When the Captain walked out of his workshop again I almost instinctively bolted in fear. His armor was form fitting and plated with a material I couldn't recognize but that wasn't the scary part. No that was the fact his head piece was a monstrous visage with a smooth face that had a swirl on it and no eye holes. When paired with the armor the entire get up just set all my instincts on edge. At his waist though was a small bag and an unusual weapon that was part hammer and part axe.-
"How much do you owe?" he asked snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Ten thousand valis." I answered honestly.
He nodded before walking down the stairs to the basement of the church. We all waited for a few minutes before he returned with a new cloth sack bulging with coin.
"Take us to the ones who hold your debt." he commanded firmly and I didn't argue.
The manor was not far from Daedalus street since it was located right under the wall of Orario. I was nervous as I led the way to the Moloch familia's property. The people of Daedalus saw the armed and armored group with me and made themselves scarce as they knew better than to stick their nose into it.-
The Moloch familia captain, vice captain and Moloch himself were all waiting for us outside their property. The captain was a large brute of a dwarf close to six and a half feet tall with cold dark eyes and a thick unkempt beard armed with a set of full plate armor and his broad axe. The vice captain was a thin cruel elven woman in dark hide armor and had a pair of daggers at her hips that her hands rested on. -
Then there was Moloch himself that was a towering bull beastkin in appearance In a dark red robe that opened at the front to reveal his hairy muscular chest. Like all gods he had this sort of oddness to him that made him hard to fail to recognize his divine nature. He was not a kind god however but took joy in domination and power, he did NOT look happy to see us.
"After all the help we have given you this is how you choose to repay us? Bringing a force to threaten us?" Moloch said with a deep rumbling voice directed right at me.
"We aren't here to threaten you but to settle a debt. I was simply under the impression you might make things difficult if we tried to do so without a show of force." My own captain said casually as he stepped forward.
The gods gaze turned to look glare at him but stiffened slightly for some reason and I could have sworn I saw nervousness flash across his face before it vanished.
"I will not deny our... reluctance to allow this one to slip out of our grasp so easily but we know when we are outmatched. You have the valis?" he said seriously.
The sack of coin was taken off my captains waist and tossed right in front of the gods feet.
"Twenty thousand valis, double what she owed. Her debt is settled and her ties to you are severed." my captain said firmly.
The god hefted the bag and left back inside the property without a word. A few moments later he returned with a rolled up contract that he tossed to my new captain. The man unrolled it read it carefully before rolling it back up and putting it into the bag left at his waist.
And that was the end of the matter as the whole group including myself returned to the manor. I was speechless at just how simple the whole thing was and couldn't help but ask why.
"We are friends with two of the three largest familias in the city, I am an incredibly respected crafter and on top of that I have shown to have the power of at least a level four with preparation and that was quite some time ago. No offense to you but as far as they are concerned you aren't worth the trouble being stubborn would bring to them." my captain said bluntly.
"You mean you are stronger than a level four with preparation now!?" I asked in shock as i caught that little subtle implication.
"Of course not, with preparation now I could likely match a level six though only with magical force." he said with a grin.
'What sort of monstrous individual is this!?' I thought in horror.
As I would later find out he wasn't even level four yet himself but only level three.
The celebration of my joining the familia was a fairly simple thing really as we went to a restaurant called 'the hostess of fertility' and everyone other than the captain got smashed with alcohol. As it turned out he was next to immune to alcohol since it was technically a poison and only drank to enjoy the taste. That filled me with bitterness in the morning when the hangover hit all of us and he was completely fine. What came next was by far one of the worse experiences of my life, what he called boot camp. Hungover or not he had me run until I collapsed before forcing a potion down my throat and making me do it again.-
Even worse he had me activate my magic before I started running and then hold it active until I felt like I was going to pass out while I ran. My magic was perfect for me if I had to say as it literally created a sort of shimmering cloak over my body that I could use to all but turn invisible. The catch however was that it burned through my mana faster the more I moved while also showing flaws.-
The mana cost was not something that could be fixed in a short period of time according to Alex but the flaws could be which is why I had to use it . He said that right now the magic was acting in a sort of starting or default state but with practice I could control it better so my near invisibility wouldn't waver while I moved. As for why I was running he said it was to improve my stamina and the rest of my stats would come after that reached an acceptable level.