Realm of Myths and Legends (WN)
Chapter 23: Before Your Journey of Revenge, Dig Your Own Grave... Or Three

When Izroth said those words, it made the crowd think of one word, confidence. You first have to possess the strength to take it! What an incredibly bold announcement to make, however, they had to admit that it was a simple but accurate statement. No matter how much someone desired revenge, if they did not have the strength to take it then it was useless to even think about it.

Mick scoffed and retorted, "You are only one person. Don't think for a moment just because you managed to get lucky once that it will happen a second time. Now that we're all a higher level, there's no way out for you in this battle!" Mick charged straight towards Izroth with his shield leading in front of him.

Ryder was slowly sneaking up behind Izroth, trying to position himself for a sneak attack. He would strike as soon as Mick commenced his assault. Tina was lingering back at a safe distance from the entire battle with her magic staff in hand. She was ready to heal Mick or Ryder the very moment they took any damage.

Niflheim was observing the battle with his arms folded. It would be a lie if he said he wasn't curious as to what kind of strength Izroth possessed. After all, if he turned out to be strong then he would try to recruit him into 'Blue Oasis' and offer him a good starting position. But if he turned out to be weak... He would still lend a hand and invite him to at least be a member of the lowest level in 'Blue Oasis', that way people would think twice before messing with him.

Niflheim knew better than anyone what it was like to be without a backer. Usually, he was very strict in the way he ran things with the guild members stationed under his wing. But, Izroth's situation reminded him of himself when he first started gaming all those years ago and so he could not just turn a blind eye to things. Though this was a player who cleared the first world boss and beat a dungeon solo. How was it possible for them to be weak?

As Mick was charging forward, Izroth remained standing still with his 'Nameless Blade' resting against his shoulder. "So slow..." ever since Izroth reached the second stage of the 'Heavenly Golden Body' technique, his overall senses received a great boost. This meant that Mick who was part of the warrior class that did not specialize in any type of speed, he was moving in what seemed like slow motion to Izroth.

Although Ryder was currently in stealth mode, Izroth already discovered the weakness of that skill. Just because someone was invisible didn't mean you would not be able to hear them or sense any sudden shift and changes in your surroundings. He knew that Ryder was attempting to creep up on his back and launch an attack. The whole plan was actually not that bad considering the three people executing it, but it was simply not enough to even challenge Izroth. Since they wanted to humiliate him, he would return the favor one thousand times over.

Just as Mick's sword was getting ready to strike Izroth from the front and Ryder was preparing to stab his dagger into Izroth from behind, two words left his mouth in a low murmur. "Flickering Steps..."

Woooosh!

Izroth had vanished from the spot he was in, but he left behind an afterimage in his place. When Mick and Ryder's attacks approached where Izroth just stood, they both formed smiles on their face as if they were victorious. But soon after they were utterly dumbstruck as their weapons phased straight through Izroth's body!

Niflheim was visibly shocked when he saw what just happened, but he did not even have time to ponder over it before what happened next.

"Phantom Strike" Ryder only heard two words enter into his ears before everything around him turned gray. Izroth's 'Nameless Blade' struck his body twice, not even giving him a chance to defend himself properly.

-160 HP!

-250 HP!

0/375 HP Remaining! (Ryder)

Ding! Player Ryder has died!

Ryder was the first to die once again! He felt thoroughly humiliated and furious at not even being able to scratch Izroth. How could a player be so strong already? He did not even know how he died!

Izroth continued onward flickering right past Mick, but as Izroth was going by he slashed Mick right across his neck area. It was not to kill him, but just as a show of power. Izroth's action said to Mick, "I decided to let you live, so you lived. If I want you to die, then you can only die."

Critical Hit!

-320 HP!

380/700 HP Remaining! (Mick)

Tina was scared out of her mind! All she witnessed was Ryder's HP drop to 0 instantly and then Mick losing almost half of his HP. She immediately tried to cast her new skill, 'Heal' on Mick, but before she could even cast it she felt something slip quickly across her neck area. "Eh? Why isn't my skill casting...? Why can't I use heal...?" Tina was trying to comprehend what was going on, however, just like Ryder she died without even understanding how! Izroth had easily eliminated Tina with one precise cut to her neck. With Tina neglecting her defense and health stats, she could not even take one of his normal strikes.

Critical Hit!

-350 HP!

0/330 HP Remaining! (Tina)

Ding! Player Tina has died!

Izroth then stopped moving around until all of his flickering afterimages vanished as he stood still staring at Mick in a cold and detached way, his 'Nameless Blade' still resting on his shoulder in a carefree manner.

There was only silence in the entire crowd. Even Niflheim was utterly astounded! How could such a skill exist? That had to be at least an A ranked skill! Part of Niflheim had a strong feeling that it was an S rank skill, but he could not accept that. How difficult was it to obtain an S rank skill?

"...Amazing..." someone in the crowd muttered out those words from their mouth.

"Hey... That has to be an S rank skill right? I wonder where he got it from..."

"How fast! I did not even see how the two of them died."

The crowd whispered amongst each other and most of them were wondering where he found such a strong skill at! Even if it wasn't an S rank skill, it had to be at least A rank. Those were extremely hard to come by at this point!

Mick felt a cold shiver run down his spine. Too fast! He was way too fast! If he wanted to kill him, then there was nothing Mick would be able to do to stop him. He turned his head towards Niflheim, "Respectable captain! Please take justice for me!" Mick tried to run towards the captain from the 'Blue Oasis'.

Niflheim expression turned cold as he still witnessed Mick putting on such a pathetic act. Didn't he already have all the proof he required from this brief encounter? It had only been a few seconds and Izroth defeated two members of Mick's group. Would someone like that need to use a sneak attack? They could just take what they want by force from such a useless group of players. What was even more shameful was that even in this situation, Mick still tried to pretend he was the victim of everything when he was really the problem.

Niflheim put his hand on the hilt of the sword at his side and took one step forward getting ready to strike out at Mick. But before he could even do so, a silhouette flickered in front of Mick. An oppressive aura filled the entire atmosphere causing some players watching to shiver. A cold blade with a light milky blue aura silently passed by Mick's character.

"It can be tomorrow, the day after or even a year from now. If you want revenge you're more than welcome to come and take it. However... There will be absolutely no mercy" Izroth said in an icy tone before sheathing his 'Nameless Blade'.

-1,220 HP!

0/700 HP Remaining! (Mick)

Mick eyes were wide open in disbelief as though he couldn't process what was currently transpiring. Didn't he have the backing of the 'Blue Oasis' captain? Wasn't he supposed to have his revenge against Izroth? He felt as if once again he had been toyed with like a fool! At that moment, Mick oddly did not feel hatred or anger. He just felt suffocated as though all the walls around him were closing in and he had no way to stop them from doing so. "I've been a fool..." Mick muttered to himself before falling over onto the ground.

Ding! Player Mick has died!

Izroth had stayed true to his words and used an overwhelming show of strength to defeat 3 players in an instant!

Niflheim withdrew his hand from his sword's hilt and walked over towards Izroth.

"Hey what's going on? Are they really going to fight?"

"This is going to be awesome! I don't think the captain of 'Blue Oasis' is going to stand a chance. Did you see that skill he just used? It's completely broken!"

"I think you're underestimating the captain from 'Blue Oasis'. He's a veteran player and no pushover. In fact, he was ranked top ten in PvP on the MMORPG I used to play before this."

"How can you possibly compare a regular MMORPG to RML? It's a totally different concept combat wise. Just because he used to be good on that game doesn't necessarily mean he'll be good here."

"You can't teach experience though, that's a fact."

As the crowd was talking amongst themselves, Niflheim was face to face with Izroth.

Izroth furrowed his brows a bit as he looked at Niflheim. What exactly was this person after? Apparently, they were supposed to be on the same side as Mick and his group. But from the moment they first exchanged glances until now, Izroth never sensed any ill intentions from him.

"My name is Niflheim. I am the 7th captain of the guild 'Blue Oasis'. It's nice to finally meet you in person, Izroth." Niflheim said with a welcoming expression on his face.

Izroth nodded in response to his greeting. "Guild...?" Izroth thought to himself as he searched through the memories of the hardcore gamer before soon coming up with an answer. "I see, so these guilds are similar to the sects of the seven realms. Interesting..."

As Izroth was thinking to himself, Niflheim continued speaking not bothered by Izroth's way of responding. "You seem like someone straight forward who dislikes those who beat around the bush. So I'll just say it, how would you like to join 'Blue Oasis' as a Commander? You'll get many benefits from doing so. We can provide a basic set of full uncommon equipment and if you need coins, we have that as well".

Join 'Blue Oasis' as a commander?! That was shocking! One had to know that thousands of people were a part of a guild as huge as 'Blue Oasis' and many would kill to hold onto a commander position. After all, it was only a single position below being a captain. It took years to get to such a point and yet Niflheim was offering it to Izroth without hesitating! "What an amazing opportunity" the people in the crowd were surprised by the offer. Most of them dreamed of having such a high position in a guild like 'Blue Oasis', one of the top ten guilds in MMORPG's. Everyone was wondering how Izroth would respond to the offer.

"I'll have to refuse" Izroth shook his head. Even though Niflheim did not seem like a bad person, Izroth was not someone who liked being tied down by rules. He knew that sects, or rather guilds, in this case, had many rules you must follow in order to be a part of them. The only way he would ever join a guild is if it was one he created himself!

The people gathered there were stunned at the fact Izroth declined such a position. A lot of them already began to leave as though all the fun parts were now over. Izroth and Niflheim clearly were not going to fight.

Niflheim let out a small sigh of disappointment. He figured that this would be the case given the performance Izroth's been showing lately. But, it was still worth a try nonetheless. That did not mean he would completely give up though since talents like Izroth were hard to find.

Ding! You have received a friend request from Niflheim, do you accept?

"I see, that's quite a shame. However, since fate has brought us together, I believe our paths will cross again in the future." Niflheim spoke as he sent a friend request to Izroth.

Izroth did not have a bad impression of Niflheim and saw no reason to reject him completely. Besides, he may need some information one day and he knew the best way get it was to make connections, especially with large groups such as the 'Blue Oasis' that Niflheim was a part of. "Fate is it?" Izroth smirked a bit when he heard that saying.

Ding! You have added Niflheim as a friend!

Niflheim nodded towards Izroth, "I shall take my leave. If you change your mind or need anything, don't be afraid to message me." he then walked away along with Olohas.

As Izroth was walking back towards 'Opal Town', a system alert went off in his head.

Ding! System Alert: Player Luna has sent you a message.