YM778.TV Chapter 131: Preperations | The Missing Scandal Arc
rumble...rumble...rumble...
Jaxon scrolled through Rel\'s acceptance email, ignoring the tremors shaking his office.
Clashes and bangs – some fool overdoing it in training, no doubt.
"Interesting… How easily had Gerrard parted with this one?"
He leaned back, a grin creeping up on his face.
BANG!...BANG!
"If the kid\'s worthless, I\'ll gut Gerrard for his whole batch of third-years."
Another violent shake rattled the building.
Jaxon then had enough.
DING!
He jabbed the intercom.
"Mary! Tell those idiots to cut it out!"
—Got it.
khcap...1
haah...
A heavy sigh escaped Jaxon\'s lips. The pressure was building, a constant thrum beneath the surface.
Too many dungeons spawning, too many monsters needing to be slaughtered, not enough bodies to throw at them.
He glanced at the acceptance email on his screen.
This...Rel Laurence... this kid Gerrard was hyping…an archer in his first year with a high-ranking potential was a tempting bait.
Then again, appearances could be deceiving.
He remembered a dirty-faced orphan clinging to his doorstep, eyes full of a desperate hunger Jaxon recognized all too well.
Training Christian had been a whim, a way to pass the time after he left the hero\'s organization to become the most used organization of today: the Mercenary Corps.
But the boy had devoured everything Jaxon taught him, hardened in the brutal crucible of mercenary work.
Now, that same boy\'s potential had mirrored the likes of many great mages and with his ability to have destructive magic.
He knew he was a mage capable enough of destroying the world.
Jaxon scowled at the files on Rel Laurence.
Mismatched records, dead ends, gaps where a person\'s past should be.
Was the name even real? No matching parents, no ethnicity that fit his face, no relatives to be found.
A ghost of a boy…and now suddenly, an archer with potential Gerrard salivated over.
Records only appeared the moment this \'Rel\' stepped into the Academy.
Before that, there was nothing.
His fingers traced the blank spaces. Criminal history? Cults? Quadra? The files were silent.
Frustration pricked at him, a familiar itch.
An archer with no history? No mentors, no competitions, no sign of his skill until now.
It was illogical.
"I\'ll prepare the tests."
He rose abruptly, the papers fluttering in his wake.
Black coat swirling, Jaxon exited his office, his stride purposeful.
The training grounds would provide some answers, even if they weren\'t in the files.
He\'d push this \'Rel\' to the limit... find the technique hidden beneath the lies, or expose the weakness Gerrard missed.
...
...
...
[Mercenary Cooperation, Headquarters - Main Training Room]
Jaxon stood at the training room entrance, the acrid tang of something burnt assaulting his nostrils.
Whatever had happened…it wasn\'t just a training session.
The automatic doors slid open, revealing a scene of utter chaos.
Smashed screens, a cratered platform, the expensive training room looked like a warzone.
And the two culprits? Clear as day.
The blonde boy cowered, while the dark-haired girl froze, sword in hand. Suspended for wrecking a dungeon core, and now this.
Jaxon\'s irritation flared.
"Mr. Cain!"
Vanessa bowed a hint of desperation in her voice.
"It\'s not what you think! He started it..."
She jabbed a finger towards Christian, who lurked suspiciously behind a weapon rack.
"Liar!" Christian shot back. "She used that forbidden element again!"
Jaxon cut them off with a raised hand.
"Enough. The room\'s trashed. Looks like there won\'t be a new recruit trial today."
Confusion rippled across Christian and Vanessa\'s faces – their masks, thankfully absent.
"New recruit?" Christian tilted his head, a dangerous glint in his eye.
"Squad replacement, maybe?" Vanessa chimed in, a hint of excitement in her voice.
"Just…a new recruit. We\'ll assess their abilities later." He checked his watch, frowning.
Who the hell had time for some rookie test?
[Availability System:]
[Yang Viena (On a mission.)]
[Franca Demarco (On a mission)]
[Isabela (On a mission)]
...
...
...
...
His availabilities system blinked a depressing red: every mercenary leader was out on an assignment.
Jaxon groaned, burying his face in his hands.
"Damn it, I should\'ve kept one of those idiots home from that search mission…"
What to do? He was short-staffed, and this rookie test couldn\'t wait.
Then a sound drifted over his own thoughts.
sweep… sweep…sweep...
He turned. Christian was halfheartedly manipulating the rubble with his magic, while Vanessa swept up dust with a broom that seemingly appeared out of thin air.
The moment they noticed his gaze, the whistling and shuffling reached a comical peak.
"Pay no attention to us..." Christian coughed, shoving a mangled TV behind a pillar.
Vanessa swept frantically.
"...ah... act like we\'re not here Mr. Cain..."
Jaxon stared, baffled. Then his watch pinged.
ding!
A request from Navarro, head of the Hero Association. "What the hell…" He tapped the screen.
[You\'ve received a request... from: Vice President Of The Heroes Association: Amara Navarro]
[Request: we\'ve located the coordinates of a dangerous drug-making group around Korea... the coordinates are in the dropbox below the email...]
[Payment if accepted: $250,000]
Coordinates for some drug addicts\' hideouts.
$250,000 reward. Risky, blind as he was with everyone out. \'
But… Jaxon turned back to his disastrous duo. A wicked grin spread across his face.
"Stop that nonsense," he barked. "I\'ve got a mission for you later, one that might save your asses from this suspension."
***
{Rel\'s POV}
[Pinnacle Academy, Lecture Room, 1-A]
[Thursday, 8:45 AM]
Kolek\'s announcement echoed through the lecture hall.
"Attention everyone! Special lecturer today on Dungeon History…Mr. Bennett."
The man who walked in was a walking HR brochure.
Neatly pressed slacks, that same boring button-down the Academy loved—just the type.
And it confirmed everything.
We\'d hit the next arc and that was the Missing Scandal Arc.
The one where students vanished without a trace, the whispers about the cults got louder.
And right on cue, here was Damon Bennett, their puppet.
The first pawn was moved into place by Vladimir Bane and Morwen Cross.
Bennett\'s objective at Pinnacle was surprisingly simple, and thus, annoyingly effective.
He was here to gather information on the students, figure out their weaknesses, and then lure them as test subjects.
During this arc he used club time, private study sessions, and hands-on practical classes… every opportunity to isolate and manipulate.
The man himself wasn\'t much of a threat physically, but he was cunning.
The kind who took note of every person he met, looking for that one crack in their armour.
He was cautious, the type to have escape routes planned before he even walked into a room.
He was the first minor villain who gave Jan a lot of problems throughout the first semester.
But since he has nothing to do with the overall plot of the story.
I could make some interventions, to get through such a boring drag of an arc.
Damon Bennett\'s scheme was simple: kidnap students, push the agenda of drug distribution, and fuel the cult\'s growth.
This was the setup for a whole mess of problems: Jan scrambling around, the main cast focused on the wrong threats, and the pieces getting moved into place.
Bennett wasn\'t a fighter, but he was smart.
He\'d duck out at the first sign of trouble, always with an exit strategy.
It took Jan and his crew weeks to corner him, and even then it was more luck than skill.
Of course, Bennett left a trail of chaos in his path.
He had stolen countless artifacts, manipulated students, and recruited students to both the Devil\'s Worshipers Cult and Syndicate…he bled the school dry while playing teacher.
A minor villain, useful to Jan\'s growth in the grand scheme of things.
But I know better. If I can stop Bennett early, I can cut off some of those tentacles before they take root.
This would take time.
First, I needed proof of Bennett\'s plotting - the disappearances, the drugs, the cult connections.
I\'d say it\'s easier said than done.
I knew that even if he became suspicious of me, he would not suspect an extremely low-ranking student to guess him as the culprit.
So I planned on eventually getting on his good side.
Then I\'d develop a decent relationship to the point where he thinks I completely believed him to be a good guy.
Afterwards, I\'ll lure him to an unexpected location, and Jan will do his main character thing and complete a small portion of his character development.
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Authors Notes:
- The founder of The Mercenary Cooperation Jaxon Cain was originally in the guild owned by Louise\'s Father; Kang Villerion.
- Jaxon Cain is in the top 3 in the rankings of the world\'s strongest heroes. (According to the heroes association since they qualify Mercenaries from Jaxon\'s corps to be somewhat heroes.)
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The Current Top 10 Heroes In The World:
1. Aurelia Draxen [Guild: None, Association: The International Heroes Association.]
2. Navi Columbus [Guild: None, Association: The Adventurers Organization]
3. Jaxon Cain [Guild: None, Association: The Mercenary Coperation]
4. Aeliana Bell [Guild: Lotus Society]
5. Gerrard Freya [Guild: The Miracles Guild]
6. Ajax [Guild: Visionaries Syndicate]
7. Kang Villerion [Guild: Trinities Centurions]
8. Yuka Azira [Guild: Legion New Force]
9. Julian George II [Van Guardians Forge]
10. Oberon Starcaster [Infra Tech Innovators Guild]