Unknown City… .

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"I see," someone said . "So, he's progressing . And you expect me to wait for his power signature?"

Mortem shrugged at the figure .

"Rules are rules, I don't make them . And no matter how powerful you are, it's meaningless if you don't impress those who watch . "

The figure swallowed his twelfth beer then smacked the mug on the table .

"Hey pretty lady," he said to the waitress . "One more . Make it extrlarge . " He winked at her . She sighed, cheeks red, then hurried to comply to the man's order . "I need you to stop beating around the bush on me, fairy-boy . Why do I have to spend so much time in this G.o.ddess-forsaken dimension? Point out his location, I'll kill him quickly then we'll be done with it . Done with this pointless game . "

Mortem shook his head .

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"Don't argue with the messenger, drunk . It's the stone-viper game . And you are the Viper . Start acting like it! h.e.l.l, you can kill any and everything in this city and no one could stop you . "

The waitress came back with the man's mug . He patted her a.s.s with a drunken tip of one hundred dollars . Seeing the money, the woman simply smiled then left him to his beer .

"The only thing good about this world is its drink . "

He gave Mortem a smug, drunken, goofy grin that always annoyed him, then chugged the entire drink . His whispered to the ent.i.ty, "if I wanted to, I can play my cards right and have her in my bed by noon . " He chuckled at Morten's blank stare . "You seriously need to get laid, Mortem . "

The ent.i.ty's eyes widened, unable to react to how the esper-human treated him . Regardless of being a resident of THAT world, he was still inferior . Yet…Mortem just couldn't hate the guy . He wanted to rip his insides to shreds but agreed that a nice drink to drown away the world's problems couldn't go wrong .

"It's about time I get to moving," the Viper said, rising to his feet . He stumbled over three pretty serving girls, flipping skirts quickly enough for them not to notice .

He allowed himself a brief glimpse of his stats page .

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Name: Aunder .

Level: ???

Type: Antagonist/ Viper . Esper .

HP: ???%

MP: Infinite .

Spirit Sign: Legendary soul .

He pushed away the prompt, already bored . Why couldn't he have powers based on beer? Beer made the world go 'round . It was a man's best friend .

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"What are you up, drunk?" Mortem said . "I need something to report before I go . "

"I guess to go kill some guys," Aunder said .

"Really? Can I really tell them the games have begun?"

"I'm just f.u.c.king with you shorty—I'm going to get laid . "

"Oh come on!" Mortem said . "You're the most feared man on your homeworld . The Soul Taker, they call you . And now given the chance to kill at will, you don't?"

"You misunderstand the killings of my home world," Aunder said . "Typical ignorance of an outsider . I'm from a warrior race . A warrior race of Espers on a planet of horrors . Coming here is a tiny vacation . Yet…" He glared at Mortem intensely as if seeing right through him . A look that made the ent.i.ty freeze . "Do not test me, bat boy . Unlike you, I will be no one's puppet . " He turned to walk the streets, black cloak fluttering in the wind . "Refusing to give direction—very well . It's time I went on a journey . Every clue I sense, I'll follow . And those three others, I'll kill them too and their guides . "

Mortem's eyes widened .

"You're unbelievable—you arrogant . " He paused . "Clyde, if you sense this one too early, I can only hope you're smart enough to run . You'll need to become more than just the Stone . You'll need to become equals in the eyes of the Soul Taker . "

This has been volume one of The Stone vs . The Viper . The episodes will remain in order .

The next story arc is underway . Part one of episode 11 was just a taste of it .

Clyde's story, his character development, his background, his fears and dislikes—you'll learn them . Same applies to the friends he attracted… .

Fate is a mysterious string .

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