Chapter 39 - The Demon Coterie

"So, you managed to break a record, huh? Feel like some big shot now?" The guy waiting outside sneered at the new 'Record breaker'".

Shiva didn't bother giving the guy the time of day and just kept walking towards the exit.

"You piece of sh*t! Are you ACTUALLY ignoring me?! I outta teach you a lesson in respect. Maybe then you'd realize when to not be a little sh*t and show a little decorum.", with that said, Shiva felt a disturbance in the for- the air and auto use Shadow Movement to move away.

As he strides into the shadow of a random oldman, he looks over to where he once was and saw a massive mace embedded in the ground, with cracks spiderwebbing all around it. As he remained calm on the outside, even finding the guts to sneer at the Man-bear who hucked the mace while Shiva's back was turned, but on the inside, he was bone tired and had a cold sweat.

Sanak, said 'Man-bear', was observing the young man and his reactions to the lightly tossing weapon of his. Once he saw the rat sneak out from his justified lesson in respect, he became agitated, he was taking it easy on the kid since he just arrived on the 9th floor while he was only level 10, but who knew he had a skill capable of teleporting or so it seemed.

"Block the entrance to the 9th-floor challenge room! No one should be allowed to pass through without my explicit permission. Turn back any who wish to cross and deal with any who turn out to be a hassle." Sanak said, still looking in the direction where Shiva was previously,

"Yes, Sir~" A hushed reply acknowledged, yet to any know looked there was no one there besides himself.

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*POV: Shiva*

'Shit! That was such a close call, I would have been killed if I fought with him now with the state I am in now.'

He thought while within the shadow of a middle-aged man, walking around, none the wiser. Currently, all his main summons are restricted and couldn't be summoned any time soon. He was sure that if a fight were to begin that Brute-bastard was not the only one he would have to face.

"Senior, we lost him!" A young man beside him said to the middle-aged man, which piqued his curiosity,

"Hm... We still haven't lost him." The man spoke mysteriously. The young guy seemed surprised as he asked, "What! Where is he then??"

"There are too many eyes here, let's go somewhere safe," The middle-aged man said as they started to move towards somewhere more discrete. Since Shiva was interested in what they were doing, and couldn't be bothered to move shadows, he just remained in the older guy's shadow.

After around ten minutes later they arrived in a cave.

"So, Senior, where is he?"

"Oh! He's around. Closer than you'd think, actually," said the middle-aged man as he looked towards his shadow with a smile. "You can come out now!"

'...!!' Shiva was dumbfounded, but he was not sure if he was just making a guess or if he actually knew he was hiding in his shadow. Shiva ended up just staying there, waiting for his a better read of the situation.

"Senior, who are you talking to?" The young one was rather confused, seeing his elder talking to himself.

"I don't mean any harm, so you can come out now," the elder man continued trying to coax out the ghost his subordinate couldn't see.

This time Shiva was sure that he was talking to him. After giving it another moment of thought and decided 'F*ck it' and canceled his skill appearing before them.

"..." he stood there without saying anything. Just observing the two strangers.

"F*CK! A Ghost!" the young one was taken by surprise and ended up yelling having a small panic attack.

"So… you're the one who created havoc on the 1st floor?" The elder man asked with an unimpressed raised eyebrow.

"…" Shiva didn't say anything. Still just stand there silently, looking at the middle-aged man directly, not breaking eye contact.

"Alright, alright, relax kid, no need to be so scary, I am here to talk not fight," the middle-aged guy placated.

Shiva still didn't feel like replying to the two strangers. All they did was make him more cautious and prepare to take out his scythe to do some early harvesting of their heads. He knows better than to trust anyone, which added to the fact they suddenly approach you and act all friendly.

"Ok, be that way, I'll get straight to the point. My name is Kasim, and I am from an organization called the 'Demon Coterie'. I am here to recruit you, so join us!"

Shiva looked utterly unimpressed and was thinking what type of illness this man had to think that that was any way to try to recruit someone,"...."

Kasim, noticing the awkward silence, couldn't help feeling like he had a frog in his throat,"....."

"*Cough* Um! Let me explain properly, you probably have some questions…", the young lad who seemed to be the only one with their head in the right state of mind interrupted. "As is general knowledge, there are many guilds in the Tower who all have conquered their own land. All guilds can be similar or different in their ways, some who have dominated whole floors to monopolize them, some are made of people with similar goals band together and form a guild, then there are ones who strive towards a certain goal but what most don't know is that guilds aren't the only ones with power in the Tower. Some groups chose to act within the shadows, they kept the guilds in check. We 'The Demon Coterie' are one such group."

He caught a breath for a moment and continued his tirade, "Actually we are but a small group of people with each member having their own ideals and goals, but we band together when necessary. Every one, except some juniors like myself, is as strong as a ranker. Our purpose is to keep the big guilds in check. Sadly, I can't give you more information than this. That said, our group would like to offer a hand to an up-and-coming Ranker like yourself, in hopes you decide to join us."

After he stopped talking, Shiva gave it a thought and finally decided to give the kid a reply, though it's not the one they expected. "… So what?"

"Pardon me?", the young one asked, feeling like he misheard Shivas' reply.

"I am asking, so what? You've talked a lot about your group, but not what it can offer to me or what benefits I'd get from even joining. So, what's in it for me?"

That threw the duo for a loop, not thinking of the obvious questions anyone would ask before joining any group, shady or legit. "..."

"Well, you aren't asking me to join some random organization without any benefits mentioned, right?" Shiva was baffled at the idiocy coming from these guys.

"We can make you strong, more than what you can imagine now", said Kasim confidently.

"I can get stronger on my own though," Shiva countered.

"We can offer you top tire equipment," the young man thought, thinking anyone could be enticed with good loot.

"I can manage that on my own," Shiva denied their try at bribery.

"You will be able to achieve more of your potential in the future if you join us," Kasim attempted to coax Shiva, trying to paint a bright future with their group.

"Hahaha, I just broke the 8th floor record, the achievement that was stagnant for hundreds of years and you are going teach me about achievements?" These guys were funny! He hadn't had a good laugh like that in ages.

Kasim sighed and shook his head,"*Sigh* The world is big, kid. You are just a frog in a well, you have no understanding of how the world really works."

"Well then, let me stay in the well and leave me be. I have no interest in seeing the big world." He turned around to leave, but stopped and said out loud, "Come back when someone manages to break my record."

He took two steps away before he was stopped by a system notification.

[The previous record set on the 8th floor has been broken]

[A new record has been set and a new legend begins]

Shiva"..."

The young man "..."

Kasim, "So... can we talk now?"

(Edited by JokeDagger)