God Class Awakening: Ascension of the Demon Hunter-Chapter 36: Dead Men

Vale stared blankly at the man behind the counter while trying to process what was happening as calmly as possible.

The man was clearly trying to extort him: he had taken his money and was now keen on escalating the situation. Even if Vale hadn’t wanted to resort to violence, the situation was clearly heading in that direction.

Just as he placed his hand on the hilt of the dagger, a heavy hand fell on his shoulder, and a man in leather armour slowly came into view.

With a light chuckle, he said, "Don’t be so tense kid, Old Gramps here’s just pulling your leg."

The barman who was referred to as old gramps let out a strained laugh and went to the shelves to pull out some drinks.

Another woman, middle-aged, then appeared beside Vale. She didn’t even glance at him but spoke to the barman. "This the kid y’all were talking about."

The barman, still shuffling through the stack of drinks, nodded. Only then did the lady turn to Vale and gaze at him so intensely that he felt a chill run down his spine. Something told him that these people were clearly more powerful than him. And the fact that he couldn’t get the bulky man’s hands off him was a testament to that.

"So what’s your name," the lady said after eye-licking him.

At this point, Vale was in a very uncomfortable position and the only thing stopping him from getting out his dagger was the fact that he didn’t know these people’s strength.

The best option for him now was to stall and find a chance to slip away.

"Give the kid a chance to breathe, you ogre," a newcomer said, removing the bulky man’s hands from Vale’s shoulder.

With some free space, Vale immediately pushed himself back, creating some distance with the people. He was clearly ready to run away, but when he looked back the door he had entered through was gone

"Calm down kid, we just wanna talk." The barman had finally found a drink and he filled up a cup, placing it on the counter and pushing it towards Vale.

There seemed to be no way of escape so Vale’s only option was to entertain them, he could only curse inwardly and walk towards them.

"We’ve been waiting for you," the barman said as Vale walked closer with cautious eyes.

Those words caught his attention as his brows furrowed. Their coming to the prison realm was a complete accident, it wouldn’t make sense that someone was aware of the event before it happened.

Or was he just waiting for him after hearing the news of Don’s death?

"For how long?" Vale asked with a frown.

The barman took his time, filling a shot for the others before answering the question directed at him.

"Ten years, twenty years, who knows. It’s a hassle keeping track of time in this realm. The sun... well, it can be erratic, at times refusing to leave the sky for days on end."

This was something Vale didn’t know about, so if anything he was at least getting information. As for whether it was useful, time would tell.

"How did you know about me, then?"

Now this was the main question, and all Vale got was a chuckle from the man behind the counter.

"The creepy old man knows everything," The lady said while licking off the last drop of alcohol from the tip of the shot glass.

It struck Vale as odd that they called him an old man, even though he looked to be around the same age as them.

The tall blue-haired man who had freed him from the ogre’s grasp, spoke next, "I’m sorry if my friends came—"

"Nobody is your friend, dumbass," the lady interrupted, a bit tipsy.

The blue-haired man’s eyes twitched, but he didn’t bother with her and continued talking with Vale, "I’m sorry if these people came off a bit strange, the truth is that we need your help. It’d be beneficial for both of us if we could work together."

"You need my help?"

The man nodded; he was easy-going compared to the others and something about him made Vale want to trust him.

"With what?" Vale asked; if it was something he could do then he would consider it, that is if they offered quality compensation. Looking at the situation though, Vale wasn’t in the best position to be making any demands.

"All you need to—"

"Fallon, I’ll talk to the kid."

The blue-haired man immediately went silent when the barman interrupted him.

"Let’s go somewhere private," the man behind the counter said

Vale wanted to say something, but the world seemed to blur for a moment, and everyone had also vanished in an instant. Even Roxy who had been clinging to him was nowhere to be found, just him and the man behind the counter.

"What did you do, where’s—"

"Oh relax, this is just a mind zone. Everyone is where they should be."

After a moment Vale realised the man wasn’t lying—at least, not about this. He could still feel his body if he concentrated well enough, and this wasn’t his first time being in a mind zone.

A mind zone was something only tier three Masters could manifest. If the man was really a Master, then trying to fight was the same as an ant trying to stop a tsunami.

After realising this he immediately became more docile.

"So what do you guys want from me?"

"Have a taste of the alcohol," the barman said. "It’s the best in the entire bottom level."

Vale had a long look at the glass that had been filled earlier for him then sighed, if the man really wanted to kill him he would certainly not poison him, that would be rather disgraceful and inconvenient for a Master.

In the end, he took the shot glass and poured its contents into his mouth.

The man had a smile on his face. "That’s more like it,"

"So tell me," Vale said with a grimace on his face from the alcohol. "Who are you people?"

The man chuckled and went to fetch another bottle. "Oh, you shouldn’t concern yourself with dead men."

Vale was immediately confused. Did he mishear or had the man just called himself a dead man?

"What do you mean by dead men?"

"That’s what we are." The man found a bottle and retrieved it from the stack. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

That wasn’t the response that Vale had expected since the man was breathing.

"But—but, you’re clearly alive."

The bartender opened up the bottle and filled the shot glass once more. "What you see is merely a fragment of ourselves. Ghosts, if you wanna put it that way. So I don’t think you should bother with our identity."

He then pushed the filled glass to Vale.

"Our offer is what you should be more concerned about."

Vale didn’t take another drink. His body was still too young to handle alcohol properly; one shot in and he was already feeling tipsy.

"So, what is this ’offer’?"

With slow steps, the barman returned the bottle to its right place on the shelf.

"It would’ve been a babysitting job, but I guess Rein is too old to be called a baby."