Martial Online.



"My own style." Ambrose chuckled and opened the style scroll. This time, it wasn't an empty scroll.

[Style Name:]

[Techniques:]

[Creator:]

"I could create my style right now, but what name would I give it?" Ambrose closed the scroll and looked at the blowing leaves that were at the mercy of the wind. "High Pain and Kill are my only skills. I wouldn't include those basic skills in my style.

"Based on those, what would my style be? Killer Style? High Kill Style? Pain Style? Hah." Ambrose shook his head. This was an important decision, and he didn't want to rush it.

Therefore, he put the style scroll back in his inventory and took out a gray token. It was the Upgrade Class Token.

"Upgrading my class... what would it become of?" Ambrose felt very curious. It was eating him inside, as he really wanted to see the benefits of his new class. Therefore, he activated the token.

[Upgrading Class "Swordsman"]

[1%...]

"Huh, it's loading?" Ambrose looked at the download bar, and it was moving painfully slowly. He decided to let it run in the background while he re-checked the remaining items.

He wanted to test the Merchant Whistle later and wondered whether he should sell his other Black and Red Swords. But, after a second thought, he shook his head. He could still lose his swords, and it would be nice to have spares.

He kept the Golden Key in a safe place. He could never know whether one day he would find another golden lock. Therefore, having the golden key with him at that moment would be nice.

He then closed the inventory and moved over to his interface. After several leveling ups, he was now level thirty with 70 stat points available!

"70, one thing is certain: I don't need to spend on strength." Ambrose chuckled, as he might've gone overboard with that. He doubted there were many players with 100 stats on strength, but because real-life strength can be transferred to the game, he might still not be the player with the highest physical strength.

"Now, I will definitely have to increase my luck and... agility." Ambrose sighed. He knew it would be foolish to not spend on agility, but he was feeling reluctant.

During his school days, he had to take a wheelchair to school, and that's why he was often called names by his classmates. One of them was snail, as he was often late to classes because it took him a long time to move around with his wheelchair from one class to another.

He thought it sounded childish, but it left scars on him, and therefore, he wanted to prove that speed wasn't the only thing that mattered. It still didn't mean he wouldn't use stat points on agility. He would occasionally, but every stat point was important, and he wanted to use them carefully.

"I will put a little bit on that. Intelligence, definitely. I now have five skill scrolls, and I need help to learn skills quicker.

"From what I've read from forums, Intelligence indeed helps with learning skills quicker; maybe it also helps in the creation of the skills. Lastly, Charm. Hmm, I don't think I will interact with the playerbase that much because of Zahhak and Silver Heart...

"Therefore, I will be spending a lot of time with NPC. It wouldn't hurt to have a better reputation with them. I suppose those four stats are what I need for now."

Ambrose nodded and began assigning his stats with a smile.

***

[Name: Ambrose]

[Level: 30]

[Class: Bending...]

[Title: ]

[XP: 550/1900]

[HP: 175/175]

[SP: 0]

[Silver: 12,050]

[STR: 100]

[CHA: 40]

[INT: 50]

[LUC: 20]

[AGI: 20]

[VIT: 20]

[DEX: 50]

[STA: 40] 

***

"There, excellent." He was very satisfied and was about to close the interface, but then he saw the friend list. He had two names on the friend list—Serenity and Cerberus.

He added Cerberus, like he did with every other member of the party. It was to be able to message each other.

Ambrose pressed the delete button. There was no way he would keep him as his friend. He then turned to Serenity's name and deleted that as well.

Just like that, his friend list became empty. It was a rather sad scene, but he didn't care and closed the interface.

"Time to leave and see where the hell I am." Ambrose stood up and patted the dust off his trousers. He began trekking down the forest with the download bar slowly moving in his peripheral vision.

...

"Boss, what do we do?" Redheart asked from the silent Cerberus.

They had all left the secret room and were lounging around in the mansion. The Silver Heart members had gathered in the living room, discussing rather loudly what they should do. They, of course, asked questions from Serenity, but she was silently sitting on the broken couch.

Zahhak members leaned on different furnitures while their leader, Cerberus, stood silently in front of a hazy window as if he could see through it. 

"Boss?" Redheart asked again.

"Send everyone after him." Cerberus said after taking a deep breath. "Make an bounty announcement; whoever finds his location will get 5,000 silvers. I took a picture of his face before, just in case. Put that on the website with a description of where he might be and his name."

"Alright, and after we find him, then what?" Redheart asked with a knowing smirk.

"We torture him till we get our treasures back. This game is very realistic, and there are a lot of things we can do to him that are considered illegal in the real world." Cerberus glanced towards the living room, where the Silver Heart members were arguing.

"What about her?" Redheart asked while glancing towards Serenity.

"She has her own little group now." Cerberus turned back to the hazy window with an emotionless gaze. "We don't need her in Zahhak anymore. Also, I am sure those Silver Heart members also want to find him."

"I don't agree with that! She belongs with us." Redheart said with a growling expression.

Cerberus glanced tiredly at her. "With us, or with you? Leave her alone; focus on that bastard, Ambrose. He has to suffer."

"Tsk, fine." Redheart stomped and walked away with anger bubbling in her heart. Today was one of the biggest humiliations Zahhak had ever suffered.

If the outside world knew, their feared reputation would be ruined.

'We have to make an example out of him. No one messes with us and gets away with it.' Redheart's eyes glowed menacingly. Her killing intent was targeted at Ambrose.

...

"Finally, the end of the forest!" Ambrose celebrated and stepped out of the tightly-packed forest. He looked around to see if he could spot any places of civilization, but only saw endless farmland with growing wheat, pumpkins, tomatoes, and other crops.

"Farm? Where are the houses?" He wondered aloud and exited the forest. He walked down the path in the middle of the farmland while looking around for anyone.

However, then he saw a pillar of smoke coming behind a hill. It was clearly coming from the chimney of a house!

'Maybe they have an idea where Tonshen Village is!' Ambrose thought and began approaching the hill, which he had to cross to reach the house with the chimney.

Amidst the walking, he checked the download bar.

[31%...]