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

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

I couldn’t afford to take too long taking them down, I began to aim for the cracks on their bodies. A yellow number appeared over the golem’s head that was double the normal amount. I glanced over at the combat dialogue that appeared at the left of my HUD

You have hit golem for 8 [Damage]

You have hit golem for 8 [Damage]

You have hit golem for 8 [Damage]

*You have critically hit golem for 16 [Damage]

“It was a critical hit!”

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

[You have leveled up!]

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

*You have critically hit golem for 16 [Damage]

*You have critically hit golem for 16 [Damage]

*You have critically hit golem for 16 [Damage]

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

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

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

“RP... RP... RP”

I had a total of 102 [RP], I looked around my skill and status menu but I couldn’t find anything I could spend the [RP] on.

“What is this for?”

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

[Bamboo Sword [200RP]]

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

“That’s more within my budget”

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

I kept scrolling and found a skill I knew I could use but didn’t exist in MARE, [Capture skill]. This was a skill that could capture monsters and turn them into dolls after you killed them. The dolls could then be summoned as pets. Unfortunately, there were some downsides. You had to start with a level 1 raccoon which you could transform into stronger monsters and only 1 pet could be summoned at a time.

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

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

[Yes/No]

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

I clicked on yes.

[You have learned [Capture Skill]]

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

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

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

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

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

[You have leveled up]

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

I quickly finished off the remaining 3

[You have leveled up]

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

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

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

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

I continued this routine for a while.

[You have leveled up]

[You have leveled up]

I completed Jean’s quest and I was currently level 6. I looked down at the loot with a smile on my face.

“Finally!”

[You have acquired 1 Small Golem doll]

Acquiring a doll was in one of my messages

[Would you like to use Small Golem doll?]

[Yes/No]

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

[Level 1 Small Golem]

I pulled up its stats menu

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

GhostDKing’s Pet [Small Golem]

Strength - 8

Dexterity - 2

Agility - 2

Intelligence - 1

Vitality- 10

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

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

‘Good thing I have 212 [RP]’

[You have leveled up your [capture skill]]

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

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

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

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

[Small Golem has leveled up!]

“Oh”

I was glad to know that my golem leveled up. From now on I don’t think it would have problems fighting other golems if it was 1 on 1. I commanded the golem to retreat since I could see it’s HP bar getting too low. I handled the rest of the golems on my own

[You have level up]

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

It seemed like it was more effective to let my pets get the last hit. But at the speed golems moved and attacked it would take ages to kill 1 monster. I couldn’t afford to wait for them to finish off a monster so I scrapped that idea.

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

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

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

“I have a summoning skill!”

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

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

[Would you like to use Small Golem doll?]

[Yes/No]

As soon as I clicked ‘yes’ another golem appeared next to me.

“.........”

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

“Why is the other golem still here?”

When I used the small golem doll the level 3 golem should have disappeared. But it didn’t... the golems were standing side by side.

“There has got to be some sort of reason for this”

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

“There is no way I can just summon pets indefinitely right?”

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

“Is it my [Unique traits]?”

I quickly pulled up my unique traits.

[King’s Domain] [Passive][level 1 - 26%]

-Certain abilities can be used within your domain

Summoned pets [2/5]

Range 20m Radius

“Ahh”

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

While I was distracted with my own self-admiration, I wasn’t able to see the danger that was approaching me.

*Oooowwwooooo!*

A loud howl snapped me back to reality. I looked towards the source of the sound. There I saw a Red Wolf howling at the sky. It looked almost like a certain red lion from a fantasy game I used to play. But I couldn’t afford to think about such things now the red wolf was calling for its pack that was a mere 300m away. I could see the pack heading towards me.

“Ah, fuck”

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

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

“What the..”

I was a bit surprised when the golems disappeared and reappeared right next to me. It seemed like my pets were limited to [King’s Domain]’s 20m radius. I didn’t have time to worry about my golems as they continued their despawning and respawning.

“FUCK! I’m not going to make it!”

It would take me another 20 minutes running at full speed to reach the town but the wolves were closing in fast. I detected 1 reaching the outer limit of my [King’s Domain] then 2, then 3, then 4. It didn’t take them long to start trying to bite at my ankles.

*Grrrrr!*

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

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough and one of the wolfs leaped on my back and bit my shoulder.

“Argh!”

The sharp pain coursed through my body. I knew from the information my brother gave me that players could feel pain in this game but I didn’t think it would be this bad. I stopped and tossed the wolf off of my back. As soon as I came to a halt the rest of the pack took the opportunity to surround me. I had my golems but we were facing 13 red wolves so the odds weren’t looking too good right now. They were only between levels 1 and 3 but they far outnumbered us.

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

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

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

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

“FUCKK YOU! YOU STUPID FUCKING DOGS LET ME GOOO!!”

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

[Your [Capture Skill] has leveled up]

‘Thanks….. Great to know..’

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

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

“YOU MOTHERFUCKERS!!

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

‘This is it I’m going to die in the beginner’s zone… maybe I should have done the tutorial after all...’

*Ziing*

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

*Urff*

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

“DIE!!”

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

“Hah...Come on! Hahh...Hah...What’s wrong?... Are you scared now?”

They remained motionless for a few seconds.

“…..”

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

“Haaaa...”

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

[HP [3/705]

“Damn.. haha. haha hahaha”

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

“Hahahaha…haha.. hahh...hah..I made it!”

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

“Hey, are you okay?”

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

“Hah.. yeah... I’m good now thanks to you..”

“glad to hear it! I was afraid I might have been too late”

He continued as he stretched his hand down towards me.

“The name’s Herotecha, what’s yours?”