Kael didn't know much about the underwater cavern in the Verdant Pool. In his past life, Beryl Creek had been developed much later in the game’s life cycle. By then, most players were level 40 or 50, and the guides made the dungeon seem trivial.

  But he did remember one critical detail: it was filled with monsters in [Ghostly Form], which could only be damaged by magic.

  That was a problem. As a pure physical damage dealer, Kael was useless against ghosts. A few trash mobs could be handled by mages in the party, but if the boss also had a ghostly form, they’d be completely stuck.

  What should I do? Come back when I'm a higher level? The quest is unique to me, so it's not going anywhere. He had almost resigned himself to waiting when a spark of inspiration hit. He opened his friends list, selected Orion, and sent a message.

  Kael: You busy?

  Orion: Never for you, boss. What do you need?

  Kael: Uh… do you have any way to deal with incorporeal enemies?

  Orion: Haha, you asked the right person! I just learned a new skill at level 25: [Manifest]. It forces ghostly and invisible enemies to become tangible.

  Kael: Perfect. Get over to Beryl Creek. I’ve got a dungeon that needs your help.

  Orion: On my way. I’ve got two other level 25 friends with me, a warlock and a monk. Want them to come along?

  Kael: Yeah, bring them all.

  Kael closed the chat window. He scratched his head, feeling like he had missed something important in that conversation. He then tried to contact Lila, but she was still offline. With a sigh, he messaged Hazel and Rena, telling them to meet him in Beryl Creek while he waited.

  To pass the time, Kael started organizing his inventory. He sold off useless junk, and mailed rare materials and unneeded equipment to Elon for him to handle. Suddenly, his eyes fell on a chest tucked away in a corner of his bag. It was the treasure chest from the Blackheart Legacy quest.

  A flicker of excitement went through him. He took it out, holding the box in his hands, and slowly opened the lid.

  A brilliant pillar of gold light shot into the sky.

  Kael’s heart leaped. A golden beam from a treasure chest always signified an item of extraordinary quality.

  The sudden flash of light caught the attention of the players nearby.

  “Whoa, where did that golden light come from?”

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “I saw it too! Thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.”

  “What’s the big deal? Probably just an NPC using a skill. They’re rebuilding the town, a little light show is normal.”

  “Oh, right. Good point…”

  Kael’s first instinct wasn't to check the loot, but to check the system announcements. Seeing no server-wide broadcast, a pang of disappointment hit him. He had been hoping for an Ascendant-tier weapon, maybe even Faelan’s legendary [Lunar Edge Blade]. But the golden light was real, which meant the contents had to be exceptional.

  Puzzled, Kael looked inside the chest. There were three items.

  The first was the guaranteed drop from this chest:

  [Tome of the Phantom Blade Dance]

  This wasn't a standard skill book, but a manual for a complete Combat Discipline. Studying it would grant passive stat increases over time and allow the user to awaken powerful new [Techniques] by spending Skill Points.

  The second item was a surprise:

  A martial art of the same caliber as the Phantom Blade Dance, created by the legendary blademaster Darius Blackthorn. Where the Phantom Blade Dance focused on Strength, this discipline was centered on Agility, offering a different but equally deadly path.

  The third item left Kael completely stumped.

  [Elara's Locket]: A locket that belonged to Faelan's wife, Elara. Its purpose is unknown.

  He knew Elara was Faelan’s wife, but he had no memory of this item. It either never appeared in his previous timeline, or its owner had kept its secrets well hidden. For now, he could only set it aside.

  Just then, his party members began to arrive. The first to appear were Orion and his two friends. The trio’s bizarrely mismatched outfits immediately drew stares from other players.

  One was a level 25 Warlock named Angler. He wore a straw hat and a fisherman’s rain cape over strange, tribal-patterned clothing.

  The other was a level 25 Monk named IronShell. He was completely bald and bare-chested, wearing only a pair of loose-fitting trousers and no shoes.

  And then there was Orion, clad in his ostentatious Diviner robes. The three of them together looked like they belonged on three different continents.

  “Boss! Long time no see!” Orion called out, waving.

  Kael couldn't help but find the sight of them amusing. And then it hit him—the thing that had been nagging him earlier. Their levels are too high! He had personally power-leveled Lila and the others to 25. How did this bizarre trio manage it?

  As if reading his mind, Orion pointed to his own level. “As the archives foretold, each of us spent a tidy sixty million to get here.”

  “Sixty million?” Kael froze. The last time he’d seen Orion, the guy could barely scrape together two healing sigils. He didn’t look like someone who had that kind of cash. His eyes drifted back to the Warlock’s ID—Angler. The name hit him like a jolt.

  Of course. The legendary fishing nut from his past life—the one everyone called the Fish God. People used to joke he could cast into the sky and reel in a star, or drop a line into hell and drag up a lost soul.

  His most insane haul? The [Orb of Rebirth], an artifact hooked straight out of the underworld’s depths. That thing could reset a player all the way back to level one.

  Connecting Orion’s words with the sixty-million-dollar price tag for the Experience Crystals at the auction, Kael was certain he knew the source. The pretense was over.

  He ignored Orion’s cryptic act and smiled directly at the warlock. “So, you’re the one who supplied the six Experience Crystals for the auction. You must have fished up at least twenty-four of them, then.”

  Angler smiled back. “I actually caught twenty-five. I sold one in Crescent City for a hundred thousand, then saw Elon’s auction and figured I’d see what I could get for the rest.”

  Kael nodded. But one thing still bothered him.

  “What was Elon’s commission?” he asked.

  “Oh, thirty percent,” Angler said casually. “He said twenty percent went to the system and he took a ten percent fee for himself.”

  Thirty percent? Kael’s jaw dropped.