Once we calmed down, we got right to deciding Ren’s promoted class. Normally, you’d be eligible for a promotion when you’re reached past LV 100 and fulfilled certain requirements for the advanced class you’re interested in. When you reach LV 200, though, which is every novice class’ level cap, you’d get the [Peak of (Blank)] title and can get promoted to any advanced class you want. Even if you didn’t fulfill the requirements, such as learning a specific skill, you’ll actually end up getting it upon the promotion. One example was if a Rogue wanted to become a Nightblade, they’d need the [Shortsword-Wielding] and [Curse Magic] skills at acceptable levels. Even if you didn’t have either of these skills, you’ll learn both of them once you reach the Thief’s level cap and achieve the [Peak of Thieves] title. Also, any EXP you’ve accumulated while you’re at your level cap will be carried over to the advanced class of your choice.

Now, the ‘Great Servant’s Collar’ was supposed to grant the wearer a portion of the registered master’s power. I can have a total of five classes in my statuses, four of them being changeable since I’m keeping my primary class as a Brawler—which, despite being the ‘default’ novice class that everyone starts with, seems to have a higher level cap than the other novice classes as I haven’t reached mine yet. I wanted to ask Obina about what’s going on with this class, but I’ve been bombarded by surprising revelations so many times today that I’m not sure if I could take much more with a stable mind. For now, I’ll just stick with leveling up Brawler to its level cap and see where it goes, I’ll probably ask Obina about it by then.

Anyway, thanks to the Brawler’s skills that allow me to have multiple classes, I’ve managed to level up and promote more than one class. What I’m wondering is if I’m granting some of my power to Ren through the ‘Great Servant’s Collar’, is that power pulled from my primary class as a Brawler, or all of my classes combined? If this isn't the first time that’s happened, even if the Immortals were unaware of it at the time, it’s possible they made necessary adjustments to the game-like system mechanics in this world to not be so broken—then again, the power balance could definitely still use some fixing, in my opinion. It would be more logical that the power will be from my primary class as a Brawler, but we’d find out after Ren gets promoted.

After letting Ren know that I’d leave her the decision of what to promote into, she says she wishes to become a Ninja. According to Obina, that advanced class usually requires the [Dual-Wielding] skill and at least one that’s magic-based, no matter the attribute. Ninjas focus on speed and aiming the vitals for quick one-hit kills. With their background in magic, they can also learn some specific kinds of magic that would enhance their Ninja capabilities like [Illusion Magic] and [Darkness Magic], the last of which requires getting the class to a high enough level first before being able to learn it.

If I recall, that old drunkard from the raid at Dondegarm, despite possessing the Monk class, got [Darkness Magic] as a dungeon clear bonus, but I was able to learn it on my own thanks to my [Natural-Born Brawler] title. Apparently, this was one of the ‘normal’ means to acquire [Darkness Magic], while the other was to level up your [Curse Magic] skill high enough while being a Sorcerer. If Ren gets [Darkness Magic] as a Ninja, though, like that drunkard, she’ll immediately gain an affinity for [Curse Magic] that she can learn after that. I asked Obina if there was any way I could help Ren learn that magic quicker, and she said I should be able to by teaching it to her. There's a Brawler-specific skill called [School of Hard Knocks] that should allow me to effectively teach any skill or spell I have to other people. I could even teach my Brawler fighting-style skills to my disciples, too. If my fighting styles will help my party get stronger, then it was all the more reason for me to learn [School of Hard Knocks]. I just need to figure out how to effectively use it while we're in the dungeon.

With our plan decided, Obina went right to work promoting Ren to advanced class, which included a ritual where the latter had to kneel before the former and some ceremonial speech was done. As soon as the ritual was complete, it seems that 'pouring of power' Ren described earlier was only halted. From how shaken the Werewolf seemed as soon as she was promoted, it looked like that process continued until it was finished. This only lasted for a couple seconds, and by the end of it, Ren was off balance even in a kneeling position. By the time she calmed down, I asked what level she was now as a Ninja.

"... I was LV 73 before, but now, after reaching the Thief's level cap and becoming a Ninja, I've reached LV 143 …”

"Wooow, that's impressive," Ume said.

"Master … just how powerful are you that allowed me to level up to this extent?" Ren asked as she looked at me with disbelief.

If Ren was LV 73 before and reached LV 143 as a Ninja now, after doing some quick mental math with my [Calculation] skill, she had gone up by 270 levels. That was half the number of my current Brawler-class level at 540, but nothing has changed in my status. It looks like with only putting my Brawler class in the equation, the collar took a record of half the total levels in my primary class and applied it onto Ren's status. I don't know if her stats increased the same way as mine, nor do I know if half of my level ups will be applied to Ren’s status from now on, but for the time being, she'll certainly have enough SP to do some stuff with. According to Obina, Ren had just got to the right level and earned enough SP to learn [Darkness Magic] right there, but I'd like to see if I can teach it to her first.

It seemed Ren was capable enough to learn and follow instructions, especially since she learned the [Magic Sense] skill from Ume while they were alone together in that room. Being able to sense someone’s manic aura while adjusting how yours is seen, that will definitely be helpful in hiding her true power, so we made sure Ren adjusted hers to be the same as it was before we came in. If Ren was able to learn that much from Ume, then she’ll surely be able to learn some of my own tricks.

To finalize Ren’s promotion, I converted some money into Bless Points (BP) and used it to buy some Ninja-related equipment from the Immortals’ Blessing Shop. I also bought a Silver Armory Armlet, an item that allows the wearer to quickly change what armor and other equipment they have stored inside in an instant, and stored all that Ninja equipment inside it before giving the accessory to Ren. We don’t want to risk Konjiro relaying information about Ren’s recent promotion to Rowling and changing their battle tactics at the last minute. This way, Ren can still look the part of a Thief and be ready to become a Ninja at a moment’s notice. Ren was reluctant to accept all these things at first, but after assuring her how necessary this was to help us get the upper hand over Rowling down the line, she accepted my offering and thanked me wholeheartedly. After registering the armor set to change into, I felt Ren was more than ready to take on the dungeon. There’s still the new skills to learn with all the new SP the Werewolf got, and since she was my slave, I had to give the final say as her master. I decided that we would hold off on that until later in the evening.

Speaking of slaves, with Ren’s promotion complete, Obina gave some additional information on the Great Servant’s Collar’s effects, one of which that her [Slave] title and its own effects will stay for as long as the contract still exists between us. I guess in this world, there were some distinctions between someone being a person’s servant and the other as a slave. After that, Obina then gave me something as a gift for my Familiars. On the surface, they look like normal ribbons of different colors, a yellow one for Mametama and a violet one for Kenaka. What she informed me through [Telepathy], though, was that wearing these ribbons while transforming to their Demon-Kin forms will provide them with some new clothes to walk around in. They were designed to be self-repairable and self-cleaned through magic should they get roughed up a bit in battle, and should my Familiar change back to their animal forms without their clothes on, the garments will revert back to their ribbon states. Obina told me all this through [Telepathy] knowing I’m keeping my Familiars’ new ability to transform a secret weapon from my party, which I was thankful for. This was also apparently a thing Immortals do for their representing Champions after having their Familiars achieve such a feat, too. At least with these arrangements, I won’t have to worry about getting clothes prepared every time my Familiars transform, so I was grateful that such a tradition existed.

Next, much to my surprise, Obina then taught me how I could use my [D-Subordination] skill to recruit new subordinates into my subsidiary. Through this, I could grant Demon-Kin subordinates the [D-Release] skill, and not only grant Human and Demi-Kin the [D-Zone] skill, but also make them what Obina dubbed the ‘D-Species’ race, putting all races that have no connections to the Demon-Kin under one banner. The process of this skill was pretty much what I’ve heard goes on in yakuzas when forming sworn brother oaths. It was when the subsidiary head took a sip of some drink from a cup and had their new subordinates drink out of the same cup. According to Obina, though, I only need to get the recruiting subordinates drink from the same batch of liquid—doesn’t matter if it’s alcohol, juice, water, or something else—that I drank out of after I said some important lines for formality’s sake. It doesn’t even have to be out of a cup, either. Now that I think about it, aren’t I basically forcing them to drink my backwash? What the hell were these yakuzas thinking, coming up with such a tradition?

Ren asked if I was going to recruit the rest of my party to be my subordinates when we got back, but I decided to hold that off for now. After hearing what comes to those from getting recruited into a subsidiary, especially the negative side-effects from the skills they were granted, I couldn’t just use my [D-Subordination] skill so willy-nilly. I haven’t even seen these skills be put to action yet, and if demons are sensitive to changes of power, especially those like Konjiro and Yukino who could become our enemies, it is best that we don’t draw too much suspicion to ourselves. We were already pushing it with all the stuff we were granted today.

Moreover, even if I leave the final decision of joining my subsidiary up to the new recruits, I didn’t feel right changing their entire race for the sake of cooperation and granting them a deadly edge in battle. I don’t know how much they’ll change after getting such a power, so if possible, I wanted to keep the number of subordinates I have down to a minimum, at least until I learn more of what the ‘D-Species’ and their skills can do on the field.

With that, it seemed our business with Obina was coming to a close, but seeing the Arch Pixie in the room made me realize something. “Hey, what about Nyra? Doesn’t she get a gift like Ume and Ren?” I asked. I’ll be pissed if that fruit sauce that saved her from the brink of death was the ‘gift’ the Goddess of Lust had for her.

“Right, about that …” Obina trailed off awkwardly before turning to Nyra with a wry smile, “Nyra, dear, as much as it pains me to say this, I don’t think I’ll be able to give you a gift at this time.”

“Let me guess, is it because of my curse?” Nyra asked.

Obina nodded solemnly, “With that curse affecting your skills, abilities, and being unable to use items, it would be pointless to give you something as you are right now. Should I give you a gift now, I’m not even sure if you’ll have anything with you after your curse is lifted. I believe the best course of action here would be to hold off on your gift until your curse is settled.”

Nyra sighed and shrugged, “Well, I figured something like that was coming.”

“In that case, should we give Nyra and Master some time alone to mate before we get back to our realm?” Ren suggested, “To finally get a body back after so long and not receive Master’s love properly, it just feels like a waste to not do it now.”

Now that she mentioned it, yeah, that would suck, especially knowing how much of a sex addict Nyra is.

“Ohh, Wolfyyy, you’re so sweet!” Nyra cooed before pulling Ren into a hug, “I appreciate the concern, but it wasn’t until Jinma started swinging me around that I finally got some action that sated my dried up desires after so long, so I at least have that going for me for a while. Also, holding back my first horizontal tango with Jinma for some more time isn’t much different than when I haven’t gotten any for a thousand years. I can wait until I get my body back so our first time will be that much more special. You think you can restrain yourself until then as well, stud?”

“... If you’re willing, I think I can be satisfied with one more of your expert kisses from earlier to keep myself motivated for that time,” I answered.

“Please, you won’t hold yourself back after receiving one more of my ‘expert’ kisses, buuuut, I can give you this much to hold you over, at least,” Nyra said before lifting herself off the ground with her wings and approaching me. 

Putting herself on the same level as me, she wrapped her arms around my head before gently placing her lips over mine. It wasn’t a hot, passionate kiss like before. This time, it was soft, warm, and surprisingly loving. Somehow, through this kiss, I could feel Nyra’s emotions and intentions towards me. She doesn’t want our first time to be wild, virile, and animalistic like I figured she wanted it. No, for our first night together, after being freed from her prison, Nyra wants to be held and loved dearly like a real woman. I couldn’t fault her for having such a wish.

After what felt like an eternity, Nyra broke away from our kiss and placed her forehead on mine. Then, as if we were fully in sync, we opened our eyes at the same time and looked deeply into each other.

“You okay with that, Jinma?” Nyra asked me softly.

“... Yeah, definitely.”

There wasn’t much else that needed to be said between us. We knew what we wanted from each other, and we were going to deliver it when that time comes.

With that, while facing Obina as instructed, the four of us knelt together in the same positions as we were from the beginning, ready to get sent back down to Raiza. The only difference was Nyra kneeling behind me with a hand on my back like Ume and Ren were doing from both sides.

“When you wake back up down there, only a couple seconds will have passed since you were brought up here,” Obina explained, “Time in the Immortals’ realm works very differently from yours where Raiza resides. You should have more than enough time to get back to Palocaesy and finish whatever business you need done before tomorrow. Jinma, if there’s anything else that you need from me, I’ll do whatever I can in my power to help you.”

“... Thank you, for all this, Obina. I don’t know if there’s anything I can do to make it up to you,” I said while looking up to her.

Obina smiled, but for some reason, I feel like there was some loneliness and sadness behind it, “If you’re offering, there’s really only one thing this selfish Goddess would like to ask of you.”

“What’s that?” I asked with a raised brow.

Before I could get an answer, Obina closed her eyes in focus, raised her hand, and snapped her fingers before I was blinded by a white light. The last thing I heard was Obina’s voice in my mind.

<No matter what happens, Jinma Kotori … never lose sight of who you really are.>

~~

{Obina}

With a snap of fingers, a pillar of white light surrounded the four visitors of the Immortals’ realm before they were gone in a flash, leaving the Goddess of Lust, Obina, alone in her bedchambers. While no one else was around, she took one of her bean bag chairs and fell back on it. Totally exhausted and drained after all the stress and drama she went through, she placed an arm over her eyes, taking comfort in the darkness. She still has a ton of duties as an Immortal to do, but for the moment, she needed a moment of reprieve.

“That was not one of my finer moments as an Immortal, huh, Sango?” she asked no one in particular, “Really wish I knew what you’re thinking right now.”

Obina thought back to her first time meeting the yakuza clan leader, Sango Kurokichi. Jinma was practically a spitting image of his ancestor, and when he pleaded with her to tell him the truth of his heritage, she saw a bit of Sango inside him. Incidentally, the young man’s father was also the same in terms of appearance. Those three men, despite having very different personalities, have one thing in common: they are prone to shouldering everything for the people they care about. It was especially so if they’re trying to fix a mistake they made. Their hearts were in the right place, but the way they went about it was nothing but ridiculous, foolish, and downright insane.

“Deny it all you want, Mikan, but you’re no better than them, you know?” Obina asked, still by herself, “You just happen to be a bigger pain in the ass. Seriously, can’t you take a page from your son’s book and tone down the demands a notch? You even know how difficult you’re making this for us?”

Though she’s complaining now, Obina couldn’t help but feel tense just thinking about Jinma’s mother. Out of all the women she’s seen so far, what drove Mikan Kotori to demand so much with such malevolence, hostility, and bloodlust has never terrified the Goddess of Lust to such lengths before. If that weren’t bad enough, there’s one more girl currently on Padimon who could very well be on her way of being the runner-up for scariest woman of the year. Obina couldn’t imagine how Jinma will react should he see this runner-up as is down the line. The current Demon King, whose clone goes by Sue, would be placed third, but the promiscuous Immortal may be too generous with that thought. That curse of Jinma’s, [Black Charisma], must be the worst case in his clan’s history yet if it got those three like that.

“Obina, you are alone. Is the business with the boy finished?” a deep-toned, authoritative man’s voice rang through the Goddess’ bedchambers.

Obina exasperated a sigh, “Yes, it’s done, Palonitus, and let me say again that I still don’t like how we’re doing this.”

“These are complicated circumstances that have been going on since the aftermath of that war on Raiza. We cannot be lacking vigilance, especially now.”

“Aw, dammit, do I even wanna know?” Obina asked, assuming the worst.

“The other Immortals know, but I left you out so you won’t be interrupted with the boy. Within the coming future, we have to prepare for … a Code Black Champion Transferral,” Palonitus announced grimly.

“CODE BLACK?!” Obina yelled while straightening up from her bean bag chair, “The last big transferral we had to do was 3 Earth years ago, right?! Over 50 people had to be accounted for! If that was a ‘Code Green’, how many are there for this one?!”

“For this transferral … it may be within a few thousands.”

“A FEW THOUSANDS?! Who is responsible for this?!” Obina yelled in defiance.

“You’ll likely recognize this man,” Palonitus said before a golden window appeared before Obina, spreading out and revealing a video recording live in the evening of Ikebukuro Japan.

It was an older man with trashy-looking hair and clothes who had just finished passing out folded papers to two girls in exchange for their carry-on bags packed to the brim with belongings. One of the girls was an attractive idol in her late teens who looked suspicious of that trashy old man after reading the contents in the paper. She went by her idol name, Fina. The other was an office lady Obina knew all too well, the same one who delivered the killing blow that brought her representing Champion to Raiza. This killer, Koyuki Jikan, was anxious and uncertain about what the trashy-looking man had in store for his plans. 

With their secret rendezvous finished, the girls left the area and went back to their homes for the night. Once the trashy-looking man was left alone, he muttered words unfamiliar in the Japanese language, instantly making the girls’ carry-on bags disappear before one new backpack was brought out in their place. After lugging the bag over his shoulders, he used his hands to frame his target, a five-star luxury hotel, with a manic, conniving grin on his face.

The sight of that man on screen angered the Goddess of Lust enough to grind her teeth, “Itachi … no, Kazumi Shinka. What the fuck are you doing now, you bastard?”

Orange_Rain

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