Chapter 5: Let the hunt begin…
Chapter 5: Let the hunt begin…
After I remembered him I muttered to myself “Why didn’t I think of him sooner.”
The person that I’m thinking about is known in the whole continent.
‘The Floating Mask’
He is known as the master of the biggest information network in the world. People in the divine central continent all know about this organization because they don’t even bother to hide their existence.
But this fact is not consistent in the other continents. Here they cannot do it in shadows because the seven martial cultivation holy lands are shining like stars and there is no place that would be in shadows for long so they do business openly and they have a good relationship with holy lands.
They are strong enough to fight one of the holy lands but an outsider attacking one of the holy lands would result in all the holy lands fighting that outsider; even if it is only to save face.
It doesn’t mean that they don’t sell information on holy lands, they do in fact but the catch is that they sell it for the right price and you can imagine the price of angering and possibly fighting seven holy lands…
In the Divine central continent, they are known to do business on selling and buying information but if you try to fight them or anger them they are more fearsome than most assassination organizations.
Because of their information on everything they are also very rich and influential. There is a saying here that if you even think of harming them the next thing you see is the floating mask decapitating you.
He is not the most powerful expert around but there is something that makes him the scariest expert around, Information. If you have a weakness that you know about it; he knows too, even if you don’t know about a weakness, he knows that too.
As the saying goes ‘no one knows everything, everyone knows something’ But here you have to add ‘and the floating mask knows what everyone knows’. Meaning that if there is knowledge about something he has it.
You might be asking “dude, isn’t he like one of the last bosses? What do you want with him?”
Well, good question first of all. Second, did you forget that I am also one of the last bosses?
Enemy of my enemy is my friend and this one, in particular, is a family friend.
Close enough that I call him uncle.
There is, obviously a story behind it…
This story goes back a couple of centuries. At that time my parents got married and decided to go on honeymoon.
If it was back on earth Paris would be a nice choice or a private island or something…
But no, they traveled the whole world with a flying treasure, and most of the time they practiced the ‘Dao of low-key’ when visiting the cities so that they could enjoy their stay and not attract attention.
At a time, they were traveling in the Iwis continent in the northern part of the world. In this continent, there is a small kingdom named Sroi and its capital was Riverburn.
The city of Riverburn was built at the base of an active volcano and is truly a state-of-the-art forging and smithing center. Its beauty is matched by the backdrop of majestic forests which have helped shape the city into what it is today. The active volcano made the capital’s soil one of the most fertile soils in the world resulting in the forest and its vegetations.
The trading resources these forests brought were of great importance, but they were also influential when it came to architectural designs as the vast majority of buildings have been built alongside the trees and often incorporate many different forest elements.
Because of the influx of smiths in the city, many different cultures are blending in the background. Countless cultures have left their mark not just on international relations, but also upon the city’s identity. What historically was a city of little diversity has grown into a fusion of everything and it’s this that unites millions to this day.
It’s this multicultural identity that has truly left its mark. Hundreds of diners, restaurants, and bakeries offer a plethora of culinary choices and those who feel hungry for something else can enjoy city exploring, adventure in the capital’s surrounding, or one of the many other attractions.
But there was ultimately one fact, they were but a small country.
Anyways, during my parent’s tourist stay they come to a scene when this ‘uncle’ of mine was about to be assassinated. If it was any sane couple they would mind their own business, but how can a ‘young master of heavenly sword sect’ stay put in this situation.
So yeah. That happened…
Long story short, he told them about himself and my parents told him about themselves. From what I know, my uncle’s family was murdered and he was in hiding and fighting with assassins. This time he was getting some necessities for his pregnant wife when the assassins found him.
As for why they were trying to kill him, it was because they want to remove the Aram family from the world and he, being the eldest son of the family obviously needed to die for their mission to get a ‘3 star’.
When my mother heard that he had a pregnant wife, she used puppy eyes on my dad and it was critical. This was an episode of the blood moon in their honeymoon.
So they helped them and after everything come back to its calm they continued with their travels…
Years passed and this uncle of mine made an organization for information gathering. He did what his Family, Aram family was known for but this time they worked from the shadows.
After many years they come to the holy central continent to expand their influence, but this time Aram asked my father for advice.
My father told him that there is no good result waiting for him if he wants to put the whole organization in shadows so it is better to come clean with the holy lands and do his thing after that.
Following his advice, he established his branch here and ‘gifted’ some information from other continents to these sects to show sincerity and also prove their worth.
After years passed they got a foothold in the continent as information brokers.
Now let me get back to why I thought about him.
If I want to find any potential MCs in the world I need thousands of eyes but I have only two.
If I use uncle Aram’s organization I can easily find these instances around the globe and ‘take care’ of them…
Using a communication device I contacted him so that we can meet to discuss my plan.
“Uncle, is your daughter still single?” I teased the old man.
“…Damn you brat. You almost gave me a heart attack. How can I have no information on my- I mean How can I as a father don’t know about her interactions?” he answered me after about 5 seconds.
“Yes, yes. Uncle, I need to meet you, there is something that I need your help in it…”
“What is it?”
“What else can it be? I’m asking for your daughter’s hand in marriage.” I rolled my eyes.
Before he could come to beat me up I added.
“I was jesting. What can I ask from ‘The floating mask’ if not information?”
“…Okay my ‘dear’ niece. Where?”
That sent some shivers down my spine.
“I have a mission to do, I’ll see you in the coral city in two hours.”
“Okay.”
Ending my communication, I grinned to myself.
This way I can easily find the MC wannabe.
Stepping on my flying treasure followed by five elders, I moved toward the ancient sword mark.
Looking at the sky with a broad smile I muttered to myself “let the hunt begin…”