Silence.

Silence reigned undisturbed across the room, creating a world of its own.

A pen was quickly scribbling some documents. It emitted the sound of steel on paper. The hand of the writer was glowing as if some unusual Aura imbued his every gesture.

Two lively sparkly eyes were staring at the inky paper.

Three young men were standing in silence a few meters away from the writing desk, hypnotized by the sound of the pen on sheet.

Silence.

The three waited in reverential fearful silence. Mostly fearful. Unlike the calm mystical Aura of the man sitting at the desk, that of the three men was rather chaotic. One of them, who seemed to be the oldest, had a disheveled fiery bearing. Hr cast a glance at a nearby chair, then sat down in boredom. He was trying to conceal the fear was slowly haunting him under his casual attitude.

The guy suddenly coughed, gaining the glares of the two men standing by his side. By shattering that silence, he seemed to have committed sacrilege.

The man sitting before the desk slowly raised the pen from his paper. Then his gaze. He gave a sigh ad said: “Comodus, Animus, Brutus. What have brought you here?”

Animus immediately spoke up while glaring at the other two. He was the oldest of them, and the wisest for sure: “Some of us, Aure, are showing signs of impatience. They need news, they need numbers. Everyone is wondering when and how…”

“Quiet,” Aure said. He completely ignored Animus and went on writing as if nothing had happened.

As Aure began to write again, the grating voice of his son resounded out: “Father! I think it’s time for us to pull the strings for our plan.”

The corners of Aure’s lips curled up. His wise gaze was still fixed on the paper he was writing on. “Comodus. You know, my son, if you only knew how much patience a writer needs to unfold a good story, you’d know that the time you need to conclude the narrative with a fitting end is twice as much as that you needed to write down the story itself. The time you need to build up the last detail is ten times as much as that you would need to establish an empire.”

Aure’s words carried a frightening pressure which suffocated the three men so much they couldn’t even hope to breathe.

“Animus, Brutus, you want to bring this new brat on your side, don’t you? This way, if Comodus should become the Leader of the Sect of the Worthy, you’d gain more benefits.” Aure’s eyes betrayed the boredom he felt towards his son’s and his fellows’ stupidity. “The day a son like that becomes the Leader of the Sect of the Worthy, I will exhume our ancestors’ bones and eat them up one by one.”

Aure began t write again as if nothing had happened, but he suddenly stopped and stood up.

“Writing helps me. You don’t,” he said with an edge of contempt. “Become Immortals. You’ll have the whole eternity to wait away.”

The miserable expression of Animus and Brutus’ face seemed to be begging for forgiveness.

“Before that happens, neither you or that scoundrel of my son have the right to raise objection in front of me,” Aure’s voice sounded tyrannical.

“Before we entered into agreements with Humans, Orma was the very center of the world. Ours is no ungrounded hatred. I don’t hate Humans because they are Humans. I hate them because Caesar put the greatest Goblin warriors at the mercy of human nations and concluded peace which only got us disgrace,” Aure said as deep resentment vibrated in his voce. “We all know Caesar’s campaigns as well as his skills on the battlefield and as a leader. But we’re all meant to grow old. Even Immortals’ life is a cycle. But before this cycle is disturbed by insignificant beings like you, I will be crippled.”

Aure cast a glance at a statue standing on one corner of the room. It portrayed him and Caesar in the act of conquering an Undead outpost while extinguishing three other Immortals altogether. It represented one of the most glorious victories of Orma in the recent times.

“Orma once thrived with Immortals. Then we blended with the closest human nations. We once boasted armies that could compete with the most powerful armed forces not only in this continent, but in the whole world. A few minor factions throughout the universe would have by now known our name, if we had stepped down on that same path. But we changed course. What’s left now? Our Immortals, the very foundations of this empire, are gone. The King thought it best to take a Human as his pupil. The other talents we boast are those craps of Circe and Pseudonym. How can we hope to return our empire this way?”

Aure drew near to the statue. His sorrowful eyes gazed at the finely carved face of Caesar. He put his hand on that face and tenderly stroked. “We were once brothers. For centuries, we have fought side by side to defend the splendours of Orma, until he decided to sell them away…”

Crack

Caesar’s head was shattered to pieces before the gazes of Animus, Brutus and Comodus.

Aure rubbed his hands together to tidy them up. He stared in melancholy to the marble pieces scattered on the floor as if gazing at the fragments of his own past.

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Aure slightly squinted as he said: “My Divine Sense is fixed on the Dungeon the Human and his little group have gone in. They faced some troubles, but they are just now making it to the exit. Even that insignificant Vlad is more powerful than expected.” As he gave Comodus a meaningful look, Aure shook his head and went on to say: “Vlad is more talented than all of you altogether, you know, Comodus? Let’s see if you were able to obey my order, at least.”

Humiliated by his father’s words, Comodus violently gritted his teeth without further ado. After all, the pressure pressing him down would have prevented him from speaking anyway.

A string of images flashed inside Aure’s mind.

Helial and his group were exiting the Dungeon. Their clothes were torn up and their eyes were bloodshot. Vlad looked no better; his hair was shaggy and his face was covered in crimson stains. Apparently, his outstanding talent didn’t prove to be enough for him to make it out of there unharmed. Helial and the others had played a big role to in the clearing of that Dungeon. However, they were so exhausted they only wished for a chance to rest and recover.

Helial was just about to sit down and activate his Breathing Technique, when suddenly a black shadow came into his sight. The shadow was too swift, and Helial had no more energy. There wasn’t much he could to defend himself. He could not but stare blankly at the shadow as it darted towards him and… hugged him?

What?

Helial felt the softest bumps press against his chest as a wet kiss laid him down on the grass taking his breath away.

“Mhhh!” Helial complained. He didn’t actually figure this out.

As he lay on the ground, he finally made out the silhouette of Circe, riding him in a very ambiguous position.

Circe was frighteningly charming. The sight of her sitting like that would have tempted everyone on earth. Her voluptuous figure and stunning beauty could have easily made empires collapse.

Lumia raised a hand and slashed it down towards Circe while screaming: “Die, you whore!”

Skill Activated:

Divine Gravitational Field

Sharp earthy spikes rushed towards Circe from all directions. Everyone stared at Lumia in bafflement. More than her attack, what shocked them was the mere fact the little brat had still some Mana left.

Snowflake curled his whiskers and stuck up his pink nose. It didn’t seem to him that Lumia had refrained during the fight, since she had continuously provided full Support to every group member during the fight. But if her efforts had been as intense as those of the rest of the group, then how come she still had Mana?

Lumia must have more Mana than hem. No way out.

As he realized this, Snowflake shuddered.

Circe sneered at Lumia before evoking a spherical shield which blocked every attack.

When the spikes hit against the shield, it didn’t even shake. The strength gap between Lumia and Circe really was enormous.

Helial glared furiously at Lumia as he yelled: “Next time you do something like that, no one will spare you my punishment!”

Regrettably, Helial had always been too good to Lumia. He had always spoiled her, letting her complains get the best of him without much effort. This was the result; Lumia had grown up too rash.

Helial’s vague threaten stirred up no concern in the heart of Lumia, who promptly figured out a way to benefit from it nonetheless.

Two big tears swelled up in her eyes. She was ready to make it fall for it as always, but her brother’s gaze had already been stolen by Circe’s breath-taking beauty.

In her rider stance, Circe gave Helial a lascivious look before planting another kiss on his lips. Then, without bothering to lowering her voice, she said: “When will I be punished? I have been a bad, bad girl, you know?” This being said, Circe pushed her backside backwards to rub it against Helial’s underbelly. She was perming very unchaste moves.

Lumia was about to lose her temper, but at least she wasn’t as disgusted as Vlad, who wormed its way through the group until he appeared before them. Circe hadn’t cast him a glance yet. When she saw him, she exclaimed: “Never seen you so beat-up, cousin. Fighting with this group has clearly done you good. I am glad to see that.”

Vlad gave her a disdainful look as he replied: “We have risked dying today. If I hadn’t stepped in, we wouldn’t have made it out of there. Otherwise, I would have spared myself the effort.”

Having said this, Vlad flopped down against a tree. Next second, he was snoring noisily, as if sleep was the only thing that took priority in his life.

A strange smile curled up the corners of Circe’s mouth as she gave Helial a satisfied look.

Helial’s eyes flew to Circe’s pearly cheeks then to her evil yet lascivious gaze. He couldn’t help a hot flush sweeping over his underbelly.

As Circe went on taunting him, Helial did something so unordinary it left her speechless. The Human boy stretched out a hand, brushed his fingers against her cheek, and said: “I’ll deal with this.”

These few words were enough to amaze Circe. They carried a way deeper meaning than it seemed. An utter magnetism was sparkling in Helial’s eyes.

Circe had entrusted Vlad to Helial only to mess things up for the both of them and wreak a little havoc. She couldn’t imagine Vlad would have actually put himself out there.

Maybe they didn’t know Vlad, so it was no news for them that he had fought for his life. Though, Circe knew what Vlad was capable of. She knew it way better than anyone else.

The fiery-haired brat had never bothered lifting a finger even when his life was at stake. And yet there he was, covered in wounds with his clothes all worn out.

How easy would it be for Vlad to have fled instead?

Circe slightly squinted. Looks like I underestimated my new pet here. Her heart leapt out and started pounding. She had always been unperturbed, eve while tempting Helial’s naked body.

And yet, the simplest stroke seemed now to shake her beyond any imagination.

Without much ado, Circe stood up and shook the dust off her clothes. She gazed at Helial while licking her lips and gave him a malicious smile. She tried to put away the feeling that had just caught her a few moments before. “I’ll come back and grab what’s mine,” she said as her eyes flew down to Helial’s britches. “I need to go now. There’s some Quests waiting for me. Guild stuff.”

Helial stood up as well. He didn’t say anything. His fiancé was unfathomable. It would take him some time to create a real bond with her. And yet, for the shortest instant, Helial had caught a glimpse of something down Circe’s eyes, something that struck a deep chord within him.

“They must be waiting for me,” Circe said with an overly tragic edge of melancholy in her voice. “Later,” she added, blinking to Helial then to Lumia.

As Circe wiggled her voluptuous backside all the way to the forest, she suddenly seemed to have recalled something. Without bothering to turn around, she said aloud: “There’s someone following you, by the way. Be careful.”

She disappeared through the dense wood as she let out a ghostly laugh.