Travis stood on top of Ru, observing the beautiful landscape. His cloak fluttered through the wind, the whole sight made him look extremely edgy.
He believed it was time, the first phase of his plan.
Now what was his plan? It was his revenge!
With his newfound strength he believed the beginnings of his plan should go without a hitch.
He divided his plan into three parts, akin to tending a field.
The preparation was already done, his name was somewhat known throughout the game.
The first phase was the planting of seeds, in this case his presence was the seed. His target was the guilds.
He achieved this somewhat after leaving the Abyss, but he planned to do it on a greater scale. Targeting popular leveling areas that are being monopolized by various guilds. He planned to wipe out those who guard them, leaving it as public.
Once the guilds know he is the culprit, their focus and efforts would be united. All to silencing him.
That was the first part, which he now planned to do.
He scoured the forums in search for these complaints. Visibly none gained traction, as if the players took such treatment as granted.
So he created his own post:
-Have any places being monopolized by a guild? Let me know-
Leave a comment of the coordinates please.
-End
In just a few minutes he gained a few responses.
CarCar: Ha, what are you going to do? Fight them?
Jiji: LOL someone's trying to target the guilds. If I send them this will I get a reward?
Dot: Hmph, it seems someone else has the same ambition as me.
-GreenPotato: ^Fake account lol
Travis ignored the trolls, a waste of time to entertain them.
Instead he focused on a single comment.
JelloButNotGreen: Some mediocre Guild is preventing my team and I to attempt a dungeon. It's the Hydra's Arising dungeon that was found a month ago. Now that the hype around it died down, they're monopolizing it to themselves. Don't know who you are, but if you could help.
Travis remember the announcement of the found dungeon. He specifically remembered it being a mid-tier dungeon for this era of the game. Thus those who obtained the first attempt rewards never farmed the dungeon again afterwards.
It was mediocrely popular among the lesser equipped teams, so it was no surprise that a lesser known guild would want to monopolize it.
While Travis had sights on bigger targets, teaching a lesson to mid-tier Guilds wasn't out of his requirements.
Ru turned midair and flapped faster, soaring through the sky at high speeds. It took only a few moments to find where the coordinates were, so he quickly moved towards the location.
It wasn't too far for him. Any other player would need several days on a basic mount to reach the location, but for Ru it was merely a couple hour flight.
Ru was one of the faster flying mounts after all. The main reason why Travis spent the effort to obtain it.
Soon enough he found the location. As the comment said, there were several players standing around the entryway of the dungeon.
He patted Ru, "Thanks buddy."
Using [Truth Twofold: Existence] he teleported right in front of the entrance.
He drew Abe, attracting the attention of the players.
One drew a bow and aimed it, "Halt! This is the property of the Avenging Swallow Guild! Leave immediately-!"
The players saw a white mask with a singular black dot in the middle. Some of them took a step back, "D-Dot?! The legendary player killer Dot?!"
"That's Dot?! What's he doing here?!"
The player who drew their bow lowered it, "A-Ah, let me contact the higher ups! I'm sure they won't mind giving you access!"
Travis declined, "No need, I'm not here for the dungeon."
"Th-Then what are you here for?"
"You."
A terrifying pressure was felt, almost all of the players died then and there. Exactly one managed to stand, having triggered their Berserk Skill almost immediately.
They still struggled to move, "W-Why!?"
Travis pointed his sword at them, "Abuse of your power. Let this be retribution."
Travis swung his sword diagonally, releasing a slash of mana. The mana sliced into the player and killed them, making them drop to the floor.
Travis sheathed Abe and leaned against a tree, the Guild reinforcements should arrive soon. Demanding explanation. So he decided to wait. . .
Yet unbeknownst to him, in a tree's shadow lurked someone studying him.
"Hi~ My beautiful test subject~"
~ ~ ~
Meanwhile, in a restaurant. . .
Jarvis stared at the piling plates, "It's amazing. Is it because you're a dragon? Does your stomach carry over?"
Givale finished another plate and answered, "No idea!"
Tilia patted Akiol's shoulder, "It seems like your pocket has quite the hole in it."
Akiol was forced to agree, "I gotta farm money at this rate haha."
Givale paused, "Am I-"
Akiol waved away her concerns, "Mere jokes Givale, I can afford many more meals. Eat to your heart's content."
Givale nodded a little reluctantly, but continued to eat.
Kan'na lifted some of Givale's hair, "It's almost fully changed, any idea why?"
Akiol answered, "I have a theory, but I can only see once it's complete."
"What's the theory?"
"Her magic speciality."
Givale excitedly said, "I cannot wait to see!"
Kan'na pinched her chin, "Magic speciality?"
Akiol explained, "Dragons are given type of magic they specialize in at birth. The basic elements are the most common, but there are rare variants of it. Givale's mother is one of such variants, as she wielded poison."
He continued, "Givale's birth was unique as she was chained to The Tower, thus limiting her growth. Now that she's free she is going through the beginning phases of a dragon."
Kan'na nodded, "Mhm, I see. Will she inherit the unique variant? Or does it operate under different principles?"
"I believe bloodline has nothing to do with it. Perhaps it's like spinning their element when they're born. However. . ."
"However?"
"That's the theory I have yet to test, I'm not going too far into it. But if I'm right then Dragons are far more dangerous than I had originally witnessed."
Givale boasted, "Of course!"
A waiter arrived at the table nervously rubbing their hands, "E-Excuse me, but I'm afraid we will have to delay your next dishes."
Givale shook her head, "Don't need them, I'm stuffed."
Akiol chuckled, "Sorry to be an inconvenience. I'll pay for the meal now."
The waiter was relieved, despite them not trying to show it, "I'll bring the bill."
Kan'na shook her head at the absurd amount of food. She then looked at Givale, "So, who's next?"
Givale pondered for a moment before pointing, "The one who's staring at me so intently."
The party was shocked. They stared at Jarvis with doubting eyes.
Wrock nervously put a hand on Jarvis shoulder, "A-Ah, Jarvis… We're good friends you see… I can't let you-"
Jarvis smacked away the hand, "Don't make misunderstandings! I'm curious on how a Dragon works. How can they change to human forms? Is it magic? Is it innate?"
There was a collective sigh of relief, albeit jokingly. Givale giggled before saying, "It's innate, we're able to do this about a decade after we're born."
Jarvis wrote it down in a book as he nodded, "Intriguing, does it have its limitations? Such as a time limit?"
"We can stay like this for however long we want. Though we are weaker."
"Weaker huh? How so? Wouldn't a small body be more efficient?"
"We don't have our tough scales to protect us. We can control our element better in our real form. Plus we have a lot more power. While we are a smaller target, getting hurt isn't something we are worried about."
"Fascinating!"
Akiol interrupted Jarvis' constant questions, "Alright, shouldn't you be focused on how you're gonna fight next?"
Jarvis looked up with a confused face, "I'm not going to fight."
"You were chosen?"
". . ."
". . . ?"
"Oh! I don't have much to test. I'll finish it up quickly."
"Alright then."
Yielya yawned, "How many more matches until the official thing?"
Kan'na answered, "Quite a bit, the game's player base grows larger everyday. To narrow it down to a mere eight teams will take quite some time."
"Once everyone has finished their matches we can just quickly finish things off right?"
"Of course."
"Good, Akiol's cards keep being blown away. I'm afraid we might run out."
Akiol suddenly smacked the table, "Yes! That is a problem! Can't you all not make explosions? My poor cards! They cost quite a bit you know!"
Wrock held up his hands, "The explosion was the enemy team's fault."
Yielya quickly agreed, "I can't even make explosions."
Kan'na let out a small laugh, "My bad, I thought it wouldn't reach."
"Your explosion scattered the cards less, so I was able to recollect them this time."
Akiol looked to Jarvis and stared. Jarvis looked back nervously, "What?"
"Don't blow away my cards this time. I'd like to keep them this time around, okay?"
Jarvis nodded, "You got it boss!"