44 Dufftown

'Next time you return to this world,' Kai remembered what Simon had told him. 'Seek the dark wizards. It will be extremely difficult, and dangerous, mind you. But I know for a fact, they won't give a rat shit if you are destined or not. They Will acknowledge you.'

Kai hadn't believed what Simon had told him entirely. But it was enough for the few bites of the magical creature's flesh Kai had to trade for it. 'If not all, there is some truth in what he had said,' Kai told himself. [1]

The wind rustled against his long white hair, wetting his eyes. Kai's mood hadn't lifted even after getting the Pokeball. He had been ecstatic, drawing it out as a reward. But what Kai had been looking forward to was the beast within it.

'… Current Status: Empty,' anger welled up in Kai's heart, thinking of that. His Luck was becoming a major roadblock in his pursuit of power. Kai hadn't even asked Arlen about the Pokeball, in fear of giving him a hint about his reward. 'Loot in this new life of mine,' Kai reflected, 'is the only thing I can claim to be mine alone.'

"How long will you keep her safe?" Kai asked, seeing Arlen glancing at Shae from time to time. "She is weak. Pathetically weak. You know what happens to the people of her kind, right?" Kai wasn't wrong. This was an Initiation mission for both Kai and Shae. But the difference between them couldn't be any wider.

Kai had become the direct or indirect cause of many Contestants' death well above his level. The only thing Shae had done was to get an Elementary Magical Aptitude. 'Yes. That and staying alive,' Kai added, giving her credit, at least for that.

Arlen twisted his neck and gave a hard look to Kai. Sometimes Kai couldn't tell what the blue-eyed man was thinking. On one hand, Arlen was a shrewd killer, a scary Contestant, and an opportunist. On the other hand, Kai had found out Arlen was just another man rotting away in the endless search of a cunt's warmth.

"Mind your own business, Bloody," Arlen said, stirring the broomstick. "Don't forget, there is life beyond these worlds too. This is all a big game. And all have their part to play in it. Even Shae."

Kai smiled. That sly smile of manipulating a conversation. He was waiting for Arlen to mention something about the outside world by himself. It had been almost two days, and still, Kai knew almost nothing about the Primordial Tower. Other than what the White Room had told him, he had learned nothing new.

'It's a weakness,' Kai had told himself. It truly was. More so when the Main Mission was about to be over.

The wind was wet and heavy, and they were flying along the coastline once more. The noon was approaching, but a chill was still there, scaring away the heat. "Humph!" Kai snorted. But Arlen didn't seem to hear it. So Kai leaned over Mr. Beedle's back and took his mouth near Arlen's ears. He snorted again, a little louder. "Humph!!"

The broom shook. Simon came pelting from behind. "Captain, what happened?" he shouted. "Are the injuries flaring up?" Even Shae was looking at Arlen with concern. Both Kai and Arlen noticed her expression.

'Haha,' Kai felt amused. 'Look how he's blushing. A true cunt-lover.'

"Nothing!" Arlen shouted back, straightening his back.

When Simon and Shae's broomstick had fallen back, Arlen turned and gave a disgusting look to Kai. "What in Chaos' name was that?"

"I thought you were bullshitting me, captain," Kai said, feigning ignorance. "What life? What game? Isn't it just killing and then more killing?"

"You would like to think that, wouldn't you?" Arlen grinned. "Haha!" He let out a roaring laugh, and he would have continued laughing if it wasn't for Mr. Beedle slapping the back of his head.

"Sorry, my lord. I didn't mean to disturb your rest," Arlen apologized. Mr. Beedle was leaning on Arlen's back, and only the sound of occasional gusts was louder than his snores. There was an ugly, makeshift coverlet wrapped around Mr. Beedle, made by stripping the corpses of the Order's Contestants.

Arlen didn't look back again, but his voice reached Kai's ears. "No more. Not a single word out of your filthy mouth again."

One thing Kai lacked, which he never regretted, was Shame.

"OK," Kai retorted. "What's so funny about what I said, huh? Tell me something about this life then, captain."

No reply.

"Mr. Beedle," Kai said, "IT is coming…"

"NO! Wait, I am telling. Fuck!" Arlen snapped. "The Primordial Tower has 21 Floors. The Two systems divide all the floors into two territories. One is called Chaos' Valley, and the other, Order's Peak. An Empire rules each territory, and a noble from the empire governs each set of floors. They are collectively styled as Set Lords."

'Set Lords,' Kai deliberated the style for a few moments. 'So it's like this. No matter where you go; no matter where you end up, the strong will always be the overlords. Good.'

"So each System has its own Set Lords?" Kai asked, not expecting an answer. So he did the next best thing. Asking many questions, hoping to get an answer to at least one. "What do they do? What other powers do they have? Are they the strongest? How to become a Set Lord?"

"Have you gone insane?" Arlen looked back, rage welling up in his blue eyes. "Only one answer and that's it. Pay me Mission Credits if you want more. Yes. There are two Set Lords for every three floors. The Set Lord of the 1st set of the Chaos' Valley is named Baron Silvas."

Kai held himself back from asking more. 'So there are 14 Set Lords, 7 on each side, Kai thought, summarizing what he had learned. I wonder why Arlen didn't speak of the 22nd Floor?'

Kai had just thought of breaking his mouth open when a distant rumble hit his ears. On his back was the red-white of the light, but in front had come up the black and blue of the dark. A massive thunderstorm had covered everything in their eyesight. Red-blue-golden-colored lightning was flashing in and out, giving life to the storm.

'What the…' Kai cursed, seeing that they couldn't avoid it. Even if they didn't want to, they would have to go there.

Hidden amid the murderous Supercell winds was the place Kai had come to know as Dufftown.

Their Ultimate destination!

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[1]: Some readers might think that what Simon told Kai was worthless. But you must not forget that Kai doesn't know shit about Harry Potter World, and its not like he had traded the entire corpse of the magical beast, but only a few bites, just enough to heal the old man's injuries. He might get to know all this after going to the Tower, but Kai rather have these info sooner than later.