Sora had just hit level 30 so the EXP gained from the undead in the battlefield slowed down and players started to funnel into the battleground to start grinding EXP for themselves. Sora decided it was time to move on, somewhere that could offer higher level enemies and not have players around to steal his kills. He wanted to try and clear out a bandit camp located near the demons territory where he would have to go later, the undead had broken weapons and armor so all they ever dropped was copper coins and a few pieces of cotton cloth here and there. Bandits would have better loot and a chance for Sora to get an upgraded sword from a enchanted or even named bandit. Sora cleared his way out of the battlefield, when the players saw him easily decimating the zombies they stared in awe, most players here had formed hunting parties to kill the zombies at an efficient rate but a lot of groups were still slower than Sora. After carving a path through the undead he exited the battlefield and found a road that would lead to a village near his destination.

As Sora was walking down the road he would see a lot of players pass by, most were low levels and were exploring just for the fun of the adventure. Sora was the same way in his last life, that’s how he stumbled upon the cocoon. It really is more fun when you don’t know everything, there were not many things that could surprise Sora. Ever since starting the game the only thing that got his blood boiling was getting the Lucky Coin from the wolf boss and defeating the Treasure Spirit. Sora continued down the road for a long time, drawing the attention of anyone who would pass by. Along the way Sora found a group of players surrounding a large man who towered over everyone else. He wore normal leather armor with a blacksmith's apron over and carried a pickaxe that seemed to be small in the hands of this giant. Sora instantly recognized him as a famous blacksmith from his previous life. His username was quite interesting considering his size, but nobody would laugh when they heard his name was Bubbles due to the fact he was one of the best blacksmiths in the game. Nobody wanted to offend someone who could easily make some weapons and armor for a guild to have that guild put you on their blacklist. There was a story of a small group of friends who killed Bubbles so they could mine the ores that he wanted, the next day a large guild killed them on site for five days straight, they ended up having to wait in the city and beg Bubbles for forgiveness.

…..

“Hey, big guy let’s not make this any harder than it has to be. You may be big but that won’t help you in game.”

“Pfft, I don’t take orders from scum like you, if you want weapons and armor then make them yourself you low life.”

“Why you- Fine have it your way, we’ll make sure we clearly drill a lesson into that thick skull of yours!”

Just as the group started shouting a man in a silver cloak stood beside Bubbles, he didn’t look like much but he showed his level off to avoid having to deal with these people. He wasn’t sure what the fight was about and only wanted to get on Bubbles’ good side, it’s a lot better than being on his bad side. Once the group saw the level they all hesitated in attacking, they were all thinking he was the big guys friend and they felt like they kicked a hornets nest. The leader had a complicated look on his face as he lowered his weapon and signaled for everyone else to do the same.

“Who are you? Shouldn’t you stay out of other peoples buisness?”

“Ah, I’m just a passerby. I would normally stay out of it but I’m going to be honest, it’s more beneficial to be on the good side of a blacksmith than the bad side.”

“I’ll admit that you have a high level but your only one person, what can you do?”

Sora used [Purge With Silver] on his weapon, getting ready for a fight. Just as he used the skill the other party all stood petrified looking at the silver colored sword. They had all seen this too many times to count, it was the same skill that was used in a fight against the leader of the Multi-Million guild. It was hard to see Sora’s face because he was currently wearing a hood but when they also noticed the scaled boots and gloves they came to a sudden realization. They had all just been talking about this very guy before they ran into Bubbles and started threatening him. The leader gulped loudly before signalling his team to leave with him. Sora was confused on what happened.

“Based on the skill you just used, I’m guessing you're Ethereal?”

“Right… I didn’t know I was that well known.”

“The video of your fight is currently at the top of the forums, I’m not surprised that the group left us alone after they knew who you were… Ah, I’m Bubbles and as you have guessed it I’m a blacksmith.”

“Pleasure is mine, a good blacksmith is a rare thing.”

“Ah, I don’t know if I could be considered a good blacksmith yet, I haven’t even scratched the surface.”

“I’m sure you will be able to make a name for yourself in the future, most people are too focused on leveling up and exploring yet you're already hard at work.”

“Well I’m a blacksmith in real life but the money isn’t so good, the modern world has less and less need for me. That’s why I decided to try and make a name for myself here where a blacksmith is a respected class… or so I thought. Those guys wanted me to fix the durability of their equipment for free so they didn’t have to go back to the city.”

“You have some repair hammers on you? I could use some if you don’t mind selling them to me. I’ll give you market price plus 25% for the convenience.”

“That sounds fair, how many do you need? I only have ten on me though.”

“I’ll take eight then.”

Sora took out 50 silver and handed it to Bubbles, Bubbles then gave the repair hammers to Sora and tucked the money away with an amiable smile. Bubbles had only brought the hammers to repair his pickaxe when needed and was already on his way back to the city, so he basically made 25% profit easily.

“Ethereal, you could consider being on my good side. Hahaha!”

“Ha, that’s good then. I hope I can keep it that way.”

The two men shook hands, Sora felt like he was shaking hands with a giant as his entire hand up to the wrist was gripped tightly. Sora sent Bubbles a friend request before leaving. Sora didn’t regret spending an extra 10 silver on the repair hammers, firstly because he actually did need them eventually, secondly because 10 silver for the friendship of a soon to be legendary blacksmith was an amazing deal. Sora walked down the road with a smile on his face.

…..

“Hey Blossom…”

“Yes LeeLee?”

“Doesn’t that man over there look like mister fisherman?”

Blossom and LeeLee had killed goblins until level 23, then decided to kill some of the wolves that were around a small village at the edge of the factions territory, thinking that there wouldn’t be many players that would be there to train. After killing wolves until level 28 they decided to take a break at the village before going to kill the bandits who were staked out at a nearby mountain. Both of the girls were currently eating at an inn and saw a man with a silver cloak walk in. Blossom nearly choked on her food when she saw it was Sora.

“What if he thinks we are following him? Wait… what if he’s following us?”

“Don’t be ridiculous Blossom, he’s already level 30 according to my friends list. If he were following us then he would be behind us in levels.”

“True, which only means that it looks like we are the ones following him.”

“Oh, so you two are following me huh?”

Just as LeeLee was about to respond the voice of a man was heard next to their table. Sora stood there with a plate of food. Blossom jumped up in fright as she noticed him, making her look even more suspicious.

“D-don’t be ridiculous mister fisherman! You were definitely following us, yup that’s the only explanation.”

“Or it could just be a coincidence don’t you think?”

Sora sat down with the two and started to eat as Blossom and LeeLee told him what they had done. Sora was surprised at their leveling speed, he had been hunting alone but was still very fast and didn’t need to share EXP with anyone. He concluded that the rare dagger that LeeLee had and the overpowering damage of Blossom’s greatsword had made their killing speed insane. The two then started to tell Sora how they planned to go kill bandits that were camped out at a mountain and this time it was Sora that nearly choked on his food. This was too much of a coincidence isn’t it? The two girls noticed his weird reaction and already deduced why he reacted that way. There was an awkward silence until all of them finished their meals.

…..

Sora was walking up the base of a hill alone, killing stray bandits that would cross paths with him, they were all level 31 but that would change once he makes it to their camp. After Sora found out that Blossom and LeeLee were going to the same place he proposed that they each fight their way through from different entrances of the mountain and meet up at the middle. There was a chance that a boss would be in the center so it wasn’t a bad idea at all. Blossom decided to make it a race without anyones consent and was full of energy as the two girls charged up the other side of the mountain. Reaching the camp took a couple hours due to having to stop to kill bandits along with the rough, winding terrain he had to climb. He was not standing in front of a camp that had level 32 and 33 bandits scattered around. If Sora ran straight through the camp he would probably aggro close to one hundred and fifty bandits before he even made it to the cave entrance. He stayed near the edge of the camp so he could clear a path for retreat if needed. Even though he stayed near the edge he still aggroed a lot of enemies.

Sora was fighting a group of bandits in front of the cave. There were six of them, four of which were level 33 the other two being level 32. The path that Sora created near the edge of the camp came in handy as he used it to funnel the bandits into a smaller area, only having to fight two at a time while the others had to wait their turns. He would use [Concuss] on the bandit on the left, which was only level 32, while killing off the bandits that would funnel in on the right. He did this to keep a lower level bandit pressuring him instead of the higher level ones. Sora had taken a lot of hits from that bandit but it was better than taking the hits from the level 33. Five minutes and one health potion later and the bandits had fallen, dropping some coins and cloth.

Sora entered the cave, all bandits were now up to level 33 and some side caverns were even full of level 34 bandits. Sora continued pulling small groups of bandits to make sure not to waste any more health potions, he didn’t want to run out and be left with none to fight the boss. Sora had killed bandits for a full day now, gaining two levels and effectively putting himself in front of the bandit boss. Level 35 -Kev, The Abandoned-

On the other side of the boss was two girls that were waiting for Sora, when they saw Sora Blossom had put a smug smile on her face and did a little victory fist pump. It was to be expected, their killing speed was a lot faster than Sora’s, he estimated that they had been done for almost an hour now. Sora crept along the wall of the cavern to make it to the two girls.

“Hehehe, looks like we won this time mister fisherman. Now you have to honor your side of the bet.”

“Blossom, you made a bet with mister fisherman?”

Sigh

“I think you look very cute LeeLee.”

You couldn’t see LeeLee’s face due to her mask but her ears glowed bright red as she started to stutter on her words. She was never able to fully form a sentence and just stood there fidgeting. Blossom had secretly begged Sora to make LeeLee embarrassed if they made it through the cave faster, she seems to have some kind of weird fetish of seeing LeeLee like that, even at the cost of five health potions from trying to rush through the cave. Sora didn’t mind, there was nothing wrong with complimenting a girl but Blossom made him feel dirty when he saw Blossom smiling gleefully at the embarrassed LeeLee.

“Alright, enough messing around. We have a boss to kill.”