I can't believe my eyes. Why are these fucks here? How did they find me? I click my tongue as I aim my gun at Nicole.

"Do you know who these attackers are?" Yoshiko, who must have noticed my change of expression, asks.

"They are the pieces of shit that destroyed my home, and they keep harassing me," I say back as I glare at the mage, who glares back.

"I see..." Yoshiko nods and glances at the building. The entrance of our base of operation is nothing more than a pile of debris. The building looks like it is going to collapse at any moment.

"We should save the machine, this place is not going to hold for much longer," I say to the leader of Alpha Team, who nods.

"Sword," the giant says while shaking his burlap sack that is hanging on his back.

I let out a sigh. At least, that stupidly expensive waffle iron is safe.

"You should not have done this," Nicole says as she spits dust. "We are from the CMA," she says with a smirk.

"If you know what is good for you, then you will hand over that bastard," Mary says as she gestures towards me, "And compensate us for the troubles you have caused. Then maybe we will be willing to look the other way."

I can’t help but snicker. These two are going to threaten us even though we completely wiped the floor with their asses? These two idiots are clueless about the situation.

"I will tell you what will fucking happen," I say as I position my gun a centimeter away from Nicole's face. "You are going to tell me how the fuck you found me. Then you are going to give me your Ley Line card along with all the valuables you have on you. And maybe, just maybe, I will not paint the wall with your and your sister's brain matter."

I barely notice Yoshiko's surprised expression, and I do my best to ignore that Avryl is once again looking at me with a flushed expression. I need those CMA idiots off my back before this clusterfuck turns into an even worse situation. I have the upper hand, for now, so better use that to my advantage.

"Ian, calm down," Yoshiko says while she puts her hand on my shoulder. It looks a bit ridiculous since the small woman on her tippy toes to reach my shoulder, but the intention is here. "I see that there is bad blood between you. I have no idea who or what this 'CMA' is, but rest assured that the Alpha Team will not abandon one of its members in times of need."

"Let's talk about you two." The Japanese woman glances at the two mages pinned against the wall. "I do not care about who your employer is, or how mighty you think you are. Your little perception filter is not going to hold for much longer. I can feel it." She says as two small pentagrams appear in her irises.

"If you don't want to disappear, I suggest you listen to what he has to say." Yoshiko clenches her fist and gestures towards Sword. Nicole stares at the weapon in the barbarian's hands and gulps before nodding.

"Fine," Nicole says as she reaches into her pockets. Sword tenses up and I reach for the trigger of my weapon.

"Jeez, calm down. I'm just emptying my pockets. I know when a fight is lost." She says as her sister does the same and drops her weapon while she drops a couple of Mana Crystals along with the valuable Ley Line cards. They also drop their wallets, a metallic slab of metal with a couple of cards inside.

"As for how we tracked you, did you even check your Terminal? We put a tracking enchantment on it." Nicole says.

"A clueless idiot, as usual." Mary snaps, and I glare at the defiant mage.

I grab the stone tablet and throw it away before adjusting my aim. "Give me your Terminals, both of you."

"But-" Mary exclaims. Her sister silences her, and they throw their stone tablets on the ground.

"Sword, if you would," I say to the giant, who nods before smashing the Terminals under his massive boot.

"You are making a grave mistake," Nicole says, "The CMA will not sit idly while you blatantly disrespect their authority like this."

"What authority?" Avryl chimes with a dangerous look in her eyes as she fiddles with her Nuclear Death Ray. "I have never heard anything about you idiots. I bet you are just members of a gang that has delusions of grandeur. Attacking someone in the DimShop is the stupidest move you can make; the Authorities will not take it kindly. Especially since I have proof of your actions." She gestures at the Terminal strapped to her weapon. "Do not even think about denying it. I have recorded your Mana signatures."

"You're bluffing," Nicole says. Her nervousness didn't escape my ears. It looks like she would be in deep shit if words of her actions reached certain ears. Now that I think about it, the amount of Mana Crystals they have is far lower in both quantity and quality compared to our encounter in the lab.

Could it be that the CMA somehow demoted them?

"You don't know anything. It is not only the CMA but also the Farsight family that you turned into enemies," Mary pauses for dramatic effect. Nobody says anything for a solid minute. I am beginning to feel slightly nervous. Is her family that much of a big deal?

"Who?" Yoshiko asks while tilting her head to the side.

The sisters redden with rage. It looks like they didn't expect anyone to not know about their supposedly prestigious family.

"Look around you," I say to the two incensed mages. "The world is way bigger than you can imagine, you should re-evaluate your position. People will not be as kind as the Alpha Team and I. Now go away before I change my mind, and I swear that this is the last time I am letting you go."

Fucking hell. I wasn't expecting the CMA and Nicole's family to be a bunch of unknown idiots. They fooled me with their grandstanding and empty threats, but I did not know anything about the magical world back then. I now understand that their organization is probably the magical equivalent of a petty street gang.

"Are you sure it's a good idea?" Yoshiko asks as the two mages scurry away. Their Veil wavers before disappearing, and the passersby are startled by the sudden change. From their point of view, our base turned into a pile of rubble in an instant.

However, that is just a regular day for inhabitants of the magical world, and people just barely look at the destroyed area.

"They should have learned their lesson, and something tells me that we will not hear from them for a long time." I say as I look at the direction where they fled. After all, what will they do without any Credits or their Ley Line cards?

I refrain from smirking as I pick up the wallets of the two mages. "Now, who wants to buy a better building, courtesy of the Farsight family?" I say with a smile.

"A splendid idea!" Avryl says with a smile as she yanks the wallets out of my hands. How did she do that? However, I don't have time to ask any questions since the Artificer peruses through the cards and presses them on her Terminal.

"There's good news and bad news," Avryl says.

"Disclose the good news first," Yoshiko says before clenching her fists, "I need to steel my nerves for the tribulations to come."

"Well, the good news is we won't be troubled with finding another place." Avryl declares. "And that's because those two idiots who attacked us barely have enough Credits to buy a pack of the cheapest soda you can find."

Oh.

That fucking settles it then.

"Then where are we supposed to-" I stop mid-sentence once I realize my current situation. I have Ley Line cards. I could escape this shithole and never look back. On the other hand, I would also say goodbye to my only source of MertiPoints. But are those points worth risking my life by angering delusional wizards with a God complex?

A single glance at my gloved hand is enough to convince me. MERTICORE has the potential to make reality a lot more enjoyable than it has any rights to be. Who cares if a bunch of spell-slinging fuckwits dislikes me? Not this reality-altering dude.

I grab the Mana Crystals and transform the useless gems into a pile of MertiPoints. I check the interface of my virtual machine, and the amount of Mana at my disposal has increased. It looks like the more Mana Crystals I absorb, the more Mana I can use along with the conversion to MertiPoints.

Mana Crystals just became even more useful.

"Worry not, for I have a solution!" Yoshiko shouts while making a needlessly complicated structure made of intertwined spinning pentagrams appear above her head before they disappear in a cloud of black smoke. "I think you all remember the Shopkeeper at The End of The World?"

...To be honest, I vividly remember one, or rather two, very specific parts of that woman.

We all nod, so Yoshiko continues. "It so happens that the room above her humble shop is unoccupied. For some reason, she has trouble finding tenants for her fine establishment."

I roll my eyes; what could be the reason for that? Who wouldn't want to live above a store that caters to deranged people like Yoshiko? Not to mention that the store owner seems to be a normal person who is grounded in reality.

"What about the destroyed building? Aren't we going to be in trouble for destroying it?" Avryl asks.

"Don't worry about that! The destruction can't be linked to us in any way, so the insurance company will be forced to pay for the damages." Yoshiko declares. "And like my father says, the best insurance is insurance fraud!"

I take a deep breath and turn towards Avryl, "Don't say anything. I know it doesn't make any sense, but she will sulk for days if someone mentions it."

"Okay," I say with a shrug. Are there no normal people in the magical world? Does it have to either be maniacs who think they own the world or delusional demon slayers who watched too much anime? I never thought I would ever say this, but I'm starting to miss Greg. At least I knew what to expect from him, and that was fuck all. The high point in that man's life was probably when he ordered the wrong drink at the vending machine in the office ten years ago.

Now, what will await us in our new base of operation? Let me guess... We can't use the toilet after midnight. If we do, it opens a portal to another dimension populated with sentient piles of poop with a passion for musicals.

Or maybe it's even worse. I should not expect reality to make any sense at this point.

Yoshiko leads us to the Faded Rose, that shop is recognizable from very far away. I'm still torn between calling it quits and staying with the Alpha Team. If we can find exceptional stuff like the Waffletronic 5000 regularly, then my fortune is assured and that would guarantee a good flow of MertiPoints. However, something tells me that such providential findings are an exception rather than the norm. Otherwise, there would be a lot more Breach Divers. I don't know anything, so maybe there are a lot more Breach Divers than I first thought.

We enter the all-too-familiar shop, and Lucille perks up from somewhere and greets us.

"What is it, dear customers? Was there a problem with my wares?" she asks with a raised eyebrow while crossing her arms. The real mystery here is how her tits don't just fall out of her top since they are pushed up to the extreme. But that's probably a well-hidden secret that man isn't supposed to know.

"-Ian?" Yoshiko takes me out of my train of thought.

I raise my eyes, causing Lucille to chuckle as she shakes her chest while I blush slightly. I wasn't being very distracted, I promise.

"Ah, sure. I agree," I say while hoping that someone asked me a question. And that the question wasn't too ridiculous.

"Then it's fine, the Alpha Team agrees to the terms of your pact!" Yoshiko declares while posing. Something tells me that I should have listened.

"Great!" Lucille claps her hands and produces a set of ancient keys. "Your lodgings are located after the stairs; you can't miss them!" she says as she hands the set of keys to the leader of the Alpha Team.

We go up the stairwell hidden behind a drape that looks a lot like a wall. It reminds me of the stuff used by ninjas to hide. We go up the dimly lit stairwell, each step we take makes the wooden construct creak. The fact that it makes noises with every single step makes me believe that it was done on purpose.

Yoshiko opens the black wooden door to reveal a rather spacious room, there's a table in the middle and a couple of chairs. The furniture looks like it was pulled out of Yoshiko's darkest fantasies, but we don't have a choice. Avryl opens then black curtain to let in some light, but the room is still dark.

I press something resembling a light switch; an orb similar to my MageLight appears on the ceiling and lights up the entire room with a warm, slightly yellow glow.

This allows me to take a more in-depth look at the room. I didn't notice it before, but the table and the chairs are all engraved with intricate skulls, pentagrams, and all sorts of similar designs. I even spot a bed that looks brand new in another smaller room separated by an open door. The main room itself also has a blackboard pinned on a wall; there's a box of chalks of various colors next to it.

I tap the walls; it doesn't crumble into dust when I touch it so that's a plus.

This place might not be so bad. After all, it can't possibly be worse than the previous building.