"Hey Beauty," Glottis pushed some paper money into the hostess' cleavage at the entrance of the club.
"Hey Young Master," she giggled back, puffing out her chest to give him free access. "The boss is waiting for you at room number 4 again, let me escort you."
He followed her upstairs, ignoring the loud music. The atmosphere in the club was loud in every way. The DJ made his beats bang in the ears of the guests, young men and women danced on the floor, switching hands faster than the ball in a basketball game. The air carried the mixed scent of alcohol, perfumes, sweat, cigarettes, and marijuana, and the everchanging lights and the exposed skin in every corner of the platform could bewitch the eyes.
To complete the scene, there were small stages scattered across the vast place, each occupied by a single female dancer or a couple. Those were mainly professionals, or at least amateurs who knew what they were doing. The dancers were dressed in anything from long dresses with deep v-line cuts to their birthday suits with only a few straps or stickers to hide their most treasured valleys and mounds.
The hostess opened the door after receiving an answer to her knocks, revealing Donny sitting with his leg crossed over his knee, a fat cigar in his right hand and a glass filled by something orange in his left.
"Glottis, you came! Come sit here, buddy, we still have fifteen minutes before Candy performs on the main stage," Donny got up and gave a quick bro hug to his friend. They sat in front of one another, and Donny poured some 22-year-old whiskey into an empty glass that was there for that purpose.
"No problem, we can finish our discussions in fifteen minutes. Seems like you are in a good mood, you don't smoke those cigars often," Glottis remarked as he took a sip from his glass.
"Damn right I am! Mike Teuto finally stopped bothering my debt collectors, we gathered all the money those people owed us!" The thug leader said and smoked some more. "You know, Glottis? You must hold your drink in your left hand, otherwise, your right palm will be cold, which is bad for handshakes."
"Ah, right, Leo says it too," Glottis nodded and passed the glass to his other hand. "Good for you, while you are done with Mike troubles, I'm not."
"Oh, come on, are you here to deal with that dude again? What is it now?" The black man sighed, moving his hand through his afro in disgruntle.
"Ah," Glottis delayed, his eyes fixed on the swaying afro, fighting an inner need to touch it. "Ahm, he moved to Golden High School where Annie studies and bonded with a boy from the Tenaris family. My mother gave me the task of handling them both since they came after people working for the family. Got any ideas?"
"Hm, I will need some time to think about it. It's too dangerous to approach a Foundation Establishment cultivator without any preparations…" Donny said in clear apprehension.
"Ah, about that… he is a Golden Core cultivator now."
"FUCK THIS, GLOTTIS!"
*Crush*
Glass shattered and the expensive drink was spilled all over the floor. Donny kicked a big shard in exasperation before calling for a waitress to clean.
"I'm not doing it, and you better tell your family that you are not doing it either. We might be able to bridge over one stage with wit and money, but two stages are too much."
Glottis ignored his friend's outburst, not batting an eyelid at the glass that reflected the light across the room. He got up and gestured for Donny to do the same.
"Let me show you something. Hit me."
"Hit you?"
"Yes."
Donny shrugged. He was not a soft person, he did not mind hitting anybody if there were no repercussions he could not handle. He took a fighting stance and lunged forward, sending a punch at Glottis' jaw. The latter leaned back slightly, dodging the punch, but Donny saw it coming.
The thug leader threw an upper cut at his opponent's lower abdomen landing a clear hit.
"Mhm!" Glottis groaned a little as he contracted his muscles, tanking the punch.
"What? That was like hitting metal!" Donny said in surprise. He felt slight pain in his hand, shaking it before clenching and unclenching. "Could it be that you are at the second stage? It felt the same as the time I had punched Mike."
"I am in the second stage," Glottis smirked. He took the hit on purpose to let his friend sense it. He only dodged the first strike because it was aimed at his face.
"Well, the situation might be slightly better than I originally thought, but there are still two problems. First, he is a Golden Core cultivator now, according to you, so you didn't actually catch up with him. We need five or six more of you to even stand a chance at landing a punch. The second problem is that your martial arts are horrible."
Donny analyzed the situation quickly. From his perspective, although those were good news on a personal level, they were barely considered news when it came to the overall situation. After all, neither an ant nor a mouse could help a fight against a powerful human. Only numbers could make up for the gap between an ant and a human.
"My martial arts are horrible? I'm at least as good as my mom," Glottis bragged. He had no idea if it was true, but he knew he was better than Leo, and so was his mother.
"Hahaha, as this old monster?" Donny laughed, "Fine, show me those skills."
Donny gave a quick round kick that would break a normal person's jaw and unroot a few teeth. Glottis did not mind, he raised his elbow, pushing the man's leg above his head and with a light sweep from his leg, Donny found himself on the floor.
"Argh," He groaned and pushed the floor with his hands to jump back on his legs, relentlessly barraging his opponents with quick jabs and straights from close range this time. Glottis deflected each one of them with his palms, somehow even recognizing which were fake meant to distract him and which were real. He did not abuse his higher stage to win, only showing off his martial arts.
'Opportunity,' Glottis saw an opening. Donny had to back out after a long barrage of punches, but Glottis followed him when he tried, taking the initiative to pummel down his opponent. Donny kept falling for his fakes, taking punches to his chin, chest, cheeks, and sides every other second.
"Fine, fine! I surrender! AH!"
Just when Donny surrendered, that extra talking made him slower, creating another chance for Glottis who took it without thinking. His uppercut connected with his friend's abdomen, lifting him in the air off his legs before letting him fall back to his knees.
*Cough cough*
"Oops, sorry. You should have disengaged first…" Glottis patted his friend's shoulder and helped him get up to his couch.
"I… *HUUHHH* tried, *HUUUHH*, you chased *HUUUH*," Donny did his best to complain as he struggled to breathe new air into his lungs until he eventually gave up on completing the sentence, deeming it easy enough to understand. He couldn't hold it in, and he vomited his whiskey and a few snacks he had earlier.
"Well, we were in a fight. Here, take this pill," Glottis handed him one of his healing pills and the effect made him feel better in a few seconds.
"How can your martial arts be so good?" asked the black man the same question that any other human who knew Glottis would.
"What do you mean 'how'? I have never skipped a day in my training."
"Bullshit. If you're trying to tell me you trained after sleeping with my strippers, drunker than a college student in a drinking contest, I'm not buying it. God knows if there's a single couch in my club that your bare ass did not touch."
"If he does, he would tell you there isn't," Glottis bragged with a smug face.
"Just don't tell that to the other customers. Anyway, if we want to take down Mike, we need another Golden Core cultivator or half a dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators to support you in a fight. If Mike knows any technique, we might be doomed anyway."
Glottis did get some additional details from his mother to help him get a better understanding of Mike's capabilities. He pondered for a moment when he heard Donny's estimation.
"He shouldn't know any technique. Mom was his master until lately, she told me that her plan was to let him practice some techniques when he enters the Golden Core stage. Since she kicked him out right when he broke through, she never taught him any."
"She kicked him out? Why?"
"Because… it doesn't matter, something private between the two of them," Glottis coughed. Even if he was beaten black and blue, he wouldn't tell others about the day he found his mom about to bone with his nemesis.
"Hm, alright. I can hire a few cultivators of the second stage. However, you owe me this money, I'm no charity."
"Same interest rate as your other clients?"
"Double."
The two shared a laugh before getting up from their seats. The time was up.
"Let's go watch the main stage, Candy goes up in a minute," Donny said and turned to leave. The two walked side by side downstairs, stopping at a porch on the second floor that offered a good view of the main stage and a few smaller ones on the ground floor while giving the guests a slightly quieter place to drink and talk.
"Here she is, cheers!" the two clicked their glasses and drank, enjoying the sight of a doll-like lady with perfect proportions and fair skin showing off her bubble butt in a tight G-string with a bunny tail.