The notifications on Ash Valor’s interface hadn’t stopped flashing, a relentless crimson strobe against the darkness of the forest. Nine kills. Nine professional players from The Crimson Vow, erased. He knew what this meant: a blood feud that wouldn't end until one side was ground into the dirt.
"I wasn't looking for trouble," he muttered, his breath hitching as he stared at the Guild channel. "But trouble found me."
The realization hit him harder than any physical blow. Professionals yield experience? It was a sickening thought. If he could level up by killing players, what did that say about the Level 100 powerhouses in The Crimson Vow? How many bodies had they stepped over to reach the top?
"Maybe solo is the only way," he whispered. The secret of player-kill rewards wouldn't stay secret for long. In a world where a teammate’s back was just a collection of potential stat points, trust was a luxury he couldn't afford.
"Killing players grants attributes... the system is literally forcing us into a meat grinder," Ash thought, a bitter taste in his mouth. Wasn't the whole point to unite against the Extra-Planar invasions? This felt like sabotage from the inside out.
Orion appeared on the Rampart shortly after the kill notifications went live. He looked restless, his eyes scanning the empty air where the high-level Assassin had vanished.
"The bastard's concealment is too high," Orion spat, glancing at the Silver-Tier Potion of True Sight in his hand. It was useless. He turned to Ash, noting the boy’s haunted expression. "What’s the matter, Ash? Scared?"
Ash didn't move. He felt like he was standing on the edge of a different world—one much uglier than the one he’d woken up in.
"You're still breathing, aren't you?" Orion grunted, though his tone softened slightly. "Come on, don't tell me a few kills broke you."
Ash shook his head, clearing the cobwebs. He’d won today, hadn't he?
"I get it," Orion said, leaning against the cold stone. "You hit double digits. That tenth kill—the 'Human Slayer' achievement—it changes how you look at the world. You realize it’s all just numbers and meat."
"It feels like the world just turned upside down," Ash admitted.
"Reality was always cruel," Orion replied, looking out over the horizon. "Society only holds together when the pressure from the outside is greater than the rot on the inside. Now that we’re getting stronger, people are starting to remember their old grudges. It’s 'eat or be eaten' all over again."
Ash looked at the veteran. "You’ve seen this before, haven't you? Why would The Plane system encourage this? Aren't we supposed to be defenders?"
"The system doesn't want 'defenders,' Ash. It wants survivors," Orion said, his voice dropping to a low rumble. "A true powerhouse has to withstand the fangs of monsters and the malice of their own kind. It’s like a jar of venomous insects—shake them enough, and only the deadliest one crawls out. We can't change the rules. We just have to get strong enough to survive them. The Skystrider Guild exists to give you a fighting chance, but eventually, you’ll have to be the one setting the rules."
Orion stood up straight, his shadow stretching long across the stone. "The Bounty Board is going to fill up. In a few years, hunters will be everywhere. Everyone—The Crimson Vow, the lone wolves, the guilds—we all want to Ward Azure Prime. We just have different ideas of what’s worth sacrificing to do it."
Ash felt the tension in his shoulders ease, replaced by a cold, sharp focus. "You're right. If people want to use me as a stepping stone, they’re going to find I’m made of jagged glass."
Orion laughed, clapping a heavy hand on Ash’s shoulder. "That’s the spirit. That’s exactly what I told Caden Marlowe once." Then, his grin turned predatory. "Now, level with me. How much did you make off those kills?"
Ash blinked. "Make?"
"Don't play dumb with me, kid."
"Thirty thousand gold," Ash lied.
Orion stared at him. "You’re not playing dumb, you’re treating me like I’m an idiot. Keep your secrets, but you're not paying off your debt yet."
Ash pivoted to a more pressing concern. "How do I deal with an Assassin that even True Sight can't find?"
"Simple. Willpower," Orion said. "Boost your Willpower high enough, and you don't need potions. You'll feel their presence before they even draw steel. With your base stats, another few thousand points in Willpower should let you see right through their cloaking."
Ash’s eyes widened. Every stat truly had a hidden depth. "Can you get me some Willpower-boosting gear? Put it on my tab."
Orion groaned. "I’m starting to realize your thick skin isn't just a defensive stat, it’s pure audacity."
The following day, Orion delivered. Ash’s Willpower was pumped to a staggering 7,000—surpassing even Orion’s own at Level 128.
To test it, Orion brought in a Level 130 Assassin from the guild. Ash stood in the center of the training grounds, eyes closed. Suddenly, a ripple in the air caught his senses—a faint, ghostly shimmer ten meters to his left. A Phantom Veil. He could see him.
Before leaving the city, Ash checked the new guild directive Orion had posted: “Assaulting a fellow guild member under any circumstances is punishable by immediate expulsion and execution.”
Most members shrugged it off, but Ash knew better. He sent a private warning to his team, the Galeforce Squad. "Trust no one outside the inner circle. Watch your backs."
The Stellar Pact kept order in the streets, but once you passed the gates of Southhaven, the law was whatever the strongest person said it was. Ash didn't want to wait around for The Crimson Vow to organize a hit. He needed to be faster, stronger, and harder to kill.
"I owe seventy thousand gold," Ash noted, checking his balance. After selling off some Gold-Tier gear, he still had 120,000. Not enough for Epic-Tier equipment yet, but enough for an upgrade.
He pulled out his Soulbound Weapon.
"Enhancement Gems... 5,000 gold a pop," he winced. He bought ten.
[Weapon Enhanced to Level 1: All Attributes +10%]
[Next Level: 100 Enhancement Gems required.]
"The price jump is insane," he muttered, but the results were immediate. His attack range hit 280 meters. He was a walking artillery battery.
Next, he went to the market for survivability.
[Skill Tome: Ward's Bulwark – Absorbs damage equal to 2x Defense. Cost: 1,000 Mana. CD: 1 min.]
It cost him 50,000 gold. It was a king’s ransom for a skill, but with his Defense, the shield would be nearly unbreakable for anyone at his level. Even an Assassin like Caden Marlowe would struggle to one-shot him through that barrier.
With his last 20,000 gold, he bought two Random Displacement Talismans—his panic buttons. If things went sideways, he’d blink ten miles away and start over.
To avoid being followed, Ash didn't walk out the gate. He popped a talisman inside the Guild Grounds.
In a flash of blue light, he appeared in a dense, primeval forest. "Ten thousand gold just to avoid a tail," he grumbled. "Luxury is expensive."
The jungle was teeming with Level 100 Obsidian Serpents. These weren't the packed mobs of the city outskirts; they were apex predators, fifteen meters of coiled muscle and venom.
[Abyssal Titan Serpent – LV 102 | HP: 1,010,000 | ATK: 11,200 | DEF: 6,000]
"They can't even scratch me," Ash realized. His Defense was so high the snakes might as well have been biting a mountain. He summoned Chitin and his other Phantoms. "Time to grind. I want Level 100 before the sun goes down."
For fifteen days, Ash was a ghost in the machine. He stayed in the wilds, hunting until he was numb.
A flash of golden light finally erupted from his body.
[Level 100 Reached!]
[All Stats +20 | Free Stat Points +40 | Attack Range +20m | Attack Speed +0.2]
[Planar Vault Reward: 10,000 Gold]
[Timed Achievement Reward: Attribute Fruit (Epic-Tier) – +2,000 to any stat.]
Ash didn't hesitate. He dumped everything into Vitality. He needed to be unkillable.
[Vitality +2,000 | HP +40,000 | DEF +3,200]
His health bar was a massive, intimidating slab of red.
[Ash Valor – LV 100]
HP: 321,800
ATK: 97,006
DEF: 29,125
Attack Range: 300m
Attack Speed: 6.1
He felt like a god among mortals. He’d paid back his debts and still had 230,000 gold in his pocket. He was moving deeper into the forest, hunting for Elites, when a notification pinged.
It was from Victor Ward.
[You have received 56,134 Gold from Victor Ward.]
Ash froze. That wasn't a trade. That was a transfer. A massive amount of gold, sent out of nowhere. A cold pit formed in his stomach.
Brother, I’m not going to make it, the message read. Take the gold. Live for us.
"Victor? Victor, talk to me!" Ash shouted into the interface. No reply. He checked his friend list. Lily Mercer’s icon went dark first. Seconds later, Victor’s followed.
They were gone.
Ash collapsed onto a mossy log, his head in his hands. Victor was the steadiest man he knew. He didn't take risks. They were just running dungeons—how could they die?
Then, a new message arrived. A different sender.
Ash Valor, how long are you going to hide? Those two from your old territory? I took care of them. I’m coming for you next. You won't even hear me breathe before I open your throat.
The sender: Ethan Shade. Shadow Reaper. Level 128 Assassin. The Crimson Vow.
They hadn't died in a dungeon. They had been hunted. Because of him.
Ash didn't scream. He didn't curse. He felt a cold, crystalline rage settle over his heart. He typed a single reply before blocking the name forever: Ethan Shade, stay alive. I’m coming for you.
Ash became a machine. He moved another mile into the forest, into the Level 110 zones. He didn't sleep. He didn't rest. He slaughtered Obsidian Serpents by the hundreds, his arrows a constant rain of death.
He was deep in a valley when the forest went silent.
The snakes that usually swarmed him suddenly slithered away into the undergrowth. A hundred-meter radius around him cleared instantly.
From the shadows, six massive heads rose. These weren't normal serpents. Their scales were like polished obsidian, and black smoke drifted from their nostrils.
[Abyssal Bloodfang Serpent (Elite) – LV 100 | HP: 4,200,000 | ATK: 36,000 | DEF: 16,000]
Six of them. They weren't just attacking; they were flanking him. Above, a few Crimson Bats circled—scouts. This wasn't a random encounter. It was an ambush.
"An Azure Prime human," a voice hissed, echoing through the valley. It wasn't human, yet it spoke with terrifying clarity. "I have watched you for a month. You are a solitary creature."
Ash looked around, but the source was hidden. A talking monster. A True Denizen of the Abyssal Realm.
"I’m alone enough," Ash replied, his hand tightening on his bow. "Why hide?"
"My elites are enough for you," the voice sneered.
Ash didn't wait. He planted his feet and unleashed a volley. His arrows were blurs of light.
[-108,965!]
[-107,596!]
The Elites were fast, covering two hundred meters in seconds, but Ash was a turret. By the time the first serpent reached him, its health bar was a sliver.
He didn't even move. He let them bite.
[-7,125]
His defense held firm. In less than twenty seconds, all six Elites were corpses.
[Kill Count: 6 Elites | Exp: +408,000 | Gold: +4,800 | Enhancement Gems: 30]
"That’s it?" Ash called out, his Ward’s Bulwark barely scratched. "I expected more."
A small serpent, no larger than a common snake, slithered into the clearing. It looked pathetic, but the aura it radiated was suffocating.
"Evan Valor raised the bar for your world," the small snake hissed. "But you... you are an anomaly. I am from the Abyssal Realm. My elites are not weak; you are simply an error in the system's math."
"You talk too much for a snake," Ash said.
"I cannot kill you easily, and you cannot kill me," the serpent said, its eyes flashing with a wicked intelligence. "Why waste blood? Go to the next territory. There is a Great Undead Skeleton there. He is much easier prey."
Ash laughed. The monster was trying to negotiate? To redirect him?
"I think I'll stay right here," Ash said, and fired.
The arrow hit.
[-88,356]
The snake was small, but it didn't dodge. It just watched him with a mocking gaze. Ash began to fire rapidly, his arrows seeking the creature’s heart.
Suddenly, Ash’s combat instincts screamed. He blinked backward, but it was too late. His own health bar plummeted.
[-88,621!]
[System: You have been hit by Damage Reflection!]
"Shit!" Ash hissed, slamming a Potion of Instant Recovery. He’d hit himself for nearly a hundred thousand damage.
"I told you," the snake hissed. "I know your tricks. I’ve moved all the other serpents away. You have nothing to Lifesteal from. You are poisoned, you are slowed, and every hit you land on me, you land on yourself."
Ash looked at his health. He was at 16,000 HP. One more arrow would have killed him.
"You think you’ve won because you cleared the field?" Ash grunted, tilting his head. "You said two hundred meters was the limit for my Lifesteal?"
The snake paused. "There are no targets left within range."
Ash pulled his bowstring to his ear, aiming not at the boss, but at the horizon—where the common mobs had fled.
"Two hundred meters isn't my limit," Ash snarled. "It’s just where I start."
He let fly, and the sky turned to gold.