Chapter 12: The Underground Warehouse

"Hello, Rex and Gretel Gorgon. We meet at last," a voice said as Rex and his mother entered the secret chamber.

Within were twelve witches and warlocks in black and violet robes.The entire room had roots and moss over the walls with the entire chamber made of pure black stone. Each of them radiated power and a thirteenth witch sat on a black throne at the back of the room behind a semi-circular table with the other twelve witches and warlocks occupying the rest of the chairs.

"I did not expect the daughter of the War God to be a witch, much less the grandson being a Witch Lord," one of the warlocks muttered.

"Indeed. The witch energy within Gretel Gorgon is ancient and powerful. A similar kind was gifted to the boy earlier, but was fused with his spirit energy," a witch muttered.

Each of the twelve witches and warlocks wore a black hood with a violet mask, Rex only able to see slits for the eyes and mouth. The thirteenth wore a black witch hat instead of a hood and wore no mask. She was extremely beautiful and would probably remain so for eternity as she was way above level 100.

"I never thought I would see any of you," Mary said indifferently.

"Come now. Your mother was part of the former Witch Queen's faction. While not particularly powerful or important, Helena was a gifted witch who studied the arcane. It is a shame she was killed by your father's clan. Even though she was avenged by the War God slaughtering his own kin and clan; her loss was a tragedy," the head witch said. "I, like your mother, am a member of the Witch Queen's coven albeit the current queen. I summoned you both here to bequeath your son with the tools he needs to survive. Survive, mind you. I know next to nothing on how to kill the Witch King."

"I'm not going to wear that hat, am I?" he asked.

"No. No one will know you are a witch, or warlock. Only a witch can detect the energy within your spirit energy. I know not how you fused with it, but your assassins will be hard pressed to find you. We have been watching you since the morning you awoke as a Night Hunter and received that system message. Yes, we know you are a Cheat Hunter. All Witch Lords are," the head witch said. "Witch magic is the most ancient and mysterious. By now, all people who ever saw you use Witch Fire, or know you to be a witch, will not remember it. We witches are few, but our familiars are everywhere."

"Familiar? Like a contract with some ancient creature?" Rex asked as he summoned Titus.

"Familiars are not magical beasts or regular summons such as the skeletal and undead minions of necromancers. Familiars are beings witches make contracts with that come from other dimensions. You are a black mage and entered a Black Hole Domain and lived to tell the tale. You must have seen other dimensions but only those displaying versions of you other parallel dimensions," the witch said. "Am I wrong?"

"No. So I can make a contract. Interesting," Rex said. "Wait, you said assassins. If what you said about me hiding my witch spirit energy being a good thing, does that mean they track witches through that same energy?"

"Handsome and smart," the witch smiled. "It is as you say. They are level 100 and over assassins of the rogue class. They are called Grey Assassins and most work under the Witch King. I do not have my witch spirit energy fused with my own and require an item to hide it. I'm sure your mother could not detect any of our witch spirit energies. You see, we are safe in the Night Hunter District, but there are many who would break the law and kill us for being what we are. Your mother came here to receive such an item."

"Is that true?" he asked.

"Yes," Mary said sadly. "Grey Assassins are very dangerous, one of the select few assassin advanced classes that specialize in killing mages. My mother used to be hunted until she married Sean who killed any Grey Assassins who came after her. Who would have thought our own Gorgon Clan would kill my mother and attempt to kill me."

"Yes. To kill his own kin to avenge his wife, Sean the Terrifying truly loved your mother deeply. Since that day, he ventured into the Night, slaying many areas and cities of the creatures of the Night. While the Night Hunter Society calls him the War God for being a hero and aiding the conquest of the Night, the real truth was that Sean the Terrifying was trying to find and slay the Witch King," the head witch explained. "It is said that Hansel disappeared as he also tried to find the Witch King. Whatever the case, this brooch was used by Helena to hide her witch spirit energy and has other powers. It is fitting that her daughter would be the one to inherit it."

"Thank you," Mary said simply, her eyes watering as she stared at the silver and black brooch. "May I know your name?"

"I am Madelaine," the witch answered. "I am charged, by the Witch Queen, to oversee and protect the witches and warlocks in the Night Hunter District. Now, Rex, I will have you come with me. You and I will enter a pocket dimension for your training. You must only have two days left before the testing to go to the Rain Dragon Sect, right? A day out here is a year within the pocket dimension. Your level cannot raise there, but you will know enough about witchcraft to survive and gain apt enough experience."

"Uh, grandfather won't like that," Rex said.

"I will handle father and the others. You stay here and be good. Two years of training will do you good, even more so if it is under powerful witches," Mary said and left him standing there.

"I will need practice with my sword. My grandfather instilled the stances and strokes, but I lack proper training," Rex said.

"I will help you there," one of the masked warlocks said, the other eleven leaving the room behind Mary.

"This man is Jax. He is a Grey Assassin and used to be our spy within the Witch King's personal spy network before his cover was blown," Madelaine introduced as the hooded warlock pulled off his hood and mask to reveal a red haired eyebrows with a clean-shaven face, tattoos all over his bald head.

"To defeat a Grey Assassin, you must know how they hunt and how they fight. You cannot learn the skills, but you can learn how they are used. That knowledge is invaluable as it will be easier to defeat, kill, or escape them in the future," Jax said. "You don't need to be a mage to have witch energy, but you do need it if you wish to use one of the eight non-class active skill slots for witch magic. I did just that. When the training is over, I'll give you a skill book containing a non-class skill that most Grey Assassins learn. If they learn it, it must be good. How many free slots do you have for both types of non-class skills?"

"I have seven free active and three free passive slots for non-class skills," he answered. "Excellent. Level 40 seems far, but not to Cheat Hunters. No doubt, your mother and the War God will collect skills for you to learn to take up some of the remaining slots. Learning a skill takes much practice if it is not given by the system. You are a Cheat Hunter and simply need to read a skill book to learn it. There is always a drawback."

"But before you train, you must receive a Night Hunter uniform and other items you will need," Madelaine said and beckoned the two to follow her as the roots burrowed into the wall and created a rift to a secret tunnel. Rex arrived in a giant warehouse full of powerful relics and artifacts.

"What is this place?" he asked.

"This is the secret warehouse of witches and warlocks. The shops outsiders see are all a facade, a few legitimate magical treasures there. Beneath each shop are secret warehouses albeit inferior to this one. Witches and warlocks who reach level 200 come here, but you are a Witch Lord. As a black mage, it is common knowledge that one of the effects of Timeless Eyes allows the black mage to learn ancient magic. Thus, you are here to gain some ancient relics and artifacts as well as a few skills," Madelaine answered and gave him a book. "This is a skill every witch, male or female, knows. Mages are long range combat specialists. Of course, even witch battle mages learn this skill."

"Lesser Teleportation: No cost but cool down of fifteen seconds. Able to teleport fifteen yards in any direction. Rank: rare. Awesome! Learning this now," Rex cried and learned the skill, Madelaine and Jax seeing the skill book disappear.

"When the skill reaches max level, it will become Greater Teleportation and the range is fifteen miles. However, Grey Assassins also learn the skill and many things can happen during the fifteen second cool down of the skill," Jax said. "The skill I will give you is that of a non-class passive skill. Try out the skill you learned."

"As expected of Cheat Hunters, you learn the skill so quickly," Madelaine noted as Rex teleported five yards in front of himself. "Leave the Night Hunter uniform to Jax. He will find a suitable battle mage uniform. You and I will browse for items and skills."

"Yes, My Lady," Jax said and searched the warehouse as Rex followed her to the right most area of the warehouse at the back. Before Rex were thousands of tiny, metallic creatures that had a slight resemblance to those on Earth.

"These are the vessels for which you put in the soul of your familiar. Once you have a familiar, the metallic vessel cannot die but it will temporarily be unable to form a body if it was defeated. Spread out your spirit energy and find a suitable vessel for your familiar. Once you find one that calls to you, summon it and form a contract," Madelaine said.

Rex closed his eyes and focused his spirit energy into his right hand as he extended it forward. Madelaine narrowed her eyes as she saw ink black spirit energy appear, it was ancient and powerful. Traces of witch energy were within but most was that of a creature. She didn't know it was spirit energy of a qilin, but she did know Rex's spirit energy was not human. Tendrils of spirit energy coiled out and spread among the metallic creatures. Finally, a metallic creature with an antelope's head was chosen.

"I summon the reaper of the world beyond," Rex said as the words entered his head. "Serve me and my interests."

The metallic creature absorbed his spirit energy and fell onto the floor. Metal, stone, rocks, and roots covered it to reveal a ten foot tall humanoid with an antelope skull made of roots, thorns, and rock. Its eye sockets were filled with a strange violet energy that looked like fire and carried a scythe as long as it was tall.

"Interesting choice. A familiar with attributes for death, wood, and earth. Standard triple attribute but humanoid in appearance," Madelaine commented. "Fighter familiars have double a witch's strength and agility. This one cannot cast magic, but can restore its body so long as there is wood or earth nearby. The only way to temporarily destroy the familiar is to damage the metallic creature the chest where the heart would be. It has a semi-sentient mind as it will know what your orders imply. Release it and keep the creature in your pocket. Its true body is only three inches long."

"This is great," Rex laughed as the familiar broke apart as the metallic creature burst out the chest and entered his pocket. "What next?"

"We get you a witch's tome, one that is far more ancient than that of standard witches," Madelaine said as she gave him a black book. Rex's eyes widened as the words within seemed to be made of blood, feeling warm and vibrant under his touch.

"So bizarre," he said as he browsed through the book.

"Our magic from the tomes do not count as skills. This is why we are hunted and feared. There are very few other mages who also have similar items and abilities. This is why mages are few in number by the system," she explained. "Do not let anyone know you have such a tome or they will know you are a witch."

"Alright," Rex said and stored it in his tattoo, the Thief King's Last Laugh masking it and making it undetectable.

"You have one of those gems? The War God has many tools indeed," Madelaine said as she saw the tome disappear into the tattoo. "This is a cultivation method used by the Witch Kings of Old. This is a unique cultivation method for Witch Lords and Kings. Through this, you will have the power to kill the Witch King. This skill book is one used by witches of ancient times. It is ancient magic, but you can use it because of your Timeless Eyes."

"Okay. Thank you," Rex said and stored the cultivation away as he learned the skill.

*Ding*

System AnnouncementLearned: Hex Swarm

Rex has learned an ancient magic used by witches of during the era of the Prime Night Hunters.

Able to create ancient wasps made of the life and wood attributes.

One wasp made by one health point. Deals one damage.

Using max health is inadvisable to cast magic.

Wasps attack until killed.

Rank: Unique

"So I can make my own army of wasps over time? Interesting," Rex said. "The damage and health of a single wasp is too weak but adds up as the size of the swarm increases. Just like the witch stories, I control plants and bugs. The plant being part of the familiar's combat form, of course."

"Indeed. Do you know why?" Madelaine asked and saw Rex shake his head. "We are the original caretakers of the World Tree. No one knows where the root of the tree leading to our world lies but the Witch Queen. That information is closely guarded by the Witch Queen but only she, the Witch Lords, and the Witch King can enter its domain. In time, you will understand this. The pocket dimension I will have you train in also has a giant tree deep in its hearth. Jax should be there to begin your training. You and I will spend much time there equal to two years. In this way, you will catch up to those of powerful clans and organizations who trained since they were five and intelligent enough to bear the rigors of training."

"Two years of being away from my family...." Rex said silently. "I've only been a week to a month away, at most. Two years huh?"

"It seems the War God returns, and with two skills. One that he uses and one that you would need," Madelaine said as she looked above. Rex saw two books appear from the rock ceiling as roots made a path to the surface.

"You better damn well get better, boy! I expect results on the morning of that test," Sean roared before the path closed and Rex nodded with tears going down his eyes as he learned the skills.

*Ding*

Void Slash: 40 Ki per use. Cover your body and sword in the void element to become a single streak of light. Appear behind the enemy in a flash, cutting his body in two with the void and poison element. Skill cannot be blocked or dodged. Rank: Unique.

Oblivion Wave: 150 Ki per use. Combine light and darkness to create a sword wave of incredibly powerful force. Created by the War God, this skill is restricted to those he gives permission. Rank: not applicable.

"Oblivion Wave? Now there is no denying you are his grandson," Madelaine gasped. "Skills made by Night Hunters are exceedingly rare. Most skills usually evolve into one-of-a-kind skills or made by ancient creatures. Sean the Terrifying is deserving of the title War God. One can only imagine how many self-created skills he knows. Giving it to another counts as a non-class skill, but making one of your own does not."

"Now I know three sword skills. Since I am a black mage, I might not learn any sword skills upon the various advanced classes in the future," Rex nodded.

"Whatever skills you have, it is imperative you train them within the pocket dimension. Familiarize yourself with them. Also, your innate ability of your clan and spirit bone will awaken as you cultivate. We must train you enough so that any spies of the Witch King living within the Rain Dragon Sect do not kill you if they were to discover your identity. They will ignore your mother, as she is female, but you must still be careful," she warned. "It's time to begin the training. In two years, you will return to your family."

"Right," Rex said and followed her with Titus appearing behind them.