ASURA AND MAJIN

Theo got back to Hillfront during the sunset. He didn’t go straight home as he stopped by the imp’s shop before. An inconspicuous building in the middle of the town. There was nobody on it right now, but it sometimes had a line in front. The building was illuminated outside by a shining lamp and inside by a shining slate on the roof. They were wares sold by the shop, light crystals.

The imp was laid back on a wooden chair with its feet above the counter. When he saw Theo by the door, he screamed, “Gl-l-l-ksk keh-keeh fst fst rrrrrrrklagh!” Theo just kept walking in, unfazed, and got to the front of the counter. “Pft, you’re so boring.” The imp adjusted himself on the chair as he saw no reaction from Theo. “That means hello in impish. Looking for what?”

“Just a notebook.” Theo eyed the empty wooden store. That was all there was to it, a wooden counter with the imp, and a door at his back.

The imp put his hands below the counter and threw a notebook to Theo. Usually, he would bother going inside the door to retrieve the wares, but Theo knew he just materialized them into thin air. The imp only did his getting into the door trick when he was full of customers, taking orders one at a time.

As usual, an experience point was deducted from Theo. Everything cost a single experience point, no matter your level. You could ask for a notebook or a single page, it was the same. The imp shops were really convenient. Theo was able to solely focus on hunting in the early days due to them. It served food, armors, weapons, and utilities, all for the price of an experience point. All common equipment every person walked around with came from imp’s shops.

There existed people dedicated to getting the most out of the imp shop and cheating the system. They managed to develop a coin currency, mostly used on trades where people didn’t have access to an imp’s shop. Magical items, however, could only be bartered or traded through a medium. Some said the biggest achievement of those groups was finding out the maximum amount of alcoholic drinks you could get for an experience point; a barrel. Theo didn’t hear any other major achievements they had during the time he spent on the depth of kingdoms. Mostly because the imps always made sure to cut such attempts at the root, but also because Theo didn’t spend that long on the first depth, and wasn’t one of the major players at the time.

Before leaving, the imp waved a pencil in the air. Theo got embarrassed but ended up also buying it in the end. Once again Theo was about to go for the door but turned back. “Make me also a barrel of maid’s kiss, I think I will need it.”

The streets were illuminated by the light crystals from the imp shop at night. The Lion Clan had put some effort in maintaining a secure and convenient sense in their town. Few buildings sported activities. There wasn’t much going in the town in the manner of entertainment. Most of it was ‘taverns,’ which were mostly a gathering of people with an endless supply of drinks being distributed. That, however, was the perfect nightlife in the minds of most.

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Hillfront was one of the best places to live one could find in the abyss. Theo wanted to protect it at all costs. Maybe that was the reason it was razed down, nothing that peaceful could exist in the abyss for long.

When Theo arrived at home, Hamon was still not there. A quick search on the surroundings with the sensing earring revealed him flirting with some girl on a nearby street. Theo had a chuckle and left him be after leaving a note on the table.

There was still some time before the expedition to the lavafall’s dungeon. Theo wanted to use that time to test his new blessing upgrades by himself. He would need to prepare if he wanted to make most of his blessings when counter-attacking the scarlet fangs. There was also another, more pressing matter, he had to attend before being able to leave Hillfront for a while.

Alvarich, the serial killer he crossed paths within the canyon, was probably still in town. He wouldn’t dare to leave Hamon in the town in such conditions. Even worse, Alvarich had seen his face at the calamity’s explosion. Leaving him alive would spell trouble for his future. Time for Asura to make his first appearance. Theo set up another ritual and changed his face once again. His hair, now black, created a face as common as it gets.

Theo planned on making two personas for himself. One for attracting the attention from his bad deeds, and one from his good deeds. There was a saying, ‘No good deeds go unpunished.’ Theo believed in damage control, as all his deeds usually went punished.

Around five thousand people were living in Hillfront at the moment. Theo knew precisely the kind of place Alvarich liked to frequent, and the type of prey he went for: easy ones. Theo set up his cloning ritual and went from establishment to establishment where people gathered together to drink. He scanned the insides with his sensing earring and didn’t take too long to find the one where Alvarich was standing in a corner with a bored face: the boar’s welcome.

Theo got in with another inviting barrel, offering to the patrons, and proceeded to share a drink with them.

Alvarich was much more patient than Theo gave him credit for. After a few hours, Theo was by the end of another empty barrel with his new friends. He had underestimated the effects of alcohol in his split mind, and truthfully, he didn’t care. They sang, broke some stuff, and brawled.

“I told ya Carla here was a donner!” A hairy man leaned over the person by his side.

“Carlos. With an ‘O,’ darling bear.” Carlos leaned over his ‘darling bear’ hairy chest.

“Don’t say anythin’, Corla. Less go somewhere privater.” Darling bear got up, bumping onto Theo and another person on the way. “C’mere you two too. The merrier asses the more.” Darling bear dragged everyone out of the establishment.

This body’s conscience was a mess, but luckily, due to his split mind, his clone could still maintain some control of the situation. He thought about struggling free, but, as he finally saw some movement on Alvarich’s corner, he let Darling bear drag the three of them. When they were outside Theo struggled free and stumbled his way into an empty alley, where he fell down.