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

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

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

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

"Call them"

“Oooowoooooooo” Lo howled to the sky.

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

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

"Urgh!"

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

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

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

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

[Your capture skill has leveled up!]

[Lo has leveled up!]

[Bo has leveled up!]

[You have leveled up!]

[Small golem has leveled up]

[Small golem has leveled up]

[Small golem has leveled up]

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

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

"It leveled up!"

I pulled up my unique traits

[King’s Domain] [Passive][level 2 - 0%]

-Certain abilities can be used within your domain

Summoned pets [5/7]

Range 30m Radius

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

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

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

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

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

"I have to upgrade my gear soon"

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

I continued to stare at my sword.

"...Wait"

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

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

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

I looked at my RP

607 [RP]

'Good thing I hunted so much'

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

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

Would you like to learn [Sword skill]?

[Yes/No]

[You have learned [Sword skill]]

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

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

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

"12… 13...14...15"

I counted a total of 15

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

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

GhostDKing’s Pet [Red Wolf] lvl 1

Strength -12

Dexterity - 10

Agility - 14

Intelligence - 5

Vitality- 8

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

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

"Call them here"

"Oowoooo"

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

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

"IT DOESN’T FEEL GOOD DOES IT?!" I yelled at the wolf afflicted by my spell.

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

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

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

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

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

"Don’t even think about it!"

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

One more system message appeared

You acquired a Red wolf doll!

* * * * *

~Somewhere in the moorlands of Initium~

There was a bulky man with red skin clearly of the Barto race sitting with his legs crossed and his eyes closed in the middle of a field. The bulky man seemed to be meditating as he remained still for several minutes. But if one took a step back they would see that the man’s current posture wasn’t very suitable the situation around him.

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

“Hah…” He let out a short sigh before continuing “Are you almost done, boss?”

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

“Are you taking any damage?”

“...No” The Barto hesitated to answer the human who was much smaller and weaker than him.

“Then stay seated, shut the fuck up and don’t forget to cast aggro, I’ll be done when I’m done!”

“… yes boss”

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

The Human continued to kill monster after monster.

[You have leveled up]

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

‘Ahh finally’ the Barto thought to himself as he made an effort to not irritate his master.

“I’m level 14 now”

“Great job boss!” the Barto cheered uncharacteristically for his large physique.

“Shut the fuck up! I don’t need you to tell me I’m doing well dumbass!”

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

“Idiot” the human sneered.

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

“Ah boss, he’s back!”

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

“Looks like you guys just about finished here.”

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

“Nah I found something even better and I thought you might want to go take a look for yourself”

“Oh?” The human raised an eyebrow in interest. “What did you find?

* * * * *

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

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

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

‘This one looks promising’

Cursed arrow lvl 1

Mana cost: 10

Cast time: Instant

Range: 20m

Damage: 20

Curse Damage: 5/2

Duration: 8 seconds

Cooldown: 5s

A skill I unlocked when I reached level 10. It didn’t seem to pack much of a punch but the cooldown made up for that. This skill is easily spammable and it could be my main source of damage. I can use it to support my pets from a distance, it left a curse effect to boot. I chose to max it out.

Cursed arrow: Level 5

Mana cost: 35

Cast time: Instant

Range: 30m

Damage: 80

Curse Damage: 30/2

Duration: 20 seconds

Cooldown: 4s

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

Fear: Level 4

Mana cost: 40

Cast time: Instant

Range: 40m

Curse Damage: 32/2

Duration: 16 seconds

Cooldown: 28 seconds

Even if the skills aren’t very strong the base damage and the curse damage would increase depending on my intelligence. With that in mind, I pulled up my stats and dumped all my skill points on Intelligence once again.

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

[GhostDKing] lvl 13

[HP- 815]

[MP- 405]

Strength - 18

Dexterity - 22

Agility - 24

Intelligence - 86

Mind/Wisdom - 23

Constitution/Vitality - 18

*Luck - 10

Available points: 0

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

“My magic attacks should hit like Truck-Kun now”

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

I now have 4 wolves under my command.

“If I get any more wolves as pets then I’ll have my own wolf pack, and that would mean… I’m the alpha of the pack!”

I felt a sense of joy after saying those words and I couldn’t help but grin at the thought.

“Alright, your name will be... Jo!”

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

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

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

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

“Iano...”