Chapter 38: Slaughter's Heir

  Lu Bu Post Death

  I had three goals for my time at this event. The first was to learn what I could about the existing clans that ruled the criminal elements of the lower city tiers, which was on the lower side of my priorities. Next, of course, was to keep Ji-Ho and Ha-Rin safe for the duration of the evening; this was slightly higher on my list of goals. Finally, I wanted to find a gun worthy of me that I could take off one of these criminals and thereby avoid having to buy one. While I considered this last task a priority of greater import than the other two, it seemed less and less likely to work for every 'second' that passed by. This so-called strip club was full to the brim with people, many of whom were many times my own class level. That didn't mean I didn't think I could destroy them; obviously, I could defeat numerous warriors regardless of what the class system claimed about our respective power levels. The real issue would be their perceptiveness and the levels of security such a weapon might possess. As much as she annoyed me, I had no intention of burning Diaochan out in a futile attempt to unlock someone's branded weapon for me.

  It was slightly infuriating, but as I watched the backs of Ji-Ho and Ha-Rin, I quickly concluded I would, in fact, have to buy a gun with my own digi-creds, or at very least pay for materials so that the siblings could make one for me. I had already discussed the creation of a bike with them and knew that it would require an extremely heavy investment. While I was confident a gun would be less resource-intensive than what is essentially a horse made of steel, it would still set me back time, digi-creds, or both.

  As much as I would have preferred to actually spend some time watching the naked dancing girls or gambling on the men and animals that fought atop their raised stages, the siblings headed straight for a circular sitting area that housed dozens of tables around a T-shaped runway of a stage. This would be where the representatives from the various criminal clans would have their meeting, and perhaps more importantly, would be where Ji-Ho could speak to his own clan leaders.

  'Diaochan,' I thought loudly, so the A. I spirit would know I was calling her. 'You said you could gather more information on the various clans here. What have you got for me?' I already knew a fair bit about the Irons Clan, whom Ha-Rin and Ji-Ho were technically loyal to. Though it wasn't the strongest of loyalties, it was more like the clan kept the peace and prevented other clans from moving in and demanding tribute. They also acted as a sort of voice for the businesses when the clans got together, as was happening tonight.

  The Iron's clan did not do these things out of the goodness of their hearts, and were paid a portion of each business in their territory's profit. Interestingly enough, they had a reputation for being rather fair when it came to these extortions, and more importantly, they represented a powerful enough fighting force that they could enforce the benefits they claimed to offer.

  "So," came Diaochan's musical voice in my head. "All eight clans are here in some capacity. Though there is only one Ulus, so I don't think they think this is very important."

  'That is the big clan everyone is scared of, right?'

  "Yes, basically, if you want to expand or declare war on another clan, you need to get Ulus permission first. It's not because they are the biggest, though I am told their leadership is very high level; it's because they control almost all the highways."

  While Diaochan and I silently conversed, I'd moved among the tables to place my back against a wall where I couldn't be snuck up on from behind, but could also keep watch over anyone who approached the clan Irons' table or the siblings who were pulling up seats there.

  I wasn't the only one playing bodyguard that night, and I offered a nod to the four other men pretending to be relaxed against the wall. All of them were level four or five, and while I was still confident my skills and stats were enough to defeat any two of them, I wished that I'd gained another level this morning like I'd planned.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  "Fabio, you fat bastard, I'd better not need that level up tonight," I muttered to myself, while my eyes roamed among the men and women filling the various round tables in this area of the club.

  'Identify and mark the leaders of each of these groups.' I silently commanded Diaochan.

  "I can do that for most of them, but there are a couple of these groups where I can only make an educated guess."

  My face flickered with annoyance, and I almost snapped at her out loud.

  'In those cases, make one.' I hope the A.I could hear the growl that would have been in my voice had I been talking. A heartbeat later, bright red outlines began to appear around various people seated at the tables, or otherwise visible to me around the establishment.

  The tables themselves could only seat five people each, but they were grouped into little clumps so the lesser clan members could be near their leaders. Even this city of the dead had enough decorum that the clan leaders, or representatives, didn't have to share a table directly with their lessers.

  Naturally, closest to the siblings were the leaders of Clan Irons

  , along with a dozen or so members who occupied the tables around them. It was fairly obvious from both the look of these people and the classes my HUD declared them as, who were the warriors of the clan, and who were business people, that they represented.

  Sitting at the same table as Ji-Ho and Ha-Rin were actually a couple of grizzled men and women I recognized from my morning runs through the cramped streets of Clan Iron's territory. I was actually fairly certain one was the dark skinned barber who had helped to get me looking so fine.

  'Start with Paul and Lyn, they are one of the few clans inconsequential enough to have sent their actual rulers. I need to know if they are actually strong enough to keep their promises to the engineers.'

  "While their clan itself is kind of tiny, in fact, it seems like the majority of them are here tonight." There were maybe fifteen people from Clan Irons, not including the merchants, so that didn't bode well. "Each of them is above level five, and Paul and Lyn themselves are both Paradox Incursions like yourself."

  'Really, both of them?'

  "Yep," She replied cheerfully.

  I glanced over at the center table in the Irons section with a new interest. The two figures marked by the red outlines that only existed in my vision were a study in contrasts. Paul was apparently a man's name; something I wouldn't have guessed if I'm honest with you. There is just something feminine about that sound of such a name. Regardless, he was a mountain of a man. Tall, heavily muscled, and bearing a wild shock of dark hair, atop a head with an equally thick and ungroomed beard. I judged him to be in his mid to late thirties. He was armored in thick plates of metal that looked even more like salvaged scrap than my own breastplate.

  [Paul Bunyan]

  [Folk Hero]

  [Subclass: Street Titan]

  [Level Eight]

  "Like your own [Legendary Warlord], his class is considered to be [Legendary] and either requires unusually high stats to the point where a regular person would need multiple levels in a lesser class before they could switch to it, or to be an Incursion." Elaborated Diaochan as I inspected the man.

  I then shifted my gaze over to his much smaller and sleeker armored companion. The woman with him was probably twenty-five or so, her skin a normal tone like mine or the siblings, not the ghoulishly pale tone that Paul and so many others in this city bore.

  What was pale was her hair, and it was immaculately groomed to frame her face in a rather fetching heart shape. She wasn't what I would call pretty, but neither was she cursed with a terrible ugliness. She was simply a woman, though rather than soft curves and dainty hands, I could tell I was looking at the lithe athletic form of a lifelong warrior.

  [Lyn Lu]

  [Crimson Duelist]

  [Subclass: Slaughter's Heir]

  [Level 12]

  I stared at that name that my HUD presented me with, then at her class, then at her white hair, and back to her name. All the while, Diaochan explained about her class, and how subclasses were almost unique in nature as they were essentially crafted by the system based on how the person in question used their existing class, and something about their personality. I don't know, I wasn't paying attention to anything but that woman in her mid twenties and the sound of hooves in my ears…and chest?

  Yo we are only one rating from a bonus chapter.