Chapter 24:

Cort stopped at the edge of the forest, the night’s air refreshing against his skin.

Beholding the sight of Phentar’s gate, he slipped his hand into his bag and grasped a certain object.

A pure white mask came out of the bag. The mask was exceedingly simple: An unmarked, pure white face of no distinguishable features. With two circular holes large enough to see through, but small enough to hide what must be hidden decorating the barren front.

Yet it was not the face that held his attention, rather it was the other side. Where the mask would meet his face, an intricate pattern was scrawled about. These were inscriptions.

Running his hand through the etched markings, he felt keen interest. Just like when he first saw Phils’ glasses, the markings felt familiar. Yet try as he might, he could not pinpoint the reason for his familiarity.

As his fingers brushed upon the near-center of the mask, he recognized a familiar symbol. That of Merc.

According to the old man, Merc was responsible for giving humans various means of self-improvement. However, unlike Maria who was more battle-oriented, Merc was more concerned with improving a being’s ability to affect himself and the environment. This seemed too broad of a spectrum to Cort, but oh well, he did not make the rules.

The symbol itself was represented by a circle encompassing one ragged line. The line had two peaks, one larger than the other.

His hand paused over the symbol.

‘Merc, Aria, Maria, Adam, Eve… Who was the sixth?’ Cort thought over the events of last night again. He vividly recalled asking old man Carson about the other gods, but never the sixth.

‘Whatever, I’ll ask him later,’ He decided as he slipped the mask over his face. At first, the mask hung loose and looked like it would drop at any second. But as soon as he crushed a rather large red crystal, the mask suddenly writhed as if alive. Now the mask closely hugged his face and even altered his features slightly. Looking at his appearance over a nearby puddle, Cort deemed the mask’s purchase from Phil a valid one. The frankly ridiculous price was worth it. Yes, he nearly cleared their savings, but that could be regathered. After all, wasn’t that the point of tonight.

After donning a hood that covered most of his face, the mask was no longer visible. Finally satisfied with his appearance, he covered his face with his hands and took in a deep breath. Similar to when he spent time with Lucy, he was getting into character. Only this time, it wouldn’t be that of an affable young man.

Removing his hands from his face and looking into the puddle once more, he saw cold and lifeless eyes.

No, this character wouldn’t be hard to play…

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“You could have avoided this old man,” Hunter said as he stomped his foot down hard. The sound of a boot hitting a dull object accompanied by a crescendo of breaking fingers was sickening. What was worse was the scream of an elderly man that sang along.

“I’m sorry I don’t have any more crystals, please! I already paid this month’s fees,” The old man said as he flailed about

“Yeah yeah, but ya see; things are getting more expensive around these parts. Besides, I think a few more crystals are worth the protection we provide. I mean, just imagine a world where we aren’t around. What would happen to you, worse yet...your family?” He punctuated with another heavy stomp.

“No! No, please stop!” The voice of a young boy urgently pleaded. “I have the crystals just please stop,”

“Jimmy! What are you doing? Go back insi- Argh!” The old man’s yell caused his son to jump back in fright.

“Lookie here, what a good little boy. See, was that so hard?” Hunter said as he snatched the bag filled with crystals off the boy.

“Well then, it’s been fun. See you laateeerrrr~” Hunter said as he grabbed a loaf of bread on his way out.

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“Shit...it’s stale,” He said before spitting the bread out of his mouth. Tossing the remaining loaf over his shoulder, he made his way down the street while fiddling with the bag of crystals. “I’m sure the boss won’t mind me taking a few crystals for myse- Well hello there,” A distance away he saw a cloaked figure walk into a dark alley between two buildings.

Ordinarily, this would not interest him, but the seemingly filled bag of crystals dangling on the man’s coat was interesting enough.

‘Heh, dumbass,’ he thought as he drew towards the alleyway. Almost everyone knew to hide their bags within their cloaks. That was unless they had the strength to back the other decision up. Luckily for Hunter, this man seemed ordinary in every conceivable way

‘Ah too bad… another fly in the big spider’s web.’

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The world was dark still, eyes opened or closed it made no difference. Only pain existed in this hellish place. Was it truly moments ago when light reigned supreme, where the mundane nature of life was taken for granted?

He was a common thug once, if not some time ago.

But now he was here. His screaming voice rendered silent, and wailing body mute.

A gloved hand gently cupped his broken chin and his disfigured face was lifted slightly upwards.

Finally, there was light.

A white mask floated eerily in the middle of nothing.

“You’ve done well to hold out until now,” Its cold voice rang within his ears. “It didn’t have to be this way you know. You could have just told me what I wanted to know earlier…”

But he had. The moment his first bone was broken, he had spilled, said, and screamed all that he had known. Yet that did not stop anything.

But no matter, that was in the past. For now, let us enjoy the mask’s cajoling tone.

Hunter dared not look into the thing’s eyes though. He could not bring himself to do it again. He did once when he was a scant few seconds younger, more naive, but what he saw were not eyes, rather a pit. A pit so endless in depth and dark in color that his mind could not understand it. Nor could it comprehend the horrors that lay within it.

“But that’s all over now, isn’t it…” The mask comforted. “All that’s left for you is glory. So stick with the plan.”

All at once, the darkness lifted, and light once again found him.

As if it were a lie, his body was restored to its previous condition, and his voice regained its vigor.

The change was so abrupt that he thought it may have all been a dream. Rather, a nightmare.

‘Y-yeah that’s it! A nightmare. I must have had a few too many drinks,’ He comforted himself. But then he saw it.

Just a distance away from him, at the entrance of the alley; an empty bag was on the floor.

With a trembling hand, he checked his waist. Nothing.

“Ok. Understood,” He said as he left the alley.

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Cort watched the man go about his business as he tossed the empty vial away.

“Truly potent.” He remarked as he remembered the poor man’s fearful gaze. Phil’s words were truly not a lie.

The vile was filled with the venom of a specific beast that resided within Phentar’s forest. An eight-legged, spider-like abomination that was rumored to sneak deep within one’s mind and extract their most fearful memory. Only to replay this memory over and over again in a never-ending loop.

Of course, this was bullshit.

The beasts were called Arachis and their venom simply had potent hallucinogenic effects. That coupled with its nigh-indestructible webs makes it a thing to be feared. Thankfully such beasts were rare and their population size tiny, so encountering one in the wild was unlikely. And even then, a couple of Mid-tier warriors or a particularly strong one would be sufficient enough to slay it. So at a certain strength level, the venom was of no practical use. But for common street thugs, it was one hell of a tool.

‘I’m getting side-tracked I need to move.’

Cort disappeared into his surroundings.

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Hunter entered the bar with a lowered head. He was a man on a mission and he could not afford to forget it.

The bar’s dingy smell of beer and sweat tickled his nose. There were some nights where he loved the smell of it. And some, where he loathed it.

“I need to speak with boss.” He said as he arrived before the bartender.

“Boss’s busy,” She said as she cleaned out the bottom of a wooden mug. “Tell him later.”

Hunter did not dare say anything back. This woman, though seemingly harmless, was the boss man’s right arm. She even acted as the leader when he went away for one of his trips. Ticking her off would not be advantageous.

“I really need to speak to him, Nene,” Hunter’s voice grew gentle.

“I told you not to call me that!” In contrast, Nelem’s was a touch sharper.

“Just let me through.” Hunter looked her in the eyes.

Sensing the seriousness in his tone, Nelem nodded. “Fine, but don’t do anything stupid again Hunter.”

Finding himself in front of the boss’s door, he hesitated. On the other side, he could hear the seductive moans of people in the throes of passion.

‘Why am I doing this again?’ He thought as his hands rested on the door. Was he really about to turn his back on everything and listen to some random person who attacked him in the middle of the night? No this is madness.

But as the memory of a phantom mask floating in a sea of nothingness came to him again. He thought ‘Not as mad as that though.’

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Ratson savored his lover’s sweetness, engrossing himself completely in the carnal pleasure of it.

“Yes, just like that,” His lover said in a tantalizing voice.

Ratson smirked as he kept moving, making sure to neither speed up nor slow down. It seemed she was close.

But instead of the blissful voice of a woman entering nirvana, what he heard was a surprised yelp as the door blasted open.

On the other side, a man with black hair and blue eyes appeared.

“Hunter…” Ratson said annoyed. “You better have a good excuse, lest I sever your head from your body,” He grabbed one of his lover’s warm and bountiful lumps. The elasticity of it drove him mad. His lover squirmed uncomfortably in her place on his lap, perhaps embarrassed by the presence of another.

As for Hunter, he said nothing and merely made his way towards the window. Cold air blew in as the windows swung open.

“And what do you think you’re doing?” His patience wearing thin, he stood to grab his sword from a nearby table.

Sword now at hand, he swung towards the other man’s head.

Suddenly, the sword’s trajectory changed midway. Slicing towards his side, the sound of steel slicing through wood rang out.

An arrowhead thudded heavily on the floor.

“Woman, leave!” He ordered, and the lady did not need to hear it twice as she hightailed it out of there fast.

“You disappoint me, Hunter,” He said as his eyes focused on the man’s neck. There, a thin slash that had yet to heal was visible. The odd thing about it was the discoloration of the skin around it.

“And you disappoint me too,” He said as he sent a fist backward in a seemingly random fashion.

Yet it was not random. The sound of his fist landing against a solid mass was followed shortly by the unimpressed voice of Cort: “Impressive,” The voice stated before the sound of breaking glass interrupted.

The window on the other side was now broken. A dashing figure leaving behind a trail of glass in its wake.

“How decisive,” Ratson said as he wore his pants. He didn’t bother with a shirt. “I’ll deal with you later,” Leaving behind those menacing words, he followed after the masked individual with hurricane-like momentum.

Hunter watched all of this with a glazed look. He understood nothing of what happened. Closing the door, he sat on the boss’s chair and began his wait. He knew running away was not an option. In Phentar, there was nowhere you could hide from boss. One of Phentar’s strongest.

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