Martial Online.

In a modern-looking kitchen, with food ingredients spread out on the counter, Julian saw the ending of the fight between two players unfold on his phone, which was leaning against the toaster.

As soon as Olympos' body fell to the pavement and vanished into pixels, the screen turned dark as the stream suddenly ended.

"Hah." Julian chuckled, grabbed a knife, and masterfully began chopping the onions.

He was not surprised by how the fight ended, but Ambrose, the young player, once more left him in a state of shock. 

It was common knowledge that the older a person got, the weaker they would become as their reflexes and agility declined.

Julian was already 44 years old and had been at the top of the gaming world since his early twenties.

Many had already thought that he would've retired, and without Martial Online, that might've happened.

Because of Ambrose's relatively young age, as he was only in his early twenties, he had the potential to grow much more, while Julian's prime was already behind him.

'When the time is right, we shall fight.' Julian raised his knife and chopped the onion into small pieces.

...

"Is everything alright?" Bella instantly appeared next to Ambrose as he walked out of the alleyway, seemingly unharmed.

"Yes." Ambrose replied, not even out of breath, as if he had just taken a simple stroll.

Bella nodded, relieved to see that everything had ended well.

"Let's hurry up; the train might leave soon." Ambrose urged with a smile, leading the way to the train station.

Bella followed behind; however, she had a question she wanted to ask but was unsure how to ask it.

After a short while, they saw the train station, crowded with people, and the sound of a steam locomotive's horn.

It wouldn't be too long before the steam locomotive departed.

"Right in time." Ambrose smiled and stopped walking right before he crossed the street to the train station.

He then turned to Bella and nodded. "I suppose this is the farewell. Take care of yourself."

"Be careful." Bella nodded and caressed her ruby pendant, but as soon as Ambrose was about to leave, she quickly asked. "Who was the girl you talked with?"

"Hmm?" Ambrose came to a stop and realized he hadn't told her before. "Oh, it was my sister, from my former family."

"Oh!" Bella's eyes widened in surprise. "That must've been a surprise then."

"Yeah..." Ambrose scratched the back of his head.

Bella remembered the sight of the tanned girl crying and wondered what had happened between the two, but now she understood.

She then smiled and said, "Good luck!" before tiptoeing and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Without letting him react, she turned around and walked away, leaving him standing there in stunned silence.

"Eh?" Ambrose touched his cheek and felt his heart skip a beat. "Sheesh. That was unexpected."

Whistle—a whistle then howled across the air as the train's conductor signaled that it was about to leave!

He quickly snapped out of his daze and sprinted towards the train, desperate to catch it before it departed.

As soon as he reached the station, he purchased a ticket and rushed towards the platform.

Following the crowd, he soon entered the steam locomotive, checked his ticket, and found his seat in the corner of third class.

His seat was right beside a window, showing him a beautiful view of Hightown's lush countryside with rolling green hills and vibrant fields of flowers.

"Whew..." Ambrose took a deep breath and touched his cheek, where the faint touch of Bella's lips still lingered. "What did that mean…"

He glanced at the window, which reflected his average-looking face and ordinary blue eyes with sickly pale skin.

"Sigh." He sighed and pinched his glabella.

But then, the horn blasted through the air, and the steam locomotive's whistle blew, drowning out his thoughts.

The doors closed, and the train began to move, its wheels letting out a screeching sound against the tracks.

The third class was rather scarce, with only a few passengers scattered throughout the car, allowing Ambrose to enjoy solitude with a pleasant view of the countryside moving beside the window.

"Dark Waters, here I come..."

...

As the night fell on the city of Thunderdome, inside a bedroom of a dilapidated building, Jason shot up from the bed, gasping for breath.

His shirt was stained with sweat, and his heart was pounding in his chest.

"W-what was that?" He touched his chest, feeling the beating of his heart, which was like drums.

He stumbled towards the window, peering out into the darkness, trying to make sense of the nightmare he witnessed.

It was a perfect replica of his fight with Ambrose, but the nightmare moved very slowly, as if time itself were twice as slow.

However, the ending of the fight was vastly different, which frightened Jason to no end.

When his body got slashed by Ambrose's sudden attack, it wasn't only his avatar that got slashed, but his real body as well.

In the nightmare, he actually died in the fight and when he left the game, his body was also sliced in half.

But that wasn't the end of the nightmare; a real body of Ambrose appeared in the same room, coldly looking over him with a blood-stained sword in hand.

However, only one thing captured his attention.

It was a pair of silver earrings on Ambrose's ears.

They took away all his attention.

"What was that...?" Jason grabbed his head in agony. "How am I afraid of him? Me? I cannot be afraid of him!"

...

In the dark inn room of Hightown, Bella sat up with a sweaty nightgown, hugging her trembling body, her heart pounding in her chest.

"W-what was that?" She touched her cheek, feeling the warmth of her blush.

She then removed the blanket and saw the bedseet covered in a cold sweat and something else, something wet and sticky.

"Oh my gosh." She hid her face, her blush covering her fair skin. "That was such an embarrassing stream... I-I actually dreamed of him, and w-w-we did... that..."

She shook her head in embarrassment, trying to forget the vivid details of the dream.

But then she also remembered something that truly captivated her.

"Those silver earrings truly fit him..." She remembered with a bashful smile and then touched the ruby pendant that was touching her exposed, fair skin.

...

At the dawn of the 13th of October.

Birds flew across the land of the Light Continent, bringing newspapers to every household on the continent.

The newspaper contained news of the upcoming royal wedding, the latest political developments, and the tragedy of Hightown.

The main character in the tragedy of Hightown was Reinhardt, the infamous World's Strongest Swordsman, who was feared and revered by every swordsman in the world.

Whenever news about him appeared in any news, it would always cause a storm because even the ordinary folks knew about his name and had heard about his legendary skills with a sword.

There were even folk songs dedicated to his feats and countless tales told around campfires.

It, of course, brought great shock to hear that he appeared in Hightown and would have been almost destroyed if it weren't for the Red Inquisitors!

In a desperate attempt to flee, his close ally, a player named Ambrose, helped him escape justice.

Therefore, on the page right beside that, a new bounty poster was added.

This time, it had a more detailed sketch of Ambrose and a new reward for his capture.

***

[WANTED]

[DEAD OR ALIVE]

[Rank: Brown]

[Name: Ambrose "The Black Demon"]

[Reward: 111,111 silvers]

***

End of the First Volume - Ambrose