There were few kinds of people in this world Carmen hated. Scratch that, there were a lot of people she hated, but some she hated far more than others. Towards the top of that last was anyone who reminded her of a certain someone. Someone who relied solely on their status, their family or backing, or whatever else vain bullshit to lord over others. In fact, she just hated people who liked throwing their weight around to have others do what they wanted if they couldn’t even back up their words.
Carmen had entered Ambermill like any other small Pylon-less settlement. It was relatively large for not having a Pylon, and due to its proximity to Haven, there weren’t many strong monsters around. This made Ambermill a popular place to settle down. She didn’t get why they didn’t travel the rest of the way to the Fort, but oh well.
She saw no problems with any of that. No, the problems came later.
Carmen had been on the road for around three days without any rest and seriously needed a god damn shower before making it the rest of the way. It would take her only an hour to reach Haven from Ambermill, so she decided it was a good place to get all the things done to not look like a hobo when she finally made it there.
The first thing she noticed upon entering Ambermill was the presence of several people wearing what looked like police uniforms. Way too many of them. She considered if maybe they had some problems with crime, and in the beginning, they seemed nice enough. Carmen had gained a ring that helped hide her level, and she was just asked to not make trouble as she entered. One of them even pointed her toward a motel.
So far, so good.
She had barely managed to settle down and get a room when she noticed some commotion outside. Looking out the window, she saw several people being rounded up by the police from a nearby house in what looked like the slum quarters. Carmen naturally failed to hold herself back, and without even taking a shower, she had gone to investigate. However, the owner of the motel stopped her and said curfew was in place and to please return to her room until morning.
So Carmen slipped out a window instead and followed after the people from the house, and when a police officer saw her, he yelled at her to join the group. She complied to figure out what was going on as she blended into the crowd. Something she did easily as she was still wearing a dirty cloak and hadn’t had time to clean herself up.
They were all led to a large building. Carmen tried to talk to some of the other people, but they looked at her like she was insane for just attempting, and the police officers also gave her a stern warning that talking was not allowed before they made it to the hall to “not wake up the ones sleeping.”
Who the fuck still slept?Carmen found this ordeal incredibly fishy, and she instantly concluded that some nefarious cult or something like that existed in this small town. Looking at the other people with her, she noticed it was primarily women and children, with a few young men also present.
For some reason, the mood did seem generally positive despite the secretive methods. Carmen decided to not act out as they all entered a large hall before the door was closed, and she felt isolation barriers be activated.
“Welcome, everyone,” a suited man said as he went up on a stage. Everyone around looked at him with mixed feelings, and she detected outright hatred from some of those present. Plenty of killing intent, too, something she had gotten very sensitive to due to her heritage. So, not a popular figure. Got it.
“I apologize for bringing you all here on such short notice, but we just got word that Haven and Sanctdomo opened up their borders once more, and we have been allowed slots to send people there,” the man on the stage said, making many in the crowd sigh in relief.
“We had to do this secretly as the slots are limited, and I am not blind to the struggles of those less fortunate. This is an opportunity for those deemed worthy of joining a powerful faction and finally get a stable and safe home with wealth and comfort,” the man continued. “Representatives of Sanctdomo and Haven are both here, so please, apply if you are interested in this opportunity.”
Needless to say, this entire shit was getting shadier as fuck by the second. However, the people around her seemed excited, making her doubt herself.
“Hey… this is my first time hearing of this. Is this for real?” Carmen asked a woman with her young daughter right next to her.
The woman smiled and answered. “It happens once a week or so and is always secretly. An open secret I guess. I heard it is to not cause too much dissatisfaction or something as normally only women and children are allowed to join the powerful factions. I do find it mighty kind of them to help us.”
“Can’t you just go to Haven or Sanctdomo without getting a slot or whatever?” Carmen asked, a bit confused.
“No, of course not; you need to be invited, or you will be get rejected at the gates. That is why they send these representatives out to other smaller towns,” the woman answered, shaking her head. “Don’t worry, though; I am sure you will get selected.”
Carmen nodded as she just went with the flow as people were brought to interview rooms one by one. A few people returned dejected, while some didn’t return, having been selected according to what others said. She just stood around as soon enough, an officer went over to her. “It is your turn. Good luck.”
Curious, Carmen walked into the interview room and saw a man and a woman sitting at a table with a few chairs in front. Looking about, she saw that three other women were there together with her, all around her own age from the looks of it.
She took a seat as the man at the table began talking, first introducing himself as a representative of Haven, and then he asked them to please take off their robes and get comfortable.
Carmen found it weird but did as asked. The others did the same as they all took a seat. The man and women talked a bit amongst themselves and asked some basic questions such as what class and profession people had, family and friends in the city or among other factions, as well as their ages. Again, just basic stuff.
Nothing was really that weird until the two spoke between them again, using some magic to hide their conversation. “I am sorry, please leave numbers three and four,” the woman then said, making two of the other women exit the room dejected, leaving only Carmen and a blonde woman. Carmen did note how they were the two who said they had no family or friends around. Curious.
“Congratulations on getting selected,” the man said with a bright smile. “Please follow me to the others.”
By now, Carmen knew something was off. The man in front of her was level 121 with the woman level 114, making them both solidly in the D-grade. Meanwhile, the woman with Carmen was only 32, and Carmen had lied, saying she was level 101, but only due to her profession and said that she had given up on her class.
She followed troop and did as she was told. They went out a back door, and she felt the magic on the other side before even going through it. The blonde woman was big smiles and chatted with Carmen excitedly until the moment they stepped on the other side of the door, and both instantly felt the shift.
They had walked into another large room, and the doorway behind them instantly got sealed off by a barrier as a large shirtless man stood up after sitting on a stool in a corner. “New batch, eh? Two young ones?”
“Excuse me, what is going on?” the blonde woman asked nervously.
The man smiled. “I am going to take both of you to somewhere much nicer than here. We just need to sign some paperwork first.”
“Paperwork?” the woman asked
“Just a tiny little slave contract. No biggie,” the man kept smiling. Carmen saw him clearly enjoy himself as she herself tried to look neutral.
“Haven has slaves?” the blonde woman asked with fright, her eyes wide open. Okay, perhaps Carmen gave the gal a bit too much credit for her ability to read the situation.
“A bit of a dumb one, but I am sure some people like that,” the man shrugged. Finally, he turned his attention to Carmen. “A fiery-looking silent type? A personal favorite of mine. Let me make it clear, you two don’t have a choice, and if you are good and obedient little girls, I will be sure to get you nice brothels. Any questions?”
“Left or right?” Carmen asked.
“What?” the man asked tauntingly.
“What arm do I rip off first? Actually, never mind.”
The man didn’t even have time to speak before Carmen stood right in front of him. Despite him being level 118, he couldn’t even react as Carmen just ripped downwards, tearing both his arms off at the shoulders.
“Argh!” he yelled as his eyes opened wide in despair. Carmen caught him by his skin-shirt before he could fall back onto the floor. “Now tell me what the actual fuck is going on here?”
Jake and Sylphie flew through the air towards the small town of Ambermill. Studying the tablet a bit on the way, it looked like Ambermill was a small town of about five or six thousand but had a steady flow of new citizens who were looking to enter either Haven or travel further for Sanctdomo.
It was neutral and didn’t have any teleportation gates connected to it, making it a little isolated but otherwise safe. The leader was some level 120 dude who had been the first to stumble upon an old mill that had been transformed into a natural treasure, and since then, he had taken it as his home and would use it to harvest and generate wind affinity crystals. This was also the primary export of Ambermill and where the name came from as the wind crystals looked like they were made of amber.
A quaint little place, Jake reckoned. This is why he was confused when he got closer and saw smoke in the distance. The mill that stood atop a hill was broken in half, and Jake felt intense energy emanating from the town. As he got closer, he began to smell blood too, and he activated his tracking skill instantly to search for Carmen.
Something that turned out to be utterly unnecessary as he felt her familiar aura without having to use any skills. Jake swiftly got a look at the city from above and saw dozens of broken buildings, more than a hundred corpses wearing what looked like police uniforms, and Carmen punching a bunker-like construct. Every punch sent shockwaves through the town that had already shattered every single window in the vicinity and cleared out the area.
Well then, Jake thought as he headed down, followed by Sylphie, who also seemed interested in exploring these odd happenings.
He quickly detected people hiding inside houses and a general sense of panic in the city. The entire central square and what looked like the mayor’s office were utterly ruined. Corpses were smashed to pieces in the rubble, and in the center of those ruins was what Jake assumed was a panic room that Carmen was currently punching.
Jake landed a bit away with Sylphie landing on top of his head. Carmen instantly turned around, still on guard, but stopped when she saw them.
“Why the fuck are you here?” she asked, clearly annoyed. “Did this fucker really call you?”
“I tend to not have fuckers on speed-dial, so no. I came looking for you,” Jake shrugged. “Why? Did whoever you are trying to kill make up some bullshit?”
The people hiding within the bunker also heard Jake, and one of them quickly yelled out from within: “Lord Thayne, you are here! This maniac began to-“
“Who are you?” Jake cut him off.
“Ah, we have never met in person, but I have-“
“Why are you trying to kill this guy?” Jake cut him off again, asking Carmen this time.
Carmen looked at Jake a bit suspiciously for a moment, but a screech from Sylphie seemed to dispel her doubt. “This entire fucking town is just a front for slave trading.”
Jake frowned as he looked at the bunker guy. “Explain?”
“Please, it is not just me; we were all forced to assist them! They had D-grades and people far more powerful than us; what were we supposed to do?” the guy asked from within his bunker.
Looking inside the bunker with his sphere, Jake saw a total of five people. The guy who spoke wore a ruined business suit, while the four others had full combat attire on. He also saw one of the four working on what looked like a magic circle.
“If you want to talk, get out with your little friends and tell them to stop trying to put down a teleportation circle to escape,” Jake said casually. He didn’t actually know it was a teleportation circle, but he seriously doubted anyone inside that little bunker wanted to fight a pissed-off Carmen.
Within the bunker, he saw the mage stop for a second and look back at his comrades. The one who appeared to the leader – not the suit guy – motioned for him to continue. The suit guy also looked at this leader and nodded after they exchanged a look.
“Alright, but it takes some time to deactivate all the wards, and we will also need some insurance of safety before we-“
“Have it your way,” Jake shrugged as he went over to the bunker.
“It is sturdy as fuck,” Carmen warned.
“To your attacks, sure. But if you know the right spot to poke-“ Jake began as Touch of the Malefic Viper activated and what looked like dark green lightning spread all over the magic barrier, “it isn’t that hard.”
Within seconds, the barrier broke down as Jake successfully ruined what kept it together. What? It was a basic defensive formation, and Jake had studied enough about anti-mana poisons to know what worked well against such barriers.
This was clearly not the expected outcome for those hiding within as Carmen flew forward and shattered the entire bunker with a single punch, sending debris flying and revealing the five people within. The guy in a suit looked absolutely horrified, but the four others moved fast as four attacks were tossed Carmen’s way.
She ignored all of them, and within ten seconds, three of the four were dead, and the last one – the leader – lay broken in the middle of the square with both his legs missing. It all went relatively fast, and Jake honestly had no skin in the game or bothered to interfere. Why would he? This was Carmen’s crusade and a justified one, it seemed.
The man on the ground without legs managed to get his bearings somewhat even with his friends dead as he turned to them.
“Do you have any idea what you have done? The people that back us?” he threatened, trying to puff himself up. “Even if you two manage to survive, what about your cities? Families? If we reach some agreement, I am sure I can make all this go away.”
He spoke to both Jake and Carmen, and Jake did believe the guy had some pull. He had a high level, after all.
[Human - lvl 139]
Carmen turned to Jake, but Jake just shrugged.
“Please do tell, who exactly backs you?” Carmen asked the guy.
“Slaves are in high demand all around the planet for various means… someone needs to provide them, and we are those people,” the man just said.
“Ah, gotcha,” Jake nodded. “So people we would also kill if we came across them.”
“I second that,” the still bloodthirsty member of Valhal said.
“Please wait!” The guy in the suit suddenly yelled before Carmen could crush the legless guy’s skull. “If he dies here… we…”
He stopped talking as Jake and Carmen both stared him down.
“Hah,” the legless guy said as he turned to the suit guy with a devilish smile. “You were the one who came to us first. You were the one who offered those useless people in the slums in exchange for cash to expand your little settlement. You enjoyed quite a few of the women, too, didn’t you? At least die like a man with some pride intact.”
“Says the guy who begged for his life a minute ago,” Carmen rebutted.
“Fuck off and just kill me already,” he just scoffed.
Something Carmen gladly did as she kicked his head so hard it exploded in blood and gore.
The suit guy looked absolutely horrified. He began to open his mouth to explain himself, but before any words came out, his chest separated from the rest of his limbs and head as it flew into a nearby wall, splattering all over it.
“I already knew he was a shitbag,” Carmen muttered as she looked at Jake.
Jake, in turn, looked around the place as he scratched his head.
“What? Got any complaints about how I handled things? Every single motherfucker had it coming,” Carmen said defensively.
“Nah, not that,” Jake shrugged. “I was thinking about what to tell Miranda.”
“Just tell the truth,” Carmen said with a deadpan face.
Miranda was working in her office as a walkie-talkie on her table suddenly rang. She saw it was Jake and instantly responded.
“Hey Jake, I heard you went out to meet up with Carmen. How did it go?”
“Know Ambermill?” he just asked.
“Yeah?” Miranda answered, perplexed. Ah, had she stopped by there? That made sense to-
“Well, apparently they were running a slave business, Carmen found out, and she may or may not have killed the entire leadership structure and pretty much every single member of their local law enforcement. Oh, and left the town in ruins.”
Miranda was silent for a moment before she just sighed. “I will send some people…”