Chapter 3

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Chapter 003: Finding the Lamb to Slaughter

The Slaughtered Lamb, isn’t that the place with a group of secretive warlock trainers inside?

He sat under the shade of a nearby tree and observed for a while, noticing that although the tavern had some regular customers, it was much less lively compared to the other tavern near the Wizard’s Sanctum.

In the human society at that time, the church and the Kirin Tor prohibited studying knowledge related to demons.

Even though policies relaxed after the Orc War, from Dalaran to the Wizard’s Sanctum, the highest-ranking mages and researchers began conducting small-scale demon studies to be prepared for the Orc invasion, but ordinary people were not as accepting of warlocks as in the games.

However, the secret warlock group hidden in this tavern was never exposed even after more than ten years, indicating their secretive and careful actions.

So, if the path through the Wizard’s Sanctum is blocked, could they find work among these warlocks?

"The Slaughtered Lamb" looked the same as it did over a decade ago, with an unassuming entrance and old interior decor.

A piece of torn half-paper was stuck to the door, with a blurry message that read, "Hiring… healthy individuals… good pay… preferably from out of town…"

Isn’t this talking about themselves?

The deserted tavern had only one bartender minding the place, who had a moustache and two rugged braids like a barbarian.

Even though he was alone, he didn’t seem very busy.

In a corner, several non-interacting male patrons were drinking alone. They were dressed plainly, with strong physiques, resembling laborers similar to Jesse.

As a shop that opened in the Mage Quarter, surprisingly there were no wizards or apprentices among the customers. Perhaps this place was meant for the workers who helped repair the buildings in the Mage Quarter from the beginning.

At that moment, the barbarian stopped wiping the glass in his hand and glared at Jesse. His expression was more like a butcher waiting for a pig to come to the chopping block than a waiter waiting for customers.

Jesse felt a bit hesitant, but the atmosphere was already tense, so going back directly would seem even more awkward.

"Mead, malt, dwarf ale, red wine," muttered the man in a low voice.

"I’m not here for drinks." Jesse stood in front of the bar and asked, "Do you need extra help in the store, sir? I noticed the hiring sign outside."

The man squinted, bit his lower lip, and slowly said in a heavy accent, "Get lost."

Jesse nodded, glanced at the deep end of the hall, and noticed a dark doorway blocked by wine crates.

If he guessed correctly, that should be the secret door leading to the basement, where the warlocks were probably hiding at the lowest level.

"Sorry." He turned back to look at the man, "Someone told me to come here for work, but it seems like you’re the only one here, and you seem really busy. I apologize if I have offended you in any way."

After speaking, Jesse raised his eyebrows and walked towards the door.

He suddenly made up a non-existent reference person out of nowhere. He wasn’t very sure about the specific reason, maybe to shift the blame, maybe he thought that having a reference person for a secretive group like this would make it more acceptable.

Surprisingly, it actually worked.

The black man suddenly stopped him and asked, "Who sent you here?"

"Um… many people say that." Jesse was about to continue walking out, but the black man relaxed his tone and asked, "Do you need money, kid?"

"I do need money."

"What’s your name?"

"Jesse."

"Follow me, Jesse."

The man in black turned and walked towards the dark door. Jesse followed him and glanced at the guys drinking in the corner. They seemed to not see or hear anything, not paying any attention to this side.

Hidden in "The Slaughtered Lamb"… can’t really be called a cellar.

Because this place is like an underground city!

Unlike the scale in the game, after passing through a narrow passage filled with wooden boxes, crossing an iron gate led to a dark dungeon-like place.

Even if one day this place is exposed, the Stormwind patrols rushing in may not be able to find their way, making it easier for the hideouts to escape.

The man in black lit a torch and signaled for Jesse to follow.

"Everything you see here must not be spoken of, kid. If you do, we will know who talked… and then you will find yourself in a very, very bad situation."

The accent on the word "very" from the man in black sounded very strange, breaking the eerie atmosphere here.

"I just need money, don’t want trouble," Jesse said.

"Very good, this is very good." The black man walked to the iron door of a cell and gently knocked on it.

The sound of his fingers hitting the metal reverberated throughout the underground. Jesse looked towards the dark end of the corridor, feeling as though countless eyes were watching him from where the sound echoed.

"Erlan, are you still there?" The black man asked into the door.

"Can’t you wait for a moment, Jarel?" The person inside the door replied, out of breath and sounding annoyed.

"Is Surena in there too?" The black man furrowed his brow and said, "I’ve found you some help, a strong person."

"Get lost, Jarel!" Several women’s voices cursed from inside the door.

Before long, a muscular man with bare arms opened the door slightly, with his hand still on his waist, and a strong smell of sweat wafted out from inside.

"This is the person, what’s your name?"

"Jesse."

"I’m called Erlan, hello, Jesse." A man named Erlan reached out his hand, Jesse glanced at it, didn’t shake it, and Erlan felt a bit strange. He withdrew his hand and wiped it on his pants.

"Soon, we’ll be right out, take our guests to the practice room." Saying that, he slammed the door shut.

"It’s lunchtime now, those jerks," the Black man muttered, glanced at Jesse and said, "By the way, I’m Jarel, Jarel Moor."

Jesse nodded, he had no idea what he was about to face. But so far, he didn’t think he was in any danger.

Inside The Slaughtered Lamb, there was no longer that eerie atmosphere, perhaps at this time, the Black Magic practitioners hiding here were not as powerful as they would later become, just a group of beginners practicing on their own, inspired by Orc Warlocks’ strength.

Jarel said, "I still need to watch the shop, Jesse, you can go on your own, walk over there, to the biggest room, with lots of barrels inside."

"Remember to go to the bar to collect your wages when you leave."

"Daily pay, how much for one time?"

Jarel held up two fingers, shook them back and forth, and said, "Two silver coins."

Two silver coins?!

After Jarel left, Jesse followed his instructions to go to the so-called practice room, where there were no practice weapons like wooden swords or knives, only empty wooden barrels that may or may not contain any alcohol.

At that moment, a strange musty smell slowly seeped into his nostrils. It was different from the smell of rotting wood or fermenting fruit, not exactly foul but still made him feel very uncomfortable.

After sniffing around the basement for a while, he realized the smell seemed to be coming from around the base of a wooden support pillar, but he couldn’t tell what it was exactly.

Jesse hesitated whether to continue, but considering the chance to earn two silver coins for a task, it was a rare opportunity.

Doing some rough calculations, making two trips a month could cover his rent. Thirty trips a month for two months could save up for a gold coin, enough to buy a toilet in Old Town after a year.

So why not make two trips in a day, earning four silver coins?

With that thought, he suddenly had a bad feeling.

Yes, why not make two trips in a day?

Why can you earn two silver coins at once? What kind of activity is this?

Jesse’s mind quickly considered hundreds of messy possibilities, feeling more and more like he should leave, but two silver coins… these are two silver coins!

Just then, Erlan walked in and abruptly shut down Jesse’s spinning mind.

Following him was a black woman, likely the Surena that Jarel mentioned earlier. They were both around 20 years old, not much older than Jesse.

Jesse vaguely remembered Surena, but couldn’t recall who she was exactly. She didn’t seem like a good character; her skin was darker than Jarel’s, she wore a dark grey robe that was hard to see in the dim room, only her eyes were visible.

In contrast, Erlan’s skin was unnaturally pale, as if he hadn’t seen the sun in months.

Erlan seemed to sense Jesse’s worry and smiled, saying, "Don’t be afraid, Jesse, we’re just going to do a simple little test conducted by Miss Surena here. She knows what she’s doing."

"Are you ready?" Surena asked coldly.

"Who should be ready, Mr. Erlan or me?" Jesse asked. "If it’s me, what do I need to do?"

Before the words fell silent, Erlan walked over and tightly tied Jesse to a wooden post.

Erlan was incredibly strong, far beyond what a normal person would be.

He seemed to be a seasoned soldier, or some kind of trained warrior, or perhaps one of the hardworking members of the Stonemason Guild. Jesse had no chance to resist and was securely bound.

"Wait, hold on." Jesse forced himself to ask despite feeling anxious, "What are you going to do?"

"Okay, we can start now." Erlan stepped aside, smiling as he looked towards Surena.

Surena slowly closed her golden eyes, disappearing into the darkness.

She murmured a few incomprehensible words, then suddenly, a faint purple light shone from her delicate black fingers, filling the room with an eerie glow.

Jesse was instantly captivated by this strange dark light, could this be… Shadow Magic?

In Lordaeron, while Arcane magic was not commonly seen, it was often displayed near the Academy of Arcane Arts. Male students from the academy would frequently show off simple magic spells like telekinesis and light spells to impress girls.

Jesse had seen arcane magic a few times before, and was familiar with the mysterious light blue or white magical energy.

But Shadow Magic was something completely new to him.

The sense of novelty quickly died as a sudden, intense ringing in his ears cut off all his senses.

Jesse felt a sharp pain crawling from the tips of his limbs towards his forearms, then his upper arms, thighs, chest, and abdomen. It felt like a group of small creatures with sharp teeth and claws were frantically scratching and clawing at his body.

The pain soon turned into a constant throbbing ache spreading through those areas it had passed over, the intensity of the pain so strong that it left him speechless, only feeling dizzy and a sudden wave of nausea rising up!

Erlan came closer and whispered, "Look at his veins… It’s working, Surena!"

Jesse reluctantly opened his eyes and glanced at his hand, noticing a dense network of purple veins appearing on it.

"Are you trying to kill me?!"

"You won’t die, we don’t want to be murderers," Erlan blinked and said, "This is the Curse of Agony… The purpose of this spell is to make you suffer, not to take your life."

"Great job, Surena! I can feel your curse power has improved a lot, both in how fast it takes effect and in its impact compared to last time. Jesse really is a strong guy, I almost couldn’t hold him down just now, he’s much stronger than the beggar last time."

Erlan’s words became clearer and the pain started to fade gradually. Jesse felt increasingly cold all over and was sweating profusely.

His chest was wet for some reason, it turned out to be the stomach acid he had just vomited, even though he hadn’t eaten anything today.

The smell of decay in his sweat and vomit made Jesse realize where the strange odor in the room was coming from.

He was brought here to be a practice target for others, and he clearly wasn’t the first one.

Erlan quickly untied Jesse and moved a chair for him to rest, then turned to talk to Surena.

Jesse didn’t have the energy to listen to their conversation anymore. His mind was a mess, and he just wanted to lie down on the chair and sleep.

He wished he could just sleep and forget everything that had just happened.

But he couldn’t sleep, he needed to leave this place of trouble and take the money with him.

Stumbling along, he found himself on the grass outside the Wizard’s Sanctum, holding three Silver coins, unsure why there were three.

He looked up at the sky, the sun beating down on everything on the ground. A sweet smell of cookies wafted through the garden, making Jesse’s stomach growl.

Three silver coins… no need to worry too much about rent this month.

Thinking this, it seemed like the experiences just now had some kind of payoff.

At noon, he washed his clothes by the canal, took a bath to freshen up, bought some bread, and by the time he got home, it was already afternoon.

Nowadays, most warlocks hiding in human cities are studying dark magic to fight against Orcs or other evils, not really worshipping any demons or the Burning Legion.

Their ultimate goal is to blend into human society, so they dare not harm people or attract stricter prohibitions.

But what if there was an Orc inside? Jesse relied on his understanding of these people’s later development and was willing to take a risk. Without any clues, chaos would be unwise.

Thinking this, he arrived at the trading area, where several workers were resting against the walls in the evening. In front of the rental building where his room was, a familiar figure was waiting for him.

"Where did you go, Jesse Seso?"

Jesse squinted as he nibbled on his bread, revealing that he was Greed all along.