Mythran's Master Of All

“Why would you get me a woman for my birthday?” Ren asked.

Elise laughed and the blonde woman blushed.

“This isn't funny.” Stella said.

“It is, since it's a huge misunderstanding.” Elise said. “Ren, look at the folder underneath the portfolio.”

Ren put the portfolio aside and underneath it was a folder. Inside the folder was a job application with a resume attached, a photo, and references.

“What is this?” Ren asked and flipped through the papers without really reading them. “A publicist?” He asked and looked at Elise. “What do I need a publicist for?”

“To manage your public persona, your appointments, guest appearances, social media accounts, public inquiries, and everything else that needs to be handled.”

“But... I don't have any of that.” Ren said, and then thought about the job description. “Hold on, that sounds more like a personal assistant than a publicist.” He said, and looked at the woman. “I recognize you now! You're Barbi, with an 'i' and no 'e', that I met at the television station.”

“Yes, that's me.” Barbi said and stepped forward and held a hand out. Ren put her resume down and took her hand, gave it a perfunctory shake and let go. Her face twitched as if she had expected him to do something else, and then she put the smile back on her face.

“I'm sorry for the misunderstanding.” Ren said. “I'm in a bit of a bad mood because someone I care about is ignoring me on my birthday.”

Elise looked around, and sighed. “Gloria.” She said. “I thought she was just late.”

“We can't get a hold of her.” Stella said.

“I've got one thing I can try.” Ren said and looked at Denise. “Can you take me back to my room, please?”

“Sure, Ren.” Denise said and took control of the wheelchair.

“I'll be back in a few minutes.” Ren said and Denise took him out of the room and to the elevator.

“What are you going to do?”

“I'm going to see if she's in the game.” Ren said. “If she is, I'm going to find her and ask her why she's doing this to me.”

“Ren, don't be too confrontational.”

“Oh, I won't be.” Ren said. “I'm just going to see what's going on, then maybe drag her out of there.”

Denise shook her head. “You can't force people to do things like that.”

“I'm not going to force her to do anything.” Ren said. “I won't even ask for a response.” He said and got on the bed. “All I'll do is tell her that I'm taking time away from the rest of you to find her, when she should have been here in the first place.”

Denise handed him the VR headset, and he laid back on the bed. “Good luck, and I hope it doesn't backfire on you.”

“It doesn't matter.” Ren said and put the headset on. “Either way, she'll know she's in the wrong.”

“Flow Login Start!”

********

Ren woke up on the bed and saw the maids were asleep. He activated Sneak and stood up, then donned his cloak and walked over to the bedroom door. Teepo landed on his shoulder and Ren left the apartment as he took out the All-Seeing Mirror.

“Show me Elerlyth.” Ren said, and saw Elerlyth. She wasn't wearing the armor he had given her, and she was covered in bruises. She was also surrounded by fighters who also didn't have armor on, and had far less bruising on their bodies. One of the men stepped forward and started to fight with her, and Ren gained the Angered Condition. His personal Aura was Augmented with Fear automatically.

“Zoom out and show me where she is.” Ren said as a frown spread across his face.

The All-Seeing Mirror zoomed out to show him that she was in a courtyard in front of a stylish house in the middle of a large clearing, and it zoomed way back to show where she was on the map. He walked down the stairs and went outside, then knocked on Princess' house.

“Please accept my apologies for waking you, but I need you to take me somewhere.” Ren said, and Princess came out through the door. “Elerlyth is in trouble, and I'm going to see why she's there and not dealing with Adventurer's business.”

“Say no more, My Lord.” Princess said and he showed her the map. “I am always at your service.”

“Thank you.” Ren said and climbed up onto the saddle. “I'm sorry I didn't think of looking for her before I left.”

“No matter.” Princess said and trotted up into the air. “We will be there momentarily.”

They ran across the sky and came to a stop just above the stylish house, which was now well within his large Aura, and Ren stepped off of Princess and dropped down into the courtyard. Most of the fighters had felt him and backed off while they dragged their fellows with them, and Ren landed on the ground with a loud thud. He hadn't eased the landing at all with his Permanent Air Walk spell, and left a small crater when he stepped towards the fight.

A man that sat off to the side started to speak. “Who would dare to intrude...”

“QUIET!” Ren commanded as his Command Aura snapped into place. He walked over to the fight and used one hand to grab the man fighting Elerlyth, and casually tossed him across the courtyard to smash into the other fighters.

“Ren! What are you doing?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing.” Ren said, a little angrily. “What the hell is going on?”

“I'm busy.” Elerlyth said.

“I can see that.” Ren said and looked around. “Why are you busy like this?”

“It's my fault.” Hailey said, and Ren looked over at the stylish house. Three chairs were there, and a burly muscular man sat in the middle chair, the woman who spoke sat next to him, and the other chair was empty.

“Explain.” Ren said and crossed his arms.

“I was caught in a...” She looked at the man beside her, then back at Ren. “...sticky situation, and called Elerlyth for help.” She said. “She came to my rescue and tried to fight her way in...”

“...and I lost.” Elerlyth said, and Ren looked at her. “He killed me right after I had set my spawn point for here, and when I came back and tried to get my dropped armor...”

“They captured you instead.” Ren shook his head. “How could you be so stupid?”

“Ren...”

“No.” Ren said and looked at the burly man. “Identify Person.”