**
For decades, Mercenary-Guards have brought back stories of Gates and Aggressors.
The ones that manage to face higher gates beyond D-Grade Gates spread stories of how much bigger the upper Gates are compared to the lower Gates and the possible types of Arcane-beings that inhabit them.
They base it on the time it takes for the Gate to form, the shade of green of the vines, the area from which they spring… All sorts of rubbish that normal punk-heads believe, which is completely or partly false.
The only reason why most people from the ghetto still believe stupid hearsays like 'the bigger the size of the Gate, the higher the Grade' or 'Gates less than 7 feet are E-Grade Gates' is because people who aren't Evolves can't perceive the Power-Grade of Arcane beings in general.
So when they stupidly go to face unknown Aggressors in a newly sprung up Gate, either they encounter extremely dangerous Aggressor(s) and they all die brutal deaths with no one to debunk false ways on how to know the Grade of Gates, or they encounter weak Aggressors (which are basically F and E Grade), they survive and continue to believe the false information they were told, then continue to spread horse shit as the truth.
The funny thing is, no Mercenary-Guard from the slums will never open their fuckin' mouth about stuff like this, unless you're payin' a decent amount of coins to let the river run.
Basically, Mercenary-Guards keep their coins and weapons to their chest, but their information closer.
I've been enterin' Gates since I was like 13 or 14 years old, and no one has ever given me anything close to useful info about Gates (maybe except from Daigo).
The things I know are either basic shit from my experiences inside Gates, just like every other Evolve in the streets, or from the TV on the train.
Most people ignore the programs because it's about how much society is sufferin', how this Gate outbreak or that military expenditure will cause things to go higher in the market… It's just usual shitty mainstream news.
We from the gutters live a much harsher life, gettin' almost nothing from the Towers, government, or anyone. We basically fend for our damn selves, yet none of that shit is on the news…. Funny.
In spite of all that, I do find some things they say about Gates and Arcane-beings to be useful; that's why I listen and watch the program… Out of boredom a times.
**
Consequently, we started hearin' shouts and gunshots close to us.
It had barely been 4 minutes, yet the multiple humans that had entered were like 80 or close to that number.
Those gunshots were definitely from gang bangers, tellin' people to clear a path so they could get there quick.
Me and Daigo quickly gathered our shit and moved immediately.
Firstly, different gangs would approach this place and definitely clash over who 'owns' the Gate. Or if they didn't fight about that, some gangs would wait outside and try to ambush people and other gangs, to steal the elixirs they brought out of the Gate.
It would be a fucking bloodbath.
Secondly, I'm positive that a drone from either The Black Dragon or Thor Tower, or even both, would be here soon.
By that time, we'd put some good distance between us and the Gate, yet the gunshots intensified.
Screams and more battle cries could be heard from this distance.
When we reached a store under a broken bridge in the northern parts of Sumiyoshi, we finally stopped to catch our breath.
"Was…it seriously a must to… get this far away?" I had to ask Daigo, since I didn't stop runnin' when I noticed he didn't, after he repeatedly turned his head back to check how far we were from the Gate.
"It's a freakin'…must. Those gangsters might use this to start a fuckin' war… against themselves, enforcers, or both. All I'm sayin' is a lot of people are goin' to die today… I feel much better our asses… are far away from that shit-storm," Daigo replied as he used his left palm to wipe the sweat off his forehead, while tryin' to catch his breath.
Soon, sirens could be heard, even spotted a helicopter from here, hoverin' the area we'd just left.
Some people around us picked up whatever they could use as weapons and started runnin' toward the ongoing shoot-out.
"Oi, what the fuck is happenin' there? Is the Gate big?" an old man with a seriously scarred and diseased face, wearin' rags and nylon bags on his body, asked as he sat at the foot of the broken bridge.
"Why the fuck don't you go check it out yourself, hag!..." Daigo replied with disdain, to which the old man responded by spittin' on the floor as he looked at Daigo, darin' him to do his worst.
Daigo slowly approached the man, crackin' his fists as he walked up to him. But I grabbed his left arm and pulled him back, then whispered in his ear, "Leave the old hag alone, let's get out of here and do somethin' else."
"Yeah, let's, before I spill some old hag's brain all over the wall," Daigo said, starin' at the old hobo with a cold glare, walkin' away with Shitsubo as he did.
"Why don't we go to a place I know to refill the mana in those axes?" Daigo said after takin' his eyes off the hobo and facin' me with a smile.
"I will pay for the refill and the sharpenin' of the axes," Daigo said as he wrapped his arm around my neck, then continued, "Think of it as my way of makin' it up to you for that shit that went down at Sweet-Sake."
"You don't need to pay for everything, you can pay for half of it," I suggested, since it didn't really sit well with me for Daigo to pay for everything because it wasn't really his fault that the old hag from the Sweet-Sake robbed me and I couldn't do anything.
"Nah, you need more coin than I do. Have you forgotten that you got like 11 days to pay up to those guys your father owed money to?" Daigo commented.
"He owed money to a lot of people, he just owed them a little bit more," I responded, tryin' to avoid him feelin' any need to give coins he desperately needed.
"270,000,000 isn't 'a little bit more,' that kind of money is what your next generation and their next generation will continue to pay… They basically own you.
The coin you pay them is just to stop them from beatn' the shit out of you or your family or even doin' much worse things," Daigo spat out, then waited a bit to see if I'd say anything.
But how could I say anything? Everything was true.
Then he continued, "I will pay for sharpenin' and refillin' your weapons. At least I'll reduce the chances of them beatn' the shit out of you when they come to collect."
"What about your cousin? Have you paid him his cut for gettin' you that gig?" I said, because if Daigo got out of that Gate late night and carried Eiji back to my apartment on his way there to tell my family of my death…
He hasn't gone back home, and all the time we've spent walkin' around, his cousin will definitely be waitin' for him to come home and give him his cut for landin' a gig for Daigo.
"That ratshit will get his cut when I return, and that can be anytime. You don't have to worry," Daigo said, dismissin' it like it wasn't somethin'. But I kind of felt he was lyin'.