Fieldtrip!

Sat behind her desk, Victoria Wentworth looked at him with one raised eyebrow. Her eyes were on the mess of dirt and grass caked within his hair.

“Well, this simply won’t do. While I recognize that you were just inside a Barrier, I simply cannot permit my student to present himself in such a way. I will allow you a few minutes to bathe and provide you with a change of clothes. Where we will soon be going, you will need a more formal attire.” She then waved her hand, and a door appeared next to John. “We will speak once you are finished.”

The Gamer did as he was instructed and went through the doorway. Inside was a simple shower fully enclosed in the corner with a sliding door. And then on the side was an open closet. John looked inside, where he found boxers, a pair of dress shoes, pants, and a black suit with a white undershirt. On a smaller shelf to the side sat a small, red bottle of cologne. He grimaced as it reminded him of the last time he had sprayed himself with perfume.

He checked the shoes and shirt, they were his size. Rarely had he ever worn a suit or anything of the sort, but he wouldn't have been surprised if Wentworth already had it perfectly fitted to him. He went ahead and tossed the full outfit into his Inventory, just because he could. On the outside of the shower, a towel hung from the handle. John unequipped his clothes as he entered. Inside, It had an unlabeled bottle and a bar of soap.

’Where could we be going for her to need me to change into something so nice?’ he asked himself as he started the shower.

He didn't want to keep Wentworth waiting, so he quickly focused on getting as much mud and gunk out of his hair as possible. The parts of his body that were covered in armor before were mostly just sweaty rather than anything else. In a few minutes, the water that flowed through his hair was no longer brown. With that done, he could give the rest of himself a swift wash and then finish and dry himself off.

It didn't take him long to get fully dry. The Gamer went to the closet to apply the cologne left for him before he then equipped the formal outfit. John sprayed a bit of the cologne on his wrist first before he gave it a sniff. The only smell he would describe it as would be… woody? With what seemed like a background scent of lavender. He shrugged, maybe that's what was in fashion amongst Abyssals. John exited the pocket room, and stood before Miss Wentworth once more.

She looked at him up and down, and gave a nod of approval.

"Better, much better. The man you are about to join me in meeting has already been made aware of both your status as my apprentice and your unique abilities. As such, I expect you to be on your best behavior and present yourself in a decent manner." Wentworth stood from her desk, and brushed her hand against a small pile of books.

"I have put together the results of this morning's test along with the previous demonstrations of your demonic powers. Based on what I have concluded from them, I believe you are capable of being the instrument of a plan that has been some time in the making. But before I can tell you, there is still one final test that needs to be done. Which brings us to why I have called you here.” She waved her hand and muttered under her breath. Before them, a part of the floor of her office levitated into the air. Underneath it was a hidden stairway.

John was immediately hit by a breeze. Musty, old air that had been trapped down there for who knows how long. His nose wrinkled as his first reaction. However, past that he felt something else. His heart rate suddenly spiked as he unconsciously clenched his fists. The Gamer became more aware of everything around him. The bits of dust in the air, ticks of small machines somewhere in the office, even the perfume Wentworth wore. Each of his senses felt heightened as something flickered inside of his chest.

But just as quickly as it had come, it all left. His heart rate slowly returned to normal, and he allowed himself to relax. From his side, his teacher closely watched him. But just as John was about to ask himself what had just happened, his train of thought was interrupted.

“Come with me,” she instructed. “I will explain the rest as we walk.” With Miss Wentworth in front, the two of them began to make their way down. The stairway had no lighting, except what little light came in from the office above. But beyond that much, it seemed like an endless stretch of darkness. One where he had to watch every step less he tripped right into Wentworth.

"We are about to enter a part of Hell. Specifically, the office of a demon by the name of Muhatl. Tell me, Mr. Newman, do you know which category is considered the middle of the demonic hierarchy?" she asked. He thought back to the explanation Blair had given him a couple of days ago.

"Err. They're called Generals, right?"

"Correct, Mr. Newman. Normally, it is a ranking that is of little significance. Above the riff-raff, but still below the figures of real importance. However, Muhtal is a unique case that is fully capable of rising up, but chooses to remain at his current station. Because across the centuries, he has set up the means to influence as much as he can while still drawing the minimum amount of attention. He will present himself humbly and act like someone who simply wishes to meet his quotas and nothing more. But behind that persona is a dangerously cunning individual. However, he is equally useful as both an ally and a resource, one whose loyalty can be bought
And will only be betrayed if someone else offers something higher," she explained to him.

"The reason we are going to shortly meet with him is that I require his sharp senses. Even amongst his kind, he has quite the ability to detect demons while they are disguised or possessing another creature. As you are now, I wish to see if he is able to detect the demonic energy within you. He'll have the advantage of already knowing it is there, but it shall be seen if that is enough to sense it past the suppressants."

As Wentworth took a moment to pause, the Gamer's mind went to what Observe had said about Ganzac. John then decided that it would likely be for the best if he took this opportunity to inform Miss Wentworth.

"Miss Wentworth?" he started. They were still in the darkness and hadn't stopped moving, but he felt her gaze turn back to him. "I actually met a demon named Ganzac a couple of days ago. When I looked at my relationship status with him, it said that he didn't trust me. But the way it was worded, it sounded like the reason why was that he could almost sense the demonic energy in me but couldn't actually tell what it was. Almost like it was some kind of 6th sense or just something in his subconscious."

"I see, that is interesting. I believe your powers allow you to quantify an individual's strength as a number? Where does this 'Ganzac' fall relative to others?" Wentworth asked him.

"Well, he's level 32. As for a comparison… I'm currently level 8, and Moira was level 17 when I looked at her's before. Ummm, and I guess this might actually work better because we're talking about demons. The one I first fought was level 3, and I think the one you had me absorb was level 4," John explained.

"Hmmm." Wentworth didn't immediately respond to what he had told her. They continued to walk in silence for what felt like a few minutes before she finally did.

"That is quite fascinating, I must admit. And when you used your ability on me, it failed to reveal my own 'level'. Based on how Moiria Brighton would compare to Ganzac and yourself, that tells me that Lord Brighton would perhaps have a level somewhere within the 30s or 40s. If that is indeed the case, then it already gives me a reason to believe I will indeed have to give you a more potent suppressant. But we shall save the rest for after the meeting. We are about to reach the portal."

As she finished her sentence, John saw light ahead of them. It was a dull, red glow, barely bright enough to illuminate its surroundings. It was only as they got closer that its source came into view. As Wentworth had just said, it was a portal. However, unlike the kind of portals John would think of from video games, it was rather… simple. There was no swirling of smoke or really anything remarkable about it. It simply looked like an open doorway. One where the red glow did not seem to actually come from it, but instead the room on the other side.

"This is a portal to Hell? Are they all so…" John struggled to find a polite word for it.

"Plain?" she asked. John nodded in agreement. "The entryways between the Earth's Abyss and Hell can vary wildly in both appearance and stability. As for this entrance, its simplicity is an inherent result of its functionality. I personally ensured that it'd be near impossible for the Order to find even if they stood right above it. Do you have any other questions before we proceed, Mr. Newman?" Wentworth asked him. He just shook his head.

"Good. Then as we enter, keep in mind everything I have told you up to this point."

The two of them stepped through the portal and to the other side. John only felt the lightest sensation on his skin as he did. So faint, he couldn't be fully sure if it was the portal or just goosebumps.

They were in an office. Across the room from them stood an oak desk, but as of right now, nobody sat in the chair behind it. On their side, however, there weren't any seats. Behind it, was a closed door. When he looked up, there was no obvious source for the light. It was just evenly spread out across the room and didn't seem to come from any direction. It was still red, but considerably brighter on this side.

The flooring was a grey carpet that had seen its fair share of wear and tear. The walls were tan and glossy. Overall the office didn't seem very large. If John had to guess, it would be barely big enough to comfortably fit a dozen people at once.

On the wall to their left were rows of shelves that covered every inch of space from the floor to the ceiling. Each one filled with binders labeled and neatly organized by letters and numbers. John stared at them.

They started from the bottom left corner with A-1, and seemed to just keep going indefinitely. He read all the way to A-108 before he needed to blink. John took a step back. When he didn't focus on them, all the shelving looked like they could only hold maybe a hundred in total. But when he had looked closely, he had still been on the bottom shelf before he stopped.

’Probably some spacial fuckery using magic,’ he thought to himself. Aside from those shelves, however, there wasn't anything that seemed special about the rest of the room. To the wall on their right side were just a water cooler and a stack of paper cups. Finally, on the right wall as well, was a clock.

"It seems that he is late," Wentworth said, her lips pursed from clear annoyance. John didn't say anything in response, in case she then turned her annoyance on him. After another few minutes of awkward silence, the door finally opened, and a man stepped through.

He looked at them with an apologetic smile as he closed the door behind himself, though John couldn't see his eyes behind the red-tinted shades he wore. Evidently, this was Muhtal.

"A thousand apologies for the wait, my last client just couldn't make up their mind on an offer. But I know you don't want to waste even more time by listening to excuses. So…" Muhtal snapped his fingers, and before them appeared a pair of chairs identical in appearance to the demon's.

"Shall we begin?"