<h4>Chapter 8: Prince and Barbarian</h4>


    A nice-looking young man made his way down a forest path while admiring the tranquil scenery and trees. He was wearing the basic yer outfit, consisting of a white shirt, leather pants, and shoes.


    He held a wooden sword in his right hand.


    His hair was nice and blond-colored and was attractive enough to make women''s hearts flutter.


    He moved a branch out of the way and appeared in an open clearing. There was a river zigzagging across the forest with a powerful-looking current. Luckily, there were several rocks peeking from below the surface.


    The young man immediately thought about using those rocks to cross the river.


    At that moment, a sharp crack sounded behind him, as if someone had stepped on top of a twig and ended up cracking it.


    The young man didn''t hesitate and jumped away from his previous position.


    Just like he expected, a brutish-looking man leaped out of the forest, swinging a wooden axe. His swing was incredibly powerful, but luckily for the young man, it missed.


    "Barbarian, why is it always you..." The young man looked exhausted already. "How the hell did you find me?"


    "Haha, of course I would know where my rival is hiding!" Barbarian roared inughter and rested the wooden axe against his broad shoulder. "Well, Prince of Saturn, I am d we can end this rivalry once and for all in this new game!"


    "It''s actually Prince now. Martial Online doesn''t allow blending more than one name." Prince said andbed his hair with his hand. "Also, a wooden axe, seriously? You chose Unique just to continue your obsession with Barbarian ss?"


    "Haha, of course. It is my identity, after all!" Barbarian shouted loudly.


    "How creative..." Prince sighed. "So, you want to fight now?"


    "Of course!" Barbarian grabbed the wooden axe with both hands. "I didn''t chase you just to chitchat!"


    "Fine by me." Prince cracked his neck. "I needed to warm up as well. This game is far more realistic than anything else before; need time to get used to it.


    "Also, where did you get that wooden axe? The Unique yers I have met had to fight mostly without weapons as they didn''t get any starting weapons."


    "I carved it from wood, obviously!" Barbarian shouted. "I am fond of woodworking and already have experience in it. Therefore, making this wooden axe was easy!"


    "I don''t understand why it''s always the idiots that have the most useful skills." Prince scoffed and spun the wooden sword nimbly. It looked like he had previous experience in swordsmanship.


    Barbarian grinned. "Basic sh!"


    Prince narrowed his eyes after seeing Barbarian''s mouth move, but not a single word reached his ears.


    ''He used a skill.'' He immediately thought so, as other yers weren''t able to hear the spoken skill name. It was the game developers way of ensuring that one wouldn''t be able to predict the attack after hearing the skill name.


    However, once Barbarian lifted the wooden axe over his head, Prince knew what attack wasing.


    ''Basic sh.'' He thought so, and after the axe began falling down, he jumped in the opposite direction from the diagonal sh.


    Because there weren''t many skills yers could acquire so early, it was easy to know what kind of skill his opponent was using.


    That was only because Prince had also acquired Basic sh, so he knew the required movement for the skill.


    "Aha." Barbarian simplyughed as his wooden axe hit the empty air. He nced with his peripheral vision at Prince, who had taken a step back and was now holding his sword in front of him.


    "This fight is quite pointless, don''t you think? We will just continue predicting our attacks; it won''t help either of us. What if we dy this fight for a little longer?" Prince suggested.


    "Heh." Barbarian pulled his wooden axe back. "Your words resonated with my warrior spirit. I agree with you, but next time I meet you, one of us will die."


    "Whatever." Prince turned to the river and used the floating rocks to cross it. He then turned back to Barbarian and made a shooing motion. "I am certain that your brainlessckeys are searching for you. Go make a dojo of Barbarians or something."


    "Heh, and yourckeys are better than mine?" Barbarian roared inughter. "Remember, your guild was the weakest of the Seven War Guilds. That''s because you only recruited cute girls, and most of them didn''t even know how to wield a weapon!"


    "Heh, it will be different this time." Prince grinned and rested his wooden sword against his shoulder. "Saturn will rise again."


    "Hmph." Barbarian scoffed and turned around, then began walking back to the forest. Hezily waved his hand without turning to look at Prince. "See youter, Prince."


    "Why did that bastard also get summoned to Amaterasu?" Prince sighed and massaged his temples. "Amaterasu will be quite a chaotic ce."


    ...


    "I still have 4 HP." Ambrose thought while he strolled through the streets of Amaterasu. ''I had to be very careful when I fought those two, because if they had hit me even once, I would have died. How can I make my HP full again?''


    Soon, he came across a stall vendor. A scent of delicious food drifted from there and caressed Ambrose''s nostrils.


    ''It smells great...'' He thought and joined the line for the street vendor. He also wondered how much the food would cost. The price of the weapons had already slightly traumatized him.


    Luckily for him, a steaming bun had a price of 1 silver. It would lessen his current wealth by half, but he wanted to test its taste.


    After purchasing the steaming bun that was wrapped to make eating easier, he left the line and found a bench in a nearby park. He blew into the steaming bun, which was still hot.


    ''I wonder if I burn my tongue if I bite on it...'' Ambrose thought and decided to check his theory. He opened his mouth wide and took arge bite.


    After munching on the food, Ambrose''s expression widened in amazement. He felt a strange, pleasant sensation on his tongue. Also, he tasted something delicious that was unfamiliar.


    ''I can actually taste food!'' Ambrose eximed in excitement. ''This game is spectacr. How did they manage to do that? It sounds soplex...''


    At that moment, he realized why this game was hyped up so much. It was a masterpiece, making all other games pale inparison.


    Ambrose then grasped at reality. He already felt like he would rather live inside the game than in real life, which was a dangerous thought.


    He couldn''t stay in the game forever. His real body would still get hungry, and he would also have to sleep to keep his mind fresh. There was also a problem with his dder.


    He would rather not log out of the game to find his bed wet.


    At that moment, a notification popped up.


    [10 HP Restored]


    [HP: 14/30]


    ''I see, food can recover HP.'' Ambrose thought. ''So, I definitely need to buy food whenever I leave the city. There must also be other healing items, but for now, I have to focus on food since it''s the cheapest.


    ''Unfortunately, I can only afford one more steaming bun. It would increase my HP by another 10, not enough to get my health bar full, but it''s good enough...''


    Ambrose decided to go purchase another steaming bun.


    And just like that, his wealth returned to zero.