After Jack had left, Brandy had all the girls gather and they stayed the night in the mansion as they deemed it was safer. When she woke up, she directed half of the girls to go out and purchase the stuff the new brothel would need. As most of what they would need would have to be of quality, they had to go into the city for it. She gave them a suitable amount of coin that should cover what they needed to get.

For the other girls, she had them start to clean the mansion. They were in luck because for the most part the Mansion was in good shape. The only thing that absolutely needed to be done was to clear the dust. While the girls were moving around cleaning the place up, Brandy was currently in the study of the mansion. She was sitting at a desk that had been left in the mansion currently working.

Looking within the drawers, she found some empty papers and a pen. For the past hour she had been making notes on the plans for the brothel. She currently had eleven girls under her care in the new brothel. Eight of the girls made the decision to take the Escort class with Brandy. The other three decided to take classes that could fight, both to provide security for the brothel and help the other girls level up. One became a warrior; another became a mage, and the last girl chose to become a rogue.

Thinking about the Escort Class she pulled up its information to take a look at it again.

 

 

After she chose it, she had considered her strengths and weaknesses. Brandy ended up choosing Roleplaying because it was her greatest talent. It was also partly the reason she had come to the capital. Five years ago, her parents had died in a tragic accident. She loved her parents, but when they died, she found she wanted to pursue her dream of acting. So she sold their farm to a nearby farmer and set off to become an actress in the capital.

Unfortunately she struggled for several months before she ran out of money. Broke she was lost into the slums not knowing what she would do. That was when Stephan picked her up. Brandy thought at first he was a good person, but he wasn't. He began to pimp her out to clients, he wasn't the worst pimp in the slums, but he wasn't the best either. He had a temper that made the girls fear him.

The rich and nobles alike would typically visit the brothels that were within the city. The workers and poor used the prostitutes that resided in the slums. While her self-esteem had taken a hard hit when she started, she eventually grew to like the power she had over her clients. She was very careful to not fall into the pitfalls that some of the others fell into. Brandy refused to take part in drugs, she had seen too many of her friends fall into that shit, so she only accepted coins for her work.

Her original dream of acting was once lost, but she found she had a talent of being anything the client wanted. She found a freedom of taking on the role the client wished. She had grown a name for her talents, and Brandy had started to charge a larger bit of coin for it.

It was after one of these meetings where she had been acting as the client's mother, when she had stumbled across the mansion in the middle of the slums for the first time. When her eyes laid on it, a wiggle of an idea got into her head. She dreamed of opening a club, and taking on the persona of a madam. The idea only grew over time, and when she found out how cheap it was, she decided to buy it when she could.

Still it would have taken many years even if it was cheap for a mansion to get enough coin to purchase it. However her big break came one day in the form of a noble who came looking for her for her skills. She charged him an absurd amount that only high class brothels could expect. To her surprise he paid it, and for three days she acted as his daughter. 

Four days after that, the murders began to happen. While only women had been killed, it still drove down sales. The girls under Stephan had started to become nervous about going out, especially after two prostitutes were murdered in the area where they usually plied their trade. So she brought the idea of opening a brothel to them. To her delight, they accepted and were okay with Brandy becoming their madam.

They made preparations and she had taken a trip into the city to buy this mansion. The property office had long forgotten this place had even existed. Because it was out of the city proper, she only had to pay a small tax for gaining control of it. She had no affection for Stephan, but he had some connections that Brandy would have liked to use. Unfortunately he was too stupid to see the advantage this place would be. So she was incredibly thankful when Jack appeared, and made his offer to her.

After he had left, the girls were convinced they had been visited by a god, but Brandy knew better. Over the years of working in the slums, she had gained a knack of telling when people told the truth. Jack was telling the truth that he wasn't a god, still the power that he provided them was incredible. Even though she still needed to kill monsters for the moment to level up, it offered several advantages.

Her first choice however had not been her class. It was her attribute point system. There were three options for her to pick, the first was the innate. Which would basically take her attributes as is. She felt this would be the worst option for her, as she already knew she was lacking in some areas. The next would be a point buy. This would be a better choice, but she wasn't confident she could pick wise enough. The last option was apparently brand new, it was called the dice method.

It would randomly roll a dice and use those numbers in adjusting her attributes. While she didn't exactly trust her luck, she accepted it and it actually turned out okay. She could even feel that she felt smarter then she was before. After that she chose her class. For her safety as well, she picked up a knife skill just for backup.

She spent a large part of the night looking through the system store. While the prices of the items within were absurd at times, she spotted several things that would be useful. Some of them could be gotten eventually, especially when the brothel was up and running. With Jack's aid, her girls would be some of the best escorts within the world. 

Finishing up with her plans, she heard a loud knocking on the door. Looking up she called out "Come in."

Midise, the girl she appointed as her second, who had taken the warrior class opened the door. "Brandy, two of the girls were cleaning down in the basement when they found something. I think you need to come down and take a look at it."

Standing up Brandy said "Show me." 

They went to the basement stairs and climbed down into the basement. Part of the place was taken up by wine racks that sadly were empty. Midise walked past them and into a storage area. "The girls were cleaning up down here, when one of them accidently pulled down on one of the light fixtures. When she did so the wall moved aside revealing this."

Her second gestured to a large door in the side of the wall. Brandy could tell it was old. It was made out of metal, and when she placed her hand on it, it had a warm feeling to it. There was some paint on it, based on some marks it looked like something had tried to claw its way into it. "Did you try and open it?"

"No, I got a bad feeling when I saw it. So I went to get you." Midise said.

"Until I get someone down here to look at this, keep everyone out of the Basement. I don't like the look of this door. This was not in any of the mansions blueprints that I saw."

They walked back up the stairs, when Georgia, one of the girls that had been cleaning on the first floor, said "Brandy, you have some visitors in the front parlor."

"Okay thanks Georgia, I'll go meet them." Brandy walked over to the front parlor, and saw Veronica and Falaen in a discussion with a tall orc woman, and a half-elf. "Hello Veronica, Falaen." Brandy nodded at them. "Did you need something from us?"

"Yes, we were hoping since you know this area better than us, that you could show us around the area where the murders took place. We took up the mission to hunt down the killer. We hope to uncover any witnesses that might have seen the killer. We've got some information that may help us."

Brandy nodded in thought and said "I could do that. If we get the killer off the streets more people are likely to want to visit the brothel when it opens. Who are these two?"

The orc woman smiled at brandy and said "I'm Riley, and this is Telvin. We are Users of Jack."

"I know where most of the murders took place. The only ones I'm not sure of are the ones in the far north slums. That's Draven territory, I don't go there, and none of the girls do."

"Draven Territory?"

"Draven is a local drug lord. His gang is pretty rough. So you need to be careful if you go into that area. But before I show you to the murder locations, could you do me a favor and take a look in the basement? Before you came we just discovered a weird door down there, and before I leave the mansion I want to make sure it's safe."

Veronica looked at the others, and they talked for a minute before agreeing to go with her down to the basement. Leading them down to the door, Falaen walked up to the door and ran her hand over it. "This is strange, this door is old. A lot older than this mansion. Take a look at these decorations on the door." She pointed at several animals that were attached to the door. "This kind of decoration was most common during the time of the goblin wars. Usually meant to signal a place of safety. Not sure what this door is made out of though. Examining is not giving me much information about it."

"Maybe the reason the old noble wanted to build this mansion here in the slums was this door." Veronica speculated, and then aked "Did you try and open it?"

Brandy shook her head. "No, I didn't get a good feeling about that door. I wanted someone with more experience to open it just in case it was dangerous."

"I'm going to open it. Get your weapons out, oh and Brandy you should join our party."

A message window appeared in front of Brandy from Veronica inviting her to a party. After she accepted it, Veronica pulled out a sword, and Telvin and Riley pulled out theirs. Falaen pulled out a wand and then did a short little twirl and a flash of light appeared as her clothes changed. Brandy pulled out the knife that she kept by her side.

The Paladin slowly opened the door, and a warm breeze emerged from within. There was a short corridor beyond the door. It was lit by a set of lights that were installed in the walls. They gave off a really cold white light that made the corridor look harsh. At the end of the corridor, it looked like there was a set of stairs that led down.

Following behind the four of them, she noted that the corridor was actually surprisingly clean. Not a trace of dust could be seen. She however got the strangest sensation that they were moving faster than they were actually. Brandy also swore she could hear something just beyond the edge of her hearing, making her nervous as they reached the stairs and began to climb down them.

The stairs curved down in a spiral shape, and seemed like they would go on forever. Just when she thought she couldn't walk down them any more, they finally leveled out leading into a new corridor. Similar harsh lights lit it revealing a long hallway with numerous doors along it. At the far end of the hallway, they could make out there was a door.

Each of the doors appeared to be exactly the same, except for a word that was painted across the top of each. Walking to the first one, Riley tried it only to find it was locked. The doors were made out of metal and looked to be impossible to force open without tools. "What is this place?" Telvin asked.

"I'm not sure. It doesn't follow the aesthetics of a Kingdom of Sevaris base, nor does it follow any of the ancient kingdoms I'm familiar with." Falaen said. 

They tried several more doors only to find them all locked. There wasn't even a place to unlock them, so they were forced to continue on. Halfway down the corridor, they finally found a door that opened. Stepping inside, they found a room that had small desks in rows. In front of those smaller desks was a larger desk.

On one wall was a large black board attached to it. On it were several drawings of goblins in what appeared to be chalk. Taking a look around the room, Brandy found that the small desks could open. Looking through them, they found several things that looked like children's toys. They guessed this room was for kids likely.

In the main desk, they found several books that none of them could read. Flipping through them, they had pictures of various monsters within them. "This looks like it was a classroom. Most likely used to teach about various monsters." Falaen said after examining the books.

"Given the age and decorations of the entrance door, maybe this was a hideout for people to use during the goblin wars?" Veronica asked.

Seeing nothing else of interest within the room, they exited the room and Brandy was alarmed to see several doors stood open. Riley frowned and said "I don't sense anyone down here. My Presence detection skill hasn't picked up anything moving. Do you think it could be spirits or ghosts?"

Shaking her head, Veronica said "I haven't sensed anything spiritual down here. Quite honestly it feels like nothing living or dead has been in here for quite awhile."

Going to the first door that stood open, they took a look inside and saw it was a large room. It had various markings along the floor. Riley said "That looks like an arena. Look you can see stands where people would sit along the walls." 

Moving on to the next door, it looked to be some sort of changing room. In the back looked to be a restroom. There were a series of lockers. Brandy looked at it for a second before noticing something weird. "Wait a moment. This can't be here."

"What do you mean?" Telvin asked.

"This should actually be opening onto the arena." Brandy said.

"She's right." Veronica said walking over to the arena door and peered in and said "The arena goes past the locker. Somehow they are sharing the same space."

"This is not the effect of magic." Falaen said. "I think we should leave, it's not a good idea to carelessly mess around with something we don't understand."

The second she said that, there was a loud boom and they looked back to where the stairs had been. A metal wall had come down blocking access to the stairs. Riley ran back and tried in vain to lift it. Her muscles bulged out and she roared as she lifted. After a minute of trying Riley stopped and shook her head.

"That's not budging. It appears to be locked in place. We will have to find another way out of here." Riley said. 

Telvin nodded and then said "Hey Veronica are you certain you're not seeing any ghosts? Cause I'm getting the feeling like we are currently being watched."

"No, no ghosts so far. I'm also getting that feeling. Looks like something wants to mess around with us. Be on guard. We should start from the back."

The five of them walked to the end of the hallway, where a lone door sat. Like the other doors it was made out of metal, but this one had no obvious handle. On the wall next to it, was a black panel that had a hand drawn on it. Telvin tried placing his hand on it, only for it to blink red. The others all tried only for it to blink red.

"Guess this is meant to open this door. Strange, I don't feel any magic in it. I wonder how it works" Falaen said after examining the device.

Veronica stared at it, and then eventually said "I think it looks familiar to me. I think I must have seen something like it before. I'm not sure where though."

Walking back down the hallway they began to check the doors. Brandy tried one, and found it opened into a brightly lit place. Beyond the door after her eye's adjusted, she saw what looked like a garden. Amazed she stepped inside and reached down to feel the grass only to find her hand pass through it like it was an illusion.

Startled when her hand didn't touch the grass, she stood up and the garden disappeared around her. In its place was a room made out of white panels. Brandy looked around in confusion and Riley asked "Is everything alright Brandy?"

"Yeah, there was an illusion of a garden in here. But it's gone now."

Exiting the bare room, she went on to the next room. Inside this room was several tall cylinders. Falean was looking at them and when they entered she said "These are an old style of mana collecting batteries. While old they are remarkably reliable. They collect magical energy here, then it is directed into here." She pointed at a large device sitting against the back wall of the room. It was making a hum as various parts of it turned and moved.

"While I'm not sure what it's purpose is, it seems to be using the magical energy to heat the water that is pumped into this chamber, which turns it into steam which is pumped out here."

Veronica said "I saw something similar in my masters study. Though it wasn't as big or complex. It ran on a fire that she put wood into to feed. It provided power to several awakened devices. If it is similar, perhaps this device is powering this base. Could this be an awakened base? I thought they had all been destroyed."

"I don't think we can get out of here by turning off the power, so we should look around more."

The next door they tried led into a hallway. Brandy walked in followed by Veronica. The moment the paladin stepped over the door frame, the door closed violently. Telvin had to jerk back or get crushed. Brandy turned around and pounded on the door trying to open it.

Riley called out, "Are you okay in there?"

"Yeah, we are okay." Veronica called out. "It looks like there is another door at the end of this hallway, we will go check it out. Be careful out there."

Brandy took a deep breath, and then activated her role playing skill. She wanted to be a fighter so she imagined her being more vicious and sure in battle. As the role settled on her, she gripped her knife confidently and began to follow Veronica down the hallway.

When they started, a voice came down from the ceiling speaking words that Brandy did not understand. It spoke for less than a minute, and when it had stopped Brandy asked Veronica "Did you understand any of what it said?"

"Only bit's and pieces. It definitely spoke the old Awakened language, but I was only taught the bare basics. It said something about a test of spirit. Keep an eye out and let me know if you see anything."

"Got it."

Continuing forward, all of a sudden a figure of a monster appeared in front of them. It was a grisly looking goblin thing that lunged towards Veronica with its teeth bared. Veronica swung her blade through it, cutting the monster in half. When it's body hit the floor it disappeared, blinking out of existence.

Frowning Veronica said "That didn't feel like a real monster. I didn't get any experience for killing it. I definitely hit something, so they likely can hurt you."

As they went down the hallway, they were ambushed several times by these not-monsters. Brandy took this time to get more familiar with her blade. She dispatched a few of these monsters without Veronica's help. Though one did get the best of her, and clawed up her arm. Veronica dispatched the creature, and they took a moment to look at her wound. It was only a small cut, but it raised the hair on Brandy's back.

After they fought through the monsters, they reached the end of the hallway. Next to it was a panel, there were a series of words and numbers on it. Veronica looked it over and said "Looks like this is the result of the test. Wonder if we passed the test?"

They pushed open the door and were surprised to see the backs of their three companions. They turned and saw them. Falaen said "Looks like more spatial weirdness."

"The hallway had a bunch of fake monsters that attacked us. They could cause damage, but they didn't provide any experience when we killed them. In addition there was a voice that said something about a test."

"I don't like the idea that it's throwing monsters at us now." Riley said. 

"Look" Telvin said and pointed in the direction of the stairs. 

Looking where he pointed, Brandy could see the metal door that blocked off the stairs was now gone. "Lets see if we can get out of here." Falaen said.

The five of them began to run towards the exit, as they ran, Brandy noticed that no matter how far they ran, the stairs never seemed to get closer. They stopped and Telvin growled out "Looks like someone is playing with us."

Brandy was feeling that way too, and glanced behind her only to find that right behind them was the set of stairs. "Look!" She called out, and the others turned and saw the stairs as well. She looked back down the hallway and saw at the very end of the hallway the door with that hand lock stood open.

Not wanting to mess around down here anymore, Brandy climbed up the stairs, along with the others. They reached the top without any more trouble. Exiting the strange place, Brandy closed the door. Falaen said "I need to speak with JP about what we found down there. He may know more about it."

Veronica nodded. "Until we figure out more about what it is, I recommend not sending anyone down there. I get the feeling we were lucky to escape that place."

"Agreed. Hopefully whatever it is stays down there. Since you looked into it, I'll do my part and show you to the locations of the murders. By the way, where is Jack?"

Veronica said "He's out showing a friend around town."