8 The Temptress (NSFW)

The examination for The Establishment was often a cruel debacle.

Legends were created in the colosseum and while some hopefuls rose above their fate, oftentimes people found themselves stranded on the ground with their wings broken and crushed.

Such was the case for Commander Miller who was reported to be a corporate saboteur. He was a gallant warrior on the surface but beneath his mask of a relatively harmless and easygoing middle-aged man, he was also a bloodthirsty criminal.

I found out from Mary that in the past three years up to the current day, a criminal syndicate made their living by selling off Guild hopefuls.

They usually baited beginners and foreigners from the testing area and drugged, humiliated, and tortured them until their spirits broke.

Once they have been robbed of their will to fight, the criminal syndicate would then proceed to sell these superhumans using a well-developed illegal auction.

Mary explained all of this to me with a red face – but even before she opened her mouth, I already knew that these men were dangerous.

One of the advantages of knowing the future became apparent after I killed Miller during our fight. As if waking up from a trance, I found myself 'remembering' a memory from Alagarassi's future.

It was the same day as today and everything that had happened earlier also happened with some minor and major differences here and there. In short, this was the 'today' of the Alagarassi of the past.

I found myself pleasantly surprised by the sudden influx of information.

The Alagarassi of the original timeline completed her assessment examination earlier. One of the major differences that I had noticed was our affinity and traits. This was the old Alagarassi's abilities:

[Name: Alagarassi Luna y Salvador]

[Age: 22]

[Abilities:]

[Gunslinger – Archetype]

[Swordsman – Archetype]

[Pain Tolerance – Prentice Rated]

[Mental Fortitude – Prentice Rated]

Her abilities were far weaker than what I currently have and some of her abilities were totally different as well.

Instead of having the broken Swordmaster trait, she had the infinitely inferior Swordsman skill which was also near the lowest possible level. She also didn't have the Genius trait but instead had Pain Tolerance and Mental Fortitude which were both Prentice rated.

I fell into deep thought, "It seems that different people develop skills based on their own experiences and mental state."

The memory proceeded as normal except for the aftermath of the fight with Commander Miller.

The original timeline's Alagarassi thoroughly lost to Commander Miller. She was then dragged off by Miller and his men and was thoroughly ravaged by them for three days straight.

She was tortured in every way possible and her body was harmed beyond restraint. It didn't stop until the Salvador Family finally paid the ransom and she was returned in a small suitcase with her limbs cut off and with a dagger stuck down her throat from her mouth.

What surprised me the most was her resiliency and desire to live. When the old butler of the Salvador Family opened the suitcase, he nearly fainted from shock because what greeted him was Alagarassi looking up at him with tears in her eyes. She was hurt, but she wasn't broken.

I didn't need to wonder what kind of life she had to live in order to develop pain tolerance and mental fortitude but what I saw next thoroughly convinced me.

The butler hurriedly carried the suitcase to the office of the most powerful man in the Salvador Family: Juander Salvador.

The current head of the Salvador Family was a tall and handsome older man. He had streaks of grey on the sides of his head and his hair was styled in a classic side part and his slightly greyed-out hair gave him the look of an enchanting silver fox.

The only caveat to his appearance was his extremely cold face that remained unchanged even when the butler showed him the state of Alagarassi's body.

The proud daughter of the Salvador Family had no strength to speak, nor was she able to but she conveyed her will to live to her father who was coldly looking down at her.

Juander uncuffed his sleeves as he sipped his brandy. He placed his expensive crystal snifter down and licked his lips. "Stupid daughter, how could you let yourself get captured by those filthy scum?"

He gently tapped his desk with his fist, "Since you had your chastity taken from you, I find myself deeply troubled."

Juander sighed in disappointment, "I now have no choice but to sell you to Marquess Dela Fuente at a much lower price than before."

Alagarassi's eyes quivered in fear. It was a surprising sight to me, a bystander, because even as she was being abused, tortured, and humiliated, she never once lost hope.

When her father uttered that name, however, her spirit finally broke.

Juander roughly pulled out the dagger inside Alagarassi's mouth and she spat out some blood and fragments of her teeth.

He gently lifted up Alagarassi's chin with his gloved hand, "I told you to live your life with your head buried into the ground." He spat at her face and sneered, "It would have been better for you have lived as an insect than being sold to that old man."

Juander gestured to the butler, "Have the esteemed Dr. Sylvia Lee reconstruct her body. The price doesn't matter."

He went back to his desk and took a sip of brandy and licked his lips. "Even without your virginity, I might be able to drive up your price like this."

Having grown tired of looking at his daughter, he shooed the butler away and the old man hurriedly carried the suitcase with him.

I was stuck in a daze for a long time after the memory ended. In my head, the whole thing happened in its entirety so I was forced to relive the entire day of my assessment and Alagarassi's torture all the way to Alagarassi meeting Juander.

In reality, however, only a few seconds went by. When I got out of my dazed state, I simply nodded to Mary and smiled. I had no idea what she was talking about as I wasn't paying attention to her.

Noticing my lack of interest, Mary shook her head, "Were you really listening?"

I lazily shrugged, "Not really, no."

She sighed in exasperation and cleared her throat. "You are done with the assessment. We will be issuing you a UIC or an Ultramarine Identification Card."

She took out her own UIC which contained her name, which unit she was in as well as her abilities and traits. Each UIC looked something like this:

[Name:

Squadron:

Combat Skills (Swordsmanship, Knife Mastery, etc.)

Prana Abilities (Element-based magic abilities as well as Prana-based abilities)

Mutated Abilities (Extra appendages such as wings, the ability to breathe underwater etc)

Overall Ranking]

Mary dutifully explained each part of the UIC, "This identification card contains your abilities, traits and rating as well as your overall rating as an individual affiliated with the guild." She smiled, "Just think of it as your personal license to kill."

Mary pocketed her UIC and smiled meaningfully, "Without this card, you are merely a regular citizen but with it…you start to become something more."

I didn't really care about the UIC since I already took the test earlier. I ran my hand through my hair and frowned, "Hey Mary."

"Eh? What is it?" she tilted her head in confusion.

I smiled at her, "I'd like a bath."

She nodded and walked ahead, gesturing for me to follow behind her. "The showers are this way, please follow me."

I used my right hand to tuck my hair behind my ears and I dutifully followed behind Mary the Receptionist.

I passed by several of the audience members as well as other beginners who were getting tested. Feeling their gazes, I gave them a lazy wave and the whole area erupted into thunderous applause!

"DID YOU FUCKING SEE THAT?"

"She took them all down like it was nothing!"

"What did she do? I could barely see anything!"

"Idiot! She outwitted that stupid Miller and blew him up!"

"That's easier said than done! He was stupidly strong you know?"

"I may not have been the one to do it but Marika, you may now rest in peace."

I basically ignored all of their comments except for the last one. It seemed more serious and more solemn than the rest of the peanut gallery's mindless muttering.

It was sad, desolate and it was living proof that Miller and his men did deserve to die – albeit it was only Miller himself who was blown up by yours truly.

As the applause started to die down, Mary and I reached the shower area. She bowed her head to me and prepared to leave but I grabbed her hand.

"Miss?"

I gestured for her to stay quiet and caressed her lips with my thumb.

I looked her in the eyes and said seriously, "I want you."

Her normally aloof face betrayed her as she blushed bright red. She fidgeted at my touch but I held her close. Her breasts pressed up to mine.

I giggled, "Your breasts are quite shapely, miss receptionist."

"Please, don't embarrass me miss." She wiped my face with her hand, "Even covered in blood…how beautiful."

I couldn't really control my body right now but I don't know what fucked up shit Alagarassi is into but for some reason, Mary was into it as well.

"I know I'm beautiful." I smiled at her, "but so are you." I sealed her lips with a kiss. I pried her mouth open with my tongue as I massaged her ample buttocks with my hand.

She let out a soft moan in pleasure. "Mmm. Miss…" she started yearning for me so I started fondling her breasts. "You really look like a delicious treat." I licked my lips enchantingly, "I'm going to have you clean me up with your tongue."

I slapped her butt as I led her into a free shower room. "You better get ready."

Mary lowered her head and closed the shower door behind her carefully.

We didn't know this at the time but apparently, a weird urban legend started as a result of our merry lovemaking.

It seems that some women overheard our vigorous activity and mistakenly thought of Mary's labored breathing and pleas for 'help' to be the vengeful regrets of a woman who was tortured and killed in the coliseum.

But I didn't care.

The Temptress - End