Amaterasu, at Lane Street.
Inside a weapon store with a clear selection of different medieval weapons and armory. It had three floors; the first one with a wide range of swords, bows, and shields.
The second had a variety of armor and accessories. The third one had a collection of rare and unique weapons.
At this moment, a handsome man with a strong and athletic physique entered the store. He didn’t have any blemishes, and a pair of silver earrings adorned his ears.
Ambrose browsed through the first floor’s weapons with a disinterested look. There were many weapons that would have been of great use to him before, but when compared with Black and Red Swords, they seemed dull.
“Hello, sir.” A man with a small goatee and a sly smile approached him. He was rubbing his hands together like a sneaky merchant.
“What?” Ambrose asked disinterestedly and looked away from the collection of poor weapons.
“If these weapons do not interest you, sir, there is a good collection of strong and unique weapons on the top floor!” The sly-looking man said. ‘He looks like he has deep pockets!’
‘Check the weapons.’ Ambrose thought inside him, and he entered the world of souls momentarily. His soul shot out of his body, he went to check the weapons, and he returned soon.
After his soul returned to his body, Ambrose left the world of souls and walked over to the door. “Not interested.”
‘It sure is hard to find good, affordable weapons.’ Ambrose thought with a sigh. ‘I’ll have to start grinding for money.’
“If you change your mind, the doors to our establishment will always be open!” The sly-looking man shouted, and once the figure left the store, his smile disappeared. “Tch, cheapskate.”
…
Ambrose walked down the streets with a thoughtful heart, feeling overwhelmed by the endless things he had to do.
‘I also have the ForeverTube career, which basically died at his point. I don’t get any viewers anymore, and my subscription count is dipping.
‘I soon have to make a new video, but I am not sure what to make. For now, I should stabilize my dojo, start making money out of it, and focus on grinding for XP.’
“Players with a level lower than 15, join arms with your brothers and sisters!” A high-haired man with a brown poncho stood on top of a small crate, waving a pamphlet.
He attracted quite a bit of attention from the players who walked by. The brown poncho was the trademark of the New Player Alliance, and they mostly recruited players below level 10.
If it meant that they were willing to raise the level limit to 15, something big was going to happen.
Ambrose curiously joined up the crowd that surrounded the high-haired man and the crate, curiously hearing what he had to say.
“The new players are daily bullied, oppressed, and robbed!” The high-haired player shouted.
“Martial Online is a way to improve the lives of these players, allowing them to live a better life back in real life!
“Yet, veteran players bully us, oppress us, and rob us on a daily basis because of their greed for money and power!”
The high-haired player took a deep breath and saw that some of the players in the crowd nodded their heads in agreement. They had also felt oppressed by the elitist players.
Some of them didn’t even care about gaining wealth via gaming and just wanted to enjoy this game that could be called a second world.
“A war is coming.” The high-haired player grabbed a bunch of pamphlets, then threw them up in the air. “Join arms with us!”
The pamphlets fell to the ground at the speed of falling leaf, and the players rushed to pick them up.
At the back of the crowd, Ambrose picked up one of the pamphlets and checked the propaganda-filled content. In the back of the pamphlet, a list of hostile dojos was listed.
At the top, with the biggest font, was Roaring Engines. The list had, in total, fifteen dojos.
‘They plan to use the advantage of numbers to overcome the difference in power.’ Ambrose crumbled the pamphlet and tossed it away. ‘Who are the bullies now?’
“Hey, why did you throw it away?” A small-bearded player next to him asked. He looked like he would be an office worker in real life with his skinny body.
“What is your level, if I may ask?” He asked with a twitching eyebrow. It looked like he took offense for throwing the pamphlet away.
“No, you don’t.” Ambrose replied and turned around to leave. “Only a fool would.”
“Hey, I didn’t stop talking to you!” The small-bearded player reached out his hand towards him, slowly nearing his shoulder.
At that moment, Ambrose vanished from the street, the player’s hand touching nothing but remnants of the wind.
“W-where did he disappear off to?” The small-bearded player looked around in shock, feeling like he was dreaming.
…
Thud—Ambrose landed on top of a pitched-roofed building and then opened the window before hopping inside and closing it behind him.
He looked around the room, a scent of women lingering in the air and the freshly painted walls. It looked far more cozy than the previous room in Yatagarasu.
‘This place is pretty nice.’ He thought and glanced outside of the window sneakily, seeing a few armored figures walking by as if they were on a casual stroll.
‘The Watchmen are more frequent in these parts. No wonder this place seems so secure. Bella and Emma chose a good spot for security, but a bad place for me.
‘Kiryu said that he would keep them off me, but he can’t do anything if they see me personally. Kiryu most likely can’t be seen protecting a wanted individual, so he is misleading them from the shadows.’
Ambrose then sat down on the bed, which was nicely made up with clean sheets and a soft blanket. He slowly traced his hand across the blanket, feeling its warmth and comfort.
‘In Yatagarasu, it was quite chilly in her room, and she must have been cold during the night. However, now she has a warm and cozy room.
‘Another worry of mine has now been laid to rest. I can finally rest easy knowing that she is safe and comfortable.’
Tap, tap—gentle-sounding footsteps came behind the door, coming from the stairs at a slow and steady pace.
Ambrose quickly flashed across the room and appeared in the corner of the room, which would be hidden when the door opened.
He anxiously waited for the door to open.
At that moment, the door slowly creaked open, and a black-haired young woman entered the room while writing something in her journal.
But then she heard the door close behind her, and then arms wrapped around her and pulled her into a tight embrace.
“Who—” Bella turned around in shock, ready to pull her sword from the interface, but she found herself staring into the eyes of a familiar face.
“Jesse…” She whispered gently while looking into his charming eyes. “Your eyes… are pretty.”
“Mmh…” Ambrose smiled, his eyes filled with warmth and adoration. He then let go of Bella and raised his arms in defeat. “Haha, sorry for frightening you. I am a wanted man, and I can’t just walk through the front door, you see.”
“Ah, it’s all right.” Bella touched her chest, feeling her racing heartbeat, and smiled shyly. “Welcome back.”