Scott viewed her soft, supple, curves once more then sighed. He almost did not want to allow her to rest, but he knew that she was tired. Hell, he was tired. Still, he made a promise and Flora did work hard. She would enjoy being allowed to rest and dream of something pleasant.
He kissed her softly on the pussy once more then leaned back. She gasped, but before she could say anything he held up his bracer and said, “Flora, rest.”
The girl gave him an accusatory look before she shimmered then dissolved back into light. Her master sighed at the empty spot on the bed then looked down at his bracer. It was hard to believe that the beautiful and tender girl was really a piece of crystal sitting on his arm.
Scott kissed the light-green Crystallim core then said. “Good girl. Sleep well.”
The crystalline structure glowed brightly for a short time and then dimmed once more. Flora was a happy little Alraune right now. That much was obvious.
The hunter yawned then stretched. He was tired too, but he had to go visit a potential new friend. He called up a message screen then checked the time. “Perfect.”
He stood up then unequipped his gear before calling up his bathroom fixtures. The bathroom appeared inside the room with a shimmer of light and he walked over to it casually. He planned to take a quick shower, equip a few nice clothes, and then head out to meet Alexis.
Scott was not certain what to expect from that meeting. He knew that she was the human child of a human and a succubus, a rarity for human children. He did not know the specifics, but it would ultimately be similar to the situation that brought Flora into the world.
One thing he knew to keep in mind, however. Her partial succubus nature, did not mean that she was interested in sex tonight. Her conversation with him certainly led him to believe that she was, but for all he knew, she just wanted to spend time with someone who was also both human and a hunter.
Before he stepped into the shower he realized that he had to pee. “Heh, that’s what I get for drinking so much today...”
Scott went to the bathroom and relieved himself loudly. His poor bladder was strained from his actions previously. After a moment he sniffed at the air then chuckled. "Neat. It smells like a honey dew."
The early evening was a time of frenetic activity within the city of America. Nineteen hundred hours, most people were finished with work for the day. It was the time of day when travelers wanted to either reach their homes or to escape from them. For a hunter on a mission, it was one of the worst times of the day to try and navigate the city on foot.
Scott sighed at the sea of humanity down below. He currently stood on a cross walk overlooking the section of the city that he needed to cross. In the distance there stood several large apartment buildings. In the building on the far right there was a nice girl with certain needs who was quite interested in meeting up with him.
“I can make it, but just to be sure...” Scott called up his friend list and selected Alexis. He sent her a quick message telling her that he was on his way, but the traffic was heavy.
Scott started his journey by hoping down the side of the crosswalk, while ignoring the stairs entirely. He dropped down to a concrete slab below and then hopped down once more. The man mentally congratulated himself for saving a few precious seconds then continued his trip.
He slipped through the mass of humanity by any means necessary. Sometimes he pushed, and sometimes he was pushed. Either way, he moved with the flow. He was never too aggressive, but people were used to being gently redirected around the path of someone who actually needed to be somewhere. In America, at this time of day, repositioning others was practically mandatory.
After crossing two blocks of the city, the herd began to thin. He got in line at the crosswalk. Scott checked his time and nodded. He was still on schedule. He did not want to be late for whatever it was that Alexis wanted to discuss.
The traffic signal changed and the people waiting in line surged forward almost as a single mass. Scott walked across the street with several people on either side of him. Dozens more people were positioned in front or behind.
While crossing the street he once again wondered why people enjoyed living in these massive cities. If the person in front of him were to release a loud wet fart many people might die. Well, it was not quite that bad, but they might wish that they had passed from this world by the time the air cleared.
Thankfully, once he left the main traffic artery in that area he was able to reach a section of sidewalk that allowed people to actually walk around like people instead of being tightly packed. Now that he had a bit of breathing room, the former soldier could become creative. He eyed the upper-level walkway. The next set of stairs leading upward was still some distance away. He would have to backtrack to reach the proper road.
Scott looked around and noted several things that he could use to his advantage. “Heightened agility, don’t fail me now!”
The hunter took off like a shot, startling several people in the process. He reached the edge of the road and leapt atop the guard rail and then bounded away again. He immediately twisted his body and gripped a metal pole that held up a street sign and kicked off against the wall. The well-practiced maneuver allowed the man to use his momentum to flip onto the top of another sign pole. The new vantage point was much higher than the previous one.
He re-checked the distance and then nodded. He looked out over the area then steeled his courage. There was a major drop off ahead; he would only get one chance at this. However, he'd made similar leaps back when he was in basic training and now his agility was several times higher than the common man.
A small crowd began to form and people started to take quick photos of his movements. Some of them began to openly gossip about the man’s intentions. Amid the gossip and cheers of the crowd, Scott jumped from the sign pole and easily cleared the distance to the upper causeway’s lower rail.
“What’s he gonna do now?” asked a hulking man with a buzz cut hairstyle. He watched as Scott swung his body back and forth three times before he kicked out then thrust his torso forward so that his arms would reach the next support.
The novice hunter repeated the maneuver several times before he managed to reach the furthest support. When he arrived there he dropped down on the other side of the river then ran over to another set of stairs. Scott was now at the next section he needed to reach and had cut several potential minutes off of his trip.
Buzz cut guy nodded then said, “Military” before he turned and walked away. A few people turned to look at the massive man-beast and then back to the distant form of the man running along the isle beneath the causeway. He had already leapt over another guard rail and he currently used the stone support base as a pathway to avoid the crowds.
Scott raced along the stone blocks and jumped when he reached the edge of each section. Below him was a deep pit known as the slums. It was not as bad as the name would suggest, but he had no desire to drop over a thousand feet down to the ground. However, he also had no concern for such things. He'd made similar trips during basic training, after all. There were plenty of grips and beams to latch onto to try to slow such a fall, at any rate.
He was not even the only person using such a short cut. After he reached the final stone support he glanced over to his left and noticed three people leaping along the support structure of another causeway. It was dangerous, and the police did not like it, but these sorts of methods provided the quickest way to get anywhere on foot.
The hunter leaned forward and looked around the corner of the final support. He was in luck. There was a maintenance ladder. He would not need to climb the support posts between the metal barriers that kept cars from flying off the highway and down into the residential block beyond.
He climbed up the ladder then turned toward the barrier. He looked down and saw fast moving vehicles gliding along the road. If he did not time this properly, he would not like the result. Still, what was life without unnecessary risks?
Scott
took a step back then ran forward and leapt boldly into the air once more. He pulled his legs up, one leg higher than the other, and extended his arms slightly while making his fingers take on a claw-like appearance by curling them slightly.
He dropped down a bit then caught the metal barricade on three out of the four points that he had hoped for, and smiled at the result. It was not a perfect leap and grab, but his skills were still sharp. A special technique of the ADF, the leap and grab worked well on structures such as the barricade.
The hunter maintained three points of contact at all times and climbed over the obstacle. Once he was over the top, he looked around briefly then nodded. His next destination in sight, he quickly crawled sideways along the metal structure until he reached the next necessary point.
Scott threw himself backward in a powerful jump and twisted around in mid-air so that he could catch the next maintenance ladder. This time he made a perfect catch then grinned. He missed basic training. It was fun to do things like this.
He climbed up the ladder then smiled triumphantly. He was now at the residential block. Scott checked his time then nodded. He did not have much time for self-congratulation if he did not want to be late. He did spare a glance at the route he would have had to take otherwise and shook his head. He could have traveled it with decent speed, but it snaked all over the place.
“Direct is better...” said the hunter before turning from the edge. He jogged off at a steady-clip. It was not a straight shot to Alexis’ apartment building.
Just as he arrived at the entrance to her building, she responded to his message. Scott read it then frowned. His frown soon turned into a hearty laugh.
<<< Message >>>
[Oh, it’s OK. I’ll just come get you at your place if you are leaving. My mother is letting me borrow her skimmer during my ninety-day period.]
<<< * >>>
Scott snorted and then smiled once more. That sounded like his sort of luck. He'd gotten all the way to her place by leap frogging around town, only to find out that he could have gotten a free ride.
He sent her a message in response to let her know that he'd already arrived. He did not want to risk her flying off to collect him while he was attempting to reach her apartment. Humor of the moment aside, it was time to get down to the business of the evening.
Scott walked into the lobby of the apartment building then looked around. What it lacked in height, it made up for in interior design. The people who lived there must have credits to burn. There were crystalline chandeliers, plush red carpets, expensive looking draperies, and all manner of other signs of wealth.
The hunter quickly moved toward the elevator, but a man in a security uniform appeared before him. One moment the man was nowhere to be seen. In the next instant he barred Scott's path. The security officer was flanked by two Crystallim who wore police issue body armor. Scott immediately suspected that the people in front of him were off-duty police officers who worked a side job as security.
“I’m sorry, sir. May I see your identification, please?” asked the security agent. He spoke in a professional, polite, manner.
“Ah, yes.” Scott called up his status and granted temporary authorization for secure viewing. Only someone with proper clearance would be able to see his status. Security personnel, even private security in the public sector, counted as authorized personnel when on duty.
The security agent reviewed the information for a moment then looked at Scott. “I do not recognize you as a tenant of this building, sir. What is the purpose of your visit?”
“I am meeting a friend of mine,” said Scott. He related Alexis’ name and apartment number. The security personnel, all three of them, looked at him carefully for a moment.
The security agent in charge said, “Grant me a moment to verify that, sir.”
Despite his polite demeanor, he was not requesting Scott’s permission. The novice hunter recognized the man’s tone of voice. He was stating a fact, rather than a request.
Scott hoped that Alexis had not decided to play a game with him. He did not want to think of what might happen if she said something strange to the man. He waited while the security agent contacted someone. Scott suspected that it was Alexis, but it was impossible to tell. Several minutes passed before the girl answered.
“Ah, I see. You are authorized for entry, sir. If you wish to visit again in the future, it may be good to see if Ms. Rantez will register you as a permanently allowed guest,” stated the security guard before stepping aside.
“I’ll make a note of that. Thank you,” said Scott. He moved toward the elevator then heard the tell-tale sound of stealth mode activation.
He looked back and the three guards were nowhere to be seen. Stealth mode was extremely difficult to detect through the physical senses. An alert individual could hear the initiation of that mode if they knew what to listen for, but after it was initiated the person using stealth was virtually a ghost. The effect would prevent an individual under stealth from being detected by smell, sound, or sight. Their presence could be detected only through magic, or psychic abilities, as even their heat signature was invisible.
Scott mentally noted what he learned about the apartment security then waited for the elevator. Alexis lived in a building that hired stealth mode guards to protect the area. She was the daughter of a breeder, so that could only mean one thing. Her mother was probably well-known in the breeding circuit.
The elevator arrived and he got inside. On the way up he sighed loudly then smiled. A ridiculous thought crossed his mind and he shook his head to clear it away. He briefly considered the lengths he would go to in order to see a girl.
The ride up the building ended with a pneumatic hiss as the rapid-transport elevator opened to reveal a glorious sight. Directly in front of the man there stood a vision of absolutely loveliness.
“Hi, Scott!” said Alexis. She waved to him happily.
Barely capable of formatting a proper response he waved back and nodded. “Hi...”
Alexis had come to greet him at the elevator while wearing a simple skirt and tank top combination. It was a casual look, but she pulled it off with great finesse.
She reached out one leather gloved hand to him and said, “Don’t be shy.”
He fought down a blush then stepped forward. His foolish body sought to betray him. He’d had sex plenty of times, so why did he feel like giggling like an idiot in front of this girl? Was it her succubus blood?
The man reached forward and gently took her hand. “Sorry, I don’t look as good as you in a shirt, so I felt bad about myself.”
She laughed a little then drew him forward. “You’re sweet. Let’s go.”
Scott meekly followed the girl down the hallway and then turned a corner. A large set of double doors stood open before them. Inside the room up ahead there was a small movie theater, or at least that was what he thought it of it as.
Alexis ordered the doors closed behind them and then took him to sit in the back row. “The back row is the best for people on a date.”
He looked at her casually, “I’ve heard that. Though, I have never gone to the theater.”
“Yes, sadly it is a dying art form. There are too many people who solely live for virtual reality,” said Alexis.
That was certainly true. Scott never visited a theater before because he preferred to be part of the action. He used to play a few virtual reality games that were designed to let the player be the protagonist of a story. It was a lot of fun, though he preferred true reality. The life of a hunter spoke to him.
“What do you like about it?” asked Scott.
She looked to him for a moment then bit her bottom lip a little. “Promise you won’t laugh?”
“No. Tell me anyway,” said Scott.
She snorted at him. “That’s mean, but alright...”
Alexis took a deep breath then looked up at the screen. “I like the fact that most people don’t go.”
“Really? Why is that?” asked Sc
ott.
“You’ve seen what it is like in the city. It is extremely crowded. I can use a skimmer or private transit, but most people are packed in pretty tight,” she said.
“True. I’m not sure why people like to live like this. There are plenty of smaller towns with more leg room,” said Scott.
“I know, right? I can’t wait to be out there in the field.” Alexis smiled softly then acquired a distant look in her eyes.
“Why do you want to be a hunter so badly?” asked Scott. It was surprising, really. She seemed like she could have almost anything she wanted.
She squeezed his hand a little then looked at the screen for a moment. Finally, she looked down. “I just want to be free.”
“Free?” asked Scott. There was something important to what she had said. He did not know if he was prying into her affairs too deeply, but he did want to know.
She nodded twice then sighed. “My mother, my human mother, has always been worried about me. Now that I am an adult I can choose my own path, but until this point I was pretty much a storybook princess kept in a tower.”
Scott looked at her then looked around at the room. “This apartment building?”
“Yes. I’ve spent most of my life in this place. I could only leave when I had an escort until recently,” she said.
“Ah, the stealth mode security guards?” asked Scott.
She laughed a little then smiled. “Yes, though Ginger counts as well.”
“Why were you hidden away like that?”
Alexis gently squeezed his hand again before looking him in the eyes. “I told you about my parentage... My mother was worried that I would awaken during puberty. There are also business related reasons.”
“Given the price tag of this place, I bet a lot of people would want to put pressure on your mother through you.”
Alexis laughed slowly, sadly. “Yeah, I’m just glad that I had Ginger. Occasionally my mother would authorize play dates with other kids, but I would not call them my friends.”
“Well, I’ll be your friend if you can put up with me.” Scott started to laugh but his mirth was cut short by Alexis. She lunged forward and pressed her lips against his.
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