43 The Second Trial II : Recruiting Raven Song & The First Mission.

When we got back to the Villa, we were met with a rather peculiar sight. Zack and Mack, had Raven Song tied up on a chair, and that chair was being hung upside down, over the railing of the stair case. I was quite shocked by the sudden turn of events, and with how messed up Zack and Mack looked, this was probably a lot harder to carry out than I imagined.

"Did you send this cronies of yours to kidnap me? Not cool dude, not cool at all!" He shouted at me.

"Sorry, I asked them to get you here, no matter what. I didn't expect things would get this complicated and weird." I apologized as I gave Mack a signal to let him down.

"Well no worries, this is not the first time I've been kidnapped, so I'm quite used to it. But to be honest I didn't expect that the one doing the kidnappings would be you, is something the matter?" He asked me, as he dusted his clothes, throwing off imaginary dust.

"Yes, I'm putting together a crew of sorts for the next task, and I want you to join me. If you don't mind."

"And you couldn't just come ask me that instead, rather than kidnapping me?" he asked again, folding his hands as he raised his eyebrow.

"Like I said, I'm sorry. But you have quite the reputation, and I thought it would be better if I had you brought here instead, where we can have a talk. I didn't expect it to get so wild."

"Okay apology accepted, and yes please I'll join this crew of yours. I've been a part of Iron Eagles guild for the better part of three years, and in all that time, all they had me do was explore and clear dungeons, grind to raise my levels, and then participate in some events and tournaments, the rinse and repeat. I really didn't get to have a sense of adventure in this game, but now, I'm finally free of that blasted guild, so let's get the fuck out of here, before they come back for me." He said, as he relaxed on the couch behind him.

"Well sure, no problem. Dinah could you get Qitar a room, and Jack could you take care of Raven Song here?" I ordered.

Jack gave a simple nod, before leading Raven Song upstairs to get him a room, Dinah on the other hand, felt the need to give me the middle finger, before grabbing Qitar and leading her towards the garage instead, she was probably going to work on her prosthetic bionic arm. Suddenly my communicator rang, and a message was on the screen.

[Come outside.....Alone!] Sender: Minister Lerrianderlei

Well I was a little put off and surprised that she had access to my come, but I guess she was that resourceful, or careful.No doubt she was keeping a close eye on me, and the fact that she had this number was more than enough proof. I excused myself and went outside, since she said to come alone, I left Sky behind, she was a weapon, but I also considered her a person.

As soon as I got outside, I noticed a limo parked in my villas docking bay, there was two female elves standing guard outside, and as I got closer, ne of them opened the door. I looked around first, then at both elves, trying to figure out what was going on before I heard her voice call out to me.

"Well what are you waiting for, get in."

I moved into the limo, and couldn't help but leave my jaw hanging on the floor. I figured this was not social call, seeing as I would be leaving soon to go complete the second task, so why the hell was the minister dressed so casually, and in a night gown no less. Weird right?

"I'm so sorry about my current state of dress, or undress,it something came up and it was quite urgent."

She said to me, as she crossed her legs, making her short pink night gown ride up her pale thighs, but the really sight came when she was crossing her legs, based on what I saw, it's safe to say, she wasn't wearing anything underneath.

"Well what's so urgent that you had to see me this early in the morning?"

I asked her, as I simultaneously swallowed hard. This woman was playing with me, I knew that much, and I would be lessor a man if I say I wasn't affected by her sultry actions. She was a woman who knew her body had power, and she was not gun shy about using that power.

"A mission has come up, and the coven feels it's perfect for your first operation. And since you'll be completing your task around the same vicinity, I believe it's a pretty convenient proposition." She said to me as she handed me a tablet, with the map of a couple of islands on it.

"Okay, what am I looking at?" I asked her, as the image of the islands zoomed in on each other.

"Those string of islands, as you already might have heard of, are the hollows. That's one of the few places left on New Gaia, that's still lawless and quite wild. Anyway, there seventeen great islands, 30 major islands, and over a 100 large islands, and a little over 600 minor islands. It's a quite like M.A.S where you got your ship from.

There are four main powers there, first are the original human inhabitants of those islands, known as the Maui. Fearsome warriors, and masters over any fire, water and most berserker classes. They have a king, a few queens, and quite a lot of princesses and princes.The Maui's power are absolute, and they restrain the other three powers, so they can not be messed with.

The next would be the mercenary/smuggling organization Gemini. They're cutthroat and ruthless, but they have a good reputation, and are very good business men and women. They have quite a significant amount of islands under their control, including three great islands. However they're quite ambitious, and would like to obtain total control of the Hollows. Unfortunately that won't be happening anything soon.

The next has to be a nation of sea folk. They're not limited to Sahagins, Mermaids, Sirens, and even a few krakens. They're pirates, and they're the scourge of the seas surrounding the entirety of the Hollows islands. The fruit you're supposed to steal is smack dab in the middle of their capital, a great island called Runt."

"Seriously?" I asked surprised by the name.

"Yes seriously." She answered, before she continued.

"Though they only have one major island under their control, they have the most minor islands under their control, at almost 270 of the entire six hundred.

They're common thugs, but still quite dangerous, and are not to be underestimated, they're ruled by 6 pirate lords, who are quite powerful enough to damage and even destroy a small nation. So be careful of them, don't get caught, and under no circumstances are you allowed to expose Sky's living form to them, if they find out a battle beast is running around the hollows, whether or not they care of the bond between the two of you, they'll kill you, and sell her to the highest bidder.

And then the final power is an off shoot kingdom of sea elves, they're exiles, and belong to a faction of a former traitor of the elven nation. Though it's been many years, they've grown stronger over time. Apart from the royal family of the Maui, they're the most dangerous and powerful there, even though their faction is The smallest. They have five great islands under their control, and that alone is a testament of their abilities. They call themselves the Pure Forgotten, and they are your target this time." I nodded my head in acceptance at what she said, and listened closely for what came next.

"They're holding an important Elven dignitary hostage, of course we could just as well negotiate with them for his release, but they will not let him go. Said dignitary, is actually the old head of research for the elven biochemical tech and weapons lab. He has knowledge that could completely destabilize the entire elven nation. Your secondary objective is to retrieve him, before he tells them anything. My spies on the island says he's keeping quiet, but only because he hopes to wring out as much benefits from both the sea elves, and the elven empire as a whole.

It would be his ploy at revenge after he was fired from his position for illegal experimentation. Now listen closely, while your secondary objective is to retrieve him, I didn't say exactly what state he's supposed to be in, I'm sure you know what I mean. All I need is a body, your primary objective is to make sure he dies, and cause enough damage to anything of import to the sea elves, if you can get us important information or even a hostage, then that's even better.

This is not a rescue operation Aaren, you know that right?" She asked me, as the tablet in my hands showed me the face of my target.

"No it's not, it's an assassination mission." I answered her in return.

"Good, then I guess I don't need to tell you anything else."

And then she moved towards me, grabbed the tablet and threw it aside, and then proceeded to sit on my lap, looking all hot and heavy as she brought her lips down to my face. Game or not, I'm definitely going to like what comes next.