Martial Online.



"Boss, he ain't here." A beautiful player with a small nose and high cheekbones said while kicking away the burned rubble. 

She was SweetieHell, one of Zahhak's deadliest damage dealers.

"..." Cerberus stood in the middle of the destroyed house, looking around for any clues about Ambrose's whereabouts. 

But all he found were ashes and burned pieces of furniture that had lost all of their color.

"He must be long gone." Mizuchi said while picking up a charred photo frame. "We can assume that Ambrose kicked the ass of those Death Blade guys; that's why they are nowhere to be seen.

"And Ambrose knows not to stay in one place for too long. He will be on the move, but Martial Online is a vast place, and he might become careless like he did here.

"He might be staying in nearby towns, thinking that the chance of us going to the same one is almost zero, especially finding him in that town."

"Spread around." Cerberus tossed a burned pebble into the pile of rubble. "Search all the surrounding towns. If you find him, message us and don't let him out of your sight. Also, don't attack him, don't get seen, and don't be reckless!"

"Aren't you thinking too highly of him?" Redheart said with a chuckle. "All of us can defeat him solo."

"We've taken down tougher opponents before without breaking a sweat." Arsenal agreed with a stoic expression. "He's just another enemy that needs to be eliminated."

"You do what I fucking say." Cerberus said coldly with a heart-stabbing gaze. He then turned around and saw a short little girl with cute, porcelain-like skin and round eyes staring at the smoking rubble.

"June, are you fine going alone?"

"Yeah." Andromeda replied to her brother and pulled out her daggers connected to metal chains. "I'll be careful."

"Then you have a copy of the maps. Choose one and search that one before moving to another one." Cerberus said to everyone, handing over the poorly drawn maps that only showed the general location of towns and their names.

After everyone chose their towns and villages, Cerberus checked the name of a town on the map—Lowceiling. 

However, it was taken, so he moved his gaze to the town beside it—Bridgewater and chose it.

After that, they walked in different directions and left Tonshen Village.

The wagon driver smoked a cigar and fed his horses carrots. His job was over, and he also planned to rest for a few days in the nearby town before starting his return journey to Yatagarasu.

"What was the town that angry boy chose? Bridgewater, right? I should avoid that town at all costs." The wagon driver thought out loud and hopped into the driver's seat. "A bloodshed follows that youngling..."

...

[Welcome to Lowceiling!]

"Huh, towns are indeed different from those farming villages." Ambrose thought out loud as he watched the bustling streets of Lowceling while walking past a Welcome to Lowceiling sign. 

The architecture resembled a lot of Gothic architecture, with pointy roofs, stained windows, and pointed arches.

The churches and cathedrals of the town had pointed towers and spires with black-colored brick used for construction. 

Ambrose felt like he had entered several hundreds in the past.

'I should find a place to lay low for now. I have a lot of things to consider, especially finding out what is inside that metal safe.'

He briskly stepped down the cobblestone roads that were lined with quaint shops and caves. 

The stained windows made it so that it was hard to see inside, but he didn't mind as they gave the town a unique feel.

After a while of walking, he decided to enter a cafe. There, he was allowed to rent a cozy corner room on the second floor, which was accompanied by balcony and privacy.

In the middle of the room, there was a circular table with enough seats for six. The decoration was mostly plants, flowers, and scent candles. 

The room was perfect for a private gathering with friends and associates.

There was also a bell, which he could ring if he wanted to order something.

Ambrose sat down and opened his interface. "I should assign my stats first. There are thirty, and, oh, I am only 50 XP away from leveling up. Well, that is rather unlucky."

He wryly smiled, and then thought deeply about what stat would he need.

"Strength, I can leave it be for now.

"Charm, hmm. Let's see if I have any stats left once I am done. Then I might.

"Intelligence, that must help me create new skills. I could try pushing it to 100 soon, but for now, I will put 10 on it.

"Luck, not really.

"Agility, nah. So far, Death Blade members didn't seem any faster than me. The effect is still minimal, and I won't be at a disadvantage against faster opponents.

"Vitality, no...

"Dexterity, I could put 10 on that too.

"Stamina, 5 is enough.

"Then, I have five left; I will put that on Charm."

***

[Name: Ambrose]

[Level: 35]

[Class: Suicide Swordsman]

[Title: ]

[XP: 2550/2600]

[HP: 300/300]

[SP: 0]

[Silver: 12,050]

[STR: 100]

[CHA: 45]

[INT: 80]

[LUC: 20]

[AGI: 20]

[VIT: 20]

[DEX: 60]

[STA: 45] 

***

Satisfied, Ambrose closed his interface and placed the heavy metal safe on the table. 

The marble table handled its weight well as it wasn't made from wood as many other cafes had.

"Hmm, it doesn't have a number code or seemingly any lock." Ambrose wondered whether it was really that easy to open it. He decided to give it a try and attempted to open the safe.

The metal safe had hues of black as if it had been burned. However, its durable material managed to survive that inferno.

To his surprise, the safe opened effortlessly, revealing its hidden contents.

"Not any lock mechanism; very careless." Ambrose thought out loud and then peered inside the safe. There was only one item—bulging brown pouch.

"Is that... player's pouch?" He frowned and then remembered something that made his eyes widen in surprise. "Right, none of the Death Blade members dropped any of their pouches, meaning they didn't have any silver with them.

"I guessed they are keeping all their money somewhere safe. To think it was in this safe—most likely robbed from that Lemberd guy, whom they murdered, I guess."

With a salivating expression, he took the brown pouch and was surprised by its weight. He had never carried this heavy pouch before. His expectations skyrocketed, and then he opened the pouch.

[28,678 Silvers Acquired!]

"Whoah!"

Ambrose laughed and then saw the metal safe dissipate in light blue pixels, as did the brown pouch. 

It acted like it was just another treasure chest, and once it didn't have anything of value inside, it disappeared back into the game's code.

"I now have 40,728 silvers. I am goddamn rich, haha!" He couldn't believe it. It wasn't long ago when every silver mattered to him. Now, he had truly enough wealth to make himself much stronger.

'What should I buy with that, though? Should I save?' Ambrose frowned and then remembered the Merchant Whistle in his pocket. 

He took it out and contemplated whether he should try it out, but decided otherwise.

He wanted to do it somewhere alone.

"I hope the merchant has something amazing on sale." Ambrose smiled and leaned against the chair's backrest with a carefree expression.

...

[Welcome to Lowceiling]

"..." Redheart looked at the sign and narrowed her eyes dangerously. 

She looked across the densely packed town with hundreds of narrow alleyways and grimy buildings. 

It was difficult to find anyone here.

"This place smells filthy." She thought out loud without caring about the odd looks she received from the townspeople. "A perfect place for cowards to hide in."