CH62: Initiation Ceremony
***
CH62: Initiation Ceremony
Unlike my previous life, the World of Arun is one singular continent, i.e. Pangea, covering half of the planet with the rest being of course water.
It is immensely large to say the least.
I believe it is to remind the humans of the never-ending war between humans and beasts, the Hunter Union divides this large continent into five Warzones.
The Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western and Central Warzones.
The Central Warzone is by far the largest, being a third of the other Warzones combined, plus, it is believed to be very rich in resources.
I say 'believed' because the intel comes from the Hunter Union.
I was a member of a powerful military. I'm no stranger to the power of propaganda to motivate people to do something they usually wouldn't do.
Greed is a major trait of humans.
The Hunter Union could very well be playing on this trait to motivate people to join the cause to attack the Central Warzone.
'The Central Warzone is the richest Warzone in terms of resources'. Whether this is true or not, many people will be motivated by their greed to attack this Homebase of the Beasts. After all, there is a chance to keep the resource you find yourself if you can carry and protect it.
Many people have become strong after using a resource found in active warzones. With the allure and myths around the Central Warzone, it's no surprise many people join the divisions going to war there year after year.
-
Each Warzone is further divided into named regions after it has been 'pacified' by humanity.
Currently, humanity has pacified the Northern and Western Warzones. Majority of this generation's effort has been on pacifying the Eastern Warzone while also keeping the Central Warzone in check.
Bayveth Republic is part of the Trigolia Region which can roughly be said to be the central region of the Northern Warzone.
The Trigolia Region joins 5 other regions which make the Northern Warzone.
I never expected that the Trigolia Regional Headquarters of the House of Death would be Azgul Fortress, which was once the famous Fortress of Dead Heroes.
A House of Death indeed.
*
The Azgul Fortress was as large as a small town, which isn't surprising considering it was home to the Azgul Division, a division with thousands of Lords and Hundreds of Champions as its battle forces amongst other lifestyle professionals.
Navia and I arrived at the Portal Station close to the centre of the Fortress. The HQ building was a walking distance away from here.
Navia led me towards the building, which was formally the Administrative and Command Centre of humanity's forces back when they fought to pacify the Trigolia region.
From what I could see, many of the buildings had been restored, especially those used by lifestyle professions. Workshops were churning out equipment and other products, which I suspect made up the rich listings of the organisation's Comms Marketplace.
It's also possible that this was where many of the Charwell Malls product came from as the Mall never seems to lack whatever product a person might need.
You must be wondering why I mentioning all this.
It's because my sense as an experienced operative were tingling at this moment.
It seems the background of the House of Death might not be as simple as I thought. It's very likely the roots of the organisation traces back to the Hunter Union itself.
If not the Union as a whole, it must have the backing of at least one of the Saints or Sages who make the decisions of the Union.
If that's not the case, it was difficult to find an explanation for why such an important site could be taken over without the Union knowing about it.
The resources used to build this fortress was no joke. It could comfortably withstand attacks from multiple Heroes rank humans and Extinction-class Beasts.
This wasn't something you just forget.
In other words, I inadvertently joined an organisation with ties or belonging to one or more of the strongest and highest echelon of Arun's humanity.
I couldn't help having goose bumps.
*
The HQ building itself was essentially a small castle. According to Navia, this was the Administrative heart of the organisation where it governed the activities of all agents, brokers and support staff of the organisation within the Trigolia Region.
The reason we had to come here was because there wasn't an Administrative Branch in each country. The branches in each country's capital were essentially an operations base at best.
This made sense as a militaristic organisation didn't need to set up too many administrative branches, not when ease of communication allow for near instantaneous relay of information.
In my previous life, many state and private militaries including mine, had numerous forward operating bases but only had a singular central base or station which controlled all of them.
I guess the House of Death operated in the same way to an extent.
*
Navia and I attracted attention as we walked into and through the HQ building. How could we not?
Not only we were dashingly beautiful and handsome, our clothes stood out.
Almost everyone we passed wore either combat attires like leather and metal armour or organisation uniforms.
On the other hand, we looked like we were dressed for a party or a fashion show.
We stood out like a sore thumb.
Navia led me to a hall where the initiation would take place.
There were already hundreds of people in the hall as many Initiates, their recruiters, interested older agents and brokers from all over Trigolia Region converged for this year's initiation ceremony.
Ironically, the concerned parties, the initiates, were the fewest in number.
We were about twenty from my rough count when I entered the hall.
The Initiates stood to one side of the hall while the true members of the organisation, i.e. the recruiters, brokers and agents stood to the other side where they converged amongst themselves.
Navia nodded to me before going to join her colleagues.
I was about to move to the initiate's area when I felt someone behind me.
"Careful, old man. I almost retaliated." I said without looking back.
"You are on guard as always, boy." The other side said.
I turned to the person. It was none other than my recruiter, Lord DarkBlade.
"It's good that you're alive." The man said.
I gaze deeply at him.
"Seems my fair lady gave you a wonderful prize for introducing me."
"She did." DarkBlade nodded.
The man looked more 'vigorous' than the last time I saw him. It was possible Navia gave him a drug to improve his health, increase his lifespan or awaken part of his potential.
"You've been making waves amongst some circles. You should prepare for some nuisance. For you and your little lady."
"I expected something like that. But thanks for the heads up."
Both of us walked to our areas without saying anything else.
While it doesn't seem like the old man had done much for me since he recruited me to the organisation, I was quite happy... and grateful that he was my recruiter.
As brief as our conversations were, he always showed enough care for my best interest. At the very least, he always made sure his interest aligned with mine so that we can mutually benefit from one another.
There aren't many recruiters who can say they do the same. A lot of them would sell you and get you to count the money for them.
I walked to the Initiate side, where I rested on a wall as I waited for the show to begin.
There were a few of the initiates who grouped together to discuss their exploits. As we were all from different cities and countries within the Trigolia region, there were some initiates who were happy to meet new people, and some who just wanted to brag about themselves.
There were also a couple others who were like me, keeping a distance from everyone else.
I almost wanted to shake my head. Merely standing against the wall for ten minutes, I already figured out the strengths and weaknesses of a number of the initiates.
If a conflict broke out between us in the future, it would be easy to dispatch them.
'Do these guys think they're amongst "friends". You can call yourselves assassins while revealing yourselves like this?' I didn't know what to say to them.
-
On Navia's side, I could see she was quite 'popular'. She was the centre of attraction.
Not surprising. According to her, it was a well-known fact that she was going through the exclusive broker route and how difficult her test was. Since even a genius Noble-ranked Agent failed her test and died, it was a surprise when she attended the Initiation with an Initiate.
Even from where I stood, I could tell many people had bad blood with her.
Seems like I picked up an interesting broker.
I began to see why DarkBlade said I would face a few nuisances.
*
I soon had to put an end to my environment assessment and Intel gathering as the bigwig of the day arrived.
A man in a black ceremonial uniform entered the hall. He looked no older than thirty.
It would be strange for everyone in the all to quiet down because of a man in his thirties if not for the unmistakeable aura of a Hero around the man.
The man was none other than the head of the Trigolia Branch as well as the Commander of the Northern Warzone Division of House of Death, the Heroic Assassin, Boogeyman.
(A.N: I couldn't help myself. If you know, you 😉😉😏😏)
According to what Navia told me beforehand, Hero Boogeyman, was an old monster who was at least seventy years old and not the thirties his appearance shows.
Apparently, the aging process slows down significantly when one reaches 9-rings. One can even make themselves look younger if they put in the effort to do so.
It's one of the reasons why the 9-rings is so appealing to many people to the extent they're desperate to reach it at all cost.
Anyway, the Hero Boogeyman is not only one of the strongest people in the organisation, he is also the right-hand man of the Head of the Organisation and his most trusted confidant.
*
Boogeyman went straight to the point. He said some few words about the House of Death, its operations, expectations, rules, punishment and rewards.
None of it was different from what I knew from Navia.
He then went on to explain how the Initiation would work.
Each Initiate would step up and make an oath of allegiance to the organisation on their mana rings. Each person was free to choose their wordings. Anything was okay as long as Boogeyman determined the oath was sufficient.
After taking the oath of allegiance, it would be time to reveal the Initiate's Call name and officially become a member of the organisation.
Then, the now true member would declare their path within the organisation. Do they want to be a broker or an agent?
The brokers at the venue would then make offers to those who choose to be Agents.
Interestingly, Agents who already have brokers could jump ship at this event without repercussions. It would be seen as the previous broker's fault if another broker offers them a better deal.
-
To be honest, having a Hero preside over the initiation was a dirty but effective move from the organisation. And it showed almost immediately.
One after another, each of the Initiates stepped forward.
When each of them gave their oath of allegiance, they swore oaths which effectively bound them to the organisation.
The organisation didn't prepare a tight contract they forced each initiate to swear, but the presence of the Hero made the situation no different from doing that.
This was likely the first time any of the initiates had met such an exalted figure. How dare they not make an oath as tight as possible, out of fear of agreeing a Hero or to please him.
Too bad, none of them got anything of note from the man.
On a side note, only one of the Initiates chose to be a broker. Interestingly, he was the ringleader and instigator of the idiots who spilled everything about themselves.
Seeing how he got those idiots to reveal information about themselves, I believe he'll do well as a broker.
About five of the initiates accepted the offer to join him.
I shook my head inwardly. Young calf does not fear the lion. They had no idea what kind of a cruel world they entered.
Well, it was none of my business. I was the last initiate left.
Under the watchful eyes of all the agents, brokers, recruiters and the Boogeyman himself, I stepped up to make my oath.
(To be continued...)