Chapter 112: Chapter 111 : Discovered (Part 1)

Josh Ivene, aged twenty-six years old. Skill-wise, education-wise, anything society valued-wise, the young man had nothing going for him. To those who knew him, he was a good for nothing, a shiftless bum, who did nothing but spend his days lazing about watching movies and series all day at the expense of his parent’s pouches.

He didn’t take pride in this fact, but at the same time, he couldn’t drag himself away from this lifestyle. With his skill set and norin status, he’d be forced to work a soul-crushing job, and after a few stints doing part-time work, he wanted nothing to do with it.

He just wanted to indulge in things that brought him pleasure and comfort. But for someone of his birthright and abilities, this was a tough ask. Still, the heavens - or rather, a certain star had made his wish come true.

Six months ago, he had seen the job offer in the newspaper. Reading it, he couldn’t quite believe his eyes. The job description was shocking, but even more shocking was the person listed as the employer.

Astra Spencer.

To the world, she was the ‘Indifferent’, the ‘Destroyer’, the strongest psionic, an infamous figure who shook the very world as a lone teenager. To Josh, she was all this, and also his current boss.

Josh didn’t rush to hand in his application. As one who lived through Astra’s now-legendary rampage and heard rumours about her and her infamous irritable nature, he was very apprehensive about applying for the job.

But unlike many others, this didn’t stop him. The job description fit his lifestyle too perfectly and the pay was absurd. And so, he swallowed the unpleasantness, ignored the ‘advice’ from those around him and went for it.

Now, months into the job, Josh couldn’t be happier about his decision. The fears he had come into the job with had been quickly dispelled. There was no hidden wicked scheme present or anything of the sort. The job fit the initial description, and so did the pay. He loved his job.

The job?

To answer that, a bit about Astra.

When Astra’s rampage ended, her title shifted from Destroyer to Indifferent. But the latter wasn’t entirely accurate. While she was indifferent to the major happenings of the world, she was still very interested in the minor ones.

She established her own large scale private information network, which she called ‘Grapevine’. Large scale private information networks weren’t too uncommon; many people in power established them. Astra’s though, differed from them, in that instead of espionage and the like, hers was made purely to satisfy her hedonistic lifestyle.

After her rampage, she passed her days as a pleasure seeker. She indulged in all kinds of activities. But not long into this lifestyle did she find that she’d run out of things to do.

Not liking these idle moments, she sought a solution and thus the idea of the ‘Grapevine’ materialised.

Instead of doing it herself, Astra hired others to perform the task of locating interesting things to do. By now, thousands of people made up this endeavour. Their job was to scour the world for anything that could amuse Astra’s sensibilities and bring it to her attention. What counted as interesting varied widely. Food, novels, fashion, movies, artworks; Astra’s appetite was vast.

Of course, what counted as interesting was subjective, like pretty much everything else. And so, to avoid distasteful entries, there were many layers of quality checks. The Quality Checkers were those picked from the Grapeviners who understood or related to Astra’s personal taste.

Instead of scouring the world, they scoured the content that was brought in. They’d read through the reports and recommendations posted, discard the rabble, keep the good, and then arrange it from the most interesting to the least interesting.

After filtering out everything that needed to be filtered out, and making sure the reports and reviews were written clearly and concisely, the finished list would then be sent to the capital city of Trusia, Friala - more specifically, the Adventurer Association Headquarters at its centre. With her father, Zenas Spencer being the current Head, she treated the place as her second home and made almost daily visits.

During these visits, she would go through the list, read the recommendations and reviews left for her and choose what she liked most. The list was updated daily and kept Astra busy. She had been following this routine for four years now and it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the list dictated her passing days.

Back to Josh.

Josh was one of these Quality Checkers but not just any Quality Checker, but the final layer Quality Checker. Holding the position brought untold joy to the young man. The money was a plus of course, but more than that, it was…Astra herself.

Like many other Grapeviners, he had the chance to meet the infamous space-bending Unique.

Their first encounter was memorable, to say the least, well on Josh’s end. Lips quivering, legs turning to jelly, stomach-turning, heart-throbbing at rib breaking speed, sweating profusely…it was the most intense two minutes in the young man’s life so far.

However, as intense it was, Josh found himself craving the feeling. It was definitely not love at first sight, but he couldn’t help but desire to meet her again and bathe in that enigmatic aura she so naturally exuded. This desire dictated his future path. For the first time in his life, he gave it his all. He made a conscious effort to understand her and her tastes, more than any other. Through this effort, he became a Quality Checker and then, working even harder, he asked what no other had, to be relocated to Friala.

The request was very strange. With the Grapevine’s telepathic network, Grapeviners could work from anywhere. There was no need to physically go to the final list room in the Adventurer Association Headquarters. Still, strange as it was, Astra approved it.

Josh was overjoyed at the approval, and even more enjoyed when Astra herself teleported him over, saving him the days of travel he would have to endure.

He was given a house nearby. Every day he would enter the Adventurer Association’s Headquarters to do his duty and accomplish his desire. In the passing months, he would run into her dozens of times. Each one scratched that itch in him, even a few words was enough for him. Just being near her enthralled him.

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The previous image she occupied in his mind, made up by the rumours he had heard before he took the job, dissipated through their many encounters. Instead of the incarnation of wrath and destruction, the rumours painted her as, he found her to be an easy-going, light-hearted and playful person. At a glance, she came off as quite ordinary - though, only at a glance.

Astra was no doubt cut from a different cloth. The air of mystery that shrouded her, the light swirling in her dark eyes, the looks that overcame her expression at times; it was subtle, but it all added up. Everything about her pointed to her aberrant nature.

Josh couldn’t get enough of it, craving it more and more. Still, his feelings shouldn’t be confused with those of love. He had questioned himself many times, but each time, he would shake his head.

It was something that wasn’t focused on when discussing her, but Astra was a beauty of note. Her curvaceous figure, long brunette hair, smooth skin, and dark brown eyes made for a stunning form that could secure first place in most beauty contests. Having been in her presence many times, Josh couldn’t deny her attractiveness.

However, even so, he couldn’t think of her like that. In his mind, she was closer to an idea than a human. No matter how much time he spent with her, he couldn’t rid his mind of the notion. And so, instead of love, the feelings he held were more akin to fascination, appreciation and awe, the same as when looking out into the ocean or gazing at a starry night sky.

It wasn’t love.

But if it was, he felt that it would never reach her, as even being a few metres apart, she felt thousands of kilometres away.

But it wasn’t love.

Her love wasn’t his objective, it was her attention that he sought. And on that matter, he had just lucked out.

‘I’ve struck gold! Ralf Fawkes…she’ll love him. Aah, what face will she make, I can’t wait to see it.’ A wide smile formed on Josh’s face as he imagined Astra’s face upon discovering the youth. Excited by the prospect, his already brisk walk quickened.

How had Josh obtained this info all the way in Trusia?

Josh was a Quality Checker. Still, with her attention being his number one goal, he remained active in scouring the world for things that would interest Astra.

While making his way through the Adventurer Association Headquarters, he had heard talks of a new Named Adventurer. Now, Named Adventurers weren’t too rare or eye-catching. It was something he would spare a few seconds over and then move on, however, the details regarding the Named Adventurer in question had instantly pulled him in.

The first was the title name, which bore too close a resemblance to Martial Temple titles, and the second was the unbelievably short time frame it had taken to approve it. Hooked by these two points, he naturally investigated. Using his identity as Astra’s subordinate, he gained access to the ‘evidence’ used in approving Ralf’s title. The evidence was the footage from his outer ring qualifying matches and his debut match.

Importantly, this footage was bought by the Adventurer Association for the express purpose of reviewing. Popleigh’s Combat Arena content could only be viewed in Popleigh. One couldn’t randomly scroll through Enviso’s catalogue from anywhere in the world and discover Ralf.

Seeing the videos for himself, Josh was completely blown away, and then exhilarated that he had stumbled upon such an interesting figure. Astra, as wide as her tastes were, especially loved fights and battle. He knew she would love hearing about him.

With Ralf locked onto, Josh went all out to learn more about him, and a dozen probes and a half a day later, all of the rumours and stories about him were neatly gathered in his palms.

The Red Star Massacre, multiple personalities, the Silver Path, him being a descendant of Kai Fawkes…the more he heard, the more excited he became.

‘Ah, faster faster faster…fuck it!’

Desire overflowing, Josh threw caution to the wind and broke into a sprint. Corridor to corridor, he rushed to the room, garnering no less than a dozen strange looks from onlookers.

Still, this didn’t slow him down one bit, high on pure exhilaration, he powered through them like an unstoppable juggernaut. A minute later, he barged into the final list room, located on the Headquarters’ westernmost end. The run left him fuming and he collapsed onto a lone swivel chair. Breathing heavily, he pushed himself to a long desk and grabbed a pen and blank entry, which took the form of a small white rectangular magnetic sticker.

He wanted to write immediately, but his trembling made it difficult. As excited as he was, he would never allow himself to deliver anything less than top-notch work; producing clear and concise handwriting was also part of his job after all.

“Come on come on, you bastard quit moving already,” Josh chided his right hand while giving it the stink eye as it refused to obey his will. Grabbing the wrist with his left hand, he shook it, as though trying to frighten it, all the while continuing to berate it.

The seconds passed by but nothing changed, his hand remained disobedient. Frustration grew and he became more agitated. But this trajectory would come to an abrupt stop as a giggle suddenly sounded in his ears.

“Ahaha…”

Josh’s mental cogs came to an immediate stop, before a moment later, starting back up with unparalleled vigour. Eyes beaming brighter than any supernova, he snapped himself around and turned to the ever-bewitching star who had suddenly appeared in the room.

“Astra.”

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