Just as the hand was about to reach into the treasure chest, a sigil was slapped onto it.

  Root Sigil!

  The hand froze in mid-air, a mere four inches from the chest, its fingers twitching in frustration.

  Having been burned once, Kael wasn't about to make the same mistake twice. He'd already told Orion to be ready.

  Kael turned his head. As expected, it was a familiar face—Nyxar.

  "Well, well, well. Look what we have here," Kael said with a grin. "If it isn't my old nemesis."

  He began to casually pluck the items from the chest one by one, a picture of nonchalance.

  "Ooh, a legendary item. Not bad, not bad at all."

  "And what's this? A scroll? Well, I'll be… looks like a Class Advancement scroll for a Blademaster."

  "And a book! Care to guess what it is? Could it be… Phantom Blade Dance?"

  Kael held up each piece of loot, deliberately waving them in front of Nyxar.

  Nyxar’s eyes were wide, his lips trembling with a mixture of rage and desire. The craving for the items in Kael's hands was written all over his face. Watching Kael stow the loot in his inventory, Nyxar gritted his teeth.

  "Dawnbreaker, you got lucky this time! This isn't over. I'll be back." His voice was low and venomous. "So, what are you waiting for? Kill me."

  Kael was thoroughly enjoying the look on Nyxar's face. He chuckled. "Oh, death is definitely on the table. But first, I think you need to experience the special kind of pain that comes from having a target on your back."

  Nyxar froze. "A target?"

  Just then, a new message was pinned to the top of the World Chat.

  [Dawnbreaker]: Nyxar, you son of a bitch, you ganked my chest and stole my Phantom Blade Dance! You're Kill on Sight from now on. Don't let me see you in the wild.

  Nyxar stared at the world message, his initial confusion quickly melting into horrified understanding. He glared at Kael, his mouth opening to unleash a curse, but an arrow sprouted from his forehead before he could utter a sound. He dissolved into particles of light.

  The World Chat, usually a cesspool of trade spam and petty arguments, exploded. A normal call-out post became a server-wide event simply because the author was Kael.

  "Yo, who's this Nyxar guy? He actually managed to screw over the server's number one villain?"

  "HOLY SHIT, a hero! Someone finally gave that asshole a taste of his own medicine! Thank you, brave Nyxar, whoever you are!"

  "Wait, Phantom Blade Dance? What is that? Sounds like some kinda weeb-ish anime skill."

  "Shows what you know, noob. My monk has a skill called 'Drunken Monkey Fist.' Why wouldn't there be something like Phantom Blade Dance?"

  "LMAO, does that mean I can learn the 'Forbidden Tutu Pirouette of Doom'?"

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  "Alex_69! If you even think about learning that, we are breaking up!"

  "Babe, come on! Think of the agility buff! We could learn it together!"

  …

  Meanwhile, at Frostfall Ridge, Caleb Mordant was organizing his guild, Serpent's Coil, when Kael's world message caught his eye.

  "Phantom Blade Dance… Nyxar…" he muttered, his brow furrowing. "So that's why the chest we found was empty. A thief got there first."

  He turned to a heavyset man beside him. "Griz, you've got a good memory. You ever seen a player named Nyxar?"

  Griz lowered his head, his face scrunched in concentration. "I think so… Yeah, back when we were running Blackheart Grotto. We saw him in the safe zone. He was…"

  At that exact moment, Nyxar materialized at the resurrection point, his eyes meeting Griz's across the clearing.

  "Boss, it's him! Nyxar is right here!"

  "What?"

  Caleb Mordant's head snapped around, his eyes locking onto Nyxar.

  A jolt of pure terror shot through Nyxar. He knew exactly who Caleb Mordant was, and he knew Serpent's Coil had been hunting for that Phantom Blade Dance scroll. Faced with Caleb's murderous glare, Nyxar instinctively threw his hands up.

  "Look, I know this looks bad, but I swear I didn't get the scroll! He has it! Would you believe me?"

  Caleb Mordant cracked a predatory grin. "Give me Phantom Blade Dance, and I'll believe you."

  A cold sweat broke out on Nyxar's brow. He immediately activated his stealth ability and vanished.

  "Heh. You think stealth is going to save you? Griz!"

  "On it, boss. He's marked. He can't hide from me."

  ***

  Back in the depths of Blackheart Grotto, Kael was running his hands over a stone wall while Orion chattered nervously beside him.

  "As the archives foretold, this is not good. Boss, did you really get Phantom Blade Dance? Shouldn't we get out of here? Serpent's Coil is gonna be on us any minute!"

  "Found it," Kael said, ignoring the chatter. He pressed a loose brick, and a section of the wall receded, revealing a numerical keypad.

  "A combination lock? Allow me to divine the sequence!" Orion declared. He pulled ten copper coins from his pouch, squeezed his eyes shut, and began muttering an incantation.

  "Reveal!"

  He tossed the coins onto the floor and began to scrutinize them.

  "6-4-1-0-9-2… no, wait… 2-9-1-4-6-0… that's not right either…"

  Kael shook his head and pulled out the Treasure Map. At the bottom of the schematic for the first floor was a string of numbers: 206419.

  It was an anagram of the numbers Orion was calling out.

  Kael was genuinely surprised. Damn, the wizard-boy's got some real talent. A few more tries and he probably would have actually figured it out.

  Following the map's instructions, Kael punched in the code.

  "2-0-6-4-1-9."

  RRRUUUMMMBLE…

  A deep, grinding sound echoed from behind them. They turned to see the spot where the treasure chest had been sinking into the floor, revealing a hidden staircase leading down into darkness.

  The sudden noise made Orion jump. "What the—? There's a basement?! The guide said this was a one-floor instance!"

  Kael didn't bother replying, already heading down the stairs. Orion scrambled to follow.

  SPLAT!

  "Agh!"

  -693

  -916

  They had barely set foot on the lower level when two snowmen ambushed them from the side of the staircase. One was a melee mob, the other was pelting them with snowballs from a distance.

  [Frost Snowman]: Level 25

  HP: 61,000

  ATK: 2,250

  DEF: 1,520

  .....

  [Snowman Hurler]: Level 26

  HP: 51,000

  ATK: 2,080

  DEF: 1,210

  Range: 15

  .....

  Kael instantly drew his bow, his arrows flying in a blur.

  -7027

  -22021

  In a matter of seconds, the snowmen collapsed into piles of slush.

  System: You have slain [Frost Snowman]. You gain 21,000 EXP.

  System: You have slain [Snowman Hurler]. You gain 22,000 EXP.

  System: Lucky Drop triggered! You gain an additional 22,000 EXP.

  Unlike the upper floor, the trash mobs down here were over level 25, and they included ranged attackers.

  Orion slapped a Healing Sigil on Kael's back. "Ranged mobs are the worst," he whined. "Boss, I've only got about twenty sigils left. I'm not sure that's gonna be enough."

  Kael just shrugged.

  The second floor had fewer mobs. Its main challenge was a sprawling maze that would take ages to navigate without a map.

  The map for this section showed only a long string of digits:

  331221323231

  Kael looked at the three-way fork in the path before them. He studied the numbers for a moment, then a look of understanding crossed his face. He knew which way to go.