Level Up Family

In a dark, unknown part of the outskirts of Ivanov, deep within the depths of a forest, a vague light source shone at the boundaries of a remote cavern. Following its trail, which grew brighter within a passage of narrow rocky walls, one would near a region where a painful scream resounded, the voice sounding out regularly before halting.

In this location, a corpse of a man who just died slumped over lifeless on the cavern ground, as the bulky and tall figure of a blacked-haired and ruthless-looking man stood over it with bloody arms. His manner calm as his lips curved into a smile while he spoke to himself.

"A good kill, my it sure has been a while, I'm getting sloppy, to think I had to use even that method to get him to spill the beans..." Marius said as he wiped the blood from his palm with a cloth. He then tossed it onto the corpse, which, oddly enough, had countless fresh scars, each looking to have been carved by a knife.

After seeing his hand clean, Marius sighed before taking on a cold and ruthless-looking expression, his eyes turning to the exit of the dark cave as peering towards the direction of Ivanov.

'I didn't think that by settling in a random town, we'd piss off so many enemies, heh, truly interesting. I originally wanted only a few sources of danger to linger around Grevlin as it could be a great method for his training, but it seems that there are a little too many; most of these fellows are lackeys of those petty fools. Not only that, I have yet to deal with that thing Ria mentioned, to think that there's one particular bastard that doesn't seem to know his place, it's one thing to target Grevlin, but daring to send people after my Little Rose, he is truly asking for death.'

Marius's eyes shone in a baleful light when his thoughts echoed, his mystic power turning a bit red as if influenced by his mood. An evil-looking shadow formed over his being as the ground beneath his feet trembled as even in the forest around the cavern, the sleeping beast lifted their head abruptly before scurrying off in alarm.

Marius seemed as if he was about to lose his cool with his murderous aura around him, but suddenly, his aura faded as he returned to normal. Or rather, what seemed like normal, if one paid attention to him now, they would almost miss him as he appeared virtually fleeting, as if he didn't exist, as if he was merging with his surroundings.

'I should calm down; even though I'm strong, I'm not at the level to randomly walk sideways in this world. It's best to inspect the situation first, then make a decision based on the circumstances. If it turns out that I can't kill him now, then what's to say I won't be able to once I complete my Advancement Trial.'

Marius thought as he then took a step from his current position, his figure flickering and vanishing from this area as he once more headed towards the direction of Ivanov.

***

In a private room of an active night pub, a familiar rat-faced individual sat in silence as if waiting for something, his shoe patting the ground anxiously as his finger rattled on the desk.

Suddenly, he gulped down a jug of liquor before putting the jug down and wiping his mouth corners, his eyes glancing out the window at the various lamps with sparsely crowded street wanderers.

'Che! What's taking them so long? I have yet to receive any words? Could they...' Rat was about to think something, but before his thoughts could even finish, the door to his private room opened as a shady cloaked figure walked in with a paper.

The shady figure placed the paper on the desk and turned around before speaking, "Mission failed, as agreed, send the rest of the payment by morning."

Not even waiting to hear Rat's words, the person went towards the door, but Rat looked at the paper, picking it up with trembling arms before he glared at the man.

"Hey, you can't do that?! I can't pay you the rest when he's not dead. Do you take me, Rat Wringman of the Buster Bladers, as a joke?!" Rat shouted as he slammed the paper onto the desk, causing another jug of wine to spill over.

"Hmm?" The shady figure muttered as he halted, slanting his head to the side as it barely revealed his face behind his cloak's hood, his eyes shining in a dark and ruthless light as an abnormal pressure formed in the room. It was a pressure that caused even Rat to shrink back in fear as it forced him to kneel on to the ground.

"I... I..." Rat tried to speak but found that it hindered even his breathing; he began to cough as sweat rolled down his forehead.

Suddenly, the pressure vanished as the lights in the man's eyes faded, shrouding his face back into the darkness of his hooded robe. He then spoke, "You'd best watch yourself, Mr. Wringman; there are some people in this world that you shouldn't provoke."

With that said, the shady man walked out of the room and closed the door, leaving behind Rat, who only now recovered. Soon, the slamming noise sounded as Rat's agonizing voice sounded across the room, reaching even beyond the closed door.

"Damn it!"

The shady man paid no heed to this as he walked through a silent hallway, various sounds of different activities from the pub's private rooms sounding in ears, moans, laughter, and other peculiarities.

Yet, as if he was unphased by such things, the shady man continued onwards, his arms hidden within his sleeves as he soon arrived outside the building.

At this moment, a cool night draft blew across his robe, causing it to make flapping noises as a whoosh sounded, followed by the sound of footsteps at his side.

"Speak," The shady man said, not even looking at his side.

The figure that now stood at his side, dressed similar to the man, spoke, "Master, it's as you suspected, he annihilated both groups dispatched cleanly and efficiently."

The shady figure remained silent as he waved his hand and spoke, "Good, be sure to keep an eye on him; we will proceed onward as planned. Also, make sure to collect the rest of the payment from that Rat Wringman and those others who inquired our services."

"As you wish," The figure said before vanishing in the dark.

Suddenly, the shady man lifted his head, staring at the night sky with mystical sights of planets and stars, his eyes with an odd glint as he spoke as if speaking to himself.

"Marius Edgewick, it looks like I did well to come here before those knights or even that church; our cult could do well with your services."

The shady figure showed a strange smile on his vaguely revealed lips as he soon after faded away, merging with the night as he also vanished into the darkness.