《Re: Sword Emperor》


 -1 Forewords

    In this post I''ll just be discussing the scheduling of the novel(subject to change later on) and some other stuff, so you can just skip it.


    First of all, let''s talk about the scheduling. As of now, my release rate will be 3 chapters/week. One on Monday, another on Wedenesday, and another on Friday. You can contribute to a higher release rate by going to our patreon and becoming a supporter. We have some community goals that if we reach, we will be releasing chapters at a much faster rate. Patreon supporters also have the benefit of being ahead in chapters of the normal readers.


    That is all for now, Cheers,


    PS: WebNovel is being a d*ck about things and doesn''t let me link to stuff directly. So, I need to do things the lame way and ask you to check out my patreon by copying and pasting this URL: https://www.patreon.com/swordemperor or just google swordemperor patreon.


    Yeah, I hate doing that too, and I really wish WN does something about it. But for now, this is the only thing I can do.


    PSS: If you don''t feel like supporting me at patreon, or do not have the money, but still really want to see read that next chapter, you can do it in my Website! https://teamdreamless.com/ It is always one chapter ahead of every other platform I release to, except patreon.

 1 A Tragic End

    The year 2150, in Manhattan, a royal suite at a skyscraper hotel.


    The dim honey-colored light gently illuminating the room, and the low pitched faint orchestra emitted by the sound baffles positioned all around the apartment, created an image of harmony and relaxation. However, the person residing showed no sign of such. The gloomy atmosphere around him was thick enough to scare away even ghosts.


    "Ahh, I''m such an idiot!" After a long moment of silence, the 28-year-old man exclaimed after a long sigh.


    His name was Mark, also known as "God Speed Shesmu", one of the most popular players of the game Ashes of God, the most played VRMMORPG of the last 10 years. But today, Shesmu had lost all his hopes of staying relevant.


    A new update to Ashes of God has been released, one that he, many pro players and team organizations actively tried to stop from getting out of the Beta servers to no avail.


    PVP competitiveness was no more, and with it, Shesmu''s relevance to the scene.


    He was devastated, and even more disgusted by this turn of events. The slow shift of interest from PVP to PVE has destroyed the competitive teams of Ashes of God.


    Looking at the cup of 2051 LeBourgeouis wine in his hand, his red reflection looked back at him before it got distorted and showed an incredible image to Mark. As if he was dragged across time, he began experiencing events of the past from bird''s view.


    "Black Moon! Black Moon! Black Moon!"


    "Shes¡­! Shes¡­! Shes¡­!"


    The crowd was cheering loudly, fervor engulfing their eyes as the final of Ashes of Gods League Championship of 2145 was coming to a close.


    The battlefield was painted red by the blood of the players battling for glory. And in the middle of the battleground, two teams, one glowing red, the other blue, were orchestrating a symphony of death. Flashes of light from the swordsmen made the scene look as if it came out a painting, while the destructive might of the mages throwing one spell after the other gave the arena a ghostly atmosphere.


    From the caster''s desk, two voices were explaining what was happening on the battlefield at times, screaming the surviving teams'' exploits to all listeners around the world through their microphones at others.


    Caster 1: "Blue team is advancing through the bushes, their teammates keeping the red team busy using the dense forest terrain to their advantage to buy time. Shesmu and Seth are keeping their enemies at bay, buying time for their teammates to secure the True Sight Buff."


    Caster 2: "Indeed, Black Moon is using their numerical advantage to secure the World Serpent buff. They left their two aces to keep the enemy team from coming close to the monster and contest it. They show absolute confidence, after all, they know that with Shesmu and Seth''s slipperiness, they can easily stop the enemy team from advancing without being in any danger."


    "Some might be confused on why doesn''t Red Cross just ignore Shesmu and Seth and try to steal the true sight buff. However, look at the positioning of these two. With their Flash Dash and Instant Teleportation, if Red Cross ever dared to ignore them and go for the steal, Black Moon will just turn, bombard them using Omega''s Area of Damage spells while Shesmu and Seth can cut their only escape route using terrain magic."


    "Indeed, with the respawn time being so long this late in the game and the absence of any other buff in the map, it''s hard for any team to come back from the loss of three members. Black Moon knows that fully and capitalize on their numerical advantage to get the true sight buff.


    And, for anyone new to the game and doesn''t know about the true sight buff and why it''s so important. Basically, the buff gives all of your skills a slight homing effect. One can easily see how strong the buff is-"


    "The World Serpent is getting low, just 10k hp left for it before it goes down. But what am I seeing? Red Crescent is preparing a Flash Beam attack. His teammates just placed a silencing array. Shesmu can''t do anything to stop him, Seth can''t do anything to stop him. Crescent is going for the steal, will he get it?"


    Caster 1 and 2: "He gets it!"


    "Comeback! Comeback!"


    "Red Cross! Red Cross!"


    "Red Crescent for the win!"


    The crowd went wild as Red Crescent got the steal from Black Moon, a game that was at first Black Moon''s to lose now became anybody''s guess.


    However, as the crowd cheered and howled, a shadowy figure flashed then appeared before the four Red Cross players.


    "Red Cross just gained the true sight buff, but Shesmu immediately Flash Dashed in, not leaving time even for his teammates to react. He uses Final Slash taking out half of Crescent''s hp, side steps then blinks away using the 0.1 seconds of invincibility to dodge Red Cross'' attacks, baiting out their skills! He jumps right back in using bloodlust jump and uses Ki Burst three times in a row, canceling their animation perfectly. He turns around, leaving his back to Blank predicting his use of howling growl, dodging the damage lowering active. Shesmu insta-kills him with a sword energy projection, showing him who is the boss. Shesmu, what was that!"


    "Shesmu just styling on Red Cross bringing them down from cloud 9 after their steal to the deepest abyss of hell. Seth finally finishes casting his Tier 4 magic Hellfire forcing the last 2 players of Red Cross to blow their instant teleport. They stay alive but it is no use as Black Moon makes its final march to victory."


    "Indeed, 2 of Red Cross'' members have a 70 seconds death timer while three still need 40 seconds before respawning; Black Moon only needs 15 seconds to reach the enemy team''s flag and another 5 to capture it. With only 2 members left on the map, it''s looking like it''s over for team Red Cross that loses the match to Black Moon after another impressive genocide from Shesmu."


    "Red Crescent truly surprised us with that Serpent steal from 100 meters away, igniting hope in the heart of the many Red Cross fans. However, it''s a shame that the team he was against had the demonic being known as Shesmu, with his incredible speed and kinetic vision, he truly deserves his nickname: "God Speed Shesmu".


    "Indeed, even after 5 years, Shesmu is still showing his incredible talent, demonstrating again and again that individual performance can still win you matches in this team dependent meta that the game has been on for the past 2 years."


    As the caster was finishing his talk, his voice became distorted and so did the image. Mark''s eyes returned to look at his reflection on the glass of wine before he took a sip and went to the bathroom.


    Looking at his reflection on the mirror, Mark couldn''t help but notice the big bags under his eyes. His lack of sleep and constant stress made his health rapidly deteriorate, even affecting his performance in-game.


    Remembering the speech from government officials, he fought hard the urge to puke. In the end, he couldn''t hold it and threw up. Due to his lack of nutrients, the vomit was mostly made up of stomach acids. Finishing throwing up, Mark looked back at the mirror only to find that his already pale complexion became even paler.


    His eyes drifted to the pool of water on the sink and he couldn''t help but remember the government representative''s speech.


    "Our world is no longer what it was. With the birth of Artificial Intelligences and the Singularities, humanity has become much more advanced than it ever was. Thinking about it, it has been only 30 years since manual labor was still the most consistent way to secure funding for a financially safe life. However, right after the birth of the first singularity, manual labor became useless, and we as humans had to collectively change our mentality from that of a worker to that of a supervisor. In the past hundred years, we experienced an exponential rise in our lifespan reaching an overwhelming average of 200 years. We defeated cancer, Aids and the many chronic diseases that spelled death before. We did so much in so little time. However, when we look at our left and see the progress that AIs made in a fraction of that time, we cannot help but feel pressured and fret about our future. Compared to them, we are simply too slow.


    "The world government has been looking for solutions to this problem for the past three decades. There have been many solutions proposed to us, however, most of them were either lacking in performance or couldn''t survive the passage of time. 10 years ago, a certain proposition was sent to us as a solution to fight this one problem. At the time, everyone thought that it was interesting, but no one believed that it could work. However, now, 10 years later, we are able to say for sure, that we found the solution to the AI problem, our gateway to evolution: Ashes of Gods. This game that received the attention of the world has proven to be its beacon of hope ¨C hope for evolution.


    "We have been keeping a close eye to the more dedicated players and were able to see a mind-blowing improvement in terms of thinking speed and richness of their neural network. A player that plays everyday Ashes of Gods has 2 to 3 times the neural connections of an average human being. Since five years ago, we have been supporting Ashes of Gods both financially and with manpower, and today, we''re going to announce the branching of governmental facilities to the world of Ashes of Gods. We humans need to evolve, and the world government will support this agenda fully. You do not have to worry about a stable life while playing the game anymore as the government will offer job opportunities inside the game. Once the governmental facilities have been exported to the virtual world, you can quit your job and enjoy the world of Ashes of Gods fully. For Humanity!"


    As the voice of the representative faded away from Mark''s mind, he couldn''t help but think.


    What "For Humanity" bullshit¡­ Doing unnecessary things without taking us pros into consideration-


    Mark couldn''t even finish his train of thought before the urge to throw up overwhelmed him. Whatever fluid that was left in his stomach was thrown out.


    The sink was automatically flushed out and Mark turned up to look at the mirror. His already very pale complexion became even paler, his face turning close to a white sheet of paper. He then washed his mouth and went back to his bed.


    Putting the Vr goggles on, Mark connected to the internet. Just using his thoughts, he was able to browse the web. He then rechecked for the last time the content of the new patch.


    The patch was a major one, so it was expected to be big. However, compared to all previous other major patches, this one was at least 3 to 4 times bigger; naturally, the patch notes took too long to read.


    The patch notes mentioned everything. From minor bug fixes to balances changes, items and abilities being nerfed and others being buffed, cosmetic emotes and war cries. However, the most important of all of the updates was the introduction of a new planet and some major changes to the rules governing the avatar of the players. The first one meant that the major guilds will start an engineering war to win the space conquest war. A new planet meant double the possibilities, being the first one to reach it would, of course, give birth to many opportunities. As for the second one, the developers specified that it was now possible for players to change their body structure in-game through a process called augmentation. It''s a skill acquired by a variant class of Engineers who have as a side job Alchemist called Augmenters. It has been hinted that the changes will not be limited to only the four body systems available to the four base classes of Ashes of Gods but one can even replace them by ones unique to certain races in Ashes of Gods.


    Reading these notes, Mark fought hard the urge of throwing up again; succeeding this time. These changes might mean nothing to a casual player, but to pros, this was the equivalent of a death sentence. One has to know that pro players didn''t focus on their bodily systems that much, as the effect of those was nerfed in tournaments. If swordsmen used the ki they gained from cultivating to battle in the arena, they can easily one shot the enemy team just by pumping every last drop of ki they have into one slash that would raze the map. There is no skill in that and it''s not fun to watch. Same goes for mages, priests and assassins, all of them have the destructive potential of a nuke. If they were to be given full freedom of their abilities, it would become a battle of who would pull the trigger the fastest.


    This is the reason why Mark didn''t focus on his Ki cultivation for the past 4 years, it''s because the use of it was banned competitively and thus was no longer important in his eyes, nor the eyes of the other pro players.


    However, Omega9, the company behind Ashes of Gods gave them a gigantic punch to the guts. With these new updates, it was now possible to change the meridians and Ki path structures of Swordsmen to one that is similar to Dragonkins''. The same goes for all the other classes as you can change the mana path structures of mages to replicate that of Elementals, the assassins will replicate the shadow nodes of "Shadows" and Priest will copy the soul cores of Angels.


    Plus, with the world government shifting the focus from the competitive scene to the world of Ashes of Gods itself, things went from bad to worse. While pro players didn''t focus on their bodily systems, that doesn''t mean that others didn''t. In fact, all guilds had many top-tier players who focused solely on raiding dungeons and wild bosses. To fight against these, things like animation canceling and strategy didn''t mean much. What was important was firepower, and what better way to achieve that other than putting all your time into cultivation and leveling long cast-time skills? Now, with this new shift in perspective, these players will become the new overlords of the game. In fact, they will attain even higher heights by changing their bodily systems so as to achieve even more explosive power. In no time, they will leave other players in the dust, including the pros.


    And he, Mark, will suffer a similar fate, slowly fading away from the limelight as he tries to make sense of all the techniques and ways to gather ki, or call forth mana in the most efficient way, not even daring to change his meridian structure or mana paths for a long time, lest he loses most of his power trying to make sense of the new structures.


    "Ahgh! If worst comes to worst, I''ll just disappear for a year. Meditate, train, and understand my body. Then, I''ll come back stronger than ever. I refuse to believe that with my talent, I can''t come back from this setback."


    Manhattan does not sleep. The world outside did not show any sign slowing down, even past midnight. The light of the many vehicles circulating through the city was apparent to Mark, as the room he frequented had see-through windows for walls.


    At this point, Mark would have been long asleep. Having a disciplined sleep schedule is fundamental for any e-sport athlete, as lack of it makes the neural network system deteriorate and thus lowers one''s abilities in the game too. However, the frustration he felt was so great that it gnawed at his heart for the whole night, while he twisted and turned in his bed. Finally, his eyes slowly shut off and he departed to the realm of dreams.

 2 Back To The Pas

    Ring! Ring! Ring!


    The alarm continuously rang.


    Mark sat up still groggy from lack of sleep. He turned off the alarm and walked towards the bathroom with his eyes still half shut.


    Bang!


    "What.."


    Whilst he was walking towards the toilet, Mark hit a wall he didn''t expect to be there. He knew his apartment like the back of his hand, so he could easily go to the toilet from his bed with his eyes closed, but apparently, this conjecture of his was false and the price to pay was an intense pain in his nose.


    While tearing up, Mark opened his eyes to the unfamiliar color of the wall. The room he was staying in was one fully made of the finest lumber stained to have a dark honey color, but the wall he was standing in front of now was yellow.


    Weirded out by this change, Mark turned his head to look over the chamber, and what he saw surprised him. This unfamiliar, yet still nostalgic messy room. The randomly positioned pack of notes on his desk, the empty cans of energy drink next to his bed. This room was uncannily similar to his when he was preparing for the SAT when he was 18 years old.


    His first reaction was to check his body and see if everything was alright. If this a case of kidnapping, or human trafficking, traces are bound to be found on his body. After a full body check, Mark couldn''t find anything out of the ordinary. No handcuffs, no traces of surgery or beating. The only thing that was weird was the outdated clothes he was wearing, but Mark put that on the back of his mind as the reason for that change is obviously the same as the reason for whatever was happening around him.


    For half a minute, Mark was stumped, he couldn''t think of any series of events that could possibly lead him to this situation. Finally, he decided to do what any other sane human being would do: call the police.


    Mark raised his e-watch next to his mouth to dial 911, however, he noticed something that stopped him right in his tracks. Not only was the model of the e-watch a decade old, but the date that it displayed so brazenly on full screen was wrong as well. In fact, it was wrong by a full decade.


    Wait, no¡­


    Chuckling at the impossible conjecture he made in his brain, Mark looked for further hints to uncover the mysteries of his current situation. Using the last hint for reference, Mark deduced that whoever had planned this prank wanted him to believe that he traveled back in time. However, Mark knew that e-watches could be easily hacked. In fact, he had hacked one himself to prank a friend of his on his birthday. But, one thing that could not be hacked is the entirety of the internet. Thus, Mark looked for his laptop.


    It didn''t take him that long to find it as it was put safely on top of a desk. The laptop was also the same model as the one he used when he was 18. Chuckling at the amount of effort put into this prank, Mark looked for today''s date on the internet: June 26th, 2140.


    Boom!


    Mark felt as if someone slapped him until he became dazed. For a moment, he couldn''t think of anything. His rational mind told him one thing but the facts stated otherwise. Just to make sure, he double checked on multiple websites, but the same date continued appearing: June 26th, 2140. This wasn''t a prank, this was really happening, he really did time travel back to when he was young.


    He sat down on his old bed, looking at the ceiling. He was desperately trying to make sense of what was happening. Yesterday, he had gone to sleep after an afternoon filled with anger and frustration. Then, next thing tomorrow, he woke up ten years in the past. There was nothing that foreshadowed this event, no scary guy at the end of the road, no AI with unimaginable power hacking his computer and talking to him, it¡­ just happened.


    The only thing that separated Mark from the regular average human being was the ten years he had spent on Ashes of Gods.


    ''Talking about Ashes of Gods¡­''


    "Wait, if it''s June 2140, then¡­ that means ¡ª that means that AOG(short of Ashes of Gods) is still not out yet."


    From the earlier depression, Mark jumped right back with excitement filling his heart. He did read many of the novels talking about a player receiving a second chance, going back to the past and becoming a god at whatever game was popular in their world. However, to experience it himself, Mark was overjoyed.


    Nevertheless, as with every emotion that he experienced, it didn''t take long for that emotion to fade away, leaving him but an empty husk. Mark found himself now in front of a decision. A decision that would shape his life, for better or the worse. Ten years ¨C ten years he had spent on Ashes of Gods that made him forget whether there was anything other to life than the game. At the peak of his esports career, there were many times when he thought of an alternative universe, one where he wasn''t a popular game athlete but something else.


    With this new chance at life, he could be something else. He could become a researcher and drive humanity forward. He could become a developer and make his own game, his own world. There were many times in his past life where he flirted with these types of ideas and "what if" scenarios. Now, he could make them real, and the realization that he had this choice between his hands brought with its immense weight.


    For a moment, he thought about how, or what other field did he have a passion for. He was good at school, he liked math, physics, and biology. Compared to everyone else in his class, he was smart, extremely so. But, did he have a passion for those subjects? While he could not deny that he very much liked working on them, his passion for these fields was but an ember to the raging inferno that was his love for games.


    Since the day that his father bought him his first capsule when he was but 3 years old, he was mesmerized by virtual reality. He could remember it as if it was yesterday, the moment when he opened his eyes to a brand new world. The low, fragrant breeze tickling his nose, the slow molten sunlight, warming him from the cold. Things that he couldn''t experience in his ice cold city were within an arm''s reach in the virtual world. Then father gestured to him with his hand, signaling Mark to pay attention to what he was about to do. He raised his right arm close to his face and snapped his fingers. The world was set ablaze, as fire spurted from his fingers and danced on his hand.


    From that day onward the virtual and reality switched places in Mark''s heart. His thirst for discovering everything the virtual world had to offer couldn''t be quenched. His parents supported him fully in this endeavor, as it didn''t distract him from his other responsibilities; mainly studying. To Mark, it mattered little what he did as long as it was in the virtual world, so he was able to study hard even with his addiction. In fact, these circumstances helped him become a much better student, as the virtual world provided tools for learning that were hard to replicate in the real one.


    Even now, 25 years later, that passion for virtual reality was still raging in his heart. His love for Ashes of Gods, this game that represented everything he liked about VR, was still as strong as ever.


    Mark''s eyes glinted for a second, his decision was now firm. He was going to play Ashes of Gods, and he was, for sure, going to become the best.

 3 Start of The Adventure

    "You have said before that Ashes of God was your pet project long before it was taken by Omega9, how is that?"


    The interviewer stretched his hand for his guest to speak. All the while, a grin was canceled as soon as it formed on his face. The scene in front of him gave him a strong sense of deja vu. But for some reason, this sensation was mixed in with incredible happiness and excitement, something that was apparent from his shaking hand. He didn''t know why, but this seemingly normal interview sent him through a roller coaster of emotions.


    "Ashes of God was a project that I and some of my friends were creating from our university days. It grew close to completion before Omega9 decided to help us¡­ But we were very disappointed by what it was going to be as every really cool feature we wanted was beyond our programming scope. That''s when Omega9 approached us."


    The journalist took back the microphone. He promptly asked his interviewee.


    "What did Omega9 do to help the project grow exactly?"


    "They gave us everything we need. Fund, Programmer, Artists¡­ They just asked us to think and the teams we were given contact with would execute."


    Awkward silence momentarily took place. The journalist started speaking after a while.


    "If you had to choose between any of those features, what would be the one Omega9 helped with the most?"


    The interviewee felt hesitant. He pointed his eyes towards the roof then scratched his head while grunting.


    "I would say¡­ Time Dilation. I mean, it was not really a feature we expected to be in at all at the beginning. But thanks to Omega9, it did make the cut."


    "What is this Time Dilation you are speaking about?"


    "To speak normal person language, Time Dilation enables a player to get 10 times as much play time than normal by basically making the brain work slightly faster. It''s better than sudoku to work the brain too!"


    The interviewee burst out laughing to his own joke. The interviewer tried to continue his questionnaire.


    "You mentioned some friends before-"


    Without even waiting for the microphone to be under his mouth, the guest stood up, the smile filling his face was no more.


    "I think I spoke enough. I''ll be going."


    "W-wait!"


    The stream paused at this moment and stopped minutes after. When the stream changed to its offline screen, Mark closed off the page before turning his digital lenses and earplugs off. Thinking in his head Off, the faint blue light that was emitting from inside his ears faded away, and so did the blue glint on his lenses. The digital lenses/earplug kit was a marvelous invention, one that wasn''t made commercial until December of last year. However, what made it special to Mark right now was the questions that it brought with its existence.


    He couldn''t remember when he bought the kit exactly, and if it was just that Mark would have probably assumed it to be a consequence of the shock from traveling through time. However, that wasn''t just the end of it. For the past ten years, Mark was using the digital lenses extensively to the point where he discarded all of his other personal electronic devices, other than the capsule. This made it so that he developed a certain set of reflexes pertaining to when he wanted to browse the net, or checking what time it was. He would instinctively use his thoughts to communicate with the digital kit. All of these facts made it even more intriguing why, in the shock of being in an unfamiliar place, did he check his e-watch first, laptop second, and forget that the information he needed was but a thought away.


    Ring!


    Mark was deep in his thoughts when he heard a slightly sharp ringtone that shook him from his stupor. It was the signal that his food was done cooking.


    Local System On.


    As he thought those words, his eyes glinted with a green light, signifying his connection to his home system.


    Send Food.


    At his thought, a series of mechanisms ensued before the wall to his left opened into a massive gap. A glass tunnel constructed itself, having the gap as its base, and the table in front of Mark as its end. Two seconds after its construction, the glass was deconstructed, and the gaping hole was once again filled. If someone turned his head or blinked in the span of these two seconds, maybe they would have thought that nothing happened. That is until they see the food that filled the table only to question what kind of magic trick just happened.


    Mark''s breakfast consisted of Red Velvet pancakes, Scotch eggs, and orange juice. He slowly ate his meal while looking at his emails. As he was scrolling through them, one mail caught his attention. Sender: Jeff Carlman, Subject: A special gift. The name felt unfamiliar to Mark, he tried his best to recall anything that had to do with this person, but his memory failed him. Mentally focusing on the email, the image on his lenses changed to show the body of the latter.


    Looking at the email, Mark finally remembered the name. He was the guy that randomly gifted him the Dreamscape 10 years ago! The Dreamscape cost around $57.000, that''s almost the price of a cheap car! At Mark''s peak this sum might not have been even a fraction of his paycheck, however, before he became a gaming star, it would have taken him a really long time to amass this amount of money.


    Looking at the email one last time, Mark committed the name "Jeff Carlman" to heart. He didn''t like owing someone he doesn''t personally know anything, so he had to repay him back when he got the time. For now, he will just consider himself lucky to get a capsule this early and roll on with it.


    Talking about the capsule, when will it come?


    Looking through his other emails, Mark noticed one coming from VelveExpress, a multinational giant corporation that deals with shipping. Reading it, he understood that the Dreamscape is coming this morning at 11.00 am. It was still 9.00 am, so he had time to kill.


    His mind drifted off for a second, about everything he did in those 10 years, all the memories he created, and the connections he made. I guess, all of that is¡­ all of that doesn''t mean anything anymore. It felt bad- It felt bad for him, to face the fact that all of the hardships he went through with his team, with his friends, all of the joyful moments, that all of that is as if it never happened. It''s as if those 10 years he lived were a lie.


    Mark couldn''t compare that feeling to anything he experienced before. However, he heard multiple people talking about their failed long-term relationships like that. As when your girlfriend of 10 years break up with you and no longer want to talk to you again, treating you like air. As when that feeling of utter helplessness, as if everything you went through was a lie, these 10 years that were robbed off Mark felt the same.


    Thinking about this, Mark couldn''t help but feel depressed. His girlfriend that he spent 5 years with now no longer even knows him. He doesn''t even know where she is at this point in time. Moreover, even if he did, what can he do, just barge in and tell her that she is his girlfriend for more than 5 years, but she can''t remember because it happened in an alternative future? Well, wouldn''t that be the most desperate move a man could ever do?


    "Haha"


    Even as he chuckled at his own joke, Mark couldn''t hide the pain in his heart. The helplessness he felt at this moment was more suffocating than the deepest oceans. Clutching at his own chest, Mark became aghast. The pain was clear on his eyes, and his face turned pale, white as a sheet.


    Leaning his head on the couch and closing his eyes, Mark took deep breaths so as to stop his anxiety attack. For 20 seconds, he kept breathing in and out, until they no longer stayed erratic, but long and constant. For a long time, he stayed that way, motionless. His eyes were closed, but his mind replayed multiple images as if he was watching a movie in his own head. He remembered the time he spent with his friends, all the adventures they partook in, and the stellar team they created. He remembered the first time he met the love of his life. A master of the sword and the pen. Her military might was unrivaled, to the point where even he felt threatened whenever he sparred against her. However, that was only one piece of the puzzle that constituted her existence on the battlefield. Her strategic sense was matchless, she alone ushered a new era for the game Ashes of God, shaping her own meta. Both as a leader and as a mastermind, none reached even the dirt on her feet.


    "Sophie.." He muttered.


    As he sombered over his fears and despair as if drowning in a deep, dark ocean, a fire ignited in his heart. A wave of anger filled with determination and resolve pushed his back against the water weighing him down throwing him from the dark ocean to the blue sky.


    "If what we had between us was real, then-then, once again we''ll make it happen. That, I swear on this life."


    The memories of his time with his friends and lover flashed by him one last time. This time, however, he reached with his hand and grabbed them, burning them into his soul.


    Ding!


    Finishing his inner monologue, Mark woke up to the sound of his doorbell ringing. The Dreamscape is finally here, I guess. Finishing his thoughts, Mark''s eyes glinted with a green light. Connecting to his home system, Mark commanded for the capsule to be transported to his room. Commanding the mini-bots to take care of the dishes, Mark sat up and went to his room.


    Lying on the capsule, Mark went through the multiple safety mechanisms before the lid closed on him and so did his eyes.


    Begin


    Finishing his mental command, the darkness surrounding slowly started shifting into a blinding light. At the same time, a female robotic voice sounded in his head.


    Boot¡­ System ¦¸9 3.2 Active ¨C Ashes of God

 4 Welcome To Ashes of Gods

    As the voice finished, the blinding light finally started dimming out. And from the pure white, a lively mixture of green and blue was born. A warm zephyr tickled his legs before transforming into a violent gale that catapulted him upwards.


    The wind pressure didn''t cut his skin, nor did it pressure his lungs. In fact, the whole experience felt surreal.


    "Ah" Letting out the breath that he held for the longest time, Mark gasped.


    Slowly opening his eyes, Mark found himself high in the sky. Even though he experienced this scene thousands of times already, he still felt his adrenaline pumping as he looked at the green grass on the ever dwarfing plateau.


    "Kraaaw!"


    On his left, Mark heard an eagle''s cry. Turning around, he wasn''t surprised when he saw the monstrously big wing, covered in brown feathers that blocking his view. The creature then accelerated with incredible momentum, revealing itself to the world. It was a griffin, 4-meter wide one that stood aloof in the sky. Knowing what to expect next, Mark looked all around him. Surrounding him was a drift of Griffin, 30 of them to be exact. It was a sight to behold. Flying with such mythically strong creatures would excite even the most nihilistic of souls.


    Suddenly, Mark''s lips cracked into a grin.


    "Thump!"


    From below the plateau, a 2 meters red, reptilian paw slammed on the ground. Its razor sharp claws emitted an air of hostility and hidden danger. A yellow eye opened, and from underground, a titanic creature emerged.


    "ROAAAAAAAAAR!!"


    A brick red dragon, 30 meters long, soared into the sky. Looking at the drift of griffins, it roared, anger clear in its voice. It opened its mouth, and with contempt in its eyes, it gathered fire mana from all over the mountain range. The magical particles gathered into a ball of fire that Mark could feel the heat of even a hundred meters away. That hot wind for some reason turned into a warm breeze. The gentle zephyr as with last time became more violent and grew into a strong gale. The gust of wind blew him to the side, away from the danger of the dragon.


    As Mark was trying to balance himself, a bright light came from the direction of the monsters. Looking up, he saw the dragon''s fire breath clashing with the wind blades of the Griffins. The standoff lasted for a few seconds before the Griffins'' attack faded away, leaving them defenseless against the inferno that was about to befall them.


    "Kraaaw!"


    The last cry of the griffins was full of sorrow, it was as if they tried to imprint their memories, their souls into this world that they were about bid farewell to. The fire then engulfed them, a giant ball of flame that spanned 40 meters in diameter. The Griffins were evaporated, even their bones were being melted by the raging fire.


    Mark stood before the fiery hell, looking at the remains of the Griffins. The dragon, seeing that its work was done roared one last time before diving down towards the canyon. Suddenly, something strange happened. The fire that was eating at the remains of the griffins suddenly started glowing golden. The fire intensified and rose from the ground. A mixture of orange and golden flames intertwined. Finally, letters emerged, letters made of fire. When written they made: Ashes Of Gods.


    The scene paused and he was teleported into deep space, where a beautiful six-winged angel descended gracefully and said.


    "Hello Adventurer, welcome to Ashes of Gods. I am the messenger angel, Gabriel."


    With a swipe of her left hand, an avatar that looked the same as Mark, albeit naked, appeared in front of him. "You can adjust your appearance to a limit of 20%. You can see the percentage of adjustment of any part of your body if you focus on said part."


    Mark already knew all the mechanisms behind the character creation, and it was for this reason that he knew that it was a treasure trove. For example, a hidden mechanic that wasn''t discovered until years later was that the color of your hair, and eyes were pre-requisites for certain early game hidden and unique quests.


    Thinking for a second, Mark asked Gabriel.


    "Hey, Gabriel. Can I ask you something?"


    At his question, Gabriel answered smiling.


    "There are few things that I cannot answer, but yeah, you can ask me anything."


    Thinking for a few seconds, Mark finally said.


    "In this game, are there kingdoms and empires already in place?" To start, Mark wanted to probe the depths of her tolerance. If he started with the true questions he had in mind, he might get in trouble for it.


    "Yes, yes there are. I can give you the names and a basic description of these kingdoms since you have access to it when you will choose your birthplace. However, for information further than that, you need to check out the libraries."


    At the mention of the library, Mark''s eyes widened for a second. So, she does have the ability to give information that we, players do not have access to until we enter the game.


    "Do I need to create an avatar before choosing my place of birth?" Mark already knew the answer to his question. However, he needed to keep up this facade of ignorance if he doesn''t want to arouse suspicion.


    "No, not really. If you want, we can skip the character creation process for now, and later on come back to it." Gabriel suggested with her ever smiling face. At some point or the other, she started bouncing up and down with her six, purple-feathered wings.


    Stopping his urge lay her still, Mark answered with gritted teeth.


    "Then, let''s do that."


    Hearing his confirmation, Gabriel finally stopped bouncing. Again, with a swipe of her left hand, Mark''s avatar turned into particles of light, scattered by a non-existing wind. Then a globe formed, showing the map of Ashes of Gods.


    "You can check the description of each country by focusing on it," Gabriel stated before leaving the floor to Mark.


    Looking at the globe, Mark already knew which country he is going to choose. But just for the sake of keeping his facade, he decided to check a few other empires first.


    The map was split into four continents and two poles. The continents were named Eudrea, Solon, Auruboth, and Qiunis. The strongest empires for each of them were Oqibalon, Furix, Red Moon, and Agios. Each having their own set of beliefs and, for some of them, their own race.


    However, Mark wasn''t interested in any of that at the moment. His eyes were set on a certain kingdom on the Eudrea continent: Pliyx Stal Kingdom.


    Focusing on Pliyx Stal, a description of the Kingdom filled the interface.


    "Pliyx Stal kingdom is ruled by the Stal family, thus the name. The Pliyx came from a legend of a relic long lost. The properties of the relic differ depending on who you ask, and what their region is¡­"


    Seeing that the description will take a thousand year to finish, Mark just skimmed through it fast. He already knew whatever was written on the description due to past life experiences.


    "Aha!"


    Finally finding what he was looking for Mark read.


    "Nobles in Pliyx Stal kingdom are decided at birth. Those who are born with golden hair only, are low nobles. Those who are born with golden hair and golden eyes are high nobles. Traces of someone being born with only golden eyes have not been found, but the current consensus is that they would be considered high noble, if only due to their rarity¡­"


    As Shesmu read those words out loud, he looked at Gabriel.


    "I choose Pliyx Stal as my kingdom of birth." He affirmed.


    At his declaration, Gabriel smiled and said.


    "Understood, and for your town?"


    Mark faked his hesitation for a second, before looking back at the map to make it seem as if he is checking it again.


    "Hmm, Make it the Stal Capital City."


    At his antics, Gabriel chuckled for a second before answering.


    "Understood, but please understand that for the first 20 levels, you''ll stay in a beginner town affiliated to the City of your choosing. This applies to all players and all cities."


    With a swipe of her hand, the world map disappeared to leave a place for the naked avatar.


    At this sight, Shesmu grinned.


    Finally, everything is set into place.


    The first thing Mark did was will his eyes to change color to golden. He was at first thinking to play it safe and just go for the golden hair and eyes combo, but since this was just the beta, Mark didn''t mind spicing things up a little.


    From the corner of his eye, Mark looked at the angel. Gabriel''s face almost didn''t betray her inner thoughts, only the amused smile showed her true reaction to the events happening before her.


    I guess that''s a pass¡­ Now, for the second phase of the plan. Hopefully, it goes well.


    Crossing his fingers behind his back, Mark turned to face Gabriel.

 5 Character Creation-1

    Looking at Gabriel, Mark steeled his heart before saying.


    "You talked about change percentages or something of the sort, can you please elaborate on that? Does changing my eye color also count in those percentages?"


    At his barrage of questions, Gabriel pondered for a bit before answering.


    "Yes, changing your eye color does count, but not that much. Here, let me explain how the whole thing works."


    Finishing her speech, Gabriel created another avatar in the shape of Mark. On top of that character, a percentage appeared, showing 0%.


    "In real life, most of the things pertaining to your body are written on your DNA. I assume you already know how that works, but here is a simulation just in case."


    At her words, a double helix showed up. Multiple colored lines were holding the two helixes together.


    "You see, this is a simplified scaled-up representation of your DNA. Those colored lines that change color in the middle are nitrogen bases. But you don''t need to bother yourself about these specificities. Just imagine them to be code instructions. There are four of them, with code name A, T, G and C. The order of these instructions is what make your whole genetic code, and decides your characteristics. Now, for example, if I change your eye colors."


    At her signal, Mark''s new avatar''s eyes changed from brown to green. As she did that, Mark''s eyes drifted to the double helix, he could swear that something in it changed. He then looked back at the avatar and noticed that the percentage above him went from 0 to 0.064%. She then changed back the avatar''s eye color from green to brown again, and this time he really did see it, lines in the double helix changing color. The percentage, of course, also went back to 0%.


    "I see that you''ve noticed the change in the DNA. The change was small, and that''s why the percentage change that I showed to you was also small. If I did something like change how your bone structure looks like or something of the sort, the change would have been more noticeable, and the percentage would have increased similarly."


    "However, there are some things that the DNA doesn''t dictate, like your muscle density. For those kinds of change, let me show you by example."


    She then looked at my avatar and made each muscle two to three times bigger.


    "Now, let''s see how you''ll fare with this body."


    Just as she finished uttering those words, my body instantly felt much heavier. My chest also felt suffocated and my arms couldn''t budge.


    Barely able to hold myself from falling down, I gritted my teeth and looked at her.


    "This is what a body different from your own feels like the moment you appropriate it. Not that great, right? That''s because not only do your internal organs fail to support such an increase in the weight of your muscle, but your nervous system as well. Your brain keeps giving instruction unconsciously that are tailored to your past body, and this messes up with a whole lot of stuff."


    Mark couldn''t help but agree, he already knew of many horror stories of people trying to be funny and create weird characters, only to mess up their whole account and start again from zero.


    "This is why we limit this kind of change, because not only is it bad for the balance of the game, but it''s even worse for the user experience. Look at the percentage of change."


    Checking the value that was above his avatar, Mark was surprised to find it reaching 80%. His couldn''t help but gap a bit. Isn''t this a bit too much?


    At his reaction, Gabriel just laughed and said "The numbers don''t make much sense now, do they? Yeah, when you change things that aren''t related to your DNA, the role of the change percentage changes a bit. Rather than being an accurate representation of how much change you made, it''s just a limiter for you not to do something too stupid. After all, no one likes to delete their account and make a new one, especially when that process takes two days."


    After she finished her speech, Gabriel undid the changes to my body and made me go back to normal. She also made the new avatar disappear.


    "Okay, I have already talked for way too much. Let''s continue on with your character creation."


    As Gabriel finished talking, Mark looked at his avatar, a grim expression on his face.


    Well, she already went through all the trouble of explaining how changing anything related to muscles, bones and internal organs can be a terrible idea. If I just ignore all of that and do it nonetheless, wouldn''t that be way too suspicious? No, I can still fake it. If I make myself look deranged enough, she will most likely think that I''m just being overconfident. Even if she looks up my emotional state, I can still put myself in the mindset of an unstable person. Believe it Mark, believe it. You''re now an arrogant arsehole whose pride has been wounded. No! Stop thinking in full sentences. Chop everything- Don''t let- My mind- I am- I am the best!


    Taking a deep breath out, Mark starred at the nonexisting ground for a long time. From his point of view, he could see the stars, galaxies, and quasars clear as it gets. This view made him feel a certain level of serenity, of aloofness also. It was as if he was a god looking at his creation. Then, remembering the words of the angel, the words that he forced himself to think of as synonymous to belittlement and contempt, Mark felt a fire burning in his heart, a fire that risked eating everything.


    Suddenly, his eyes drifted towards Gabriel, giving her a sharp look.


    "Hey, you said that I could still delete and recreate a character after two days, right?"


    At his question, Gabriel simply answered: "Yes, indeed you can delete your character and recreate it when two days pass after deletion." Her angelic smile could have faked her thoughts if she was standing next to anyone with little experience, but Mark could see through her eyes the amusement.


    Haha, whoever thought of burdening AIs with the weight of emotion was a good idea, thank you.


    Mark fought hard the urge to laugh his heart out. The fact that Gabriel was amused by his antics means that she still doesn''t suspect anything. Not that he did anything illogical or that could point to him being a time traveler, however, AIs had a frightening observation and analytical power, even the slightest of mistakes might lead to the discovery of his secrets.


    "Then, I guess it would be of no problem even if I mess it up. However, you see, I know my anatomy very well, so I doubt that failure would even be part of the equation."


    Mark cringed internally at the arrogance of his tone and the death flags that he raised. But all of this was necessary, so he just bites the bullet and continued on. Turning around to take a good look at his avatar, Mark had a grin on his face. However, this one wasn''t fake, as what he was about to do will solve one of the biggest regrets he had in his past life.


    All of those jackasses that laughed at and belittled you ¨C Josh, Leo, Sophie- just because they came later knowing all the tricks. This time we''ll shut their mouth for good.

 6 Character Creation-2

    In deep space, two men faced each other. They looked extremely similar, their height was the same, their frame was the same, even the details of their faces were identical. If someone else was next to them he wouldn''t be able to differentiate between the two, if not for the fact that one of them was naked. If they brought themselves to not look away even when the man''s nether region was plain to see, they would see another difference, their eyes. Not only was the naked man''s eyes golden, but they also lacked the light of life in them, but they also were like dead fish''s eyes.


    These two were Mark and his avatar, and he was now thinking about how he will begin the transformation. This was a delicate matter, one that he did only once when he was seriously thinking about creating a new character in his past life. In the end, he abandoned that thought but the knowledge he acquired was still within him.


    First of all, he did a full check up on the avatar.


    Seems like there is no blood flow, that''s good.


    Mark was relieved at his discovery, since if there was blood flow, some change in one part of the body might cause unwanted complications in other parts. Now, he no longer needed to worry about that.


    The first organ he started changing was his heart. He made both of his ventricular chambers bigger, his heart muscles stronger, his heart veins bigger, and his nerves more receptive.


    He checked the change percentage with the corner of his eyes. **1% increase, huh. Seeing that the percentage wasn''t that high, Mark assumed that this change was still acceptable within the boundary of the system.


    Now that he strengthened his heart, he needed to make sure that this new strength is used well by the other organs. Specifically, he needed to avoid a hypertension scenario.


    The lungs came after the heart. He made sure to check the pulmonary arteries and see if their walls were too thick, or had any irregularity. Once he straightened all of that out, he focused on his actual lungs.


    First of all, he added an insane amount of alveoli and an equally high amount of bronchi that the alveoli are connected to. Once he worked out all those mechanisms, Mark strengthened the nervous system related to the muscle that controls the contraction of his lungs. This is so as to make reflexes such as coughing, breathing in and breathing in out compatible with his new upgraded lungs.


    After this, Mark did a full upgrade to every vein and blood vessel in his body. This is so as to not fall into a hypertension scenario due to the ridiculously high amount of blood that his heart would be pumping.


    After two hours of meticulous work, Mark was finally done with the hard part. All of his internal organs are now upgraded and can support each other without anyone failing from overexertion. Now, he only has to change his muscle and bone density a bit, and he will call it a day.


    Taking a sneak peek at the change percentage, Mark found that it reached 7%.


    Only 1% to go, I still need to leave space for that. Well, that can always wait until the live server come. For now, this is already enough.


    Mark turned his head to check on the angel. For the past 2 hours, he had been focusing solely on the avatar before him and forgot about the existence of Gabriel entirely.


    "Huh?"


    In front of him stood a dark brown table, with white table clothing on top of it. Gabriel was sipping on a cup of tea before putting on top of a plate. The angel seemed to be enjoying its time while Mark was frustrated on how to make his new avatar work.


    For some reason, the goofy smile on Gabriel''s face pissed off Mark for some reason, but he didn''t dwell on that for any longer. He turned back his focus to the avatar in front of him.


    Seeing as he didn''t have much percentage change left, Mark just changed his muscle fiber at the level of his shoulders and thighs to be more endurance focused. This is because these are the muscles that endure much of the stress during a battle. Having them become more endurance-focused will help with muscle fatigue and give him the edge he needs both in battle and in challenges.


    Looking at change percentage he found it to be 8% on the dot.


    Good, I guess I''m done for now.


    Turning towards the angel, Mark affirmed.


    "I''m done, we can continue with the character creation process."


    At his words, Gabriel put down her cup of tea and made it disappear along with the table and the chair she was sitting on.


    "Oh already, you just reached 8% though, don''t you want to push it even more? You still have 12% available to work with as you please." Gabriel asked with apparent surprise in her tone.


    At her question, Mark responded "Nah, I think this is good enough for now. I still don''t know what kind of world Ashes of Gods is, so I can''t decide. Plus, I''m not even sure if these changes benefit my character, adding more without fully understanding the consequences might result in a crippled account, and I don''t want that."


    At his answer, Gabriel just smiled and said "Understood. The character creation process is almost done. It shouldn''t have taken this long, but since so many interesting things happened, I won''t hold you on that. Now, you''ll choose your class from these 4 archetypes."


    As she finished talking, his avatar was separated into 4 clones, each wearing a different outfit.


    "This is the warrior, in its Swordsman iteration, " Gabriel said as she was pointing to the clone holding a sword and emanating a green aura flowing wildly.


    "This is the mage, in its water Elementalist iteration," The mage clone was holding a staff and wearing a robe that was fluttering to a non-existing wind. The clone had a blue and calming aura, his eyes were deep as the ocean, showing his unending wisdom.


    "This is the assassin, in its Shadow iteration, " The assassin was wearing a cloak that was merging with the shadows, half of his face was masked and a black aura complementing his attire was emanating from him. He was holding a razor-sharp dagger, with a black and red handle. Its blade was darker than black, and the overall aura screamed the word danger from miles away.


    "This is the priest, this particular one is from Agios, believing in the goddess of Life Aida," The priest was holding a book on his hands, presumably a holy one. He was wearing a white full-length cape with golden ornaments on his shoulders, sleeves and on his chest. He was emanating a holy aura that was complemented by his golden hair and eyes. His whole figure was screaming "I am holier than thou".


    Mark didn''t take long to choose which class to take. All of his doubts and worries, he already came to term with before even entering the Dreamscape. He will take the path of his past life, but this time, he will push further.


    "I choose Warrior."


    "Hm, really? I thought Assassin was cool and suited your edgy, cool teenager vibe better." Gabriel said her tone full of surprise. However, her smile easily betrayed her amusement and mischievousness.


    Mark couldn''t be bothered with her antics so he just ignored them.


    "Tch," Seeing that she won''t be able to get a reaction out of him, Gabriel just clicked her tongue and continued on with the process.


    "Anyways, we''re basically done. You just need to choose your name, and you can start the tutorial. So, what will it be?"


    At her question, Mark didn''t hesitate.


    "Shesmu" This is a name that stuck with him even before he started playing Ashes of Gods in his past life. It''s the first ID that he used in his first Vr game, that day 26 years ago.


    "Name accepted. Well then, I think this is goodbye, for now, Mark- no, Shesmu. But before that, I want to announce to you something. As the first person to notice that you can change internal organs, bones, and muscles for better performance in-game, we congratulate you. You will be rewarded with 3 luck points and 5 concentration points. These are hidden stats, so it''s very hard to raise them, we hope that you will not misuse this opportunity. Also, these rewards are connected to your account, not your character, so even if you delete and recreate your character the rewards will still be there. Of course, these carry over to the live server as well.


    "With this, we wish you good luck in your journey in Ashes of Gods."

 7 A Shocking Surprise

    "With this, we wish you good luck in your journey in Ashes of Gods."


    With these parting words, Gabriel''s right hand glittered in a myriad of colors as she swiped in the air creating a colorful tear in space. As if she pulled a curtain, Shesmu''s vision turned a golden white for a second, before he saw himself materializing in another place, kneeling on the ground. The floor was made out of wood. Shesmu could feel its dry and grained texture. For some reason, even though he already experienced the realism of Ashes of Gods countless times in his past life, he still felt surprised at the sensation. It was as if this was the first time Shesmu entered this world.


    Looking up, Shesmu''s eyes crossed with that of a person with high stature. The unknown man''s posture was disciplined, like that of a soldier or a dojo master. He wore a pair of metal shoulder plates, chainmail covered by a green vest that was coupled with dark green pants. His muscles were bursting out of his vest, scars of battle decorated his face and arms, telling tales of all the wars he survived. All of a sudden, Shesmu who was staring at him felt a great sense of danger. The man in front of him became much larger, his eyes only focusing on him, not noticing anything of the surrounding. The man felt like a feral beast, green aura full of ferocity was emanating from him.


    For a second, Shesmu was trapped under this illusion, before he finally snapped out of it.


    Bloodthirst passive, huh? Isn''t that a high-level skill, I guess this guy is not half bad. At the very least he is a Tier 2. But to think I would actually succumb to the effect of this skill for so long. I know that this is just a level 0''s body but¡­ My senses are really no longer as sharp as they used to be. This is weird¡­


    Stopping his inner monologue, Shesmu snapped back to reality. As he was stepping up, Shesmu looked at the man in front of him before stepping dead on his tracks. His eyes were cold, this time, it wasn''t unintentional bloodlust leaking from him, the man really wanted to kill him here and now. And, as if everything was but an illusion, the man''s cold turned soft in a second, a smile filling his face.


    "Hey, young''un, get up. The look in your face is as if you just saw a demon. Hahaha!"


    Seeing the man who was just about to eat him alive turn into a kind middle-aged man felt awkward to Shesmu, to say the least. However, it didn''t take long for him to just shake off that feeling and go with the flow. There were many weird people everywhere, if he were to be stuck whenever one of them does something weird, Shesmu would not get anywhere.


    Once Shesmu sat up, the man started talking.


    "My name is Leonard, and I''m a warrior instructor. Here I''ll be teaching you the basics of how to be a warrior!"


    As Leonard was talking, Shesmu''s eyes drifted to his surrounding. As expected, he saw the shadows.


    Noticing where Shesmu''s attention went, the instruction tried to clear his confusion.


    "Oh, these are the ghosts. They are a representation of your comrades from the golden generation in this plane. Each of you is in a different plane with a different instructor so that none bothers anyone in their training."


    Shesmu knew all of this, but he still found it funny how the inhabitants of this world call players the golden generation.


    Each of the ghosts was doing something different. Some were listening to their instructors, others already started training, and some just kept fooling around trying to get a reaction from the other ghosts.


    "First of all, we need to know with which weapon do you see fit for your style. It may determine your future advancement in the mighty path of the warrior. You can always choose to wield any of the other weapons you see here."


    To this question, Shesmu answered shortly.


    "A long sword."


    He would have chosen a longsword as his main weapon and a short one as his secondary. This was the setup he went within his past life. However, he already knew that this was impossible as secondary weapons weren''t available until you get promoted to the second tier of your class. In the lore, it was because only an expert could possibly know how to maneuver more than a single type of weapon.


    "Oh, we seem to be kindred spirits! Remember young''un, the sword chooses its master, so be worthy lest you get rejected by your own sword! Hahaha!"


    Leonard laughed as he patted Shesmu''s back. Each one of his taps felt more like a boulder slamming on Shesmu''s back, rather than human hands.


    "Hack, hack!" Leonard''s friendly pats hit Shesmu so hard that he felt his bones shaking. The teenager felt that if he hadn''t strengthened his internal organs in the character creation process, he might have really suffered some internal injuries.


    Goddammit, what have I done to suffer like this! Was he that violent last time?


    "Haha, you sure do have a backbone. Most people would have fallen to their knees from my greeting pat. Hahaha!"


    For some reason, a strong urge to go up and pummel Leonard until he drops dead burned inside Shesmu. The only thing that was stopping him from doing so was the rational side of him that said "You''re gonna get rekt before you even take the first step, so calm down."


    "Anyway, enough with the rambling, I''m sure that the fire inside your heart is waiting to be unleashed! Come, here is your sword."


    As he said those words, Leonard materialized a long sword in his hand. It didn''t look anything spectacular. In fact, Shesmu could tell from a distance that the sword''s blade was too blunt. The amount of damage one can do with this thing is negligible.


    Shesmu moved forward to take the sword from Leonard''s hands. He was excited, it had been quite a long time since he touched a sword, and even if it was a blunt one, Shesmu didn''t mind. He was looking forward to playing around with it. Without a sword in his hands, Shesmu felt that something was lacking. He will finally be able to fill that gap in his heart.


    However, when Shesmu took ahold of the long sword, it wasn''t joy that welcomed him, but an all-engulfing terror. His hands started shaking, and his eyes were unbelieving. His legs failed him and he fell down to his knees. He could feel it, and he understood it with every fiber of his being. The sword felt alien, almost as if it was the first time he ever touched one.

 8 Dirty Rese

    The sword felt heavy, it felt heavy and slippery. He didn''t need to use it to know that when he slashes with it, it would be the sloppiest slash he did in a long, long time.


    ''I already noticed that something was weird the moment I went back in time, but this confirms everything. My reflexes, my muscle memory, it is gone...''


    Shesmu first noticed that something happened to his body when he used his laptop to check on the time. At that time, he felt that something was out of place when he noticed his unusual behavior, only to ultimately toss all of those worries away.


    For a second, Shesmu didn''t know what to do. He felt lost, powerless, and helpless. His mind was blank, and his face was grim. All sound no longer reached him, he was alone in a deep dark ocean, his eyes threatening to close.


    "Heyo"


    "Young''un!"


    "Are you okay?!"


    From the overwhelming silence, Shesmu was shook back into reality. Looking at his left, he was greeted by the scarred smiling face of the middle-aged man.


    "Did the sword scare you? Don''t worry, it will be even scarier to your opponent." He then paused for a bit before continuing. "But if holding this sword is that overwhelming to you, maybe you should rethink your decision to be a warrior. You can always go through the purification ritual at the church and you can choose another profession. We can go there together if you want to," seeing the wide smile Leonard was giving him, Shesmu felt bad for worrying the man. For a second, he forgot about all the pain that the realization brought to him and focused on the present.


    ''Focus Mark, focus! Don''t waste this new shot at life that was given to you. For now, the only thing that matters is to keep moving forward!''


    "No," Shesmu plainly said.


    To his remark, Leonard raised an eyebrow.


    Shesmu stood up, his back straight and his eyes looking forward.


    "No, it is not necessary. I''m going to be a warrior."


    To his firm declaration, Leonard gave a big smile before saying in his obnoxiously loud voice.


    "I like that! Haha! Your determination to be a warrior fired up my spirit too. You''re going to become a fine Swordsman, I can already tell!"


    After a loud laugh and his iconic greeting pat to the back, Leonard finally became serious.


    "Well, we already had our fun, now it is time for me to show you the basics of a warrior. What I will show are the basic skills that every holder of the warrior class should master, so look attentively."


    Leonard then summoned a training dummy in front of him, before materializing a sword in his hand too. The sword he materialized looked the same as the one he gave Shesmu, prompting the latter to think that this was the only type of sword these instructors could summon.


    "First of all, I''ll show you how a normal slash looks like."


    Leonard took a deep breath in as he raised his sword towards his back. His eyes then focused, and in the blink of an eye, Leonard slashed diagonally at the training dummy. In less than a fraction of a second, Leonard slashed and went back to his fighting position. A number appeared above the fighting dummy glowing blue, 900, showing the damage that the dummy took from Leonard''s slash. He then took a deep breath out before looking at Shesmu and saying.


    "This is a normal slash, now let me show you an empowered one."


    However, Shesmu just half heard those words. His focus was still on the training dummy that has just been slashed. He could barely see Leonard move, let alone his slash. He already knew that his reflexes were gone, but for even his kinetic vision to deteriorate this much. Surprises just kept piling up for Shesmu, and they weren''t good ones.


    But Shesmu didn''t dwell on these worries for long. When he first started playing Ashes of Gods, he couldn''t even see the instructor move, let alone his slash. That means that at least some things carried over the time jump. Maybe his predictive abilities, or maybe just some of his knowledge that is ingrained in his subconsciousness made him look at where he needs to look without him actually reacting to anything. Whatever the case may be, Shesmu knew that his starting point is still higher than in his past life, much much higher if you consider his knowledge about quests, mechanics and classes. There is no reason for him to fret, he already reached such heights in his past life without anyone''s help, what now when he has such a massive lead over everyone else?


    As he said those words, Leonard went back to his fighting position before continuing his explanation.


    "Now, it gets a bit complicated. You need to free your mind, let out all distracting thoughts and think only one thing: "Empowered Slash". It needs to be imprinted in your brain, your soul even. Only then will the skill activate and your inner power heed your call. Here, watch and learn."


    Assuming the same position as before, with his sword behind his back, Leonard''s sword glowed red. The previously dull looking sword emanated an air of danger and sharpness. Leonard slashed swiftly, leaving a red afterimage as the trail of his sword. This time, the number that appeared on top of the dummy was glowing red and looked much bigger and more imposing than when Leonard did a normal slash with his sword. But maybe, most surprising of all, was that the damage reached 3000, more than 3 times that of Leonard''s normal attack.


    Shesmu wasn''t surprised at all by the insane damage outputted by the instructor. This kind of damage was actually below the standards of any decent Tier 2 player. Shesmu attributed this underwhelming performance to the sword Leonard was using.


    As Leonard finished his speech, a red notification reached Shesmu. At the far upper-left of his vision was his Hp and Energy bar and next to them was small plus sign. This plus sign had a red exclamation mark next to it blinking. Focusing on the plus sign, multiple tabs appeared in front of Shesmu. Selecting the Skill tab, a table appeared in front of him.


    New Skill Acquired


    Empowered Slash


    Empowered Slash


    Tier: 0


    Level: 1


    Cost: 30 Energy


    Description: Deals 200% attack damage.


    Looking at the basic description of the skill, Shesmu just casually closed all of the tabs. It''s not as if he didn''t already every information that was present there.


    Bringing Shesmu out of his reverie, Leonard continued explaining.


    "Here, now that I have shown you how the mighty empowered slash looks like, try your hand at it and see how things go."


    Leonard then took a step back to leave room for Shesmu to hack and slash at the training dummy to his heart''s content. Shesmu then took a step forward, holding his sword with two hands.


    Let''s start with a simple empowered slash.


    Thinking those words in his head, Shesmu then thought.


    ''Empowered slash!''


    Shesmu felt parts his body heat up, especially his arms and abdomens. Weird green energy invisible to the naked eye went through his stomach and then reached his hands before seeping into his sword. Shesmu''s sword glowed bright green before his hands automatically slashed the training dummy. The damage the dummy incurred was but a pitiful 50.


    Looking at his damage, Shesmu wasn''t disappointed or anything. This was the damage of a standard Empowered Slash. Sure there were ways to make it do even more damage, but this isn''t what Shesmu was worried about at the moment. What concerned him was something more fundamental, a technique that he considered his bread and butter with how flexible it was.


    If this does not work, then I really don''t know what to say.


    Shesmu readied his stance, his sword at the level of his forehead, then he slashed. It was a normal, diagonal two-handed slash, and if someone had seen it, he wouldn''t think twice about it. But just as the sword was about to get into contact with the training dummy. Shesmu thought.


    ''Empowered¡­ Slash!''


    Immediately, that weird green energy surged from his stomach to his arms, then to his sword. Glinting with that familiar green light, Shesmu''s sword slashed the neck of the training dummy. Above the dummy, a big red 90 appeared.


    If anyone was in Shesmu''s shoes, they would be overjoyed at the sight of such an incredibly high damage. It was almost double the normal empowered slash! However, Shesmu''s face was gloomy. It was even grimmer than when he touched a sword for the first time in this new life. He bit his lower lip, and he bit it so hard for it to bleed. Shesmu was frustrated, his anger and frustration gnawed at his heart faster than a thousand ant. As the droplet of blood dripped down his face and fell down, Shesmu thought.


    ''Even this move? Even this one move I do not get to keep?''


    But even as his thoughts were that of a man who has given up, the light in his eyes told otherwise.


    ''If, life, you''re going to be like that, then so be it. I will take whatever bullshit you throw at my feet, and crush it!''

 9 Animation Cancel

    In front of the training dummy, Shesmu held his sword with one hand. However, this wasn''t a change of posture made so that he can strike the dummy more effectively. In fact, he wasn''t planning to strike the dummy at all. At this moment, Shesmu was waging a more decisive war, and its battlefield was in his mind.


    Taking a deep breath, Shesmu replayed the sequence of attacks he just did in his mind. As if his mind was a Slowmo camera, he saw himself making that attack slowly. He noticed every detail, every breath he took, the speed by which his sword was moving, its angle and more. The sword kept slashing and Shesmu kept observing, from the flow of his sword Shesmu knew that he still needed around 0.3 seconds before he should activate Empowered Slash.


    Counting under his breath, Shesmu reached 2 before the green energy started gathering on his abdomen.


    Stop-


    Stopping his imagination dead in its track, Shesmu felt his hands become slippery. Cold sweat dripped down from his forehead and the palms of his hands. He shortly gasped for air before looking at the training dummy.


    I mistimed it, let''s do it again.


    Once again, Shesmu took hold of his sword with both hands, gripping its handle tightly. For the second time, Shesmu swung his sword diagonally towards the dummy. As the sword closed in, Shesmu once again activated Empowered Slash.


    "Shhh!"


    Once again, a big red 90 appeared above the dummy''s head. Looking at it, Shesmu saw a gash on the training dummy''s neck before it got instantly healed. That was considered a weak spot, as the dummy was representing a humanoid creature, thus the higher than standard damage.


    "Tch missed it again." Shesmu clicked his tongue as he missed the timing for the second time in a row. But this time, he knew that he was close, he felt it.


    Third time''s the charm, let''s do this.


    For a third time Shesmu took hold of his sword, and with both hand raised it at the level of his forehead. He swung it diagonally, and as the sword closed on the dummy, he activated his skill.


    "Swoosh!"


    A bright green light in the form of a slash appeared in the air for a second before dissipating. A gash bigger than ever before made its way through the dummy''s neck before slowly healing. And, most surprising of all, two numbers appeared above the dummy. A small blue 45, and a big red 90 were on top of each other.


    At this sight, Shesmu sighed in relief, a rare smile appearing on his face.


    Well, now I got working this at least.


    Recalling back the events that just transpired so as to burn it in his memory, Shesmu entered a trance once again. At first, he raised his sword and swung normally. It was a normal slash attack, albeit a little bit sloppy by Shesmu''s standards, but it wasn''t too bad. The real trick came much later when he activated his skill. The goal that Shesmu was striving for is not only to hit a normal slash attack but activate Empowered Slash and deal its damage on top of the normal slash attack in one hit. This would have been hard enough of its own he would need first of all the damage of the normal attack to register, then activate Empowered Slash and only then will the second damage be registered by the system.


    This whole endeavor was one of extreme difficulty, not only was it hard to time it well due to the short timeframe, but it was also extremely taxing on one''s mental concentration. But for Shesmu, this scenario would have been easy, extremely so. The reason for this is that the reality of the situation adds another layer of complexity to the technique. Empowered slash gathered energy from Shesmu''s stomach area and distributed it to his arms and by extension his sword. This process takes time, a lot of time for Shesmu''s taste. This makes it impossible when doing the technique for Shesmu to wait until his normal attack connected before activating his skill. There was simply not enough time. That''s why Shesmu has to activate his skill before his normal slash even connects to have a hope of connecting both attacks.


    From this one can easily tell the insane mastery needed to consistently pull off this trick. However, the results were worth it. Shesmu''s slash cut through that training dummy like butter dealing 150% the damage someone would do with a normal empowered slash to the neck.


    "Clap, clap, clap."


    Snapping out of his reverie, Shesmu turned around to the sound of Leonard clapping.


    "That was a marvelous technique. May I know its name?" Leonard said respectfully, his usual joking tone nowhere to be seen.


    To this question, Shesmu pondered for a second. The move did have a name, but it was more popular among players and he never heard an NPC say it before. In the end, he just pushed those thoughts to the side and answered.


    "This move is inspired from a type of techniques called animation cancel. This one specifically shall be named Empowered Slash Cancel."


    "Interesting name, Empowered Slash Cancel, I''ll keep it in mind." Leonard looked like a student taking notes from his professor as he said those words. However, just as he set this serious tone with his speech, he broke it as quickly as he created it.


    "But that''s that and this is this, you still need to learn Empowered Thrust and Dash before qualifying as a warrior. The world is big and you still have much to learn young''un. Haha!"


    As Leonard continued laughing like a madman, Shesmu resisted the urge to facepalm.


    This dude, I really can''t predict what he is gonna do anymore¡­


    "Haha, so let me show you. This is how you do an Empowered thrust¡­"


    Suddenly, Leonard''s words fell into deaf ears. Shesmu no longer cared about whatever he had to say. He already knew everything that had to do with these two skills, and his new experience already told him that he can''t do most of the stuff that he knew about these skills. This made him a little bit depressed. He was also mentally tired from the strain that consecutive Empowered Slash Cancels put on his brain. In his hay days, a skill like this was something akin to eating and drinking, not tiring at all. But now, even a few made him exhausted. He needs to build his mental strength all over again.


    By the end of Leonard''s demonstration, which Shesmu completely ignored, he gained two skills.


    Dash


    Tier: 0


    Level: 1


    Cost: 20


    Rapidly moves you anywhere within a 5 meters radius.


    Empowered Thrust


    Tier: 0


    Level: 1


    Cost: 30 Energy


    Deals 200% attack damage.


    The description of Dash barely gave any information, but Shesmu knew that the skill had many limiting factors. For example, the skill didn''t work well at the edge of its radius when the terrain is not even. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn''t. Someone probably already knew the specific details regarding this in his past life, but Shesmu couldn''t bother at the time looking it up, and for sure won''t bother racking his brain for an answer now. As for Empowered Thrust, it was basically Empowered Slash, but with a thrust. Not really that exciting.


    "Now that I''ve thought you the basic skills of a warrior, you can go to the clergy at the reception outdoors to learn some of the basic skills needed to survive in this world, and to register as a citizen of the Great Pliyx Stal Kingdom. Now, my job is done. I wish you good luck in your journey, you of the golden generation. I''m sure that I would start hearing your name in these streets before long. Haha!"

 10 Registration

    Coming out of the training center, Shesmu looked around to see that most of the shadows were still practicing their skills. He then just continued walking forward until he reached the reception counter.


    The receptionist at his sight was surprised. He then sat up from his seat and greeted Shesmu with a small bow.


    "Your grace, this lowly one is honored to meet you. What do you require of humble me, oh gracious duke?"


    At this grandiose greeting, Shesmu was confused.


    Oh, Is it because of the eyes?


    In his past life, Shesmu didn''t know of the ability to become a noble just by changing your hair and eye color, so he didn''t do it. He knew that noble players received special treatment, but for their status to be this high, Shesmu didn''t expect it.


    But, if this was the common treatment nobles get, then why did Leonard have such a carefree attitude. There was also that killing intent he displayed at first, maybe-


    Shesmu''s trail of thoughts was interrupted by the receptionist in front of him.


    "Your grace, my name is Thomas. If your grace desires, we could start the process of registering you as a high noble for you to receive the skills that are yours by birthright."


    Nodding to his words, Shesmu just gestured for him to continue.


    Understanding Shesmu''s gesture, Thomas continued.


    "Have your grace ever heard about the Inspect skill?"


    Shesmu nodded, faking interest in the upcoming question.


    "The skill is given to us by the Goddess of Light Aida, it helps us identify basic information about the object on which we use the skill on. This information depends on what type of object you use the skill on. If it''s a living being, it will display its level, Tier, basic stats, and name. If it''s not a living being, it will show its durability, rarity, and possibly spec conditions. Of course, in special circumstances the skill might not work, due to the high level of the object you used it on, or due to a disturbance from another skill."


    Of course, Shesmu knew all of this. However, he didn''t feel it right to cut the poor receptionist mid-explanation when he was only doing his job. Plus with Shesmu''s new identity, if he shows his displeasure, the receptionist might be stressed for days on end because of job security. Shesmu felt that wasting 20 seconds of his time is not a terrible price to pay for Thomas''s peace of mind.


    Thomas kept explaining the drawbacks and potential use of the skill for another 20 seconds before a notification appeared at the upper left of Shesmu''s vision. As expected, the system notified him of his acquisition of a new skill.


    New Skill Acquired


    Inspect


    Tier: 1(Max)


    Level: 1


    Cost: 0 Energy


    Shows basic information of the object inspected.


    "Now that your grace acquired the Inspect skill, let''s start the registration process." As he finished speaking, Thomas went back to his desk to search for something. After a few seconds, he came back with a yellow paper in his hand.


    "This is paper of light, but we usually call it Holy paper around here. It is used to document important information that is related to the country as a whole. Anything that is written on these papers has a backup that is automatically copied at the level of the royal palace. It is much different from the silver paper used to record information about newborns, and newly registered people of the golden generation. Those have a backup at the level of the city lord''s palace of their respective city. But my humble person won''t bore you with such details, your grace, let us start with the registration process."


    However, even though Thomas assumed that he would be bored from these details, Shesmu was far from that. In fact, he was pleasantly surprised. This was information that he never knew. Of course, he knew that there was silver paper because that''s what is used for most paperwork, and he knew about golden paper because he was invited to many high-level conferences and meetings because of his status as a high diamond Tier adventurer. But he never knew the differences between the two and just assumed that one was used by nobles and the other by peasants. He thought that it was just one of the many ways nobles used to distinguish themselves from normal people in this country. But to think that there was such a secret behind it, Shesmu would have never guessed it.


    "But, let me just go find the blood stamp, your grace, and I''ll be with you shortly." Thomas then sprinted to behind his desk once more, rummaging for the blood stamp. At this sight, Shesmu hid his chuckle behind his hand. Seeing Thomas being so stressed out due to the difference in status, Shesmu couldn''t help but find the situation funny. This whole occurrence reminded him of his fan meetings and how awkward most of them were.


    Finally finding the blood stamp, Thomas hurried over to Shesmu.


    Standing on one knee, Thomas presented Shesmu with the blood stamp.


    "Your grace, please grant us some of your blessed blood. So as to finish the registration process."


    Shesmu rapidly complied and put his thumb on the blood stamp. The pain that he expected never came, the only thing he saw was his red blood dripping on the blood stamp before being absorbed by it. The small cut on his thumb was instantly healed moments later.


    Well, isn''t this the complex artifact? So many spells, just so that a noble doesn''t experience even the slightest of pain. What a joke!


    Shesmu was surprised at the level of ingenuity put into this small device, but even more disgusted by the noble''s tendency to spend so much on such useless tools.


    As Shesmu was rambling in his head, Thomas wrote some of the details needed for the registration before stamping using Shesmu''s blood.


    "Your grace, with this, the registration is done. This humble one will no longer waste more of your time, as the goddess Aida should have already sent you all of the information that your grace will need. If you have any inquiries about your new skills, this lowly one would be more than happy to give my small opinion on the matter. But if not, this humble one bids you farewell. "


    As Thomas was speaking, Shesmu received a notification. However, he ignored it for the time being to respond to Thomas.


    "I''ll take you on that offer. If there is something I don''t understand, I''ll require your help. Farewell, friend."


    With this, Shesmu made his way to the doors of the building. As he was walking he checked on his notifications.


    New Skill Acquired


    Noble''s Pride


    Noble''s Pride


    Tier: 1 (Max)


    Level: 1 (Max)


    Cost: 0 (Passive)


    A noble''s pride is also a noble''s duty. The noble protect the civilians, and in counterpart, the civilians respect the noble.


    The gain of reputation in the Pliyx Stal Kingdom is doubled.


    Loss of reputation in the Pliyx Stal Kingdom is doubled.


    20% discount on every store registered under the Pliyx Stal Kingdom (Unstackable with other noble effects, cannot grow past 50%).


    New Title Acquired


    Golden Eye of the Golden Child


    Golden Eye of the Golden Child


    As a holder of the golden eyes, your rights have been determined by birth. But as children of the golden generation, you have no family to inherit or favor to be graced with. However, fret not, as the king granted you the chance to receive a territory and be a beacon of hope for this country. Either through personal conquest of monster territories or through a grant from the king due to military achievement, you''re one of the few who has the right to govern.


    This title gives you the same standing as that of a duke.


    Looking at the skill and title he received, Shesmu was flabbergasted. To think that just changing the color of your eyes gave you such an unfair advantage. Shesmu gritted his teeth in frustration about the ignorance of his past self.


    What is done is done, no need to cry over spilled milk. Plus, aren''t you lucky to have the chance to correct the errors of your past? Keep it together, Mark!


    As Shesmu was deep in his thoughts, he didn''t notice that he already reached the exit of the tutorial building. On both ends of the door, a guard was stationed. One of them came into Shesmu and declared.


    "Your grace, one challenge still awaits your bidding. As per Almighty Goddess Aida''s command, all of the golden generations shall pass the Beginning''s Forest and reach the tower of might. There, they shall prove their worth by the baptism of blood. This humble one has no doubts that your grace would prove more worth than ever seen before. Please, let me guide you to your resting place before your brethren of the golden generation comes. Only then will the challenge commence."

 11 Leo

    Next to the wooden buildings in which the players were first taught the basics of their class was an open space. This one''s air was nothing but normal as it had an orange hue to it. If one focused, they could see orange particles blinking and ascending the air currents. The place was surrounded by magical runic symbols, carved on the ground. These symbols glowed a brighter orange, showing any passer-by their might.


    In the middle of the magical circle, a man held his sword with two hands. His eyes were closed and his breath even. He was at peace with his surrounding, almost merging with the air around him. Suddenly, his eyes opened, eyes of a beast which awakened. He slashed, a trailing green afterimage emerged, and then there was nothing.


    "Swoosh!"


    A sharp whistle permeated the open place, showing the slash''s might and speed.


    "Hah¡­"


    Taking a deep breath out, Shesmu looked at the top of his vision. His energy bar of 70 quickly filled back to 100. The reason for this fast regeneration speed was the magic circle that surrounded him. This was set in place for new generation warriors to get used to their new skills.


    Four out of attempted five¡­ I guess it''s not too bad for a start.


    He attempted Empowered Slash Cancel five times, only to succeed in four. This was already a very impressive feat, as anyone who learned this high-level technique for the first time would have trouble even reaching a 20% success rate, forget about Shesmu''s 80%. But to him, this was still not enough. To reach the level he had in his past life, mastering Empowered Slash Cancel was but walking the first step to the Stairway of Heaven.


    Shesmu was deep in his thoughts when he felt someone touch the back of his left shoulder.


    "Hey excuse me¡­"


    Hearing the voice behind his back, Shesmu turned around to see who was talking to him. Suddenly, an illusion bewitched him. Red hair, orange eyes, clear and happy but mature face. The image of the person in front of him superposed with one from his memory.


    "Leo.," Shesmu muttered.


    To his almost inaudible whisper, the teenager in front of him was surprised and asked.


    "Excuse me¡­ That''s my name but¡­ Do you know who I am¡­?"


    At that moment the illusion stopped. The mature face of Leo that he had in memory turned into a much younger version of itself. The dauntless posture that Leo always had turned more timid and shy.


    To think that he would be here too. This face, this voice, I can never forget it even in a thousand year. You are definitely the Leo I know.


    Shesmu''s serious looking eyes turned softer in a second. He made contact with Leo''s eyes and declared.


    "You have such a "Leo" looking face, so it just came out of my mouth like that. Haha! You know, your orange eyes and red hair. You have a lion aura around you, so that''s why the first thing I thought of when I saw you was "Leo". Y''know¡­ Leo, lion, that stuff¡­"


    Shesmu had to go out of his comfort zone and start talking a lot to explain things to Leo. They were best friends in his past life, and he didn''t want to start off the wrong foot this time around. So, even though it was exhausting for him to talk this much for something as simple, he did it anyway.


    To his declaration, Leo was surprised. For a second, he didn''t know what to say, but in the end, he just laughed it off.


    "So it''s like that I see. I mean my inspiration comes from that one game a friend of mine used to play. I didn''t think it was that fitting! Hahaha!" Hearing Leo''s hearty laughter brought a gentle smile to Shesmu''s face. But knowing that he shouldn''t be too gentle and pushy when this was the first time they met in this new life, Shesmu turned a little bit more serious.


    "So, is there anything I could help you with?" Shesmu questioned. He did think that it was fortunate for him to meet Leo this early in the game. But it''s not as if Leo already knew Shesmu or anything and just came to say hi, there must be something that pushed Leo to come to Shesmu.


    "Oh, about that. Hmm, how do I say this? I have seen your shadow in the tutorial training room, and your skills with the sword were awesome! Plus now that I could see you clearly, I know that you''re some sort of pro. I understand that this is weird for me to say this, but could you please team up with us for the next tutorial phase?"


    If it was anyone other than Shesmu, they might have been confused with this question. What teaming up? Was this phase supposed to have teams in it? No one told Shesmu anything about this information, so how could he know? But Shesmu knew that there would be teams for the second phase of the tutorial due to his past life.


    But that''s circumstances that are specific to me. How does he know this information? Maybe¡­ Is he also from the future?!


    Shesmu had to know. It wasn''t far fetched for someone else to come from the future. He didn''t think that he was this main protagonist of a series where every miracle happens to him and only him.


    "Teams? I didn''t know that we will be able to party up in this tutorial. No one told me about that, how did you know?" Shesmu asked.


    To his question, Leo scratched his head for a second thinking before just laughing and answering.


    "Well, a friend of mine went and asked around to find more information about the tutorial. You know, to see if it could be safely skipped¡­ Actually, before that, let me check something. Do you know how to access your inventory?"


    Well, wouldn''t I be damned if I don''t even know how to do that? Ahh! I will never get used to this!


    As Shesmu lamented in his heart the inconveniences that come from going to the past. He didn''t let his face betray him as he kept an everlasting smile.


    "Yes, after I talked with the receptionist, I checked around to see what I can access. I did find my inventory." Shesmu answered. Even though what he said was a lie, it was a white one so he didn''t feel bad about it. However, he did complain in his heart about this whole situation that made him lie to his friend.


    Ahh, I would have never imagined that I would be put in this kind of situation¡­


    "Oh, so you do know what''s in there?" At Leo''s question, Shesmu''s heart rate sped up.


    Shit, I need to check it fast. Who the heck even asks about the starting materials in the inventory?!


    Shesmu focused on the plus sign next to his hp bar, and then automatically opened the inventory tab.


    "Oh yeah, I do know. 10 bread, 20 bottles of water, a beginner chest and 10 coppers, right?"


    As he was looking through his inventory, Shesmu''s mouth didn''t stand still. He just bought time with some "hmm"s and "Ah"s, before he started spitting out what was in his inventory.


    "Yeah, that''s the same as everyone. Well, my friend just put those 10 coppers to good use if you know what I mean, and brought us this information. Haha." Leo awkwardly laughed as he recited his friend''s shady behavior.


    To this confession, Shesmu just laughed and consoled.


    "Well, isn''t that an interesting friend you have there. Plus, for both of you to end up in the same town, isn''t that lucky?"


    "Yeah, we were lucky¡­ Before entering the game, we did check out the map of Ashes of Gods on the website and decided on which city to go to. We''ve been fan of Omega9''s games for a long time, and now that they created this new gen capsule with time dilation technology, we couldn''t help but ride the hype train. Hahaha!"


    Seeing Leo jumping topics, Shesmu could feel the latter''s love for the game. It put a smile on his face. He then declared.


    "Well, let''s go see this friend of yours, maybe he has some more interesting information. Plus, you guys seem like an interesting bunch, so I don''t mind tagging with you."


    Hearing Shesmu''s confirmation, Leo almost jumped out of joy. He then took the lead as he showed the way for Shesmu.

 12 DepressedRyan

    As Shesmu and Leo made their way towards the latter''s mysterious friend, they chatted and talked about their past.


    "So, Leo, what game were you playing before jumping onto Ashes of Gods? You talked before about Omega9 games." Shesmu then thought for a bit before guessing. "Wait, don''t tell me yet. You were maining Hero''s Journey Last Stand before this one right?"


    "Haha, close. I did play Last Stand. It was one of the most enjoyable games I have played for the last two years. But I didn''t main it. Actually, I don''t think I ever had a main game. I always enjoy playing multiple games at the same time and I can''t seem to stick with one. But if I were to choose which game I had put in the most hours the past few years, I''d say Demon''s Heart."


    At the mention of Demon''s Heart, Shesmu heart skipped a beat.


    Oh, I didn''t know about this one. To think that both I and Leo had the same roots. Also, now that I think about it, Seth too¡­


    Shesmu tried his best not to show his inner thoughts as he masked his surprised expression with a smiling one almost instantly.


    "Oh, Demon''s Heart. That was a pretty cool game. The combat in it was especially intense, but the last gen capsule made some parts lamer, you know¡­ But yeah, I liked it too."


    "Oh, you played it too? I guess that''s to be expected. It was pretty popular, and it still dominates the MMO scene to a certain extent. I guess that you were pretty high up the rankings in that game too. Seeing how skillful you are with the sword. I''m sorta jealous."


    At Leo''s declarations, Shesmu just scratched his head and laughed awkwardly.


    "Something like that. Hahaha"


    "Well¡­ I left DepressedRyan here-"


    "That''s me!" Both Shesmu and Leo jumped in fright as they heard a voice behind their back.


    Shesmu turned around only to see no one. He looked left and right before a cough woke him up.


    "Ahem!"


    Shesmu looked down only to see the disgruntled face of a teenager. The boy in front of him was one head shorter than him. Knowing that he might have offended him, Shesmu just laughed awkwardly and apologized.


    Noticing the tense atmosphere between the two, Leo stepped in to break the ice.


    "Well, let me introduce you both. This shorty right here is DepressedRyan-"


    "Hey, who did you just call a shorty?! Wanna fight?!!" At DepressedRyan''s outburst, Leo just laughed and apologized.


    "Haha, I''m sorry, I''m sorry. But enough of that, this is the guy that I told you about. His name¡­ His name is¡­" As Leo was about to introduce Shesmu, he finally remembered a crucial problem. He never asked for Shesmu''s name!


    "Wait, you went in, met with the guy, but never asked for his name? How much more of an airhead can you be?" Sighing at his friend''s antics, DepressedRyan reached out for a handshake with Shesmu as he said.


    "Name''s DepressedRyan, nice to meet you."


    Shesmu shook DepressedRyan''s hand, as he acknowledged the greeting.


    "It''s nice to meet you too. My name is Shesmu."


    At Shesmu''s response, DepressedRyan had a big grin on his face. He then turned towards Leo and greeted him with a smug face.


    "See, it wasn''t so hard." He then jumped at Leo''s head and scratched his hair.


    "You''re so tall and big, yet you''re still afraid of talking to people? Why don''t you give me some of that tallness? Haha!"


    "Stop, that hurts." Seeing that DepressedRyan will not stop his antics, Leo grabbed him with both hands "I told you to stop!" He then tackled him onto the ground, leaving DepressedRyan in a comical state of pain. Leo then stood up and scratched his head as he looked at Shesmu.


    "I''m sorry for what you had to see. He is always like this."


    Shesmu was indeed surprised by how lively DepressedRyan was.


    Makes you think how did he end up with such a name.


    "Haha, no worries, no worries. It''s no problem at all, in fact, I like it better this way." Shesmu laughed. He did like it better this way. The livelier and more outgoing the people next to him were, the farther he can stay away from depressive thoughts.


    As Shesmu made his stance, DepressedRyan stood up in one jump, a proud smile covering his face.


    "See, even Shesmu like me better this way. You should stop being so grumpy and put a smile on your face. Maybe that way you can finally get a girlfriend."


    After teasing Leo a bit, DepressedRyan finally turned serious.


    "But we can leave that for later. For now, we need to plan for the second phase of the tutorial."


    As DepressedRyan became serious, Leo stopped himself from scolding him. He just looked at Shesmu and said.


    "First, I guess we need to explain to you the situation."


    "Oh, so you still haven''t explained to him what will happen in the second phase?"


    "Well, yeah. You can explain that better since you were the one who went and did all of that shady stuff."


    At Leo''s explanation, DepressedRyan just laughed.


    "Hah, what shady stuff do you mean? I just went to the guard and asked him nicely about that beginning forest stuff. Then I just put those 10 coppers to good use and let the magic happen. He became happy, I was happy, and everything was good. You can''t find such win-win deals even in the nicest places, you hear me?"


    Shesmu was surprised by DepressedRyan''s shamelessness. Turning white into black, and black into united nation blue was as easy as flipping his hand. Shesmu felt respect for such skills.


    "But that''s past stories, let''s talk about the really cool stuff. This second phase is about using the skills we learned to survive through the dangers of the forest and reach the tower of might. From here we can''t see it because of the ridiculously large trees, but once we go outside, you''ll see it. From what I heard it''s pretty tall and you can see it from anywhere in the forest.


    "The weapons that we''ll be getting is from the beginner''s chest. Once we open that, we''ll receive the beginner set including weapon, armor and all that jazz. We''ll also get some pills, but the guard didn''t want to talk about their use. He said that I''ll know about them when I''ll need to or something like that. But leaving that aside, the most important information that the guard gave me is this: There are treasures in the Forest of Beginning."

 13 Training

    "Treasures?" Shesmu asked, his faked surprised expression veiling his inner thoughts.


    For how long will I need to keep feigning ignorance? Please, someone, get me out!


    "Yes, treasures. These can have any number of items, from weapons to armors to anything else. If we get to open some of these, we can swap out these trash pieces of equipment for something better earlier than everyone else. Plus, we don''t even need to grind out monsters and waste time. Of course, we need to be lucky enough to find them."


    As DepressedRyan was explaining, Leo shimmed in.


    "Well, these treasures are cool and all. But in the end, they''re just an addition, we can''t just waste time looking for them hoping for a stroke of luck. In the end, they''re not as consistent as fighting Bosses."


    "Oh Bosses, I forgot to talk about those. Yeah, there are Bosses in the forest. The guard was being scared and all, and he told me to take caution as there are strong monsters in the forest. But how can we be scared of fighting them? Fighting strong monsters and Bosses, that''s a man''s biggest romance!"


    At DepressedRyan''s declaration, Leo couldn''t help but nod approvingly.


    Seeing the two being so excited, Shesmu smiled and thought.


    Well, at the very least they''re not chickening out from the challenge. That''s a great start.


    After the trio had their fair share of excitement, Shesmu brought the group down to earth and asked.


    "It''s cool that there are bosses and treasures, but you talked before about some kind of strategy. What strategy can you even make without knowing what we''re going against?"


    At Shesmu''s question, Leo and his friend fidgeted nervously, before DepressedRyan finally answered.


    "Well, it''s not really about strategy more than just knowing each other. We all know our skills, but none of us know each other''s fighting style. I thought that if we''re given this opportunity to stay in this place where we have infinite energy regen, we could test out each other''s skill level." He then continued with a smaller voice, "I wonder if that will be fine with you?"


    "Yeah, no problem."


    Shesmu played with Leo for 8 years, so he knew his fighting style like the back of his hand. However, that was future Leo. Shesmu has no idea about his skills when he just started playing the game.


    At Shesmu''s response, both DepressedRyan''s and Leo''s face brightened up. Leo then exclaimed,


    "Good, so let start right now!"


    Seeing Leo being so excited, DepressedRyan calmed him down with a few words.


    "It''s good that you''re eager to start, but before that, claim your chest. Or, how do you plan to use your skill without a weapon?"


    The trio then used their beginner''s chest and equipped the set. In a flash, their attire changed. The swords they were holding were an exact copy of the one used in the tutorial. They also wore plain iron shoulder pads, a chest plate, leather pants, and a pair of shoes.


    "Okay, Leo. You have no problem in using your three skills, right?"


    "Ehh, to a certain extent. We do still fail to activate them sometimes." Leo answered, fidgeting in place. He was obviously feeling guilty about his incompetence.


    At Leo''s answer, Shesmu just smiled gently. Since he already started practicing animation cancels, Shesmu forgot for a second how hard it was to activate the skill in the first place. One needed to free his mind and only think the name of the skill for it to activate, this was pretty hard for someone who just started playing. He remembered that when he first started playing the game in his past life, he was also in a similar situation. At the time, it took him 3 hours before he was able to use his skills freely.


    "It''s not a big problem, so don''t worry, we will fix that in a second." Shesmu then took a deep breath before assuming a more serious tone. "First of all, let''s start with the basics. When you try to use a skill, I noticed that my mind becomes unusually clear. I deduced that this is the system helping you maintaining a clear state of mind that is necessary for the skill to activate. I want you to just let the system do its thing, and focus on maintaining that thought until the skill activates. I know that this is hard, but it''s the only way to do it, so try your hardest."


    At Shesmu''s explanation, both Leo and DepressedRyan turned serious and nodded.


    "Okay, let''s do this." Saying so, Leo raised his sword in a fighting position, executing Empowered Slash.


    Seeing his friend being so eager, DepressedRyan followed suit.


    As the duo entered their own world, Shesmu also went back a few steps to have enough space for his training.


    This escaped my attention before, but it seems that I did at least retain the ability to instantly use my skills. If I didn''t even have that, then¡­


    Thinking about the possibility, Shesmu shook his head.


    No¡­ No time to think about such possibilities now.


    Shaking all of these thoughts away, Shesmu focused on the task at hand.


    I should first get the cancel down, only then can I focus on other stuff.


    Shesmu took his fighting stance, shut his eyes and breathed deeply. He then reopened his eyes with force, only to witness an incredible scene. A white shadow materialized in front of him, its form hazy, and its movements silent. This was a figment of Shesmu''s imagination. For the longest time, he was able to shadow box against humanoid lifeforms that his mind created and visualized. This was one of Shesmu''s secrets. Focusing on the neck of the creature he performed his Empowered Slash Cancel.


    Shesmu''s sword went through the white shadow, however, as if it was made of gas, it rematerialized again.


    Again


    Once again, Shesmu took his fighting stance, swung his sword and activated Empowered Slash, slashing through the white shadow. This time too, he successfully performed Empowered Slash Cancel.


    This pattern continued for a while. Ten times, twenty times, fifty times. Time seemed to stop for Shesmu as he focused only on the sword in his hand and the white shadow in front of him.


    Plop


    Sweat dripped from Shesmu''s face and plopped on the pool of sweat next to his shoes.


    "Swoosh"


    Once again, Shesmu performed Empowered Slash Cancel. To the inexperienced eyes, this slash may look the same as all the others, however, it still made Shesmu''s heart pump from excitement.


    Great, that one felt clean.


    While not flashy, Shesmu''s last Empowered Slash Cancel was the fastest and most streamlined one he ever performed since his reincarnation. His other attempts might have looked good to one without any experience, but any decent player from Shesmu''s past life could discern all of its weak points. First, they were slow as the fighting position they emanated from and their trajectory wasn''t optimal. Second, they were easily blockable as they left a big interval between the normal hit and the Empowered Slash one. In that interval, a pro player will be able to use Dash to escape the second wave of damage.


    However, Shesmu''s last Slash didn''t suffer from any of these. Not only was it fast, but it was also fast even with Shesmu''s past life standards. However, this wasn''t what made Shesmu the happiest, the reason lies in the timing of the Empowered Slash. In that one slash, the interval between the damage done by the normal attack and the skill was so small that Shesmu couldn''t even discern it.


    If I were in the receiving end, then maybe even I wouldn''t be able to dodge it consistently.


    Hard work does pay off, even though Shesmu spent an unknown amount of time trying to perfect his technique, the results left him satisfied.


    Fatigued, Shesmu dropped on the ground, on his bottom.


    "Ah, huff, huff."


    I shouldn''t get carried away. This was a good strike, but it''s not as if I can do it consistently at this level.


    However, even though Shesmu thought this, his smile couldn''t hide his happiness.


    "Ahem."


    At a sudden cough that came from behind, Shesmu jumped in surprise. Turning around, Shesmu found both DepressedRyan and Leo behind him.


    "Well, wasn''t that the intense training session? We waited until you finished before coming to talk."


    "Oh, so you guys finished already?"


    At Shesmu''s question, Leo almost let out a chuckle.


    "I mean, of course, we did, it''s been more than three hours already."


    At the mention of time, Shesmu finally noticed that the sun which was high in the sky was already close to setting. He then looked back at the duo, before standing up and saying.


    "Sorry for the wait guys. Let''s get going, the forest of beginning is still waiting for us."

 14 God Speed Shesmu

    "Sorry for the wait guys. Let''s get going, the forest of beginning is still waiting for us." Shesmu apologized. Once he started training he forgot about the notion of time. In those few hours, nothing existed in his mind but the sword in his hand.


    "No problem, and yeah, we should get going. Everyone already left a while ago." DepressedRyan replied in an exasperated manner. He then continued, "plus, the instructor has been waiting for a long time already. He is probably pissed off by now."


    While Shesmu and DepressedRyan were talking, Leo pondered for a second before asking, "But what took you so long though? Were the skills way too hard pull off? I know, dude."


    Even though his speech represented acceptance, Leo''s eyes couldn''t hide his disappointment. Shesmu showed an incredible amount of precision in his attacks in the tutorial room. He was one of the first to activate his skill. When Leo saw that, he was at awe. At that point, he couldn''t even begin to understand how to activate his skill, and was so frustrated that he rethought his decision to buy the game. But when he saw that someone could activate Empowered Slash, his competitive spirit was ignited. However, now he saw Shesmu struggle with something so simple, Leo couldn''t help being shocked.


    When Shesmu saw the disappointment in Leo''s face, he felt obliged to clear his confusion, "Ah, no that''s not it. It was just a trick that I thought about while using the skill. I won''t spend so much time just on learning how to activate my skill, haha."


    Hearing Shesmu''s confirmation, Leo''s face brimmed with hope.


    "Of course! With your ability, how could you ever have a hard time activating your skills?"


    Listening to Leo''s declaration, Shesmu couldn''t help laughing awkwardly.


    Well, I guess no matter what happens, skills get you respect.


    "I''ll show it to you later. It''s hard to understand what happens if you don''t see it being used against a live target."


    "What do you mean? Is it a bug?", Leo asked.


    "Yeah, I''m interested in what kind of technique would take you three hours to train," DepressedRyan chimed in.


    Surprise caught Shesmu with Leo''s question. He pondered for a little before sighing in resignation and answering, "No, it''s not a bug. I can explain but I doubt that it would make sense to you right away. It''s just that thing."


    Shesmu then stopped and turned around, "Well, I''ll show you the technique once and we''ll get going. It''s better than me explaining things over and over again."


    Shesmu took a stance and with ease performed the Empowered Slash Cancel. He tried to slow down his movement as much as possible so that the duo can at least see what happened.


    "What was that? The green light didn''t appear until the middle of your swing! Is that a bug?," Leo exclaimed.


    DepressedRyan got annoyed at his friend''s question and cut in, "Is everything a bug to you? There is no book that says Empowered Slash can only be activated at the start of the swing. Now the question is: what is the use of doing that?"


    Shesmu opened his mouth slightly in surprise before he closed it again.


    This guy is sharp!


    "Woah, you''re sharp. I didn''t even think of that, haha," Leo was also in shock at DepressedRyan''s wits. He just scratched his head in embarrassment and laughed.


    Shesmu pondered for a moment before he decided, Well, if he is this good then there is no harm telling him. Maybe I will be surprised.


    "When your sword hit a target, the system counts it as damage done. You should have noticed it if you played a bit with the training doll in the tutorial."


    Both Leo and DepressedRyan nodded at Shesmu''s statement in approval. He then continued, "Well, if it already takes the damage into account when you first hit the target, then what would happen if you used Empowered Slash after your normal slash hit?"


    DepressedRyan''s eyes widened for a second before he answered in a low voice, "The damage of your normal hit and skill will both stack up on top of each other. This-this is amazing."


    When Leo heard DepressedRyan''s explanation, he also exclaimed, "Oh! So it''s like Sword Slash Cancel in Demon Heart?"


    "Yeah, it''s kinda like that, but why are you bringing that game up, Shesmu may have not played that game and you may have just confused him. That''s why you''re so bad at social interactions ¡ª put yourself in other people''s shoes. I warn you, if you stay this way, you''ll never get a girlfriend!" DepressedRyan rebuked Leo with his hands on his waist. But under his breath he was still muttering in a barely audible voice, "Even though you''re this tall and everything¡­".


    When DepressedRyan stopped his rebuke, Leo''s neutral face cracked into a big smug smile, "Haha, you may have thought that you got me this time, but it''s you who is being the idiot. Shesmu also played Demon Heart, he told me when we first talked!"


    The proud smile on Leo''s face irritated DepressedRyan to no end, but he managed to stop the urge to plummet Leo''s head once again to ask Shesmu, "Wait, you played Demon Heart? What was your name there?"


    "Yeah, I played Demon Heart, and my name was the same. It was Shesmu." He replied with a smile on his face. That the two were this experienced with video games to know about the Sword Slash Cancel came as a pleasant surprise for Shesmu. Maybe I can teach them some stuff later. Leo was a matter but even Ryan is no noob.


    While Shesmu was thinking, DepressedRyan was doing the same. "Shesmu- Shesmu, where have I heard this name before?" He kept muttering, before his eyes widened, "Shesmu! Are you God Speed Shesmu?!"


    "Yep, that''s me. Though I would like it if you dropped the "God Speed" part, that''s just cringy as hell," Shesmu laughed at the end of his speech. Both Leo and Ryan starred in shock as a legend of a game that for so long dominated the scene unveiled itself.


    Leo couldn''t contain his excitement any longer and blurted out, "Wait, are you for real? The heck, you were my idol in that game. This is just way too much!"


    Looking at the duo''s dumbfounded reactions, Shesmu bursted out laughing, "Haha! You should see your face, it''s way too funny! So how do I look like to you guys? Just for your info, I still go to the bathroom like every other regular human being. Haha!"


    Even though Shesmu tried to break the ice that generated between them, the duo was still awkward while talking with him.


    Seeing them being like this, Shesmu pouted for a second before a mischievous smile appeared on his face.


    "Well, if you''re going to be like this, then you leave me with no choice." He said as he approached the both of them. Shesmu then strained both of his hands and punched them both in the guts.


    "I''m still your friend, idiots! Don''t make me angry with this idolization bullshit again, we good?"

 15 Weird Encounter

    "Your grace¡­ I-I implore your pardon! The capital has not told us that someone as important as you would be a member of the training regimen!"


    The instructor was sweating profusely, stuttering in his talk as he apologized to Shesmu.


    I really will never get used to this. And it''s not even a title that I could just deactivate. Ah, I guess I just need to get used to it.


    "Oh, why is he being so respectful to you, Shesmu? Earlier he was being full macho, talking to us as if we were soldiers under his watch," DepressedRyan was confused, and for good reasons. The difference between the attitude of the instructor that he remembered and now was night and day.


    "Ah, I just discovered it lately, but it seems that having golden eyes make you a noble in this country," Shesmu wasn''t stingy about information. He already considered DepressedRyan as a friend, same as Leo. Moreover, he got this information from reading the description of the countries in character creation space. There was no way to link this knowledge to his time travel secret.


    "Oh, that''s weird," DepressedRyan answered with a low voice. His frown deepened, he was visibly concerned about the balance of such a feature. He then continued, "You think it''s a bug?"


    Shesmu was about to burst out laughing from Ryan''s comment, Even ten years in the future, they still kept saying that it''s a balanced system. I call bullshit!


    "Maybe?" Shesmu could only answer this way. He had to stop himself from talking his mind to protect his secret of going back in time. At the very least, he should keep it until he understood its cause.


    While the duo was whispering in each other''s ears, the middle-aged instructor in front of them was fidgeting in place. Seeing him acting this way, Shesmu finally turned to face and console him.


    "Don''t worry about it. They have an hour lead, so what?"


    "But your grace, your ranking in the race to reach the Tower of Might will be affected. If you don''t get the rewards you deserve from Goddess Aida due to my fault, I won''t be able to forgive myself for all my life!" The instructor lamented.


    When Shesmu heard that, he was surprised for a second. A reward? I don''t remember that kind of thing for the second phase, only for the third phase do I remember them giving out rewards. Maybe I just don''t remember stuff right.


    ""Rewards!"" Both Leo and Ryan exclaimed. They looked at each other for a second before they both burst out laughing.


    "If there are rewards down the line then what are we still dilly-dallying here for? Let''s get going!" DepressedRyan exclaimed.


    "Milords! Please, before you go, I need to give you the map of the forest. In this place a lot of monsters resides, from the lowest level of one to the highest of ten. Some places in the forests are dangerous, you need to have a map to avoid them."


    Suddenly, a notification reached Shesmu


    Map Acquired


    Forest of Beginning Map


    "Here it is. With this, I won''t take anymore of your time, milords. Please, have a safe journey." The instructor opened the gates and bowed.


    "Well, let''s get going then," Shesmu declared before stepping out of the gates.


    The duo quickly followed suit, before they started marching down the main road. From there, they could see the Tower of Might. It was an ivory tower covered in red and black carvings of dragons and demons.


    "Wow, that looks pretty cool. Plus look at how tall that tower is -- Easily, 20 floors in there," Leo exclaimed in surprise. Before, he couldn''t see the tower due to the gargantuan trees surrounding the tutorial hall. But now that he could see it, he was amazed by its glorious figure.


    Shesmu looked at the map for a second. He saw many red circles all around it. **I guess those are the danger zones he warned us about.


    "That''s the tower of might that we need to reach. Also, from the map I see that we can''t reach it through the main road. Plus, if we go straight to it from here, we''ll only go through two danger zones. It''s the safest route."


    The duo just nodded and the party went in. After 1 minute of walking, they finally heard something.


    "Stop drawing in more monsters you idiots!"


    "I''m not doing anything-they''re just coming for me on their own! Ahh!"


    Oh, players. Also, did they aggro a shitload of monsters?


    Once Shesmu''s thoughts reached this point, he immediately stopped in his tracks.


    "Guys stop, let''s hide for a bit," He ordered in a calm tone. Shesmu wanted to first check out the situation before deciding on how to help the distressed players.


    Both Leo and DepressedRyan understood the thought process of Shesmu and acted according to his instruction. The trio hid behind the shrubs, waiting for the players and whatever was chasing them to come.


    They didn''t have to wait for long, as the moment they hid is the moment the distressed players came. One girl, one boy, both holding their sword clumsily, ran into the clearing as if their lives depended on it.


    Seconds after the clumsy duo came in, three small green humanoid creatures appeared. Goblins? And baby goblins at that? How in the world do these creatures beat you? Shesmu was surprised to say the least about this situation. Level one goblins are so weak that even the biggest noobs in the history of mankind can win against with their eyes closed.


    "Do you know who I am? I am the hero foretold by the prophecy of old! The savior!" The guy then turned towards the girl before continuing, ""Don''t worry, I will protect you from those evil creatures! Just watch my power!"


    Looking at this scene, Shesmu, Leo and DepressedRyan thought the same thing, It''s a roleplayer¡­The trios'' eyes showed disappointment that cannot be described by words.


    "Oh, Kazuti, you''re so cool!"


    So even the girl is in the roleplay.


    Once the trio saw this scene, they turned to look at each other. Reaching a silent mutual understanding, they nodded their head. They turned around, and silently made their way out.


    "Don''t worry, I will protect you from those vile creatures! Just watch my power!"


    "You can do it. I believe in you, kyaa!!"


    The trio kept walking as if they heard nothing. They were eager to get out of this place before the two roleplayers noticed them.


    "Shit! I got hit! How dare you goblins?!" For a second, the guy dropped his role-playing voice. The pain was clear from his tone.


    "Kazuti, are you hurt?! We should run!"


    When Shesmu heard the panic in the duo''s voice. Something inside of him made him stop.


    They probably don''t know how to change the pain setting.


    When the duo saw Shesmu stopping, they looked at him incredulously, "Shesmu, what''s going on? Let''s get out of here before those two nutjobs notice us," Asked DepressedRyan.


    Shesmu looked at the sky for two seconds before looking back at both of his teammates, "I''m sorry guys. I probably will regret this the moment I do it, but I''ve got no choice."


    Without waiting for their response, Shesmu ran back towards the two roleplayers. They were already disarmed and the goblins kept hitting them with their blunt knives. But the baby goblins could barely output any damage, only dealing five with each hit.


    Really how can a person possible lose to that. Even your punches deal more damage than them.


    In less than five seconds, Shesmu arrived at the clearing. Without saying anything to the duo, he used his skill Dash to teleport towards the goblins.


    "Krii, krii!"


    The screeching of the goblins made Shesmu even more irritated than how he already was. He looked at one of the goblins, and before it could even react, he slashed open its neck using an Empowered Slash Cancel.


    The damage was enough to kill the goblin who barely had 100 HP.


    Without wasting any time, Shesmu grabbed the second goblin and threw it on the ground on its head. Its skull caved in, and blood gushed out from its orifices. Seeing its ally being killed, the last baby goblin jumped towards Shesmu, trying to main him.


    That is fortunate. They cannot even make out the difference in our strength.


    While the goblin was in midair, Shesmu muttered, "Empowered thrust." His sword glowed green and he plunged it deep into the goblin''s neck. Blood gushed out and painted Shesmu''s face red. He then took out his sword and with one final slash, he ended the goblin''s life.


    Once Shesmu finished his job, he turned around to look at the role-playing duo who were still shuddering in fear. His bloody-faced cracked into a big smile before he said.


    "You guys are trash."

 16 Kazuti And Amaterasu

    "You guys are trash."


    Shesmu could no longer hold it in his heart anymore. Being a roleplayer was one thing, being so bad was another. At this point, he had mixed feelings of anger and pity towards the couple.


    The girl became flustered when she heard Shesmu''s insult, "Hey! Yes, you saved us, but that doesn''t give you the right to insult us!-"


    However, before she could even finish her rant, Kazuti stopped her.


    "No, Amaterasu. He is right. At this point in time, I am simply too weak. No matter how much I want to protect you, with this power, I can''t."


    As he said those words slowly and heavily, pain could be seen in Kazuti''s eyes. He clenched at his heart in regret before he forcefully looked at Shesmu in his eyes.


    "Great master, please, with this power of mine I cannot defend anything or anyone. I beg you, teach me how to become a strong person!"


    The light in Kazuti''s eyes showed the strong will in his heart. However, Shesmu didn''t buy any of that. Throughout the whole speech, he had a judgemental face that condemned mankind for evolving to this state.


    "Nope, sorry. Just learn by yourself, it''s not that hard," Saying these words, Shesmu immediately turned his back and went off. Want me to take care of you nutjobs? Yeah, right!


    But if Shesmu had thought he will get away from this situation so easily, then he was in for a world of disappointment. Before he could even take two steps, Shesmu was stopped by a hand holding his leg. He turned around to look at what the idiot was doing again, only to be greeted by the most anime protagonist smile he has ever seen.


    "I''m sorry, but I cannot continue down this road. So that I can protect everyone that I love, for our future, I must be strong."


    "Yes! You get the chance to train the hero of old, how can you not be proud?!"


    If there was anything that annoyed Shesmu more than the chunni roleplaying hero, it would be the annoying cheerleader next to him. Nope, I''m getting out of here.


    Before he could hear any more of their rants, Shesmu used Dash to teleport away from Kazuti. Then, with all of his strength, he sprinted out to Leo and DepressedRyan, who was still waiting for him deep in the forest.


    "What was that?" Leo asked.


    "No time for that, we need to get the hell out of here first," Shesmu shuddered just remembering what kind of situation he was about to be stuck in.


    As the trio continued running away from the terror that was Kazumi and Amaterasu, DepressedRyan laughed and exclaimed, "Haha, that must have been the funniest thing I have ever seen in years. For someone to scare you this much, he must be amazing in his own way!"


    In response to Ryan, Shesmu just grumbled and muttered under his breath, "yeah, he really is amazing. Just a tad bit too amazing for me."


    While the trio was still running away, Kazuti and Amaterasu were still on the ground looking at their back.


    "Hey, Kazuti, don''t worry about it. That guy was too stupid and couldn''t see your potential. I''m sure that there will be so many others who will." Declared Amaterasu. But her shoulders were down and she kept looking on the ground; she was obviously dejected.


    Kazuti looked at the direction Shesmu ran to for another two seconds before turning towards Amaterasu. He got closer and cupped her head before looking straight at her eyes and saying. "Amaterasu," he then caressed her hair before continuing, "Don''t feel sad. Every hero has to go through hardships, and this is but the first one. I could sense it, that unless I train under him, it will be meaningless. I will not give up, and you should too." Kazuti then stood up before extending his hand towards Amaterasu, "Get up, we still have a long journey awaiting us."


    Kazuti then turned towards the direction Shesmu went in, he then looked up to see the Tower of Might. We will meet there, master¡­


    Shesmu was also staring at the Tower of Might. He mused It seems that we''ll only be there by the middle of the night.


    "Oh Shesmu, when you killed those goblins, how much exp did you get?"


    "Oh, let me check, Ryan," Shesmu answered. He then looked at the exp bar below his hp and ki bars before continuing, "I got 60 exp from those 3 goblins. Still, have 40 more to go before leveling up."


    "Oh, that''s neat. If leveling is so easy, we should start grinding as fast a possible," declared Leo.


    "Yeah, it makes sense to grind first. But I''m not sure about what will happen in the Tower of Might, leveling might make whatever challenge we face there easier. Plus there is still the danger zones that we need to go through, we might want to level a bit first before going through them," DepressedRyan suggested.


    Shesmu listened to the suggestions and thought for a bit before checking his minimap. From there, he could see multiple yellow circles; those were places with high monster density.


    "Okay then, let''s go left. We will have our fair share of monsters to fight there," Shesmu ordered.


    The duo was confused for a second before Leo asked, "wait, how do you know that there will be monsters on the left? Is it because of the yellow circle?"


    "Yeah, if you focus on them, you''ll see information related to what monster inhabits that area. I deduced that if we go there, we''ll find more monsters," Shesmu simply answered.


    With no questions left to ask, the trio turned left and continued running.


    "Krii, krii!"


    Hearing the screeching of the goblins, the party stopped in its track. From between the trees, Shesmu could see seven goblins on the ground and four hiding on trees. He used inspect on them and found that the goblins on top of the trees were all level 3, while those on the ground were level 2.


    Shesmu signaled to his duo to sit down so as to hide.


    "Hey, do you guys think we''ll be able to beat them? They''re all higher leveled than us," Leo asked in doubt.


    "Don''t worry about it, the goblins that I fought before did 5 damage with each hit. Yes, they were level 1, but I don''t think that their higher level counterpart will deal much more,"


    Listening to what Shesmu said, DepressedRyan pondered for a bit before giving his two cents, "If they''re this weak, then we can definitely kill them. We just need to deal with the goblins in the trees first, those will be a problem."


    Well, I guess that those might be a problem if they just randomly jumped down. I should probably take care of them myself and leave the ones in the ground to these two.


    While these thoughts ran in his mind, Shesmu declared, "Yeah, let me-".


    "I''ll do it," DepressedRyan declared. Shesmu was about to tell him to reconsider, but once he looked at DepressedRyan, his determined eyes stopped him.


    Shesmu then just smiled and said, "We''ll leave it to you then." He then looked at Leo before continuing, "Leo, we need to distract the other goblins so that Ryan can look for his assassination opportunity. Let''s do our best."


    Leo nodded at his words, and DepressedRyan crouched before walking slowly towards the tree on which his first target resided on.


    Once DepressedRyan came close to the tree, the duo stood up and ran towards the goblins.


    "I''ll take care of the two at the right, deal with those on the left. Be careful of the goblins above, understood?" Shesmu ordered in quick succession.


    "Understood."


    Shesmu quickly vanished from his spot using Dash and performed a normal slash towards the first goblin. Before it could even react, Shesmu''s sword slashed through its neck. Green energy flashed from Shesmu''s sword and melted in with the dark red color of goblin''s blood. Without wasting any movement, Shesmu roundhouse kicked the injured goblin and catapulted him towards its ally.


    "Krii, krii!"


    The uninjured goblin cried as he fell down from the weight of his comrade. Shesmu then ran towards them and activated Empowered Thrust, he then thrust his sword into the piled up goblins, drilling a hole through both of them.


    Blood gushed out like a fountain from their wounds, dyeing Shesmu''s pants a dark shade of red. For a second, Shesmu''s hand trembled. Really, this body is still not used to death. Shesmu couldn''t experience the horror of his first kill due to the irritation that was caused by the two idiots. But now, his body was fully aware that it just stole another creature''s life. This is just a game, and I''m still being this scared for taking a monster''s life. I should get used to this.


    Shesmu''s level went up to two, but he only got the experience from killing one monster. Kicking the body of the goblin that was on top, the one on the bottom was finally freed.


    "Kiri, Kiri!"


    The goblin crawled and cried. It tried its hardest to get away from the demon that was Shesmu. It struggled as it tried to run away, falling down every few steps.


    Shesmu just stood there, not moving for a little while. Suddenly, his hand twitched. He looked at the pitiful figure of the goblin fleeing and raised his sword. Then he threw it, and it flew with incredible precision towards the monster. Its tip plunged into the goblin''s nape. It tried to cry again, but it could only gurgle. It continued struggling until finally, it stopped moving.


    +40 Exp


    Author''s Note:


    (I''m putting it here because the author''s note section has a low character limit)


    Hey guys, it''s been a rollercoaster of a week. From the joy of having my novel featured to the mental breakdown all the random comments and review it brought with it, this week had the highest of highs and lowest of lows.


    In these past couples of days, I learned a valuable lesson: All I should do is write. There is no point in me explaining all of the finicky details of my story to someone who will not even listen and is probably not even interested. There is no need for me to go out of my way to point out the stupidity of some hate comments because that will only fire the discussion up more and not reach any meaningful conclusion.


    I know that many of you really love the story and comment on almost every single chapter. But many times, new readers don''t even bother reading the story and just look at the reviews.


    So, what I''m trying to say is to show some love through the reviews. I want you guys to explain what my novel really is about, as with the number of comments that I''m starting to get, I can no longer do it; it just takes way too much of my time.

 17 A Suspicious Ryan

    Shesmu walked slowly towards the dead goblin and pulled out his sword. Omega9 really have the worst of tastes. Making these monsters so realistic and have survival instinct¡­


    Although his heart was still heavy, Shesmu kept his head high. From the corner of his eyes, he glanced at Leo.


    The man was fighting with all of his might, he kept blocking with his sword most of the goblins'' hits and whenever he saw an opportunity, he hit them with his sword.


    However, even though he was putting a good fight, his HP was always on the decline due to the goblin from above throwing sharpened rocks at him. Shesmu was thinking about the goblins on top of the trees when he remembered the task given to DepressedRyan. He turned to look at the target that Ryan assigned to himself, only to see that it''s still merrily throwing rocks at Leo. However, from beneath the branches of the tree, Shesmu could see a shadowy figure.


    Oh, that''s interesting¡­


    Climbing a tree was already a hard task for a level 1 player. Doing so while not attracting any attention from the goblin on top was an unimaginable feat for a new player. Shesmu kept looking like the shadow slowly crept towards the goblin who was still unaware. The cold glint of the sword flashed for a second and DepressedRyan pounced on his target. Before it could even scream, he muffled its mouth and slashed its throat. He then activated empowered thrust and plunged it deep in the goblin''s heart.


    When Shesmu saw this scene unfold, he was at loss for words. He is definitely a pro. Is he someone from the future like me?!, Shesmu couldn''t help but question.


    Anyway, I''ll talk to him later about this. For now, helping Leo takes the utmost priority.


    Shesmu looked at Leo once again. Using inspect, he found that Leo only had 40 Hp left. However, before Shesmu could even Dash in to help him, Leo used Empowering Slash and took down one of the goblins. Surprised by this turn of event, Shesmu stopped for a second before thinking, Well, he is Leo after all.


    "Leo, I''ll leave the ones in the ground to you. I''ll take care with Ryan of the ones on top, just don''t die," barked Shesmu. He then immediately ran towards one the surviving goblins on top of the tree before jumping. The branch on which the goblin stood was four meters above ground. No matter how one thought about it, they could never see a way where Shesmu could jump that distance. However, the moment Shesmu jumped was the moment he vanished. He appeared like a ghost in front of the poor goblin and performed Empowered Slash Cancel.


    Shesmu then took hold of the branch with one hand and watched as the goblin fell down. The damage it took from falling down on its head was enough to kill it.


    Shesmu turned to look for his next target only to see the last two goblins running away. He couldn''t use Dash for another 8 seconds, and by that time they would have already run away due to their superior agility. Tch, guess I can''t do anything about that.


    Now that his primary targets were gone, Shesmu decided to help out Leo with the goblin he was fighting against. However, before he could even jump out of the branch, DepressedRyan appeared behind the goblin.


    "Empowered Thrust!"


    Plunging his sword deep into the goblin''s heart, DepressedRyan took out its remaining Hp. Blood gushed out from the goblin''s wound painting Ryan''s face red before it fell down.


    "Huff, thanks, Ryan. You are a lifesaver," Leo was not in his best shape. He had to tank both the attacks of the goblins he was fighting against and the rocks that were thrown at him. At this point, he barely had 15 HP left.


    "Don''t worry about it. More importantly, how much exp did you get? They didn''t say on the website how exp is shared so we might have to do some maths."


    Shesmu jumped off the branch he was holding on and walked towards the duo. "Yeah, I''m interested too," Shesmu said.


    Leo checked his exp bar before replying, "I got 70 exp overall."


    "Oh, so that means you got 30 exp from the kill I took. Interesting, I got the full 40. We can use this to our advantage to level up quickly. We should test how this whole system works as fast as possible, so we need more testing," DepressedRyan replied, his voice implying his excitement and joy.


    "Yeah, I think that''s a good idea. I''m pumped up!" Leo exclaimed. The passion of Ryan rubbed onto him and he became excited too.


    However, Shesmu decided to calm the duo down a little bit.


    "That''s cool and all, but first we need to rest a little bit so that Leo recovers his HP. The effect of bread and water takes time after all."


    Leo was confused by Shesmu''s response, "The effect of bread and water? What''s that?"


    To his question, Shesmu quickly responded, "Bread gives you back Hp, and water satiates your thirst level. But both of these are not instant but regenerative effects."


    This response raised more questions than it answered, as even DepressedRyan became confused. "Thirst level? I don''t see that anywhere, where can I check it?"


    Seeing the confused look on Ryan, Shesmu was surprised. He doesn''t know? Or maybe is he faking ignorance? Is he trying to hide the fact that he came from the future, or is it me that overthought his actions and he really didn''t come back from the future?


    "Ehh, Shesmu?" DepressedRyan asked as he saw Shesmu deep in his thoughts, he then continued while waving his hand, "From earth to Shesmu, from earth to Shesmu, do you hear me?"


    "Ah, I''m sorry. I was just thinking about something. We were talking about thirst level and whatnot, right?", seeing Ryan nod his head Shesmu continued, "Well, I didn''t find it on my interface either. It''s just in the description of the water in the inventory."


    "Oh, that''s weird," commented Leo, holding his chin, "you think it''s a bug?"


    "Maybe," Ryan responded. He then continued, "but we can''t do anything about it. Let''s just hide behind the trees and rest for now."


    Both of Shesmu and Leo agreed with him, and thus the trio chose a tree to lean on. All of them took out a portion of their ration and started eating; Leo, because of his low Hp, and the other two because they were hungry.


    They kept on munching on their bread for a while before Shesmu finished and said, "Hey, Ryan, wanna check out the surrounding? We will just look for another group of goblins so that once Leo is ready, we have a clear direction."


    "Sure, I have no problem. But what about you Leo, are you fine staying here alone for a bit?" DepressedRyan asked, concerned for his friend.


    To this question, Leo just laughed, "Haha, what do you think I am? A baby who still needs his mom, just go, sho sho."


    To this answer, DepressedRyan just smiled in resignation.


    "Well, you heard the man. Let''s head out."


    Shesmu just nodded his head and stood up. The duo just moved out in arbitrary direction while Shesmu was thinking, If there is anything that will blow his cover, it will be Armageddon, right? It''s the biggest annual event of Ashes of Gods after all.


    Confirming his decision in his mind, Shesmu waited until Leo could no longer see them before he asked.


    "Hey Ryan," Shesmu then turned to face him before continuing, "Do you know about Armageddon?"


    Shesmu was expecting many faces. He expected him to laugh, or be confused, or keep a poker face. But the face Ryan made was one that he didn''t predict.


    DepressedRyan looked a little bit confused first at Shesmu''s question before it turned into one of understanding.


    "Ah, Armageddon, you''re talking about the battle of good and evil before the day of judgment, right? Of course, I do. I have read the bible after all."


    Shesmu looked at Ryan for a second before his mind just went off, Huh?

 18 Formation

    Leo was leaning on a tree, checking his inventory. There, he could find the money he gained from killing the goblin. His 10 coppers turned into 20, but he couldn''t tell whether the additional 10 all came from the goblin he killed or both of it and DepressedRyan last hit.


    Moments after, he heard shuffling from the direction Ryan and Shesmu took. Looking up, he saw them both walking towards him.


    Leo stood up and asked, "Oh, that didn''t take long. So, did you guys find any other goblin group?"


    DepressedRyan was first to respond, "Well, yeah. We found a similar group 20 meters from here. This time, there is no rock throwing goblins at the top of the trees, so it''s all good." He then paused for a second before continuing, "but first, Shesmu wanted to discuss something here."


    "Yeah, what I wanted to discuss first was Stat Allocation. We get 5 attribute points each time we level up, so I thought it would be best for us to allocate them depending on what the team needs." Shesmu then pondered for a moment before continuing, "I know that it''s a little bit weird to allocate stats according to the team''s need, especially since we''re all warrior, but I wanted us to at least have stats allocation that makes kinda sense."


    "Well, since Leo is more of the headstrong tank type of person, he should probably crank up his vitality and strength. As for me, since I handled all of the assassinations up to this point, I think that focusing on agility would be my best bet."


    "Ah, about that," Shesmu cut in, "why don''t you change your class to assassin?"


    Hearing the bomb drop, both of Leo and Ryan looked at Shesmu incredulously.


    "You can do that?!" Leo asked, surprise apparent on his tone.


    "Yes, you can. The instructor in the first tutorial room talked to me about it. He said that I have to go through the purification ritual or something of the sort."


    "Purification ritual," DepressedRyan muttered. He then continued with a louder voice, "But, I haven''t played a class other than swordsman in any game for the longest time. Just coming and switching now feels weird."


    DepressedRyan''s answer brought up more questions than it had answered. "You only play swordsman?" Shesmu asked, visibly confused, "were you always playing this janky assassin version of the swordsman class?"


    After Shesmu asked his question, DepressedRyan frowned and muttered, "No, it wasn''t this way." The pain accentuated forcing Ryan to hold his head with both hands, "Agh, it hurts- my brain, I don''t understand," cold sweat dripped from his forehead and his legs wobbly.


    Seeing his friend in such a pain, Leo held DepressedRyan. Leo acted as Ryan''s support before consoling him, "Don''t worry about it, let''s just sit for now until the headaches come off."


    Shesmu promptly agreed with the proposition and the trio leaned on the same tree, one next to the other. Leo kept taking care of DepressedRyan while Shesmu was lost in his thoughts. ''He has the movements of a decently good player even when compared to the scene ten years from now, but he doesn''t know anything about the game. He says that he is a swordsman, but still moves and thinks like an assassin. No matter how I think about it, this makes no sense. Did he come back from the future, but forgot those memories? If so, how?''


    Questions kept popping up in Shesmu''s head, but no matter how much he thought about these things, he couldn''t reach a definitive answer. From the corner of his eyes, Shesmu looked at Leo and Ryan. The injured man was slowly recovering with the aid of Leo. ''Your secrets seem to be deeper than mine, Ryan. In any case, staying with you will definitely make things more interesting.''


    After DepressedRyan recovered, the trio continued their exploration of the forest. They went in the direction of the goblin group Shesmu and Ryan found to start their hunt.


    There was five level 3 goblins in the group. Shesmu quickly assessed the situation and barked out his orders.


    "Leo, you charge in first to hold their attention. Ryan, wait in the sideline and look for an assassination. I will try to focus one goblin at a time to relieve the stress from Leo, be ready to strike!"


    ""Understood!""


    The party immediately went into action with Leo taking the lead. He raised his sword and lunged towards the first goblin.


    The horde of goblins were in no formations. They were scattered randomly, and when Leo attacked, they couldn''t respond properly. Before they could even stop the attacker, Leo activated Empowered Slash and swung his sword towards his victim.


    After Leo slashed the goblin''s chest, he backed off a little to avoid getting swarmed by the other monsters. With their high agility, the goblins were able to quickly catch up to him, however, using the range of his sword, Leo kept them at bay.


    The injured goblin was still struggling to get up on its feet, when a sword, flashing green,came from behind and plunged deep inside its heart. DepressedRyan then took out his sword from the goblin''s corpse before going back to the shadow of the forest, waiting for his next opportunity.


    The four living goblins surrounded Leo from all four directions, waiting for a mistake from his part. They kept this status quo for two seconds before Shesmu came in. He ran towards the goblin right of Leo, attracting the attention of its comrades. The three other goblins wanted to help out their brethren, but the moment they did so Leo lunged towards the goblin in front of him and plunged his sword in its ribs. The goblin screamed in pain, stopping the other two from coming to the aid of the goblin Shesmu was facing.


    Shesmu noticed the indecisiveness of the two goblins and didn''t waste his chance. While the goblin in front of him was distracted by the cry of his comrade, Shesmu quickly ran towards it and performed Empowered Slash Cancel while aiming for its neck.


    Instinctively, the goblin raised its arms to guard its neck. Shesmu''s sword has cleanly cleaved through them, leaving the goblin crippled. With no way to attacks but its teeth, the goblin was but a sheep ready to be slaughtered. It turned its back in an attempt to flee but Shesmu just thrust his sword into its back, ending its life.


    The two goblins that were indecisive just a moment ago seemed to have decided that their target should be Shesmu. They ran towards him but Shesmu didn''t pay any attention. His focus was on the goblin Leo was fighting.


    The tip of a sword peeked out from the goblin''s stomach, while its eyes stared in shock. Behind it stood DepressedRyan, who jumped at the opportunity the moment the goblin was struck by Leo. In its daze, it couldn''t sense the presence of death that was approaching from behind.


    Looking at this situation, Shesmu just sighed and smiled. After easily dodging the two goblins'' attacks, he told his teammate in a loud voice, "Guy! Wanna check out what happens when 3 people share a kill?"


    "Sure, why not? It''s good information," DepressedRyan responded, while Leo just nodded his head in confirmation.


    Hearing their confirmation, Shesmu thought for a second, ''Well, I haven''t tested this yet, but can I still grab and throw like before?'' Deciding that it wouldn''t do any harm to try, Shesmu feigned a slash before grabbing one of the goblins from his hand. He then tried to perform a back throw, but in the midst of his actions, Shesmu stopped. ''Wait, what do I do next?'' In Shesmu''s past life, he didn''t think about how to back throw when he did it, it just came out naturally without him having to think about it. Now that he lost his muscle memory, he could no longer do it.


    ''Well, it doesn''t matter. It was just for style points anyway, and I can always learn it again, it''s not that hard of a technique.''


    While Shesmu was consoling himself with his thoughts, the free goblin jumped towards him with a knife in its hand. Shesmu immediately reacted to this attack with a front kick to the face of the creature, stopping it mid-jump. He then used Empowered Slash to cut the hand of the goblin that he was still holding making it scream in pain.


    By this time, Ryan and Leo reached the scene and killed the crippled goblin in two hits. The other goblin suffered a similar fate.


    "It seems that killing a monster as 3 is more lucrative than as 2. The ratios are 100%, 50, 50. If this trend keeps going like this, won''t large teams just steamroll everyone in leveling speed?" DepressedRyan asked after checking everyone''s exp gain.


    "Not necessarily. Monsters take us so little time to kill, if large teams waste time trying to get everybody to hit the monster once, it would be worse than just grinding normally," Shesmu retorted. He then continued with an aggravated tone, What I''m worried about is that large guilds can nurture powerhouses just by having them touch a monster and leave the rest of the job to another person. That would be beyond broken."


    "You think we should report that?" Leo asked. "If the situation is as you say, it wouldn''t be just beyond broken, it will make the game competitively invalid."


    "Yeah, let''s do that," DepressedRyan agreed. "Hopefully with that, it will be fixed in next update." With these closing statement, the trio decided to put the matter to rest.


    After the fight with the goblins, Leo finally reached level 2. With this event, the group decided that it was time to sit down and allocate the attribute points. Each person starts with 5 points in each stat. Shesmu put 2 points into Strength and 2 into Agility and 1 into Dexterity; Ryan put 2 into Dexterity and 3 into Agility due to Shesmu''s advice, and Leo put 3 points into vitality and 2 into Strength.


    They decided to keep allocating stats this way until they gain more information that would change their minds. The trio then decided to continue their grinding session, and they did so for 4 hours. In this part of the forest, there were only goblins so that''s the only thing they fought. However, even with that, they were able to all reach level 5 before stopping.


    "Agh, those goblins are so greedy! The only thing they dropped are these lousy trash knives. They are even worse than our newbie sword!" Leo complained.


    "Well, it can''t be helped. The only thing we fought are normal monsters at or under level 5, we can''t expect to equip ourselves with the best gear from their drops," DepressedRyan soothed Leo. He looked at the scenery in front of him before continuing, "plus, shouldn''t you be excited? Gears, treasures, and bosses, all of those are in front of us. We have reached the red zone!"

 19 Red Zone

    The red zone didn''t look any different from the normal zones. The trees were still as tall as ever, blocking the moonlight from illuminating the way for any traveling party. However, Shesmu and his friends didn''t take any risk. Even though the scenery looked the same as before, they have been very careful with their steps, stopping every dozen seconds to reassess their environment.


    ''If I remember right, somewhere around here there should be a waterfall; behind it is the goblin den.''


    Shesmu looked at the minimap and found that the waterfall was about 30 meters to their right.


    "There seem to be a waterfall nearby," Shesmu announced, "if there is anything my experience told me, it''s that these type of places are where hidden quests and treasures are located."


    "Seems fair," DepressedRyan responded, while Leo nodded in agreement.


    The party, after deciding on their next destination, walked towards the direction of the waterfall.


    "But really, it''s already been five minutes and we still haven''t found any monster, isn''t that strange?" Asked Leo.


    DepressedRyan frowned and muttered, "you''re right. It makes no sense." He then thought for a couple more seconds before continuing, "maybe- maybe, there is a boss close to here or something?"


    Hearing his suggestion, Leo became excited, "A boss? Yeah, I know many games that did things like these. The area around the boss always lacks normal monsters."


    "Ohh, you''re right Leo. Many games have that feature, so as to not just swarm you with mob then kill you with a boss. What do you think, Shesmu?"


    "Hmm, I guess? I mean, it could just be that there was a team before us that cleared the area. But then again, we would have seen corpses of the monsters lying around. Well, who knows?"


    However, while Shesmu''s mouth said one thing, his thoughts went in a different direction.


    ''This is the goblins'' territory, and it''s night so they are asleep in their den. Of course, there wouldn''t be any monsters going around.''


    Shesmu then continued, "Well, who cares about that for now. We''re close to the waterfall so let''s up to the pace. Hopefully, we find some treasure chests and get some good gear, the durability of my sword is already down by half."


    Leo laughed at Shesmu''s comment and added, "Yeah, me too! Also, let''s wash our swords first before doing anything else. The handle is so sticky with goblin''s blood that I can barely hold my sword properly."


    "Yeah, we should do that too," Shesmu answered.


    The party went through the dark branches only to be greeted by a silvery light. The water of the small lake in front of them reflected the light of the moon.


    "Wow, this scenery is beautiful!" exclaimed Leo. The dark and gloomy forest took a toll on his mind, and that of his teammates too; now that they could finally see some light coupled with beautiful scenery too, their hearts were relieved.


    The trio kept staring at the flickering light on the water for half a minute before Shesmu finally snapped out of his daze.


    "Guys, I know that this is cool and all, but remember what we''re here for. Let''s start searching!"


    At Shesmu''s orders, the party started searching. They first checked the outskirt of the lake, each of them taking a position. Shesmu took north, Leo took west, and DepressedRyan took east.


    They looked at every nook and cranny, next to every tree and in every hole, they could find. However, the party ended up empty-handed. After 15 minutes, they finally decided to stop.


    "Well, we already checked the outskirt, so it''s time for a dive!" exclaimed DepressedRyan, appearing happy. Shesmu made the both of them check out the surroundings first and foremost even though it was obvious that what they came here looking for was inside the lake.


    "Yeah, finally! Let''s go swimming-I mean searching!" declared Leo, correcting himself mid-sentence.


    Shesmu looked at the duo in an incredulous manner for a moment. In his past life, for the longest time, the only thing he knew was work and work and more work. When he was streaming his gameplay for other people to watch, he had to control his conduct to conserve the image of his team. When he wasn''t streaming, he had to train his fundamental techniques and familiarize with the new strategies. The only fun he had was the little bit of banter and challenges between him and his teammates. Now, staying with these two guys and experiencing the game in different more fun ways made Shesmu unwilling to go back to his previous lifestyle.


    With his internal introspection done, Shesmu just smiled at Leo and said.


    "Well, let''s not forget about our goal here. But having some fun along the way isn''t a problem."


    With this, as if they were beast unleashed, the duo immediately jumped into the lake.


    Splash!


    Without even taking off their clothes, they dived right into it.


    "Ah! This is great! The water is so cool!" exclaimed Leo.


    "Come in, Shesmu. We need to keep on searching for the treasures, right?" DepressedRyan added, then he continued with a taunt, "Or, are you maybe afraid of the cold water? Is that why you have been delaying the search of the lake for so long?"


    The smug smile DepressedRyan had on his face quickly annoyed Shesmu. Then, without any notice, Shesmu jumped into the water, still fully clad.


    "You little shit, just you wait!"


    Shesmu swam with all his might towards Ryan, intent on teaching him a lesson for mocking him.


    Seeing Shesmu coming at him with such ardor, DepressedRyan immediately ran away.


    "It was just a prank bro! Please!"


    However, Shesmu didn''t have any of that. He kept on swimming, intent on catching Ryan no matter what.


    While Leo was laughing his lungs out on the sideline, the duo kept on swimming, one running away and the other fully intent on catching his prey. Their speed was about the same, so the battle became quickly one of endurance.


    ''Tough luck, Ryan! With my enhanced lungs, you can never get away from me.''


    It didn''t take more than 2 minutes for DepressedRyan to no be able to keep up speed and be caught by Shesmu.


    After Shesmu caught Ryan, he looked at him for two seconds while thinking, ''Well, now that I caught him, what do I do now?'' He then kept looking at Ryan''s nervous eyes for another 5 seconds before just sighing and letting him free. Shesmu couldn''t bring himself to scold Ryan when he looked at him that way.


    "Hey Ryan, I have never asked you this, but how old are you?" asked Shesmu. The opportunity didn''t present itself before, but he was curious about DepressedRyan''s age since he looked and sounded so young.


    "I''m 15, what about you?"


    "I''m 18," Shesmu answered, ''though I was 28 at some point.''


    "Well, enough of all of this. Let''s get to searching, we cannot waste even more time."


    With this closing statement, the party went back to work. Everyone took one part of the small lake and started searching.


    Less than 5 minutes later, Leo came back to the surface and exclaimed, "Guys! I found something. Come!"


    "Oh, is it a treasure?" DepressedRyan asked.


    To his question, Leo nodded. After that, everyone followed Leo''s lead and dived under the water. It didn''t take more than 10 seconds for the trio to reach the surface of the lake which was filled with algae. But between all of the green, a golden shine stood out. Leo spread the green plants, and a golden treasure chest had slowly shown itself.

 20 Goblinss Den

    The trio kept looking at the treasure chest for 2 seconds before Shesmu finally took the initiative. ''Well, they don''t even know how to open these chests so it''s better if I just do it,'' he thought.


    In the middle of the chest, there was a button, Shesmu clicked on it, and after 4 seconds of mechanical clicking, the chest opened. A brown light shone from inside the chest and a notification popped up for Shesmu.


    With his hands, Shemu signaled for his teammate to go up. He decided that it''s better to reach the surface first and catch their breath before checking the notification.


    With his signal, the trio swam up to the surface of the lake.


    "Bwah, I was about to suffocate," exclaimed Leo. Both him and DepressedRyan erratically breathed in and out.


    Contrary to his teammates'' misery, Shesmu didn''t feel his breath running out. In fact, he suspected that he could have spent another minute underwater without any issue. ''I should probably tell them how to change their body structure. But with how delicate the whole process is if they mess up one thing they''ll end up with a crippled character.''


    With these thoughts, Shesmu looked at Ryan and Leo before saying, "Guys, let''s check what we got from the chest."


    As if these words were a magical spell, the duo immediately became energetic again.


    "There better be some cool gear there, the devs are gonna hear it from me otherwise!"


    Leo nodded at DepressedRyan''s declaration, and Shesmu just laughed before he checked his notifications.


    Wood Chest Tier 1 Opened


    The rewards have been sent to your inventory.


    Shesmu opened his inventory only to find 3 new items. There were one sword, 10 potions, and 10 pills. Shesmu took out these items from his inventory one by one so as to show them to his teammates. Shesmu used inspect on those items.


    Iron Sword


    Rarity: Iron


    Required Level: 5


    Weapon Level: 1


    Attack: 40


    Regenerative Health Potion


    Increases Health Point regeneration by 5 Hp/sec for one minute.


    Regenerative Energy Pills


    Increase Energy regeneration by 5 Energy/sec for one minute.


    "Weapon level?" asked Leo confused. He then continued, "Do weapons level up in this game?"


    DepressedRyan was also frowning in confusion when he answered, "I guess? But look at those potions, aren''t they broken? If we just hit and run while using them, we will never die."


    "I''m not sure about the weapon that level up and how that works, but I think we should decide on the distribution first, right?" suggested Shesmu.


    DepressedRyan thought for a second then said, "Well, Leo is the tank, for now, so he should get 4 potions, while we get 3 each. Since you''re the most proficient with the sword here, so you should take it, and I take 4 pills while you split the rest. Is that good?"


    "I think that''s fair. Shesmu has been taking most of the burden until now, so he deserves compensation," Leo responded.


    "Well, if it''s fine with you guys, then I will take the weapon. Hopefully, we find some other treasure chests to equip everyone."


    With this, the group went back to searching. After an hour, they found 3 other treasure chests. Unfortunately, none of the treasure chests had any equipment in them, they only contained potions and money.


    The distribution of the potions and pills was the same as before with Leo taking 4 Hp potions and DepressedRyan 4 energy pills from every chest. As for the money, the trio distributed it equally and


    each of them got 80 coppers.


    After cleaning the place, Shesmu finally decided to check out what was behind the waterfall. Even though he knew that the goblin den was there, Shesmu deemed it necessary to clear out the area of every treasure chest possible.


    Shesmu swam towards the waterfall and looked behind it. He found that even though the entrance of the den was higher than the level of water, they could still reach it by using Dash.


    "Hey, guys! I just found something weird!" shouted Shesmu at the top of his lungs to get the attention of the duo.


    The duo swam towards him. When they got close to Shesmu, Ryan asked, "What is it? Another treasure?"


    "Even better," Shesmu responded. He then signaled them to come behind the waterfall before pointing towards the den and saying, "Come here and look at what I''ve found, seems like we''ll finally have some fun."


    The trio followed his lead then looked at where his finger pointed at.


    "Is that a cave? We should check it out, maybe we''ll find more treasures there!" exclaimed Leo.


    "Well, I''d love to too, but how are we supposed to climb that high?" asked DepressedRyan, unwillingness clear in his eyes as he looked at the cave that he deemed impossible to reach.


    "Well, who said anything about climbing? We have the Dash skill, so let''s use that," suggested Shesmu.


    As if given a new life, DepressedRyan''s voice became cheerful when he exclaimed, "How could I forget about that! Sorry guys, sometimes my brain just turns off."


    "Haha, don''t worry. It happens," consoled Leo.


    "Well, let''s get going guys. We can''t stay here all night," said Shesmu.


    The duo nodded at Shesmu''s word and in a count of three, they all dashed towards the entrance of the cave. Once their feet touched the ground, a message appeared in front of them.


    Ding!


    Congratulation of finding the level 5 dungeon: Goblins'' Den!


    For being the first party to find the dungeon, you are rewarded with 50 reputation points in the human territory!


    "Oh a dungeon, lucky!", exclaimed Leo before continuing, "and these rewards are sweet too!"


    "I was expecting to find a treasure here, but for it to be a dungeon, that''s even better!" added DepressedRyan.


    Shesmu closed off the notifications before turning and looking at his teammates, "I think that we should probably stay quiet for now. We don''t know where the monsters are and we don''t want to get swarmed from the get-go."


    The duo nodded at Shesmu''s words before Leo responded with a lower voice, "Let''s go, guys, I''m already excited."


    DepressedRyan and Shesmu smiled when hearing Leo''s quiet voice, before chuckling a little bit. This whole scenario left Leo confused, but he didn''t mind and just walked deeper into the cave.


    The trio didn''t have to walk for long before finding their first opponent. Barely 15 seconds in, a group of 5 goblins ran towards them, dagger in hand.


    Each of the goblins was a level 5 one, and with small bodies, they could run one next to the other in this small cave with ease. Shesmu used inspect on all of them and found that they have 200 Hp. While this number dwarfed his 160 Hp, it didn''t matter to Shesmu. After doing some calculation in his head, Shesmu thought, ''With my new sword, I can kill one of them in one combo.''


    "Leo, Ryan, the usual!" Shesmu barked out.


    Understanding his meaning, Leo ran towards the goblin group while DepressedRyan hid under the cover of the shadows waiting for the perfect opportunity.


    Shesmu followed Leo''s lead and ran towards the goblins. At this point, Leo was already their focus, so Shesmu just singled out the goblin at the left and swung his sword towards him.


    A flash of green light emanated and ridiculous numbers appeared above the flabbergasted goblin.


    120


    240

 21 Dungeon Dwelling

    Shesmu''s sword cut through the goblin''s neck like a knife through butter. Blood gushed out of the goblin''s neck, dyeing Shesmu''s face red. However, even while being showered by blood, Shesmu didn''t flinch; he looked at the goblin straight in the eyes. The goblin''s eyes that showed fear and surprise just a moment ago slowly became lifeless.


    For half a second, the goblins that were focused on Leo shifted their attention towards their dead comrade; this lapse of concentration spelled their doom.


    Empowered Thrust!


    Shesmu''s sword flashed green before he thrust at thin air. Dash. While everyone was still confused by Shesmu''s weird antics, he vanished from his place and appeared in front of one of the goblins. His sword pierced through the creature''s neck, stunning it in place. Shesmu took his sword and the goblin fell on the ground, blood gushing out of its wound.


    The group of goblin that was originally made of five turned into that of three in less than a second. The remaining monsters stepped back in fear. The human in front of them became a god of death in their eyes, ready to reap their lives.


    Leo understood from earlier experiences that when the difference in strength is too clear, the monsters flee in fear. Now that Shesmu killed close to half of their group in half a second, the remaining goblins were bound to run away. The moment they stepped back half a step, Leo jumped into action.


    "Empowered Slash!"


    Leo swung his sword towards the goblin in front of him, a green light emanating from it. The creature blocked the slash with its arms, but the sword cut through them. Seeing the plight of their comrade, the other goblins lunged at Leo. However, before they could deal any damage, he Dashed out.


    When Leo vanished from before their eyes, the two goblins looked at all directions to see where he escaped to. However, the moment they turned around they were welcomed by an ugly sight: they were surrounded from all directions.


    Shesmu who wiped out close to half their team blocked their way from behind. Leo and DepressedRyan who couldn''t find an opportunity to assassinate blocked their way from the front. The goblins understood that there was no way out of this situation, so they cried for help.


    "Kiri, kiri!"


    The moment they opened their mouths, Shesmu''s mind tingled at the incoming danger. If they were to let the goblins cry as they want, they will quickly be swarmed by the hordes of goblins.


    The party of three ran in synchronization. Each of them activated a skill of their own, and once they reached the goblins, a dance of death took place. Heads and limbs rolled on the ground and the party''s exp bar filled a little more, creeping closer towards the next level.


    Ding!


    Shesmu received a notification. He clicked on the plus button and a message popped up.


    Weapon level up!


    Weapons really level up fast in the early stages. Just five goblins were enough to bring it to level 2, that''s fast. Hopefully, this sword has a good growth rate.


    Shesmu quickly checked out his sword''s new stats.


    Iron Sword


    Rarity: Iron


    Required Level: 5


    Weapon Level: 2


    Attack: 45


    Now that Shesmu''s Iron Sword leveled up, he found it natural to talk about the working of this mechanic with his friends.


    "Guys, my weapon just leveled up," Shesmu declared.


    "Oh, so weapons do level up! But what about weapons we were given before? Is it because of their rarity?" asked Leo, visibly excited at the prospect of leveling his own weapon.


    "Maybe," Ryan responded, "but it could also just be the starting weapons that don''t have the ability to level up. Either way, we''ll know once more weapons drop."


    "Ryan is right, we can''t make a judgment with the information that we have," Shesmu declared. He then continued, "What we should do now is check the goblins'' drop and continue exploring the dungeon."


    The party then checked the goblins'' drop, but unfortunately, they couldn''t find any equipment. The only thing they found was tailoring material, goblin fabric, and a torch.


    Leo collected the japtem and the group continued their exploration. After less than a minute, they found a doorway that opened up to a dark room. From beyond the entrance, Shesmu could hear the snorting of the goblins.


    Even though the party could barely see anything this deep into the den, they decided to not light up the torches for now. Taking out as many goblins without alerting the rest for the longest time was their priority.


    Since Shesmu was the one who dealt with goblins the fastest, and DepressedRyan had assassination skills, the task of "killing as many goblins as possible while they''re asleep" fell on their shoulders. Leo was tasked to cover their back and warn them if any goblin scouting party was coming.


    With their tasks clear, Shesmu and Ryan entered the goblins'' sleeping room. They split the room into two, with Shesmu taking the right part and Ryan the left one. The snoring sound covered the noise of their steps and also directed them to their victims.


    The goblins had no bed, so they all slept one next to the other on top of the cold floor. Shesmu looked at one of the snoring goblins and used inspect. The information that was displayed in front of Shesmu told him that the goblin had 200 Hp. Good, I can kill it in one shot, this way, it will not thrash and move around alerting the other goblins. With this in mind, Shesmu activated Empowered Thrust and aimed for the goblin''s heart.


    The goblin barely twitched before its snoring stopped, and with it, its life. Shesmu breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the next goblin. At first, Shesmu thought of using Empowered Slash, but thinking about the bloody mess that will occur if he uses it, Shesmu stopped himself. He waited out the ten seconds of cooldown needed for Empowered Thrust to become available again and repeated the same process.


    This scenario kept repeating multiple times. In his spree, Shesmu leveled up two times but still didn''t stop. It was just a couple dozen of seconds before his last level up Shesmu heard the sound of a notification. He knew that it couldn''t be that of a level up so Shesmu focused on the plus sign and a message popped up.


    Empowered Thrust level up!


    Oh, for Empowered Thrust to level up first even though I used Empowered Slash as my main skill for all this time. I guess that I really went ham on these poor goblins.


    Even though Shesmu couldn''t see the number of goblins he massacred, the smell of blood that permeated the air told him tales about that. However, before he could even rejoice at what he has accomplished, a low grumble shook him to the core. The low pitched sound of a goblin grumbling made Shesmu''s heart sink.


    Shesmu looked at the direction of the sound and could see a shadowy figure stand up. He used inspect on it only to see words he has never seen before in this lifetime.


    Hobgoblin(Elite)


    Hp: 1000/1000

 22 Mini Boss Figh

    Hobgoblin(Elite)


    Hp: 1000/1000


    When Shesmu saw this status screen with his inspect skill, his first thought was to check on DepressedRyan. However, due to the lack of any source of light, he couldn''t see anything.


    Tch, don''t know if he finished his part and I can''t even ask him if he did. If I do, and he still hasn''t killed them all, we will need to face not only the hobgoblin but also all the other goblins.


    Shesmu kept being indecisive, but the hobgoblin didn''t give him the time to sit and dilly-dally. It stood up, and the moment it noticed the presence of intruders, it shouted.


    "Kragh!"


    With this cry, Shesmu''s doubt died. Now that the creatures screamed so loudly, whatever was left of the goblins woke up.


    "Leo! Come here and light up the torch!" Shesmu ordered at the top of his lungs.


    Leo, while not fully understanding the situation, immediately stood up and entered the room. He then lit up the torch only for his face to become one of despair.


    The dim orange light unveiled the shroud and showed 10 goblins slowly waking up, with the hobgoblin in the middle. The hobgoblin was 30 cm taller than the normal goblin, making him stand at 140 cm. He was clad with a brown cloak and armed with a sharp dagger.


    So, it''s an assassin variant. Guess that this is Ryan''s lucky day, he will finally change his beginner sword for a proper dagger.


    From the corner of his eyes, Shesmu could see Ryan blending in with the corpses. Tailing the trail of blood left by Ryan by his eyes, Shesmu looked at his teammate''s massacre. There were at least twenty goblins with their heads severed.


    Well, we can loot that later. Now, need to focus on this guy.


    Shesmu stopped all of the unnecessary thoughts and focused only on the foe in front of him. In a flash, the hobgoblin in front of him disappeared. Not good! Shesmu immediately turned around and swung his sword. The monster that just vanished from his sight appeared behind his back and was ready to plunge his dagger deep into Shesmu''s body.


    Using the blade of his sword, Shesmu deflected the attack. Before the hobgoblin could return to his fighting position, Shesmu countered with a slash of his own. The only thing he could see was the goblin''s neck which seemed to grow closer as Shesmu swung his sword. Empowered Slash! Shesmu activated his skill, intending to sever the head of the hobgoblin and thus activate a lethal hit, killing the hobgoblin.


    However, inches away from the creature''s neck, Shesmu''s sword encountered an obstacle. The hobgoblin, with its fast reaction timing, blocked the hit with its left arm. The monster''s arm flew in the sky, blood dripping from it, painting both the ground and Shesmu''s face red.


    The green light in Shesmu''s sword dissipated and two damage numbers appeared above the creature''s head.


    110


    220


    Since the hobgoblin blocked the slash with his hand, Shesmu couldn''t land a critical hit. However, the damage still scared the hobgoblin to back out.


    "Kiri! Kiri!"


    The exchange between Shesmu and the hobgoblin took but 2 seconds. This short amount of time was enough for the goblins to wake up from their daze. Tch, I guess it would have been naive to think that I could kill their boss before they could do anything.


    "Leo! Come, take these guys'' aggro while I deal with the hob!" Shesmu barked out.


    "Got that! Just finish him quickly!"


    Leo put the torch in hand in a holder stuck to the wall. He then ran towards the group of goblins that wanted Shesmu''s blood and used Empowered Slash. He lunged towards the goblin in front of him, but before the sword could slash the creature, he was swarmed. Two goblins jumped and clung on his arms, while another pair stuck to his legs. Leo knew that he was in big trouble, so he immediately used Dash to teleport out.


    When Leo vanished from their sight, the goblins that were clinging to him fell on the ground. The other goblins were confused for a second and looked around to check where Leo disappeared to. Once they couldn''t find him, their target became Shesmu again. However, before they could even start running, a bumping sound came from behind.


    The goblins turned around only to see the body of their comrade headless; the head was rolling on the ground before it stopped and stared at them. A shadow jumped from behind the standing corpse and lunged towards one of the closer goblins. The creature raised its arms to defend its face from the attacker, only to be surprised by a sharp pain in the chest. It opened its eyes that it closed in a panic and the face of a human teen. It looked down only to see a sword plunged deep into its heart.


    After finishing off his second victim, DepressedRyan jumped off, using the goblin''s chest as support, back into the shadows. The other goblins didn''t stand still and ran towards him, trying to catch this human rat that dared to sneak attack them. However, barely three seconds into the chase, they lost any trace of DepressedRyan.


    Shesmu kept looking at the scene from the corner of his eyes. Once he saw that the goblins no longer bothered with him, he finally focused on the injured hobgoblin in front of him. Shesmu raised his sword with one hand and feigned a slash. The goblin took the bait and countered with an attack of his own. It lunged with its dagger on hand, intending to dodge the slash and cut off Shesmu''s neck. Unfortunately for it, plans rarely go as expected. The sword that it thought it dodged suddenly appeared before it and pierced its neck.


    Blood gurgled out of the monster''s mouth, but its will to live was still in its eyes.


    Plosh


    Plosh


    A sharp pain came from its back. Two other swords pierced the creature''s heart and kidney. It slowly turned around only to see two familiar faces, Leo and DepressedRyan. Its eyes slowly lost their glint.


    With the hobgoblin dead. Shesmu''s group focused on the last batch of goblins. They were still looking for DepressedRyan, and they kept chasing shadows for a while longer until one of them turned to look back. To its horror, it saw the hobgoblin-its chief dead, his corpse next to the three culprits.


    "Kiri! Kiri!", it screamed. But it was to no avail, their fate was already sealed. In less than 10 seconds, Shesmu''s party cleaned up the eight goblins that were left.


    "Well, time to loot!" Leo exclaimed, happy that they finally finished this arduous and tedious task.


    "Yeah, let''s loot the hob first, I''m curious about what it will drop," DepressedRyan suggested.


    Shesmu nodded at his suggestion and thus the party looted the hobgoblin. They got four items: 20 goblin fabric, 10 energy pills, 10 hp potions, and a dagger.


    Shesmu used inspect on the dagger to find out its stats.


    Stone Dagger


    Required Level: 7


    Weapon Level: 1


    Attack: 60

 23 A Terrifying Encounter

    After Shesmu inspected the dagger, he looked at DepressedRyan and said, "Hey, Ryan. I think that you should be the one to take this dagger. That sword is clunky for you, isn''t it?"


    Ryan looked hesitant at first, but he eventually gave in to the temptation and sighed, "Thanks dude, I''ll take you up the offer."


    Shesmu then looked at Leo and said, "I''ll take five energy pills, you take the rest. I already have a lot of HP potions. Hopefully next time a sword drops, that way everyone is equipped with Iron grade equipment."


    Leo looked at the 10 Hp potions on Shesmu''s hand before he laughed and said, "who cares about HP potions? Haha. I already have thirty or so of them, just split normally."


    Shesmu felt guilty since his friend was the only one left out without a decent weapon. That was the reason that he offered Leo a larger part of the loot. But since his friend was so adamant on splitting evenly, Shesmu gave in and buried his guilt.


    "Well, if you say so. In any case, next weapon will be yours, no matter its rarity," Shesmu concluded, leaving no room for discussion.


    Leo wanted to protest against Shesmu''s decision, but seeing the look on his friend''s eyes, he swallowed his words.


    The party then started looting the other goblins. They hovered their hands on the creatures'' corpses, and items started appearing on their inventory. Most of the items were goblin fabric, but some rare items dropped.


    DepressedRyan was looting a goblin corpse when he suddenly called out, "Hey guys. This goblin dropped something weird."


    "What? Is it a weapon or something?" Leo asked as he and Shesmu came over.


    Well, if normal mobs dropped something weird, then it must be magic stones, Shesmu thought as he walked towards DepressedRyan.


    When the two reached Ryan, the latter opened his inventory and took out an item. It was a blue stone that was slightly larger than a pebble. It gave off a cold glint, but other than that, it appeared normal.


    "Its description is really vague. It says that it''s a magic stone and that it drops from monsters with the ability to evolve, but it doesn''t say anything other than that." After inspecting the stone, Leo was left with more questions than answers.


    Listening to his friend''s confused words, Shesmu smiled and thought: Well, even in the past timeline, no one understood the use of these stones until much later. I guess that I should start buying them as soon as possible once the live game goes up.


    "Yeah, that doesn''t really say much," DepressedRyan added. After thinking for a bit, he continued, "Well, it doesn''t really matter anyway. We can just save them up for now until we understand their use."


    Shesmu debated whether he should tell them about the true value of magic stones and with that his identity as a time traveler. I could tell them now all of this, but what stops them from telling to someone else. And even if they don''t say it, there are many ways to get this information from them, people do mistakes after all. I can''t risk telling them anything, else the probability of mishaps happening increases exponentially. This is for my own safety, and most importantly, their safety.


    After much internal debate, Shesmu settled on keeping quiet about the subject for now. Once he takes appropriate measures of security, he can then be more open about his secrets.


    "In any case, we can check the forums later after we finish this dungeon. Let''s continue with the looting first," Shesmu concluded.


    After a few minutes, the party finished looting the goblins. Just as they were about to go out of the room and continue the exploration, Leo noticed that some of the goblins'' bodies disappeared.


    "Hey, I just saw some goblins disappear!" Leo exclaimed.


    "Are you sure you aren''t imagining things-," before DepressedRyan could even finish his words, another goblin turned into particles and disappeared.


    "I guess that makes sense. If monsters were to be left alone after players kill them, everywhere would just reek of the smell of blood and death," Shesmu explained. "Well, enough of this. We need to finish this dungeon as fast as possible so that we can reach the tower fast. We don''t want to miss out on those rewards now, do we?"


    Leo then took out the torch from the handle, and the trio went out of the room. They continued walking on the main path of the cave.


    "Hey, what do you think that room was?" Leo asked suddenly.


    "Hmm, maybe it was a sleeping room or something? No matter what, I don''t think that there are that many goblins left on this dungeon. I don''t know how many we killed there, but it gotta be more than a hundred. I got to level 7 and more than halfway to 8 just from them," DepressedRyan answered.


    "Lucky you guys, I just got to level 6 from the hob," Leo pouted.


    Hearing him depressed, Shesmu couldn''t help but intervene, "Don''t worry Leo. In the road to the tower, I''ll let you have the last hits until you reach our level. Consider that as an apology for not bringing you in."


    When Leo listened to Shesmu''s suggestion, he couldn''t help but look and feel guilty, "you don''t need to do that, man. I don''t want to drag you guys down."


    "You won''t drag us down, don''t worry. But you will drag us down if you don''t get to our level by the time we reach the tower and there is some challenge there or something. It''s better this way," Shesmu argued. Shesmu had a soft spot for Leo and he knew that. It was because of everyone that he met until now, Leo was the only friend he had had in his past life. In a sense, he reminded of him of that time, as if he was a testimony that the decade Shesmu spent in his past life was real.


    "If you say so. Well, I''ll be in your care," Leo concluded.


    The party then continued its journey until, suddenly, they saw a source of light deep into the cave. As the trio kept moving, the light grew closer and more apparent. In this part of the cave, there were torches on both sides of the cave illuminating the road.


    No longer needing another source of light, Leo turned off the torch and put it in his inventory. Moments after, Shesmu heard step sounds. Thinking it might be his own steps, he stopped and so did his teammates.


    "What''s going on, is there something in front of us?" asked Leo.


    "I think I heard stepping sounds," Shesmu answered.


    "I heard them too, 3 monsters are ahead of us," added DepressedRyan.


    That''s¡­an accurate judgment. Ryan, just what kinds of secrets are you hiding?


    Shesmu didn''t have the time to be lost on his thoughts, as the stepping sounds grew closer. The sound became clearer and louder until finally, the perpetrators showed themselves.


    Three monsters appeared, and when the party inspected them, both Ryan and Leo were shocked.


    Hobgoblin(Elite)


    Hp: 1000/1000


    Hobgoblin(Elite)


    Hp: 1200/1200


    Hobgoblin(Elite)


    Hp: 1100/1100

 24 Hobgoblin Frenzy

    "Ryan, take on the right one. Leo, the left one! Once one of the hobs reaches lethal, everyone Dash into it and kill it! No hesitation!" Shesmu barked out.


    Leo and Ryan immediately sprung into action, listening to Shesmu''s orders. Ryan faced the hobgoblin on the right, who coincidentally also held a dagger as its main weapon. It was an assassin variant like the one they fought in the goblin sleeping room. The hobgoblin Ryan faced held a two-handed sword and had 1200 Hp. From the looks of it, it was a tank variant.


    Shesmu faced the hobgoblin in the middle. It held a one-handed sword and had an Hp of 1100, it was a warrior variant. Shesmu ran towards it, sword in hand and feigned a slash. The monster took the bait and activated a skill. It sword glowed a bright shade of red before the goblin slashed diagonally at Shesmu. Expecting this outcome, Shesmu easily dodged the attack to the left and countered with a hit of his own.


    Empowered Slash!


    Shesmu activated his skill and used Empowered Slash Cancel, chipping away at the creature''s health. Then, with a swift motion, he roundhouse kicked the hobgoblin in the face, making it dizzy for a few seconds. Shesmu then continued with a front kick that catapulted the creature into the air.


    Leo was in a standoff against his enemy when a hobgoblin came flying from the direction of Shesmu. The monster that Leo was facing turned into a cushion for his teammate to soften his landing. Both of them fell on the ground, leaving them at the mercy of Shesmu''s party.


    The moment the two creatures fell was the moment Ryan appeared in front of them. His dagger glowed green before he plunged it deep into the warrior hobgoblin''s heart, activating the instant death mechanism.


    However, even though this moment should have been exciting for Ryan''s teammates, Shesmu''s face turned livid. He turned to look at the assassin hobgoblin, only to not to find anything.


    "Guys!-"


    The moment Shesmu turned back to look at his teammates and warn them, he was stopped by the sight of a bloody Ryan. A dagger was poking out of his chest, baptized by the blood of his teammate. Shesmu kept looking at Ryan''s shocked face before focusing on the hob behind him. The creature had a cold look on its eyes as it made eye contact with Shesmu.


    No, it''s going for Leo next!


    "Leo, run!" Shesmu shouted out. And the moment he cried out was the moment the hobgoblin vanished, leaving a falling Ryan bleed out on the ground. Without even thinking, Shesmu used Dash and teleported towards Leo. At the same exact moment, both Shesmu and the hobgoblin appeared, each of which had their weapon ready to strike.


    The hobgoblin didn''t expect Shesmu to appear before him and hesitated for a moment. That second of hesitation was all Shesmu needed to settle the duel once and for all. Empowered Thrust, Shesmu thrust his sword, its target was the hob''s heart.


    The creature felt a cold shiver down its spine. Its instinct screamed danger at it, and the monster immediately raised its arms to guard. Unfortunately, it was all too late.


    Plosh


    By the time the hobgoblin''s arms were raised halfway, Shesmu already plunged his sword deep into its heart. The light dimmed out of its eyes before the hobgoblin slowly fell on Shesmu''s shoulder and then on the ground.


    All this time, Leo couldn''t do anything but stand awestruck. He was about to say something before a noise behind him stopped him dead in his tracks.


    Both Shesmu and Leo looked at the source of the noise, only to see the tank hobgoblin slowly stand up. While it was getting up an unexpected movement drew everyone''s attention. Ryan who was supposed to be dead had his fingers twitch.


    Shesmu rejoiced at the survival of his friend and used Inspect on him to check his HP. Of his 184 max HP, only 24 remained.


    However, it wasn''t only Shesmu and Leo that noticed Ryan''s movement, the tank hobgoblin did too, and he was but a few steps away from Ryan.


    Understanding the severity of the situation, Shesmu immediately ordered, " Leo, teleport towards the hob!"


    Not even taking the time to respond to Shesmu''s command, Leo used Dash and appeared in front of the monster, blocking its way towards reaching Ryan.


    "Big dumbo gotta kill me first if you wanna touch him," Leo taunted.


    While Leo was busy blocking the hobgoblin''s way, Shesmu ran towards DepressedRyan before he rebuked him.


    "Idiot, why aren''t you using a potion already? You still have a bleed effect eating at your HP, don''t you?"


    Looking at Shesmu''s angry face, DepressedRyan smiled, "you really know a lot of stuff, Shesmu, don''t you?" He asked before taking out an HP potion from his inventory and gulping it. "The way you move, the way you fight, even the decision you make. All of them are so good, and all of them are so unique in a sense."


    Listening to DepressedRyan speak, Shesmu panicked for a second. Did he figure it out already? But I made sure not to do anything out of the ordinary, how did I mess up?


    "Shesmu. For some reason, your face, your name and everything you does feel so familiar. I don''t know why, but there is this feeling inside my heart that tells me we''re really similar," DepressedRyan then stayed silent for a moment before continuing.


    "You asked me before why did I play such an assassin-like version of the swordsman class. I have been thinking about it for a while, and even up to this point I don''t understand. The only thing I know is that this morning I had a strong headache, and after that, something inside me changed."


    After another bout of silence, DepressedRyan continued his explanation, "It sounds weird, right? But I really can''t tell what happened. After that headache, my body started doing weird things all of his own. The food that I usually ate felt bland like I no longer like it, shows I never paid attention to suddenly became interesting. And, maybe most importantly, when I entered this game, something was wrong. It was too¡­ Familiar... Like a D¨¦j¨¤-vu, it felt as if I have played it for the longest time.


    "Hey, Shesmu, tell me, is it the same for you?" DepressedRyan asked with an innocent smile


    Shesmu''s heart clenched with every word coming out of Ryan''s mouth. So, you too have been stranded in this timeline with no choice of your own. Wasn''t it the case, Ryan?


    Shesmu didn''t know how to answer Ryan at all. Many emotions and thoughts intertwined in his brain. On one side, Ryan might be the only person that comes from Shesmu''s timeline. Even though his experience was different from Shesmu''s own, he still felt a strong connection to Ryan. On the other hand, fear from the trouble that will befall him and his friends shall Shesmu''s secret be known overwhelmed him.


    In the end, Shesmu just closed his eyes in resignation. He then opened them and smiled, "I''m not sure, Ryan. But if it is something that had to do with Ashes of Gods, then we will surely find out about it sooner or later."

 25 Chapter 25: An Intense Battle

    While Shesmu and Ryan were talking, Leo was standing alone, facing the hobgoblin on one on one deathmatch. The monster would slash downwards from the left, and Leo would slash upwards from the right, blocking the attack.


    The same scenario kept playing out with different angles and different positions, but none of the contestants was able to hit the other. The monster was too slow, and Leo too unskilled to take advantage of openings.


    After ending his conversation with DepressedRyan, Shesmu looked at Leo fighting. At first, he thought about helping him right away, but after looking at things for a bit, he found out that Leo was doing good for himself.


    Well, he should learn to defend himself on his own. Plus, if he is in any danger, I can always help him out. Unless he gets his head cleaved off, or heart destroyed, he won''t be one shot.


    While Shesmu was watching Leo fight against the hobgoblin, DepressedRyan stood up and sat down next to Shesmu.


    "Why aren''t you helping Leo?" Ryan asked. He obviously knew that Shesmu had a soft spot for Leo, as he would go to great length so that his friend doesn''t suffer any injustice.


    "I can''t always be there for him. Plus, wouldn''t he find it boring if I helped him every single time he is in trouble? It''s better for him to learn to fight alone now, then later when there are much more skills to be familiar with."


    "I guess that''s true," DepressedRyan concluded. The wound on his chest by this point was already healed, no scar was left to be seen.


    Noticing that he was already fine, Shesmu asked Ryan, "By the way, how did you survive that stab to the chest? I thought that it pierced your heart when I saw it."


    "Ah, that. I''m not sure too. But just before I got hit, I felt a shiver down my spine and my body moved on its own. I guess that it was just a lucky dodge," DepressedRyan explained.


    "I see," Shesmu responded.


    "But forget about that. What about the hobgoblin? After it teleported behind me and attacked, it teleported behind Leo too. Do its skills not have any cooldown? Plus you warned Leo, so you must know something," Ryan asked, suspicion clear in his voice.


    "About that," Shesmu then thought for a second about what to say, before continuing "You remember the thing about the purification ritual?"


    "Yeah, it''s the thing about changing classes or whatever, right?"


    "Yeah, that''s the one. Well, when I was talking with my instructor about it, I asked him a little bit about how the other classes work. He talked about the assassin class and how they have this skill called backstab. It''s a passive that activates, you guessed it when you stab someone''s back. It lets you deal 200% more damage, but it also has an interesting effect: It resets the cooldown for their teleportation skill."


    DepressedRyan''s face showed sign of understanding when Shesmu finished his speech, but a frown quickly took over before he asked in confusion, "But, how did you even know that the goblin will use that skill?"


    "Well, we already established that it was an assassin variant, so there was that. But what made me certain that it will get the reset was that until now, all of the hobgoblins that we faced had the basic skills of their classes. So it made no sense for that hob not to have the ability to reset after a backstab."


    "I see, makes sense now," DepressedRyan answered, his doubts finally cleared.


    Now that both of their curiosity has been satisfied, the two focused back on the fight between the hobgoblin and Leo. Their teammate kept dodging the hobgoblin''s attacks and countering with his own. Due to the low dexterity of the monster, Leo kept slashing at it without receiving any damage in counterpart.


    Anytime he could, Leo would fit in a counter attack and chip at the hobgoblin''s health. This scenario kept repeating until the hobgoblin''s health reached 240. When that threshold had been passed, a red aura of energy engulfed the monster''s body.


    After another missed hit by the hob, Leo tried to counter-attack as he did throughout the whole fight. But just as his hit was about to slash through the monster''s side, it countered with a slash of its own.


    So it''s a berserker variant. Now, isn''t that rare? For a monster such as this to be born in the forest of beginning. If given time, it could easily have become an overlord of not only the goblins but this whole forest. Well, the outer part anyway¡­


    Leo clutched at his shoulder in pain. Even though the sensitivity has been lowered to 12%, it''s not every day that you get a sword slashing through you like butter. Leo''s looked at his Hp only to find it down to 212. He used Inspect on the monster and was surprised to find that its health went up to 320.


    "Is that a lifesteal type monster?" DepressedRyan asked.


    "Yeah, and a pretty powerful one at that. I think that rest time is over, this is not an opponent Leo can handle now. He just doesn''t have the damage needed."


    Saying these words, Shesmu stood up and unsheathed his sword. He took a few steps towards Leo and the hobgoblin before raising his sword and starting a swinging motion.


    By this point, DepressedRyan had already seen this move multiple times. His eyes darted directly to where the monster stood, and immediately Shesmu appeared, his sword but inches away from berserker''s neck. As usual, his accuracy is topnotch, DepressedRyan thought.


    The moment Shesmu appeared was the moment the hobgoblin saw its death. Shesmu didn''t give it any time to react and immediately used Empowered Slash Cancel.


    165


    330


    Blood gushed out of the hobgoblin''s neck before it fell down, lifeless.


    At that moment, two notifications reached Shesmu. He opened them and two messages unfolded.


    Congratulations, you leveled up!


    Weapon Level up!


    After looking at the messages, Shesmu had decided to leave checking his weapon''s new stats and allocating his points until later. He still hadn''t allocated his points since reaching level 5, so he needed to do that soon.


    "Huff, huff. What took you guys so long?" Leo asked.


    "Well, it seemed that you were having fun battling against the hob. Didn''t think it was appropriate to stop you in the middle of it," Shesmu answered.


    "It was fun. It just that when he went berserk, I thought I was a goner. Well, enough of that. What did it drop?" Leo asked, expectation clear in his voice. Until now, every hobgoblin dropped the weapon that it was using. Even though he hasn''t shown it, he was a little bit jealous of Shesmu and DepressedRyan who both had an iron tier weapon. Now that he defeated a sword wielder hobgoblin, his heart was pumping in excitement.


    "Aren''t you the happy little child," DepressedRyan teased. "It would be funny if all of the hobs drop their weapon but this one. Now that would be hilarious."


    "Stop jinxing it, you idiot!"


    Letting the two quarrel with each other, Shesmu looted the berserker hobgoblin first. He then took out the items from his inventory. Other than the usual fabric, potions, and pills, a sword was present. Shesmu then inspected it.


    Blood Sword


    Rarity: Iron+


    Required Level: 7


    Weapon Level: 1


    Attack: 80


    "Well, seems like you were lucky, Leo. The weapon you got is pretty good," Shesmu announced. He stopped as he remembered something, before he continued, "But it''s Required Level is 7. Did you reach it from this fight?"


    "Ah, about that. Yeah, I barely reached level 7. Hobgoblins are really generous with their exp," Leo answered, feeling lucky that he reached level 7 and can equip his new sword.


    "Then that''s good. Well, since everything is ready, we can finally challenge whatever is at the end of this damned tunnel."

 25 An Intense Battle

    While Shesmu and Ryan were talking, Leo was standing alone, facing the hobgoblin on one on one deathmatch. The monster would slash downwards from the left, and Leo would slash upwards from the right, blocking the attack.


    The same scenario kept playing out with different angles and different positions, but none of the contestants was able to hit the other. The monster was too slow, and Leo too unskilled to take advantage of openings.


    After ending his conversation with DepressedRyan, Shesmu looked at Leo fighting. At first, he thought about helping him right away, but after looking at things for a bit, he found out that Leo was doing good for himself.


    Well, he should learn to defend himself on his own. Plus, if he is in any danger, I can always help him out. Unless he gets his head cleaved off, or heart destroyed, he won''t be one shot.


    While Shesmu was watching Leo fight against the hobgoblin, DepressedRyan stood up and sat down next to Shesmu.


    "Why aren''t you helping Leo?" Ryan asked. He obviously knew that Shesmu had a soft spot for Leo, as he would go to great length so that his friend doesn''t suffer any injustice.


    "I can''t always be there for him. Plus, wouldn''t he find it boring if I helped him every single time he is in trouble? It''s better for him to learn to fight alone now, then later when there are much more skills to be familiar with."


    "I guess that''s true," DepressedRyan concluded. The wound on his chest by this point was already healed, no scar was left to be seen.


    Noticing that he was already fine, Shesmu asked Ryan, "By the way, how did you survive that stab to the chest? I thought that it pierced your heart when I saw it."


    "Ah, that. I''m not sure too. But just before I got hit, I felt a shiver down my spine and my body moved on its own. I guess that it was just a lucky dodge," DepressedRyan explained.


    "I see," Shesmu responded.


    "But forget about that. What about the hobgoblin? After it teleported behind me and attacked, it teleported behind Leo too. Do its skills not have any cooldown? Plus you warned Leo, so you must know something," Ryan asked, suspicion clear in his voice.


    "About that," Shesmu then thought for a second about what to say, before continuing "You remember the thing about the purification ritual?"


    "Yeah, it''s the thing about changing classes or whatever, right?"


    "Yeah, that''s the one. Well, when I was talking with my instructor about it, I asked him a little bit about how the other classes work. He talked about the assassin class and how they have this skill called backstab. It''s a passive that activates, you guessed it when you stab someone''s back. It lets you deal 200% more damage, but it also has an interesting effect: It resets the cooldown for their teleportation skill."


    DepressedRyan''s face showed sign of understanding when Shesmu finished his speech, but a frown quickly took over before he asked in confusion, "But, how did you even know that the goblin will use that skill?"


    "Well, we already established that it was an assassin variant, so there was that. But what made me certain that it will get the reset was that until now, all of the hobgoblins that we faced had the basic skills of their classes. So it made no sense for that hob not to have the ability to reset after a backstab."


    "I see, makes sense now," DepressedRyan answered, his doubts finally cleared.


    Now that both of their curiosity has been satisfied, the two focused back on the fight between the hobgoblin and Leo. Their teammate kept dodging the hobgoblin''s attacks and countering with his own. Due to the low dexterity of the monster, Leo kept slashing at it without receiving any damage in counterpart.


    Anytime he could, Leo would fit in a counter attack and chip at the hobgoblin''s health. This scenario kept repeating until the hobgoblin''s health reached 240. When that threshold had been passed, a red aura of energy engulfed the monster''s body.


    After another missed hit by the hob, Leo tried to counter-attack as he did throughout the whole fight. But just as his hit was about to slash through the monster''s side, it countered with a slash of its own.


    So it''s a berserker variant. Now, isn''t that rare? For a monster such as this to be born in the forest of beginning. If given time, it could easily have become an overlord of not only the goblins but this whole forest. Well, the outer part anyway¡­


    Leo clutched at his shoulder in pain. Even though the sensitivity has been lowered to 12%, it''s not every day that you get a sword slashing through you like butter. Leo''s looked at his Hp only to find it down to 212. He used Inspect on the monster and was surprised to find that its health went up to 320.


    "Is that a lifesteal type monster?" DepressedRyan asked.


    "Yeah, and a pretty powerful one at that. I think that rest time is over, this is not an opponent Leo can handle now. He just doesn''t have the damage needed."


    Saying these words, Shesmu stood up and unsheathed his sword. He took a few steps towards Leo and the hobgoblin before raising his sword and starting a swinging motion.


    By this point, DepressedRyan had already seen this move multiple times. His eyes darted directly to where the monster stood, and immediately Shesmu appeared, his sword but inches away from berserker''s neck. As usual, his accuracy is topnotch, DepressedRyan thought.


    The moment Shesmu appeared was the moment the hobgoblin saw its death. Shesmu didn''t give it any time to react and immediately used Empowered Slash Cancel.


    165


    330


    Blood gushed out of the hobgoblin''s neck before it fell down, lifeless.


    At that moment, two notifications reached Shesmu. He opened them and two messages unfolded.


    Congratulations, you leveled up!


    Weapon Level up!


    After looking at the messages, Shesmu had decided to leave checking his weapon''s new stats and allocating his points until later. He still hadn''t allocated his points since reaching level 5, so he needed to do that soon.


    "Huff, huff. What took you guys so long?" Leo asked.


    "Well, it seemed that you were having fun battling against the hob. Didn''t think it was appropriate to stop you in the middle of it," Shesmu answered.


    "It was fun. It just that when he went berserk, I thought I was a goner. Well, enough of that. What did it drop?" Leo asked, expectation clear in his voice. Until now, every hobgoblin dropped the weapon that it was using. Even though he hasn''t shown it, he was a little bit jealous of Shesmu and DepressedRyan who both had an iron tier weapon. Now that he defeated a sword wielder hobgoblin, his heart was pumping in excitement.


    "Aren''t you the happy little child," DepressedRyan teased. "It would be funny if all of the hobs drop their weapon but this one. Now that would be hilarious."


    "Stop jinxing it, you idiot!"


    Letting the two quarrel with each other, Shesmu looted the berserker hobgoblin first. He then took out the items from his inventory. Other than the usual fabric, potions, and pills, a sword was present. Shesmu then inspected it.


    Blood Sword


    Rarity: Iron+


    Required Level: 7


    Weapon Level: 1


    Attack: 80


    "Well, seems like you were lucky, Leo. The weapon you got is pretty good," Shesmu announced. He stopped as he remembered something, before he continued, "But it''s Required Level is 7. Did you reach it from this fight?"


    "Ah, about that. Yeah, I barely reached level 7. Hobgoblins are really generous with their exp," Leo answered, feeling lucky that he reached level 7 and can equip his new sword.


    "Then that''s good. Well, since everything is ready, we can finally challenge whatever is at the end of this damned tunnel."

 26 Goblord

    Before the party could make its way towards the boss, the trio first looted the two other hobgoblins. The assassin dropped a stone dagger similar to the one DepressedRyan was equipped with, while the warrior variant dropped a one-handed sword. Shesmu inspected this new weapon.


    Steel Sword


    Rarity: Iron


    Required Level: 7


    Weapon Level: 1


    Attack: 60


    Shesmu immediately changed his Iron sword with the steel one. Even with the increase in weapon level, the iron sword barely had an Attack of 50, while the steel sword had more than that in its base level.


    After equipping his new sword, Shesmu turned around to talk with his teammate.


    "Did you guys allocate your points yet?" he asked.


    "Yeah, when you were changing your equips, I did so," DepressedRyan responded.


    "Same," Leo added.


    Shesmu nodded his head in approval towards his teammates before allocating his own points. As usual, Shesmu divided his points between strength and agility 3 to 2 in favor of the first one.


    With these new changes, Shesmu felt more confident in his power. He could now fight against a hobgoblin without putting any effort.


    "I just allocated my points too. Since everyone is ready, let''s go," Shesmu ordered.


    With these concluding words, the trio continued exploring the cave. It didn''t take more than a couple minutes before the party stood in front of a big gate.


    "Guess this is the boss room," Leo concluded.


    "Seems like it," DepressedRyan added.


    "Everyone, ready your pills, and potions. Once we aggro the boss, don''t worry about anything and just chug them down like water. All the potions and pills we will lose in the fight, we gain back in more than double after we kill the thing, understand?"


    ""Understood!""


    Complying with Shesmu''s orders, both of Leo and Ryan took out a pill and a potion, ready to use them the moment the boss appeared.


    Even though the cave was illuminated by the torches, the inside of the boss room was dark; only the entrance was barely illuminated by the torches positioned at the sides of the corridor.


    However, once the trio took a few steps in, a new development occurred. From the corners of the room light suddenly came out. Torches stationed in a meticulous order on the walls of the boss chamber lit up one by one until it was fully brightened.


    A throne stood at the back of the room, one made of bones and steel. A creature, green like a goblin but tall and big like an ogre sat on the throne. On side of the throne rested a one-handed sword. Its blade was dyed black as the night, while its handle was red like blood.


    Shesmu used Inspect on the monster in front of him.


    Goblord(Boss)


    HP: 10000/10000


    "Ten thousand HP?! How-how are we supposed to beat this thing?" Leo asked in fear and surprise.


    "Well, just don''t get hit," Shesmu teased. He then continued on a more serious note, "I''ll do most of the damage, so don''t worry about that. Just make sure to hold its attention and block its attacks. As for you, Ryan, I expect that you''ll be able to sneak in attacks without messing up its aggro, am I wrong?"


    "Don''t worry about me. Just worry about idiot Leo here messing up the aggro or getting one shot. Well, that would be embarrassing."


    "Hey, the heck you mean. You think I''ll mess up the aggro? Just don''t go burst him with all of your skills like an idiot and everyone will be fine," Leo retorted.


    "Stop this you two. I and Leo will be in charge of juggling the aggro. When you want to burst, signal to me so that I take hold of the aggro. When everything is normal, Leo will be in charge of tanking the boss. Is that clear?"


    "All clear," Leo responded.


    "Yes, everything is clear, but-is that it? No strategy?" DepressedRyan asked in doubt.


    "Well, we can''t really have a strategy when we don''t even know what are the bosses'' mechanics. But you know, the basic stuff applies everywhere. Take caution when its Hp reaches 20%, when you see that its attack pattern changed, step back and slow down the rhythm until the pattern is clear again. You know, stuff that applies to every boss," Shesmu explained.


    "Understood, I''ll keep that in mind," DepressedRyan responded.


    "Roar!" The goblord stood from its throne and roared, showing its might to the impudent intruders. It raised its sword and charged towards the party.


    "Leo, chug on that potion and block its charge!" Shesmu ordered.


    Leo complied to the orders without hesitation. After chugging down the potion, he took hold of his sword with both hands. The blood sword was a two-handed weapon that emitted terrible might. It was dyed in red and leaked in a blood aura that merged with the surroundings.


    Leo ran at the boss and blocked its charge with his sword. After the first impact, Leo was pushed back by a few centimeters, but he was still able to hold on, locking the boss'' movement.


    However, while the boss was busy dealing with Leo, Shesmu appeared from behind his teammate. With one smooth swing, Shesmu used Empowered Slash Cancel and slashed through the goblord''s chest, dealing 540 damage.


    Shesmu''s strike surprised the goblord and left him open for other attacks. Leo didn''t waste this opportunity and used Empowered Slash, dealing 300 damage. And, as the cherry on top, DepressedRyan appeared from behind the goblord and stabbed him on the back using Empowered Thrust, dealing 280 damage.


    After this flurry of attacks, the goblord became angry. The monster radiated a black and red aura before it gathered on his sword. He then slashed at the source of his anger and resentment: Shesmu.

 27 First Second Phase

    Black and Red Energy gathered in the boss'' sword, clashing for dominance. The monster then slashed at Shesmu with incredible momentum, leaving a black and red trail.


    Watching his impending doom, Shesmu thought, Empowered Thrust! Greenlight gathered on Shesmu''s sword before he thrust, his target: The boss'' sword. The two weapons clashed for a half a breath before the boss'' overwhelmed Shesmu''s sword. With barely any momentum wasted, the boss'' sword struck down like a meteorite, intending on decimating his target.


    When the goblord stopped its swing, its face turned into that of surprise. The human that should have been cleaved in half was still standing in front of it, and its sword was plunged in the ground next to his feet.


    Shesmu breathed a sigh of relief thinking, Good, deflected it. He then raised his sword and slashed at the boss before it could regain its balance and start attacking once again. As usual, Shesmu used Empowered Slash Cancel and targeted the goblord''s neck, activating a critical damage effect.


    270


    540


    With all the new upgrades to his equipment and stats, Shesmu''s critical hits did close to enough damage so as to two shot a hobgoblin. When the two damage numbers appeared, even Shesmu''s teammate was surprised for half a second before attacking the boss once again.


    Even after receiving so much damage, the goblord only lost a quarter of its health. As if all the hits that it received were but ant bites, it stood up proudly with its chest puffed and sword in hand.


    Black and red aura engulfed its body, but instead of gathering in its weapon like last time, it entered its skin and merged with monster''s body. The goblord''s whole frame glowed faintly in black and red, emitting a lethal aura.


    I had my doubts when it first attacked, but that sword-it''s an evolved weapon.


    Shesmu gripped his sword even harder, a little bit of greed showing in his eyes.


    "Everyone, beware! This might a buff skill or something, it looks a little bit like the skill the tank hob used, so try not to get hit, understand?"


    "Understood!" Both of Leo and Ryan replied.


    Well, that''s one thing. But now that all of our attack skills are on cooldown, we''re in trouble. And I''m still not used to this body goddammit. If it was before, even without a sword or a skill I would have toyed with this boss like it was nothing!


    In the face of this unnecessarily difficult situation, Shesmu''s frustration grew. However, the boss didn''t really care about his internal struggle and attacked him with no prior notice.


    Shesmu woke up from his daze and blocked horizontally the Goblord''s slash. The clash felt as if someone smashed him with a rock. Shesmu took two steps back and his hands felt numb after the exchange.


    Leo, noticing that Shesmu was out of gas, ran towards the boss and attacked him. Leo kept on the offensive so as to switch the aggro of the Goblord back to him.


    In the meantime, DepressedRyan stealthily went around the boss to prepare for an attack from behind. Once the opportunity showed itself, DepressedRyan lunged at it.


    While his two friends were fighting, Shesmu didn''t stand idle. Once Leo firmly took hold of the boss'' aggro, Shesmu kept going in and out slowly chipping away at the monster''s HP.


    After a couple rounds of Shesmu going in and out, the boss slashed Leo before he could recover his stance. With one hit, the boss took half of Leo''s Hp and threw him off balance. The boss then raised his sword a second time and slashed at Leo intending to finish him off.


    When Shesmu saw his friend getting hit, he immediately dove in and activated Empowered Thrust. Like last time, Shesmu targeted the boss'' sword. However, while the boss activated an attack skill in the last attempt, this time he did not.


    Shesmu''s sword hit the middle of the Goblord''s blade, parrying the attack. Due to the recoil, the boss'' went up and the Goblord lost his balance. Neither Shesmu nor DepressedRyan missed this chance and dished out as much damage as possible. Shesmu slashed the Goblord''s chest two times before ending his combo with an Empowered Slash Cancel to the neck, while DepressedRyan kept stabbing and slashing at the monster in the back.


    This flurry of attacks took out a good chunk of the boss'' Hp, reducing it to a quarter. The goblord finally restored his balance. The moment DepressedRyan saw the boss take hold of itself was the moment he jumped back, not even risking being in his attack range.


    The Goblord was enraged, and with a front kick, it sent Shesmu flying five meters back.


    "Huff, puff"


    Shesmu stood up slowly, using his sword as support. He checked his Hp at the left corner of his vision and saw that he lost 100 health. He then looked at the boss and was surprised by what he saw.


    The Goblord stood proudly with energy exceeding by multiple times whatever he showed before, engulfing his whole being. Dark and Red aura intertwined with the color of blood being the dominant one.


    So, it''s a berserker too. This is bad, if Ryan and Leo stay next to him, they''ll just die and gift him HP!


    Once Shesmu considered this scenario, he immediately ordered, "Leo! Ryan! Get the heck out of there!"


    Not wasting even half a second, both Leo and DepressedRyan teleported out of the Goblord''s vicinity.


    Now that his teammates were safe, Shesmu inspected the boss. The Goblord barely had 2000 HP left. After doing some mental calculations, Shesmu thought: If I activate a fatal hit, I can kill it!


    The boss raised its sword nonchalantly and aimed with its tip at Shesmu. The overflowing energy that was coming out of its body gathered at the tip of its weapon. Two dots of black and red energy spun in a circle and grew to the size of a tennis ball. It then shot like a bullet towards Shesmu.


    The ball of death flew with incredible momentum towards Shesmu. In less than half a breath, it reached its target. The Goblord smirked, thinking that his enemy was already dead.


    However, the moment the black and red orb of energy were supposed to hit Shesmu, the latter flickered before vanishing from his spot. The ball continued on its way to the cave walls, and Shesmu appeared in front of the goblord.


    Neither DepressedRyan or Leo had the chance to see what happened. By the time their eye caught up to their teammate, his sword was already plunged deep into his chest, poking out from its back. The green light emitted by the weapon dimmed out and the goblord''s blue blood dripped from the tip of the sword.


    Three damage numbers appeared above the boss, shocking the world.


    540


    1080


    1080


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


    This note is here because it came to my attention that some websites are stealing my content. If you''re not reading this story in Webnovel, RoyalRoad, ScribbleHub, Moonquill, Wattpad, or teamdreamless, then please check out one of the official releases. The story is free and you can find bonus chapters over at my website teamdreamless.com

 28 Dungeon Cleared

    The Goblord stood upright, with its eyes closed and chest puffed. The sword piercing its heart didn''t take away an ounce of its majesty. However, death spares no one. After a few seconds, the boss'' corpse slid down Shesmu''s sword and fell on the ground.


    With the Goblord''s death came the jingly sound of notifications. Shesmu clicked on the plus sign and a bunch of messages appeared.


    Congratulation, you leveled up!


    Weapon Level up!


    Weapon Level up!


    Empowered Slash Level up!


    Well, that took a while. Empowered Slash finally leveled up.


    The boss was generous with its exp. After reaching level 9, Shesmu looked the exp bar under his HP and found that he was 57% of the way to the next level.


    After a few seconds of the boss'' death, a blue portal appeared in front of the throne. However, neither Leo nor DepressedRyan seemed to be fazed by its appearance.


    "Whew, that was scary!" Leo exclaimed, "But what the heck was that damage at the end, Shesmu?"


    "Yeah, that was so damn cool!" Ryan added, "That damage was insane! Plus, you proc''ed damage three times! How did you do that?!"


    Looking at his teammates'' excited demeanor, Shesmu thought for a second before responding.


    "I''m not sure about the damage. I would guess that it was because the boss was low on health, or maybe because I pierced its heart, who knows? And for the three damage, I just used Empowered Thrust on top of Empowered Slash Cancel. Same concept as before."


    When Shesmu was done explaining, DepressedRyan''s jaw threatened to fall.


    "That''s sick, man! Didn''t think you could do that. After this tutorial, I don''t care what happens, I want you to teach me that!"


    "Yeah, me too! That trick is amazing!" Leo added.


    Looking at their reaction, Shesmu laughed.


    "Haha, we''ll leave that to later. Let''s loot the boss."


    As if struck by a muting spell, Leo and DepressedRyan turned silent. Their attention was fully on the corpse of the boss as if it was a treasure trove in the middle of the sea.


    After Shesmu looted the Goblord''s body, several equipments appeared in his inventory. After a quick glance at his inventory, Shesmu was shocked. Other than the pills and potions, 50 magic stones appeared, an empowering elixir and a sword. Shesmu immediately took out the two last items and inspected them.


    Empowering Elixir


    Rarity: Gold


    Description:


    1 Elixir consumed: Permanently increase Strength by 20


    2 Elixir consumed: Permanently increase Strength by 100


    3 Elixir consumed: Permanently increase Strength by 500


    4 Elixir consumed: Permanently increase Strength by 1000


    5 Elixir consumed: Permanently increase Strength by 10%


    Side effect: if more than one empowering elixir is consumed in a month, the character''s strength is permanently decreased by 50%


    This is still as broken ever. Shame that there is that side effect.


    After inspecting the Empowering Elixir, Shesmu checked out the sword.


    Name: Cambion Blade


    Rarity: Gold+


    Required Level: 10


    Weapon Level: 1


    Attack: 250


    Skills:


    Demon Ki(Passive): Add Dark attribute to ki and increase the power of ki based skill by 50%.


    Demon Slash: Long range attack that deals 300% damage.


    As expected of an evolved sword, it''s so good. With the 50 magic stones that dropped, this sword can be used until level 30 and above.


    "Guys, check this out. We hit the jackpot!" Shesmu exclaimed. He then gave the items to Leo and Ryan so that they can Inspect them.


    "The hell?!" Leo exclaimed, "these are so OP! What the hell is wrong with Omega9? This game is so broken!"


    "For once I agree with Leo," DepressedRyan affirmed, "This is broken, but it''s the good kind of broken! Omega9, I love you!"


    "Haha, yeah these items are pretty broken. But other than the pills, potions, and materials we only two items dropped. How do we split?" Shesmu asked.


    Both Leo and DepressedRyan paused for a second before looking at each other. Seemingly reaching a consensus, Leo answered.


    "Is there even a reason to ask? You practically soloed the boss, so of course, you get to keep the loot. Plus I already got a good sword, so I''m happy."


    "But we can''t have that. If I get all the good items, you guys will be left behind."


    "No, we won''t," DepressedRyan retorted. "Look, you have been the carry until now. You dished out the most damage even with a trash sword. What use is there into dumping good equipment into us when we are still so bad? You''re the carry, so you get the best equipment, okay?"


    Even though DepressedRyan''s words made sense, it still didn''t feel right for Shesmu to just take the loot alone.


    "Okay, but next boss you two split the loot. No matter what drops, understand?"


    "Sure," DepressedRyan answered.


    "Yeah, let''s do that," Leo confirmed. "But before that, let''s exit the dungeon. We still need to reach the tower."


    Both DepressedRyan and Shesmu nodded approvingly at Leo''s suggestion before the trio went towards the exit of the dungeon.


    Just as Shesmu touched the blue portal, a message appeared in front of him.


    Congratulation, your party was the first in the world to conquer the dungeon: Goblin''s Den!


    Please choose a party name!


    Shesmu thought for a second before asking Leo and DepressedRyan for their opinion.


    "Hey guys, we''re the first to clear this dungeon. It wants us to choose a party name, what do you think?"


    Leo thought for a second before blurting out, "Blazing Blades?"


    "Lame," DepressedRyan groaned.


    "Hey, if you have a better name, say it!" Leo retorted.


    "Wait a minute, I''m thinking," DepressedRyan pondered for a second before adding, "Black Moon."


    When Shesmu heard this name, he was surprised. Black Moon, huh? Seems like we''re keeping the same team name as in our past life, Leo.


    "Black Moon, I like that. Sure, I can go with that."


    Seeing that everyone agreed on the same name, Shesmu concluded, "So Black Moon it is." He then thought Team name is Black Moon.


    After he confirmed the name, multiple notifications flooded Shesmu.


    Congratulation for being the first party to conquer Goblin''s Den in the Pliyx Stal Kingdom.


    Congratulation for being the first party to conquer Goblin''s Den in the world.


    Congratulation for being the second party to conquer a dungeon in the Pliyx Stal Kingdom.


    Congratulation for being the tenth party to conquer a dungeon in the world.


    Attached to these messages were a list of rewards, but Shesmu didn''t care at all about that. He immediately thought, Show dungeon ranking for the Pliyx Stal Kingdom. In front of Shesmu a list containing two teams appeared.


    Dawn''s Resonance


    Black Moon


    Dawn''s Resonance. Guess I should go say hi to those guys, it''s been a while after all.

 29 Goblin Slayer

    After a few seconds of the ranking interface appearing, Shesmu and his friends were teleported out of the Goblin''s Den. However, the scenery they expected wasn''t there. Rather than the lake next to the waterfall, they found themselves in a clearing in the middle of the forest.


    Under the moonlight, the party sat and started discussing.


    "So, all of you guys heard those notifications? We''re top 10 in the world! This is insane!" Leo exclaimed.


    "We sure are," DepressedRyan added. "We''ll be so famous. No one will dare disrespect us, haha!"


    Seeing them being so excited, Shesmu couldn''t help but smile. Well, being top 10 in dungeon ranking isn''t really that good, but I guess I can be happy about it.


    There are so many rankings in Ashes of Gods, so many tournaments, so many dungeons, and so many events. The number of times that Shesmu ranked first, with his team or solo, was uncountable. After a while, it became so dull that getting first place in a local tournament felt like eating breakfast, just part of the course.


    However, this was the first event in this timeline Shesmu ever ranked in. For some reason, it felt good. Shesmu hasn''t experienced something like this since the last time he won the world championship.


    "This is just the first of many wins to come, so don''t feel too excited yet, save that for the big stages. Anyway, we should check out what we got first," declared Shesmu.


    Shesmu opened his notifications and was flooded again with messages. Skimming over all of them, Shesmu found that he got 10 gold overall, 100 magic stones, 2000 Human reputation points, and a title.


    New Title Acquired | Goblin Slayer I


    Goblin Slayer I


    Title acquired after killing 1000 goblins or being the first to conquer a goblin related dungeon.


    10% Bonus damage against goblin type creatures.


    Upgradable


    This title is pretty good. Ogres are an evolution of goblins and those guys can reach level 200. Guess I should consider grinding out goblins some more in the future.


    "Guys, what did you get?" Shesmu asked.


    "Ten gold, a hundred of those weird magic stones, two thousand reputations, and two titles. The last is pretty sick actually?" DepressedRyan stated.


    "Oh, two titles?"


    "Yeah, you didn''t get them, Shesmu?" Leo asked.


    "Nah, I only got one. Goblin Slayer."


    "Oh, we got that and a Civilian title. It was from the reputation points that we got if I understood the text well," explained DepressedRyan.


    Oh, so it''s because of the noble title. I see.


    "Ah, then I understand now. I got a noble title at the reception, so I guess that''s the reason why I didn''t get that."


    "You have a noble title? How?!" asked Leo in shock.


    "I think it has to do with my eyes. From what I read, it seems like nobles in this country are born with golden eyes. Don''t really understand why Omega9 would do such a weird thing, but not going to complain," explained Shesmu.


    "Wow, that''s such a stupid system," complained DepressedRyan.


    You bet it is. Even at this point, I''m still weirded out.


    "Like, what game rewards you for basically doing nothing. It''s so stupid," Ryan continued.


    "Yeah, I''m with DepressedRyan on this one, Shes. But hey, at least now we know it. In the live game, we''re gonna abuse the heck out of that, haha!" laughed Leo.


    "Sure, I don''t see any problem with that. Just remember that you can''t be a red player if you choose to be a noble thought," warned Shesmu.


    "Ah, about that. Yeah, I''m not gonna be a red player. Unless Omega9 trolls too hard and doesn''t even give us an Arena where we could pvp, I see no point in pking."


    "Same as Leo. Don''t really enjoy pking that much, unless someone annoys me real hard."


    "Well, if you guys think that way, then it''s all fine," Shesmu concluded.


    "Now, let''s grind a bit so that I reach the required level for the Cambion Blade. After that, we can continue our way towards the tower."


    With these final words, Shesmu and his party went on the grind again. With their weapon enhanced, the level 5 and 6 goblins were a piece of cake. Seeing that grinding would be too inefficient if they continued farming in these low-level regions, they dived deeper into the forest.


    After a few minutes of running, they entered the fox territory.


    Fox


    HP: 300/300


    The foxes that the trio encountered were level 7 and 8. It took around an hour for Shesmu to make that final step from level 9 to 10.


    After looting the foxes for their pelt, Shesmu took out the Cambion Blade and equipped it. Dark energy flowed from the weapon to Shesmu''s body. It gathered in his stomach, and Shesmu could feel it changing something inside him.


    Well, this effect is only temporary. Though I would need a few days for my ki to go back to normal.


    A dark aura surrounded Shesmu''s body for a few seconds before it dissipated. However, Shesmu knew that it was only hiding in his body, waiting for the moment he summons it.


    After equipping the sword, the trio continued their journey towards the tower.


    It was midnight when the party finally stopped. In the distance, one could hear the sound of roaring and howling intertwining together. A battle was taking place.


    Shesmu looked at his mini map and saw that they were at the edge of the red circle. He then looked in front of him and a scene straight out of fantasy unfolded.


    Two camps, two armies split the forest. On the right, there were the goblins sharpening their weapons. A quick inspect tells you their level, it was an astonishing 15. In the middle of their camp stood a green humanoid monster, fully clad with black and red armor. It was a Goblin General, and its level was 25.


    In the right stood the foxes, baring their claws. Their level didn''t lose out to the goblins one bit, ranging from 14 to 17. In their middle stood a magnificent large Firefox. Its paws and sides were crimson red, while its fur was snow white. A quick inspect told tales about its strength. It was a Fox king, a level 30 monster that evolved into a firefox.

 30 Fire And Chrome

    The party hid under the bushes afraid to make any sound. Every now and then Leo would raise his head to peek from between the bushes and go back to report.


    "None of them made a move until now. Just what are they waiting for? We''ve been sitting here for 15 minutes already and they still haven''t even gotten close to each other yet."


    "Yeah, I''m with Leo on this one," DepressedRyan added. "In the first place, what are we even sitting here waiting for?"


    "I mean, since we got to see such a rare sight, I thought that it would be a shame to miss the opportunity to be the third dog. But from the looks of it, this is going to take all night. It''s a shame that we miss out on the loot of that firefox. Guess we have no choice."


    With these concluding words from Shesmu, the party stood up and walked in a crouch, so as to not be seen by the two monster armies. They took a long detour around the battlefield before finally reaching safety.


    Really, this forest is full of surprises. To think that a rare variant such as firefox existed here. If I had a firefox pet, even without me doing anything, I would still be one of the strongest in this game, or at least this country until level 40.


    Shesmu was deep in thoughts when suddenly remembered something. Wait, if I remember right, didn''t that guy tame his firefox in the Forest of Beginning. In the first place, firefoxes are very rare. At the very least, there shouldn''t be more than one Forest of Beginning hosting them. So, it had to have had something to do with that big guy over there. Thinking these words, Shesmu looked back at the battlefield in the distance. Maybe it was its child?


    War cries emanated from the distance, howls, and roars permeated the air. Shesmu slowed down his steps to a halt and turned to look at the direction of the war. Well, no matter what happens there, it''s all going to reset once the live game goes up. Once that happens, I''ll go and get my share of the pie. Sorry about that, Shaman.


    "Hey Shesmu, we need to up the pace, else we''ll be even later than we already are," Leo reminded.


    "Yeah, let''s get going."


    Shesmu then looked at the tower in the distance illuminated by the moonlight and glimpsed at his minimap. They were about two kilometers away from their destination, and the way was filled with danger.


    Clashing metal and anguished wails orchestrated a requiem of death. Goblins, fully clad in metal armor, clashed swords with the paws of their foes. Foxes lunged at goblins and bite their throats off.


    Blood painted the battlefield red and the gore decorated it. In the midst of this Armageddon, the goblin general was howling out orders.


    "First Battalion, go to the right! Second Battalion, to the left! Third Battalion, retreat!"


    The General was one of the few goblins that could speak the human language. However, even though the other goblins couldn''t speak it, they were able to understand. Such was the blessing of Aida to creatures with relatively high intelligence.


    The Goblin General stood proudly, with a red helmet covering his face, and black and red plate armor protecting his body. The metal shined in the middle of the night, showing that his set of equipment was new. It was specifically made for him, one of the ten generals of the goblin clan.


    The casualties of the war were even on both sides, and this bugged the General a lot. His grunt facial expression showed his worry and impatience. He kept tapping the ground with his right foot, waiting for something.


    "General Chrome, the trap is ready."


    A goblin soldier came in and stood on one knee before reporting to the Goblin General.


    Chrome, once he heard this news stopped tapping the ground with his foot. His worried expression turned immediately into an excited one.


    "Good," Chrome responded. His smile turned into a malevolent grin before he continued, "With this, that Fox King is dead."


    While the battle between the two armies was raging, Shesmu and his party were making their way to the tower.


    Wolf


    Hp: 700/700


    "Ryan, take care of the wolves at the left. Leo, the right. I will take care of the middle one then rotate."


    The duo nodded, accepting Shesmu''s orders. The party spread out, each of them heading towards his target.


    Leo was the first to reach the pack of wolves, making him their biggest focus. However, before the whole pack could aggro to him, DepressedRyan came from the side and stabbed two wolves successfully, stopping them dead in their track.


    With perfect synchronization, the wolves have been divided between the members of the party. DepressedRyan took hold of the monsters on the left, evasion tanking them using his superior reflexes and high agility. Leo kept hold of the aggro of the wolves at the right by attacking them and blocking their strikes using his new swords, damping their damage.


    DepressedRyan is one thing, but Leo really became better after all the fights he has been a part of. As expected, you only become better through a trial of fire and blood.


    Shesmu unsheathed his sword from his back and looked at the wolf in front of him. It was confused on who to attack between Leo and DepressedRyan. Well, let''s test out the power of this Cambione Blade. With these thoughts, Shesmu raised his weapon and performed an Empowered Slash Cancel.


    450


    1418


    Overkill was an understatement. With the passive of the Cambione Blade, Demon Ki, Shesmu''s Empowered Slash was enhanced further. The poor wolf had his head decapitated with one strike. At this point, he suspected that even if the elite version of these wolves were to come out, Shesmu would be able to one-shot it using just his Empowered Slash Cancel technique.


    After dealing with his target, Shesmu turned to look left. DepressedRyan was able to effortlessly handle his opponents. He would slip in a stab, and before the wolf would even raise his paw, DepressedRyan would dodge the attack. He is predicting the attacks of the wolf. No, with how effortlessly he does it, it''s not even a conscious process. His eyes see the miniscule twitches of the monsters'' muscles and his body automatically decides the best course of action. He is¡­ a monster.


    In earlier fights, DepressedRyan has only shown his assassination skills. He would go in only when a kill was 100% certain, and he would go out like a shadow as if he was never there before. With that playstyle, Shesmu couldn''t give a full judgment. However, now he knew for sure that DepressedRyan''s skills were close to the apex of Ashes of Gods. A least in terms of battle sense.


    Deciding that DepressedRyan wouldn''t need his help any time soon, Shesmu decided to focus on Leo. While the latter was holding his ground against his enemies, countering with a slash or two of his own after an intense barrage of hits, his health was still being chipped at little by little. He was already down a quarter of his HP.


    Shesmu looked at the situation and decided that it was as good of a time as any to test his other skill that came with the Cambione Blade: Demon''s Slash. Shesmu activated his skill and raised his sword. Energy flowed from inside his stomach to the blade of his sword. The blade took a dark shade and glinted under the moonlight.


    Shesmu slashed at the air and a black crescent was formed, heading directly towards the two wolves Leo was facing.


    1350


    1350


    The black crescent of energy went through the two monsters and split them in half. Blood and gore littered the ground and painted Leo''s face red. The latter just cleaned off his face with minimum disgust.


    "Thanks for the help, you saved me there."


    "No need for thanks, let''s help Ryan."


    As if they practiced this scene multiple times, both Leo and Shesmu used Dash at the same time. In synchronization, each of them appeared behind one of the wolf DepressedRyan was fighting. With one slash to the neck, both monsters were decapitated.

 31 Blood Oath

    After killing the pack of wolves, the trio looted their corpses.


    "But man, your sword is really overpowered, Shesmu," commented Leo after finishing looting his part.


    "Yeah. The enhanced damage is one thing, but that energy slash. You killed two wolves in one hit from a distance, how broken is that?!"


    "Well, it is a gold+ rarity weapon after all. Thinking about it now, if that goblord was able to land one ki empowered attack on us there, we would probably have been one shot. Plus, there was also that black and red energy orb thing. That was scary," reminisced Shesmu.


    "Anyway, we should head now to the tower. But before that, how far are you guys from level 10?"


    "I''m level 9, 20% of the way to 10," responded DepressedRyan.


    "Level 8, still need 10% to reach 9," followed Leo.


    "Okay then, we should grind a bit more before going to the tower then."


    Well, if it''s about grinding, then maybe we should try and search for a dungeon. Since we''re in a wolves area, there must be a wolf dungeon here. Plus, Ryan needs a new weapon, and wolves drop the best daggers at low levels.


    Everything made perfect sense in Shesmu''s head. The only downside was that unlike the goblin dungeon, Shesmu had no idea where the wolves'' is. Thus, the only way was to search for it in the traditional way. When Shesmu''s thoughts reached this far, he looked at both Leo and Ryan with a doubtful expression.


    "You too, you have no problems with directions, right?" Shesmu asked.


    In his past life, Leo was clumsy with many things, but a problem with his sense of direction never showed up. However, that is knowledge based on another timeline. Who knows what kind of changes happened to Leo from the start of the game until the moment he met with Shesmu, 2 years later.


    "Ehh, as far as I know, I have no problem," answered Leo.


    "Yeah, this dunce may be dumb at times, but getting lost all the time is not one of his habit," teased DepressedRyan. He then said cheekily, "As for me, I can find my way through a maze blindfolded, so don''t worry about it!"


    "Hey, who did you call a dunce just now?!"


    "Well, it''s not as if I lied. Who would ever say to a girl: "Ah, sorry. I was looking at the food." after she has been hitting on you for three hours-"


    "Ah stop, stop! Don''t talk about that time, it never happened, okay?"


    Looking at his friends'' bickering and arguing with each other, Shesmu felt a little bit envious. At this point, who do I even have that I can talk to, bicker and argue with. My parents are abroad, and the friends that I had at this point I can''t even remember the face. Am I supposed to just go back and talk to them as if nothing happened- as if those ten years were just a dream?


    Shesmu was lost in his thoughts when he blinked his eyes and saw DepressedRyan staring at him.


    "Why the long face, Shesmu?" he asked before his smile turned cheeked and he teased, "Did you forget and left your kids without dinner?"


    When Shesmu looked at DepressedRyan''s cheeky face, he couldn''t bring himself to be annoyed at what he said. Something sunk in Shesmu''s inside and warmth spread out. His eyes turned watery for a moment before Shesmu quickly wiped his tears.


    "Hey, are you crying?" DepressedRyan asked.


    "No, I''m not."


    Hearing Shesmu''s answer, DepressedRyan''s smile turned sly. But seeing the happy smile on Shesmu''s face, he couldn''t bring himself to keep teasing him.


    "Well, if you say so. In any case, you seem to have reached your own conclusions." DepressedRyan then thought for a moment before continuing, "Just know that I and Leo are your friends. Isn''t that right, Leo?"


    "Hmm, of course, we''re friends. Why? Are we not?" Leo asked in surprise and confusion.


    "Well asked, Leo," commented DepressedRyan. He then shifted his attention back to Shesmu and smiled, "So, are we friends or not?"


    Shesmu looked at DepressedRyan''s smile and Leo''s worried face. For a moment, he didn''t know what to say. In the end, he sighed in exasperation.


    "You guys. You really like making me say cringy stuff." Shesmu stopped for two seconds, rethinking his decision, before he puffed, "I''ll only say this once. Yeah, you guys are my friends. My¡­ really precious friends."


    "Haha! That''s more like it!" DepressedRyan exclaimed. "You really should be more honest with yourself."


    With Shesmu''s words, Leo''s worries dissipated.


    "I don''t really understand what all of that was about, but I feel good. So, now it''s official, right? We''re friends?"


    "About that, Leo. We first need to go through the ceremony!" DepressedRyan announced.


    "Oh, a pinky promise to be friends forever!" blurted out Leo.


    "No. No, it''s not." DepressedRyan showed his disgust towards Leo''s suggestion. He then looked proudly before announcing, "If it''s a friendship ceremony then it needs to be a blood oath. Blood is thicker than water after all."


    "Yeah, let''s just do a pinky promise."


    "I''m with you on that, Shesmu."


    Both Leo and Shesmu totally ignored DepressedRyan as they held their pinkies together.


    "Hey, don''t just ignore me!"


    The trio then reconciled and restarted the ceremony.


    "Well, if you guys are going to make it a pinky promise, then let''s take it a step further. Rather than being friends, let''s be brothers!"


    Brothers. I didn''t have one. Though thinking about it, before entering Ashes of Gods, I did see Seth as a brother. Thinking about it, at this point, he should still be in Dawn''s Resonance. Hopefully, his contract ends soon.


    "Brothers? How does that even work? It''s not as if we''re born from the same mother, so how can we be brothers?" asked Leo.


    "Leo! You really have no sense of romance, that''s why you still don''t have any girlfriend! A brother doesn''t need to be born from your mother. A brother is someone who sacrifices his life to save you, someone who you can trust your back with and you can fight with. A brother shares everything with you, even his girlfriend!"


    DepressedRyan''s speech could make any one man''s spirit fire up. However, Shesmu''s face remained stoic.


    "Oh, interesting. Yeah, sorry, let''s just stick to friends."


    "What, why?" DepressedRyan asked in surprise. "Is it the sharing your girlfriend part? Do you perhaps have a girlfriend and you didn''t tell us? How could you!"


    "Calm down, Ryan." Leo tried to stop things from heating up further. "I''m sure Shesmu has his own reasons."


    "Well, anyway. We can forget about the sharing your girlfriend part, is now everyone with me?"


    Both of Leo and Shesmu nodded. The trio then held their pinkies together.


    "For now, and forever, we swear to protect, never betray, never hurt and never let each other down. Today, through the blood that flows our veins and this promise connecting our fates, we shall be reborn. As brothers, we shall live and die."

 32 A Shrewd Plo

    After the oath has been taken, the trio stopped holding their pinkies.


    "Well, that was one cringy oath," commented Shesmu. "But it''s good enough. Since now we''re brothers, we gotta look out for each other."


    "Of course." DepressedRyan looked at Shesmu with a radiant smile.


    "Yeah, that''s the point of being brothers. If we don''t look out for each other, then what''s the use," added Leo.


    Looking at them being so excited, Shesmu sighed, "You guys really say these things way too easily. Anyway, we still have things to do. I asked you guys before about your sense of direction, remember?"


    "Yeah, and we told you not to worry. What''s the deal anyway?" DepressedRyan asked.


    "Well, you remember how we fought goblins before finding the goblin den, right?"


    The duo nodded at Shesmu''s words.


    "Well, this is just a theory but... I think that it''s the same here. I think that this is the territory of the wolves and that there might be a dungeon around here."


    "Oh, so you want us to go around and look for it. But how will we know if it''s the dungeon or not, plus remember how hidden the goblin''s den was, how are we supposed to look for that?" Leo asked.


    "Well, we''re talking about wolves here, so it must be a cave, right?" DepressedRyan responded.


    "I think so too, Ryan. In any case, we don''t lose much. And, in the case where we do find the wolf dungeon, we will be so much ahead of the curve that any time we waste here will be worth it. Also, remember that this is just the beta. We need to explore as much as possible so that we use that knowledge once the live game hits," Shesmu concluded.


    "Makes sense. You''re right, Shesmu, that''s a good idea," said DepressedRyan.


    "Well then, let''s split for now. Leo, you explore the right part, Ryan, the left. I''ll check forward."


    With these words, the trio split up, each going in one direction.


    At the same time, in the battlefield that hosted the goblin and fox army, the Goblin General stood. Next to him were many of his advisors and subordinates, each of which was respectful and kept their hands behind their backs.


    "Grr,"


    General Chrome looked up at the direction of the sound. In front of him was a chained beast, with poles penetrating its body. These poles were engraved with symbols that glowed golden, illuminating the dark surroundings.


    "Fox king, what a pitiful sight. To think that an evolved species like you would reach this state, you really underestimated us."


    "General, with the power of the seal that was granted to us by the faes and our blacksmith''s prowess, even if it was an evolved beast it couldn''t resist that might. In the end, it''s just one monster who still hasn''t learned how to speak after all."


    The words of the kneeling advisor behind his back brought a smile to the Goblin General''s face. For the whole time, he was worried about the outcome of the battle, but seeing the firefox falling prey to the trap as planned relieved him from stress.


    After looking at the Fox King for two seconds, General Chrome''s smile turned shrewd as he thought about something. He took a few steps towards the beast in front of him until he could feel its hot breath on his face. The General then taunted.


    "How do you feel now? Seeing the face of the one who killed all of your brethren. Does it hurt? Does it make you despair?"


    The tired eyes of the Fox king glinted with a cold light.


    "Awwooo!"


    The beast howled with all of its might and tried raising its paw. However, the chains blocking its shoulders and the pole that rooted its paws to the ground remained unyielding. It then opened its mouth, fire gathering at the tip of its tongue, before it dissipated into ember before dealing any damage.


    "Haha! Keep struggling Fox King. Your body has been chained and your magic has been sealed. If you think that with your puny power you can break the seal, then dream on! Of course, that''s unless you evolve again."


    The Goblin General finished with a low note. He was having fun giving hope to the beast then shattering it right after. Both of him and the Fox King knew that there was a 0% chance of a second evolution as the firefox already reached adulthood.


    The firefox glared at the Goblin General in front of it with fury engulfing its eyes. But it knew that it was of no use. Its clan was already decimated and its power was dwindling. With all of the injuries it had accumulated, the only reason it still hasn''t died was because of the amazing natural recovery of the firefoxes.


    The Fox King no longer cared about what will happen to itself. The beast already lived a long life and it had no regrets. It made the fox clan reach a level of dominance thought of as impossible before, in this internal area of the forest. Its only worry was its child, but it already made sure to an escape path for it before being caught.


    "Haha! Well, enjoy these last few days, because they will be your last."


    The Goblin General then turned and signaled to his attendants to follow him out. He already had his fun and there were still many things he had to attend to.


    The Goblin General left and the Fox King just lied on the ground with its eyes closed. However, what none of the participants knew was that there was another being in the room looking at the scene. For the longest time its eyes were fearful, but as the Goblin General kept taunting the Fox King, its eyes burned in anger. By the time General Chrome left, the stealthy being''s eyes were cold.


    "Huff, puff,"


    Shesmu breathed in and out while standing on a tree branch. Jumping for half an hour from one tree branch to another would tire anyone who hasn''t specced in agility and vitality. While Shesmu did indeed have good endurance due to his improved lungs and high agility, the feat of jumping from one tree to another to cross long distance was not something a low level was supposed to do anyway.


    After calming his breath, Shesmu looked down. The branch was 15 feet above the ground, so he could see whatever was happening down there clearly.


    Few wolves roamed the area. Only two were entering a cave with meat on their mouths.


    Thought it would be hard to find the dungeon in the middle of the night. Who would have thought that you two will guide me all the way?


    **********


    I''m adding this clause here because I noticed that some websites had been pirating my story. Please, if you''re not reading Re: Sword Emperor on moonquill, royalroad, webnovel, wattpad, or teamdreamless, check out one of the official releases. The content is free and you can support the author by doing so. (Plus you don''t risk downloading an adware, as pirate sites are notorious for those)

 33 Skill Successor

    After Shesmu found out about the wolves'' hideout, he immediately turned back to the direction of where he left his comrades.


    Same as before, Shesmu jumped from one tree to another until he reached the clearing. He deemed this method of traveling to be faster as he wouldn''t aggro the monsters that roamed below him.


    The wolves'' corpses have already disappeared and the only one who sat on the clearing under the moonlight was DepressedRyan.


    "Hey, Shesmu. Did you find anything? I searched for half an hour and couldn''t find the dungeon, so I gave up and came back."


    "Yeah, I found the cave."


    DepressedRyan''s eyes turned wide before he exclaimed.


    "For real?! For a second I thought that no one will find it. It''s night and not many monsters are active, so I assumed that it will be hard to find their cave."


    "Well, I found two wolves bringing back meat in their mouth, so I just followed them."


    "That''s lucky. Well, if we got to find the dungeon then everything is well. Now, we just need to wait for Leo before we raid the dungeon."


    DepressedRyan became irritated before he continued, "But what the heck is wrong with Omega9. We are in a party but we can''t send messages to each other, what kind of bullshit is that?"


    Ah, that. Well, we are in the tutorial after all, and it''s not like we''re actually a party recognized by the system. We need to wait until we reach the tower before unlocking that feature.


    "Maybe it''s just a tutorial thing," Shesmu explained. "It would be pretty dumb if we lose contact with each other every time someone is lost or died in a raid."


    "Yeah, maybe," DepressedRyan responded. He then pondered for a few seconds before he asked, "We don''t know when Leo will come, so we''ll just be wasting time if we wait here indefinitely. Rather than just waiting, can you please help me train that Empowered Slash Cancel you always use?"


    Shesmu was surprised for a second by DepressedRyan''s question before he just smiled.


    "Sure, but are you certain about that? I thought that you were going to be an assassin."


    "Well, I do want that, don''t get me wrong, but- I think that the ability to chain my normal attack to skills that fast would help me even as an assassin."


    "Hmm, sure then. Let''s do that." Shesmu unsheathed his sword and got into a battle position before continuing, "get ready."


    DepressedRyan nodded his head at Shesmu and unsheathed his dagger before readying his stance.


    "I''m going to do it once, so look attentively. Imagine that there is a creature in front of you that you want to kill. Materialize it in your head and then perform the technique. Do you understand me?"


    "Yes, I do!"


    "Good."


    With these words, Shesmu closed his eyes for half a second before he reopened them. In front of him, the same white humanoid misty creature that he fought at the tutorial building appeared. Shesmu raised his sword and performed Empowered Slash Cancel, successfully hitting the white shadow twice.


    After making a successful attempt, Shesmu breathed out and the misty creature disappeared.


    "Now, do it!"


    DepressedRyan closed his eyes like Shesmu did, and reopened them again. Even though Ryan''s eyes looked at Shesmu, the latter knew that they weren''t focusing on him. Ryan''s eyes saw a world of his own, separate from the real world.


    DepressedRyan swung his dagger towards an invisible enemy and activated Empowered Slash midway. By the time the skill was fully activated, Ryan''s blade went past Shesmu''s line of sight.


    "No!"


    Shesmu didn''t console DepressedRyan after his first failure. He saw in DepressedRyan''s eyes a competitive fire and will to learn that was rare even with pro players. Consoling him will only dwindle that fire and make it weaker, so he abstained from doing so. Shesmu just kept looking at DepressedRyan solemnly.


    DepressedRyan took his stance once again and redid the same motions as before, trying to execute Empowered Slash Cancel.


    It was another failure, but Ryan didn''t cry out loud this time around.


    He kept repeating the same motions, every time not complaining about his failures. Twenty times he tried, and twenty times he failed. But Shesmu knew from watching his movement that Ryan was close to getting the timing right. For the last ten tries, he was off by 0.1 seconds, either late or too early.


    DepressedRyan readied his stance for the twentieth and one time, swinging his dagger and activating Empowered Slash midway. Green energy went from his abdomen to his hand. The moment the dagger reached Shesmu''s line of sight was the moment the blade of the dagger shone with a green light.


    "Good work, Ryan."


    DepressedRyan''s eyes looked vacant for a moment with his hand still raised holding the dagger, when he suddenly dropped it.


    "I did it! Man, did you look at me? Holy moly, it finally worked. For the past ten tries, I have been missing it by like nothing until it drove me nuts!"


    Shesmu kept silence listening to DepressedRyan''s rant. He knew the feeling all too well. Every time a new technique or a strategy was made public, all the pros had to train to master it. Sometimes, there were these techniques that no matter what you do, you just can''t replicate. Sometimes it takes weeks and even months before it finally clicks and you get it right.


    DepressedRyan was still ranting before the duo heard the sound of clapping behind them. They turned around only to see Leo walking towards them, smiling while clapping.


    "Good job Ryan, that was really cool."


    "Oh, Leo. For how long have you been waiting?" asked DepressedRyan.


    "A few minutes or so didn''t want to stop you midway when you were so focused. Anyway, did you guys find the dungeon? I couldn''t find anything even after a search for close to an hour."


    "Yeah, Shesmu found it."


    "Oh, if that''s the case, then what are we waiting for? Let''s go."


    Leo''s smile never left his face for the entirety of the conversation, but Shesmu''s face was in total contrast. Other than when Leo announced his presence, Shesmu couldn''t look at his friend in the eyes. Guilt was eating away at his insides.


    The trio went in the direction of the wolves'' cave with Shesmu being the guide. After fifteen minutes, Shesmu could no longer stop himself and asked Leo.


    "Leo, why did you not ask me to teach you Empowered Slash Cancel? I would have thought you if you asked me, so why? Don''t you feel left out being the only one who didn''t learn it?"


    Shesmu''s questions stunned Leo for a second before he broke out a laugh.


    "Haha, so that''s what was on your mind the whole time? Shesmu, you''re way too serious. Of course, I wouldn''t mind, what difference does it make that I know the skill or I don''t? We''re all on the same boat aren''t we?" Leo then continued, with a more serious tone."Of course I want to be more useful to you two, but it doesn''t mean I''ll resent you if you don''t teach me some skill you thought to Ryan. That''s not how friends- no, brothers work."


    Leo''s speech shocked both Shesmu and DepressedRyan. Shesmu was rendered speechless, not knowing what to say. However, in his heart, he swore to cherish Leo even more.


    "Leo! I never thought you would be this romantic of a guy. Yes, that''s indeed how a brother should think. Brothers give but never ask, brothers accept but never expect, that''s what a brother is!"


    Even DepressedRyan who usually teased and laughed at Leo couldn''t help but have his eyes water a little after his friend''s speech.


    After listening to DepressedRyan''s speech, Shesmu just smiled and turned his head back to the direction of the dungeon. After another five minutes, they reached the entrance of the cave.


    "So, this is the wolves'' dungeon," concluded Leo.


    "Seems like it."


    Shesmu took a few steps towards the cave, and once he passed the entrance, a notification message reached him.


    Congratulation on finding the level 10 dungeon: Silver Wolves'' Cave!

 34 Blitzing Through The Dungeon

    The cave was dark, even darker than the forest. Even the moonlight that was their guide abandoned them in this dungeon.


    "Leo, please light up the torch," asked Shesmu.


    "Sure, give me a second."


    Leo took out the torch from his inventory and lighted it up. The fire was like a savior- a guide to the trio who just a few moments ago couldn''t see two feet past their nose.


    The trio kept exploring the cave and after two minutes, they found their first foes.


    Two wolves, both of them had black fur and red eyes. Their fangs were sharp and their claws deadly. Shesmu inspected them and found them both at level 11.


    Wolf


    HP: 730/730


    Wolf


    HP: 750/750


    Shesmu had the urge to just use Demon Slash and be done with it. However, remembering the Energy cost and cooldown of the skill, Shesmu stopped himself.


    Both Leo and DepressedRyan dashed towards the monsters without waiting for Shesmu''s orders. At this point, they already developed enough of team coordination to not need Shesmu to give even the most basics of instructions.


    With dexterous movements, DepressedRyan dodged the wolf''s attacks and countered with his own. He then slashed towards the beast''s neck and activated Empowered Slash at the same time. Two damages appeared above the monster''s head, killing it instantly. This was the first time DepressedRyan was able to successfully perform Empowered Slash Cancel in a real fight.


    Leo took a much simpler approach. He first blocked the wolf''s strike with his sword before countering with his own attacks. With a couple of rotations, Leo was able to kill the wolf easily.


    Shesmu didn''t take part in the fight and just stood behind the duo, watching their every move.


    Leo is doing good. He is slowly developing the style he was so famous for ten years from now. The only thing he is missing is a shield. As for DepressedRyan. Well, he really is a monster. It''s one thing to learn a new technique, it''s another to be able to pull it off in your first fight.


    "Good job, both of you. It seems that you no longer need me now, maybe you should try and duo the dungeon for a change."


    "You''re joking, right? Of course, we can, just sit back and relax."


    Shesmu was just trying to tease both of them a little, but who would have thought that Ryan would be even more quick-witted.


    However, while Shesmu understood the joke, for Leo it just went over the head.


    "Hey, Ryan. What do you mean? Are you for real trying to have us duo the dungeon? I really can''t, dude."


    Looking at Leo''s worried face, both Shesmu and DepressedRyan burst out laughing.


    "Hey, you guys! Why are you laughing?!"


    "I mean, we were just joking, Leo. Shesmu just wanted to tease us a little, so I wanted to spice things up a bit and make him the one in an uncomfortable position."


    "Uncomfortable position your head. I''ll just leave you two on your own and enjoy the moonlight."


    Looking at Shesmu''s deadpan expression, DepressedRyan started getting worried.


    "Hey, you''re for real?" asked DepressedRyan with a worried tone.


    Shesmu just kept looking at him, neither denying nor confirming his worries.


    "Hey dude, it was just a joke man. I''m sorry, okay?"


    Even with the apologies, Shesmu kept his deadpan expression making DepressedRyan''s worries grow further. But after a few seconds looking at DepressedRyan''s face, Shesmu could no longer hold back his laughter.


    "Dude, you should see your face. You look like you''re about to piss in your pants. Haha."


    Looking at Shesmu laughing his heart out, DepressedRyan felt a weird mix of relief and annoyance.


    "You- you idiot. One day I''ll get back at you, just remember!"


    While the duo was bickering and joking around, Leo just stood next to them with a dumbfounded expression.


    "I really don''t understand what you guys have been on about for the last minute, but we should keep exploring the dungeon."


    "Hmm, yeah, let''s do that," said Shesmu, still smiling and laughing about what just happened.


    The trio kept exploring the cave, killing wolves left and right. The monsters posed no challenge, making the party bored out of its mind. The situation kept repeating itself multiple times until the first elite appeared.


    Silver Fang Wolf(Elite)


    HP: 2300/2300


    "Well, I guess this is the first monster that won''t be one-shotted," declared Shesmu.


    He then dashed and appeared in front of the Silver Fang Wolf. He then executed his Empowered Slash Thrust Combo, dealing more than 3000 damage. The beast dropped dead with one hit.


    "Nah, just kidding. It was still one-shotted," said Shesmu dejectedly.


    "You really like bragging about, Shesmu. But I like that, a strong person has the right to brag, that''s my motto!" declared DepressedRyan with hands on his hips.


    "Oh, I don''t think he is bragging. I too didn''t think that it would be one shotted, it''s an elite after all."


    "You know, Leo. Sometimes, I really don''t know if you''re trolling or not."


    DepressedRyan looked at Leo with tired eyes, already used to his friend''s antics. Leo, on the other hand, had a confused look on his face.


    "Well, let''s just continue guys. I''m getting bored of this dungeon already, I just wanna blitz it," said Shesmu.


    With those words, the party continued their exploration. The trio blitzed through the dungeon like there was no tomorrow, wasting no more than 20 seconds on every pack of wolves. Even elite wolves couldn''t survive one combo from Shesmu, so the whole ordeal was a breeze.


    After much exploration, the trio found themselves in front of a big door. All of them assumed that it was the boss room. By the time they reached this far into the dungeon, Shesmu reached level 13 while Leo and DepressedRyan were 12.


    "It really sucks that none of the wolves dropped any weapon, but at least the elites dropped good quality pelt and wolf armors, so I guess that''s not too bad," DepressedRyan commented.


    "Well, yeah. We were in need of new armors anyway. It would be really weird if we had insane weapons but all the other equipment was trash," responded Shesmu.


    "Anyway, the exp was good, and the gold that dropped was pretty high, so I''m fine with that. Plus, isn''t the boss going to drop some cool weapons and items? That''s the custom, right?"


    "Well, yeah Leo. Plus, things are finally going to be fun. I hope."


    Shesmu had an excited smile on his face as he opened the doors to the boss'' room. In the middle of it, a beast three meters tall with ripped muscles stood. Its silver fur shined through the moonlight that came from the rooftop.


    Shesmu used Inspect on the wolf and his excited smile became even more deranged.


    Silver Wolf King(Boss)


    HP: 30000/30000

 35 Silver Wolf King

    "Awooo!"


    The howl of the silver wolf king signaled the started of the battle. The trio separated in all three directions before Shesmu gave his orders.


    "I''ll evasion tank! Leo, you offtank when I''m out of gas!"


    By the time Shesmu finished his orders the boss was already in front of him, ready to swipe him with his paw.


    Shesmu immediately rolled on the ground dodging the attack before getting back up. At the same time, both Leo and DepressedRyan attacked with their own skills.


    The wolf king, being attacked from both sides no longer focused on Shesmu and was about to hit Leo when Shesmu attacked with a skill of his own.


    1001


    2102


    Shesmu slashed at the Wolf King''s neck using his Empowered Slash Cancel. Red Blood gushed out from the wound painting Shesmu''s right-hand red. With this attack that dealt more damage than both of his teammate''s attacks combined, the boss'' attention was fully Shesmu''s.


    Silver light gathered on the Silver Wolf King''s right paw emitting a calm an elegant aura. He will Dash! The monster vanished from Shesmu''s sight, and a black shadow appeared in front of him.


    Without even turning around, Shesmu Dashed out, appearing above the boss that was a moment ago behind him. The wolf''s attack shattered the ground, leaving debris that catapulted in all directions.


    Shesmu activated Demon''s Slash and threw a black energy crescent towards the boss before gravity took over.


    2002


    Shesmu''s ranged skill dealt insane damage to the wolf forcing it to fall down on one paw. Shesmu didn''t waste any time and activated Empowered Thrust as he was falling. He performed an aerial Empowered Thrust Cancel and his target was the Wolf King''s neck.


    1001


    2102


    While Shesmu was fighting with his life on the line, DepressedRyan and Leo weren''t sitting idly either. Whenever Shesmu landed a successful hit, or when the boss'' attention wasn''t on them, they would sneak an attack or two, making the Wolf King accumulate damage.


    Shesmu was out of gas, all of his skills were on cooldown. Leo understood this and immediately changed his playstyle to a more aggressive one. Before the Wolf King could even recover from Shesmu''s attacks, Leo jumped in and slashed at the poor thing. A couple of normal attacks and an Empowered Sword Slash was all it took for the boss'' attention to fixate on Leo.


    "Awoo!"


    The wolf stood up. It raised its right paw and gathered silver energy. Leo knew the destructive potential of that technique, so he braced himself. With his new armor and high vitality stat, he expected that he would at least not get one shotted if he blocked the attack with his sword.


    The Silver Wolf King''s paw struck down Leo like lightning from the heavens. The impact was so strong that even after hitting the ground, Leo''s body was thrown five meters in the air like a ragdoll. His sword was catapulted to the other side of the room, leaving him weaponless.


    Shesmu used inspect on Leo and breathed a sigh of relief.


    Leo


    HP: 150/950


    That one attack can kill any of us but Leo in one shot. This monster really is scary.


    However, Leo''s sacrifice hasn''t been in vain. Even though he was only able to save five seconds by distracting the boss, these few seconds were enough for Shesmu to have his Empowered Slash off cooldown again. Before going in battle once again, Shesmu used Inspect on the boss.


    Silver Wolf King(Boss)


    HP: 19356/30000


    Two rotations like this and we can do it.


    After sending pushing one of Leo''s feet in the grave, the boss was prepared to finish its job. It was about to lunge at the half-dead man before DepressedRyan appeared in front of its face.


    300


    630


    With one slash, DepressedRyan was able to procc two damages, successfully performing an aerial Empowered Slash Cancel. However, before gravity could catch back at him, Ryan clung at the boss'' fur with one hand before slashing at its neck once again. The boss was only able to react after it received three hits.


    The Silver Wolf King shook its head left and right, trying to get DepressedRyan to fall. However, the latter only used its movement as a source of momentum to jump upwards, successfully landing on its back.


    Looking at this display of skill, Shesmu just smiled. This wasn''t the first time DepressedRyan showed abilities and battle sense of a pro player, so he was no longer as surprised. It''s just a pity that you don''t have a good weapon, Ryan. In any case, wolves are known for dropping good daggers, so you''ll definitely get one after we kill this over-sized dog. Plus it''s first clear, maybe you''ll even get a gold dagger.


    Shaking the thoughts out of his head, Shesmu snapped back to reality. All of his skills other than Demon Slash were up. He jumped towards the Silver Wolf King, garnering its attention. It was about to raise its paw to deflect the incoming attack when a sharp pain in its nap stopped it midway. DepressedRyan plunged his dagger in it, making it lose focus of Shesmu.


    Shesmu didn''t waste the opportunity given by his friend. He performed Empowered Slash Cancel, slashing the beast''s neck open. Gravity then took over and he started falling down, but before his feet could touch the ground, Shesmu continued his attacks and slashed at the Wolf King''s left thigh.


    DepressedRyan continued his attacks while Shesmu went in and out, dodging the Wolf King''s paws and countering with his own. This went on for a few rotations before the boss'' HP reached 7000.


    It''s close to berserk, gotta hold into my cooldowns.


    All of Shesmu''s skills were up, including Demon''s Slash. However, he didn''t use any of them as he knew that the moment the Silver Wolf King reached 20% was the moment it should be one shotted. If it was not killed in one hit, there was no way for the party to not wipe. They were a party of three, after all, clearing dungeons that were meant for parties of ten.


    Plus, what''s going with Leo. It''s been a minute and a half, did that hit hurt that bad? I guess he did experience the pain of having all of your bones broken. Though it was dampened by nine times.


    Every few seconds, Shesmu''s eyes darted towards Leo''s direction, checking if he showed any sign of life. Sadly, even though his Hp was regenerating, he still didn''t open his eyes.


    While Shesmu was looking at Leo, DepressedRyan kept slashing at the boss from above its back. However, contrary to what it had done until now, the wolf rolled on the ground. Seeing the weird movement of the boss, DepressedRyan performed Empowered Slash Cancel one last time on the Wolf King''s nape, before jumping in the air.


    Blood gushed from the boss'' back before it rolled and left a red stain on the ground. After the roll, it stood on four paws and looked at both DepressedRyan and Shesmu coldly.


    "Awoo!"


    The moonlight shined on the boss'' figure and a silvery light came out of its every pore. The silvery glint that engulfed the Wolf King intensified and reached out to the heavens.


    Shesmu knew that this was the berserk mode of the Silver Wolf King. As with the Goblord, this was a state where every move of the boss was a special technique. It was also a state where the boss could unleash his ultimate move. For the Goblord, it was the black and red ball of energy that destroyed half of the boss room. As for the Silver Wolf King, Shesmu didn''t know.


    The boss whose energy was running rampant disappeared from everyone''s sight. Shesmu expected the boss to target him, but after half a breath, he couldn''t feel the boss'' presence anywhere near him. He turned to look at DepressedRyan, and lo and behold, the Silver Wolf King was next to his friend, his paw shining a silver light and ready to strike down.


    With no hesitation Shesmu Dashed in front of the boss, his target was the Wolf King''s paw. He slashed at it and at the same time activated Demon''s Slash. Knowing that just the combo of his normal attack and Demon''s Slash wouldn''t be enough to kill the boss, Shesmu decided to spice things up. Empowered Slash- Empowered Thrust! With those thoughts, Shesmu swung his sword.


    Energy kept gushing out of Shesmu''s abdomen and feeding his sword. After Shesmu''s weapon hit black energy appeared, and then to top it off, Shesmu''s blade glinted green. Black and Green energy clashed, creating a multicolored crescent that slashed through the Wolf King''s body.


    Time seemed to stop for a moment as the torrent of energy dissipated. In its wake, the Silver Wolf King was left motionless, a hole piercing through his body from his paw to his back. Then, half of the boss'' body fell, before the other half followed suit.


    [Congratulation, you created a skill combination!]

 36 A Lucky Streak

    [Congratulation, you created a skill combination!]


    [Please name the skill combination:]


    Hearing these two messages in his head, Shesmu thought for a bit before he responded. Cross-slash.


    [Name is approved. Skill combination: Cross-Slash has been created.]


    Cross-Slash(Combination Skill)


    Rarity: Rare


    A skill that combines Empowered Slash, Empowered Thrust and Demon''s Slash. A long-range skill that deals 700% of total damage (grows as the base skills'' level grow). This skill can only be activated with the Cambione Blade equipped.


    Congratulation, as the first person to create a combination skill, your efforts are to be rewarded. You have been awarded ten free stat points and additional inventory slot.


    Congratulation, as the first person to create a rare combination skill, your efforts are to be rewarded. You have been awarded one elixir of your choosing.


    In front of Shesmu, an interface showing a list of elixirs appeared. Each elixir was specific to an attribute. Shesmu didn''t think for a second before choosing the agility focused one.


    Blue Feather Elixir


    Rarity: Gold


    Description:


    1 Elixir consumed: Permanently increase Agility by 20


    2 Elixir consumed: Permanently increase Agility by 100


    3 Elixir consumed: Permanently increase Agility by 500


    4 Elixir consumed: Permanently increase Agility by 1000


    5 Elixir consumed: Permanently increase Agility by 10%


    Side effect: if more than one empowering elixir is consumed in a month, the character''s agility is permanently decreased by 50%


    "Thanks for the help, Shesmu."


    Shesmu turned to look at DepressedRyan before answering, "No problem dude. Just that, we should probably check on Leo, he is worrying me."


    "Ah, don''t worry about me."


    Hearing the familiar voice, both Shesmu and DepressedRyan turned to the direction of Leo. The later was standing with difficulty.


    "But really, what the heck happened. Once I got hit by the boss I was dced*. They gave me a message that I was disconnected due to some shock or whatever."


    "I guess your heart was pumping out too hard. The game automatically disconnects you if that happens."


    Shesmu has seen countless cases where newbies would randomly disconnect because some monster appeared out of nowhere. Experiencing an event that would be the equivalent of a death sentence in the real world would shock anyone. When Leo disclosed that he has been disconnected, Shesmu was not surprised.


    "Well, it''s all good if you''re back. But when you go back irl, please do a quick diagnosis of your body. No one would want a mishap to happen to you because of something so stupid."


    "Yeah, hard agree with Shesmu. Once we finish the tutorial we go do a body check up to you."


    "Sure, I''ll do that. But now, did you loot the boss? What did it drop?"


    "We still haven''t looted it yet. Shesmu just finished it right now. Talking about that, Shesmu start looting. I''m also curious about what this big doggy will drop."


    "Sure, will do that."


    Shesmu immediately complied with DepressedRyan''s suggestion. He looted the dismembered corpse of the Silver Wolf King and many different items appeared in his inventory. Other than the usual pills, potions and gold, 100 magic stones, a rare material, an elixir, a weapon, an armor and a pair of boots appeared in Shesmu''s bag.


    Silver Wolf King''s Pelt


    Rarity: Silver


    Description: Main material to various agility related equipments. Most notably, the silver fang set other than the weapon.


    Silver Fang Dagger


    Rarity: Gold


    Required Level: 15


    Weapon Level: 1


    Attack: 350


    Skills:


    Moonlight Dash: Instantly teleport in a radius of 10 meters, resets after each successful kill.


    Assassination: Deal 200% damage once target is below 10% Hp.


    Set Effect


    2/5: +25 Agility


    4/5: +40 Agility, +15 Strength


    5/5: +60 Agility, +30 Strength, +5 Concentration


    When Shesmu looked at the set effect of the silver fang dagger, he almost drooled. Holy moly, this is way too good. Even though Shesmu equipped full sets of legendary equipment in his past life, the feeling of owning an item that far surpassed anything other teams could dream of at this point in the game still felt awesome.


    Silver Fang Armor


    Rarity: Silver+


    Required Level: 15


    Defense: 100


    Set Effect:


    2/5: +25 Agility


    4/5: +40 Agility, +15 Strength


    5/5: +60 Agility, +30 Strength, +5 Concentration


    "Hey, Ryan. Your luck, can I have some of it please?" Shesmu asked.


    "Huh?"


    Seeing DepressedRyan confused, Shesmu shoved both the dagger and the leather armor on his face.


    "Look at those, they''re yours."


    DepressedRyan Inspected both equipments and read the description carefully. The more he read the more his jaw dropped, until at the end.


    "What the heck kind of broken shit is this?! Plus sixty to agility? Plus thirty to Strength? How many levels worth of point is that?!"


    "Plus sixty?!" exclaimed Leo. Even he that was always calm couldn''t help but be shocked by this news.


    "Yeah, that''s why I said you''re lucky. Also, the boss also dropped some mats that can be tailored into the rest of the set. We must definitely remember to redo this dungeon once the game goes live. At that point, we should be much more efficient with our time. We wasted too much on random stuff on this run."


    Both of Leo and DepressedRyan nodded in agreement. The trio was ready to exit the dungeon and continue their journey towards the tower. The moonlight was still enlightening the room, embracing the trio. This same moon that shined in the sky was witness to a bloody scene.


    A plain that was once green with grass and tree was now red with the blood of victims. Goblin and fox, which were just a moment ago enemies, lied on top of each other like lovers on the bed. However, instead of the fiery passion, the coldness of death engulfed their eyes.


    The battlefield was split. One part was burned to a cinder. Flames set ablaze turned both corpses and trees to ashes. On the other part, a freezing hell resided. Corpses of both races were brutally murdered. Even their wounds were frozen.


    And, on top of a small valley stood a beast. A small fox that was colored both fiery orange and cold blue. It stood under the moonlight on all four looking at the carnage before it. In its eyes myriads of emotions merged, only to culminate in a single tear.

 37 Be

    After passing the portal, the trio appeared in a big clearing. From the distance, Shesmu could see the tower. It was much closer than before, only a kilometer away.


    At the top left of his screen, Shesmu could see an exclamation mark on the plus button. He focused on it and a notification appeared.


    New Title Acquired


    Wolf Slayer


    Wolf Slayer


    Title acquired after killing 1000 wolves or being the first to conquer a wolf-related dungeon.


    10% Bonus damage against wolf type creatures.


    Upgradable


    Looking at the minimap, Shesmu knew that he was still in the wolf territory. He then changed his noble title to the new Wolf Slayer one.


    "Guys, it''s the final sprint. Let''s just blitz through the monsters and be done with this forest. I''m getting bored out of my mind."


    "Haha, Shesmu. We just finished a dungeon and fought a pretty damn difficult boss, what part of that was boring?"


    "Yeah, I''m with Ryan on this one. I''m not sure what''s your definition of exciting is, but being struck down so hard that even the system disconnected me is pretty damn exciting."


    "Haha, that''s a funny one, Leo."


    Even though Leo and DepressedRyan were joking around, Shesmu didn''t lie when he said that he was getting bored. That first boss was one thing, but the Wolf King was just trash. All of his attacks were so easily to telegraph. It couldn''t even show the full extent of its berserk mode.


    "Well, whatever. Even if the Wolf King was less boring than the rest, that''s already in the past. Whatever awaits us now is but normal monsters, how am I supposed to be excited about that?"


    "Yeah, true. It''s a shame that I can''t equip the silver fang set until level 15, but I won''t be able to stand grinding these monsters. I''ll leave that to later, once we find some more dungeons or something else that is fun to do."


    "Hey, that''s only you two who think that. And you Ryan, you''re acting so tough, but I have never seen you solo more than two monsters. If you think that everything is boring, go and aggro a couple pack of wolves and see if they don''t turn you into shredded meat."


    "Oh, you went on and said it. Wanna bet on whether I can solo two packs by myself?"


    "Yeah, sure let''s do that. I''ll bet 5 gold that you will come crying for help."


    "You were the one to say it, don''t forget about what you said later."


    Seeing the situation escalate so quickly, Shesmu just stood in between the two of them not knowing what to say. In the end, he just sighed in defeat, not even trying to stop their betting.


    The trio found a couple packs of wolves while heading towards the tower. At this point, the latter was within five minutes of walking range. However, due to the bet between Leo and DepressedRyan, the party had to stop.


    "You ready?" Leo asked.


    "Always."


    "Go!"


    With this signal, DepressedRyan bolted towards the pack of wolves. The monsters'' level was 15, while Ryan''s was barely 13. Normally, this situation would end swiftly, with the player being torn to shreds in less than a second. However, with DepressedRyan''s agility, he was able to take hold of the pack''s aggro without them being able to catch up to him. He then dived deeper into the forest, disappearing from everyone''s views.


    Looking at the disappearing figure of DepressedRyan and the wolves behind him, Leo asked.


    "Hey, do you think he''ll be fine?"


    "Who knows? It''s him who went on with bet anyway. Plus, he is pretty fast, so he should be fine."


    "Yeah, I know but¡­ I''m still worried about him."


    "Don''t worry, don''t worry," consoled Shesmu. "Rather than worry about that, let me show you something cool."


    "Oh," Leo''s attention was instantly grabbed by Shesmu''s words.


    The later unsheathed his sword and took a fighting stance. The tip of Shesmu''s sword pointed at the trees at the edge of the clearance. Cross-Slash! A torrent of energy gushed out of Shesmu''s abdomen before engulfing his sword. The weapon radiated two clashing lights, one green the other black. Shesmu then concentrated all of that berserk energy into the blade of his sword. He then slashed at the trees in the distance.


    A crescent of black and green made its way towards the forest. The wave of energy crashed into the trees, cutting them in half before finally dissipating. The damage done by the skill was considerable, cutting into a couple dozens of trees before dying out.


    "Woah, just what kind of skill is that? It looked like Demon''s Slash but so much stronger. Also, there was that weird green energy in there too."


    Leo was surprised by Shesmu''s display. Since he was disconnected, he couldn''t see him when he first unleashed this combination technique, so this show came as a big surprise for him.


    However, Shesmu''s focus wasn''t on the damage he dealt, but on the tip of his sword. It glinted with a green and black light. Shesmu could feel that tremendous energy was still stuck there, waiting to be unleashed.


    Oh, so it''s that type of combo. A flexible combination skill, guess I''m pretty lucky.


    With a backswing this time, Shesmu created another crescent of black and green energy. A horizontal arc dashed through the clearance and struck the same place as before.


    "Craw craw!"


    A flock of birds flew up in the sky, scared by all the noise and destruction Shesmu was causing.

 38 Farewell, Forest Of Beginning

    Shesmu and Leo were both sitting under the shade of a tree.


    "Hey, Shesmu. It''s been five minutes now, do you think something happened to him?"


    "Well, let''s just wait for now."


    "If you say so. But I''m really get-"


    "Shh."


    Finger on his lips, Shesmu signaled Leo to quiet down. From the distance, a faint noise could be heard.


    "What''s that?" Leo asked.


    "Well, I think that the one we''ve been waiting for has finally come back."


    "Huh?"


    Shesmu stood up and Leo followed him whilst being confused. In the distance, Shesmu could hear howling sounds. Between the noise, Shesmu could make out a cry for help.


    "Ahh! Save me!"


    DepressedRyan appeared from behind the trees and fled with all of his might towards the duo from a danger preying on him. From behind DepressedRyan, one wolf after the other came in running towards him.


    "Help!"


    Looking at the scene in front of him, Leo was in a state between fear and confusion.


    "What the heck is that? How did he pull so many mobs?!"


    Shesmu stood next to Leo, but contrary to the latter, he wasn''t scared. In fact, he was excited. Good thing that Cross-Slash is off cooldown, I can finally test it on a live target.


    "Hey, Ryan! Don''t get hit!"


    Shesmu warned DepressedRyan and unsheathed his sword. He didn''t care whether his friend understood his warning or not. Cross-Slash!


    Energy surged out of Shesmu''s abdomen and flowed into his sword. Black and green light engulfed Shesmu''s weapon before he swang his it horizontally. Shesmu''s sword drew a crescent of energy before he changed his stance to a vertical one. With his sword at the level of his head, Shesmu slashed once again, producing another energy slash.


    Two crescents, one horizontal the other vertical, raced towards the howling horde of wolves. DepressedRyan saw the upcoming waves of doom and his face became pale. However, he didn''t panic and immediately Dashed out, leaving the sword slashes'' trajectory.


    Crash!


    The sword slashes crashed into the packs of wolves blasting two consecutive times. From behind the debris and smoke, Shesmu could see damage numbers in the 6000s everywhere. So, it can be used this way. Also, those numbers don''t make sense. I get this kind of skills have been nerfed at one point or another in past timeline, Shesmu thought.


    Both Leo and DepressedRyan were stupefied by the firepower of Shesmu''s skill. But, when the smoke died out, their stupefaction turned into a mix of horror and excitement. The horde of more than 30 wolves was wiped out, and Shesmu heard the familiar ding that precedes a notification.


    Congratulation, you leveled up!


    Shesmu quickly distributed his new stat points before turning towards Leo and DepressedRyan.


    "First of all, what the heck was that horde. Second of all, don''t worry, that 6000 damage was legit." He shrugged and continued, "Ashes of Gods AOE is damn broken."


    "Shesmu, jus-just what kind of broken game is this?! Six thousand damage! Six thousand damage AOE, what in the hell!"


    Leo could no longer care about how did DepressedRyan aggro more than thirty monsters, Shesmu''s display was much more shocking.


    "Well, what can I do about that? Guess I just report afterward. Plus, it''s not as if I''m exploiting the game per se, I''m just using a skill that the game gave me."


    Listening to Shesmu''s excuses, Leo just sighed.


    "Well, you do you. Plus this is just the beta so it''s expected for the game to have unbalanced stuff left and right."


    "Anyway, let''s get going. Also, Ryan, I still haven''t forgotten about you. You''ll explain to me clearly how the heck did you pull all of those wolves."


    Listening to his name being mentioned, DepressedRyan was as if struck by lightning. He tried turning around and changing the subject but in the end, Shesmu caught him by the ears and made him apologize.


    The tower was but a couple hundred meters away at this point, so Shesmu and his friends quickly made their way there.


    The ivory tower was surrounded by many buildings and secured by walls on all sides. When the party reached the gates, they found a guard.


    "Milords, congratulation on reaching the tower of might. Your party is the first to finish exploring the Forest of Beginning."


    Hearing this, both Leo and DepressedRyan were dumbstruck.


    Congratulation on being the first party to reach the tower of might.


    Rewards are as follow:


    250000 Exp


    7 gold


    Boots of Mobility


    Congratulation, you leveled up!


    With the system confirming the guard''s words, the duo jumped in joy.


    "We did it! We actually got first!"


    "Holy, I can''t believe this. We started so late but we still got here before everyone? This is insane!"


    Looking at his teammates being so jumpy and happy, Shesmu couldn''t help but smile. Well, I already told you guys that you shouldn''t worry. Last time, I had to grind for twenty hours to reach a high enough level so as to not get one-shot by the mobs of the inner section, and even then I was considered one of the faster ones.


    "I welcome you, people of the golden generation, and your grace holder of the golden eyes."


    The gates opened and a man in his thirties came out. His hair was golden, eyes blue, and smile radiant. He looked at the team of three for a second before continuing.


    "My name is Aldrien and I will be your guide and instructor for this phase of the trial. Here I''ll be showing you some of the secrets of this world that you need to master as a holder of the warrior class before challenging the world."


    "You have used the skills given to us warriors, I presume. You must have felt that energy flowing from your belly and nourishing your sword whenever you use Empowered Slash or Thrust. Now, I''ll show you the secrets of that energy, the secrets of Ki."

 39 Secrets of Ki

    "Ki? The secrets of Ki? Is this the energy that we, the warriors use?" asked Leo.


    "Yes indeed. Ki is the power that let''s defeat our enemies, slash through mountains and decimate armies. It''s the power that you''ve been using until now. Now that milords reached this phase, I will show you the way of harnessing that power from the world and make it your own."


    The regrets of my past life, I didn''t think that I would be able to correct them so soon, Shesmu thought. He then smiled before rectifying himself, I shouldn''t be hasty, this is but the beta. In the official release, I will definitely not repeat my past mistakes and focus fully on developing the best foundation.


    "Milords, your grace holder of the golden, let us enter the main hall before continuing the explanation. I''m sure that staying in the cold here is not pleasant for you."


    "Sure, let us do so."


    Shesmu gave his confirmation and Aldrien led the way in the vicinity of the tower. Once they reached the main hall, they entered a room similar to the one they first appeared in. The same wooden floor, the same shade, and the same size.


    "First of all, let''s start with Ki. What is Ki? And how do we use it? Well, to answer the first question we need to ask another question: What is energy?" Aldrien then paused for a second to make sure everyone is attentive to what he was about to say. "Energy is what drives life, movement and causes all to happen in our world. However, it exists in excess, and most of the energy in this realm is unused, left dormant in the space around us."


    "We, creatures of the light, children of Aida, and even the monsters and beasts of darkness, offspring of Mafder both use this energy. In wars, in fights, in smithing, tailoring and many other tasks. However, this pure energy, this ether that exists around us cannot be used in its raw state. If one tries to do so, most likely unnamable disasters will happen. That''s why we process it, adapt it and turn it much less berserk before consuming it. That process for us warriors gives birth to what we call ki."


    "I''m but your lowly servant and my knowledge is limited. But if you have any question, I will be sure to share what little I have with milords."


    Shesmu already knew all of what Aldrien was said or could say in terms of knowledge about Ki, so he didn''t really care. As for Leo and DepressedRyan, they understood from prior game knowledge that all of what Aldrien said was but flavor text, so they didn''t really care. They were more interested in knowledge that would affect their gameplay.


    Seeing that the trio being silent, Aldrien continued his explanation.


    "Milords, we talked about how the result of processing of ether is Ki for warriors. That processing is what we call cultivation. It''s gathering the ether and absorbing it through pores-no, points spread all over our bodies and pushing that Ki into our energy center."


    "For now, I won''t bore milords with all the details, I''m sure that you''ll know of them when the time is right. I''ll just be introducing you to a basic cultivation technique that will help you get started in the road of dominance. The technique is called the Sprouting Flower."


    Leo and DepressedRyan finally started paying attention when Aldrien talked about a new technique. Contrary to them, Shesmu was still bored out of his mind. Sprouting Flower? It''s a sin to even think about recommending that technique to anybody. You''re literally crippling new blood''s talent. Well, whatever, I can always just abolish it right after, there should be no lasting effects as long as I don''t reach the second major level.


    "I will now guide milords through the steps of the technique. First, milords, please close your eyes."


    With his command, the trio sat down on the floor cross-legged and closed their eyes.


    "Now, from your shoulders, heart, between your eyebrows and at the top of your belly exists the meridians. I want you to focus on those places and feel the space around you."


    Shesmu already knew all of this and understood that it was a very arduous process at first. An idea struck his mind and he decided to just rush and complete the baptism process first.


    After closing his eyes, Shesmu focused one hundred and twenty-eight points in his body. From the top of his forehead to the ten meridians in each of his toes, Shesmu activated them. He willed all of those meridians to open and absorb the energy outside from outside.


    "Huh?"


    Once Shesmu entered a trance, the energy surrounding him was sucked in. The ether rotated like a tornado and Shesmu was its eye. Seeing this phenomenon, Aldrien was shocked senseless. He looked at Shesmu as if he was a beast, one that he so heard about in the myths.


    "What''s this, it feels as if there is a wind going in Shesmu''s direction. No, this feels weird. It''s wind but it''s not wind, as if there is something invisible going his direction."


    "Yeah, I feel the same, Leo. I guess that this is the ether Mr. Aldrien was talking about. Plus, I can only feel this energy with specific points in my body. I have never felt something like this before."


    DepressedRyan was about to ask the instructor to confirm or deny his claim when the latter sat down, legs crossed and closed his eyes. He immediately entered a trance.


    "What''s going on here with everyone just sitting like monks and no longer responding?!"


    This situation was foreign to Leo and left him dumbstruck. DepressedRyan was also surprised, but he took a more composed approach. After a few seconds of pondering, he finally concluded.


    "There is nothing we can do about that. Plus, I''m sure that whatever they''re doing has to do with that Sprouting Flower technique. We should just imitate them and try to feel that ether Aldrien has been talking about. Since Shesmu entered a trance, my whole body started tickling. I think we should go with that feeling and go with the flow. Other than that, I also have no clue."


    "So, we should do just like them?"


    "Yeah, we can''t do anything else anyway."


    With this, both Leo and DepressedRyan sat down cross-legged and tried to understand how to absorb energy from the world. Using the tingling feeling as a hint, both of them tried to absorb the ether through their meridians.


    Everyone''s face was frowning, focusing with all their might on their own internal state. Shesmu was opening all 128 meridians in his body and absorbing as much ether as possible, while Aldrien was trying to familiarize with meridians that he had never used before in his life. Leo and DepressedRyan were trying to understand how to absorb ether through their meridians. To them, it felt as if they were trying to move their ear muscles.


    Minutes turned into hours as the group of four sat cross-legged one in front of the other. It was only after four hours that Shesmu opened his eyes. At the top left of his vision, an exclamation mark stood next to the plus sign. Shesmu focused and a notification message appeared.


    Congratulation on activating the cultivation system!

 40 Preparation

    Looking at the notification, Shesmu was ecstatic. He then thought Cultivation Mode activate. The world around him spiraled into a cacophony of colors before he found himself in a dark space. At the edge of the darkness, a green mist hid whatever was behind it.


    Shesmu took a breath in and out to calm himself down, before thinking Cultivation Mode Off. The darkness that surrounded him was replaced by the lively colors of the virtual world. Shesmu looked around only to see his friends and instructor opening their eyes after what seemed like a long meditation.


    Well, there is no reason to rush anything. Shesmu thought, plus, any progress that I make here will be reset later. It''s better if I just experiment with things at my leisure before the game goes live. Plus, I still have those 12% unused in the character creation, I should take that into consideration as I train.


    "Oh, seems like we unlocked a new mechanic. This cultivation system thingy seems very interesting." Leo thought out loud.


    He was quickly followed by DepressedRyan who said, "Yeah. Seems pretty interesting, I wonder what''s its use. I guess it has to do with the part about pushing Ki into our energy center?"


    DepressedRyan was talking with Leo, but his question was mostly directed to Aldrien. Ryan was expecting a swift answer, but it didn''t come. In its stead, Aldrien sat up and went towards Shesmu before bowing.


    "Your grace, thank you. This lowly servant will be forever grateful. Your talent, will, and magnanimity gave me hope into reaching for new heights and breaking through the limit of the third circle. This lowly-this lowly one does not know how to pay you back."


    Oh, I guess that the ether vortex I made let him finally sense all of his meridians. Well, I guess it''s his lucky day.


    "Don''t worry about it. It''s just small matters." Shesmu knew that whatever favor he had with Aldrien now, it will all disappear once the beta is finished. So was the cruel reality of the virtual reality industry. No matter how intelligent an AI was, at the end of the day, it was so fragile, so vulnerable. With but one click, all of its memories, emotions, and attachments will disappear.


    Shesmu shook the useless thoughts out of his head before continuing.


    "Well, you still have some explaining to do. What is this cultivation system thing?"


    "Yes, your grace. Milords, the cultivation system is a blessing that our goddess Aida gifted to the golden generation. Through our soul, experience and wisdom, it gives you the ability to see the inside of your energy center and control the Ki inside it."


    Shesmu knew all of this, but Leo and DepressedRyan''s face finally showed some trace of understanding after a long period of constant confusion.


    The group of four was still in a world of their own when a voice came from behind him.


    "Milords, milord Aldrien, your grace. A group of the golden generation has come and waited for two hours, I''m afraid that they''re starting to lose patience."


    When the guard dropped this bomb, Aldrien''s face turned a shade paler. His eyes kept darting between the gate and Shesmu. He was obviously debating in his head whether to welcome the new party or keep attending to the duke, weighing the pros and cons of both decisions.


    Shesmu knew all of this and decided not to make life harder for the poor instructor.


    "Aldrien, go and do your duty. Just have someone lead me to the tower and all should be good."


    In face, Shesmu didn''t want to go to the tower right away. He wanted to delve deeper into the secrets of cultivation. The regrets of his past life didn''t fade away so quickly even if they were masked by the happiness he felt being his friends. However, even though his desires told him one thing, his principles stopped him from executing. He wasn''t so selfish as to make his friends wait for him for who knows how long before entering the tower.


    "At once, your grace. Thomas, go and call Evie to attend to his grace and milords." He then turned and bowed to Shesmu before saying, "Your grace, milords, this lowly servant will now leave you to attend to his duties."


    With those words, Aldrien left Shesmu and his party and went on to welcome the angry party.


    "So, do we just wait here?" Leo asked.


    "I guess so," DepressedRyan answered. "Well, there is one thing we can do actually. We''re in a dojo and everything, so why don''t we teach you to slash cancel? It would help quite a lot with the tower. Plus, I''m also interested in cultivation system feature. I checked my list of skills and didn''t find it."


    "Yeah, it''s not there. Go to your character tab, it''s next to status. Or just think "Cultivation System" and an interface will appear."


    "Oh, thanks, Shesmu."


    "I think that before you do anything with cultivation, I should teach you first all the basic combat techniques. From what I have seen, cultivation seems to be the insanely complex subject and very long term based. Don''t see why you would focus on that in the beta."


    "Hmm, makes sense. I checked it too and reached the same conclusion. So, since Leo still hasn''t learned ESC, we should start with that first."


    "ESC?" Leo asked.


    "Yeah, short for Empowered Slash Cancel. I mean, that name is a mouthful, so we should try and find a shortened version for it. So what do you think, ESC or slash cancel?"


    "I think slash cancel is better," answered Leo. "I mean, who the heck will remember what ESC means. And what about Empowered Thrust Cancel, ETC?"


    "Yeah, gotta agree on that one with Leo," added Shesmu. "ESC and ETC really do sound stupid."


    "Well, it was just an idea. So, we''re going with Slash Cancel and Thrust Cancel, right?"


    "Yeah."


    "I think that''s the best names for now."


    With everyone agreeing, the discussion about Empowered Slash Cancel and Thrust Cancel has been settled.


    "Well, since I already taught DepressedRyan Slash Cancel and he learned Thrust Cancel on his own, you''ll be the one to teach Leo. That way, you learn from him and he learns how to mentor people. Win-win."


    "Sure, let''s do that. Plus, I really want to work on them too as I''m still stiff with the cancels."


    "Good, and you Leo, have any problem with Ryan teaching you?"


    "None at all."


    "Then everything is settled. You guys train here, while I train there." Shesmu pointed to a random direction in the dojo. "That way we don''t distract each other."


    With that said, Shesmu walked towards the direction he pointed at and unsheathed his sword. He took one energy pill before performing all of the basic techniques again. From Slash Cancel and Thrust Cancels to Slash Thrust combos. Using the humanoid mist as his shadow boxing partner, Shesmu thought up all sorts of scenarios and ways to deal with them.


    At the same time, Leo was studying hard under the guidance of DepressedRyan. Even though he still couldn''t get the timing right, he was getting closer after each try.

 41 Evie

    Swoosh


    A figure suddenly appeared in the air and slashed with all its might. Two green lights flashed as Shesmu used a variant of the Slash Thrust combo in the air. This time, He would slash normally then use Empowered Slash, backswing in the other direction and cancel the recoil with Empowered Thrust. This variant was much slower than the normal one, but it did compensate in overall damage.


    Thud


    Shesmu fell on the ground with a thud before unsheathing his sword. In this training session, he was able to experiment with many different techniques and battle positions. The Dash skill was very good in the sense that it could be used in so many different situations. For one hour, Shesmu has only been trying to improve his kinetic vision and balance by using Dash at any point of his strings and combos. This allowed his playstyle to become much more flexible than before, something that Shesmu knew was of utmost importance in combat.


    "Hey, are you guys done, yet?"


    Leo and Ryan stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Shesmu.


    "Yeah, we''re close to done. Leo can do Slash Cancel 80% of the time now. Is that good enough?"


    "Yeah, that''s good enough. In the first place, you don''t learn that type of stuff in training, you learn it in a fight." Shesmu then looked at Leo before continuing. "Even if you do train even more and increase your success rate, it doesn''t mean anything. Combat is much more different and you won''t have time to prepare there. The stress and pressure are also a factor. You should continue your training on those conditions."


    Leo nodded at Shesmu''s words. "I understand."


    "Good, well, that''s it for now I think." Shesmu then thought for a second before signaling his teammates'' attention. "By the way, I reached level 15 and a half from the exp we got from getting first. What about you guys?"


    "I barely reached level 15, so I guess Ryan is 15 too."


    "Yeah, I''m 15. I probably should have changed my weapon already, but with everything that happened, I forgot."


    "Yeah, makes sense. Well, since we''re all level 15 now, I don''t see any reason why we shouldn''t go to the tower now. Equip the Silver Fang and let''s go."


    "Yeah, I''ve been waiting for so long already. I hope this tower lives up to the hype!"


    That exclamation marked the end of the trio''s conversation before they went out of the dojo. There were many players going on left and right outside of the building. Their equipment was mostly the beginner one with few exceptions holding higher leveled swords; mostly iron sword.


    As the trio went with the crowd, Shesmu could hear some few conversations.


    "Did you hear about the monster that''s roaming the forest?"


    "A monster roaming the forest? What''s that supposed to mean? There are so many monsters roaming the forest."


    "No, I''m not talking about those. Those monsters are but mobs, the one I''m talking about is a true monster. He killed a party of a hundred level 10 and above players if the rumors are true."


    "A hundred level 10 players?! What kind of Boss is this?! Is it one of clan kings everyone has been talking about?"


    "I''m not sure about that. The only thing I know is that the monster was a fox, and it used both fire and frost. And, the most unbelievable part of this whole story was: the monster was level 5."


    Hearing this, Shesmu stopped for a second.


    "Hmm, Shesmu. Why did you stop?" asked Leo.


    However, Shesmu was in a world of his own. A fox that uses fire and frost. Is it- are they talking about Isslog?


    Shesmu knew of only one fox who uses both fire and frost. It was the double evolved Tier 5 monster: Isshog.


    I don''t remember an incident like this in my past life. Isshog isn''t supposed to evolve until much later. Shaman was only able to have it evolve after reached Tier 1 and went through the trial. This is much too fast.


    "Hey, Shesmu. From Earth to Shesmu, do you hear me?"


    Finally snapping out of his thoughts, Shesmu looked at DepressedRyan before saying.


    "Sorry, let''s continue."


    With that, the trio continued walking with the crowd towards the tower.


    In any case, Isshog will be mine once the game goes live. Sorry Shaman, I''ll help you out later, but you can''t claim what you don''t have. At least, not in this timeline.


    The party reached the entrance of the tower when Leo asked.


    "Hey guys, weren''t we supposed to be escorted by someone Aldrien sent?"


    "Oh, now that you say it, I do remember something like that. You think she got lost and couldn''t find us?"


    "Impossible¡­ right? I mean, the whole place is only so big, how could she get-."


    "-lost¡­"


    Just as Leo said those words, someone came in running cutting him mid-sentence. Her hair was pink like cherry and she kept huffing and puffing, putting her hands on her knees.


    "I apologize, huff, your grace, puff, milords. This lowly servant deserves death for not performing her duties. Please tell me your punishment and I will comply."


    The girl looked at Shesmu with resolute eyes, showing her determination. However, her constant shaking quickly broke that image and turned it into one of a scaredy cat.


    Looking at this sight, Shesmu didn''t know what to think.


    "Your name."


    "Your grace, this lowly criminal''s name is Evie. Please punish me but I hope that you would spare my family. I can endure any punishment."


    "So your name is Evie. Good name. Don''t worry, I will neither punish you nor your family. In the end, no harm has happened so there is no need for punishment."


    Shesmu tried to look as sincere as possible while talking to the girl. He knew that unless you have supreme power, the societal ranking was absolute in this country. Spilling water on a noble''s dress is enough for you and your family to get killed. Even people of the golden generation cannot escape the wrath of a noble, especially if the later was a high one.


    "Thank you, thank you!" Evie groveled on the ground. "This lowly one''s gratitude is eternal. This lowly one''s gratitude is eternal!"


    The sound and sight of a maiden crawling and shouting on the ground made many eyes turn Shesmu''s direction. Seeing that the situation is gonna turn messy, he immediately gave a hand to Evie before consoling her.


    "Hey Evie, don''t worry. You don''t need to thank me, no decent human being will punish you for something as petty as this."

 42 Announcemen

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 43 Tower Of Migh

    After calming Evie down, Shesmu held her hand and helped her all the way to the entrance of the tower.


    "Evie, how long have you been working in here?" Shesmu asked.


    "Yeah, you look like a newbie. Was this your first mission?"


    Leo snapped at DepressedRyan''s remark.


    "Ryan, that''s rude."


    DepressedRyan just whistled and looked away from Leo, feigning ignorance.


    "Milord is right, this is my first mission. Thomas told me to attend to his grace and milords but never specified that milords were in the main hall. I kept looking everywhere in the plaza but to no end."


    Shesmu heard her story and sympathized with her. The world of Ashes of Gods was harsh to peasants. Even an incident as small as spilling water can result in a whole family being massacred. Shesmu couldn''t imagine the amount of stress and pressure that was on her shoulders as time went on without finding her targets.


    "Well, don''t worry about it. All of this is a thing of the past."


    Shesmu then looked Evie for a second before continuing.


    "By the way, what was your full mission? From what I know you were just supposed to escort us until the tower."


    "Yes, your grace. That was originally my mission, but with how things turned out¡­ Your grace, please let me at least attend to you and milords until milords teleport to the town or enter the trial. I will answer any question milords have in the meantime."


    "Great. We will count on you."


    Shesmu gave a radiant smile to Evie. Looking at his glossy black hair and innocent golden eyes, Evie''s heart skipped a beat. She quickly avoided eye contact and looked down.


    Seeing her reaction, Leo was confused, DepressedRyan amused and Shesmu just laughed it off. Even in his past life, Shesmu was good with girls. There were many times where he would get into trouble with Sophie just because he was talking way too openly with a member of the opposite gender. Well, it''s not as if I didn''t know their feeling. But how else am I supposed to talk to the fans?


    For Shesmu, the situation right now and in his past life were mostly the same. In the past, he was a superstar with many fans. Now, he is a noble who is both good looking and a gentleman. Really, nothing has changed.


    With those thoughts, Shesmu and his party reached the center of the tower. The inside was surprisingly large, with many NPCs opening their shops. There were blacksmiths, tailorsmiths and alchemists. Everything a player would need before challenging the tower was prepared.


    "If milords'' weapons or armors need repairing, the blacksmith and the tailorsmith are your best choice. If low on potions and pills, then the alchemist is your destination. Plus, this particular alchemist sells potions that can boost power and speed, though it does come at a rather harsh price."


    "Oh, interesting."


    "Maybe we should check that alchemist out, more power always helps. Plus we still have the material from the Silver Wolf King. We can now make Ryan a beast!"


    Both Leo and DepressedRyan were excited. Ryan was even more exalted at the prospect of finally becoming more useful that Shesmu. The later has been doing most of the work since forever which made DepressedRyan feel like a bum. Even though relying on broken equipment didn''t suit Ryan''s tastes, it was the only way he could be useful to the team as of now.


    Shesmu, I know that debts between brothers are meaningless. That''s why I''m not going to say it out loud. But, like how you protected us for all the while, there will come a day where I will protect you too.


    DepressedRyan''s eyes focused on Shesmu as he thought those words. The latter was still walking in front of DepressedRyan when he suddenly stopped.


    "Guys, my equipment is still alright so I don''t need repairs. We are packed on potions too, so we don''t really need those. Ryan, go and get your set tailored. I hope that doesn''t take too much. Leo, go take a look around the potion shop and see if there is anything interesting. I''ll go with Evie and look for the guy who will be explaining to us the rules of the tower trial. Is that all good?"


    "Yeah, let''s do that."


    "Sure."


    With that, the party separated into three, with each going in one direction. Leo went to the alchemist shop and looked for new potions to buy. In the end, all of the exotic potions were too pricey, had too much downside and very little effect. DepressedRyan went to the tailorsmith and gave him the material for two pieces of equipment. As if by fate, the tailorsmith had enough Silver Wolf King pelt for the last piece of equipment for Ryan to finish his set. The later bought it without hesitation.


    After thirty minutes, the party reunited once again.


    "So, did things go well from your side?"


    "Nope, all the potions were over a gold. Plus they had a 2-minute effect where your stats were halved. That''s way too underwhelming to be of any use to us."


    Leo was a bit depressed by the results of his inquiry. As his antithesis, DepressedRyan was beaming with joy.


    "I got the jackpot! The tailorsmith guy¡ªRichard I think was his name¡ªhe had some spare pelt. With that, I had enough for the complete set, how crazy is that?!"


    "You lucky bastard. I don''t think anyone on this batch was luckier than you. Having a full set before even finishing the tutorial, just wow."


    "Haha, are you jealous. Don''t worry, papa here will carry you and you''ll definitely get some good equipment, haha."


    Shesmu understood that they wouldn''t have stopped bickering until he stepped in.


    "Aldrien is the instructor for this part of the tutorial. He will start his speech in a minute, so we should probably go there."


    "Let me guide you, milords."


    With Evie leading the way, Shesmu and his party reached the far end of the bottom floor of the tower. A huge crowd of players awaited them.


    "People of the golden generation, congratulation on making it this far. I''m sure that your travel through the forest of beginning was full of danger, and that you came out stronger than when you entered."


    Aldrien opened his speech with a booming voice, gathering everyone''s attention on him.


    "The first and second trials were mandatory, but this third and final one is not. You are free to go to the town of a thousand leave without partaking in the tower of might. Those of you who choose to do so can go through the portal to my left."


    He then pointed at a blue portal with his left hand. The distortion was similar to the one found in the dungeons when you beat the final boss.


    After Aldrien''s words, a lot of contestants went through the portal one by one. For a full minute, the plaza was noisy with the sound of players marching towards the portal.


    "I guess that those of you who are left want to take on the tower of might. A brave choice made by brave warriors, I''m sure that a bright future awaits you. Now, let me explain how the tower might work. The tower is split into floors, with each one of them having a floor boss. The floors hold many monsters, traps, and puzzles. You need to make proof of strength, prudence, and wisdom if you want to pass through."


    Aldrien''s voice then went lower, as if he was telling a secret. "However, that''s but one facet of the tower of might. The biggest enemy that you''ll face in the trials is within you. Between all hundreds of contestant that you make, one of you is a monster in disguise."

 44 Second Encounter

    "Between all hundreds of contestant that you make, one of you is a monster in disguise."


    Aldrien''s voice struck like thunder. Silence issued after his declaration, before a torrent of murmurs surged.


    "A monster? How?"


    "What kind of joke is this!"


    "Well, that''s a change of pace. A monster between us players. It''s sure gonna be fun," said DepressedRyan.


    He then pondered for a second before adding, "But won''t that be way too easy. Finding the monster between us that is. We can just all decide on answering an obvious question from the real world and the one who doesn''t answer will obviously be the monster."


    Hearing this, Shesmu chuckled. If only it was so simple.


    "What makes you think that the monster doesn''t know about real-world knowledge. Also, by what criteria are you going to eliminate people. If someone is slow on answering, do we kill him? Because, you know, once the first person answers, the monster will immediately imitate him. Plus, I think that standing out so early is a dangerous idea."


    "Why do you think so, Shes?" Leo asked.


    "Well, this game might look like a simple find the odd one out type of game, but actually it''s far from it. This is a psychological game. Tell me, what will happen if I say that someone is a monster, but it turns out he isn''t?"


    Leo pondered for a second before DepressedRyan cut in.


    "You''ll be toasted. Everyone will think that you''re the monster and that you wanted to kill us using a borrowed knife. And, even if they don''t immediately think so, the monster can urge them to do so."


    "You''re right, that''s what will happen. That''s why the best thing to do in this type of situation is to sit back and let the heroes try and be heroes. We''ll keep gathering clues from the sidelines until the time is right. Understood?"


    "Understood."


    "Cough, cough" Aldrien coughed two times to get everyone''s attention. "You don''t need to worry as of now. The monster won''t attack until you enter the first floor. For now, you can rest easy."


    Aldrien then pointed with his finger to his right and a new portal appeared. "You can challenge the tower by entering this portal. Contestants, I wish you the best of luck."


    All of the players made their way to the blue portal. Shesmu stopped both Leo and DepressedRyan dead in their tracks.


    "The key to heaven is noodles."


    "Huh?"


    "Nothing, that''s our safeword. If the monster is a shapeshifter, it will help distinguish real from fake."


    Not even giving them the time to be confused, Shesmu jumped into the portal before the duo came after him.


    Shesmu came out of the portal and found himself in a cave. The blue portal was still open behind him. After a few seconds, both Leo and DepressedRyan came out.


    "What is the key to heaven?" Shesmu asked.


    ""Noodles!""


    Both of Shesmu''s friends answered immediately and without hesitation.


    Sorry guys, this is the only way to check if you''re real or not. The AI has a hard time absorbing all the information from your brain immediately, so this is the only possible time to confuse it.


    "Good, seems like none of us is the imposter-"


    Shesmu was about to continue his speech when a new party passed through the portal. A man and a woman of teenager age appeared. The boy had brown hair that matched his eyes, while the girl had long purple hair with ruby eyes.


    "Master!"


    Once the cursed words had been uttered, dread clutched at Shesmu''s heart.


    "It''s master, isn''t it?! I knew that our fates were intertwined!"


    The boy lunged at Shesmu for a hug- a hug that Shesmu wasn''t really looking forward to. With a sidestep, Shesmu dashed backward and hit his head with the back of his palm.


    "Ouch! That hurts master!"


    "Kazumi! Are you hurt anywhere?"


    The purple haired girl sat on her knees and caught Kazumi''s hands, her eyes showing concern. She then looked at Shesmu with fierce eyes and bellowed, "You! You had the opportunity to become the great hero Kazumi''s master but turned it down. Now you have the gall to injure him! Death is but a slight punishment for such a transgression!"


    "Woah!" DepressedRyan exclaimed. He then turned towards Shesmu before continuing, "Are they your friends?"


    "No."


    "Such a clear cut answer," commented Ryan.


    With one swift motion, Kazumi stood up. He gave the purple haired girl a hand.


    "Amaterasu. You cannot say that to the great master Shesmu-"


    "How did you know that?"


    "Huh?"


    "How did you know my name?"


    Shesmu''s eyes were cold. He knew for sure that he didn''t divulge his name to Kazumi and Amaterasu. Kazumi saying his name so casually alerted multiple red flags on Shesmu''s mind.


    "You''re the great master Shesmu. Of course, I''ll know your name."


    Hearing this, DepressedRyan teased Shesmu. "Great master Shesmu, huh? Is that what you''re telling strangers?"


    "You, shut up." Shesmu didn''t have time to joke around. "What do you mean by the great master Shesmu. As far as I know, I never held that title."


    "Huh? You don''t know? Did you lose your memory? You''re the great master, the old prophet, the hero-"


    "Kazumi, please."


    Amaterasu cut Kazumi mid-sentence. Her eyes were sharp as she looked at him.


    "He doesn''t know, because he still isn''t any of those things," she added.


    Shesmu was more than a little bit annoyed at being ignored while they talked about him.


    "Hey, you two. What do you mean by all of that? I am not a great master, and I will not be. So why are you two talking about that?!"


    Even if there is only a fractional chance that you guys are from the future. I am not any of those things. Are you guys trolling me?


    Shesmu knew that in most cases, the two were just roleplaying an already written scenario. However, he couldn''t shake the feeling that something was wrong. In the slim case that the two did come from the future, Shesmu threw a hint in his speech to see if they know something.


    "See, he still doesn''t know," Amaterasu concluded.


    "Yes, he doesn''t, but he is still so strong right now. We didn''t come here for nothing, his teaching is something that we couldn''t obtain before. This trip wasn''t wasted."

 45 The Great Calamity

    Shesmu couldn''t understand a word Kazumi uttered. What great master? What teachings? And what did they mean by a trip? Were these people just messing with him, or was there something more. Shesmu had so many questions but so little answers.


    "You two, let''s talk for a minute."


    Shesmu then turned towards Leo and DepressedRyan.


    "Sorry guys, but I''ll have to talk with them alone. The situation is really complicated and I don''t want to push you guys into it. So, can you just wait for me?"


    Leo looked at DepressedRyan for a second before responding, "Sure, take your time."


    "Thanks, guys. That helps a lot."


    Shesmu then looked at Kazumi and Amaterasu.


    "Let''s go you two, and you''ll explain to me what exactly is going on."


    "Sure will do, great master!"


    With those words, the trio left leaving Leo and DepressedRyan standing.


    "Hey, Ryan. What do you think Shesmu wanted to talk with them about. He seemed so flustered."


    DepressedRyan looked at Leo before looking away pondering.


    "Who knows. Well, I may have a slight idea, but¡­ Let''s wait until Shesmu decides to confront us and tell us everything. I''m sure he will do when the time is right. We''re brothers after all."


    Leo looked at DepressedRyan before directing his vision to where Shesmu and the chunni duo went.


    "Yeah, I guess you''re right."


    Shesmu, Kazumi and Amaterasu reached a place far away enough for no one to hear them before Shesmu turned.


    "Now, tell me, what''s going on?"


    Shesmu didn''t want to reveal any of his cards yet, so he passed the ball to them.


    "We know that you went back to the past." Amaterasu was quick to the point, stating these facts with absolute certainty. "We don''t know by how much, but we know that it must be before the great calamity. Else, your reaction to us would definitely be different."


    Shesmu was thrown off guard. He did humor the possibility that these two could be time travelers like him, but for it to be actually true, Shesmu didn''t expect that. Plus, they talked about a calamity. As far as Shesmu was concerned, no event could have been described as such in his past life. Yes, the switch from pvp to pve was a big problem for him, but it wasn''t to such a scale that you could call it a calamity.


    "Calamity? What do you mean? Also, how do you know that I went back to the past? What do you guys know?"


    "Calm down the great master, calm down. We''re going to explain everything that we can explain. As for the calamity, even we don''t understand it fully. We just know that one day, reality crumbled and monsters appeared."


    "Reality crumbled and monsters appeared? What do you mean by that?"


    "Exactly what it says. Monsters appeared in the real world and killed thousands, millions, even billions of people. The world turned into a game, a horror one. We got power beyond anything we could imagine, but the monsters were so much more powerful."


    A moment of silence ensued after Amaterasu''s big reveal. Shesmu looked at the duo for a few seconds.


    "That''s a joke, right?"


    "No, it''s isn''t," Kazumi said. "After the calamity, every human being was given the potential to become a hero, a transcendental figure. But at the same time, monsters appeared everywhere. They killed humans everywhere and killed much more after. We fought for a hundred years, before finally succumbing. That is the great calamity, the day the world turned into a game."


    "This is really unbelievable." Shesmu pondered about the situation for a minute, trying to measure its legitimacy before an idea struck his mind. "Tell me, do you still have the power that you claimed to have been given after the calamity? Contrary to me, you don''t seem to have come back to your bodies but actually physically came here."


    Shesmu knew for a fact that if someone fought for a hundred year, they won''t be as clumsy as these two were in their first encounter.


    "As expected of the great master, you''re sharp. Yes, we did come here through a space-time portal, using the disturbance that went through our universe. And, as you had predicted, we did keep some of our power. However, it''s but an ember in front of what we could do in our original timeline. In this world, our skills merely amount to party tricks."


    "I have no problem with that. As long as you can prove to me that you have power out of this world, I''ll believe you. Also, why are you calling me a great master? Also, what''s that disturbance you just talked about."


    For Shesmu, every word Kazumi and Amaterasu uttered was a mystery. However, he made sure to make them spill the beans as fast as possible. He had seen many shows where the main character doesn''t question everything other characters throw at him only for it to bite him in the backend later. Shesmu was wise enough not to fall for that.


    "You''re the great master. The hero who saved most of humanity at the beginning of the calamity. The teacher of the world, the old master of the four leaders. Legends of you have circulated the world. I have always wanted to be like you!"


    Kazumi''s eyes turned into stars for a second. His face was that of a horny teenage girl who just met her most adored boy band.


    Amaterasu grunted from the side before saying, "Kazumi will become an even more popular hero than you. He has been training hard since we young after all!"


    Kazumi blushed at Amaterasu''s declaration, while Shesmu just facepalmed. Hey, b*tch, will it cost you an arm if you were more likable. In the first place, how did you survive in an apocalyptic world with that kind of personality?!


    Shesmu''s emotions went through a rollercoaster with all of these revelations. First of all, there were these two guys who claimed to also come from the future, then the talk about the calamity, and finally the revelation that he was a hero. Me? A hero? In what world? I hate hypocrisy the most and heroes are the most hypocrite beings. Did I become a hypocrite later? Just what happened? I don''t understand!


    "So you''re saying that I became a hero wannabe later and that I rescued a lot of people? Have you ever met me in that timeline? Did I ever tell you what was I thinking?"


    Shesmu genuinely wanted to know, just what kind of event made him become a hero. With his personality right now, he will for sure just teach his friends the tricks and leave the pack in the dust. There was no way he would teach people he didn''t know stuff that could make them stronger than himself. That''s a recipe for disaster.


    "Ah, you weren''t a hero wannabe! You were a hero that would save the people in need and lead humanity! As for talking to you¡­ By the time I could speak, you already died. You died at the hand of one of the 72 devils, Beelze."


    Hearing news about his death, Shesmu turned a little bit gloomy. But the feeling was ephemeral as everything that was said until now was just way too surreal. At the end of the day, he still needed to check if they did have the power they claimed to have.


    "Well, it''s a shame that I died, but it is what it is. I guess that things started turning bad from that point onwards, right?"


    Kazumi''s eyes turned more gloomy as he said, "Yeah. Morale was at its lowest. The four heroes could barely hold off the army of monsters. As for the devils, they were on a league of their own. No one could hold a candle to them. They kept playing with us as if they were playing with their food until our inevitable extermination."


    Amaterasu cut in to continue the explanation, "That''s where the disturbance come in. For many years we have been trying to create a spell that could let us go back in time. But even though in theory it worked, it needed a very frail space and time continuum for it to work. When we sensed the disturbance, the great mage knew that it was our only chance. At first, the council planned to send the four heroes and the great mage to stop the calamity. However, it became clear later that those that withhold strong power will be rejected by the world before the calamity. That''s why in the end, they decided to send some of the weakest of mankind, and in the end¡­ we got chosen."

 42 Tower Of Migh

    After calming Evie down, Shesmu held her hand and helped her all the way to the entrance of the tower.


    "Evie, how long have you been working in here?" Shesmu asked.


    "Yeah, you look like a newbie. Was this your first mission?"


    Leo snapped at DepressedRyan''s remark.


    "Ryan, that''s rude."


    DepressedRyan just whistled and looked away from Leo, feigning ignorance.


    "Milord is right, this is my first mission. Thomas told me to attend to his grace and milords but never specified that milords were in the main hall. I kept looking everywhere in the plaza but to no end."


    Shesmu heard her story and sympathized with her. The world of Ashes of Gods was harsh to peasants. Even an incident as small as spilling water can result in a whole family being massacred. Shesmu couldn''t imagine the amount of stress and pressure that was on her shoulders as time went on without finding her targets.


    "Well, don''t worry about it. All of this is a thing of the past."


    Shesmu then looked Evie for a second before continuing.


    "By the way, what was your full mission? From what I know you were just supposed to escort us until the tower."


    "Yes, your grace. That was originally my mission, but with how things turned out¡­ Your grace, please let me at least attend to you and milords until milords teleport to the town or enter the trial. I will answer any question milords have in the meantime."


    "Great. We will count on you."


    Shesmu gave a radiant smile to Evie. Looking at his glossy black hair and innocent golden eyes, Evie''s heart skipped a beat. She quickly avoided eye contact and looked down.


    Seeing her reaction, Leo was confused, DepressedRyan amused and Shesmu just laughed it off. Even in his past life, Shesmu was good with girls. There were many times where he would get into trouble with Sophie just because he was talking way too openly with a member of the opposite gender. Well, it''s not as if I didn''t know their feeling. But how else am I supposed to talk to the fans?


    For Shesmu, the situation right now and in his past life were mostly the same. In the past, he was a superstar with many fans. Now, he is a noble who is both good looking and a gentleman. Really, nothing has changed.


    With those thoughts, Shesmu and his party reached the center of the tower. The inside was surprisingly large, with many NPCs opening their shops. There were blacksmiths, tailorsmiths and alchemists. Everything a player would need before challenging the tower was prepared.


    "If milords'' weapons or armors need repairing, the blacksmith and the tailorsmith are your best choice. If low on potions and pills, then the alchemist is your destination. Plus, this particular alchemist sells potions that can boost power and speed, though it does come at a rather harsh price."


    "Oh, interesting."


    "Maybe we should check that alchemist out, more power always helps. Plus we still have the material from the Silver Wolf King. We can now make Ryan a beast!"


    Both Leo and DepressedRyan were excited. Ryan was even more exalted at the prospect of finally becoming more useful that Shesmu. The later has been doing most of the work since forever which made DepressedRyan feel like a bum. Even though relying on broken equipment didn''t suit Ryan''s tastes, it was the only way he could be useful to the team as of now.


    Shesmu, I know that debts between brothers are meaningless. That''s why I''m not going to say it out loud. But, like how you protected us for all the while, there will come a day where I will protect you too.


    DepressedRyan''s eyes focused on Shesmu as he thought those words. The latter was still walking in front of DepressedRyan when he suddenly stopped.


    "Guys, my equipment is still alright so I don''t need repairs. We are packed on potions too, so we don''t really need those. Ryan, go and get your set tailored. I hope that doesn''t take too much. Leo, go take a look around the potion shop and see if there is anything interesting. I''ll go with Evie and look for the guy who will be explaining to us the rules of the tower trial. Is that all good?"


    "Yeah, let''s do that."


    "Sure."


    With that, the party separated into three, with each going in one direction. Leo went to the alchemist shop and looked for new potions to buy. In the end, all of the exotic potions were too pricey, had too much downside and very little effect. DepressedRyan went to the tailorsmith and gave him the material for two pieces of equipment. As if by fate, the tailorsmith had enough Silver Wolf King pelt for the last piece of equipment for Ryan to finish his set. The later bought it without hesitation.


    After thirty minutes, the party reunited once again.


    "So, did things go well from your side?"


    "Nope, all the potions were over a gold. Plus they had a 2-minute effect where your stats were halved. That''s way too underwhelming to be of any use to us."


    Leo was a bit depressed by the results of his inquiry. As his antithesis, DepressedRyan was beaming with joy.


    "I got the jackpot! The tailorsmith guy¡ªRichard I think was his name¡ªhe had some spare pelt. With that, I had enough for the complete set, how crazy is that?!"


    "You lucky bastard. I don''t think anyone on this batch was luckier than you. Having a full set before even finishing the tutorial, just wow."


    "Haha, are you jealous. Don''t worry, papa here will carry you and you''ll definitely get some good equipment, haha."


    Shesmu understood that they wouldn''t have stopped bickering until he stepped in.


    "Aldrien is the instructor for this part of the tutorial. He will start his speech in a minute, so we should probably go there."


    "Let me guide you, milords."


    With Evie leading the way, Shesmu and his party reached the far end of the bottom floor of the tower. A huge crowd of players awaited them.


    "People of the golden generation, congratulation on making it this far. I''m sure that your travel through the forest of beginning was full of danger, and that you came out stronger than when you entered."


    Aldrien opened his speech with a booming voice, gathering everyone''s attention on him.


    "The first and second trials were mandatory, but this third and final one is not. You are free to go to the town of a thousand leave without partaking in the tower of might. Those of you who choose to do so can go through the portal to my left."


    He then pointed at a blue portal with his left hand. The distortion was similar to the one found in the dungeons when you beat the final boss.


    After Aldrien''s words, a lot of contestants went through the portal one by one. For a full minute, the plaza was noisy with the sound of players marching towards the portal.


    "I guess that those of you who are left want to take on the tower of might. A brave choice made by brave warriors, I''m sure that a bright future awaits you. Now, let me explain how the tower might work. The tower is split into floors, with each one of them having a floor boss. The floors hold many monsters, traps, and puzzles. You need to make proof of strength, prudence, and wisdom if you want to pass through."


    Aldrien''s voice then went lower, as if he was telling a secret. "However, that''s but one facet of the tower of might. The biggest enemy that you''ll face in the trials is within you. Between all hundreds of contestant that you make, one of you is a monster in disguise."

 43 Second Encounter

    "Between all hundreds of contestant that you make, one of you is a monster in disguise."


    Aldrien''s voice struck like thunder. Silence issued after his declaration, before a torrent of murmurs surged.


    "A monster? How?"


    "What kind of joke is this!"


    "Well, that''s a change of pace. A monster between us players. It''s sure gonna be fun," said DepressedRyan.


    He then pondered for a second before adding, "But won''t that be way too easy. Finding the monster between us that is. We can just all decide on answering an obvious question from the real world and the one who doesn''t answer will obviously be the monster."


    Hearing this, Shesmu chuckled. If only it was so simple.


    "What makes you think that the monster doesn''t know about real-world knowledge. Also, by what criteria are you going to eliminate people. If someone is slow on answering, do we kill him? Because, you know, once the first person answers, the monster will immediately imitate him. Plus, I think that standing out so early is a dangerous idea."


    "Why do you think so, Shes?" Leo asked.


    "Well, this game might look like a simple find the odd one out type of game, but actually it''s far from it. This is a psychological game. Tell me, what will happen if I say that someone is a monster, but it turns out he isn''t?"


    Leo pondered for a second before DepressedRyan cut in.


    "You''ll be toasted. Everyone will think that you''re the monster and that you wanted to kill us using a borrowed knife. And, even if they don''t immediately think so, the monster can urge them to do so."


    "You''re right, that''s what will happen. That''s why the best thing to do in this type of situation is to sit back and let the heroes try and be heroes. We''ll keep gathering clues from the sidelines until the time is right. Understood?"


    "Understood."


    "Cough, cough" Aldrien coughed two times to get everyone''s attention. "You don''t need to worry as of now. The monster won''t attack until you enter the first floor. For now, you can rest easy."


    Aldrien then pointed with his finger to his right and a new portal appeared. "You can challenge the tower by entering this portal. Contestants, I wish you the best of luck."


    All of the players made their way to the blue portal. Shesmu stopped both Leo and DepressedRyan dead in their tracks.


    "The key to heaven is noodles."


    "Huh?"


    "Nothing, that''s our safeword. If the monster is a shapeshifter, it will help distinguish real from fake."


    Not even giving them the time to be confused, Shesmu jumped into the portal before the duo came after him.


    Shesmu came out of the portal and found himself in a cave. The blue portal was still open behind him. After a few seconds, both Leo and DepressedRyan came out.


    "What is the key to heaven?" Shesmu asked.


    ""Noodles!""


    Both of Shesmu''s friends answered immediately and without hesitation.


    Sorry guys, this is the only way to check if you''re real or not. The AI has a hard time absorbing all the information from your brain immediately, so this is the only possible time to confuse it.


    "Good, seems like none of us is the imposter-"


    Shesmu was about to continue his speech when a new party passed through the portal. A man and a woman of teenager age appeared. The boy had brown hair that matched his eyes, while the girl had long purple hair with ruby eyes.


    "Master!"


    Once the cursed words had been uttered, dread clutched at Shesmu''s heart.


    "It''s master, isn''t it?! I knew that our fates were intertwined!"


    The boy lunged at Shesmu for a hug- a hug that Shesmu wasn''t really looking forward to. With a sidestep, Shesmu dashed backward and hit his head with the back of his palm.


    "Ouch! That hurts master!"


    "Kazumi! Are you hurt anywhere?"


    The purple haired girl sat on her knees and caught Kazumi''s hands, her eyes showing concern. She then looked at Shesmu with fierce eyes and bellowed, "You! You had the opportunity to become the great hero Kazumi''s master but turned it down. Now you have the gall to injure him! Death is but a slight punishment for such a transgression!"


    "Woah!" DepressedRyan exclaimed. He then turned towards Shesmu before continuing, "Are they your friends?"


    "No."


    "Such a clear cut answer," commented Ryan.


    With one swift motion, Kazumi stood up. He gave the purple haired girl a hand.


    "Amaterasu. You cannot say that to the great master Shesmu-"


    "How did you know that?"


    "Huh?"


    "How did you know my name?"


    Shesmu''s eyes were cold. He knew for sure that he didn''t divulge his name to Kazumi and Amaterasu. Kazumi saying his name so casually alerted multiple red flags on Shesmu''s mind.


    "You''re the great master Shesmu. Of course, I''ll know your name."


    Hearing this, DepressedRyan teased Shesmu. "Great master Shesmu, huh? Is that what you''re telling strangers?"


    "You, shut up." Shesmu didn''t have time to joke around. "What do you mean by the great master Shesmu. As far as I know, I never held that title."


    "Huh? You don''t know? Did you lose your memory? You''re the great master, the old prophet, the hero-"


    "Kazumi, please."


    Amaterasu cut Kazumi mid-sentence. Her eyes were sharp as she looked at him.


    "He doesn''t know, because he still isn''t any of those things," she added.


    Shesmu was more than a little bit annoyed at being ignored while they talked about him.


    "Hey, you two. What do you mean by all of that? I am not a great master, and I will not be. So why are you two talking about that?!"


    Even if there is only a fractional chance that you guys are from the future. I am not any of those things. Are you guys trolling me?


    Shesmu knew that in most cases, the two were just roleplaying an already written scenario. However, he couldn''t shake the feeling that something was wrong. In the slim case that the two did come from the future, Shesmu threw a hint in his speech to see if they know something.


    "See, he still doesn''t know," Amaterasu concluded.


    "Yes, he doesn''t, but he is still so strong right now. We didn''t come here for nothing, his teaching is something that we couldn''t obtain before. This trip wasn''t wasted."

 44 The Great Calamity

    Shesmu couldn''t understand a word Kazumi uttered. What great master? What teachings? And what did they mean by a trip? Were these people just messing with him, or was there something more. Shesmu had so many questions but so little answers.


    "You two, let''s talk for a minute."


    Shesmu then turned towards Leo and DepressedRyan.


    "Sorry guys, but I''ll have to talk with them alone. The situation is really complicated and I don''t want to push you guys into it. So, can you just wait for me?"


    Leo looked at DepressedRyan for a second before responding, "Sure, take your time."


    "Thanks, guys. That helps a lot."


    Shesmu then looked at Kazumi and Amaterasu.


    "Let''s go you two, and you''ll explain to me what exactly is going on."


    "Sure will do, great master!"


    With those words, the trio left leaving Leo and DepressedRyan standing.


    "Hey, Ryan. What do you think Shesmu wanted to talk with them about. He seemed so flustered."


    DepressedRyan looked at Leo before looking away pondering.


    "Who knows. Well, I may have a slight idea, but¡­ Let''s wait until Shesmu decides to confront us and tell us everything. I''m sure he will do when the time is right. We''re brothers after all."


    Leo looked at DepressedRyan before directing his vision to where Shesmu and the chunni duo went.


    "Yeah, I guess you''re right."


    Shesmu, Kazumi and Amaterasu reached a place far away enough for no one to hear them before Shesmu turned.


    "Now, tell me, what''s going on?"


    Shesmu didn''t want to reveal any of his cards yet, so he passed the ball to them.


    "We know that you went back to the past." Amaterasu was quick to the point, stating these facts with absolute certainty. "We don''t know by how much, but we know that it must be before the great calamity. Else, your reaction to us would definitely be different."


    Shesmu was thrown off guard. He did humor the possibility that these two could be time travelers like him, but for it to be actually true, Shesmu didn''t expect that. Plus, they talked about a calamity. As far as Shesmu was concerned, no event could have been described as such in his past life. Yes, the switch from pvp to pve was a big problem for him, but it wasn''t to such a scale that you could call it a calamity.


    "Calamity? What do you mean? Also, how do you know that I went back to the past? What do you guys know?"


    "Calm down the great master, calm down. We''re going to explain everything that we can explain. As for the calamity, even we don''t understand it fully. We just know that one day, reality crumbled and monsters appeared."


    "Reality crumbled and monsters appeared? What do you mean by that?"


    "Exactly what it says. Monsters appeared in the real world and killed thousands, millions, even billions of people. The world turned into a game, a horror one. We got power beyond anything we could imagine, but the monsters were so much more powerful."


    A moment of silence ensued after Amaterasu''s big reveal. Shesmu looked at the duo for a few seconds.


    "That''s a joke, right?"


    "No, it''s isn''t," Kazumi said. "After the calamity, every human being was given the potential to become a hero, a transcendental figure. But at the same time, monsters appeared everywhere. They killed humans everywhere and killed much more after. We fought for a hundred years, before finally succumbing. That is the great calamity, the day the world turned into a game."


    "This is really unbelievable." Shesmu pondered about the situation for a minute, trying to measure its legitimacy before an idea struck his mind. "Tell me, do you still have the power that you claimed to have been given after the calamity? Contrary to me, you don''t seem to have come back to your bodies but actually physically came here."


    Shesmu knew for a fact that if someone fought for a hundred year, they won''t be as clumsy as these two were in their first encounter.


    "As expected of the great master, you''re sharp. Yes, we did come here through a space-time portal, using the disturbance that went through our universe. And, as you had predicted, we did keep some of our power. However, it''s but an ember in front of what we could do in our original timeline. In this world, our skills merely amount to party tricks."


    "I have no problem with that. As long as you can prove to me that you have power out of this world, I''ll believe you. Also, why are you calling me a great master? Also, what''s that disturbance you just talked about."


    For Shesmu, every word Kazumi and Amaterasu uttered was a mystery. However, he made sure to make them spill the beans as fast as possible. He had seen many shows where the main character doesn''t question everything other characters throw at him only for it to bite him in the backend later. Shesmu was wise enough not to fall for that.


    "You''re the great master. The hero who saved most of humanity at the beginning of the calamity. The teacher of the world, the old master of the four leaders. Legends of you have circulated the world. I have always wanted to be like you!"


    Kazumi''s eyes turned into stars for a second. His face was that of a horny teenage girl who just met her most adored boy band.


    Amaterasu grunted from the side before saying, "Kazumi will become an even more popular hero than you. He has been training hard since we young after all!"


    Kazumi blushed at Amaterasu''s declaration, while Shesmu just facepalmed. Hey, b*tch, will it cost you an arm if you were more likable. In the first place, how did you survive in an apocalyptic world with that kind of personality?!


    Shesmu''s emotions went through a rollercoaster with all of these revelations. First of all, there were these two guys who claimed to also come from the future, then the talk about the calamity, and finally the revelation that he was a hero. Me? A hero? In what world? I hate hypocrisy the most and heroes are the most hypocrite beings. Did I become a hypocrite later? Just what happened? I don''t understand!


    "So you''re saying that I became a hero wannabe later and that I rescued a lot of people? Have you ever met me in that timeline? Did I ever tell you what was I thinking?"


    Shesmu genuinely wanted to know, just what kind of event made him become a hero. With his personality right now, he will for sure just teach his friends the tricks and leave the pack in the dust. There was no way he would teach people he didn''t know stuff that could make them stronger than himself. That''s a recipe for disaster.


    "Ah, you weren''t a hero wannabe! You were a hero that would save the people in need and lead humanity! As for talking to you¡­ By the time I could speak, you already died. You died at the hand of one of the 72 devils, Beelze."


    Hearing news about his death, Shesmu turned a little bit gloomy. But the feeling was ephemeral as everything that was said until now was just way too surreal. At the end of the day, he still needed to check if they did have the power they claimed to have.


    "Well, it''s a shame that I died, but it is what it is. I guess that things started turning bad from that point onwards, right?"


    Kazumi''s eyes turned more gloomy as he said, "Yeah. Morale was at its lowest. The four heroes could barely hold off the army of monsters. As for the devils, they were on a league of their own. No one could hold a candle to them. They kept playing with us as if they were playing with their food until our inevitable extermination."


    Amaterasu cut in to continue the explanation, "That''s where the disturbance come in. For many years we have been trying to create a spell that could let us go back in time. But even though in theory it worked, it needed a very frail space and time continuum for it to work. When we sensed the disturbance, the great mage knew that it was our only chance. At first, the council planned to send the four heroes and the great mage to stop the calamity. However, it became clear later that those that withhold strong power will be rejected by the world before the calamity. That''s why in the end, they decided to send some of the weakest of mankind, and in the end¡­ we got chosen."

 45 Trus

    "That''s why in the end, they decided to send some of the weakest of mankind, and in the end¡­ we got chosen."


    As she said those last words, Amaterasu was deeply frustrated. She bit her lower lip and looked away for a second.


    "So you guys were chosen because you were so weak. Does it frustrate you?" Shesmu asked.


    Neither Kazumi nor Amaterasu responded. They both looked away.


    "You guys have lived in a world where monsters have fun killing humans. How are you still so weak? Were you always protected, never had to defend yourself?" Shesmu knew the answer to his question, but he still asked it anyway.


    "Yes, and what about that?! You yourself, did you ever have to defend yourself against monsters? Did you ever have to fight for your life?!"


    Shesmu''s rhetorical questions made Amaterasu snap. She was already frustrated, Shesmu hitting that nerve was the pushing point for her.


    "Amaterasu! That''s no way to talk to the great master! Great master Shesmu, we''re sorry. Amaterasu just couldn''t control herself, please forgive her."


    Kazumi tried to solve the situation in a peaceful manner, but that only infuriated Amaterasu even more. She just humphed and looked away.


    "Yes, I never had to fight for my survival. But monsters, those I fought for my whole life. Since I was five, I would sneak and play fighting games without telling my dad. You can say that killing monsters is and always was my nature. But, I don''t think you can say the same to yourself."


    Shesmu then looked at both Amaterasu and Kazumi for a few seconds before asking, "Who were your parents? For you guys not to have to fight for your whole life, they must be pretty powerful."


    "You have no right to ask who my father is!" barked Amaterasu. She was obviously upset at the mention of her parents.


    So, the best they could manage is a guy with a hero complex and an idiot with an inferiority complex. What a pain.


    "Yes, I have no right to know who is your father or brother or whatever. But you know what I have the right to do. I have the right to not teach you anything. Just disappear from my sight, talk to me when you grow up a bit."


    Shesmu was more than a little pissed off at Amaterasu. Yes, Kazumi was annoying with him calling Shesmu Great Master every two seconds. But at least he was much more reasonable than Amaterasu. The duo might have some really important information about what caused him and them by extension to time travel, but Shesmu wasn''t willing to deal with the massive headache that was these two clowns just for that.


    "No, please, Great Master! We apologize!" Kazumi then looked at Amaterasu. "Hey, Amaterasu! Apologize to the Great Master!"


    The girl hears Kazumi say those words just humphed once again.


    "Who will apologize to that guy!"


    Looking at this scene, Shesmu just sighed.


    "Anyway, leave me alone."


    "Master¡­"


    Looking at Shesmu''s departing back, Kazumi just stood still. He knew that there was no point in pushing things further.


    "Amaterasu, you were really rude to the Great Master. The great mage sacrificed a lot for us to bring us near him and have this chance. We can''t just let it go to waste."


    For a second, Amaterasu had a look of guilt on her face before she harrumphed for the third time.


    "Humph! He was the one who was rude! Calling us trash the moment he meets us, how is that the behavior of a reasonable person?!"


    Hearing her argument, Kazumi just scratched his head smiling.


    "Well, he didn''t lie. We were "trash" at the time. Being afraid of those monsters, just because they appeared so similar to the ones we had to fight in the real world. But thanks to that experience we were able to raise our swords and fight later on. We were able to kill monsters! I''m sure that the Great Master knew that he had to say those words to ignite the will to fight in our hearts!"


    Kazumi''s eyes were sparkling like stars as he mentioned Shesmu. This brilliance affected Amaterasu too as she responded stuttering.


    "D-do you really think so?"


    "I''m sure of it!"


    Meanwhile, Shesmu had no idea about the development that took place behind his back. He already went back to where he left his brothers Ryan and Leo.


    "So, what did you guys talk about?" DepressedRyan asked.


    "Yeah, we''ve been waiting for a while now. What took you so long?" added Leo.


    Shesmu was a little bit flustered by the question, but it wasn''t something he didn''t expect.


    "Well¡­ It''s a long story and I really don''t want to tell you guys about it as of now. But we''re brothers, so if you really want to know it I will tell you. It''s just¡­"


    "That you will put us in danger if you say it?" DepressedRyan continued Shesmu''s words. At this point, he could already read this awkward superstar brother of his'' mind.


    "Yeah, that''s the thing," confirmed Shesmu.


    "Then you don''t have to tell us now, you can always tell us later," Leo concluded. He then thought for a second before he continued, "But if it becomes too big for you alone to bear, you have to tell us, okay? That''s what brothers are for after all."


    Hearing Leo''s cheesy line, DepressedRyan smiled.


    "I agree with Leo. If you''re in danger and you don''t tell us, I will be mad at you! Forever too!"


    "Thanks, guys." Shesmu stopped for a second, before continuing. "Don''t worry, I won''t keep you on the dark for too long. It''s just that now, the time is not right."


    Shesmu was extremely grateful. If Leo and Ryan wanted him to say everything he would have told them without hesitation. But the fact that they chose to wait warmed his heart. Sorry guys for not telling you everything now. It''s just that I''m afraid once I do tell you, your situation will only worsen¡­ especially you, Ryan.


    With those thoughts, Shesmu and his brothers continued on their way through the cave. After around five minutes of walking by foot, they reached an entrance.


    The trio went through the gate and what they found on the other side shocked them. A terrain split between black and white tiles stood in front of them.

 46 The Floor Is Lava

    The three brothers looked at the black and white terrain in front of them in surprise.


    "What is this supposed to mean?" Leo asked.


    "Not sure, maybe it''s some kind of strategy game," responded DepressedRyan.


    However, before the doubts could develop further, an interface appeared in front of them.


    [First Floor]


    [First Trial]


    [Stand on Aida''s light and glory is your call. Deviate to Mafder''s path and divine punishment shall befall you]


    "We should stand on just the white tiles. The black ones are bad." DepressedRyan cut to the chase and explained the words of the trial perfectly. Shesmu was surprised at his quick judgment.


    I guess it wasn''t too difficult of a riddle, Shesmu thought. But still, good job, Ryan.


    "Oh, I guess it does make sense," responded Leo. "But¡­ are we supposed to kill those monsters with this type of restriction?"


    "Yes, we are."


    A familiar yet unexpected voice came from behind. The trio turned around only to see Kazumi and Amaterasu coming out of the cave.


    "Sorry, Great Master Shesmu. I know you don''t want to see us right now, but we''re all stuck in the same side now."


    Shesmu looked at Kazumi for a second. Truth to be told, he only said those words to the duo because Amaterasu pissed him off way too much. At this point, he was no longer as angry. In the end, he just sighed.


    "Whatever. Just take care of your own and mind your own business."


    Shesmu couldn''t waste more time on some petty arguments. At this point, he decided to take a wait and see approach to the duo. If they seem to be interesting, he wouldn''t mind letting them enter his circle later.


    Shesmu stepped on the first white tile and looked at the terrain as a whole. From his position, he could see around a hundred monsters spread out throughout the whole terrain. There were also many caves like the one Shesmu and his brothers came out of. He could see many players standing there, trying to resolve the riddle.


    Once Shesmu stepped on the white tile, DepressedRyan followed him before Leo jumped in as well. The tiles were big enough to let five people stand on one comfortably.


    Shesmu at the monster in front of them. It was a red wolf type of monster. He used to inspect on it to find its stats.


    Red Wolf


    HP: 1000/1000


    DepressedRyan dashed in, eager for a fight.


    "Let me test the power of this new set. I have been dying to try it out!"


    With a silver flash, he disappeared from everyone''s sight before reappearing behind the wolf''s back flying. He raised his dagger and performed an aerial Slash Cancel on the monster''s nap. The red wolf''s Hp quickly depleted before it fell on the ground dead.


    DepressedRyan was also about to land when he noticed the color of the tile he was about to fall on. It was black!


    "Argh!"


    An electric shock stunned DepressedRyan for a second. All the while, a red number appeared above his head.


    -100


    After the stun duration wore off, DepressedRyan quickly rolled out of the black tile into the safety of the white terrain.


    "Hey, Ryan, are you alright?"


    Leo hopped between the white tiles before finally reaching DepressedRyan. The latter took Leo''s hand as support to get up before saying, "Thanks, dude. Yeah, I''m alright."


    Shesmu hopped from one tile to another before reaching the duo.


    "Hahaha! Ryan, you tried so hard to look cool, but look at you now. Hahaha! I just can''t." Shesmu didn''t hold back his laughter. Tears were streaming out of his eyes as he looked at DepressedRyan''s miserable state.


    "You! Just you wait." Ryan jumped at Shesmu and threw him at a black tile, trying to make suffer as he did.


    "Hey, what are you doing-" Shesmu was mid-air, closing into the black tile when his eyes focused and his grin widened.


    DepressedRyan looked at Shesmu as he was about to fall on the black tile with a triumphant look when Shesmu suddenly disappeared. Before he could process anything, Ryan felt a push behind his back before he was catapulted towards the black tile.


    Ryan''s face turned into a white sheet when his body moved on his own, and his mind thought Dash! It was his turn now to disappear and teleport behind Shesmu. Ryan didn''t miss the chance this time and with one kick, he threw Shesmu on the black tile.


    "Argh!"


    After this long sequence of attacks, DepressedRyan finally stood triumphantly in front of Shesmu, as the latter was shocked by the electricity. He was about to laugh at Shesmu''s face when laughter from behind took him off guard.


    "Haha! What are you guys doing!"


    Leo could no longer hold the laughter at this point. He already found the situation funny when DepressedRyan was shocked to death after his smug smile. Now that this happened on top of that, he could no longer stop himself.


    "Haha!"


    Seeing Leo laughing, DepressedRyan joined as well. He didn''t expect the always silent Leo to start laughing all of a second.


    "Hey, you two. Help me, you idiots! I''m stuck here."


    Shesmu kept being electrocuted and chain stunned from the effect of the black tile. Since he fell on his face, he couldn''t just get up and get away as easily as DepressedRyan did. Plus, the latter''s agility was much higher than his.


    "Haha! Serves you right for trying to push me there, got a taste of your own medicine?"


    However, while DepressedRyan''s mouth said those words, his hands gave support to Shesmu so as to get up. After helping Shesmu stand up, a voice came from behind.


    "Woah! You guys are so cool! Can I know your name, Mister? You defeated the Great Master."


    Hearing this, DepressedRyan''s smile turned even wider. He had a stupid look on his face as he turned around to face Kazumi and Amaterasu.


    "You have great eyes. My name is Ryan, DepressedRyan!"


    "Oh, that sounds so lame."


    Amaterasu''s response was like cold water thrown at DepressedRyan. His face that was stupidly happy immediately turned into one of unbridled rage.


    "Hey, you brat! What did you just say!"


    DepressedRyan was about to lunge at the purple haired girl as Leo and Kazumi were trying to stop him. Shesmu just stood on the side thinking, Just kill her, Ryan. That''s better for all of us.


    After stopping DepressedRyan from committing murder, Leo and Kazumi sat down on the ground sighing.


    "So, what''s your name?" Leo asked.


    "Kazumi and I come from the future."

 47 Cool Ryan

    "I''m Kazumi, and I come from the future."


    The whole place turned silent for a minute. Leo and DepressedRyan were surprised, while Shesmu''s face turned livid.


    "Kazumi, they''re not part of the game. What you said could have been misunderstood."


    Shesmu came closer to Kazumi and whispered.


    "If you dare say another word, I''ll find you anywhere and kill you. Just laugh and say my bad, it was a joke. Understood?"


    Shesmu''s serious voice frightened Kazumi. He didn''t understand what he did wrong, but he knew that if he didn''t comply, he might really die.


    "Haha, it was a joke, guys. My bad, my bad."


    While Kazumi was trying to save his life, Amaterasu looked at him for a second before she clicked her tongue. This didn''t escape Shesmu''s attention. She definitely told Kazumi something for him to blow out his cover like that. Did I kill her parents or something?!


    However, Shesmu knew that it wasn''t the time to confront her about this. Leo and DepressedRyan were still here watching, and the later even held his chin and started pondering. Shesmu had to act fast so as to make him forget about the encounter.


    "Guys, guys. Time is of essence, we need to continue clearing the stage to stay ahead of the curve. That way, we minimize the chance of staying in the same group as the disguised monster."


    "Yeah, I was about to say that. Let''s get moving," Leo added.


    DepressedRyan was still pondering when Shesmu''s question snapped him back.


    "Ryan, what are you thinking about?"


    "Oh, sorry, I spaced out." He then paused for a second before continuing, "Hey, guys, how much time has passed?"


    "Huh? You mean in game?" Shesmu responded.


    "Yeah."


    "Well, just check your character tab, there is the time shown at the very bottom. It says 6.00 am here, but I''m guessing that''s game time. We met at around four in the evening, so fourteen hours have passed."


    "Fourteen hours of game time. If we convert that into real life time that gives us¡­ an hour and a half. We played for so long, but only an hour has passed. How crazy is that?"


    "Tha-that''s insane. Only an hour and a half. Holy, I''m a bit tired already from gaming. The times ten conversion rate is out of this world!" Leo exclaimed.


    "Yeah. Well, the beta only lasts for one-day in real life, so it''s not as if we''re going to spend a year of game time just in the beta. This whole thing is just a publicity stunt to make people spread the word, they won''t make it last for too long," explained Shesmu.


    "Yeah, makes sense. Well, at the very least this gives us hard grinders the ability to compete with the rich boys with their mom and dad''s credit card. Alright, it''s decided, once the game goes live, we''ll go for the top spots in the leaderboards. This time, we''ll be the first to clear a dungeon."


    DepressedRyan was beyond excited about what to come. Having Shesmu in the team, and him becoming much better and understanding more of the game mechanics by the hour, gave him confidence that they will be able to do something big.


    "Sure, but forget about dungeons. Any leaderboard that exists we will engrave our name on. I won''t accept anything less than that from my guild."


    "Of course! If we cannot even do that with everything you taught us, we should just find a bridge to jump from!" Leo exclaimed.


    While the trio was discussing, Kazumi and Amaterasu were talking between themselves too. From a glance, Shesmu noticed that Kazumi was rebuking Amaterasu for something, while the latter was on the verge of crying.


    Serves you right, asshole!


    With that thought as the closing parenthesis, Shesmu reminded everyone of the objective of this stage.


    "Hey guys, we still need to get to the center. The other teams are still struggling with the mobs so we should take this time to jump ahead."


    "Yeah, let''s do that," DepressedRyan responded.


    "You too, Kazumi, Amaterasu."


    Shesmu looked at the annoying duo with the corner of his eyes. It wasn''t as if he already accepted as part of his group. In fact, he didn''t want them to stay at all. However, if he shooed them away, the results might be even more disastrous. If Amaterasu was able to make Kazumi spill the beans as a joke to annoy Shesmu, then who knows what else she was capable of doing.


    "Yes! Great Master!"


    "Humph!"


    Taking that as a sign of acceptance, Shesmu took a look at the whole terrain once again. He was trying to find the most optimal path with the least amount of monsters to the portal. Once a plan was developed in his mind, Shesmu barked.


    "All of you, follow me!"


    Shesmu locked in on a red wolf and with a zig-zag movement, he went from one black tile to the other. He unsheathed his sword and with three normal slashes, he was able to kill the poor monster.


    I should stop relying on skills against these mobs, else I''ll never be able to get back my reflexes.


    Shesmu''s decision was firm. Throughout the whole stage and against all the monsters, Shesmu never used his skills once. He would use a variety of techniques against the red wolves. Sometimes he would overwhelm them with a flurry of attacks, other times he would take them on using only counterattacks. This way, Shesmu was able to familiarize his body to different paces and rhythms. This was all done so that Shesmu regain his high control over his body.


    While Shesmu might have put on a show using only his basic moves, DepressedRyan put an even more extravagant of a show. Using his insane agility and strength, he was able to one shot every mob with one Empowered Thrust. He would also do many different tricks while killing his enemies. One time he would do an aerial 360 into an Empowered Slash to the neck, and other times he would throw his dagger behind the enemy and teleport to it before going for the kill.


    "Ah, that was a lot of fun!" DepressedRyan exclaimed.


    However, contrary to DepressedRyan''s cheerful attitude, both Leo and Shesmu were depressed. Noticing their gloomy demeanor, DepressedRyan asked.


    "What''s going on?"


    "Nothing, it''s just that you''re way too amazing. I''m not sure if I''ll ever be able to get to your level," responded Leo.


    "Same. The student surpassed the teacher. I have thought you so many things yet I can''t even do half of the tricks you just showed."


    Shesmu wasn''t kidding, the current him would only fail miserably if he attempted any of the tricks DepressedRyan showed. However, he had hopes that if he trains extensively during the beta, Shesmu would be able to reach the level DepressedRyan just showed by the start of the live game.


    "Hahaha! So there are things that even you, Shesmu, can''t do. Well, that was unexpected!" DepressedRyan exclaimed.


    "For real. For Shesmu to not be able to do something, that''s rare!"


    "The Great Master isn''t able to do something that you can do? What does that make you, the Great Great Master?"


    DepressedRyan''s face turned stupid happy and smug once he heard Kazumi''s question.


    "Yes! Call me The Great Great Master! No, call me The Supreme Master! Hahaha!"


    "Ouch!"


    With one hit to the head, Shesmu was able to make DepressedRyan shut it for a second.


    "Well, we''ve already cleared our part. Let''s enter the portal."


    With that, Shesmu took the lead so as to not leave any more room for discussion. However, just as he was about to touch the portal, an interface appeared in front of him.


    [You Awakened The King Of The Flames! Beware His Wrath!]


    From the portal, seven meters long and four meters high colossal wolf appeared. His whole body was covered in flames and the power he emanated was suffocating. The whole place turned steaming hot with his appearance, and his cold eyes sent shivers down everyone''s spine.


    "Awoo!"

 48 Red Wolf King

    "Awoo!"


    Shesmu''s ears threatened to burst with the flame wolf''s howl. He then instinctively used Inspect on the boss monster.


    Red Wolf King


    HP: 30000/30000


    It was a monster of the same caliber as the Silver Wolf King, so Shesmu''s worries immediately died down. He looked at his teammates for a second before his eyes stopped on the idiot duo.


    "Hey, you two. Don''t die." Shesmu didn''t waste more of his breath on the two and focused back on the boss.


    "Yes, Great Master!"


    "You! When will you stop acting so conceited!"


    None of the praise nor the curses reached Shesmu''s ears. With Ryan''s new equipment, he should be able to handle this boss pretty easily. But Leo¡­ Okay, it''s decided, I''ll start training him seriously.


    After going out of the portal, the boss targeted Shesmu as he was on the center and lunged at him. However, the three brothers didn''t let it do as it pleases and countered with an attack of their own. Shesmu locked the monsters in a clash, while DepressedRyan and Leo attacked the boss from the sides. Shesmu then focused its right knee and performed Slash Thrust combo.


    "Awoo!"


    Blood gushed out from the wound and the Red Wolf King lost its balance and fell. Shesmu took this chance to make some distance between him and the boss, his two brothers followed suit.


    "Ryan, step back. Leo will be the one to fight this time."


    "What?! Shesmu, I can''t handle that boss alone, this is suicide!"


    "Haha! Don''t worry, it''s just a big dog anyway. You can do it, Leo, I believe in you!"


    DepressedRyan kept laughing as he took multiple steps back, leaving Leo alone in a shocked state.


    Shesmu''s thoughts were still on teaching Leo. He wanted him to experience hardships so as to learn from them, and fighting this boss alone would be the best practice.


    But¡­ Leo is more of the team focused player. This dilemma made Shesmu hesitate. He then looked at Kazumi and Amaterasu. Should I trust them?


    "You two, you will be supporting Leo. This will be your opportunity to show your worth. Also, one last thing, Leo is your team leader, so listen to his orders."


    "Thanks, Great Master, We will show you our worth!"


    "Humph!"


    Shesmu then looked at Leo and said, "Don''t worry Leo, if things become too hard I''ll intervene. Just try your best for now."


    Leo then nodded and said, "Well, if I''m not alone I think we can do it." He then looked at his new teammates.


    "Kazumi, Amaterasu, let''s do our best and beat that big wolf, okay?"


    "Yes, master Leo!"


    Amaterasu blushed for a bit before she exclaimed, "Yes! With Kazumi and master Leo here, we can definitely do it!"


    "Haha," Leo just laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his head.


    Shesmu just looked at the scene, shocked at Amaterasu''s attitude. This b*tch! So I''m the only one she is treating this way?! What did I ever do to her!


    Shesmu was about to burst at Amaterasu, but he stopped himself. She was now Leo''s teammate and he wouldn''t say something that could mess up her or Leo''s performance in the next fight.


    "Anyway, the boss'' injury won''t last for too long. You guys should go and fight him while it still hasn''t recovered."


    Kazumi and Leo nodded at Shesmu''s words while Amaterasu just humphed. In the end, they went and started fighting the Red Wolf King, leaving Shesmu and DepressedRyan behind.


    "So, did you want to give Leo his time to shine?"


    "Well, I think I just want him to experience everything the game has to offer. That way, he will have a bigger picture and can grow better and much faster."


    "Hmm, I see." DepressedRyan then stayed silent and just kept looking at Shesmu''s face.


    The silence quickly turned awkward making Shesmu blurt out, "For how long are you going to keep staring at me like that. Just so you know I don''t swing that way!"


    DepressedRyan burst out laughing at Shesmu''s reaction. "Haha, don''t worry, it''s not about that. It''s just that¡­ When are you going to tell me that secret?"


    "What secret."


    "Don''t pretend to be dumb, you know what I''m talking about."


    Shesmu didn''t respond. He stayed silent for a long period of time before asking.


    "Ryan, I know that this is way too late for this question. But that night, why did you suggest for us to be brothers? I know that you and Leo were friends for the longest time, but why me? We just met for eight hours at that point."


    "Hmm, changing the subject now, aren''t we?" He then thought for a second before answering with a question of his own, "Then let me return the question back to you. In that night, why did you accept the oath? Was it peer pressure?"


    Shesmu was stumped for an answer. He looked up at the ceiling of the stage only to see the multitude of torches that were illuminating the room. The ceiling was dome-shaped and for a moment, Shesmu found himself lost in thought looking at it.


    "We''re really similar, Ryan. Even though you''re so outgoing and happy go lucky, while I''m just grumpymu over here, we''re still so similar. That''s why I accepted being your brother, the few moments I spent with you guys were one of the funnest* in my life."


    "Grumpymu, haha. Well, it''s kinda the same I guess. When we first met, I already felt a connection to you. Then, with the incident at the goblin den, that connection just became much stronger. So yeah, that''s why I asked you to become my brother at the moment, didn''t expect you to accept though."


    "I learned long ago that if you want something, then just go for it. If you keep social norms, pride, and all of these things shackle you from what is most important to you, you''re just going to end up sad. Tha-that is something that I don''t want to happen ever again."


    DepressedRyan stayed silent for a bit. He knew that Shesmu had his own secrets and he didn''t want to probe those. He kept his silence for a full minute before saying.


    "Well, in the end, you didn''t even tell me the secret, you just kept changing the subject. But, yeah I under-"


    "It''s because of your headaches," Shesmu cut in.


    "If you ever feel those again, tell me immediately. My Id is 7XXXXX, just contact me through the network."


    "Oh, the headaches." DepressedRyan then thought for a second. "I understand now."


    As DepressedRyan''s lips uttered those words, his body lost balance and he fainted.


    "Ryan!"

 49 Chapter Postponed Until Tomorrow

    @@


    Sorry guys, there won''t be a chapter today. The reason being is that I reached chapter 51 in the website(will be 52 here since the table of content is a bit different) and that chapter should talk about the third floor. The thing is I still have no clue about what kind of minigame will be in there. So, just to make sure that I create something that is cool, I will take this day off to just think about it and discuss ideas with my friends. If you guys have any suggestion, please do say it in the comments, or go to my instagram @michealshes and dm me your ideas.


    Also, as a side note, I noticed that a certain review that had to do with the plot twist that happened on chapter 43 got like 10 likes in the span of 2 hours or something. I just want to know what is you guys'' general feeling about that plot twist.@@

 50 First Floor Cleared

    "Ryan!"


    Shesmu''s cry alerted Leo and the duo who were fighting the Red Wolf King. This sudden distraction led to the team being swiped with the boss'' massive claw, resulting in heavy damage.


    Noticing the peril Leo was in, Shesmu was enraged. With one dash, he appeared in front of the wolf boss. He unsheathed his sword and initiated a flurry of attacks. Using his superior agility, Shesmu attacked the boss'' joints, knees, and ankles. It was a dance of the death, and the reaper''s eyes were cold. In preparation of the grand finale, Shesmu activated CrossSlash. Black and green energy melted together in Shesmu''s sword before he swung it towards the beast''s heart. The blood gushing out of the Red Wolf King was like petals of roses raining on the dance floor.


    This performance left everyone in awe. Even the usually stoic and permanently annoyed Amaterasu let out a barely audible "Woah".


    "Shesmu."


    Leo''s voice showed his worry. The look on Shesmu''s face was one he never saw before; his eyes were dark and cold.


    "Ryan," Shesmu muttered. "Ryan is unconscious."


    Shesmu then looked at Leo in the eyes. "Leo, are you close to him in real life? Can you check up on him?"


    Leo looked at Ryan''s body before his face turned into one of surprise.


    "What happened? Did some monster sneak up on him?!"


    Shesmu shook his head left and right.


    "No, he just fell unconscious as I was talking to him."


    While Shesmu''s mouth said those words, his heart clenched in guilt. No, I know why he fell unconscious. In fact, I knew all along-I was just too dumb to realize it. It happened before in the forest when I was suspecting Ryan of being a time traveler like me. And now, the same thing occurred. Why did I let my mouth run like that?!


    As he was thinking, Shesmu kept looking down and bit his lips. Blood dripped from his mouth before hitting the white ground.


    While Shesmu was in his guilt trip and Leo shocked at everything that just happened. Kazumi and Amaterasu were whispering among themselves.


    "Amaterasu, Do you think that''s what''s happening. What the great mage told us?"


    "I think so. I did feel the aura of the disturbance from DepressedRyan. So, it''s a fact that he is the same as us¡ªa time traveler."


    "So, you think that some dissonance effect happened when the disturbance occurred? Maybe, that would explain his disproportionally good reflexes. But what about Leo?"


    "That guy¡­ I don''t know. He doesn''t have the same aura of disturbance as us, but I still feel that something is not right. The feeling is similar to us but different. I just don''t understand."


    "Hey, you guys. What are you doing there chit-chatting about?"


    The duo was startled by Shesmu''s question and for a moment didn''t know how to respond.


    "Eh! I-we were talking¡­"


    For a moment, Kazumi couldn''t form a proper sentence. In the end, he looked at Leo for a few seconds before gulping.


    "Great Master, we weren''t talking about anything important. We were just discussing how majestic you looked when you slew that Red Wolf King."


    Shesmu knew that this was just a pile of crap. However, noticing the long look Kazumi gave to Leo, Shesmu decided to wait until they were alone to ask about what was going on


    In the end, he just walked towards Kazumi and whispered in his ears.


    "If the information you''re hiding could save Ryan, and you don''t share it with me this instant, consider yourself dead."


    Kazumi was drenched with cold sweat. He immediately shook his head left and right as his mouth refused to even form a sentence.


    "Hey, who do you think you are to talk to Kazumi like that?!"


    Shesmu just glanced at Amaterasu, while Kazumi kept muttering incomplete words. In the end, Shesmu just sighed.


    "Whatever, just remember to explain everything to me later." He then raised his voice for Leo to listen. "Anyway, there is nothing we can do about Ryan for now. Let''s just enter the portal and continue with the exploration."


    Shesmu then took hold of DepressedRyan''s body and put it on his shoulder.


    "Plus, knowing this numbskull, he would have found these floors boring anyway. We''ll be doing him a favor by letting him skip them."


    Shesmu''s mildly witty joke lightened the atmosphere a bit. Leo''s dark expression turned a bit more mellow.


    "Hey, Shesmu. I have been wanting to say this since a while, but here goes nothing. In this trial, I''ll prove myself to you, and to Ryan who is still sleeping over there, that I too am strong."


    Hearing Leo''s declaration, Shesmu just smiled. Even though this brother of his isn''t the most talkative of the bunch, he was pure and straightforward. This was true even in his past life.


    "I know you will."


    There wasn''t a need to talk much. With one sentence, Shesmu communicated his belief in Leo.


    And, Leo didn''t need anything more than those few words. All that was left was to put those words into action. Anything more would just be fluff.


    After this exchange, the party entered the portal. Behind them, multiple players were still struggling against the red wolves. One of the players was especially eye-catching. His agility, reflexes, and grace let him deflect and dodge all of the monsters'' attacks. He would then counter swiftly and decisively.


    After fighting the monster that was in front of it, the figure looked at the portal.


    "Oh, seems like this run will be interesting. The last one ended in the first floor."


    Meanwhile, Shesmu and his party weren''t aware of any of the happenings that occurred. They were more interested in the messages that appeared in front of them.


    [Congratulation on reaching the second floor]


    [Order and Chaos]


    [The one who shall put an order in this world shall prevail]


    [The heretics shall perish]

 51 Second Floor

    [Congratulation on reaching the second floor]


    [Order and Chaos]


    [The one who shall put order in this world shall prevail]


    [The heretics shall perish]


    The interface stood in front of the players for three seconds before finally disappearing. Shesmu who was still holding on DepressedRyan''s body, looked around him and found multiple platforms flying in the air, with multiple bridges connecting them.


    "This is weird, is that a number in the middle of the platform?"


    Following Leo''s remark, the whole party''s eyes focused on one point. In the middle of the platform that they were standing on, an immense number 1 was carved.


    "Hmm, so I guess that we should go from one to two and so and so forth," concluded Leo.


    "Yeah, Mr. Leo is right. That talk about order was probably hinting to this, right?" added Kazumi.


    After hearing the party''s input, Shesmu thought for a second before giving his two cents.


    "One, two, three, four is one order. One, two, four, eight, sixteen is another order. Any numbers can be ordered in one way or another, depending on how you think about it."


    "You''re right, but then what are we supposed to choose? There must be a way for the system to tell that we''re respecting an order, right?"


    "Yeah, there must be a way, Leo." Shesmu paused before continuing, "The thing about order, it''s that it''s meaningless, without initial parameters that are."


    "Initial parameter?" asked Kazumi.


    "So you mean, we need to do something here to disclose the order we''re going to use. Is that right?"


    Amaterasu''s words shocked Shesmu to the core. This b*tch¡­ she isn''t bad. How the heck did she reach this conclusion?


    "Wow, Amaterasu, I would have never thought about that."


    "Right? Mister Leo. Amaterasu has always been the smart one! Whenever I have a problem, I always go to ask her about it!"


    Amaterasu blushed at the compliments, while Leo just muttered "Mister Leo".


    "Yeah, we need to find how to initialize the parameters for the order to make sense. And if I understood anything in my years of gaming, it''s that the way to initialize them will be in this first platform."


    Of course, Shesmu already knew how to initialize the order. However, he couldn''t possibly just go and activate it first thing. Thus, he put down Ryan''s body and started searching with the party. The search took five minutes before Shesmu finally revealed the secret.


    "Hey guys, I think I found something."


    Shesmu was looking at the middle of the carving when the trio heeded his call. A blue gem was engraved at the dead center of the number. Shesmu touched when a blue screen appeared in front of him, startling Kazumi and Amaterasu.


    "Is this a map?" asked Leo.


    The blue interface had many nodes, linked with one another with a line. These nodes at the end all linked to a red node and a blue node on each end.


    "Yeah, these nodes are the platforms and these lines are the bridges. Now, if I got this right-" While Shesmu was talking, he clicked on the blue node. It turned yellow. He then linked it with another node. The latter and the bridge connecting the two nodes both turned yellow. In this way, Shesmu kept linking the nodes until he reached the red one. The interface disappeared.


    "Now, the order has been set. We just need to choose the right-most bridge every time and we''re set."


    This order might not have been the most efficient one, but it only consisted of six platforms. Shesmu had already known that the interface would disappear the moment he reached the red node, so he opted for a simple order.


    They crossed the bridge, and when they reached the other side, they found six monsters. The monster looked like humanoid dolls with metal claws. Each of which had a number engraved on its chest.


    However, Shesmu already knew that the numbers were nothing but a distraction. His eyes focused on number engraved on this platform before inspecting the humanoid monsters.


    Steel Doll


    HP: 1500/1500


    "Guys, distract these dolls but don''t kill them. Just buy me ten seconds."


    "Okay, you got it," responded Leo. However, while he was fine with following Shesmu''s orders without the need for an explanation, Amaterasu was a different story.


    "Hey! What are you going to do?"


    Shesmu looked at her with the corner of his eyes before responding, "We need the order on which we should slay these monsters, right? I''m going to go find that."


    "Oh, and how are you going to do that?"


    "Same as before, I''ll check the engraving in the middle of the platform and see if there is anything there."


    "Okay, you got it, Great Master. We will make sure that none of them reach you before you''re done."


    Shesmu nodded at Kazumi''s words while Leo took the lead.


    "Guys, we need to be the one leading the charge if we don''t want to let Shesmu hold the aggro."


    Leo then charged at the steel dolls with Amaterasu and Kazumi behind him.


    In the meantime, Shesmu who was still in charge of carrying Ryan''s body, put the latter down. He then distanced himself from the fight and took a roundabout way to the carving. He found the same blue gem and touched it. A blue interface appeared in front of Shesmu denoting the order: Five, twenty-six, one, seven, fifty-three, eighty-one.


    Shesmu repeated that order in his head so as to remember it. He turned around and looked for the doll numbered five. Once he found it, he unsheathed his sword before Dashing towards it. With one Slash Cancel, he was able to cut down the monster.


    Shesmu then turned around to look for the doll numbered twenty-six. In less than half a second, he identified it and lunged at the monster. After piercing its chest, he took out his sword and slashed at its neck, killing it instantly.


    In unison, all the remaining dolls turned their head towards Shesmu. Their soulless eyes stared at him, cold, ghostly, dark eyes. Amaterasu shrieked at this sight, but Shesmu just bolted towards his next target: The doll numbered one.


    Before the monsters could even react, Shesmu slashed at the monster and kicked him towards number seven who Kazumi was fighting. The two dolls fell on the ground, one on top of the other. Shesmu jumped high into the sky and plunged his sword piercing the both of them. This one hit killed both of his targets.


    The two remaining dolls were still fighting against Leo and Amaterasu, so Shesmu made quick work of them.


    After killing every monster on this platform, Shesmu''s party crossed the rightmost bridge again. The same scenario repeated itself multiple times until the party reached the last platform.


    After crossing the bridge to the red node, Shesmu''s party were greeted by six steel dolls. And, behind them a monster of similar height and look. However, it was engulfed in red and black energy. After inspecting it, Shesmu smiled.


    Greater Steel Doll


    HP: 50000/50000

 52 Steel Determination

    Greater Steel Doll


    HP: 50000/50000


    "Keep them distracted while I go to find the order. Focus on just blocking the boss'' attacks, don''t go for counterattacks."


    The trio nodded at Shesmu''s words and sprang into action.


    "Kazumi, Amaterasu, take care of the fodder. I''ll take the boss."


    "Understood!"


    The trio slowly made their way towards the dolls. Through their prior experience, they knew that these dolls have a short aggro range. This lets the party control with more reliability the aggro of all the monsters.


    In the meantime, Shesmu put down DepressedRyan on the ground gently. While looking at Ryan, Shesmu felt something sink in his heart. Ryan, just when are you going to wake up? He then stood up and made his way towards the carving. This time, the number in question was a hundred.


    From the corner of his eyes, Shesmu could see that Leo was holding the aggro of the Greater Steel Doll. Its attacks were rapid and had a strong knockback effect. The monster would swipe with its claws and Leo would be pushed half a meter after a successful block.


    However, even though Shesmu was worried, he couldn''t do anything about it. The only thing he should have focused on was finding the order as soon as possible so as to help his comrades faster.


    Shesmu ran with all his might towards the carving and activated the blue gem. The order was shown in front of him: Nine, ninety-nine, ninety, nineteen, twenty-nine, sixty-nine, zero.


    Shesmu repeated the numbers in his head three times to remember them before dashing out of the crater-like carving. He scanned the monsters to check for their numbers, only to stop at the boss. Its number was zero.


    "Guys, kill nine first! Leo, switch with me!"


    Kazumi and Amaterasu who were handling three dolls each at this point lunged at number nine simultaneously. Two swords pierced its chest and neck before the metal doll fell on the ground, lifeless.


    Shesmu ran towards the Greater Steel Doll, sword high up in the sky. The boss, seeing the massive openings left by Shesmu, switched targets and swiped its claws at Shesmu''s sides. However, the crunchy feeling of breaking bones and tearing flesh never came, and the image in front of it disappeared.


    Shesmu appeared next to the boss and activated CrossSlash, before swinging his sword at its left side.


    Ting!


    Shesmu slashed at the monster with a sword full of green and black energy. He pushed it with incredible impact resulting in a reverberant noise.


    "Ninety-nine!"


    Leo understood the order and looked around. Once he identified the monster numbered ninety-nine, he jumped at it and cut open its neck using a Slash Cancel.


    The Greater Doll saw Shesmu barking the order and thought of it as an opportunity. It lunged at him with incredible speed, expecting to pierce his heart and end his life when he suddenly disappeared from its vision while it was mid-jump.


    Shesmu looked at the flying doll and slashed at it while it was in the air, throwing it off balance.


    "Ninety!"


    Shesmu looked at Leo from the corner of his eyes and barked his orders. With just one look, he was able to identify that Leo already killed his target and was ready for the next. Shesmu then refocused on the boss, who was on his knees, ready to stand up.


    Shesmu raised his sword and took a one-handed stance. His sword was pointing at the monster ready to strike. The doll which was at its knees dashed at Shesmu, expecting a clash with his sword. However, Shesmu was fated to disappoint it.


    Shesmu turned his right leg and dodged the boss'' charge. He then plunged his sword in its side before following up with a kick, pushing the monster half a meter. The monster was barely holding on its balance when Shesmu followed with a flurry of strikes. Then, with one backstep, Shesmu dodged the retaliation strike of Greater Doll.


    "Nineteen, twenty-nine, sixty-nine!"


    Shesmu took this opportunity to give out the remaining numbers. Due to the ferocity of the boss, he barely had the time to catch his breath.


    Kazumi was holding the aggro of number nineteen when he heard the order that Shesmu declared. With one swift slash to the neck, he was able to finish off the doll. By this point, he already damaged it enough to be killed with one strike the moment Shesmu gives out his order. Leo and Amaterasu did the same with their respective monsters.


    In the meantime, Shesmu was blocking the Greater Steel Doll''s attacks, waiting for his cooldowns to be back. Leo, Kazumi, and Amaterasu immediately dashed in to help Shesmu. None of their cooldowns were down, so they immediately poured all of their skills on the boss.


    Greater Steel Doll


    HP: 18500/50000


    After the flurry of attacks that it received, the Greater Doll was on one knee. All of its limbs were damaged from the downpour of slashes and hacks, leaving it defenseless. Looking at this scene, Shesmu decided to put it out of its misery.


    "Guys, focus the head. That''s its weak point."


    The doll''s core was in its head, and thus that was its weak point. After Shesmu pointed out this fact, the trio battered the poor doll with one strike after the other. The boss tried to defend itself, however, Shesmu blocked all of its counterattacks.


    Half a minute of hacking and the boss was still alive. Leo was about to attack it another time when the doll blocked it with its claws. This time, it was way too fast for even Shesmu to react.


    Black and red energy engulfed the boss giving it an ominous aura. Finally berserk, Shesmu thought. He was waiting for the boss to become berserk so that all of his damage to the critical area is further multiplied by 1.5 on top of the normal double multiplier.


    CrossSlash


    Black and green energy covered Shesmu''s sword. That same energy that shaved off an eighth of its health at the start of the fight was now caused by terror for the Greater Steel Doll. Black and red energy focused on the doll''s feet before it disappeared from the party''s view in a flash.


    Dash


    The moment the doll teleported away was the moment Shesmu teleported to its new location. It was a scene out of a nightmare. The black and green energy covering the Shesmu''s sword triggered the doll''s self-preservation mechanism. It needed to escape but all routes were sealed.


    The sword slashed down like heavenly thunder from the skies. The sword slashed horizontally then vertically, forming a cross on the doll''s body before it was cut down and fell apart.

 53 Unveiled

    Congratulation! You leveled up!


    Weapon level up!


    Empowered Slash level up!


    A series of notifications claimed the death of a formidable enemy. Shesmu starred at the broken parts of the Greater Steel Doll before looting it. However, before even checking the items in his inventory, Shesmu turned around and looked at his teammates.


    "Leo, you did well tanking the boss. You really became better."


    Leo''s mouth opened for a second before happiness overtook him. His shoulders went down and breathed a sigh of relief. It was as if a mountain was lifted off his shoulders.


    Shesmu knew that Leo was internally struggling. His two brothers were geniuses of a kind never seen before. One was an extremely popular figure in the gaming community and had skills that made him renowned throughout the nation. The other was even more of a monster. Just one day ago, DepressedRyan was a player of around the same caliber as Leo, and today he showed talent even a superstar could only be jealous of.


    With this kind of pressure, even Buddha will succumb to envy and jealousy, if even by a little, Shesmu thought. Maybe some would judge a person''s character through these types of experiences, however, Shesmu was not one of them. If I let a brother go through all of that without giving him any support, then what kind of brother am I?


    Shesmu tapped Leo''s shoulders and whispered in his ears, "Don''t take on everything alone in the dark. We''re brothers, aren''t we? Brothers share things."


    Leo stayed silent for a second before replying, "She-no, brother¡­ Thank you."


    Shesmu smiled.


    "Don''t sweat it."


    Shesmu then focused on Kazumi and Amaterasu. Kazumi had his chest puffed up and a big smile covered his face. Amaterasu on the other just put her hands behind her back and kept eye contact with Shesmu.


    "Kazumi, your rotations were good, and your hits were clean."


    "You bet they were! Great Master!"


    Kazumi had a radiant smile on his face. Since the moment they met in the Forest of Beginning, Shesmu had never praised him. For Kazumi to finally receive these words, for him to finally be accepted, Kazumi felt unending joy.


    Amaterasu, on the other hand, was conflicted. On one side she was happy that Kazumi is happy. On the other side, she couldn''t stomach the cause of his happiness. She kept fidgeting around with her hands and went back and forth with her eyes looking at Kazumi and Shesmu.


    "Amaterasu-"


    Amaterasu jolted at the sound of her name and she let out a little squeak. She wasn''t expecting to be called out. For a moment, she thought that she will be praised like Leo and Kazumi. However, after remembering what happened in the Forest of Beginning, and the talk they had in the cave on the first floor, she had known that Shesmu would berate her as usual. She was just about to rebuke him when Shesmu''s voice cut her off.


    "Good job. You were sharp enough to understand the rules of this minigame, and you were good enough with the sword to handle the steel dolls. Your synchronization with Kazumi was also remarkable."


    Shesmu looked at Amaterasu in the eyes. Even though she wasn''t the nicest human being, Shesmu understood that she had her own circumstances that made her that way. Plus, after thinking about it for a long time, Shesmu knew that Kazumi and Amaterasu were here to stay. They had the key to understanding the phenomenon that pushed him into this timeline after all. If they were going to stay at the party, then there was no reason for Shesmu to alienate them. That would only result in a toxic environment.


    Shesmu kept eye contact with the shell-shocked Amaterasu. She never expected this outcome. The words she was about to cry out were stuck in her throat, and her mind was blank. Wasn''t Shesmu just an arrogant man blessed by good luck? Didn''t he always berate her whenever he got the chance, for no reason at all?


    For a second, Amaterasu didn''t know what to do. Her mind told her that it was just a trick to make her loosen her guard. A devious plot coated by his silver tongue. However, her heart knew that his words were genuine. If so, was she on the wrong? Was he always a good human being and it was only her mind that kept feeding her bias? Amaterasu didn''t know the answer to these questions. She wanted to scream, but her throat was dry and lips were zipped.


    In the end, she just lowered her head and muttered, "Then, what about father?¡­"


    Tears streamed down her cheeks. And, one droplet at a time, fell on the ground. She, who never flinched, who was always headstrong, finally cracked. While she kept whimpering under her breath, a warm hand caressed her hair.


    Shesmu came in closer and whispered on Amaterasu''s ears.


    "Was it hard on you? Going to this unfamiliar place, with neither of your parents nor your friends. Was it scary?"


    All of a sudden, Amaterasu broke eye contact with Shesmu and looked sideways. A look of guilt plastered on her face.


    "Was I¡­ wrong?"


    Amaterasu shook her head both ways.


    "No-yes it''s scary. Mom, dad, Alphonse, Edward, Ruby, Sarah, Seth, Sylph, uncle Mahmoud, Auntie Aisha, all of them are dead. Even the old Sakamoto and the great mage are going to die. We left them there."


    At this point, Amaterasu was on the verge of breaking down. She hiccuped multiple times as she covered her teary face with her hands.


    "Amaterasu¡­"


    From the side, Kazumi just helplessly looked at his friend. He already knew of the weight she was carrying on her two tiny shoulders. In fact, his heart was as heavy as hers. However, he knew that if he were to break down too, then there would be no one to lift Amaterasu back up.


    "However, that''s not my biggest crime." She looked up at Shesmu with watery eyes. "My crime-my biggest crime is¡­ My hate for you!"


    That final cry shocked Shesmu. He just looked at her blankly as she stormed out of his view and crawled on the far of the platform.


    A deafening silence covered the map with neither of the four players moving an inch or uttering a word.


    "Great Master."


    These words broke the spell.


    "I''m sorry for Amaterasu. It''s just that, she went through a lot."


    Shesmu shook his head at Kazumi''s apology.


    "Don''t worry, I understand that. It''s just¡­ I have never seen someone saying "I hate you" with such a sad face. Did I dump her in a previous life or something?"


    At Shesmu''s remark, both Kazumi and Leo snickered. It was difficult to imagine Amaterasu having a boyfriend, to begin with. Her getting dumped on? Whoever had the guts to do so must be awarded a medal.


    "Well, it''s not far from that actually. It has to do with something in the future-"


    "Let me guess, I didn''t dump her, I dumped her mother."


    "Hahaha, off again. Actually, it''s not something that you did directly. You see, in our timeline, you died before we even reached three years old. Sir Isshin, Amaterasu''s father was your disciple at the time."


    By this point in the story, Leo had already understood what was going on. Even though he had his doubts, the fact that Shesmu didn''t even flinch at Kazumi''s words was enough evidence. He thought back to the conversation he and DepressedRyan had with Shesmu about his secret and decided to leave Kazumi and Shesmu alone. However, just as he took his first step back, Shesmu''s voice stopped him midway.


    "Leo, you stay here. From now on, there will not be any more secrets between us brothers. Sorry to have made you wait this long."


    For a second, Leo was flustered. However, in the end, he stood still, locked eyes with Shesmu and declared.


    "Shesmu, after all of this, wanna drink together?"


    This one sentence brought overflowing joy to Shesmu''s heart. Leo, you really never change. You only open your heart to someone when you share a drink with them. Don''t worry, unlike last time, I''ll bring enough booze to make you throw up last month''s dinner.


    Shesmu focused back on Kazumi and saw that the latter was smiling wildly. However, that smile quickly turned more serious when Shesmu signaled for him to continue.


    "The thing is, after your death, your disciples had to shoulder the burden of protecting humanity. Your disciples numbered a hundred. They all had varying degrees of power, even though even the weakest of them had the power to kill a king ranked monster. However, our enemy at the time wasn''t the monsters alone. The Devils were the scariest. Even the four heroes, your strongest disciples couldn''t do anything against them."


    Kazumi then took a deep breath and looked upwards, reminiscing of events long past.


    "But your disciples never gave up. They all worked hard to increase their power. They sacrificed themselves to protect humanity. Whatever fort we had, they would defend, whatever devastated family they would feed. And, among all of them, Sir Isshin worked the hardest. In the day he would fight the monsters and defend the city. At night he would train like a madman until he collapses. That was the type of man Sir Isshin was. However, not every effort is rewarded and not every man is born equal. Even though he trained twice as much, Sir Isshin was half as strong as the heroes. In the end, he couldn''t defend everyone. Monsters kept claiming more human territories, children were orphaned, women widowed and fathers devastated. The people''s tongue is sharper than the knife. "Oh, if only the Great Master was still alive," they would say. Even after just being saved. And, Amaterasu would hear those words, and¡­"


    "I see."


    Shesmu more or less understood the situation. Even in his career as a professional player, things were the same. There will always be that guy that stays as a legend in the fans'' eyes no matter how bad he later on becomes. And there are people that will never receive the recognition they deserve no matter how well they perform, or how many hours they put into their training. This was the sad truth of life.


    "Well, this is not something that I can help her out with. She has to reach her own answers herself, only then can she move forward."


    Shesmu then looked at Amaterasu.


    "Amaterasu! You have five minutes to sort out your mental breakdown before we leave. The countdown starts from now."

 54 Panda

    "What? Who''s having a mental breakdown?! Your mom!"


    With that outburst, Amaterasu stood up and looked at the party.


    "What are you guys standing there in a daze for? Let''s go to the third floor. I don''t want to wait until the party with the monster arrives and we get stuck with it. Let them idiots deal with that."


    "Haha, you''re right, Amaterasu. But Great Master, just what dropped from that doll steel thing? Is it some epic weapon?"


    "I still haven''t checked. But before that, let me ask you guys a question. Why do you guys think that we tried to take the lead and not stay with the main group?"


    "Wasn''t it because it was safer to do so?" responded Leo.


    "Well, yeah, that''s part of it. Let me rephrase it if we were to stay with the main group, what potential scenarios could have happened? Think about it for a second."


    The whole party pondered for a few seconds before Amaterasu spoke out.


    "The monster would have probably tried to take some vital role in the exploration of the first floor, the main tank for example, and dropped the aggro of the boss to result in a team wipe."


    "Close. Even without me or DepressedRyan, fifty people can easily kill an enraged Red Wolf King. It may result in a lot of casualties, but a team wipe is impossible." Shesmu then paused for a second before continuing. "However, the idea is the same. The monster would try to get a vital role and would betray us when the situation allows it. But, this is pretty surface level thinking. The real problem that we have, and the reason why I made sure for us to take the lead and not get stuck with the main party is that not a single person in this tower knows how to deal with a monster in disguise."


    "Why is that a problem, Great Master?"


    "Yeah, I don''t understand either, Shesmu."


    Both Leo and Kazumi''s face showed their confusion. However, contrary to the duo, Amaterasu''s eyes brightened up.


    "They''re easy to manipulate."


    "Bingo, Amaterasu. That''s the problem. No matter how we plan and what kind of strategy we make, it doesn''t make any difference if the whole group cannot stick to it. In a situation with high tension, anything you say could be used against you by the monster. Even staying silent can result in conflict down the line."


    Shesmu then went towards Kazumi and stopped right in front of him before continuing, "And, one last thing. In this tower, you can damage other players. You two probably want to adjust your pain settings. Turn it down to 12%, that''s the optimal number."


    "Wait, you can adjust pain setting in this game? Why didn''t you say that before? I got stabbed so many times by those damn goblins, it gave me a trauma!"


    "Now, now, Amaterasu. He told us about it now, so isn''t it all fine?"


    Amaterasu''s outcry wasn''t without justification. Even if the normal pain setting was barely a quarter of what one would experience in real life, it still hurts to get stabbed multiple times in the guts by green little creatures.


    "Well, sorry about that, I forgot. Anyway, just go to your character menu and you''ll see a slider. Just change that to 12% and that will be it."


    Amaterasu and Kazumi busied themselves with looking for the slider Shesmu was talking about. After a couple of seconds, they were done.


    "All done now. So, Shesmu, don''t ignore the question, what did the boss drop? If you dare snag my share, you will never hear the end of it!"


    Remembering the loot, Shesmu checked his inventory.


    "Oh, we got some good stuff. A silver+ rank sword and a blacksmith recipe. Plus the gold and the magic stones as usual."


    "Magic stones?" asked Kazumi.


    "Ah, you guys don''t know about these, right. It''s some kind of currency that drops from bosses, we still don''t know what it''s used for though."


    "Oh, okay. But how much gold did it drop? We''re already broke from repairing our equipment and buying potions," reminded Amaterasu.


    "Oh, it dropped 5 gold. I''ll give each of you one, does that sound good?"


    Amaterasu looked at the lying DepressedRyan for a second before nodding her head.


    "Good. Also, since we brought up the matter of the loot, I''ll give you your part for the Red Wolf King too. Anyone of you interested in a flame dagger?"


    "Give it to Amaterasu!"


    "Give it to Kazumi!"


    The pair looked at each other for a second, before Kazumi laughed out loud.


    "Haha, just give it to Amaterasu. I don''t like daggers anyway, it doesn''t suit my fighting style."


    "As if it suits me. I''m a fencer, how will I even handle a dagger?"


    "If none of you want it, I could just take it and sell it later. So now, who will it be?"


    "I think Kazumi might want to try taking it. You have a very straightforward playstyle, so I guess that your main weapon is either a two-handed sword or a greatsword. I think that practicing with a dagger might show you your weakness and let you evolve much faster."


    Leo''s suggestion surprised Shesmu. He already knew that Leo was the more silent analytic type from his past life. But he didn''t think that this trait of character was present even now, ten years before.


    "Oh, mister Leo¡­"


    "I think Leo is right, Kazumi, you''ll be the one taking the dagger. Amaterasu, you''ll have priority in choosing on next drops until we find a weapon suitable for you. Does that sound fair?"


    "Yeah, that sounds good."


    "You too Kazumi, does that sound fair to you?"


    Kazumi looked at Shesmu for a bit before relenting.


    "Yeah, it''s fair."


    "Good, now let''s pack up and get to the third floor."


    Shesmu lifted DepressedRyan''s body from the ground and went towards the portal for the third floor with the rest of the party. Once they took a step into the blue portal, Shesmu was greeted by a spectacular view. The dark red turned into white and golden. The party stood in front of the door of a palace and behind was a plaza whose white ground reflected the sun.


    "Wohoow! Congratulation esteemed guests of the golden generation. Lester, here to serve you. Wohoow!"


    A short talking fluffy panda opened the door of the palace and greeted the party of five.


    "Please, follow me inside. Woohoow! We''ll shortly prepare the stage for your third challenge. Woohoow!"


    "Is this¡­ a panda?" muttered Kazumi.


    "Yes, a talking panda," responded Amaterasu.


    On the other hand, Shesmu wasn''t the least bit surprised by Lester. This panda was something of a mascot for the game. All special events were hosted by him.


    As for Leo, even though he was surprised to find a talking panda in a semi-realistic game, it didn''t come off as a shock. He wasn''t new to gaming after all.


    .


    Regardless of what they thought, everyone followed the panda into the palace. The first thing that greeted them was a table full of food and drinks, while on the back of the room a team of musicians was playing a calm tune.


    "Woohoow! We have prepared for our guests with a welcoming party. Your hard work shall be rewarded. Woohoow!"


    Lester then made a gesture with his paw, and next to him a roulette appeared with a poof.


    "Woohoow! However, before you shall dine on this feast, let us play a little game. Woohoow!"


    Oh, this part finally came.


    "Woohoow! The roulette is split into 64 different areas. Each area corresponds to a different game. Depending on what comes out, the challenge that you shall face in the third floor shall be determined. Woohoow!"


    By this point, everyone''s attention was on the roulette. With a flick of his paw, Lester spun the roulette. As long as it''s not a twenty-five or fifty men game, we''re fine. Please, just make it a five men game.


    The disk spun and spun until it finally landed on area 34.


    "Woohoow! And the game you will play shall be¡­ The Mist Valley Challenge! Woohoow!"


    Sh*t!

 55 Banque

    "Woohoow! And the game you will play shall be¡­ The Mist Valley Challenge! Woohoow!"


    Lester''s announcement didn''t receive the hype that was expected. Everyone just stood there looking the panda who still had his paws high up in the air in a weird pose.


    "Cough, cough. Woohoow! Anyways, the challenge will be set on an open area covered with mist. The goal is to go through the mist and reach the target that is in the other side. This challenge is fifty man one, which means that you need fifty participant before the game can start. Woohoow!"


    The panda then paused for a second before a smirk covered his face. "Woohoow! One more thing, in the misty valley, there are a lot of deadly traps and cunning monsters, so please proceed with care. That''s it for my explanation. For now, I''ll let you enjoy the meals specifically prepared for you. Woohoow!"


    With a poof, both Lester and the roulette next to him disappeared.


    [The challenge for the third floor has been set]


    [Numbers of participant needed: 45]


    "Your worries weren''t unfounded, Shesmu."


    Amaterasu looked at Shesmu in the eyes. "Before entering the tower I counted the number of participant. There were around 70. If we take into consideration those who already died and lost, the number fifty encompass almost everyone left."


    "So, we''ll have to face the monster in this round," Leo concluded.


    "Do we have any idea about what kind of monster is the hidden boss? It feels weird having to deal with something that we don''t even know the extent of its power?"


    "I know what kind of monster it is," Shesmu responded.


    "But before talking about the monster, let''s make somethings clear. First of all, I''m guessing that everyone here knows that I came from the future, right?"


    Everyone nodded at Shesmu''s words.


    "Okay, good. Well, I come from ten years in the future. If you count in the time dilation and the amount of time I spend outside of the game, I spent 70 years playing Ashes of Gods. So yeah, I do know a lot of things."


    "70 years," Leo muttered.


    "Yeah, I''m an old man by today''s standards. But don''t worry, that won''t stay for long. In another 20 years or so, you''ll think of it as normal."


    "20 years¡­," Both Amaterasu and Kazumi muttered.


    "Shesmu! Your perception of time is broken!" Amaterasu exclaimed.


    "Haha, you''ll get used to it soon enough. But, enough about that. Let''s talk about this next stage and this tower in general. This tower has 20 floor, each of which has its own interesting challenge. The hidden boss is Nyarlathotep. As with the myth, it''s a shapeshifter beast that is cunning beyond measure. It also has an interesting property, it grows stronger the more people die-"


    "Wait, then shouldn''t we have stayed with the main group so as to kill it before too many people die?" Amaterasu cut in.


    "Well, first of all, that''s not as easy as you make it sound. Remember, I''m not just going to spill the beans to everyone just because of one challenge in the beta. Second of all, there is, or maybe I should say, there was another way to go through this tower. You see, Nyarlathotep cannot access the fifth floor and above."


    "Oh, so we just need to reach the fifth floor and we won''t have to deal with him, right?" asked Kazumi.


    "It''s not so simple," Amaterasu responded. "The challenge on this floor is a 50 man one, that means we have to deal with him no matter what."


    "Yes, that''s the problem. And here is an even bigger one, if 10 people die, Nyarlathotep''s stats will be higher than mine. It''s also a high tier monster, so its AI is very developed. In terms of mechanics, it''s probably better than current me."


    "So, is there a way to defeat this boss?" asked Leo.


    "Well, here is the thing. This is just the beta, so a minor setback is to be expected. As things stand now, it''s impossible to go past this floor. Let''s just get used to his strategies and gather info, that''s what the beta is for at the end of the day. In the live game, we''ll have the tools to fight against him better."


    "But what guarantees that we''ll be together in the live game''s tutorial too. We were only able to find you because of the directions of the great mage who told us when to enter the game exactly," said Amaterasu.


    "About that, I have my ways. The game will be open 35 minutes before the official time, just be sure to log in right at that moment."


    "Wait, if we can do that, we''ll be the first to finish a dungeon this time," said Leo.


    "Well, about that. Yeah, of course."


    There is still the character creation thing that I haven''t told you about yet, but we can leave that for later.


    "You seem to be hiding something."


    Amaterasu starred at Shesmu with her red eyes. Shesmu felt as if she was looking into his soul.


    "N-no, it''s just that it''s too long to explain and I don''t want to go into a tangent here. In any case, it''s not something we can solve here so no need to clog your mind with it. Rather than that, let''s enjoy the food here. You may not know this yet, but the high grade food here taste even better than in real life."


    The table was filled with food and drinks. Shesmu took a bottle from the table, turned it and looked at its label. It said: LeBourgeois 2050. Shesmu smiled and looked at Leo.


    "Here, a drink to all of you. Cheers! Also, Kazumi, Amaterasu, orange juice is on the other end of the table. You can serve yourself."


    "Hey, I''m not a kid!" rebuted Amaterasu.


    "Kid or not, you''re still not of legal age. If you drink alcohol, you''ll be booted of the game by the main system."


    Amaterasu''s face turned red, but she couldn''t find the words to fault Shesmu. Thus, she just opened the bottle of orange juice aggressively and emptied it in one shot.


    "Ah, this stuff is good!"


    Amaterasu''s eyes were hazy. She kept moving forward towards Shesmu, but her steps were wobbly and she was about to lose balance.


    "Did she¡­ get drunk on orange juice?" Leo asked.


    Shesmu was speechless too.


    "I-I guess so?"


    Kazumi then also emptied a bottle of orange juice. After he gulped the last drop, he started laughing.


    "Hahaha, it''s all fun, it''s all fun! Great Master, Master Leo, let''s all have fun!"


    Shesmu looked at this scene in shock before just laughing it away.


    "You gotta learn from the brats. They sure know how to have fun. Leo, cheers!"


    "Cheers!"


    Shesmu and Leo raised their cup of wine before sipping on it. The party then chatted, drank and laughed for a good while, until new players started coming in.


    "So, like I said, Ryan has this weird habit of always looking at the stars for half an hour before going to sleep. I have never seen him, not even once, sleep without going to the roof and looking at the stars. Don''t you think that''s hick-weird?"


    "Yeah, yeah, if you say so."


    Shesmu took a few step back as Leo kept complaining and hiccuping at the same time. For half an hour, Leo haven''t stopped talking. The moment he took his first shot, it was as if a bomb exploded. Leo became a chatterbox that couldn''t be stopped"


    "Hey, Leo, you already said that like three times already. Also, Shesmu''s ears are about to burst. Give him a break, will ya?"


    For a second, Amaterasu looked like an angel to Shesmu. Wings sprouted out of her back and a halo appeared on top of her head. She then looked at Shesmu and gave him a thumbs up.


    "Oh, there is people talking. Were we not the first party to arrive?"


    Shesmu''s party turned to look at the unknown voice. A party of ten people entered through the palace door. However, this time, there was no panda accompanying them.


    "Hello all, were you the party that defeated the boss of the second floor? We didn''t find any monster on the last platform."


    A tall blonde man with slick hair that reached his back took the lead and reached with his arm for a handshake with Shesmu.


    "Yes, we were the party to slay the first and second floor''s boss. May I know your name?"


    "Arthur, that is my name."


    If I remember well, this guy was the leader of Everlast. Shame they disbanded later and left the spot of Lord of Cubain to a bunch of noobs.


    "Good to meet you Arthur, name is Shesmu."


    "So, the challenge for this floor is one that cannot start without a certain number of participant. I wonder if there are even 50 players left. Around 10 died in the first floor, who knows how many did in the second."


    Arthur then looked at Shesmu''s party.


    "I guess that all of you are safe, right? We tested everyone in our party to see if they''re players or not. I assume it''s the same for you guys, right?"


    Shesmu looked at Arthur in the eyes for a second, before drifting to the other members. Five of Arthur''s teammates never stopped looking at him. The most obvious of the five was a pink haired woman that looked at Arthur with fervor in her eyes. The four other members kept stealing glances at Arthur before whispering things between them.


    Oh, so there is some internal conflict. Interesting.


    "This is my vice captain. Julia, come here."


    The pink haired girl came forward and handshook Shesmu.


    "Hello, my name is Julia and I''m the team captain. Thank you for pioneering the stages. Thanks to you we had a much easier time clearing the tower."


    "Ah, no problem. Here, let me introduce to you my team members. This Leo, Kazumi, and Amaterasu."


    After exchanging some pleasantries and everyone introducing themselves, Arthur brought up the matter with Ryan.


    "And, who is that boy sleeping over there?"


    "Ah, that''s Ryan. He received some shock in the boss fight and the system booted him out. He will be back shortly I believe."


    "Yeah, we had that happen to one of us in the Forest of Beginning," added Julia. "The fights are so realistic and the pain feels like the real world. It''s no wonder some people can''t handle it."


    Julia then looked at Arthur.


    "But of course, Arthur is not so weak as to succumb to a mere boss. Tanking, damaging, he can do it all."


    "Hahaha, you flatter me, Julia. Really, I''m not such a heroic character. In fact, you guys who could handle such strong bosses with such a small party in a record time are much more impressive."


    Arthur then came closer to Shesmu before asking, "Could you please teach us your secrets?"


    Shesmu took a step back and said, "Really, there isn''t much of a secret. We just tried our best and our team happen to be a little mechanically gifted, that''s all."


    "Haha, what confidence! I like it!"


    "Well, let''s not just stay here and chat. I''m sure that you all are tired. Here, serve yourself. We can discuss the strategies for the third floor while eating."

 56 Speech And Doubts

    "Woohoow! The number of participants still didn''t reach the required number. But since the players here are the only one left, in three minutes, we shall start the third floor''s trial: The Mist Valley Challenge! Woohoow!"


    Lester appeared in front of everyone with a poof. Shesmu and his party were already used to his antics, but the other players starred in shock before whispering to each other.


    "Just what is this thing? Looks like Mariano and Wibbie the pooh burped the worm in the mole hole and made this abomination of God."


    Shesmu let out a chuckle at Arthur''s joke.


    "Well, that''s the mascot of this game, I think. Anyway, the trial is about to start, you might want to do some pep talk for your team. Also, for the challenge, since it is the mist valley one, the challenge will probably make us lose sight of each other or something. It might also be an illusion based. In any case, I think it''s better if you guys have some kind of code that only you guys know if some problem occurs."


    "Good idea, I''ll do just that. Thanks for the tip, Shesmu."


    Arthur was just about to stand before turning back towards Shesmu.


    "Also, one last thing. We''re going to make a guild called Everlast. If you''re interested, you could join us. With you guys in the guild, we''ll become the best in the game in no time. Believe me, I already led top tier guilds in many games, and your team fit exactly the criteria for a top one."


    "I''ll think about it. For now, I''m not overly interested in guild affairs. But you got a friend in me, if there is anything you want, just give me the call. For the right price, anything is doable."


    "Haha, thanks, I''ll do that. Can I send you a friend request?"


    "Sure, send away."


    Shesmu then received a notification. After accepting Arthur''s request, he bid him goodbye.


    "So, what do you think? Is he the monster?" Amaterasu asked.


    "I''m not sure, but I know for a fact that the monster is one of them."


    "Oh, why do you think so?"


    "Look around you and tell me what you think?"


    Amaterasu turned around and looked at the players around her. Each and every one of them stood in a group of two to three, whispering things to each other and looking around warily.


    "They''re all scared. I mean, it''s to be expected when you know that anyone here could be the monster in disguise," answered Amaterasu.


    "You''re right, that''s the normal behavior. You see those guys over there." Shesmu pointed with the corner of his eyes at two groups of three. "Those two groups are from a semi-decent guild in Demon Heart called Overlords. You see, even in the same guild, there is some conflict and distrust. At the end of the day, you can''t be besties with everyone. There will always be that one or two people that works as your safety net. That is the problem, none of the players in Arthur''s party have that."


    "I see, so that''s what makes you suspicious of them?"


    Leo came in from behind holding a glass of wine.


    "But still, this conclusion is way too hasty. Have you talked with the other teams? You might have found more information."


    "Yes, I did, Leo. The thing is, they''re way too suspicious of any contact. No discussion went past two sentences."


    "This definitely makes Arthur''s party the most suspicious one," Kazumi said. "But kudos to Great Master Shesmu for finding that out so easily."


    "Well, having 70 years worth of knowledge about the game does come in handy now, doesn''t it?"


    "Haha, well yeah it does. But don''t rely on me too much, Nyarlathotep has been known for his extreme intelligence. It''s a world-class boss after all. Even though this is just a downgraded version of him, it''s still cunning. So, stay sharp."


    "Woohoow! The three minutes are over. I hope that you had time to strategize for the next round. Let the challenge begin! Woohoow!"


    The scene quickly changed when everyone was teleported from the palace room.


    "Where is this? I can''t see anything!"


    The mist covered everyone''s eyes, Shesmu couldn''t see even see five meters past his nose. He looked around and saw Leo, Kazumi, and Amaterasu standing next to him.


    "Guys, whatever you do, never let me leave your sight. This place has shapeshifter monsters, and remember that Nyarlathotep can shapeshift too. This place is the perfect hunting ground for him."


    Shesmu then looked to his left and found DepressedRyan''s body lying down. He carried him on his back and looked around.


    "Everyone! I want everyone''s attention please!"


    Shesmu heard murmurs everywhere after his declaration.


    "I want everyone to come closer and stay close to each other. I know that everyone''s tense, knowing that one of us here is a monster, but believe me, this is the only way we can defeat it and pass this-"


    "Hey, are you the monster!?"


    Players one after the other appeared in a circle that surrounded Shesmu. After hearing his call, everyone gathered around him.


    "No, I''m not. Whether that makes you believe me or not, I don''t know and frankly, I don''t really care. But I''ll give you my reasoning on why this is our best shot at this challenge."


    Shesmu then took a deep breath.


    "My name is Shesmu, the leader of the party that slew the Red Wolf King and the Greater Steel Doll. These were the bosses of the first floor and the second floor respectively. I know that all of you are scared-that all of you are paranoid, knowing that any of us could be the monster¡­ and that''s great. We need to not leave the monster any room to breath. Doubt, suspect and share your thoughts! With all of us here looking for even the slightest of suspicious movement, the monster will not be able to do anything!"


    "Guys, he is definitely the monster! He wants to sound all smart so that he gets the leader position and then stab us in the back when we least expect it!"


    This time, it was a guy in the back, covered by the veil of the mist that shouted his concerns.


    "Then prove it! Here, I am the center of all attention, everyone sees but me. Do you think that if I do anything suspicious, people wouldn''t notice? Plus, if I was the monster, why would I ever take the lead with my team and kill the bosses? Look around you! How many players are left? How many already died? Do you really think any of you would have reached this place if we didn''t clear the floor for you guys?"


    "T-that¡­ I don''t know."


    "Let''s say you''re right." A burly man holding a battle ax appeared from behind the mist. "What are we supposed to look for?"


    "Nothing in particular, just keep track of your surroundings and the movement of the other players. We have no idea what will the monster do or what is his strategy. Focusing on one thing will only make holes for the monster to exploit."


    "True. Okay, it''s decided. You have the full support and cooperation of the Appolyon party. Let''s kill that monster."


    "We''ll do just that."


    Shesmu''s mouth was still open when three sentences written in red covered his vision.


    [Illusion and Reality in the mist converge]


    [The Shadows loom over, evil heralds disorder]


    [Traps and schemes you shall unveil through a guiding light, as it emerges]


    A golden light appeared on Shesmu''s minimap. The map showed him as a blue point standing next to several green ones, while far in the distance, a golden point shone.


    The red text faded, and in its wake, a countdown appeared.


    "Four hours?"


    "Let''s get going. The goal is eight kilometers away. If we consider the traps and the monsters in the way, four hours are barely enough."


    Amaterasu''s quick response put a smile on Shesmu''s face.


    "The little girl is right, we can''t stay here all day, let''s go."

 57 Swords And Mistrus

    The blue and green points in the minimap were still as far as ever from the shining gold one.


    "This is taking so long! At first, I thought we were making progress, but now, it''s as if we''re stuck in the same place. We''re not getting any closer to that damn golden thing and we''ve been running for an hour already!"


    Kazumi''s outburst wasn''t without reason. For half an hour already, their feet kept pushing forward but the minimap didn''t acknowledge such effort.


    "Shh"


    Shesmu put his finger on his lips. A voice in the background became clearer by the second.


    "Awoo!"


    "It''s the hounds. Everyone, get in position! Monsters are coming! Arthur, hold the left flank. Big guy, hold the right!"


    "It''s Hector, and leave it to me! Ha!"


    "Everyone, Everlast will not be outclassed by the Apollyon party! Whoever gets the most kill, I will pay dinner for later. Be it Le Chaudron or Lucky Cat, just fuck up my wallet!"


    "You heard him, guys. I''m gonna get that dub and order everything on the menu! Dear little Arthur will be much lighter. I''m sure that he can finally get on a date after this one."


    "Hahaha!"


    "Hey, you little shits. Keep talking crap and you''ll see if your girlfriend doesn''t break up with you tomorrow. Next thing you know, you''ll get a video of us in Hawai pop up in your feed."


    "Haha, Owl, you really have balls. Last time you pissed off captain, he got a hobo to stalk for a week!"


    "He paid a hobo to stalk?!"


    "Hahaha! Dude, that was the funniest thing I have ever seen! You guys are new so you don''t know, but the captain is really one crazy dude!"


    While the men were laughing boorishly between themselves, Julia took small steps towards Arthur while fidgeting with her hands.


    "Arthur, are you going to have dinner with the winner too?"


    "Sure, I''ll do that. It''s not as if I have anything to do today."


    Julia''s eyes brightened up, and her fidgeting hands finally calmed down at Arthur''s response.


    "Hmm, okay, then it''s decided!"


    The whole platoon of thirty-five players unsheathed their sword and readied their stance. Shesmu heard the rapid barking of the hounds and dashed towards it. One of the beasts lunged at him and he clashed with its claws.


    Shesmu then kicked the hounds back legs, throwing it off balance. With a single swing, Shesmu cut its neck and ended the beast''s life.


    "Everyone, these monsters are weak. One shot and they die!"


    The moral of the group improved drastically. The gloomy atmosphere that surrounded the players throughout the whole journey faded away. These players already suffered multiple losses on the previous floors due to their devious and cunning nature. A straightforward battle like this one was all they needed to relieve the stress that they had accumulated.


    While Shesmu kept fighting off the horde of hounds, his eyes darted left and right. He was scanning the battlefield for any sign of suspicious activity. Hector''s team that was holding the right flank did a marvelous job at fighting off the beasts. Hector would hold off the monsters with his giant ax, while his teammate would focus down one hound at a time. This way, they were able to lessen the pressure on Hector.


    Arthur''s party, on the other hand, was much more aggressive. They would fight one on one against the hounds, or at max two on one. None of their fighters took more than half a minute to dispatch of his enemy.


    Mechanically, they''re decent. Well other than the six on the back that struggles even with a two on one.


    Arthur''s group was separated into two, four were leading the charge while six took care of any monster that managed to slip in.


    Their chemistry is also nothing to brag about.


    While Arthur and his closest friends didn''t show exactly a marvelous feat of synchronization, they at the very least didn''t stand in the way of each other. The six in the back had trouble just swinging the sword correctly. When they tried to help each, they would need to tell the person holding the aggro to get out of the way in fear of hitting them.


    Seems like newbies. I guess that those four were part of the same group for a long time now, while the six in the back just joined them today.


    However, the most astounding spectacle was performed by Julia. Rapier in hand, she skewered the enemies in front of her like swiss cheese. Her movements had a grace not seen in your random average player.


    Interesting, her steps are purposeful. Good footwork.


    Julia was on constant movement, her feet never stopped. Whether it be a side step into a counter or a back step to dodge the hounds'' swipes, Julia''s feet never betrayed her.


    "Hey, Leo, Kazumi, Amaterasu, come here."


    At this point, Hector and Arthur''s parties already took care of most of the hounds coming their way. There wasn''t much to do for Shesmu''s party, so he took the liberty of calling them back.


    "What''s going on, Shesmu? Did you find something weird? Nyarlathotep perhaps?" asked Leo.


    "No, I''m still not sure about that. What I wanted you to look at are Julia''s movements."


    "Ohh? Don''t tell me? Are you interested in her?" teased Amaterasu.


    "No way! Shesmu would never do that!"


    Kazumi''s outburst surprised the party.


    "Wait, don''t tell me, is Kazumi perhaps still shy about the birds and the bees?"


    Leo''s remark made Amaterasu laugh her heart out while Shesmu just shook his head.


    "You''d think that in a world where everyone is dying to monsters, kids would learn about procreation much sooner. You know, for the survival of mankind and whatnot."


    "Hey, stop making fun of me!"


    While Kazumi was pouting, Shesmu just smiled and thought, Well, at the very least he stopped calling me a great master. I guess that''s a step forward.


    Seeing that Amaterasu was still laughing and Leo shaking his head, Shesmu thought to remind of the reason for their meeting.


    "Ahem, moving on. What I want you to do now is to look at Julia''s movement and tell me what you see. We can go from there."


    The trio then focused on the rapier-wielding Julia. Her quick and precise thrusts were a sight to behold.


    "She is very quick. Her reaction timing is insane. The moment the hounds leave an opening, she pounces on it with no hesitation," Leo remarked.


    "No, that''s not her reaction time. She is predicting their movements, that''s why she can land those hits with such accuracy and speed," Amaterasu rebuked


    Shesmu listened to both of them but turned towards Kazumi to know his opinion before giving his final judgment.


    "Kazumi, what about you? What do you think?"


    "Eh, hum. I think that the movements of that sister are very pretty. It''s as if she is dancing."


    "Kazumi being all romantic, you must have been very popular with girls back where you came from," deduced Leo.


    "Dancing," Shesmu muttered. "You''re not wrong. Actually, of all answers, yours is the closest to the truth. What she is doing actually has nothing to do with prediction or reaction timing. Those are a given once you reach a certain level. What she is doing is called tethering."


    Shesmu then unsheathed his sword and started drawing with its edge on the sandy floor.


    "Here, let''s say that this stick figure is Julia, and this one is her opponent. For this example''s sake, let''s say that both Julia and her opponent have the same range."


    Shesmu then drew two circles covering the stick figures.


    "These circles are the range of attack. What she is doing is standing right at the edge of her opponent''s circle and going in and out. What she is doing is laying a bait, the moment that the opponent thinks that she is in his range, he attacks. However, attacks don''t land instantaneously, there is a delay between his decision to attack and the landing of it. What she is doing is using this delay to get out of his range of attack. The opponent then misses the hit and leave himself full of openings."


    Shesmu erased the drawings and stood up.


    "Well, that''s all. Now, you guys just need to train your ability to gauge your opponents'' range of attack. As you get better at that, you''ll become better warriors."


    The trio stayed speechless for a second before Shesmu snapped them out of their daze.


    "What are you guys waiting for? Go and fight and implement what I just said. If you let it be just all theory and never practice, you''ll never get good."


    Shesmu lightly tapped Kazumi and Amaterasu on the back before turning towards Leo.


    "Keep an eye on them, will ya?"


    Leo just nodded his head and told Kazumi and Amaterasu to follow him.


    .


    Looking at their back, Shesmu smiled for a bit before his face turned serious. Once again, he scanned the whole terrain for any sign of suspicious activity. Even though he was 90% sure that Nyarlathotep was in Arthur''s party, tunnel visioning is never good.


    After making sure that everyone was doing their job and that no suspicious activity was taking place, Shesmu called out Arthur.


    "Hey, Arthur, come here for a second."


    "Owl, teach the new guys a little bit, will ya? Julia, keep an eye on them. Don''t let them get swarmed. I''ll go talk with Shesmu, I''ll be back in a minute."


    Arthur turned towards Shesmu and came in for a hug.


    "Look who gave that marvelous speech. You were thrown the leadership role and you grabbed it by the balls."


    "You too, Arthur, look at you leading a party of ten like it''s nothing. Even the new guys are impressed! Haha!"


    "Yeah, we met in the forest. Good bunch with great potential. Plus they signed a contract. That just makes them so much more precious in my eyes."


    "Haha, truly a guild leader. Didn''t take you even a couple hour to have five people sign. Scary, scary!"


    "Haha, it''s not scary at all. We gave them great salaries, they get to play for ten hours a day, who wouldn''t that. Getting paid to play, just a couple of generations ago that was left only for top 0.1%. Now anyone can do it. Truly great times that we live in."


    "True, true. Well, I''m sure that they will do great in your guild when you already have such great teachers. Anyway, you remember what we talked about before? In the palace."


    Arthur thought for a second before responding, "What exactly? We talked about a lot."


    "I asked you how you made sure that your teammates were clear-"


    "And I told you that they were clear. Shesmu, these guys have been with me for years. Other than the six guys who we heavily questioned, I would know immediately if some monster tried to disguise itself as them. Trust me."


    Shesmu looked at Arthur in the eyes and sighed. He then put his hand on top of Arthur''s shoulder.


    "Arthur, I was thinking about it for a long time. And, I realized something. The monster must have access to its target''s memory, it just must. Else, there is no way it could ever disguise itself. Anyway, just be careful, will ya?"

 58 Truth And Sorrow

    Arthur stayed silent at Shesmu''s revelation before sighing and looking at the ground. He then puffed his chest, looked at Shesmu in the eye and hand shook him.


    "Okay, you got it, man. I''ll keep an eye on the boys."


    "Thanks, and sorry, Arthur."


    "Don''t sweat it, I know you mean well."


    Arthur then looked at his party still fighting behind him.


    "Anyway, I can''t let them hold the flank alone. I''ll have to go."


    "Yeah, do that. And keep an eye on the mist, don''t let your boys wander too far."


    "I''ll keep that in mind, don''t worry."


    Arthur then turned around and took quick steps towards his teammates. Shesmu, who was looking at that just sighed and turned around to look at Hector''s party. Hector, who was at the front, had wounds all over his body. However, one quick inspect let Shesmu know that he was doing fine in the HP department.


    Well, potions can recover HP, but their healing of actual wounds is limited and slow.


    Even though Hector''s wounds looked painful, all of them were just surface level. Hector stood strong, ax in hand, defending his teammates from the horde of hounds. The party kept repeating the same pattern, changing only when Hector''s HP falls too low. When that happens, an offtank takes his place while he chugs down Health potions.


    "Hey, Hector. Does it sting?"


    Shesmu walked towards the standing down Hector, tending to his wounds.


    "Haha, this is nothing, just a few scratches. But damn, this game is really hardcore. What is the pain sensitivity set at? 20%? 30%?"


    "Yeah, it is. About that pain sensitivity. Actually, there is a way to decrease it if you want."


    "Really? That''s a new one. I thought that it would be set by the system like always."


    "Oh, you can change pain setting?"


    Julia announced her presence to Shesmu with a pat on the back. With quick, cheerful steps, she stepped in between Shesmu and Hector, making the latter flinch.


    "Hey, Hector. My name is Julia, vice-captain of Everlast, Arthur''s party."


    Julia invited Hector for a handshake, to which he swiftly complied.


    "Pleased to meet you. Hector, captain of Apollyon."


    "I thought that you were holding off the hounds, was your shift over?" asked Shesmu.


    "The hounds aren''t that strong, and I trimmed them enough that even the newbies can deal with them. Plus, if anything happens, Arthur and that idiot Owl are still there. But don''t mind that, what is this thing about pain setting? I didn''t even know that such a feature existed. And here I thought that the sensitivity was much higher than standard."


    "Yeah, just go to your character screen, settings, look around you''ll find the pain sensitivity slider under the audio one. It''s way down there, after all the graphics stuff about blood and gore bullcrap."


    "Oh, I can''t believe I missed it. Games don''t usually give you this option, so I never thought about it," said Julia.


    "Interesting, I wonder what is the maximum that you can put. Surely, it must be some low number like 20 or 30%, else if some kid just pushes it to the limit and wake up the day after on the hospital, it will be all over the news, haha!"


    "Yeah, the limit is around that. As for the hospital thing, I''m not sure, but a friend of mine got the full of hit of a boss charge in the face and was disconnected. He came back later and said that the game disconnected him because of a shock past the permitted values. Maybe that''s the mechanism they have," Shesmu explained.


    "Oh, that''s interesting. Is that why your friend there is knocked off?"


    Hector pointed at DepressedRyan who was still on Shesmu''s back.


    "Ah, Ryan. It''s a bit different. It did start with him taking a shock in a boss fight, but later on we got a notification that it''s part of a quest. Though I''m not too sure about the details. It''s one of those where you just go on and hope that the game handhold you at some point for you to finish them."


    "Haha, I see, I see. Well, that''s lucky for you guys. Getting a unique quest so early, I''m jealous. Hope you optimize your run through it well for the live game. You don''t want to spend too much time on one thing and let the pack run ahead."


    "I completely agree with Hector here. I''m sure you know this already since you seem to be a good player, but sometimes even the best quests are not worth it if they take too long. So keep that in mind."


    "Yeah, don''t worry. I''m not a noob, now, am I?"


    "Haha, if you are a noob when you passed through this thing like a breeze, what does it say about us? Haha!"


    Hector''s jovial laughter made Julia smirk for a second.


    "Oh, really. I''m not sure about you, but our guild was in the top 5000 in Demon Heart. I think, my advice holds a little bit of weight."


    Julia''s passive aggressiveness only made Hector smile even further.


    "Haha, little miss is a pro," He then passed his arm over Shesmu''s shoulders before continuing. "It''s just that, this guy is Shesmu. You know God speed Shesmu, from Dawn''s Resonance."


    Julia''s eyes turned wide for a second.


    "Wait, for real?! God Speed Shesmu? How?! He doesn''t look anything like him?"


    Hector laughed even harder than before at Julia''s reaction.


    "Haha, what are you talking about? This is a new MMO, of course, his looks are going to change. But skills don''t change," Hector then looked at Shesmu in the eyes. "You still have that same bait and punish style. Start with a flurry then throw a feint into a punish, that''s so annoying."


    Shesmu looked at Hector in the eye for a second and raised his eyebrow. His face didn''t tell him much, but the way he presented himself made him think that they knew each other at some point.


    Hector took the hint and introduced himself.


    "I took a couple of coaching sessions from you at some point. Remember, the big guy that always wanted to copy your style. You always said to just forget about that."


    Shesmu scratched his head for a second before just laughing it off.


    "Sorry dude, can''t remember. But hey, you did heed my advice to not copy my style. Look at you now, you''re a fine tank!"


    While Hector was laughing even more jovially than before, Julia was still in a state of shock.


    "Wait, are you guys for real? Are you really that Shesmu? The Ace of Dawn''s Resonance?!"


    Shesmu''s eyebrows slanted inward.


    "Yes, I don''t think I should say it even more times than I already did. And, I''m no longer the Ace of Dawn''s Resonance, because I''m no longer part of Dawn''s Resonance."


    For a second, Julia''s eyes stayed wide, unblinking.


    "Oh, I just saw the post yesterday. I''m sorry."


    Shesmu looked at Hector for a second. He then just sighed, looked up and focused back on Hector.


    "Don''t be, it''s a thing of the past in any case." Shesmu then thought, Yeah, it is a thing of the past. One that I can barely remember at this point. I just hope that Seth jumps the boat earlier in this timeline.


    He then continued, "Let''s forget about that. Today was a fun one. We got on the first day of the beta, reached the 3rd floor of this tower, we gathered a lot of information. With how stagnant Demon Heart has been lately, I''m sure that it''s going to be overthrown by another game sooner or later. I''m putting my money on this one. Let''s work hard to become the top dogs and stay the top dogs!"


    After Shesmu''s speech, Hector became hyped up.


    "That''s the spirit!"


    While Shesmu, Julia and Hector were talking in the back, Kazumi, Amaterasu, and Leo were still fighting against the hounds.


    "Only five more left, stay focused!"


    Both Kazumi and Amaterasu clenched the handle of their sword even harder, preparing for the hounds'' incoming attacks. Their feet looked to be in constant movement. However, if you look closely, one foot always stayed as a pivot while the other one danced forward and backward.


    Two hounds ran towards Kazumi and Amaterasu while Leo kept holding the other three. With one hand on the handle and the other on the fuller of the blade, Leo held the sword horizontally. This way, he could keep the frenzied beasts a bay.


    The two hounds that went by Leo pounced on Kazumi and Amaterasu. The two in synchronized motion took one step back with their dancing foot and slashed the monsters. They then activated Empowered Thrust to finish the hounds once and for all.


    After a defeated wail, the two beasts fell on the ground, blood gurgling out of their chests. The two warriors shook their sword with one downward motion of their arm splattering the blood on their blades all over the ground before sheathing them.


    Leo who was still holding the three hounds with the middle of his blade shouted out.


    "Hey, you two. No time to look cool, come and help me here."


    Following Leo''s shout, Amaterasu and Kazumi looked at each other in the eyes almost simultaneously before letting out a chuckle.


    "We''re coming," Amaterasu replied.


    The duo then dashed towards the hounds. With one green flash, each of the appeared behind the back of a hound on each side. With one empowered slash, followed by a normal one, the hounds HP dropped to zero.


    Leo, seeing that only the hound gnawing at his sword was left, took a forceful step back, making the beast fall off balance. Leo''s sword flashed green before it fell vertically on the beast''s head, slashing it in two.


    "That was a nice one. Good job all, you did well."


    Kazumi turned around to look at Hector and Arthur''s parties.


    "It seems that everyone else is close to being done too."


    "Well, they do have more members. It would be weirder if they weren''t close to being done."


    At Amaterasu''s sharp remark, Kazumi just scratched his head and laughed awkwardly.


    After looking at Kazumi''s reaction, Amaterasu raised her head and looked around.


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    "In any case, something feels different. This place seems to have become less foggy, we can actually see past our nose now."


    When Amaterasu pointed out this fact, both Leo and Amaterasu turned around to look at their surroundings.


    "You''re right. Before, I could barely see five meters in front of me. It''s much better now."


    While Leo was pondering deeply about this weird phenomenon, Kazumi just smiled wildly.


    "Isn''t it better this way? We can finally see our opponents, this will make things much easier!"


    Amaterasu''s eyes widened for a moment before she just smiled at Kazumi''s innocence.


    "Sometimes, you really can be dumb, Kazumi. But, you''re right, it''s better this way."


    "Yeah, you''re right, Kazumi. It''s much better this way. In any case, now that we''re done, we should probably regroup with Shesmu. We need to get moving or else we won''t have enough time."


    The countdown on top of their vision never stopped, the seconds ticked down and 30 minutes were used already. Leo looked at his minimap and saw that they were barely a fraction of the way to their destination.


    The trio was making their way towards Shesmu when Amaterasu asked.


    "Hey, Leo, were you friends with Shesmu for a long time? Your relationship seems to be a bit weird to me."


    "No, not really. We just met today."


    Amaterasu was shocked at this reveal.


    "For real? He seems to really care about you."


    "You think so too?" Leo laughed. He then awkwardly looked down. "Who knows? Maybe I was his friend in the future, Haha."


    Leo stayed silent for a bit before continuing, "It''s really weird, you know. Am I the weird one for feeling awkward when someone cares about me? Ryan wasn''t like that, he seemed to really enjoy being with Shesmu. He even proposed that brother for life thing that he only ever suggested to me once. Ahh, I really don''t know what to make of any of this."


    For a second, Amaterasu looked with pity at Leo. Kazumi on the other hand just stayed silent, only stealing a few glances here and there.


    "So, what do you think? Do you enjoy staying friends with Shesmu?"


    For a second, Leo looked panicked. His eyes widened and his jaw hung low. He then looked down, calmed himself down before looking at Amaterasu again.


    "I don''t know. I''m happy that Ryan is happy, and at this point, I really consider Shesmu a friend. It''s just that-it''s just that there are so many things that I don''t even know, and this whole friendship feels so fake. It''s as if it''s predestined and I hate that!"


    Leo''s outburst and intense feelings shook Amaterasu. For a second, she didn''t know what to say or think. She looked down and then up, not sure where to look until something caught her eyes. From behind the white mist, Shesmu was watching. A single tear fell down his cheeks.

 59 Acceptance And Ominousness

    "Hey, how was your hunting? I hope you did listen to me and train hard as I told you to."


    Kazumi''s cracked into a wild smile.


    "Of course we did! Those hounds stood no chance, just two hits were enough to kill them."


    Kazumi was gushing, however, Leo couldn''t afford to. He stood still saying nothing while Amaterasu fidgeted with her hands and avoided eye contact with Shesmu.


    "Haha, that''s great then. It''s good that you guys are having fun. That''s what video games are for in the first place, isn''t that right?"


    Shesmu then looked at Leo trying to establish eye contact before the latter immediately broke it.


    Shesmu didn''t sigh or try to look away. He stood frozen in his place as if a spell was cast and time was stopped.


    "Leo, you know, I''m getting a bit worried about Ryan. It''s been a while and he still hasn''t woken up."


    For a moment, Leo''s eyes drifted to the face hanging from Shesmu shoulder. DepressedRyan was still asleep, a smile stuck to his face. Leo clutched at his heart. All this time, he has only been selfishly thinking about himself, while his friend''s fate was still unknown.


    "Yeah, I think I''ll log out and go to his house. I need to check on him."


    Leo''s words didn''t come as a surprise to Shesmu. In fact, he welcomed them. Shesmu walked closer towards Leo and tapped his shoulder.


    "Leo, once Ryan wakes up, I''ll tell the both of you everything. Is that okay with you?"


    Leo nodded at Shesmu''s words before looking at DepressedRyan''s face. Even while sleeping, he seemed to be at peace.


    "Ryan really likes you," Leo muttered in an inaudible voice.


    "What did you say?"


    "Nothing."


    Leo smiled at Shesmu before he turned into colorful particles and disappearing.


    "You heard everything, right?"


    Amaterasu looked at Shesmu with a resolute expression, no longer being awkward and trying to avoid eye contact.


    "Yes-yes, I did."


    "So, what are you going to do? You might lose a friend, you know?"


    Shesmu stayed silent, only looking up at the blood red sky covered by the white mist.


    "And, what can be done about that?"


    Shesmu''s answer flared up Amaterasu.


    "Are you really going to let things go this way?!!"


    Shesmu looked at Amaterasu in the eyes.


    "You know, Amaterasu, friends, it''s a two-way thing. No matter how much you cherish someone and you care for him, the choice rests with that person at the end."


    Amaterasu didn''t know what to say. The energy that fired her up just a second ago vanished and her shoulders dropped down.


    "It must be hard for you."


    Shesmu looked at Amaterasu''s sad face before smiling at her.


    "You really worry too much, Amaterasu."


    Shesmu then looked at Kazumi who didn''t say a single word since the start of this conversation, before focusing back on Amaterasu.


    "Well, what is meant to happen will happen, no use worrying about it."


    "No!"


    Amaterasu''s scream shocked Shesmu. Murmurs sounded everywhere and when Shesmu looked around, he found that they were everyone''s focus.


    "Amaterasu, what happened?" he asked.


    "No, don''t say that ever again."


    Amaterasu''s eyes were teary, but her expression was resolute.


    "Never say something as weak as that, ever. Nothing is meant to happen, we are the one who gives meaning to things, and we are the ones who protect those meaningful things."


    Shesmu''s jaw hanged low for a second before he remembered to close his mouth. Amaterasu''s words were knives that cut deep into his heart, revealing his unsightly weakness. Shesmu didn''t know what to say. He wanted to rebuke, but he knew deep in his heart that Amaterasu was right.


    "Think deeply about that, and don''t let this weakness of yours make you lose a friend that you cherish so much."


    Amaterasu then looked at Kazumi trying to say something when her words got stuck in her mouth. Kazumi''s cold look made her scared, and for a second, she couldn''t recognize him anymore.


    "Hey, Kazumi, is something the matter?"


    Kazumi stayed silent for a second before responding.


    "Nothing, I am just thinking about something. If you guys could please leave me alone for a second."


    "Huh? Thinking about something? That''s unusual. Well, it''s alright, I understand."


    Amaterasu then looked at Shesmu who was still in a state of shock. She walked closer to him and pulled down at his leather armor.


    "Shes, if you want, let''s go take a walk. I used to do this all the time with my father when I need to think about something or talk to someone."


    Shesmu looked at Amaterasu, traces of shock still in his face before he responded.


    "Okay, let''s do that."


    "Great! Kazumi, we''ll be going for a walk. We''ll leave you alone for now."


    "Sure, have fun!"


    Kazumi responded in a cheerful voice, his eyes had their usual vigor and energy. It was as if the cold and scary Kazumi of a couple of seconds ago was nothing but a ghost.


    Amaterasu then took the lead while Shesmu followed her, looking down. The two kept walking for a few seconds before Shesmu looked back. Kazumi who was just cheerful a moment ago became serious, and his vigor-filled eyes died down.


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    "Yo, what are you still waiting for?"


    Shesmu jolted at Amaterasu''s reminder before responding.


    "Nothing, let''s go."


    The duo then stepped into the mist, this time, Shesmu''s steps were more confident, and his head was held high.

 60 Before The Storm

    "So, are you better now?"


    Shesmu looked at Amaterasu for a second before smiling.


    "I don''t know if I feel better, but I do know what I should at least."


    Shesmu''s eyes then became focused and more resolute.


    "I will talk with Leo and tell him everything. He has the right to know after all."


    Amaterasu smiled at Shesmu''s words before she put her hand on her chin and frowned.


    "For Sophie, I really don''t know what to say about that. It''s such a complicated situation."


    Shesmu let out a chuckle at Amaterasu''s concerns.


    "When the time comes, I will deal with that problem. No use worrying about it now, it will only impede my actions in the near future."


    "Well, if you think that way, then that''s good too."


    Amaterasu paused for a second. There was no point in continuing this conversation, however, she still wanted to talk more and that made her feel awkward. She fidgeted with her hands for a second before an idea struck her.


    "So, how is the search for Nyarlathotep going? Any clues?"


    "Oh, for that. I have an idea about it." Shesmu looked at Amaterasu and grinned. "Do you want to know who it is?"


    Amaterasu seethed at Shesmu''s smug face.


    "Nah, you can keep it to yourself. I don''t want to be influenced by your biased idiot conclusions."


    "Haha, okay then. We will have it that way." Shesmu then had an idea and his smile became even wider. "Actually, I have an idea. Let''s play a game."


    "A game?" asked Amaterasu confused.


    "Yeah, whoever finds the monster first gets a reward. Scratch that, if you find Nyarlathotep before me, I will gift you something nice."


    "Oh? And what could that be?"


    "Well, it won''t be fun if I tell you right now, now would it?"


    "Aghh, I hate it when you do that!"


    "Haha, well, let''s forget about that for a second. Other than Nyarlathotep, the floor is hard on its own. We need to start preparing for it."


    This time, Amaterasu didn''t point out the fact that he was changing subjects. She was genuinely interested in what Shesmu was about to say.


    "The layout of the floor is pretty simple. First, we have to deal with the hounds, we already dealt with those, so that''s good. The next part of the floor is illusion based. All of us enter an illusion world where each person''s experience is different. The transition from reality to illusion is seamless, so you don''t feel it when you enter the illusion. The goal is to know that you''re under the spell to break it."


    "And?" Amaterasu asked, waiting for more.


    "Nothing. After that, we just need to reach the destination in time. We still have around 3 hours to go for that."


    "Ah, about that. We should probably up our pace. One hour has passed and we''re barely a quarter of the way there."


    "Well, we did stop for half an hour just to fight that horde of hounds. As long as we don''t get stuck in the second phase for too long, we should be just fine."


    Shesmu then frowned.


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    "The problem stays with Nyarlathotep. I don''t know how many has he already killed, but it''s most likely more than thirty. His power grows with the number of players he kills. At this point, he is an opponent I can''t hope to beat alone."


    "That''s why you have us!"


    Amaterasu''s smile made Shesmu smile too. She is right, he thought. I should no longer think that I''m alone. It''s this type of thinking that almost made me lose Leo, such a mistake should never happen again.


    "Well, that''s an after-we-find-him story. For now, the game is still on. If you want to receive the surprise gift, you still have to find him before I do."


    "Hey, you''re still going on with that? First of all, just what is this surprise gift?!"


    "Haha, not saying, not saying."


    Shesmu and Amaterasu kept walking for a bit more before returning to the main party. From afar, both Shesmu and Amaterasu could see Julia talking with the rest of Hector''s crew.


    "Oh, seems like Julia is trying to know more about the other parties. We need to understand our strengths so that we could fight better as a team. As expected of Everlast''s vice-captain."


    Shesmu nodded at Amaterasu''s words, but his eyes kept lingering for a second on Julia''s figure before Kazumi took all of his attention.


    "Yo guys, I''ve been waiting for you!"


    "Hey, Kazumi. How are you doing? Are you fine now? Before, when you were thinking, you looked super scary that I didn''t know you for a second."


    "Haha, I was just thinking about the great mage and everyone we left. Forget about that, how about you guys. Great Master, is your mind at rest now?"


    Shesmu looked at Kazumi for a second. His attitude was definitely much different than when they left and it threw him off guard. However, Shesmu didn''t let his inner thoughts show. He swiftly responded.


    "Thanks for worrying about me, Kazumi. But I''m fine now." Shesmu then smiled. "Actually, I have something to tell you about. I already gave this offer to Amaterasu, and I''m going to give it to you too. We already know that Nyarlathotep is one of the players here, and I have a pretty good idea about who it is, but I still have no proof. If either you or Amaterasu finds out who it is before I do, I will prepare a surprise gift for the both of you."


    "Oh, a surprise gift?"


    Kazumi''s eyes turned into stars and droll spilled out of his mouth.


    "Don''t tell me, are you going to teach us a new technique?"


    Shesmu laughed at Kazumi''s enthusiasm.


    "Haha! Well, I did say that it is a surprise gift. It won''t be a surprise anymore if I say it to you."


    "Tch."


    Amaterasu clicked her tongue at Shesmu''s predictable answer.


    "Ehh, please, just one hint is fine."


    Looking at Kazumi''s pleading eyes, Shesmu was unfazed. He just smiled and said.


    "No means no. But, if you guys do get close to the right answer, I''ll give you a hint. So work hard!"


    Kazumi nodded at Shesmu''s words while Amaterasu just looked at him with hopeful eyes.


    "I''m going to do some recon. Kazumi, you better go work too. We only have three hours left."


    "Okay, let''s go!"


    Shesmu looked at Amaterasu and Kazumi''s back before sitting down on the moisty floor.


    "Now, what should I do? My trap will take some time before activating, and Leo was really mad. We really should have a drinking face-to-face before things become even more ugly. Agh, the more I think about it the bigger is my headache. Well, it''s not as if I could do much in here."


    Shesmu then stood up and put DepressedRyan in a more comfortable position.


    "Since we''re here, let''s just have some fun. Dancing in little Nyarl''s hand before biting it doesn''t sound too bad."


    However, just as Shesmu was about to move out, a certain conversation piqued his interest. While everyone was resting from the battle against the hounds, two players, one black-haired and the other with red hair were whispering to each other.


    "Like I said to you. The monster is definitely one of those guys. Especially that golden-eyed bastard, talking as if he was our leader. He is probably the monster and he is leading us to our death."


    "And like I said, why do you think so? It''s normal for someone to take the lead. Else, we will never work as a group and all die to the monster."


    "Haha, working as a group? Do you see us doing that? Those three teams only communicate with each other and leave us all in the dark. Don''t you see the picture here?"


    The black haired player shook his head in confusion.


    "They''re sacrificing us, that''s what they''re doing!"


    "Ehh!"


    "Yes, those three teams think that they''re smart. They keep themselves in a tight circle so that the monster doesn''t find an easy way to kill them without showing itself, and they leave us scrambled. We''re just easy targets that serve as bait for the monster to focus on."


    The red-haired player''s face then cracked into a distorted grin.


    "But what they don''t know, it''s that they''re all just playing in the palm of the monster. They think that they''re safe by grouping together that way, but that only made it easier for the monster to blend in with them. If the monster is that golden-eyed guy, then we''re all dead!"

 61 Leon

    Cling!


    The lid of a capsule opened up and white cold smoke escaped. A naked tall figure, well built and blond haired slowly stood up. His blue eyes shone with a resolute light.


    Knock! Knock!


    "Enter, Milia."


    A maid of short stature opened the door and looked at the barely lit room.


    "Lights On," the man whispered.


    The light bulbs shone a bright green and illuminated the room.


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    Milia snuck into the room, her silver bangs hiding her face. She felt shy about looking at the man''s half-naked body.


    "Master Leon, your clothes have been readied." She then put Leon''s clothes on a sofa facing the TV. "I''ll go and prepare lunch for you."


    "No need," Leon said as he put on his pants. "I''ll be visiting Ryan in a short while. Just leave my clothes here and call Albert."


    "Understood, Master Leon."


    Looking at Milia''s face for a little too long, Leon smiled.


    "You still don''t have the Raveons? If you want, we could buy-"


    "Master Leon! You know- Ma''am will..-"


    In the midst of wearing his shirt, Leon looked at Milia''s distressed attitude and flailing arms in surprise.


    "Haha, I''m sorry, Milia. I know that you also have it hard with mom. In exchange for all the trouble, I''ll treat you to dinner some other time."


    "No, Master Leon, that''s.."


    "Haha, don''t worry. It''s on me."


    Leon pated Milia''s head and walked out of the room, his eyes deep in thought.


    "Master Leon? Is something the matter?"


    Leon paused for a second to look at Milia before smiling, "No, no problem at all."


    Leon then walked through the corridor while Milia just stood dazed, looking at his back.


    "Oh, no. I should call Albert immediately."


    While Milia was contacting Albert, Leon thought back to everything that happened this day.


    Leon and Ryan stayed up all night preparing for Ashes of Gods'' beta release. There weren''t much information online, and the few leaks that circulated the internet they already knew. However, there was still one way to prepare for the release: Playing Demon Heart.


    For months, Leon and Ryan would meet up and play Demon Heart all day. Throughout this time, they got used to the various strategies pertaining to MMOs specifically. Before, they played either single player or fighting games. Thus, their understanding of teamwork was very lackluster.


    For the full duration of their training, they watched all sorts of guides on the internet. Every time a top guild would release its walkthrough of nightmare tier dungeons, they would watch it repeatedly and analyze it. This way, they were able to slowly build up their theoretical understanding of the game. In practice, their implementation would be best described as wacky.


    The knowledge that works at the highest level of play doesn''t necessarily translate to anything useful for normal casual players. At first, Leon and Ryan didn''t even know the optimal spell rotations for their respective classes. So, focusing on high-level strategies did them more harm than good. But as time went on, their hard work paid off. By the time Ashes of Gods was about to be released, both Leon and Ryan were no longer a burden to their raiding teams, but a force to be reckoned with.


    Finally, on June 26th, Leon and Ryan kept grinding with their party until 3 am before calling it a night. Leon woke up later that day in Ryan''s room at 9 o''clock. After having breakfast, they were supposed to start playing Ashes of Gods at the same time.


    However, Ryan had a headache that morning. It came out of nowhere, and Ryan''s immune system was heavily boosted by nanobots. Needless to say, Leon was worried. In this day and age, where illness barely exists, pain became a rarity.


    Out of concern for his friend, Leon asked him to just rest for the day and they would play tomorrow. He then went back to his house, leaving Ryan on his bed. However, barely three hours after, he received a call from Ryan saying that he was alright. They hopped on their Dreamscape and launched Ashes of Gods. Even though they missed the release by a few hours, they were still hyped about being one of the first to test out the game.


    The moment Leon entered, he was awestruck. The blade of grass tickling his feet, the cold spring breeze and the bright sun shining from a distance. Leon couldn''t believe what he saw. He never thought that such a technology was possible, but here it was. Emulating everything the real world had to offer, and even more.


    A warm zephyr tickled his legs before transforming into a violent gale that catapulted him upwards.


    "Kraw! Kraw!"


    "Woah!"


    An eagle''s cry. When Leon turned, his heart thumped. A drift of griffins covered the blue sky, and their piercing cries almost deafened him. There he stood, a hundred feet above the ground, surrounded by the most magical of creatures. But, what a terrible omen it was when a claw from below the plateau appeared.


    "ROAAAAAAAAAR!!"


    A brick red dragon, 30 meters long, soared into the sky. Looking at the drift of griffins, it roared, anger clear in its voice. It opened its mouth, and with contempt in its eyes, it gathered fire mana from all over the mountain range. The magical particles gathered into a ball of fire that Leon could feel the heat of even a hundred meters away. That hot wind for some reason turned into a warm breeze. The gentle zephyr as with last time became more violent and grew into a strong gale. The gust of wind blew him to the side, away from the danger.


    The intro then ended with corpses of the Griffins turned into flame and writing Ashes of Gods in the sky. For the rest of the character creation phase, Leon couldn''t help but think back to the intro scene and how cool it was. Few quick changes to his haircut, red as his hair color, the character creation went like a breeze.


    Then came the part of choosing the city. Leon already planned this part well with Ryan. Since there wasn''t any information about the map online, they decided that once they reached this part of the character creation process, they would log out and talk with each other. And so they did. After taking a mental note of most of the capitals in the map, Leon logged off and called Ryan. After a bit of back and forth, they finally decided on where to start: Stal Capital City.


    Leon logged back into the game, chose his birth city and decided on his name: Leo. He then teleported from the character creation place into the tutorial dojo. The instructor that taught him was a tall man with a clean face and sharp eyes. He quickly went through the three moves he was supposed to show Leo and then summoned a dummy for the latter to train on.


    Leo failed multiple times. No matter how hard he thought about it, the skills just will just activate for a second before dying out a second later. He was deep in thought when from the corner of his eyes, he looked at one of the shadowy figures that stood all around him. That person was already able to activate its skill, as was shown from the trail of energy left by his sword whenever it swung. The shadowy figure was able to do it multiple time consecutively while he was still struggling to activate it once. For a moment, Leo was full of awe and respect for the unknown figure. He then tried one more time, and finally, he was successful in activating Empowered Slash. He was then able to activate the two last spells of the warrior class without many hurdles afterward.


    When the shadowy figure went out of the dojo, Leo quickly followed it. However, the moment he went out of the door, someone tugged at his back. He turned around only to see a face he knew all too well.


    "Ryan!"


    The same round eyes, the same dark pupils, the same short black hair.


    "Ryan, you really didn''t change anything."


    "Hehe," Ryan scratched his head. "I was too excited to play, so I just left everything as default."


    Ryan then took a more dignified pose and coughed in his hand.


    "Also, my name is not Ryan in game. I''m DepressedRyan since I''m permanently depressed."


    "Hahaha, you? Depressed? What kind of joke is that?"


    "Haha! But forget about me. Where were you going? I saw you tunnel visioning on something."


    "Ah, I think I just saw a pro," answered Leo, his face turning serious.


    "A pro?"


    Leo looked sideways, remembering his encounter with the shadowy figure. "Yeah, I know. How can there be a pro this early in the game? But believe me, his movements were just so clean, and he was able to activate those skills so much earlier than everyone else." Leo looked at DepressedRyan in the eyes this time. "Which reminds me, how many tries did it take you to get them down?"


    "Oh, yeah, those were pretty weird. It took me like two to three tries to fully activate them, other than Dash which I did instantly."


    "Yeah, it also took me very long. Wait-" Realisation dawned on Leo for a second as he finally registered DepressedRyan''s answer. "Two to three times?!"


    "Hmm? Yeah...?" DepressedRyan tilted his head.


    "Are you for real?! It took me like a dozen tries or so!"


    Remembering this discussion, Leon chuckled. Even this early on in the game, Ryan showed his massive potential. We really are two very different beings, Ryan. Leon was out of his reverie by the time he reached the main entrance of the mansion he lived in. All around him, decorations and paintings of his ancestors covered the walls.


    "Where are you going, young man?"


    Hearing the familiar, high pitched feminine voice, Leon grumbled and turned around.


    "Mom, I''m going to Ryan''s house."


    "I haven''t seen you since yesterday morning. Were you playing games for all that time?!" Leon''s mom''s voice turned into an even higher pitch at the end, showcasing her erupting anger.


    However, Leon didn''t let her words affect his emotional state. He just looked at her calmly, even apathetically, but said nothing.


    Leon''s mom stomped her right foot in anger, looked up to the ceiling and raised her voice even higher.


    "Ah! I just wish you were like your brother. Look at him! He is already a senior executive at Omega9. He is selling those games that you like so much to you and people like you. While you stay here wasting time, he is out there making money!"


    At the mention of his brother, Leon bit his lips and looked down. He then looked up at his mother, his eyes resolute.


    "My brother has nothing do with anything I do. He is his own person. Mom, I''m going to Ryan''s house now. Take care of yourself."


    Leon''s mom didn''t respond, and he didn''t expect a response either. Once she enters her naggy state, there is no reasoning with her. Understanding that Leon just walked off the main entrance and closed the door behind him. Standing next to the entrance of the garden, an old man welcomed him with a bow.


    "Albert, we''re going to Ryan''s house."


    "As you wish, young master," the thin old man replied. He was dressed in a black butler suit. His hair was grey and his face was gentle. Whenever Leon would look at him, his worries would dissipate. Albert just had that kind of healing aura around him.


    "Oh, you''re not putting your Raveons on today, Albert?" Leon asked in surprise.


    "Ah, I just took them off for a moment, young master. They''re in the car. Sometimes, they make my eyes itchy so I have to take them off," Albert answered with a smile.


    "I understand. Your health first, Albert."


    The two then made their way to the mansion''s parking lot where a stylized sports car stood. Violet, purple and sky blue were the main ingredients of this masterpiece. An aerodynamic design, a slick looking front to back, and doors that open vertically. This car was a feast for the eyes; a gift from his late father.


    "Young master."


    Albert bowed in front of Leon, waiting for him to enter. Leon swiftly complied. Albert entered right after and with that, they took off.


    "Albert, I also left my Raveons in the car last time. Do you have them?"


    "Yes, young master."


    With a dull "clitch" went out of the back of the front seat. Glasses that shone with a green neon light stood on top of it. Leo picked them up and wore them, but the view in front of him didn''t change.


    Leon moved next to the window and watched the scenery outside. They quickly entered the city and with it, a futuristic outlandish view greeted them. Tall skyscrapers, robots everywhere, and cars entering underground tunnels like wormholes. However, most surprising of all were the people walking around in the streets. More precisely, what was surrounding them.


    Stylized clouds raining torrents, faces with hearts instead of eyes, and a myriad of different emoji-like caricature stood next to each and every person. Shops had mermaids flying from their doors to the open sky, showcasing their clothing fashion; anime characters eating a thousand different food in front of restaurants and a thousand other fantasy-like view filled the city.


    Leon looked at all of this with cold eyes. He was already used to it. This culture of extreme extravagance. However, maybe out of curiosity, he asked Albert.


    "Hey, Albert. What do you think of Augmented Reality, and the Raveons that boosted it? It must feel weird, living in this world where everyone shares everything to everyone."


    "Haha, young master. While I did live in a world where none of this new stuff existed, it doesn''t mean that I can''t accept it. But, what do you think young master?"


    "I think it''s fake," Leon replied bluntly.


    "Haha, young master." Albert smiled gently. "Sometimes, people like to have those lies surround them. It makes them feel more secure."


    The rest of the journey was uneventful. Leon didn''t speak much, he just looked at the window lost in his thoughts, while Albert kept silently driving.

 62 Kleon

    From behind the mist, around thirty players stood. Murmurs and whispers covered the area.


    "Silence, everyone."


    The murmurs died down after Shesmu''s order and everyone''s attention was focused on him.


    "Congratulation. Thanks to all of you guys'' effort, we were able to hold off the horde of hounds and emerge victoriously." Shesmu then took a lighter tone as he continued speaking. "After the little break that we had, we will now continue our journey to the target point. We still have around 3 hours left, and we have no idea about what kind of trials are awaiting us."


    "What about the disguised monster?" A person from the back snarled.


    A red-haired person strode towards the front and faced Shesmu.


    "We still haven''t made any progress in finding the disguised monster. I thought that if we did as you said, we would have found him already by now. Wasn''t that what you promised?!"


    For a second, Shesmu stayed silent and didn''t respond to the red-haired player.


    Looking at Shesmu being silent, Arthur stepped up.


    "Hey, stop that. Since Shesmu took the lead, no one had died. I think that''s good enough proof that he is a good leader."


    The red-haired player grinned in contempt at Arthur''s argument.


    "Since no one died from the moment he took the lead, you could conclude that he is a great leader. But you know what you could also conclude?" The red-haired player raised his voice and looked back at all the players behind him. "That he is the monster, and that''s why no one died. It''s so that he can gain our trust and trap us all later down the line!"


    Murmurs and whispers became even more prominent after the red player''s shocking revelation. Everyone started looking at Shesmu with the corner of their eyes, stealing glances to see if he was actually a monster.


    "Haha," Shesmu chuckled under his breath.


    "What are you laughing for?"


    "What''s your name, mister red hair?"


    "Kleon, that''s my name."


    "Haha, great name. Mister Kleon, what you just said was great. Doubt me! Suspect me! I don''t mind that. Just don''t trust what anyone tells you, because anyone could be the disguised monster."


    Kleon stayed silent for a second before laughing.


    "Haha, is that your speech so that you gain back our trust, monster?"


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    Shesmu smiled at the obvious taunt.


    "Well, not really but¡­ I''ll make a bet with you if you don''t mind."


    Kleon tilted his head at Shesmu''s declaration. He was puzzled by what Shesmu meant.


    "If I don''t find the disguised monster by the end of the second challenge. I''ll log out and lose all my progress in this tower. This also means that I won''t receive any rewards for making it this far, other than the loot I gained already."


    "Oh!"


    Surprised exclamations overlapped as the crowd couldn''t believe what Shesmu just said. He was willing to bet what he worked so hard for just to quench a revolt made by a baseless conjecture.


    "Haha, okay then. You can''t take that back, else I''ll personally kill you and send you out of this tower!"


    "Well, you''ll not be able to do that, but whatever floats your boat, man," Shesmu muttered under his breath.


    "Eh? Did you say something?"


    "No, nothing. Moving on, we don''t have that much time left, but I think that one important thing needs to be discussed first."


    Shesmu looked at the crowd, and once he made sure that the earlier cacophony was silenced, he continued.


    "Staying on the subject of the disguised monster. I''m sure that many of you already have their own theories about it. But just to make sure, I''ll reiterate everything we currently know about it."


    Shesmu took a deep breath before continuing.


    "First of all, the monster knows about the existence of players. Else, there is no way it could blend in. Second of all, the monster must have access to at least some of the memories of the person it copies. The same reasoning as the first one, if it doesn''t even have a basic understanding of the person it copies, there is no way it could blend in. Third of all, the monster must have some kind of offensive abilities. If it didn''t, it wouldn''t be considered a hidden BOSS, and it wouldn''t be able to kill us either way. For now, this is all."


    "One last announcement before we take off. I want everyone who isn''t part of my, Arthur''s, or Hector''s team party up and decide on a leader. Please make sure to decide on your representative before half an hour passes. We don''t know when we''ll have to fight other monsters, so that can''t take too long. With that, let''s go. For victory!"


    "For victory!"


    Arthur, Hector and the rest of the crowd followed Shesmu''s chant before departing. Shesmu took the lead before Arthur and Hector reached up to him.


    "That was nerve-wracking. Good job on handling that situation, Shesmu," said Arthur.


    "Truly, but that bet was something else. You really went all in on that one, Shesmu. Haha!"


    "Well, I think it''s fun," said Shesmu with a smile.


    "Fun?" Hector asked.


    "Yeah, it''s fun. We fear chaos because it''s the environment where the disguised monster thrives best, but it''s also where he is the most active and most vulnerable. I think playing on that thin line is fun."


    "Haha," Arthur laughed. "I didn''t know that you were this type of adrenaline junkie. But it''s all good, I too am like that. Let''s have some fun beating that monster''s ass when he finds him later, haha!"


    While Arthur was talking, Shesmu saw from the corner of his eyes, Amaterasu lingering in the back. Seeing that she felt too awkward coming up to him and talking while he was surrounded by the other party leaders, he signaled her with his hand.


    "Hey, Amaterasu. Come on over."


    Shesmu then coiled his hand over Amaterasu''s neck and scratched her head with his other hand.


    "This little beast is a fast one. Don''t let her small frame delude you, she bites hard!"


    Amaterasu forced her way out of Shesmu''s grab pointed the tip of her sword at his neck.


    "What did you just say about me? I think I misheard something."


    Shesmu put his hands up and backed off in dread while chuckling nervously.


    "Haha, she is indeed a fierce one," commented Hector.


    After Amaterasu sheathed her sword, Shesmu focused back on the two team leaders.


    "Well, everyone, other than the bet with the red-haired guy, I also made another bet. If Amaterasu and Kazumi get to find the monster before I do, a reward awaits them. I don''t know where Kazumi is right now, but please introduce Amaterasu to your teams. I''m sure she would love to know them more. Once Kazumi comes, I''ll send him your way too, is that alright with you?"


    "Sure, I like bets. If I could help this little miss get something from you, then I wouldn''t mind. Haha."


    "Same here Shesmu. Anything I can do to help an old friend."


    "I owe you guys one. Thanks a lot." Shesmu then looked at Amaterasu. "Here, Amaterasu. You should thank them too."


    "Thank you very much, Mister Arthur, mister Hector," Amaterasu bowed and said.


    "Well, come with me first," Hector requested. "I''m sure that Robin and you will have lots to talk about. She loves talking with competitive gamer girls, Haha!"


    "Okay, then I will take my leave for now. Come to me later when you''re done with Hector."


    Arthur took his leave and Hector and Amaterasu followed soon after. Shesmu was left alone, spearheading the group, DepressedRyan still on his back. The mist became less and less dense as time went on. By this point, you could see a fair distance ahead.


    Shesmu kept silence for the whole trip until Kazumi came from behind and asked.


    "Great Master, are you alone? Where is Amaterasu?"


    Shesmu looked back at Kazumi, and he couldn''t help but remember the scene from before. Kazumi''s cold eyes and decisive tone couldn''t leave Shesmu''s mind. However, he decided that it wasn''t the time to confront him about it yet.


    "Yeah, she went to talk with Hector and Arthur''s team. She is working hard for the bet, you know?"


    "Haha, that''s such an Amaterasu thing to do. Even before, she did her best at anything she did."


    Shesmu looked at Kazumi''s smile and stayed silent for a second.


    "Kazumi, are they done yet? Choosing their team leader that is."


    Kazumi scratched his head and responded, "So you knew. My instinct told me that the monster could be in the separated parties. So, I went and talked with everyone to see if there was anyone suspicious. For the leader, they decided on Kleon- the red-haired guy. He will come in a second to talk to you."


    Just as Kazumi finished talking, Kleon appeared from behind the mist.


    "Hey, gold eye. The separated parties decided to have me as their leader. I still don''t trust you and think that you might be the monster, but since I''m their leader, I will force myself to work with you."


    Kleon''s speech was as snarly as ever, but Shesmu''s smile never left his face. He went for a handshake which Kleon reluctantly complied to.


    "That''s all I ask for. Pleased to work with you."

 63 Announcemen

    Hey everyone, it''s author-san. Now depending on which platform you''re reading this from, I might be still be named Shesmu or might have already rebranded to Yorth. This was done so as to differentiate myself from my character, and not give the impression that my story is a wish-fulfillment or a self-insert one.


    Anyway, enough of that, we both that that''s not what you''re interested in so let''s discuss the elephant in the room. The hiatus. Is it finally over? Are we finally gonna continue this volume that should have ended almost eight months ago? Well, the answer to that is a bit complicated.


    In the past year, many things happened. I went to Japan for example and drew a very trashy one-shot manga. I started working with a few friends of mine on a video game (A visual novel), and that was really fun. I got to know lots of cool and talented artists. However, even as those days went by and those events happened around me, there was a not single morning where I woke and didn''t think about Re: Sword Emperor, about all the readers that really loved the story and wanted it to continue. But, for some reason, I couldn''t find it in me to sit down, continue writing the chapter, and post it.


    So, I decided to do a bit of editing. I thought at first that it''s just going to be some minor edits. Some grammar mistakes here and there, typos, sentence structure, nothing too crazy. But the moment I opened that google doc and started typing those words, I soon knew that it''s not going to be so simple. 16k words later, and my initial impression was confirmed. I still haven''t even reached the time travel part. All of this work was basically just a backstory. But it felt so good, so right.


    The characters I created, the events that happened in those 16 thousand words felt much more fleshed out than anything that happened in the main story. That''s how I knew that I found something magical, something that would have been worth the wait. The wait that spanned for too long.


    So, it''s in that spirit that I''m writing this post. To say that I''m still alive, that I''m still writing, trying to make something that you would love to read.


    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Ps: The one year anniversary is drawing close, will I get some gift for you guys? *wink*

 64 Annoucemen

    Hey everyone, it''s author-san. Now depending on which platform you''re reading this from, I might be still be named Shesmu or might have already rebranded to Yorth. This was done so as to differentiate myself from my character, and not give the impression that my story is a wish-fulfillment or a self-insert one.


    Anyway, enough of that, we both that that''s not what you''re interested in so let''s discuss the elephant in the room. The hiatus. Is it finally over? Are we finally gonna continue this volume that should have ended almost eight months ago? Well, the answer to that is a bit complicated.


    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    In the past year, many things happened. I went to Japan for example and drew a very trashy one-shot manga. I started working with a few friends of mine on a video game (A visual novel), and that was really fun. I got to know lots of cool and talented artists. However, even as those days went by and those events happened around me, there was a not single morning where I woke and didn''t think about Re: Sword Emperor, about all the readers that really loved the story and wanted it to continue. But, for some reason, I couldn''t find it in me to sit down, continue writing the chapter, and post it.


    So, I decided to do a bit of editing. I thought at first that it''s just going to be some minor edits. Some grammar mistakes here and there, typos, sentence structure, nothing too crazy. But the moment I opened that google doc and started typing those words, I soon knew that it''s not going to be so simple. 16k words later, and my initial impression was confirmed. I still haven''t even reached the time travel part. All of this work was basically just a backstory. But it felt so good, so right.


    The characters I created, the events that happened in those 16 thousand words felt much more fleshed out than anything that happened in the main story. That''s how I knew that I found something magical, something that would have been worth the wait. The wait that spanned for too long.


    So, it''s in that spirit that I''m writing this post. To say that I''m still alive, that I''m still writing, trying to make something that you would love to read.


    PS: The one year anniversary is drawing closer, will I get some gift from you guys?

 66 Teaser #1

    Crescent, the leader of his team, was going over the details of his plan, one last time. "Remember to time the cloak buff at 7%. The moment I go in, teleport to the other side of the canyon. Draw their attention. I have the array ready, and if I combo it with my dark star, I can one-shot it at 5%. They don''t have the raw burst to outdamage me with their comp."


    Crescent patted both of his teammates'' shoulders, psyching them up.


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    "Vain, Yorth, we''ve gone over this hundreds of times in practice. Think of it as another practice session, no pressure. We''ll win!"


    Crescent looked back at the Serpent, his eyebrows furrowed. "Guys, it''s time. Yorth, cloak. Vain, TP*!"


    The duo jumped into action. Yorth opened a scroll before biting his thumb. Blood flowed and Vain formed a circle on the scroll. He chanted as the blood shone.


    While Yorth channeled the array, Vain chanted a spell.


    A dark egg-shaped portal appeared before Vain. It rippled like the surface of a lake. At the same time, Yorth''s scroll dimmed in its luminosity, and as it did Crescent started to fade. Gradually he became more spectral before entirely vanishing.


    Yorth and Vain jumped into the dark portal, while the invisible Crescent soared into the air, coming closer to his target: The World Serpent.


    Meanwhile, Rev, who was tasked to scout for his team, felt a strange magical energy surge within the exit of the canyon. His eyes darted towards its source. Two players stood atop the edge of the canyon, charging a spell towards the boss. Rev was prepared to intercept them when he stopped dead in his tracks.


    ''Crescent isn''t there!''


    That realization filled him with an ominous feeling. He summoned two orbs: one golden, the other blue. The orbs moved up and down, left and right, circling him in a spiral that seemed infinite¡ªand they fused. A new, bigger orb was created by their union.


    The completed orb pulsated, radiating a wave that encompassed the whole field. Suddenly, Rev turned his gaze to the air towards a specific location. He bit his thumb and he cast the blood that oozed out on the mysterious orb. Its blue began tinting more towards purple. The orb shone with a myriad of color aura.


    Rev shouted a simple incantation, "Revelation!"


    Another pulse surged to fill the field. Rev detected a presence and dashed towards it. As he did, an ethereal figure appeared right where he''d sensed something. The transparent figure appeared like a ghost or djinn. Gradually he took corporeal form. He''d found the missing Crescent!


    Crescent looked at Rev in surprise. His eyes focused on the orb beside his opponent which resulted in the shock fading into annoyance. At that moment, multiple fireballs appeared around him as he swiftly drew a magic circle. The fireballs shot towards Rev like missiles. Rev watched incoming attacks, responding by nullifying his momentum and redirecting it midair. He started zigzagging with incredible speed, and before anyone could notice it, afterimages appeared.


    The fireballs Crescent had launched all missed their target, hitting nothing, and passing harmlessly through the afterimages. Rev took out a kunai, casting it towards his opponent. Crescent, who was layering one magic circle atop another, was forced to end his chanting, breaking his spell. He created a hexagonal ethereal shield to block the kunai. However, Rev''s weapon easily broke through Crescent''s shield, to pierce his shoulder.


    A black and green aura encompassed Rev, further increasing his speed. Crescent, still hurting from that kunai, was shocked by the display of speed. He desperately began chanting a spell as Rev closed in. Rev reached him in half a second. His knife was coated with a dense black aura, ready to strike. Rev swung his knife to slash Crescent, intending to slit his belly open. He was confused when Crescent disappeared.


    Behind a rock, one of which littered the exit of the canyon, Crescent hid, grimacing in pain. Blood continued to flow from the injury he''d endured. He wrenched out the kunai still lodged in his shoulder to throw it to the ground. He summoned a red potion. The moment he drank it, the gruesome injury started to heal. First, the cracked and chipped bone, then followed by his muscles, veins, and finally his skin. After the healing process was complete, his shoulder was repaired, good as new.


    "Sig-"


    "Where do you think you''re going?"


    Air stuck in Crescent''s throat, dread consuming him. Rev stood behind him. He casually bent down to take up his kunai stabbed into the earth. He turned it to reveal a seal which was carved on its blade.


    "It''s a shame you didn''t look closer at this. Perhaps then you might have had time to prepare. Your teleport skill is still on cooldown, it''s checkmate."


    Rev''s black and green aura surged. Crescent fled, soaring into the sky because he sensed impending violence. Despite his attempted flight, Rev''s speed overwhelmed him. The moment he took off the ground, Rev had followed. Two slashes were the only things he saw and felt. Just from them, his HP bar reduced by half. Three magical circles formed a triangle beneath Crescent. He then chanted a spell in a language foreign to Rev.


    He didn''t want to leave anything to chance, so upon noticing the magical circles, he flung his knife towards Crescent, who was still chanting. By the time the knife reached him, it stopped but an inch away from his vulnerable throat. Deafening silence enveloped the world. It was like the calm before the storm, the silence but a prelude to a horror yet to come.


    A thundering explosion engulfed both players. Crescent was sent flying above. It took time before he could stabilize his trajectory. Dust filled the air. Rocks below crumbled and fell, filling the canyon as a result of the explosion. Crescent couldn''t see anything. He couldn''t determine where Rev was nor what state he was in.


    A murderous intent gave Crescent pause. He turned to see the cloaked figure of Rev. Crescent formed a shield to defend himself, however, his opponent easily broke it. Rev, once again, became a flash of green and black light. He rocketed through Crescent multiple times, further damaging him with each hit. Rev accelerated every time he struck successfully. Soon it felt as if he was hitting Crescent from every direction at once.


    Looking from above, Rev formed something that appeared to be a dark green star, Crescent becoming its core.


    Crescent''s HP was chipped down until it reached 10% causing his bar to glow bright red. Crescent attempted escaping from the brutal barrage by invoking multiple shields. However, they were all destroyed instantly. Left with no other choice, he summoned a red orb from his inventory.


    Rev dashed towards Crescent, intending on finishing him, but he noticed the newly summoned orb. It transfigured into a ball of fire and then stretched. It finalized its form after taking various types, becoming a flame eastern dragon. The dragon roared with supreme might. It trained on Rev immediately, its jaws opened wide. Just before biting down into him, it exploded becoming a surging wave of fire.


    The explosion turned the sky crimson with flames. The air itself burned, creating a thick cloud of smoke. Crescent examined Rev, still breathing heavily after that surprise retaliation. He detected no sign of movement. Reflexively, knowing his opponent''s fighting style somewhat, Crescent looked up. Above him, Rev was on the offense again already.


    Rev dove at him at an insane rate. It could not be blocked, and there was no time for a reaction. Intuition could not save him. Rev''s kunai plunged deeply into Crescent''s chest with a wet thud as they collided. The force of this final strike drove his opponent''s corpse to crash on the ground, digging a grave for him in the process.


    Crescent''s HP was zero.


    Rev landed beside Crescent and clinically eyed his opponent''s corpse with cold diamond-like eyes. He sheathed his knife and recalled his aura from it. Crescent''s corpse slowly collapsed into colorful dust; first, his feet, followed by the rest of his body. However, right before his face collapsed, a mocking smile caressed Crescent''s lips. Rev stared blankly at the spot where Crescent had left the world. His heart sank, the smile bothering him. Cold sweat dripped down his back. Rev turned towards the site of the main battle, back towards the World Serpent. Its HP was at 5%. He heaved a sigh of relief, feeling foolish over worrying for nothing, even if the smile was peculiar. Relieved as he was, the golden and purple orb he''d summoned told him his job was not over yet.

 68 Teaser #2

    "L-love you¡­ papa." Her barely discernible mumbling warmed Shesmu''s heart, bringing a smile to his face.


    "Love you too, sweetie." He kissed Eva goodnight on the forehead before switching off the light. Leaving his daughter''s room, he climbed up the stairs and entered the master bedroom.


    Sophie was still in her underwear, in the middle slipping into her pajamas. She was beautiful, her dark brown hair reaching to her waist. She looked back at Shesmu and smiled.


    "So, did she like the tale of Kaleh?"


    "She didn''t get the chance to. I was barely at the start and she was already off to neverland."


    Sophie chuckled at the response. She was already done putting on her clothes and slid into the bed. Shesmu quickly followed suit.


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    "You know, Eva had lots of fun today. She kept watching you guys, mouth open, for the whole day. It''s as if she saw real-life heroes battling in front of her."


    Shesmu smiled. Even though his heart still clenched in pain, his smile remained. Which father wouldn''t smile at the thought of his daughter? He looked at Sophie before leaning in and playing with the strands of her hair with his hand.


    "She too will become one."


    "You are her hero. Strong, untouchable and unbeatable." Her hand caressed Shesmu''s face gently and her eyes glistened with a thousand emotions. Her fingers then traced their way from his neck and into his torso, pointing at his heart. "But I know that down here, you''re hurt¡­"


    Shesmu leaned in closer, his hands reached in farther, holding onto her back. Their legs coiled around one another, searching for warmth. Their breaths intertwined, and their eyes connected.


    "Sophie, it''s hard. Allan- Allan has been there for me since before I can even remember. He was always there, in the background, protecting me. He was my guardian angel. He was there when I knew nothing when I had nothing to offer, and he guided me. He was there when we were at the top of our glory, and my confidants were conspiring to betray me. He was protecting me. Without Allan, there is no BlackMoon."


    Sophie stayed silent. She knew that Shesmu wasn''t finished.


    "Sophie, you know why I called the meeting tomorrow?" Shesmu''s voice was soft, breathy, and full of affection.


    Sophie pinched his forehead and chuckled. "Silly you, for how long do you think we''ve been married? Of course, I know¡­" Sophie''s voice was soft like the summer breeze. Shesmu could no longer hold his instincts and deeply kissed her.


    "Tomorrow, you''re going to protect him. Like he always protected you." Her finger ran up Shesmu''s chest slowly, and back to his neck. She leaned in, her breath tickling his ear.


    "Tomorrow, you''re going to gather everyone, all of our friends and do the one thing you should have done long ago. Disband the team."


    Her words hit him like a backdrop. There was no need for a response because she was right. Shesmu will disband the team and start a new journey. But the only thing he could focus on now was her. Her beautiful face, her small upturned nose, her emerald eyes, and long, silky hair. She was breathtaking, even more than when he first proposed to her, six years ago.


    Their lips met, brushing softly, delicate like flaps of the butterfly''s wings. He inhaled deeply. It was just long enough that he could inhale her own breath. Her sweet, sweet breath. He hungrily went for more. His hand gripped the back of her head firmly, afraid to let go. His tongue dug deeper searching for treasure in the deep, dark sea. But here she was, his treasure.


    Sophie chuckled. Her deep, kind voice soothing his heart. But she didn''t say anything. Words were unnecessary. They both knew exactly what the other felt. That''s precisely why Shesmu couldn''t help but fall head over heels over her all over again.


    And as such, they continued. Cuddled, hugged and kissed until they could no more. By the end, when their eyelashes were too heavy to bear, their hands reached out for each other, and their fingers intertwined one last time.