Author note: The dark left hand is now called Midas

I told them about the incident back at the facility.

“Are you telling me all that happened back then? “ Elisa was slightly touching my left arm, Midas.

“Sky, I had no idea” Odin seemed a bit worried.

I was opening and closing my fist as I examined it a bit closer myself.

“It’s so hard, yet so flexible” Elisa seemed amazed. 

“I can even transform it at will, only to sharp things though.”

“Why didn’t you tell us more about it?”

“I didn’t want you guys to worry, I really don’t think there was anything we could do to treat it as it did not appear to be any known debuffs or other bad effects.”

“Even so…” Odin still seemed worried.

“At least tell us if something is wrong “Elisa got angry.

“Sorry”

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After the fight and fog cleared up they were faced with a long way up the mountains.

“Are you kidding me?” Cortez was really upset as he fell down to his knees. 

“Hmm, I thought it was a building or something I saw in the distance, guess it was only this gate.” Celia banged two times at the gate.

“I thought we were just finished, this….this…..this is beyond me…” Cortez was really upset.

“You are the strongest looking guy here yet you don’t have any stamina” Celia was taunting Cortez.

“Looks like the sky is clearing up by the mountains.” Elisa pointed upwards.

“Is that where the next questing area is?” Odin gazed at the mountain.

“One way to find out, be on a lookout for caves, it’s getting dark soon.

“Alright” Celia, Odin and Elisa were eager to keep on going.

Cortez was following, still disappointed that we weren’t there yet.

It didn’t take long before we found a cave in the mountains, we started a camp fire with a few branches we brought with us on the way up.

The fire was crackling as we sat there, mesmerized by the nice warmth.

Time was hard to get used to in the thunder plains because it was always dark and raining.

“Ahh this feels so good!” Cortez laid down on his back.

“Yeah, this warmth is so nice, ohh right” Odin had his hands towards the fire as he remembered he had a piece of pork in his pocket that he started warming up.

The rest of us did the same with some food we had bought back at the town.

“I wonder if the next questing area is as scary as the previous ones, I feel like I need a break from all the bad stuff, why can’t a place contain flowers and bright sun? Kind of like the starting zone!” The meat was fizzing almost, while Elisa was talking.

“I don’t even remember the start zone….” Odin seemed a bit down.

“Ohh that’s true, you have been in that city for a whole year, I can only imagine how it’s been, but you are no longer there and your family will make it! Your mother and sister seem strong, it will take some time for them to use up the money we gave them from the tournament.” Cortez tried to cheer Odin up.

“Once we get to the next city you should send them a mail! We should all donate some money too!”

We all agreed simultaneously.

“Thanks, everyone” Odin blushed.

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A strange man was seemingly lost in the mountains…..it had started raining during the night. 

Is this the man who is following Sky and his friends? Or simply a lost man?

“Must….Find….shelter…” The man was walking slowly around the mountain as he kept looking for a place to sleep or relax, that’s when he notices the light from the cave.

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Some time went by and we were finished eating.

“So tell me Celia, how did you get to be so strong?” Cortez casually asked her.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, back at the tournament you totally kicked my ass and everyone else’s, you were playing with us, was I no match?”

“Well….” Celia didn’t really know what to say.

“I bet you could beat Sky if you weren’t too soft on him, hihi”

“I didn’t go soft on him just because he was my b-brother, stupid!” Celia threw a stone at Cortez.

“Ow! That hurt”

I was slightly awake as I overheard the conversation.

“Celia about that, I am sorry…..I..” Celia interrupted me.

“It’s ok, you didn’t know it was me right? It was only a game anyways.”

“But still..”

“We have already killed each other once, let’s not repeat that.

That was true, my memory was faint back then, at The Darkblood Brotherhood camp….I was fighting Celia, trying to save her on my own, I let her kill me so she could still go unharmed, who knew I would actually survive that?

A knife to the heart.

I took my hand and felt my heart beat, it was back to normal. Midas is a part of me now, whether I want it to be or not, at least I can use it for good.

What were they even doing there? The experiment….The Darkblood Brotherhood…there is no way that was the only one, how long have they been doing this? How many like me are there? Is this going on in other level zones aswell? They have to be stopped.

Odin drew his swords.

“What is it?” we were all shocked.

“Someone’s coming!”

Cortez gave me a quick serious gaze as he drew his bow.

Is this the guy who is following us?

We could see a hand leaning against the wall, and then the man slowly showed himself.

“Please…Help…Me..” He fell to the ground right in front of us.

He had one dagger, mask, cowl and his right hand had a mark on it.

A spellslinger, melee combat?

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Elisa ran over, then Odin shortly after as he withdrew his swords.

“He isn’t hurt, but he is struggling with dehydration, hunger and…” Elisa touched his hand.

“Frost…..”

We all looked at each other puzzled. 

“This man must have been walking around for days….Lost?”  Odin touched his cheek to feel his temperature.

“Don’t tell me these mountains are like a maze!?” Cortez started to freak out.

“I say we take him to the fire, when he wakes up we see what kind of person he is and then give him some food and water, its still dark and raining anyways, Odin, Cortez, help me with him.

“You got it”

We lifted the man up from the ground and moved him more into the cave, close to the fire.

“What kind of man do you think he is?” Cortez started asking questions

“What if he is one of the Darkbloods? Are they plotting something?” Elisa followed up with another one.

“Is he the one who was following us Cortez?”

“Someone is following us?” Odin got curious.

“Back when we were walking from the Thunder plains I sensed someone behind us, I don’t know if it actually was someone, but I trust my guts……This guy right here? Who knows…”

“So my instincts hasn’t dulled at least..” Celia continued the conversation.

We were all looking at her.

“I also felt something back then, we are certainly being followed, I also trust my guts, but this guy is not the one”

“So this guy is not from the Darkbloods?” 

“Hard to say…we should be watching our back for them, but this guy? I don’t really feel the evil vibe with him, I got a quick look at his eyes and face before he fell, you can tell a lot just by looking at the persons eyes, but still keep your guard up” I stated

“I will stay awake, get some sleep”

“Sky! I can stay awake with you in case something happens!” 

“Don’t worry Celia, I will wake you guys immediately when he wakes up.”

“Ok”

Celia and the rest went to sleep.

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Some time passed by, it got quiet and the fire started to die out.

“Seems like I should add some more branches to it” I got up and unloaded some from my inventory.

The man on the ground grabbed Midas.

“That hand…..you are one of them…” I quickly distanced myself from him, but he didn’t move.

“One of them? What do you mean?”

The guy was panting a bit, his mouth was dry.

“Everyone wake up!”

“What is going on?”

“He is awake!”

He was struggling when it came to talking.

“Elisa give him some water……And you! Don’t try anything fishy!” The man seemed to exhausted anyway.

Elisa gave him some water…

“Thank you, young lady…*cough*  *cough*”

He managed to sit up straight as he took another drink.

“You said I am one of them…Who are you referring to?”

He swallowed the water he had in his mouth.

“That type of condition you have, I have seen it recently”

So there are others huh?

“Where have you seen this?” I showed more of Midas.

“There was a guy back in Zebos, he was strange looking, like someone out of a scary movie, but I noticed the same kind of skin type on his body, that you have on your arm. I got curious since I noticed no debuffs or other effects that would have caused these effects, there is no way someone would look like that, at least that was what I thought, so I followed him a bit around the city….He was talking to some really shady guys. I even saw him speaking with a member of the Guardian angels, he was at least 10 levels higher than him, he also seemed really upset, he even smashed a crate next to him, I don’t know what kind of news he delivered, but….”

He seemed to be telling the truth, Elisa gave him some food as well.

“How do you know he was speaking to a member of the guardian angels?”

“They have this dress code you know? White armor with a huge cross here and there” he took a bite of the pork.

“What happened next?”

“I knew something was up, I got scared and got the hell out of Zebos, alone, but that was a bad idea..”

“How come?”

“They were following me.”

“Who are they?”

“I don’t really know, but I knew they weren’t up to any good, I started running, so did they, we ran for a long time, luckily I wasn’t far from these mountains when I noticed them, it was like they were waiting for me to get out of thunder plains..”

Cortez gave me a look.

“These guys, where are they now?”

“I`m not sure, I must have outrun them in the mountains, I hid everywhere I could to disorientate them”

“How long have you been out here, or since you saw them last?

“it’s been 3 days right now actually, as you can see the sun has just risen.”

“Do you quest alone?” He took another bite, it seems his health his getting much better.

“Sometimes…I had made a couple of friends, but one died one after another while questing and being ambushed by other players, staying alone helps when it comes to hiding, I’m not really afraid of the quests or npcs, but the bandits..”

“Sorry for your losses...”

“Thank you…”

“Tell me, do you know where the next questing area is?”

“Yes, I have been everywhere on this mountain, entering the city was to scary I would be in the open, they could have taken me out before I managed to get inside the safe zone, but I can show you the way if you want, that’s the least I can do for helping me out”

“My name is Sky, nice to meet you mr….?”

“Call me, Bram”

Next chapter: Who is this Bram, is he trustworthy or leading them to a trap?