Jack’s Immortality – Chapter 119
After waiting for Victoria to clean herself and have an incubator made, Dante gathered Jayden, said goodbye to Addison, and promptly left Sloria.
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The flight to Dead Man’s Range took several uneventful days, but that made them quite pleasant in his opinion. Upon arrival, Victoria led their raptors down to the same area they had camped out the last time, placing them in a clearing just outside the mountain range.
After dismounting, the first thing Dante did was watch the forest. Which was where the other assassins would be arriving from. His fight with Jace was still scheduled several days away, but he doubted that small fact would keep them away until then, and he also doubted that an assassin would be unwilling to resort to foul play if they perceived him to be an actual threat.
Victoria dismounted her raptor, pulling down the incubator with her. The incubator was a small box that was two feet long on each side, made from various undiscernible lightweight metals and covered in an enchantment. The enchantment was tier one, and made from Chaos stone that drew in its own world essence for self-sufficiency. From the small amount of time that he interacted with the incubator on the flight over, he knew it provided a small amount of heat to the eggs in the box.
Victoria handed the box to Jayden, who then opened the metal lid to look at the eggs, a smile on his face. “Miss Victoria, you must be more careful. They are so delicate.”
Victoria crossed her arms at the warning, but Dante agreed with Jayden’s sentiment. Victoria appeared to be in a conundrum in regards to the eggs. It was like she hated them, treating the box with disregard, while she also cherished them, taking care to make sure that they didn’t break. The mixed behavior spoke for her feelings on miyue serpents.
Victoria ignored Jayden and looked at him. “Do you want to go to them, or wait for them to come to us? I doubt it will take Daxez long to make his way here.”
Dante shrugged. “I don’t really care.”
If they went to Daxez, who was Jace’s master, it could be interpreted as them taking the initiative in an overbearing way, placing them in the dominant position. On the other hand, it could also be interpreted as them rushing over to report that they had arrived like subordinates, which would place Daxez in the dominant position.
And the same was true if they waited until Daxez came to them. It could either place Daxez in the dominant or supportive role. But no matter what, Daxez would have the advantage in either situation because the other assassins he brought would support him unconditionally.
So, what they chose to do didn’t really matter. And he didn’t feel like wasting a trip.
Victoria nodded in agreement. “Neither do I. When they do come, make sure to piss Daxez off. I need him to attack you after you kill Jace.”
Acting as bait sounded unpleasant, but he had already known that this was a part of Victoria’s plan.
It turned out that they didn’t need to wait long. Only a few minutes after landing Daxez himself strode out of the forest, taking each step like a king who was parading in his kingdom. He was, for the most part, unchanged from the last time Dante saw him. Still dressed like a fine merchant in his silk clothing, which, in Dante’s opinion, conflicted with the role of assassin. Though the appearance did make more sense after Melisandre told him that the assassins in the wastelands were just glorified mercenaries.
Behind Daxez were other assassins, more of them than last time. There were around twenty, each striding out behind him like loyal subjects. Each with their own characteristics, as none were dressed alike, and each carried their own mannerisms that were different from the other. Some looked like farmers, some like merchants, a few like nobles, and one or two even looked like actual assassins. If he had run into such a group anywhere else, he wouldn’t have believed that they were a part of the same faction.
There were also a few younger apprentices streaming out of the forest, and more than one was a familiar face. Jace was there, next to Daxez with his stone-cold expression. Carter was also there, he was the one who had fought him over Shade. There were also others he recognized but didn’t remember the names of, including the teen who threatened him over Olivia, and several others that were walking alongside their masters.
The one who held his attention was Hannah though. From a glance, she was identical to Olivia, her sister. Only different in her mannerism. There was none of the coyness, none of the warmth in her personality. If anything, Hannah was cold, and in his opinion that didn’t match her appearance at all.
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He looked at Victoria. “Have they all stayed here for the past year?”
“Yes,” she said. “A year isn’t really a long period of time though. Getting one of your Classifications to specialize the first four times will add roughly ten years to your life per specialization.”
He was already aware of that, but the specificity of what she said was strange. “What about the fifth specialization and up?”
“Those are fundamentally different,” she said. “We’ll talk about them later.”
Dante refocused his attention on the assassins that were making their way toward them, somewhat disgruntled. He was ready to get this fight over with as soon as possible. That way Victoria would stop holding back so much information.
“Jayden.” After getting Jayden’s attention he motioned to Daxez. “I need you to piss him off, make him angry enough to attack me.”
Jayden looked up at the designated target, seemed to approve, then walked over to raptors to hide the incubator he was holding in a safe location.
If Jayden couldn’t provoke him, it was a lost cause.
The assassins closed in, surrounding them in a half circle. From their posture and the way that a few of them grabbed at the handles of their weapons, it was obvious that they were trying to be threatening.
“Welcome back guild master,” Daxez mocked. “I was wondering when the two of you would show up.” His eyes lazily roamed over the three of them, widening slightly when they saw Dante’s altered appearance, then resting on Jayden the longest, examining the potential threat. “If you think that you can just find a replacement to fight for you, think again.” Daxez looked at Dante. “I assume he is the same apprentice that was with you last time, correct?”
Victoria already had her arms crossed, her expression placid. “He isn’t a replacement, and yes, that is the same apprentice.”
“Dear brother, is this the pompous imbecile that you spoke of?” Jayden asked him a conversational tone, ignoring the presence of those who were surrounding them.
Dante nodded as the others watched on, dumbfounded by how brazen Jayden was.
“Ah, I see.” Jayden rubbed his chin as he looked Daxez up and down. “I think you may have been a bit harsh in your wording, though I do admit that he is a bit pudgy, as you said.”
He wouldn’t have thought that such a simple insult would have any effect, but it did. Daxez took a furtive glance down at himself, as if wondering whether or not his expensive clothing was still obscuring his figure. When Daxez looked back up his eyes were bouncing between him and Jayden. “Who is this?”
“My second apprentice,” Victoria said. “My apologies. He is a bit slow and has a tendency to speak his mind.”
“A year of stuffing your face with bread and using your stomach as a wineskin will do that to you, Dax. No need to get upset about it,” one of the assassins added. He was a plain man, one who could be mistaken as a poor shopkeeper. Apparently, he and Daxez didn’t get along. Which was made obvious by his relaxed posture, it was as though he didn’t care what came of this event.
While most of the other assassins were stone-faced, several were restraining smiles. The apprentices lacked that restraint.
Daxez took a calming breath, only becoming more irritated. In contrast Jace didn’t seem to care. He looked as disinterested as the plain assassin that spoke up, like this entire matter didn’t involve him at all, even though he was the centerpiece.
“Good sir, I do apologize,” Jayden said. “I didn’t mean for my observations to offend you.”
Daxez ignored Jayden. “Your apprentice is slandering me without basis,” he said to Victoria, red-faced. “Is this how guild members in your branch conduct themselves?”
Victoria’s head cocked to the side. “Without basis?” She seemed to ponder her own words, confused. Then she shrugged and looked at Jayden. “Explain yourself to the vice guild master.”
“Explain myself?” Jayden looked at Daxez, eyebrows drawing together as he examined him. Then he looked at the other assassins, as though he didn’t understand why he must explain the obvious. Then he looked back at Daxez. “I can explain it to you, but I can’t understand it for you. You, sir, are overweight. And the girdle around your waist makes that quite obvious.”
Everyone looked at Daxez, eyes drawn to his waist and gut. All of them seeing the faint outline that had been carefully hidden by the lines in his clothing.
The plain looking assassin who had spoken earlier broke out into laughter, destroying the silence that Jayden had created. The others were surprised, some shocked. Not that Daxez was wearing a girdle, though that was surprising to them, but that Jayden would be so daring as to point it out.
Daxez went bright red. He looked like someone who was on the verge of an explosion. Then he stopped. He stood straighter, his complexion evening out, face no longer burning with rage as his eyes turned cold. “Good. Very good. I will remember this.” His knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists. “The fight is scheduled to take place in five days. That is when I will return.”
Daxez spun, striding off toward the forest with his contingent of assassins. The only one who stayed was Jace. He was still stone-faced, but the stare he gave Dante was full of ill intent. Then he too walked toward the forest. If he didn’t care about their fight before, he did now that his master was embarrassed.
Of the leaving assassins, there was one outlier. The assassin who laughed openly at Daxez. He was ambling along behind the rest, giggling to himself as he muttered parts of the earlier conversation.
Dante gave Jayden an approving nod. “Well done, I didn’t even notice the girdle.”
Jayden began to walk back to the raptor, likely going to get the eggs that he cherished so much after finding out that they belonged to a miyue serpent. “Dear brother, you must pay closer attention. It is the things that people try to hide that they are the most self-conscious about.”
That was true enough.
Dante took a questioning glance at Victoria, who seemed pleased. “Was that good enough?”
Victoria nodded. “It was perfect. You’ll still need to put on a show during your fight, but I think that it won’t take much to get him to act.”
Pleased, Dante pulled up his status. He had the world essence needed to specialize, and now that he and Victoria had the time, he needed to get it out of the way so that he could familiarize himself with the skill he chose before the fight.