RD 3 Ch 13

"Bran, I thought you had forgotten me," Circe said, giving me a playful pout as I stepped into the room. It was an office space she’d been given inside the fortress, while it seemed like a normal office, the resident was very much not normal.

"How could I forget someone as beautiful as you?" I replied, turning up the charm since I’d pretty much ignored her since arriving in Vein City.

We had already been here for nearly two weeks, and tomorrow I would head off to the vault. But before I did that, I needed to settle some things with Circe Heros.

The woman was beautiful, living up to every bit of charm and beauty mentioned in the legends. Calling her a nymph felt fitting, given that most men would have thoughts if they laid eyes on her. She had soft blue hair that fell down to her waist and a pair of seductive red eyes that bore through all of your secrets with a glance. It didn't help that she seemed to favor breezy clothing that clung to all of her curves in all the right ways.

I pushed those thoughts aside and sat down on the couch opposite her. 

"Flattery will get you everywhere, Bran," Circe said, smiling. She was thousands of years old, calm and collected through my teasing. 

"One can hope. Anyway, how goes the establishment of the Heros Clan Odyssey Branch here in North America?" I asked, hoping for good news. 

"Slow. Well, slower than you would like," she replied. "We've managed to make inroads and started getting people in place to observe at a larger scale. But getting ourselves to the point where we can identify those quickly takes time. Hopefully, we'll have several instances found in the coming weeks. However, you will be gone. Do you know how long this vault will be?" 

I rubbed my chin. It was a difficult thing to estimate. "It shouldn't be too long. I suspect it'll be," I hesitated, "one or two months." I also knew that if need be, I could likely speed up the situation.

The whole thing was a trap by the demons and perhaps if it dragged on too long, I could spring it and just settle things. Though, there were likely some actually valuable rewards in there that I wanted to scoop up.

Circe nodded. “Well, that's not all you've come here for, is it, Bran?" 

"It isn't. I've been hard at work these last few weeks," I said, a smile tugging at my lips as I pulled blueprints out of my spatial ring. 

Circe leaned over to get a better view of the blueprint that I had laid out and I forced my eyes down to the table as the cut of her dress tried to tempt me.

"Besides running around with all of the Mul Branova, I've been hard at work designing and making this.” I presented my blueprints proudly.

 “And what exactly is this?" she asked, searching the paper in front of her. 

"Well, this is where the Hell Gate anchor would go," I pointed at the blueprint. "And these are enchantments." I traced my finger over the intricate designs.

After some insights I had gained from the leech's inscriptions inside the Hero Clan instance, I had devised several layered inscriptions that would forcibly hold the Hell Gate portal open. As for everything else in the diagram, it was mostly to reinforce the structure. It was a way to protect all of the people that would essentially use it as a barrel full of demonic fish to shoot.

I quickly explained multiple points of the blueprint to Circe, detailing where the people who would be farming demons would be stationed and how they could be rotated out to stay fresh.

All the while, her blue eyebrow slowly rose. "You would be slaughtering demons," she stated. 

I nodded along, a big smile filling my face at the thought of killing thousands of the foul creatures. I cleared my throat and hid that smile. "Of course, demons deserve nothing more than to be destroyed," I said. “Even better if it benefits our people.”

Circe's other eyebrow jumped up to join the first. "You really hate demons," she observed. 

"I lived an entire life of being hunted by them," I deadpanned. "Hate is not a strong enough word to describe what I feel. For the first demon wave coming here, I am more than happy to use them as a resource to grow the Mul Branova." 

I scowled, but it wasn't for Circe, it was for all of the images of demons in my head. 

Circe nodded. "I will show your work to the leaders of the clan, they’ll want their subordinates to review it too. I do need their agreement before we could lend you the Hell Gate. I hope you understand." She reminded me that it was currently a Heros Clan treasure and not something she could just give away.

I held my hand up. "Happy to take it on loan," I smiled. "I'm not sure how valuable it will be after the first demon war though.” After I suck it dry of demons it’s just a lump of inscriptions.

“The thing is a marvel of inscriptions," Circe pointed out. "I'm sure the clan craftsmen will be studying it for decades." 

I waffled my head at that. It was certainly interesting. "All right, then I'll happily borrow it if the other clan leaders will accept it." 

Circe looked at the blueprint again. "When can you make this?" 

I smiled. "It's already made. And ready for the Hell Gate anchor whenever they are willing to bring it." 

Circe blinked several times. "You do not operate in half measures, do you, Bran?" 

I could only smirk. "If I were a man of half measures, I wouldn't be worth much, now would I?” It had been exciting to make a trap for the demons. If I could cut off one ninth of the invading demon army and turn it into an experience farm for my people, well the thought had me giddy and I put that energy to productive use.

“You've already made it and I would like to see it. Also, I will warn you. The Heros Clan will probably ask to send some low-level members to use this the same way as you wish to use it for your Mul Branova." 

I nodded along. "I figured as much. It's quite simply too valuable. Being able to have tens of thousands of demons walking straight into your trap. It's simply too great an opportunity. I'm happy to share it with the Heros Clan and the Mul Branova will not monopolize it entirely for themselves." 

Circe smiled in relief as if she had dodged an arguement. "It is good that you understand that you can't be too greedy in all of this." 

"Of course I can't. This isn't just an opportunity for me. It's the opportunity for everyone on Earth to grow stronger. My own organization has asked if I am going to step forward and destroy the Hell Gate anchor that will appear near Vein City." 

Circe's brows pinched down. "Will you?" 

"Absolutely not," I shook my head. "Demons will pour out of that Hell Gate for months. They will be weak ones at first. Those who are eager for opportunity and let off their leash by their superiors. They want to run free and find powerful hosts to possess. The demons know that they are coming into a world where most of the population doesn't have the strength to fight back.

"That first wave will be no different than men siccing their hounds before they come in themselves with weapons drawn. It's a certainly viable strategy to quell Earth. However, it's also an opportunity for us to raise a great number of initiated to strengths that they can actually be worthwhile." 

Circe nodded. "Because even after the first demon war, you said there was betrayal from within the ranks of the five clans."

"Exactly," I said. "We need to be strong enough to deal with that betrayal as well. Not to mention, this will not be the last time demons try to invade, even after everyone is initiated. It can still be difficult to farm levels with instances and wild monsters. Some level of difficulty in the end is good for people to grow." I said, glancing out the window, my mind briefly lost in hundreds of years of bloody war that flashed past my psyche. "In times of peace, people grow weak. We don’t have the luxury of letting Earth grow weak."

Circe nodded. "I've seen it time and time again. It's how civilizations fall. Generations come that face war, create prosperous societies, only for several generations of spoiled brats who've never tasted the iron tang of a battlefield's air. They grow gluttonous and fat. And weak," she said, a hard look in her eyes. "Only in their gluttony they force hard times on the generations beneath them that will grow stronger than they could deal with. And then, war comes. The soft, gluttonous generation will be completely overthrown by the ones that come behind them, only for those to try and create a new utopia, a paradise of peace. So sadly, once you've watched the cycle several times, it's almost maddening to watch them set up the next generation for folly." Circe shook her head. Clearly, she'd been lost briefly in her own thoughts.

"Well, I'm sure you've seen plenty of it," I smiled at her. "But I can tell you for now, there will likely be several generations that are very familiar with violence. After all, once the whole world is initiated, strength becomes the rule. And thankfully, that is something that is not so easily manipulated. Small conflict will reign, likely for some time. Like I said, perhaps the cycle of war and peace won't continue as you've seen before, especially when some people begin to become one-man armies."

Circe chuckled. "I think your perception is a little skewed, Bran. You lived through a future where war was nigh constant. Where outside forces continue to come for what you want." She smirked. "And here you are, trying to build a better future. Who's to say you aren't the generation that has suffered war and won't create a softer generation beneath you?"

"Not many people call me soft." I mirrored her smirk.

"No, I don't suppose they will." Circe laughed. "Come. I should stop reminiscing about olden days. Instead, I want to see this lovely barrel you've made that we can fill up with demonic fishes. Who knows? I might even take a turn standing and taking pot shots at them. There will be demons that even I can benefit from killing, won't there?" She raised an eyebrow at me.

"There are demons presently on Earth that are as strong as you, Circe," I said. "They number a very small number. However, once those portals open up, those demon generals and the demon lord himself will pull through a number of elite forces that will have similar strength to the generals. They just aren't the ones who lead people."

Circe rubbed her hands together as she began to walk out the door. "Well then, I want to see this barrel you've made even more."

"Oh, and one last thing before I forget," I said, a smile spreading across my face. "I'd like to ask a favor of you and any of the Heros Elite you brought with you."

"A favor?"

"It's regarding the Vault tomorrow. What I have planned is simple…"