New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

The day was still young and with all these things off of Astaroth's and Phoenix's schedule; the pair wondered how they would fill the rest of it. Astaroth thought about going to the training room, but there wasn't much that appealed to him, now that he had wiped the floor with his entire army.

So, instead, he and Phoenix held a few meetings, with the council members, the guild in town, and even with their available officers, of which they invited RedWing, for his first official meeting.

They used this occasion to fit him under an officer, officially forming the first division inside their guild.

Phoenix hoped they could use this model fully, in due time, and have a well-structured guild. But there was much work to be done.

After all their meetings, Astaroth contacted the last officers, who weren't present, to give them an update on the situation.

Khalor hardly cared and simply replied with 'Ok.'

As for the others, they also gave the leaders a status report of their activities and their whereabouts, keeping them in the loop.

Silent Light was off wandering the continent, making sure he helped wherever he needed to. He told Phoenix he was on a mission from his god, and she didn't ask for more details, assuming he meant he had found a class quest.

Astaroth was the one to talk to Gale, and the little boy seemed to have gone over a part of his demon trauma experience. But he still was unsatisfied with his strength level and said he would be back once he reached a satisfactory level.

Astaroth could see Gale's name on the level leaderboard, in the top fifty, and he knew the kid wasn't talking about that level. It had a deeper meaning.

But he wouldn't pry. Gale's decisions were his own, and as long as he answered the call if they absolutely needed, which he had promised to do, then he was free to act as he wanted.

As for I'die and Athena, Phoenix was the one to take the news from Athena, and once she was done conversing with her, she had a smile floating on her lips.

"Did she have some good news?" Astaroth asked her.

"Huh? Oh. Nah. She found the island she was looking for, but the legend was a dud, it seems."

Astaroth gave a short frown.

"Then why are you smiling like a teenager?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing!" she chimed, before prancing away.

Astaroth shook his head with a chuckle. He couldn't fathom the workings of a woman's brain.

Phoenix and he decided to log off early that night. The weekend was coming in fast, and Astaroth had a busy Saturday ahead of him, apparently.

Phoenix hadn't pried too much on what the business was when he received a call from Katherine Bellemare. She assumed it had to do with the business he had told her a while back.

Phoenix wasn't too hot at the idea of Astaroth rushing into a war zone, but she could hardly change his mind. Every time they talked about it, his face darkened, and he would grow cold.

Recently, ever since the last dungeon, he was easier to anger, and when he got cold, even the surrounding air seemed to be affected.

But he never aimed it at her, or any of their friends, either online or offline, so she just took it as him getting more defensive about his loved ones.

But Astaroth knew it was more than that. He had also noticed the change.

Unfortunately, since he could see inside himself, he knew something deeper caused the change. His soul now sported a much larger blot of black on the side of it.

He had already tried a few times to fix this, but it didn't budge. Astaroth just knew he would have to live with it.

Logging off, the pair took a quick shower and breakfast, before the intercom rang.

Picking up the call, Alexander saw the face of the receptionist smiling at him.

"Good morning, Mr. Leduc. I have a chauffeur here for you. Were you expecting someone?"

Alex smiled back at her.

"Ah, yes. Tell him I'll be right down. Thanks for the warning."

He hung up quickly as the woman nodded her head with a wide smile.

When he spun to look at Kary, she had a worried look on her face.

"Please don't get yourself killed. You tend to take on more than you can handle lately, and it's becoming a dangerous habit."

Alex smiled at Kary warmly, wrapping his arms around her. As he gave her a big hug, he kissed her on the neck.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. It's just a few thugs. I'll be back before the end of the day, with as little blood on me as I can. I promise."

Kary punched him lightly in the ribs for his stupid comment, but still returned his hug. As she tightened her grasp around his waist, she could hear his heart thump calmly.

He wasn't worried in the slightest about his upcoming task. This reassured her a bit.

"Then stay as safe as you can. And give them hell."

She kissed him on the lips and pushed him toward the door.

Alexander climbed onto the elevator, pressing the lobby button. He smiled and waved at Kary as the doors closed.

Once the doors were closed, he kept smiling to himself, remembering there was a camera inside the elevator.

He couldn't let Kary worry about him, so he had schooled his face into the most genuine fake smile he could until he got off the elevator.

But the man who exited the elevator was not the warm and smiling Alexander. His face showed calm hatred, and even his body language was exuding pressure.

"Have a good day… Mr… Leduc…" the receptionist said, at first in a chime, and ending in cold sweats.

She watched him leave the building, silent and resolute.

Alexander didn't notice it, but when he walked past the spinning door, slight cracks appeared in the reinforced glass, due to his mana leaking out of his body.

Alfred, who was waiting for him outside, saw his face and became alert. He had seen this face before.

It was the face of a cold-blooded killer. Not the face this man usually showed.

Even he was slightly shaken by it. But he said nothing and opened the door for the young man.

His job was to drive him to his destination, not question his motive.