The Cavaliers waved their goodbyes to the Wise One, Vincent, and then proceeded to exit his detached house.
The entire group was silent all the way, but when Calvin was about to enter the carriage.
He paused, and suddenly asked a question to Ron Samuel who was holding the handle and was about to hop onto the carriage, "Sir, I still have a question..."
"What is it?"
"What happens when I fail to beco one of you, and can I really join your ranks? As you can see, sir. I am nothing but a cripple. I may have survived that supernatural activity, but the person who possessed might have just disdained from killing when he saw how miserable I look..."
"My right arm is severely injured, and my right eye is missing... No matter how you look at it, I'm a disabled man that can't possibly be useful..."
The Cavaliers turned to look at Calvin in sympathy.
But they didn't say anything for they knew that there were a lot of benefits being a Cavalier.
Ron Samuel stared at him and said, "Do you have an inferiority complex or sothing?"
Calvin almost keeled over upon hearing Ron Samuel's words, "N-No... I'm just stating the facts, sir... I'm a realist."
"Oh?" Ron Samuel faintly nodded, "Then, in that case. You don't have to worry about anything. When one becos a Predator, I don't think that they should be even called human anymore."
"Wha... What do you an, sir?" Calvin's face imdiately paled. For him, abandoning humanity was the sa as becoming a monster. Calvin didn't want to beco a monster.
"Hehehe... Are you scared? It's not that scary, to be honest. What I an is that your wounds would heal faster than an average human. Your reflexes and senses would be heightened. You'd gain a considerable amount of strength, and your stamina would also increase. Becoming a Predator is similar to becoming a superhuman..."
"Do you understand what I an?" Ron Samuel asked.
Calvin nodded his head.
That wasn't so bad...
He thought.
But the very next words that ca out of Ron Samuel's mouth made him rethink his next course of action.
"As for what will happen if you fail to beco one of us and pass through the initiation ritual."
"Heh..." Ron Samuel gave a foreboding laugh, "Let's talk about that in the coffee shop. Co inside, it's so cold out here." He gestured to the stunned Calvin and seeing that the Cavaliers were already hopping into the carriage...
He had no choice but to comply.
Inside the carriage.
Ashlynn once again stuck closer to Calvin and said, "So the reason why you're not that attractive to is that you already have a wife? Is she more beautiful than ?" Her tone of voice was inviting and coquettish enough that Bruce couldn't help but audibly comnt.
"You howrecker!"
He whispered and a sharp pain imdiately assaulted his waist as Ashlynn slamd her elbow on his side.
He didn't dare to say anything anymore after having learned his lesson.
Calvin gave a bitter smile.
He really couldn't understand why Ashlynn was still going after him despite knowing that he had a family to take care of.
"I know what you are thinking... You must be thinking that I must be such a slut, right? But nope... I may be like this, but I'm still an innocent maiden. A land touched by no one, an island visited by no man..." Ashlynn winked at Calvin and the bitterness on his face intensified.
"Yes... You do look beautiful, Miss Ashlynn..." Calvin couldn't help but feel a sense of deja vu.
"Oh, really? Am I more beautiful than your wife?"
"O-Of course, not..."
"Oh...?" Ashlynn raised her eyebrow and a threatening aura ca out of her body.
"I-I suppose...?" Calvin gave a pained reply.
"In that case, then it's all good..."
Ashlynn revealed a smile that looked as if she was a child that had her requests fulfilled.
"Sigh..." Calvin let out a sigh.
Fortunately, his suffering didn't continue anymore for the carriage had already arrived at the Center Borough.
The group alighted from the carriage and proceeded towards the Captivating Fragrance Coffee Shop. Calvin's jaw almost slamd onto the ground when he saw the prices listed on the signages outside.
"A cup of freshly-brewed coffee costs ten Joselian Pesos?" Calvin softly uttered.
"What? It does?!" Ashlynn exclaid in shock.
She glanced at the signage and then turned to look at Ron Samuel, "Did you change the prices again, Captain? How can we do any business if you keep on increasing the prices like this?"
Ron Samuel shrugged, "Well, inflation exists, you know? We've got to keep our prices competitive."
The Cavaliers and Calvin didn't know what to say hearing Ron Samuel's words.
It was obvious that he had no intention whatsoever in doing any business.
This Coffee Shop was just a front.
The important part was what lurked behind this front.
The group entered the Coffee Shop and Jas Branzuela imdiately locked the doors and shut the curtains. Since it was currently high noon, the rays of the sun could still sohow penetrate the curtains. But it was still incredibly dark inside the house.
Bruce and Ashlynn clearly didn't expect this as they asked, "What are you doing, Jas? I can't see anything."
"Just use your Predator Sense if you can't see anything."
Ashlynn rolled her eyes, "What's the purpose of this?"
Jas lifted a mysterious smile, "This young man right here is about to hear sothing shocking and terrifying. I closed the curtains to create the appropriate mood and atmosphere which would amplify his fears. What do you think? I'm such a genius, right?"
"..."
Calvin didn't know what to say.
"Shut up... Let's have him hear what he wants to know..."
Ron Samuel urged the others to close their mouths.
They imdiately obliged and the room beca silent.
"Earlier, you asked about what will happen if you fail to beco one of us?"
"I will give you the answer."
"In order to beco one of us, you will have to go through an initiation ritual. There is no exception. Everyone regardless of their status needed to go through that initiation ritual before they could officially beco a Predator and one of us Cavaliers..."
"Failing to pass through that ritual ans losing control and becoming a demon reminiscent to that of the demons that road the world after the first cataclysm." Ron Samuel knew that Calvin probably couldn't understand so of his words, but he didn't bother explaining.
After all, Calvin would soon be privy to the information related to these anyway.
"But you don't have to undergo the ritual to lose control. Even soone that is already a Predator can still lose control, as for the reason why so Predators lose control? I have no idea. But it should mostly because of stress, unsatisfied desire, and indignance..."
"When you combine all of these together, you'd beco an easy target of the other gods."
"An easy target of the other gods?" Calvin asked, "What do you an?"
"Well..." Ron Samuel cleared his throat.
He knew that he couldn't escape from explaining this, so he explained, "The gods hate each other. Apart from the Three Orthodox Gods that are harmonious..."
"The other gods absolutely hate each other to the point that they would direct their hatred of that god to the followers of that particular god..."
"Let's put the Goddess of All-Encompassing Light for example. 'She' is hated by the God of War and Infighting. To spite 'Her', 'He' looks for 'Her' followers that have unsatisfied desires, and a lot of stress..."
"Then afterwards, 'He' slowly corrupts that follower in the form of damned murmurs, pleas, and whispers..."
"'He' would warp his sense of reality and 'He' would make him believe that sothing exists even though it doesn't. If a Predator was exposed to the corruption of a god long enough..."
"Even with the protection of the god that they are following, it is impossible for them to escape the fate of losing control..."
"This is the reason why we are so leisurely. The church permitted us to build this incredibly expensive Coffee Shop for fun because they don't want us to receive unnecessary stress..."
"Now, do you understand?"
"Knowing all of these, do you still want to beco one of us?"
"Yes!"
Calvin almost imdiately answered.
"Oh?" Ron Samuel's interest was piqued.
"Why did you decide so fast? Are you thinking that you'd beco one of the exceptions that could easily handle the corrupted murmurs of the gods on a daily basis? Hahaha, I know what you are thinking..."
"But trust , you won't beco an exception..."
"Think this through..."
"I don't want you to die and beco a part of the statistics that make up the number of Predators that lost control and summarily executed by the church." Ron Samuel's voice was icy.
It was obvious that he disliked the fact that Calvin almost imdiately decided on his path without thinking everything thoroughly.
"Also, you have a family, right? You still need to bullshit your way so they won't find out that you're a Cavalier. You need to rember that the church regulates the number of civilians allowed to know what hides behind the scenes..."
"That is why you absolutely cannot tell anyone about what you have experienced in the past few days and us..."
Calvin repeatedly nodded his head, "Then, can I tell them that I will be working in a Coffee Shop?"
"I an, this Coffee Shop is your front, right?"
"I don't see any problems telling them that I am working here to earn money. In fact, they would definitely think that I'm doing illegal things when they see earning money without doing any work that they know..."
Ron Samuel nodded, "That makes sense. In that case, convince them with this..."
He walked behind the counter and took a pouch from the drawer. He then hurled it over to Calvin.
Calvin caught it in mid-air and his hands almost collapsed from the sheer weight of the pouch.
"Wha... What is this, sir? Why is it so heavy? Coins?"
"Yeah... That pouch contains about seventy Joselian pesos in coins. You can go ahead and exchange it to paper notes if you want, but personally. I like the coins than the paper notes. Those paper notes don't really feel like money. I prefer hearing the clanging sound that the coins make when you shake the pouch than those ugly notes."
Ron Samuel lightly smiled.
"But uh... Sir, I want to know... Why are you giving this to ?"
"Why?" Ron Samuel looked at him with a strange look, "That's your advanced paynt. I think that's about two weeks' worth of wage. Convince them with that money and I'm sure your wife would be glad to have you work in this generous Coffee Shop."
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