Martial Online.



Ambrose looked at the strange formation in front of him.

It was the arc-shaped entrance.

When he walks through the entrance, he will be deemed to have officially left the village.

'This is it, huh.' Ambrose thought and took a deep breath before stepping forward.

He stepped through the entrance and felt like the air around him had changed somewhat.

Now, he would constantly be in danger of the Inquisitors hunting him down. 

His heart pounded in his chest as he prepared himself for the inevitable challenges that awaited him.

As the heavy bag loosely hung over his shoulder, he began walking away from the village with a solemn look on his face.

After only a minute of walking down the rocky ground, his steps halted as he saw a strange gray-eyed person sitting on the ground, leaning against the tree with his eyes closed.

It looked like he was sleeping.

The massive blade on his back attracted Ambrose's attention the most.

It was unlike anything Ambrose had ever seen before.

'What a strange sword. He is a player by the looks of it.' Ambrose cursed that he didn't have his cloaks anymore.

There wasn't any way for him to truly hide his features.

Therefore, he only had to hope no one recognized him.

He might have over a million subscribers now on ForeverTube, but he was far from being famous enough for everyone to know what he looked like.

He carefully walked past the sleeping player, silencing his steps so he wouldn't wake up, and then entered the Nether Forest, which led to Yatagarasu.

After his steps faded into the distance, Julian opened his eyes and let out a deep sigh.

'I am not ready to fight him, but one day...' A determined fire burned in his eyes.

...

At the Nocklund's Middle School.

Inside a corner classroom facing the direction of the sun, Emma absently looked out of the window, completely ignoring the lesson.

She couldn't shake off the feeling that something must've happened to her best friend, Bella.

'Are you alright, Bella?'

"Emma!"

"Huh?" Emma turned towards the teacher, who was standing beside the chalkboard.

The teacher was a grumpy-looking middle-aged woman who had gone way past her prime years.

Her flesh had already started to sag, and there were wrinkles around the corner of her eyes.

"Is my class not interesting to you?" The teacher asked with a twitching eyebrow.

Emma's classmates snickered and tried to hold back their laughter.

"It is very interesting!" Emma smiled innocently.

However, that kind of acting didn't fool the teacher.

The teacher smashed the wooden stick against her palm and sternly shouted.

"My lessons will be valuable for years to come!" The teacher shouted. "You younglings may only care about that game, Martial Online, these days, but knowledge and learning are what truly matter!"

Many of Emma's classmates rolled their eyes and wished to have the ability to close off their ears from another lecture.

Their teacher was very old-fashioned, and she found the whole concept of Virtual Reality laughable.

She didn't think it had any kind of future, and if the young people focused all their attention on it, they would greatly regret it.

She was the school's math teacher, which also happened to be one of the less used school subjects when one reached adulthood.

However, she firmly believed in the importance of mathematics and its practical applications in various fields.

"All this Virtual Reality crap has to end!" The teacher shouted sternly. "All of you have to bring a 1,000-word essay explaining why Virtual Reality is bad tomorrow!"

Everyone in the class groaned.

They wouldn't have time to play Martial Online if they had to do this essay, which they all wanted to do when school ended.

Most of them had already planned a raid with fellow classmates, and most of them were looking for it the entire day!

It was also what the teacher planned, not giving her students any time to play that virtual reality game.

'Virtual Reality is only for fools and desperate basement dwellers!' The teacher proudly raised her chin. "Let's continue the class!"

Emma looked angrily at the teacher. 'She's so strict and never lets us have any fun.'

She could only hope that her brother would manage to find Bella.

...

"Yawn!"

At the railway station situated near Yatagarasu, two white-robed Inquisitors stood guard.

"Why are we guarding this place anyway?" The White Inquisitor looked at the tall wall of the Yatagarasu and scoffed. "No one will come here anyway. Even if someone does, they will just die from the goblins."

"We are not protecting this city, but this railway station." The older White Inquisitor said.

"Yeah, yeah, but why?" The younger White Inquisitor asked with a scoff.

"It was by the orders of Sir Lowa; we can't question our higher-ups orders." The older White Inquisitor said.

"Yes, the great Lowa, who let a convicted prisoner escape!"

"Quiet down!" The older White Inquisitor snapped. "We follow whatever orders they give us; that's our duty!"

"Tsk." The younger White Inquisitor clicked his tongue. "I could be hunting some bounty and getting a proper reward, but instead I am here doing... nothing."

The older White Inquisitor rolled his eyes and shook his head in disapproval.

He then began looking towards the empty fields that surrounded the railway tracks.

At that moment, he noticed a silhouette following the tracks, seemingly walking towards the station.

"Hey, someone is coming."

"Huh?" The younger White Inquisitor turned towards the silhouette and said, "Finally!"

He unsheathed his sword and left the station to confront the person.

The older White Inquisitor massaged his temples but didn't bother stopping his colleague.

"This place is off-limits!" The White Inquisitor shouted and pointed at the person who was walking over the railway tracks.

"Huh?" The black-haired young man stopped and saw the railway station and two White Inquisitors.

The station's wall blocked the sight of the White Inquisitors before, making him unable to see them in time.

However, the young man's expression turned calm again.

"Is that so?" Ambrose asked with a smile.

"Yes, if you don't want to die, fuck of—-"

But then the White Inquisitor frowned and looked deeply at Ambrose's face.

Almost like he recognized the face, he took out his bag and pulled out several wanted posters.

After a while, he found the one he was looking for.

"Wait a minute, I know you!" The White Inquisitor screamed and pointed his sword at him angrily. "You are Ambrose, a man worth 19,999 silvers!"

Hearing his younger colleague's words, the older White Inquisitor turned alarmed and pulled out his sword, then joined his colleague in confronting Ambrose.

"Surrend—"

Their voices cut off as Ambrose pulled out his Black Swords.

"I have not used this skill with dual-wielding yet." Ambrose smiled. "Time to test it out."

"Prepare to meet your end!" The younger White Inquisitor lunged forward. "Your bounty is mine!"

"Calm down, you fool!" The old White Inquisitor screamed angrily.

He was aware that Ambrose was no weakling.

The rumor of him slaying a very powerful and talented White Inquisitor on the battlefield had already spread across the Sanctorium of Inquisitorious.

As both of Ambrose's arms swelled like they were about to explode, all of his strength was channeled into one final attack.

He lunged forward and powerfully swung his swords down.

"Slash of the Three Worlds!"

The blades sliced through the air, creating a perfect arc of destruction.

Swoosh...

The White Inquisitors widened their eyes in shock and both tried to dodge, but it was way too late!

The swords struck with a thunderous force, cleaving through their defenses and severing their lives in an instant.

Boom!