"Fuck... fuck... fuck... FUCK YOU, EZEK!" A young man shouted in a muted voice as he stared daggers at the young man beside him.
"Don't curse at me, fucker. Don't forget. We're in this shit together." Ezek barked back as he buckled his pants on. He threw his white shirt back on and rushed to the door as quietly as possible.
"Mmmm~~~ Alex~~" A third voice came from under the sheets of one of the two beds present in the room.
"Shit..." Alex cursed under his breath and walked over. "Hey, baby. What's wrong?" He asked louder, in an overly sweet tone.
Alex's hands were not standing by, doing nothing. With one hand, Alex expertly buttoned his light-blue silk undershirt while his other hand slithered underneath the sheets, searching for a particular item.
'Here it is.' He sighed with relief as his hand felt the smooth surface of his necklace, bringing back memories of times long past.
His mother gave him this necklace on his fifth birthday. An inverted sword carved from a white marble-like material. It was simple but beautiful. It was something special.
That's why he frowned as he felt a stringy liquid cover the blade of his necklace. Alex quickly wiped it off and placed the accessory on.
"A bit more~ Alex, please~" The girl under the sheets pleaded weakly, moving to uncover herself.
Alex sighed and moved closer, but his eyes caught sight of his friend; The hallway was empty.
Alex sent him a helpless look and motioned to the girl near him.
Ezek's eyes glowed momentarily, and he looked to the second bed before sighing in relief. The girl there didn't wake up yet; He then looked back at Alex.
"Make her shut up! We need to leave. Now!" He mouthed urgently and signaled with his hand.
Alex squeezed his fist, cursing his friend in his heart. 'We wouldn't be in this situation if not for you!'
Then again, the stress these past few days bloated like hell. Even though Alex could've refused or objected to this, he hasn't.
With a helpless look, Alex approached the girl lying on the bed and looked at her with a sweet smile. "How can I refuse if you ask me this nicely?"
The girl was pretty, with large watery eyes and a rosy complexion. Upon hearing Alex's words, her cheeks reddened, and her eyes sparkled before a soft moan left her lips.
Alex's hand reached somewhere below, teasing and kneading some soft parts.
He moved in and kissed the girl. He forced his tongue inside her mouth... Well, forced is too strong a word. The girl merely accepted her fate meekly as a lamb.
Lost in ecstasy, the girl closed her eyes and mirrored Alex's movements, using her hands to keep Alex's palm between her legs.
Alex used this opportunity and glanced at Ezek. "What was her name?" He mouthed and saw his friend roll his eyes at him.
"Isaley, dumbass." He mouthed back.
Alex used his free hand to flip him off, then focused entirely on the girl underneath him.
She was easy to please, so it didn't take much longer for her to... arrive.
Alex pressed his lips back onto hers and looked deep into her marine-blue eyes. His violet-green eyes reflected in hers as though they were the surface of a pristine lake.
Isaley's eyes became mistier. Even now, Alex's left hand didn't stop. Not even for a moment. His goal? Putting this girl to sleep so that he and that fucker, Ezek, can go back to the fortress.
"Now then, Isaley. It's late, so make sure to sleep well." Alex said with a slight smile on his face.
Isaley's expression changed slightly, frowning her pretty eyebrows with reluctance, but there was nothing she could do to oppose him. After an unexpected move on Alex's part, her eyes rolled slightly back, and lost focus.
"Phew~" The young man sighed and finished dressing up before rushing to Ezek's side. He took a red silk handkerchief and wiped his hand clean.
"Took your time, asshole." Ezek's tone spewed venom, envious of Alex's technique and airs.
Alex was unmoved.
"Just lead the way, fucker."
"Tck." Ezek clicked his tongue and ran ahead.
The two moved quickly and, most importantly, silently. They passed by many doors and through three hallways before finally reaching the main exit of this building.
'Now comes the hard part.' Thought Alex as he shoved his hand into his pocket before taking out a small, empty glass vial.
Ezek quickly glanced at Alex and nodded slightly, opening one of the massive, wooden double doors by a sliver.
The hinges were, fortunately, well-oiled and didn't make any sounds.
Alex didn't fuck up the tempo and threw the bottle in his hand quite far.
The sound of glass breaking enveloped the surroundings, and two gruff voices shook awake.
"Who's there?" One of them asked in a not-too-loud voice, keeping his tone firm.
"A beggar?" Asked the other one.
"Perhaps a non-believer? Who would come to the temple this late? He might want to start a ruckus." The first guard voiced his thoughts and went out to check out the area. The second guard followed him for a while but didn't distance himself from the main entrance too much. That would be stupid.
Alas, that was enough for the two young men to slip past the two guards unnoticed.
Alex and Ezek left the temple area and looked North. Rather far in the distance, sculpted out of the mountainside was one of the most wonderous fortresses one had ever seen. That was their destination, the Recen Fortress, Enrilth Keep.
Alex shifted his gaze to the sky, watching as the sun barely peeked over the horizon, as if too sleepy to shine its light and warmth on such short notice. Instead, it colored the sky red, pushing the stars and moon away.
"Shall we go see that guy?" Asked Ezek, seeing that Alex was lost in his world.
Lost in his thoughts, Alex hummed a 'huh' without thinking.
"Haa." Ezek pinched the top of his nose and sighed. He pointed his head to a nearby alley.
"Hmm? Ohh, him. Got it." Alex's expression shifted suddenly, holding this 'aha' look on his face as it dawned on him. "Yeah, we should deal with him now. We won't have any time later." Letting his words trail off, Alex motioned for Ezek to take the lead.
They didn't walk too far, just around the corner of a nearby alley, approaching a rundown inn, where a person stood fidgeting, surrounded by two massive guards. Each one must've been at least 2 meters tall and equally as wide. That said, they were as intelligent as the man they protected...
"So? What did she say?"
...who was dumb as a rock.
Ezek sighed as though relieved, while Alex wore an annoyed and tired facade.
"We did what we could, sir Ivan." Ezek started but was interrupted by Alex, who was fuming.
"That's enough, Ezvan (A/N: Ezek's pseudonym)." Alex raised his left hand before turning his attention to Sir Ivan.
"You didn't say anything about her sister being there." He angrily said, veins clearly showing beneath the skin.
One of the guards saw how angry Alex was and stepped in. "Watch your mouth, peasant. You're talking to an Ivan." A widespread pseudonym for merchants or nobles to use when dealing with various 'shady' businesses.
Alex turned his gaze to the guard, who instantly felt like something was drowning him. His eyes widened as he looked at Alex and prepared himself to erupt his power.
Alex didn't push it any further. He knew the guard was more powerful than him.
"Was I talking to you?" He said and moved his gaze back to Sir Ivan. He didn't pressure the noble, however.
"What? Her sister? Oh no... What did she say?" He asked as his eyes almost popped out of his skull. His hands trembled, and he started biting his nails with nervousness.
Ezek sighed again and placed a hand on Alex's shoulder while sending him a meaningful look. To any outsider, it looked as though Ezek was reeling in his friend, while in reality, the two teens were grinning to their ears.
'We struck gold this time, my friend.'
Alex saw the look in Ezek's eyes and grinned all the same, albeit not as unrestrained as he would've liked to.
"Sir Ivan... We cannot promise anything. We did our best, but as we've already told you, the final decision is on Erika."
Ivan stopped pacing as he heard Ezek utter those words. It was almost unbearable to not know whether Erika would accept him.
"Yes, yes. That is more than enough." He said, distressed, before continuing. "So? How did it go? What did she say? Also, why did it take so long? You've been there for a whole day already."
Bombarded with questions, Alex sighed deeply, trying his best not to pop a vein or two. It was strangely irritating dealing with idiots, even when extorting them for their money.
"First off, Erika has accepted your love letter..."
"That's fantastic!" Ivan interrupted as he clapped his hands energetically.
"As I was saying..." Alex continued while frowning slightly. He wanted to make this idiot aware of his displeasure. "...All Erika managed to say was that she would think about it."
Hearing Alex's words, Ivan stopped fidgeting and glared at the two but focused on Alex more. For some reason, he didn't like the look on this boy's face.
"Wait a minute. This isn't what we agreed upon. You said you're able to make her accept my feelings."
Alex's lip trembled a bit, the veins on his neck almost ripping out of his skin. 'Can't you just shut the fuck up?'
"And we didn't get all the information, remember? Her older sister was there, you know? She couldn't allow her little sister to accept your feelings this easily." Alex couldn't stop rolling his eyes upon saying feelings. Not because he didn't believe in romance, but because this idiot of a noble didn't know what 'feelings' actually are.
This Ivan doesn't actually love Erika. He only wants to use her to get closer to her father, who is supposedly some influential noble.
Ivan took a deep breath.
"Isaley was there? I forgot about that. So that was why." Ivan nodded to himself while muttering curses.
Alex continued as though he didn't hear the idiot's words.
"Which is why we took so long to complete your request."
Ivan sighed. He wanted to thank these two young men but still remembered his position. A noble such as him couldn't just thank any commoner like this. Though he still felt happy with how things turned out.
'At least these two finished the request successfully nonetheless.'
Feeling pretty good about how things developed, he moved to take the money from his pouch before he was stopped by Alex's glare.
"Payment's doubled." He said, holding up two fingers.
The previous guard could tolerate this disrespect no longer and forcefully stepped forward, intending to teach this rude brat how things stood, but couldn't take another step forward as he was stopped by Ivan.
The latter didn't say anything but frowned.
Alex wasn't surprised by this and continued in an even voice. "This 'simple' request took four times longer than expected. We deserve at least double for our troubles."
Seeing that Alex wasn't fazed by his guard's intimidation, Ivan sighed in his mind before taking out 2 whole pieces of gold. After all, he wasn't strong enough to mess with the 'organization' behind these two.
Alas, there was no organization behind Alex and Ezek. The only thing behind them was Enrilth Keep, and even that wouldn't bother with two troublemakers like them.
Catching the two gold out of the air, Alex placed his right hand on his chest and bowed before leaving.
"Pleasure doing business with you, sir Ivan."
Behind them, Ivan frowned in confusion. 'Since when did commoners learn high-class manners?'
The noble quickly shook his head, thinking about his future with Erika. He already saw himself holding her snow-white hand while reciting their undying love for each other.
He, however, didn't see the grins on the two young men's faces as they left the city satisfied. Monetarily, as well as... carnally.
Walking down the dirt-packed road, Ezek looked at his friend. "You're stressed, aren't you?"
Alex - shook awake from his thoughts - looked to the side momentarily. "The Trials are only two days away. You're not stressed yourself?"
Ezek sighed as he remembered all the adventurer parties in the Guild. Innumerable faces passed through his mind, but even that wasn't enough to calm him. "I am scared, to be honest. I know all the parties in this city and, still... I am scared. What will happen if I don't stumble across a party? Am I strong enough to survive the Trial?"
Alex tapped Ezek's shoulder. "You can survive in that swamp, no problem. What I'm most fearful of is the Last Trial. At the very least, you'll be there with me."
Like a passing shadow, Ezek's expression darkened with guilt for but a moment. "Yeah..."