Walking in the streets of the Capital, Adel passed quickly between the alleyways and the poor. He was in a hurry because he was going to meet his old boss. The Red Dragon was a powerful syndicate. They had a strict code of rules for all of the members.
Abandoning the syndicate was a special situation. You must go to their headquarters in the Capital and present yourself to all the leaders that were inside at that moment. Depending on the leaders, you could be executed or present a blood offering and leave peacefully. If only a leader objects, then your fate is sealed.
These thoughts were wandering. Adel's mind as he gets closer and closer to his destination. Suddenly, he stops and looks around him. He was being followed.
"Show yourself. If you think that I some easy prey, then you made a wrong assessment." He grabbed the handle of his sword.
"All right, man, relax. I was just worried about you." From the back, behind a wall, Eric appeared. "The fact that it took you this long to notice is definitely worrying"
"What are you doing here? You are supposed to help our master finish the negotiations" He asked with an angry tone.
"It´s okay, the boss gave me permission to help you. He knows that the Red Dragon is dangerous, so he asked me to save your butt if anything goes to shit."
Annoyed Adel sighed, "If you're coming with me, you'll wait outside and won't enter, no matter what you hear. Is it that clear?"
"Hell no, the whole point of me being here is to save you. Of course I'm going to get inside if a fight or something else happens"
"You're an idiot. If something were to happen to me and I couldn't handle it, then you have 0% chance of surviving."
"Oh, you seem to be still a cocky bastard. Should I beat your ass right here to humble you?" After both finish exchanging insults, they continue their path towards the headquarters.
After a few more minutes, they finally reached it. It was an enormous building, about six stories tall. The walls outside were decorated with patterns unusual in the Capital, they were red with animals painted in black and gold. It was a restaurant.
People were entering and leaving. There was even a small line of customers waiting to get inside. To the normal eye, this would seem like a simple restaurant, but that was only true for the first two floors. A normal person could never enter the third floor or beyond, but Adel was still a member.
"Oh interesting, so this is the base of the Red Dragon. It's right out in the open. How the hell do the guards not bust in this place?" Eric asked Adel.
"Bribes. The simplest solution is that all of the guards and soldiers that patrol this area are in the Red Dragon pockets. They even ran inspections inside the building, but only to the third floor. Even if suspicion were to arise, the Red Dragon has contacts with nobles that can make almost anything disappear."
"Man, you bastards have people inside the Council? It's not fair how many resources the top dogs have. Me and my boys have been scraping the bottom of the barrel merely to survive."
"Mmfth. You guys are lucky that our master has chosen you to form his syndicate; otherwise you will still be at the bottom." Without giving Eric time to respond, Adel steps forward to the entrance. Passing the line of civilians, he goes directly to speak to the guard in front of the door. He takes something from his pocket and gives it to the guard. An identification of his membership.
The guard doesn't waste time and guides Adel inside. The first two floors are no different than a regular restaurant; there are people eating and having a good time drinking. On the third floor, the kitchen and the staff are working tirelessly to make the dishes. Adel walked all the way to the back; behind some barrels, there's a secret door. He opens it and climbs to the fourth floor.
It was an opulent floor. The walls and floor were covered with a precious carpet. Some small statues were to the side, all of them dragons, made from gold, ruby, and sapphire. On the ceiling, a chandelier hangs with dozens of candles, illuminating the room. There were smaller rooms to the side where members of the Red Dragon were eating and drinking or just taking a break from their hard work. A woman in a red dress appeared in front of Adel. She welcomes him.
"Welcome back, Adel; we thought you were dead after not hearing from the Raind branch in two months."
"Lady Li. I must inform you that the branch in the city of Raind has been annihilated, with me being the sole exception. Also, I must ask that you take me to the sacrifice statue because I'm presenting my resignation to the Red Dragon"
"Oh, I see, You seem to have found something interesting, young one. Very well, the bosses that are here at this moment are Lord Zendul and Lord Yu Bo. Are you prepared to start the ceremony?"
"Yes, that is perfect. I'm ready." Adel then followed Li inside the floor. In the corner was a monument of stone. It looked out of place, but this was the most important monument in the room. Jewels were nothing compared to this. The statue of sacrifice.
This was where new members were accepted. This was where the blood of old enemies was to be spilled as an offering. This was where Adel had to make a sacrifice to leave the syndicate. After reaching the monument, Lady Li grabbed a golden bell and rang it.
TINK TINK TINK... Three times, with only that everyone present turned their faces towards the monument. The bell rang three times, which means that someone wanted to leave the Red Dragon.
Everyone was spectating because the bosses were going to appear to cast their judgement on this man. A door slid open, and from inside, two men appeared.
The first one had green hair, and he was wearing a silk dress that accentuated his slender but strong figure, Zendul. The second one had brown hair and was more of a corpulent man, but he was pure muscle. Yu Bo was the man that recommended Adel to join the Red Dragon.
To Adel, the only person in this building that he felt a bit of loyalty to was Boss Yu Bo. Yu Bo saved him when he was still living in the back alleyways of the Kingdom. He talked to him. He offered him a chance to join one of three big syndicates in the Republic. A chance to make his dream come true and obtain true strength. Right now, that person was in front of him. Ready to be judged, Adel kneeled on the ground and spoke.
"Boss Yu Bo, Boss Zendul. I come to offer my sacrifice."
"Oh, oh oh, I seeeeee… this was one of your boys, right Yu?" Zendul playfully spoke those words while playing with his hair. "I´m not one who likes violence you know me. So, I'll let you choose the sacrifice okay"
"Thank you, Zendul. I appreciate you letting me deal with this." Yu Bo responded with gratitude.
"Aww, you're so nice, Yu. But, but, but I worry about you. You gave people so many chances that maybe someone is going to try to take advantage of you one day." Zendul said while giving Yu Bo a massage on the shoulders. "So, you need to be stricter with the young ones. You have my full support, Yuuuuuu"
"I appreciate the sentiment, friend." Without paying more attention to Zendul, Yu Bo directed his eyes towards the kneeling Adel. "Tell me, have you found another path to the strength you seek, young one?" His eyes were sincere.
"Yes, sir. I have found someone very special. I think he could become very strong one day, so I'll help him to achieve his goals, and in doing so, I'll become stronger too."
"It must be someone very special. You won't be abandoning us, unless that person could rival the Red Dragon in the future."
"Yes, sir, I believe so."
"I understand Adel. I don't think that you have bad eyes for people, but you also didn't manage to see the full strength of the Red Dragon." For merely a moment, Yu Bo and Zendul let their bloodlust out. Just a couple of seconds but that was enough to make Adel feel that death was imminent.
His heart stopped for a moment, and his whole body got soaked in cold sweat. He couldn't breath until he heard Lu Bo speak again.
"Well, for the payment for leaving, I will choose…"
Adel prepared himself. He could ask for anything. An eye, a finger, a leg, or even his life. But he wasn't prepared to hear what he chose.
"A glass of blood from your hand, Is that clear?"
"Y-Yes Boss" Only that was such a small sacrifice. Even though he had betrayed him, Yu Bo was still protecting Adel. Lady Li took a moment to bring a knife and a glass of wine to Adel.
Without delay, he cut his own hand and started filling the cup. In a couple of minutes, the blood filled the glass of wine to the brink. Adel took the cup and poured the blood into the bowl of the statue.
"The ceremony is complete. As of this moment, you don't have any relationship with the Red Dragon. You will have one day to leave and never interfere with our business again."
"Yes, thank you, sir."
"Don't call me sir, we are enemies now. If I see you ever again, I will kill you. No mercy." After saying those words, Yu Bo turns back to his room, leaving with Zendul.
"Aww, so nice, Yuuuuuu."
The rest of the people turned back to their business. Lady Li approached Adel.
"You may leave now, young one. I hope our paths never cross again for your own sake."
Adel bowed one last time to the statue and left the building.
"Aha... I was expecting some kind of fight, but you really came out with just a cut on your hand. I thought syndicates were more vicious towards people leaving" Eric was surprised to see that everything went so smoothly.
"I got lucky too. But the sun is already down. We should go back to the master before he worries about us"
"Yeah, yeah, but we´re going to fight those guys at some point in the future, you know. The boss says he wants to expand, so clashes with those guys are inevitable. So, your little apology is going to be wasted."
Adel ignored it and continued walking back to the hotel as agreed. He was more concerned with the strength of the Red Dragon. Besides Yu Bo and Zendul, he knew there were at least four more bosses. They were the right hand of the leader. Adel didn't get to see the leader, not even once.
If Thanatos were to fight any of the bosses at this moment, he would die.
"Eric, we need to become stronger, all of us" He said with determination.
"Obviously, I have to show the boss that I'm stronger than you, so he makes me his second in command."
They keep talking without noticing a shadow following behind them.