My fully black half-mask chafed against the sides of my face as I followed behind Medisma through the semi-crowded streets. The size of the sect population-wise was actually smaller than you would think, only being around some thousand people. Normally there would be more people, and more people attending the school, but because of a recent Wild Beast tide, that wasn't the case. There also were rarely any new people that entered the sect due to the hard rejection of the L'Amour Family.
As I walked through the sect, I took the time to appreciate the architecture of the sect. The buildings were mostly made of the dark wood you could find in the surrounding jungle, boasting a curvaceous nature. The buildings were crowded where we were because a lot of the land of the sect was used for either the campus or farming. This resulted in narrow alleyways and taller buildings, usually reaching about 3 stories high.
The roads of course weren't concrete, but a dirt road formed by the constant stepping over time. There were occasional shops, restaurants, bars, etc. but the concentrated area was mostly composed of living spaces. In the middle of this street, I stuck out like a sore thumb. I was wearing a suspicious black mask and had long maroon-dyed hair that drooped to my shoulder blades. I was shirtless which completely exposed my burnt skin and sporadic silver magic circles. Topped with my grey, baggy pants that were rolled up at each opening... I definitely had the look of an interesting character. And the only reason such a dubious-looking person wasn't being stopped was because he was following a Grand Elder of the sect.
Honestly, it made me believe that Medisma wanted me to be remembered by everyone we passed. If she wanted me to be in disguise it would be much easier to dye my hair black, make me cover up a bunch, and just follow her normally. She was obviously up to something, but unfortunately, I didn't have the clues necessary to figure out what it was. So I just continued like this for a while longer, following behind Medisma like a pet until we came to a stop in front of a building.
I could tell that the walk took longer than it should have. This confirmed to me that she wanted others aware of this false identity she made for me. Just what was she after? Did she want to announce that she had a new ally? But her faction is already recognized as the most powerful of the sect, even with the sect leader taking up another faction. So that probably wasn't it...
As I was brainstorming what her possible plans could be, Medisma turned to me and exclaimed, "This is our first stop! Welcome to the home of my lousy disciple, Onvima Pessvin!" She went up to the door and knocked on it, "I know you can hear me! Let me in before I let myself in!" Even with her yelling into the edge of the door, there still wasn't a response. Medisma backed up a couple of footsteps and hissed, "Alright then, you asked for this... Igmor, open that door."
'And another thing she made up. I guess she was really going all in on this fake person bit. Well... I better make a show of it at least.'
I walked up to the door and out of the tens of thousands of saved Firearm Genesis Essence Orbs within my Duranian, used about 50 to make all of the magic circles on my right arm glow a bright silver. I put my right foot behind my left, twisted my hip to the right, pulled my fist back, powered it with Genesis Liquid, and pushed it at the door.
Right as my fist went airborne, I could tell something was different. Instead of the resistance I usually felt from my hand forcing itself through the air, I only felt the pure force of my punch as it parted the air. Before throwing this punch, I only thought that I would push the door down, but now that I've felt its power in action, I realized how wrong I was.
My fist made contact with the door and the effect was immediate. The door was filled with cracks and in the next split second, blew up. Wood shards flew into the room like pieces of shrapnel. As the wooden shrapnel bounced off or stuck into the wooden wall and the loud boom of wood exploding blared, a high-pitched scream was heard inside the room.
"You... you brutish old hag! Just because you are my master doesn't mean you can destroy my property and expect to get away with it! I-I'll sue you! Yea, that's it, I'll sue you!"
Medisma walked into the room, and I followed behind her. She stood in front of the quivering, yet determined skinny man. His hair was long, black, and unkempt, his complexion made it look like he hadn't left his house in years, the clothes he wore were baggy on him because of his bony figure and the bed he cowered on was a mess of trash and books. In his eyes, the big contrast in appearance between me and Medisma probably made us seem even more intimidating, and he trembled more than before.
The old lady sucked on her gums as she opened her eyes wide open and minatorily murmured, "Oh yeah? You, are going to sue me? Do you think we live in a place governed by strict laws like the Stone Kingdom? I'll kill you here and now before you can tell anyone."
The man, as if he couldn't get any more shameless, suddenly kowtowed and said bluntly, "I'm sorry master, I didn't mean it. What is it you want from me?"
Medisma smiled a little and said with no less intimidation in her voice, "I want you to contact the other four, you know the ones. Tell them that their old master wants a little get-together... at the coliseum." She licked her lips as she said this which sent a chill down his spine and he lowered his slightly raised head before answering her, "Yes master! It'll be done as soon as possible!"
'The coliseum? I suppose she really does want to make a show out of this. How efficient. There is no better way to crush someone's arrogance than to humiliate them in front of a large audience. By doing this she makes my job easier and gets this false persona she made popular throughout the sect for whatever her second goal is. Very efficient indeed.'
After she said this she turned around and slowly walked toward the hole in the wall as I followed behind her. But before she was able to leave fully, the fearful man shouted, "Wait! I-I just want to ask one thing. Master, who is that man?"
Medisma smiled her crooked smile as if she was waiting for him to ask this and responded simply, "He's your opponent."
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Iraspisit's POV:
I was relaxing in the seat of a little winery that I visited from time to time. I sipped on wine and bit into the cookies that I ordered while wistfully watching the human traffic outside the window. It was very peaceful, to watch others fret over their simple little lives while I basked in the success of mine. I sat here drinking the wine of prosperity while others walked the walk of failure. How peaceful indeed.
Vwoosh!
The entrance of the winery was shoved open ruining the calming atmosphere around me. I twisted my neck to the person who entered as anger clouded my vision. I, without thinking to take a look at the person entering the building, scolded out loud, "How dare you interrupt my people-watching?!! I swear, if you don't get on the floor and beg right now, I'll make sure you aren't able to get off the floor once I'm done with you... Oh. It's you."
In front of me was something of a friend to me, Onvima. I guess I should take back what I said, "Sorry about that, didn't know it was you. I guess you'll only have to kneel."
Onvima just waved his hand, dismissing my previous words and pissing me off, but before I was able to yell at him, his next words poured onto me like a pale of cold water, "It's not the time for your jokes Ir, I have something very important to say. That old hag is back, and with that, her little schemes are back too."
Uh-oh, I underestimated the situation. Now that I think about it some more, something downright terrific must of occurred for Onvima to actually leave his room. I had to get more information, "Onvima... what happened? I need to know in detail."
He cleared his room and began to recount his story, "Well, I was minding my own business in my house, reading as usual, when the witch showed up with a terrible brute next to her. This brute blew my door into pieces and the witch threatened me so that I would gather the group back together and meet up at the coliseum... or something like that."
Tch, what was the devil planning this time, and who was that brute he spoke of? Well... there was only one way to figure out.
I put down my wine and stood up before saying with a smug face, "Well, I guess we'll just have to gather the others then. I'll beat my way through any scheme coming out of that devil's brain... I swear it!!! AHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
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"She should be here, it is working hours after all."
Onvima went up to the doors leading into the tailor and opened them up, sending the ding of a bell throughout the shop. After we went inside, as a reaction to the ringing bell, a staff member took a look at us and her eyes immediately stopped as she looked at Onvima, "Um, I'm sorry good sir... but I don't think we have any premade clothes that will fit your... figure. You'll have to get clothes suited specifically for you."
Onvima looked at himself and, as if he forgot, realized that he was so skinny that without that outer layer of skin, he would be a skeleton. He looked embarrassed for a moment before shaking his head and replying kindly to the counter-lady, "I'm not actually here for clothes. I would like to speak to your manager, Vernam. Is she here?"
The counter-lady froze up and I could see drops of sweat slide down her face as she answered me nervously, "Uhm, sorry b-but the manager... she isn't here right now. Yea, she isn't here. Anyways, I'm going to have to, uh, ask you guys to leave. I really am sorry-"
"Cut the bullshit!!!"
I yelled this out loud as my annoyance at the situation brought me over the edge, and my berating didn't end there, "Do you think I was born yesterday woman?! Do you think I'm stupid?! No! I've seen through your obvious ploy! Since you seem to not want to help us get Vernam out here, I'll help myself... VEEERNAAAM! GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOW BEFORE I SET FIRE TO YOUR TRASH DUMP OF A SHOP!!!!!!"
The counter-lady and Onvima covered their ears to try and keep my beautiful voice away from them, but I made sure to raise my voice enough to stop that from happening. Though judging from the sounds of rummaging I heard coming from somewhere within the shop, they weren't the only ones who heard my angel's choir.
Suddenly the door behind the counter burst open and a woman came rushing out breathing roughly. She had shoulder-length black hair that curled near the bottom, bangs that slightly covered her face, and black eyes that looked at me with intent to kill as she yelled back at me, "A, sovereign help me I'll break every bone in your body for even suggesting such a thing. What do you want?!"
I chuckled a little because of how well my plan worked before calmly answering her question, "Listen, I didn't say such a thing only to get your attention for something stupid. It's serious, the old hag is back, and she is bringing an interesting variable with her. She has requested that we all meet up again at the coliseum. It reeks of suspicion."
She calmed down as soon as I mentioned the old hag and responded seriously to my question, "So you expect me to join the rageaholic and the low-life shut-in, and just walk into her plans like that? You wasted your time coming here."
I expected her to make such a response, but she was still a step behind my amazing ability of foresight, "I understand your hesitance Vernam, I really do. But... in all honestly, I don't want to deal with the old hag if we don't go along with her plans. More likely than not I'll actually end up with all my bones broken and your trash he- I mean tailor shop will be burnt to a crisp as well. So I had the brilliant idea to go along with her plans before destroying it from the inside and ruining that devil's plans. So are you with us, or not?"
She thought about it for a moment, before sighing and coming to a decision, "You're right, I really don't have a choice... Alright, You two go on to the coliseum and get a plan going. I'll gather the other two."
I smirked to myself as I turned around to leave the tailor shop and make my way to the coliseum.
Yet another drop of triumph for my glass of success.