"Come on, James… Could you please give some respect to Lord Sebastian?" a mocking voice sounded within the pulsating forest. If one took a closer look at the forest, one would realize that the condition of the trees, the ground, and the current environmental features displayed resembled that of a living creature. With each second, purple pulses flowed within the roots of the trees protruding from the ground, the vines on the trees, the shoots of the trees, and the grasses on the ground. The green supple leaves of the trees now had a purple taint on them; this purple taint can be seen to be spreading slowly through the entire forest.
"I don't like people with scummy behaviors," James huffed as he watched Sebastian with indignation. James broke the wooden spoon in annoyance as he watched with visible irritability, a man slowly walking out of the tent. The source of the mocking voice and James' close friend. Sebastian recognized the man as the one who had stuck up for him earlier, causing James to save him from the infectious vines. James breathed a sigh as he gulped down his soup from the bowl. -- Might as well drink directly,-- he thought. He glanced sideways as he saw his pale looking friend with a bright smile, so kind that it would melt monsters heart, literally. Sebastian watched the pale-looking man in astonishment. He felt what looked like a sense of oppression from this angel of a man. --Is everyone here stronger than me?--- Sebastian grimaced as his eyes searched around the camp, his eyes observing his own tent with abrupt attention. Finally, his eyes landed on the cook. -- Well, not everyone--- Moreover, James had come to a steep understanding of why the local sanctuary was able to match High Sanctuary. It was because the strength of each individual in Lower Sanctuary was just as monstrous as that of Upper Sanctuary. Sebastian understood this because he had more information on The Sanctuary than any average commoner. What commoners knew were household Sanctuaries or Enforcers, basically the weakest of the local sanctuaries. They were tasked with maintaining order and security of the villages and recruiting talented individuals from the villages. -- It seems the true strength of the local Sanctuary lies here. The unrestrained guidance of talents irrespective of origins-- he thought.
A pack of neatly folded clothes landed within Sebastian's sight, drawing him from his thoughts. The dark-haired man who had just mocked him had given him clothes? --Is this what they meant when they said giving mixed signals? Well, I have never been with a human male before. Hmmm…Those toned muscles, that sturdy body, maybe…-- Sebastian pondered with a serious expression, confusion and apprehension drawn on his face. The dark-haired man's face darkened as he caught on to what Sebastian was thinking. He could see Sebastian watching his face with evident desire, with corresponding resonance with his manhood. The dark-haired man gritted his teeth in annoyance. Sebastian shuddered. He knew if Local Sanctuary killed him, High Sanctuary would use this as an excuse to attack and devour lower Sanctuary. Moreover, his father, Baron Circe, was a really persistent man known for pursuing his offenders to the ends of the continent. James sighed as steam flowed from his mouth. These circumstances summed up the reason Sebastian was still alive. At this point, James wondered whether his good old friend might kill Sebastian because James could feel the killing intent that oozed from the dark-haired man. Sebastian felt as if he were in another space; the killing intent produced seemed to be shaping space itself. If Sebastian weren't familiar with the concepts of Domains and Psuedos, he would have thought that he was in one. Sebastian also knew it was impossible for the dark-haired man to have formed a domain; after all, he had gotten their information from Sanctuary. He knew that these two were the strongest in this subjugation, all at the Barron-level.
James, the White Priest, was infamous as a priest who had become an assassin. For all he knew, James was a priest with exceptional healing capabilities, not satisfied with just sitting behind the front lines with no action, he trained to become an assassin to make up for his shortcomings, becoming the most brutal assassin in all of local Sanctuary. James was also known to uphold Justice and the law. "Could you imagine? An assassin who cares about people's deeds before he decides whether they were worthy of death?" his father mocked. "Assassins are cold-hearted creatures. They kill whom they are ordered to, nothing else".The memory then was not as bleak and hopeless as the memory now. At this point, Sebastian realized that only the strong had the power to mock other people. By his father's views, [such a being was abominable. An insult to all assassins]. His sights lay on the black haired man who had just dropped of his clothing, Paulio, The Ghost Knight. Paulio, a baron-level knight of expert rank, was known for his handsome features and kind appearance. One had to know that despite being a knight, he was known to be black hearted and ruthless beyond imagination. Paulio had earned his name because of his pale features and his lightness with his feet. Which often made his figure blurry, even to some high-ranking barons. When he was standing, he looked blurred on all sides of his body. Sebastian smiled warily at the contrasting attributes of the two friends. A knight who was a cold-blooded killer and an assassin who was kind. --What has father set me up with?-- he thought.
The howling wind blew strands of Sebastian's haggard hair into his face, the cold seething into the depths of his bones. Sebastian shivered as he watched the clothes before him in pure dissatisfaction. The murderous gaze on Paulio's face had vanished, replaced by a soft, caring look. "The clothes, as you see, may not be as fancy as your Jeweled armor, but it has the necessary enchantment to protect you throughout the journey". Paulio said as he and James turned towards Sebastian with an expectant gaze. Sebastian hurriedly put on the clothes: a plain, light-brown shirt, with brown leather pants and leather boots. Sebastian's body began to move awkwardly as he walked towards the fireplace. Before he could jab a complaint at Paulio, multicolored lines began to glow on his clothes, causing the clothes to contract and shrink down to Sebastian's size. Sebastian was thankful that the clothes had this type of enchantment. He felt that someone who didn't hesitate to pull him from his copulative abilities and had thrown him naked near a fire would not hesitate to do worse things to him if he had thrown a tantrum. Sebastian was proud and lustful, not a fool. If something were life-threatening, he would obviously not hesitate to prioritize his life. Sebastian swallowed nervously as he adjusted his sword around his waist.
"Good boy!"James said with a hint of amusement and slight mockery. Sebastian gritted his teeth in frustration. --I will remember this-- he thought. "Eat up and bathe, you have the scent of a lust-driven dog on you," Paulio said as he handed him a steaming soup. Sebastian nodded cautiously as he planned his revenge against the two. The other enforcers watched in amusement as the duo humbled and humiliated Sebastian.