Chapter 7: A Goal [Part 3]

In the shadows across from [The Last Barrel], two specters stood as they viewed the lively bar. People entered the bar with vigor and left with wobbly steps.

"Are you sure they said my toy would be here?" Asked one of the specters with an annoyed, but oddly seductive hiss.

The other specter shied away unconsciously from the first before grunting in response.

"Argh! I knowz what I heardz." With a bit of anger, the other specter defended itself.

At the words of the second specter, the first seemed to drop the matter before turning its gaze back to the happy little bar.

Again the duo waited in silence until the moon reached the middle of the sky. With no luck in finding their target, the two grew angry though for different reasons.

"Enough of this, I want my plaything now! Vlorg we are going with plan b." With irritation in her voice, Elilne activated her mana to cast her spell.

[Shadow-Port]

Dissolving from the shadows Elilne appeared near the door of the bar. With no one around, she touched the ring on her finger. With a dim light, the ring spat out a dark cloak that Elilne swiftly wore to hide her shapely body.

Once disguised, Elilne entered the bar and made her way to a corner seat hidden in the back. There she waited for the show to begin.

Not long after did the play begin. With a loud crash, a giant orc rushed through the front door tearing it from the wall. The beast caused the building to shake and windows to break as it roared.

The once lively bar grew deathly quiet as all eyes turned toward the ugly beast that had just barged in. Fear grew in their eyes as the orc surveyed the room.

Of course, off in the corner, a beautiful but evil smile appeared under the hooded figure. The giant orc was none other than Vlorg, one of the officers under her command and her partner in tonight's skit.

With another growl, the beast made for the back room. Before it took more than a few steps, the door the beast was heading to swung open and out stepped a woman strapped in leather with a long sword that rested in her arms.

"Who is the fucking retard that is making all the raucous? I am going to..." The warrior chocked on her words as her eyes landed on the large orc that stood before her.

His red eyes bore through her causing her knees to shake and her strength to fade. This was not what she was expecting when she heard the shout. Looking at the bastard in front of her, she could tell he was stronger than her by at least a couple of levels.

Thankfully, she had sent word to the city guards through her city gem, which was a magical gem that connected to the guard headquarters. All one needed to do was imbue it with some mana and a message could be sent. This was an item any smart business would have especially in situations like this.

Gulping Shelline pushed down her fear as best she could, begging her legs to still themselves. Once she gained some of her willpower back, she cleared her throat.

"What is it you want? Why have you destroyed my bar? You better give me a good answer else when the guards arrive the consequence will be dire."

"HAAAHAA!" Vlorg roared with laughter at the tiny human ant before him.

"Youz wish to threaten me... HAAAHAA... Little ant today iz your lazt day alive."

The orc continued to laugh as Shelline gripped her sword tighter.

Sweat dripped while she tried to figure out how to escape. The problem was she could not just leave when there were so many people left. She worried that if she managed to escape they would become the angry orcs next targets.

But what she could not understand was why she was being targeted. Though she could be a bit much, Shelline could not ever remember causing trouble with this orc.

While she ran through many thoughts, the orc ceased its laughter before eyeing the other people.

"Yallz have ten secondz to disappear elze all yallz will die too."

WIth a gust of wind, the bar turned from full to empty in mare seconds.

Though many of the patrons wished to defend the boss none stayed to help, this did not bother Shelline. In fact, she was relieved that they chose to leave. They were only normal citizens with probably the strongest being at level two.

All they would accomplish was finding peace in their final deaths. That was not what Shelline desired to see. Even if she could keep her life, she knew there was no way she would be able to protect all of them and defend against the beast.

Though as the last of her loyal guests and employees exited, neither her nor the orc made a move. This was beneficial to her since it gave the guards more time to reach her. It was not that there were no guards nearby since usually there was, but that Vlorg had chosen the time to strike when the guards were further away.

This gave him ample time to execute the mission and get away without issues. Shelline gripped her sword and moved her body slightly as she readied herself to defend. Yet when she got into position, nothing happened. The orc just glared at her and stood there like a rock.

This unsettled her and caused her to glance around with a suspicion that this was all a setup. Soon her eyes landed on a hooded figure hidden in the corner of her bar. Confused, she wondered if this was a drunk who passed out and was unaware of the danger he was in.

Shelline blinked her eyes in horror as she saw the body melt into the shadows before vanishing. Realizing that she was in bigger trouble than she thought, Shelline began to turn and flee. She was not a mage, but that did not mean she was helpless when it came to escaping.

Mana began to infuse into her legs as she activated her movement skill.

[Inferno Blitz]

The Orc watched as the frightened human activated her skill. From her legs, a soft hue of red appeared as her muscles began to tighten and bulge. Before he could react, she was gone. Left in her wake were two trails of fire that scarred the wooden floor.

Shelline smiled as she passed the dumb brute. The door to freedom was only a few steps in front of her. She was not sure where the other enemy was at, but she had confidence she could escape.

'They thought they could bully me? I am a certified copper member of the adventures guild. Not some random rookie.'

Shelline berated the fools in her head. They most likely thought she was just a regular human that had leveled up over time.

That was their mistake because she was an adventurer, one who reached level five through combat along with gaining a class. She was not someone you could easily bully.

In the next second before reaching the door, the frantic bar owner came to a sudden stop. She would have to swallow her contempt because the one in front of her was obviously stronger than her.

Goosebumps climbed her body as a biting cold stung her nerves. From her neck sat a cold black blade that released an aura of death.

But what truly frightened the bar owner was not the blade but the purr that came after. "Where is my plaything?"

Hearing the chilling voice caused Shelline to almost faint. Never before had she felt death so close. Now not only was it standing in front of her, but it had asked a crazy question. 'What plaything?' Was the only thought that ran through her mind.

Again Jake's luck stat seemed to help him in the most unusual of ways. Though, this was all unknown to him as he slept the night away after another unsuccessful day of job hunting.

Feeling the warm rays of the morning sun on his face, Jake woke from his rest feeling refreshed. The bright light caused him to shield his eyes as he woke up.

When he was alive on Earth, Jake remembered that he was never a morning person. He dreaded waking up when the sun first rose into the sky. Now, he seemed to be fine waking up in the mornings, though he was not really happy about it in the end.

Wanting to sleep in still, Jake had to force himself out of bed. His life was not yet at the point where he could laze about without a care in the world. No, at the present moment he needed to be on the move to ensure he had a future.

With that in mind, Jake readied himself for the day. He needed to find a job today, one that could secure his future and allow him to enjoy the afterlife.

Hours flew by while he hunted for a job and still no results could be seen.

Stopping to eat lunch, Jake watched the crowds of people as they moved through the streets.

As he ate his meager meal which was some type of burger, Jake sighed as he looked at his remaining funds.

'Two silver... Two frackin silver! What am I going to do? Should I sell one of my gems? It could help me with a few more days of expenses. But if I don't find a job after a month, then I will be saying bye to this world already.'

Thoughts floated in Jake's head as he ate his cheaper burger. Different ideas would form before being thrown aside.

While Jake ate, a group of people walked up to the food stall talking out loud as they prepared to order.

"I can't believe that really happened, I mean she was pretty strong and yet she still ended up like that."

"Yep. Dude, it was crazy like super frightening. Thankfully that orc lets us go, but it is sad that Shelline is now missing. I loved her bar."

"Well, if you asked me that crazy woman got what she deserved. Always acting like she was better than us just because she was an adventurer."

"Dude, that is not even cool. She could be dead right now and you are bashing her."

The group kept on talking, but about some other topic. So, he chose to tune out.

Finishing his meal, Jake disappeared into the crowd heading toward his old job.

An hour later Jake stood in front of the bar, though after only a couple of days it had changed a lot.

The door was no longer there for starters along with all the windows being broken. The sign out front was destroyed and from the inside leaked smoke from a past fire.

All in all the building was ruined. Though, what stood out the most was the words on the outside written in blood.

"Oh Jake, my little toy. Come find me in the shadows that are forgotten by the city. Look for the rulers of death that fly high and prey on lost souls. Else my new found toy may lose her head as we play."

Reading the weird riddle Jake felt fear wash over him. He had only been here for less than a month and the only ones he could think of that he pissed off were the Ravens gang.

"Shit!" Cursed Jake before turning around and leaving. There were many people around and some he had worked with. Not wanting anyone to recognize him, he decided to make himself scarce.

'I need to head home and try to figure out what to do next. That crazy lady is probably after me and there is no way I am walking into that trap, but I can't just leave Shelline in danger. She did save my life the other day. Though she is a biscuit eater for firing me, she does not deserve death.'

Walking as fast as he could to get home, he rubbed his head to ease his headache. Thoughts came and went with no answer showing itself to him.

'I need strength. If I had power, none of this would have happened.'

As the thought entered his head an idea began to grow.

"Didn't those people before say something about adventurers?"

Going back over the conversation he heard prior, Jake recalled that the bar owner had been an adventurer.

Jake was not sure what that meant in this world, but from his world in video games and stories, there was always adventurers.

With that idea came a few others, but the most pressing of them all was to find an adventurers guild and make a quest.

With a new plan in mind, Jake made off towards the closest city guard. They knew the city the best and many times Jake had asked them for directions.

Moments later Jake thanked the guard before running off in another direction. He had found that in Spiritborn, which was the name of the city that Jake now called home, there were four adventurer guild headquarters. This was due to how large the city was. Thankfully because of that he was not too far from the east headquarters and could reach the building in half an hour.

Sprinting away, Jake hoped that adventure guilds were the same in stories from home. He also prayed that his plan would work and that his boss could survive long enough.

Determination grew inside of his heart as he ran. No matter what happened after today, Jake knew he needed strength.