Free Web NovelChapter 42: The Spiderweb
Ronan approached the table, grabbing the business card. It was an address, with a phrase below it.
"Welcome to the spiderweb...?"
Sarael leaned in from the side to take a closer look, reading it aloud. It looked like they already had their next step laid out perfectly for them. Likely an underground meeting area for rogue hunters and fixers.
It didn’t take a genius for Ronan to know what it was.
But before they rushed in, Ronan needed to make sure they had enough time before sunrise arrived.
2:12 A.M.
It was good enough.
"I swear to god if this is another test..."
Ronan sighed. They’d already said he passed when he finished the murder task, but yet this meeting was supposed to be another test?
There was now a more than zero percent chance that this business card was going to lead to another test. But Ronan just shook his head.
No way an underground society would be that insistent on tests, especially if Zero’s mouth had already begun talking. After being near death, there was no way he was going to let Ronan go through another test if another one really was present.
"Hey, Ronan?"
He looked over. Sarael was fidgeting with her fingers, her violet eyes turned up toward him with an expression that was trying very hard to be casual and failing completely.
"Anything wrong?"
"Can you... umm..." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Change ’god’ to my name? When you say things like that?"
Ronan blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Like... instead of ’I swear to god,’ you could say ’I swear to my wife.’" Her cheeks flushed faintly. "I mean, I am a deity. Technically. So it’s more accurate anyway."
Ronan stared at her for a second. Then he smiled.
"Good idea."
***
The new address was deeper into the city than Ronan expected. A neighborhood that had been half-gentrified and then forgotten, where new storefronts sat empty next to old ones that had never reopened.
They found the building wedged between a boarded-up noodle shop and a pharmacy with bars on the windows.
Three stories of old brick. The only indication that it wasn’t just another abandoned property was the door.
New steel, reinforced, with another electronic lock blinking red in the dimness.
"Welcome to the spiderweb...?"
Ronan cautiously whispered.
CLICK!
The lock opened.
Ronan pushed the door open and stepped inside. Sarael walked beside him, her hand finding his in the darkness.
The interior was nothing like the warehouse.
This place had been a bar once, maybe, or a small restaurant. The front room still had a counter along one wall, dusty glass shelves behind it, and a few scattered tables with chairs stacked on top.
But the renovations were obvious.
More particularly, a heavy door at the back marked with a faded "EMPLOYEES ONLY" sign that looked like it had been reinforced from the other side.
A slot in the door slid open at eye level, and a pair of eyes studied him for a long moment.
"GodBound?"
"That’s me."
"And the woman?"
"His wife."
Sarael answered before Ronan could, her voice carrying just enough edge to make the eyes behind the slot blink.
CLICK!
The door swung open.
The room beyond was larger than the front suggested. The back wall had been knocked out and expanded into a storage area, creating a single open space filled with mismatched furniture.
Couches, tables, and chairs that had clearly been collected one at a time from various sources. A bar counter ran along the far wall, fully stocked, with a woman behind it polishing a glass.
Scattered around the room were maybe a dozen people.
Some in hunter gear, some in civilian clothes.
A few looked up when Ronan entered. But most didn’t bother. The way people acted when they’d seen enough new faces come and go that one more didn’t register.
The man who’d opened the door was in his fifties, with a scar that ran from his temple to his jaw. He looked Ronan up and down, then Sarael, then shrugged and gestured toward the bar.
"So you’re the new kid."
"You were expecting me?"
"Yeah."
The scarred man’s eyes flicked toward Sarael, lingering for just a moment on the bite mark visible above her collar.
"Couples are rare around here. It’s nice to see, though. Gives the rest of the boys some hope they’ll find someone too, despite the whole illegal business thing."
Sarael smiled, agreeing with the man.
"Nice to see indeed~."
The scarred man grinned, taking a half-step back.
"Bar’s open. Information board’s on the wall to your left. Jobs get posted there. Take what you want, talk to who you want, don’t start anything you can’t finish."
He walked away before Ronan could ask anything else.
Ronan glanced at the information board. A corkboard covered in pinned notes, handwritten job offers, bounty listings, and requests for backup on dungeon raids.
It looked like a community bulletin board at a grocery store, except everything on it was illegal.
Ronan squeezed her hand back. "Guess this is a good enough welcome."
Sarael leaned into his arm, her violet eyes scanning the room with quiet satisfaction. "I like it. It’s cozy." freēwēbnovel.com
"Cozy’s one word for it."
He ruffled her hair and turned his attention to the information board, squinting at the pinned notes. Most of it was low-level work. Petty theft, muscle-for-hire, the kind of jobs that paid in pocket change and weren’t worth the time it took to read them.
Nothing worth his skills. Nothing worth Sarael’s time.
"Guess all the good jobs are gone..."
BEEP!
His phone buzzed. A familiar name flashed across the screen.
Zero: Your current fixer’s busy, told me to handle you for a while.
Zero: Luckily for you, I’m far more ambitious. Don’t tell him I told you that though.
GodBound: Sounds like you’re just trying to make sure my wife doesn’t choke you again.
Zero: Relax! The better you do, the better I do. So, you interested in a job? After seeing your wife’s display, I have the perfect one for the two of you.
GodBound: I’m listening.
Zero: Dungeon-class Gate. Appeared right in one of our client’s warehouses. He doesn’t want the Association dealing with it. You in? I have two others already recruited. They’ll be your party.
GodBound: I’m in.
Zero: Really? That’s it?
GodBound: Just send me the details.
Zero: Uh... okay. I’ll get them to you tomorrow.
GodBound: And make sure the raid’s at night.
Zero: Already on it.
