I followed the directions Charles provided me to the meeting place. In a place like this and with a different face hiding my own, I melted into the crowd as one of the innumerable demons that lived in the city. All of them were at least Level 20 and they didn’t matter at all.
Moving through the city after so long in the unbound wilderness bothered me. How mundane this all felt made my scales itch. It was bizarre to me how worthless the achievement reaching Level 20 was in my mind now that I’ve reached this place. I would have thought that two full regions would have been enough to separate the strong from the weak. But, it was clear that much more filtering needed to be done.
I bumped into some beast and they growled a warning to me, but I didn’t fear anything about them and they kept walking. How had they made it here? Had they destroyed everything in their way or barely clawed their way across the finish line? I felt no dominance from the pedestrians around me, just opportunity.
I knew that there were strong demons in the realm, they just weren’t here.
Eventually, the map led me to a set of buildings near the outskirts of the city. The population had reduced significantly by the time I had passed into the outer rim. Without the chaff around me, I could feel more attention placed on me from all sides as wary opportunists investigated my strength.
Ignoring them, I proceeded to a doorway of one of the buildings on the street. It was in no way different or special compared to the other low-standing concrete structures that made up this district of the city. No painted door, no signs, and no signs of personality of individualism.
Following the instructions provided to me, I rapped my knuckles on the wooden door four times. Three in rapid succession with the fourth after a two second pause. I waited a second before repeating the pattern.
“It’s unlocked,” a bellowing voice from inside shook the ground.
Slowly, I swung the door open, keeping my ears open to any unexpected demons on the other side. But, the door proved to have no traps and no ambushers lurking in the blind corners.
I took a couple cautious steps into the building, but nothing made my instincts quiver. Inside, I discovered an unfurnished building. Bare gray walls and hardwood floors led to a wider room that housed a massive recliner with a massive demon lounging upon it. Long red hair draped over the head of the chair like magma falls.
“Who are you?”
The demon sat up in their seat, revealing a large lumpy noise and a massive brow that almost hid his green eyes behind the protruding features. He had skin like tree bark, a beard made of moss, teeth like a fence after a hurricane, and fingers like overstuffed sausages. Clear liquid that reeked of alcohol dribbled down his chin and onto his fur coat.
“I’m here on a recommendation from Desire,” I explained. “I’m the recruit that you need to bring with you.”
“Oh…you’re the one Charles sent,” the beast replied while trying to forcibly shake some sobriety back into his head. “I thought you’d take longer. Oh well, it’s good to meet you. The name’s Grendel.”
“Terry.”
Slowly, and with great effort, Grendel rose to his feet. I could hear the chair scream in discomfort as the lumbering creature’s bones popped and creaked from the sheer mass of his body. I looked up, he was at least a head and half taller than me. I narrowed my eyes, having doubts as to how quickly he could move his body in combat.
“Let’s not dally then, Terry,” Grendel announced, taking a potion for his hangover. “We need to wait for the other recruiters at the meet-up point.”
Grendel made his way to a nearby wall and placed an outstretched hand onto the surface. Barely intelligible words clattered clumsily out of his mouth, but coherently that whatever spell was placed there activated. The wall rumbled and slid into the ground, revealing a staircase that spiraled down into the darkness.
I activated [Torchlight]. A ball of light emerged from my hand and floated above me, tethered by an invisible magical connection. It hummed in my ear like a fluorescent lightbulb.
Dutifully, I followed Grendel down the staircase. The wall rumbled behind me, leaving my floating ball as the only form of light. We walked for what felt like two stories before we reached the bottom. Much like Vendetta’s old hideout, a circle was etched into the ground with deep gashes to create a more permanent fixture.
“What do you know about your assignment?” Grendel asked me, the potion finally serving to flush the booze from his system.
“That I’m to kill a martial arts master and take their scroll,” I answered.
“No details then,” Grendel groaned. “Has Charles given you any tools? Weapons? Poisons?”
“I use my hands to kill,” I replied with a smile as I brandished my favorite weapons. “Charles would have never given me anything knowing that.”
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“What level are you?”
“20, but I can be 25 pretty fast.”
“Fuck, so it’s the long plan then,” Grendel cursed, placing one hand over his eyes and sighing. “Alright, here’s the plan. You will need to pass the induction test and become my Master’s disciple. Learning his fighting style and taking some time to level-up is our only path to success.”
“Sounds good to me,” I said with a smile. “Mom never let me take karate. What sort of test should I prepare for?”
“I’ve taken a contract not to speak of it so that no aspiring disciple can gain an unfair advantage. But, if you are as tough as you claim to be and you specialize in using your hands, you should not face any issues. Staying in his good graces afterwards will be a much harder endeavor. I can already tell you have a difficult personality.”
I shrugged in response. The troll would know better as to whether or not I’d get along with this master.
Grendel touched the engraving on the floor and spoke clearer words into the surface. The etchings glowed white with the activated mana that flowed through it. A hole in the ground formed with a ring of angry flames surrounding it.
We hopped into the screaming maw and traveled briefly through the cursed orange realm before landing in front of a shack in a valley. White flowers with red splotches covered the lush grasslands while the chirps of large insects could be heard from the forests behind the shack. A large shadow passed overhead. I snapped my head up to see a bird the size of a single seater plane circle slowly over the valley.
“Welcome to the Valley of the Undesirable Dungeons,” Grendel announced. “Now, let’s see if there are any disciples that will be joining you.”
Grendel tapped on the door of the cabin in the same pattern that I used at his hideout in the city. However, the troll did not wait for a response and simply opened the door instead. It was a one-roomed wooden structure with a stone fire pit in the center. The coals were lit and radiated heat on a card game played beside it. A wolf-headed demon and a buff looking kangaroo halted their game and watched their martial brother.
“There you are, Grendel,” the wolf-headed demon greeted before their sharp eyes moved my way. “I see that you didn’t return empty-handed.”
“Better than you lot, it seems,” Grendel teased.
“I don’t know why we have to prowl around the platform every Hell Express,” the kangaroo complained with a feminine lilt, lifting a card and pretending she wasn't disappointed. “Most demons aren’t brawlers. They want to do fancy shit with swords and magic. One fucker asked me what my hands were good for when they could teleport. I jumped them outside of town. Turns out they needed a half second to activate it.”
“Besides ones that are natural brawlers already have their own style and don’t want to learn something new,” the wolf added. “We only ever get success from the ones that get cut from other orgs or lose their weapons.”
“All of a sudden, they want something that can’t be stolen,” the kangaroo finished with a bitter laugh. “Let’s just be glad we got one.”
“You got any booze on you, new kid?” The Kangaroo asked me.
“No.”
“Then, get some. That’ll be your first test,” the wolf belched and laughed with the kangaroo. “Hey, you fucker, don’t peek at my hand.”
I took a deep breath and looked over toward Grendel who did not meet my gaze. Instead, he motioned with his head for me to stand in front of him.
I felt pottery touch my hands and I had to carefully grab onto the container from behind my back. Pulling it in front of me, I noticed that it was a similar jug to the others that sat sprawled around the room.
“Is this what you want?” I asked, holding the jug out in front of me.
“Well done, new guy,” the kangaroo complemented as she greedily took the jug from my hands. “You’re quite observant. Though, it’s not exactly the vendor I would have chosen personally. Nine points out of ten.”
I had to wait patiently while the other two instructors finished their card game. The wolf was the better player, but the kangaroo got him so drunk so that they could cheat without him noticing. The pathetic thing about it was that the wolf still managed to win the game. Not that the kangaroo cared much as she had already polished off the liquor Grendel gave me.
“Fuck me,” the kangaroo said with a laugh as the fell onto her back. “You must have some sort of card counting skill or something. We need to go empty out a casino next time we go to Styx.”
“It’s not that I’m good, it’s just that you’re shit,” the wolf joked back.
“We need to get going,” Grendel announced as they clapped their hands together and watched them silently.
“Alright, we’ve messed around long enough,” the wolf managed to stop the laughing fit and compose himself slightly. “The Master is going to kick our asses if the new guy thinks that we’re a joke because we’ve just been fucking around.”
“Fine, fine, you don’t have to ride our ass,” the kangaroo spat at the one who messed up her buzz.
The pair slowly got to their feet. The wolf unsummoned all of the empty alcohol containers while the kangaroo stuffed the deck of cards into a pouch. They both stretched their stiff limbs and bounced to loosen up their joints. I watched them both closely; their muscle form, their flexibility, and their general physiques. Drunk and lazy as they may have appeared, they definitely weren’t the same pushovers that I met in Styx.
The three demons made their way out the shack and I followed silently behind. The kangaroo and the wolf both looked at Grendel.
“The usual?” The Kangaroo asked the other two.
“What are we going to do if we lose the new guy, Gunagala?” the wolf asked as he side-eyed me.
“Who cares, Huī? Grendel already said that we need to get going,” Gunagala replied. “Besides, aren’t we here to give our assessment of the new guy to the master? Remember all the bullshit that our seniors would make us do when we tried to join? Unlike the booze test, this one will actually give us something to tell him.”
“Works for me,” Huī shrugged.
The kangaroo and the wolf shared a mischievous grin with each other. Like a pair of track stars, they got into the sprinter’s stance and awaited the gunshot that would send them sprinting into the horizon.
“What’s going on?” I asked Grendel.
“We’re going to have a race to that mountain over there,” Grendel explained, pointing at one of the peaks in the distance. “Keep up with us, and it’ll look good when we talk to the master later. I plan on winning. Show me that you’re not weak.”
“I don’t want to sound rude to my proctor, but I’m not sure how quickly you can move in that frame,” I said with a smile. “I hope that I get a bonus if I manage to win this race.”
“We can make something work,” Grendel said as he got into his position.
I pressed my knuckles into the soil. Anticipation at competition flooded through my head. They just wanted me to finish a close last. I wanted to aim for higher and establish a new hierarchy before we even reached this master.
“That’s the spirit! Let’s go, new guy. Nothing like some fresh air to keep the hangover at bay. We go on three. One…two…three!”