37 C37 Deep Divine Friends

Azo stared at the small box sitting in front of him, covered in a brown paper around it with strings tied around the box, nothing else could be described about this little box except that it looked more like a birthday present gift than an actual gift you just gave to a band of adventurers on a mission for you.

"Hey, Benard do you know what is inside this."

Azo stared at the man as he picked up the box that fits into the palm of his hand, his eyes questioning the man behind the counter.

"She did not; she just said that you should never lose it."

Azo took a few moments to process as he eventually held the box tightly, his eyes looking back to the room he just came.

"Can I borrow the room for another hour or so?"

Benard would look surprised before nodding his head, unsure as to why he needed it but would accept anyway.

"Sure, no one else is using it."

"One last thing Benard, how much did she pay and what is our cut."

Benard stopped for a few moments, his held his breath as he would look back at Azo, clearly, he was not allowed to give out the regular figures on what the guild had earned if Benard did not trust the man he would have just told him to go away.

"You will be getting two hundred thousand."

Azo, Bull and the twins sucked in air as they heard this figure, it only cost twenty thousand gold for a chance to be forgiven, this money was way higher then they had expected. The typical mission cost around a few thousand to a few ten's of thousands depending on the floor.

"Benard... How much is the guild getting?"

Azo pressed the question, his eyes staring at the man as he knew he could break him into giving this information, it was vital as it could tell if the church approved or if it was done under the table.

"Five hundred thousand..."

His words came like a silent echo that only the people in front of him could even detect, Azo's face dropping as this was a mission under the radar, this was turning out worse then he had expected.

"We will be boring the room again Benard."

Azo quickly turned around, dragging his team with him as he moved inside, holding his staff to the door as he would start to chant under his breath, dark energy flooding into the lock and handle as he would ward the room. If anyone tried to listen in or peek into this room, they would suffer a bad counterspell.

The box getting placed in the centre of the room, the entire team taking a few steps away from the item like it was a cursed artefact that they had to collect.

"This is bad, really bad. The last time the church found out about the underhanded dealings nearly forty people got shoved off the bridge into the pit below." Azo spoke as he felt like his mind was racing.

"It's not all that bad; we just can't get caught." Bull said with his usual childish grin coming to his face.

"Bull, we need supplies other than the basics. Potions, arrows and the likes are third party items; we will have to travel to vendors who will surely get suspicious that we bought so much."

Bull would wave his hands as he continued talking.

"Look Azo, if we decline this mission the guild will get rid of us, that price is enough for them to cut risks, if we take this mission we could be fucked on the other end. We need to take the best option and do the mission as the guild is our lives while the church will fuck us every day."

The twins would both nod, both of them agreeing silently with Bull as it was the best option.

"Maybe whatever is inside this box will help us out."

Bull said with hope, Azo moving forward as he picked up the package, tearing the paper as he would pull out a smaller wooden, glossed box. It was rather nice with a set of golden hinges. The lock was made out of the same plated gold as he moved his finger to unlock it via the hinge lock.

Opening the lid after unlocking the box, everyone crowding around Azo as they all peeked inside to see a simple silver band resting on a soft bed of silk, the ring sporting an embedded black opal that seemed to shine in the dim light, it looked rather bland and boring otherwise with nothing special on it.

"A ring is supposed to solve all our troubles, are we getting ripped off with the supplies!" Bull would gruffly speak as he stared at the puny ring with annoyance, while the twins looked to Azo who looked shocked and speechless.

"This is a magical ring. I can sense an enchantment on it."

He would put the box back down onto the table as he raised his staff, the crystal on the end of his staff rapidly dimming as he began to inspect the item.

"This is a ring of Anti Undead, any undead within a ten-meter radius will explode if unable to resist the magic, this is a Tier Seven spell... The highest level of spell possible."

He would pull the ring from the box, slipping it onto his finger as he would begin to shift his powers to match with the ring, he felt something rapidly magically scan him, almost like the ring was looking inside him. Azo quickly moved his hand to grab the ring, attempting to pull it off.

It was too late at this point, the ring fusing to his finger as he struggled to try and remove it. The ring now one with him.

"It fused with my finger; the item is cursed!"

He would slowly stop tugging, his mind working as he noticed something else, a second layer to the spell that he could not feel before. It was something more potent than the seventh tier spell. He could feel this spell tugging at his very soul, connected to him directly as he raised his hand, pulling on the power as he tried to active it.

"Woh, Azo what the hell is that!"

Bull would shake Azo who had closed his eyes to concentrate on the spell, his eyes opening as he stared a strange glowing black door that had appeared against the wall on the other side, the power brightly glowing as it was something powerful.

"What have we done?" Azo whispered, his eyes wide.

"What is wrong Azo. What is that thing?" Bull responded as he looked between both him and the door that had now appeared.

"This thing is not mortal magic; it goes beyond the seventh realm of magic... It's divine powers. A Demigod relic."

Everyone stood still, looking at his hand, fear coming from them all as this just became such a massive problem. One problem became solved for two new more significant issues to become apparent.

"Azo, we are fucked."