The Archaic System 33 Deception

The crowd remained stunned. Since Black Lion Village was established no one had so much as spoken a word that Lord Morrow didn't want to hear. He was the absolute overlord of this place and his every whim was catered to. In this village no one dared to disobey even his slightest suggestion much less kill his right hand man in front of him after being told to stop. Even as Sauer finally bled out and his lifeless body hit the ground Alexander Morrow still hadn't said anything.

I could see the expectant looks on the crowds face. No doubt they were waiting for Morrow's fury to descend upon me demanding I endure the most extreme of tortures. I waited with baited breath I was making a large gamble right now. With the help of the Windbreaker Stone I might could still escape if my plan went south, but even with it I probably only had a 20% chance of keeping my life.

After what seemed like an eternity Alexander Morrow said, "Guards escort him to the Lord's Mansion and don't do anything till I get there." He then turned around and left the arena.

The crowd erupted in astonishment.

"What did I just hear? What in the h.e.l.l is going on? There must be something wrong with my hearing. I swear I just heard the Lord invite him to the Lords Mansion."

They looked at each other baffled and confused.

I calmly breathed out a sigh of relief. It worked. Oh thank G.o.d it worked. As long as he didn't try to have me killed on the spot I was sure my plan would move forward. After the tense moment pa.s.sed I noticed the notification from killing Sauer.

Essence Gained +2112

While I was slightly stunned at the fact he was a level 4 about halfway to level 5 after thinking about it for a moment it made sense. He had the support of the entire mercenary group to help him level up. Not only would they fight strong creatures then let him get the final blow to get essence, they also captured creatures for him to kill. Not to mention the humans he killed in the arena. If it weren't for my fortunate encounters and circ.u.mstances my leveling speed could never compare to his.

Soon after, a small retinue of about ten guards came out and surrounded me.

"Please follow us calmly sir," the leader of the guards said to me as he confiscated my only remaining dagger.

I nodded my head and allowed them to escort me out of the arena under the astonished gaze of the crowd. As the guards escorted me through the streets of Black Lion Village crowds of people would stare and whisper as we pa.s.sed. Clearly the news of me killing Sauer was traveling fast. It wasn't long before we were standing in front of a large gate made entirely of medal.

The leader of the guards looked up and shouted, "Open the gate!"

A guard looked down at us from a tower next to the gate. Moments later the sound of groaning metal was heard as the gate was opened revealing a s.p.a.cious courtyard behind it. Everything was meticulously in order, with clean cut stone paths separating an evenly cut gra.s.sy area. The trees growing to the side in a perfect line trimmed to have matching heights and width. The stone forming the path matched that of the mansion itself and was a pure white.

I was quickly escorted inside of the mansion. The mansion was large however, the design was still a little crude. After all even though Alexander Morrow had been in Agartha for a longer time than me and probably had help gathering resources ahead of the migration due to his connection with the government their was no way they would have sent a master craftsman in early just to build a residence. After all they had no way of knowing where Morrow would arrive in Agartha.

In the end we stopped in a large lobby area where the guards stayed in formation around me ensuring I didn't go anywhere. After a short wait Alexander Morrow entered through a side door and said, "Guards stay here. Troy come with me."

He walked into another room and I followed behind him. This was his study, their were crude furnis.h.i.+ngs that included three chairs a desk and a bookshelf. Alexander Morrow went and sat behind his desk and gestured for me to sit in one of the chairs in front of it. As he sat behind the desk he pulled out a necklace and placed it on the desk in front of him.

He stared at me from across the desk almost as if he was a.n.a.lyzing every aspect of my appearance.

Then he slowly said in an icy tone, "There is only one reason you're not suffering unimaginable pain right now and if you can't tell me what this is you still will."

He held up the necklace.

This is what I had been waiting for. The necklace was a pure gold color and in the front was a circle of gold with a silver rose inlaid in a ruby red gem shaped like a flame.

Without hesitation I said, "It's mothers. On the back it says, To my beloved sons."

Alexander Morrow eyes rose in shock and he quickly broke out into a huge grin.

"It really is you! I can fulfill my promise to her," a long sigh escaped his mouth.

With that the first step of my plan came to fruition. Even in my past life their was something not many people knew about Alexander Morrow and if it wasn't for the fact that Sauer had thought I fell unconscious during one of the times he beat me I wouldn't know it either.

There isn't much Alexander Morrow cares about other than power and money, but when a young boy grows up in a household with a domineering father who spends all his time working he tends to be very attached to his mother. When his father's political career was taking off his mother had an affair with another man. Eventually his mother got pregnant and she hid it from her husband for months before he found it. When he found out he flew into a rage and forced her to give the child up, but to save face and for his career he stayed with her.

Alexander Morrow's mother was always sickly and when time came for his family to migrate to Agartha she fell ill and the doctors said she wouldn't survive the trip, forcing her to stay on earth. Before, he left his mother met with him and revealed to him the truth about his half brother and made him promise to find him and protect him in Agartha. She told him that she had the same necklace made for him and that's how he could identify him.

I heard Morrow discussing all of this with Sauer while I laid beaten on the ground in Sauer's office one time. I remembered it because I swore I would kill Morrows brother out of spite if I ever found him. Now this information was really useful to me. It was also then that I heard him mention his mother's maiden name, Hargrave. Morrow was revealing this to Sauer so he could perform a search for anyone going by that name.

This is why Morrow reacted the way he did when he heard me say that I was Troy Hargrave. That is also why I went by the name Young Lion in the arena because his mother's family crest bore a black lion. That is also why Morrow named his village Black Lion Village. All of my actions were leading up to this point. This is how I had planned to gain Morrow's trust.