"I understand that you are worried about supporting and working for a potential evil, but to be able to do good, you will have to do evil first. My title, King of Tyrants, wasn't chosen by me to start with. I didn't choose to be the Demon King, they chose me. For which, some Guardians think I might be related to the Torture Cell, but my goal itself is to destroy them." Aefia explained.
"No, I get it. What is I am actually worried about is this competition members finding out." Helio spoke.
"That's why I am not willing to take you to the mission locations. You will be a member of my team, but you will recide in this office to wear out suspicion for me."
"If that's the case, what possible position am I getting?"
"I am not sure about anything like that to be honest. The creatures didn't tell me to secure positions for anyone. But if you want, you can be an executive in my team? Or would you like to be a manager? I would prefer you stay away from the second option since I might expand to Kings and Queens in the future."
"I am pleased to be your executive. Do I do anything right now?"
"Just pick a title worthy enough for the future missions. One title would be for revealations just in case while the other will be used as codenames. For instance, my revealation name is Manipulator of Time while my common title is Dimensional Shifter."
"I will need some time to decide then."
"Then I am taking that you are willing to join me in future missions?"
"Yes. Given that my safety is guaranteed."
"As I said earlier, you are not going to take up combat for the missions. You are to keep down the suspicions in the office and work as my healer."
"Alright. Thank you."
"I should be thanking you for your help earlier. The pain in the back of my head has subsided because of that."
"I am happy to hear that. Then I will inform you about my titles tomorrow. If I come across information about you, I will let you know."
Aefia waved as a sign of appreciation as she walked away. As per fact, Aefia had told Helio about her elemental absorption power and her conversation with the demon. She had this planned in mind as she had already calculated the probability of the unknown creatures bringing her to that dimension to request this mission to her, through.
Her new skills were really interesting and useful. Thanks to her 'Future Prediction' skill, she was able to change the path of the future that would lead her to that course.
***
When she reached to her room, there was a medium sized box at the front and she opened it. Inside was an envelope full of money and a few amulets. Aefia took the envelope out and counted every single note there was.
"Twenty angcles!" Aefia said happily. "I CAN FINALLY BUY THAT PC AND A COUPLE OF LAPTOPS FOR GAMING AND.."
Aefia recalled about her promise to Helio. "I remember telling him that if he carries out the plan, I will give him about fourty percent of the reward I get. Well, I still get to buy a laptop!"
She took out her old envelope and placed eight angcles inside. She then took a look at the few amulets she had received. "Those are one of the most weird looking amulets and symbols I have ever seen. They look like memes illustrated on gold."
She placed the box under her bed. Since the box was thin, there was no bump visible from the surface. "I will investigate them later. It's not like they are one of the most important thing to be discovered about."
***
Back at the palace as the four residing Guardians discussed among themselves. "I think we made a mistake by choosing her as our subordinate." The Guardian of Time smacked his forehead.
"She is a money-hungry person. Luckily you decided to give her twenty angcles. That makes me curious, how was she even from a rich family?! They aren't supposed to be greedy, are they?" The Guardian of Wrath asked.
"Relax, she is just a teenager and she isn't considered rich in this dimension. So obviously, every paycheck she gets will be a sort of happiness for her." The Guardian of Space explained.
"I don't even know how I wanted to make her my successor. She definitely doesn't qualify to be a Demon King. How in the world does a Demon King care about the rewards! They care about the kills they get!" The Guardian of Destruction complained.
The other Guardians laughed. "I won't blame her for that, she did say she doesn't want the throne without confirmation! Even your former successor is smarter than you!" The Guardian of Space laughed.
"I guess you are right." The Guardian of Destruction slumped down deeper onto his chair. "By the way, aren't you going to discuss the matter of her hosting a meeting in the future? If she expands her team rapidly, she will need to have more frequent meetings with them to speak about what ever plan she would want to pursue with to destroy the Torture Cell."
The Guardian of Space pulled down her six wings, "That is something we have already planned. But anyway, she isn't likely to expand to other dimensions this fast. If she does so, she will still be too weak to face the Torture Cell. You will remember her saying that to her first team member."
"Not only that, she even said she may die at the end of the first stage. Do you know what that means? She is a pretty clever child afterall. She has already learnt the fact that to face the Torture Cell, she will need to fool them by dying in one dimension." The Guardian of Wrath explained.
"I don't understand it yet. How does she already know about how to lure the Torture Cell into this believe? If there is somehow a person monitoring her from the Torture Cell, it might be a given information by them. As far as I have checked in time, no one sold her that information. It is also impossible for the information to spawn in her mind like that." The Guardian of Time explained.
"This kid has a lot of things that she knows and does but she doesn't do most of things in front of others. In other words, she is so secretive that even us Guardians don't know or see," The Guardian of Wrath confirmed.
"Anyway, let's close the viewing portal then." The screen was shut off and each Guardian returned to where they came from.
"Fools. I like to play with the human brain a lot, but to play with the Guardians' minds is much more fun." Aefia told herself.
***
In her room, Aefia sat down at her table with a piece of paper and her pen. The bottle of ink was almost finished from all the writing. She concentrated very hard on the things she was going through.
"I will need to buy at least one laptop and a wifi router and all those internet stuff. Then I will buy..." Aefia spoke while calculating the amount she would need to spend.
"It should be around eight angcles at most. The remaining four will be gone to saving." She tore the paper into eight pieces and threw them at her trash can from far.
The pieces of paper were left on the ground and Aefia didn't bother to pick it up. "I will clean it tomorrow. I will go to sleep for now. This eye has given me enough trouble."
She slumped into her bed and closed her eyes. This time, she didn't go to another dimension or get any revealations. She could sleep properly for the first time in hours.
When she woke up, it was one in the afternoon. "Uhh! I am already late! I don't need to go to class today. Ms. Avry will understand."
Suddenly, she remembered she missed her breakfast and she was intensely hungry at the moment. The hunger was a reason for her waking up.
She grabbed her cloak and rushed down stairs to the cafeteria. When she got there, the team members were sitting there and eating their breakfast too. So I am not late! I didn't even bother to bring my notebook and pen! I need to make a run!
She rushed upstairs to her room again and brought the things with her to the cafeteria. By then, everyone had left for class. She finished her food, which was stir-fried noodles and ran to the meeting room.
"You are late! I will consider it for your injuries but the next time, I will not take it as tardy but rather absent." Ms. Avry wrote a note on her record book.
Fun fact! My pocket watch doesn't have an alarm system! If not, I would have woken up earlier.
She sat down at her table and pulled her cloak over her head as she stared at her table. She was actually staring at her system, checking for what skills and rewards she had gotten.
Aefia remembered about her dimensional shifting skill she was given as her first reward. I could try it out during class of course, but that would be noticed by Ms. Avry.
Class was only for fourth minutes but it felt like forever to Aefia. "By the way, Ms. Avry! May I ask a question?" Nada asked.
"Go ahead, but don't ask anything silly."
"I heard there is an arcade in Nepolitan, can we go there one day?"
"Well, the arcade in Nepolitan.., there is something wrong with it. It is a special kind of arcade which may trigger a warning for your guys to enter."
I know, it is a habitat of a beast.
"Is the information too confidential?" Anasiy asked. "I don't think an arcade can simply be that dangerous."
Are they really that dumb to not investigate about this matter?! They have skills and books and countless sources of informations and they are neglecting it.
"I can send Aefia to do the clean up. If thats what you guys are asking?"
What? Why me? Am I going to go there to die?
"Why only Aefia?" Nada asked. I don't think you will be able to take down a beast, unlike me of course.
Anasiy shot Aefia an annoyed look. 'Just why are you bragging!'
Calm down, I am just being honest!
'THEN SAY IT TO THE CLASS! WHY ARE YOU SILENT! YOU THINK YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO IS HAVING FUN!'
Blood shot out of Aefia's ears while she stared at Anasiy with a smile, telling her to stop. My ears!
"Anasiy, just what the heck are you telling Aefia? So much so that her ears bleed." Ms. Avry asked.
"She is hiding the fact that the arcade is the residence of a beast." Anasiy said.
"What? You want me to kill her so you guys can use the arcade while I am suffering from injuries? I believe my pain is worth recognizing." Aefia explained.
Anasiy threw an empty water bottle at Aefia's face, right where her left eye was. "Are you seriously threatening me?! The whole class wants to know how you managed to survive with fatal injuries like that! We clearly know you are hiding something."
Blood spilled from inside the bandage and fell from her cheek to her hand on the table. The eye was indeed very damaged. "I remember Ms. Panther telling me that the spirit-grade bullets act as a way to grant the user health for battles. I have injested many bullets and only have a few casings. I remember having a lack of memory of my surroundings and accidentally losing a few casings too." Aefia didn't wipe the blood away, letting it spill further.
"It's actually true, I saw her eating whatever was inside the bullets." Helio joined in the explanation.
Great, he's doing his job.
Luckily to Aefia, Anasiy didn't intercept her current thought. If she knew this, then the rest of the competition members would find out too.
"Anyway, Aefia needs a change of bandage. In case you all know, her eye is badly damaged. Anasiy, I won't blame you but be careful the next time." Ms. Avry walked out of the office to grab another roll of bandage for Aefia.
You know Anasiy, sometimes, it's better to leave the niece of a Mafia alone. Otherwise, it ends badly for the victim. Aefia thought, knowing Anasiy would intercept it.
I don't know what Nada has told you guys, but it's strange to me how I am constantly being left alone now. It's as if, you guys think I am a beast. Actually, yes, I am a beast. But that's also because of my element. If I complete all of the Phases, I will be a Elemental Evil Guardian of the Blood Ruler.
Anasiy stared with horror at Aefia. 'Are you really, the King of Tyrants then? Helio said that you don't want the throne, is that true?'
Helio knows little to nothing. It's all up to me to decide if I want to be the next Demon King. More specifically, I am willing to destroy a specific group of people. Maybe even Guardians or Kings and Queens, who knows?
'You are a villain to all of us! That's why we are leaving you alone. Are you from the Torture Cell? Are you manipulating us from all these stuff?'
Well to put it like that, I did have a dream once as a child to become a Mafia like my uncle. Sadly, he was killed in an accident so I couldn't be one of his subordinates. But if I were, I believe I would have been the same like I am now, back on Earth. If I have the chance, I will think about joining the Torture Cell. They are, as the latest information say, a group of inter-dimensional Mafias.
'I heard from Nada that you speak a lot of code language. So if that true, what you are trying to say is that your power and skills are all due to the things you have done on Earth. One of them is, working as a subordinate for your uncle for a short amount of time.'
Congrats! You have finally found out about me. Now, since you know all that, I can't keep you alive. May I as well kill you like Marty? I won't do it without your permission of course!
Aefia smiled at Nada, and her smiling at times like this, represented danger.