Chapter 60
The next morning
Quest complete! 3 skill points awarded!
You have 37 unspent skill points!
I let out a sigh as I finished the last exercise, relieved to finally be done with the daily quest. The last one was a four mile run, so I’d just been running circles around the blocks as my friends walked at a normal pace.
“You are driving me insane with your apparent unwillingness to spend any skill points you get,” Rosemary said with a frown as she shook her head at me.
“I just think it’s stupid,” I replied, wiping the sweat from my face.
“Stupid or not, this is how you get stronger,” she countered, causing me to sigh.
“Fine,” I groaned as I looked around, seeing that the others hadn’t caught up with me yet.
Flicking open my menu, I began to spend my points, much to Rosemary’s delight.
Most of my points went into Perception, Reflexes, and Stamina. While the rest I just dumped into Brain Power.
I at least resisted the urge to drop them all into Strength this time around.
“Thankfully,” she muttered as she faded away, just as my friends rounded the corner and began heading for me.
“Finally done?” Domitor asked as he tossed a bottle of water to me.
“Yep,” I replied as I caught the water and bit the cap off, chugging the entire bottle in one go.
“I am pretty sure you’re not supposed to drink from a bottle like that,” Vanilla commented as she stood there holding Creampuff, who’d had a bath and actually looked very cute now.
As for Vanilla herself, she appeared to be doing better, as she’d been in a decent mood since she’d woken up. She was sticking next to Floria, keeping pace with her, while Floria herself just looked like her normal carefree self.
All I can say is, after all the shit I saw last night in her memories, she needs a few wins. Plus, that sister of hers is as good as dead. I may not be capable of pulling the trigger, but Domitor is more than capable, and willing, to do it for us.
He voiced his opinion last night as we slept on the floor of the living room together, making it clear he planned to deal with her if he ever saw her in person.
In response to her comment, I just laughed, tossing the bottle over my shoulder.
“Now then,” I said as we continued down the street, “step one of our awesome plan is to get into the Social District. Once we’re in, things become easy as fuck.”
“Sounds so simple,” Domitor muttered as I gave him a wink.
“With me around, everything is simple.”
“Yeah, sure,” he remarked, returning my wink as I slugged his shoulder.
ooo000<^>000ooo
The door to the Enforcer’s Time Chamber opened as a few of the members of Phantasm Troupe walked out, carrying themselves a bit differently after the two years they’d just spent training.
“I’ll inform Calypso we’re ready to start moving things forward,” Roxxy announced as she continued walking for the hallway that led back to the main room.
“We’ll go gather up the gear,” Nightstreak said as he, Dude, and his sister all walked for the armory.
As everyone else split up to perform their task, Louie stepped out, followed by his two teachers.
“Well, Louie, this has been fun,” Coach Jones said as he shook hands with Louie. “Don’t go out there and disappoint us now.”
“I won’t, Coach,” Louie said proudly as he towered above them, his now fully muscular body giving off a very imposing aura.
Next he turned to John Cena and gave him a salute, “thank you again, Mr. Cena. Without you I’d never have gotten into shape like this.” He then struck a very exaggerated pose, hands splayed out as he held one before his face and one over his knees, “nor would I have learned the true art of Showmanship!”
John returned his salute, a very proud smile on his face, “I did my best for you, son. Now you just need to go out there and put everything we taught you to use.”
“I will!” Louie laughed as he bowed to them.
“Now,” Coach Jones said as he placed a hand on Louie’s shoulder as he bowed before them. “Go suplex that prick Champion for me.”
ooo000<^>000ooo
Scamp let out a relieved sigh as she stepped off of the train, happy to finally be off of it after four long days.
The city before her though was not something she’d expected, as it appeared to be a never ending maze of buildings stretching all the way to massive tree, which extended so high into the sky she had to tilt her head all the way back just to see the top.
“How are we supposed to find our daughter in this shit?” She asked, getting a reassuring shoulder squeeze from Mallogory.
“It won’t be easy,” she admitted, “but we have family here in this city. That is, if they actually went through with the plans to expand here.”
“Do you know where they might be?” Spark asked as he looked around, seeing all the people around them giving them strange looks.
“If they stuck to the original plan, then I know of the general area they’ll be in,” she confirmed as she began to walk down the platform.
Scamp frowned, as she felt something was off. Like they were already being watched, but scanning the area revealed nothing out of place. But to be honest, she wasn’t familiar with this world, so it was a bit harder to pick things out that don’t belong.
Regardless, her senses were on high alert as she took up the rear as they walked, head forward as her eyes scanned the area constantly.
ooo000<^>000ooo
“Let me take the lead,” Vanilla suddenly said as we neared a checkpoint that led into what I assumed was the Social District.
“Go ahead,” I replied as we all held back so she could walk ahead of us. “Should we know anything once we get inside?”
“Yes, don’t act… like yourselves,” she said, a slight smile tugging at her face. “We’re already going to stand out thanks to how you two are dressed,” she said, regarding Floria and me. “And with Domitor, we’ll draw a lot of attention. If this is going to work, I’ll need you three to follow my lead.”
“You can count on us,” Floria chuckled, giving her a confident smile as she tilted her head to the side.
“Floria and Shane,” she said as we slowly neared the gates. “You are my hired bodyguards.”
“Well we do look the part,” Floria said, giving me a smirk. “Especially Ms Beefcake over here.”
I nodded in agreement, then frowned as I realized what she said, “hey.”
“Domitor,” Vanilla continued, putting her hands behind her back as Creampuff took up a position on her shoulder. “I am sorry, but you will have to pretend to be my non-speaking pet.”
“Ha!” I laughed, giving him a shove as he frowned.
“Great,” he said flatly, shaking his head.
“Pet’s don’t speak, Domitard,” I teased as I rumbled up his mane. He playfully bit my hand, causing me to yelp. “Hey! No biting assface!”
He just smirked up at me, staying silent.
“You’ll regret that,” I said as I rubbed my hand, a sly grin on my face.
“Focus you two,” Floria said as we stepped up to the gates where four guards stood around looking bored.
“Pass?” One of them asked without even looking up as he read a book.
“Open the gate,” Vanilla said in a stern and practiced voice, standing with her hands behind her back.
The guard looked up, eyes going wide as he realized who she was. “Ah yes, Ms. Cakehurst ma’am!” He turned and yelled to someone inside the guard house. “Open the gate!”
The gates began to squeal as they slowly rolled open, allowing us entry as we all walked in with no problem.
Quest complete! 7 skill points awarded!
Quest complete! 3 skill points awarded!
Level up!
You have 13 unspent points!
“Well that was easy,” I muttered, getting a smile out of Vanilla as we walked further into the Social District, which looked a lot different from the part of the city we’d just come from. A lot more fancy and put together, with everyone wearing much nicer clothing.
“Of course, it’s one of the many benefits of being a Cakehurst,” Vanilla replied, then in a lower tone added, “one of the only good things about being a Cakehurst.”
Domitor and I didn’t react to that last part, but Floria gave her a reassuring nod, as she couldn’t do much more without breaking the illusion of us behind her bodyguards.
Moving on, she resumed her proper stance and strolled forward, head held high. “Going forward will be very simple, as the guards at the entrance to Denmor will allow us entry just the same.”
Quest accepted! ‘Rank A: Enter Denmor!’
“Wow, this is all… going very smoothly now,” I commented, a smile taking over my face as I adjusted my mask, eyes scanning the area around us.
I thought I saw someone staring at us within the crowd, but when I looked in their direction they were gone.
“Aw hell naw,” I muttered, now feeling very uneasy. I may be dumb, but even I know when we’re being followed.
“Heads up guys,” I said quietly, “I think we have a fan.”
“Who?” Floria asked as her eyes darted around the area.
“Dunno, I barely saw them, but it’s a Kejtdra male,” I answered, gripping the sheath of my wooden katana with my lift hand as we walked.
“What do we do?” she asked.
“I guess nothing, unless we wanted to draw them out,” I answered, trying to think of the best course of action here. “I say we just keep pushing for entrance to Denmor.”
“Well that’s worrisome,” Vanilla muttered from ahead of us as we continued down the street.
“What is it?” I asked as I sped up to get next to her.
“That woman, there,” she said, tilting her head towards a very well dressed woman staring at us with an amused look on her face.
“What about her?”
“That is the sister of one of the men married into the family. She knows me,” Vanilla said as her posture strained to force her into a more upright stance.
I just shrugged as I made eye contact with the woman, causing her to smile as she stepped back into a building. “There, she’s gone.”
“The fact she left without saying a word to me does not bode well,” Vanilla said, sweat suddenly beading up on her forehead.
“Hey, don’t worry, we got you,” Floria assured her as she took up the spot on the other side of Vanilla.
This seemed to calm her a bit as she relaxed slightly, “Thank you, all of you.”
“Don’t mention it,” I said with a nod, eyes still watching the crowd around us.
ooo000<^>000ooo
3 hours later
It took a bit, but we were finally close to the base of the tree, where there were even more secure checkpoints set up before you could even get near the base of the tree.
Which would be no problem for us with Vanilla Cakehrust here to have us waved through every obstacle.
“Once we’re actually in the tree,” she began, doing her best to look as proper as she could. “Do not speak. The denizens within Denmor are of a different standing than anyone you’ve met so far. As bad as it sounds, you’re all lowly trash in their minds.”
“I mean they’re not wrong,” I said with a smirk, not really caring for the opinions of uptight rich people.
“I’m serious, I must be the one to do all the talking. It won’t matter if you are my bodyguard, if you anger someone within Denmor, you can be ejected without any warning, do you understand?”
I rolled my eyes but nodded, “yeah, I do.”
“Good,” she said with a firm nod as we neared the first checkpoint.
The guards here looked a lot more serious, as they stared down anyone who walked near their post. But we walked up confidently, like we belonged here. That didn’t stop every single one of them from staring right at us.
“Stop,” the largest one demanded as he stepped forward, a little device in his hands. “Name.”
“Vanilla Cassonade Wafer Glazia Cakehurst,” Vanilla stated firmly, staring right back at him sternly.
The lead guard raised an eyebrow as he held out the device, scanning all of us. “I see,” he said as he stepped back and leaned into a guard house, speaking with someone.
“Is there a problem?” Vanilla asked in a practiced no nonsense tone.
He didn’t respond right away, just kind of leaned out to stare at us for a moment before nodding to whoever he was talking to.
“Ms. Vanilla Cakehurst,” he announced as he walked back to us, the guards in the area tensing up instantly. “Looks like I will be the one to inform you of the bad news.”
She glared at him, trying to remain in charge, but her trembling body gave her away.
The guards began to form a circle around us.
“You have been excommunicated from the Cakehurst family effective one hour ago, and are to be turned over to a Maiden upon arrest,” he declared, causing Vanilla’s entire façade to fall away instantly, causing her to take a step back between us.
Every guard around us began to move in slowly, holding their hands up.
“Do not resist, this does not need to go down that route,” he said as he pulled out a pair of handcuffs. “Just surrender, Ms. Vanilla.”
“What do we do?” I asked, not sure if attacking guards like this would be a smart move.
Floria looked at me, then to the terrified Vanilla, a conflicted look on her face. “Fuck it… can you handle all of them?”
A little smirk appeared on my face as I gave a single nod, “yeah, easy peasy.”
“Then do it,” she said as she wrapped an arm around Vanilla, pulling her close as the guards were almost in grabbing distance.
Well, they’re fucked.
“VofKai,” I suddenly said aloud, causing cyan energy to burst from my body as I activated my Perception Field, taking in everything around me as I planned my following movements carefully. Then in a fluid motion I sprang forward, drawing my wooden sword and weaving in and out of the group of guards around us.
As I came to a stop right outside of the circle, I slid my katana back into the sheath. As it clicked into place, the guards behind me all let out pained grunts and gasps as they all collapsed.
“Fuck me,” Floria muttered as she dragged Vanilla along, jumping over the downed guards and making a run for it with Domitor close on her heels.
“That’s Shayla for ya,” Domitor said as I stood up and took off after them, deactivating VofKai to conserve my energy. I don’t have a overpowered healer here this time to fix my body if I over use that.
Behind us a few guards ran out of the guard house and began to chase after us.
“I got it,” Domitor said as I started to stop, using his weird tentacle ability to shoot right back towards them. This caught them off guard as he zipped around them, using just his hooves to take them down, as he seemed to be trying to avoid killing them. Of course, even with just his hooves and abilities, he was able to easily dispatch them, catching back up with us without any trouble. “Got them.”
“My little badass,” I teased as we ran alongside each other.
He shot me a wink as we caught up with the other two.
Vanilla was hysterical as Floria was now having to carry her, as she was having a breakdown. She was starting to slow down, so I ran by her and grabbed Vanilla, holding her so we could run faster.
“What’s the matter now?!” I asked a bit roughly, not very happy she was doing this right here and now.
“Excommunicated…” she repeated over and over again, pulling at her hair. “They’ve excommunicated me from the family…”
“So what? Fuck the Cakehurst!” I shouted a bit too loudly as we sprinted down the crowded streets, not really knowing where we were going.
“You don’t get it!” she shouted, eyes wide as her goggles had slipped down. “That means they’re going to have to remove my Thorn! If a female member leaves the family for any reason, the family will forcibly remove her Thorn!”
“You can’t remove a Thorn,” Floria said as she held Creampuff, doing her best to keep her eyes open on the crowd around us.
“Our family can,” Vanilla said grimly, “we have a branch of the family dedicated to just that, and it’s the most ville and unpleasant thing a person can experience! I’ve seen the aftermath of some family members! Not all of them come out the same! Some even just straight up die during the process! If you survive, then your soul will be so damaged you may never be able to fully recover!”
“Fucking Cakehurst,” Floria growled. “Well they’re not going to get you, I promise on my life that I will not let that happen.”
“Same here, they’re not touching your skinny ass,” I assured her as we turned down a mostly empty street, heading into what appeared to be a living district of some kind.
Vanilla didn’t look convinced as she curled into herself in my grasp.
“I’m going to need you to pull yourself together, Vanilla!” I said gruffly, “we can’t have you-”
“Hello, kites,” a voice called out, causing all of us to come to a grinding halt.
“Ah shit,” I muttered as I saw the owner of the voice step out of a doorway, smiling brightly at us. “Jekyll.”
“The Cakehurst’s have put out a hefty bounty on that little lady right there,” Jekyll laughed, staring right at Vanilla. “So let’s do the smart thing and hand her over.”
Instead of responding, we all squared up with him as I put Vanilla down behind me. Floria’s large rifle appeared in her hand, causing him to smirk.
“Same tricks won’t work this time,” he declared as he began to advance on us, his axe spinning around his body.
“Shayla, we can win this if you just agree to killing him,” Domitor said carefully, remembering how the last fight went.
“I’ll weaken him if you want to kill him, but that’s all I’ll be able to do,” I stated firmly, getting groans out of them.
“Okay,” Domitor grunted, giving me a reassuring nod, “get him down and we’ll finish him.”
“Easy,” I said with a smirk.
“Round three, kites,” Jekyll laughed as he sprang forward.
Quest accepted! 'Rank S: Defeat the Boogeyman!'