Ray's days had been boring for the past three months; his schedule consisted of two things in general: training for fifteen hours a day, both with Marian and by himself on his magic and crafting skills, and the other main part was having sex, lots of sex.
Each night one of the girls was there to satisfy him; some nights more than one. The company's revenue had increased by double too with just his few major changes.
Despite all of that, Ray's growth had slowed down tremendously. His experience gains had decreased by miles; in three months all he could gather after every night was near 27000 points.
His other problem was a mysterious witch named Jade. He didn't know her exact plans, yet she had already sealed any unknown location that they both were aware of that could connect to Hell.
"Fuck you, old piece of shit." He cursed to himself while dodging bullets in Marian's training room. "Without Orcus, I can't even get near a good dungeon."
Marian observed her training from her own office while making a dress for some special customer. She yelled into her phone, "Don't get distracted in the training."
"She even notices such a small change..." His attention returned to his training; he doubted that anyone could withstand her as a mentor. At times she would just try to break him under the pressure.
"Only two places remain on earth; the Jade probably can't seal their connection to hell... Both of them are out of reach too." His body moved on its own as his thoughts tried to find a solution.
A bullet fired from the ground itself, taking him by surprise. It passed the bones and flesh of his leg, making a hole in his body. Marian didn't believe in simulations; all the ammo used on him could kill him in an instant.
Ray didn't mind the pain and injury; he had another hour of dodging bullets, and it was not going to be his last injury.
"The glass pyramid is too suspicious if I went for a sudden vacation, and Antarctica is deep under military control..." In his previous life Ray's path was signed with Hell; as a side effect, he got the chance to get his hands on Orcus, yet now Hell had cut all ties with him.
Another bullet crushed his middle finger, followed by Marian's mocking tone: "You wanted to join Alexanderia's squad with that level?"
"Fuck off." Ray increased his speed, yet the speed of bullets increased too. He enjoyed the training more than anything; the gap between his skills and the capabilities of his body was miles wide. With such fierce training, his body used to be in a death or live situation again.
For the next five hours, he didn't even have the time to think about anything else but surviving. His dodging and aiming were the most important parts of his training each day.
"Enough for today; go get ready for tonight's auction house." Marian told through his mind.
Ray cleared the sweat on his forehead and said with an enthusiastic tone, "You coming too?"
"Yes, I will see you in there."
"What is the chance of there being some blood crystals?" It was Ray's first legal auction house in his entire life; his knowledge about the items that were going to be sold was so little.
Her figure teleported next to him; as always, she wore her suit. Her voice seemed tired too from all the yelling throughout the day at Ray and her employees. "Near zero; however, dark and white crystals are common."
"That wouldn't be bad either." His eyes trailed her perfect body; each day Ray's eyes grew more lustful on her, and Marian seemed to play along with him. Giving him something to look at with tighter pants or opening a few buttons on her shirt.
"Yeah, but don't have high expectations; most of the times, all the items are useless." She stepped back to stay away from Ray's sweaty smell.
"I hope to find some good magic crystals." He stood up from the ground, making sure to give Marian a good show of his body. "You seem to need a shower as much as I do."
"Oh, you are bold today."
His intention was obvious, but he chose to push on it. "At the end of the day, it's just a student and his teacher taking a shower together."
"My dear apprentice, you already know your answer, and seducing me is not that easy."
"Fair enough, it doesn't mean I would stop."
Marian giggled, "Who asked you to stop? These interactions remind me of youth; I'm rather fond of them." Her figure disappeared, with a silver light remaining in her place.
Silence took over the room; as much as Ray wanted to sleep with Marian, his main problem had to be solved.
His teleportation device sent him to his own bedroom. Marian had connected her training ground and mansion and Ray's tower to the same portal through a teleportation device; it was simpler than dealing with thousands of paparazzi asking about their relationship all day.
A note with Yelena's handwriting was left on his bed:
See you at 5 pm.
His partner for the auction house was Yelena. Ray threw the note on the bed again and went for a hot shower.
"There only remains one solution..." He knew about the route he had to take, yet the risks held him back for months; now, with only one month remaining, his decision was certain.
"Getting help from a Hell-born... As an outcast, they don't have any reason to help me; I should make a contract with a devil." Hot water cleared his skin from all the sweat on his body as his mind relaxed a little bit.
Stories about interactions with devils came to the surface in his mind; nothing good ever came out of them. "Tomorrow, I must take a week off; there should be no problems on that side, yet the supplies needed for summoning a devil are not that ea..."
"Stupid me..." A smile grew wide on her lips. A big auction happened to be held on that night.
"With the excuse of upgrading my crafting station, Marian shouldn't be suspicious about some specific things that are needed..."
Suddenly, his emotions toward the event in the night changed.