While Kiran trained with Sublime, Shadowheart, and Elle approached the Rank 5 Training Hall slowly. Shadowheart because he sensed a peculiar type of energy that piqued his interest, and Elle because she was curious about everything that had to do with this guild, her bloodline and… basically everything.
Shadowheart easily gained entry with his qualifications and position, then gazed around the room to see his target. Kiran and Sublime were going at it with gusto, the lolitician firing spells of various elements towards her half-sibling menacingly.
Kiran gritted his teeth as he sought to close the distance between them only using his Knight skills and a bit of Control, but Sublime was on the same level as he in that regard.
Shadowheart and Elle watched the fight silently for a while, the two passing judgment in their minds. Shadowheart then noticed the lax Misery who seemed to be the overall in charge here, then noticed the bottle he was drinking.
Shadowheart smiled and approached Misery. "A jug of rum at the Rare Rank. You certainly have fine tastes there, brother."
Misery turned to view Shadowheart and smiled. "Any man who can appreciate rum is a man worth befriending. Name's Nicholas Spencley, but I go by Misery most of the time."
Shadowheart nodded and bowed. "Mine is Connor Baines, but I go by Shadowheart. Apart from the rum, I also sense an aura on you and the other two who are fighting that is similar. Am I correct in assuming all three of you are members of a Lineage?"
Misery nodded. "Yup, the Merlin Lineage."
Shadowheart's eyes gleamed. "Merlin? The Legendary magician? Does that mean you guys specialize in magic?"
"On one half, yes. The other half is knighthood, which the brat over there is honing. The girl is a Magus like me." Misery answered casually.
"Brother, I am a magic fanatic. I love all forms of magic and wish to research on it. May I trouble you to teach me more about how Merlin's magic works?" Shadowheart asked with excitement.
Misery shrugged. "I'm giving that brat lessons, and I plan to do the same for my niece, so I don't see any reason to exclude you from listening in. First, though, I'll need to know about you and how you work. It's kinda impossible to replicate our magic unless you have special means."
Shadowheart unhesitatingly shared the details of his class with Misery. When Misery saw the stats and the skills, he directly spat out his rum and gazed at Shadowheart with horror.
When Shadowheart saw his look, he was confused. "Have you not gone to Class Up yet? Almost every core member has."
Misery tilted his head in confusion. "Class Up…?"
.........
At this time, Pedro Sousa was taking a stroll within Vita Kingdom. He had come to select a plot for his residence as a core member, then he would move over to the Rank 7 Guild Hall to Class Up.
He couldn't help but whistle as he gazed at the slender and sleek gypsy beauties, the valiant and combative Nshaw Tribe beauties, and the hardworking and driven Goddess Descendant beauties.
There were so many beauties of different types, flavors, and origins! He simply did not know which one he liked more, feeling like a kid who had been taken to a candy store, currently window-shopping.
However, when he passed by a certain residence, Pedro stopped, his heart leaving his chest as his throat became dry. There, he saw the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, in his opinion.
She was currently kneeling down near a pipe, handwashing some clothes, with her short black hair tied into a bun. Her pure black eyes radiated gentleness, and her dark skin shone with a faint luster.
She wasn't that short from what Pedro could tell, just tall enough for him to be able to lift her with ease. Apart from a slightly flat chest, Pedro noticed that she had extremely wide and attractive hips.
From how she knelt, Pedro could get a look at her peach, and it was shaped to perfection. Pedro was not sure if she was Gypsy or Nshaw since both groups had dark skin, but one thing was for sure; she was a demure beauty!
Pedro looked left and right before smoothing his hair and walking over with his best smile. The woman washing clothes noticed him when he came close, and seemed stunned for a few seconds as she was dazed by Pedro's good looks.
After all, he was someone with dual Inheritance, Horned Demon, and Dark Angel. This made Pedro a sex beast just one level below Draco, and his actions were far less reserved since he was a bachelor.
Seeing that the woman was dazed by his looks, Pedro knew he had already succeeded by 15%. First impressions were always important, and looking good secured an early benefit.
"Hey there, beautiful. What's your name?" Pedro asked directly.
Pickup lines and the like were a waste of time. Then again, in Brazil where Pedro was raised, nobody was a prude. The ladies were more direct and open to flirting, so trying to be reserved and fancy would only make them laugh at you.
The woman snapped out of her daze and blushed heavily, lowering her eyes from the handsome Pedro.
"M-my name is Vano…" She answered with a soft tone.
Pedro crouched to Vano's eye level and placed a finger under her chin, bringing her face up to look into his.
"Such a beautiful name truly fits such a beauty as yourself."
Vano's heart thumped like a piston from these actions, and Pedro smiled since his enhanced senses allowed him to easily pick up on that. Knowing that this was easy prey, he didn't even act extravagantly.
He simply pulled her up to her feet and introduced himself. "My name is Hendro and I am a core member of this guild. I was going to pick a new lot for my own residence and happened to come across you."
He then caressed Vano's hair gently, which made his quarry swoon slightly. "I'll be back for you after I am done with business, okay? Wait for me."
Vano nodded shyly. "Okay."
Pedro smirked once more and left resolutely. He had already laid the foundation down, and would devour his meal when the time was ripe. There was no rush.
Vano watched Pedro leave until his silhouette disappeared. His shy and gentle expression shifted to one of playfulness and evil. He brought a finger to his mouth and licked it, his eyes becoming semi-lidded.
'Wow, what a hunk. This is the first time I have been so turned on since Draco. I almost couldn't keep up the act.'
Vano thought to himself. 'Too bad, Draco eventually escaped my clutches and ended up with Roma. Since he is now family, Mother warned me that she would castrate me if I dared to ruin their marriage. Well, I have them to thank me for allowing me to meet Astarte in this lifetime.'
Vano licked his lips with a soft look as he thought about his lover.
'But…' An evil look formed in his eyes. 'He might be an ideal lover and all... but it's nowhere as exhilarating as tricking powerful men into my bed and having them ravish me!'
Just thinking about Pedro laying waste to his 'love canal', made Vano tremble with lust. He was a pure bottom through and through, and loved the act of receiving rather than giving, complimenting Cobra's preference perfectly.
Given his looks and body, when clothed, he looked no different from a sexy tom-boy. Only God knows why a man like him was born with hips better than Roma and a backside that was no weaker than Bella.
Back then, even Draco had almost been captured by Vano! Even though Draco had sussed out Vano's true nature with Control, he had still been tempted by evil!
So how could poor Pedro escape now that Vano had made the first move. Unless he learned Control fast, a tragedy was about to happen.
Vano hummed happily to himself as he continued his work, waiting for his unassuming prey to return for an experience he would never forget...
.........…
"So, you mean to tell me that you are currently captured by Superhuman?" Draco's Avatar summed up Ghostpro's story with a strange expression.
"Sort of. I was incarcerated by them 4 years ago, but I was out of it for most of the time until recently, when I started playing Boundless. Right now, they seem to consider me some sort of super-powered human and want to recruit me." Ghost explained calmly.
Draco pondered. "According to the information from Supernatural, Superhuman should have a weaker foundation than them, but they cannot be ignorant. Both organizations should know some rudimentary information about the Lineages, so they likely suspect you to be part of one."
"Apart from a Lineage, no one would dare attack or kidnap a member of a Lineage. Even Supernatural don't dare to, and their power truly terrifies me, much less Superhuman."
Draco nodded. "So they want to win your cooperation truthfully and honestly. Hah. You're safe for now, but there's no telling what they might do when they get desperate."
Ghost did not seem too bothered. "Even if they blow me up, I won't die."
Draco gazed at Ghost strangely. "Orochi is powerful, I agree, but not that much. A concentrated bombardment would empty you in seconds, and a big one would end you right away."
Draco tapped his lip. "The bloodlines are fucking overpowered, and you 9 God Serpents are even moreso, so I won't say something as crass as to not believe in your power. However, I will give you a piece of advice the real Draco himself would likely want to share the most: 'It's better to accumulate a swath of powers rather than rely on just the one.' "
"Control is something I can easily give you lot given your talents and bloodline, but others you have to acquire yourself. Think about it, Cyrus. Draco himself has so much power that it overshadows all your nine put together, yet he still fervently plays this game and accumulates various types of powers for himself. Do you know why he does it?"
Ghost was silent for a while before his expression changed. "Some of these powers can be used in reality!"
The Avatar snapped a finger with a nod. "That's a large part of it. He is testing which powers he can bring out, and more than a few are feasible, if not all. It's only that Earth lacks a lot of the things present in here to make it possible."
Draco gazed at Ghost pointedly. "You understand, right?"
Ghost scratched the back of his head with a sigh. It seemed he couldn't hide his lax and easygoing nature from his boss. The Avatar was worried about him, especially since Ghost seemed like someone with little to no drive, so he was trying to prod him to work harder with this explanation.
Ghost could see through this and was grateful, but people often misunderstood his outward laxness. He wasn't lazy because he didn't have a goal, he was lazy because there were so many things he wanted to achieve in life, but life had fucking blockaded all of them.
What was he supposed to do, try and jump over those walls?
Heh. Many did so in life, trying to surmount the walls that blocked them, and ended up crashing for it. Hundreds, thousands, millions. Hearing the stories about the few who managed to succeed through luck or something else was not enough to move Ghost.
After all, from the very beginning, he was not deluded into thinking he was some main character or protagonist. He had long accepted his place as a background character who wouldn't make any waves, so why should he stress himself out?
Better to hang back and live life as casually as he wanted, at his own pace, rather than be pulled into the pace of others.
Good luck to those who wanted to improve their station in life and upgrade from background to side character or even main. However, fiction was fiction, and the universe did not care about making the average man some main character through fortuitous events.
That was just carefully written lies targeted exactly at background characters to exploit their money and give them false hope. In reality, those who were main characters were not even the type to read fiction in the first place.
(Author's Note: I wonder which scum would do such evil things! Luckily, I'm not part, hahaha!)
Ghost sighed as he thought this and left the Guildmaster's office. Just as he did, though, he saw someone outside the door dressed like some circus ringmaster who was smiling eerily.
"Greetings, fair friend! Might this be the place where I can meet the Progenitor?" The Showman asked genially.
