Chapter 47: Prepping To Prep

Andeen’s hand remained in his hair, her fingers massaging his scalp with a steady, calm rhythm that slowly brought sleep back.

On his thigh, Olga let out a soft breath, burying her face even closer to his stomach, while Nina’s tail remained locked around his waist, right below Olga’s head.

Cashel lay there in the silence of the room for a while longer, after reassuring Andeen and making sure they all slept properly.

The fright from earlier had completely dissipated, replaced by the deep-bone realization that his life was completely off the rails.

’A beast bloodline, huh?’ He blinked, listening to the soft breathing of all three women. He closed his eyes, let out a sigh, and let his exhaustion take him again.

The next morning, when Cashel finally woke up, he felt well rested for some reason.

He saw nothing strange in that and got up, only to pause when a dull burn flared through his throat. He reached up, massaging his throat and the rough skin.

’It just had to bruise,’ he thought, sighing as he carefully disentangled himself from the women, particularly careful with Nina’s tail.

He slipped out of bed, had a quick bath, and prepared breakfast for them with a note for Olga to ensure they all ate. He had a glass of juice, water, and coffee to soothe his throat.

He threw on a heavy shirt, pants, and a black coat with his weapon hanging on his shoulder, after which he stepped out of the house into the wet and extremely cold outdoors.

He flagged down a cab luckily before he could even think about crossing the bridge to the road after the area they lived in and headed for BMM headquarters.

The ride was quiet, with his gaze fixed on the passing city, shrouded in a pale, soft blue mist and a dark sky, a sign that it would still rain.

When the cab dropped him off in front of the gigantic high-rise building, with a massive emergency exit beside it, large enough for a truck to pass through, Cashel made his way straight through the security clearance and to the top floor.

The elevator doors slid open with a soft hiss, revealing a broad, high-tech hallway with multiple glass cases and items on display. It was almost like a museum.

Standing right in the middle of it, leaning casually against the wall with his arms crossed, was Nathan. He had his glasses on and was dressed in a plain white shirt and pants, smiling. When he spotted Cashel, the smile on his face widened.

"What are you doing here?"

Nathan walked over, his expression not changing for a bit, entirely unfazed by Cashel’s tone. "I’m everywhere, Cashel," he said, the last word softly, and tilted his head. "You found your way here easily."

"Like I wouldn’t recognize a building with the name BMM written all over it, along with heavy security and barriers," Cashel replied, rolling his eyes.

Nathan simply laughed. "We can catch up later. Come with me." He turned and began walking, waving excitedly at the unaffiliated hunters standing in the corner.

Nathan led Cashel down a secure corridor to another elevator in a well-hidden area that carried them down, past the ground floor and even lower.

Ding!

The elevator doors parted open, revealing another large, high-security room.

Standing inside were three other people, Amia looking beautiful as usual in her gear and mask, alongside three other BMM hunters who merely gave Cashel curt nods.

The walls of the room were lined with rows of high-grade military gear, glowing mana viewers, and sleek, polished blades of various designs and shapes.

Nathan stepped towards a wide metallic platform in the center of the room.

"Put your case down right here and open it."

Cashel raised a brow, but he brought the case around his shoulder, inputted the codes, scanned his fingers, and set it flat on the platform. The moment the latches came off, the platform underneath let out a hum.

Blue light swept over the surface, scanning through the entire case, and with a series of perhaps a dozen clicks, the case didn’t just open.

It expanded and the metal panels folded outwards from the corners of the case, doubling in size and widening into what looked like a display platform.

Nathan nodded in satisfaction while Cashel just stood there, confused. He had no idea the case was that big. He hadn’t had the time to go through the entire thing, but he was certain it was large.

I mean, if something could take grenades, a gun, a sword, and other things, wouldn’t it be large?

Suddenly, the speakers in every corner of the room crackled on, followed by Lionface’s low and deep voice echoing through the room.

"Glad to see you made it, Bishop."

Cashel looked towards the camera closest to him and narrowed his eyes.

"I hope everyone’s gathered what they need?"

"Yes, we have," Amia responded, not taking her eyes off the curved knife in her hand.

Before Cashel could also speak, Lionface spoke again. "Swap out everything in that case, Nathan. Everything in this room is B-Tier minimum. Take whatever weapons match your style, as long as you need them."

Cashel glanced around the vast array of deadly equipment, feeling an intense excitement and a headache brewing.

"Swap everything out? You gave me these... what? Not even a month ago?" He looked pointedly at Nathan, who just shrugged and did as he was told.

"And I decided to change them. Those were basic weapons. You don’t need them since your rank has been revealed," Lionface stated. "The weapons here were crafted to match the users’ mana and classes."

Cashel wasn’t surprised. He had no right to be, especially when they could easily buy Andeen’s transfer. Shaking his head, he stepped aside while Nathan worked, carelessly tossing weapons into a large basin.

But he couldn’t just let it go.

"If we’re killing beasts and awakeners, why do we need upgrades? We could just use our abilities?"

Nathan burst out laughing, clapping a hand over his face. "Sure, Bishop. Whatever you say."

"We kill people, yes," Lionface’s voice came back. "But seventy percent of the time, our jobs turn into city-level disasters because of the garbage people we deal with.

"And since you’re moving to a sector where those ’disasters’ happen every other Tuesday, you need an upgrade."

The Comms clicked softly, and a small scanner rose from the ground in front of Cashel.

"Scan your eyes on the machine there," Lionface ordered. "We need to remove the seal on your custom set."

Cashel’s brows furrowed deeper. "I don’t get it, what does....."

"Can you stop asking questions and do as you’re told? Or are you scared of something?"

Cashel looked blankly at the cameras for a moment before glancing at the machine. Heaving a sigh, he pulled down the spark mask and leaned over the machine. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

A red laser line swept across his pupils.

BEEP!

[IDENTITY VERIFIED: BISHOP]

[UNSEALING CUSTOM GEAR SET...]

A wall not far from him split open with a heavy hiss, releasing hot air.

A deep area came into view, revealing displayed weapons in what looked like glass cases but were actually barriers.

Lying in the center were two stands, one with a brand-new mask and another with a neatly folded outfit.

Cashel’s eyes gleamed faintly as he stepped closer and past the red line separating the space from the main room.

He picked up the mask carefully and brushed the surface. Unlike his previous simple design, this one was a sleek porcelain-white jester mask, painted with minimalist black markings around the narrow eye slits.

Within it was a layer and a piece of paper listing all the features.

An A-Tier shield, activated when the wearer was in grave danger.

Mana density readers built to sync with the suit and a voice modifier... and so on.

"A jester, huh?" He muttered, turning it over.

"It’s yours now," Nathan said, leaning against the large basin with a grin. "Everything in there is yours. The voice modifier should help hide your identity perfectly, with distortion just in case."

Amia gestured at the suit behind him. "Your outfit, specially designed and tailored by me. It sends signals and energy waves back to the engineering team, keeping an eye on all of us, especially during missions, so it would take a lot to tear it."

Cashel was speechless, but mostly confused. Still with the mask in his hand, he turned around. "I really don’t understand. Aren’t we supposed to handle private jobs and kills?" He asked once again, rather more wary with multiple questions than happy about his new upgrades.

Nathan smiled warmly. "I told you BMM was not just any organization. There are multiple jobs and things to do, which is why it is always emphasized that Andeen is being held back." His eyes gleamed faintly.

"BMM outside the city does larger-scale jobs than the military, and that’s specifically why Eclipse is our biggest competitor, and SAMD handles the dungeons."

Cashel narrowed his eyes.

Lionface chuckled softly behind the speakers. "Listen to me, Bishop. You’re in for a delicious ride. Trust us."

Cashel made a face, turning away from everyone and back to the gear. "I honestly don’t."