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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The recommended amount is 5.

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

"Fuck!"

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

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

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

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

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

"Hehe, is that so?" Iano giggled

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Hacker?"

"Yeah, don't you kn-"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Are you going to be alright by yourself?"

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

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

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

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

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

"What are you talking about?"

"You do know what this place is right?"

"The Impure Sanctum?"

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

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

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

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

"What did you say?"

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

"You're the fucking cowa-"

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

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

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

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

"Timezup? That's a cool name! I'm GhostDKing, nice to meet you too!" We were both all smiles as we shook hands and introduced ourselves.

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

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

"Is it just us 3?" Timez asked.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Yeah, maybe haha"

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

[You are about to enter the Impure Sanctum.

Recommended level 25

Recommended part size 5

Do you still want to enter]

[Yes/No]

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

* * * * *

'Nova'

Inside the shop 'Elite Armory'

*Ding Ding*

A familiar door chime could be heard as a man with brown hair and black armor walked in.

"Hi welcome to Eli-" The young female Vita cut her greeting short when she realized who walked in. "Oh it's only you Maico" she said playfully

"Haha, nice to see you too Forkroo"

Forkroo only smiled and went back to tidying up the place. There was a large variety of armor pieces, weapons, and accessories. Every single item shimmered and was unmistakably top of the line. Any appraiser could see at first glance the utmost quality of craftsmanship in every piece.

"You don't have to do all that you know." Ca1tSith felt a sense of guilt as he watched Forkroo reach up high and crouch down low. She wiped off even the most minimal specks of dust that were staining the pieces that were displayed.

"It's the least I can do!" She said with a cheerful smile "I mean you guys have taken care of me over the years. Even in RO, I was always being helped. I want to at least pay back a little of the generosity you have shown me."

"Alright, just don't work too hard"

"Pfff! This isn't hard at all haha!" She laughed waving the dust cloth she held in her hand.

"...If you say so" Ca1tSith could only smile and scratch his head as Forkroo continued to clean up. He looked around the shop for a few seconds.

"By the way, where is my brother?"

Forkroo stopped cleaning and stood up. She ran her hand through her blonde hair to move it away from her face. She glanced at a door located behind the counter.

"Umm, I think he's in the back making something." She said with her thumb pointing over her shoulder.

"I see, thank you. I'm going to talk to him." He quickly made his way behind the counter. As he reached for the door, Forkroo shyly spoke "Umm… Did something happen?" Concern could be felt in her voice. In a game where you can instantly message other players no matter the distance. It is rare to opt towards talking in person. Especially for Ca1tSith whose social group is exceptionally large. But the thing that filled her with the most concern was the red Icon that floated over his head. A red skull, the mark of someone who killed another player, a PK.

He paused in front of the door. Not knowing what to say he hesitated before answering in a low voice. "... Not yet". He looked back for a moment to look at Forkroo. "..." He didn't know what else to say, it wasn't easy for him. He turned away hoping not to worry her any further. But it was too late, Forkroo had not seen such a serious look on his face in a long time. She didn't know what would happen or who was involved. But her intuition told her things wouldn't be the same.

"I'll be going then" he began to open the door. But before he could step inside he heard Forkroo call out to him.

"Be kind to each other!" She didn't know about the current situation. But she was always concerned about the two brothers getting along like a worried mother.

"Haha" he let out a laugh "Of course!" he looked back at Forkroo with a reassuring smile before stepping through the door.

*Clang*

*Clang*

*Clang*

The sound of metal could be heard when he entered the room. There were boxes upon boxes stacked on huge metal shelves along the walls. Each containing rare, raw material for crafting. In a corner, a light illuminating the room could be seen. A man sat in front of that light swinging a hammer down over and over again. Ca1tSith made his way towards the man with the hammer.

*CLANG*

*CLANG*

*CLANG*

The sound of metal crashing against metal became louder as he approached. With each strike, sparks flew across the room like fireworks.

Ca1tSith stood behind the Krux sitting in front of a furnace crashing his hammer on an anvil. Red hot steel could be seen being molded into shape. Ca1tSith stood quietly behind the man as he watched the process of a masterpiece being made.

*Tzzz*

The red hot blade was dipped in a tub of water. The blade was then removed from the tub and the final product was visible. Ca1tSith could only stare in admiration.

“I suspect you came here to tell me something instead of watching me make weapons.” The Krux said as he looked at the blade in his hand.

“… You’re right. There’s something we have to talk about.”

“I’m listening.” The Krux continued to work o. the blade.

“The truce will most likely end soon.”

“....” The Krux froze like a statue with the blade in his hands when he heard those words.

“Isn’t that what you always wanted Zolos?”

Zolos put the blade down on the anvil and stood up, he turned to face his brother. “But is it what you want?”

“…” The one to stay silent this time was Ca1tSith

“Are you and TheDarkOnes prepared for something like this? But more importantly, have you thought about her?” Zolos looked past the door leading to the store’s front counter. “Can you keep her safe?”

“I can, that’s what I’ve- " He cut himself short "No, it’s what TheDarkOnes have been preparing for”

“Good.” Zolos sat back down and continued to work on the blade.

“What about you? Are you ready?”

“What do you think I’ve been doing for the last 6 months?”

“Haha that’s true, that’s all you ever think about.”

“So the world is finally starting to move again, I’m glad. Things were starting to get stagnate” Zolos finished the blade by carving his name right above the hilt. He put it away in one of the many boxes that lined the room’s walls. “What about David? He will get caught in the middle of all this”

“Well, then it’s a good thing he has 2 big brothers to watch out for him, isn’t it? Haha”

“I guess we’ll have to. What about Tru? He also just joined with the merge”

“Don’t worry about him. He’s already with TheDarkOnes. We’ll take care of him”

“Good, Tru and David will have to get stronger as soon as possible.” Zolos stood up and began to look through his system menu. "By the way, who did you kill?" he said while looking at the red Icon over his head.

"Haha, no one important"

"Hmm, I see" Zolos simply smiled and continued to scroll to the system menu.

“What are you going to do now?” Ca1tSith asked.

"There are still a few things I need to do"

“Are you going to another PvP Arena in Valhalla?”

“Yeah. I almost have enough points to buy the cores I need.”

“When you’re not crafting your fighting. That’s just like you, Haha”

“And that’s why I’m the strongest”

“But you still refuse to level up past 70. Are you ever going to put that experience you gain in the PvP Arenas to use and level up?”

“I’ll level up when I have to. I’ll see you around brother.” Zolos waved goodbye before vanishing into thin air.

“See you, brother. I’m counting on you…” Ca1tSith said as he stood alone in the room.

* * * * *

Impure Sanctum.

I opened my eyes and found myself in a corridor that was decorated with holy symbols. I immediately noticed the putrid smell that hung in the air. I instinctively covered my nose.

“Ughhhh”

I turned around and saw Hero and Timez standing behind me holding their noses as well.

“Who died here?” Timez said disgustedly.

“I don’t know but I don’t think we should stay here.” Hero suggested

“I agree we should move forward and try to clear this area as soon as possible.”

We all agreed and moved through the corridor until we reached an opening. We came across a large room with many of what appeared to be tombs.

“Is this a crypt?” I brought up the question.

“Looks like it. So the first part of the dungeon is underground. Makes sense” Hero said.

“Wait... what is that? Are those people?” Timez pointed at the opposite end of the crypt. Many people were wearing tattered robes as they appeared to be patrolling the area.

“I think those are priests.” I guessed based on their outward appearance.

“Do you think they're hostile?”

“I’m pretty sure that's the only thing you'll find in this dungeon” Hero said bluntly.

“You’re right, dumb question. Haha” Timez laughed out of embarrassment

“Well, shall we go take care of them then?”

“Wait” before we moved forward I had something to do. I pulled up my system menu and looked at one of my unique traits.

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

[King’s Domain] [Passive][level 3 - 0%]

-Certain abilities can be used within your domain

Summoned pets [7/10]

Range 40m Radius

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

It seemed like using my pets made my unique trait level up much faster. After defeating the field boss Golem and all the other minions my [King’s Domain] leveled up.

“I need you guys to do something for me.” I have not known Herotecha for very long but I felt like I could trust him. As for Timezup I just met him but I had no other choice but to show him my abilities if I wanted to get through this dungeon.

“What is it?” Both Hero and Timez asked

“I need you guys to keep my abilities a secret.”

“Your abilities?”

“Why do we need to keep that a secret?”

“You’ll see” It was a lot easier to show them instead of trying to explain things. I looked at my inventory and looked through some of the dolls that I had obtained. Snakes, Bats, Spiders… I had many dolls from the area around Anka but I wasn’t very excited about summoning any of them.

'Wait a minute'

I remembered I had saved up a few more in another bag. I grabbed my [server transfer bag] and pulled out the dolls I had there.

999 [Raccoon doll]

I had unintentionally put all the raccoon dolls I obtained before the server merge in my [Server transfer bag] since I had 1 free space. I pulled out 3 raccoon dolls and summoned them as pets.

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

GhostDKing’s pet [Raccoon] lvl 1

Strength - 5

Dexterity - 5

Agility - 5

Intelligence - 5

Vitality- 5

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

I had 3 raccoons in front of me. Their base stats were quite low, but I knew this would be the case as they were the weakest monsters in RO.

“Woah! You’re a summoner?!” Timez seemed excited after I summoned 3 monsters before his eyes.

“Yeah, just don’t tell anyone please haha.”

“Of course” Timez was quick to agree with my request.

“Don’t worry, your secret's safe with me” Hero said holding his fist to his chest as if pledging allegiance to me.

“Thank you, I appreciate that.” I looked back inside my server transfer bag and pulled out 3 different pieces of Rainbow candy. “Here take these.” I handed Hero and Timez one piece each.

“Oh, thank you… What is it?”

“It’s candy, it'll give you a buff. It will increase your experience gained by 30%”

“Seriously? Thank you very much!” They both thanked me and devoured the rainbow candy.

“Well then let’s get going.” I walked toward the three robbed beings in the crypt. Hero and Timez followed close behind. I looked down near my feet and saw the 3 little raccoons walking next to me ready for battle.