Koll, for his part, is almost done with the dungeons. The final one is owed to the illusive Shadowmaster. The man comes and goes silently, never even asking when they will depart.

This allows Koll to take time for both his work and the mentorship of Jake Snow.

"No, Jake," he says. "You have to start with the magic circle to contain the energy you're cultivating in the inscription. Only after the circle is formed can you create doorways for the magic to pass through. Look here."

Koll draws his inscription within a circle and then opens a doorway for the mana to flow through other elements of the engraving.

"Also, the 4 directions; up, down, left, and right are affiliated with holy magic, unholy magic, psychic magic, and elemental magic. Always be aware of this when drawing out an inscription with a specific magic affinity."

The boy nods his understanding and applies the dragonfly ink as directed.

Other engravers come by on occasion and look fondly on the boy.

"Hey, Jake," a pretty older sister type comes up and pats the kid on the head.

"Koll's not treating you unfairly, is he?"

The boy shakes his head, "No."

The sisterly young woman looks to him conspiratorially, "Can I steal you for a moment? I was hoping to get some pointers on an inscription I'm working on."

The young boy has become recognized as the number 2 engraver in the sect. A lot of the engravers find him to be easier to coax into assisting them than his mentor.

Koll is only too happy to not have his pseudo-students begging for tutelage. All he has to say is that he already has an apprentice.

Jake Snow nods his head obediently to the woman.

She pulls out a vellum and explains her issue.

Koll observes passively, with some level of pride in how far the boy has advanced in such a short time.

While he's caught up watching the pair, another young woman comes bounding forward.

Wu Lan has lost all of the hostility she'd held for not getting the first-ever dungeon clear after she received her new wand.

"Hey, Koll. Watcha doin?"

Koll looked at the fairy with a bored expression.

"Just taking a break."

Wu Lan scoffs, "You, taking a break? I don't believe it."

Koll shrugs, "What's up?"

The woman had a glint in her eye.

"I hear there's going to be an event soon."

Koll nods. He'd been hearing the same thing. And, it matched his memory.

In a dark corner of the temple stands an ancient teleportation array. It's a highly guarded secret that the players are, as yet, unaware of.

Soon, a series of conquest sites will be opened for players to venture to through the array.

Each conquest point holds strategic and logistical value for the Red Sect. But, the same can also be said for the other major factions.

The faction wars are about to paint the world red with the blood of many Immortals. As well as the blood of the many NPCs that will be mobilized for the war effort.

It will also be Koll's opportunity to flee from the Red Sect if he so chooses. But, he's starting to believe that the Red Sect players will have the advantage in the wars to come. So, departing at this juncture might not be as advantageous as he once thought.

Wu Lan looks at him for a long moment, "Do you know anything about the event."

Koll smiles lightly, "I know more than you can imagine."

The fairy puts on a frowning face before huffing, "Fine. Keep your secrets. I'll find them out in time anyways."

Koll can't help but ask, "Are you so sure?"

She rolls her eyes. "You're easier to read than you think, Koll. Why else would you be arming us with so many weapons if you weren't preparing us for war?"

Koll shrugs. He'd already confirmed for her that war was on the horizon. And, it was even less of a secret that the Arclight faction had the hero character Commander Hues.

The only thing the players don't know is how they'll get to the battlefield.

In some of the technological worlds, great airships would ferry the players around the world. But, in Ruun, a magic world, teleportation was a common means of travel.

Depending on the success of the campaign, more, or fewer, travel nodes will unlock.

While Koll is busy thinking of the logistics of moving around Ruun, Wu Lan brings him back to the world.

"So, Koll," she says. "When will you start enchanting armor?"

He had been considering that very subject for some time. And, it will be the next step after he completes the 4 Kings dungeon crawl.

Already, about a third of the Red Sect players had an uncommon weapon. Before long it will reach half. The Immortals of the sect will have a statistical if not significant advantage over the other factions. But, it won't be overwhelming.

What the players need is a wide array of powerful armor.

Other quest givers provide some equipment as rewards. But, those items are, almost without exception, common grade.

Koll shakes his head, "Not yet."

A knowing smile claims the woman's face before she says, "Well, get on it. I need a new dress."

Koll waves her away and goes about his business.

Before very long, a silent shadow approaches.

The illusive Shadowmaster appears before Koll.

The man waits silently for Koll to notice him.

Looking up, the enchanter sighs. It's time, he guesses.

"Do you have a team?"

Shadowmaster shifts uncomfortably.

Koll raises an eyebrow.

"Do you have any friends to invite?"

Shadowmaster shakes his head.

With a sigh, Koll looks across the forum.

His eyes find Wu Lan and Dancing Dagger running around doing their own thing.

"Go ask the woman in the blue and white dress and the blonde man over there if they'll join you. Send them over to me."

Shadowmaster nods and moves deliberately towards the other players.

It doesn't take long for the 3 players to gather before Koll.

"So," Dancing Dagger says with some enthusiasm. "We're doing this again. I can get another rare dagger, right?"

Koll distributes the dungeon opening quest. A rare weapon listed in the quest rewards.

Dancing Dagger smiles broadly. "Awesome. Don't get me wrong, Koll. This uncommon dagger is nice for offhand weapons. But, it lacks the elegant violence of the bloodletter."

Wu Lan shrugs, "I've already got a wand. So this is more for fun for me."

Koll looks at her for a moment before saying, "I'll give you an offhand power orb."

The woman stiffens and suddenly seems much more excited about the opportunity.

Shadowmaster says nothing, his face obscured by a bandanna. Only penetrating eyes show his expectation.

"We'll need a tank and a healer."

The players nod and decide to call up Dancing Dagger's friends.

The party forms and Koll bids his farewell to Jake before the party leaves the forum and marches across the valley to the lycanthrope den where the final tomb rests.

The Holy Daughter had been observing Acolyte Luna constantly since returning from the third king's tomb.

When she sees Koll gather his shop ahead of schedule after gathering a handful of Immortals, she knows it's time once more.

In haste, she descends. Were any player able to track her moving at such high speeds, they'd think she was flying.

Of course, she isn't the only one to pursue the departing group.

Players, eager to learn the location of another dungeon, follow with high expectations.

The process is essentially a repeat of the prior 3 dungeons.

Place the pen in the pocket of the statue's shirt. Enter the portal. Clear trash. Dispatch the tragic lieutenant. Fight through a gauntlet of trash before Koll dispatches the boss with a forbidden scroll.

While Shadowmaster and his party check the spoils of their victory, Koll moves to the back of the tomb.

Seemingly delicate spider silk can be found in 2 places.

With the new crafting items, Koll has added to his arsenal.

In a moment he's teleported back to the Red Sect temple.

When the dungeon is opened, the Holy Daughter enters the portal and casually walks through the tomb until she once more stands in the presence of a king of corruption.

This time, as she feels the divinity of her God, a pain surges into her eyes. Wisps of red tendrils form in the air and burrow into her aching eyes.

After the process mercifully concludes, the Holy Daughter opens her eyes, and a seed of red light gleams from the depths of her pupils.

The blessing of the Crimson God fills her with intense longing. A longing that is not entirely her own.

She fanatically desires to sacrifice the blood and souls of uncountable numbers of beings to her God.

A subtle laugh fills the hall of the fourth king. The laughter builds with a sharp disconnect from sanity.

Koll is left unaware of the catastrophe he's unleashed upon planet Ruun. But, even if he were to know of it, it wouldn't cause him to change his course.

Wu Lan finds him as soon as he returns to his place in the forum.

"Koll, I'd like my reward now."

He nods and triggers the quest completion, assigning a power orb that optimizes mana recovery and spell amplification to the young woman's reward.

Ecstatic, Wu Lan pulls out her bone-white wand and the dark purple orb. As a magic caster, these two rare weapons make her perhaps the most dangerous player in the game.

Second in terms of damage potential is Dancing Dagger with two daggers that seem to drip with illusory blood.

Shadowmaster acquires a rare shortsword with enhancements for durability, self-sharpening, silence, telekinetic manipulation, and +3 strength.

The quiet figure's short sword has a pale white glow signifying its enchantment.

Koll congratulates the players on their success and offers the subsequent quest for their quest log.

The trio departs to perform their tasks and Koll is left to deal with the odd player seeking quests or items from his store.

With a look of ecstasy on her face, the Holy Daughter returns to the temple via the teleportation orb.

"My lady," a priest says, eyes widening. "You've returned."

The Holy Daughter nods. Her expression is an unusual smile. It almost looks friendly. But, the light that gleams in her eyes seems predatory.

It causes the red priest to pale with fear.

"Go," the Holy Daughter says. "Gather a dozen or so Immortals and bring them to the sacrificial chamber."

The priest feels cold sweat drip down his back and hurries off to perform the task.

The Holy Daughter makes her way to the chamber and waits. Her eyes ever on the human form statue of her God.

Soon, a rabble of Immortals walks into the chamber with expectant faces. This was the first time the priests had actively sought to bring the players into the secret belly of the temple.

The smiles freeze on their faces as they see the monstrosity of the statue that fills the space.

Dried blood from many thousands of victims has dried on the white stone statue. Some stains are fresher than others.

The players look from the statue to the black-haired woman to the sweating priests who secure the wide doors behind them.

"Uh, what's going on?" someone asks with alarm.

The Holy Daughter smiles widely, "It is time for us to honor the Crimson God."

The players start to sweat.

"I..." a player stumbles for words. "I forgot something, I'll just head back and get it."

When the player finds the door sealed shut, panic starts to set in over the players.

"What are you complaining about?" a muscular male player questions. "We're part of the Red Sect. You should have expected something like this from a chaotic evil organization."

The muscular player steps forward nonchalantly.

"I offer my life to the Crimson God."

The Holy Daughter smiles fondly at the Immortal. A moment later, she slits his throat and pushes his body into a trough situated before the statue.

The players wince at the grotesque nature of the human sacrifice. But, they manage to face their inevitable death with some courage. Though, none as confidently as the musclebound player.

Stolen story; please report.

After the death of the players, the trough is filled with Immortal blood.

The Holy Daughter takes a tool and dips it in the blood and begins splashing her God's effigy with the blood.

As she continues, a red mist emanates from the statue.

The Holy Daughter sighs with contentment as she continues her work.

"What the fuck!" comes a resounding cry from the temple.

Several other voices wail in turmoil.

"I lost 10 fucking attribute points! The hell is this?"

It doesn't take long for the dozen or so players to reach the forum and spread the word of the brutal event they'd been a part of.

"Seriously, you lost 10 attribute points? That's insane."

"I know. That's weeks' worth of effort all taken away."

"Did you at least get anything nice?"

One of the sacrificed players sighs, "Just some token XP and reputation with the sect. Not nearly enough to make it worth it."

The news of the evil ceremony causes the players to rethink their allegiance to the Red Sect. They may have joined a chaotic evil organization. But, taking away a player's attribute points is an evil too cruel to even imagine.

Koll listens as the players complain and discuss mutiny.

Any rebellion would only give the Holy Daughter more souls to sacrifice. And, she was likely going to want many more.

The best chance for the players of the Red Sect was to go to war and claim POWs to offer up for sacrifice instead.

Koll isn't afraid that the Holy Daughter will use acolytes like him, because the Immortals are far more expendable.

But, when there are no willing sacrifices, the priests will choose sacrifices.

While the players realize that the honeymoon phase of their relationship with the sect has ended, Koll is busy buying items from the vendors.

As Wu Lan had requested, Koll gathers a variety of armor types and stows them in his inventory.

Each armor type has its limitations. Like a cloth robe can't store any engravings. At the same time, the cloth was more conducive to enchanting energies than plate armor.

The players take note of his new purchases and a number of them can be seen licking their lips in avarice.

Koll doesn't mind. With the wars about to begin, Koll predicts that the Red Sect is going to face a dire challenge.

Not only were they considered evil by the other civilizations, but the players of other factions already feel animosity against the faction that unlocked 4 dungeons in short order.

If Koll isn't careful, he could be caught up in the destruction of the Red Sect.

Honestly, he thinks, it would probably be for the best if the sect were destroyed. But, he needs to have an out before that happens.

"Hey, Koll," a random player approaches him. "Can you tell me anything about the blood sacrifice and the woman in the red dress?"

Koll looks at the young man for a moment.

"I recommend you don't loiter in the temple. She won't always be asking for volunteers."

The player gulps and looks at the other players hanging out in the forum.

"Let me get all your quests, Koll. And, thanks for the warning."

Koll shares the quests with the player before watching the young man hastily depart from the temple grounds.

Other players seek him out too and an exodus happens. Fortunately, the players have much to do. While the dungeons can't often provide better items than what Koll gives them, they can still get armor and unique items there. And, the XP is exceptional in the dungeons for parties that aren't complete garbage.

Koll takes out a piece of chest armor. With the black candles, wind elementals, fluorescent moss, and spider silk, in addition to his already varied null-element crystal dust, Koll has reached the limit of what is possible for an enchanter in a starting zone.

And, no other enchanter has the limitless supply of player-harvested crafting items.

Koll begins engraving sigils into the chest piece. His hands are deft and deliberate.

He thinks about how he'd started with a crude stone chisel in the dungeon cell that became his room.

It had been a couple of months since that moment. And, he had advanced tremendously.

The engraving and enchanting results in an uncommon piece. But, Koll isn't discouraged. Even if he only had a 2% chance of creating a rare item, out of the hundreds of pieces he was to make, he'd get a handful of rares.

The days that follow are predictable. The players largely vacated the temple grounds after the first bloody sacrifice.

The only player who didn't hide in the valley is Jake Snow. The boy is, by all rights, under Koll's protection. So there isn't much concern over him being chosen as a sacrifice.

The players come and go. His stall is a perpetual revolving door of questing players.

A few look at his engraving class change manuals and then at Koll as he enchants new pieces of armor.

"Koll," a young woman looks over his magical work and asks, "Do you think you'll create an enchanting class change manual?"

Koll shrugs, "When I'm not so busy."

The woman nods with satisfaction.

"I'll be counting on you."

She lingers, "I don't know if you remember. But, I picked up engraving because of you."

Koll looks at her with imperceptible pity.

"You know, if you keep following such a bizarre career path, you'll never slay a dragon."

The woman laughs, "From what I heard, you one-shot all the boss monsters in the dungeons."

Koll shrugs, "I'm an outlier."

"Anyways," the woman says. "I don't want to slay a dragon. I want to be a craftsman like you. I think it would be amazing to own a shop like yours."

Koll nods. Players will always be split between combat professionals and craftsmen. In Cosmos, the easiest way to get rich is as an experienced craftsman.

Koll can be said to be incredibly wealthy already. And, at later stages of the game owning entire planets will be possible.

Koll looks at the woman's name, Mary Susan.

"Come back later, I'll make a class change manual for you. Just don't use it till you've reached a sufficient proficiency in engraving. Otherwise, you'll have to start over."

Mary Susan smiles enthusiastically and runs off.

Koll finishes the armor piece he was working on and pulls out an empty tome.

He doesn't need to draw out elaborate sigils. Enchanting can be said to be more science than art.

He has to explain the principles of the materials. Dusts and more exotic materials. He even explains how to use the dungeon items he's collecting.

After covering the basics, he lists as many recipes as can fit into the tome. It doesn't take him long to create a rudimentary enchanting class change manual.

Koll puts the manual away and focuses on his other work.

The number of complete armor pieces begins to stack up in his inventory. But, he has no interest in distributing the armor until the faction wars begin.

Of course, not everyone is content to watch his creations rot in his inventory.

The barbarian looks down on Koll as one would their best friend.

"Come on, brother. We've been through thick and thin. I got you your proof. Why can't you share some of your armor pieces with me?"

Koll looks up at Gol D with an implacable expression.

"I'm not sharing them with anybody."

The large man frowns, "I'm not saying you should give it to me for nothing. I'll run whatever dungeon or raid you send me to. Just give me a suitable reward when I'm done."

Koll rolls his eyes, "You're assuming that there's anything you can do for me. Sorry to tell you this. But, you've already done enough. I won't need anything new for a while."

Gol D's brow twitches, "So... In a while, what will you need?"

"Violence."

The one-word answer brings a vicious grin to the barbarian's face.

"That, I can do. But, don't keep me waiting too long. I feel like our little valley has become too small to hold the both of us."

With his last words spent, Gol D walks off into the wilderness.

Despite how annoying the players can be, Koll does feel that the forum is too quiet after the first sacrifice.

Koll looks over his shoulder and sees Jake busily inscribing arcane runes into a piece of vellum.

Koll never collects the finished pieces from the boy. Only providing the base materials.

Considering how much effort Jake has put into his engraving, Koll imagines the boy has a relatively powerful arsenal of items to use however he chooses.

Still, the boy has a long way to go. Which isn't in itself a bad thing.

Mary Susan comes to collect the enchanting manual. She expresses her gratitude before departing.

A month passes quickly. The players conquer the 4 dungeons repeatedly. Over time several rare pieces of equipment bolster the combat proficiency of the fortunate players.

Wu Lan, Dancing Dagger, Gol D, Mary Susan, and even Shadowmaster make checking in with Koll a regular habit. Partially to refresh their quest logs. Other times they hope to see a new quest with a piece of powerful armor as the reward.

Unfortunately for them, Koll is content to put his finished pieces away in his inventory. He has over a thousand pieces of armor that he could flood the market with. But, they are too precious to simply pawn off to the players.

The Holy Daughter has taken to abducting unwilling Immortals for her blood sacrifices. And a haze of a red, evil, aura descends upon the temple.

The acolytes and priests grow from reasonably pious disciples of the Crimson God to vicious zealots.

The players see the reason why this sect is chaotic evil in its alignment. And, many start to hope for a way to escape.

That method finally appears one day when the beautiful Holy Daughter stands at the top of the stairs leading to the temple.

Her voice is amplified by magic and carries to every corner of the Crimson Valley.

"Red priests, acolytes, and Immortal Braves," she says in a clear voice. "War is upon the continent. The fools of the Arclight kingdom and varied factions have proven their greed. They lay eyes on the regions that our Red Sect ancestors have fought and died to protect.

"The petty kingdoms and dominions have invaded our sanctuaries. They have slaughtered our disciples with impunity. This cannot be tolerated.

"The Crimson God has grown in power by your sacrifice. Our God has only one desire. Our God demands the blood of those who worship their impure light.

"From this day forward, we will send our warriors to defend our sanctuaries and into the enemy's heart. We will sacrifice apostate blood to feed our God."

Her words resound loudly for all to hear before she falls silent and disappears into the temple.

All across the Crimson Valley, players heard the message and begin to bubble up with excitement.

The faction wars have begun.

The previously empty forum is returned to life. Players come with expectations and the sect meets those expectations.

Red priests descend the stairway to begin recruiting players for the campaigns in 5 territories the sect refers to as sanctuaries.

The players go running up the stairs to find the teleportation array that has opened to the public.

Koll watches the enthusiasm with a certain degree of excitement himself. With the opportunity to teleport away, his opportunities will expand.

Still, as an acolyte of the Red Sect, he's limited. And, the sanctuaries are battle zones.

Several players hang around Koll, wondering if he has any new quests.

Wu Lan is among these players and asks, "Are you going to the sanctuaries?"

Koll nods, "I'll see you over there?"

"Which sanctuary are you going to?"

Koll acts as though he's thinking before saying, "The Everash Forest."

The players look among themselves. A certain sense of mutual respect comes over their faces.

"We'll see you there," the gathering says, each in their way.

Koll waves his hand, "Go on then."

The gathering departs.

While Koll isn't beloved by all, he has developed a bit of a cult following. It will serve him well in the future.

Koll looks to Jake Snow who has set aside his inscription work and is observing his teacher.

Koll stows his shop and Jake's furniture.

"You ready?" he asks.

The boy nods, "Yes."

Koll leads the way to the stairs and ascends to the top. He looks back on the dusty red valley with satisfaction. The region has treated him well.

Unbeknownst to Koll, a figure is watching him with an inscrutable expression. Behind her, the red priests observe their Holy Daughter silently.

After the discovery of the 4 tombs of the kings of corruption, none dared question the Holy Daughter's obsession with acolyte Luna.

"I want to know which sanctuary he goes to."

Her words are neither cruel nor kind.

Acolyte Luna was in her eyes a high-value entity. She doesn't even view him as a human. But, rather as an otherworldly being. Perhaps a demon or something more.

"As you bid, my lady."

As acolyte Luna disappears into the temple, a red light flashes from the Holy Daughter's eyes before she turns her attention to the coming wars.

Koll navigates his way along with the mass of players. Here and there, other acolytes and the red priests move with the flow as well.

Koll makes sure the boy doesn't get lost. And, soon they come to a room flashing with energy as bodies walk into the array and disappear a moment later.

Each player identifies their destination through the menu.

Despite the stream of players, it takes little time for Koll and Jake to get their turn.

When the system prompt gives him a list of 5 destinations, Koll chooses the unassuming Everash Sanctuary.

The world flashes a blinding white light before Koll's world settles into a brown and green forest.

Around him is a stone shrine where players are loitering.

Looking behind him, a humanoid statue of the Crimson God is attended to by the red priests. The statue itself has blackish-red blood dried to its surface, creating a grotesque sight.

Koll knows that the statue will soon have fresh blood washing over it as the Red Sect faction players kill and harvest the blood of their enemies.

It's certainly an unhygienic practice. But, cultists do as cultists do.

There are several NPCs available to the players, providing a plethora of new quests.

But, upon noticing Koll's arrival the players inundate him with friendly requests for some task he might need help with.

Koll shoos them away and makes a path to an open space just outside the shrine.

He's no longer in the safety of the starting realm, so the enemy players can make an effort to assassinate him.

Before setting up the shop, Koll takes out a large number of detection stones. They will detect any entities that try to use stealth to sneak into the territory.

As the stones will only trigger if a stealth enemy enters range, and will deactivate after the entity leaves its range, the detect stones will, essentially, provide a permanent effect.

Koll identifies his intended shop location and sets up several detection stones in hidden corners around the location. Then he takes about a hundred more detect stones and begins laying down a grid around the shrine.

No hostile players will be able to sneak in and slit his throat... hopefully.

The players watch his actions with satisfaction. They know how effective Koll's [Saint Stones] are. Whatever he's doing is bound to benefit the players.

Koll finishes and moves to his chosen storefront.

Soon, the tables are in place and Jake is busy studying inscription.

Koll doesn't get to work immediately. Instead, he sits in his chair and thinks for some time. Occasionally waving off the odd player.

One of the main quest objectives of the Red Sect was to procure the blood of hostile players and NPCs. There will be plenty of quests given by the sect to do so. Koll doesn't need to send the players out for something so mundane.

In his memory, he knows of a few items he can use the players to procure for him.

But, that can wait.

For his safety, boosting the player base's combat effectiveness is of paramount importance. And, there is one surefire way to achieve that.

[Quest Name: Blood for Blood]

[Description: You have entered a warzone. Koll Luna has tasked you with slaying 10 players of hostile factions in the Everash Forest.]

[Reward: 100,000 XP, +100 reputation with Koll Luna, 1 uncommon chest armor piece]

Koll will empower the players with armor pieces. On top of the weapons they had received in the starting zone, this will make the Red Sect's players substantially more powerful than the Arclight and Trade Union players on their way to the Everash Forest.

But, regardless of how strong the Red Sect players are, they have a target on their backs. Mainly because of him.

The Everash Sanctuary becomes the Mecca of Red Sect players. The lion's share of the players come to Everash, following their mascot character.

It will lead to an imbalance if Koll doesn't rotate through the sanctuaries. But, for now, Everash Forest has become the hotbed for player activity.

Koll finally starts interacting with the players and distributing the quest to the excited Immortals.

"A chest piece. Awesome."

"It's a shame it's just uncommon. I want to get a rare piece."

"Shut up, man. Koll might hear you."

As usual, the players are loudmouthed brats. But then, he'd been like that too... once.

As the first groups start to form hunting parties, the hundreds of gathered players begin to explore the wilderness beyond the shrine.

Before Koll can get back to work, a familiar pair approach.

Wu Lan and Dancing Dagger greet him.

"Hey," he says in return.

Wu Lan appraises him. "What do you get out of sending us Immortals off to kill enemies? You're even giving out armor for a quota of kills."

Koll shrugs, "For the glory of the Red Sect."

The fairy suddenly laughs.

"No way," she says. "You always want something. Why aren't you sending us to gather materials for you? Just wanting kills is too simple for you."

"You overestimate me, Wu Lan."

Dancing Dagger chimes in, "No, you're up to something. You spent way too much time exploiting us for you to give it up now."

Koll feels bitter for the way these 2 see him. Aren't they supposed to be friends?

Not that Koll cares much.

"Go kill 10 enemy Immortals and see if I'm using you."

"Oh, you are," Wu Lan says as she accepts the quest.

Koll watches the pair depart. They seem to have partied up as friends after Shadowmaster's dungeon.

The enigma himself had already claimed the quest and disappeared.

Once again, before Koll can get to work, a burly figure approaches.

"So, you're finally gonna give me some armor?" Gol D asks.

"That's the plan," Koll says easily.

"Great, I'll be off. We can talk about the other equipment slots later."

Out of all the players Koll is familiar with, the giant is without a doubt the greediest. But, that greed makes him dependable.

Only 4 players found proof for the tombs. Gol D is one of them. There was little luck in finding the proofs. Mostly it took dedication and persistence.

Gol D demonstrated those dependable traits by completing the quest.

Putting such pointless thoughts aside, Koll begins his crafting. He has a large number of armor pieces. He has robes and dresses, plate, chainmail, and leather chest pieces in large numbers.

It should last him for a few days. But, he isn't planning to loiter in the Everash Sanctuary. He'll alternate between the 5 sanctuaries every day and provide a unique armor specialty in each sanctuary.

Tomorrow, he'll go to the Harrowing Tides Sanctuary and offer the same kill quest with boots as the reward. He'll continue from there.

But, for now, Koll is preoccupied with building up his Enchanter class proficiencies.

Thanks to the months spent in the Crimson Valley, his stock of both common and rare materials won't be exhausted any time soon.

Koll can almost even fool himself into taking it easy. But, he knows that just as the players are getting stronger, so too does he need to grow.

He looks over his attribute panel.

[Name: Koll Luna]

[Primary Class: Enchanter]

[Secondary Class: Engraver]

[Evolutionary Rank: E]

[Strength: 10]

[Agility: 10]

[Stamina: 15]

[Mind: 20]

[Spirit: 18]

[Dexterity: 20]

[Mental Resistance: 8]

[Soul Resistance: 8]

[Potential points: 0]

[Sharpen: 10]

[Identify Weakness: 8]

[Steady Hand: 12]

[Mana Manipulation: 5]

[Essence Identifier: 4]

[Mystical Hands: 7]

[Evolution Meter: 2,000,000/10,000,000]

His status points are increasing at a steady pace. And, he can almost be considered a real hero character. But, he is lacking too much by way of evolutionary ranking to be even close to a faction boss like the Holy Daughter.

But, Koll has no interest in becoming a loot pinata for the players.

As the hours progress, players return a few at a time. Hunting players is a completely different experience from hunting beasts.

A guerilla war is being waged in the Everash forest. Both sides hunting for blood.

The stream of players coming back to claim their prize exuded a sort of arrogance that comes from overpowering another. But, plenty of others return wearied from the high attrition rate.

"Damn, the Arclight bastards allied with the Republic of Creston.

Creston was another player faction that was included in the flame war with the Red Sect. As one could expect, the enemy factions made peace to deal with the Red Sect.

A few uncommon weapons couldn't balance out the devastating joint operations of the hostile factions.

But, the warzone isn't going to tip too far in any side's favor on the first day. All sides will just hurl bodies at the objectives. Fortunately, the Red Sect has plenty of bodies in the Everash forest.

Koll minds his business, rewarding any player who hits the quota.

Wu Lan returns after some time with Dancing Dagger tagging along.

"Did you prepare my new dress?" Wu Lan asks.

Koll looks at her briefly, "You know, I don't do requests."

The woman cocks her head to the side, "But, you did for me. Right?"

Koll rolls his eyes and pulls out an exceptional red and black dress. Without engravings, the dress is enchanted with physical resistance, elemental resistance, elemental enhancement, and +2 Mind.

It's nothing compared with a rare item. But, it has an aesthetic appeal and a good balance of defense and offense.

"Oh, wow," Wu Lan says in astonishment. Her hands caress the fabric.

She equips it through the menu switching instantly from her more innocent blue and white dress to the aggressive red and black gown.

"This is... wow. I feel like a different person."

Dancing Dagger whistles, "You look... kinda scary."

Koll looks at them with a blank face. "If you don't want to keep it, I'll take it back and give you something else."

"No!" Wu Lan blurts out. "I like it. I do."

Koll shrugs and looks at Dancing Dagger.

The blonde man gulps, "Whatever's fine by me."

Koll awards him a leather chest piece of a brown color. It protects his vitals while keeping his range of movement free. The enhancements are moderate in their effect.

As Koll gives him the rather boring item, Dancing Dagger seems to deflate a little. But, Koll pays him no mind.

"So," Wu Lan says. "Do you have any other quests for us to do?"

Her hopeful question is met by a neutral expression.

"Come find me tomorrow."

This time, it's Wu Lan who deflates.

Koll waves the pair away as more players return victorious.

Only a couple hundred or so players complete the kill quest on the first day. But, thousands more still have it in their quest logs. It won't be an issue for them to complete the quest while Koll visits other sanctuaries.

As night approaches, Koll yawns and gathers his shop. Bidding farewell to Jake, Koll uses the teleportation array to return to the temple and find his room to sleep.