I looked baffled at the piece of copper token in my hand with my world revolving around me and my mind nearly going blank. How was this possible… I thought.
Jovian saw that I was still in a daze and thus, didn't wait for long before shaking me awake. He is an impatient asshole!
"Now, now, don't fall in a daze on me." He smiled at me brightly, "I have taken quite a scolding from the Guild Head to get this for you."
I looked stupidly at him for a moment before muttering a simple "Why?"
"Well, he wanted me to get some kind of skill book or learn magic which would directly amplify my power in the near future. Instead of that, I chose to secure a seat for you and this angered him a lot. Well, you see he is a man who doesn't like to take risk. Typical adventure trait. But after a lot of convincing, he eventually accepted my request on the condition that you'll turn out to be a greater adventurer than me. Think you're upto the task, lil' guy?!" he said gleefully.
I too returned his gleeful smile with a dastardly smile. "Bring it on, bro. I will prove it to that man that I'm better than you in a split second."
"Haha! I'm sure of that after all the conscience and intelligent you have is something which I will never be able to copy. But! Before you get to meet him and talk in person, you need to learn how to hunt efficiently, stalking masterfully and make a camp perfectly. It will all come in the Initiation Exam and if you do not pass … well… let's say that token will be upheld for an indefinite amount of time…" he smiled apologetically.
I looked wide-eyed at him and asked in a slightly hesitant voice, "What... does he mean by ... indefinitely?"
Jovian gave wry smile and replied, "Time wise... until you pass the exam. Not time-wise... well, never I guess. Welp! That's the catch, Aiden."
A shockwave ran through my head. Token upheld indefinitely… that would be bad. Very bad! Can't let that happen no matter what!!
Biting my lips with determination, I looked at brother and said in a stern tone, "We're going hunting tomorrow!"
"Obviously! And not only that, we're going to the Forlorn Dungeon! It would be a massive adventure. For just the two of us!!"
"Awesome!!!" I cried in joy after all I like nothing more than to endanger my own life.
…
Somewhere in the Ruther's Forest, a group of women dressed in black with long hoods covering every nook and cranies of their face. The leader of the group was a middle-aged woman named Edith Parson, who like every other residents live a normal housewife life with her husband supporting her but underground, she is the queen of the Peach Association, an underground brothel organization which control nearly all the brothel network of Lexington. She was the local head of the Cult of Succubi of Princess Glasya, Princess of 8th Hell, in the city of Lexington.
She was a tall woman, nearly 6 feet tall with a slender body, an oval face with piercing red eyes, a straight nose n thin purple lips. Normally, she would always have an icy cold expression on her face and along with her glowing and eye-catchy blue color, anyone looking at her for the first time would think of her either as an non-human or as a goddess. Most take the latter option.
But currently, her brows were creased together as she tapped her feet on the ground with a certain rapt, she looked quite impatient.
"Milady, please calm yourself. Lord Clement has a habit of being late in important situation." One of Edith's attendant said in a pleasing tone but it only made Edith madder. She bit her lips and said in an angry tone, "Those scums of Cult of Wealth are nothing more than a pain in the ass." She said with conviction but the moment she ended her sentence a man's silhouette flashed across their field of vision.
"Who's there!!" shouted one of Edith's attendant in that direction. Edith turned her gaze a little towards left from the area where the silhouette appeared. Her eyes glowed an eerie blue for a moment before she said in her clear tone, "Nothing great would happen by hiding there and wasting our time, Lord Clement."
Her attendant's attention turned towards the place where she was looking and soon a muffled voice of a man was heard.
"Unfortunately, Lord Clement wasn't able to make the trip here, Milady. In his stead, I, Sievert, his personal assistant came here today, Milady Peach." said a man who was quite near her age with a fat, bulbous body with a wavy brownish-yellow hair and potch-marked face filled with fat. His eyes looked fiercely at the body of Edith for a moment before he excused himself with a slight cough. Sievert and his master, Lord Clement are both ardent followers of the Church of Wealth or better known as the Church of Mammon of Mammon, the 2nd Prince of Hell.
He walked steadily towards Edith, kneeled down about three feet infront of her and lightly took her hand but instead of simply kissing it, which would've been an ordinary way of greeting noble ladies, he proceeded to lick it gently at first before sucking it quite forcefully.
"Fuck off!!!" Edith pulled her hand back with force and looked coldly on Sievert. He looked shocked for a moment before making a comical sad face and standing up.
"We have a job infront of us Sievert was it? Where is Lord Clement?" she asked with seriousness. "Doesn't your master know that lesser the loose threads, the better it is?" she sneered at him but Sievert smiled shamelessly with his fat and thick lips and countered, "Well, I can say the same thing about your … attendants, if I may?" he pointed at the other ladies who were present there.
Edith squinted her eyes and said through her teeth, "They are reliable—"
"So am I." cut in Sievert with his all-season-smile.
"You!!" Edith's face flushed with anger in a split second but the next moment, one of her attendants clutched her hand and said in a whispering voice, "Please calm yourself, milady. We musn't lose sight of our objective."
"…" Edith stared into the eyes of her attendant for a moment before sighing to herself. "Very well," she said and turned towards Sievert, "Since you're his confidante, I presume that I will be able to trust in both your words and the fact that what I will tell will reach him without any adulteration."
"Absolutely!" Sievert exclaimed and nodded his head before shaking his head in a denial movement, "Unfortunately, that won't be necessary, milady."
"What do you mean?" Edith asked, confused.
Sievert broadened his already broad smile and said, "Well, you see, milady Milord Clement has already arranged everything to disrupt the Mass Baptism which they plan on doing next week. Everything has been arranged and in fact, it was for the very fact of finalizing the last details that Milord wasn't able to come here, Milady. I hope you would understand his circumstances."
Edith had a disbelieving expression on her and was about to erupt again when Sievert pulled out a small letter and handed it to Edith, "This letter is a proof that what I said is all true."
Edith pulled the letter with a jerk and tore it open. Reading through it, her face took a variety of expression from hate to surprise to astonishment. At the end, her face was a mixture of surprise, awe and lust. She placed the letter in small purse and turned towards her attendants, "Go to the brothels immediately and take out all the special potions and aphrodisiacs we have except for those which are meant for the noble ones. For this whole week we will go all out and give these men an experience they will never forget. Also hike the price to the maximum level and tabulate all the girls who are making a profit and those who are making a loss. Pay special attention to all the special talents, you got that."
"Y-yes Milady b-but for what?" asked one of her attendants. She smiled at her and said in a soothing tone, "Lord Clement is a going to do something very bad."
Her reply left the ladies more confused and a bit frightened but it seemed like Edith was in no mood of explaining to them what is going to happen. Instead, she turned towards Sievert and said in an authoritative tone, "Come slave, to Lord Clement's place."
"E-eh?"
"Don't worry about me, girls. I will be fine and instead of worrying about me, do what I said as fast as possible." She said without even letting them utter the questions in their hearts. And thus, infront of their baffled faces, Edith walked away with Sievert in brisk steps.
Soon, the attendants too headed back towards their brothels to get Edith's job done.
…
"Hey, have you heard the latest news?"
"Latest news? What news?"
"Idiot! You're working in the damned underworld and you don't even know which dick-less retard got ass-fucked?!!!"
"Whoa there buddy, a little less obscene please."
"Fuck your sanity, gosh! Anyway, listen to this news. I've heard from my sources in the brothels that something big is going to happen on the 15th of December in the Church of Craven."
"What do you mean by big?"
"Big means big! Damnit, how much of an idiot are you!!"
"… What the ... Asshole…"
"Heck! You don't know anything, kitty!"
"Huh! Where the fuck did you come from, you brain-dead retard!"
"Hmph! The one you are calling brain-dead retard has connection right into the Mayor's Manor and behold what I know!!"
"Hmph! What will those people know other than sucking our blood right, little-less-obscene guy?"
"… Is that my new name…"
"Heh! I would've slapped you right here and now if your words weren't true, dick-less?"
"Guess, these are our new names..."
"What? Are you telling this dick-less-retard's words are true???"
"Who are you calling dick-less and who the fuck are you, you sissy outsider."
"Your mother's—"
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Stop right there, sissy-outsider. And you too, dick-less! Stop with the cursing will ya! Whoo! Do continue brain-dead."
"… I'm assuming that I didn't hear you. So, like I was saying, I've heard from my sources that the Mayor is going to do something big to the Church of Craven. Heck! Even the righteous churches will participate in their eradication."
"Wait! Does that mean that Church of Craven is a devil's religion?"
"Don't know about that, sissy-outsider but I heard CLEARLY that the righteous churches are participating. Something big is happening for sure."
"Heh! Heh! Like I said, the Church of Craven is going down big time."
"Shut your hole, dick-less!"
"Who are you calling dick-less. I will let you know that I've a dick and a big one at that too."
"Heh! Everyone who proclaims his dick is big usually has a small one."
"Hmph! The title of dick-less should go to you, sissy-outsider."
"Hmph! I fucked your loli mother, you dick-less arthropod."
"Yea and I fucked your big-assed sis—wait! What's an arthropod?"
"Heh! You don't even know that you illiterate buffoon of a man! You're a literal orangutan, you dick-less."
"Gosh…please stop them…"
….