The Enemy Approaches

Jirman watched his daughter run away, arcs of electricity moving across his knuckles as he seethed silently. Just like her mother, she always seemed to know how to climb underneath his skin in the worst ways. Lyra consistently fought him on what was best for her, yet he knew that she understood so little of the world. She was lucky compared to a significant portion of the clan. His standing and position within the clan secured them a non-insignificant amount of respect. They lived in a better part of the town, none of the weak dredges of their society around to taint her.

Everything she had was due to his will and determination, but she would not see reason. Even as she slandered him she reminded him of the wife he had lost, her mother having died during childbirth. He had almost perished when he had lost her, that is until he held Lyra in his arms. To his senses she shined like a bright star, the doctors toted her potential while he tried to cope with the loss. Lyra had required too much Chi, leading to his wife's death. In return they had bore a child with an incredible core, promising a future for their family if she could capitalize on her potential.

That was the reason why he couldn't stand the Korellion family, the weaklings carried only by their oldest member. He alone had earned respect, his cultivation demanding at least that much. Despite his strong base, he had born weak children who had failed to kill the demons that this clan specialized in killing. Jirman could think of no demon that their clan was incapable of handling, and so they must have been weak even with the aid of the clan behind them.

His anger demanded an outlet, the tempest within his core needed something to sate it. He found the communication device that the clan used to maintain information over a short distance, and his Chi reached out to it. The construct was fueled by Chi and would store contacts by absorbing a small portion of a person's Chi. When powered the device would connect to another device that shared the same configuration and Chi signatures. In only a moment he felt his Chi connect to a newer contact, and a few moments after that a sort of resonance filtered into his consciousness.

"What is it Jirman, you know that I am a busy man." The voice came through to his thoughts, less so in direct words and more like a deep impression of meaning. Annoyance tinged the thoughts of his contact, prompting Jirman to send a mental image of Kantan through the connection. It wouldn't be a perfect image of him, the Chi didn't work that way. Instead it carried with it an impression of the young Korellion, describing how the boy's core felt when observed through one's Chi sense.

While an unawoken could not utilize or sense Chi, they still carried it in their bodies. It reacted sub-consciously to its surroundings, aided in the processes of their bodies on a minuscule level. It could best be compared to a spiritual muscle that one needed to push to grow, but gaining control of it was the initial challenge. "The boy should be all that stands in your way when it comes to my daughter Bamor. I have it on good authority that he will be in the northern quadrant of the city to meet my daughter." He passed a sinister intent through the connection along with his meaning.

A few moments trickled by as the connection persisted silently, a moment of anxiety sprouting in the back of his head. Had he offended the young noble? Did he no longer desire his daughter after the way she had reacted to him? His worried thoughts were interrupted before they ran too far by a short and slightly haunting response. "You honor your family, I will see to the boy personally." Darkness so deep, it calmed even his own tempest, slithered along the connection before suddenly the device powered down.

For a short while he wondered if he was doing the right thing, Bamor's maliciousness making him think he might have made a mistake. After reminding himself that it was all for his daughter's potential, he reaffirmed his thoughts and smiled darkly. Getting rid of the young Korellion would signify the end of that weak family line completely. Sinister joy burst within him, reigniting the tempest that was his Chi. Today he would solidify his control over his daughter, removing the worst outside influence on her future.

-Across Town-

Bamor found himself smiling with a hideous expression at one of the local bars that he and his crew liked to congregate at. The message he had just received brought him a much needed outlet for his pent of aggression, and he could not wait to vent it on the kid that was interfering with his conquest of Lyra. He had been talking to Jirman over the course of a few weeks to set up that meeting and she had blown him of with only a glance. The rage began to seethe in him again, and the metal handle of the mug he was gripping began to squeal in protest as he crushed it.

He absolutely hated it when people interfered with his business in general, but those who stopped him from bedding those he coveted were deemed wastes of life in his eyes. He did not care if the king himself wanted to intervene, when he set his sights on a beauty he would not allow anyone to get in his way. Until he felt satisfied, nothing else mattered. This craving of his had been the basis of many a fun escapade. The memories of many nights spent in the underground prison he had set up for the girls he abducted played back, bringing him a an extreme sense of joy.

It had cost him a fair amount of coin to get it stealthily built, but it had proved extremely enjoyable. He had grown tired of having his way with some of the poorer girls in the town, those who were orphaned and just trying to survive. He had first lured them to his bed with food, for which they readily pleasured him. After a while though he found it boring, and eventually in a rage at being unable to feel that release he killed one of the rats he had lured in. In that moment he had felt such an intense arousal that he had quickly lured in multiple more that he ravaged aggressively for the rest of the night.

All the while he used the body of that rat to scare the others into silence, threatening them with the same fate if they didn't keep their mouth shut. After a while of this process back and forth, he decided that it was just easier to keep them permanently so that they couldn't expose him even if they wanted to.

Obviously he knew that he couldn't get away with killing random clan members, there were too many people in the town with enough of them being awoken fighters. He would have to come up with a plan to take care of the kid in a way that didn't leave any physical evidence behind. He considered bringing him to the dungeon to serve as another example to his other captives, but there was too much activity in the town center for him to carry a person in right now.

Knowing that he only had so long to act before his opportunity to intercept the kid would pass, he quickly put together an idea that he thought would be fool proof. All of the guards that manned the front of the dungeon knew that offerings were made on a somewhat regular basis. This was so the dungeon would absorb those items and begin to drop them as rewards for completing dungeon rooms and floors. This was usually handled by someone with a higher station than him, but being the clan chief's nephew made it so he had some authority. If he decided to make a big enough stink, he doubted any of the basic warriors would question his honor to his face.

The smile on Bamor's face lit up as his plan came together in his mind, his hand finally letting go of the tavern mug, which now had a curled and bent handle. He got up quickly, telling his crew he would be back shortly. On his way out of the tavern, he reached over and grabbed a mostly empty sack of potatoes, spilling the rest of the spuds out into the corner by a bench. Bag in hand, Bamor quickly used his chi sense to scan immediately around him while heading toward the north-eastern part of town to lie in wait for the kid.