Chapter 150 CH 144: SURPRISE

"Hardship often prepares ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny."

— From Merlin the Great Wizard to Arthur, the King of Knights.

———

The Sunday morning and afternoon had been relatively peaceful as Adam worked and tested his weapon. slowly adapting to them and their use.

It was when the night came that things changed. Adam was feeling slightly nervous right now.

How could he not be? A job that he just started on the first day of November… Went there once and never again…

It was a different sense of nervousness compared to facing a horde of demons and killing some chimera vampire.

"Genesis. Did you find any good skill that goes with the third major Chakra pathway?"

Using the word 'Throat' chakra always made him chuckle and sent his mind in the gutter. So he decided to use it sparingly.

[Indeed. I have found two that are a good base for a start.]

While Adam and Genesis may not share the same ideology. At the very least so far he hadn't tried to fuck him other.

Adam had once asked about skills related to healing himself but had been quite disappointed. All healing skills were related to the Heart or Core chakra. So not only was there no discount, but there was also a penalty because of his curse that tremendously increased the price of all such skills.

'This curse is really a pain.'

He sighed and focused on the new skills the book was showing to him.

『 Name: Soothing Speech

Rank: C

Description: Make your voice nicer and more agreeable to listen to. It can help the ones who listen to your voice to feel more calm and more relaxed. 』

『 Name: Mermaid's Voice

Rank: B

Description: The innate skill of a Mermaid. Your songs have the power to affect the emotion of the people who listen to them. The higher your natural charm the better the effect becomes. 』

[Soothing Speech is a passive skill that will synergize perfectly with Silver Tongue. It's also a core skill to obtain the EX-ranked skill — Curse Words.

As for Mermaid's Voice, it's one of the core skills necessary to obtain one of the S-ranked skills — Hamelin [1]. I believe Hamelin will be even more powerful when used with your innate skill, Domination. Mermaid's Voice can also evolve into Siren's Lullaby [2]. another S-ranked skill.]

Adam tilted his head in wonder. His skills were becoming more and more outrageous by the second as he was now entirely in the pure territory of mental manipulation.

But would this stop him from buying the skills? Not at all.

[The initial cost of Mermaid's Voice is 10000 Karma. As you obtained the Throat Chakra, it was reduced to 1000 Karma. Similarly, Soothing Voice was 1000 and is reduced to 100]

[Do you confirm the purchase of the skills?]

[Y/N]

Adam immediately clicked yes and his Karma went from 3400 to 2300. He had nearly used up the quota he had imposed on himself for this purchase but everything went easily so he didn't need to overspend or think much about buying them. Those skills would undoubtedly be very useful for him on a daily basis.

An itch began to form around his throat and he felt like something was changing in that region. His vocal cords were evolving to accommodate the two new skills.

Once the change was done. He groaned and grunted slightly under his breath. He was now feeling that his throat had gotten quite sore but otherwise it was alright for him.

He then took the special weapon that Viktor created for him and equipped it around his arms.

He wasn't going to fight but he wanted to have some fun with those 'new toys' of his.

'Let's set off now.'

"Oh? Where are you going?"

Cecilia asked as she yawned and scratched her stomach like a toddler. She was only wearing a crumpled T-shirt and short pants while her hair was in complete disarray, showing that she had been sleeping till now and had just woken up.

"Work."

He stopped and thought for a bit before speaking, "Speaking of that, what are you gonna do about work, Mom?"

"Nah. Fuck it all. Anyways, since Theresa is here I will just mooch off her."

He looked at her with amusement evident in his eyes, "Your relationship with her seems very interesting, to say the least…"

"Heh. Well, the advantage of being the big sis, I suppose."

She smiled as she approached him and took a sniff…

"Damn son, you are going all out, aren't you? You are working with Yui again, right?"

"...Yeah?"

The last time he had a working relationship with Yui, it ended up with him facing his mom in a ring and a boxing match that sadly ended in his utter defeat.

"Haha. Don't look at me like that. You ain't a kid anymore. Anyway, you are a Gold-ranked hunter now or going to become one soon, I guess. Anyways, the point is… You can defend yourself from common threats. Just… Be careful out there, alright?"

"I will."

"Very well. Now go. I need to get some food in me. My stomach is literally screaming in protest. Bye-bye."

"See you later, Mom."

He waved his hand and closed the door behind him.

Looking at the now-closed door, Cecilia tilted her head as she realized that she had yet to ask him what his work was exactly.

'Well. That will be for later. Now, where did I put that bottle of milk again?'

———

[K-Town — Wild Hunt]

The bar today was pretty crowded. Women could be seen coming and going from the bar almost every few minutes. Sometimes they were accompanied by a man in their arms or sometimes they were alone. But there was one thing in common between all these women. They were all wearing masks that hid their features.

The atmosphere was relaxing, unlike most bars in the outside world. There was no explosive music made to deafen the people inside. It was more of a romantic atmosphere with red subsided colors to promote a charming mood. One that would allow for love and passion to bloom, as well as eroticism.

The bar had been slowly opening again after things started to calm down in the area and today was the big opening day of their main event.

When Adam arrived at the bar and realized that the theme of the day seemed to be a masked party, he immediately sent a message to Yui about his arrival, telling her that he was now close to her quarters. He didn't want to create any problems by walking in from the front so he opted to take the back door.

In the bar, Nikola had been observing the party with a satisfied smile etched on her lips. She had been wondering if they would be able to bring the clients in despite the current tense situation of the outside world. But it was clear that the influence Yui had built wouldn't just vanish suddenly because of one simple mistake.

Everything was working as intended and she could already smell the money that was filling their coffers. More than anything else, she was sure that many of the women would become recurring clients.

'Still, we lack something. A big star, someone who will be the target of everyone but won't be able to obtain.'

She didn't worry too much about this. Slowly a hierarchy would be established and the clients would compete for the attention and time of the higher-ranked employees of the bar.

It was then that one of the girls approached her and whispered something in her ears.

Nikola frowned at the news that was delivered to her; emotions of unrest and annoyance brimming in her eyes. But she soon sighed and reeled in her emotions. This was work. She simply had to put her bias aside and do the work that was needed of her. As long as Adam could do what he was told to and not lag too far behind the others, she would not bother him and let him do as he wished.

'Well. Let's go.'

Putting on a half-black mask, with white patterns on the rims, that covered the upper part of her face, she prepared herself and walked out of the bar.

At first, everything felt normal. She should have been alerted the moment she was able to find him so easily in the crowd.

After all, despite the number, the difference between a sun and a few candlelights was too clear.

But her bias and the fact that she was in her own territory made her relax slightly. It was when she had come close to him that her senses finally caught on.

"Adam, the boss is…"

Nikola, who had been asked to bring Adam in the back so he could have a discussion with Yui before deciding if he would stay or not, immediately stopped short the moment she reached a certain distance from him.

She looked up at him, her eyes filled with surprise and trepidation at the sense of dread that had suddenly assailed her body.

In the past, Adam had been a normal human in her opinion. She knew he must have something special in him and most likely opened his eyes to the veil after being nearly killed by a vampire.

Later, she also guessed that he might be related to the Director.

But what of it? How much would a mere human who hadn't even opened his Heart Chakra grow in a few weeks? At most, his influence might be useful for them.

Now though, she couldn't help but tighten her fists and put herself in a fighting position by reflex as her flight or fight response kicked in, in response to the natural aura that the young man emanated around her.

She looked at the young man in front of her and asked carefully, ready to sound the alarms at any moment.

"You… Are you really Adam?"

[1]: I think everyone knows about the Pied Piper of Hamelin. It's more of a bedtime story. Well not really bedtime. Most fairy tales have some dark original stories. The Grimm Brothers were really grim. Haha. Anyways in summary a town was infested by rats. They hired a man and the man used some powerful hypnotic music to control the rats and make them leave. Now the people of the town, after seeing this were dumb enough to refuse to pay the obviously magical man. So the man used his magic and controlled all the children before vanishing forever.

[2]: So Mermaid and Siren are not the same things originally. So nowadays Siren and Mermaid are used interchangeably but in Greek myth, Sirens aren't half fish. They are half birds as was described to Ulysse by Circe in the Odyssey. So basically they are Harpy. But there again there is a difference. Sirens are beautiful and Harpies are supposed to be Ugly. Also, Harpies don't sing. They kidnap and torture. But around the 14th century, the terms Siren and Mermaid became interchanged. I will use this notion in my story. Siren = Evil Mermaid.