《Nightmare Online》


 1. The end marks the beginning (1)

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    [3.]


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    [2.]


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 2. The end marks the beginning (2)

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    back to RO. Besides, I never wanted to be king.


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    shook her head. ¡°There is no returning to that world as it has ceased to exist.¡±


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    sorry about your world, but I have to leave now¡± She said as she turned around to walk away.


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    grateful


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    now follow you into Nightmare Online]


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    needed to find out how it worked and how to use it. There are 2 more traits that are currently locked.


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    worry about those when the time comes¡¯


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    PvP oriented and I had no intention of being a pushover. I could always pick a tank class and make myself hard to kill. But I have always been more interested in being DPS. I scrolled back and forth between the character¡¯s description and sub-classes. I glanced at the assassin class only available to the Krux race.


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    high mastery ceiling. Many players that failed to master them had to make new characters altogether. I also knew that my brother who loved to PvP had chosen to be an assassin and I didn¡¯t want to compare my assassin to his. I don¡¯t like playing classes that are very popular either.


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    warlocks. Being able to apply a large number of de-buffs, curses and crowd control abilities. They could also steal the [HP] of their enemies to heal themselves.


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    picked.¡¯


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    modified a few things like eye and hair color then clicked [Done]


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    created character. I placed my hand on the glass of the tube. Looking out at my surroundings, I saw men in white coats walking around. My vision was still too blurry to distinguish their faces. There were a large number of large test tubes as far as my eyes could see. They all had other submerged bodies floating inside of them.


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    to the starting zone! Good luck!]


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    this was also the name of one of the starting towns in RO.


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    your stats...]


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    in the MARE''s status window was now  there. I kept glaring at my status window.


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    threw them in my inventory. I currently only had 1 bag and it had a total of 20 inventory slots. Each bag had 10 fewer inventory slots than RO. But almost like making up for that difference, while you could hold up to 8 bags in Mare. In RO the total number of bags you could carry was a mere 4 bags.


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    at my body. My demon had was my right arm. I''m guessing your dominant arm would  end up being the demon arm.


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    into MARE. I didn¡¯t have the will to go through a tutorial right now, not to mention I never liked wasting my time on them.


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    dissipated as I saw a small group of players walk off with the old man to start the tutorial.


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    of that before? I quickly got up and sat down at my computer, I turned it on and searched for the MARE forums... It was the first result. I went in and looked for any sales. I stumbled upon the MARE¡¯s market sub-forum and started browsing through it.


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    prohibited. That¡¯s why I was only able to make $15,000 in those 2 years. I had to be secretive about my transactions. I  to message players outside of the game to avoid getting banned. , that wasn¡¯t the case for MARE. I searched the forum for a bit and found that there is a market where you can trade in-game currency and items for USD. The game company took a 1% tax from the transaction to make a profit.


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 3. The end marks the beginning (3)

    I found myself wandering around Anka as I looked at the item and weapon shops. I was trying to get myself familiarized with the area since I had a feeling I would be in this town for a while. I arrive at a tea cafe called ¡°Thirstea¡± a sign was posted directly outside the door that read ¡°We have boba!¡±


    ¡®I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯ve been to this place somewhere before¡¯


    This was the meeting place that my brother mentioned. I called Maico yesterday and told him I started playing MARE, I had more than a few questions to ask about the game. He insisted we meet in-game.


    As I walked through the door I heard the chime of a bell over my head announcing my arrival. A server standing at the front counter looked in my direction and greeted me with a smile.


    ¡°Please take a seat anywhere you¡¯d like!¡±


    ¡°Thank you...¡±


    I began to scan the inside of the cafe for any signs of life... Quite literally¡­ there weren¡¯t many people here. I was glad it was nearly empty, I didn¡¯t want random players eavesdropping on our conversation. I spotted a man sitting alone at a booth in a corner of the cafe. He was a human with brown hair and tan skin. As soon as he noticed me he smiled and waved with enthusiasm as I started to make my way towards him.


    ¡°Hey bro long time no see!¡±


    I already knew who he was but his demeanor made it that much more reassuring and it gave me a sense of nostalgia. I had not seen him for almost a year.


    ¡°Hey, Maico! What¡¯s up? How have you been?¡±


    Maico got up from his seat and gave me a warm hug.


    ¡°Haha, I¡¯ve been good I missed you man, how long has it been? 1 year?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s been almost a year.¡±


    ¡°haha, I see you picked the Krux race. Good choice! Did you need some tips on how to make a good build?¡±


    ¡°I had to pick Krux because it was the only way to pick the class I wanted. But that¡¯s not what I wanted to ask you about¡±


    ¡°Alright well let¡¯s sit down first I already ordered us some boba¡±


    Maico gestured me to take a seat as he sat down as well.


    I explained to him what happened after RO shut down. About my Unique traits, about my stats, my luck, the system messages, everything.


    ¡°¡­¡­.¡±


    He didn¡¯t say anything for a while as he seemed to be deep in thought.


    Almost a minute had gone by before he opened his mouth.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ that¡¯s interesting¡±


    ¡°Is that the only thing you have to say about it? I want to know if I can get in trouble if anyone finds out about my unique traits. Wouldn¡¯t others see it as some sort of cheat?¡±


    ¡°Hmm... I don¡¯t think so, getting a ¡°unique trait¡± is not something that¡¯s unheard of in this game. It¡¯s rare but it happens¡±


    ¡°So you mean other¡¯s have unique traits like me?¡±


    ¡°Not exactly ¡®like¡¯ you but there are definitely people out there with unique traits. Although I¡¯ve never heard of anyone getting a unique trait at the very beginning of the game and 2 of them for that matter, not to mention before even creating a character. Some developers must really like you or something.¡±


    ¡°I doubt anyone likes me that much, but that does lift a weight off my shoulders... thanks¡±


    I felt a bit more relieved knowing that I didn¡¯t have to worry about my traits somehow getting me banned or attracting too much-unwanted attention. Although I wasn¡¯t going to flaunt them around anyways. I still plan to be cautious and I don¡¯t intend to paint a target on my back


    ¡°No problem! I¡¯m sorry I can¡¯t tell you much regarding your [Unique Traits] but I wouldn¡¯t worry too much about them since they were given specifically to you by the system I think you were meant to have them. But If you have anything else you need help with don¡¯t hesitate to ask.¡±


    ¡°I do need help with learning the basics of the game and I want to avoid the tutorial.¡±


    Maico flashed me a big grin before he started his speech.


    ¡°Of course! What are big brothers for huh? To start off, this town ¡®Anka¡¯ is in a region called Initium, there are multiple regions and they are all categorized as low-tier, mid-tier, and high-tier. Initium is the lowest of the Low-Tier it is the very beginning after all. You will reach the Mid-Tiers around level 40. But you have to be very careful because once you leave the low-tier regions PK is permitted anywhere and there are no safe zones. The High-Tier areas are more just for end game content which you should reach around level 70. High-Tier areas aren¡¯t very populated due to there not being sufficient players past level 60, the game really slows down once you reach the 60s range. One thing I really need to warn you about is the Blood Moon Events, There are also a lot of normal Eclipse events but Blood Moons are really bad omens. Stay in town until the Blood Moon Events are over because if you don¡¯t¡­¡­¡±


    We continued to talk for about another 3 hours, He told me about the eclipses, blood moons, the best way to level up, guilds and players to watch out for, my class¡¯s strengths and weakness as well as some good build paths. What items, weapons, and sets can be useful for me and how to use them. He taught me about dismantling, crafting, enchanting, reinforcing, enhancing, mounts, PVP/PK and many more things, we even caught up with each other on what we missed over the last year.


    We both stood up from our seats and left the empty tea cups we finished 2 hours ago on the table and gave each other another hug.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°It was really good to see you again little bro, and if you ever need anything don¡¯t hesitate to give me a call.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing¡±


    Just as we were saying our goodbyes and we were about to go our separate ways he turned around.


    ¡°Oh by the way here, take this¡±


    He handed me a ticket.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡±


    The ticket read ¡®[Name change ticket]¡¯


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you come up with that name when you were like 12 years old? Don¡¯t you want to change it?¡±


    My brothers knew that I was only 12 when I created my first character in RO and they knew the story behind my IGN. ¡®Ghost¡¯ was the name of my Cat, and ¡®DKing¡¯ was because I was a big fan of a certain pirate show. I just thought of the things that I liked and put them together, ¡®GhostDKing!¡¯


    ¡°Nah, I like my name I¡¯ve had it for 8 years and I plan to keep it but thanks anyway.¡±


    I handed him back the ticket


    ¡°Alright man, you do you¡±


    ¡°I will¡±


    ¡°Take care bro!¡±


    ¡°You too!¡±


    My brother waived at me as he walked away and we both said our goodbyes. I pulled out my friend list just to make sure I did indeed add him.


    Friends [1/1]


    Ca1tSith  [Online]


    ¡°He changed his name¡±


    Everyone knew him as xMaico on my server, but on the [Hephastos] server where he ruled as king, Ca1tSith was his name.


    I left the cafe and stood outside as I checked the beginner¡¯s equipment my brother gifted me. I equipped the short sword and cloth armor and I started to head out of town towards the fields of Initium.


    But before I embarked on my new adventure in the world of Mare there was something my brother recommended. I reached Anka¡¯s gate and I looked around the area, there were 2 guards guarding the gates.


    ¡°Excuse me¡± I approached the guards


    ¡°I¡¯m looking for a man named Jean, do you know where he is?¡±


    The guards both looked at each other for a second before looking back at me.


    ¡°You mean that drunk over there?¡±


    The guard pointed at a man sitting down with his back against the town¡¯s wall. He seemed to be asleep with a bottle in his hand. There was no mistaking it, the man matched the description Maico gave me perfectly. In RO online there was an NPC that would give out quests to slay X number of monsters. There was also no limit to how many times you could accept his quests. Jean served the same purpose in MARE.


    ¡°Hello, sir¡±


    There was no reply


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    ¡®Is he even awake?¡¯


    I got a little bit closer


    ¡°Zzzz...Zzzz¡±


    ¡®.....I guess not¡¯


    ¡°WAKE UP!¡±


    I raised my voice as well as give him a small nudge with my foot.


    ¡°Wha¡­. What do you want?¡± He looked up at with me with squinting eyes.


    ¡°I want to kill monsters¡±


    ¡°You want to kill monsters?¡±


    I didn¡¯t reply, I just continued to look straight at him. He put down his bottle and reached into his robe that looked like a yukata and pulled out a scroll.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see here¡±


    A window with a listing in alphabetical order appeared in front of me.


    -----------------------------


    12 Bats ??45 minutes


    10 Golems (small) ??30 minutes


    20 Golems (small)?? 60 minutes


    15 Gray wolves ??60 minutes


    10 Red wolves?? 60 minutes


    15 Red wolves?? 80 minutes


    12 Spiders ??50 minutes


    15 Spiders ??60 min¡­..


    -----------------------------


    ¡°You can choose any one these you like but you can only have one of these active at a time. There¡¯s also a time limit so make sure to finish the quest before the time runs out If you don¡¯t the quest will end and you won¡¯t gain anything.¡±


    When I clicked on the listings it showed me the rewards. Most of them were just around 200 [Lan] and 300 [Exp] as well as different reward items like potions and other consumables. Judging by the rewards and the time limits for each monster small golems seemed to be the easiest. I wanted to test out the waters first before I went out and accidentally got myself killed.


    I chose the 10 Golems quest.


    ¡°Pfft..¡±


    I could hear Jean make a mocking sound as soon as I chose my quest, but I ignored it.


    ¡°Thanks... I¡¯ll be leaving now¡±


    I turned around and started to walk away from him.


    ¡°Good Luck¡± I faintly heard him say as I got further away from Anka.


    --------------------------


    I looked at my HUD display which covered all the edges and corners of my view, at the very top was a [Golems [0/10]] quest indicator, on the right edge were all the menu shortcuts, at the bottom were my health and mana bars, just under those at the very bottom there was a very long and thin bar that indicated my [Exp]. It currently indicated 0% but it wouldn¡¯t stay like that for much longer. I looked at the bottom right of my HUD where my minimap was located. I was heading north as per the instructions from my brother. Anka was the southernmost point of Initium, further south there was nothing but barren land.


    I headed north towards the Moorlands where all the monsters were and also where I could find the path to the next town. I saw a few wolf packs from a distance and immediately avoided them knowing that if they spotted me there was no chance of me coming out of it alive. I came across a very large boulder surrounded by an innumerable amount of smaller ones.


    ¡°This must be the golems¡±


    I had played plenty of other MMOs where golems liked to disguise themselves as the terrain to the point where my instincts were screaming when I came across this scene. I picked up a small rock that was at my feet and threw it towards the golems. I wanted to see if I could aggro just a few of them. I wanted to avoid a situation where they could all swarm me at once. Or the worst possible scenario where the huge boulder in the center turns out to be a field boss.


    I kept creeping closer and closer throwing tiny rocks at them as I approached. I was around 25 meters away from the edge-most golem when I picked up another rock and threw it. A few of the small boulders started to rumble. The golems stood up and slowly started to walk towards me. I aggroed 6 of them, I quickly took out my sword.


    ¡°Why did my brother give me a sword instead of a cane or staff if I¡¯m a Dark Mage?¡± some may ask. But the answer is simple because I¡¯m still Level 1 I don¡¯t have any magic spells and it¡¯s much easier killing monsters when you hit them with a sword instead of a cane.


    Once the golems were within 20m of me a health bar appeared over their heads along with their name and levels. From what my brother told me this shouldn¡¯t be the case. He said that unlike RO were you could clearly see the monster¡¯s names, health bar, and levels in MARE they wouldn¡¯t be visible unless you used a skill like detect or a scan spell.


    Things began to make more sense [King¡¯s domain] was an area where RO¡¯s rules would apply. It¡¯s like I never left RO... NO! It was like I brought RO with me into MARE! A huge grin appeared on my face at the idea that RO wasn¡¯t truly dead. But at the moment I didn¡¯t have the time to indulge in my happiness I could see the golems were already a mere 3 meters away.


    I clenched my sword and started swinging down at them. The golems were about chest high and were mostly made of rocks and hardened mud with some moss growing on them.


    *Klunk.. klunk.. klunk.. klunk*


    It felt like I wasn¡¯t doing any damage to them as my sword bounced off their bodies. But the red numbers appearing over their heads and their clearly depleting health bars said otherwise. I focused on the golem closest to me as I kited backward. Their stubby arms were not long enough to match the length of my extended sword. I kept my distance as I continued to bash them with my sword


    *Klunk.. klunk.. klunk.. klunk*


    It took about 10 hits to take the first golem down


    [You have gained 25 [Exp]]


    [You have gained 16 [Lan]]


    [You have gained 10 [RP]]


    [You picked up a [Rock]]


    A few messages appeared on the left side of my HUD. I understood most of themexcept for one.


    ¡°What the fuck is RP?¡±

 4. The end marks the beginning (4)

    That was not something my brother mentioned and it wasn¡¯t in RO either. I didn¡¯t know what [RP] was but I had no time to think about it. I immediately focused on the next golem.


    *Klunk.. klunk.. klunk.. klunk*


    I couldn¡¯t afford to take too long taking them down, I began to aim for the cracks on their bodies. A yellow number appeared over the golem¡¯s head that was double the normal amount. I glanced over at the combat dialogue that appeared at the left of my HUD


    You have hit golem for 8 [Damage]


    You have hit golem for 8 [Damage]


    You have hit golem for 8 [Damage]


    *You have critically hit golem for 16 [Damage]


    ¡°It was a critical hit!¡±


    I began to aim for the golem¡¯s weak points and I received the same critical message over and over. What took me 10 hits now only took me 5 and I took down the 3rd golem.


    [You have leveled up!]


    A message appeared but I ignored it and continued to hit the rest of the golems.


    *You have critically hit golem for 16 [Damage]


    *You have critically hit golem for 16 [Damage]


    *You have critically hit golem for 16 [Damage]


    *Klunk.. klunk.. klunk.. klunk*


    I was now able to take each golem down in 4 hits. It only took 5 minutes to dispatch all 6 of the golems.


    I gathered all the loot and sat down on top of the rubble that was left by one of the golems.


    ¡°RP... RP... RP¡±


    I had a total of 102 [RP], I looked around my skill and status menu but I couldn¡¯t find anything I could spend the [RP] on.


    ¡°What is this for?¡±


    I glared at the RP points for a few seconds before scrolling through all the game¡¯s menus. That¡¯s when I came across a tab that my made eyes widen... [Ruler Online] was clearly written there and I immediately pressed on it. 2 additional tabs came up [Items] and [Skills]. I clicked on the [Items] tab and a list appeared. This was items list from RO and it contained almost every item that was in the game. I selected [swords] and another list appeared showing all the swords that were in RO. My heart was beating faster with excitement just from looking at the list. But my excitement turned in to discouragement as I looked towards the number next to one of the swords.


    [Bamboo Sword [200RP]]


    The bamboo sword was by far the weakest weapon in RO and it cost 200 [RP]. The [RP] only went up from there as I scrolled down the list, that was too much. The short sword I had with me now was stronger than the bamboo sword, there was no way I was going to pay for that! I reluctantly got out of the [Items] listing and clicked on the [Skills] tab. There I could see all the weapons skills, crafting skills, cooking skills and other skills that were available in RO. I looked at the skills listed and to my relief, they all showed the same number, 100 [RP].


    ¡°That¡¯s more within my budget¡±


    I was happy to know that I would at least be able to put the current 102 [RP] points I acquired to good use. The only question now was what skill should I get? I already knew there was crafting in MARE. Getting a skill that already existed in this game would be a waste of [RP]. In RO there were no classes only weapon mastery. Players could wield any weapon as long as they had the skill for it. But at this low level, I could already wield the weapons I needed.


    I kept scrolling and found a skill I knew I could use but didn¡¯t exist in MARE, [Capture skill]. This was a skill that could capture monsters and turn them into dolls after you killed them. The dolls could then be summoned as pets. Unfortunately, there were some downsides. You had to start with a level 1 raccoon which you could transform into stronger monsters and only 1 pet could be summoned at a time.


    You could also only carry 3 pets while all others had to be stored away in a warehouse. But unlike summoned monsters in MARE which had a time limit, pets could be summoned indefinitely. There were also a few rare dolls that could be summoned without requiring a raccoon doll but those would cost me tens of thousands of [RP]


    [Would you like to learn [Capture Skill]?]


    [Yes/No]


    There were no raccoons in this game and there was no way of knowing if the skill would even work.


    I clicked on yes.


    [You have learned [Capture Skill]]


    I looked at my skill menu which now had a separate tab for RO skills


    [Capture Skill][1/30][1/110]


    In RO you could level up your skills by 30 just by using books. The remaining 80 levels were from gaining skill experience. I just had to keep capturing monsters to level it up, although the lower the skill level the lower the capture success rate was.


    I went back to where the golems were and repeated the same process as before. I aggroed them and 4 came out this time.


    *Klunk... Klunk... Klunk... Klunk*


    [You have leveled up]


    I was at the brink of leveling up from the last 6 golems I killed so 1 more was enough to get me to level 3.


    I quickly finished off the remaining 3


    [You have leveled up]


    I leveled up once again from the Experience reward I obtain through the completion of Jean¡¯s quest.


    I picked up the loot from the golems which ended up being mostly rocks. I have no idea why I picked up the rocks they dropped as loot. Maybe it was because I wanted to throw their friend¡¯s bits and pieces back at them.


    I placed Jean¡¯s quest listing back in front of me which until now was pushed towards the edge of my HUD and I chose another quest, this time It was 20 golems.


    I threw more rocks at the golems as I was confident I could kill the golems without much effort. This time 10 of them came at me, I wanted to kill more golems because I still had no golem dolls from the last 4 I killed.


    I continued this routine for a while.


    [You have leveled up]


    [You have leveled up]


    I completed Jean¡¯s quest and I was currently level 6. I looked down at the loot with a smile on my face.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°Finally!¡±


    [You have acquired 1 Small Golem doll]


    Acquiring a doll was in one of my messages


    [Would you like to use Small Golem doll?]


    [Yes/No]


    The answer was obvious, as soon as I clicked on yes a golem appeared beside me.


    [Level 1 Small Golem]


    I pulled up its stats menu


    ----------------


    GhostDKing¡¯s Pet [Small Golem]


    Strength - 8


    Dexterity - 2


    Agility - 2


    Intelligence - 1


    Vitality- 10


    ----------------


    It had some pretty low stats but nonetheless, it was better than nothing. I wanted to get at least one more pet golem before I left this area as a backup. I went back to my RO [skills] listing and tried to upgrade my capture skill level which now needed 200 [RP] for level 2.


    ¡®Good thing I have 212 [RP]¡¯


    [You have leveled up your [capture skill]]


    I leveled up my Capture skill to level 2 and moved back to towards the golems. I made sure I had another Jean¡¯s quest started before I aggroed them. I only needed to kill 10 to complete the quest but I pulled 12.


    *Klunk... Klunk... Klunk... Klunk*


    I was tired of hearing these ¡°Klunking¡± noises that came from the sound of metal hitting a rock. But there was nothing I could do about it but continue to kill the golems. I glanced over at my pet golem who seemed to be evenly matched with the golem he was fighting. That was probably because they were both just at level 1.


    I rushed over to give him a little assistant, I hit the golem twice for critical damage. Then I let my golem do the rest.


    [Small Golem has leveled up!]


    ¡°Oh¡±


    I was glad to know that my golem leveled up. From now on I don¡¯t think it would have problems fighting other golems if it was 1 on 1. I commanded the golem to retreat since I could see it¡¯s HP bar getting too low. I handled the rest of the golems on my own


    [You have level up]


    I killed the remaining golems and I was now level 7 and my pet golem was level 3. It seemed the golem received 80% of the normal experience while I would receive 40% when he dealt the finishing blow, on the other hand, I would get 90% normal experience while the golem received only 20% of the experience when I dealt the last hit. A total of 120% was better than 110%.


    It seemed like it was more effective to let my pets get the last hit. But at the speed golems moved and attacked it would take ages to kill 1 monster. I couldn¡¯t afford to wait for them to finish off a monster so I scrapped that idea.


    I looked down at what I was holding in my hand, it was my second golem dolI. I checked my RO skills tab once again.


    [Capture Skill][2/30][2/110]


    [Summon Skill][0/30][0/110]


    ¡°I have a summoning skill!¡±


    I should''ve realized it before, you gain summoning experience points when using your pet in battle. The system must have automatically created the skill when I summoned the first golem.


    I looked at the Small Golem doll in my hand. I wanted to have one more pet golem in case the first one died in battle.


    [Would you like to use Small Golem doll?]


    [Yes/No]


    As soon as I clicked ¡®yes¡¯ another golem appeared next to me.


    ¡°.........¡±


    I looked at the golems for a few seconds as I was left speechless.


    ¡°Why is the other golem still here?¡±


    When I used the small golem doll the level 3 golem should have disappeared. But it didn¡¯t... the golems were standing side by side.


    ¡°There has got to be some sort of reason for this¡±


    I looked at my summoning skill and my pet¡¯s menus but nothing indicated a reason why I was able to summon 2 pets at once nor did it show a limit.


    ¡°There is no way I can just summon pets indefinitely right?¡±


    I kept thinking back to that old adage, ¡°if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.¡±


    ¡°Is it my [Unique traits]?¡±


    I quickly pulled up my unique traits.


    [King¡¯s Domain] [Passive][level 1 - 26%]


    -Certain abilities can be used within your domain


    Summoned pets [2/5]


    Range 20m Radius


    ¡°Ahh¡±


    It was thanks to my [Unique Trait][King¡¯s Domain] that I was able to summon not just 1 pet but up to 5 at once! Not to mention [King¡¯s Domain] was gaining exp from using my summons.


    While I was distracted with my own self-admiration, I wasn¡¯t able to see the danger that was approaching me.


    *Oooowwwooooo!*


    A loud howl snapped me back to reality. I looked towards the source of the sound. There I saw a Red Wolf howling at the sky. It looked almost like a certain red lion from a fantasy game I used to play. But I couldn¡¯t afford to think about such things now the red wolf was calling for its pack that was a mere 300m away. I could see the pack heading towards me.


    ¡°Ah, fuck¡±


    I got up and ran as fast my legs would permit.


    I was standing around for too long and [King¡¯s Domain]¡¯s ability to detect monsters within 20m of my vicinity made me feel comfortable enough to let my guard down. I turned towards Anka which was in the opposite direction of the wolves. The golems tried to follow after me but they were too slow. Once my pets reached the outer edge of my [King¡¯s Domain] they despawned and respawned next to me.


    ¡°What the..¡±


    I was a bit surprised when the golems disappeared and reappeared right next to me. It seemed like my pets were limited to [King¡¯s Domain]¡¯s 20m radius. I didn¡¯t have time to worry about my golems as they continued their despawning and respawning.


    ¡°FUCK! I¡¯m not going to make it!¡±


    It would take me another 20 minutes running at full speed to reach the town but the wolves were closing in fast. I detected 1 reaching the outer limit of my [King¡¯s Domain] then 2, then 3, then 4. It didn¡¯t take them long to start trying to bite at my ankles.


    *Grrrrr!*


    I could hear some of them growling and trying to bite my feet. The golems¡¯ constant respawning was able to slightly slow them down as they continued to stumble on the boulders that kept appearing in front of them.


    Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t enough and one of the wolfs leaped on my back and bit my shoulder.


    ¡°Argh!¡±


    The sharp pain coursed through my body. I knew from the information my brother gave me that players could feel pain in this game but I didn¡¯t think it would be this bad. I stopped and tossed the wolf off of my back. As soon as I came to a halt the rest of the pack took the opportunity to surround me. I had my golems but we were facing 13 red wolves so the odds weren¡¯t looking too good right now. They were only between levels 1 and 3 but they far outnumbered us.


    1 wolf charged at me at full speed I waited for the right chance. The moment it took its feet off the ground and leaped towards me I used it¡¯s momentum to thrust my sword in its gaping mouth. There was a brief whimper as blood gushed out and splattered all over my face and clothes. Receiving the wolf¡¯s charge head on threw me off balance and the rest of the pack saw this as an opportunity to attack.


    I swung my sword wildly to try and fend them off. I was by no means a strong swordsman in this game and I tried my best to keep them at bay or kill them if they came too close. I commanded my golems to block as many of them as possible but they were easily overwhelmed and I was only able to kill 3 more wolves before they all came rushing at me.


    I was left to face 9 wolves by myself as my golem¡¯s health bars had reached 0 and they crumbled. I had no current means to revive them.


    The wolves clamped down on my legs and feet, as well as my left arm. Only my right arm which held my sword was free, I frantically swung my sword at the wolves that were viciously tearing at my body.


    ¡°FUCKK YOU! YOU STUPID FUCKING DOGS LET ME GOOO!!¡±


    I yelled at the top of my lungs as I stabbed and slashed at the wolves. I had managed to kill 1¡­ 2 more wolves but there was still 7 left as I continued to swing my sword.


    [Your [Capture Skill] has leveled up]


    ¡®Thanks¡­.. Great to know..¡¯


    In the middle of all the frantic fighting, I managed to kill another wolf and I received a system message.


    My health was below 10% and it was only a matter of seconds before I died.


    ¡°YOU MOTHERFUCKERS!!


    All I could do was helplessly struggle as life continued to leave my body. I was drenched from head to toe in wolves¡¯ blood as well as my own.


    ¡®This is it I¡¯m going to die in the beginner¡¯s zone¡­ maybe I should have done the tutorial after all...¡¯


    *Ziing*


    Just as I was thinking that a giant double-bladed axe came flying and crushed 2 of the wolves in front of me.


    *Urff*


    A small whimper could be heard for a split second the moment they were hit. The 2 wolves¡¯ bodies practically exploded spraying their blood and guts in every direction. The sudden impact of the giant axe startled the other wolves as they suddenly let go of my limbs. They absentmindedly looked at the axe, I took the opportunity to chop off the head of the closest wolf to me.


    ¡°DIE!!¡±


    I used whatever strength I had left to try and kill as many of the wolves as I could. The remaining 3 wolves seemed to back off and hesitated to move. I gestured at the remaining wolves with my free hand.


    ¡°Hah...Come on! Hahh...Hah...What¡¯s wrong?... Are you scared now?¡±


    They remained motionless for a few seconds.


    ¡°¡­..¡±


    In reality, I would probably die if they so much as breathed on me. I was banking on whoever it was that threw the axe to come help me. But fortunately, the wolves slowly turned around and fled at full speed.


    ¡°Haaaa...¡±


    I let out a huge sigh of relief as I let my body collapse to the ground. I couldn''t believe I actually survived that. I looked at my hp.


    [HP [3/705]


    ¡°Damn.. haha. haha hahaha¡±


    I let out a laugh as I laid sprawled on the ground. My breathing was haggard but I continued to laugh.


    ¡°Hahahaha¡­haha.. hahh...hah..I made it!¡±


    After I caught my breath for a few seconds I heard someone speak out to me.


    ¡°Hey, are you okay?¡±


    He was a tall man with bulging muscles his skin was red and his head shaved, his body was adorned with what looked like tribal tattoos. These were the traits of the Barto race. At first glance, he looked quite scary but I understood when I saw him that this was the man that saved my life.


    ¡°Hah.. yeah... I¡¯m good now thanks to you..¡±


    ¡°glad to hear it! I was afraid I might have been too late¡±


    He continued as he stretched his hand down towards me.


    ¡°The name¡¯s Herotecha, what¡¯s yours?¡±

 5. Overcoming (1)

    I rested my hand on Hero¡¯s shoulder for support as we entered Anka through the front gate. I drank potions I received as rewards from the Jean quests to heal myself to half HP. Although I was healed my legs were wobbly from the life and death battle that was still fresh in my mind. I know this is just a game but everything feels too real. I have never been mauled by a pack of wolves but I was certain that if I ever was, that is definitely what it would feel like.


    2 red wolf dolls sat in my inventory.


    ¡®I¡¯ll definitely use these later.¡¯


    ¡°Thanks for all your help I don¡¯t know what I would have done if you hadn¡¯t shown up¡±


    ¡°A pack of wolves chasing someone isn¡¯t too hard to spot, plus your loud mouth made it easier.¡± He said as he looked at me with a huge grin on his face. He seemed like the kind of guy who had a sense of humor.


    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯ll be okay? I can accompany you for a bit longer if you¡¯d like¡±


    ¡°No, thank you... really I¡¯m okay¡±


    Hero put on a serious look of concern with his eyes fixed on me as I continue my attempts to convince him I''m fine.


    ¡°Nothing else will happen to me while I¡¯m in Anka, you know that monsters can¡¯t take a single step into the town right? And even if they did the guards would handle it¡±


    ¡°¡­..¡±


    He remained silent as he stared at me with eyes full of pity. Hero knows I haven''t fully recovered as he clearly saw my shaky legs.


    ¡°Seriously I¡¯m fine¡± I sounded like a kid trying to convince his parent that he wasn¡¯t crying.


    ¡°I just need to log out and rest a bit¡±


    I honestly was just glad I survived. Not only is it really painful to die in-game, but the penalties for dying are brutal. If I die at this low level the [Exp] lose can de-level me all the way to level 1. To make things worse I also lose a number of my inventory items and a large amount of what little [Lan] I have. I wouldn¡¯t have been able to collect the 2 red wolf dolls sitting in my inventory either.


    ¡°... Alright, I know how traumatic the first monster attack can be. Take as long as you need and don¡¯t push yourself to log back in¡±


    Hero is a lvl 12 Warrior that was heading to the next town when he came across my desperate situation.


    ¡°Will do¡±


    Just when I was going to log out, he called out to me.


    ¡°Wait!¡±


    I paused and stared at him.


    ¡°Add me to your friend list, just in case¡±


    ¡®Just in case what?¡¯ I thought to myself, but the words that left my mouth were different.


    ¡°Ugh.. sure¡±


    I reluctantly accepted his offer.


    I don¡¯t dislike him of course, but I do have trust issues. I am not comfortable around people I don''t know. I¡¯m very grateful that he saved my life, but I don¡¯t want other players to see my [Unique traits] that I''m unable to fully comprehend myself.


    Although adding him as a friend wouldn¡¯t really hurt and I have to pay him back for saving me.


    [Herotecha has sent a friend request! will you accept?]


    [yes/no]


    I accepted his friend request


    Friends [1/2]


    Ca1tSith  [Offline]


    Herotecha [Online]


    ¡°Alright I have you on my friends list so just in case you find yourself in trouble again send me a message and I¡¯ll try to get to you as soon as I can.¡±


    It was reassuring knowing he was so willing to go out of his way to help me. I had to make sure to help him out as well if we ever meet each other in the future.


    ¡°No worries, I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll run into each other at some point. thanks again for saving my life Hero I really owe ya¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it and take care of yourself Ghost¡±


    ¡°Will do¡±


    Hero waved goodbye as he headed back towards the town¡¯s gates.


    ¡®I need to get some sleep¡¯ I was mentally drained and my body still ached. I couldn¡¯t get over how real this game felt. In RO there wasn¡¯t any pain when you took a hit and the only way to know you were taking a beating were the numbers that appeared over your head.


    ¡®So all the money that the company made from RO was spent on making this game painful¡­¡¯


    ¡°Full Immersion¡± a concept that was only a dream when RO first launched was now a reality.


    ¡®It¡¯s time to go home.¡¯


    [Are you sure you want to log out?]


    [Yes/No]


    I clicked yes


    -------------------------


    I was back on my bed in my room that gave me a false sense of security. All the lights were off as my face was buried in my pillow. The mild trauma I was experiencing prevented me from sleeping.


    As I close my eyes I see the image of a pack of wolves chasing me and my body shudders from fear as I break out in a cold sweat. The pain I felt today was unlike anything I ever felt before. I tried to comfort myself by wrapping my arms around my stomach as I felt the pain lingering on my skin.


    ¡°There is no way that wasn¡¯t real¡±


    I lay there unable to sleep as the fear crept up on me every time I managed to close my eyes.


    ¡®I guess that¡¯s why they call it ¡°Nightmare¡±... I have to do something about this¡¯


    I foolishly thought because of my [Unique Traits] I would breeze right through the beginner¡¯s zone. But that thought was easily shattered in one day. My money making scheme wasn¡¯t going too well.


    I didn¡¯t plan to be afraid of a virtual world forever, I jumped out of my bed and onto my computer and went on the MARE Forums.


    Since the remaining loyal RO players had recently been forced onto the MARE servers I suspected there might already be a subforum dedicated to newcomers from RO. To no surprise I was correct, there was a section labeled ¡®Ruler Online¡¯


    When I clicked on the subforum there were a few posts that were welcoming the new players and others with guides and tips, But I wasn¡¯t interested in anything like that. I kept scrolling through the posts until I found something along the lines of what I was looking for.


    [What did you bring from RO?]


    I couldn¡¯t stop the huge smile that appeared on my face. Before the RO shutdown, there were a lot of questions as to what exactly we could bring to MARE. The short answer was ¡°Not much¡±. In reality, we could bring any item that we so pleased, but that wasn¡¯t the problem. Even if we could bring anything we wanted around 80% of all the items in RO would be useless glorified RO remnants in MARE. It didn¡¯t end there either, a large portion of that 20% we could bring would be either nerfed or highly restricted.


    Clothes with bonus effects would have those buffs completely restricted and would only serve as visual accessories. With that in mind, a lot of people only brought items that would raise their characters aesthetics. Unfortunately, that¡¯s also the reason I did not plan ahead on what items to bring.


    The items I brought with me were all large stacks of consumable items that boosted my experience gained from hunting monsters. Because leveling up at my current level was easy I decided to use them after reaching level 60. Anything else that would mostly serve as an aesthetic piece didn¡¯t seem like it would be of much use to me so.


    I clicked on the post and read through the comments. I saw a number of names that I recognized... but that didn¡¯t mean it made me happy.


    Iano


    R4mbo


    Nosferatu


    Tresor


    Blackthief¡­..


    ¡­¡­.


    ¡®I don¡¯t have a very good relationship with any of these guys.¡¯


    Whenever I saw any of them in RO I would either be fighting with them or exchanging insults. It was no exaggeration to say that I will try to kill them on sight inside of MARE.


    ¡®I need to get back to what I was doing¡¯


    I didn¡¯t get on the forum to look for these guys what I actually was looking for then came into view.


    [S> RO Collectible items]


    ¡°Bingo!¡±


    There were many posts similar to this one. RO¡¯s items were useless and many players were trying to sell outfits and other collectibles to get a bit of [Lan] or cash. But for me, this was the biggest treasure trove I could hope for.


    ¡°One man¡¯s trash is another man¡¯s treasure¡± There was no better way to put it.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    I need to get stronger and there was currently no faster way than this.


    I know today won¡¯t be the last time I¡¯ll be in a dangerous situation. Wolves weren¡¯t my only concern either, I would eventually run into my old enemies and new ones as well. I had to act as soon as possible to shift the odds in my favor as much as possible.


    I picked up the phone and dialed


    *Puru Puru Puru Puru Puru¡­. Puru Puru¡­ Kacha*


    The phone was picked up and I heard the voice on the other side.


    ¡°Hey what¡¯s up?


    ¡°Maico get online right now!¡±


    ----------------------


    I told him to meet me at the same cafe we were at last time. I was in the cafe only 2 minutes after we hung up the phone. I ordered sweet tea for us.


    ¡°Here¡¯s your tea sir¡±


    The maid only took 3 minutes to bring the tea after I ordered it.


    ¡±Is your friend still not here?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯ll be here soon, Thank you for the tea¡±


    The maid bowed and walked away


    ¡®Where is he?¡¯


    *Ding Ding*


    Just as that thought crossed my mind the tan human I knew to be my brother walked into the cafe.


    ¡°What¡¯s up bro, You sounded like you were in a rush when we were on the phone.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ A lot happened¡±


    My brother sat down and I explained the events that transpired up to this moment...


    ¡°SERIOUSLY!?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t tell exactly what part he was referring to.


    ¡°That is seriously overpowered. So you can use any item from RO as if you were still in it?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t really tested it out but it seems items don¡¯t work exactly as they did in RO¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right you shouldn¡¯t be able to summon more than one pet at once¡­ but that only makes it all the more broken¡±


    ¡°I know haha¡± I couldn¡¯t help but let out an awkward laugh as I felt like I was being complimented by my brother.


    ¡°So I¡¯m guessing there¡¯s something you want me to do¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I want you to collect as many of the RO items as possible.¡±


    I didn¡¯t have enough RP to purchase anything useful other than skills. So this was a perfect opportunity to get my hands on some rare items.


    ¡°What makes you think I have money?


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you owned a high-level weapon and armor shop? I¡¯m sure you¡¯re loaded with cash. ¡±


    ¡°Well I own the store but all the items are actually Giovanni¡¯s, I just sell them for him¡±


    Giovanni was the name of our brother ¡°Viciouz¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s Giovanni¡¯s IGN?


    ¡°Haha, why don¡¯t you go ask him?¡±


    As much as I wanted to see him I wasn¡¯t in a rush to do so. I needed to concentrate on getting stronger first.


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask him when I see him¡±


    ¡°He usually stays at the shop if you want to see him, but don¡¯t tell anyone that¡±


    ¡°...Why not?¡±


    ¡°Well, he doesn¡¯t want anyone to know where he is, it¡¯s kind of like his hideout. Not that he¡¯s hiding from anyone haha¡­¡±


    I had a pretty good idea as to why Maico didn¡¯t want me to spread the word of where Giovanni was staying. If Giovanni was the same here as he was in RO I¡¯m certain everyone would try to stay as far away from him as possible.


    ¡°Tell him I said hi when you see him¡±


    ¡°I will... By the way, you said Blackthief and Iano were here?¡±


    As far as I could remember Maico and Blackthief couldn¡¯t stand each other at all. I don¡¯t exactly recall what happened between them but they were always at each other¡¯s throats. Iano, on the other hand, was one of the leaders of a group that we simply referred to as ¡°The Italians¡±. They owned a town and formed a guild and built a small community composed solely of Italian players. Thus, The Italians came to be, they were one of the 3 strongest and most influential factions in RO and there was no doubt in my mind that Iano and his goons would quickly rise in this game.


    ¡°Yeah, I saw him selling RO items on the forums.¡±


    ¡°Damn... There are already a few of The Italians in MARE but most of them aren¡¯t Iano¡¯s people.¡±


    The Italians were once a much larger group but one of the leading members had a falling out with Iano and The Italians were split in half. The group that split off was lead by a player named ¡°Falcone89¡± and he formed a guild called ¡°Diehard¡±. Diehard was a strong PvP guild that could always be found fighting in PK zones. It could even be said that the creation of Diehard heralded the greatest PK era in RO.


    Unlike Iano¡¯s group we didn¡¯t have a bad relationship with Diehard, they could even be considered our allies.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure things are going to change now that Iano and the rest of them are here. I would kill them if I could but PK in Initium isn¡¯t possible so I¡¯ll have to wait until they level up.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll cross that bridge when we get there. So can you get the items for me?


    ¡°Yeah I¡¯ll have to use some mule accounts to hide my identity but I can get them for ya¡±


    ¡°Thanks¡±


    I looked at the time on my HUD, we had been chatting for more than an hour.


    ¡°I have to get going, I need to get back to leveling¡±


    ¡°Alright bro good luck and try not to die to wolves haha."


    I didn¡¯t reply to his ridicule and only glared at him for a second. We both stood up and I stretched out my fist.


    ¡°see ya¡±


    He gave me a fist bump and I walked out of the Cafe.


    ------------------------


    I was right outside Anka¡¯s gate where Jean was located, I was getting his quest list before I went out to hunt.


    I pushed the window to the side as I sat down a few meters away from Jean and pulled up my skill window. I neglected MARE¡¯s skill system because I became too comfortable with RO¡¯s which suddenly became available to me. If I wanted to survive in this game I needed to adapt and use MARE¡¯s skill system. I currently had 7 skill points to spend, I looked at the skill tree. There were 2 skills that caught my attention.


    Fear: Level 1


    Mana cost: 20


    Cast time: Instant


    Range: 30m


    Curse Damage: 10/2


    Duration: 8 seconds


    Cooldown: 30s


    Vampire¡¯s touch: Level 1


    Mana cost: 32


    Cast time: Instant


    Range: 0


    Damage: 50


    Heal: 50%


    Cooldown: 50s


    I Immediately leveled these 2 skills


    Fear: Level 3


    Mana cost: 35


    Cast time: Instant


    Range: 40m


    Curse Damage: 25/2


    Duration: 14 seconds


    Cooldown: 30 seconds


    Vampire¡¯s Touch: Level 4


    Mana cost: 60


    Cast time: Instant


    Range: 0


    Damage: 200


    Heal: 65%


    Cooldown: 44 seconds


    I choose these skills based on how much they raised my survivability. I then pulled the 2 red wolf dolls out of my inventory


    [Would you like to use Red Wolf doll?]


    [yes/no]


    -------------------------


    GhostDKing¡¯s Pet [Red Wolf]  lvl 1


    Strength -12


    Dexterity - 10


    Agility - 14


    Intelligence - 5


    Vitality- 8


    ----------------


    -------------------------


    GhostDKing¡¯s Pet [Red Wolf]  lvl 1


    Strength -12


    Dexterity - 10


    Agility - 14


    Intelligence - 5


    Vitality- 8


    ----------------


    I summoned both the red wolves. They were both currently level 1 just like the golems but the wolves¡¯ stats were much higher. I shivered a little just from looking at them, I was still affected by my trauma even when I knew they were under my command.


    I took in a deep breath to try and calm my nerves before I set off. I looked at my pet wolves one more time.


    ¡°¡­..¡±


    They stared back at me silently as they awaited their command. I turned away from them and said one phrase as I started to walk.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go¡±


    ---------------------


    I was back at the golems territory. The golems I was about to fight didn¡¯t concern me and the real purpose I was here was to make my wolves stronger.


    I started a Jeans quest to hunt golems and I picked up as many rocks as I could hold. I threw them to try and aggro as many golems as possible while remaining away from the huge field boss in the middle that had yet to show itself.


    Around 15 golems came rushing at a snail¡¯s pace. They were only lvl 1 with some being lvl 2, I hit the first golem 2 times for critical hits and quickly moved on to the next maneuvering between them as best I could.


    *Klunk Klunk*


    It wasn¡¯t that hard considering how slow they were and compared to the wolves they were practically standing still. I commanded my wolves to finish off the golems that I attacked. I refused to use the spells I had just learned to avoid accidentally killing the golems. One by one the golems started to crumble as the system messages popped up


    [Red wolf has level up]


    [Red wolf has level up]


    [you have leveled up]


    [Red wolf has level up]


    [Red wolf has level up]


    [Red wolf has level up]


    [Red wolf has level up]


    [Red wolf has level up]


    [Red wolf has level up]


    [you have leveled up]


    From their first golem kill, they both leveled up. I continued the same routine until I was level 10 and the wolves were both level 6 and I had another 3 more golem dolls. I discarded the dead golems that I was currently unable to resurrect. I summoned the 3 golems and made sure to make them reach at least level 3.


    I looked at my stats as well as the wolves


    -------------------------


    [GhostDKing] lvl 10


    [HP- 745]


    [MP- 350]


    Strength - 16


    Dexterity - 18


    Agility - 22


    Intelligence - 22


    Mind/Wisdom - 20


    Constitution/Vitality - 16


    *Luck - 10


    Available points: 45


    -------------------------


    -------------------------


    GhostDKing¡¯s Pet [Red Wolf]  lvl 6


    Strength -19


    Dexterity - 13


    Agility - 22


    Intelligence - 9


    Vitality- 12


    ----------------


    -------------------------


    GhostDKing¡¯s Pet [Red Wolf]  lvl 6


    Strength -18


    Dexterity - 14


    Agility - 22


    Intelligence - 9


    Vitality- 12


    ----------------


    ''I have stat points to distribute?''


    On my status window, there was an extra line that read "Available points: 45". In RO all your stat points could be distributed as you wished, but in MARE the distribution of your points was predetermined by your race and class. But for me, it seemed to be a hybrid of both systems. Half the points were predetermined while the other half was up to me. I decided on how to distribute my extra points. I dumped them all into intelligence.


    ¡®This should be good enough¡¯


    There were 3 wolves that ran away when Hero showed up. With my [Unique trait][King¡¯s domain] I could distinguish monsters from one another. All I have to do is go around slaughtering wolf pack after wolf pack until I find those 3. The thought of what I was about to do made me nervous. This was the only way I could think of to get over my trauma. I was anxious but more than anything I was angry. I was angry at my helplessness and I wanted revenge.


    I stood up and dusted myself off from all the rubble that was the golem¡¯s bits and pieces. I walked over to the red wolves and looked down towards them.


    ¡®Maybe it¡¯ll get confusing with too many wolves around¡¯


    I thought about giving them names to not get them mixed up with each other. I didn¡¯t care so much about the golems since they were only useful to serve as a wall. I wasn¡¯t the most creative person when it came to naming, so after little consideration, I decided to give them simple names.


    ¡°Alright, you¡¯re Lo and your Bo!¡±


    I pointed at each one and called out their names. The 2 wolves seemed to like them as they started to wag their tails. I had a look of satisfaction on my face as I felt proud that I bestowed good names upon my pets.


    ¡®Hehe I am good at this after all.¡¯


    I looked at my newly named pets and called out their names.


    ¡°Lo, Bo¡±


    Their gaze met mine and I gave them a verbal command


    ¡°Let¡¯s go hunt some wolves¡±

 6. Overcoming (2)

    I like being cautious. No matter how prepared I am things can always go wrong.


    Not only did Lo and Bo gain a few levels, but I also did as well.


    All my extra stat points were distributed, l even leveled up 2 of my class skills. I also gained a few consumables like potions and food from Jean quests to restore my health and mana.


    Even with all these preparations, I couldn''t shake the uneasy feeling when thinking about hunting down packs of wolves¡­ too late to regret it now. I spotted the first pack of wolves about 100m ahead. They numbered 8 in total. My hands were shaking. I clenched my fists and steeled my nerves before I gave the first command.


    "Call them"


    ¡°Oooowoooooooo¡± Lo howled to the sky.


    I don''t have to go after them. wolves recognize the call of their kin and when they do, they¡¯ll come rushing. And that''s what they did.


    I brandished the short sword my brother gave me. The pack of red wolves entered my King''s Domain. Within a few seconds, a fierce battle broke out. I had my golems block as many of the wolves as possible while Lo and Bo would act as my bodyguards. 4 red wolves slipped by the golems and went straight for me I cast fear on the leading wolf while Lo and Bo intercepted 2 of the remaining 3. The remaining one continued to rush towards me, I thrust my sword in its path to stop its charge to no avail. The wolf merely sidestepped and bared its fangs as it dove towards my face and I barely managed to dodge the attack. The wolf landed behind me and charged once more. I was being cautious not to get hurt like last time but I didn''t want to prolong this fight any longer. I had to face my fear, I dropped my sword and I crouched in a low stance as I placed my forearm in front of my face. The wolf didn¡¯t hesitate and clamped its sharp teeth on my forearm.


    "Urgh!"


    An all too familiar pain coursed through my body. The wolf tore through my flesh and the fear of the moment almost made me freeze up. But fear and pain weren¡¯t all I felt, I also got a rush of adrenaline. My fight or flight response kicked in, and I chose to fight. I grabbed the wolf by his neck and activated Vampire''s Touch. I could feel the life being drained from its body as I healed simultaneously. The wolf died in less than a second after my skills activation. The wound I received just moments ago was now completely healed.


    I didn''t hesitate to pick up my sword and rush to assist my summons. I ran past the wolf I cast fear on moments ago. The beast was shaking violently just a few seconds ago. It appeared to have died from that single spell. I saw 2 more dead wolves that were torn to pieces by my pets. To my surprise, my pets Lo and Bo had already dismantled the 2 they fought initially as well as 2 others and were currently in the process of killing the remaining 2.


    I shrugged my shoulders ''I guess I don''t have to worry about them''


    The 5 level difference between the wolves made a huge impact.


    [Your capture skill has leveled up!]


    [Lo has leveled up!]


    [Bo has leveled up!]


    [You have leveled up!]


    [Small golem has leveled up]


    [Small golem has leveled up]


    [Small golem has leveled up]


    [Unique trait [King''s Domain] has leveled up]


    I finally took notice of the messages that were appearing in my HUD during the battle. My eyes widened when I read the last one.


    "It leveled up!"


    I pulled up my unique traits


    [King¡¯s Domain] [Passive][level 2 - 0%]


    -Certain abilities can be used within your domain


    Summoned pets [5/7]


    Range 30m Radius


    The capacity to summon monsters as well as the range increased. It was great to know I wouldn''t be forever limited to only 5 pets.


    I sat down as I let my pets slowly restore their health. The golems took the most damage so they would take more time to heal. To avoid the same mistake as last time I ordered all 3 golems to stand lookout.


    As I rested my head on Lo¡¯s fur I began to reminisce about my old game. In RO I fought against cute raccoons, rabbits, and chickens at this level. Not to mention it didn''t hurt when I was hit.


    MARE was a polar opposite as I previously found myself fighting for my life while being mauled by wolves. And the pain was excruciating enough to give me symptoms of PTSD. There was a very distinct difference between the two games. Despite RO''s intense PvP aspects It was hard to believe the creators of that adorable game came up with Nightmare Online which was proving true to its name.


    I looked down at my hand which held my sword. The short sword that was gifted to me was beginning to lose its usefulness and the durability was close to zero my clothes were also tattered.


    "I have to upgrade my gear soon"


    I remembered the advice my brother gave me. He mentioned that I should go for a wand and shield. My only 2 other options were staff or mace. Staff would require both hands to wield and although it would raise my magic power slightly more than a wand it would leave me defenseless. If I went with a mace then that would lower my magic power considerably since its purpose was to deal blunt damage. Thinking about it made me miss the weapon system in RO that allowed me to wield whichever weapon I wished.


    I continued to stare at my sword.


    "...Wait"


    An Idea came to mind and I sat up from where I laid.


    ''Would I be able to wield any weapon if I had RO''s weapon skills?''


    I didn''t think about it before since I can wield any weapon that is level 1 like this short sword. I almost forgot I wasn''t a real swordsman in MARE, but could I be a Magic Swordsman?


    I looked at my RP


    607 [RP]


    ''Good thing I hunted so much''


    I wanted to save up some more [RP] so I could level up my capture skill but I had to give this a try.


    I went into my RO [Skills] list and I selected the weapon skill I wanted.


    Would you like to learn [Sword skill]?


    [Yes/No]


    [You have learned [Sword skill]]


    I needed to test out my theory as soon as possible, I stood up and dusted myself off. I made sure to pick up any loot the wolves dropped. When I finished I signaled my pets to follow me. We walked off to search for more wolves.


    The moorlands were huge and you could always spot a player here and there but I always avoided them as best I could. I wasn''t fond of people, I wasn''t very trusting of players either. The people I trust are my brothers and I avoid everyone else like the plague. I don¡¯t intend to be a solo player but it¡¯s so easy to hide who you really are in a game where others don''t know your true face. I''ve been betrayed before and it made me think twice before I befriended anyone I didn''t know in the real world.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    I''m sure many have already spotted me and wondered why there is a player running around with a group of monsters. But I decided not to worry about that as I spotted another pack of wolves about 150m away. The last group didn''t have any of the 3 I was hunting but this pack was much larger


    "12¡­ 13...14...15"


    I counted a total of 15


    That¡¯s a substantial amount, but I¡¯m not going to back down after coming this far. I took out the Red wolf doll I gained from the last fight and summoned it.


    -------------------------


    GhostDKing¡¯s Pet [Red Wolf]  lvl 1


    Strength -12


    Dexterity - 10


    Agility - 14


    Intelligence - 5


    Vitality- 8


    ----------------


    I now had 3 Golems and 3 Red wolves under my command. I gained confidence in my abilities from the last battle. I placed my pets in an encirclement centered on me. The golems where at the front while Lo and Bo would guard my back and my newly summoned wolf who I decided to name Ro would stay near me. I gave another verbal command like last time.


    "Call them here"


    "Oowoooo"


    No matter how many times I heard that howl I couldn''t get used to it as it caused me to flinch.


    The 15 wolves rushed our way like a small stampede. I stood directly behind the golems. Their defense is solid and they currently level 4. I gave the usual order to the golems ¡®hold as many of the wolves back as possible¡¯. The large group of Red wolves entered my [King''s Domain] and I confirmed 2 of the 3 wolves I was looking for were here. I cast fear on one as soon as they entered my domain.


    "IT DOESN¡¯T FEEL GOOD DOES IT?!" I yelled at the wolf afflicted by my spell.


    I want it to feel fear like I did during that traumatic attack.


    While one wolf was struck with the fear status effect the rest slammed into the 3 golems and I began to stab them as they tried to break through. Almost half of the pack circled around the golems to get behind me, a huge mistake. The 2 guarding my back were far more vicious than me. Lo and Bo were outnumbered but they could easily dismember those low-level wolves. A few wolves managed to jump over the golems and one even bit me. I cast [vampire''s touch] the moment the wolf¡¯s fangs dug into my skin and its body hit the earth lifeless. One decided to stretch its neck over the golems to try and bite me. I swung my sword and removed its head and I continued to kill more of them as the decapitated wolf head was still rolling on the ground. These wolves were dropping like flies.


    Once the cooldown ended I cast fear again. A few seconds after one of the golems crumbled and became one with the earth. 2 wolves were able to rush in from the gap that was created. Ro who is serving as my bodyguard intercepted one while the other plunged toward me, I couldn''t dodge in time so I raised my hand and clutched its mouth midair. I cast Vampire''s touch instantly and the wolf died before it could touch the ground.


    System messages kept appearing in my view and I kept ignoring them.


    There were only 3 wolves left. Lo and Bo managed to kill 3 each and were currently tearing the another apart as I could hear its last cries before it''s life ended. I stabbed the neck of the wolf fighting Ro while it was distracted. Only 1 wolf remained, and it just so happened to be 1 of my revenge targets. It stood about 5 meters away from the golems. The wolf was waiting for the right moment to escape. I took a single step forward and without a second¡¯s delay, the wolf turned tail and began to run away at full speed.


    "Don¡¯t even think about it!"


    I cast fear before it went out of range and the wolf crashed to the ground as it lost control of its legs. The wolf began to stagger as it attempted to stand but its feet were shaking violently. It had to run away, its instincts were screaming to get as far away as possible. But unfortunately, there was nothing that could save the poor creature. Its death was inevitable. After a few seconds of trembling back on its feet and attempting a getaway to no avail, it collapsed and died quietly.


    One more system message appeared


    You acquired a Red wolf doll!


    * * * * *


    ~Somewhere in the moorlands of Initium~


    There was a bulky man with red skin clearly of the Barto race sitting with his legs crossed and his eyes closed in the middle of a field. The bulky man seemed to be meditating as he remained still for several minutes. But if one took a step back they would see that the man¡¯s current posture wasn¡¯t very suitable the situation around him.


    There were nearly one hundred monsters surrounding and simultaneously attacking the Barto. Spiders, snakes, wolves, hounds, bats, and goblins. An incredibly diverse amount of monsters were trying to claw, bite and tear at his skin. All the monsters¡¯ attacks easily bounced off the man¡¯s steel-like muscles. Yet the man seemed unfazed. Instead, he just looked bored He was itching to get up and walk away. He clearly wanted to be elsewhere but the reason he forced himself to stay was a few meters away standing behind the horde of monsters.


    ¡°Hah¡­¡± He let out a short sigh before continuing ¡°Are you almost done, boss?¡±


    The human with blonde short hair and pale white skin was cutting away at the monsters that seemed to simply ignore him.


    ¡°Are you taking any damage?¡±


    ¡°...No¡± The Barto hesitated to answer the human who was much smaller and weaker than him.


    ¡°Then stay seated, shut the fuck up and don¡¯t forget to cast aggro, I¡¯ll be done when I¡¯m done!¡±


    ¡°¡­ yes boss¡±


    A few more minutes went by and the Barto obediently followed his master¡¯s orders.


    The Human continued to kill monster after monster.


    [You have leveled up]


    The message appeared a few times as he continued to kill the monsters. After just 10 minutes all the monsters were dead.


    ¡®Ahh finally¡¯ the Barto thought to himself as he made an effort to not irritate his master.


    ¡°I¡¯m level 14 now¡±


    ¡°Great job boss!¡± the Barto cheered uncharacteristically for his large physique.


    ¡°Shut the fuck up! I don¡¯t need you to tell me I¡¯m doing well dumbass!¡±


    ¡°Ugh¡­ of course¡­ sorry boss¡± The Barto seemed to shrink in a way resembling a dog putting their head down and tucking its tail between its legs in shame.


    ¡°Idiot¡± the human sneered.


    After taking some verbal punishment the Barto looked up for a second and noticed someone coming their way.


    ¡°Ah boss, he¡¯s back!¡±


    It was a humanoid beast with a dog¡¯s head and Brown fur with white spots. Those were the characteristics of the Yari race. The Yari slowly approached the 2 men. He arrived at the scene were a hundred monster corpses lay.


    ¡°Looks like you guys just about finished here.¡±


    ¡°Took you long enough¡± The human stood cross-armed as he addressed the Yari ¡°did you find any good monster spawns?¡±


    ¡°Nah I found something even better and I thought you might want to go take a look for yourself¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± The human raised an eyebrow in interest. ¡°What did you find?


    * * * * *


    I was resting my head on Lo once again, he was a very good pillow. I was looking at all the system messages that I ignored during the wolf hunt. I¡¯m currently lvl 13, while Lo and


    Bo is level 9, and Ro is level 6. We were leveling at a pretty good pace.


    I pulled up my MARE skills list, I wanted another useful Mage skill since ¡®vampire¡¯s touch¡¯ and ¡®Fear¡¯ proved to be super effective. I need to get accustomed to the skills MARE has to offer.


    ¡®This one looks promising¡¯


    Cursed arrow lvl 1


    Mana cost: 10


    Cast time: Instant


    Range: 20m


    Damage: 20


    Curse Damage: 5/2


    Duration: 8 seconds


    Cooldown: 5s


    A skill I unlocked when I reached level 10. It didn¡¯t seem to pack much of a punch but the cooldown made up for that. This skill is easily spammable and it could be my main source of damage. I can use it to support my pets from a distance, it left a curse effect to boot. I chose to max it out.


    Cursed arrow: Level 5


    Mana cost: 35


    Cast time: Instant


    Range: 30m


    Damage: 80


    Curse Damage: 30/2


    Duration: 20 seconds


    Cooldown: 4s


    I am only able to raise my skills up to level 5 until I reach my second class at lvl 50. I used my extra skill point on Fear


    Fear: Level 4


    Mana cost: 40


    Cast time: Instant


    Range: 40m


    Curse Damage: 32/2


    Duration: 16 seconds


    Cooldown: 28 seconds


    Even if the skills aren¡¯t very strong the base damage and the curse damage would increase depending on my intelligence. With that in mind, I pulled up my stats and dumped all my skill points on Intelligence once again.


    -------------------------


    [GhostDKing] lvl 13


    [HP- 815]


    [MP- 405]


    Strength - 18


    Dexterity - 22


    Agility - 24


    Intelligence - 86


    Mind/Wisdom - 23


    Constitution/Vitality - 18


    *Luck - 10


    Available points: 0


    -------------------------


    ¡°My magic attacks should hit like Truck-Kun now¡±


    I still have one more thing I want to do, I have another pet to add to the collection. I took the red wolf doll out of my inventory and summoned it.


    I now have 4 wolves under my command.


    ¡°If I get any more wolves as pets then I¡¯ll have my own wolf pack, and that would mean¡­ I¡¯m the alpha of the pack!¡±


    I felt a sense of joy after saying those words and I couldn¡¯t help but grin at the thought.


    ¡°Alright, your name will be... Jo!¡±


    With the new addition, I had Lo, Bo, Ro, and Jo.


    *Woof Woof* As I indulged in the pride I felt for the wolf pack I created I heard Bo call out to me.


    I took a look in the direction Bo was facing. I saw 3 players walking toward me. There was a Barto, a Yari who had the appearance of a dog, and a human with blonde hair. I instinctively drew my sword and all my pets gathered around me.


    As the 3 players moved closer and closer I was able to distinguish their faces. One stood out like a sore thumb to me. It was a face that made my blood boil. I clenched my fist and tightened the grip on my sword. It was someone that I knew all too well. I felt rage welling up inside me as I uttered the human¡¯s name.


    ¡°Iano...¡±

 7. Overcoming (3)

    I knew it would happen but I didn¡¯t expect it to happen this soon. I ran into The Italians before I knew it. They stepped into my domain and I addressed them before they got any closer.


    ¡°What the fuck do you want?¡±


    I clenched my fist and gripped my sword while my pets were growling at the uninvited players.


    ¡°Easy easy, I only came to talk, Nos here told me he saw a familiar face running with wolves and to my surprise, it was you, Ghost.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    I didn¡¯t respond, as a matter of fact, I didn¡¯t even want to see this guy¡¯s face or his goons. The Yari¡¯s name is Nosferatu and the Barto¡¯s is R4mbo. I only stared at them as Iano continued to speak.


    ¡°I want to ask, how is it that you have this many monsters following you? I didn¡¯t see a class that could summon or tame monsters this early in the game.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I continued to stay silent I didn¡¯t want to say anything he didn¡¯t need to know. Nonetheless, I know he is going to make problems for me.


    ¡°R4mbo here also has never seen such a class before and he¡¯s been playing for a while, isn¡¯t that right R4mbo?¡±


    ¡°Yes boss¡±


    R4mbo was a buffoon that couldn¡¯t think for himself and only did his master¡¯s bidding. He migrated to MARE when it launched, there was no doubt he is a high-level player at this point. But Iano and Nosferatu were both forced here by the merge.


    It became clear that Iano¡¯s only purpose is to harass me, all I have to do is endure it until they leave. PK isn¡¯t possible in Initium after all.


    ¡°See even R4mbo has never seen this before. So how do you do it? Is it a quest? Or a special class I missed? Or¡­¡±


    A smug grin crept onto Iano¡¯s face before he continued ¡°are you hacking again?¡±


    Iano loved to accuse others of hacking especially my brothers and myself. Even though he always followed us around as an attempt to learn how to hack himself, he was a hypocrite.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have anything better to do? Or is being our fan the only thing you do?¡± I said.


    Iano always tried to smear us or talk shit, it¡¯s his favorite hobby.


    ¡°Haha you¡¯re pretty cocky for someone who is all alone¡±


    Iano stepped forward as if he was trying to pick a fight, did he not know this wasn¡¯t a PK zone? He felt he could do whatever he wanted because R4mbo was next to him. It was then I decided to take a gamble.


    ¡°Alone? can¡¯t you see him? Oh, that¡¯s right! Only party members can see assassins in stealth. You do remember Viciouz right?¡±


    As soon as I mentioned his name Iano stopped in his tracks.


    ¡°... you¡¯re lying¡±


    Iano was calling my bluff.


    ¡°Don¡¯t believe me? Well, doesn¡¯t matter to me¡± I shrugged my shoulders


    I could see the panic on Iano¡¯s face, it seemed he didn¡¯t know that Initium was a no PK zone. But I¡¯m sure that R4mbo at least explained the rules of PK.


    ¡°...¡±


    Iano didn¡¯t say a word as I could see the cold sweat running down his face.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Are you scared?¡±


    I provoked him as he fell for my obvious bluff.


    ¡°Haa¡­ w-why would I be?!¡±


    Iano began to take out his sword with a quivering hand.


    I had not seen my brother in this game yet, but anyone who played RO knew the name Viciouz.


    Iano must be counting on R4mbo to protect him.


    ¡°Boss¡­ What are you doing?¡±


    Iano fumed in anger at R4mbo¡¯s question ¡°What the fuck do you mean what am I doing?! We¡¯re going to kill this asshole, back me up, idiot! don¡¯t let Viciouz kill me! You too Nos, help me teach this guy a lesson."


    Nosferatu hesitated but stepped forward anyway.


    R4mbo stood there looking dumbfounded as he spoke to Iano ¡°Boss¡­ you can¡¯t PK in this area¡±


    Iano had a blank stare in his eyes as he lowered his sword and stared at R4mbo for a few seconds. ¡°What do you mean¡­ There¡¯s no PK?!¡±


    ¡°Hahahaha!¡± I grabbed my belly as I couldn¡¯t hold it in and burst out in laughter. ¡°Dumbass haha!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no pk in low-tier regions¡­¡± R4mbo murmured.


    Iano face turned beet red, he closed his eyes and sheathed his sword after R4mbo¡¯s words.


    ¡°...we¡¯re leaving¡±


    He turned away from me and started to retreat as he called out to his goons. Before leaving he turned around and to face me.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think you¡¯ll always be safe in these safe regions and Viciouz won¡¯t always be around to protect you either.¡±Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Sure haha¡± I was still laughing as Iano continued to walk away.


    * * * * *


    ¡°YOU FUCKING IDIOT!¡± Iano shouted at the top of his lungs ¡°WHY DIDN¡¯T YOU TELL ME THIS WAS A NO PK ZONE?!¡±


    ¡°Sorry boss...¡± R4mbo could say nothing else as he was on his knees and staring at the ground.


    ¡°I looked like a fool!¡± Iano¡¯s face turned red from thinking about the whole situation


    ¡°Come on it¡¯s not that bad¡± Nosferatu tried to calm him down.


    Iano glared at Nosferatu and grit his teeth. He opened his mouth to say something but decided it would be a waste of time.


    ¡°FUCK!¡± Iano shouted as he kicked the rocks at his feet in frustration.


    ¡°.....¡±


    ¡°..¡­¡±


    Nos and R4mbo couldn¡¯t find any more words to say.


    ¡°Was Viciouz even there, R4mbo?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, it didn¡¯t seem like anyone else was there¡±


    ¡°Then was it a bluff?¡± Iano became even more furious at the thought that he fell for Ghost¡¯s bluff.


    ¡°Goddammit¡­ if he was there would you even be able to beat him?¡±


    R4mbo hesitated and thought for a second before looking back at the ground and answering.


    ¡°No¡­¡±


    ¡°No? have you even fought him before?¡±


    ¡°I have faced him a few times¡±


    ¡°How many times?!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, many 20 or 30 times?¡±


    ¡°Out of those 20-30 times, how many times did you win? How strong is he?¡±


    R4mbo raised his gaze off the ground and looked straight into Iano¡¯s eyes before speaking.


    * * * * *


    ¡°It¡¯s getting dark¡±


    The day turned to gray as the sun was beginning to hide behind the distant mountains.


    Running into Iano¡¯s group left me in a sour mode.


    I was heading back to town when I spotted another red wolf pack. I didn¡¯t want to be out in the darkness when all the monsters had the vision advantage.


    But I thought ¡°why not?¡±


    I was strong enough to fight a pack of 15 wolves and I knew I had to get stronger. Iano wasn¡¯t going to stop getting stronger either so I couldn¡¯t fall behind.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go¡± I called out to my pets as I ran towards the wolf pack. There were around 12 of them this time. I didn¡¯t need to make a special formation to fend them off I could rush them by myself and kill them all.


    The wolf pack noticed me as I was around 50m away from them. A few moments later they were within my domain.


    ¡°He¡¯s here¡±


    The last wolf I was looking for was within my reach, I chose to leave him for last. I raised my hand and cast cursed arrow and a gray mass shot out from my hand at a tremendous speed and hit its target. The wolf¡¯s body shot up a few feet in the air like a ragdoll as soon as my spell made contact. It was as if a cannonball had stuck it, it¡¯s body mangled and bloody. The lifeless body plopped to the ground and shocked the rest of the pack for a moment.


    It happened too fast for even the wolves to react. I didn¡¯t miss my chance and cast fear as my pet wolves rushed at them and started tearing them apart. I recast cursed arrow over and over as soon as it was off cooldown.


    Unlike my other battles, I finished this one in less than 2 minutes.


    ¡°Wow, that was easy.¡±


    A single wolf left. it was growling as it stared me down. It was angry at the slaughter of its companions. I could see it¡¯s trembling, I couldn¡¯t tell if it was from anger or if it was afraid for its life.


    Lo, Bo, Ro, and Jo blocked its escape path. I approached the wolf and stopped when it was within an arm¡¯s reach. As we stood in a field of the wolf corpses I could only stand there and stare down at the wolf that was still growling at me.


    ¡®Why am I doing this?¡¯


    I couldn¡¯t help but question why I even started to hunt the wolves down and slaughter them in the first place. Because I was angry? Because I wanted revenge? Because I didn¡¯t want to feel afraid?


    Everything seemed so petty.


    ¡®It¡¯s only a game, isn¡¯t it?¡¯


    I knelt down until I was at eye level with the wolf. It continued to growl but I could see its trembling legs and the fear in its eyes. I began to feel a bit of compassion and empathy for the wolf.


    ¡°Your scared aren¡¯t you?¡±


    I talked but I knew it couldn¡¯t understand me.


    To my surprise, its growling stopped and its trembling diminished until it ceased. The wolf seemed comforted by my words.


    ¡®Did it understand me?... Is this really... a game?¡¯


    I asked myself those questions as I contemplated everything that happened up to now. My rage against the wolves that mauled me was now redirected towards Iano. I didn¡¯t want to make this wolf suffer as I did to the others.


    I stretched out my hand as the wolf hesitated to move.


    ¡°¡­..¡±


    It stood there not knowing what to do as I asked a question.


    ¡°Do you want to join me?¡±


    ¡°¡­..¡±


    The wolf lowered it¡¯s head in submission as it seemed to accept my offer. Or because it knew there was no other choice.


    ¡°Come here then, it won¡¯t hurt, I promise.¡±


    The wolf moved towards my stretched out hand. It only took a step or two for the wolf¡¯s head to reach my hand.


    I began to stroke it¡¯s head as if it was the most natural thing in the world. The wolf closed its eyes and I put both my hands on its head.


    [Vampire''s Touch]


    I cast my spell and life immediately left its body.


    [Acquired 1 Red wolf doll]


    [Would you like to use Red wolf doll?]


    [Yes/No]


    The same monster that I had summoned many times before appeared in front of me.


    I knelt down and stroked the wolf¡¯s head as I did moments ago.


    ¡°Welcome to the family.¡± I had a smile on my face as I said those words.


    I now had a total of 7 summoned pets, of those 7, 5 are wolves.


    I looked at my new summoned pet and gave it a name.


    ¡°Your name will be¡­ Luna!¡±


    Luna wagged her tail, a clear sign that I had given her a good name.


    I began to head back to Anka as the sun had finally set and darkness covered the sky. Even with the pitch black darkness my [King¡¯s Domain] made it hard for anything to sneak up on me. I also had many pets to protect me from anything that would come my way. But to no surprise, there were many things that came my way. Goblins, spiders, snakes, bats, a lot of the monsters started to creep out as soon as the sun finished setting. It was a good call to head back.


    I killed many monsters before I reached the front gates of Anka.


    ¡°Stop right there!¡± As I approached town the guards stopped me and pointed their spears toward me before I could enter the town.


    ¡°Is there a problem sir?¡± I asked with a tilted head


    The guard pointed his finger at my pets


    ¡°Are those yours? Monsters aren¡¯t allowed inside the town¡±


    ¡°Ah, yes, of course, I¡¯m sorry I completely forgot¡± I de-summoned my pets as I apologized


    Once I put my pets away the guards changed their demeanor


    ¡°Welcome to Anka!¡± They said with a smile as they greeted me and stepped to the side


    ¡°Ahhh, yes thank you.¡±


    I still wasn¡¯t very good with social interactions even with NPCs.


    I walked into the town and found a bench to sit on.


    I played MARE for almost 2 days straight with very few breaks, I was very exhausted and wanted to sleep on my bed.


    I worried about my encounter with Iano. I was planning to tell Maico as soon as I could but I knew it could wait until tomorrow.


    [Are you sure you want to log out?]


    [Yes/No]


    -------------------------


    *Knock knock*


    I woke up the next morning with a knock on my door


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    I shouted to the person on the other side of my bedroom. The door opened and my mom peeked her head inside my room.


    ¡°Good morning sweetie¡±


    ¡°Hi¡­¡±


    No matter how old I got I felt like she always treated me like I was still a kid. I didn¡¯t mind it since she has taken care of me the entirety of my life.


    ¡°I made breakfast, do you want to join me?¡±


    One of the perks of still living with her was the constant home cooked meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She made sure I ate since I couldn¡¯t bother to feed myself.


    ¡°Of course I¡¯ll be right over¡±


    As she was about to leave and close the door she stopped and peeked her head back in my room.


    ¡°By the way, Maico called earlier, he said he wanted to talk to you¡±


    I picked up my phone that was sitting on my nightstand. I had a missed call and a text message, it seems I slept through it.


    ¡°You should give him a call, but don¡¯t forget to eat breakfast first okay? I love you!¡±


    ¡°Okay, I love you too¡±


    As soon as she closed the door I opened up the text message, as soon as I read it a huge grin appeared on my face.


    ¡®Hey bro, I got a few of those items you wanted </img>">¡¯

 8. Moving Forward (1)

    I was back at the cafe in Anka. It turned into our ''hang-out spot'' before we knew it. like before I was sitting at the booth in the far corner of the cafe waiting for Maico.


    *Ding ding*


    I heard the familiar chime of the doorbell, I glanced at the entrance. Maico was there as he instinctively walked to the booth we frequented.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± He greeted me


    ¡°It¡¯s only been a day I wasn¡¯t expecting to hear from you for at least 3 days.¡±


    ¡°Haha, you underestimate me¡± he said as he winked


    We both sat down and began to drink our boba as I cut straight to the point.


    ¡°So what were you able to get?¡±


    ¡°Not much, since there isn''t a good indicator of what¡¯s a good market price for RO items. But here take a look¡±


    [Ca1tSith has requested a transaction]


    [Accept/Decline]


    I accepted his transaction request and a menu with 10 slots to trade items and [Lan] appeared.


    One by one he listedthe items.


    [Tuxedo Pants]


    [Tuxedo Jacket]


    [Tuxedo Tie]


    [2 Cat dolls]


    [100 blessing resurrection tickets]


    ¡°Oh!¡±


    These were incredibly good items. To get a costume bonus2 pieces were needed, that would be the pants and shirt. But occasionally an extra piece appearedwas added. Usually it would be a cape but in this case, it was a tie.


    But the items I was most interested in were the 2 Cat Dolls. These dolls were premium items that were coveted by everyone in RO. They were, for the most part, aesthetic pets.There were a few pets that were stronger but these cats were far from weak. Because of their small size, they were very agile and hard to target and would rarely take damage.Not only that, the breed and appearance of the cats were random so no 2 players had the same cat. There was even a player witha sphynx!


    The blessing resurrection tickets are items used to resurrect pets. Theywill come in handy.I was beginning to worry whether I would lose them permanently after they died.


    ¡°What do you think?¡± Maico said with a clear smile on his face


    ¡°These are great!¡±


    Clothing and rare premium pets have no level restrictions. I have nothing to complain about.


    ¡°Haha, I¡¯m glad you like them, the cats weren¡¯t easy to get. I told the seller pets were non-combative here. After that the blessing tickets were easy.¡±


    For many players, this was the unfortunate truth. In MARE pets can only follow you around, pick up items and look pretty. Their combat capabilities were zero. But that wasn¡¯t the case for me, I could use any pet to fight.


    [Cannot proceed with trade inventory is full]


    ¡°Looks like you don¡¯t have any space¡±


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s right, I need a bag¡±


    after fighting all those monsters therewasn''t any space for me to store items with only one bag.


    ¡°You should have said so earlier¡±


    Maico pulled out a brown bag and put the items in the bag before tossing it to me.


    ¡°Here you go¡±


    There is a reason he didn¡¯t simply hand me the items in the first place. It was because we didn''t want to take chances on players spying on us. It was somethingwe learned from playing RO and other MMOs for so long. The less information other players know about us the better.


    ¡°Try on the Tuxedo!¡±


    Maico was urging me to put on the costume. I went into my menu and equipped the tuxedo through the system. My clothes glowed blue for a second before they disappeared. The tuxedo replaced them perfectly fitting to my body.


    ¡°Ohh! Nice!, you just need swirly eyebrows and a cigarette haha¡±


    I smirked at my brother¡¯s comments but he was right. I did look a lot like that chef except for my skin was a pale light blue and my hair wasn¡¯t blonde.


    I looked at the stats bonus of each piece


    [Tuxedo Jacket]


    All skills +4


    Intelligence +20


    Agility +20


    [Tuxedo Pants]


    All Skills +4


    Intelligence +20


    Agility +20


    [Tuxedo Tie]


    All skills +2


    Intelligence +20


    Luck +20


    ¡°What? It has luck?¡±


    The tie gave me Luck. In RO luck was extremely rare. The stat bonuses the costume pieces were always random but luck was especially scarce. You could even say you need a lot of luck to get Luck. I was still unsure whether that only applied for manufacturing in MARE. I would eventually find out.


    ¡°I tried to get you an Intelligence set to make your magic stronger. But I couldn¡¯t find one that also had mind as the secondary stat bonus. But I found this one with Agility and Luck, so now you¡¯ll have to be a fast mage with a lot of luck Hahaha.¡±


    100 was the absolute maximum luck a player could get. no one was ever able to reach anything close to that limit and most players remained at 10.


    Other than stats, thissetgives a +10 on all skills. I pulled up my skill menu but unfortunately, my MARE skills remained the same.


    My RO skills, on the other hand, are a different story.


    [Capture skill][2/30][15/110]


    [Summoning skill][0/30][13/110]


    [Sword skill][1/30][12/110]


    ¡°My MARE skills didn¡¯t go up with the skill bonus¡±


    ¡°I thought as much, it would be too ridiculous if all your skills instantly maxed out.¡±


    That made sense. No matter how you look at it there is a limited amount of skill points you can invest. Gaining +10 points would max out all my MARE skills as soon as I learned them which is absurd.


    ¡°Yeah, I guess you''re right¡±


    I wanted my unique traits to make me an absolute beast. But I knew I was asking for a bit much.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you use the dolls and see what you get?¡±


    I took out the cat dolls from the bag. I didn¡¯t have enough spacefor more summons so I got rid of the 2 golems.


    [Would you like to use Cat doll?]


    [yes/no]


    I didn¡¯t think too much on it, whatever cat I get it doesn¡¯t matter since I like cats.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    I clicked yes and a cat appeared on the table.


    *Meow*


    It was a ragdoll! A long-haired cat with white fur and blue eyes. The ears, nose, and tail were an autumn orange color. Its face and back also had a light tint of the autumn orange color, but for the most part, this cat was white.


    ¡°Wow!¡±


    My brother was surprised as he was leaning forward from his chair staring closely at the cat, he too, loved cats.


    ¡°I love ragdolls! You got a really cute one too, congrats!¡±


    ¡°Thanks¡±


    I have never heard or seen anyone get a ragdoll in RO before. It was even suspected you couldn¡¯t summon one, this was quite surprising. I also had to admit the cat was very majestic looking.


    ¡°Have a name in mind?¡±


    I only had to think about it for a second before answering ¡°Yeah, I do¡±


    As soon as I laid eyes on him a name popped in my head.


    ¡°Snow¡±


    Its fur made me think of winter and the snow that would submerge my hometown in white as far as the eye could see. It was a very appropriate name.


    *Meow*


    Snow walked over to me and started to rub his head against my arm.


    ¡°Seems like he likes you¡±


    ¡°Yeah haha¡±


    I pet snow''s head for a few seconds before pulling out the next cat doll.


    [Would you like to use Cat doll?]


    [yes/no]


    *Meow*


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    Maicoand I were both a bit surprised by the cat that appeared in front of us.


    It was another ragdoll, but this time the colors were a bit different and its fur also seemed to be puffier. Its chest and underbelly, as well as its paws, were white. But its ears were black with some black vertical stripes on his face as well. His entire back all the way up to his tail were different shades of grey. He was a beautiful cat as well.


    ¡°Another ragdoll!? I¡¯ve never even heard of anyone having a ragdoll before, you''re quite lucky it seems¡±


    ¡®Luck¡¯. Could it have anything to do with the extra luck I gained from my [Tuxedo Tie]? It was too early to draw conclusions, but it definitely felt that way.


    ¡°Do you have a name for this one?¡±


    ¡°Ugh¡­ yeah, I just thought of one¡±


    Why my simple naming sense, I chose the first thing that came to mind.


    ¡°Gris¡±


    *Meow*


    I couldn¡¯t tell if Gris liked its name or not as he only sat there and meowed.


    That was untilhe took a look at Snow that was currently rubbing his head on my stomach as he sat on my lap.


    *Hiss*


    Gris¡¯ back made an arc shape and his fur stood on end as he hissed. One glance at Snow and he went into attack mode. Meanwhile, Snow didn¡¯t seem to catch on to Gris¡¯ hostility as he kept purring and rubbing his head on my chest.


    ¡°Aww fuck¡­¡±


    I thought Gris would lunge at Snow at any moment and scratch me in the process.


    ¡°Hahahalooks like you are going to have a few problems on your hands hahaha¡±


    Maico couldn¡¯t stop laughing as I could feel the gazes of the people in the cafe fall on us.


    ¡°Ah, excuse me, sir, there are no pets allowed in the cafe¡±


    I inadvertently gained the attention of the cafe staff as they informed me of their no pet policy.


    ¡°Ahh yes, I¡¯m so sorry I¡¯ll put them away.¡±


    I unsummoned both cats before I got myself in a hairy situation.


    ¡°Well, that was close...¡±


    ¡°Haha, I think you¡¯re going to have fun with those two¡±


    With this, I had 2 cats and 5 wolves. I couldn¡¯t wait to see how strong my pets would be in the future.


    ¡°That¡¯s all I have for ya at the moment, I¡¯ll keep looking for other items that can be of use¡±


    ¡°Thanks, I appreciate you doing this for me these items are already a tremendous help.¡±


    I half expected to get low-quality items, but what my brother gave me were rare-premium items.


    "No problem bro, I''m here to help."


    We both got up to say our usual goodbyes.


    "By the way, when are you going to reach the Mid-Tier region? That¡¯s when all the fun begins you know. This is pretty much the tutorial, nothing exciting happens in initium.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try to get there as soon as possible, I was just testing out the game but now I''m confident I can keep moving forward.¡±


    ¡°Good! I can¡¯t wait to see you there.¡±


    Right before Maico walked away from me he stopped and turnedhis head.


    ¡°Oh! one more thing. Giovanni says he is also waiting for you at Nova. That¡¯s where we have our shop set up. He says there are a few things he wants to show you.¡±


    In RO Maico was always inthe know about the game in a social aspect. He knew exactly who our enemies were. Their alt characters and even when they secretly plotted against us.Hehad an extensive network of spies and allies. But with the current flood of new RO players, even he wouldn¡¯t be able to keep track of everyone.


    But Giovanni was different. He didn¡¯t care too much about that, what he wanted to know was everything having to do with PvP or PK. He was more of a battle maniac, and instead of learning about people he learned more about the game¡¯s mechanics. By understanding the mechanics of a game he is able to stand above all other players.


    ¡°Giovanni wants to teach me how to PvP doesn''t he?¡±


    ¡°Probably¡± Maico said as he shrugged his shoulders


    ¡°That might be a good idea since I ran into Iano and his goons the other day¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Maico stood there with his eyes wide open for a moment as he continued to ask questions. ¡°Where?¡±


    ¡°It was out in the Moorlands, he was with Nosferatu and R4mbo¡±


    ¡°¡­..¡±


    I could seehim clench his fists.


    ¡°What did he say?¡±


    ¡°He accused me of hacking when he saw my pets.¡±


    ¡°Ha!... That''s the only thing he knows how to say. What a hypocrite.¡±


    Itis still the beginning of the game but I know the day we have to face our old enemiesis getting closer.


    ¡°What do you plan to do?¡± I asked Maico as he was in thought


    ¡°For now, nothing much. I¡¯ll let Giovanni know that Iano is going to be in Nova soon. And when they do make it there, we''ll be ready.¡±


    Maico had a big grin on his face as he said those last words.


    ¡°Alright, well when you do let me know. I would love to be a part of that. Meanwhile, I¡¯m going to head to the next town¡±


    "Don''t worry, you won''t miss it"


    We stepped outside the cafe and said goodbye once again and we both headed our separate ways.


    -----------------


    I stepped outside of Anka for the last time, I wouldn¡¯t be coming back anytime soon.


    I pulled up the cats¡¯ stats windows as well as my own.


    [GhostDKing] lvl 14


    [HP- 880] (+5%)


    [MP- 450] (+5%)


    Strength - 33 (+15)


    Dexterity - 37 (+15)


    Agility - 79 (+15)(+40)


    Intelligence - 161 (+15) (+60)


    Mind/Wisdom - 38 (+15)


    Constitution/Vitality - 33 (+15)


    *Luck - 30 (+20)


    Available points: 5


    -------------------------


    GhostDKing¡¯s Pet [Snow] lvl 1


    Strength - 20


    Dexterity - 20


    Agility - 20


    Intelligence - 20


    Vitality- 20


    ----------------


    GhostDKing¡¯s Pet [Gris] lvl 1


    Strength - 20


    Dexterity - 20


    Agility - 20


    Intelligence - 20


    Vitality- 20


    ----------------


    The tuxedo set had a 3/3 piece effect that added +15 to all stats and +5% to HP and MP. My stats had taken a huge leap. I put my extra 5 points into intelligence like usual.


    My cats, Snow and Gris also have high lvl 1 stats. Not to mention I also have 5 wolves.


    I had an enormous sense of confidence I didn¡¯t feel like I would lose to anyone who was the same level as me.


    I walked through the Moorlands as my pets destroyedany monster in my path. I received a few system messagesThat were mostly about Snow and Gris leveling up.Monster corpses were scattered everywhere I went.


    I continued to walk for a few minutes until I finally reached my destination.


    This place was my first hunting ground in MARE. I was back at the golems'' territory.


    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t feel right if I left without meeting you at least once right?¡±


    I began to walk directly to the giant boulder resting at the center. I didn¡¯t even bother throwing rocks or aggroing the small golems and walked right past them. The golems collapsed to the ground before they even managed to rise to their feet. Lo, Bo, Ro, Jo, Luna, and even Snow and Gris were turning the golems into rubble with their sharp claws. I kept my eye on the huge boulder at the center and stoppedat a 5m distance.


    ¡°.....¡±


    I stood there for a few seconds as my pets demolished any golem that tried to approach me.


    ¡°So... are you going to show yourself?¡±


    I began to doubt my intuition. Was this actually a field boss? Or was I just talking to anactual boulder? I started to feel embarrassed at the thought that I have been talking to an ordinary boulder.


    ¡°Oh boy¡­ Well, this is kind of awkward... Good thing no one is here to see this¡±


    As I put my hand on the back of my head in shame and was about to walk away, the ground shook.


    ¡°Oh!¡±


    I regained my posture and looked at the giant boulder that was lifting itself off the ground. A giant golem appeared in front of me. It appeared to be around 10m tall.


    ¡°Wow, you''re big¡±


    The golem slowly raised its hand towards the sky and slammed it to the ground where I was standing. I easily evaded the attack and was already behind the golem. Normally I wouldn¡¯t act so carefree but I was confident in my abilities. My agility had more than doubled. The golem appeared to be standing still and I could effortlessly avoid any attack it threw at me.


    I still had my short sword which was on the verge of breaking. I stepped back and cast fear. The golem seemed unaffected by the status debuff but I could see the curse damage.


    I cast Cursed Arrow. when my magic made contactthe impact was so strong that giant chunks of the golem came flying off. I was certain that with 4 or 5 more hits from cursed arrow the golem would fall. But I didn¡¯t come here to defeat it that easily.


    I ran in-between its legs and in the blink of an eye, I had covered a 10-meter distance. Igot directly underneath the golem as I drew my short sword and slashed at its left leg. Icould tell my proficiency with blades increased proportionately to my sword skill. As soon as the sword made contact with the golem the sword shattered to pieces. Like my sword, the golem''s leg also shattered as it fell to one knee.


    ¡°That should enough¡±


    I stepped away from the golem as I ordered my pets to finish it off.


    [You have leveled up]


    [Snow has leveled up]


    [Gris has leveled up]


    [Luna has leveled up].....


    I received a myriad of system messages. It seems field bosses are worth quite a bit. I looked for loot that the golem might have dropped. Unfortunately, there were mostly pebbles and rocks. Until I found something that caught my attention.


    [Defense up II]


    It was a card.


    ¡®Is this an enchantment?¡¯


    I did know of cards that could affix a property or some sort of ability onto equipment. Was this it? I put the card in my inventory and continued to search for anything else.


    ¡® That''s everything.¡¯


    I don''t know how strong a field bossis supposed to be but this was much too easy. I didn¡¯t want to get too self-confident because of what happened with the wolves. But with this, I knew there was nothing more for me in this area.


    I began walking north as my pets followed.


    My next destination, a city by the name of ''Aethra''.

 9. Moving Forward (2)

    After traversing a path between 2 mountains I came upon a clearing. Expansive grassland stretched out as far as my eyes couls see. At an approximately 5 kilometer distance, I noticed a city with massive walls. By its looks, it should be my next destination, the holy city ¡®Aethra¡¯.


    I arrived at the colossal city gates that were elegantly adorned with gold. There were many guards lined up along the entrance. None of them made a move or sound as I crossed the bridge leading into the city.


    Once I passed the gates I immediately felt a sense of prestige exuded by the city. If Anka was the slums, then this was the wealthy class. Many gold symbols resembling the sun adorned the buildings. As I passed through the streets I remembered spotting some similar symbols in Anka. Although they are the same, the ones in Anka were cheaply made of wood. Unlike Aethra''s which were made of gold.


    I kept my eyes peeled for any weapon or armor shops. After fighting the Giant Golem I became unarmed. Not to mention I have no armor to wear either. There were a few other towns nearby but at my level, Aethra will have the best quality equipment.


    After walking around the busy shopping district of Aethra a weapon shop caught my attention. ¡°Holy Sword¡± was the name of the shop with a logo of a sword and shield with wings.


    *Ding Ding*


    The doorbell chimed as I walked in


    ¡°Hello! Welcome holy customer!¡±


    A slightly overweight bearded man in a white robe greeted me with a smile from ear to ear.


    ¡°Hi...¡±


    I tried my best to ignore him as I looked around the store. There were countless weapons adorning the walls and shelves. Axes, Swords, Spears, Bows, Shields, Maces. Almost every weapon you could find in a medieval setting was here. The weapons looked very well made. I could describe their appearance as fancy.


    ¡°Is there anything I can help you with sir?¡±


    I was a little hesitant to get assistance to avoid as much social interaction as possible. But I soon gave in.


    ¡°Ugh¡­ I¡¯m actually looking for a weapon¡±


    ¡°What kind of weapon are you looking for? We carry just about anything!¡±


    I wanted to try different weapons to find out what worked best for me. I became familiar with short swords so it was time for something different.


    ¡°Do you have something for magic users?¡±


    ¡°Of course! Please follow me.¡±


    I followed the store owner to the back end of the shop.


    ¡°Here we are¡±


    I walked past him into the area he gestured me towards. The entire wall was decorated with weapons fit for a wizard. Canes, Staffs, wands, grimoires just about any weapon that was specifically designed for magic users.


    ¡°If you see anything you like please don¡¯t hesitate to ask me.¡±


    ¡°Ah yes, thank you, I¡¯ll let you know if I find anything I like.¡±


    I tried to give him the hint that I didn¡¯t want him around while I looked at the selection. He appeared to read my mood as he hurriedly bowed and walked away.


    I looked back towards the wall filled with magic weapons. They all seemed to have a similar white color scheme. It made me think the weapons could only be used for holy magic as their appearance could only be described as divine.


    I picked up a wand with a spiral design that had a large blue gem at the end of it.


    ---------------------------


    Vortex wand


    Required level: 15


    Damage: 10-15


    Intelligence: +25


    Class restricted


    ---------------------------


    I was currently lvl 16 so wielding the wand wouldn¡¯t be a problem, it also gave me +25 on intelligence. That would be a great boost to my already high Intelligence. It was very light and was fortunately very aesthetic in my own opinion.


    ¡®Now if I want to use a wand I should also use a shield for my free hand.¡¯


    I looked up and down the wall full of mage weapons for a shield. At the very bottom left corner of the wall, there were a few shields being displayed. I guess shields aren¡¯t very popular. Some of them were only sturdy steel bucklers. I was disappointed at the selection, that was until I saw the blue glimmer of a gem. I picked up the shield that had the gem embedded in it.


    ---------------------------


    Divine Blaze Magic Shield


    Required lvl: 16


    Base Block Defense: 20


    Automatic block chance: 8%


    Fire resistance: +10%


    Intelligence: +20


    Class restricted


    ---------------------------


    The shield was too large to be a buckler. It was a white round shield with 8 dark spikes that gave it the appearance of a star. It contained a large red gem in the center. The symbol of a red sun was embellished around the gem.


    With this, I was satisfied with the wand and shield I chose. I looked at the price tags, 1,200 [Lan] for the shield and 800 [Lan] for the wand. I wasn¡¯t too worried about the price. I had over 5,000 [Lan] from all the hunting and Jean quests I completed.


    Now all I need is to find some armor. I headed back to the section of the shop where I saw pieces of armor. They were decorated in the same holy semblance as the rest of the items. Fortunately, the look of the armor pieces didn¡¯t really matter considering they will be hidden under my tuxedo. There was armor ranging from cloth to plate. I didn¡¯t want to wear anything that was too heavy so I avoided the plate armor altogether.


    As light as cloth armor is, I''d rather have something with a bit more defense. I decided on leather armor, it has the right amount of weight without sacrificing too much defense.


    I picked up many pieces of armor and checked each of their stats until I found one I liked.


    ---------------------------


    Moonlight upper armor


    Required lvl: 16


    Defense: +6


    Magic resistance: +2%


    Intelligence: +4


    Mind: +2


    Moonlight set: 0/5


    ---------------------------


    ''This armor has a set!''


    I quickly began to search for the remaining pieces throughout the shop. I even rummaged through the barrels full of scrap items. Out of the corner of my eye, I got a glimpse of the confused look on the shopkeeper''s face as I darted back and forth through the shop.


    ''Found them!'' I thought inwardly as a grin emerged on my face.


    ---------------------------


    Moonlight hood


    Required level: 15


    Defense: +5


    Magic resistance: +2%


    Intelligence: +4


    Mind: +2


    Moonlight set: 0/5


    ---------------------------


    ---------------------------


    Moonlight lower armor


    Required level: 15


    Defense: +5


    Magic resistance: +2%


    Intelligence: +4


    Mind: +2


    Moonlight set: 0/5


    ---------------------------


    ---------------------------


    Moonlight gloves


    Required level: 14


    Defense: +5


    Magic resistance: +2%


    Intelligence: +4


    Dexterity: +2


    Moonlight set: 0/5


    ---------------------------


    ---------------------------


    Moonlight boots


    Required level: 14


    Defense: +5


    Magic resistance: +2%


    Intelligence: +4


    Agility: +2


    Moonlight set: 0/5


    ---------------------------


    After inspecting all the pieces I started to make my way toward the shopkeeper. I looked at the price tags which ranged from 600-400 [Lan] which summed up to a total of 2,400 [Lan].


    "Did you find everything you were looking for?" The shopkeeper said with a forced smile as I approached him.


    "Mostly" I replied nonchalantly as I put all the items on the counter.


    He looked at the items and sorted through them as he mumbled the prices under his breath.


    "That''ll be 4,400 [Lan]!" That was the correct amount, so I at least knew he wasn''t trying to scam me.


    "Don''t you have a buy two get one free deal? Or a first-time shopper''s discount?" I tried to haggle a bit with the shopkeeper for a discount considering the number of items I was buying.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "Puhaha!" After a few back and forths, he laughed tilting his head back putting his hands on his belly. "You drive a hard bargain!" He said still trying to hold back his laughter.


    "That''ll be 3,800 [Lan]!" After some haggling, I managed to get a 600 [Lan] discount.


    I handed him the money and picked up the items and put them in my inventory.


    "Thank you for your purchase!" The shopkeeper thanked me while bowing.


    "Ugh, yeah no problem" I waved awkwardly as I tried to make my way to the exit. But I quickly stopped and turned to address the shopkeeper once again.


    "By the way, do you know where to find the ''Impure Sanctum''?"


    As soon as I said those last words the shopkeeper stiffened up and his eyes opened wide. He stayed there without moving or saying anything for what seemed like forever.


    "Umm.." I took a step forward


    "Please don''t!" He put his hands up to stop me from getting closer. "Please don''t ask me about that place..."


    "Ugh, yeah sure. I''m sorry for asking..."


    It looked like I wasn''t going to get any information from him. I didn''t know what else to say so I simply bowed and made my way to the door.


    As I reached for the door it slowly creaked open on its own.


    *Ding Ding*


    The doorbell chime rang in my ears as a familiar face appeared in front of me. A bald Barto warrior stood at the entrance of the shop.


    "Hey! It''s been a while Hero" I smiled. I was happy to see a familiar face.


    He looked at me for a second before responding "Oh hi! Haha, it has, how have you been? That''s a very nice suit by the way"


    We struck up a casual conversation as we made our way back to the shopkeeper. Hero dropped a stack of armors and weapons on the counter.


    "I would like to sell these" The sound of metal hitting the counter and Hero''s voice seemed to bring the shopkeeper back to his senses.


    "Ugh¡­ of course. I''m sorry, give me one moment please" He pulled eyeglasses from his pocket and used them to closely appraise the equipment.


    "So what brings you to this shop?" Hero asked as he waited for his items to be appraised.


    "I was in need of upgrading my equipment and this shop looked like a good place to stop by"


    "Makes sense" he nodded. "This place does have pretty good stuff and the prices are fair. So you came to the right place!" He smiled and gave me a thumbs up.


    "Glad to know I made the right choice" I faintly smiled back before my curiosity got the best of me. "By the way, where did you get all this gear?"


    "The bandit camps"


    "Bandit camps?" I asked with a confused face. I had heard of them but I wasn''t exactly sure where they were.


    "Yeah, the bandit camps" he looked at my still confused face for a few seconds. "Didn''t you get the quests or pass through the mountains?"


    "I walked between the mountains actually" I had received an overall idea of the area from my brother but he failed to give me any specific details. ''Impure Sanctum is the best place to grind'' is what he told me. "Also I haven''t been doing any quests" I continued to explain.


    "I see, makes sense, that''s fine though you haven''t really missed anything important. So far it was mostly destroying bandit camps and saving NPCs from prison labor mines."


    ¡°The items are worth 2,200 [Lan]¡± Just as Hero was explaining the quests to me the shopkeeper finished appraising the items. ¡°How would you like me to pay you?¡±


    ¡°In Lan please¡±


    The shopkeeper handed over the 2,200 [Lan]


    ¡°Thank you¡±


    ¡°Pleasure doing business with you¡±


    After the transactions were completed we made our way to the exit.


    ¡°So what are you going to do now?¡± Hero asked as we stepped out of the shop.


    I looked around to make sure no one else was around before answering to avoid the same incident as a few minutes ago ¡°Well I¡¯m looking for a place called the ¡®Impure sanctum¡¯. Have you heard of it?¡±


    Hero stopped for a second and looked at me with a smile.


    ¡°That¡¯s actually my next destination haha¡±.


    * * * * *


    ¡®El Dorado¡¯ A city in the mid-tier zone


    At the Round-Table


    Currently, 11 players were sitting at a round table each with 2 companions standing as bodyguards behind them. An attendance of a total of 33 players were gathered at the Round-Table.


    ¡°Why did you call this meeting?¡± A bulky human with a scruffy beard asked in agitation as he directed his question to the brown haired human sitting across from him. ¡°Answer me Ca1tSith!¡±


    Ca1tSith sat with his arms crossed as he took his time thinking about the best way to answer the question.


    ¡°Well, It¡¯s actually very simple¡± He paused and took a sip of the drink at his side that could only be obtained in the high-tier zones. A gesture that appeared to be purely for dramatic effect only irritated the other attendants at the table. Ca1tSith had a smirk on his face when he put the cup down as he saw the infuriated faces of the other guild masters. ¡°As you all know, there was recently a mass migration from the players in RO. The number of players that migrated was well over a few thousand which is much more than what was expected. It¡¯s no secret that I and many of you came from the same game. And as some of you may know, a lot of these¡­ ¡®players¡¯ aren''t exactly my friends.¡± Ca1tSith paused once again and took a sip from his cup before continuing. ¡°So, what I¡¯m getting at is¡­ I simply want to know where all of you stand.¡±


    ¡°IS THAT A THREAT!?¡± The bulky human shouted as he got up from his chair slamming his hands on the round table.


    In a split second all the bodyguards unsheathed and brandished their weapons.


    "Sit down Gucha!" A petite woman with snow-white skin and black hair commanded with absolute authority.


    "....." Gucha didn''t say a word as he obediently sat back down on his chair. He crossed his arms and legs and turned away like a pouting child.


    "That''s right, sit down and let the adults talk" Ca1tSith threw salt on his wounds. Gucha''s face turned beet red from embarrassment with no choice but to hold back his indignation.


    "But I do want to hear the answer to his question, Cat" The petite woman of the Vita race directed her cold gaze at Ca1tSith. "Are you saying if I recruit someone you don''t like you¡¯ll wage war against Affinity?"


    At that moment.


    "A fight between ''The Dark Ones'' and ''Affinity''? That would be a sight to see"


    "Haha! wouldn''t it? Isn''t Affinity stronger though?"


    "If it was solely between guilds then obviously Affinity is the stronger of the two but Ca1tSith has many allies you know.¡±


    "What about ''Elite Society''? Doesn''t Ca1tSith have a brother?"


    "He does but he''s been inactive for almost half a year now"


    "It''s not that he''s been inactive, he just agreed to a truce"


    "A truce? With who?"


    "With everyone..."


    A lot of side chatter erupted when the prospect of a war between two major guilds was brought up.


    The guild leader of ''Affinity'' glanced at the empty seat next to Ca1tSith. "Speaking of people who would wage war on me, where is your brother? Is he ever going to attend a meeting?"


    "Don''t worry about my brother" Ca1tSith retorted "But to answer your question, It''s not a threat¡± He picked up his drink one more time and took a sip. ¡°It''s a warning."


    ¡°Ha! You''re just trying to cover your ass for threatening everyone here!¡± Gucha grunted ¡°You¡¯re scared!¡± a clear smirk appeared on his face.


    ¡°Scared?¡± Ca1tSith glared at Gucha.


    He picked up his cup and took a sip once more ¡°If it was a threat, It would look something like this¡± Ca1tSith instantaneously vanished leaving a black haze in his place. He appeared atop the round table sword in hand directly in front of gucha.


    ¡°DON''T MOVE!¡± Ca1tSith shouted as he pressed the tip of his sword on Gucha¡¯s neck. His bodyguards were too slow to respond.


    *Clank Clank*


    The cup he held in his hand hit the table. ¡°If you move he dies¡± no one moved a muscle and the chamber was dead silent for a split second.


    ¡°I know you have close ties with Iano¡± A black aura completely shrouded Ca1tSith¡¯s body, a trait of his unique class ¡®Dark Knight¡¯ ¡°If I ever see you with Iano I will kill you! If you ever try to conspire against my brother I will kill you!¡± He pressed the sword until drops of blood ran down his neck. A purple icon appeared over Ca1tSith¡¯s head.


    He released the pressure from his sword and casually walked back to his companions. He sheathed his sword before jumping off the table. ¡°That goes for everyone here,¡± He said with his back to the round table.


    ¡°¡­..¡±


    ¡°¡­..¡±


    ¡°¡­..¡±


    The chamber remained completely silent. No one said anything while he remained shrouded in black. ¡°The peace I granted all of you will no longer keep you safe. It is time to decide where you stand.¡±


    ¡°What peace do you think you have provided?¡± A Barto with golden eyes began to speak. ¡°You know other than Gucha, I have the most members from RO, I also have ties with Iano and others. There are also many here and in MARE with at least some connection with RO players. you are declaring war against half of MARE. You think you will come out of this unharmed?¡±


    Ca1tSith turned to look at the Barto ¡°Delectable, how long have you and the Untouchables been in MARE?¡±


    Delectable had a puzzled look on his face ¡°A little over 6 months, but so what?¡± Delectable and the Untouchables at one point were the strongest guild in RO. They decided to migrate as a guild when they saw no future in RO.


    ¡°I thought so, you weren¡¯t here long enough to even know why this Round-Table was created.¡±


    ¡°So what if I¡¯m new? The reason I¡¯m here is the same as everyone else. Because we are strong and we will not be pushed around by you!¡± Delectable was beginning to get agitated.


    ¡°You¡¯re right, you guys are quite strong, but out of everyone here you are definitely the weakest.¡± Ca1tSith nonchalantly taunted him.


    ¡°Weak!? You think I''m weak? You are the one who had to threaten Gucha to protect Viciouz. Where is he anyway? I haven¡¯t even seen him once since I¡¯ve been in MARE. Is he so scared he can¡¯t even show his face?¡±


    ¡°HAHAHAHAHA¡± Ca1tSith erupted in laughter. ¡°Haha¡­ What makes you think I was talking about Viciouz? Believe me, Viciouz doesn¡¯t need any protection.¡±


    Not only Delectable but many others in attendance also had a puzzled look on their face.


    ¡°Who is he talking about if not his brother?¡±


    ¡°Is there another brother we aren¡¯t aware of?¡±


    ¡°...It¡¯s... Ghost?¡± Delectable mumbled as he had a sudden realization.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough talking, I said what I came here to say¡± Ca1tSith turned his back and began to exit the chamber. But before leaving he turned around and shot a cold gaze to Affinity''s Guild Master. ¡°It won¡¯t end like before¡± He said before turning around to make his exit.


    She stared at his back until it completely disappeared ¡°I look forward to it¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see who kills who¡± Gucha mumbled under his breath as he held his hand to his neck trying to stop the bleeding.


    * * * * *


    I was making my way to the instance dungeon known as ¡®Impure Sanctum¡¯. Hero guided me to the old NPC that looked like a homeless man in an alley. He granted the quest ¡®Cleanse the Impurity¡¯. Like any other MMO, we simply had to go in the dungeon and kill the boss.


    ¡°So there are some unique classes that aren¡¯t mentioned in the character creation?¡± Hero and I were chatting as we walked for 4km east of Aethra.


    ¡°Yeah, I know my brother is a Dark Knight which isn¡¯t a class you can normally get.¡±


    ¡°So how do you become a Dark Knight?¡± Herotecha asked with sparkling eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, I think you have to be a human and become a knight first. So, unfortunately, you can¡¯t become one¡±


    ¡°Ah... I guess that makes sense.¡± clear disappointment could be seen in his face.


    ¡°But I do know that Bartos also have some rare unique classes¡±


    ¡°Really, What are they?¡±


    ¡°Ugh¡­ I don¡¯t know actually¡± my attempt to cheer him up wasn¡¯t going too well.


    ¡°I see¡± Hero said as he looked downcast. ¡°Well, what does a Dark Knight do?¡±


    ¡°They can transform, he wears darkness like armor. He can also teleport short distances¡±


    ¡°So like a blink¡±


    ¡°Yeah like a blink¡±


    ¡°So what else can he do?¡± Hero continued to show interest in the Dark Knight class.


    ¡°Other than become slightly bigger he gets a boost in his stats and abilities, also his reach becomes longer. Ahh and I think anything he cuts can¡¯t be healed.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean they can¡¯t be healed? Like they¡¯ll just keep bleeding until they die?¡±


    ¡°Yeah I think so, even a small scratch will continue to bleed.¡±


    ¡°Wow... sounds pretty strong.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡± I nodded in agreement.


    ¡°How many Dark Knights currently exist in MARE?¡±


    ¡°I think 3, but they are all in my brother¡¯s guild or are friends of his, he has a monopoly on the class¡±


    ¡°Haha, makes sense¡± hero laughed as we continued to walk.


    ¡°I think we¡¯re here¡± We spotted an enormous cathedral. Honestly, it was much too large to just be a cathedral, this thing looked like a large castle.


    As we got closer the green grass turned into a stained brown, once we arrived at the Cathedral there was no vegetation whatsoever and the atmosphere had completely turned gloomy.


    ¡°So this is the Impure Sanctum.¡± I said as I looked at its peak


    ¡°Looks like it¡±


    Hero continued to walk forward towards what seemed to be the entrance of the dungeon. A crowd of players could be seen gathered there. I looked at the crowd and saw a few familiar faces that made an unpleasant feeling welled up in my chest. It was Iano and his entourage.

 10. Impure Sanctum (1)

    I stood still and looked at Iano''s group from a distance.


    "Is something wrong?" Hero had a concerned look on his face


    "Oh... yeah, sorry, I''m fine" I snapped back to reality


    "You were standing there in a daze, did you see a ghost?"


    I smiled at the question not knowing if the pun was intended.


    "No, I see something worse. I think we might have some trouble before we''re able to enter the dungeon"


    "What kind of trouble?" Hero asked tilting his head.


    "I see some unpleasant faces. Let''s just try to ignore them we can''t pk here anyways."


    "Alright" Hero nodded. We proceeded to the large gathering of players outside the entrance.


    "Let''s try to go straight in" I suggested


    Hero simply followed my lead. We weaved through the groups of players that were segregated into parties of at least 5. We reached the entrance of the dungeon. A blue portal was glowing in front of the cathedral. Since Hero and I had already formed a party we should be able to go in together. I reached out to the portal but when my hand touched the light I received a message.


    [The minimum number of players required to enter this dungeon is 3.


    The recommended amount is 5.


    Please come back when you have the required number of players]


    "Fuck!"


    I was hoping to get into the dungeon without incidents. I looked in the direction where I last saw Iano and his groupies. Surely enough he was making his way to us. His lapdogs followed in tow like flies on shit. I tried to move as far away from the portal as possible hoping he might go into the dungeon instead of coming after me. But that was only wishful thinking.


    "If it isn''t my friend Ghost." Iano arrived speaking with a condescending tone "Nice suit by the way. Too bad it only looks good." He acted as if he felt bad for me. If he only knew about my unique traits he wouldn''t be mocking me.


    "You still have nothing better to do with your time than waste mine?" Just looking at him made me agitated


    "Haha, I just came to say hi, I was wondering what you were doing here."


    ''What could I possibly be doing here at this dungeon?'' Anyone could see his obvious excuse to antagonize me. "I came to sell boy scout cookies how about you?"


    "Hehe, is that so?" Iano giggled


    "Yeah, you want some?" I began to rummage through a storage bag Hero gifted me after he obtained it from the bandits.


    "....." Iano had a puzzled look on his face. "Did you actually bring cookies to the Impure sanctum?"


    "Yeah, I got some bird-shaped ones." I could see the look of anticipation in Iano''s group. Who didn''t love cookies after all? Especially in games, consumable items like candy would grant special buffs. Some could even raise experience gains from all sources.


    Hero gave me an inquisitive ''what are you doing?'' gaze. He was probably wondering what I''m searching for since he knows the bag is empty. I flashed him a grin before turning back to Iano and his group.


    "Here we go! Found them!" I pulled my hand out of the bag with nothing but an obscene hand gesture.


    "One for you, one for you, one for you too" I put my hand in and out of the bag as I continued to give everyone in Iano''s group the finger.


    "Puhahaha!" Hero burst out laughing "Haha, Gottem! Hahaha"


    I could see the veins on Iano''s face bulge as it turned red. "You motherfu-"


    "Why don''t you and your groupies fuck off?" I cut him off before he could finish his sentence.


    Who the fuck do guys think they are talking too?" This time R4mbo stepped forward.


    "Get back R4mbo I''m the one speaking to them." Iano raised his hand signaling R4mbo to step back.


    "Yes, boss" He quickly complied and stepped back.


    Iano looked over at Hero who was still laughing. "Who is he?" He asked me.


    "Don''t worry about it" I didn''t want to drag Hero into my problems. But to my surprise Hero caught his breath and stepped forward.


    "My name''s Herotecha, and you are?"


    "....." Iano hesitated for a bit, I don''t think he expected Hero to introduce himself. "Iano¡­" he responded half-heartedly. "So, what are you doing with a hacker?"


    "Hacker?"


    "Yeah, don''t you kn-"


    "I''m not a hacker you need to stop projecting yourself on others." These accusations were something I heard hundreds of times.


    "Sure you aren''t" Iano denied my claims before turning to Hero. "Anyways, Herotecha right? Why don''t you come over to my group? We already have a party of 5 and have some high-level players with us. We can easily and safely clear this dungeon. So how about it? Won''t you join us?"


    Iano was blatantly attempting to steal my only party member. But It was surely an appealing deal. He wouldn''t have to worry about getting hurt and most of the heavy lifting would be done by the higher-level part members. Herotecha looked to me for a few seconds before turning back to Iano.


    "Sorry, I don''t think I will" Hero gestured with his chin at the group behind Iano. "Besides I don''t think you need any help, so thanks for the offer but I''ll have to pass" Hero gave me a subtle thumbs up afterward. I really appreciated his sense of fellowship.


    "I see, then you shall share the same fate as him."


    Hero frowned ever so slightly at those words. Iano is petty, he always held grudges over small things. Unfortunately, I got Hero mixed up in my problems. I felt guilty but at the same time, I felt a sense of trust.


    "I see you aren''t very friendly, threatening me because I didn''t accept your offer seems like a bit much. But if that''s how you want it¡­ then so be it."


    Iano stood silent with his arms crossed and an arrogant smirk on his face. From here on out even if Hero and I weren''t together we had a common enemy. But I didn''t want us to stand here and have to listen to him any longer. I got close enough to Hero so only he could hear me. "Can you go find us a 3rd party member so we can enter the dungeon? I know Iano, he isn''t going to leave us alone."


    "Are you going to be alright by yourself?"


    Yeah, I''ve had to deal with this guy plenty of times before. Besides, he can''t do anything to me, we''re still in Initium which is a no PK zone."


    Hero thought about it for a moment before agreeing "Alright, I''ll be back as soon as possible" I watched him walk into the crowd of players that were waiting to enter the Impure Sanctum.


    "Where is he going?" Iano asked as he watched Hero walk away as well.


    "That''s none of your business. Can you leave now?"


    "Haha, I hope you and your friend are ready for what''s about to come."


    "What are you talking about?"


    "You do know what this place is right?"


    "The Impure Sanctum?"


    "This is the last stop before the middle zones. After this, there will be no safe place for you to hide" He is right about one thing, this is the end of Initium. After the Impure Sanctum is an enormous city that separates the low-tier and mid-tier zones, ''Nova''. It didn''t slip my mind, I just skipped everything that I deemed not important. The mountains and its villages, the bandits, the prison camps, the mines, and even the 3 other cities. I was progressing by pressing the skip button.


    "You think I''m scared of you?" I was indeed trying my best to avoid him. But that was only to prevent these unpleasant conversations with him. Once I make it to the Mid-tier zones I will kill him on sight.


    "You''re saying you aren''t? Then why do you always seem to be avoiding me? It''s obvious you''re scared of me because of all the members I''ve already managed to gather from RO. You wouldn''t stand a chance against me." Iano proudly said with a smirk as he raised his hands gesturing towards the players standing behind him. Not only were Nosferatu and R4mbo there but 2 other Italians whose names I couldn''t recall.


    "I don''t need people to babysit me to feel better about myself. You know you wouldn''t act so boldly if you were alone. But that was always like you, ganging up on people because you can''t do anything alone. The same coward as always"


    "What did you say?"


    "You heard me, I called you a coward because that''s what you are."


    "You''re the fucking cowa-"


    "Hey, I''m back!" Before Iano finished his sentence Hero returned with another player.


    "That was fast" I was glad he returned so soon. I was more than ready to leave.


    "Yeah. I found someone who was looking for a party. I''ll let you two introduce yourselves" Hero stepped to the side and the Krux that was standing behind him walked up to me extending his arm.


    "Hello, my name is Timezup, Nice to meet you!" he said with a smile.


    "Timezup? That''s a cool name! I''m GhostDKing, nice to meet you too!" We were both all smiles as we shook hands and introduced ourselves.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    ".¡­." Iano could only stand there glaring at us while we ignored him.


    "Let''s not waste any time, we should get going" I added Timezup to the party and tried to hurry us along.


    "Is it just us 3?" Timez asked.


    "Yeah, we''ll be fine trust me" I reassured him.


    "Haha, you''re going to die you know?" Iano couldn''t help but butt-in to our conversation.


    "Who is that?" Timez was meeting Iano for the first time


    "Don''t listen to him he just an asshole." I didn''t want to drag someone I just met into my problems as well. "We should get out of here first"


    Both Hero and Timez agreed and followed me as I lead the way to the portal.


    "Not only will you die in the Impure Sanctum, but you''ll also die the next time I see you! Your new friend better not be anywhere near you when that happens or I''ll kill him too!" Iano''s voice began to trail off as we got further and further from him.


    "What''s his problem?" Timez asked as we reached the portal


    "I''m not sure, maybe it''s an inferiority complex"


    "Yeah, maybe haha"


    We all had a light laugh as we reached the portal. I stretched my hand out to the blue portal.


    [You are about to enter the Impure Sanctum.


    Recommended level 25


    Recommended part size 5


    Do you still want to enter]


    [Yes/No]


    I was way under-leveled for this but I was confident in my abilities and new equipment. Without hesitation, I clicked yes. I felt my body being pulled into the portal and my vision went completely dark.


    * ??*?? *?? *?? *


    ''Nova''


    Inside the shop ''Elite Armory''


    *Ding Ding*


    A familiar door chime could be heard as a man with brown hair and black armor walked in.


    "Hi welcome to Eli-" The young female Vita cut her greeting short when she realized who walked in. "Oh it''s only you Maico" she said playfully


    "Haha, nice to see you too Forkroo"


    Forkroo only smiled and went back to tidying up the place. There was a large variety of armor pieces, weapons, and accessories. Every single item shimmered and was unmistakably top of the line. Any appraiser could see at first glance the utmost quality of craftsmanship in every piece.


    "You don''t have to do all that you know." Ca1tSith felt a sense of guilt as he watched Forkroo reach up high and crouch down low. She wiped off even the most minimal specks of dust that were staining the pieces that were displayed.


    "It''s the least I can do!" She said with a cheerful smile "I mean you guys have taken care of me over the years. Even in RO, I was always being helped. I want to at least pay back a little of the generosity you have shown me."


    "Alright, just don''t work too hard"


    "Pfff! This isn''t hard at all haha!" She laughed waving the dust cloth she held in her hand.


    "...If you say so" Ca1tSith could only smile and scratch his head as Forkroo continued to clean up. He looked around the shop for a few seconds.


    "By the way, where is my brother?"


    Forkroo stopped cleaning and stood up. She ran her hand through her blonde hair to move it away from her face. She glanced at a door located behind the counter.


    "Umm, I think he''s in the back making something." She said with her thumb pointing over her shoulder.


    "I see, thank you. I''m going to talk to him." He quickly made his way behind the counter. As he reached for the door, Forkroo shyly spoke "Umm¡­ Did something happen?" Concern could be felt in her voice. In a game where you can instantly message other players no matter the distance. It is rare to opt towards talking in person. Especially for Ca1tSith whose social group is exceptionally large. But the thing that filled her with the most concern was the red Icon that floated over his head. A red skull, the mark of someone who killed another player, a PK.


    He paused in front of the door. Not knowing what to say he hesitated before answering in a low voice. "... Not yet". He looked back for a moment to look at Forkroo. "..." He didn''t know what else to say, it wasn''t easy for him. He turned away hoping not to worry her any further. But it was too late, Forkroo had not seen such a serious look on his face in a long time. She didn''t know what would happen or who was involved. But her intuition told her things wouldn''t be the same.


    "I''ll be going then" he began to open the door. But before he could step inside he heard Forkroo call out to him.


    "Be kind to each other!" She didn''t know about the current situation. But she was always concerned about the two brothers getting along like a worried mother.


    "Haha" he let out a laugh "Of course!" he looked back at Forkroo with a reassuring smile before stepping through the door.


    *Clang*


    *Clang*


    *Clang*


    The sound of metal could be heard when he entered the room. There were boxes upon boxes stacked on huge metal shelves along the walls. Each containing rare, raw material for crafting. In a corner, a light illuminating the room could be seen. A man sat in front of that light swinging a hammer down over and over again. Ca1tSith made his way towards the man with the hammer.


    *CLANG*


    *CLANG*


    *CLANG*


    The sound of metal crashing against metal became louder as he approached. With each strike, sparks flew across the room like fireworks.


    Ca1tSith stood behind the Krux sitting in front of a furnace crashing his hammer on an anvil. Red hot steel could be seen being molded into shape. Ca1tSith stood quietly behind the man as he watched the process of a masterpiece being made.


    *Tzzz*


    The red hot blade was dipped in a tub of water. The blade was then removed from the tub and the final product was visible. Ca1tSith could only stare in admiration.


    ¡°I suspect you came here to tell me something instead of watching me make weapons.¡± The Krux said as he looked at the blade in his hand.


    ¡°¡­ You¡¯re right. There¡¯s something we have to talk about.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± The Krux continued to work o. the blade.


    ¡°The truce will most likely end soon.¡±


    ¡°....¡± The Krux froze like a statue with the blade in his hands when he heard those words.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that what you always wanted Zolos?¡±


    Zolos put the blade down on the anvil and stood up, he turned to face his brother. ¡°But is it what you want?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± The one to stay silent this time was Ca1tSith


    ¡°Are you and TheDarkOnes prepared for something like this? But more importantly, have you thought about her?¡± Zolos looked past the door leading to the store¡¯s front counter. ¡°Can you keep her safe?¡±


    ¡°I can, that¡¯s what I¡¯ve- " He cut himself short "No, it¡¯s what TheDarkOnes have been preparing for¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Zolos sat back down and continued to work on the blade.


    ¡°What about you? Are you ready?¡±


    ¡°What do you think I¡¯ve been doing for the last 6 months?¡±


    ¡°Haha that¡¯s true, that¡¯s all you ever think about.¡±


    ¡°So the world is finally starting to move again, I¡¯m glad. Things were starting to get stagnate¡± Zolos finished the blade by carving his name right above the hilt. He put it away in one of the many boxes that lined the room¡¯s walls. ¡°What about David? He will get caught in the middle of all this¡±


    ¡°Well, then it¡¯s a good thing he has 2 big brothers to watch out for him, isn¡¯t it? Haha¡±


    ¡°I guess we¡¯ll have to. What about Tru? He also just joined with the merge¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about him. He¡¯s already with TheDarkOnes. We¡¯ll take care of him¡±


    ¡°Good, Tru and David will have to get stronger as soon as possible.¡± Zolos stood up and began to look through his system menu. "By the way, who did you kill?" he said while looking at the red Icon over his head.


    "Haha, no one important"


    "Hmm, I see" Zolos simply smiled and continued to scroll to the system menu.


    ¡°What are you going to do now?¡± Ca1tSith asked.


    "There are still a few things I need to do"


    ¡°Are you going to another PvP Arena in Valhalla?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I almost have enough points to buy the cores I need.¡±


    ¡°When you¡¯re not crafting your fighting. That¡¯s just like you, Haha¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s why I¡¯m the strongest¡±


    ¡°But you still refuse to level up past 70. Are you ever going to put that experience you gain in the PvP Arenas to use and level up?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll level up when I have to. I¡¯ll see you around brother.¡± Zolos waved goodbye before vanishing into thin air.


    ¡°See you, brother. I¡¯m counting on you¡­¡± Ca1tSith said as he stood alone in the room.


    *?? ??*?? ??*?? ??*?? *


    Impure Sanctum.


    I opened my eyes and found myself in a corridor that was decorated with holy symbols. I immediately noticed the putrid smell that hung in the air. I instinctively covered my nose.


    ¡°Ughhhh¡±


    I turned around and saw Hero and Timez standing behind me holding their noses as well.


    ¡°Who died here?¡± Timez said disgustedly.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know but I don¡¯t think we should stay here.¡± Hero suggested


    ¡°I agree we should move forward and try to clear this area as soon as possible.¡±


    We all agreed and moved through the corridor until we reached an opening. We came across a large room with many of what appeared to be tombs.


    ¡°Is this a crypt?¡± I brought up the question.


    ¡°Looks like it. So the first part of the dungeon is underground. Makes sense¡± Hero said.


    ¡°Wait... what is that? Are those people?¡± Timez pointed at the opposite end of the crypt. Many people were wearing tattered robes as they appeared to be patrolling the area.


    ¡°I think those are priests.¡± I guessed based on their outward appearance.


    ¡°Do you think they''re hostile?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that''s the only thing you''ll find in this dungeon¡± Hero said bluntly.


    ¡°You¡¯re right, dumb question. Haha¡± Timez laughed out of embarrassment


    ¡°Well, shall we go take care of them then?¡±


    ¡°Wait¡± before we moved forward I had something to do. I pulled up my system menu and looked at one of my unique traits.


    ------------------------------


    [King¡¯s Domain] [Passive][level 3 - 0%]


    -Certain abilities can be used within your domain


    Summoned pets [7/10]


    Range 40m Radius


    ------------------------------


    It seemed like using my pets made my unique trait level up much faster. After defeating the field boss Golem and all the other minions my [King¡¯s Domain] leveled up.


    ¡°I need you guys to do something for me.¡± I have not known Herotecha for very long but I felt like I could trust him. As for Timezup I just met him but I had no other choice but to show him my abilities if I wanted to get through this dungeon.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Both Hero and Timez asked


    ¡°I need you guys to keep my abilities a secret.¡±


    ¡°Your abilities?¡±


    ¡°Why do we need to keep that a secret?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll see¡± It was a lot easier to show them instead of trying to explain things. I looked at my inventory and looked through some of the dolls that I had obtained. Snakes, Bats, Spiders¡­ I had many dolls from the area around Anka but I wasn¡¯t very excited about summoning any of them.


    ''Wait a minute''


    I remembered I had saved up a few more in another bag. I grabbed my [server transfer bag] and pulled out the dolls I had there.


    999 [Raccoon doll]


    I had unintentionally put all the raccoon dolls I obtained before the server merge in my [Server transfer bag] since I had 1 free space. I pulled out 3 raccoon dolls and summoned them as pets.


    ------------------------------


    GhostDKing¡¯s pet [Raccoon] lvl 1


    Strength - 5


    Dexterity - 5


    Agility - 5


    Intelligence - 5


    Vitality- 5


    ------------------------------


    I had 3 raccoons in front of me. Their base stats were quite low, but I knew this would be the case as they were the weakest monsters in RO.


    ¡°Woah! You¡¯re a summoner?!¡± Timez seemed excited after I summoned 3 monsters before his eyes.


    ¡°Yeah, just don¡¯t tell anyone please haha.¡±


    ¡°Of course¡± Timez was quick to agree with my request.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, your secret''s safe with me¡± Hero said holding his fist to his chest as if pledging allegiance to me.


    ¡°Thank you, I appreciate that.¡± I looked back inside my server transfer bag and pulled out 3 different pieces of Rainbow candy. ¡°Here take these.¡± I handed Hero and Timez one piece each.


    ¡°Oh, thank you¡­ What is it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s candy, it''ll give you a buff. It will increase your experience gained by 30%¡±


    ¡°Seriously? Thank you very much!¡± They both thanked me and devoured the rainbow candy.


    ¡°Well then let¡¯s get going.¡± I walked toward the three robbed beings in the crypt. Hero and Timez followed close behind. I looked down near my feet and saw the 3 little raccoons walking next to me ready for battle.

 10. Impure Sanctum (2)

    We were about 30m away from our targets when one of them stopped.


    ¡°!¡± My heart rate sped up at the thought that our preemptive attack might go down in flames. We immediately halted our movement and crouched behind one of the coffins.


    ¡°Did he spot us?¡± I whispered to the others.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure¡± Hero mumbled as he remained alert


    I turned over at Timez who appeared to be translucent. He simply shook his head without saying a word. Then could it be because of my raccoons? No, I doubt they would even register as a threat. Considering Hero and I were not a class that was specialized in stealth we were not adept to sneak around. I didn¡¯t summon the rest of my pets since it would be very hard to hide with a pack of wolves. I also wanted my freshly summoned raccoons to soak up some experience.


    ¡®What should we do?¡¯ Thoughts began to race through my head. We needed to act fast or we might be the ones to get hit first. As I was contemplating a plan of action the robed person continued to move forward catching up to the other 2. I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw them continue to walk away.


    ¡°That was close¡± Hero said under his breath putting a hand to his chest


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± we looked at each other with a smile.


    But our happiness ended there. The 3 robed people stopped simultaneously and slowly turned in our direction. A cold chill ran down my spine as I got a glimpse at they distorted rotting faces.


    ¡°They¡¯re ghouls!¡±, There was no point in hiding anymore. We quickly pulled out our weapons and prepared for a battle. The ghouls only stood there, coldly staring at us with their dead eyes. We expected them to come rushing but nothing happened. Time felt like it slowed down, one of the ghouls took a step forward and began to open its mouth.


    ¡°Get ready!¡± My instincts were screaming that something dangerous was about to happen¡¯.


    An ear-shattering shriek shook our heads.


    ¡°Gahh!¡± I covered my ears and instinctively crouched to protect myself.


    ¡®A stun?¡¯ I felt my senses being dulled. After 3 seconds that felt like an eternity the screeching stopped. But a constant ringing in my head was left in its place. Along with my hearing my vision was also impaired. I tried to look for the ghouls, but they were nowhere to be seen. Another chill ran down my spine. I felt 3 existences suddenly enter my [King¡¯s Domain]. They were directly behind me.


    ¡®Did they teleport?¡¯ there was no way that they could close that distance in such a short time. I was forced into melee range but I didn¡¯t have my short sword anymore, I hesitated. Before I could turn to face the ghouls one of them wrapped an arm around my neck.


    ¡°!AAHHH!¡± I could feel its teeth sinking into my shoulder. I tried pushing him off with all my strength. I looked around for help but Hero and Timez were currently engaged in combat with the other 2 ghouls. I looked down at my feet and witnessed my 3 raccoons desperately clawing and biting the ghoul''s legs in an attempt to save me. Red 1s and 0s appeared over the ghoul''s head. My summons might as well be bugs to him. I couldn¡¯t just let my raccoons do all the work. I placed the palm of my hand on the ghoul''s face.


    [Cursed arrow] The force of my attack sent the ghoul flying backward. Blue numbers appeared over the ghoul''s head. My attack didn¡¯t seem to have much of an effect. I specialized in curses, dark energy and debuffs, there¡¯s no way they would be effective against the undead.


    There was no more time to hesitate. I couldn¡¯t afford to worry about what others might say about my abilities. I summoned Luna, Snow, and Gris and without waiting for a command they jumped towards the ghoul with their fangs bared. They tore at its rotten flesh as chunks of flesh hit the floor with a wet thud. The ghoul was unable to put up much resistance against the small and nimble cats and the strength of Luna who managed to keep him pinned to the ground. My raccoons also didn¡¯t miss this chance and continued their feeble attacks against it.


    The ghoul¡¯s body ceased moving shortly a few moments after the mauling began. Its motionless body gave me the idea that it might have died but I wasn¡¯t taking any chances. I made my way towards him as my summons held it down. I raised my foot over its head and slammed it down with all my strength. Its head exploded like a watermelon as it¡¯s flesh scattered in every direction. I ignored the messages that appeared before my eyes confirming the ghoul''s death.


    I looked for my party members preparing to assist them as soon as possible. But it wouldn¡¯t be necessary.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± I asked as Hero and Timez approached me.


    ¡°Yeah I think I¡¯m fine,¡± Hero said as he gave himself a quick pat-down.


    Timez simply nodded.


    ¡°Well, that was interesting.¡± Timez wryly smiledStolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    ¡°Yeah I wasn¡¯t expecting them to have crowd control and teleport, that really caught me off guard.¡± I looked over at the ghoul carcasses just to make sure there won''t be any more surprises.


    ¡°By the way¡± Timez glanced down at my pets. ¡°How many summons do you have? I¡¯ve never seen so many.¡±


    I flinched slightly at the last part, but there was no sense in trying to lie about it or make up an excuse that I would probably forget later.


    ¡°Umm... I have a few more wolves.. so I have... ten in all¡± I had to think for a second to make sure I had the number correct.


    ¡°


    Timez¡¯s eyes widened ¡°10!?¡± He shouted


    ¡°Ugh¡­ yeah...¡± The cat was out of the bag.


    ¡°How do you have 10?¡±


    My voice began to shake ¡°I.. I have a unique trait that allows me to have multiple summons¡±


    ¡°A unique trait? What trait? And how did you get it?¡±


    I hated this, it was exactly what I was trying to avoid. I tried to think of the right words to say ¡°Well... that¡¯s kind of¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough questions¡± Before I could finish my sentence hero jumped in. ¡°You¡¯ve barely even met and you already want him to spill all his secrets. I know we formed a party and we have to work together but he doesn¡¯t have to give you any explanations about his character. So there¡¯s no need to interrogate him.¡±


    Timez stood frozen for a few seconds with a puzzled look on his face at Hero¡¯s sudden comments. He then seemed to realize he was stepping over the line.


    ¡°You¡¯re right¡­ I¡¯m sorry for being so pushy.¡± Timez said softly with a downward gaze


    ¡°Oh no It¡¯s okay, I¡¯m really not bothered at all¡± I smiled at the assassin who looked like he had just been reprimanded by his parents.


    Timez looked up at me for a second ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡± He blurted out before reverting his gaze downward.


    I tried putting him at ease ¡°It¡¯s fine really!¡± I continued to say with a smile. He slowly raised his head and softly smiled back.


    ¡°If you guys are done crying into each other¡¯s shoulders I think It¡¯s time to move¡± Hero pointed to the stone coffins that were all around us. I had failed to notice that Luna was Growling and Snow¡¯s and Gris¡¯ hair stone on end. I leaned down to inspect the sarcophagus closest to me. I placed a had on the cold block of stone. My eyes immediately widened.


    ¡°Yeah, we need to move like right now¡± Timez immediately started pacing backwards when the situation became clear.


    They were vibrating. All the sarcophagi began to shake violently as their covers began to slide off.


    ¡°Run!¡±


    My body moved on its own as I trailed behind the party. My summons followed close behind and my raccoons didn¡¯t hesitate to cling to my back. We were running at full speed, we didn¡¯t know where we needed to go but our feet didn¡¯t stop. We kept running and didn¡¯t look back as our eyes frantically looked around the crypt for an exist. Our view was beginning to be obstructed by the bodies of the dead rising from their coffins.


    ¡°There!¡± Hero pointed to a thick wooden door


    We didn¡¯t even stop to look we simply ran in that direction. The undead reached their hands towards us as we reached the exit. Hero thrust out his shoulder and slammed his body into the door. It flung open and bounced against the back wall. Hero fell to the ground as we rushed in the undead only inches away. In one swift movement I turned around and tried to shut the exit. The undead¡¯s forced their way as their limbs trickled through the door.


    ¡°Help me!¡± I pleaded as I leaned my entire body against the door.


    Timez was frantically cutting through the putrid flesh of the undead with his sword. Hero was back on his feet and helping me push. His face became a deeper red as he used all the strength he could muster. Wails were heard as the zombie''s bones snapped under the door as we managed to force it shut. I thrust the doors had 3 sliding locks shut. We slowly took our body weight off the door hesitating to completely remove our hands as we felt the banging coming from the other side. We weren¡¯t sure the door would hold, but after a few seconds, it appeared as if the zombies were giving up on trying to break through the door. The banging began to fade until it was completely gone. It wasn¡¯t until we were completely sure that nothing else would happen that we decided to relax.


    ¡°That was scary¡± I whispered as I let out a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Yeah¡± Timez said as he was catching his breath


    ¡°The movies didn¡¯t prepare me for this¡± Hero added.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think there is a way to prepare for something like this... haha¡± I tried to laugh as the mood seemed to have become lighter.


    ¡°Where are we by the way?¡±


    We were standing in what seemed like another corridor but this time it was much more narrow. Only wide enough to allow 2 people to walk shoulder to shoulder.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know but I don¡¯t think we should wait to see if this door will hold.¡±


    ¡°I agree, I don¡¯t feel very safe standing here either.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s keep going¡±


    We made our way down the corridor, it was brightly lit from the lanterns that hung from the ceiling. We walked until we arrived at a flight of stairs. The party moved in a single file behind Hero who was leading the way. At the peak of the stairs was another large wooden door. This one didn¡¯t seem to be as flimsy as the last nor did it show any signs of wear.


    ¡°Should we go through?¡± Hero asked while looking back at us.


    ¡°Do we have any other option?¡±


    ¡°Guess not¡± Hero shrugged ¡°Be ready for anything¡±


    We each branded our weapons and my summon also got into a fighting position.


    ¡°We¡¯re ready¡±


    Hero nodded as he placed his hand on the door. He pushed and the door made a creaking sound as it opened. Hero peeked past the door and looked around for a bit.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see anyone¡± he whispered as he pushed the door all the way.


    Hero walked in first and we followed close behind. We were standing in a large spherical chamber. The windows were made out of beautiful decorated stained glass. Symbols resembling the sun adorned the stained glass and ceiling.


    ¡°Are we inside a Cathedral?¡± Timez asked puzzled


    ¡°I think so, I¡¯ve never actually been inside of one so I¡¯m not exactly an expert here¡±


    ¡°Whatever it is, it looks pretty divine if you ask me¡±


    There was no doubt that this was a place for worship, or at least it used to be. Despite the beautiful decorated stained glass windows and walls. There was still a gloomy atmosphere as well as a slightly rotten smell from downstairs.


    ¡°Where are we supposed to go from here?¡±


    As big and spacey as this chamber was there was nothing here. It was just a nicely decorated large open space. I looked around the chamber and noticed the stairs that wrapped around the room all the way to the ceiling.


    ¡°Maybe we have to follow those?¡±


    ¡°More stairs huh...¡± Hero said jokingly


    ¡°It looks like this place does have multiple floors after all.¡±


    ¡°I just hope each floor doesn¡¯t have a mini-boss or something like that.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t jinx us¡­¡± Timez shook his head


    ¡°Well the faster we can clear this dungeon the faster we can get out of here.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s keep moving¡± I said as the party made its way to the next level.