Chapter 3: trouble is coming and more

Several weeks later.

*BAM* *BAM* *BAM*

Inside a room decorated with stuffed monsters, A skinny man dressed in a suit and wearing a hockey mask was moving his hands around, almost like he was putting on a puppet show.

*BAM*

Around the man were a bunch of kneeling people that did their darndest not to look up at him as three people at the center of the room were relentlessly hitting each other while yelling out.

*BAM*

"We're sorry, boss! We should've followed your brother-in-law!"

Or something like that, the sounds of their faces getting pummeled and their broken jaws made it hard to tell.

The skinny man was the leader of the golden griffin guild.

His ability allowed him to turn those who worked under him or were weaker than him mana-wise into puppets.

Earning the man the moniker, The puppeteer.

The man was upset because his brother-in-law somehow got a hold of a magic tool and tried raiding a dungeon.

There was no problem with that fact alone.

Hell, Jeremiah, the puppeteer's name, would've been proud.

It was more of a problem that happened after that.

The fool got afflicted by something and turned into a monster.

The three people pummeling each other were supposed to guard and follow Jacob, the name of his brother-in-law, no matter what!

Jeremiah knew that the three idiots shouldn't be blamed for it... b̴̼̠̺̗̖̗͉͒̈̎̆ư̴̓͊͗̄̈́̆͋͘ͅt̸̯͖̜̥̻̜̫͂̐̊͌̽̆͘̚ ̸̱͉͓͆̌i̸̟͙͖̠̱͔̝͓̻̬͖͈̎͌̌̇̇̓̌͛͒̑͘̕͘̚͝t̷̡̍̓́̔͝ ̷̨̤̻̠̹̗̝̤̒h̷̫̳͚̯͖̹͈̻͗́̑́̓̈͝ͅę̵̗̳̐͐̅̐̏͌̀͠ļ̵̪͇͕̘̀̋̕̕͝p̸̳̽͋̊̔̄̂̈́̓́͘͝͝e̶̢̺̪̰̟͓̹̤̅̃̀̿̈́̒́̃ͅd̵̪͕̳͍͕̜̗̖̀́̈́̈́̈͝ͅ ̸͓̞̋̓̈́̿̈́̌͋̃̆̾͗͂̿h̵̛͇̅̋́̈́̀͐́͘̕͘i̵̢̺̲̽̊͗̅̋̄̈̄̅̃̕m̶̫͙̭͉͑̅̋̓͊̈̑͌͗̓̿͗̾ ̷̢̭͚̠̥̳̞̝̞͓̤̻͇͙̂̔̑̆̽̇̀̈́͊͑̽͂͘ͅf̸̨͚̳͈̏̎̉͗e̸̢̪̳̬̥̩̰͓̻̯̪͌́̀e̶̯̜̣͗́͆͐͗̔̓̇̌̎̍̏͂͠͠l̴̨͇̫͍̫͕͔̰̹͚͖͈̈͌̽͜͝ͅ ̸̢̻͙̥̥̥͓̘͎͖̻͠b̸̨͖̗̘̙̖̖̙͍͉͇̙̼̯̈́̾̾̾̀̄͋͑͆̓̑ë̸̼͎͓̄̆̀t̸̡̞̘̩͕̺̬͓͇̹̘̖̞̽̈̑͗̽̍̐̅͜͜͝͠͝͝t̸̝̰͂͂͆̿̀̋͋ḙ̷͉͙͙̫̥̺̫͚̺͙̩͐́̐̎̍̿̚͜ŗ̴̨̼͇̼̠͑̎̈́̄͜~̵͇̲͕͉̱̺̌̅̏͊́̊̌̔̋̍̆̏̌̽͝.̸̫̳͕͍̼͍̓̀͊̕͠

For the slightest embarrassment or humiliation, the man usually took cruel measures to ensure it wouldn't happen again.

Now, he had his people investigate everything Jacob had done or had come across before his disastrous change.

All to satisfy his ego.

Jeremiah had also become interested in a strange shop as the item his brother-in-law procured was a strange needle launcher that used a poison that ate away mana.

But what attracted his attention was the test results showed that the poison couldn't be identified, which usually meant a new hidden dungeon or the maker was someone with incredible skills.

"Beast R Us, huh?"

The man stifled a chuckle from reading the name of the store.

What kind of naming sense is that?

But... One of his subordinates also mentioned something about it before going missing... was this a coincidence?

Or was he missing something?

Regardless, the artifacts from the shop certainly garnered his attention, especially the two particular items now being used by a boy named Milch Dalton.

A strange kid was showing the physical prowess of a peak D-rank fighter despite his only skill being the lowest-ranked ability of a mage.

Maybe his file was faked to let him venture to the dungeons alone.

The cheeky bastard was already raking in some good profits, and the brat also seemed rather suspicious.

"Having the ability to detect monsters and having a large boost in strength? Such items should belong to MY guild."

He thought about it for a moment before relaying an order.

"Norah, gather two squads, do the usual, and bring the boy to me. I want to hear more about his items and the shop his siblings are working at."

A woman dressed like a sexualized bard nodded before leaving the room.

Honestly, for a man like Jeremiah, this man had multiple wives and lovers.

He had already killed Jacob's sister out of irritation since the girl went ballistic from her brother, suddenly becoming a monster and having to be put down.

But now, Jeremiah was looking at the picture of someone he had considered too much trouble to get due to her 'illness' that his allies had forced upon her.

However, since it was already taken care of, she should be ripe for the picking.

Delilah Dalton, Daughter of the red-maned Monk, a pity that her family had fallen from grace, but she should be fun to keep around~.

He had wanted to sample the daughter of that damned monk just out of spite, but now that she's relatively healthy, an evil smile bloomed behind the mask.

He planned to get her younger sister after using the brother to lure her into his guild and then go from there.

Jeremiah was looking forward to seeing her squirm under him!

---------------------------------------

Delilah sat at the store counter with her little sister fast asleep on her lap, combing her fingers through the little girl's hair.

She considered a moment of peace and quiet a rare luxury in the current state of the world.

Her hand lightly caressed Hope's head while the little girl tried snuggling even more with her sister.

A smile bloomed on her face as Delilah felt thankful to her current employer and benefactor, who seemed to spend more time underground.

For some reason, the strange man had also provided them with several magic tools and golems.

Was he that worried about their safety?

The girl chuckled, thinking that might as well be the case since the number of them could make any high-tiered guild go bankrupt.

Delilah felt fond of the man working daily to help many people and selling such powerful tools at low prices.

The man even tried giving her brother more tools, but since Milch was as stubborn as an ox when he decided on something, her brother rejected all of the additional offers despite the insistence of the shopkeeper.

This caused her to feel compelled to do as much as possible for Alex.

Even Hope felt exhausted from pulling in so many customers and her other activities to help them.

*BOOM*

The store shook briefly from the muffled explosion underneath the store before Delilah sighed.

"Another failed creation again."

The shop shook every now and then due to a magic tool failing to stabilize.

The girl began counting down from the number nine, then when it reached zero, the sound of coughing was heard before Alex, who was covered in soot, passed through a door leading to the basement with a trail of smoke following him.

"*Bleurgh* *cough* shouldn't have used a griffin's feather to act as the catalyst!"

Alex softly complained, noticing Hope was asleep in her sister's lap again.

"How many times does that make this week?"

Delilah asked while caressing her sister.

The woman didn't raise her eyes at him, but that Inquiry made the man freeze.

Alex grimaced at the question before replying while not meeting her eyes.

"Uh, eleven-ish?"

She then raised her eyes to look at him with a cocked eyebrow, making an awkward silence linger within the room.

Alex resisted the pressure, only to make Delilah sigh dramatically at her eccentric employer's childish actions.

The number of explosions was several times more than stated, but the girl decided to let it be.

Alex's coffers seemed endless, and the store gradually expanded due to the influx of customers paying attention to his wares.

Despite how the man seemed in her eyes at the moment, she didn't buy his childish actions.

After being around the man for over a couple of months, she had a chance to see what happens to those who tried harming her and hope whenever he was in the vicinity.

Alex was a very accomplished mage, so much so that one of the local guild masters treated the man with fear and awe.

Too bad it wasn't the turkeys led by that masked prick that her father loathed, or she'd laugh her ass off!

But right now, she was worried about one thing.

What is taking her brother so long?

------------------------------------------------------------------

A young man with a long gash across his chest was running through the alleyways in a stumbling manner as more people who wanted to kill him for his artifacts chased him.

"Mana bolt!"

The spell flew at an arc, slamming into the face of one of his assailants, eliciting a pained cry before the man fell to the ground as several of the victim's allies failed to stop in time to avoid stepping on him.

A curse from an armor-clad individual followed an audible crunch.

After seeing what Alex could do with a single mana bolt, Milch had practiced making it move as he wished.

Milch continued to run as he knew that these bastards wouldn't stop until they killed him or if the authorities happened nearby.

It was hard to breathe, with a few ribs cracked, and a collar bone fractured. These were injuries from a sneak attack straight after he left the dungeon.

This was the damage after the bracer blocked a warrior's mana-infused skill!

These thieves were much more skilled than the common troublemakers he had been dealing with.

But that was the price he had to pay for being a solo adventurer, and when greed gets the best of someone.

A whistling projectile was soon heard, but his bracer took the brunt, using up the last block charge of the item, making Milch curse inwardly at how bad things were getting.

However, this shot was several times stronger than what the archer of his assailants had fired at him earlier.

This caused Milch to smack himself on the back of the head hard enough to see a few stars with the bracer as he stumbled and nearly headbutted a wall while passing a corner with a spin!

He didn't have time to think as three more projectiles of the same amount of power came flying at him!

So, the young man tried doing a barrel roll despite the pain before crashing into a few trash bins.

Milch grunted before looking toward his pursuers, only to see a bunch of corpses that seemed to have been pelted down with magical attacks.

But he knew better than to stay there.

Someone else joined in the hunt, leaving no signs of themselves to show if they were allies, thus, being someone who had seen what humans could do when greed comes into play.

Milch resumed his run despite the pain in his chest.

Or at least, he tried to.

"ARRRRGGGH-"

A sharp burning sensation traveled through his legs as the man yelled in pain, only to be silenced with a heavy blow to the face that made his head bounce off the ground!

Breathing became even harder for him as that attack broke his nose, and blood oozed out while a large man loomed over him.

"Target is down, awaiting extraction."

Milch was about to try his luck getting up, only to realize his next problem.

Both calves had a dagger stuck in them, and with the bluish solution that dripped from the tip that peeked out, it was safe to say it had some poison.

The lack of motor function meant some motor-blocking poison, as the pain was still there!

Another person was dressed like an assassin beside Milch, lightly pushing against his neck with a spiked gauntlet.

As the feminine voice whispered with a cold tone.

"Don't make any sudden moves, handsome. I'd rather not kill a good eye candy if I can help it."

"Viper, if you want a taste of him, you'll only have 20 minutes to do so."

The large man stated before heading toward the corpses while licking his lips and adding.

"So, make the best of it."

Viper's partner showed a devious smile as his eyes landed on the female corpse of one of Milch's pursuers.

Viper giggled before pulling a vial filled with questionable fluids.

She seemed sensual, erotic, and devious, but the assassin had no intention of raping the young man.

The twenty minutes allowed her time to test out her new poisons.

Only when her concoctions dripped on the belt did something completely unexpected happen as a reptilian eye opened on contact.

--------------------------------------------

While the seemingly serious and large man had already stripped the female corpse completely naked, he sat in a corner with it on his lap, ready to fill it with 'something' before the extraction team arrived.

His work name was Ravenous, a B-ranked skill holder just like his partner, and given the man's actions toward the corpse, it should be obvious.

He was a necrophiliac.

*GUEH!* *BAM*

However, his usual antics were cut short as a pained wail reverberated, and Viper was sent crashing into a wall near him.

Blood seeped out and started to form a puddle around her!

Then a low bestial growl was heard before something dripped on him.

He didn't get a chance to comprehend what had happened to his partner.

The man slowly looked up and clamped up at what he saw.

A strange lizard that looked like it was made of high-quality leather and was partially see-through.

But the strange thing about it was how it seemed to have injuries on its hind legs, that bracer, belt, and its face that was regenerating, just like their target.

Then something dawned on the hired thug as the creature started to hiss slowly, and its mouth partially opened.

It was getting ready to attack.

He failed to notice the light blue wisps pulled out of his body.

But Ravenous was thinking about the informants and client leaving out some important details again.

The man could only utter one word before the strange beast clamped its jaws shut on his head.

"Fuck."

It didn't kill him quite yet, but his muffled screams continued as the man tried firing a few spells.

However, that was a futile endeavor, as the damned monster was siphoning all of his mana away at an incredible rate!

Thus the man could only mentally curse the people who gave him and his partner this job.

"Damned Golden Grif-"

The monster's teeth crush the man's neck, finally ending the life of Ravenous.

"Team one's eta 19 minutes, Make sure the target is alive!"

The person Ravenous talked to through the communication device added that sentence and hung up, while the person he was trying to talk to was turned into a crunchy meal, as they were unaware of the dangers that awaited them.

The first transformation usually leaves the victim unable to recall their past and in a near-starving state.

So, with so many corpses lying around, it wouldn't leave for a while.

Meanwhile, a certain doppelganger contemplated restoring the boy's ego or returning him to his original state.

Decisions. decisions.