The Young Master in the Shadows

“Sister! Wasn’t that guy a scion? How could Yulian just finish him that easily?” Mina asked as Lily tied Yulian up again in preparation for exiting the dungeon. They had to make a convincing show outside, where one of the family elders would be waiting!

“Will is not a scion; he just has an S-ranked fate,” Lily replied casually. “And even if he was a scion, he would have died… Remember, what Yulian told him must have made him greedy, so even if he had a bad premonition, he would attribute it to him disobeying his father’s order to kill!”

“Oh… Scions work like that?” Mana asked.

“Yes, to varying degrees, remember how Victor scammed Tom… Once someone wants something hard enough, his fate would influence the world itself, even on account of his own safety!” she said. “You remember that too… Always listen to your gut feeling!” she told Yulian as she finished doing the turtle knot.

“I know Sis…By the way, where did you learn to tie people like?” Yulian, who was tied up in a very embarrassing yet comfortable pose, asked worriedly. Did his sister have some kind of kinky, sadist fetishes, too, on top of being crazy?

“From my future sister-in-law…” she told the truth.

“Oh… WAIT… WHAT SISTER-IN-LAW?”

“...” she didn’t answer that. “Now prepare yourself, the acting should be perfect!” she said as she eyed the dungeon end timer.

…

“Mrs. Margret, I am really honored you paid all that money to hire me, but can I at least know what I will be working on?” the young scientist girl with short brown hair and thick glasses asked nervously as she looked out of the car’s window, regretting taking that offer as the car driving her left the city. She should have known who would hire a newly PHD graduate like her for all that money… Damn it, she should have known that something was fishy earlier when they took her phone.

“Later… Don’t worry… This is all for security…” Margret, who sat beside her in the back seat, replied. “Here’s a hint, I hired you because of your paper, the ‘Unlocking Imaginary energy using Imaginary materials’…”

“Look, I only wrote that for spite, my professor was stealing my work, so I did that and put his name as the main author just to make him a laughing stock… He didn’t even bother to read it before publishing… Did he ask you to kidnap me?” she asked as she eyed the driver and the man beside them, both were very burly men, the kind of you see in gangster movies assisting the villain.

“The math you did in that paper was perfect,” Margret ignored Zolan’s ranting and spoke.

“It is a scientific paper after all…” Zolan replied. “But it is useless, no such material could ever exist!”

“What if it does?”

“It can’t… I purposely forgot to mention the fact in the paper, but if that material were to exist, many things would be different… Gold would be 1,000,000 times harder, and normal metals would no longer conduct electricity… Hell, electricity itself would be a mess… It would be a totally different world!”

“Oh…” Margret paused. “You mean such a material can’t exist in a world where electricity exists?”

“No, electricity would still exist, but it would definitely work!” Zolan replied. “For example, your phone would no longer work, due to the difference in quantum arrows sum!”

“Then how would you explain this…” she said, taking out a small one cubic inch rock in a plastic bag and giving it to Zolan.

“This is…” Zolan frowned as she didn’t recognize the material.

“It is called Hell Iron,” Margret replied. “It is a piece of one of the materials you described, section D, and the energy you proposed already exists, it’s called Mana…”

“Impossible…” Zolan said as she took out the rock and touched it, it felt a little bizarre and was very cold, but it could be some kind of new, rare metal alloy. “Are you kidding me… Right, I am…” she began to speak with a frown, but didn’t continue as the car stopped.

“I wouldn’t pay you all that money to kid you… Follow me!” Margret said as the SUV’s door opened, and one of the two young maids who were in the other escort car helped her step down.

Zolan hesitated for a moment, then stepped out.

They were at the top of a lush mountain, standing next to a huge factory building in the middle of nowhere.

“Come on…” Margret said as she walked inside with the maids.

Zolan could only sigh, and after eyeing the lax security personnel, she followed.

It was a perfectly normal factory where workers in blue uniforms toiled at assembly lines.

“You make sex toys here?” Zolan couldn’t help but ask as she watched the goods being produced. Was it ok for the little maids to walk in such a place? Well, they didn’t seem bothered.

“It is both a front and a side gig of mine… She smirked. This would ensure that old Theodore would have no choice but to hide the existence of this factory. And thanks to her ‘innovative’ designs, the business was good! “It is top quality, not only do we have many exotic colors, we use space grade materials here…”

“...” Zolan rolled her eyes. Titanium was not that special to begin with, but companies keep saying space grade this and space grade that to hype up their prices and scam idiots.

“I am not joking, our first product, Flavored Gag balls, was a massive hit!” Margret said, taking a bag from one of the assembly lines and opening it to show a glossy red gag ball. “It is really delicious, comes in cherry and strawberry flavors! Care to try it?”

“... No thanks….” Zolan flatly refused. She hasn't degraded to that level yet!

“Suit yourself…” Margret said, throwing the gag ball to her young maid, who quickly broke the straps, then put it in her mouth under her friend’s envious eyes.

“That…”

“Don’t worry, those things are all built out of sugar, we even sell the failed products as candy under a different sub-brand… We advertise it as child-safe because of all the holes in it!”

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“Will I be working on such a project…” Zolan asked nervously.

“Of course not, but if you want to, I won’t stop you…” Margret said as they reached an elevator, where Margret used her card to activate it. Then it began to descend.

Zolan was not sure, but it must have gone down 10 stories before the door was open again.

Here, it was a totally different environment, with metallic walls and all kinds of security features.

“Is this some kind of military base?” Zolan asked.

“I wish… I could have made some soldiers do the digging for free instead of having to hire contractors from other countries!” Margret sighed. It really cost them a lot to do it in just a few months. “Follow me.”

GYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!

Margret didn’t continue as a savage scream rocked the building.

“What was that?” Zolan asked nervously.

“Your lab is not the only one here, you know…” Margret said, then turned to one of the little maids beside her. “Go check on Hana and tell her to keep it down…” The little maid nodded then, after a small curly bow, she hurried away.

“Don’t worry, it is a biological lab where we research some new technology that was ‘acquired’ a few months back. “Margret said as she began walking in a direction different from that of the voice. “It is just that the lass can go a little crazy when it comes to alchemy, that's why the head maid decided to kick her out of the main mansion!”

“Oh…” Zolan swallowed as she followed. “You are doing human experiments?” she asked. That howl was very scary.

“Planning to, but not yet… That was a lab rat…” Margret sighed, telling the truth. Those things were scary.

“A what?”

“...” Margret didn’t elaborate as she continued to walk in the dimly lit corridor.

Soon, they reached a large lab that was filled with all kinds of instruments, all new, still in their wrappers. Some things here really made Zolan begin to salivate.

“If you decide to accept my proposal, this lab will be yours…” Margret said, turning to face her. “And the target of the research would be mainly focused on this material and how to use it to replicate modern technology…”

“...I don’t understand… I told you, such things don’t work…”

“They do, the world is changing…. That’s all I can tell you for now! If you accept, some Top-secret info that the public should never know would be available to you. Believe me, this stuff would change your worldview,” she added as she made a huge folder materialize out of thin air.

Zolan paused. Was she using some kind of sleight of hand trick? Where could that folder come from? “And if I refuse?”

“I will make you forget everything you saw here, and just hire you to work at the toy factory upstairs… I am not forcing you here, I heard you really needed the money!”

“...”

“......”

“I am in… But let’s keep things clear, I will not do anything that goes against my principles!” Zolan said firmly. She was not sure if this was a scam or not, but the paycheck was very interesting, and no one was going to hire her after what she did in that paper.

“Of course…” Margret nodded then paused. “Just a question though… Does creating sex robots go against your principles?”

“...” Zolan didn’t even know how to answer that.

…

Victor frowned. Just now, he felt that one of the treasures he owned, lost its mark. This would mean that the treasure was stolen or destroyed. With his Authority, the former was impossible, so it could only be the latter.

The problem was that he could not tell which one it was. If it was something stupid, he didn’t mind, but if it were something like the fishing rod that was now inside Zifer’s box, it would be a great loss!

He sighed, deciding to look into this later.

Now, he had many things to do.

“Do you understand your role?” he asked the girl sitting nervously in front of him as he faked the old master’s voice.

“Why choose me?” she asked nervously, biting her lip.

“Because, unlike all the others, you are an orphan and have no one, even if I take you back to your original world, they wouldn’t be able to track you back!” he said.

“Why bother fooling them?” she asked.

“It’s for their own good, I want them to believe that I am evil, so my enemies would think that too!!” he said. “Just make sure to keep with the plan tomorrow!”

“I understand… “she nodded. “Will you really take care of me after we return?”

“I will get my disciple to get a job for you, he is filthy rich!” the old man chuckled. “You can also stay with me to warm my bed…”

“I will take your disciples' offer…” she quickly said.

“Suit yourself…” the old master sighed, the girl had just lost the chance of her life. “You may leave!” he said.

The girl nodded, then walked out of the wooden cottage to join the other girls who were busy training on performing a Demon killing Sword Array.

“She didn’t know what she missed!” Sini, the elf who threw herself on Victor as soon as the door closed, said.

“Yeah… Well, it’s your win!” he said as he kissed her.

“Ehehe….” the elf chuckled cutely in his arms as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

Pam…

He spanked her butt. “Now is not the time. I have something important to do. I might go for a while, don’t worry about Yoss, she is filling in for me outside using a shapeshifting pill!”

“Ow…. I understand…” she nodded as he gently carried her off him, then stood up and vanished.

Moments later, Victor appeared in an expansive desert, as a secret area within the cauldron.

First of all, he activated his disguise, turning his surroundings into an office in the elven capital, and his appearance into that of Zifr the great. This was just in case some images were transmitted.

Then, taking a deep breath, he took the Karmic Hammer out.

“It’s now or never!” he said as he ate it. Not literally, he just opened his mouth and activated his devour skill, the next moment the hammer began to fade, turning into wisps of gray smoke that began to be sucked up by him.

BOOOOOOOOOOM

Victor felt as if a great energy began to fill him. Slowly, it began to rise up… More and more…

Soon, he began to feel that he was getting overwhelmed. His body began to ache.

Did he eat more than he could swallow?

Thinking about it for a moment, he immediately activated all his bloodlines.

He immediately felt ok, and the suction power intensified.

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa……….” A loud shriek sounded from the hammer as what remained of its ethereal silhouette shattered, and the last wisps entered his mouth.

BOOOOOOOOOOM

The world shook around him as his disguise was shattered, and he fell to the ground.

He felt a great nausea as if something were changing in his very soul, and he was really about to pass out, but thankfully, his activated bloodlines seemed to be able to support his consciousness so he could barely remain sober.

PAM!

He regretted it…

He should have allowed himself to lose consciousness, as the pain was so unbearable, he lost all power to move, let alone deactivate his bloodline.

Still, it was as if he gained an insight into something during the process. He now knew that there was a pain far greater than getting his balls kicked! He had no mind to think about anything else!

Anyways, the pain lasted 6 full hours!

Until it suddenly stopped, and he looked at the announcement in front of him.

DEVOUR COMPLETE

CLASS: FATE WEAVER, X CLASS HAVE LEVELED UP

SKILLS ADDED:

KARMIC RETRIBUTION, X: IF A MAN ASSAULTS YOU, YOU CAN RETURN A [%] OF THE DAMAGE (Cooldown TIme: <e^(10*[%]) - 1> in DAYS) (CAN ONLY WORK IN REVERSE ORDER FOR A SPECIFIC TARGET) (CONDITION: 10X the Authority) (Cost: 100*Percentage order point)

KARMIC CONNECTION, X: CAN SEE YOUR KARMA CONNECTIONS WITH OTHERS THROUGH FATE THREADS. (CONDITION: 10X the Authority) (Cost: 10 order points)

KARMIC ARBITRATION, X: YOU CAN DEMAND IMMEDIATE FULL PAYMENT FOR {YOUR} KARMA WITH SOMEONE. FATE CHANGING KARMA ARE CALCULATED 200%. CONSUMES SAID KARMA THREAD. (CONDITION: 1000X the Authority) (Cost: 1000 order points)

“Holy…” Victor gasped as he looked at it. AT LAST! Although there were some limitations, their new skills were amazing…

WAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. He laughed like a maniac.

The first one was simple, just an immediate payback. Doing a quick calculation, it was clear that the maximum he could throw back was about 50% of an attack, and it would take nearly a year to cool down… He could do a 10% every couple of days and a 1% every few hours.

The second one, he was not sure about, so he would need to try it later.

The third was the one he was most excited about. With this, he would be perfectly able to employ his power as a Fate Weaver to demand others for payment for his ‘good’ deeds, it was kind of a super skill, no wonder it had the 1000X authority requirement.

Now he had enough assurance to leave this world and if that bitch dared to really attack him… Hehe…

He paused as he felt a strange synchronization, the other soul trying to connect to him. He frowned, as this rarely happened.

He quickly sat down and closed his eyes to receive the memories.

“Ah….” It was a little painful, and it took just three seconds before he opened his eyes, his face turning pale.

SHIT… He was screwed!

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