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There were two types of cultivators within this world. The first, and original, type were the orthodox ‘traditional cultivators’. These were those who lived in reclusive locations where the local spiritual qi was much richer, spending long periods in seclusion to cultivate in order to singlemindedly devote themselves to the pursuit of immortality.
These were then further split into those who belonged to a sect or other faction, simply called cultivators, and those who held no affiliation and were referred to as loose cultivators.
The second type of cultivators were the more modern ‘urban cultivators’. These were cultivators who lived within and were a part of modern civilization.
The accepted consensus was that traditional cultivators reached greater heights and were more powerful than an urban cultivator of the same realm as they studied and practiced more esoteric arts from grander heritages. At the same time, they were ridiculed as being stagnant water and abandoned by humanity due to a combination of their reclusive habits and isolation from the mundane world.
Late at night, a man with short black hair on top and buzzed hair on the sides sat cross legged in the center of his living room. He had a well groomed beard along his chiseled jawline that was thicker on his chin than elsewhere. As he opened his eyes, his piercing green eyes glanced around the room and stopped on his open laptop, where a hazard sign had appeared on the holographic display alongside a light warning siren.
Anthony Reeves was an urban cultivator in his 60’s, but his cultivation had left his appearance that of someone barely 30. He was at the mid Foundation Establishment realm, a rare level in the modern world, especially due to public and state cultivation arts being subpar compared to the ancient sects with millennia of inheritance.
It was even more unheard of for someone with such caliber to be working as the captain of some random small police station.
He in fact used to be the commander of the 17th Special Forces Regiment and held the rank of Sergeant Major, an extremely esteemed position within the US Army.
There was only one reason why he was transferred from the army to the police force, in a manner that would be considered a major demotion.
The entity known as Thomas Smith, and the demi fallen fae known as Senna Smith.
The former was the greatest headache for the American government and had been assigned a secret danger rating of Hazard VI. Little is understood about where the entity came from and the source of its power, but it is shown to be immortal, able to regenerate portions and even its entire body almost instantaneously.
When it released its power, it was also powerful enough to break through any modern defense, both scientific and magical.
The latter was a type of fallen creature that would be subjugated before it fully turned to evil and bared its fangs indiscriminately towards humanity and life in general. Through unknown methods, it had defied all logic and folklore and somehow grown from the eternal physique of a young girl and become a young woman.
Its strength had also increased exponentially along with its physique. It was no longer in a stage where it could be subjugated by the power of individuals and had been classified as a Hazard V.
The pair would have have been placed in a much higher hazard class, but the fact that they were not openly hostile to humans, and that the damage they could inflict was localized, lowered that rating.
It had been calculated that a strategic warhead would be able to destroy Senna Smith, but there was still no solution for dealing with Thomas Smith. The entity could not be killed or contained by any known methods.
Under orders from the highest level, Anthony Reeves was to maintain a monitor of the two and control any situations to protect the country. In other words, he had to intervene and prevent anything from causing either of the two to bare their fangs at the country. If they were bombs, it was his job to act as a guard and prevent anyone from so much as lighting the fuse.
A constant surveillance had proven to be ineffective as they were simply wiped out. Thankfully nobody died during that incident, but they all had multiple broken bones and spent a long time in the hospital.
The surveillance moved to a more passive approach after that, with a special intelligence department supporting him behind the scenes and a dedicated satellite.
It was an extremely stressful job for Anthony Reeves.
Anthony had been suffering a foreboding feeling all afternoon, a type of sixth sense that was empowered by his cultivation. When he saw the hazard sign on his laptop display, he instinctively knew this is what it was for.
Walking over to the computer with refined movement, his hand moved so fast it appeared to only be a blur.
The warning sign was dismissed and he rapidly investigated it.
The silent alarm on the window of his office at the police station had been triggered. He flicked through the local surveillance cameras and saw Thomas and Senna Smith rummaging through his pristinely organized office and tossing things everywhere.
Even if they were dressed as burglars, there was no way he would mistake the appearance of his two prime surveillance targets.
The vein on his temple throbbed in anger as he watched the utterly disrespectful behavior of the two.
“Why the fuck are you bastards breaking in via my office!? Not to mention you are throwing my stuff around everywhere, are you trying to piss me off!?” Anthony shouted at nobody in particular.
He still had a job to do, so he took a few deep breaths and hurriedly contacted the night staff in the station and ordered them to immediately evacuate the building.
He also happened to spot two others one the surveillance camera that he didn’t recognize and furrowed his brows. He then hurriedly got changed into his police uniform and grabbed a black sword and scabbard with silver and gold engravings on it.
It was an spiritual item that was produced to the most modern research, and its power was feared by many who had gone up against Anthony.
The window outside, twenty stories up in the air in an expensive high rise, flung open with a swing of his hand before he jumped on his sword that flew out of its scabbard as if it had a mind of its own. Anthony then vanished from the apartment and cut through the night sky at a blistering speed.
The two people sneaked through the upstairs offices and meeting rooms of the police station, each moving in a different direction.
Upon leaving the office they broke into the station, Thomas went to the left whilst Senna headed right.
Thomas started venturing through the various rooms and offices, not finding anything of note and leaving a mess of discarded paperwork. He heard the occasional noise from downstairs, but it didn’t sound like anyone was coming upstairs, so he paid them no mind.
Just as he entered what looked like a lunch room, something small and cold was silently pressed against the back of his head.
“Don’t move, or I’ll shoot and plaster your brains across the room,” A calm but resolute voice spoke behind him.
Thomas gave a wry smile as he raised his hands up in surrender. He hadn’t so much as felt the presence of the person behind him, but that was mostly carelessness due to his lackadaisical lifestyle.
“Place your hands behind your back. Don’t resist.”
“Yes, yes.”
Thomas followed along and allowed himself to be handcuffed before being turned around facing his captor, a particular buff bald man that he had seen not too long ago. The bald man shone a light on Thomas, blocking his sight, but he had already recognized him.
“Ah, Agent Mason, fancy running into you here on this particular night. Late night at the office?”
“Cut the jokes, explain yourself. What are you doing here?”
The entire time, Agent Mason kept his gun trained on Thomas whilst warily looking at him. Thomas could see some faint markings on the barrel of the gun. It was an enchanted item, and he wouldn’t be surprised if the bullets were also enchanted.
In any situation, it was not a standard gun that was mass produced.
“I assume it is the same reason you are, to steal a report, right?”
“Why would I steal a report?”
“Because you are not an agent for the Department of Homeland Security, are you?”
“…”
“Come on, there is no way the DHS would get involved over a case of a missing child. If it was that big, the Protectorate would have assigned it priority. Not to mention that you and your partner stink of blood. That gun looks enchanted to pierce thick hides and other strong defenses, and whatever you used to hide your presence is also specialized.”
“Do you play Age of Heroes? Your gear is tailored to dealing with a specific type of enemy –– supernatural creatures. Did I get that right, Mr. Hunter?”
Agent Mason’s brows furrowed deeply at this, whilst Thomas’ smirk only grew as he knew he was right on the money.
“You sure talk a lot for someone in the position you are in.”
Thomas nonchalantly raised his arms open wide and shrugged, the handcuffs that had previously tied his hands now helplessly dangling from one of his fingers.
“By the way, where is your partner?”
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