To ease Hazel’s awkwardness, Lila chid in, “Yeah, I could use a break too.”
Hazel asked anxiously, “So what, we just log out here?”
“Don’t be a noob,” Lila said. “We’ve got a tent. We can just pitch it.”
“Huh? A tent is an actual item in the ga?” Hazel asked, surprised.
Rena took Hazel’s hand. “The guild vendor sells them. They’re one gold coin each—pretty steep.”
Just as Lila pulled out the tent and was about to set it up, Kael stopped her.
“Hold on. Why don’t we just hearth back to town?”
“We can go back to town from here?” the others asked, confused.
Kael nodded. “Yeah. There’s a Recall Stone in the Hidden Realm. It can teleport you back to the main towns, but the catch is, you can only use it once.”
“Aweso! Let’s find it, then,” Hazel said happily. “I need to restock on pots anyway. I’m completely out.”
“Yeah, I need to head back too,” the others agreed.
Following Kael’s lead, the won walked toward the front of the main chamber. There, they found a stone pillar etched with the symbol of a hearth.
“That’s the Recall Stone,” Kael explained, pointing at it. “Just place your hand on it to teleport back to town. We’ll et back here in ten minutes.”
“Got it,” they replied in unison.
A few monts later, Kael watched as all four of them vanished in a swirl of light.
He, however, stayed behind.
As a red-nad player, showing up at the teleport nexus would be suicide. The town guards were level 30 elites who would swarm and mince him on sight.
Kael took out the tent Lila had given him and ducked inside. The tent acted as a temporary safe zone, letting you log off safely in the field.
After logging out, Kael hopped in for a quick, cold shower. He opened TikTok, scrolling through a few videos to unwind.
Suddenly, a familiar face popped up on his screen—his sister, Isolde.
“Shoutout to the best big brother ever for the hookup! Love you!” she chirped, showing off a brand-new, pink Godpath login helt.
A pang of guilt hit Kael. There was no "hookup," of course; she had bought the helt herself. He rarely paid attention to his sister’s interests, usually just sending her money to cover living expenses.
But what he sent was never enough for a modern college student’s lifestyle, forcing Isolde to take on tutoring jobs and work-study programs to make ends et. Even after he’d given her enough money, she had only been willing to spend $5,000 on the cheapest model.
Kael glanced at the comnts under her video. Most were from people envious of her having such a great brother.
But one comnt stood out, dripping with vitriol.
Preston: Lmao, "brother"? More like sugar daddy. Imagine flexing being a kept woman. So trashy.
Another user had imdiately replied.
Poodle: Preston's right. I've seen her brother. Dude's a total scrub. Wears trash-tier gear he probably fard off boars. No way he could afford that helt.
Stolen novel; please report.
Kael’s blood boiled.
He knew Preston. He was Cole’s younger brother and had relentlessly pursued Isolde, only to be rejected every ti.
In the previous tiline, the little bastard had reported her for tutoring without a permit, earning her a disciplinary warning from the university that almost cost her a scholarship. If Kael hadn't started making serious money in the ga later on, his sister might have ended up in that scumbag's clutches.
“Preston… Cole…” Kael ground his teeth. “You’re going to pay for this.”
He exported a screenshot of his gear, selecting the stats for his Ascendant ring.
[Hakkar's Signet of Celerity (Ascendant)]: Level 18
Strength 100
Constitution 100
Agility 100
[Burst of Speed]: Activate to increase movent speed by 10 for 3 seconds. 10-second cooldown.
He posted it as a reply.
“Hey Isolde, just focus on leveling. Don’t listen to the haters. Hit level 18 and this is all yours.”
With that, Kael checked the ti. It was almost up. He shut off his phone and logged back into the ga.
***
He materialized inside the tent and was imdiately greeted by the chaotic din of battle. Shit. An ambush.
He burst out of the tent.
-819
A wall of fla erupted beneath him. A system notification flashed in his vision: You have taken damage from Gorgon_Inferno's [Firewall].
Camping the tent. It was one of the oldest ganking tricks in the book, and he'd walked right into it. Too careless.
He took half a second to assess the battlefield.
His four teammates were holding their ground. Hazel had her shield raised, protecting Rena and Starbloom.
Lila was deep in the enemy ranks, a whirlwind of blades, but their healers and frost mages were running interference, denying her a clean kill.
In the distance, two full parties were closing in on them.
The first group was all too familiar—the five core mbers of [Sovereign]:
Magnus, the Mage and guild leader.
Roland, the Knight.
Gideon, the Protection Warrior.
Caius, the Rogue.
Hawk, the Archer.
The other party was from [Gorgon]:
Gorgon_Viper, the Priest and guild leader.
Gorgon_Inferno, the Mage.
Gorgon_Glacier, the Mage.
Gorgon_Stone, the Protection Warrior.
Gorgon_Claw, the Druid.
The mont Kael appeared, Magnus barked his orders. “Focus fire on Dawnbreaker! Burn him down!”
A storm of spells and arrows flew toward Kael.
-1020 (Thunderbolt)
-1021 (Fireball)
-1138 (Fireball)
-321 (Frostbolt, movent speed reduced)
-1023 (Aid Shot)
Magnus watched with satisfaction as every attack landed. The last ti they’d tried to ambush Kael, a miscommunication had allowed him to escape. This ti, with a coordinated ten-man gank squad, his death was assured.
The plan was perfect. The execution was flawless. How could a lone archer possibly survive a burst of five or six thousand damage?
There was, however, one small variable they hadn't accounted for.
Their opponent was Kael.
With two pieces of Legendary-tier gear, an Ascendant-tier ring, and a staggering bonus of 60 to all stats. He wasn't just tough; he was a monster.
He had over 6,200 health.
After the initial onslaught, he still had more than 800 HP left.
In the split second he was erging from the tent, Kael had already activated [Phantom Barrage]. As their attacks rained down on him, his own arrows were already blanketing Gorgon_Inferno, Gorgon_Glacier, and Gorgon_Stone.
-8108 (Gorgon_Stone, Critical Hit!)
-5622 (Gorgon_Inferno, Skill Damage Pierce!)
-10012 (Gorgon_Glacier, Skill Damage Pierce Critical Hit!)
Simultaneously, Kael activated his ring’s [Burst of Speed], darting out of the firewall’s radius and beyond the effective range of the enemy mages.
He imdiately consud a piece of Cooked Rabbit at as two brilliant flashes of light enveloped him—Rena’s [Heal] and [Rejuvenation] had landed.
Three seconds later, his health was back above 3,000.
anwhile, Gorgon_Claw, Roland, and Caius—three n and a bear—were charging straight for him.
Kael backpedaled fluidly, loosing a [Double Shot] at the druid’s humanoid form.
-1922
-1122
The druid, despite losing over 3,000 health, sohow survived and quickly cast a healing spell on himself. He didn’t dare advance further, instead ordering his bear companion to continue the chase.
But before he could catch his breath, a ghostly apparition materialized in front of him and slashed twice with ethereal blades.
-822
-777
The druid collapsed, dead. His killer was Starbloom’s new skill: Raise Hakkar's Shade.
Roland and Caius had used the opportunity to close the gap.
“Nowhere to run, Dawnbreaker!”
“[Charge]!”
“[Shadowstep]!”
As the two lee fighters closed in, their weapons raised for the kill, Kael’s expression remained utterly calm.
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