Another night of peace and quiet passed by, though Jack always was more than ready for a party to begin, his right eyelid sometimes twitching in seeming anticipation of a rumble- a bloodbath of extreme proportions he had experienced on daily basis in the abyss- to begin. No such luck, or misfortune, came by, signaling the beginning of another peaceful morning as the sun slowly rose over the horizon, its first rays of light squeezing through the small gaps between curtains that covered the large windows. The lack of uninvited and quite hostile guests did not mean no action however, for as soon as sun began to smile upon the Proud Lion's territory, clearly a servant of the establishment headed over to their building, gently knocking on the door and sliding a slip of paper inside under the door.

  "Ah!" the cat beastmen girl exclaimed as the door suddenly opened, the large frame of Jack looming over the one and a half meter tall servant girl.

  "My apologies sir." she quickly recovered, bowing deeply before Jack, not an ounce of the arrogance that most of her race held before humans "Someone of importance is here to see you. I came to deliver the message. Should you wish to go now, I am told to guide you, if not, please speak with the innkeeper whenever you choose to." she bowed again, remaining there and waiting for Jack to come to some sort of a decision.

  "Might as well." Jack exhaled, turning back towards the interior "Sindu! I'll be out for a while. Order something to be brought over for breakfast for you all and eat without me." he called out, moments later Sindu exited through a side door, bowed towards Jack and replied.

  "As you wish master."

  With that, Jack turned towards the servant girl. "Let's go then."

  "As you wish sir. Please follow me." the cat beastmen girl replied, bowing once more and led Jack towards the main building, though they entered through another door, leading them to a neatly decorated corridor, filled with more than eight doors, for on either side.

  "Rooms for private discussions." the girl quickly explained, her ears slightly tilted backwards and tail nervously rigid, clearly being right next to someone of human origin, at second awakening power level at that, was not easy on the young girls nerves, though she still maintained a professional and subservient demeanor, if a little stiff. The fact she was likely aware of who was waiting for him as well no doubt elevated said nervousness, betraying quite a bit about the other party.

  A few moments later, the girl opened one of the doors. bowing deeply as she gestured for Jack to proceed on his own, her place not inside and aware of whatever would be discussed. Jack did not immediately move ahead however, his gaze directed towards the room, but otherwise his body remained stationary. Only a minute or so later did he moved ahead, slowly walking inside.

  Much like the rooms/houses that were used for lodging, the walls here were also adorned with all manner of paintings, once again filled with the motif on nature and the like. Unlike the houses hower, there were no signs of animals and the like, silent and calming sights of endless forests, rivers snaking around rows of mountains as waterfalls that were made by same said mountains. Another significant difference was the amount of wood used in decorations here, betraying the level of wealth and connections that had gone into making the place. Even the brick walls were covered in wooden panels that then were painted.

  In the very center stood a rather large and heavy decorated table, covered in what seemed like silken tablecloth and filled with all manner of refreshments- fresh fruit, pastries and several different drinks, all no doubt prepared by some of the best local chefs, or pulled out of some long untouched cellars when it came to drinks. Jack could smell the distinct aroma of a well aged wine. Not that he was much of a connoisseur on the matter, but he had picked up a thing or two attending one of the near endless parties of a certain god of revelry and booze.

  Sitting at the table on the opposite size of his entry point were a pair of fox beastwomen, their earthly orange fur almost glowing- no doubt taken care to an insane degree- and were both already looking his way. It was to be expected as well. The door had opened and stood like such for around a minute, without anyone coming in. Was it any wonder that they would realize the change and await their expected guest to finally come in.

  What they did not expect however, was the pure lack of any tells on Jack's face about his current thoughts. The previous hesitation could have been explained in numerous ways, though the most likely two were a slight bout of nervousness or caution both speaking of more than mere brawn.

  Jack, aware now of the lack of any traps, his previous minute of 'hesitation' spent combing the room with his spirit senses, proceeded to muddle the waters so to speak, unceremoniously walking over and sitting at the table on the other side of the two fox beastwomen.

  "Well? Here I am. Speak." he began bluntly, his back pressing into the chair while his arms rested on the chairs armrests, though neither of the fox beast women believed he was relaxed at all, his hands ready to spring into action and grab his weapon should a need arise.

  "My, oh my. Rather blunt are we." Chuckled one of them, her voice light, almost playful in a way "So be it then. Straight to business we shall go." she continued, slightly covering her muzzle as she smiled and subtly licked her lips.

  'There is no way, right?' Jack was horrified in his mind, the subtle signs of flirting clear in the beastwomans tone and slightly covered, though not enough to not be seen by an astute observer- someone in a second awakening state no doubt was, body shifts and gestures. 'Are they really so oblivious to the obvious fact that the general disgust with the other sides form goes both ways?'

  Still, outwards Jack showed no reaction, his face even. He made sure to not react outwardly one bit, still reclined in his chair and waiting for the fox beastwoman to continue. Seeing as the human showed no reaction whatsoever, the one previously speaking continued on as though nothing had been missed. Jack had to admit that he was not expecting either the servant cat beastwoman, not the fox beastwoman here to speak english as well as they did, clearly both had been taught with a special purpose in mind.

  "Firstly, an apology is in order." the fox beastwoman began "Both for the incident with that foolish wolf in employ of Mustafar the Sly, as well as what occurred later. As a free man, your property and rights were violated, and it was only right you reacted as you did. We have taken actions to punish the offending parties and hope you will forget the whole debacle." she then withdrew a sizable puch from her spatial storage ring- one that Jack noted was relatively small- and placed it on an empty spot on the table, slowly sliding it Jack's way.

  "We hope this gesture of ours will soothe what discomfort you might feel."

  Jack calmly leaned forward to take the pouch, his spirit sense quickly going over it before his hand connected and realizing no surprise was added to it, he grabbed it. It all was done so quickly that it seemed Jack had trusted in the gesture, not the least bit expecting any sort of underhanded methods- something the two fox beast women noted and mentally added to their reports. He immediately opened the pouch, glancing through the contents and then nodded in what seemed content.

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  "No hard feelings then." he spoke, pocketing the pouch in his own spatial storage. "I doubt that's all?" he added. his gaze returning back to the two on the other side.

  "Indeed. We would hate to take your no doubt precious time if all we wanted was to apologize. We have a potentially lucrative offer for you." the fox beast woman smiled, her tail playfully swaying back and forth in her lap, visible even from Jack position. She then proceeded to explain the job in detail.

  "We will see in a couple of months then." Jack replied once he had heard the whole spiel, the job offered being a chance request to assist their squad on the large scale dungeon that would open a couple of months later near Avalente. The event was a rather anticipated one, occuring every other year, with plenty of spoils to be had and a difficulty level bracket of twenty three to twenty seven, making the latter part a task for second awakeners. The event was quite important, drawing in teams from two other large cities nearby- the dungeon shared among all three of them, with slots for each ruling clan said cities.

  "I had plans to leave long before then, though I now find it quite the allure to return for the event. I will get back to you once its almost upon us, though save for an emergency, I would be a fool to refuse."

  "Magnificent." the fox beast woman replied with a smile "We await the good news closer to the event then." she and her silent companion both rose to their feet, bowing graciously to him and personally guiding him out of the room, trying to send a few more hints his way, only to be seemingly missed once again. The servant cat beast woman was still waiting outside, clearly on orders from her employer and noticing that the occupants of the room were exiting, she quickly bowed and asked if everything was satisfactory and if they had anything else that needed done. What's more, she spoke in local language while addressing the fox beastwomen, while using english with Jack.

  Once confirmed that nothing was needed and both parties were leaving, she guided Jack back to his rental house- the fox beast women refusing her escort- before bowing deeply and departing.

  Once back with his servants, Jack quickly retold the content of the conversation and his general plan, as well as his disgust with the flirtatious signs he had to deal with.

  "Bleah." Jack mimed a retch "Just how insanely lucrative must that dungeon be, and how oblivious could they be, that the idea flirting and seduction even occurred to them and was then considered a good plan?"

  "Master, prominent humanoids are few and far between, with even those often acting humble and trying to curry favour. It is not all that that weird that they would fail to consider your thoughts, especially so if you gave them no clear indication as to the flaw of their chosen approach." Calmly explained Sindu, slowly but surely growing more comfortable with speaking her mind and offering explanations without being prompted to do so.

  "That is a 'they' problem then." Jack shrugged, quickly adding " Appreciate the nugget of wisdom though." lest Sindu misunderstands his supposed shrug off as an unspoken order to shut up and not dare to voice such considerations in the future.

  This however, was not the last time Jack was seeked out, with another few similar offers coming in from the remaining ruling clans, though unlike the fox beastmen, the rest were too crude in their approach, sending over letters of all things. Worse yet, each and every one was written in their language, explaining just how used to catering had they become. Fools one and all of them. Needless to say, Jack ignored them all, not the least bothered by how his lack of response would be perceived.

  ---------------

  "Report." Nurika Manastorm demanded, her body seemingly lazily stretched out across a high quality sofa of sorts, her form half submerged in the incredibly soft material, though her eyes were locked on a couple of parchments in front of her.

  "Yes madam." Namon the Shadow replied, as always kneeling before her, his gaze initially locked on the ground.

  "And do look at me when you speak, I am sure I've told you countless times before. I might be lot of things, but all that pompous I am not."

  "Of course madam. My apologies." Namon replied, his eyes slightly rising, just barely capturing Nurikas form in them.

  "As the reports state, the contact was made and the offer laid out. The target seemed interested, though he had not committed wholly to it. From our spies we know that the remaining clans had sent their own offers of similar nature, though those only being in the form of written text."

  "Fools. the lot of them, but all the better for us then. This puts us above the rest of the clans for now then, almost guaranteeing the mercenary's cooperation. Begin preparations for the next step then, and do make sure that you acquire the most potent of poisons. Contact the foul witches if need be. We might need the muscle, but I'll be damned if a human gets to grow stronger on our dime, threatening our culture and way of life."

  "It will be done madam."

  "What about the delivery method?"

  "We do not know yet. The agents report a lack of response, leaving them in a bit of a bind, not quite sure how to proceed from here on out. Humans of such level of personal might are not quite a part of their usual targets." Namon explained.

  "have them remain on standby. A response will come, one way or another. The sisters are too alluring. Maybe the human was too flustered, yet due to his class has the ability to hide his natural response." Nurika assumed based on her wealth of experience. Fox beast women were some of the most pursued members of their society, with only the albino minxes from the Minx clan vying for a similar level of attention and number of worshipers.

  "Anything madam wants done regarding the other ruling clans?"

  "No, there is no need. Their lackluster attempts, as well as their lack of finesse in the matter must have already ruined their chances. If the mercenary does not run into some unexpected issues during the remaining time, he will come to us without a doubt. It does not matter who you are, the allure of a dungeon thats one feet in the second awakening tier is too precious to pass up, doubly so for someone like him without a clans backing."

  "As you order madam." Namon bowed his head, heading out moments later to pass on Nurikas orders.

  ------------------------

  Each new day brings with it new challenges, new tasks to perform and puzzles to solve, though each day also brings with it bounty for each successful hurdle overcome. Be it just the slightest feeling of content for a task well done, or the feeling of great elation in case a greater goal had been achieved- each one feels good, stimulating ones mind to push further in the never ending game of chase after the dopamine, pushing one self further and further ahead. Only you yourself can be the true gatekeeper, stopping further progress in whatever you have deemed important.

  The same rules applied to someone like Jack, perhaps even to a greater degree than most others, his mind and spirit having experienced just that much more, bringing along the understanding of the potential he is wasting each and every single second. Thankfully, part of his goal was to experience life in a different way than he had done before, allowing him to ignore quite a large part of his wasted potential. Still, he could not sit still entirely, always in need of some sort of a stimulation.

  "Alright then." Jack clapped his hands together, a slightly sly smile creeping across his face as the last few bites of breakfast were swallowed by his servant team "I am not one for sitting still, getting quite irritated the longer I am forced to remain on standby, always seeking for ways to entertain me should there be no other choice. And as it happens, I find myself in precisely the predicament I so much dread. What then would be the solution you might ask? Worry not, for i have already found a solution."

  With a theatrical gesture of his hands, he pointed towards one corner of the house, revealing a rather empty place, earning a look of confusion from the six women and Spartacus, all waiting for an explanation of sorts. They did not have to wait long however, as a few short moments later, energy vortex very much like that of a dungeon entrance appeared in the same empty location, causing the sevens jaws to hang open, confusion and bewilderment filling their minds for a fair few moments.

  "Cool huh?" Jack grinned knowingly, asking more for amusement than actually expecting an answer.

  "What is it?/ It cannot be?/ Is that....?" several different questions eventually left the lips of the servant group, all eyes slowly turning towards Jack.

  "No, it's not a new dungeon I learned how to open. What's before you is nothing more than a simple, relatively short range fast travel node of sorts, connecting this room here to the entrance of the dungeon we raided just the other day. And yes, while I will be waiting here, bothered to hell and back, your group will continue to grind there, leveling up along the way."

  Jack Raja(?)

  Age- 27

  Species- human(?)

  Level- 30

  Class- Awakened twin aspect of Creation and Destruction(Ex)

  Stats unassigned: +4

  Attributes:

  Strength- 34 (14+7+13(gear))

  Vitality- 28 (12+8+8(gear))

  Dexterity- 29 (15+6+8(gear))

  Intelligence-20(15+ 5(gear)

  Spirit- Spirit- 30 (20+10)

  Skills- Wisdom of Creation and destruction(EX), Choice of the creator(EX), Eyes of procurer(EX), Matter storage(EX), Arukain language(C), Spark of inspiration(EX), Origin of matter(EX), Unbound by laws of the lessers(EX), The end made manifest(EX).

  Spells- none.

  Titles(unlocked): The real Monster, Big Game Hunter, The brilliant rookie, The insane Solo. Monster debugger.The actor. Executioner. Survivor. Pioneer, Record breaker.The new champion supreme. Slavemaster.

  Gear: Two handed sword(t3)+ 5 str +5 vit: Armor 3str +3 vit +3 dex; Ring 1 - spatial storage, ring 2 +5int, ring 3 +5 str; amulet +5 dex.