Desmond turned around and came face to face with Riki. Who quickly moved to sit on the stool next to him, before waving down the barmaid herself. Riki was tall for a woman, standing a little over 6 foot and built like an Amazonian warrior. Outside her massive bust, Riki did not have a pound of fat on her. Her muscles were well-toned without looking bulky, and she had clearly defined abs. In all honesty, her body looked absolutely lethal, and she had the poise and grace to match.
Her dark brown hair was cropped short and layered, as was common among female hunters. She had a pair of piercing green eyes that almost seemed to glow in the light of the tavern. She wore skin-tight black leather trousers that left very little to the imagination and a loose-fitting dark green shirt. But if Desmond had to pick one thing that really stood out about her, it would be her skin. She had skin so pasty white that it would have looked unhealthy had the rest of her body not looked so incredibly powerful. It looked like Riki had never seen the sun a day in her life, which given her magic, might just be true. All considered, Riki was a stunning beauty, if not a slightly intimidating one.
Desmond chuckled. “Sure, but I only drink the expensive shit. I mean the real top shelf stuff.”
“When did you get such expensive tastes, Dez? You trying to scare a girl off?” Riki countered with a mischievous smile.
“Well, you see, I got to make you work for it. They did just give me a promotion,” Desmond replied as he leaned back on his stool with a smile.
“Now, that does call for a celebration,” Riki said as she turned to the barmaid. “We will have two Golden Roc’s.”
Desmond laughed at Riki’s antics. The Golden Roc wasn’t exactly the most expensive drink in the world, but it was a cut above the usual crap hunters would drink here. This whole back and forth between them had started a little over a year ago when Riki had been particularly forward with him. This led to him casually joking about her ‘at least buying him a drink first’. Although Riki did not understand the whole context behind the joke, it still turned into a recurring theme between them that always brought a smile to his face.
The barmaid nodded to Riki before walking back into the kitchen. With how rowdy this place got, they kept the more expensive stuff in the back. Riki then leaned over slightly, resting her head on his shoulder.
“So, did you get him?” she whispered.
“Yeah,” Desmond replied softly as he looked off into space with his thoughts.
Riki was one of the very few people Desmond had told about his revenge. She had even offered to assist him after hearing his story, but he had refused. Desmond didn’t want to drag anyone else into his vengeance if he could help it. It had taken a surprising amount of convincing to get Riki to agree to stay out of it, but he had managed.
“What, that’s all you’re going to tell me?” Riki said while putting on her best affronted face.
“I’ll give you all the details later. This isn’t really the time or place,” Desmond remarked as he gestured to the rest of the tavern.
“It’s not like there’s anyone here who can’t figure it out,” Riki said, still whispering in his ear. “I mean, two went out and only one came back. One who, by the way, looks like they got into a fight with a fire tornado.”
“They can believe what they want,” Desmond whispered back. “My story isn’t going to change. Ben died to the panther, and I just got, singed a little in the crossfire.”
“A little huh?” Riki commented while looking at his bald head. “Well, at least you saved the eyebrows. They fucking suck to grow back. Wait a sec. Does this mean you’re hairless, like everywhere?” Riki asked this with a slight predatory glint in her eyes.
At this moment, the barmaid returned and placed two golden drinks in fancy glass mugs down in front of them. It was less than half the size of the regular draft beer they would order, but it smelled much better.
“Enjoy,” the barmaid stated before going back to her business.
“I believe it does,” Desmond answered after the barmaid left earshot. “Though, I can’t say I checked everywhere.”
“Well, it sounds to me like you might need some help with that then,” Riki responded with a slightly sultry tone as she made eye contact with Desmond. “You know, just to check.”
Desmond reached over and warped his arm around Riki’s shoulder. He pulled her in before bending over to give her a deep kiss right there at the bar. Riki was initially started by the open display of affection but was soon returning his kiss with force. After a few passionate seconds, he pulled away. “I couldn’t think of anything better.” Riki had a slight blush on her face, which was refreshing since she was usually the bold one in their relationship. He knew that he would pay for this later, but some part of him was looking forward to that as well.
Since Riki was basically pressed against his chest at this point, Desmond reached out with his spare hand and grabbed the two drinks from the counter. He offered one to Riki, who took it, and they made a little toast.
“To your rank up,” Riki said.
“To another good year,” Desmond replied.
With that, they drain their glasses. The Golden Roc tasted just as good as it looked and significantly better than the standard beer. So much so, that it felt like a waste to chug it. But Desmond knew he still had plenty of things to do today before he could sleep. So, peacefully drinking beer would have to wait for another day. They both exhaled heavily as they finished their drinks.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“Damn, that goes down smooth. We should drink this stuff more often,” Riki said after placing her glass back on the counter.
“I agree, but with how much it takes to get us drunk, it’s just not economical,” Desmond joked. With his high Constitution stat, it was already hard enough just to get drunk off the cheap stuff.
“So, here is a beautiful woman asking you to buy her a drink, and you start talking about cost,” Riki said with a little laugh.
“Hey, what can I say? Cost to drunk efficiency is important for a happy life,” Desmond stated before they both started laughing at their stupid back and forth. Desmond waved down the barmaid. “But one or two more couldn’t hurt.”
“It never does,” Riki said before her mood suddenly turned sour. “That bitch is coming.”
“Fuck! I knew I would have to deal with her. I was just hoping it wouldn’t be today,” Desmond stated before sighing.
“Well, good luck with that,” Riki said as she stood up and moved behind Desmond to whisper in his ear. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“That’s horrible advice, and wait, are you just going to abandon me here in my time of need?” Desmond asked with some satire in his voice.
“Some battles must be fought on your own,” Riki said, trying to hide her amusement before switching to a more serious tone. “Besides, if I have to listen to her bitch one more time, I’m going to stab her eyes out. I’ll see you tonight, Dez.”
With that, Riki moved towards the exit at the room’s far end. Desmond watched her go, a little jealous that he couldn’t also just walk away from this problem. Since he knew this particular trouble would no doubt follow him. Almost as soon as the door closed behind Riki, a new door much closer to him was thrown open.
A fancy young noblewoman stormed out into the lobby, followed by two armored guards soon after. The young woman wore a light blue dress that matched her sapphire eyes beautifully but had no place in a tavern like this. She had long, wavy blond hair, which was common among the Tarco nobility, and a set of lovely facial features that were currently ruined by her scowl and look of absolute disdain. She stood at around 5 and a half feet tall and had a slim, hourglass-like figure.
Desmond recognized her immediately as Lucel Valmesh, the daughter of Duke Valmesh. She had acted as the connection between Ben and the Duke and was no doubt very pissed because of Ben’s sudden disappearance. Desmond knew Lucel was going to be irritating, but he had not yet determined if she would be a problem. He hoped she would return to the Duke now that her charge or whatever was dead and gone.
Lucel’s gaze swept across the lobby with a look of utter contempt. Her entrance had gone mostly unnoticed, as the hunters couldn’t give a crap about a young noblewoman with no real power. In fact, most hunter’s attention had been drawn to a table near the outer door where what looked to be a drunken bar fight had started. Lucel scowled at seeing this but continued her search. Her eye soon found Desmond at the bar, and her disdain was then replaced with a white-hot rage. She stomped over towards him, still tailed by her two bodyguards.
“Where is Ben?” Lucel said in an angry tone.
“Well, it’s good to see you too, Lucel,” Desmond replied in a calm voice. “Ben’s dead.”
“Dead? What do you mean dead? Ben’s doesn’t die that easily,” Lucel said as her anger seemed to build.
“I mean what I said! He’s dead,” Desmond replied. His calmness was a complete contrast to Lucel’s rage. “If you want something to blame. Then blame that,” Desmond motioned to the corpse still on the ground.
“Impossible,” Lucel spat out. “There is no way that could have killed him. It had to have been you!”
“Now those are some big accusations, Lucel,” Desmond said as he stood up. As he got to his feet, Desmond towered over Lucel, forcing him to look down to meet her gaze. The top of her head barely came level with his mid-chest. But her gaze remained defiant.
Desmond wondered where she got such confidence. Her daddy held little influence in this place, and she was a dark herself. He glanced at her two bodyguards. They were both in full dark blue plate mail and from their presence, he guessed they were both lower disaster class. They each had an engraving of a blue sparrow over their chest, a representation of house Valmesh.
Both guards already had a hand on their weapons, threatening violence if this conversation turned messy. They would be considered top elites in the Empire, but here, in this place, Desmond could only see them as below average. Was this her source of confidence? Something didn’t add up. Ben would’ve been able to crush these two idiots, and she was accusing him of killing Ben. Maybe she just thought she was safe in the Lodge?
Dark was the general term used for mortals on the continent. Around 9 percent of the population awaken their mana when they come of age. These awakened were then able to gain experience and use mana. This leaves 91 percent of the population as darks, unable to use any mana or improve themselves through experience. They were destined to be weak.
“I hope you have some proof to back up those big words, Lucel,” Desmond said, bringing his focus away from the guards and back to Lucel.
“Why would I need proof? It’s clear you fought him. All one has to do is look at your head,” Lucel said, trying to calm herself down.
“Well, if you say it like that,” Desmond said as he chuckled. “You can file a complaint with the Lodge.”
Lucel’s cooling rage seemed to reignite at his words. They both knew that if the Lodge was going to do something about this incident, they already would have. However, in her anger, Lucel seemed to be at a loss for what to say as she simply stood there fuming. At this point in time, Richard came out of the back room again.
“There is no fighting in the Lodge!” Richard yelled in his emotionless tone. This seemingly average man brought the whole lobby to an instant silence. However, this was not directed at them, as the scuffle by the door had turned into a full-on brawl at some point. Even so, Richard gave them a pointed look before returning to the staff-only area.
“You will regret this,” Lucel said after a moment, seeming much calmer after Richard’s appearance.
“No, I don’t think I will,” Desmond said as he returned to his seat.
Lucel stormed out the same door she barged in through, with her guards close on her heels. Desmond’s mood was ruined at this point. He didn’t let his dissatisfaction show, but he had been hoping Lucel would be less aggravating.
Desmond did feel some pity for the woman. Most people thought it was great to be born into a noble family, but Desmond had seen the truth. For the most part, Noble’s were ruthless to their children. With the longevity provided by the Constitution stat, it was possible for powerful nobles to live for more than a hundred years. This, along with their propensity towards polygamy, meant that most nobles would keep pumping out children until they rolled a good one. With how long they lived, this could even be a grandchild or great-grandchild. So, to be born in a noble house was to be born into a life of conflict and competition, and a rather ruthless one at that. There could only ever be one successor to the house, and there was no way that successor was going to be a dark. Ben had likely represented her only chance of being seen as invaluable to her family, and with his death, she had become unpredictable.
Desmond got to his feet, deciding it was finally time to find a buyer for his predator. Desmond picked up the corpse and threw it over his shoulder. As he turned towards the exit he stopped in his tracks, as someone else he recognized was approaching.