Dish washing has leveled up!
Dishwashing Lvl 86 Exp: 0%
Stains now remove 90% easier. Dishes are 60% harder to stain for up to 10 hours after being washed. Will sparkle in the right lighting.
Allen blinked at the sudden influx of information before it quickly faded to the back of his mind. After two weeks of working full time as a dishwasher, he leveled it up nicely. The buffs made his job a hundred times easier and with the help of the dishwasher, he barely did anything. Now he just wiped the dish once with a sponge and BOOM! The stain was gone!
The one drawback was that the work was so easy, it was mindbogglingly boring.
Allen sighed as he put the last plate on the rack before sending it through the dishwasher. He didn't hate the job, he just couldn't stand the monotomous of it. It felt like hours passed for every minute the clock ticked by. For eight hours, every day, he stood in the same place, washed the same dishes, made the same small talk with the kitchen staff until it got busy. Then it got busy for a couple of hours and when it slowed down, his shift ended.
Then Junior would catch him before he left. Thankfully the questions about his past had died down after a couple of days. Now the theme of them was 'what are you going to do now?'
Thing was, Allen didn't have a bloody clue.
He was in a completely different universe.
It took him days to accept that fact. After he looked up at the shattered moon, he blew off sleep and B-lined for some kind of information source. His phone didn't have a signal, neither for wifi, so he was stuck with traditional methods.
He went to a library and grabbed the first history book that he saw.
Absolutely none of it had anything to do with England, Europe, the west, or earth in general. It was full of faunus wars, Grimm, and other nonsense. So, thinking that it was a work of fiction, he grabbed another book and it was full of the same crap. So was the next. And the one after that. And the one after that, all the way until he got kicked out of the library for being a disturbance.
He was in a different universe. Allen thought nothing could trump the unbelievableness of coming back to life as a game character, but apparently he was wrong. Very, very, very, very wrong.
He still didn't accept it, not fully. However, he had resigned himself to the fact that there simply wasn't anything that he could do. The only ways he could possibly get home was to either find someone that had access to a multidimensional portal or create a skill that allowed him to jump universes until he found his own.
Each had their own problems.
So, he pushed his problems, concerns and fears to the dark corners of his mind. Even with Gamer Mind keeping him calm so he could think them through, he just...he just didn't want to accept that harsh truth.
Then he grieved. He grieved for his father. His sister. His friends. His old life...because he knew that he wouldn't see them again, at least not anytime soon. From where he was, they all seemed so impossibly far away that they might as well be dead to him. Odds were that he was already dead to them.
All the while he grieved and rejected, Gamer Mind played a crucial role. Normally, Allen would be too depressed to do, well, anything. He would sit at home and mope until something snapped him out of it, or his family gave him a much-needed kick in the butt.
Now, however, he couldn't afford that and Gamer Mind kept him calm enough for him to know it. Where would he sleep? Live? How would he eat? What about new clothes? With what money? What about a job? School? How could he become a citizen if there were no records of him ever existing?
What did he do now?
It was only thanks to Gamer Mind that he managed to pull himself together enough to go back to Junior and take him up on the job that he offered. Naturally, that lead to some questions about his sudden change in plans. He prepared a few lies but he knew that they wouldn't hold up if Junior put him on blast. However, it turned out that he didn't need to.
Junior already imagined a background for him thanks to his vague answers and accent. Junior thought he was from outside the four kingdoms, from village or something, that tried to make it in the big city. He fell in with the wrong crowd and got whacked when he got over his head. However, the execution didn't take and now he was lost and alone in the kingdom of Vale since he couldn't go back to the gang or his family, else they'd finish the job. The story was vague, just like his answers were, but Allen made absolutely no move to correct him and silently committed the story to memory.
After that, Junior offered him a job as a full-time dishwasher at a decent wage and Allen accepted. He used his first paycheck to rent out a studio apartment in a seedy part of town and most of the second went to keeping that apartment running while the rest was used for food and new clothes. Well, new to him at least. He was hoping that his third would leave him with enough left over to start building up a safety fund in case something happened, but bills were expensive, so he didn't have high hopes.
'I need to find another job,' Allen thought to himself as he worked on autopilot. It would be a bit difficult, considering that he worked the night shifts, so working anything with a morning shift would just wear him out after a few days. 'I think Dust Till Dawn was hiring...'
"Walker," Allen was broken out of his thoughts when he heard and saw that Melanie was standing at the doorway to the dish pit. Her richly made white dress stuck out in the room, especially considering he was wearing what he grabbed out of a bargain bin. Even after two weeks, it still struck him how beautiful she was, both her and her sister. They were absolutely stunning.
They were close to. He never saw one without the other for very long. They shared food, finished each other's sentences, wore similar clothing and communicated with looks. Melanie was the quieter one between them, often letting her sister be the front while she offered commentary. They even shared a personality.
A bitchy one.
Maybe it was just because he might as well be a peasant before the queens, but they looked down at him. Or any guy that didn't meet their ridiculously high standards for men; which meant that they looked down on every guy because dear lord, their standards were ridiculous. Girls too, now that he thought about it.
"Junior wants to speak to you," she said curtly before she stamped out of the room, a sway in her hips. Allen would deny that his eyes were glued to her rear as he followed along behind her. Seconds later, they stepped into the main room and Allen saw that it was packed. It should be expected, it was a Friday night after all, but since Allen spent his time in the dish pit during the busy hours, it was a sight to see.
Music blared, lights flashed and it seemed like everyone in the city was crammed on the dance floor to create a violent sea of moving colors. In the split second that he took in to admire the scene, Melanie plunged into the crowd, making them part like the red sea as she sauntered through. Allen swore to himself as he saw the back of her head vanish in a wall of moving bodies before he dove in.
It was a mad house. People jumped all over him, pushed him forward, backward and to the sides. Girls and Allen was sure at least one guy, grinned on him, trying to get him to dance. Under any other circumstance, Allen would have been glad to oblige them, but he didn't think it was a good idea to keep his boss waiting so he just pushed on through.
It was minutes before he made it out on the other side, and somewhere along the line, a drink was placed in his hand and streaks of makeup covered his jacket from forcing his way through. Allen looked down at himself in exasperation before he began walking up the stairs to Junior's office. When he reached the top of the stairs, he was greeted by the disapproving stares of the Malachite sisters and he suppressed a sigh.
"Ladies," he said, not making eye contact, else they would bite his head off. He still saw Melanie gestured for him to enter.
After Allen stepped inside and closed the door, the sounds of music and people screaming to talk to each other disappeared. He saw that Junior was sitting behind his desk, a glass of scotch in his hand as the other gestured for him to take a seat.
Allen did his best to ignore the rocket launcher that was next to the man.
"Allen! Ah, don't look so nervous, she's here just in case someone gets past the girls." Junior said, giving his weapon of choice a pat as Allen sat down, letting out a breath of relief.
"You wanted to see me, sir?" Allen asked, wondering what it could be about.
"I did," Junior began, leaning his elbows on the table. Allen felt nervous at the move, "recently, an associate of mine has hired out a lot of my guys. Enough that I'm a little short-handed and having some difficulty hiring out muscle for my other associates." Junior continued and Allen felt nervous for every different reasons.
Junior was a criminal. A high-class one. He bought and sold information and the muscle that worked for him. Allen didn't know if he had his fingers in more pies than that, but so far that seemed to be the extent of it.
Putting that, and the direction this conversation was going along with all those pokes about his past and future, Allen could figure out why he was called up here.
"You already figured it out!" Junior said with a grin, seeing the surprise in Allen's eyes. "Are you interested? I can promise you that the pays better, at least twice as much as you make now. Maybe a hundred times as much depends on who hires you." Junior said, nodding his head at Allen. Or, to be more precise, his clothes. It almost pained him to see one of his employees in such shabby threads.
Allen paused and honestly considered the offer. While Junior wasn't a blue collar criminal, the same couldn't be said for all the other criminals out there. He could do all kinds of work; stealing, drug dealing, maybe even killing. Who knows.
He never considered becoming a criminal before, not until he sat in his seat and pondered the offer.
The thing was, Allen wasn't seeing a whole lot of reasons not to accept. He was already struggling to keep his head above water working full time with only basic bills to pay. The idea of working less but earning more really struck a cord in the teenager's chest. Plus, with a wider variety of jobs, the better chances of getting good jobs that not only paid big in money but Exp as well.
Even after two weeks, he still hadn't leveled up yet. The only quests he got that entire time was to work, which gave him so little EXP that he would have to work for another week before he finally hit level 2. Heck, he hadn't even manage to increase his stats by preforming some mundane task. What's more, it would offer him a chance to create more skills that could be useful. Gamer Mind already gave him a major edge, the biggest risk with newbie criminal was that panic, fear, or whatever that made you slip up and get caught.
Which lead him to the biggest con to becoming a criminal. Prison. Allen was young and he didn't fancy spending the rest of his teenage years, and possibly his adult years, behind bars.
However, as Allen mulled the offer over, weighing the pros and the cons, he came to a conclusion.
All he had to do to avoid going to prison was just to not get caught.
"Okay. Yeah, I'll do it...and based off that smile of yours, I'm guessing you already have a job lined up?" Allen asked, sounding amused at the megawatt smile Junior had. Little did he know, Junior had taken a liking to Allen. Not just for his mysterious background, but because he had the single most important talent that any good criminal needed.
Allen knew how to lie.
He kept a nugget of truth in his lies, kept them vague, and kept track of them. He knew how to misdirect, knew when to go along with a lie and he knew when and how he should lie. Allen wasn't the best at it but he would get better at it with time.
Like when he dangled that sham of a back story in front of him, Allen just shrugged his shoulders a few times and gave vague responses. Not once did he ever confirm his back story, simply letting him believe that it was the truth. He was giving himself plenty of room to work with, in case he ever slipped up or contradicted himself in the future. He also had an excellent poker face; it could use some improvement, but it was good enough that most wouldn't be able to tell what he was thinking unless they were paying attention.
While Junior still wanted to know the who, what, when, where and why of Allen Walker, he was now far more interested in the kids talent as an underling. If he proved himself, Junior would even consider making him his right hand. He was already a cut above most of the idiots that worked under him.
"Got it in one. It's a drug deal at the docks. Mr. Azure, my associate, is making a deal with one of the criminal families on Mistrel. Not sure which one, but a few birdies told me that it was the Cinnabar family. They're a minor criminal family in Mistrel, but they've been getting bigger as they get more involved in the drug trade over there, so it's not a real surprise that Azure wants to do business with them. His gang wants to do the same thing here, and they're real small. I'm not sure why he's hiring my guys, though; either he doesn't trust his gang enough not to fuck it up or they just aren't up to snuff." Junior began explaining and Allen nodded, making sure to memorize the important bits.
"You'll be one of his bodyguards during the deal, along with three others. If the deal goes south, you protect Mr. Azure with your life. However, if he's the one that starts the fight, you take a step back and leave him to his fate. If you can, secure the money but don't step on the family's toes, you'll get your fee either way."
Allen nodded, showing that he was following along. He felt nervousness bubbling up in his chest but he paid it no mind.
"The deals going down tomorrow, so I need an answer now. Are you in?"
A quest had been created!
Protect Mr. Azure during the drug deal.
Main objective- protect Mr. Azure from threats during the drug deal.
Additional objectives:
(hidden)
(hidden)
(hidden)
Rewards: 5,000 lien. Handgun. Suit. 2,000 Exp. Increase trust with Junior.
Failures: decreased trust with Junior, death or dismemberment.
Refusals: greatly decrease trust with Junior.
Do you accept?
Allen's first instinct was to deny the quest. Basic game logic dictated that the bigger the reward, the bigger the challenge to earn it. However, his second instinct was to consider the numbers.
For a comparison, Allen made roughly a thousand lien working two weeks as a dishwasher. As for Exp, each dish washing quest gave him 25 Exp.
The difference was night and day. Based on numbers alone, this quest was going to be hundreds of times more difficult than being a dishwasher. That made sense, though; so, Allen wondered if that the only reason the numbers seemed so inflated was because he's only earned pennies so far.
Now what worried him were those hidden objectives. While they could be nothing special; it was a common game mechanic, one that meant bigger rewards if he managed to complete them, Allen was wary. He was slowly becoming a pessimist when it came to his luck and when coupled with those failure consequences...
The only reason Allen didn't just laugh the offer away was simply because of the refusal consequence. Allen liked Junior and him losing trust wouldn't just make his life difficult, it would be like a friend losing trust in him. It would also look really bad if he refused the first job that was offered him; it may ruin the opportunity.
Allen struggled for a moment before he let out a soft sigh. "Yeah, I'll do it," he said in a resigned tone. If it came right down to it, Allen would run if he thought he was going to die. Money, EXP, trust be damned; they weren't worth his life. However, he would give it a shot and hope that the job would go without a hitch and the hidden objectives would be something that he could handle; failing that, he would just fail them.
"Great!" Junior exclaimed before he reached into his desk drawer and pulled something out. When he handed it to Allen, he realized that it was a gun. Allen never had much interest in guns, so he used Observe on the weapon to figure out what it was.
9mm handgun.
An unregistered gun.
Allen resisted the urge to sigh at the lack of any information that he could actually use. Observe was a useful ability on paper, but until he leveled it up, it was just a useless sk-
Observe has leveled up!
More detailed information is now available.
Allen glared at the screen, though to Junior it looked like Allen was glaring at the handgun.
"I know it doesn't have much in the way of stopping power, but I'm guessing that you don't have much experience with guns?" Junior asked and Allen nodded absentmindedly, getting a feel for the weapon. It was heavier than he was expecting, so, out of curiosity and because he leveled the skill up, he used Observe again.
A 9mm handgun.
An unregistered handgun. Holds up to 12 dust rounds.
Allen frowned in thought. Dust was one of the things that this world had that his old one didn't. He didn't have much contact with it, he was too poor to buy most dust products and the few around the club looked like they could have run on batteries.
He tried to read up on it, but all of it went way over his head. Apparently it replaced gunpowder, while at the same time serving as the world's go-to energy source. It had to be mined, so Allen tried to think of it as very fancy coal, but the comparison didn't even begin to cover what dust was. A single dust crystal could power a car while a pinch of the same substance could be used for a bullet. Allen knew he would have to invest some points into intelligence to actually understand what dust was.
It also didn't help that he was freaking out about being in a different universe when he read about it.
"Thank you," Allen said, stuffing the gun into his jacket pocket. "I hope I don't have to use it," he added and Junior smiled widely in response. It was nice to see that one of his employees still wanted for a job to go over smoothly right after getting their first gun instead of wanting to use it. It happened far, far, far too rarely.
"But," Junior said when Allen made to stand up, thinking they were done. "That's not all." Junior leaned back and opened up one of his drawers, Allen heard some rummaging and his curiosity got the better of him so he stood on his tippy-toes. He caught a glimps of a drawer filled with...cell phones?
"Here," he said, "take that scroll. It should have my number on it in case you need it," he added and Allen looked at the contraption. He saw the seam and pulled it apart, he managed to keep the suprise off his face when he saw some kind of hologram that appeared in between the two thin rods that were attached to the thicker pieces.
"And I'v saved the best for last," Junior continued, stopping Allen from thinking about it, before he stood up. He walked to a coat rack and grabbed a closed cover before he handed it to Allen. Allen didn't even need to unzip it to know what was inside.
"I can't have one of my boys dressed in...that," Junior said, not even trying to hide his disgust for Allen's clothing. It seemed a bit much; it was just a used black jacket with some used jean. Perhaps it was because they weren't brand names...or maybe it was the holes? Holes were sylish, right?
Allen didn't really care, he was too busy unzipping the cover and admiring his first suit. He noticed the difference between his and all normal style for Junior's guys. His suit was the normal black with a red tie, but he had a white dress shirt instead. Like Juniors.
Allen glanced at Junior but the man only grinned in response.
"Go on, try it on." Junior urged, pointing to his personal bathroom. Allen swallowed his questions and walked to the bathroom, wasting no time to put the suit on.
The transformation was stunning. He barely looked like the same person. The midnight black suit fitted him perfectly, it was tight enough to outline his body but loose enough that it didn't impede his movement. The fabric was smooth and soft to the touch instead of the stiffness that Allen associated with suits. He couldn't even guess how much it cost to have a custom made suit of this quality.
Allen ran over his reflection in the full-length mirror that Junior kept in his bathroom. The only traits he recognized were his grayish blue eyes and his mop of black hair. He scrutinized every detail, committing the sight to memory before his eyes caught something out of place.
He leaned in and grabbed a long white-no. It was a gray hair. A light gray hair but a gray one nonetheless.
Allen frowned, 'guess I've been stressing too much lately,' he concluded. He heard about graying early, but he never thought it would happen to him. Then again, that was before he had become a game character after he was killed and transported to a different universe. Oh, and before he joined a criminal organization.
Allen let out a humorless chuckle. "My life's gotten weird," he said to himself before he took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then he stepped outside and made a show of his new appearance with the expression that asked for opinions.
Junior grinned before he pressed a button on his chair. Not even a second later, Melanie and Miltiades burst into the room, weapons at the ready. They scanned the room in an instant for threats, but their eyes were caught on Allen, who was still shocked by the door being all but kicked down.
There was a long silence; the Malachite sisters staring at him, Allen feeling uncomfortable, and Junior grinning like a fool.
"Hmph. Dressing him up nicely doesn't mean a thing if the contents are still garbage." Miltiades commented with a huff. Her sister nodded in agreement, turning her nose up at him.
"Ouch," Allen commented but was otherwise unaffected by the insult. He turned to Junior, "but she said I'm dressed up nicely. I feel all warm inside," he said in a stage whisper, cupping his hand over the side of his mouth. Junior laughed while Miltiades was doing her best to kill him with her glare.
"Now, if there's nothing else, I'm going to learn how to not shoot myself in the foot," Allen announced, getting an agreeing nod from Junior and him telling him about a shooting range not too far away. He strode to the exit of the room, his expensive black dress shoes clacking with confidence. Perhaps it was the suit going to his head, but when he passed both Melanie and Miltiades, who stepped to the same side to let him out, he gave them both a cheeky grin and a wink.
"Ladies," he said as he strode out of the room, ignoring their death glare.
…
Pistols Lvl 15 Exp: 65%Use of hand held guns of any caliber.
'It's not bad, I guess.' Allen thought as he looked at the window. Unlike with dishwasher, as he leveled up pistols, he didn't receive any buffs. The gun felt more comfortable in his hand now and he was reasonably sure he wasn't going to shoot himself in the foot anymore due to incompetence. It still wasn't natural, a little awkward, a little stiff, but he could hit what he was aiming at if he took his time. Or at least close to it.
Either way, it would have to do because he was meeting the client right now.
After giving his appearance one last check, Allen opened the door to Juniors office. Junior was behind his desk, the Malachite sisters stood behind him, so, the man sitting in the chair must be the client.
-Azure-
13
Aspirer
He had deeply tanned skin and curly black hair that he greased back. He wore a pinstripe suit with a, ironically, azure colored dress shirt. He seemed to be in his early thirties or late twenties. His brown eyes snapped to him as he entered before they narrowed.
"He's a child," Azure snapped at Junior. "I'm paying you for protection and my bodyguard is a child that can't even shave yet?" He demanded, sounding frustrated. While Allen was annoyed with the insults, he didn't let them bother him.
If he was setting up a drug deal then he would want a big, mean, scary looking dude instead of him too.
"Yes," Junior said simply and held up a hand when Azure went to snap at him. "Allen's young but he's one of our best. He'll protect you, if you need it, or die trying." Junior reassured and Allen had to stop a smile that threatened to break out on his face. If only he knew that this was his first job...
Azure looked to Allen with cynical eyes, who Allen met with a dull stare. After a few seconds of staring at each other, Azure apparently saw what he was looking for in his gaze.
"Very well. Let's be on our way," Azure said, shaking hands with Junior before he turned on his heel and walked out the room. Allen started to follow him out but Junior caught his attention as Azure left in a huff.
"Be careful. Something's fishy about this deal. I don't expect problems for you, but Azures acting off and I don't like it." Junior said and Allen thought as much.
"You think it's a setup?" He asked, hoping that he wouldn't run into any coppers. However, Junior shook his head.
"No, but I think this deal is a little more important than Azures letting on. I'm heard a few troubling rumors and with how he's acting..." Junior trailed off, shrugging his shoulders. He didn't need to say anything else because Allen caught the message, and it wasn't like he hadn't anticipated that there was more than meets the eye.
"Got it. I'll keep the safety off," Allen said with a nod before he exited the room. He was buffered with loud music, the weekend in full swing and Allen looked down at the crowd and sighed. He really wasn't looking for a repeat of yesterday.
However, surprising him, once he reached the bottom of the stairs when people caught sight of his suit they parted ways. They didn't look at him and didn't stop dancing, but they knew he was there and didn't want to piss him off. That brought a confident smirk on his face, basking in their respect, and fear, as he strode across the dance floor. Allen guessed it was true that clothes make the man.
Seconds later, he was outside and he looked for Azure. It took him a moment to spot him standing outside a completely ordinary car. He wouldn't have given it another look if it wasn't for Azure and three of Junior's guys standing outside of it. After they made eye contact, they started to get in the car and Allen spotted one major problem.
All seats were filled except for the driver seat.
'Ohhhhhh no...' Allen thought, nervousness bubbling in his chest. 'This is already off to a bad start.'
However, knowing better than to show his nervousness, Allen slid into the driver's seat and did his best to ignore the heart attack he was having. Seriously? They were letting him, a freakin kid, drive?! Sure, he was apparently more important than Azure's other bodyguards but this had bad idea written all over it!
'Okay...okay...the pedal on the right is gas...or is it dust...? Shit. Shit! Oh man, we are so gonna die.' Allen thought to himself, paling as he gripped the wheel with white knuckles. He considered just admitting that he didn't know how to drive, but Azure already had it out for him since he was young; it would break any confidence he had in him. So, as Azure buckled his seatbelt, Allen pressed the ignition and the car came to life.
Good start! He even managed to make it look like he knew what the button did.
Allen heard a beeping sound and his heart leapt to his throat. However, it was just the scroll activating it's GPS. The location was already set in it, so he didn't have to worry about that. Probably.
'Okay...how do I do this...?' Thankfully the car didn't look too different than what cars did in his world. 'If P is for park then D must be for drive...?' he figured he should give it a shot and, to his relief, the car began moving forward.
Through a special action, a skill had been created!
Driving Lvl 1 Exp: 2%- The ability to drive any class C vehicle.
'GET OUT OF THE WAY!' Allen mentally screamed as a window popped up, blocking his vision as he slowly pressed the gas. He dismissed the window by disguising it as if he had to scratch his nose. However, because of nerves, his hand jerked back and he almost gave himself a black eye.
As they pulled onto the main street, following the GPS, Azure decided to speak, almost making Allen flinch.
"So, Mr..." Azure started, fishing for Allen's full name.
'Shut up! I'm trying to not die here,' were Allen's thoughts but what came out of his mouth was, "Walker. Allen Walker." God, he always wanted to say that. The suit, the car, the life; if only he were a spy instead of a low life criminal.
"Ah, Mr. Walker. Tell me, how much do you know about the deal? I trust Junior at least told you what to expect?" He asked and Allen let loose a slew of curses in his thoughts but answered him all the same.
"I know you're importing from Mistrel and from who, but Junior never said what," Allen responded and Azure looked pleased.
"I see." Good now you can shut- "Then let me tell you." Oh, you son of a b- "The families of Mistrel have created a compound that has some rather interesting properties. It increases focus, some might even say intelligence for a small amount of time." Azure began to explain and Allen nodded slowly, flicking on his turn signal and the information that driving had leveled up appeared in his mind.
He kept his eyes on his side mirrors, waiting for a chance to cross over. After a minute of waiting for some kind-hearted Samaritan, Allen just decided to go for it, else they wouldn't make it to the drug deal on time. He ended up cutting someone off and they made sure he knew what they thought of that.
'Sounds familiar,' Allen thought. He was never one for drugs, the thought of a substance controlling his life terrified him, but he had a few mates that would take 'helpers' before a big exam or for a project.
"I know a few who would pay to get their hands on that," Allen commented, making Azure nod.
"As do I. However, it's not available in Vale and the families of Mistrel are...reluctant to sell their product outside of their home country. I suppose they want to retain their monopoly on it in Mistrel, but I've managed to convince them to expand their markets. While they'll lose their grip, I've made up for it by buying the recipe for a very large sum of money along with a hundred pounds of the product. Do you follow, Mr. Walker?" Azure asked and Allen resisted the urge to sigh.
'Sooo...they're going for the cash up front instead of a long term investment. Makes sense, a secret can only stay a sec-DEAR GOD!' Allen jerked the wheel to the side to avoid a motor-biker that just decided that the rules of the road didn't apply to her. 'Oh, yeah, that'll get you home soo much faster you-' Allen trailed off as he realized he hadn't answered the question.
"I do."
"Excellent! Now, know this mister Walker, this is a grand opportunity. One that will make me a great deal of money. Should you fumble during the negotiations, I will...be upset." Azure said, his voice dropping and he laid a hand on Allen's shoulder, squeezing it threateningly. Allen could feel the man's intense gaze on him, but his never left the road.
"Understood."
…
Allen was never more relieved to step out of a car before in his life. It was awful, nerve racking and if it weren't for Gamer Mind, he would have panicked behind the wheel.
If it was just a peaceful drive, it would have been fine. He could have taken his time and learned. Instead, he learned how to drive in the middle of the night, on busy streets where everyone and their mother had a death wish, to a drug deal that was, surprise, surprise, more than it let on.
'Hah...I'm not getting paid enough for this.' Allen thought, thinking that if Junior knew the details of the deal then he would have sent much more experienced help. Nonetheless, he smoothed out his suit, rolled his shoulders, and gave the place a look around.
They were in one of the many warehouses on the docks. Most were abandoned over the course of time. As downtown Vale became more and more crime ridden, keeping a large storage of goods became an increasingly bad idea. Now only a handful stayed open and all of those were up town and privately owned.
Like all the others, it was dark inside. It would have been pitch black if it wasn't for the three work lights that were set up around a table in the center. They illuminated the table at different angles, making shadows overlap each other. All in all, it creeped Allen out, even more so when he noticed two gleams in the darkness.
However, as he stepped forward, falling behind Azure, he realized that the gleams were eyes. Eyes that belonged to a person who was standing at the edge of the darkness.
"Good evening," Azure said, striding forward to the table. "I trust that you have the product?" He asked and there was a moment of hesitation before the gleaming eyes stepped forward.
The first thing Allen noticed was the information hanging above her head.
Amaranth Cinnabar
15
Rising Star
The second thing he noticed was the fact that she had bunny ears sticking out of her head.
Allen knew about faunus, it was a very different thing to see one. The woman was beautiful, and, like just about every member of the opposite sex so far, very far out of his league. Black hair, cute as a button nose, chocolate brown eyes and ruby red lips.
Out of curiosity, that was in absolutely no way driven by hormones, he used Observe on her.
Amaranth Cinnabar
Level 15
Title: Rising Star
Hp: 1550 Ap: 500
A faunus that works for the Cinnabar family in Mistrel. Though discriminated against for her heritage, she has climbed higher than most humans due to cunning and ruthlessness.
'Well...that's not a good sign.' Allen thought. He shouldn't be surprised, she was a criminal after all, but it was a bit of a turn-off.
He was also glad that Observe was finally giving him some useful information, though he had no idea what Ap stood for. Especially when he had Mp.
The two men that stood behind her were both level 10, so, weaker but still out of his reach.
'Man...I'm soo under leveled for this,' Allen thought. If this deal went south, he was going to need Azure and Juniors goons to protect him instead of the other way around.
Allen turned to Azure and saw a muscle twitching in his jaw, though he didn't comment on the fact he was dealing with a faunus. So, apparently, he was a racist. That was...kinda shitty actually. He didn't think the guy was a stellar human being, and he already learned that he was a dick, but hating someone just because they were different than you left a bad taste in his mouth.
Allen was a firm believer for hating people for who they are, not what they are.
The faunus scanned all of them with blank eyes but Allen noticed that her gaze lingered on him. Probably because of his age.
"I'm assuming that you have the money?" She asked, tilting her head, her ears flopping slightly to give the appearance of innocents. It was adorable.
"Yes. You'll see it when I see the enhancers faunus." Azure said, somehow making the word faunus sound like a curse despite his tone remaining neutral.
'So...you tell me not to mess up the deal, but you're getting pissed because she's a bunny girl?' Allen thought, his hopes for easy money and Exp sinking. They weren't exactly high hopes, but it still hurt to see the chances of easy money and Exp shrivel before his very eyes.
"And you'll see the enhancers when I see the money. Let me remind you, Mr. Azure, you came to us. Not the other way around." Amaranth said, crossing her arms over her modest chest. Her dull gaze bore into Azures and Allen honestly thought the guy was going to have an aneurysm any second now. He clearly wasn't use to being talked down to by a faunus.
However, nonetheless, Azure reached into his coat pocket and Allen felt the tension suddenly thicken in the room. He could hear the other three bodyguards standing behind him shuffle and the ones behind Amaranth do the same. Allen made sure to stay still, but he was tensed to jump out of the way to avoid a hail of bullets.
It was unnecessary because instead of a gun, Azure pulled out a black card that Allen recognized. Lien worth was based on color instead of a number. White was for 5, yellow for 10, green for 20, blue for 50 and red for 100. Then there was black lien, which functioned a lot like a prepaid card. From what Allen knew, at least on the poverty level, credit cards didn't seem to exist.
He placed it on the table with a click and slide it towards the drug dealer. She took out a card reader from in between her breast and slide the card into the slot. Allen heard a beep that was shortly followed by a noise of disapproval. Allen saw Azure tense, curling his hands into a fist as he did his best to stay calm.
"Is there a problem?" He asked, a forced smile on his face.
"Yes, there is. This," she pulled the black card out of the slot before she sent Azure a sweet smile. "is not enough to purchase the enhancers." She said though she made no move to return the card.
Azure turned an angry red, the forced smile was still on his face but now his eyes screamed murder. "There's ten million lien on that card. The price we agreed upon." He said shortly, frustration clear in his tone despite his attempts to hide it.
Allen tensed up at the number, catching his jaw before it dropped. If it wasn't clear that he was out of his depth, then it was now. This was a multimillion lien drug deal; if Junior knew just how big this deal was then he wouldn't have let him come anywhere near it. He knew that Azure was trying to introduce a new drug into the country, but he did not expect that many zeros.
"Yes, that was the price." She admitted before she gave Azure an amused look, "right until we gave your gang a call." She said and Azure flinched badly at that. That wasn't promising.
"I wanted to know who I was dealing with; after all, we are in a dangerous line of business. Imagine my surprise when I'm told that you've practically cut all ties with your gang! After taking everything they had to buy the enhancers and promising them that the payoff would be worth it, you change the meeting place. I don't want to point fingers, but it sounds a lot like you plan to strike out on your own and leave your gang to whither away and die!" Amaranth said in a far too chipper voice, her smile growing wider as the anger slowly faded from Azure's face, replaced by a mask of fear.
"That-" Azure started, but Amaranth cut him off.
"I don't care Mr. Azure. You may strike out on your own, stick with your gang, do whatever that you wish. I don't care. You won't ever be a threat to the family, not with an ocean full of Grimm separating us, so you do whatever you want in Vale." She continued before she leaned forward, giving Allen a nice view of her cleavage, that he most certainly didn't look at.
"I. Don't. Care...but, I do care how much you're willing to pay for the enhancers. If you want them badly enough to screw over your gang, empty your bank accounts and promise a couple of very big favors then I'm guessing you'd be willing to say...give the clothes off your back for them? Maybe do a little dance?" She said, a smile full of teeth on her face. Genuine amusement in her eyes as she watched Azure like a hawk.
She wasn't the only one. Allen watched the man with baited breath, hoping that he didn't do anything stupid. He was honestly confused why Amaranth was provoking him, but he figured it had something to do with the 'sea of Grimm' that she mentioned. If Azure's old gang didn't have a long reach then the Cinnabar family didn't have to worry about retaliation when the deal was done. Amaranth knew that, so she took it upon herself to torment a racist before selling the drugs and returning home.
Seeing Azure hesitate, Amaranth continued. "You could always decide that the price is too much...but I imagine it would be rather awkward running back to your gang with your tail tucked in between your legs after robbing them blind." That was the final nail in the coffin.
Allen could hear Azure grinding his teeth, his face twisted in a snarl. His eyes darted between her and the black lien that she had in her hand and Allen could see the cogs turning in his mind. Then he glanced at Allen, his thoughts very clear despite his attempts to hide them.
Allen realized that he had a choice. He didn't know what Junior would want him to do in a scenario when the man he was protecting was being provoked into conflict, nor did he know how much reach the Cinnabar family has or even Azure's apparently old gang had. Junior said that they were both small, but Allen had nothing to compare that to. He didn't know, he wasn't informed, he wasn't told. There were no orders for what was happening.
So, Allen made a choice.
"Whoever draws a gun, or provokes the other to drawing a gun, dies." Allen heard himself say. His heart was pounding in his chest he feared that the others could hear it. Cold sweat dripped down his back and every instinct he had was telling him to apologize and pretend like he didn't say anything when he felt everyone's eyes on him.
He met Amaranth's curious gaze while keeping an eye on Azure's reaction. The woman pouted like he had just ruined her fun, while Azure managed to look thankful and furious at the same time. There was a long tense silence that fell over the warehouse and Allen did his best to not let it get to him. He kept still, didn't let his nervousness, his fear, show as he maintained eye contact.
Then it was broken.
"Hmph! Fine; just ruin my fun why don't you," she said, turning her head sharply to the side in a pout. Allen didn't let the childish action fool him, her description was still fresh in his mind. He knew that it was just a trick to catch him off guard.
However, Allen did feel the tension dissipate from everyone in the building. All of them were too professional to show it, but Allen knew.
"Now, the enhancers and the recipe," Azure said, taking control of the conversation again and getting them back to point. His voice had gone back to a neutral tone, despite how close he came with brutal humiliation. Amaranth let out a huff before she reached in between her breast and pulled out a small tablet like thing.
'Wha...?' Allen thought, confused at how she managed to do that. Did cleavage work like his inventory? Because it seemed like she would need a pocket dimension in between her breasts to store all of that. Now that he thought about it, he didn't remember seeing that when he...didn't check out her cleavage. Because that would be rude.
"This is the recipe," she said before she placed the tablet on the table. She made sure to put it on her side, barely an inch away from the edge, so Azure would have to lean over the table to grab it. However, the man stayed where he was and just glared at the woman.
She pouted again, clearly unhappy that Azure wasn't taking the bait before she nodded at the table. A second later a package was thrown onto the table.
It was a suram wrap brick filled with pills that were blue and red at the ends with a yellow stripe in the middle. Out of curiosity, Allen used Observe on it.
One pound package of 'Focus' pills.
Allen stared at the drugs for a long moment before he let out a mental sigh. He would wonder how exactly he got roped into introducing a new drug into a country via a multimillion lien drug deal, but he knew exactly how. He took that job yesterday, knowing that he was in over his head and was still somehow surprised that he was in over his head.
If only greed wasn't his sin.
He felt the familiar feeling of guilt in his chest but he ignored it as Azure picked up the package and inspected it. He felt a bit bad for what he was a part of, his dad was friends with a lot of cops and whenever they came over they talked about some new drug that was sweeping the streets and leaving a bunch of dead kids in its wake. Allen didn't think he was killing those that would eventually OD on focus; the drug would get in the country one way or the other.
Allen just felt a bit sad because he could feel his old life beginning to slowly slip from his fingers. What was replacing it, Allen couldn't honestly say that he liked.
It was dead silent in the warehouse as Azure inspected the package and it was for that reason that Allen heard the faint sound of metal scraping against metal behind him. He blinked, not sure he had actually heard anything before he heard it again.
'Inventory,' Allen summoned the pocket dimension as he unclasped his hands. Then, while doing his best to not make it obvious, he looked behind him.
Just in time to see the giant metal doors be thrown open.
Time seemed to slow as the door was thrown to the side and people ran into the now dimly lite warehouse. He could see their black jackets with blue rags with a square on it tied around their biceps. And, more importantly, he saw the guns in their hands as they ran in.
One thought entered his mind.
One thought summed up the situation.
'Shit.'
A huge thank you to everyone that reviewed, followed and favorited this story! Sorry for taking so long to get the next chapter out; I was mapping out the story and this chapter became a monster without me noticing. I had to cut in half, or it would be around 20 thousand words. Now I know where I want it to go, I'll try to get a chapter out every two weeks or so.