There were several must go places in Winterlake city and the 'Drunk Dragon' was one of such places.
Being the most famous tavern in the whole south-east sector of the Zelias Continent, the Drunk Dragon earned its fame thanks to the good wine and the powerful boss behind it.
The laughter of the customers, the scent of alcohol and roasted meat always managed to enchant newcomers.
The bartender was a charming young woman with pretty violet eyes, her skillful moves coupled with her good looks attracted the fiery gazes of many customers, but no one dared to approach her due to the drunk giant leaning on the counter.
He was three meters tall with a blood horn on his head, even when seated he looked like a mountain of flesh.
If you didn't look closely he would seem like your average drunkard.
The smell of wine drifting from his body was so intoxicating that weak-minded customers would feel tipsy when they neared him, he was the Drunk Lord a King level monster.
The intoxicating smell emanated from his body was due to his evolution path.
Since the opening of the tavern, three hundred years ago, many were the stories surrounding him.
The most famous being that time when a scion of the dragon race visited his tavern and tried to wreck the place.
The reason behind the enmity is still unknown but that didn't stop the masses from speculating, some say that the Drunk Lord had refused to sell his tavern to the young Chosen of the dragon race while others claim that the Drunk Lord had offended the little drakeling in the past, during one of his many bouts of madness when he was still young.
Even today after thirty years from the event, that story is still a hot topic among adventurers and newcomers.
That night the cold-blooded young master of the dragon race became sworn brothers with the Drunk Lord as they ate and drank the whole night.
That night even the young master's personal guards ended up with more alcohol than blood in their veins.
The young master even turned into his dragon form as the duo embarked on a holy quest, with the Drunk Lord on his back, the dragon flew over Winterlake city, spreading bliss during the chilly autumn night.
That night alcohol rained over Winterlake city, the intoxicating wine-drops triggering a state of extreme pleasure and ecstasy on anyone they fell upon.
The next days, people found themselves rejuvenated and far more relaxed than they had ever been.
In the Zelias Continent, that night is remembered as the 'Great Rainfall', many young'uns celebrate this day by getting wasted.
Since that day the tavern became known across the continent as 'Drunk Dragon', some would say that the name is just an arrogant display of idiocy, as dragons are renown for their extremely powerful fleshly bodies which are capable of metabolizing alcohol far faster than even Emperor level cultivators who have escaped the shackles of mortality.
However, they would understand that it's a well-deserved name after hearing the story behind it.
Dante was celebrating the end of his training period in this tavern.
"Let's all offer a toast to our Afro Samurai!"
"A toast to the Mountain Lord Slayer!"
"A toast to Demon Eye!"
Laughter broke out as the people sitting at the table downed a dozen cups.
Dante's face reddened a bit when he heard the titles which they had given him, but he managed to make it seem like it was due to alcohol as he loudly hiccuped.
The hiccup was so loud that even people in the other tables began to laugh!
Dante got even more embarrassed but he noticed that an awkward silence had descended as all the people in his table glared with killing intent at a nearby table.
Hong sensed that things were getting out of hand so he quickly intervened.
"Calm down, it isn't the place nor the right time for a brawl. Remember that you are in the tavern of the Drunk Lord if you don't want to end up as guinea pigs you better behave yourself."
Hong's words gained even more weight when the Drunk Lord suddenly gave a cold snort, he was obviously paying attention to them.
A bald-headed man who looked like the leader of the other table decided to apologize on behalf of his friends.
Seeing that they were all powerful cultivators, the bald-headed man felt a formless pressure envelop him as he inwardly sighed.
Did they have to be so loud and pretentious with their celebration?
'Mountain slayer' and 'Demon eye' were some of the titles which spread like wildfire in the last month.
He looked at the strange demon with the afro who claimed to be one of the 'Heavenly Punishment' duo for a brief moment, before bowing lightly and saying.
"We are deeply sorry for our lack of respect! Me and my companions were just caught off guard when they heard those titles.
You have to know that in the last month the fame of the 'Heavenly Punishment duo' has spread far and wide in the city, we didn't expect to meet someone who claimed to be one of them! Until now the rumours say that he should at least be a King level or he would be unable to accomplish those incredible feats!
In less than a month, dozens of Commander and General level scum have died under their hands, more than a dozen organizations destroyed...
The city hasn't seen such a purge since the appearance of the Dark Assassin twenty years ago!"
The bald-headed man looked around him to seek the approval of the other tables, his words weren't wrong, many people nodded their heads urging him to go on.
In fact, many of them felt a bit of scorn, for someone to claim to be one of the Heavenly Punishment duo!? He should at least be a peak General level to barely meet the qualifications.
Even if the boy was at the peak of Commander level, it was still far from enough.
The bald-headed man didn't continue, he waited for a reply from the other party, he knew that even if his words seemed polite, in the end, they barely hid the underlying mockery in them.
Fighting was forbidden in the tavern and he was confident in his speed when it came to escaping thanks to his early stage General level cultivation coupled with an escape treasure.
Just when he prepared himself to flee, the people he had just mocked suddenly began laughing boisterously.
Their laughter went on for a long time as one by one everyone in the tavern began disappearing, only Dante and the Bald-headed man remained in the tavern.
With an eerie smile plastered on his face, Dante simply stared at him.
Dante sighed lightly as the tavern suddenly shattered into countless shards, there were only Dante and the bald-headed man now.
The man looked at Dante with a mix of terror and disbelief, he actually felt as if he had turned into a mortal! He couldn't draw upon the power of his cultivation base nor could he feel his Nascent Soul... He was completely suppressed! Dante's expression was unreadable as he stared back at the baldheaded man, after a few moments he sighed deeply before saying.
"I won't repeat myself, crush that sound transmission jade.
If you make any false moves you won't live long enough to enjoy your rewards..."
Seeing that the bald-headed man was trying to feign ignorance with his silence, a black seed radiating an eerie light appeared in Dante's hands, the fear in the bald-headed man's eyes became even stronger when he sensed its aura.
"You know what this is? It's a soul seed, by planting it in your soul you will turn into a slave whose life and death will be completely in my control.
Are you still going to feign ignorance?
Now tell me, why were you spying on us?"
The bald-headed man nodded soundlessly, he hadn't become a General level because of foolishness.
He knew that Dante wouldn't leave him any room for negotiation, the ability to trap someone in a mental energy illusion of such a level was enough for him to regard this strange youth with an afro as a powerful figure that he would better not offend if he wanted to get out of this in one piece.
The bald-headed man didn't hesitate when he knelt down and said.
"Young Lord, I'm only a poor wandering cultivator... A few days ago, I was approached by a cloaked man, he told me that if I got wind of anything related to the Heavenly Punishment duo, I should immediately report to him through this sound transmitting jade.
He gave me the jade with an advance of 500 gold coins if I reported anything he would give me the rest.
I'm only a minor figure, this is all I know of!"
The bald-headed man had been tailing Dante's group since they left the Guild's headquarters in the morning, Hong and the others had decided that it was better to just question him and scare him off as in the last few days the city was in turmoil.
Dante looked at him briefly before nodding lightly, the bald-headed man sighed in relief, he was at Dante's mercy in this illusion world.
The scene returned to the bustling tavern, Dante had been slowly trapping the bald-headed man in that illusion since he began tailing them this morning.
With Dante's current mental energy and overall ability he obviously couldn't create such a complex and detailed illusion instantaneously.
Since a month ago he had grown immensely but it was still in the realm of the understandable, the only way to build such an illusion was by building it bit by bit and slowly trapping the bald-headed man deeper and deeper into the illusion.
Had he been a little more on guard, with his General level cultivation the bald-headed man would have sensed that something was amiss thanks to his Nascent soul's divine sense, but it couldn't be helped because he underestimated his target now he had to face the consequences. His fate had been sealed when he fell for Dante's last hiccup, that was what made his consciousness fall into the illusion completely.
His own lapse of judgement coupled with Dante's special illusion technique and Hong's concealing spell resulted in the current situation.
Having escaped the ordeal he sighed in relief, the mental energy Tracking Mark that Dante had placed on him at the last moment went unnoticed.
What he had called 'Soul seed' was, in fact, a tracking mark, Dante wanted to use it to track back the organization which hired the bald-headed man and his minions.
The tracking mark would remain concealed in the target's mental energy dimension, when the target received a mental energy message it would send it back to the owner of the tracking mark before splitting in two and latching to the mental energy message's sender.
To be able to give away five hundred gold coins so easily only for a piece of highly unreliable intel, they would surely be a big threat if they had bad intentions. Dante calling it soul seed was only to frighten the man a bit and have him focus on his own safety.
He had left almost a dozen of similar marks in the last weeks, but every one of his targets left Winterlake city.
Dante could sense the mark even if the target got out of range, the only problem is that the connection would become blurry.
He only got some vague information which didn't point out to any specific name.
Those spies were reporting to other cities and organizations scattered throughout the continent, this showed how Winterlake city, despite being called "The Free City", was, in fact, a dangerous place were crouching tigers and hidden dragons abounded.
The reason why he trapped the bald-headed man in that illusion was to cover the presence of this 'Super' tracking mark.
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This tracking mark had a range three times greater than the others and could split more times if needed, all of this to deal with the organizations that wanted to leak his and Hong's identities.
Thanks to the tracking marks he had placed previously he knew at least this much, but the spies were very crafty and didn't mention anything about their own organizations.
Still, from the gist of it, he could understand that the majority were just spies from the Lank Kingdom and the Lytal Republic trying to get information about the new 'Demonic Python gang' and the Heavenly Punishment duo.
They basically wanted to turn the new rising gang into their own puppet organization.
Many had speculated that the 'Heavenly Punishment' and this new rising organization were in cahoots as the gang's expansion took up the territories of the now destroyed gangs.
However, what truly baffled everyone wasn't the Duos' identity, no the real question was, why in hell were the High tier gangs letting a new gang without any backing like the 'Demonic Python' gang do as they please in their own turf?
Unfortunately, this was something that even those directly interested didn't really know.
The Bald-headed man got up and crushed the sound transmitting jade on the table before leaving with his group.
His companions wanted to voice their complaints but were stopped by his warning gaze.
They didn't know that their every movement was now being tracked.
This situation was all due to Dante frenziedly wiping out more than a dozen gangs during the last month.
He first started off with the low tier gangs, those who relied on loan-sharking and other illegal stuff, he was basically following the training set by Hong.
Those gangs had at most three or four Commander levels and didn't pose much of a challenge as their bosses were just Commander levels appointed by the Mid-tier Mafias above them, Dante simply used them to refine his skills, enjoying his newfound powers under Hong's careful watch.
The defeated gangs would then end up being absorbed by Dante's own gang.
Dante had been training diligently like this for a few days, but everything changed when Reileigh's hellish training began.
Many years later, in the manor of his clan, Dante would still shiver when he remembered that creepy smile.
"Dante, since you are slacking off I devised a training plan just for you! I call it the 'Death-Proof Training'.
This training plan takes the best from the training methods used by the glorious Heaven Sundering Clan and combines them into one whole and perfect tort... Cough cough, I mean training.
If you can keep up with it for a whole month I will give you a reward"
The timing was perfect, Dante's status as a Death Mark holder had just been upgraded from 'Student' to 'Senior', this changed the innerworld and his status greatly.
Dante could now control the time flow of the inner-world, time could now be sped up and slowed by two times.
The twelve-hour limit was also changed to a whole twenty-four hours.
New features and zones were also available now.
He could now see his 'status' which displayed the number of honour points, merit points and other information about him.
Even if Dante didn't understand how it worked, at least this much was clear to him.
(Dante's status at the beginning of his Death-Proof Training)
Status: Senior Honor points: 26 346 / 1 000 000 | Merit Points: 253 923 points Name: Dante ??? Clan: ??? Race: Demon, ??? Bloodlines: ??? Cultivation: Mid stage Commander level Condition: Extremely dangerous Subordinates: 42 Affiliations: Dungeon(Soldier), Demonic Python Gang(Boss), Assassin's Guild (Rookie) Occupations: Tracker, Soldier Master: Reileigh, Heaven Sundering Clan's Regulation Elder Pillar ranking: Unranked (Below 50th place) Wins: 0
Draws: 0
Losses: 153
When he looked at his training schedule, Dante could see that Reileigh had taken into consideration the leisure time he had obtained thanks to his new status.
The 'Death-Proof Training' devised by Reileigh covered every aspect and maximised Dante's time and merit points to the utmost.
Every day he would have a 100 matches against the previous Death Mark holders in the Colosseum.
Roxelane and the Armory's administrator would give him lessons about any subject he wanted for a whopping 10 000 merit points for each lesson.
It has to be remembered that those lessons were only an hour long... Moreover, it was compulsory for him to have at least three lessons a day from with both of them!
When Dante did the math and realized how much he had to make each day, he finally understood the meaning of the saying 'time is gold'.
Dante knew that if he really wanted to keep up with this schedule he would have to risk his own life for those Merit points.
By doing all the math he found that he should at least make 60 000 merit points a day and that was the bare minimum.
When he remembered how Roxelane had asked for 4000 merit points for only a single piece of information, he felt that there was a high chance that she might microtransaction him to bankruptcy.
Dante didn't know anything about the Armory's administrator but he knew that he couldn't just hope for everything to turn out for the better. He needed to be prepared.
Dante was forced to take on every mission available until he hit the limit set by the Assassins' Guild for every team.
Hungry for more merit points, he ended up dragging Hong along him as they wiped out on their own three Mid-tier Mafias shaking the whole Winterlake city!
It had been twenty years since the last time a Mid-tier Mafia was wiped out, the Underworld's balance had been completely broken.
In the middle of all this chaos, the Lord of Winterlake city's Underworld, the only Top-tier Mafia in the whole city known as Exempla showed no reactions.
Many took this silence as a sign of approval and let the Demonic Python Gang do as they please. The few gangs foolish enough to make a move were quickly met with the suppression of all the other gangs.
If they couldn't benefit from it, no one else could.
...
...
Dante, Hong and the others drank to their fill to celebrate the end of Dante's rookie training, he only had to accomplish the final Mid-tier mission before he became an official member of the Guild and they didn't doubt his ability to do so.
They had heard too many stories about this strange Demon, even if just a couple of them were true it would be more than enough for them to regard him as an equal.
Their company consisted of members of the Assassins' Guild, the lady named Alice who welcomed Dante in the beginning was there, besides her a silver-haired man who seemed her husband.
On the other side of the table there was an old man with grey eyes which seemed to shine with wisdom, he would look at Dante from time to time with a bemused look on his face near him there was a cold youth with blue hair, since they left the Guild in the morning the youth only talked a couple of times and he would only whisper.
It was a pretty strange gathering but they could get along thanks to Hong acting as the mediator.
After exchanging a few more jokes and stories the group finally decided to leave the tavern, the sky had already turned dark since a long time ago and it was already approaching mid-night.
The tavern didn't close at night, but people would usually leave at this hour due to the Drunk Lord's habit of taking people to his personal cellar.
People would disappear suddenly before being found with a blissful smile on their face weeks later on the other side of the city.
Dante was just about to get up when he felt that something was amiss, when he looked at where the Drunk Lord usually was he found nothing.
There was a blank spot as if a painter had ripped a piece of the canvas leaving a blank mark.
"Am I in an illusion!?"
Dante was shocked, he didn't expect to end up in such a situation now, his enemy seemed to be far more powerful than him and with higher skills as the illusion couldn't be distinguished from reality if it wasn't for that blank space.
"Hehehe, finally found you. The Boss will finally be forced to acknowledge my request for this contribution."
Turning around towards the source of the voice, Dante found the towering figure of the Drunk Lord looking down at him with a smile plastered on his face.
Dante tried to break the illusion as he channelled his mental energy in his eyes, suddenly a thin purple aura enveloped both of his eyes.
This seemed to have an effect as the illusion began to shake weakly but nothing more.
The Drunk Lord's smile widened as he praised Dante.
"Great, you are truly worthy of his attention. Go on show me your abilities little demon! The more potential you show, the better will be my chances!"
Dante disregarded the Drunk Lord's provocation as he entered a profound state, his focus was heightened to the limit as his bloodline began gathering on his forehead. An extremely complex runed seal appeared on Dante's forehead as the purple aura began gathering faster and faster.
The illusion began shaking more and more wildly, but the Drunk Lord didn't seem to care as he only watched Dante's display with growing excitement.
RUUUMBLE.
Suddenly the runed seal lightened up as it began absorbing all the purple aura that had gathered on Dante's forehead.
Dante's pale gold skin turned several shades paler as the runed seal absorbed more and more purple aura.
And then it opened.
The runed seal released a beam of purple light as a Demonic eye appeared above the two of them.
The Demonic eye was totally Purple in color, except for the black colored swirling vortex which made up the pupil.
The Eye seemed to be staring coldly at all living things as everything grew still under its inquisitive gaze.
The appearance of the Demonic eye was too much for the illusion as it suddenly shattered, now the two were in the Drunk Lord's Divine Sea which also seemed to be affected by the Eye.
However, the runed seal seemed to have used up all of the purple aura's energy as it disappeared along with it the Demonic eye which slowly faded away.
At that moment the runed seal looked like a closed eye, waiting for the day that all creation could be subjugated under its gaze.
Dante had long since fainted while the Drunk Lord was trying to calm his ragged breath as he tried to recover from the shock.
"This aura... It's thousands of times fainter, but there is no doubt. It's the same aura of Benefactor!"