Jake was no expert in friendships. He would never claim to be. But what he did know was that the scalekin called Nella was definitely not a friend of Meira. Now, while Jake did want to just barge in and raise hell, he chose to listen to Izil and acted with thought. At the very least, he should give them a chance to explain themselves.
The door was already ajar, and they soon detected Jake as he got closer. It was almost comical how the facial expression of the scalekin changed when she detected Jake and Izil coming. Rather than a sneer, she turned to a neutral smile, trying to look like less of a bitch.
“My Lord,” Meira greeted her once he entered. He had seen her running back and forth collecting books, and yet she didn’t carry even a hint of discontentment.
“Ah, good to meet you-“
“Shut the fuck up,” Jake said to Nella the moment she started speaking. His aura flared for a moment with killing intent as Izil took a step back along with Nella. The only one of the newcomers who stayed unaffected was the half-ogre, and the reason for that was simple enough.
[Scalekin – lvl 152]
[Half-ogre – lvl 190]
Utmal, as she was called, was far stronger than any of the others, and Izil’s assertion she was more of a bodyguard than anything else was very likely accurate.
Nella still stood frozen as Jake spoke and Meira looked extremely surprised, if not downright horrified.
“Meira, have you ever had any friends before?” Jake asked her.The poor elf now looked even more confused as she stuttered. “I… I don’t think so?”
“Then let’s have a brief lesson on what friendship is,” Jake said as he turned to the scalekin. “Tell me, do you consider Meira here a friend?”
Nella, surprisingly enough, didn’t raise a ruckus but merely responded honestly. “What a nonsensical question. Of course I don’t. Now, if you weren’t so rude despite it being our first meeting, I would maybe consider offering you the honor of my frie-“
“You can shut up again,” Jake cut her off once more, getting a very angry glare from the half-ogre, which he completely ignored.
Meira looked entirely taken by surprise after Nella answered. Jake nearly felt like she was about to cry, but instead, she just nodded with realization and bowed. “I apologize if I misunderstood, and-“
“You have nothing to apologize for,” Jake also cut Meira off.
Izil finally decided to also get involved after the initial shock of the situation. “Nella, at least admit you did purposefully make her believe you were friends, even explicitly stating it to make her give you things.”
“You just have to get involved?” Nella scoffed. “And yeah, I did. What of it? This is the Order of the Malefic Viper, if you haven’t noticed. Are you seriously trying to act like lying for personal benefits is some kind of heretical sin or something? You people are beyond me; it is her fault for being a gullible idiot, not mine.”
She then turned to Jake and smiled. “Don’t blame me for taking advantage of your little pet project. Is it not your fault for being too wasteful?”
“I guess you could argue it is my fault for not being more observant of the trash I allow her to drag home,” Jake said in a cold voice.
“My Lord, I-“ Meira began, and Jake was honestly a bit frustrated as he knew what she was about to say.
“Meira. Stop. Stop putting yourself down and stop thinking everyone can treat you however you want. Stop thinking you are lesser than them. I am not having you learn and take lessons for fun but for your own sake. It is about time you have some damn self-confidence and take some charge of your own Path,” Jake said in a rather scolding tone as he pointed at Nella and Utmal.
“Those two are nothing. Trash by the wayside. If you allow trash to treat you as lesser than them, what does that make you? What does that make me who choose to believe in you? What does it make your teacher?”
Jake felt like he had been very patient with Meira so far, but her mindset was simply too different from what it had to be to survive. Not just in the Order but in the multiverse. If his gentle approach didn’t work, he would go a bit harder. Even after everything, Meira still viewed herself as lesser than practically everyone else. He hadn’t really picked up on this as the only ones he really ever saw her interact with were himself and Duskleaf, and expecting her to be casual with them was a hard ask. But she had gotten better with Jake, making him hopeful.
It was just disappointing to see that hope squashed.
And speaking of getting squashed, the two unwelcome visitors clearly weren’t fans of Jake’s words.
“Big words from some new initiate who just entered the Order. Do you think you are suddenly a genius unlike any other just because you managed to get a black token? People like you tend to just squander and have their feeble egos broken as they begin to fail. So what if you have a backer? You are still nothing,” Nella said with a smile as she motioned toward Meira.
“You are already showing your weakness when you bother with a little whore like her. You waste time and resources on useless things. I don’t even get what you are trying here? Sure, yeah, sorry for hurting your fragile ego by messing with what’s yours. I had my fun with your whore while it lasted, and I will of course respect it if you don’t want me to mess with your property.”
“Nella, you-“ Izil began but was cut off.
“Oh, shut up already; you are even more tiring than the human,” Nella said with scorn. “I wanted to approach you to do some networking with the Altmar empire, but you are just too damn infuriating to deal with. Always having to be the hero and protecting the little elf but never even daring to really speak up. At least you were smart enough not to make unnecessary enemies, unlike the human.”
Now, one might ask why Jake allowed her to keep talking. The reason was simple enough: he needed Meira to hear. While she had initially seemed like she wanted to explain things away and even excuse Nella, he now saw a far different expression. It was hard to read but definitely a mix of anger and crying. What he was certain of was that she was hurting.
He did also see Izil look ashamed when Nella pointed out her own lack of truly standing up for Meira. Jake chose not to judge this particularly harshly as at least it seemed like she had her heart in the right place. He also wanted to keep making it a teaching moment.
“I can at least respect the confidence,” Jake said with a smile. “The confidence to walk into my home acting like this and expecting nothing to happen.”
“Heh,” Nella laughed. “Last time I checked, we were allowed to come here. Are you so daft to not even know the rules of the Order?”
Izil, off to the side, also sent Jake a warning using telepathy. “Be careful. Any violence, especially killing, goes against the rules, and even if you have some influence, so does she. Keep calm.”
“Oh, I do know the rules,” Jake said as he walked over to Meira. He saw her still looking utterly lost with tears in her eyes as he spoke. “Meira. These two aren’t your friends. They never were. Don’t consider this a tragedy but merely a teaching moment. Believe it or not, in spite of our unconventional relationship due to the contract, I consider you a friend, which is also why I want to give you a choice before we go any further.”
She looked up at him, and once Jake was certain she was listening, he explained what he and Izil had talked about. “Izil and I spoke just before coming here. She offered to buy your freedom and make you a part of the Altmar Empire. Even take you back there. With the status of a citizen of the Empire, it will allow you to finally take charge of your own life.”
Izil seemed relieved at the subject change, and surprisingly, Nella and Utmal also seemed interested.
“That is correct,” Izil said with a smile. “The Altmar Empire has an official decree to free any elven slaves, and the second I found out you were one, I knew I had to talk to your owner. While we have not discussed any details yet, I-“
“One Credit,” Jake quickly added. “That is the price for her freedom - for the complete annulment of the contract. We can discuss the details, sure, but I do not want anything for it.”
Izil and Nella both looked surprised, but not as much as Meira. She stared between Jake and Izil before asking Jake. “You want me to leave?”
Jake sighed. “It is not my choice. But I can share with you that my initial plan was for you to become a member of the Order and then annul the contract. I want you to be free and make your own choices, and this will be the first time where I will truly ask you to choose after I made you choose your own lessons. You don’t need to pick right now, but can take however long you need to-“
“I want to stay with Lord Thayne,” Meira said decisively, shocking Jake a bit. She had not only interrupted Jake but said: “Lord Thayne” and not any of her usual go-to’s. Her decision was also not what he had expected, especially not for her to make it so fast.
“Think it over,” Jake said. “This is a chance for freedom. Here and now. If you need funds, I will help you and make sure you can go to the Altmar Empire safely. You will be able to finally be your own person. Meira, you are far more skilled than you think and can make it on your own. You don’t need to rely on others.”
“I want to stay,” she said decisively again before finally turning a bit meek. “Please?”
“Oh, this is all so damn touching,” Nella finally burst out as she turned to Jake. “Damn, you must be a good shag to have her wrapped around your finger like that, or is she really just that pathetic?”
“Lord Thayne and I have never slept together, and I have never been with a man,” Meira said, standing up for herself for the first time. In a weird way, but hey, it was something.
“So you can talk back?” Nella said, faking amazement. “And that declaration just makes this all the more pathetic. Seriously, is your dear master some limp-dicked loser who can’t even get it up? Or does he swing the other way and bought the wrong product when he went slave shopping? This must be one of the funniest days in my life.”
“I… you suck!” Meira practically yelled, red in her face.
Nella just found it amusing and shook her head. Jake was still looking on a bit proud before nodding. “If that is your choice, fine. But the part about being freed and becoming a member of the Order is non-negotiable unless you can find another way to safely be freed. We can talk about all that another day, though, as we have some trash to take out first. Tell me, Meira, what kind of punishment do you think these two deserve?”
She was still new to the whole making choices thing, but Jake believed in her. Also, while he wasn’t exactly keen on the two of them, the one they had wronged the most was Meira, not him. So even if Jake had a way he wanted to handle the situation, he would respect whatever Meira wanted.
“This is a fucking joke at this point,” Nella laughed out loud. “Actually too funny. Seriously, what the fuck are you gonna do? Do you think you can even do anything? Want to call your backer or what? While I don’t want to talk badly about my seniors, I am beginning to question what error in judgment one must have made to pick you. I also find it laughable how you think you are some big-shot who is in charge here. If you truly try to start shit, it won’t just be your ass, but your backer’s on the line, as I am certain my ancestors will happily raise hell. So go ahead, make my day even better.”
Meira still stared at Nella and Utmal as the scalekin spoke. Utmal just smiled at Nella’s side, making it clear she also found this entire situation funny. Jake had the clear read on them that they were truly just taking this as some kind of entertainment. Perhaps messing with Meira had just been some way for them to pass the time while getting some benefits. They had never considered it a big deal to begin with.
After a few seconds of no one talking, Nella finally shrugged and looked at Jake. “I am bored of this. Oh well, fun while it lasted, and I shall consider sending someone to ask for compensation for wasting my time. The level of delusion you people have is astonishing. I hope your backer comes to their senses and gets rid of you because anything else would truly make them a moron.”
“Punishment…” Meira muttered as she looked at the ground, still standing with Jake. Her speaking made Nella and Utmal wait with anticipation as something finally happened. Meira then turned to Izil with searching eyes, but the elf just looked down at the ground, making it obvious she would not involve herself further. A bit cowardly, but again, Jake would not judge her as she was essentially a representative of her faction.
Meira instead looked at Jake, who just waited for her answer. “I don’t like them. They did wrong… but more importantly, they insulted Lord Thayne, and… the one behind him… that is not just wrong, but unforgivable. I…” she continued, looking towards Izil.
Nella smiled, and Utmal beside her also chuckled. They still had the same confidence. Jake had not asked them to leave, and they both felt safe. The rules of the Order protected them, they had backing, and Utmal was at a higher level, even compared to what Jake was falsely displaying. They had every reason to feel confident. They had just made one major fuckup– one with such a minuscule chance no one could really fault them for missing it.
Jake understood what Meira meant by looking at Izil as he smiled. Before anyone could react, he was in front of Izil and used Gaze of the Apex Hunter. He placed his hand on her forehead as Touch of the Malefic Viper activated, sending in a pulse of soul-soothing poison, instantly knocking her out.
“Now that I did not see coming,” Nella said with some surprise. “You also didn’t like that bi-“
“You know,” Jake cut her off as he saw Meira look worried at Izil and with genuine hatred at Nella and Utmal. “I am nearly grateful to you. It is good for her to learn that shit people exist and to be careful of them, and you two are prime examples of shitstains.”
Nella wanted to speak, but Jake didn’t let her as he released his aura along with Pride of the Malefic Viper.
“Now, you talked about rules earlier,” Jake said as he walked slightly closer. Utmal placed herself in front of Nella defensively as she prepared herself. He could only laugh at her horrible stance, showing that while she was probably strong, her actual level of fighting experience was limited.
“While this isn’t a rule I remember being stated explicitly, what are the punishments for blasphemy of the Malefic One?”
“Death,” Meira answered instantly.
“Come the fuck on, just because you have a lesser Blessing, you think insulting you is-“
“Nah, not at all. But calling the Viper a moron for choosing to back me? Now that I would say is very much in the camp of being questionable,” Jake smiled. “But I don’t know. I am not the one making the rules or even the one enforcing them, so let’s ask someone more qualified.”
Jake took out his token and sent a simple message before putting it away again. “She should be on her way, but in the meantime, I believe I shall make the executive decision of doling out some punishment of my own.”
Seeing as they were in his library, Jake thought it preferable to first get them out of there. His aura flared as he used Pride and Gaze to launch a mental attack, stunning both of them momentarily as Jake teleported forward and punched both of their faces as he tossed them into the hallway, smashing into the wall. The construction of the mansion was at a level where he had no way to even damage it, resulting in both of them coughing up blood from the impact.
Utmal got up to respond in a hurry, but Jake was already there. His katar flew forward and stabbed her in the chest just as a large hammer appeared in her hand. His other katar punctured her dominant arm holding it as he tore the one in her chest upward, slicing her chest badly. The half-ogre tried to counter but, despite her level, made a pathetic attempt.
She was stabbed multiple times in the chest before Jake finally finished her off with an uppercut through her chin and out the top of her skull. Utmal never got a chance to fight back.
Jake didn’t even bother with the notification as he turned to the stunned Nella, who held her token in her hand.
“You are fucking insane!” she screamed. Just then, there was movement as two auras descended. A man and a woman, both wearing robes with the motif of the Malefic Viper, appeared inside the hallway as they observed what had happened. Jake knew what they were. Enforcers.
“This madman went insane and killed my companion!” Nella screamed the moment she saw them but still had the energy to throw Jake a glance with glee at the misfortune she expected to overcome him.
Yet no such thing happened. Both of them merely bowed as a third person teleported in.
Nella stared at the Hall Master as Viridia didn’t even acknowledge her presence before bowing towards Jake, joining the two other enforcers as she spoke. “I greet the Chosen.”
It was at that moment Nella knew - she fucked up.