THE TROUBLE BETWEEN WORLDS

Michael couldn’t believe the fact that the mountain had a hidden spell underneath ‘Space of the Night’. That first spell already made the mountain a top ranking hunting ground for parties under level 100 due to the increase in Monster stats under ‘Night’ conditions. 30% increase in monster stats was nothing to sneeze at and the 10% exp bonus was incredibly useful for trainers. The unfortunate fact that there was a time spell, one that seemingly made 3 days turn in 2 months would probably turn off any dreams of a good training ground. The mountain was basically a place where time went 20x slower and most hunting parties wouldn’t be able to finish it in the 3 days that Michael’s party had done it. Michael cursed about this over and over again since the rewards did not reflect the time spent acquiring them.

Jemma was staring at her surroundings in delight. As a newborn her view of the world was incredibly fresh and untainted.

Liera didn’t seem to find anything wrong with a place that had slower time. She even found some ideas about making good use of it: Luring enemies into the mountain and keeping them there for a long time, sick people can stay there for a short period as everyone else can go and look for a cure, a very good retirement place for old people as they can live long enough to see Grandchildren and Great-great Grandchildren. Liera’s thoughts about the mountain were rather sweet and mundane.

Catherine was incredibly frustrated at the loss of time. She didn’t want her brother to beat her in anything, hence why she had taken the initiative to join Michael’s party before. She thought that the stronger party - Michael and Liera did just beat up a 5 member party without trouble - would go through the dungeon quicker and that meant she would be first in getting her promotion. And indeed, the party finished ‘Iron Mount’ in near record time, but the fact was that they basically finished it in 2 months, not 3 days.

The sombre party slowly made their way to Kiryun.

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Halfway to through the gorge the party was stopped by a familiarly short person. This person was also at the head of a small army of people. Michael noted the lack of matching equipment and insignias on the members of the group so he thought that they were all bandits.

Actually the party was made of ‘Otherworlders’ who had been hired by the person – Lerisa if you didn’t already think so – to end Michael’s life. Their awful attire was mainly due to the fact that all of their equipment was worn cause of stat reasons and a lack of equipment sets.

Upon exiting ‘Iron Mount’ and returning to Kiryun, Lerisa had found out the time discrepancy between her entering the cave an her exiting. A plan formed in her head as she figured that Michael’s party would probably defeat the boss monster at the top, then return back quickly. She worked quickly for the week and hired 142 ‘Otherworlders’ since they boasted the quickest levelling rate. She also made sure to choose people skilled in killing regular people – aka PKers for the Players.

Gaia the game had changed a tiny bit while Michael was away. For one, NPCs were allowed to kill ‘Otherworlders’ as long as the reason was legitimate, it was so easily allowed because the ‘Otherworlders’ could revive after death so the killing was seen as a temporary punishment. This meant that Bandits also killed a great many ‘Otherworlders’ for sport and this caused a great amount of grumblings among the players. Then there were the people who had left the city very early and ended up dead by mass rabbit swarm or the occasional fox. When John Doe was told that a great many players would quit if the game continued as such, he gave in and added some extra parts to the consoles and the game.

The first, all of the consoles were upgraded to allow for players to get a bit of sleep ingame. This was easily achieved since only about 10,000 people had bought the consoles at the time; the year of advertisement and news did not increase sales at all so only a few actually bought it and played; this number has since increased by about 100x over the past few months.

The second was a decrease in the amount of time a person stays dead. Death amounted to about 24 hours of being locked from the game, or about 5 days of non-playing. John lowered this amount by implementing the first game update in order to achieve this so players spent only 18 hours locked out. The result was a significant edge in the amount of time an ‘Otherworlder’ can play in game compared to NPCs.

Anyways, enough about RL news; Michael and co. were against Lerisa’s rather large army of quality Chaotic ‘Otherworlders’. Their strangely red skin made a sharp contrast to Lerisa’s fair and it looked near ridiculous to see a childlike being leading this army of monstrous looking foes.

Michael had no idea about anything that happened in Gaia for the last month but he did know that Lerisa had some qualms about losing the Dungeon to Michael. Still, he was kind of peeved to see that she would waste so much money just to get revenge. All of those people probably costs as much as the treasure she would have gotten from the Dungeon. Kind of redundant if one thinks about it.

“Grahaha. Remember me? I’m here to -”

Michael didn’t even have the tact to let Lerisa finish her written speech. He had already shifted sight and he gathered the air around the army and made a cyclone. He purified as much of the air as he could before igniting it and a medium sized ‘Fire Tornado’ erupted in the middle of the army. The reason why he didn’t put much Mana and power in the spell was soon revealed when he took out the ‘??? Bracelet’ from his pack.

Michael equipped the bracelet and concentrated on an image of three ‘Fire Tornado’ spells being used but the bracelet didn’t seem to listen. It instantly absorbed Michael, Liera, and Catherine’s Mana before unleashing 10 medium sized ‘Fire Tornado’ spells on the army. The result was a devastated area where the hundred man army was before. Lerisa was a long distance in front of the army so that she could talk to Michael, so she didn’t get damaged in any way from Michael’s spells.

Lerisa looked back in horror at her expensive army. She paid the PKers up front since ‘Otherworlders’ revived after a few days. They required upfront payment so that they won’t be cheated by town skipping Merchants. They also signed a binding contract that would have caused the ire of the Merchant God if they broke it. Basically, everything was being paid for by Lerisa and the Contract costs were not small. She spent a good 70% of her hidden fortune but she did so under the assumption that she would get all that back and more from Michael.

Lerisa gave a haggard look to Michael. This…monster destroyed 5000 gold pieces in under 2 minutes. Lerisa knew she had no chance at revenge so she deflated within herself.

“Well Lerisa. Do you have anything else up your sleeve?”

Lerisa shook her head. She didn’t have the funds to continue her grudge. Let the man do whatever to her…Lerisa blushed slightly at her thoughts. Michael could do *bleep* to her and then *bleep* and *bleep*. Lerisa almost didn’t hear the rest of what he said.

“Well then. Since you’ve caused so many problems for our group, you can repay it all back. I’m going to be travelling a lot so it will be nice to have a Merchant in a few cities as friends. When I come to Kiryun or wherever you are, you can be my primary Merchant there and buy everything I get. Yes? Good. Now what is your ‘Identification’ skill level?”

Lerisa was a little giddy at the first part of his sentence but her blushing face turned pale by the end. She shakily answered his question.

“M-Master level 3”

Michael and co. were shocked at the statement. ‘How many items did the little girl identify just to reach that level?’ were the thoughts that ran through most of them, Jemma was just looking surprised to fit in. Michael’s ‘IA’ was his most commonly used skill and it was only at Expert level 4. Michael thought that he may have hit the jackpot in acquiring this new ally. (On a side note, God-ranked ‘Identify’ pretty much allowed the user to see the materials needed to create the item as well as the instructions on how to do it. No one else knows though... gift from the author…)

“Then here, analyze this bracelet. Share the info to me as well.”

Lerisa nodded as she took the bracelet. She was entranced by the design of what she held since it seemed to have been old but still had a high quality to it.

The Bracelet was designed rather thickly. It didn’t match the width of a bracer but it was wide and had a large detailed design on it. Made of gold, the design depicted a scene where a man (stickfigure) is seen pointing a spear or staff at something. The end of the staff had a light coming out of it (almost made of gold although there seemed to be some white gold included to give it a better look) and then a great number of ‘Fireballs’ and ‘Lightning Strikes’ and ‘Ice Bolt’ are drawn around the man and being sent away. It was an incredibly detailed drawing...basically if Michael had looked at it the first time, he may have avoided the sculpture free-for-all from before.

“Identify. Identify. Identify. Identify. Identify. Identify. Identify. “

7 tries before her Master ranked ‘Identification’ could even take. Lerisa’s eyes widened and flashed to Michael before settling back on the Bracelet. Her hands started to quiver.

“S-s-share information.”

That command was a general one that people with the identification skill could use. ‘Identification’ usually only allowed the user to see the information; once the item was out of their hands it becomes ??? once more. The ‘Share Information’ command unlocks the details for everyone to see and was used by Identifiers so that their clients could read it for themselves. On a side note, the Merchant skills like ‘Item Description Change’ is virtually useless against anyone with even a Beginner ranking in ‘Identify’ so Michael had no fear of being conned. Lerisa shakingly handed the Bracelet back to Michael.

’Instant Analyzing’ has shown a few more hidden abilities for the item ‘Agiel’s Band’.

Agiel’s Band

Unknown

Durability: 2,988,673/3,000,000

Defense: 300 (only when hit)

A magical band created by the Human Blacksmith Tiurand for the Demon Wizard Agiel who then magically enchanted it. This band can turn a battle or a war if wielded by the right person.

Has the ability to passively store a minute quantity of Mana from its surroundings.

When equipped, the last spell being used will be automatically recorded using ‘Copycat’.

If the user does not set a limit on the Band, then the Band will use all of the stored Mana to recreate the spells.

When equipped, 95% of the Mana from surroundings will be absorbed unless limited by the user.

(‘Instant Analyzing’ has revealed the amount of mana already stored as well as the maximum Mana allowed. This is mainly due to your high base Intelligence and Wisdom.)

Mana: 231/400,000

The ‘Human Blacksmith Tiurand’ and the ‘Demon Wizard Agiel’. Otherwise known to everyone else as the Human God-ranked Blacksmith and the Demon God-ranked Wizard. An item created by those two was now in Michael’s hand.

Michael immediately erased all grumblings he had about the time wasted finishing the ‘Iron Mount’. This item could probably buy several Human cities and still have cash left over for an independent Mercenary army of several thousand. Michael gave the Band to Liera and Catherine so both of them could see it before he rounded on Lerisa.

“This item would cause terrible pain to the person that revealed it. Nobles and Leaders, Good and Evil churches. All of them will try to take a hold of the person that revealed the information and will use any means necessary to get it. Good gods and goddesses have greed as high as their Evil counterparts.”

Not all of that was particularly true. Good-aligned divine beings and their followers were subject to their patron’s personalities. A Good-aligned Battle God for instance will only let his followers fight in large scale wars that involve over a thousand participants. They probably would not be allowed to search for anything that wasn’t dropped during a battle. Still it was better to be safe than sorry.

Lerisa’s previously bright eyes turned dead once more when she thought about what Michael had said. It was definitely true that the item would attract much unwanted attention and Lerisa really didn’t think she could last under torture. She accepted Michael’s slightly true and logical words and nodded in agreement.

Michael retrieved ‘Agiel’s Band’ from Catherine who had it last and proceeded to Kiryun once more with Lerisa following now.

With 4 woman in tow, all of them beauties to a degree, Michael could be seen with envious eyes by most men. However there was still something missing. After a few hours of walking Lerisa had to comment about Jemma.

“Ummm. This Stone Girl...Won’t she be a problem to bring into the cities?”

Everyone looked at Jemma and examined her. While her looks and body were definitely made with a Human woman in mind, albeit a woman that would be modelled after a man’s fantasies, she was still made of stone. Her clothing flowed like regular clothing but no breeze was strong enough to even ruffle the strange stone-like substance it was made of.

Michael also decided it was a problem so he took out his painting tools from his pack. He had a set of tools for each of his crafting skills but Blacksmithing required the use of a large forge. No campfire had the fire strength high enough to melt the metals properly.

“I guess I’ll paint your skin to look more Human and Catherine can give you an extra robe. Or I’ll make one. Take off those stone clothes.”

Liera and Catherine looked shocked at what Michael said but they became even more shocked when Jemma actually obeyed. They scrambled to stop her but her question stopped them in their tracks.

“What? Theres no problem if Father sees me. Right?”

The logic of that statement halted them but further thoughts entered. This was still a 20 year old man, a virgin man if Liera knew anything about Michael and his vehemence of being caught by Serena anywhere private. Jemma was a very beautiful stone girl and this may be a problem…

“It’s no problem. I’ve made dozens of nude female sculptures under Master Cider. I don’t see a problem in seeing another one. Plus painting needs to be done evenly in order to look alright. I’ll be using permanent paint too so I won’t need to do this all again.”

Liera started to curse at what that perverted skinny baldy taught Michael. She couldn’t find any holes in the statement so she had no choice but to allow him.

What proceeded next was a long scene where 3 girls of mixed races were blushing from what Michael was doing. To add to the problem, Jemma started to moan halfway causing an increase in blushes. Michael didn’t seem to hear or care though and his painting was done rather quickly. At least the skin portion was.

Next were the eyes. He asked Jemma what kind of eyes she would like but she wasn’t able to respond as she continued to gasp for breath. The other girls also couldn’t look Michael in the eye so he just decided to paint the irises in a red and yellow crystal design. The rest of the eye was white to look more normal and then he moved onto her hair.

Seeing as Liera had black hair, Catherine had Gold hair, and Lerisa had brown, Michael decided to paint Jemma’s hair in a fiery red. He added some yellow and white highlights afterwards before painting her stone nails in a more pink colour.

The end result was a Human woman with a stunning figure, flaming hair and eyes, and smooth flawless skin. The other three girls didn’t think they lost in the looks department but they did see that Jemma was more exotic looking. They all glared at Michael, although the blush in their cheeks ruined the look.

Michael decided to check out Jemma’s stats at this moment.

“Show Jemma’s stats and skills.”

StatusNameJemmaAge1382Level35ClassStone MaidenFame847InfamyN/ATitleGolem of MichaelWorld RankingN/AGuildNoneHealth5000Mana2000Stamina3500Strength213Dexterity104Vitality500Intelligence200Wisdom146Charm832Luck57Agility89Loyalty to Michael93%

Special skills.

+30% more damage against wolves and wolf subspecies. (Gained from Master: Michael)

Mana Recovery rate is increased by 1.5x its base rate. (Gained from Master: Michael)

Does not have any Magical Affinity.

Stone-like skin reduces physical damage but does nothing against elemental damage.

Cannot be Healed except by using a ‘Sculpture’ skill.

SkillsSeduce. Beginner level 5. (98%) Passive skillSculpting. Beginner level 7. (6%) Passive skillStone Skin. Beginner level 4. (76%) Active skillCry of a Maiden. Beginner level 1. (92%) Active skill

“Show ‘Charm’. Show ‘Seduce’. Show ‘Stone Skin’. Show ‘Cry of a Maiden’.”

Charm

A value that represents the beauty of a person. The higher the stat, the more beautiful the person is. This value adds to the effect of several skills. A person is more likely to help someone with a high value in this stat.

(EXTRA) Due to the fact that ‘Jemma’ was previously a Grand Masterpiece Sculpture and was made beautifully, she gains an automatic +750 to ‘Charm’.

Seduce. Beginner level 5. (98%) Passive Skill

A skill that only belongs to the most beautiful, seduction allows a person to twist whoever they want around their fingers.

Easier to gain the trust and friendship of strangers.

Easier for the other party to fall in love with you.

Buying something costs 2% less for every 2 levels of ‘Seduce’.

Selling something will increase the price by 5% for every level of ‘Seduce’.

Will level as long as anyone feels some attraction from your looks or actions.

Stone Skin. Beginner level 7. (6%) Passive Skill

As a Stone Statue you gain the properties of stone while still being able to move. Incoming physical damage will be reduced.

You take 5% less damage for every level of ‘Stone Skin’.

You do not bleed and cannot gain the ‘bleeding’ effect from wounds.

Cannot be healed by Clerics or other healing spells.

Can be healed with the application of ‘Sculpting’ skill.

Cry of a Maiden. Beginner level 1. (92%) Passive Skill

A skill that takes advantage of the seductive wail of a maiden, use of this skill will call upon the righteous fury of Males and some Females. Damsels in Distress are the dreams of Knights and Adventurers.

Charm will increase range of your scream.

Current Range of skill: 16 Kilometres

Anyone who hears you will fall under the skill ‘Seduce’.

Due to the skill ‘Seduce’, your moans will also gain the quality of ‘Cry of a Maiden’ and ‘Seduce’.

Anyone who sees you after using this skill will gain a boost in stats.

‘This is a little too ridiculous…’

Michael was extremely wary of Jemma after he finished reading. She was basically a walking ‘Damsel’ and any ‘Distress’ she might get into will gain the attention of a lot of useless people. Side note, Michael’s Concentration negates the effects of Charm and Seduction, even when the stat is as low as it is now.

When everyone had settled down from all the excitement, Catherine took out an extra robe she had. When asked, Catherine told the party that she kept 4 sets of clothing for emergencies. Where she placed them was a mystery but it seemed the cloth was relatively thin and easy to pack.

Michael eyed the dress and judged that it wouldn’t fit Jemma so he took it apart with his Tailoring skill and then remade it to fit her better. He also added a hood with some extra leather from his pack. Michael was wary about Jemma’s looks and he wanted to hide her as much as he could.

His tailoring skill was noted by Catherine and Lerisa and they both wondered what else the man could do. Lerisa had seen his Magic skills when he killed the horde of goblins and her mini army, and she also saw his swordsmanship and strength when he faced her Knight and Ranger. Catherine knew he had sword skills, magic skills, ability to give life to sculptures, a weird identification skill that didn’t require him to touch the enemy or even battle it for a bit. He probably had more skills that neither woman would ever find out without asking.

When the party started their journey again Michael told Lerisa to teach Jemma how to barter. He wanted Jemma to become a semi-Merchant because of her high Charm stat and her skill set. Lerisa had a tough time doing so since Jemma basically knew nothing about the world and concepts like money and business deals were foreign to her.

Coins in Gaia were grouped in 20 sets of coins. 20 copper coins equaled 1 silver coin. 20 silver coins equaled 1 gold coin. The size of the coins were also relative to their costs. 1 copper coin was made of enough copper to equal 1/20th of a silver coin. This meant that the copper coin was the weakest coin made and had the most bends and dents in it. Silver coins were slightly thicker but smaller and that was because they needed to represent 1/20th the costs of a gold coin. A gold coin was made of pure gold. Each gold coin weighed about 1/10th of a pound. 20 Copper coins had the same metal value as 1 silver coin. 20 silver coin had the same metal value as 1 gold coin.

Michael took out one of the coins they had gained from the Dungeon. The glint of the coin attracted some of the attention from Lerisa but he ignored her as he read the information box that appeared.

Ancient Gold Coin

Made during a time when gold was rare and scarce, most of the nobility had crafted these thick coins in the likeness of their King. The rarity of the coin gives it a higher value than regular gold coins these days but the image that was inscribed on the coin makes its value soar. Show to an artifact collector to get a good deal.

Approximate value for coin: 18 current gold coins

Even when the collection of gold coins was divided amongst the three dungeon hunters - Liera and Michael and Catherine each got 1/3rd share - the value of the coin made them rather rich for a first adventure reward. 834 of these Ancient coins were divided into 278 each but that still amounted to 5000 gold coins each.

There were still some problems with supply and demand and the likelihood of finding a buyer but Michael was in the ‘Historical Society’ and he assumed he could donate his share to the guild and get some points back. Lerisa could also be used to find buyers and the selling of all the coins should go smoothly.

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

Several hours of traveling later.

The 5 person party finally made it to Kiryun. The route from Kiryun to the empire of the old Mad King through the gorge wasn’t a well traveled route due to the length and the lack of monsters. Although safer, most groups would travel the monster infested route in order to acquire items and experience from the monsters. Mercenary hiring prices also lowered if a Merchant takes the shorter route so it becomes a win-win situation for travellers.

The city of Kiryun was a very large town, about the twice the size of Bellen. The city boasted a fighting force of 5000 men and women and most of the regular populous had gone down the Combat Series route before their ‘Choosing Day’. This meant that attacks against Kiryun would usually end with disaster.

The main guilds that had headquarters within Kiryun were mainly ones that had the most members that associated with the Combat Series. The mercenary guilds ‘Taskmasters’, ‘Battle Gloried’, ‘Rising Phoenix’, and ‘Duty’ were the main 4 of the 5 large guilds there. ‘Sons of Battle’ was the main Combat guild in the city as well as the oldest, but their reputation and strength was waning by the day. ‘Battle Gloried’ and ‘Rising Phoenix’ were mainly free combat guilds that had a rivalry with each other and skirmishes between these two guilds during Dungeon runs were a common sight. ‘Taskmasters’ and ‘Duty’ were the main merc guilds that Merchants hired from and ‘Duty’ also took care of administrative work for the other mercenary guild. They gave the most quests and jobs to people who came looking, and their vast resources also gave good rewards for people who shared Dungeon info.

Michael and his group was not supposed to attract too much attention when they came through Kiryun’s gate. Michael had fashioned a durable cloak for everyone and their features were mostly covered by it. The cloak did not fully cover the faces all the time though, and when Jemma, Catherine, or Liera’s face was seen, a great number of males started to follow to try and catch another glimpse. A few blocks into the city and the group had a following of about 300 people.

Michael noted that most of the people in the crowded city were dressed in mismatched armor. A quick question and answer revealed that most of the people were ‘Otherworlders’. They seemed to have awful styles of dress and seemed to like the stats from the clothing rather than the comfortability or attractiveness of it. Strength over looks in a way. Michael then noted that the people he had killed earlier were ‘Otherworlders’ and not Bandits.

On the way to the city, Michael had asked several questions concerning ‘Otherworlders’ to Lerisa. The answers he got back were strange and abnormal but basically understandable. ‘Otherworlders’ do not die. At least they do not stay dead for long. You can kill an otherworlder only to have him come back in less than a week and very pissed at his death. Lerisa had said that the first month of dying, they had come back to life in 5 days but the time had been reduced by a day since then.

‘Otherworlders’ also do not have good relations with the NPCs. They usually acted in a rude manner that delegated most NPCs to a servile role. They would interrupt conversations to speed it up and even shout at people when they don’t get what they want. A vast majority of ‘Otherworlders’ had died in the first few weeks by the hands of NPCs. Another aspect of ‘Otherworlders’ would have to be their version of bandits. Since they can’t die, some ‘Otherworlders’ take it upon themselves to kill NPCs and other ‘Otherworlders’ in order to steal their items and gain experience. These people gained a distinct reddish skin tone which darkened after every kill and were dubbed PKers by the ‘Otherworlders’. All of this indiscriminate killing had caused a small rift between them and the NPCs.

Still, there were some ‘Otherworlders’ that did not follow their example. These ‘Otherworlders’ formed guilds and parties to tackle dungeons of high difficulty and they gained achievements after achievements. These ones usually treated other NPCs rather well in comparison and they killed the PKers whenever they found them.

Over 2 months since their coming and the highest known level of an ‘Otherworlder’ was 133.

When the party reached the center, Michael told Liera and Catherine to take their share of the Ancient Coins and go with Lerisa to sell them. Michael would try to find a room at an inn before searching for a member of his guild with Jemma. Everyone agreed to meet back in the central plaza in a few hours and they all split. The following they had also split with them.

Michael removed his hood and obtained the glares of several of the followers. As the only male in a group of girls, he gained the enmity and envy of everyone who saw them.

Michael walked through several inns and noted a few posters within each. The city had a great number of those posters but Michael didn’t care about it at the moment. When he entered the 6th inn, called the Wandering Horse, he found a place with a quiet atmosphere and areas to lounge around. It seemed to be a high quality area so the place was filled with a few nobles and merchants and didn’t have the rowdiness of the other places. Several servers were watching the customers to see if they were needed and there was even a well dressed bartender behind a counter, ready to take drink orders. The sounds of the kitchen was low and quiet.

An old man in a suit walked up to Michael and gave him a once over. Michael was in a rather clean cloak but his clothes underneath was covered in travel dust and a large number of stains. Jemma was the same but still very pretty so she got a small smile from the old man. Michael had taken off his Wolf Armor set because of how loud the outfit would look in the city so he didn’t look very impressive. His demeanor and presence still alerted the old man of his power though.

“How much would a room cost per day here?”

“A single room is 5 gold per day. A double is 10 gold per day while a triple is-”

“I’ll take a single room and two double rooms please. We will also be staying here for a while.”

The old man had started his speech with a tired voice and a look that said ‘Do you even have money?’ but when Michael finished his sentences and took out a clinking pouch of gold coins, the old man stood straight and his personality did a complete 180.

Michael had 200 gold to start his adventure with, a gift from his parents. Gold was relatively hard to come by so the amount he had and would later get was enormous for a person just starting their adventure.

The old man took both of their cloaks to wash and offered them different kinds of beverages before showing them to their rooms. Michael decided to change before going out and he also gave a new set of clothes to Jemma so she could also change. Michael’s room was a 5 by 5 metre square room and had a luxurious bed in the center. A dresser was beside the bed and a closet made up an entire empty wall. The room was further decked out in high quality paintings and furnishings that would have cost a good amount of money. Michael examined each painting in order to get more experience for his ‘Painting’ skill. When the two finished they both went downstairs and re-equipped their cleaner cloaks before heading out.

Michael went around the town to look for his guild member. The badge that each member had would identify them as part of the guild but in a town as large as Kiryun it was much harder to find a single man. Michael decided to go to each of the other inns and ask a few questions. A poster was on the wall of an inn and Michael stopped to read.

Kiryun is now hosting its yearly tournament for all. This is to celebrate the anniversary of the God-ranked Kilren’s birthday and promote the outstanding quality of fighters that enter Kiryun. All fighters and classes are welcome to participate and rewards will be based on standings.

No one above level 150 is allowed to participate and the minimum requirement to join is a level of 70.

Magic is allowed.

Items will be examined by the administrators of the tournament, No item that gives an unfair advantage will be allowed. No enchanted weapons will be allowed.

All weapon types are allowed.

No poison is allowed.

Fights are to the death. Surrendering is allowed. Exiting the ring means forfeiting the match. You can be knocked out by the opponent.

Michael smiled at the poster. A tournament was exactly what Michael’s adventure needed and since his stats were cut, he could basically match the strength of the opponent. Meaning he didn’t need to hold back at all.

Michael knew the birthdays of all of the God-ranked people so he knew that the tournament would take place in a few days. Registration was still open so Michael made his way to register after he checked out a few more inns. Several patrons knew of a person from his guild but they couldn’t exactly give directions to him.

Michael made his way to the registration tent in the eastern side of the city. This part of the city housed a great coliseum that took up 1/10th of the city and could seat about 300,000 people at once. It had been created before the Magus wars and the people of the town have a deep affection for the ancient building. Most of the soldiers would say that the coliseum is the main reason they would protect the town.

The coliseum is a place that does not only serve as a place for competitions. Since the tournament in Kilren’s name is a yearly event the coliseum would have to be used for more than one reason. Military officers and commander-in-training would set up military games and competitions using the Coliseum in order to simulate battles. Physical competitions and practices are also mostly done in the large coliseum and the stands always have a few people as audience every day.

Michael signed up for the tournament in a tent that was beside the coliseum entrance and he found out through gossip that the format of the tournament this year was a single-elimination tourney. 3 weeks of registrations has created a large crowd of participants and the estimated number was supposed to be in the thousands so Round Robin and other tourney styles were too lengthy to use. The length of time given to the tourney was constantly extended and the costs for seats had skyrocketed as more and more participants had come. Betting had become a huge hassle since there were so many participants and the bookers had decided to open their stalls when the last rounds of competition start.

Michael wrote his name and combat style on the registration sheet. He marked off Magic as one of the things he could do and he added that some of his items had some enchantments. Nothing to boost his power though so there was no worry about that.

After Michael finished his registration, he left the registration tent and started to visit the shops that lined the main street when an old man appeared beside him. With shockingly blue hair and pair of glasses on his head, the man was dressed in a suit that was 3 sizes too large and made of expensive material. Michael’s tailoring eye already started to measure the body size of the man and make some corrections to the suit before he could stop himself. The man himself was of average looks but his huge white mustache covered a great deal of his face.

The blue haired man focused his eyes on Michael and spoke in a deep baritone of a voice. There was a slight hiss whenever the man said something with an ‘s’ in it.

“I’ve been hearing that you’ve been looking for a member of the Hissstorical Sssociety. What busssiness do you have with the guild?”

Michael flashed his badge at the man and introduced himself. The other man didn’t have a bad attitude around him, but the slightly serpent way of speaking would usually keep others away. They chatted as Sam led Michael and Jemma towards a lonely house in the south-eastern area of Kiryun. The house was a normal looking house made of wood and some brick. Only 2 stories, the house gave off a homely look that made it look like a family would be able to settle in easily. There was a small sign at the top of the entrance that said ‘Historical Society Representative Dwelling’. No wonder no one knew much about the guild.

“Ah, the new member. I was expecting you to passss through here monthsss ago. Were you waylaid in any way? Ah, my name is Ssssam. Sssorry about the hisss. It wassss a bad habit from my younger daysss. When I wasss a bit of a ssssnake addict.”

The smile Sam gave Michael was a friendly smile that made the chilling hiss go away. Jemma was a little ways off to the side and she didn’t seem to want to approach the hissing man so Michael didn’t think he should introduce them.

“Ah, I was detoured to visit ‘Iron Mount’. It seemed that there was a time-spell on the mountain itself and I spent more time there than I wanted to. Hmm? How long? Well I spent 3 days exploring the mountain and came out to find that 2 months had passed.”

“‘Iron Mount’ isss well known for messsssing with time. You are lucky to only get off with 2 monthsss gone. Ssssome have been gone yearsss when they entered and then came out. Well, did you get anything of value from there?”

Sam was actually quite surprised that Michael finished the Dungeon in only 3 days. The dungeon was known to have 6 levels to it and a secret one at the top that no one ever lived from. It usually took weeks to finish it and the time spell on the mountain caused problems for people who wished for the treasure. In the end, the dungeon itself was hidden away and only the books told of the history of the mountain.

Sam didn’t expect much from the exploration of the mountain. Since goblins were the only beings that infested it in recent years, the mountain has next to nothing of value for Adventurers and Historians. Sam of course did not know that Michael also finished the final secret level of the Mountain.

“Sam you are the representative of the guild for this city yes? That means I can donate what I find to you and you can give points based off what I give?”

“I do have permission to do so. Every repressssentative in the cities have permissionssss to give out pointssss, as long as the itemssss follow a few rulessss. Here, read thissss. Sssshow ‘Guild Point Information’ to Michael Kane.”

A box appeared in front of Michael.

Guild Points

A type of currency in the guild, points can be generated when a member completes quests for the guild or donates an item that the guild accepts. For the ‘Historical Society’, the following types of items are acceptable as donations.

* Anything older than 200 years and cannot be found easily in this era

* Anything concerning the Mad King’s War or the Magus Wars

* Anything concerning the ancient civilizations of old

* Anything of ‘Unique’ or ‘Artifact’ ranking

Items will be appraised by members with permission and points will be given in accordance.

Points can be used to trade for funds, items, weapons, or guild services. To see your points, use the command ‘Show my Guild Status’.

“Show my Guild Status.”

Guild StatusNameMichael KaneGuildHistorical SocietyPosition in GuildMemberGuild Points0Ranking in GuildF# of Guild Members142

Nothing much to show. Michael nodded at the information he got and took out his large share of the Ancient Gold Coins.

“I would like you to appraise these coins and tell me the point costs of them. Also if you don’t mind, please tell me what I can use points for.”

“Of coursssse. Let me jussst look at thosssse coinssss firsssst.”

Sam took one of the coins and examined it. His eyes widened when he read the information box that came with it but he continued to examine the coin slowly. He didn’t rely on the skill to show all the information but instead used touch and sight to find the hidden parts of it. He replaced the coin with another and continued his examination. This went on for 10 minutes and 4 more gold pieces before he sighed and stopped. The sigh worried Michael for a bit but Sam gave a helpless expression, not one with pity.

“Each of thessse gold coinsss are unique in their creation. I will need to ssset up a sssyssstem with sssome friendsss in order to give the correct amount of pointsss for each of them. Or would you like to get pointsss for the entire batch insssstead? There isss no need worry about time being wassted. I will need to examine each one anywaysss. You can take part in the long tournament later in the week.”

“I guess I can wait for you to analyze them all. When do you think it will all be finished?”

“Dependsss on how many people I can get working on it. With 10 or sssso people I can probably finish in a few weeksss. Maybe sssoon after the tournament endsss.”

“Can I offer Jemma’s help? She has just joined my party and I would like her to learn several skills for the long journey ahead.”

“Of courssse. The more help, the better.”

Jemma was a little reluctant to be away from Michael and Sam’s hissing did still creep her out, but she agreed to help Sam a few hours a day. Sam’s bushy eyebrows rose when Jemma called Michael ‘Father’ but he tactfully did not ask questions.

Michael and Jemma arrived at the center plaza several minutes later and found Liera and Lerisa waiting for them. Catherine wasn’t around so Michael asked after her.

“She went to the Church after we got the money from the coins. Her brother was also there and he seemed to have just come back from an adventure too. Both of them saw each other and started rushing to the front of the Church. And here. Our portion of the gold.”

The gold was technically Liera’s but both knew that neither of them would waste it on stupid things. Michael accepted the bag and was told that they had gotten 6,000 pieces from selling the coins. Catherine had the same and the buyer was extremely pleased to get the coins too.

Michael led his party to the inn that he picked out. And was introduced to the proprietor when he entered. An elderly woman with a thin figure and dressed in a simple dress of blue silk, MIstress Annah was the owner of the Wandering Horse for the past 30 years. A waft of soft perfume clung to the lady as she fussed over Liera and Jemma, though she did start at the hard quality of Jemma’s skin, and she mainly ignored Lerisa.

Lerisa was obviously a dwarf to a person with half a head and she had a look on her face that screamed her dissatisfaction. It seemed the amount of gold that Michael and his party had obtained in the Dungeon had caused her to become extremely angry, even if she gained a lot of experience selling the Ancient coins.

Michael left the girls in Mistress Annah’s hands and made his way to his room. He decided to plan out the next few days before sleeping.

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The next day, Michael left the inn early and made his way to the Craft Series area of town. Located in the north of the city, the size of the district reserved for Crafting in Kiryun was roughly the same size as the one in Bellen. In a town as big as Kiryun though, this meant that the district was proportionally smaller in comparison. Even though soldiers and adventures needed the craftsmanship of the Tailors and Blacksmiths, this just meant that those two took up the most area of the Crafts Series district. Sculpting, Woodworking, Painting, and the performance arts were delegated to small schools and areas.

Michael hoped to find a good Bard teacher in Kiryun after he was done his task. His teacher in Bellen wasn’t an expert in Singing and there were no other teachers that had an Expert in Bark skills and didn’t have a student already. Michael knew of a few combat skills that required some Singing skills so he wanted to have a teacher that could pass on his skills.

Michael first went towards the loudest area of the Crafting Series district. A cacophony of noise greeted Michael when he entered the biggest Blacksmith shop in Kiryun. The counter where deals could be made wasn’t open to the populous at the time but Michael wasn’t interested in buying anything there. Instead he walked through the open doors a few paces behind the counter and looked around.

The scene was rather chaotic for an early morning period. Men and women were shouting orders at teens and some adults and they were running around trying to appease their masters. The adults confused Michael for a bit but when one stopped to take a break Michael knew they were ‘Otherworlders’. No real apprentice would have the gall to take a break during work. The man even looked shocked when a woman screamed her dissatisfaction at him.

Michael walked through the chamber and towards an empty forge. The first floor of the building had 20 different forges and each was spaced very far apart from the others. This made for an incredibly large building and a very complicated ventilation system. MIchael almost got a headache when he took a look at the numerous pipes that were placed at the top. No apprentice or Blacksmith bothered Michael when he went to the forge, although a few did eye him. Forges were free to use and coal was for everyone. Metal was the thing that you needed to buy or acquire for yourself.

Michael took out ‘Agiel’s Band’ from his pack and set it to the side. He saw a few damaged areas to the incredible item and he wanted to repair it whenever he could. The band did not really need constant repair but Michael knew the rarity of such an item so he worried about it alot. Plus it amounted to 2 months worth of exploration.

Michael examined the band deeply in order to find any faults with it. Some cracks along the golden design in some places and a few dents in the metal of the band were relatively easy things to fix. Materials were the problem though as Michael did not have much Mithril to spare.

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Michael set to work on the golden design first. He took out a few gold coins and proceeded to melt them down. Some of the apprentices paused when they saw the gold, then gasped when he melted them. They haven’t seen anything higher than a Silver coin in their life and Michael’s display shook them a bit. Michael ignored them and continued to examine the band.

Michael fixed the golden design slowly and patiently. He didn’t want to mar the design at all so he worked with a miniscule amount of metal at a time. When he finished he took out a hammer and softly beat the dents back into place. Melted Mythril was applied when he noticed some cracks from his work and the band slowly went back to full Durability.

Michael’s watchers had increased constantly ever since he had come in. The design of band had attracted the attention of various Blacksmith Experts and Masters and his careful repairs earned their silent approvals. Some of the more sensitive apprentices noticed their Masters’ attention and also gave part of their attention to Michael. The ‘Otherworlders’ really didn’t care since they only wanted to get their Blacksmith skills quickly so they ignored the slowly working Michael.

Michael finished his work and was happy with the Durability recovery. Even with such a high Durability, the item can become weaker quickly with the passage of time and lack of attention to it. Michael stowed the item away and then took out his used up weapons.

Michael didn’t fight much in ‘Iron Mount’ but his weapons were very dull and bent. Fighting sculptures was incredibly hard and their skin dulled weapons very quickly. Michael repaired his swords and daggers easily since he knew the exact metal requirements and care needed for his own creations. When the last dagger was repaired, Michael took some stored weapons he scavenged from the goblins and melted down the metals. He packed those away as backup for when he needed them and he tossed the useless leather and bone handles from the weapons.

Michael exited the shop and started his search for a Bard. The sun only reached noon but Michael had been repairing for the last 6 hours and he wasn’t even done with the day. Michael bought a few meat kabobs and bread from a local vendor and walked around the district trying to find his target.

After an hour of searching, Michael decided to ask the people around for help. The news wasn’t good as most of them denied knowing a Bard without a student. Michael was directed to a building that was for the Performance Arts and he entered the building to inquire about a teacher. He was told that most of the teachers already has students. The next ‘Choosing Day’ for a student was also a month away so he could either wait or go to another city, not in such rude terms though.

Why does Michael need an Expert or higher ranked teacher? Ranking promotions require a catalyst in order for the person to rank up. This is usually true for every skill but not every skill has a difficult time doing it. For example, the ‘Identify’ skill requires identifying a higher ranked object than what the person can comfortably do. This is rather easy to do as the person just needs to spam the ‘Identify’ skill for a time on the single item just to complete it. Skills like a combat mastery one requires creating or learning an entirely new move or style for the weapon used. This can take a long time as learning similar kinds of skills does not count and creating skills require an exceptionally imaginative mind.

A teacher should be able to express their experience of ranking up to their student. An Intermediate ranked person will only have experienced ranking up once and wouldn’t be able to fully express what they did compared to an Expert ranked. Also the number of years a person needs to become an Expert is almost twice what a person needs to reach Intermediate.

Michael gave up his search when the sun reached as low as the buildings. He headed back to the ‘Wandering Horse’ and had a secluded Dinner by himself. He went to sleep early again and decided to take it easy until the tournament.

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For the next several days, Michael was taken around by the other girls as they all explored the city. Liera and Jemma were unhappy that Michael had left them to be by himself the second day they were there so they both made sure to keep an eye on him. Liera had bodyguard reasons and Jemma had familial reasons. Lerisa was there in order to buy and sell stuff. The slave Merchant of the group.

Catherine told Michael on the Third day that she and her brother had passed all of the prerequisite tasks needed to be promoted. They would need to spend the next month in the Church learning the extra teachings of Ket and some new skills that are taught to priests. Michael was slightly disappointed that he wouldn’t have a healer for the journey but he still had a rather large cache of Health potions to use.

The group went around the city buying different types of products from the stores. Michael went to buy Alchemical ingredients and some various types of metals. He even bought a kilogram of Mythril for a few hundred gold coins, which was relatively cheap for the powerful metal. He also bought a few quality pieces of wood from the area and some pieces of leather. Michael wasn’t a Lumberjack and he didn’t like the unnecessary cutting and cleaning of leather from animals. As a spoiled rich kid he had the money to do what he wanted.

Jemma needed new sets of clothing in order to fit in more. She didn’t sweat or create waste like other races so her clothes didn’t get dirty as quickly but she did need new clothes so people don’t think shes too poor to afford much. Liera and Lerisa both gave input on what she should wear and Michael was dragged to see if the clothes were good. The glares that were pointed at him were easily ignored with Concentration and he closed his ears to whispers. Michael’s concentrated eyes caused some nervousness among the girls though and blushes appeared more than once. Michael’s demeanor and his display of weapons prevented problems from occurring with creeps and the like. However, on the fourth day…

The girls were walking ahead of Michael and were chatting about the sights of the cities. Some of their glances kept turning back to Michael just to make sure he was there and hadn’t run away. Michael ignored those glances and focused on window shopping the passed stores when a small scream from Jemma cause his head to whip to the girls.

Jemma had been giving a glance to Michael when she accidentally walked into the back of a man. The impact was rather small but the man immediately pushed back and hit Jemma. She screamed at the impact but didn’t move from the spot due to her body type and the man instead got severely damaged from the sculpture tackle he tried to do. He fell to the floor in pain and his group mates glared at Jemma and the girls. Jemma and Lerisa backed away from those glares by Liera gave a low growl as she bared her teeth and took a step forward. Her posture was hunched and ready to pounce but before either side could do anything, Michael situated himself between them.

“Get out of our way man. Those chicks need to be taught a lesson!”

“A lesson? And your fallen friend there also tried to teach them a lesson, no?”

The group seemed to have been harassing the crowds as they were moving, pushing people who had touched them or groping a female every once in a while. Michael noted that they were ‘Otherworlders’ and they were in the livery of a passing nobleman from a different city. The local soldiers weren’t allowed to interfere with them, as much as they wanted to. Michael noted the avoidance the other people were giving the group and the clenched hands and glares the guards were giving them. He interrupted the group on the assumption that no one liked them but wasn’t powerful enough to do much against them. Michael was different as he was raised to shove nobles out the door with a boot up their butt.

“Ah, do you not know who we are? We are in the service of-”

One of the men, a tall fellow with a long face and a bald head straightened himself to give a speech. Liera punched him quick enough to leave no image of her moving and the man fell backwards in pain, his nose broken and bleeding. Her innocent expression in that situation screamed the fact that she did it and Michael almost smiled. Some of the crowd also noticed and smiled at MIchael’s group while somehow still giving the evil eye to the other group.

Before the group could consider attacking, Michael took out 8 daggers from around his body and displayed them in front of the group. His face was emotionless but his eyes dared them to attack and find out what he would do with the daggers. One of the men actually took a step forward to attack and Michael threw 3 knives at the man. The knives hit his arm, leg, and side at almost the same time and the man fell down in a scream of pain and a spurt of blood. Michael calmly re added 3 knives back to his hands.

The group snarled in anger at Michael’s actions but there was also a hint of fear in their eyes. They didn’t want to create a scene in the middle of the city and cause problems that may jeopardize their standings with a Noble they had accidentally saved. As ‘Otherworlders’ they wouldn’t usually think twice about defending their pride but they couldn’t take the chance of dying and missing the Tournament event that was taking place tomorrow.

The group backed away slowly and left their injured comrades in the streets. No one cheered their departure but the atmosphere of the area definitely turned more positive. Michael walked towards the groaning pincushion and ripped out the daggers from the man’s body. No one was going to heal him soon and he would probably die from bleeding out, but Michael couldn’t find any reason to care.

The day finished relatively quickly after that. Jemma expressed her desire to go back to the inn and Liera decided to accompany her back. Michael went with Lerisa to a few more shops but he really didn’t need any more materials so they also headed back. Then Michael saw a familiar large man making his way through the streets.

“Hey! HEY MISTER!”

Michael called towards the man and made his way through the crowds. The ‘Otherworlder’ paused in his walking to look back and started when he caught sight of Michael. Even though Michael wasn’t in his Wolf Armor this time, the man obviously recognized him. It had been only 2 RL weeks since they last met.

Michael reached the man and started to lead them towards a more secluded area. Lerisa followed silently behind until Michael asked her to head back. The large man and Michael went into a quiet and mostly empty bar - it was still too early - and sat down on a table.

The large man was the same as when Michael first saw him a few weeks ago. Full beard and muscular, the large man was dressed in a full Armored Knight set and was equipped with a quality longsword and a large Kite shield in red. He made a much more different picture than most ‘Otherworlders’ Michael had already seen.

“Its been a while milord. How have you been.”

‘Ah, he still thinks I’m a noble...’

Michael had acted like a noble the first time they had met. His actions recently also seemed to look like it too since he had dismissed his servant (Lerisa the Servant!!!) and practically dragged the man to where he wanted. Michael decided to end the act.

“Ah, I’m not really a noble you know. My family doesn’t own castles or land or anything. Just one really big house. Anyways, how have you been doing? I see you became a Knight yes? Or are you a Paladin?”

The man was a little skeptical of the supposed low class Michael but he did respond more normally.

“Yes, I’m a Knight. Paladins required too much work to get a Class for and the other Classes didn’t suit me much. Ah, I should thank you for your rings. They increased my strength quite a bit in the early days of training so I finished it quicker than my peers.”

“Good, good. Do you wish to upgrade? Trade those 2 rings for a 50% one this time? Oh don’t worry about bothering me, I can create stronger ones when I have the time. Here, here.”

The large man was hesitant about getting more help from Michael but Michael practically ripped the two weaker rings from the man’s hand and gave his stronger one to him. The Large man gave a slight groan when he put on the ring but he stayed steady unlike before. Michael didn’t feel much difference between 350% extra gravity and 335% extra gravity so he just smiled at the other man’s discomfort.

“I just remembered that we haven’t introduced ourselves. My name is Michael Kane. I’m a...combat class like yours but I can use a tiny bit of Magic when I need to.”

Lerisa would have screamed if she heard his claim but fortunately she wasn’t there.

“My name is Ferocious. I’m of the Knight Class and I’m obviously an ‘Otherworlder’ unlike you. I’m going to be participating in the Tournament tomorrow, Will you be watching?”

Ferocious obviously had the idea that Michael was of a higher level than 150. Ferocious was level 123 and he was one of the top players in Gaia. He was shocked when Michael spoke.

“Hmm? No, I’ll be taking part. I barely made the cut at level 71 so I hope to face you in the finals.”

A smile was on Michael’s face as he gave a little friendly competition but the big man was just gaping. At level 71, Michael was probably stronger than Ferocious and the level difference was way too different. For the second time in Gaia, Ferocious was scared of these NPCs.

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The day of the tournament and the birthday of Kilren. People across the city of Kiryun woke up early to line up at the coliseum doors and get good seats, only to find a mass of people already there; the result of camping the night.

Michael’s party had awoken rather late but when they reached the coliseum the group was ushered through a side door and taken to Michael’s area. He had told the coliseum guards to watch for people matching their descriptions and the group would be given private seats so that they could cheer for him.

Actually Michael had paid a large sum to acquire private boxes for the girls. The problem of having 3 beauties in a crowd of mostly men wasn’t something to ignore so Michael made sure to keep them comfortable.

Michael himself had been inside a large waiting room since early morning and at the moment it only had a few hundred competitors left. One by one they were led into a private room and had their items checked. The people in those rooms had a Master ranked ‘Identify’ skill so anything that couldn’t be identified would be labeled as illegal and kept under lock until the person lost or won. Michael had to keep ‘Agiel’s Band’ inside the ‘Warded Box’ with the ‘Silven Plant’ and the box was kept with Liera. Liera would have been extremely stressed if she had to keep the box safe in a huge crowd so the private rooms were also bought because of that.

When Michael’s turn was up, he walked inside the room and was met with a tired elderly man seated behind a portable desk.  The man had a folder in front of him and a set of writing equipment. He gestured for Michael to remove all of his clothing and don the clean robe. The robes were given in the hundreds so there was no fear of using a used one. Michael removed every bit of clothing he had but fumbled a bit as he took off his restraining vest. His muscles almost sighed in relief as he became unrestrained. The old man just gave a small smile at the restraining vest.

The old man went through Michael’s leather equipment and nodded as he wrote down the information he found about them. The ‘Erlinium Family Necklace’ was identified and that made the man’s eyebrows rise for a bit. He probably didn’t know the name though since that was an elven name for an elven noble house. Michael had given back the wrist weights to Serena but his training was technically over so he didn’t feel he needed to have them replaced. So a leather vest over a wool shirt and leather pants made up Michael’s basic attire. Next were the weapons.

Since the tournament was a one-on-one duel style tournament with single elimination rounds, Michael decided to forgo the massive amounts of throwing daggers he usually had on him. His only weapons were a long Dagger as his defensive and piercing weapon, and his curved blade with the odd handguard. The old man looked these over rather quickly since the information about them was rather basic, then he moved onto the few accessories.

Picking up the most mundane ring first, the old man identified it and smiled at the small gravity spell on it, 10% boost wasn’t a very powerful spell and the fact that it only affected the user’s weight meant that the ring didn’t go against the rules. The 25% one recieved the same look but the 100% one caused a slight widening of the eyes. Simple math told that the 3 rings gave a total of 135% gravity exerted on the user. He gingerly picked up the last ring and gave a deep sigh when he read the information. Something along the lines of ‘Gods and Goddesses help the poor fool who makes him take off these rings” went through his head as he picked up the restraining vest. It was the last one to be looked at and the old man just shook his head before putting it down. Everything was noted down in the folder, hence why Michael only wore his leather equipment.

“Now please show me your stats. You can turn off what you want first but I need to see your name and level. My name is Roy.”

There was no skill that hid your name or level so those 2 were usually the only parts of a status that paranoid people would share. A person can create a false guild in order to hide behind that power or they could use a potion that abnormally changed the Fame and Infamy stat for a time (very useful for chaotic aligned people who wished to move about more easily). Class was also usually never shown since the skills for it could be estimated and the person could be taken down quickly.

Michael turned off everything but his level and name. He had a better reason to hide his Class than others. He focused his mind on Roy.

“Show Status to Roy.”

The displayed information was jotted down and Roy motioned Michael to put his clothes back on. The 30 minute check up was finished and Michael went through a different door than the one he entered.

With 30 ‘Identifiers’ doing the work, all of the contestants were finished before noon and the tournament officially started. The massive stadium was equipped with 10 large stone rings in the shape of a circle and Magic was used to show the different battles around the city. Bars and Inns were filled with people who couldn’t buy the tickets for the show and had to resort to watching it elsewhere.

Michael was in the second set of contestants so he had the opportunity to view that ‘Man’.

Located in the centermost ring, two men were paired off. One was equipped with the standard equipment of an adventure: Leather clothing died in forest green, strong ox hide boots, a heavy cloak with an attached hood that could block poison as well as it could dust. He was equipped with dual swords and seemed proficient in its use. His opponent was an ‘Otherworlder’.

The ‘Otherworlder’ was equipped in a rather mismatched set of clothing. He had a leather vest over his wool black robes and the vest was died in a light yellow. His bright red boots were made of a hide that couldn’t be identified from a distance and he had a wide green hat that covered his features. He wielded a staff in one hand and a large crystal ball in the other and his appearance caused more laughter than any serious wonder. Michael thought that he looked rather like Harold but his attire was actually not as eccentric. It was definitely as mismatched as it could be but Michael had once seen Harold wear nothing but 5 flower stems once. He thought that this man was probably only wearing that for the stats, a proper ‘Otherworlder’. Michael didn’t expect much from the man and it seemed that no one else did either. That all ended by the end of the fight.

Fights usually only lasted 5-20 minutes max and if it went over, then the person that the audience liked the most would usually advance to the next round. The centermost fight however lasted less than a minute.

The adventurer dashed forward when the gong rang and he already had his blades raised in a position to give a deep strike. The bright man however raised his crystal ball in the air and shouted some indistinct words. Black smoke seeped out of his staff and traveled to the raised ball and all of a sudden the adventurer was on his knees giving an ear wrenching scream. All of the other battles stopped as everyone’s attention was fixed on the scene. The bright man laughed in a maniacal way and then stabbed the blunt spear into the screaming man. The staff took a while to pierce the man but in the end the blunt part ripped through the body and the ‘Otherworlder’ lifted the body over his head. The raised body was still convulsing in pain and the man’s screams had died down. The bright man slowly lowered the body towards him and then a loud snap echoed across the coliseum. Then the adventurer was thrown out of the ring; actually only the pieces of the adventurer that wasn’t eaten were thrown out.

Everyone in the city was shocked at the scene. Then a woman screamed and most of the crowds shouted curses at the man for the disturbing scene. Several Knights in the crowd and fighting actually looked like they wanted to fight the monster but they were stopped when a brave announcer told everyone to calm down. He also told the contestants to finish their matches since there wasn’t much time left. People may have thought the man was a little emotionless about the scene but one look at the announcer’s green face shut them up.

The bright man laughed at what he had done and he laughed at the audience. He saw a Knight itching to charge him and he laughed at him too. Michael knew that this man was probably the most dangerous one in the competition and he absolutely hoped that someone took him down before the finals. Michael didn’t want the fuss of fighting a creep like him.

When all of the competitions were done in the first set, Michael’s group made their way to the stages. His was the leftmost ring and he was facing off against another dual swordsmen. This one wasn’t dressed as an adventurer but in the mismatched armor that Michael started to associate ‘Otherworlders’ with and Michael smiled at his luck. He had never faced one of these people in a one-on-one before and this would be a good chance to test them.

The gong rang, signaling the start of the matches, and Michael’s opponent dashed forward in the same way as the adventurer. Michael didn’t move from his spot and just took out his long dagger to fight with. The slashes and combos done by the other man were impressive in their speed but he strength was really lacking. The first blow was easily blocked and pushed back by Michael and the man stumbled back in surprise. His attacks from then on were easily seen through by Michael and Michael was extremely shocked at the weak person in front of him.

Michael let some of the hits go through and noticed that his HP only decreased by a few points. This meant that Michael’s overall defense was only a little bit lower than the other man’s strength. Very weak indeed…

Michael decided to end the stupid match as he took out his curved blade. The blade caused the foe to start in surprise and Michael noticed his fear. Michael with one weapon was able to block every attack by the dual wielder and Michael with two weapons could…

Michael rushed the hesitant man and swung his blade. It was an obvious swing yet when the other man tried to block it with crossed swords, Michael’s blade cut right through the swords and split the man in half. Michael sniffed in disappointment as he walked off the ring in victory.

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The next half a dozen fights gave off the same feeling as Michael fought against ‘Otherworlders’. They seemed to rely only on their stats to fight and none of them had any semblance of a technique in their combat skills. Michael killed them all since he needed the experience to level and he distributed the 4 levels of stats into Strength, Vitality, Agility, and Dexterity.

The first day ended with only a hundred competitors left and over 4000 others lost or dead. The bright man’s name was revealed to be Necromn. All of the ‘Otherworlder’ opponents he would of faced had surrendered before the fight even began while the 3 NPC competitors were killed in the same was as the first. Each death resulted in his creepy laughing and a dampening of the tournament mood.

Since each tournament round required a random roll to determine who faced who, no one could tell who their future opponent would be. The randomness was so that people would not be able to watch their opponent’s battles and devise tactics and strategies before the fight actually began. This also caused a stir when an ‘Otherworlder’ was chosen as Necromn’s opponent and the ‘Otherworlder’ shout his surrender. The ‘Otherworlder’s’ face would usually show reluctance and disgust at the situation but they were usually firm in not facing Necromn. Something about too much pain and the like.

The second day started and several betting booths were finally open. People betted on their favorite contestant and the Bookers would be racking in the cash whenever a person lost in the tournament. Since there was only one clear winner and one clear prize, the winnings from placing a bet and the losses were rather fair in exchange. The bookers seemed to be the greatest winners since they walked off with a fair bit of revenue.

Michael had Liera bet 200 of their gold on himself. He didn’t think he would lose easily and they would need the extra cash when they travelled. At least that was what he told Liera. Truthfully he just wanted to try his hand at gambling once.

The next few competitions Michael was in went relatively easily. ‘Otherworlders’ were all horrible at one-on-one since they focused more on fighting mobs of opponents or cooperating with allies to take down Bosses. Michael mowed down his ‘Otherworlder’ opponents but he did it relatively quiet and with little flare. Michael constantly focused on decreasing his presence so people barely noticed he had a match, let alone his combat style and strength. He wanted his betting score to stay at a high rate. Meanwhile Necromn’s betting chances had risen constantly and he basically had a high chance of winning which meant that the winnings you can get from betting on him was very little.

Michael’s 3rd last opponent was not an ‘Otherworlder’. As the first NPC Michael would face other than his parents and Liera, Michael was rather excited. He equipped both weapons right at the start and waited for the attack.

The NPC charged Michael a little warily. He didn’t have any information on Michael since he barely noticed his fights so he didn’t take any chances. The man circled around Michael and attacked when it saw Michael’s eyes flash towards Necromn’s fight across the field. A scream could be heard in that direction but the man didn’t care. His strike was aimed at Michael’s thighs as he hoped to disable him but Michael managed to dodge at the last inch. Thinking that Michael had done it with only luck, the man continued his assault only to be dodged every time.

Michael meanwhile was very saddened. The NPC had a better style of fighting than ‘Otherworlders’ but nowhere near a level that made Michael’s blood boil with excitement. Michael sighed and fought back a little. The NPC started defending against Michael’s light but quick strikes. Arm, leg, neck, shoulder, thigh, ribs. Strikes were coming from Michael very quickly but not enough that the NPC couldn’t see it. The man was aghast at the skill Michael was displaying and he started to back up so that there was more room between the two. The NPC didn’t know that both of them were already at the edge of the ring however and his steb back cause him to exit the ring. Michael stopped his strike and looked in surprise at the quitting man. When he saw surprise on the other man’s face he knew that it was a mistake and not cowardice that caused an end to the match.

“Meet me afterwards and I’ll teach you a few things.”

With those last words Michael left the ring.

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Michael’s second-last fight was finished before it even started. Since the main thoughts about the tournament was that Necromn would win, every single contestant but Michael had basically quit. Since 7 people were left in the final round it was about to be a round robin style ending but since everyone quit when that was raised, it became a match between Michael and Necromn.

Michael had been relatively silent throughout the tournament so bets for him were rare and high. 200 gold was bet on Michael by Liera and with the amount of favour Necromn had, that 2000 gold could easily turn into a few hundred thousand gold pieces. Necromn winnings were slim in comparison. 200 gold would return about 3 gold pieces which was an incredibly measly sum. Still, people bet on him since they really thought he would win.

When Michael heard this news from everyone around him, he had a humorous idea. With the new skill he got from ‘Iron Mount’ and a second idea that had been brewing in his mind, Michael made up a plan for the match.

At mid-noon on the second day of Kilren’s birthday celebration, Michael and Necromn faced off.

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Necromn had a silly smile on his face as the two faced off. Michael wasn’t able to see his features from a distance, but up close he could see that the man was incredibly ugly. A mouth that was too thin and smiling widely, nose too large with an extra hole on the left side, one eyebrow that didn’t exist and his teeth were mostly missing. His eyes seemed to be the only normal part of the face and Michael was a little put off by them. They nearly glowed with a black hate that was mismatched on his smiling face.

Michael equipped his weapons and got ready. When the gong rang, Michael did not rush Necromn but instead waited for his weird attack. Michael calmly watched as Necromn raised his crystal ball into the sky and chanted his nonsense chant. Then Michael came under attack.

Michael’s body was attacked on every inch and it felt like a thousand needles were constantly poking various parts of his body. His Health did not lower at all but Michael could feel the pain as if it was real. The audience expected Michael to cry out in pain like the other opponents of Necromn, but instead he laughed. He laughed at the absurdaty of the skill being used. Michael laughed at the skill that attacked the mind of a person and gave them phantom pains in order to lower their mental defenses for the finishing strike. Michael laughed at the fact that Necromn was using a mental skill on Michael, the man who had trained his Concentration state since before he was even born.

When Michael finally stopped laughing he tightened his mental defenses and waited for Necromn’s next move. It didn’t come however as Michael was right in his conclusion that the first strike lowered mental defences in order for the second strike to work.

What Necromn was using was a combination of Soul-affiliated magic. The first was aptly named ‘Agony’ and was a skill that recreated a simple sensation and amplified it many-fold. Necromn had used the sensation of a needle piercing skin and the amplification cause his opponents to scream in pain and horror. The second was a more evil spell and had stronger restrictions. First was that the target would need to have lower than average will and strength. This was accomplished through the use of ‘Agony’. Next was the giving of blood from the victim. Necromn used the staff in inflict greater pain and pierce the body, giving the blood aspect to the spell. The last was the actualy deed. The blood that was absorbed would then fall under the dominion of the castor. If the opponent was not weakened then the blood would not obey the user but if the blood did obey him, then the user took control of the blood and used it for whatever he would like. Necromn used the blood to ‘consume’ the body of his opponents and instill fear in the audience and future opponents.

The crystal ball and staff were not enchanted in any way. Instead, both were used as items necessary for his skills so Necromn was technically allowed to use them in the tournament.

Since his spells were technically nulled by Michael’s Concentration, Necromn was stuck doing nothing. His skill did not allow him to learn any other type of spell and his combat abilities were incredibly below par. Michael saw that Necromn couldn’t do anything, so he smiled in delight. Then he removed his shirt.

The restraints that were shown made most of the warriors nod in appreciation. Most of them used those restraints during training so they knew the limits of it. The fact that Michael had it on during the tournament meant a high degree of strength from him.

Michael waved the announcer over and gave the vest to him.

“Folks. I am pleased to show the following stats of this vest to you. Show to all watching.”

An information box appeared in front of everyone.

Heavy Restraining Vest

Uncommon

Durability: 3,001 / 4,000

Defense: 20

A high quality restraining vest made for people with incredible strength. Most masters of combat avoid even using this vest since the strength of it would cripple them.

Restricts 60% of movements.

Loss of concentration will cause ‘Snapback’ which means that the limb being moved will snap back into place and damage you.

Michael then removed his 4 rings and gave them to the announcer as well, before everyone else could remove their shock.

“Show to all watching. Show to all watching. Show to all watching. Show to all watching.”

Ring of Gravity V1

Created by a sadistic person that liked to watch people being crushed by their own weight.

Increased personal gravity by 10%

Ring of Gravity V2

Created by a sadistic person that liked to watch people being crushed by their own weight.

Increased personal gravity by 25%

Ring of Gravity V4

Created by a sadistic person that liked to watch people being crushed by their own weight.

Increased personal gravity by 100%

Ring of Gravity V5

Created by a sadistic person that liked to watch people being crushed by their own weight.

Increased personal gravity by 200%

By the time all of this was completly read and accepted by the audience, most of the people who bet for Necromn started to cry at their misfortune and haste. On the opposite side, the people who bet on Michael were cheering in glee. Betting areas were closed a long time ago.

Michael smiled at the small commotion he made and raised his hand to the sky. This was technically the first time he did the spell on such a large scale but he was pretty sure he knew what to do. Michael shifted his sight and looked to the sun.

Michael focused within himself and tried to find the two new sources of mana. Every human had a personal source of Mana that they could tap into and use but it was exceedingly difficult to do so. It basically meant that people had to take a piece of their actual essense and use it. It wasn’t a permanent loss of essense as the essense will recover, but it was much simpler to use the Mana from your surroundings. Healing spells were technically spells that took a small piece of essense from the Gods and Goddesses and they could heal their essense much faster in comparison.

Michael delved and found the two new sources. One felt warm and just the presense of it filled Michael with the joy and ecstasy of life. He felt he could have drowned in it if he wanted to. The second source did not give off a warm feeling the it also had a feeling of ecstasy within it. If the other felt like he could drink life itself, the second one felt more like he could rip life out of the world and store it within himself. It exuded a power that called to Michael and begged to be used. Michael answered it.

Michael touched the source and took out a piece of it. He threw it out of his hands and pushed it towards the sky. What happened next cause everyone to gasp.

The bright mid-noon sky slowly darkened as Michael’s spell took hold. The dark fog-like spell spread all across the skies and then darkened by the second. The sun was then replaced by a bright full moon and everyone received an information box.

Space of the Night

You are under the effect of ‘Space of the Night’. All monsters recieve a 30% boost to stats and you gain a 10% boost to experience.

The spell wasn’t an evil spell but a large-scale dark-attribute spell. No one in the city had ever seen a spell like that before and people from a distance would only see a thin line between the city and the sun. The effects of it were not very good as everyone was still inside the city and there were no monsters about, but everyone did freak out at the display.

When everyone calmed down and looked back at the duel, they saw Michael lift up his dagger and puncture himself. It was definitely a deep cut and the amount of blood gushing out caused some of the watchers to turn a little green. It got worse when Michael frowned in dissapointment and stabbed himself in other places.

When his Health finally reached 30%, Michael felt the rush of power from the release of the curse. With a 30% boost from the nighttime effect, and 14% from his Combat Master, Michael became the strongest being within the city.

StatusNameMichaelAge20Level75ClassH. Champion of LotLFame350Infamy0TitleStudent Under The GodsWorld Ranking1382GuildHistorical SocietyFree Stat Points0Health1575/(4550+700)+44%Mana2070/(3800+1100)+44%Stamina2759/(4175+900)+44%Stored Rage178Strength412 + 44%Dexterity239 + 44%Vitality455 + 44%Intelligence(360 + 20) + 44%Wisdom(390 + 20) + 44%Mana Control205 + 44%Luck139 + 44%Agility330 + 44%Concentration509 + 44%Willpower177 + 44%Charisma140 + 44%Presence(150 + 20) + 44%

Special skills.

+30% more damage against wolves and wolf subspecies.

Mana Recovery rate is increased by 1.5x its base rate.

Under the effects of ‘Space of the Night’.

You have the ‘Blessing of the Wolfblood’.

You have the ‘Blessing of Janira’.

You have the ‘Curse of Plutys’.

Michael decided to try out his skills. He sheathed the blade and turned slightly to the side and aimed for a section of the ground. Then he used ‘Quickdraw’ and sliced the ring. A large shatter came a few seconds after his swing and the ring split along his slice. The display of power shocked the audience to silence and Michael turned his feral gaze onto Necromn.

When Necromn saw the look he immediately tried to log out. It was impossible to do so in the middle of a fight though (main reason why Players didn’t fight him. If they could log out, most of them would have tried at least) so Necromn was stuck with a monster of an opponent.

Suddenly 2 large sized ‘Fire Tornadoes’ emerged on the sides of Necromn and stayed there. Michael lifted a hand in a showy fashion and several dozen ‘Fireballs’ were created around the ring and also stayed in one place. These were just backup plans in case Necromn had any other tricks up his sleeve as Michael wanted to kill the man close up.

Necromn’s messed up face started to twist in a sneer as Michael started to walk forward, but Michael could read the fear in his eyes. When Michael walked close enough to kick the man, Necromn raised his staff and tried to beat him back. Michael just cut the staff in half and then cut the man’s hand off. The scream that came out of him was a satisfied sound after what the man caused to several of his opponents..

When Necromn finally stopped his screaming he started to flail about in his robes. He replaced his crystal ball for one that was bigger and dyed in a crimson red. Necromn almost sneered with his pain racked face and he raised the crystal over his in the same manner he did with the regular crystal ball.

This time Michael could pick out the words being spoken.

“Aaggooonny tiiimmmess aaa mmmiiillllllionn.”

Michael judged that there was something wrong with his tongue and mind. The words being spoken was basically a command for the skill ‘Agony’ and Michael judged that the spell was an improvement over the other. Michael steeled his mind once more.

Pain blossomed on Michael’s body but he endured due to his Concentration stat being at 130% higher efficiency than before. The pain came and stayed but Michael just moved his body as if it hadn’t happened. Michael stepped forward and quickly slashed the crystal holding arm off.

While Necromn was once again screaming in pain, Michael went over to the crystal and picked it up.

Blood Crystal

Rare

Durability: 98/100

A crystal filled with the souls of many people. As an item that goes against the very nature of life, it is your duty to destroy it.

Grants the skill ‘Improved Agony’ to the holder.

Takes away the holder’s ability to speak properly.

Curses the holder heavily.

When the holder dies or the crystal is destroyed, the holder’s soul is permanently destroyed and they cannot be revived in any way. (permanent death in Gaia for the ‘Otherworlder’ who held it.)

‘Interesting.’

And Michael crushed the crystal in his hands.

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As the winner of the tournament, Michael became the 142nd winner in Kiryun. His name was recorded and added to the roster of winners, but there wasn’t any plaque that displayed the name to the public. Only by word of mouth would his name and features be spread around.

Since Michael’s Presence and Charisma stats recovered to their original amount, his looks, height, and aura were enhanced in the eyes of the people. They saw a monster of a man wielding powerful magics and displaying incredible strength. A person with the dignity of a Noble and a Hero who slayed a monster.

So no one really noticed when a cloaked average sized man received the reward from the tourney committee and made his way to an Inn.

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Michael was laying on his bed and examining the item he had gotten as a reward for the tourney. Michael and all of the participants had been expecting the reward to be something Rare or Unique but the information Michael got on it seemed relatively mundane. Still, it was better than something he himself could make regularly since swords and armor was his specialty.

Offensive Shield

Uncommon

Durability: 500/500

Defence: 100

Attack: 20-50

A shield made by a Master Blacksmith, this shield was designed for harsh battles. The thinner edges of the shield allow for offensive slashes if it is done quick enough. The shield itself is made of a strong unknown metal alloy. Sharpening the sides of the shield will increase slashing ability.

Slashes deal more damage depending on how much force is put into it.

As Michael started to think about what he should do with it, he heard a scream from outside the Inn. He knew the voice so he jumped off his bed and ran out. Not surprisingly, he saw that every male in sight was also going towards the voice...’Great...’

First Boss Fight

Staying in Kiryun

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So...new site and all...had to reupload most of this chapter...

Oh well. Shield reward. Looks useless...cause it is.

Let me explain:

The Tournament dedicated to Kilren is mainly a low-tiered one. Prizes are usually donated by the Blacksmiths and no donations are higher than Uncommon in terms of rankings (like the real world no real business would donate some extravagant 1 million dollar piece). Most of the town of Kiryun knows so they don't participate. The travelers that come through the city don't though so they mainly are the ones participating. All of the winners that got the useless prizes do not go around and share what they got since they 1: would be embarrassed at the prize and 2: no one would believe them and instead they would be thought of as scum for trying to trick people into not participating. The tournament is a yearly thing so why would anyone think they have rare prizes every year?

The next explanation for the time skip.

I had a question that players would usually be told they would experience slower or faster time. This is true for players not NPCs. Michael had no players on his party so they were not aware of a time discrepancy.

Grahaha I feel embarrassed that I messed up Ferocious's name. I had it spelled Furious. Fixed...hopefully won't make that same mistake next time.

I forgot what else I had on here.