The sound of the bell slowly resounded.
There was a big clock tower at the western side of Lohr.
When night comes, danger would follow, but there were some workers who did their jobs inside factories, which made it difficult for them to observe the outside and notice that night was approaching.
And so, there was a need for the sound of the bell from the clock tower to remind everyone that nighttime was coming.
The streets were only dimly lit by street lamps at road intersections, so it felt like monsters could appear from any corner, under the shade of any building, or perhaps even out of the corner of one's eyes.
Brian was walking through the streets in his Night Watcher uniform, tonight would be the appointed gathering of the Impure Hermit Order.
Soon enough, another person wearing the Night Watcher uniform approached him, except this person wasn't wearing the owl mask, revealing a face almost exactly like his. He claimed that he was an Attendant, his very own servant from the Hermit Order, and would follow his every command.
The Attendant received Brian's skull and mask, informed Brian of the Hermit Order's gathering place, then took over Brian's patrol route; while Brian proceeded to the appointed location.
Setting it up on the clock tower, what a ridiculous level of confidence.
Brian was briefly surprised when he heard of the location. In the entirety of Lohr, the highest location was naturally the Sun Shadow Church's cathedral, but the second highest location was the clock tower.
This was a considerably eye-catching location, since anyone could observe the clock tower while standing on the cathedral's hill. Essentially, they were staying directly under the church's gaze.
Borrowing the complicated layout of the sewers would certainly be a lot safer, but organizations that crawled like rats that way would find it very tough to provide a feeling of safety to their members; while picking the clock tower that stood almost on the same level of the cathedral would make members feel subconsciously more at ease.
Of course, this was the thought process of those truly capable. Anyone whose fear of the Sun Shadow church ran into their bones would only think to go underground, or even escape from the Sun Shadow church's range of influence to ensure that they wouldn't be discovered.
The large gears inside the clock tower stiffly moved; the constant and stable mechanical sounds seemed to be rousing a slight urging feeling in his heart.
Walking along the flight of stairs, Brian soon made his way to the very top of the clock tower, a room with four clock faces. There was actually another floor to this structure, which housed a large bell that would be periodically rung by the mechanisms here, naturally, there was also a manual way to ring them.
On top of the wooden floorboards, a long meeting table had already been placed here, with Negary sitting at the host position, there were already several people here on either sides of the table.
Not too long after Brian, the sounds of footsteps resounded again as a young man came in, from his clothes, he was most likely a Night Watcher as well.
〖 All current members of the Hermit Order have now gathered 〗Negary's gaze swept through everyone present and spoke: 〖 Including myself, there are 7 members in total, each of the members sitting here are talented in one way or another 〗
〖 As everyone has their own needs and desires, the Hermit Order shall follow the law of equivalent exchange. I will formulate a set of stable contribution point system, by using these contribution points, anyone can use the power of the Hermit Order to fulfil their own goals 〗
〖 There are two constantly activate sources of contribution points: The first is the development of the Hermit Order, the recruitment of new talents into the Hermit Order; the second is my issued mission to collect any and all supernatural knowledge 〗Negary continued: 〖 Each official member will be provided an Attendant, which I assume all of you have seen 〗
〖 There should be a ring in front of each of you 〗
Brian picked up the ring in front of him, but from what he saw, each of them seemed to have different designs.
〖 These rings will be able to sense each other. Whenever there is a nearby Hermit Order ring, it will give the corresponding reminder. This shall be the proof of an official Hermit Order member, as well as the tool to record and trade your contribution points 〗
Putting the ring on, Brian sensed something sharp piercing his skin, followed by information that was directly transferred into his mind.
[Ring #6, there are a total of 7 fellow Hermit Order members around you. Current contribution point value: 1]
[Contribution point record]
[Undoing the Mark of Vow: -5]
[Attendant substitute: -1]
[Turning in a list of 7 potential members: +7]
[Current balance: 1 contribution point]
〖 While in each other's vicinity, the rings can be used to conduct a contribution point transaction, you may give it a try. All internal member transactions are under the guarantee of the Hermit order, if any fraudulence or sabotage is found during transaction, the Hermit Order will ensure the culprit takes responsibility 〗Negary explained after seeing everyone put on their rings: 〖 Furthermore, there is a list of things that can be exchanged for right here, anyone in need may come find me. As the Hermit Order has only just been formed, the price of quite a few things are very cheap 〗
〖 If you cannot attend a meeting for any reasons, you may send your Attendant with your ring to report 〗
〖 If your ring is lost, a report is to be made as soon as possible. If you are unfortunate enough to be discovered by the Sun Shadow church or other organizations, thus causing damage to the Hermit Order, your membership shall be revoked 〗
After stating a few rules and regulations, Negary stopped and allowed the other members to digest the new information as well as talk to one another.
Brian received a list which listed the details of everything related to contribution points, for example, the list of things that could be exchanged, which contained various items like the [Black Crow] serum (germs), a substance that could be used to completely replace any part of one's body, thus granting various abilities.
There was also the [Face Lift], which could permanently change one's appearance. With the appropriate preparations, anyone could replace their identity with certain ordinary citizens of Lohr, the price was only 10 contribution points, with follow-up services like the extraction of the replaced person's memories, so on and so forth.
"Then, everyone, I have a certain demand" a lady wearing a face mask among the Hermit Order members spoke up: "I need one or several men to help me with a small request. I wish to kill a few of my obstructors"
"I'm willing to pay 20 contribution points for it" the lady laid it out clearly. She was Katherine Worden, a Mysticism enthusiast. By borrowing the wealth of her family, she had secretly accumulated a considerable amount of Mysticism knowledge.
She was then discovered by Negary and invited to join the Hermit Order, exchanging her Mysticism knowledge for quite a bit of contribution points.
Brian then discussed a few things with Katherine before accepting her request. Just like Brian, Katherine had a certain level of influence within her family, but she wasn't the only potential heir in her family, and there were quite a few other obstructors.
Brian wasn't shy about committing murders, although he failed once and became a death row convict for it, that was merely due to an unexpected situation. Right now, all he knew was that the two of them were mutual beneficiaries: Brian needed contribution points, while Katherine needed her obstructors to 'accidentally' lose their lives.
The foundation of the Hermit Order was thus formed. With the contribution point system as its core, the order's members were able to conduct mutually beneficial transactions, with talents of various fields in the same organization, the power they would be able to exert wasn't to be underestimated.
For this reason, the Hermit Order's influence quickly grew, although one of the contributing reasons was that a lot of their members originated from the Night Watchers. Like a parasite, the Hermit Order was borrowing the power of the Night Watchers to grow stronger.
Borrowing each other's powers and resources, the members of the Hermit Order rapidly matured, while also expanding their field of influence outside of the organization, which also acted as a springboard for the Hermit Order as a whole to develop step by step in return.
