Leo exited his creation space and was immediately met with a chat request from Mike.

System: Incoming chat request from [Mayke].

“Have I ever told you that your naming sense is extraordinary?”

“Because Zero is so original?”

“Fair point. What’s up?”

“It’s happening.”

Leo let out a sigh and scratched his forehead. He was hoping to have more time but that didn’t seem to matter right now.

“When?”

“Fifteen minutes.”

“Give it to me.”

“Level 26, most likely a hidden class but uses a lance as his primary weapon. Ranked 642nd overall in the DPS category in Ace Edge Online. He has kept a low profile and Alice could only find videos from AEO, nothing since coming to Ekalius Online.”

Leo began regretting his decision to have Shadow keep an eye on Elecur. They could at least give him more time to prepare. Despite his annoyance with the situation, a deal is a deal and he can’t just back out because it’s inconvenient.

“Have you fought him before?”

“No.”

“What do you make of the videos?”

Mike took a moment to gather his thoughts before answering.

“I think you would win even with your eyes closed.”

“What’s your chance of winning?”

“About 98%.”

Leo nodded and let out a relieved sigh. He specifically hired Mike due to his people skills but his fighting ability is also among the best in the world. If he says he would win with almost absolute certainty, then Leo has nothing to fear from the match. Even with a level difference of 11, Leo still didn’t think there would be much of a fight. It doesn’t matter if he could be one-hit if his opponent can’t hit him at all.

“If the fight is in 15 minutes, how long have you known about it?”

“Remember when you told me to take care of things?”

“So what you’re saying is five minutes after that?”

“Yeah.”

Leo let out a laugh at Mike’s response. When he uses his creation space he cannot be contacted in-game but Mike could still contact him through the gaming capsule. Leo said how long he thought it would take to make the equipment and he finished within the time limit. At least he now knows that Mike won’t bother him until he absolutely has to.

System: Incoming chat request from [Sky].

“How mad is she?”

“Let’s just say I wouldn’t take that call right now.”

“You do know all you needed to do was contact me through the capsule?”

“And you said to not bother you when I don’t have to.”

Leo rejected the call from Sky and proceeded to walk towards the arena. Mike helped him get up to speed with how everything was proceeding. Leo had to admit that Mike works fast. He still needed to attend to certain matters in person but it truly helped to have someone he could rely on.

The walk to the arena took him ten minutes and the calls from Sky didn’t stop at all. Leo decided to continue ignoring the calls due to his displeasure with the situation. Making Sky angry was not his concern right now. He would arrive at the appointed time and take care of the fight as he was ordered to.

Leo walked into a private room and was greeted by Mike, Sky and a few other players he didn’t know. He could somewhat guess who his opponent was but he hadn’t even taken enough of an interest to ask for his name.

“How dare you ignore my calls!?”

Sky’s face was red with anger from Leo’s actions.

“I’m here at the appointed time, am I not? I’m sure Mayke told you that I would be, right?”

Sky wanted to vent her anger but was interrupted before she could. The one interrupting her was none other than the Guild Leader of Windblade, Tyran. He was a man in his mid-20s with an annoyingly handsome face.

“There’s no reason to be angry, is there? Your incompetent fighter probably had a difficult time mustering the courage to come here.”

Tyran let out a loud laugh while staring at Sky. Leo almost felt the need to thank him for his remarks. He felt slightly guilty about destroying his opponent but thanks to Tyran, he could put those feelings to rest.

Leo could see that Tyran became agitated after he ignored his words. Sky saw this change and quickly capitalized on Tyran’s anger.

“Seeing as you have decided to be here for no reason at all, why don’t we make a wager on the fight?”

“No reason? Can I not come here to comfort my future wife after she fails her first task?”

Leo could see the disgust on Sky’s face. He still had very little knowledge about their feud, but it would seem that Sky had specific tasks she needed to accomplish. Leo knew she needed to make Shadow famous, or maybe more correctly infamous, but he didn’t know the specifics.

“Do you accept the wager or not?”

“And what would that wager be?”

“500 gold.”

Leo couldn’t believe what the was hearing. To powerful guilds like Shadow and Windblade, 500 gold would be possible to collect, but to wager on a fight? Whoever loses would severely hinder their guild’s progress.

“Do you take me for a fool? If you are that confident about winning then your fighter is probably already level 30 or even higher.”

Mike jumped into the conversation before Sky could answer.

“Actually, Zero is only level 15. You can inspect him yourself if you think I’m lying.”

Tyran’s forehead furrowed in confusion. He inspected Leo and found that he was indeed only level 15.

“Then his Creator class is overpowered.”

Mike once more interjected before anyone could say anything.

“For making money, yes. His class can make weapons requiring EXP to level, but that’s about it. I bet you remember those weapons hitting the market once before, right? You saw their stats, do you really think it’s enough to overcome a difference of 11 levels?”

Leo stared at Mike in bewilderment and awe. He had told him about his class but not about selling weapons on the market or his creation’s power. Then again, he did hire him for occasions such as this.

Tyran did not seem convinced by Mike’s argument. This did not escape Mike’s eyes and he quickly made sure to seal the wager with a simple sentence.

“You don’t believe me? Fine, then see Zero’s gear for yourself.”

Leo let out a smile and shared the details of his equipment. He would prefer not to, but having Sky owe him a favor was worth far more than people knowing his gear’s stats. Besides, they’re only great for their low-quality level. It’s not enough to make a level 26 player with what looked like a full Silver and up quality gear cower in fear.

“And this is the equipment you’ll use in the fight?”

“That’s right.”

Tyran began laughing like a mad man. He could not believe that Leo was even trying to win the fight. Mike said a few more words in a low voice and convinced Tyran to accept the wager. Leo could more or less guess what he said but Sky couldn’t at all. Her face turned sour at the thought of Leo betraying her and losing the fight on purpose.

“You know what, 500 gold is a bit unreasonable for a single fight.”

Sky tried to back down from the wager but Tyran didn’t give her a chance.

“You’re right, let’s make it 2,000 gold. Or are you too afraid?”

Sky accepted the wager out of anger and immediately regretted her decision. Mike tried to calm her down but failed to assure her that Leo would never lose. Leo didn’t want to waste any more time and asked for the fight to begin. There were no objections and Leo quickly found himself inside the duel arena with his opponent on the opposite side.

The others were seated in a private room with Leo’s fight on the big screen. Mike and Sky took one room while Tyran and his entourage took another. Mike decided to make a few things clear with Sky to avoid problems in the future.

“Do you doubt he can win?”

“It doesn’t matter what I think, he better win.”

Mike smiled and let out a laugh before continuing.

“You have no idea who you’re involved with.”

“Is that a threat?”

Sky’s face turned serious at Mikes remark. The room temperature dropped as the two of them continued the conversation.

“It’s just a bit of friendly advice.”

“I agreed to not track him down but if you give me a reason to … “

“You don’t have to worry about that anymore. Go ahead, track him down.”

The atmosphere was quickly turning colder and colder.

“You think we can’t find him?”

“No, I think Michelle will find him easily.”

“If you think we can’t get to him, then you’re sorely mistaken.”

Mike let out a laugh at Sky’s remark. He was well aware of her power, but he also knew far more about Leo than she did.

“I heard Michelle had to move yesterday. Who would have thought the NSA would suddenly upgrade their network security overnight.”

“You didn’t!”

“As I said, you have no idea who you’re involved with.”

Mike could feel Sky’s rage from a thousand miles away.

“Relax, they won’t find her. Alice has already taken care of it.”

“Alice is with him? Why?”

Mike took a deep breath before talking.

“She’s with him for the same reason I am. You of all people should know that someone like Alice won’t work for just anyone.”

“Why are you telling me all of this?”

“Let’s just say that my boss doesn’t take kindly to extortion.”

“Point taken. I trust our previous agreement still holds true?”

“Of course, that’s why we're here after all. I just wanted to make sure you understand that circumstances have changed. We don’t need you, but you sure as hell need us.”

The timer quickly reached zero and Leo’s fight began. Leo’s opponent quickly dashed towards him and began by using a powerful single target skill. Leo shook his head and let out a sigh. He didn’t expect anything from the fight but this was simply too easy.

Leo sent out his spear and interrupted the attack. He quickly spun around and hit his opponent in the head before he could find his balance from the sudden interruption. Leo continued attacking while his opponent constantly backpedaled without even trying to counter-attack. Leo’s attacks did little damage but his opponent couldn’t avoid them, making his health quickly plummet to zero.

The entire fight lasted 60 seconds due to the level difference. Leo couldn’t help feeling angry at having to fight such a pathetic player. He hadn’t found anyone even remotely promising since his fight with Happy. This match only served as a way for him to waste time.

Leo walked towards the arena exit when Mike joined him.

“That was fast.”

“Unfortunately not fast enough.”

Mike laughed at Leo’s comment before explaining what he said to Sky. Leo trusted the task to Mike and wasn’t disappointed with the result. He understood that her actions weren’t personal but neither was his. If he was to get involved with organizations such as Shadow and Windblade, he at least wanted it to be from a position of strength. Leo did not take threats lightly.

“You have a meeting with Snow and Alex to upgrade their weapons. After that, we need you to buy potions for reselling, then you’re free to do whatever you like.”

“I’m sorry, do I work for you?”

“Funny.”

Leo walked with Mike to buy potions then proceeded to upgrade Snow, Lily and Alex’s weapons. He didn’t spend any time lingering and quickly made his way back to Undead Forest to finally finish his quest. Leo feared that if he stayed in the city any longer, he might end up derailed yet again.