PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

Anyone with any sense could come to that conclusion, but now a more interesting question came. How do you get introduced to an extremely elite social circle in a world you didn’t even belong to in the first place? All while preventing anyone from knowing your true origins.

Well, it just so happened that Desmond had a plan to carry out said task. There were only two problems. The first was that Desmond was unwilling to carry out said plan. The second was that Desmond wasn’t sure his plan would work.

Unfortunately, Desmond’s time was running out. Desmond was well aware that his alien presence in this world would soon be noticed if he didn’t do something soon. The reason was very simple, sooner or later, even in a chaotic city like this, people would start to notice the stranger they knew nothing about.

Besides, Desmond couldn’t stay in this world forever, he had his responsibilities back on earth and loved ones to return to. Desmond was unwilling to sacrifice more than necessary just to pay off Nicolai’s old debts, even if he did it as a favor to the angel of love.

Whatever the case, Desmond concluded that as much as he didn’t like it, he would still have to execute his plan. That was how Desmond ended up at the gate of Araksia’s personal mansion, a member of the Tremor clan. After much consideration, she was the only candidate that suited Desmond’s needs. However, the word victim was more appropriate than a candidate.

Curiously, despite being separated by an impossible distance, Desmond followed a route very similar to Revna’s. Although, with Desmond’s natural charisma and his own experience, Desmond’s ability to pretend and deceive was on a whole other level.

As long as Desmond wasn’t going up against freaks like Kyuru or Cecilia, the shameless hunter was sure he could con anyone he wanted. He could sell someone out and still have that person help him count the coins. Truth be told, such a trait was not one to be proud of, but Desmond didn’t give a shit. He was always the type to believe that the end justifies the means; otherwise, he never would have come up with this plan in the first place.

A pair of half-spidermen playing as guards at the entrance were about to stop him for questioning when Desmond made a move. Since he was already going to spew a bunch of bullshit, Desmond didn’t bother with the niceties; he went straight for the big one.

.....

The Aura burst from Desmond’s body and immediately pressed down on both guards, causing them to shiver inside their metallic armor, creating a rather comical screeching sound.

As the red in Desmond’s eyes glowed more and more intensely, the Aura he was using to pressure the guards grew thicker and heavier. Desmond’s Aura did not stop until it reached the pressure that a two-star class expert would emit.

Knowing full well when to back off, Desmond flashed a clearly fake and scornful smile as he addressed the guards. “Sorry, seeing a lot of filthy blood like you guys irritates me too much. I hope you don’t take it to heart.”

The insult Desmond released during his fake apology was full of ridicule, but the guards did nothing more than grit their teeth. Being called foul blood was something quite common for them. With their lineage watered down and mixed, it was already a miracle that they still had the appearance of the Tremor clan. Both guards were half-breeds; the color of their shells and hair gave them away, so they weren’t surprised to be called unclean blood.

Knowing full well how arrogant the pureblood members of the five clans have always been, the guards saw the moonlight in Desmond’s hair and the vortex of blood in his eyes. They immediately branded him a pureblood of the Darkblood clan. Only the purest-blooded members within the Darkblood clan will exhibit Desmond’s traits, so his deduction was not ill-founded.

Desmond maintained control of the conversation without waiting for the guards to think further. “What are you waiting for? Someone go and inform your young mistress that I have arrived.”

From how Desmond said it, both guards assumed his arrival was something Araksia was aware of. It would not be unusual if they were not informed. The young lady seldom even deigned to look in their direction unless she did so to express her disgust at their mixed bloodlines.

Seeing one of the guards preparing to go inform Araksia of his arrival, Desmond took the opportunity to reinforce the impression he had left. “You’d better hurry. I won’t take responsibility if I end up breaking your unclean blood partner due to my boredom waiting.”

The cruel threat did affect both guards, though not as much as Desmond had hoped. Seeing this, Desmond cursed himself. He had forgotten how bloodthirsty and unreasonable the people of this world were; for them, his threats didn’t amount to much.

Desmond didn’t show anything on his face; since he wanted to blend into this world, he would have to play by his standards. Desmond’s only philosophy in life was to always do what was necessary; cruelty was not unknown to him. For a moment, Desmond felt that he could look at that broken and bloody child in front of the mirror, but he quickly discarded that image.

Not knowing what was going through Desmond’s mind, the guard who stayed behind to watch over him didn’t see what Desmond was about to do to him coming. Barely ten seconds passed, and Desmond kicked the kneecap of the guard in front of him with all his might. The guard howled in pain, but Desmond had only just begun.

By the time Araksia came out to meet Desmond, all in front of the gate was a man with all his limbs broken and a smiling Desmond to one side. There, the unreasonable and twisted logic of the society Desmond was trying to enter was revealed.

Araksia, the sixth young mistress of the Tremor clan, the person both guards served, did only one thing when she saw her half-dead employee; she looked at him with disgust. Araksia actually even took a purple handkerchief out of one of her pockets and handed it over to Desmond to wipe his hands. “Sir Desmond, I’m sorry you had to get your hands dirty with this filthy blood. I would have met you from the beginning if I had known you were coming.”

Desmond didn’t find it strange that Araksia treated his own guard like this or that she was so subservient to him. During his investigation, Desmond found some interesting things in the gossip circulated in the city. Among those gossips, Desmond had heard about Araksia.

Araksia Tremor was the sixth young lady of the Tremor clan. Just from the number attached to her title, one could tell that she was not the focus of her clan’s attention, but that was not what caught Desmond’s attention. Among all the members of her clan, Araksia was special, but not in a good way.

Unlike her brothers and sisters, as well as the rest of the Tremor clan, Araksia was not a true pureblood. Although she was not filthy blood either, Araksia only had three-quarters of the Tremor clan’s blood running through her veins. At the same time, one-quarter of hers belonged to a Darkblood clansman.

Her late mother aside, Araksia was the only hybrid of the clan. The only reason she still held any relevance in their family was that at least her father had been a pureblood member of the Darkblood clan. Although she was young, Araksia had shown a lot of talent, especially from the few skills she inherited from the Darkblood clan.

Since that’s the case, one might think, why did she have to be so subservient to Desmond? Well, this was due to two separate issues. The first was that she was still a hybrid; no matter what, she would never get rid of that label.

The second problem was that she was a woman, a talented one; on top of that. Her family had long since viewed Araksia as a broodmare, destined to give birth to powerful warriors for her clan. Since her offspring would never be purebloods, her clan had no problem regarding any child Araksia bore as cannon fodder.

When all was said and done, Araksia’s status could be considered, from a certain point of view, worse than the guards at her gates.

However, none of this gave Desmond a shit. All this data only gave him more tools to get closer to her and use her for his own plans. After all, Desmond had already heard a little matter that made him realize why Araksia was interested in him. Since she wanted to use it, Desmond had no conscience about using her. Their little dance of games and lies was going to lay the foundation for Desmond’s success in his mission.