Though they lost, it didn’t faze Zellin. He had no real intention of winning the tournament anyway; he just wanted to see how much progress he’s made.

After their match, Zellin and his friends stayed to watch the next match.

Zellin watched the one-on-one duels, but he grew uninterested after sometime as nothing impressive stood out for him. Then the group match began, and a curious light flashed in his eyes as he saw Nell walk up on stage. He was curious as to whether or not he could pass this stage.

The other group were no pushovers. They had three highly skilled clerics, an enchanter quite proficient in archery, and their leader, a beautiful minstrel. They even won the earlier one-on-one duels, albeit, barely, with a 3 wins, 2 losses record.

But Nell didn’t seem impressed. He looked as uninterested as Zellin when this match began.

The referee announced the beginning of the match and both teams immediately went to work. The three clerics charged and the enchanter raised their agility and strength, while the minstrel took out a fiddle and began to sing.

That dick who cut in line,

I’ll make sure to cut his dick off,

That asshole who stole my swine,

I poisoned it! So I hope it melts his ass off,

And any piece of shit that wants to whine,

I’ll beat you down, ‘til you’re begging, ‘Ma’am, all I want is to fuck off!’

The song, no doubt, immediately had the whole crowd singing along. Zellin couldn’t help but smile as he thought, what a vulgar girl.

Although the song was amusing, it was just as effective, and served to raise the damage of the party by 20%.

The clerics spread out as they charged with their maces and shields, leaving room for their enchanter to aim where he needed to. The four warriors of the opposite team, also spread out to meet them, in order to protect Nell behind them.

Nell casually pulled out a bag from his inventory, from which he grabbed a handful of rocks, which he apathetically threw in the air. When the rocks landed, it summoned a black smoke from which appeared his wolf skeletons.

The rocks were actually Gravestones, a Necromancer summoning tool.

Nell continued to reach in his bag and throw stones in the air without a care, until the bag was empty. Soon, there were more than 30 wolf skeletons summoned, which charged out to meet the clerics.

Though the clerics’ eyes went wide, they didn’t lose faith just yet. With their immense buffs, it didn’t long for them to defeat the warriors, knocking them unconscious, and then they faced off against the undead with determination. They were confident as they were all capable of holy spells.

Nell watched the battle for a while, unfazed as his skeleton wolves toppled one after the other. He simply pulled out another Gravestone and threw it beyond the battle in the center of the stage.

The stone flew and exploded into black smoke a short distance from the minstrel and the archer. The smoke faded, revealing 3-meter long bear skeleton who immediately pounced on the minstrel. It threw her down to the floor where it began to ravage into the minstrel’s neck and face.

“Shit!” The enchanter exclaimed. “Retreat!” He yelled at the clerics, as he pelted the bear skeleton with arrows, attempting to draw its attention. But the undead bear was Nell’s slave and simply ignored the arrows at the command of its master.

The minstrel’s health became dangerously low, so she was forced to yell out their forfeit.

Fuck, Nell exclaimed in his mind with disappointment. I wonder how it feels to kill someone…

The next day, Zellin and his friends fought the losing team for 3rd place. They had lost the one-on-one duels with 3 losses, and 2 wins, but they managed to get 2 points from the team match. Though it was a struggle, they had ultimately won through numbers. Sasha took out the minstrel with her arrows as she dodged the enchanter’s arrows, while everyone else ganged up on the clerics. Without their damage buff, it wasn’t too hard to accomplish. Eventually, they forfeited begrudgingly.

Then it was the match for 1st place. Bo’s team won 3 straight one-on-one duels and ravaged the wave of undead in the team match to win the whole thing. It was simply no contest for Bo’s team throughout the whole tournament, so it wasn’t a surprise that they won.

They were going to have an awards ceremony but the unruly crowd wasn’t interested and they had all left. To most of them, a kid’s tournament was simply to amuse themselves for a small while. To others, it was to see if anyone really stood out, but most of the children were ignored.

The announcer smiled wryly and awkwardly gave out the top 3’s prizes. Zellin’s team had received amulets that allowed for 10% more experience in battles, while Nell’s team received the same but with 15% more experience, and Bo’s team got 20% more experience.

All in all, Zellin was satisfied for something he did on a whim.

In the king’s courtroom…

“Congratulations on third place.” The king says casually.

Zellin let out a satisfying grin. “Not too bad.” He said, appraising their performance. “It was actually quite simple to get into the top 3.”

The king gave them a blank stare before he responded. “That’s right. It wasn’t much at all; actually it was quite unimpressive.”

Zellin raised an eyebrow. He thought they had done pretty good for their levels.

“It was a tournament for children. At that age, most kids simply focus on leveling to raise their stats and disregard skill and stat development through training. Also they didn’t have the luxury of being supported by me to buy all their skills; forced to earn money the hard way. So at this level, most kids only have basic weapon and spell proficiencies, and sometimes the additional crafting skills. So you’re right, it wasn’t much at all. And no, you shouldn’t feel good about it, especially since you so cowardly forfeited that match.” The king solemnly admonished.

Zellin smiled awkwardly. “Aren’t you the one who said we should live more like cockroaches?”

The king laughed in return. “Yeah, but who really wants to be a cockroach. That’s just shameful.”

Zellin could only continue smiling awkwardly, not knowing how to feel. Isn’t this the worst sort of role model? He asked himself.

“Anyways,” the king continued. “From now on you need to continue leveling, raising your skills, and making money, as you won’t be receiving any from me. In addition, I will occasionally be giving you quests, so be prepared, lest you die from laziness. Dismissed!” The king said, watching as the group turned to leave. “Zellin, wait a moment.” He said abruptly.

Zellin’s friends turned to look at Zellin, who simply shrugged before turning back to the king. “Yes, king?” He said after his friends had left.

The king’s eyes, once again, turned serious. “I know my daughter’s death has had a severe effect on your behavior lately, and I know you’ve been working hard to make sure she stays safe. And I want to say I’m proud of you.”

Zellin didn’t know what to say, so he just said, “Thank you.”

“But, unfortunately, simple effort isn’t enough to keep my daughter safe in this world.” The king continued. “As you grow older, you’ll realize that the diversity of your skills and their levels will become increasingly important. If you watch the rest of the tournament for the 2nd and 3rd floors of Noob Village you’ll understand.”

Zellin’s eyes also turned serious as he listened intently. “As such,” the king continued to speak. “The most valuable asset your team has is currently your friend, Reyal. As he’s learning to be a Scribesman, the variety of skills he can provide your team will greatly improve its overall quality. So keep that in mind.” The king instructed. “And to further the quality of your team, I have provided a gift.”

Hmm? Gift? Zellin thought expectantly. Two tomes floated over to Zellin which grabbed in the air. Death Alchemy? One tome was a book on Death Alchemy, and the other was a skill book, for the skill Transmute.

“Death Alchemy is a rare and evil art, that can corrupt the soul. Though it’s despicable, it is extremely powerful. In your group, you’re the one with the most common sense, so I chose to give it to you; use it wisely.” The king warned ominously. “Remember to continue working hard. I have high expectations for you and if you disappoint me, I’ll torture you for 3 days and 3 nights. Now go.” The king said dismissively. At that, Zellin’s determination could only grow.

Over the next few days Zellin and his friends watched the rest of the tournament, and it was as the king said. The skills used in the floor 2 and floor 3 tournaments were at a much greater level than the floor 1 tournament; more than double. Also, the diversity of those skills were greater as well. There were mages who used two-handed weapons, and warriors who used magic; their skills became applicable in numerous situations so the struggle against each other was greater and the battles were much bloodier than the floor 1 tournament.

Zellin was amazed at the immense difference in quality from the floor 1 tournament; it’s as if he had been living in a well all these years.

After the tournament…

Zellin was sitting on the floor of his and his friends’ living room, meditating while Sasha lounged on the couch, reading. He had found out a while ago that by simply thinking and philosophizing about ways he could achieve his dream of a lazy heaven, his Wisdom stat would grow. So it naturally became part of his daily routine.

He tried to teach Sasha, since she followed him around everywhere, but Sasha had no real aspirations of a better world, so she couldn’t understand. She simply meditated and imagined herself dancing in the snow with her sister, but that was enough, and her Wisdom stat slowly grew as well after finding her happy place.

A maid suddenly came into the room. Though she was a maid, she was also a trained assassin. Most people in this world had some sort of battle skills.

“Zellin, Sasha, there’s someone at the door for you.” The lady said. Though the maids and guards were friendly to Zellin, Coral was the only princess, so Zellin and the others were treated casually.

Zellin and Sasha went downstairs to the front door to see a black robed, scrawny man.

“Hello, my name Vrago.” The man introduced himself, to which Zellin also introduced himself. Sasha remained silent. “I represent a Summoner’s guild in the northern country, Alfheim, called The Conq-” The man tried to say, but was interrupted by Sasha.

“Zellin, tell this man to leave.” She said with a sour face, before walking back inside.

Zellin raised an eybrow. What’s with her? He wondered, before turning to the man. “Sorry, not interested.” He said frankly, before closing the door behind him. Zellin had no interest in the north, so he payed no attention to the offer.

Later that day…

Liu walked into the guild and met Bo near the bar. Liu was currently learning the art of blacksmithing and Bo was helping him sell his merchandise. Unfortunately, the quality wasn’t very good, so Liu had to modify his products to suit children even younger than Liu. Bo was using his connections to sell them to schools in the city that trained children.

As Liu and Bo conducted their business, the one-armed bartender approached them. Liu’s eye twitched as he saw him approach. What does this guy want? He wondered with annoyance. Ever since the incident with the whiskey, Liu naturally grew to dislike this guy.

“You’re Liu?” The man asked in a gruff voice.

“Yes? Do you want something?” Liu asked.

“Let’s talk in private.” He said, before walking out of the room. Liu raised an eyebrow before following him out to the alley nearby.

“Do you want to learn some real blacksmithing?” The man asked when they were alone.

“Eh?” Liu said in surprise. “This seems kind of shady.”

The man ignored him and continued to speak. “The king seems to dote on you and your friends a lot. As such, he’s asked me to teach you a skill of mine.”

“Why would I want to learn a skill from you?” Liu said in suspicion.

“Why else? To grow stronger.” The man said frankly. “This is a harsh world, and if you want to live through it with your friends, you’ll want to use any means necessary.”

Liu thought about it for a moment and his eyes slowly grew more resolved. “What will you be teaching me?”

In the park…

Nell was enjoying a sunny day at the park, when he was suddenly approached by a black robed, scrawny man, who introduced himself as Vrago.

“Hmm… The north, eh?” Nell pondered. “That’s quite a ways. How ‘bout if I’m ever in town, I’ll look you guys up.”

“Yes, well, if you ever change your mind, this ring has a one-use magic that will instantly teleport you to our headquarters.” The man said as a he handed Nell an engraved ring with a red crystal. “Think it over thoroughly. Our guild can be very supportive, and offers a freedom you won’t be able to find here.” The man insinuated. He had seen the disappointment on Nell’s face when he saw that he couldn’t kill that girl, and he instantly knew that Nell would fit in quite well in their organization.