The Young Master in the Shadows

Chapter 112: Traitors

A Yacht left the island at noon carrying five people. Theodore, Falcon, Victor, Iris, and Zoe. Lily was not allowed to attend the ceremony because of her rank, so Victor gave her a small mission and left her in his father’s mansion under the pretense of accompanying his mother, who surprisingly played along.

Iris and Zoe were absent-minded most of the time, probably nervous about the trip. While Falcon was discussing family politics with Theodore,

“Can I ask a question?” Iris asked suddenly, making Theodore look at her.

“Go ahead.” He said.

“Isn’t there another way of awakening? A way that doesn’t involve death?” She asked timidly.

“There are other methods,” Theodore said, “Look at Victor, he was able to convert his maids into players by randomly poking at some rocks in a mountain,” Theodore said with a smirk, making Falcon look at him wanting to hear the story. So Victor had no choice but to tell them how he wanted to explore that mountain with his friend and just so happened to discover the dungeon that eluded his father for years.

Falcon nodded,” what a lucky bastard,” he thought.

“So can we find a dungeon, isn’t it safer?” Asked Zoe with some enthusiasm. She was really looking forward to conquering dungeons and killing monsters.

“Easier said than done. I knew people who spent their entire lives looking for one and died in some desolate mountain without achieving anything. And even if you found one, can you clear it? Many dungeons get discovered by normal people, who end up dead inside.” Falcon said. Theodore nodded.

“Are there any other ways?” Zoe asked.

“Many, They are rare but equally dangerous,” Falcon said. “You see, every Aristocratic Family has a method, some are relatively safe but only grant a semi-player status while others are dangerous but rewarding. Take the Von Rosen Family for example. Their method of awakening is to perform a summoning ritual with the aid of their artifact. The participant would have to be able to handle the demon’s curse. If he succeeded he would get a summoner class. And the rewards increase the stronger the demon they summon. But on the other hand, It can only be attempted by women and they have a 70% death rate.” Falcon said, making Iris who remembered the demon that attacked her shiver.

“Any other methods?” Zoe, who got really interested, asked.

“Some of them are as simple as drawing a sword from a stone. But if you fail the sword will grow a mouth and devour you. Some methods are very complicated and tiresome. Like dancing naked around a mountain 1000 times while doing intricate movements. I even heard of some single-use awakening artifacts and talismans. I have never seen one though.” Falcon added with a smile. “ Now go relax. There will be time for such talk later when you become players.” He said. Making Zoe a little deflated but she quickly regained her vigor and grabbed Iris and began to ask her about life in the city.

“Ah, that reminds me,” Theodore turned to Victor who was feigning watching the waves while being busy monitoring his blood slave through his system. Tom had just got something interesting, that made Victor want to hurry back to Vein city.

“Victor, You cleared a dungeon last week, what is your level now?” Theodore suddenly asked him,

“10,” Victor Lied.

“What!” Theodore shouted in surprise. He expected Victor’s level to be 3 or 4. Clearing an F-leveled dungeon didn’t yield much experience usually, but as a newbie, Victor didn’t need many points to level up.

“I don’t know, but I happen to have killed this strange goblin there. The system told me that it is worth a lot of exp.” Victor said,

Theodore frowned, but Falcon interjected. “It is rare, but not unheard of. Sometimes the dungeons would contain some strange things and rules that yield a lot of exp. I heard of a man who leveled up after doing nothing in the dungeon but stepping on Beatles.” He said, making Theodore nod. He has heard of that story too. He could only look at his son and utter “lucky bastard.” under his breath. It took him one whole year to get to level 10 when he was a newbie. As he had to fight behind an army of family grunts whose job was to protect him. Victor did it in one freaking week.

“Well, this would make things much easier. There is a coming raid, as a new dungeon was bought by the family. The primary appraisal is that it is C Rank, Maybe even C+.” Theodore said. “Don’t let it fool you, dungeons scale at an exponential rate, so a C-level dungeon would be about 1000 times more dangerous than the F-rank one you cleared.” He added after seeing the look in his son’s eyes.

“How many people are going?” Falcon asked.

“My team consists of 30 people, there are three other teams with a total of about 100 players. 10 of us are veterans. If we take more than two weeks the family would send another 100 hundred.” Theodore said. “Are you interested in coming along, Mr. falcon?”

“I will think about it,” Falcon said as he caught Zoe’s eyes. They were full of expectations.

“When is the raid? And who is going?” Victor asked.

“It’s still undecided. But maybe next month. The dungeon is near NewLure City.” Theodore said, making Victor nod. Maybe he would go with Lily. She needs to level up. But he needs to buff the Mansion’s security before that. Last night’s attack left him worried.

Victor returned to his meditation as his father chuckled and also returned to his conversation with Falcon. He was talking about the new mushroom he found and how he would try it at a mass scale at the raid.

Unlike last time, the yacht went straight to the main Island. And reached there two hours later, where a luxurious car was waiting for them to take them uphill. To the ceremony hall, where the guards greeted them respectfully and invited them in.

Soon they reached the first hall, where an elder in a ceremonial gown greeted them.

“Iris, Zoe. You go with the elder. Victor, you follow me.” Theodore said as he entered the inner hall followed by Falcon.

“Don’t worry, you will be fine.” Victor gave Iris and Zoe some encouragement before following after his father to the inner chamber, where many servants wearing special robes were piling GEMs according to a formation on the ground under the supervision of a fat elder.

“Ah, Theodore. You are here on time.” The elder said. “Falcon you are here too, it’s been a while,” He greeted Falcon too, who nodded in acknowledgment.

“Nice to meet you, Tony, How are the preparations?” Theodore asked.

“We are almost done.” The elder, Tony, said, “This ceremony was on short notice so we had to work overnight.” He added

Just then, an old man with white purplish hair and a crooked nose entered the hall with the patriarch.

Everyone quickly saluted. Including Theodore and Falcon, making Victor quickly follow with a frown. Who was that man? He never met him or read about him before, that’s strange. And why did all the elders tense up? Including his father. The only one who remained relaxed was Falcon, who didn’t seem to be very pleased. But from their looks, they didn’t expect to see this guy here.

Wow, this guy was stronger than both Falcon and Ann. The strange thing was that Victor has never heard of him or seen his name in the family's records. Wait, could he be part of the black faction? Probably.

Victor quickly looked at his father and worded BLACK with his lips, to get an approving nod from his father. Are there members of that faction attending this Ceremony too? Interesting.

Cassius only nodded casually to the elders greeting him then looked at Theodore and Victor with interest, No one knew what was on his mind.

“I expect this to be flawless.” Marcos, the patriarch, said making the elders nod,

“Victor.” His father called him. “You will have to stand on the circle on the ground inside, and accept the orbs' request to draw energy from you,” Theodore said, making Victor nod in response. He understands how these things work.

A few minutes later the candidates were guided by an elder to the Ritual Hall. Zoe and Iris were with them. A total of 4 boys and 6 girls.

The one who grabbed Victor’s attention was a beautiful girl who had long purplish-black hair in long robes, and a brown-haired boy who was pestering her.

Victor was wondering who those two were. They were not dressed as servants like the others. And Victor had no idea about them. Could they have been brought here by Cassius?

Zoe was glaring at the boy with hatred while Iris was holding her off. Did they have a fight?

“Master Cassius, your granddaughter, and adoptive son looks valiant.” An elder decided to suck up to Cassius, answering Victor’s question in the process, making him use his appraisal skill to discover something that he never expected.

“Yes, my granddaughter has achieved the third level of the family’s art. I expect great things from her.” He said. Fail to notice the hatred in Victor’s eyes. This guy was a traitor. And Levi Von Zwei was someone who he would never forget. Not only was he one of the sons of the Von Zwei family's new patriarch. He was one of the followers of the guy who killed his family. Yes, Levi was one of his enemies.

And that Carlos has a clear Von Zwei in his name. What is he doing here? He never heard of him before. He is definitely a SPY.

Those two must die. But how? Maybe they would die by themselves in the Ceremony but that was highly unlikely looking at their bloodlines.

As for the other participants. They had nothing special, just some poor souls who were forced here.

Victor first decided to test the water, so he approached Rita and introduced himself.

“Hi there, My name is Victor, nice to meet you.” He said as he raised his hand to shake hers.

“Victor Von Weise, I know who you are. Don’t even think about touching me, Pervert.” She spat then ignored him. Making his father who was watching from the back chuckle with the elders. He was not the first one to try to approach her here.

Carlos slowly walked to Victor and whispered. “Rita is mine, never try to touch her ever again. Pervert.” He said coldly then followed after her.

Victor frowned then looked at Zoe, who was still giving that guy death stares. “What happened?” He Whispered to Iris.

“That guy just said that the way Zoe ate was like a monkey, and that made her angry.” She replied, making Victor shake his head.

“Enough chitchat, let’s begin.” The Patriarch scolded giving Victor a stare, then approached the gate to opened it in a ceremonial manner before inviting everyone in.