Once he had his bath, Richard dressed up in informal attire consisting of a pair of black cargo trousers, a plain white T-shirt with the words, 'I love hot girls' written in bold cursive on the front of the shirt, and a black jean jacket.
With absolutely no shame in his poor fashion choices, Richard walked through his empty mansion into the garage located on the bottom floor.
Upon getting there, he was greeted with one of the only things he loved in the world;
His car... A sleek, black vintage Ford Mustang. Am absolute beautiful beast. Equal parts sexy and ferocious.
Barely suppressing a grin, he quietly walked to a hidden part of the garage. Pushing down on a button, a small number pad was revealed. Punching in the twelve digit code with lightning speed, a secret compartment opened up.
Within this secret compartment were a few... peculiar items.
A rather long item; about eighty centimeters, wrapped in a black cloth.
A regular looking handgun alongside a few magazines.
A sniper rifle.
Two strange looking dagger carved with multiple runes.
Three bottles of unidentifiable liquids.
A cross and a few gold coins with the insignia of an eye enclosed within a runic circle.
And a ring with the same insignia engraved onto it...
Richard let out a sigh as he took a look at all the item. The first thing he did was put the ring on. Once it fit snugly, he put the daggers into their sheaths and placed them around his waist, ensuring they weren't visible under his jacket.
Pulling the handgun out alongside a few magazines, he placed it in a holster, and the magazines went into pouches.
Once he was done, he transported the rest into the truck of his car.
"All preparations have been made!"
Any sane person would be able to tell with nothing but a glance, that having so many weapons on your person meant one of two things;
Either you intentionally want to seek trouble with law enforcement, or you truly intend to break the law and commit a few felonies. Either way, Richard didn't care as he slammed on the acceleration.
Driving away from his mansion, his mind was on the road and the road alone...
Rolling the window down, the wind streaked across his cheeks, sending his hair flying randomly.
Flying across the streets at tops speed, his mind drifted staring at the road ahead.
This world was a complicated place...
Amongst the living humans, a very small minority had a clue as to what went on in the shadows. The rest were clueless, thanks to the activities of those that risked their lives in the embrace of darkness.
"If the denizens of Hell are left to roam the earth, they will bring nothing but chaos, death and disease. It is the duty and privilege of Sorcerers to stop thos from happening."
Richard sighed...
As Sorcerers, not only did they have to kill the creatures that cross the boundary between world, but they also had to make excursions into these Hell realms of they wanted to become more powerful.
The Mundane world and the Abyssal Planes are connected through inter-dimesional tunnels called Stygian Gates. These gates are the link between these two realms. I'm reality, calling Hell, or the Abyssal Planes a 'realm', was erroneous in and of itself.
For one, it was rather a collection of realms, than a simgulyrealm itself. Hell had many layers after all. But each of them were linked to one another. Currently, it was unknown exactly how many layers there were.
The Abyssal Planes was home to Demons, Devils, and every other malevolent beating in between...
Drawn in by the scent of human souls, these creatures desired, every day, to fully invade earth. This could be accomplished inany ways...
One was crossing a natural opening. This was the most straightforward way. However, crossing this was meant the Denizens of Hell would meet a lot of resistance, so most of them rarely used this method.
Another way of leaving the Hell Realms, was by being summoned. Powerful Demons, prefered this method, enticing humans sould with the promise of wealth and power, only to cause total chaos and pandemonium once they had been successful summoned.
Even till this day, the influence powerful Demons and Devils who wished to be summoned was incredibly rampant.
"Freaking bastards, always giving me extra work..."
Richard sighed...
The job of all Sorcerers was to prevent disasters like thos from happening. Across history, they had managed to intercept and prevent a lot of disasters. Not only that, but humanity has also found a way to harness the power of these otherworldly creatures for themselves, in one way or the other...
The Circle of Magi, the same organization the Bane family was a part of were the leading organization in terms of studying and creating new ways to make use of the power of the arcane and Occult.
Driving through the city, Richard brought his car to a halt in front of a rather large building.
In front of the building was a sculpture of a weeping angel, bowing down before something. Some would call it a work of art, or beautiful, but Richard, having total understanding of what sort of creatures these 'angels' were almost couldn't hold his disgust back.
Shaking his head, he continued to walk forward until he reached the sliding glass doors.
Upon stepping into the building, he was greeted by a receptionist.
The blushing woman impressively managed to speak rather clearly,
"So you are Mister Richard... Sir Rigborne did say he was expecting you."
Richard nodded politely, "Is that so... Is he busy right now?"
The receptionist smiled wryly, "Well, something like that."
Richard smiled, "In that case, I'll wait."
Just as he was about to turn around, the receptionist called out,
"It seems like that won't be necessary, Mister Richard."
Richard raised a brow, "Is that so?"
With a wide smile, the receptionist beckoned to him,
"The Chairman said I should send you up. The top floor..."
Scratching his head, Richard fought his confusion,
'When did that happen?'
Shaking his head, Richard gave her a nod before he walked further into the building.
Reaching the elevator, he pressed the appropriate buttons before leaning against the wall.
The soft elevator music played in his ears. Tapping his feet to the rhythm, Richard was almost lost on it for moment.
Then, the doors opened...
A gorgeous woman dressed in office wear walked into the elevator. Sporting an absolutely frigid expression on her face, she completely ignored Richard then proceeded to stand on the other end of the elevator.
Seeing as the other party paid him no mind, Richard felt no need to encroach as well. He also preferred to keep to himself most of the time. Even if the other person was a stunning beauty.
They both waited until the elevator got to the top floor before getting out.
Upon getting out, Richard notoced the woman's gaze on him.
"You... what are you doing here?" Her voice was electrifying, but it still retained a frigidity that was hard to convey with words alone.
Richard turned around, a confused expression on his face,
"Do I know you?"
The woman's face turned colder,
"I asked you a question..."
Richard smiled, "I feel comfortable answering."
The woman gritted her teeth, allowing Richard quite the scene to behold.
'Damn. She is really pretty.'
"I won't ask you again. The next time I ask, you'll find yourself on the bottom floor."
'Hey, lady... Don't just go around threatening people, okay?'
Sensing the obvious trouble from a mile away, Richard thought about it for a few seconds before he decided to wisely avoid further confrontation.
"I came here because I was invited by someone. The receptionist told me this is where I can find them."
Properly conveying what was needed without revealing too much.
'A perfect response if I do say so myself...' Feeling exceedingly proud of himself, Richard almost gave himself a pat on the back when he noticed the woman still staring at him with a fair boy of suspicion.
"I don't believe you."
"Wha- Lady... I don't think it is up to you to believe me or not. I wasn't invited by you, was I?"
The woman seemed taken aback by his words for a moment. Sensing the prime opportunity, Richard expertly excused himself.
"If that is all, I'll be taking my leave. Good day."
Walking forward briskly, he felt her behind.
"Wait a moment!"
She quickly chased him.
'Fuck! Is this woman insane?!'
Cursing his terrible luck, Richard sighed and continued walking until he arrived in front of a set of doors.
Without waiting for her, he pulled them open and stepped inside the room.
There, seated on the other side of a wide mahogany table, was an old man. With a head full of white hair and a thick grey beard, these were the first thoughts that came into Richard's mind.
However, upon closer inspection, he could see clearly that this old man was far from simply.
Although his expensive suit tried to hide it, it wasn't very hard to notice the old man's incredible musculature.
'Not only that...' Richard's eyes narrowed as a fxold, sinking feeling enveloped him.
His eyes were coated in a film of mana as he silently activated a spell. What he saw almost made him take a step back.
'Monster.'
"Young man, didn't anybody teach you that it is rude to use magic on others without permission?"