The Young Master in the Shadows

The first thing everyone saw was Lily who ran to Victor and hugged him tightly. She has been thinking about him since he left her. His trick of making her jealous worked too well it seemed. She began to ask him if he was fine, as she checked his body and gave the girls a cold stare.

Peter smiled and greeted Victor and the girls with Aria who looked a little relieved after seeing that her little brother was safe.

As for Tom, he didn’t dare to look at anyone, he just took a brief look and it already took all his strength for him to act as usual. Why are their clothes this damaged?

He decided to stay away for a while. So he stood there looking at the boss’s chamber gate. The goblin general was locked inside and could only order the goblins without coming out. That is how the dungeon worked. And this tunnel is considered safe, as no goblin can enter here, so they would have time to prepare for the boss fight. His team needed some rest.

Tom, who has succeeded in distracting himself from looking at the girls didn’t enjoy his peace for a long time. Margret, who saw him distracted, couldn’t help herself but hug him from the back, pressing her bulging chest against his arm. This is something she did a lot in school. She enjoyed teasing him.

But what happened next was something she didn’t expect. Tom who turned his head and looked at her chest absentmindedly, let out a sharp scream and rolled on the ground while holding his crouch.

“What happened, I didn’t do anything?” Said the frightened Margret.

Peter who didn’t even flinch shook his head and assured her.

“Don’t worry. It’s Tom. He was poisoned by some goblin and whenever he sees something that arouses him he will suffer immense pain.” He said with a laugh that he was trying hard to hold back.

“Ah what an evil poison, who would create such a thing?” she said as she looked at Tom who was suffering on the ground. She glanced at the others and noticed Victor’s smirk. This is not one of schadenfreude but of admiration of one's evil deeds.

Could it be that Victor was the one who poisoned him? That’s impossible. but why is it that her female intuition was telling her that it was him, and her intuition was never wrong? She had to give Victor some additional thoughts. He is not as simple as he seems.

“Anna, try to have a look at him, you are a healer after all,” She said to Anna who was a little shocked by Tom’s scream.

“Ah, A Healer” Tom shouted and stood up slowly. The pain was easing up. “Anna, can you help me?” He asked flashing his shiniest smile. But it looked pathetic with his hunched back and his hands holding his nuts.

“Of course,” said Anna as she ran to his side, “Where is the injury?” she asked while she inspected him with a blushed face.

“Ah, I was hit on my thigh, but the pain is down there,” He said as he embarrassingly pointed to his couch.

“I will try my best,” Said Anna with a low voice.

She put her hand on Tom’s thigh and began to activate her skill, while Tom looked away and began to think of random things to distract himself.

The healing had no effect as the wound was already healed when he took the healing pill earlier.

“I will try to heal there, your thigh is already fine.” Said Anna with a blushed face. Then she put her hand on the couch of Tom who was not fully ready and activated her skill.

Tom was only able to stay focused for five seconds and then as he felt the coldness of Anna’s finger in his crotch, he pushed Anna away and started to howl and roll on the ground while holding his balls. Although he was in pain and the girls knew that, they couldn’t help themselves but laugh a little. His look was hilarious.

“It does not seem to work.” Said Anna as she shook her head.

“I am a merchant and can sell you some poison antidote for the right price, how about 100,000 COINs,” Said Victor as he pondered and looked at Tom with an evil smile.

“The store does not work in the dungeon. I have already tried, I am a merchant too,” Aria warned Victor.

“What do you mean not working, I just bought this healing pill yesterday,” Said Victor as he took out a healing pill and surprised her.

Aria quickly operated the store and discovered that it was online now? Why didn’t it work earlier?

She didn’t know that Victor had just unlocked her store. He wanted Tom to hate her.

“Miss Aria, can you sell me that antidote now? Or do you want to jack up the prices like Victor?” Asked Tom with a cold voice, his impression of Aria has just reached a very low level.

“No, the original price should be OK” She embarrassingly said,

“Good, I will transfer the COINs to you, you better not cheat me this time” Tom spat at her.

Aria, who was a little aggrieved, quickly operated the store and bought the antidote which magically appeared in her hand.

Tom snatched it quickly and put it in his mouth after inspecting it. He really needed this. Soon a cold feeling spread around his body and could feel that some form of liquid was oozing out of his skin. The poison was out, he thought and began to laugh in delight. But Victor knew that those must be the poisons accumulated by Tom in his lifetime, like car smoke and heavy metals from food. It seemed this was his first time taking that pill.

Victor wanted to do something to deflate Tom but didn’t need to. The first thing Tom saw when he looked back at his friends was their tattered clothes that made them look sexy.

“I am sorry for scaring everyone, I am now cured….., AHHHHHH”

Before anyone could speak Tom started to scream like a dog. The pill did not work.

Victor shook his head as he laughed, it seemed that he needed to lead everyone in Tom’s stead.

“Let’s rest for a bit here and eat something. This is a safe area, and the boss is behind that door can’t leave.” He said,

Everyone nodded their heads and sat down to have a meal and inquire about the other’s adventures. They were all relieved that everyone was fine. Relatively if they included Tom.

Aria soon came to Victors who was taking out some dry foods from his bag and whispered in his ear. “I have something to ask you.” She said.

Victor nodded then deliberately took a sneak peek at Tom who was watching them like a hawk.

He grabbed Aria’s hand and took her to a secluded corner. He knew what she wanted to talk about.

Tom looked at them whispering and began to bite on his teeth. That bitch Aria must be mocking him with Victor right now. He thought. But he will get his revenge on them later. Once he is strong enough.

Aria didn’t know that what she just did had entirely separated her from Tom. She just looked around to make sure that no one was around and then asked victor.

“Were you already a player? And does the family ritual involve awakening players?” She asked. As someone who didn’t have a pure bloodline, she had the choice of whether to attend the ceremony or not. She chose not to attend when she heard that it had a 50% death rate. But still, it was something she regretted some nights before she slept.

“Yes, and Yes. You don’t need it anymore as you are already a player. Just keep it a secret.” He said.

“Why do some people die in the ceremony every year then?”

“The family uses an artifact that has a certain chance of not awakening the players but killing them. The dungeon would awaken all players. But they have to get out to enjoy it, consider it another form of testing. We will talk later when we come out.” He said as he turned to leave.

“Would I have survived?” She asked him as he was about to return to his bag.

“Probably not,” He said as walked away without looking at her.

She nodded and left to join the other’s conversation as they listened to how Margret led the goblins away.

Victor returned to his bag, took out his chair and an energy bar, then sat down and began to eat it.

Lily who stood behind them also found something to eat.

“Did you do it?” She whispered to him.

“Yes,” he answered, making Lily frown a little. But she nodded in the end, as whatever her young master did, it was the right thing.

As for poor Tom, he had to find a secluded place to eat. The twins tried to approach him and ask him if they can help him. But his answer was that the best help they can offer him is staying away. So she could only sit with the rest and listen to Peter’s boasting about how many goblins he slew. But his tale was quickly overshadowed when the girls showed him their bags full of GEMs. How many goblins did they kill? Peter wondered.

Aria who was surprised quickly offered to buy all those GEM’s and sell them to the system for them. The girls didn’t know what to do, so they looked at Victor who nodded his head to them, then returned to his food. He intended to raise Aria’s merchant class level, and the best way to do that was to make a lot of transactions. His collection of GEM’s was bigger than all of theirs combined, so he didn’t care about this little money.

Aria quickly began to use her merchant skill to process the GEMs and replaced them for COINs according to the standard price, they disappeared one by one, making her gain a considerable profit margin.

It was 3 hours later when Tom stood up.

“Let’s go slay that boss,” He said without looking, just took his dagger and makeshift bag which he used to carry the GEMs, and headed to the door. He didn’t trust Aria anymore, so he would not let her handle his treasures.

The others looked at each other and nodded then started to head to the door one by one.

Victor took Lily’s hand and walked behind them,

“In the battle, just focus on protecting yourself and the girls. Ignore me completely even if you see me get hit.” He whispered to her.

She was not convinced but could only nod and follow his orders.

“After we defeat the boss, we will be able to enter the inner chamber where the Dungeon’s core is located. Make sure that Tom is the first one to enter there.” He added as he quickly followed the others, Leaving her to wonder, what was her young master’s plan?