Chapter 528: Deciples

“Look, I hope you don’t mind my manners, but we have to finish this quickly, as I have to go back quickly before that old man begins to suspect anything!” the man in the shadow said to Jim, who had just woken up and found himself in a dark space. “Toilet breaks can only be that long…”

“What is this…. Who are you… What toilet breaks?”

“Never mind that… Let’s talk about my leverage, first of all, I know your real identity, and have kept it a secret… Jim Rocker!” he said, making the space around them ripple once.

“What, I don’t know who that…” Jim began to speak, then paused as a stream of information appeared in his mind. He quickly looked around, realizing that he was suspended in midair in absolute darkness. Karmic Arbitration? What kind of absurd skill was this?

“Secondly, I have just saved your life from Harvey’s trap, allowed you to exit the hall safely, and even removed the curse that he secretly placed on you!” he said. The space rippled again. “Although it might not have killed someone with your talents, it would have been problematic!"

“What curse…”

“A little something that he planned to detonate in case you managed to run away… You don’t need to care about it…” the shadow said. “Thirdly, your maid girl Lumia is in my hand, and I have been keeping her safe for you!” The space rippled a third time. “And of course I kept all the things she told me about you a secret…”

“What? Lumia! You were the bastard who kidnapped her!”

“As I said, I have been keeping her safe, fearing that you might implicate her in your stupid plan. I always planned to return her to you!”

“Bastard!”

“I also didn’t make a fuss after you cursed at me without reason…” the space rippled again.

“Ah… No… No…Wait…” Jim quickly caught his words as he remembered what was going on. “You kidnapped my maid…” The space rippled around him. This argument was accepted.

“I saved her from a very grim fate…” the shadow said. The space rippled.

“What fate?”

“Something about sacrificing herself to help you escape Charlotte's charm… Never mind that, now that I told you about that, it should count!” the space rippled.

“What…”

“Next, I will find a way to provide you with a tonic for your sister… It will make her forget what she went through in the last few months. I am the good guy here…”

“As if I would ever take anything from a shady guy…” he said, still, in his heart, he really wondered if such a medicine existed. After his sister was sent to that place, although she was saved, she was no longer the cheerful child she once was. As for what happened there, no one talked about it, but he had the general idea…

“Finally, I have indirect control of 100% of your company… I will give 50% of it back to you!“ the shadow said, letting the space ripple one last time before delivering his last line. “And in exchange for all of that, I want you to, firstly, drink some wine that I prepared!”

“I refuse!” Jim said, then felt a strange rejection power, shooting from his mouth right into the shadow's chest.

“...” the Shadow frowned as he suffered some backlash. He should have expected as much; he can fool this guy, but he can't fool this arbitration... “Then I demand three things... That you become my disciple, forget all about this exchange, and finally agree to the ‘fair’ deal that you will be made to sign in exchange for 50% of your company!”

“What Deciple? What kind of shady shit are you planning?… I refuse…” he said again, but this time nothing happened as he felt the other party's words slowly turn into golden shackles that began to wrap him up.

"Sadly, it seems like you don't have that luxury this time!" the shadow smirked as the world turned black!

***

“Charlotte, you have been a bad girl!” the shadow said to the blond girl, who looked around in panic, not realizing what was going on.

“Where is this…” she said, then paused as knowledge about this space began to fill her head. “Who the fuck are you…”

“I am your new master!” the shadow replied. “I saved your life from myself… I really planned to kill you, but I thought if I tried this, it might work… “

“What….”

“I also know some things about you that, if I were to reveal, you would be thankful if your grandfather didn’t feed you to his dogs! And I kept all those a secret!” the shadow said directly. Unlike with Jim before this one, he didn’t have to tread carefully.

“You…”

“So in return for all of that, from now on, you will be my slut… And although you will forget everything that had transpired in this Arbitration, you will never be able to refuse any of my direct commands…”

“Like hell I would…” Charlotte, who finally realized what was going on, snapped, but it was too late as the world grew dark again!

***

When Jim woke up, he found himself in a metallic cage in the middle of a forest. He was a little disoriented as he tried hard to recall how he got here… He couldn’t!

The last he remembered was escaping that cursed wedding, and then the world turned black. Still, there is this nagging feeling in his heart that something happened after that, but he had absolutely no memory of it!

“So you are awake at last!” someone called, making him turn and finally notice that in another nearby cage a familiar girl was sitting. “Charlotte?” he asked.

“...Who else!” she spat angrily.

“Where are we, what’s going on here?” he quickly asked as he stood up and began trying to bend the bars. “Could it be that your grandfather discovered our plot?”

“So you are Jim…. “ Charlotte sighed in relief, saying that confirming that the guy in front of her was not her stupid brother, but Jim, who was still disguised due to the pill’s effect. “My guess is as good as yours… I thought you would know something…” she sighed. Could it really be her grandfather who found out about her plot to dispose of Gary? If it were so, her end would not be good! What Harvey hated most was family betrayal.

“No idea, I was just trying to escape the wedding at one moment, then found myself here,” he said as he continued to inspect his surroundings.

“The same here…” Charlotte clicked her tongue.

“Who is she?” Jim suddenly asked as he noticed a collapsed girl in another cage that was a little far away from this one. She was cute with short bob hair that had some streak of azure.

“She was at the wedding too, from the von Zwei family or something… No idea why she is here, too!” Charlotte, who knew who most of the guests were, said just as that girl began to sit up.

Diana, like Jim, seemed disoriented as she began to look around, not knowing where she was. “This is…” she squinted her eyes, noticing Charlotte and Jim.

“Our guess is as good as yours. We were kidnapped from the wedding!” Jim quickly said.

“Oh…” Diana frowned, then began to check her belongings.

“Don’t bother,” Charlotte said, “All our stuff was taken from us… We can’t even use any skills as the system is not working! Thankfully, they kept our clothes!” she explained with annoyance.

“What?…” Diana exclaimed as she began to try to enter the system. Jim did the same, but they quickly discovered that they couldn’t! “This…”

Before she could say anything, she was interrupted by a cloud of smoke that made all three prisoners pause and watch as it slowly took the shape of three people.

An old man accompanied by two girls cosplaying as elves in bikini armor!

“Good morning, my children!” the old man smirked as he slowly walked toward the center of the three cages that formed a triangle, and began to look at each one of them individually.

First at Jim on the left, then at Charlotte in the middle, and lastly at Diana.

“WHO ARE YOU!” Charlotte demanded arrogantly. “How dare you lock us….”

PAM!

All of a sudden, a whip descended on her, passing through the cage bar to hit her body.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh…….” she screamed in pain as the elf girl pulled the whip back and glared at her.

“Silence, how dare you speak without Master’s permission! Bitch!” the elf hissed. “No education, and no manners… Pui!” she spat at her.

“Sini, it is ok… It’s not her fault, but her parents, mistaking an animal for a human and raising it as their daughter!” the old master said in a low voice as he gestured to the elf to step away.

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Charlotte, who wiped Sini's spit off her face with disgust, wanted to curse again, but the stinging pain from that whip was so strong that she didn’t dare to speak!

“Let me first introduce myself,” The old man said. “My name is… You don’t need to know that yet, just call me the Old Master as many others do, and from now on, the three of you will become my disciples!" he said.

“Desipes?” Jim asked.

“Yes… Disciples, Outer disciples to be exact, the lowest kind… No better than slaves, really, but if you manage to complete my missions and impress me, I will grant you all kinds of rewards!” he said. “You can also tempt me to bed and try to get a promotion, but that would depend on your performance…”

“And what makes you think that we will agree to that?” Jim asked with disgust.

“Who said I need you to agree?” the old master asked, flicking his finger to make a part of his cloak turn into wisps of smoke that immediately shot toward each one of them and drilled into their nostrils.

“Ah…. What was that…” Charlotte screamed like a bitch.

“I just modified your systems!" The Old Master, flicking his bony finger. “I just unlocked it for you. Why don’t you check it?”

All three quickly looked in shock as their previously inaccessible system menu appeared in their vision with a brand new field and a notification.

MASTER : [THE OLD MASTER]

YOUR SYSTEM HAD BEEN PUT UNDER [THE OLD MASTER]’S MENTORSHIP.

[THE OLD MASTER] HAS ACCESS TO YOUR STATUS, SKILLS, AND POWERS AT ALL TIMES.

[THE OLD MASTER] CAN DISABLE YOUR SYSTEM INTERFACE AT ANY TIME.

[THE OLD MASTER] CAN ADMINISTER PUNISHMENTS

“What… What madness is this…” Charlotte gasped. She had never heard of anything like this! “Who do you think you are….”

PAM!

“Stop making useless comments!” Sini swung the wipe at her again. “Master, this one is not suitable for our sect. Can’t we just use her to feed the new pets?”

“No, Crocky is a vegetarian... And I have uses for her…” the old master said dismissively as he flicked his finger again, making the system screen in front of the three disappear again. “You understand your situation now?”

“...”

“How…” Charlotte asked.

“...” The old master ignored her.

“...”

“Why us?” Jim asked with a self-deprecating smile. It was clear to him that this guy’s power was beyond anything he understood, even beyond those dark chamber guys he had cooperated with before.

“Oh, because the three of you were very naughty kids… One is cooperating with bad people to steal another’s wife, one helping strangers to kill her own flesh and blood brother, and the last harming all those innocent people in the wedding, just to assassinate that one person!" he sneered. “One thing I liked most in my long life is disciplining naughty kids!”

‘What…” Charlotte turned to look at Diana with shock. So this one was the one behind the attack that ruined her plan!

Diana ignored Charlotte and just glared at the old man.

“So I think refusing your… discipline is not an option…” Jim sighed.

“You can refuse one type of discipline, but there are always others waiting…”

“...”

“...”

“Then… Are there perks in becoming your disciples?” Jim asked after a brief silence. He was a very adaptable guy and always believed that whatever situation he was in, he should always strive to get the most profit. This was the best way to survive!

“Oh… We have a smart guy here, Master…” the other elf girl said as she clung to the master.

“No, I think he is just shameless!" Sini spat.

“It doesn’t matter…” the old Master chuckled as he secretly grabbed the elf girl’s butt… Not really, everyone saw his bony hand move behind as the bikini armor the girl wore hid nothing. “Well, since you are my disciples, you naturally get some perks… Here you go!” he said, throwing a skill book at each one. “This is a TELEPATHIC Speech skill, an E rank skill that I thought you guys would need in your first mission. Once you complete it, I will give you better rewards well-suited for each one of you!

“What…” Charlotte frowned as she grabbed the skill book. It was real. This thing was expensive even in her family.

“What is the mission?” Jim asked. Getting out of this place should be his priority.

“It is very simple,” the old master replied, “The two of you will head south to the dark continent, and investigate the cult of the Nutcracker that is being spread among the indigenous people there… I need you to gather as much info about those as possible. You have 6 months to complete this, and once done, someone will contact you regarding it!”

“The Nutcracker?” Jim asked as he remembered someone screaming that name in the wedding when the chaos began.

“It is a supreme demon who snuck into our world with some unknown agenda… He has surpassed a lot of cultist followers all over the world! Enticing them with promises of great power and a better world!" the old man said with a deep frown. “I don’t expect you to come face to face with him anytime soon; your mission is just regular reconnaissance to get you to learn to work together!"

“A… Old master…What about me?” Diana asked.

“Oh, due to your family situation, I will arrange something for you later… The most important thing is to never release the info you have about me! Not to your family, not to anyone!” the old master said, turning toward Jim and Charlotte. “The same goes for you… Don’t tell those dark chamber guys anything. If you do, I promise you that really bad things will happen!”

“...” The three looked at him, then at each other. Bad things?

“Believe me, you don’t want to know!” Sini sneered.

They frowned. Did they have a choice in this entire matter?

“You have no choice in the matter!” the other elf said as if she read their minds.

“Then what now?” Charlotte asked.

“Now you leave… I will arrange for you to appear in safe places so no one would suspect anything, you can tell them that you followed the fake Gary when he escaped… “ the old master said, “Then until we meet…”

“Wait… I can’t leave right away, there is a lot of stuff I have to take care of… ” Jim quickly as the old man raised his hand.

“Oh, right…. “ The old master nodded and waved his hand, making a strange bottle appear in front of Jim, as if it had always been there. “This tonic is for your sister; it will make her forget what happened last month or so,” he said.

“How…” Jim gasped.

“I know many things…” the old master interrupted. “You have one week to arrange your family… As for that girl, Lumia, I already saved her; she should be waiting for you in your hideout by now!" he said. “If you complete my mission, I will give you half of your company back!”

“Ah….” Jim was surprised; it was as if the old master read his mind. “Really?” he asked.

“I never lie…”

“What about me, what will I get…” Charlotte, who finally realized that there might be some big benefits for her current situation, asked.

“Unlike Jim here, whom, although I criticize, I sympathize with, you are a total bitch!” the old master spat. “Still, if you complete the mission successfully, I will award you with a skill that will make your grandfather look favorably upon you… Now off you go…” he spat.

“Wait, wait…. One last question, you just told us we now belong to a sect, what’s its name?” Jim asked.

“The Ancient Sect!” the old man said, flicking his finger.

A moment later, the world turned black, and both Jim and Charlotte fell unconscious. Just as they did, the cages dispersed, and the environment around them changed to that of a large hall.

“You did well!” the old master turned to Diana, who was still standing there, and said.

“I did as I was told, Master!” Diana replied. An hour before those two guys woke up, the old master confronted her, telling her how a few months ago, he was passing by the von Zwei compound when he met her near that lake and decided to take her as his disciple, but since he was in a hurry, he was planning to explain things to her later. After that, he said that he got involved in some ‘Across worlds’ matter and totally forgot about her.

To tell the truth, she felt a bit reluctant about this entire matter with him. But in the end, she knew that he was the reason why she managed to become a player. After her success, the lake had become very crowded with money attempting to replicate her success, but no one managed to awaken after that!

Anyway, being a servant to this old master or those Von Zweis was the same for her. At least, this old man clearly treated her well, granting her 5 skills as soon as they met and even breaking the curse that was caused by her skill!

“To tell the truth, I didn’t expect the Von Zwei to give you their last name… Nor for them to help you enhance your bloodline!” he said with a sigh.

“Master, it is the other way around, they first tried to enhance my bloodline… Most of their servants are a part of the clan, but since the Maggot Blood Potion needed for the enhancement is rare, they only give it to the ones who become players… When I succeeded, they gave me their last name!” she explained. She was still a servant, just one with a bit higher status.

“Yeah, yeah… Still, this would make taking you off your clan troublesome. For now, I will use the power of the Contract to your memory of our meeting since those guys will probably try to read your memories about why the assassination failed….” he said, revealing a contract that he made her sign earlier. In it, she was giving her all of her memories of him and this place in exchange for a few Coins. The moment he activates the contract, she would lose those memories until it was destroyed! “I will send someone to contact you later once the heat is off you!”

“I understand…” she said, glancing at the elf girls who were no longer acting all bossy but instead clinging to the old master like some dogs in heat. And yeah, she asked her master about them, and they turned out to be real elves… Half elves that he ‘fished’ from some other world, according to him!

“Now, I will make you pass out, when you wake up you will have forgotten everything and you will be haunted by one of my slaves for a while to give your family something to investigate, It will take a while, butt…” the master paused as a cloud of black smoke suddenly formed next to him and a red headed guy appeared out of nowhere.

“Master, the mission is complete!” the young man said. “As you expected, there was a trace of the Von Trie family there; thankfully, I arrived in time… But there was a divergence!"

“What?”

“That Von Trie Oracle seemed to have married that Von Krone, will this cause a problem for us?”

“Oh… Damn it, I was planning to betroth her to Victor, but it doesn’t matter…” the old master said with a slight frown. “Hopefully you didn’t say anything unnecessary there!"

“Of course not, I always hold my tongue, like when Victor asked about the master's secret stash and I….”

“Ehm…”

“Ahhh… Right… Who is this one, by the way?” the red-headed guy asked, looking at Diana and changing the subject at the same time.

“She is your younger disciple sister! Diana, this is Zink Zed, my eldest disciple….” the old master said.

“Oh… Nice to meet you!” Zink said toward her.

“Nice to meet you too…” Diana said politely as she bowed slightly.

“Enough with pleasantries, we are out of time… Let’s go!” the old master flicked his finger again. And Diana fell unconscious. Zink that never existed to begin with naturally vanished.

“Young master… That was amazing!” Sini said right after as she jumped into Victor’s hand as he pulled the cloak off his head to reveal his handsome face.

“This is just standard procedure!" he chuckled as he looked at his three victims.

First of all, Diana. For this girl, he planned to return her to be his mole in the Von Zwei family for now. It was clear that they didn’t trust her for now, but he was sure that, due to her strange Ghost avatar class, she would slowly rise up in ranks!

The second was Jim. This guy was a scion, so Victor couldn’t really harm him, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t scam him. For now, he would use him as an agent.

The same could be said about Charlotte, whom Victor, before making her go through the Arbitration, interrogated about her relationship with the Dark Chamber using the spirit making.

The idiot knew nothing. They just promised to make her the Von Gledstadt Matararch, and her greedy nature took care of the rest. She was the one behind the idea of scamming Jim to act as Gary in order to control the power from behind the scenes, as women couldn’t directly lead in her family. Thankfully, she was not the one who directly contacted him, so her secret was safe for now… Well, unless Victor decided to reveal it!

First, he wanted to kill her, but after thinking for a bit, Victor decided to use her until she was worn out like an old shoe while promising her wealth that would never enter her hands!

Anyways, with her under his control, he might be able to figure out some of the Dark Chamber's secrets for the foreseeable future.

“So what now?” Sini asked as her hand began to move around Victor’s body greedily.

“Now, I have a wedding to catch, and you two girls will help me get dressed…” he said. Yup, the wedding was not pulled off; it was just delayed for a few hours, hence Victor having to move quickly.

“How much time do we have?” Yoss, the other elf girl, asked.

“... About 45 to 50 minutes…” he said. “That would be enough for the two of you, right?”

The girls quickly answered by pushing him down to the ground.

Then they paused.

“What?” he asked with a chuckle.

“Young master… Can we do it with that Zink?” Sini asked. “Just to change things a bit? We already tried the old master…”

“You girls...” Victor raised one eyebrow. He was really pampering those girls a lot. They even had the gall to request him to cuck himself!! Well… It was not a bad idea!

A moment later, the girls got to enjoy the care of the very talkative Zink Zed!