The Holy Daughter is busy praying before a statue of the Crimson God.

Despite the God's chaotic evil alignment, the statue is human in form. With a blood-red aura enshrouding the stone.

The Crimson God is not human. But, uses the human form in its dealings with mankind. It is familiar and therefore improves its affinity with its human worshipers.

While the Holy Daughter is affirming her faith, the shuffling of feet draws close.

With a sigh, the Holy Daughter of the Red Sect opens her eyes and looks at the red priestess. The woman has a look of urgency on her face.

"My lady," she says. "Acolyte Luna has left the temple grounds with several Immortals."

The Holy Daughter immediately tenses.

He's finally making his move, she thinks.

"Dispatch 3 teams of red priests to follow him. I want to know the direction he's headed in as soon as possible. Go!"

The priestess bows hastily and hurries to send the teams.

The Holy Daughter is left alone with the statue of the Crimson God.

"If," she says to herself. "If he has truly discovered the tombs of the 4 kings, then the legacy of the Red Sect will rise. It will be the dawn of a new age for Ruun."

Koll is left unaware of the happenings behind the scenes in the Red Sect. The red priests hadn't hindered him as he interacted with the Immortals.

It could not be said that Koll had a positive opinion of the sect. But, he never really put the Red Sect in his eyes. He aspires to much greater heights.

It is true that he will accelerate the faction wars to come by releasing the locations of the dungeons. But, such wars are part and parcel for multiplayer games.

None of it matters to Koll. What matters is the perks he will receive for opening the dungeons.

Caught up in thought, Koll doesn't mind the long trek to the salt flats. His feet plod along beside the players who are eager to keep him protected.

There isn't any threat, each player is skilled in their particular role. It's a balanced party with 3 damage dealers, a guardian, and a healer.

Dancing Dagger is a capable leader of all rights. Charismatic and decisive. Per his name, he wields a dagger. He must not have unlocked dual-wielding yet. But, in his off hand, he carries one of Koll's spell stones.

The buff is active so long as the item is out and in range.

No threat slows them and the hours pass quickly.

In all, it takes just over 3 hours for them to reach the salt flats and another half hour to find the imposing Hand of God.

"Well," Dancing Dagger says expectantly. "We're here."

This is the moment he'd been anticipating since Koll had first mentioned the 4 kings of corruption. He hadn't known that there would be a dungeon. But, the revelation truly excited him.

Koll leads the way around the rocky outcropping. The terrain is rugged. But, still manageable.

Eventually, he finds the entrance to a dark cave. The passage is tight, fitting only 1 person at a time. But, there's no risk.

Before reaching the portal to the dungeon, there won't be any enemies.

Koll takes out a torch and lights it before diving into the cave.

The players are cautious as they follow him, uncertain of what dangers await them.

The tunnel is short and leads to a central chamber.

At the center of the chamber is a single statue. A regal figure with a jeweled band on his head.

The statue is pointing at a wall with his index finger.

The players excitedly come forward to examine the stone statue.

"Wow, it's real," someone exclaims.

Another chimes in, "Yeah. Sorry, Koll, but I half expected you to have made it all up."

"Shut up, man. Koll's more dependable than any of the other NPCs."

Dancing Dagger watches silently as Koll approaches the statue of the fallen king.

The ring comes out of Koll's inventory and he places it on the statue's extended finger.

With the ring joined to the statue, a hum fills the air before a whirlwind stirs it.

The wall the statue points at begins to glow a variety of dark colors. The colors all swirl to create a circular portal.

Dancing Dagger approaches Koll, "Are we ready?"

The question has more to do with their combat proficiency than the immediacy of entering the dungeon.

Koll has a high opinion of the team just from their journey to the salt flats. They are competent and have relatively high levels.

He nods, "We're ready."

With that, Koll steps forward and into the churning portal. The rest followed suit.

On the other side, they find themselves in a building made of stone. It could be a castle for all they know. They just can't see much other than the stone walls around them.

The portal is at their back, open for them to escape through if need be.

The sturdy wooden door before them is their only path forward.

"Okay, guys. Guardian, you're up front. Healer in the back. Damage, just try not to do anything stupid." Dancing Dagger does a ready check and finds everyone ready to advance.

Koll stands next to the healer and waits for the players to move forward.

The wooden door creaks open and a heavy aura fills the room.

[Debuff: Crimson Madness]

[Description: Units affected by Crimson Madness suffer mental damage every 15 seconds. The effect persists so long as the source remains active.]

The players begin taking small amounts of damage every tick. Forcing the healer to begin casting small healing spells to control the rate of damage.

Koll is notified of null damage with every tick of Crimson Madness. The attribute of Mental Resistance he gained working on demon blood inscriptions perfectly voids the mental damage.

Dancing Dagger frowns and says, "Whatever is the origin of the debuff needs to die. Let's get moving."

Their agenda is set, and the party moves forward until they find an enemy.

The enemy looks like an armored soldier with deformed growths bulging from his body. Red tentacles with suckers writhe out from the soldier's body.

The mutated soldiers become aware of the party and growl inhumanly before charging forward.

"Shit," the guardian says as he shield bashes the enemy. "This guy's hella ugly."

The other members of the party agree and begin unleashing their varied attacks.

The mutant is powerful. But, by itself, falls in short order.

The players pick through the body to find useful loot and continue through the corridors.

Sometimes they find a lone mutant. Other times the enemies come 2 or 3 at a time.

Dancing Dagger's team is adept at handling the enemies. But, they're being constantly hit by mental damage.

"Guys," the healer says. "We've gotta get the source of the debuff. I'm losing too much mana."

Koll looks at the healer. He's got a scroll that could bolster the player's mana recovery. But, it shouldn't be necessary just yet.

Indeed, not long after complaining about his mana, the party comes across a grotesque creature.

Koll recognizes it as an aberration. It's a type of homunculi made of melted flesh.

There are many kinds of aberrations. This one oozes a miasma of psychic energy in the form of the [Crimson Madness] debuff.

The party looks at the monstrosity and sees the red miasma.

"This thing's got to be the source of the dammed debuff," Dancing Dagger declares.

"Kill it."

The guardian doesn't need much encouragement and charges the enemy.

The aberration is an elite enemy and much stronger than the mutated soldiers.

The thing lashes out with oozing flesh, forming spears to pierce the guardian.

Fortunately, the tank is tough and shrugs off the damage.

Dancing Dagger and the other 2 damage dealers cut and blast the fleshy creature.

While the others fight, the healer maintains heals on each member of the team.

All the while, Koll hangs back and observes.

The enemy isn't difficult and dies quickly under the combined attention of the 5 man team.

The fight concludes and the team picks up the items left by the aberration.

"Whew," the healer says. "I need a few minutes to get my mana back up."

Dancing Dagger nods and turns to Koll.

"Any idea what we can expect from here?"

Koll looks from him to the path before them.

"There'll be a few more aberrations, a lieutenant, and, a boss."

The blonde man nods and consults the rest of his team.

After a short break, the team moves on. It doesn't take long for them to be affected by another aberration's Crimson Madness debuff. But, they are much more confident pushing into enemy territory.

The corridors diverge and Koll has to tell the members the right path. Avoiding traps and additional monsters.

Soon they come into a circular room with a soldier standing alone in the center. This soldier doesn't have the mutations affecting his body. But, a red mist surrounds the soldier's head.

"Can't... I can't... Please... No... I can't do this anymore. Don't..."

The soldier is raving with lunacy. But, his armor is pristine and the two-handed sword in his hands is quite fearsome.

The soldier notices the intruding party and screams.

"Go away! You... You die!"

The soldier charges the party and begins to desperately assail the party.

The battle is moderately more difficult than the ones before. Fitting for a lieutenant. But, ultimately proving no challenge for an experienced party.

"My... My king... Why?"

With those words on his lips, the soldier dies.

"I kinda feel bad," Dancing Dagger says. "He didn't seem like he was bad."

Koll shrugged, "This is the resting place of a king of corruption. Anything in here needs to be put down. Don't feel bad for the dead. They were lost a long time ago."

Dancing Dagger stares at Koll with an inscrutable expression.

With a sigh, he says, "I suppose you're right."

The circular room leads to a stairway that takes the party to a grand hall.

It extends for some distance before the party, with mutated soldiers standing in various formations to prevent the players from passing.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

At the far end of the hall, A monster resembling a landlocked squid stands on its tentacles. The abomination stands over a stone coffin.

"Whew," the guardian says. "We have to run the gauntlet and then fight the boss. This might be tough."

Dancing Dagger agrees and sends out a ready check.

Everyone's ready and so they begin to challenge the formations. Sometimes they succeed in pulling just one group of mutants. While at other times they have to deal with 2 to 3 packs at the same time.

The healer manages to keep the whole party up as they go from 1 formation to the next.

Koll notices the healer's mana slip below a certain threshold and pulls out a beast blood inscription.

[Blessing of Wisdom]

[Description: Boosts target's in combat mana recovery by 30% for 5 minutes.]

The scroll disintegrates as the spell affects the healer.

Briefly, the healer looks at Koll fondly before turning back to the battle.

The team makes steady progress and soon crosses the length of the grand hall.

The last of the mutants die, triggering the squidlike boss to charge out and begin grasping at the players.

The monster squirts out an ink that somehow floats in the air as it would in water, filling the room with darkness. It's tentacles easily finding the blinded players.

Koll watches from a distance as the players struggle to find and land hits on the enemy.

While confident that the players will succeed, Koll doesn't wish to wait for them to learn the tricks to face this enemy.

Without haste, Koll pulls out a demon blood scroll of [Hellfire]. This sort of inscription shouldn't even exist in the game. But, it does.

Koll is sure that the spell won't affect the friendly players. But, it will fry the squid.

Adjusting his location to be in range, Koll stretches out the hand with the hellfire scroll towards the boss. Then triggers the spell.

Boiling green flame with a stickiness like oil hungrily eats up the ink as it washes over the players to land full force on the body of the squid monster.

A sort of scream fills the hall as the boss is deep-fried while still alive.

The players watch with astonishment as what little's left of the boss' body falls to the ground, the flames still eating its flesh.

Fortunately for the players, as long as some of the enemy's body remains, the loot table is accessible.

Dancing Dagger stares blankly at the sputtering green flames before looking at Koll with some degree of fear.

Koll shows no concern for the players as he approaches the stone coffin.

[King of Tempests] it reads.

There are other words engraved into the stone. But, the dead king's not what he came for.

Nor did he come for the treasure chest that spawned into the room when the boss died. The players are busy opening the chest, excited for the chance at rare loot.

Instead of any of these things, Koll looks to 2 black candles on either corner of the grand hall.

Stepping up to one, Koll reaches out and claims the candle. Then he moves to the other side and takes his prize.

Turning back to the players, Koll notices Dancing Dagger's curious gaze.

A slight smile touches Koll's lips as he meets the man's gaze.

The candles are powerful mediums of arcane magics. He can use them to enhance his enchanting. The players might realize the value of the items. But, the chances of them using the items to any effect are low at this stage of the game.

While Koll is preoccupied with his plans, a system-wide announcement is spread out to all the players of Cosmos.

[Achievement Unlocked: First dungeon clear]

[Dungeon: Tomb of the King of Tempests(Complete)]

[Players: Dancing Dagger, Wreck This, John Hu, Forever Healing, and Justice Sword]

[Achievement Reward: (Title: Forerunner)]

"Holy shit," someone says. "We got titles."

Every member of the party opens their menu and activates the title so that it shows on their nameplate in front of their name.

Forerunner Dancing Dagger looks around with a gratified smile on his face.

Koll notices the antics of the players and gives them a minute to celebrate.

In addition to the treasure chest, a pedestal with a red orb rests in the room.

Koll looks at the players for a last time before placing his hand on the orb.

Space warps around him and Koll disappears only to reappear in a stone room. He's returned to the Red Sect's temple.

The day's been long and Koll can reward the players later. Without fanfare, Koll retires to his room and wraps himself in his blanket. Sleep takes him moments later.

The Holy Daughter waits for news. The night has grown long. But, she has no thought for sleep. All that matters is the reports she's been receiving ever since Koll left on his expedition.

Early on, she knew he was headed in the direction of the salt flats. There was nothing there save the obscure Hand of God. It was a natural formation. Many had been near it over the centuries. But, none had ever reported anything special about it.

Until now.

"My lady!" a priest rushes over to her. "It's true. It's true."

The Holy Daughter feels a tension release within her.

"The tomb is real?" she questions.

The priest nods emphatically.

"Yes, my lady. There is a cave with a statue of one of the kings of corruption and a portal leading to the tomb."

The Holy Daughter finds herself at a loss for words. This was without a doubt the most significant development the Red Sect has experienced since she attained her rank. But, the credit was owed entirely to a young acolyte who hadn't even been in the sect for half a year.

"Prepare an escort for me," she said. "I must see this for myself."

The red priest does as he's bid.

Sometime later, as the first rays of dawn spread over the horizon, the Holy Daughter arrives at the Hand of God.

"This way, my lady."

Soon she's escorted into a dark cave. There a regal statue pointed to a swirling portal.

Even she feels intimidated and amazed.

With confidence, the Holy Daughter enters the portal.

The dungeon has reset and filled with mutated soldiers and aberrations. Each monstrosity is dispatched with no more than a flick of the Holy Daughter's wrist.

Despite the horrors present, the Holy Daughter feels a solemn reverence for the tomb. A foundational figure for the Red Sect was entombed here.

The corruption and madness of the place was empowering and the Holy Daughter feels stronger the deeper she goes. Then she finds the grand hall.

Her eyes see the mutated soldiers and the squidlike boss. But, they are as nothing before her eyes. What shakes her is the coffin. A king of corruption.

The Holy Daughter strides through the masses like a blade loose from its scabbard. The boss monster falls with one blow.

With reverence, she examines the coffin

[King of Tempests]

[The Crimson God has gifted the king its blessing. Forever to be enshrouded in his God's divinity.]

The Holy Daughter sighs with satisfaction. Never in her life had she thought she'd be so close to the divine.

It is one thing to pray to her God. But, to be next to a true champion of the Crimson God is something else. It hardly matters that the king is dead. The divine lingers here.

Her thoughts turn to the acolyte who had unwittingly brought her here. He had known of the tomb and used the Immortals to unearth this secret place.

Should he find the other 3 tombs, what can she do but follow?

His weakness is obvious to her. He is no warrior that the sect could send to face its enemies. But, he has uncanny knowledge and means.

The Holy Daughter even suspects that it is not the acolyte Koll Luna who possesses this knowledge. But, rather the weak demon inside him.

Truly, there is no other explanation.

The Red Sect relies on demons for most aspects of their lives. But, demons are inherently cunning and dangerous. They are to be controlled.

If acolyte Luna's demon is not being controlled, it could spell doom for the sect. But, the Holy Daughter, having just entered a sacred place of pilgrimage because of that demon, can not think of any countermeasures she could enact that would allow the demon to lead her to the other 3 tombs.

For now, the matter of Acolyte Luna's freedom cannot be handled recklessly.

She stays for some time wrapped in her God's divine aura.

Koll dutifully attends his blood magic lessons in the morning before descending the long stairway to the forum.

The eyes of every player are upon him. They know of the dungeon because of the system-wide announcement. They also know that Dancing Dagger and his party had left with the NPC the day before.

A few approach seeking the same quest. But, Koll waves them away. He not gonna deal with the players until he sets up shop.

When he finishes setting up his shop, the players take that as the time to approach. And, they do so en masse.

"Koll, I'm here to help," one says. "Just tell me where to go."

"Yo, Koll my friend, do you have any new quests you want me to do?"

"Come on. Give me the quest."

The voices are insistent. Never had Koll had so many friends as he does in this moment.

Koll smiles enigmatically and shares the quest he'd created this morning.

[Quest Name: A Light in the Dark]

[Description: Koll Luna has tasked you with entering the Tomb of the King of Tempests. Retrieve 1 black candle from the tomb and bring it to Koll Luna.]

[Rewards: 200,000 XP, +200 reputation with Koll Luna, 1 uncommon weapon suited to your class]

The gathering explodes with voices.

"I'm running the tomb send me a message for the invite."

"LF3M Tomb of the King of Tempests."

"Holy shit. An uncommon weapon. I know it's just one tier, but I need this upgrade."

The voices are aggravatingly loud. But, Koll endures it. They'll be gone soon enough.

"Wait," a voice speaks out above the crowd. "Where's the tomb located?"

Vacant expressions came over the faces of those gathered.

Koll laughs and says, "The salt flats. Inside the Hand of God."

After he has finished speaking, a deluge of players exiting the forum stirs up red dust with their trampling feet.

The players will find out in their own time that the dungeon only had 2 candles per clear. Friendships are bound to break in the competition to get 1 of the candles.

Koll puts thoughts of the dungeon aside and begins crafting. He's bound to need many more weapons with the entire faction's players assailing the tomb.

While he's preoccupied, he fails to notice an approaching figure.

"Koll, you jerk!" the pretty Wu Lan yells, causing him to botch an enchantment.

He looks up in irritation.

He's about to subtract a reputation point from the intruder when she interrupts.

"I can't believe you," she says. "You told me you'd bring me when you went to the tomb. Why didn't you bring me?"

The woman is angry. But, Koll had his reasons.

"I didn't go to the tomb you brought proof of. I'll take you next."

His answer does nothing to pacify the young woman.

"So what if you didn't go to my tomb? Why did you go to another first? I could have gotten the title."

As she vents a figure appeares, Forerunner Dancing Dagger.

"Hey Koll, what's the... uh... problem?"

Wu Lan sees his title and glares daggers at the man.

"Why did he bring you first?" she demands.

Dancing Dagger scratches his cheek.

"I, uh, don't know."

Koll finally speaks up, "He found the first proof. So he went first."

The answer finally silences the infuriated woman. But, she's not happy.

"So," Dancing Dagger shifts uncomfortably. "Koll. Can I get the reward?"

Koll nods and mentally completes the quest, giving Dancing Dagger a healthy chunk of XP and reputation. But, most significantly, he gives him a rare dagger.

The dagger is enhanced with durability, self-sharpening, a bloodletting enchantment, advanced critical strike, and +3 dexterity. All told it's an impressive dagger that players would kill to get their hands on.

"Whoah," Dancing Dagger says after taking the dagger.

It has a visual effect of a dripping red aura, courtesy of the bloodletting enchantment.

"Man, Koll. You don't disappoint."

Wu Lan bites her cheek as she looks at the treasure.

Finally, she asks, "Well, Koll. When do we leave?"

Koll shakes his head, "Not yet."

"God!" Wu Lan yells. "This is so not fair."

With that, the player stomps her way off. But, before she gets far she stops.

With a deep sigh, she turns around and approaches Koll.

"Give me the new quest."

It is shared and she turns away with a huff.

Dancing Dagger watches her go.

"Guess I got you in trouble."

Koll shakes his head, "Things take time. And, there's an order to things."

The blonde man observes Koll with an odd look in his eye.

"Anyways," Dancing Dagger says. "I hear there's another quest for the dungeon."

Koll nods and shares the quest.

"Hmm. It's an inferior version of the one we did. Still, I'm trying to work on dual-wielding. So, your uncommon dagger is better than any other I can find."

Koll nods and returns to his work.

Taking the hint, the blonde man walks away.

It isn't long before the other members of the party approach Koll and complete their quests.

The players come and go. But, Koll is busy augmenting more weapons.

He has a nice stockpile of every weapon available. But, within a few days, he'll be pushed to keep up with the demand.

Of course, with the black candles the players bring him, he'll be able to accelerate and enhance the enchanting process.

While working on an axe of the common grade, Koll lights one of his candles.

He would etch an engraving into the weapon and then drip a small amount of melted wax into the engraving.

When casting an enchantment, Koll places the candle between himself and the axe. Then, while imbuing mana into the crystal dust, he would blow the dust over the flame and the axe.

This makes the potency of both his engravings and the enchantments much higher.

If the weapon is uncommon, it will be similarly powerful as a rare weapon he would make without the black candle.

Cleaning the weapon after it is finished takes a little more time. But, the enhancements are worth it.

The day progresses smoothly and, before Koll can notice the time, the first party to successfully challenge the dungeon descends the temple stairs.

Only about 2/5 of the returning players are happy. These are the ones with black candles.

The rest aren't too discouraged, as they had completed their first dungeon and obtained new items from the treasure chest and whatever drops they might have gotten.

Even if only 2 in 5 return to complete the quest he had given them, there are thousands of players completing the dungeon. So, hundreds will be returning. With hundreds more on their way.

Koll has to make extra effort to personalize the gifted weapons. But, it doesn't distract him too much.

The day ends only for another to take its place.

Koll is far busier since the opening of the first dungeon.

Some players are all business, only there to reap the rewards of their quests. While others seek clues to Koll's next move.

"Koll, who are the kings of corruption?" one person asks.

"Yeah, you know a lot about this stuff. I've asked the red priests and none of them know anything about the other tombs. How do you know so much?"

"That's a good question. Koll, are you the avatar of the Crimson God?"

"Fool, don't ask him that."

"Yeah, shut up. He might curse us."

Koll looks at the rowdy players with an exasperated expression on his face.

He hadn't realized how annoying people would be when he first started exploiting them. But, the advantages ultimately outweighed the headaches.

He briefly opens the menu to review the changes in his attributes.

[Name: Koll Luna]

[Class: Engraver]

[Evolutionary Rank: F]

[Strength: 10]

[Agility: 10]

[Stamina: 15]

[Mind: 18]

[Spirit: 10]

[Dexterity: 15]

[Mental Resistance: 7]

[Potential points: 0]

[Sharpen: 8]

[Identify Weakness: 8]

[Steady Hand: 10]

[Evolution Meter: 2,750,000/3,500,000]

His attributes and even his evolution meter are advancing at a good pace.

He's probably on par with the average player in terms of stat points. This is because he started at a much lower base than they did. But, now he is starting to feel more capable of surviving the trials that are to come.

Koll opens the digital forums used by the players.

Planet Ruun is thriving with discourse between players of the various factions. As might be expected, the Red Sect players are in flame wars with every other faction. The Arclight players in particular hate the Red Sect players.

But, it's not just the Arclight players. The Trade Union that controls most of the seas around the habitable continent have many jealous players calling for the surrender of the hero character Koll Luna.

[It's unacceptable that a chaotic evil faction controls such a character,] one Union player typed.

[Agreed,] came another vocal player. [We should establish an alliance to destroy the Red Sect. Without the sect, the hero unit will be easier to claim.]

Others held different opinions. The Arclight players were more brutal.

[Enough talk about getting Koll Luna to join our faction. We just need to kill him to return the balance to Ruun.]

This is the exact sort of hostility Koll had long expected from the players. And, the reason he feels like his fate is balanced on the edge of a blade.

His stat points are only about even with the average player. And, his evolutionary rank is still lower than any player.

If players like Dancing Dagger knew of his fears, they would be incredulous. Particularly after demonstrating the Hellfire scroll's overwhelming destructive power.

Many among the Red Sect had already taken him for the faction boss.

Some coveted what loot he might drop. But, most realized that keeping him alive would be in their best interest.

Koll scans through the fanatical posts by members of his faction. Many were proposing a new theory that made his jaw hang open.

[The Crimson God has descended,] one player preached. [The avatar of our lord of corruption merely hides behind the mask of mortal flesh. Koll Luna will unleash the power of the 4 kings and lead us into the promise of the Crimson Light. All hail the coming of the new age.]

[+1]

[Exactly. He's arming us so that we may bathe the world in Crimson.]

Koll lets out a tired sigh. Why did he have to be incarnated into this ridiculous faction?

As Koll stares absentmindedly into space, a familiar barbarian approaches.

"Hey, Koll."

"Ah, hi Gol D."

The burly man looks at Koll for a moment.

"Why didn't you take me?"

Gol D doesn't seem like the kind of person to have his feelings hurt easily. But, after the strained situation with Wu Lan, Koll can only lift his hands helplessly.

"It wasn't your dungeon."

Gol D cocks his head to the side. "Ah. Well, when can I expect my turn."

Koll shrugs, "There's one person ahead of you."

"Hmm," the barbarian hums. "Okay."

Koll looks at the man and shares the candle quest with him.

"Ah," Gol D accepts the quest. "I heard there are only 2 for each dungeon clear. It'll be a pain to clear it 3 times."

Koll shrugs, "You can still get the treasure chest."

"Yeah, I know. But, I was hoping for something a little more potent.

"Is it true you're giving out rare weapons for clearing a dungeon for the first time?"

Koll nods.

"Well, hurry up and clear the second dungeon so we can go do mine."

Koll sighs and agrees. It's best to open the dungeons quickly. The players will bring him rare resources and he'll gain experience points from their quest completions.

Maybe he is the faction boss.

Gol D moves on and Koll continues crafting.

He wonders when it was that he became a workaholic. He had worked hard in his life before. Maybe even too much.

But, now Koll wasn't just a player doing his own thing. Players can be very toxic and the stronger they become the more dangerous they are. If Koll relaxes his growth then an assassin from Arclight might slip a dagger into his back. Or, it might just be some greedy Red Sect player who wants to claim his loot table.

It's exhausting. But, there's no logging out. And, Cosmos is a lot bigger than the Red Sect.

Right now, he doesn't have the means to escape. But, he can make a way.

Koll continues his work until evening.