The next few days see Koll continuing his engraving of sigils into his cell.

While he undoubtedly would not be strong enough to face the woman in the red dress, he feels confident that as long as he's in the cell he could face most of the acolytes and guards.

Not that he has any interest in testing his strength against any of them.

All Koll wants to do is escape the Red Sect. But, the valley goes off seemingly forever. And, the temple is built into a mountain chain that Koll can't possibly challenge.

Thus, until a better solution came up, Koll continues training and hunting to live.

"What do you mean you don't have a quest? Stupid NPC."

An irate voice sounds out as Koll descends the temple's stairway.

A male who looks no more than 20 is harassing a red priest.

"What are you babbling about, acolyte? Why would I give you a quest? Just go hunt in the valley."

"Tch," the man clicks his tongue. "Useless NPC."

With that, the player walks away.

Over the last few days, Koll has seen this sort of interaction happen a few times.

The number of players starting in the Red Sect starting zone is increasing.

Koll thinks for a minute before opening his menu to a screen labeled [Quest Giver].

This screen was never available to players. So, Koll has no experience with it.

Now though, thoughts are stirring in his head.

The [Quest Giver] menu allows him to write out quest names, descriptions, and rewards.

Every day, Koll had an upper limit to the amount of XP he can give out. But, that upper limit grows in relation to the total number of stat points he has.

Koll's current stats are listed as:

[Strength: 3]

[Agility: 3]

[Stamina:5]

[Mind:5]

And, he has unlocked a new stat.

[Dexterity: 2]

Currently, Koll had a daily allotment of 35,000 XP that he could distribute with quests.

He could even give money if he wanted to. But, that would have to come out of his pocket.

Additionally, he would be awarded back a fraction of the experience points issued in the quest.

It could be a powerful tool if used right.

Koll has been watching the players for a few days.

They would begin chatting up NPCs that gathered by the stairway. Hoping to find a questgiver.

Most targeted the more high-level priests and priestesses. But, inevitably they'd target any NPC that loitered.

Today, Koll was intent on fishing for quest seekers.

He settles by the base of the stairs and practices his engraving on the dirt at his feet.

Every so often, he would look up to see if anyone was approaching.

As he grew more engrossed in his engraving, he fails to notice someone's approach.

"That's amazing," a woman's voice meets his ears.

It takes some effort not to smile as he looks up at the young woman who's looking intently at the inscription in the dirt.

"Thank you," Koll says with an even voice.

"What is it?" she asks, her eyes round with curiosity.

Koll sets down the stone implement and points at the various elements of the sigil.

"It's a [Mark of Fortune]. You see the runes. They identify the Gods of prosperity and fullness. The circle contains the power and allows it to be channeled."

The young woman smiles

"Where did you learn how to do that?"

Koll shrugs.

"I've been doing it so long, it's hard to say where I learned it."

She stands up straight and seems to be collecting herself.

"Sir," she begins. "Is there anything I can do to help you?"

Koll inwardly cheers. He'd already written out the quest.

[Quest: Starving Artist]

[Description: Koll Luna seeks aid in acquiring meat while he practices his profession. Acquire 10 pieces of meat for Koll.]

[Reward: 1000 XP, +1 Reputation with Koll Luna]

The woman's eyes are unfocused as she reads the quest.

"Hmm," she ponders.

Koll can't help but wonder if he set the reward too low.

As he worries, she smiles.

"Okay. I accept."

With that, she rushes out into the valley intent on getting him the meat.

Satisfied with his first fighting attempt, Koll goes back to inscribing sigils into the ground.

Most of the engravings are related to luck. But, Koll fills other spots on the ground with protection sigils.

He doubts there will be any issues. But, it doesn't hurt to be cautious.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

As he busies himself, a smiling man approaches him.

"Hello, brother acolyte."

Koll looks up, "Greetings."

The smile on the man's face seems sincere as he begins asking questions.

"Brother acolyte, might I know your name?"

Koll nods and states his name.

"Ah," the smiling man exclaims. "That's a wonderful name. I... uh... also have a name. But, it's kind of silly."

"Oh?" Koll smiles inwardly.

"What's your name?"

The smiling man rubs the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Dancing Dagger."

Koll hides his amusement. Some people like giving themselves unique names in the game. But, Koll always preferred using his name. It just helped him get invested in the character.

Though, he never wanted to be this invested in his character.

"It's a good name, Dancing Dagger. What can I do for you?"

The man's infectious smile returns, "I was hoping you had a quest you could give me."

Koll nods. In a moment, Dancing Dagger is reading his interface.

He groans.

"No money? Brother acolyte, we're all starving."

Koll shrugs.

With a sigh, Dancing Dagger nods.

"Okay," he says. "The XP's better than the other quests. I accept."

With that, the smiling man goes off into the wilderness.

Having noticed the pair before them, other players start showing up in front of Koll.

Most of the players have no interest in small talk, eager to be off into the wilds.

It doesn't take long for Koll to hit the upper limit of the XP he can give out.

Fortunately, the number of quest seekers has already reached its limit. And, Koll is left to wait for his quest seekers to return.

The woman is the first back and she smiles brightly as her inventory is unburdened of 10 pieces of meat.

As easily as that, Koll gains a chunk of XP. All from standing around drawing in the dirt.

As the day starts to die, Koll receives the rest of the meat from the hunters.

When the players depart, Koll walks over to the mean-looking cook at his grill.

"I'd like to sell some meat."

The man's piercing gaze analyzes Koll before he gives an almost imperceptible nod.

The pair work out a reasonable price and Koll walks away with a full wallet.

Feeling pretty good about himself, Koll returns to his room to rest and continue his engraving.

The days that follow see a repeat of this process.

In addition to raising the levels of his class-related skills, Koll uses XP to purchase potential points at a high price.

Rather than build himself as a melee character, Koll focuses on the [Mind] stat. Bringing it up to 10.

As the stat grows, Koll feels as though weights that he'd never known to be there were suddenly released from his mind. His understanding of the art of engraving develops into higher realms.

Koll once more sits at his spot outside the temple. In his hand is a carving knife and a smooth stone.

With meticulous precision, Koll is inscribing a sigil with the defining feature being an explosive element.

While busy, he doesn't notice a figure approach.

"Hi, Koll," comes a young woman's voice.

His gaze turns up to see the pretty woman looking down at him.

Is it just him or does she look irritated?

His thoughts are interrupted when she performs an exaggerated sigh.

"Seriously Koll, when are you going to update your quest chain? How many days of meat do you need?"

Koll rolls his eyes.

"Did you just...?"

She's flabbergasted to see an NPC roll his eyes.

"You're right," Koll says. "There is something I need help with."

Excitement wipes away the young woman's astonishment.

With a thought, Koll sends her the quest.

[Quest Name: Precious Stones]

[Description: Koll Luna's artwork has advanced to the next level. Find a smooth stone with a sufficiently flat surface and return to Koll with it.]

[Reward: 2000 XP, +1 Reputation with Koll Luna]

The woman raises her eyebrow as she comes to understand the new quest.

"Well," she says. "At least I only need to find one of them. I accept. Also, I'll take the meat quest."

Koll smiles, "Thank you."

The woman leaves in search of Koll's prize.

The stones will be precious for his development as an engraver. Allowing him to transport his sigils through his inventory with ease.

The stone he's currently working on will function similarly to how a grenade would function.

He simply needed to send mana into the ignition sequence, toss the stone, and watch as shrapnel devoured whatever creature he happened to want dead.

The finished [Saint Stone] wasn't omnipotent. But, it's the foundation for a noncombat-focused class like [Engraver] to fight enemies. At least until he acquires a new primary class.

Koll carries on for some time, occasionally looking up to offer quests to eager players.

In Koll's previous experience as a player, most quests included a token sum of money for the reward. Much like how the red priestess had given him some for his hunt of the gophers. But, Koll provides greater XP for the players. So they don't show any lack of interest in his quest chain.

Feeling bored, Koll opens the forum thread for planet Ruun.

Comments ranging from questions to flaming insults cascade throughout the forum.

Most of it is irrelevant until he sees a thread labeled [Red Sect and the Valley of Crimson].

[Final Flourish: Hello, fellow players of planet Ruun. I was wondering if anyone knows anything about the storyline of the Valley and the Red Sect. I hope we can share a discourse for our faction.]

Koll reads over the original post and then reads through a deluge of comments. Most are agreeable. While some lawful good players try to start a flame war against players of the evil sect.

Koll reads on until he sees a post with a familiar avatar tied to the ID.

The young woman's name is Wu Lan. And, if he had any doubt who the woman was, her comment confirms his assumption.

[Wu Lan: There's an odd NPC who hands out quests at the base of the temple. He's not very expressive. And, yet seems to always be working on his craft.

I don't know if his quest line will lead to anything. I just think it would be a good idea to watch him to see if he makes any strange moves.]

Koll frowns.

Indeed, he doesn't act quite the same way as the other NPCs do. He has to gain potential points and XP to advance. Whereas most NPCs stagnate on their levels.

That's not to say that the other NPCs don't perform tasks or level up. They just can't match Koll's growth potential.

He's still at the bottom of the evolutionary totem pole. With a G ranking. However, he feels that the bottleneck for advancing to the F rank is closing.

Koll continues to scan the forums for some time, seeing a few more comments on his strangeness.

As the day draws to a close Wu Lan and the usual gang of quest junkies return with Koll's prizes.

The stones can wait.

So, Koll returns to the meat vendor with his spoils.

As the sale is finalized, a notification pops up on Koll's menu.

[Grillmaster Keen: +1 Reputation]

Koll's lips turn upward.

Reputation with certain characters and factions can improve bargaining power for the barter system. It can open dialogue options. And, quest opportunities.

The grillmaster is still dismissive of Koll, though not as openly hostile as before.

Thinking on the matter, Koll opens his reputation tab on the menu.

His reputation with the Red Sect faction remains at 0. But, the grillmaster's name and biography are listed next to a reputation meter at the lowest threshold.

The base level of reputation for the character is neutral, with 500 points required to reach friendly.

Of course, the meter also runs in the opposite direction from unfriendly to hostile to hated.

As he examines the menu, Koll finds a drop-down menu showing players and their reputations with him.

Wu Lan's name shows up at the top of the list with 45 points.

Koll scratches the back of his head, realizing that he'd been in the game for longer than he'd thought.

It was within his power to give out hundreds of reputation points if he wanted. But, Koll didn't have any plan in mind that would require a high reputation from the players.

In addition to Wu Lan were Dancing Dagger and a few dozen players with progressively fewer points in reputation with him.

Koll thinks for a moment before closing the menu.

In the Valley of Crimson, there is a quest chain revolving around the 4 corrupted kings of the Red Sect. Each king has a tomb that can be found hidden in the valley. Players will slowly learn of these tombs and explore the trap-laden dungeons.

Koll hadn't played the quest line. But, his loremaster background wasn't just for show. He'd studied the data points of most of the popular worlds of Cosmos.

A plan started forming in his mind. The tombs each held powerful artifacts that could aid him if he wanted to survive the death cult.

Koll looked at the menu once more.

[Name: Koll Luna]

[Class: Engraver]

[Experience: 12,500]

[Evolutionary Rating: G]

[Strength: 5]

[Agility: 5]

[Stamina: 8]

[Mind: 8]

[Dexterity: 6]

[Potential points: 0]

[Sharpen: 5]

[Identify Weakness: 4]

[Steady Hand: 4]

Koll reviewed his progress. It was well-rounded for his current state. But, he knew better than to be an all-rounder.

He needed to specialize.

Koll Luna had some level of mastery over all the main play styles.

The planet Ruun supported melee and ranged physical damage dealers. But, the true advantages to be found on the planet favored magic wielders.

With his base class as an engraver, his class advancement would ideally be a mage-type class.

Class advancements were a crucial step for becoming more powerful in Cosmos.

A warrior could advance from fighter to knight to any number of high-level classes.

Players get to choose their base class before starting the game. But, Koll had to improvise.

No player would even be able to select the niche Engraver class in the character creation. It would have had to be learned as a secondary class.

Koll didn't even know if it would have worked before being forced into the situation.

Koll put his thoughts aside and focused on what he could do.