"Trust me, you don't need ancient rune stones right now. That's for higher level wands. You—"

"Give it to me or I leave."

"Fine, fine."

[ Transfer details:

500 PP —> 1x Ancient Rune Stone

Accept? ]

Dasha accepted it.

He found a merchant at a low quality stall who sold rare gems and practically bullied him into an unfair deal. Ancient rune stones wouldn't be needed until much, much later. Therefore, even though their intrinsic value was high, their market value was not.

In the span of two hours and a dozen different merchants, Dasha collected five scales of dragon scale leather and all ten ancient rune stones. Some of the deals were downright ludicrous. He managed to fetch a dragon scale leather for fifty prize points.

As he broke away from the muttering merchant, another arrived. A dark, mysterious male approached him with a confident stride. Dressed in a rich, ebony cloak that seemed to absorb the surrounding light, he exuded an air of enigma. His features were obscured by a wide-brimmed hat.

"Good day, sir," the dark merchant greeted. "I've been watching you. I can see you have a good eye and a good head. We should work together."

Dasha's eyes didn't betray a hint of emotion. He waited.

"I am Xavier. I offer you an opportunity to access my exclusive wares, all at a fraction of the usual cost."

Dasha regarded Xavier with interest and healthy skepticism. "What kind of deal are we talking about?"

Xavier's gloved hand reached into the depths of his cloak, producing a glimmering gemstone that seemed to emanate a faint, alluring aura. It was an ancient rune stone. It was what he was searching for. "A mere token of what I can provide," he said, offering him the rune stone. Dasha didn't take it. "I propose a weekly arrangement. You provide a modest sum, and in return, I shall supply you with lucrative items that will undoubtedly enrich your ventures."

"And how do I know you can be trusted?"

Xavier's lips curled into a half-smile. "I am a part of the Whisperers of the Carious. We are a small, humble guild who deal in information. I know your eyes. They belong to one who observes."

Dasha didn't reply.

"Those who have dealt with me have found their fortunes transformed," Xavier said. "Ten thousand prize points every week. For the first level, that would require a fair amount of completions of the main objective—"

"Make it thirty thousand and you give me everything I want, no questions asked. We can seal it with a Blood Pact."

Xavier did not say anything. Dasha pressed him.

"If you can't decide, then you're just a waste of my time. Observation can only get a player so far. Action must be taken. So I give you this bargain."

"Did you…perhaps complete the special objective?"

Xavier's voice was low and uncertain. He didn't believe it.

Dasha sneered, "And if I did?"

His hat tipped lower. "Hmmm…you strike a fast bargain, sir." Lower. "Fine. Let us do it."

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

The Blood Pact came in the form of a grey parchment. Xavier magically hung it in the air. He took off his glove, revealing his swarthy fingers, and pressed his thumb to the floating grey parchment. Crimson red blood imprinted itself on the parchment and the parchment began to write the terms of the contract in that very same blood red.

Standing close to the wall of a rundown merchant building, no one called attention to them. Dasha read the terms and conditions and pressed his thumb to it. A jolt of pain erupted from his thumb. He pushed through it.

The words burned red as if permanently imprinting themselves. Dasha's name and conditions were added.

[ A Blood Pact contract has been successfully made! ]

Xavier's gloves returned to his hand as the parchment came to him. "I look forward to our prosperous partnership, Dasha Pang. What will be your first request?"

"Eitr-forged iron. Ten ingots of them."

"A rare resource indeed. Very, very rare. Apologies, but this may take months to acquire. My colleagues won't be easy to convince to depart with them."

"I can wait."

"It may cost over a hundred thousand points."

"I can wait," Dasha repeated.

The man tipped his hat in appreciation. With the deal struck, Xavier melted into the background.

Dasha stared at the sky. The white clouds were moving and the blue sky was especially bright. His head hurt a little. It was like his thoughts had been extracted from him.

***

Dasha didn't expect to return to the forest so soon. He preferred the buzzling bazaar over the chirping birds and the smell of greenery. His eyes instinctively identified the thick trees, bushes, and the

[ Gate 1 : A Forest in Kishkindha

Main Objective: Kill 3 monsters of the Slime Family

Prize Pool: 100 XP, 500 PP

SPECIAL OBJECTIVE: The baby monkey, Anjaneya, will respawn in 82:50 HOURS

SPECIAL PRIZE POOL: ? ]

As if replaying the stage of a game, the main objective and its prizes reappeared. It was how players could still collect prize points even if they got left behind in terms of levelling.

Unlike on Earth, there was no real need to stretch or do warm-ups. He did it anyway out of habit but from what he understood the adrenaline rushes in this world operated differently. It was like his body was looser. More flexible.

He bounced on his feet and sent out a few fists.

Buuuurp!

Dasha spun on his feet and saw a large green slime. Its speed was nothing impressive but its ability to tank attacks and swallow its opponent was powerful. Once trapped, it was nearly impossible to escape.

Dasha closed the distance. His fists became a flurry of calculated strikes, each blow landing with precision. The impact shattered parts of the slime's gel-like exterior, causing it to quiver and emit a faint, bubbling hiss.

His speed was his advantage and disadvantage. To compensate for a lack of damage, he needed to land more punches. That was the flaw of putting all his attributes into his agility, it left his other stats wanting.

At least it would have if not for the fact he was level 15 and his strength was at a staggering twenty-six. After a combo of ten punches, the slime deteriorated and died.

[ Receive

6 XP ]

He checked his profile. He required approximately six thousand five hundred XP to reach the next level. Previously, by risking his life to kill two Slime Jacks, he jumped up to level 10. He planned to continue hunting them. So far, they were the best source of XP, albeit rare.

Stamina wasn't an issue nor was persistence. Dasha had always been something of a robot. He planned ahead and could focus on the present without thinking twice. In the heat of battle, time went fast too.

Admittedly, he disliked the forest. He preferred the openness of mountains, not the semi-tight greenery of trees.

'It is strange,' he thought, touching the bark of a nearby tree with his fingers. 'Kishkindha is a sanscrit term. I suspect given the nature of the Heavenly Games, it's a mythological region in an Indian epic.' His finger went in circles, the bark rough. 'And this is no doubt a banyan tree, the ficus benghalensis, but this landscape doesn't match the associated areas of its growth. India is a massive place. Ecosystems don't just randomly grow and disperse.'

In his head was the totality of the world. An all-encompassing world map that identified every street, every city, every town, every province, every state, every country, and every ocean. Nothing was forgotten. Nothing could be mistaken.

'Yet this place doesn't match anything on Earth. I wonder, did the gods create this from the bottom-up? Or, if my theory that this place is based on a Hindu epic, that they based it on the past? Gods exist, therefore the regions associated with them on Earth must also exist. Like Atlantis, for example. Maybe Plato wasn't so crazy after all.'

He could come up with theories all day. Analyze the soil, observe the skies and calculate where exactly he would be in relation to the sun. He could do it, but unfortunately the Heavenly Games wouldn't be so accommodating to a scientist like him. Power was what mattered. Power was what always mattered. In the real world, in the after life, power was everything.

He clenched his fist as he heard the slithery movement of a slime.

He had six days remaining before the next gate opened. He had to level up as much as he could. The present wasn't so forgiving to those that slacked off.