Harrowing nature

Feeling light and refreshed like a weight had been rinsed away from me.' While also not smelling like a rotten corpse, you're welcome, sophie.' I thought to myself with a grin.

I stepped out of the bathroom, ready to actually get something done while simultaneously dreading my day. Walking over to a closet near the bathroom where i store clothing for days exactly like this, i haphazardly put on a black button down shirt and some loose fitting jeans that seemed casual enough for my liking.

I couldn't help but let out a sigh. "I guess I should check in with that damn tyrant before she goes digging up random graves or worse begins a city wide manhunt in search of me huh?"

Looking around the apartment i noticed that sophie had left the moment we got to her apartment, thankfully she knows more people than me so finding my items shouldn't take her long especially considering the kind of people they are.

Unlike the time consuming task of what I was about to go deal with. Choosing not to waste anymore time I left a note for sophie on the fridge if she beat me back and with that final thing I stepped out of the front door.

The city of nexus smelled exactly the same, artificial while simultaneously grotesque. It was a smell that would honestly confuse most people on its origin if it was your first time here. Looking around you could see the "trees" lining the city streets but everyone knew those were essentially plastic replicas fitted with a purification fan. Unfortunately those fans had fallen into disrepair, even in the more wealthy districts, this is the reason for the foul smelling air surrounding me currently.

The planet had long given up on sustaining any form of life except for the nost resilient creature's, sure you could still breath outside of the walls of all these cities but it wasnt pleasant nor easy. If you weren't an ascended your lungs would slowly burn from the acidic air and your blood would be poisoned from the toxins in the ground eventually. Even ascended humans had difficulties staying outside for prolonged periods of time without extra equipment which is why they chose to only venture out when a horde of abyss creatures had been spotted.

Even the gate guards have periodic shift changes in five hour intervals to prevent any adverse health effects.

Thankfully me and sophie and others like us never had to suffer from those effects. Being demon-kin put us miles ahead of the ascended in terms of bodily function and resistance to the harrowing nature that now plagued the planet,only a few humans are actually capable of fighting us head on or matching our constitution.

'That's not to say we are invincible far from from it after all a fucking golf ball killed me..' I thought to myself with a frustrated sigh.

Our species may posses multiple clans but the humans still far out number us and the abyss creatures even more so. However the humans and demon-kin have had a long standing truce if you want to call it that consideringthe bloodbath that was requiredto form it. In exchange for our strength on the battlefield as well as being science experiments we get rewarded with credits and we also receive life essence from the beasts we or the humans defeat.

Without this essential fuel our bodies would wither away at a alarming rate, starting with our hair and eyes losing their color to our bodies breaking down resembling a gaunt appearance of a person who had been starved all their life. It was truly not a pleasent experience and to make it worse in the last days if the "starvation " a demon-kin will seek out any life man, woman or child and attempt to kill them in attempt to quell their hunger. This was a huge reason for the distrust and skepticism humans held for me and my kin, they always had a base fear we'd attack them for their own life essence.

I dont know if its something to be seen as a blessing or not, but thanks to my curse i wont suffer from the dire consequencesof not getting enough essence like the others. The only thing that ever seems to change for me is my hair growth and the growing number of scars on my body.

Moving through the vast expanse of the city I made my way towards military command walking with a swift purpose I did my best to ignore the noise and yelling from citizens selling their goods or in some cases themselves or others, but the noise quickly became overwhelming.

"Tall, slender and obedient! At only age 16 this girl is the perfect housekeeper! Or whatever you want her to be! For only 300 credits!" Yelled a fat old man who was clearly a slave trader, his unkempt beard contrasted starkly against the bleak building in which he operated out of. These are the kind of people that live in nexus, besides the soldiers, workers and upper class, it's filled with wretched humans who would sell out their own kin just to make a small amount of credits. Disgusting.

"You there sir! A young man such as yourself surely could use a perfect little "tool" couldn't you? Don't be fooled she may look scrawny but I promise you she's a powerhouse!" The old man boasted while spittle flew through his beard, creating an unsightly image. Unsure if he was addressing me or not i decided to move slightly closer not expecting to see anything i havent seen before.

The slave however had caught my eye, she had a very unnatural hair color much like myself and sophie. 'She couldn't be one of us though, I searched thoroughly around the eastern territories and found no one.'

Thinking that to myself i moved closer, hoping to catch more of her features. If I'm right then today just got a lot more fucking annoying and potentially dangerous.

After approaching closer I noticed a few distinct features that caught my eye, she had long ruby red hair that glistened brightly and beautifully against the artificial light. Her gaunt appearance however didn't give off the appearance of a demon-kin, she looked like a broken human who just had their hair done by a very talented professional by the slave trader in hopes to sell her for a higher price.

It wasn't till she looked at me that I was caught completely off guard by the eyes of this unassuming girl. While one was the color of a beautiful emerald gem that seemed to absorb the light and reflect it with an unseen intensity, the other was just a dull blue that reminded me of a normal human.

'Holy shit. She's a fucking half-breed! I could've sworn they were all persecuted and killed during the last human-demon war?' I thought frantically to myself unsure of what to do next, my gaze not leaving the young girl as I pondered my next steps.

"Ah, I see you've shown a keen interest young man! Would you perhaps be willing to talk business, looking and not buying is very frowned upon around here as I'm sure you know." The old man said with a coniving grin plastered on his old wrinkled face.

He continued to look at me down his nose or I guess up? I easily had a foot on the man and yet he kept trying to give off the false bravado of someone with a higher status than myself.

"You, girl what's your name?" I asked with a slight disdain in my voice, not directed toward the young girl but the man standing beside her.

"O-olivia sir.." She responded meakly as if she didn't even have the energy to speak.

"Sir, I'm telling you kindly. Do not speak to my merchandise without discussing it with me first." He said confidently as he patted a heavy revolver on his waist the gun wasnt large but he was obviously thinking that this little toy would scare me into listening.

'I guess it has been awhile since I've set someone straight huh? This will be fun jf not a little tedious.' I thought as a smirk similar to sophie's spread on my face, letting out a small amount of pressure from my body the temperature dropped immediately around me and the old slave trader.

The look on his face twisted from confidence to shock and then slowly unbridled terror. "Y-OU! YOU'RE A DEMON-KIN!" he yelled through gritted and chattering teeth , his whole body trembling from the cold air surrounding us. The freezing air gripped tightly around a five foot radius, I had limited myself because I didn't want to kill the man just scare him.

"Why yes sir, I most certainly am!" I replied with a sarcastic and dangerous smirk.

"Now here's what we are going to do, I'll give you 150 credits no more no less, does that seem fair for you?" My pressure not subsiding in the least as i held his gaze not letting my face change even a little.

"I..uh of course! Of course sir just sign this transfer of o-ownership form and please be on your w-way." The man stuttered out his face had slowly become even more twisted and his body now seemed as though it'd collapse any second.

Taking the virtual form I signed my name and promptly released the palpable pressure I was exerting. I gave the man a gentle smile before saying one last thing.

"Thank you so much for the wonderful transaction sir!"

As i began to walk away with the young girl in tow i heard the old man utter quietly "fucking monsters all of em...."

Looking at olivia the girl seemed like she was going to drop dead any second, just the small act of walking was draining her of whatever remaining energy she possed. If i dont get her the life essence she needs she may very well drop dead or worse attack an innocent.

'Well it makes sense, sadly she got the best and worse of both halves from her lineage.' I thought to myself while remembering the horror that was the half-breeding program that both sides had employed during that devastating war.

After traveling a few more blocks, we had finally made it to the military command building, it was a tall and intimidating structure stretching into the sky with an almost similar height to those of the walls. With the military logo of a single wolve devouring a piece of meat displayed proudly on the face of the building.

Walking through the giant iron doors with a hastened pace I entered the lobby, it was a massive room easily capable of holding thousands of people in it. As soon as I stepped inside however it seemed as though all the busy bee's and civilian workers immediately halted everything they were doing and gawked at me in suprise. Even the brass of the military that were walking casually where drawn to my presence.

'Or are they looking at olivia?' I thought, not realizing I just brought in a gaunt little girl with tattered clothes into one of the most respected places in the city.

After that small realization I decided to make all the attention fall on me by proclaiming loudly and with a boastful tone.

"Yes, yes it's me the wonderful and handsome ranika! Now pick your jaws up and get back to work!"

After successfully making a fool of myself i looked down at the frail girl. "Olivia do you mind waiting here in the lobby?" I asked her tentatively.

"Uh yes sir..." Her reply seemed reluctant and showed a hint of fear.

"Ah don't worry no one here will harm you, this I promise you." I said hopefully reassuring her with that last sentence as i walked away.

"God dammit I thought he was dead, now I have to pay up on that bet I made with division leader gram!" Complained a tall burly woman who would make any man with dreams of being the biggest body builder to shame.

Standing at six feet ten inches she truly gave off the pressence of a warrior, her bronze skin accented her dark hair beautifully appearing to look like a ghost of the ancient amazonian war tribe.

"Awe, were you worried about me tatiana? How sweet!" I said while looking up at her a jovial smile on my face.

Most men would run away in fear of her but me and her shared a bit of kinship. After all we've fought countless battles against the never ending sea of abyss creatures together.

"Please small fry, me worried? Hell no! I bet against your well being considering the 40k credit pool! Ah if only your dumbass had stayed dead." She said shaking her head with obvious disappointment.

While doing my best to look absolutely mortified and offended, I shouted aloud hoping to draw even more attention,"My dear Tatiana! Here I thought we shared a beautiful bond!"

While burying my face in my hands pretending to tremble and look absolutely shaken, my charade however ended quickly as I felt a large hand smack me upside the head with the force of a damn train behind it sending me flying towards the elevators with tremendous speed.

Boom!

Dust rained down around me as I impacted the steel doors showcasing how little are janitors really did around here. 'Shit, now I have a headache and my nice clothes are dirty, I just fucking showered!'  I thought to myself with a hint of rage.

Piercing the towering woman with my gaze hoping to relay my displeasure after beimg treated like a rag doll. All she had to say before turning and walking away after ruthlessly hitting me was "welcome back princess, you should really get a haircut soon." And then she was gone either out on another mission outside the walls or off to harrass the poor boys at the bar.

'Those poor bastards' I laughed mentally at the sight of men running from the terrifying woman.

Standing up and brushing myself off, I turned and walked into the elevator, pressing the 30th floor button I waited patiently albeit with absolute horror running through my mind.

'She is gonna hit me way hard than Tatiana isn't she?' I shuddered as i formed that horrifying thought. Finally reaching the desired floor I stepped out and walked into her office.

it was spacious and highlighted by various military awards situated on tall shelves surrounding the room and in-between those shelves were disgusting heads of abyss creatures mounted on the walls like a disgusting homage, and there sitting at the center behind a beautifully carved oak desk was the one human that I truly hated talking to.

"BROTHER YOU PIECE OF SHIT WHAT TOOK SO LONG!"