Unlike the two supposedly benevolent group, there were plenty of gangs around, each seemingly focusing on something else to rake in the big bucks, though they all seemed to agree that terrorizing the poor inhabitants of the slums was an unspoken rule, making the already hard living harder still. And even with the understanding that in the scenario these bastards were taken out, new ones would quickly fill in the vacuum, the beggar had expressed, though extremely quietly, strong belief that the next ones could hardly be as bad as the ones in charge now.

  It was worse than just beating around here in case you could not fork out the coppers they demanded on a near regular basis. No, finding another of his unlucky compatriots dead, with their limbs shattered in the most brutal manner imaginable was not a rare sight. Jack, masked as he was, gave off the vibes of a mercenary, and fresh one at that- his well maintained, or new, cloak spoke volumes. So, the beggar hoped he was asking because he had a need to make his name more known and what better way to start than by purging a few gangs plaguing a town, doubly so one like Valkia with all the frequent visits from many forces, local or otherwise.

  And somehow, he had made the right bet, for while Jack was not entirely the fresh merc looking to jumpstart his fame, and in extension the contracts he would hopefully soon be asked to fulfill, he still planned to make the city a better place- for all involved, the gangs not withstanding of course. Thus, the benevolent groups, or ones seemingly so, would have to wait, whatever shady business they conducted left to be for a while longer.

  Jack camly and quite stealthily at that, maneuvered towards the nearest gangs location, with swift and almost expert movement ensuring he would remain mostly, if not entirely unseen as he snooped around a certain three building complex, not only observing the paths, both hidden and in sight, leading to and from them, but also meticulously appraising all who came and went. He had the stats and skills to take care of a simple gang, but he did not want to make too much of a commotion, lest the sharper senses currently arriving would come snooping- not a good thing for business.

  After observing his target area for most of the day, he left in just as stealthy a manner as he arrived, having gathered plenty of information during his stakeout, returning home some time before kids returned, only to leave his room when he was called to join the entirety of the group at supper, where he was greeted by incredibly pleasant surprise, as three new faces, though two of them seemed extremely shy and skittish. Still, the fact they were here, brought a smile to his face, his eyes looking at Carla for directions. The last thing he wanted was to scare the girls, sending them spiralling back to their previous states, wasting weeks of doc's hard work. The gesture he received was a simple one- wait and see. So he did as told, no words though, and just found his usual seat at the table, just as curious to see what would happen, though apparently the only one out of the loop. 'That's what I get for bunkering in my room for all day, I suppose.' he mocked himself, though showed nothing on his face, the same light smile still adorning his face.

  Once everyone was seated and present, Carla gently squeezed an arm of both girls, as if encouraging them to do something. The reassuring hand, as well as noticing Jack- their saviour and avenger, the two slowly stood up, their gazes darting between the rest of the girls of the group, most of whom they had been spending some time together, bit by bit.

  "H-hello." one of the two spoke after a short moment, awkwardly waving her hand. "M-my name is Mika. Thank you for the kindness you have showed me."

  Each word seemed like a struggle for the girl, though one that she had to go through, both for herself and to further recover from the tragedy she had faced, and lived through.

  "That's good enough for now. You did good." Carla encouraged the girl with another, reassuring squeeze of her hand, not pushing Mika too far, only gently nudging her along.

  Mika was 1.6 meter tall girl, with brown hair that was kept relatively short, barely reaching her shoulders. A heart shaped, cute face with blue, almost sparkling eyes, though they felt as if most of the luster in those eyes have been lost- no wonder there, what with all the things she had lived through. She had lithe, almost athletic body, with moderate bust, though once again Jack could see nothing but another kid, much like his combat group. She seemed to be of a similar age after all.

  "H-hello there. I'm Kate. Thank you for saving us." the other girl seemed even more nervous and shy. Jack recognized her as the one who had waved at him and then dashed away, more than once at that.

  Just like with Mika, Carla did not ask Kate to speak more, all smiles as she reassuringly squeezed her hand, praising them for the good job and asking for the entire group to proceed with the meal, expressing her joy that they could finally all sit together. Kate was almost 1.8 meters tall, with similarly brown shade hair as Mika, also with heart shaped face, though her eyes were calming gray in color. She too had lithe, almost athletic body, with moderate bust size, though she seemed to be in her early to mid twenties, just barely starting her adult life, only to experience such horrific fate until Jack's group found them.

  Jack noticed that their potential was considered high by the system. Whether it had been so to begin with, or it changed as their will to live reignited when his group took care of the Ural bastards, he did not know, but their high potential was nice thing to know, as if a way of apology from the world for the suffering they had to go through, painting brighter picture of the duo's future. Their supper was slightly calmer than usual, the rest of the group paying extra attention to the two girls, none wanting them to get uncomfortable and skitter away, though the positive and united sense was still permeating the room.

  "I will have a few extra toys for you before departure tomorrow morning. Jack added at one point during their meal, his gaze directed towards japanese kids." he then looked towards Alonso and Viki as well "And a little something for you as well. Should help speed up your work. Our combat group has done a wonderful work on their expedition today." He lifted his cup towards them, a nod of appreciation coming right after. "Do be careful as you venture out though. Your health and safe return is more important than any theoretical treasure you might find out there."

  His worry for their group, warmed the kids hearts, once more strengthening their resolve to grow stronger, to attain enough power to keep their family safe.

  ----------------------------

  "Urghh." a half exhausted, half dead groan came from what could be considered a pile of half tattered clothes with a rather crimson red mop atop one of its ends, piled up in a rather barren patch of dirt within one of the better private mansions of Valkia. Upon closer inspection, one might recognize said pile of ragged cloth and Reisha, one of the two dragonkin Jack had encountered a day earlier. Opposite her, a few meters ahead with a wooden practice sword stood Zekira, a grin of victory on her face and glint of desire for more stimulating and challenging combat in her eyes.

  "Come now little sister. Don't say that's all you got? Where is all the spirit and desire to fight from earlier? You can't expect your dear sister to ignore the needs of hear sweet, sweet little sister, now can you?"

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  Another groan escaped Reisha's mouth as she struggled to roll around on her back, somehow managing to reply. "How about wait till I reach your level? You are not holding back much, are you?"

  "I am holding back plenty, sweet sister of mine." Zekira grinned as she approached and crouched, her shadow obscuring Reisha's face as the older sister grinned. "Not only am I not using most of my proper gear,I am also training you without the use of of my skills in our little spars. And yet, you are still in the condition you are. Your fundamentals are weak and you tend to lose your cool far, far too quickly in a fight. Did father teach you nothing while I was away?"

  "He was too busy trying to give mother another distraction, lest she wring him dry too often." Reisha replied.

  "Ha ha ha ha. Sounds about right." Zekira sighed, a slight smile remaining on her lips. "How he still keeps his place as the main husband is a mystery to me." she shook her head, refocusing her attention on Reisha. "Still, your fundamentals needs fixing. Good think I am here, no? Oh, right. I am sending one of our guys to the Virtuoso's home come morning. I found appropriate compensation for him. You are going as well by the way." she stated, matter of factly.

  "Urghhh. Why sister?" Reisha whined, clearly not the least bit enthused about the prospect.

  "Because I said so. And because I feel there is more to that group than meets the eye. My gut tells me so." her gaze sharpened briefly "And the further you go and your levels grow more and more, you learn to trust your senses." Her gaze softened then, loosing the momentary acquired sharpness as she added "That's quite enough for training today. Go wash up and rest, tomorrow is going to be a long day."

  Zekira turned around and walked away, lightly humming a tune to herself as she no doubt thought of the next few steps to take. These years recruits were nothing to write home about, so all she could do was shape them into decent guards at the very least- that or let go if they shaped out to be lacking in character.

  ----------------------------

  What had been a rather festive mood just some while ago, was now replaced with grim silence. Not one of the three fat merchant lords seemed intent on enjoying either the expensive foods placed on the tables before them, nor the scantily clad women who stood around them much like last time. They all stared with somber gazes at the messenger who had arrived just mere moments ago, having rushed over as soon as news reached his ears. Now, like some sort of a calamity, the messenger read from the missive he held in his trembling hands.

  Loss after loss was recounted, as though some hungry and uncontrollable beast had broken in a chicken coop and then had proceeded to engage in mindless slaughter, killing everything in its wake, entirely forgetting about the need to sate its hunger or slake its thirst, lost in the joy or murder. Indeed, just like such beast, ravaging a chicken coop, Ramia's one word had done the same to their enterprises. Men who had worked with their families for years, decades even, were refusing to do so further, citing all manner of ridiculous excuses. And those few that were willing to still continue their cooperation, demanded near extortion like rates, as if all too eager to see the three merchant families whither and die.

  Only now did the trio realized what kind of monster they had chosen to poke, all in the name of their endless greed. Yet, just like with gamblers, sunken too deep in their addiction, they too could not stop themselves. Just one more time. One more hand of cards, one more pull, and all would be fine. Better than fine actually. The big jackpot was just around corner, and damn it all if they would not grab the opportunity with their hands, allowing some old and barely alive relic to destroy their decades, centuries even, old families and their merchant empires.

  No, the silence was not one of utter shock and fear that permeated the room, as evidenced by the veins bulging on their fat foreheads. Anger. Sheer and undiluted anger at the perceived audacity. And, once the messenger finally ended his recount, taking a deep breath or two to reorient, all hell broke loose. Arms were slammed against the table, the impact muted and lessened by the sheer amount on fat on those slamming hands and the lack of actual strength behind them. Curses one could hardly imagine flew from their mouths, joined by saliva as their roared and stained the numerous exotic foods on the table. Glasses and other glassware few, shattering in hundreds of shards upon impact, causing a heartache to the servants witnessing the scene- it would be them who would have to clean up the place soon enough so not a single shard remains after.

  Only after what felt like eternity did the curses and the fits came to an end. The three merchant lords had run out of steam, be it strength to slam their hands, throw glassware around or voices lost from the near incoherent cussing and screaming. Luckily, no one had suffered an injury from one of the many glass pieces flying around as glassware was thrown and shattered- a result none of the servants would like to see- the consequences would have been too terrifying to imagine, particularly so for them.

  Finally, some more minutes later, having regained their breath after the rare exercise, one of the three merchant lords spoke, his voice still hoarse from all that previous cursing and screaming. "I think it is only proper we return the gesture. If we cannot have anything, might as well make sure no one else does either. I think, it is time to hire 'Crimson Lances'."

  "Oh? And you can contact them?" another questioned, his voice just as hoarse.

  "Yes, though it will cost us to do that alone. A pretty penny at that. Then, we would have to wait until they respond, having divined the cost to take the job on."

  "Is there a possibility they would reject the job?"

  "It's always there, as far as I am aware, though in most cases such requests fall through is because of the price they ask for the job. Apparently, their divination often reveals hints of danger that is unseen and unknown, though I don't know the details about the process more than this."

  "I have heard similar things, yes." the third finally joined in, nodding in agreement "But yes, I agree the Crimson Lances are our best bet at the moment, lest that damn geezer keeps pushing. A heavy strike decapitating his golden goose should get him off our backs for a while at the very least, and by the time he can refocus his attention on us will be too tale."

  It seemed that calmer minds had prevailed, their momentary fit long forgotten by the trio as they slowly returned to normal, at least as far as they could be.

  -------------------------

  "Oh? You don't say." Anastiela smiled as she lounged in a rather luxurious and comfortable armchair, designed specially so that her wings would not feel awkward as she did so. "I should probably visit my sweet champions and see what they are up to, don't you agree?" she looked a the angel standing besides the door to the rooms she lounged in. "Be a dear Voriell and announce my visit to them. I would hate to arrive to find no one home."

  "It will be done, my lady." he bowed "When would your arrival should be announced for?"

  "I suppose tomorrow morning should be just right. I still have to visit those lizards, stunties and the three fanatic clubs as well. Delaying too much would be somewhat wrong."

  "Your wish shall be done." Voriell replied, bowing once again and excusing himself, rushing away to fulfill the task he had received.

  Anastiela smiled, pleased with the loyalty of her followers, though she sometimes worried they went just a step too far with their adoration of her and the near blind and zealous rush they hurried to fulfill tasks assigned by her. Still, the devotion she inspired ensured there were rarely any who would betray her, making her relatively small angelic faction one of the most united there were.

  It was also hard for her to suppress the curiosity that plagued her mind like an incurable disease regarding this summonings champion party. She was quite sure most other groups, not only in her own race, but near all others, would have tried quite ruthless and even underhanded methods to force such an interesting group to join them, but she knew better. From the moment she actually laid eyes on Jack, she could tell he could not be bent, nor chained. Nothing but his own path was ahead of him and if one wanted to earn his cooperation and assistance, only hard and honest work could achieve such results. And while she had done little to nothing so far, the few 'little' things she had done would no doubt show her intentions clearly, doubly so for someone like Jack.

  'I wonder how far has the group gone with their bonding?' she further mused- yet another metric she could use to evaluate the leadership of the party. 'Just a little bit longer.patience dear. Patience.' she schooled herself. Not like her target of interest would just up and suddenly disappear. Right?

  Jack Raja(?)

  Age- 27

  Species- human(?)

  Level- 17

  Class- Twin aspect of Creation and Destruction(EX)

  Stats unassigned: +11

  Attributes:

  Strength- 24 (14+7+3)

  Vitality- 23 (12+8+3)

  Dexterity- 21 (15+6)

  Intelligence-7

  Spirit- 25 (20+5)

  Skills- Wisdom of Creation and destruction(EX), Choice of the creator(EX), Eyes of procurer(EX), Matter storage(EX), Arukain language(C), Spark of inspiration(EX).

  Spells- none.

  Titles(unlocked): The real Monster, Big Game Hunter, The brilliant rookie, The insane Solo. The actor. Executioner. Survivor. Pioneer, Record breaker.The new champion supreme.

  Gear: amulet +2 vit: weapon- Gundao+3 str. Rings- spatial storage, vit +