Chapter 532: Incredible Rune Work
The SUV drove along and Laz just calmly stared out the window, oblivious to Amira’s questioning look.
The female suit said at one point five minutes in,
"We have to take a roundabout way to get back to the headquarters since things are so hectic right now. Hopefully this is acceptable?"
"Not a problem. Please do as you must," Laz said, just silently observing the things going on along the strip.
"Hey... Hey?" Amira finally plucked up the courage to try to question Laz.
"Hmm?" Laz turned his attention back towards her.
"So... are you going to silence me or something?" She asked, a little bit of fear in her voice.
"Why would you think that?" Laz asked, slightly amused.
"Well..."
"If you’re thinking about escaping now that we are away from you friend, I would advise against it. Leaving me aside, even those two could subdue you in a heartbeat if they wanted to," Laz said, watching the woman’s face turn to a frown.
"How could a normal human possible stop me?" Amira asked, surprised that Laz had read her thoughts. The only reason she didn’t run away back at the store was because she didn’t want to get Basma in trouble.
"Who said they were normal humans? Here, let me show you," Laz said, closing his eyes for a second and opening them again.
Amira was shocked. The feeling she had towards Laz was gone and instead was replaced with nothing. She felt nothing from him, just like he was a normal human.
"HOW?" Amira almost screamed until Laz just let his aura go back to normal.
"It’s just a small trick. I don’t use it because it’s easier this way for me. It hides your aura but also slightly dulls your senses. Walking into a place where I don’t know anyone or anything requires my spiritual strength to be at it’s max. And besides which, at this level, only one of us awakened could sense the difference. One of those chosen bastards wouldn’t sense anything anyway so doing this is only to deceive other awakened," Laz explained.
"Awakened? Don’t you mean infected?"
"Why you little..." The car jerked a little as the lawyer who was driving suddenly snapped a bit.
Laz raised his eyebrows in response to this loss of control but the female in the suit quickly rebuked him.
"Enough. Get it together. Remember who is here," she said, calming him down.
"A problem?" Laz asked, looking at the side profile of the lawyer.
"It’s nothing. He just,"
"Let him answer please," Laz said with a bit of interest.
The man looked a little pale as the woman sighed, obviously somewhat nervous herself.
"It was something that happened in my past. I put it all behind me though..." the man started to say but Laz laid a hand on his shoulder.
"No. You didn’t," Laz simply said and looked at him. While he was still facing forward with his eyes on the road, the man seemed to be gripping the steering wheel even tighter.
"I... I..." The man stumbled on his words. Laz wasn’t trying to intimidate him, but what he didn’t know was that Laz’s many deeds had been widely published and discussed among the employees of the Hearn group and therefore even this low level lawyer knew just what kind of monster Laz was when he was serious. Added to that the fact that he was seen just a couple weeks ago staring down the army and a large group of chosen chosen without blinking made Laz all the more imposing.
"Relax. I’m just curious to know the reason. So if you please?" Laz said, removing his hand from the man’s shoulder. He could tell he was shaking.
"My... my girlfriend... when she... found me out... accusing me of trying to infect her and she turned me in for the reward money... so it..."
"Ah. Betrayel huh? That will do it. Yet somehow you were still able to practice law and such?" Laz asked. After all, if the man had been turned in, it didn’t explain why not only was he free but he was also able to still be in the public eye.
"I was saved... and things happened..."
"Sigh. Honestly. I’m surprised a man like you is so good in the courtroom yet you can’t even control yourself when it comes to your ex..." the woman said, clearly a bit angry.
"Oh... OH! Ha ha ha... so you two eh?" Laz said, sensing the tension between them at this conversation.
"Well.... I..."
"Yes. I don’t know why... but somehow I fell for this bastard despite his deep seeded distrust of women..." The female said.
"Names?"
"I’m Deanna and he’s Rick," Deanna said, still death glaring Rick.
"Well Rick. I would highly recommend you move on from this. It seems to me like you’ve got a rather fine woman to look after you now. So let the past rest and move on to the present. Real regret only comes when you’ve lost something that you can never get back, something that meant more to you than you understood at the time. You might have lost something, but considering what happened, I doubt it was something that meaningful. But right now, you risk losing a whole lot more, if you get my drift?" Laz said, talking about someone and something neither of them would ever know about or understand. Despite that, the truth rang out in Laz’s words, shocking the slightly older man.
Even Deanna felt it after Laz said that, as though his voice could easily influence her emotions and she had to hold back a tear.
Laz didn’t press anymore and instead sat back, once again looking out the window until they pulled into a parking lot with a hidden door that lead into an underground lot.
Getting out of the car, Rick opened the door for Amira while Deanna grabbed the door for Laz.
While Laz couldn’t see the scale or scope of the building from inside the lot, he couldn’t help but feel that it was a massive building. Sending his spiritual sense forward, Laz noticed that there were several runes that would have blocked anyone else’s vision, but he was able to skirt them after a little effort.
"Hmm... Celes work is getting even more and more impressive," Laz said out loud but mostly to himself. Still though, Rick and Deanna heard his comment and were a bit startled.
"You can recognize Miss Celes work?" Deanna asked, clearly taken aback.
"Yeah. She’s using some concepts I showed her way back when... Well... I can’t really say I showed her. I just used them and she picked them up for herself and expanded on it big time. Ha... She was able to use this series to cover an entire building but all I did was use it to make a shirt indestructible. Go figure. Seems like she put the runes themselves into a formation... like a cover? But it seems more like a weaved fabric... ah... damn. I see... That clever little black cat. Honestly, even if I know more... the way she thinks up using it astounds even me..." Laz just rambled on while eyeing her work.
Deanna and Rick were basically floored and could barely stand. All Hearn headquarters had what they called rune workers, those who could inscribe and use runes. After reaching a certain level, they could be considered masters, but to do that, they had to travel and get approved by those at the level of grandmaster. And for the ones at the grandmaster level, the only way to get there was to be approved of by Miss Celes. She had basically developed and written up the entire course set and program with which every branched used to train those who could use runes.
As for their Las Vegas branch, Celes had done some work personally on the building while holding a training session which included their grandmaster and a couple others who had touched upon that level from other states. One of their sources of pride was having a building which she had worked on herself and it was considered one of the top strongholds on this side of the country for just this reason.
While they had received orders of this man coming to town for a bit and needing supplies and support, they weren’t given specifics about him. Even though Laz’s deeds were wide spread, there were others who’s names had also been discussed at length. Laz’s might have been more flashy, but his were usually somewhat far apart in number. And those that didn’t make the internet or the news weren’t known at all as the girls didn’t spread them.
So as they listened to Laz speak so casually about Celes’ work and even say he understood it and taught her, they were shocked and offended at first, but more surprised when they heard what he had to say. Afterall, as the boss of this headquarters and a peak foundation level realm expert herself, Deanna had been present when Celes was working with the grandmasters. She had heard the way Celes had described what she was doing, her motivation for doing so and even how she was arranging the protection and she had shared this with Rick as well. What really shocked them was the weaved fabric comment Laz had made as that had been exactly what she had called it herself.
"So the protection on this building is impressive?" Amira asked, having no clue about anything Laz was saying or who Celes was.
"Yeah. It could take the full strike from a cruise missile and just channel the damage into the ground, not being damaged in the least," Laz said, thinking it over.
"Why would they fire a cruise missile in a crowded city?" Amira questioned.
"If they had no choice, of course they would do it. These people, the ones in charge and their chosen masters? They don’t give a damn about peoples lives. Something you should keep in mind."
"Right right. And the way you were talking about the woman who made this... I’m assuming the name Celes it a woman’s name, it sounds like you’re close?" Amira then asked, not noticing the looks she was getting from Rick and Deanna.
"Mmm.. she’s one of my lovers," Laz said without bothering to hide it.
"Oh right... you did mention you have several."
"Yep. That I did."
"BULLSHIT!" Deanna said, losing her cool before even Rick could. She had been in awe of Cele’s ability and her calm and cool persona. And after hearing how the rune grandmasters were talking about her, she kind of became a fangirl. Therefore, hearing Laz just claim he was her lover was enough to send her over the edge until he added on the fact that she was just one of his lovers. That made her lose it completely.
"Oh? And why is that?" Laz said, not angry but slightly amused by Deanna’s reaction.
"Because she is like a saint to many of us here and those who have observered her work. Sure... most employee’s are either smitten with Lady Kennedy or consumed with the detached yet enticing nature of Lady Malene. And then there are those who hardcore lust after Lady Ruby or are intoxicated by the figure of Lady Leona. Then there are some who have these wild dreams about the sacred sisters or the gentle yet free nature of Miss Nora. Everyone is a fan of Miss Lyssa of course... but she is just so out there that..." Deanna realized she had been going on and on about the heads of the board and decided it was best to keep the rest of her thoughts to herself.
Besides which, even Laz was staring at her dumbfounded.
’Detached yet enticing Malene? dreaming of the sacred sisters? Sure, I agree with lusting after Ruby since she just gives off these vibes that could make a monk horny... and people focus on Leona’s figure? Wait... did she say the gentle yet free nature of Miss Nora? Like... the one who enjoyed being a hardcore sub in the bedroom? Then again, several of the girls enjoyed that kind of play but still....’
Seeing Laz look at her like that and even watching Rick turn a little red in embarrassment, she wrongly came to the conclusion that she was going off over nothing and suddenly felt that she had gone overboard about Laz making a joke. At least that would explain his and Rick’s reaction.
"Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t... I just... Umm..."
"I think what’s she’s trying to say is she’s sorry she went so overboard over a joke. Ha ha. Which man wouldn’t love to be able to be with the goddess of his dreams, right? Still though. Best not to make a joke like that here. This branch is especially partial to Miss Celes and will probably take offense to hearing something like that, alright?" Rick said, ’kindly’ advising Laz against saying stuff like that in the future.
Rick then moved the embarrassed Deanna by the shoulders and invited Laz and Amira to join him on a just arrived elevator.
"Ha. Your lover seems to be their idol? Guess you like to set your sights pretty big there," Amira laughed and boarded the elevator.
"But... I’m not joking?" Laz said quietly and got on as well.
