**

Sweat broke out on the blacksmith's forehead as he looked at Albert in the eyes. At the moment the old dwarf knows that Albert knows that he's desperate to study the weapon that he had just engraved. With that knowledge alone, Albert could demand for a sum so large that it could cause him to become bankrupt. And being bankrupt at the age of one hundred and thirty four is not very good for a dwarf, even though he still has more than half a century left to live.

Albert's face changed and began to look more serious. As his face changed, the old blacksmith's sweat began to trickle down his face. At the moment, Albert was thinking of an exchange. It was obvious that the old blacksmith had in mind that Albert might ask him for every last piece of coin that he has. But Albert has many things in mind other than coins. While Albert continued to stare at the old dwarf with a serious face, suddenly he burst out in laughter.

"Hahaha. I'm sorry that was just too cruel. How about we do bargain?"

The old sighed in relief.

"You scalawag! You had me!" The old blacksmith wiped the sweat off of his forehead with the back of hand. "What kind of bargain do you have in mind?"

"In exchange for letting you study my weapon I would ask for a dimensional storage ring and for you to become the blacksmith for my soon to be Clan."

"Soon to be Clan? Bwahahaha!" The old dwarf couldn't help but laugh. "You're trying to recruit me to be in a Clan that you haven't made yet?"

Albert grinned at the old blacksmith. "There are other perks as well. If I find any weapons in my travels, I would be sure to bring it to you so that you may be able to study it."

The old blacksmith stayed silent for a moment. In his mind, studying the weapon that belongs to Albert is much more valuable than dozens of storage rings. Even several of the highest quality storage ring wouldn't compare to the value of the weapon Albert has in his possession and for the old dwarf to be offered to study other weapons would a bonus. While the old man thought about the offer he decided to retrieve something from the back of the shop.

"Wait one moment please."

Moments later the old blacksmith came out from the back carry with him a small box. The old dwarf opened the box and presented it to Albert.

"I hope this will do."

Albert was astounded to see the ring that was presented to him by the old blacksmith. It's a SS grade dimensional storage ring. This magical ring is the highest grade of dimensional ring and it is said that it could possibly carry a house inside it. Magical rings such as dimensional storage rings are a must have items for adventurers. The advantage of having a dimensional storage ring is that one can carry a finite amount of items without the burden of the weight.

Albert took out the baseball bat that was just engraved and handed it to the old dwarf.

"This is for you to study."

When the blacksmith received the aluminum baseball bat, he couldn't take his eyes off of it. The old dwarfs' hands started to shake and became sweaty as he touches the metallic surface of the weapon. Even though Albert had lent the weapon to the old blacksmith doesn't means that he fully trust him yet. This is why he handed the blacksmith the one that he had engraved earlier. Because when an item is engraved with a specific person's name, it means that only the person who has his or her name engraved to the item, will be able to use the item indefinitely. If the item is used by the person other than the one who's name is engraved on the item, then the item will be teleported to the location of the owner. This is why people make use of the engrave system, for security assurances. But there is one insufficiency with this system, only when the owner dies will the engravement disappear from the item.

"I'll return to you until I have created the Clan. For now use this weapon, study it at your heart's content."

"Thank you, Clan leader. Also I would like to introduce myself since I haven't had the chance yet. My name is Athos of Einbronch"

"Please to meet you Athos. You already know our names. We'll be on our way."

Albert and Lily added Athos in their friend list just before they left the shop. It was convenient that Albert had recruited a blacksmith in his soon to be made clan. Even though the clan hasn't been made nor the name decided, but at least they now have a very experienced blacksmith who will be very useful to them in the future. After exiting the shop, Albert placed all their belongings inside the dimensional storage ring. Albert also took out the spare baseball bat that he had in his backpack so that he can use it until he could retrieve his original weapon from Athos the blacksmith. The two were done preparing and began to follow the transparent arrow in front of them.

**

Its been hours since Albert and Lily had been following the direction of the transparent arrow in front of them. Currently the two are on the quest to become Acolytes and for the first part of their quest, they have to follow the course of the transparent arrow. So far there hasn't been any problems. Since they both have overpowered weapons at their disposal, Albert felt like they could take on anything. Lily on the other hand is still a little cautious. But her confidence on fighting monsters has improved greatly because of Albert.

When Albert met Lily, she was petrified of monsters. That is why when Albert first encountered Lily she was running away from a Slime monster.

Albert stopped walking when he recognized the area that they are currently located. The last time Albert was in this area was in 'Deaths of the Gods', he was trying to tame a monster called Yoyo. Yoyos are monsters that looks exactly like a spider monkeys. They're very agile and the reason why Albert wanted one as a pet in the game of 'Deaths of the Gods' is because Yoyo's have the ability to steal items from monsters and players.

Albert thought about how it would be extremely useful and profitable to have one as a pet. But the problem was that currently, he didn't have the item that is needed to tame a Yoyo. To tame a Yoyo, a player would need to have a Tropical Banana. But the chances of taming one with the required item is completely random.

The fact they were in this location was also a good sign. If Albert remembered correctly, this area is where the first part of the quest is located to become an Acolyte is to be done. But they both have to be careful because an aggressive monster called Choco is also known to be in the area their currently in. Chocos are similar to the monsters called Yoyos but they are a bit more larger in size and usually double the level as a Yoyo. So the chances of them beating a Choco even with their overpowered weapons would be impossible.

Albert continued to slowly walk in silence to the direction of the transparent arrow in front of him. When suddenly three Yoyo's appeared in front of them. Instantly, Albert became alarmed because in the game when there's a group of Yoyo's that means that there's a Choco around. In the game 'Deaths of the Gods' when a group of Yoyo, usually three to seven would be in a pack with a Choco leading them. Albert has encountered packs of Yoyo's many time when playing 'Deaths of the Gods' and almost always, a Choco would be nearby when there is a cluster of Yoyos.( Choco's are basically the Alpha monsters in a group of Yoyo's.)

Albert stopped on his track and steadily stepped back. Since he didn't want to scare Lily which would result in the chance of her panicking, Albert acted as if they were going to take a detour.

"I think there's a cliff up ahead. Let's go around." Albert grinned and began backing away slowly without making any noise. Then suddenly, one of the Yoyo's in the group noticed them and started to screech which alarmed the entire pack.

"Lily I need you to be brave and start running in front of me."

Lily's brow furrowed due to being confused. But Albert knew that there was no time to think about anything. The group of Yoyo's began chasing them and Albert grabbed Lily by her arms then the two started to run.

"Run Lily!"

As they ran away from the group of Yoyos, Albert swung at any one of the monsters that leaped towards them with his baseball bat making sure that they didn't harm Lily. Then, moments later only one out of five Yoyo's were left that was chasing them. Suddenly, when Albert thought everything was going smoothly, what he feared would happen, happened. When Albert slayed the last remaining Yoyo, a Choco came out of no where.

Albert pushed Lily away before the Choco could claw her down with its long sharp claws.

"Run Lily!"

As Lily ran away, Albert began swinging wildly at the large brown monkey. After hitting the creature for at least nine times, Albert chased after Lily and the Choco followed after him. The chase began and so far Albert has been lucky because his health bar hasn't passed the half way point. As he ran away from the Choco and tried to catch up to Lily, he grabbed one of the non-perishable snacks and began eating it to partially heal himself.

Then out of no where the Choco pounced on him, digging its claws on his head. But luckily Albert is wearing the baseball helmet which has a thick layer of carbon fiber to protect his head from the Choco's claws. Albert used his bat to shove the monster away. Seeing that the creature was pass its health's halfway point, Albert had a feeling that he could defeat the monster. Albert stood up but instead of running away he stood his ground. The Choco in front of him began snarling at him then when it was about to jump, Albert swung his bat and hit it square in the jaw.

[Critical Hit!]

Albert was surprised and saw that the Choco's health bar was red meaning that if he could hit it at least two more times, he'll be able to defeat the creature. Albert started to feel a rush of adrenaline all over his body and began screaming at the Choco.

"Come on! Attack me!"

As he wait for the monster to leap towards him, Albert became impatient and decided to attack the Choco before it could attack him. Albert lunged towards the monster swinging his bat and hit the monkey on its torso but that wasn't enough to finish it off. The Choco then grabbed a hold of Albert and began clawing him. Albert screamed as his health bar steadily declined.

"FFFFFFFFF****######KKK!!!"

Then out of nowhere the sound of thud caused the Choco to stop clawing right before Albert's entire health bar depleted. It was Lily and when she struck the Choco, she delivered the final blow to finish off the monster. Albert slowly stood up and looked at Lily

"Lily you came back."

"I didn't want to be afraid anymore. I came back to fight with my friend." Lily smiled while her eyes began to water. Albert went up to Lily and hugged her.

"Its okay. Its over."

"Next time don't tell me to run. Next time we'll fight together okay?"

"Okay. I promise."

Albert let Lily go and looked around the ground. There on the ground were three items, a Uranium which is used for refining and toughening armors, a banana juice and a Tropical Banana. Albert smiled and picked up the three items. He was happy that he obtained the item to tame a Yoyo but before that they need to finish their quest so that they can finally become Acolytes.

**