Chapter Thirty Three

"Looks like Rukil was worth something after all." Kylie looked at her phone. Her lips turned up into a smile as she saw her old friend inside an instanced home. She thanked whatever god was watching out for her for having him send a friend request to her when she had just become a member of the guild. Her limited brain from back then had at least done something right, even if for different reasons.

Rukil had been out of the guild for little over a two months now. She couldn't help but check up on him from time to time, like an itch that needed to be scratched. It was a way for her to stave off boredom, smiling as she saw him in the alley, fighting wolves just to get by. Somewhere deep down, she had always disliked the man. He'd always tried to lord himself over her, as if he were more important. She hated that older brother shit. She needed herself and that was it. Anything else could be obtained through leveling up both in herself and her guild status, no matter what it took. That was one thing he never understood. Power was what mattered most in this world. He wanted to play it safe, which ensured a life of mediocrity.

She knew that Rukil didn't have the funds necessary to get a house of his own. He usually spent his meager check on rent, as well as on food and other necessities. The lower one was in the guild, the less money they'd get, and she knew he didn't go out hunting for beasts as much as he should. The only other levelers the man knew were in the guild, and since he was blacklisted from returning, the only other person it could be was the man they were after.

Kylie checked his location through the app. Since they were friends, she was able to see the home itself and the security type of the instance. As she looked, a throaty chuckle rose as she saw what she was expecting.

'Home: Jason Reese

Security Setting: Friends and Friends of Friends welcome.'

She clicked on the home just to be sure, and a prompt popped up, asking if she'd wish to travel.

Kylie's finger hovered over yes for a moment. She knew Jason was low level due to being brand new to Mage's Academy. It could be that her old friend needed allies, so he aligned himself with the kid, but that was unlikely. After his recent shame, she doubted he'd go to him cap in hand. That only left the new leveler inviting Rukil to his home. It could be to get information on the guild. If that were the case, maybe he was thinking he could join later when he learned more. When he learned of the wide reach of the Blood Pact, he might just decide to come in on his own.

Whether he was planning on coming in on his own or not, she still decided to go to the home. If she could be the one to bring him in, maybe the newest promotion she had received could be her old position instead. She smiled at the possibility of being able to use the dungeons after becoming a blood acolyte. As of now, she was put in the position of head hunter. It was the highest tier in the lower positions, just above recruit. Only Acolytes and above were able to use the dungeon. After she received the promotion, she'd get one full dungeon run per month. With that, she could see herself getting to level thirty within the next month without even needing to perform her daily sacrifice.

She grimaced at her latest sacrifice. It seemed there was a cap to the experience she could receive from killing the old man. She was now only getting two hundred experience a day, which wasn't bad, but it wasn't enough to bring her up past level twenty. "Useless cattle." She spat a curse at him. Before, he had been docile as a pig led to the slaughter, but lately he'd been calling out, asking where Rukil had gone. "As if cattle could as questions." She had said to him before slicing off his head.

Kylie got off of her office chair and went to the window. She looked out over the lavish gardens of the mansion she was stationed in. New York truly had some beautiful real estate, as long as you knew a decent corporation that could put you up. Since she had been recognized for her talent in torture, she had gotten quite a bit of favor with her boss. She looked down at her phone once again, a giddiness overcame her as she pressed 'yes' on the prompt.

Her vision darkened and she felt herself leave the mansion and travel within the void. When her vision cleared, she stood in a dark room. Pushing mana into her eyes, she activated mana vision and looked around. At first, she thought that she had entered the home in its night cycle, but then she took in her surroundings.

"Hey, kid." A familiar voice sounded from a wall over. "I was wondering how long it'd take you to try this." Rukil opened a slate in a solid wall. Light flooded in from the small hole and Kylie got a view of her old friend's eyes.

"Really cute." Kylie said as she accessed her phone. "I can just leave the instance whenever I want you know." She looked down at her device and clicked 'exit.'

'Locked instance'

'Must gain permission to leave by instance owner.'

"Yeah, you might want to read the fine print before doing something so reckless." He said. She could almost see him scratching his head in that annoying way he did whenever he was sarcastic.

"I'll just let the guild know that I've been taken. Good luck ever stepping foot outside this house again!" She snarled.

"That might work. If communication outside wasn't cut off too. Didn't you know? We're in a conference right now and can't be bothered by outside interference." He chuckled lightly. "Face it, kid. You're stuck here."

"I dare you to let me out and call me kid again! Don't forget who your betters are, you failure!" She nearly screamed the last few words. Her patience had run out, now she wanted blood.

"Fine then." Rukil closed the slate in the wall. Kylie was once again bathed in darkness. She thought for a moment that he had left, but then a door opened where the slate disappeared. It was a gate type door. It rose slowly, revealing her old friend slowly. By the time his head appeared, she launched herself forward. Her new steel sword sprang from her inventory. The moment she grabbed hold of the handle of the blade, she slashed it in a downward arch. She'd cut this bastard in half, from top to bottom!

Rukil looked at the blade with a lazy glance. Before her sword connected, she saw a smile play on his lips, which only infuriated her more. She put all of her strength into the blow, hoping to make some damage to the room to add to her vengeance for her arrival. As soon as she was done with this clown, she'd find Jason and drag him out of here, whether he had his limbs or not was up to him.

She completed the slash, feeling no resistance. Just as she thought. He was still the weakling he was before he left. She couldn't wait for him to respawn, she'd make sport out of killing him. Maybe even leave a pile of his corpses in the room that was meant for hers.

"Done daydreaming yet?"

"What?" Kylie looked up and met Rukil's eyes. Her heart nearly leapt from her throat as she saw his hand holding the blade of her sword. She took a few steps back, trying to distance herself from him. She then looked down at her sword and realized she only held the handle with an inch of blade remaining.

"Yeah, you were tough before." He said as he dropped the blade he had snatched from her. "But I got stronger."

"It's been two months!" She shook her head, not willing to accept what she was seeing. "You left with your tail between your legs two months ago! I saw you in the alley. Every day. This isn't possible." She glared at him, as if her words alone would dispel what she saw.

"Well, that was three weeks ago." He looked thoughtfully at his phone. "That means twelve weeks ago, right?" His eyebrows popped up. "Wow, how time flies. Anyways, unless you've somehow become higher than level fifty within a month, I'd keep my cool if I were you. Though I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to throw yourself at me a bit more. You might get a strength and stamina stat or two."

"You bastard! All high and mighty about selling your soul when you left. How the hell did you get level fifty?!"

"Yeah, you sold your soul alright." His eyes turned hard. "I could have been next, if I didn't meet up with Jason after. There were times within that week I had almost flirted with the idea of coming back and completing that task."

"How did you do it?" She shook her head. This defied all logic! Was it a hidden quest? Did she miss something?

"I trusted someone, and now I'm able to help him in return. We'll build strength together, then topple the corporation from the inside out."

"So, you and that newbie are going to take down the blood pact?"

"Yeah, he's not that new anymore." He chuckled at a joke only he knew. He placed a hand on a panel outside of the door, which started shutting. "You'll meet him soon enough, until then try to get some rest."

Kylie launched herself at the door, trying to catch the bottom before it closed and was rewarded with a gust of wind, forcing her back a few steps.

"None of that, now." He tsked. "Behave, I'm going to get back to my level grinding now." He left, leaving a screaming Kylie in a cell.