"Whew, finally back, baby!" a warrior in crimson armor and a spear shouted in laughter after taking a swig of some beer. "Damn, I missed this place!"
Right now, the warrior was inside a huge and busy tavern in the middle of the mortal district. Two other warriors were sitting with him at the table.
One of them had long green hair and carried a long curved sword.
The other had black hair and carried a gladius with a big shield.
"To your return!" the green-haired man shouted, lifting his mug.
"To your return!" the black-haired one echoed.
"To my return!" the red-haired one shouted with a loud laugh.
The three of them slammed their mugs together and took three big gulps.
"You haven't changed a bit, you know," the green-haired one said with a grin.
The red-haired one laughed some more. "Of course not! Why would I change something that's already perfect? The chicks dig my toned body and smooth words."
The other two warriors chuckled. They really missed their friend.
Their friend had left to work for some mysterious company about 30 years ago, and he had only returned today.
"Speaking of chicks," the green-haired one said with a smirk, "how are the chicks at your new place?"
The red-haired warrior took a deep breath and slowly exhaled to be dramatic.
"Man, the chicks," he slowly said. "They're… special."
"Special? In what way?" the black-haired one asked in interest.
The red-haired one smirked and hit the black-haired one's side a couple of times with his elbow. "Why are you interested? Aren't you married?"
The black-haired one became a bit red in the face. "Of course, but I want to hear about your adventures, you know? I don't get out very much."
The red-haired warrior snicked some more. "Oh, Duma. You're such a nice little boy. You always take the sensible option and prioritize security. Isn't your wife bored of you yet?"
Duma laughed in embarrassment a bit. "No, I don't think so. If she is, she is not very good at showing it. I mean, she… never mind."
"Now, I'm interested," the red-haired warrior said as he came closer with a smirk. "Come on, what did you just want to say? Come on, I'm your pal, your buddy. You can tell me."
"Why don't you tell him?" the green-haired man echoed with a smirk of his own.
Duma felt a bit uncomfortable and looked to the side.
"Well, she keeps complaining about all the work she has to do because of all our children. But… you know… she seems very enthusiastic about making another one, you know?"
The other two immediately exploded into loud laughter.
"Alright, enough about you," the green-haired man said with a smirk before turning to the red-haired warrior. "This is about David. So, how's the job?"
David, the red-haired warrior, snickered a bit as he drank some more of his beer. "Lucrative."
Then, he stopped talking.
"Oh, come on!" the green-haired warrior shouted. "You can't just give me a single word and expect that I accept that as an answer, David!"
David chuckled some more. "Well, I can't really talk a lot about it. Confidentiality is very important for the company. I think you can imagine why."
Duma furrowed his brows while the green-haired warrior seemed intrigued. "Bad stuff?"
"Well," David slowly said, "depends on your viewpoint."
That was all they needed to hear.
When their friend, David, had just left, they just thought that he was joining some secret organization for research purposes. After all, there were only very few True Path Stage warriors, and they were kind of a novelty.
But apparently, David didn't join some research organization but a shady one.
"Is it bad?" Duma asked with a worried but serious tone.
"It's fine," David said with a smile. "I had to get used to it, but after 30 years, I can say that it was worth it."
Duma was quite an empathetic person, and he could feel that David wasn't telling the entire truth. Duma could feel that David had probably gone through some horrible moments in the company he was working for, and he was just making light of it to not destroy the mood.
"Worth it?" the green-haired warrior asked as he leaned forward. "How… worth it?"
David snickered a bit, and he leaned forward.
David's hand moved peculiarly, and the two warriors' Spirit Senses were pulled to his hand.
There was just a tiny, short glimmer, but the two warriors had seen it, and their eyes widened in absolute shock.
"Was that-"
"Sssshh!" David shushed.
The two warriors looked with shock at David's hand and swallowed deeply.
What had they just seen?!
They had just seen several Grade Five Mana Crystals!
Grade Five!
They were True Path Stage warriors!
One Grade Five Mana Crystal was like their entire net worth, and David had just casually taken out several of them!
"Are you interested?" David asked with a smirk.
Duma felt his insides shake.
This felt bad!
David had obviously gone through several bad experiences, and the sheer amount of money he had just shown painted a very clear picture.
This was a job that not just anyone could do.
Otherwise, it wouldn't pay that well!
This was really bad stuff!
It would be beyond risky to get involved!
"I'm good," Duma answered quickly, leaning back.
The green-haired man could only sigh. "It's really tempting, but I can't just throw everything away, you know?"
David leaned back and smirked as he drank a bit of his beer. "Your Master?"
When Duma heard the word Master, his eyebrows fell, and he looked with discomfort at his own beer.
The green-haired warrior nodded. "Yeah. I'm learning a lot from him, and I don't want to disappoint him."
David snorted, and the green-haired man looked at him with furrowed brows.
"Disappoint him?" David echoed. "From what I've heard, he's about as hard to please as an Abomination."
The green-haired man didn't like that David was talking badly about his Master, but deep inside, he had to agree.
Instead of reprimanding David, the green-haired man only looked to the side, not saying anything.
"Why do you care so much?" David asked. "You're his Disciple, yeah? You're not supposed to be his Disciple forever. You're like a child. At some point, you just have to leave your home and get one of your own."
"You were always the strongest amongst us three, except for that one time Duma reached the True Path Stage first, but that barely counts. What makes you so hesitant to leave your bitter Master?" David asked.
"Can we drop the topic?" the green-haired man asked, looking at David with annoyance.
"Sure," David said with a smirk.
The three of them talked for a couple of hours.
The green-haired man seemed disinterested in joining David's mysterious organization initially, but the more they talked, the more interested he grew.
David had become quite a lot more powerful after joining the organization.
His equipment was also outstanding.
On top of that, he had even comprehended a Concept!
Lastly, he also only had to work for like one hour a week or so, which was insane!
This was basically a paradise.
For the next three days, David kept contacting the green-haired man, but then, the green-haired man had to return to training.
After around ten days of nothing but training, the green-haired man started to question his life.
Was he making progress?
His equipment was terrible.
He had only a very limited number of natural treasures that helped him.
And he was essentially sacrificing his entire life for training.
Was that truly how he wanted to live?
Eventually, the green-haired man decided that something had to change in his life, and he contacted David.
The green-haired man felt guilty for abandoning his Master, and he was afraid of telling his Master.
However, David told him that this wasn't anything unusual and that his organization would deal with it.
He wouldn't need to meet his Master again, and there would be no enmity between them.
Ashamed, the green-haired man accepted the deal, and some weeks later, he left together with David.
They entered one of the bigger cities, and David led the green-haired man to a shady bar that led to some deeply hidden cave beneath the city.
And that was when the green-haired man was introduced to his new job.
Special Agent of the Temple of Blood.
