roles when they travel around the world. They get information, they get resources, and importantly, people they happen to find hiding in ruined buildings. Hard Steel Mercenaries work togethe with the Local State Police as thugs tend to get rowdy in public spaces. Maybe that is why a Punch Club exist in Jam Rock.

Cronos and Kaguya work together as Hard Steel Mercenaries Contractors. Since Cronos and Kaguya proven themselves that they are abled fighters and capable of exploring the ruined city, they get the chance of taking contracts to either invade territory, gather supplies, defending territory, rescue missions, or information gathering. This are their daily jobs. Doing various jobs give them reputation that they can use in many situations if it involves conversations.

Cronos has the greatest affinity to the Rock Gang as its boss, Simmon Brock, respect him alot that Alice who is the acting leader is cooperative with him. This allowed him to get discounted prices in shops in the Cinema where they sell various equipment and consumables. Such consumables are bandages that are sterilized with bleach. It is quite ironic that Rock Gang knows how to make illegal substances for recreation, not making drugs that are beneficial. They had to improvise and use household materials to make healing consumables. If only there is someone who knows chemistry.

Kaguya's guns have been upgraded. Most of her guns now have laser sights, which she afforded with her budget. With the laser sights, Kaguya can see where she is directly aiming. Plus they all produce green laser. Sure, they can make Kaguya expose her location but the laser sights can be turned off with a simple twist.

II. Cronos and Kaguya are doing assignment of surveying the east. Instead of machines and robots, there are wild beasts that roam around the ruins. Something about these beasts are strange. They are aggressive, and toxic to eat. Rabiane was the only one who can eat their meat. It is a mystery. Rabiane provided a reason and its mana in these beast. Everyone in Jam Rock don't have mana so, eating the beasts meat will make them feel sick from mana overload.

These beasts have been a pain as they follow the explorers through scent. Thanks to Simmon personally staking out before, they learned that beasts most likely not attack if certain conditions are met. First would be not invading their territory. Wolves typically make their homes in buildings and near a hunting spot of herbivores, which are the rabbits with horns. Snakes slither under the rubbles to ambush people with their venomous fangs.

Naming them are a hassle so everyone figured they should call the beasts by their features. Its mostly Rabiane who take on invasion missions to deal with beasts as she can earn credits and put food on her plate at the same time. The focus this time is Cronos and Kaguya exploring beyond the search.

Just like the west, ruined buildings have been devoured by the mysterious greens. It is strange that the plants grow even if the sun rarely rises. The only time the sun rises is when monsters are not active. They decided to call the daytime "Day of Safety". Day of Safety last for 3 days straight. Enough time to get the resources safely by the use of trucks. Its not the Day of Safety yet so Cronos and Kaguya still needs to encounter dangerous monsters.

Up ahead, they can see an open field. This is probably a big intersection. There are many billboards for many products and they are scratched and faded by the elements. Staying in this place for long makes a normal person dizzy for some reason. Kaguya can last longer if she were to travel the upper floors of the buildings since it is most likely an invisible dense gas is what makes them dizzy. Cronos can indefinitely stay on ground floor as it seems that he can resist the side effect of the gas.

In combat, Cronos faces the beasts alone with supporting fire from Kaguya from upper floors. Cronos had to get used to how various beasts attack so he could defend himself better. First times always caught him off guard. He sees that Wolves attack in packs and prioritize lunging and biting down their prey until its victims can't move. Kaguya must take out a number of these Wolves so Cronos have easier time fighting them. Since Kaguya is somewhere in elevated position, the Wolves couldn't figure out where she is.

To fight these beasts, Cronos needs to wait patiently for then to step in. When they lunge, Cronos must use the initiative to impale them with his Parallel Chronoblade. This can fail and it requires Cronos to step out of the way of the lunge and kick the beast away from him. The Wolves circle him around making sure Cronos don't escape. But fortunately, Cronos is the ideal bait for the beasts. Kaguya deals fatal shots from safe distance to knock out the Wolves.

Fighting them in the open is much preferable. Being cornered meant Cronos don't have room to move. Everytime he strikes one Wolf, other wolves have the chance to pounce him from his blind spot. Cronos needs to use light swings to drive the beasts away. They are different from machines and zombies after all. They are living breathing organisms that prioritize survival.

The Wolves started to attack together. Cronos barely dodged the attack and he got grazed. Cronos needs to think how he should reduce the amount of damage he will sustain. He can't afford his back to get hit so as reckless as it sounds, Cronos tackles the Wolf in front of him. It is fortunate that the Wolf failed to grip his body with its teeth and it faceplanted on the ground. It tries to get up but its skull pops like a bottlecap because of Kaguya sniping from the distance.

Fear immobilized the Wolves, which Cronos take advantage of to defeat them. He cleaves through multiple wolves with one swing of his Parallel Chronoblade. Kaguya finishes off the remaining ones. Kaguya eventually comes down and greets Cronos. She is wearing a mask made from cloth to cover her nose and mouth.

III. "Good work out there Cronos." praised Kaguya. Cronos closes his eyes and swings his sword with a flourish spin back to his scabbard on his back. Apparently he learned it from Jack Hoff who always posing after winning matches in Punch Club. Kaguya giggles for how cool and silly it is.

"They are harder than the zombies and the machines we fought before." said Cronos. Kaguya said, "For sure, we are dealing biological life. They aren't like mindless robots or zombies. They can focus preserving their lives like we do so that makes it difficult to defeat them." Cronos takes a look at the corpse of the Wolf. Black tough fur, sharp claws and teeth, long fluffy tail, red eyes. A beast that bleeds red like they do.

Injuring them will cause them to flee and if they are severely injured, they die. Cronos asked, "Did you notice that when that one monster got injured, others flocked around it, and when it died, they stopped moving?" Kaguya replied, "It must be the alpha. Their coordination shattered the moment their alpha died." It is a useful information to remember.

Kaguya looks up and she noticed something. "Cronos, up there." said Kaguya pointing a building with a bright light. Smokes is coming out of that light. "There might be survivors." said Kaguya hopefully. Cronos advices that they should proceed with caution. A bright light like that will attract unwanted attention.

IV. Cronos and Kaguya walk closer to the source of light. They hear chatter of men. Kaguya can pick up the conversation from safe distance. She leans closer to hear better.

"For fuck sake this dog tore off my skin." said the first person. "Relax you damn crybaby. At least you survived." said the second person. "For how fucking long do we keep moving? We are fucking lost." said the third person. "Shut up and eat. We're resting on this tower." said the second person. There are three different people that are camping in the building.

They sound tough. One person appears to be injured by a Wolf. They appear to be wandering and they are planning to take a rest. Kaguya can hear that they are roasting something over a fire, which is the source of light. Kaguya sneaks closer. They are still not visible but they can be easily heard. They are still arguing.

"This is why you cowards should have just smash them." said the third person. "Hey! Its you jerk who jumped on them freaks you fucking brute!" said the second person. "Mind you that I killed most wolves you maniacs. Because of you imbeciles my skin bled bad." said the first person. "That is because you are weak Slick. Gain some muscles." said the third person. Slick got annoyed and shouted, "Shut up Bruce! You and Swift can't even hit shit!" Swift is angry and shouted, "Shut up already! We're fucking tired for godsake!"

They are at no point will have friendly conversation with Cronos and Kaguya with their foul mood. "What do we do Cronos?" asked Kaguya with a whisper. Cronos shakes his head. Kaguya understands what he is implying. They should avoid the survivors for now.

For a group that are tired, they have alot of energy to spend. It is surprising that no predators had come to prey them for being very noisy. Kaguya is just worried.

V. Cronos and Kaguya are staying somewhere in the building just above the three men. From there, they are visible. Slick, Swift, and Bruce are wearing something unusual. Metal light armor to be exact. They look like trained men wearing medieval cuirass with metal vambraces and and metal greaves. They also wear black pants and metal boots. They don't appear to wear anything underneath their cuirass. They wear the same helmets that has no face cover. Their halberd is specially crafted with real steel.

You can tell each owner's personality from their equipment.

Slick should have his halberd more bloody than the others if you see the bloody rags beside him. He is definitely skilled with his weapon proficiency with his halberd. It is lucky that he is alive despite sustaining injuries.

Swift looks fresh. His armor isn't damaged of any sort even after facing the Wolves. He has a habit of fidgeting his foot and his index finger. And he has the habit of being wary of his surroundings, which is true since Cronos could tell that he is more concerned what is above than what is below, suggesting that he may have noticed the presence Cronos and Kaguya. He is waiting for something to happen.

Bruce looks worse for wear. His armor and his halberd is scratched and dented by the Wolves. He did receive injuries but not as much as Slick. Bruce is the biggest among the three with well formed muscles. A man with strength indeed. He is very energetic despite being the most injured among the three. He would have good amount of pain tolerance from all the damages he sustained and not being bothered by it.

They appear to be eating meat. And not just any meat. It is the meat of the wolves they eat. Meat from monsters are toxic for people from Jam Rock except Rabiane. Which meant these people have the same constitution as Rabiane if they are able to walk around the place without getting the malus effect from dense mana.

Some time later after resting, more Wolves appeared. Bruce is excited, Swift is annoyed, and Slick is pissed. "Hey Swift! Don't be a pussy and dodge like a fucking rat! Thrash them out!" shouted Bruce at Swift. Swift angrily replied, "You fucking loudmouth! I'll shove my stick right on your ass!" Slick sighed and said, "You sons of bitches, just get ready... Fuck my life..."

Kaguya looks over. "Should we help them Cronos?" asked Kaguya. Cronos assessed the situation. Judging by the words of the three, the one who is competent in attack is Slick. Bruce can deal heavy damage if he can hit and Swift can waste the opponent's energy with his fast movement. A seven versus three seems to be troublesome as the three don't really cooperate one another. They are doing their own thing. Slick already killed two of them but he got too wounded to continue fighting. "Cover them. I'll head down." ordered Cronos to Kaguya. Kaguya nods and snipes the Wolf that is attacking Slick using DSA-1. The shot rang out, surprising the three.

VI. "Imperial Reinforcements?! That was the sound of a flintlock!" shouted Slick who is very glad that he survived. Cronos arrives fast to the location. "Who the fuck are you?" asked Slick. Cronos replied, "Reinforcement." Slick chuckles and extends his arms. Cronos pulls him up. "I may be too wounded, but I have fucking pride. Let's take them down." said Slick while brushing off the pain. With the battle turning to one versus one each, things have gotten smoother.

Starting with Bruce. Bruce is very cocky. He swings his halberd very wildly and didn't hit the monster. But him shouting and flailing scared the heck of the monster. Bruce smiled and faked his tiredness which the Wolf bites the bait literally. It bites Bruce's vambrace which its fangs failed to penetrate. Bruce lifts the monster up and bites its nape. His jaw strength is strong that even if the monster flails around and scratch him, Bruce deepens his bite, causing it to bleed more and more until it got weakened. He slams the monster down on the ground, raised his halberd as high as he can, and said, "Die you son of a bitch!" He smashed the Wolf's skull. Bruce literally tanked all damages just to have the monster come close and take the bait. He sure have monstrous stamina to flail around too.

Next is Swift. Swift is toying with the Wolf. He just don't let this particular one go near its pack. Whenever he gets the chance, he spokes the monster with the spike of his halberd. He is very observant to every twitch the monster lets out. And his agility matches with his perception. He weakened the wolf to the point it flees. Swift laughs and shouted, "Go cry on your mother's tits you smelly dog!" A very rude and vulgar insult.

Then there is Slick. Despite being wounded, Slick stands strong. His cockiness is unlike Bruce. He stands there like a post and looks at the Wolf. The Wolf just cower in fear. With few steps closer, Slick forced the monster to flee through intimidation. He is proud that the predator sees that he is a threat. "Damn, I am cool." said Slick and sits down to rest. He simply observes Cronos together with the other two of his squadmates.

Cronos didn't have to do much as his opponent chose to leave. It is a victory. "Hey, thanks for the rescue." said Slick. Cronos nods in reply.

VII. Kaguya comes down from her location to meet the others. "Are you all alright?" asked Kaguya. The three armored men whistle the same tune upon seeing Kaguya's figure. Kaguya gets mad and says they are rude for staring with sleazy eyes. "Apologies. Its been a long time we seen another woman." said Slick as he is covering his wounds with bandages that Cronos provided.

Swift shakes his mind off and starts his inquisition. "You two are no knights nor soldiers from Zanados. Are you two from Garland?" asked Swift. He is looking at Kaguya who is holding her DSA-1. He is interested seeing a strange musket that has no hammerhead pin. Cronos and Kaguya say that they weren't from Garland. They don't even know what that place even is.

Bruce stands tall in front of Cronos and looks at him with hostile look. "You punk are suspicious." said Bruce. Slick shouted, "You fucking dick. Have some braincell in your tiny brain." Bruce and Slick bickered about respect. Swift speaks to Cronos. "I am Swift, one of the guards from Fort Ganon." Cronos replied back. "My name is Cronos, a contractor for the Hard Steel Mercenaries." Swift's looks a bit relieved. "You're an adventurer then?" asked Swift. Cronos denies being an adventurer which confused Swift. Cronos dressed the part of a typical adventurer after all.

VIII. Bruce and Slick finished bickering and set up their difference. They introduced themselves like Swift did. They all say that they are guards from Fort Ganon. They are surprised to know that both Cronos and Kaguya have not heard about the place. Swift said, "Idiots. Fort Ganon is supposed to be confidential."

It seems that whatever this Fort Ganon is, it is somewhere around the area. "Its not exactly safe out here so do you want us to escort you back to our fort?" asked Slick inviting both Cronos and Kaguya to come with them. Cronos denies the invitation, stating that they still have mission to do. They are still surveying the area which is also what the guards are doing.

"Great. We should act together. We may get more information faster." suggested by Slick. Swift looks skeptical and said, "Shut up you prick. You scumbag just want to follow a girl." Slick's vein popped out and shouted, "What is wrong with that asshole?! We cannot simply leave them alone!"

Cronos seems to be worried since this is the first time he met a group that fight at one another. Kaguya seems to be genuinely happy for some reason. The bicker didn't last even a minute so Slick asked again that they will act together surveying the land. Cronos agrees with the plan. There is safety in numbers.

IX. It is the worst. The three can't really work together. Swift is overly cautious and Bruce is overly stubborn. Slick shouted, "You two! Train how to hit for a while would you?! I can't be the one who keeps racking out the kills!" Bruce shouted, "That is your fault for not building up your muscle!" Swift shouted, "What good even are you if you cannot even defeat the enemy in one hit or avoid getting damage! What good are you even?!"

Slick's ran out of patience and retaliated against Swift. He shouted, "At least your mother likes me better than you!"

Swift shouted, "Motherfucker! You son of a bitch!" The two bickered as Bruce stands in the middle blocking all the halberd strikes from both. "Enough! You two fight like fucking brats! Look at the girl! She is disappointed at us!" said Bruce.

Kaguya's expectation for them dropped lower. Cronos continues to survey the land. Pretty much, they learned more about the ecosystem as there are weird herbs and vegetables growing around. There are preys and hunters. It is a jungle inside the concrete jungle.

It didn't take long before the survey ended. Mostly thanks to Kaguya. Cronos explained the trio that they need to head back. Slick nods and told them to consider coming to Fort Ganon further east behind the long brick walls. The Fort should be recognizable for its castle like structure.

The group has been split and returned to their respective places.