A burlap sack overflowing with green crystals was thrown in front of me and I heard a man's voice.

"Its your lucky day poor guy. Use it to beat those people."

"Huh?"

I was surprised and confused. It has only been a few minutes when Eckes and Nergal left me.

I just lost everything. I was tricked. I was beaten. I couldn't think straight.

I am upset.

I am mad.

I hated them. Their guts. Their lies. The look in their faces. Them and every single word they said.

What's more is that, I hate myself. I hate being weak.

So what now?

At the moment, I just want to get revenge.

But how? I lost my quints. I lost my avatars.

I'm close to nothing.

...

I blankly stared at the sack and the few crystals that were scattered on the floor.

[ Essence: 10,000 ]

I know I need help but not this way. This is too much.

I mean...

I hurriedly dried my teary eyes and looked at him.

"Why?" I asked.

All I could see was his silhouette shrouded in darkness as he stood beyond the edge of the platform.

Was it pity?

Do I look so pathetic right now?

"What? Do I need a reason?" He replied. "You need quints, right?"

Yes, I need it. I need it to earn back what I just lost. I need it to exact revenge. I need it to become stronger... better... however...

It was tempting. The first person I trusted betrayed me. Should I trust again?

"I'll--I'll pay you back," I said. I don't think when but I wanted to return the favor.

"Boo. I'm not lending that. But if you would insist," he threw an object near the sack.

An opaque ghostly white crystal, rough, and unpolished. A short series of chain attached in one end.

[ Sigil: Ash Wight

Description:

A defunct aetherite bound with a curse.

Holder: unregistered ]

"Let's just say I'm paying you to take that garbage off from me," he said operating a panel.

[ Contract: Carry the specified Sigil for the duration of Six Months inexchange of 10,000 essences.

Condition: Return the Sigil after Six Months

Reward: 10,000 essence ]

[ Accept? ]

"Oof! It seems I can't make a contract longer than that. Not that it matters though, I already gave the reward," he said.

He was paying me for something that seemed precious? It confused me even more but slightly, the act made it felt alright.

My goal at the moment is to take revenge on Eckes and Nergal. The details of the contract and the suspicious Sigil laid in my front is of little concern.

I tapped YES.

"That settles it. Find me in six months if you want," the person said. He tapped the sole of his foot on the ground twice before he turned. I burned his figure in my mind as I watched him.

I'll pay him back.

Four months passed since that day.

In that four months I trained. I practiced day by day.

I fought. I challenged Ethereals in duels.

I learned. I studied my opponents.

I planned. I worked to the best that I can.

But still, I failed. I failed several times.

I lost over and over and the quints that person gave me dwindled down until nothing was left.

Yet I didn't stop.

I took jobs to earn quints, quests offered by the mortals. Then, I kept fighting.

Now, I seek Nergal and his lackeys, Eckes and the rest of his guild. I'm going to make them pay. I'm going to beat them until they don't have quints to spare.

"Greed, are you alright?" A man said tapping my shoulder. "Don't let the match get into your head. Its just part of the training."

He was a tall man with a bulky figure. Someone I wouldn't wish to pick a fight with but then we just did.

"I know sir, I'm just tired," I said as I hid the white aetherite into my pocket then pulled the rest of my things off from a locker. "Your men are more tensed today so I could not catch up."

A crowd of people brawled outside a few distance from the shed where we stood. They were all covered in dirt and bruises but they still kept on.

Punches, kicks and takedowns; this is a normal day for them. A part of their training. They are soldiers.

"They should be," the tall man said.

"Rumors have been spreading that a neighboring country is planning to wage war on us over a political dispute. We might only be guards stationed at this gate but if the brass would call us to arms we won't have an option to refuse."

He took off his sweating shirt and picked a towel then said, "not that it concerns you, Ethereal."

Beyond his muscular figure are scars and marks left by an old wound.

It can be said that Ethereals live to fight - it was our purpose. The Mortals on the otherhand fight so they can keep living.

They are fragile creatures but they are prone to conflicts and violence.

I do think they are admirable to a certain degree. Unlike us, when they fight, they fight with their lives on the line. So when they fight, they give it their all.

"The brass you were saying, do they only consider you as pawns?" I asked.

"Ah, what a wicked way to describe us. We are... Well, more or less like that I guess? The brass doesn't usually fight along our side though."

Living with the Mortals for a few months is not enough for me to learn much about them. If there's anything that is clear about them, its the fact that they prioritize suvival.

Life.

And war might take it from them.

"A mere disposable pawn," he said almost in a whisper before saying "I'm envious you Ethereals can settle dispute without much loss."

I shrugged and made a faint smile agreeing to what he said.

Ethereals are not supposed to involve theirselves with the war between mortals. It was a rule well-known for both races but if it would ever happen, we are bound to get caught up in it. We live among them afterall.

"It must be nice and easy, being an Ethereal."

"I can ask Kronun to turn you into an Ethereal."

"I like that idea. Sadly, you have to pay your debts first. Anyway, are you going out early? The training's not over yet."

"I'm meeting someone today," I said securing my rucksack.

"Aah, that hissy-missy again? The one who uses you as a target practice?"

"Nah. That reckless Ranger already went off to another town, so no. Its someone else today."

"Another girl eh? Cheating is fun but it has its risks I tell you."

"Spare me of the things you Mortals do," I said as I headed to the door but before finally leaving, I turned back to him and mocked a salute saying "May the old spirits spare you from the coming war, Captain."

The coming war, eh? Well my revenge comes first.

---

"Nergal is in Fort Breunor." The girl named Reveri said. Its been two days since our battle against Rotuel and Korg. We won but the two opponents we had only gave up the innocent Ethereal they took and agreed not to return. They didn't disclose anything about the information that I was asking them.

It was a good thing that this girl who teamed up with me offered to help.

Soon I will find that man, the leader of the Blackdogs.

Dolin's tavern is closed in the morning so we had to meet in Damsel Square.

"He went there to fix some arrangements," Reveri continued, "something regarding the upcoming war."

The mention of war seemed different when she said it. It felt gloomy and frightening when the leader of the knights talked about it.

"I believe he will be staying there for about a month," Reveri continued.

"Anyways, did I just saw you came out of the barracks?"

"You mean the guard outpost?" I replied.

"Y-yeah," she replied sounding unsure,

"Are you doing quests this early morning?"

"I was training." I replied shortly not wanting to speak more about it. "Fort Breunor. Is that place far from here?"

"Not quite. If you travel northeast you will reach Town Dinadan. From there you will have to cross a mountain pass. You can reach the Fort in two days by foot but I heard there are carriages you can pay with some quints for a ride. But wait, first of all, you can't enter the place at the moment."

"And why is that?"

"Well, cause there's going to be a WAR. Only Ethereals with invitation will be allowed to access the Fort during the whole duration of the event."

"What war?" I asked.

"The Gilded Goblet!" Reveri said in a tone as if the subject was a common knowledge. "Its an annual event hosted by the Baron of Breunor where several Guilds are invited to fight each other for the prize of one hundred thousand quints."

"One hundred thousand, that much?" I almost stopped on my tracks. It was an amount no Ethereal can earn in just a single match.

"It would be divided among the members of the winning guild though."

"I need to join then!" I blurted.

"Why? If you want to see Nergal you can just wait until he returns or maybe meet him after the event."

"I'm also in need of quints," I said, I have a debt to pay.

"We all do. But can you win?"

The question rang on my ear. I failed several times before and I understand that there would be times that I'll loose even if I do my best.

"You will have to join a guild then. Do you have one? Oh I bet you don't. You have very little experience in clash battles, right?"

"I'm not a fan of clash battles," I said.

Clash differs from duels in which each teams need to have five members. The battlefield is wider and the layout of the important areas are also sparse.

"Seriously, you should join clash battles. There's a lot of groups looking for team mates here in Damsel Square. I can introduce you to them if you want."

"I tried it before but they always reject me as soon as they found that I only have a Chaplain."

"Makes me wonder why don't you have other avatars? You know you can actually buy some using your quints. We can check a shop I frequent if you want,"

"I'd rather save my quints for now. Why are we meeting in this place by the way? You could have sent me a message instead."

"Well, I figured you may want to join a guild. As I have said, only members of a guild are invited to participate in the Gilded Goblet."

Join a guild? The words left a bitter taste in my mouth. The last time I joined a guild I was robbed of my quints and avatars.

"You want to join guild, right?" She asked. "I can recommend you a good one."

"The guild you are in?"

"Avenguard! We recieved an invitation this year but our Captain do not wish for the members of the main squad to participate." She continued walking a few steps forward while I stopped behind her. The huge red crystal in the middle of Damsel Square was ahead of us.

"So, he suggested to create a separate team for that event, however, we need three more members to do that." She stopped on her tracks and turned back at me before saying "The guild is conducting a recruitment campaign today."

Today?

I wanted to fight Nergal as soon as possible but I also need to collect quints to pay my debt. I've been training enough to beat some of the Blackdogs but there's no guarantee that I can beat the rest of the participants much more win the event all the way.

Besides joining a guild poses its own problems. Not to mention that the recruitment would be conducted today which means I don't have enough time to prepare. Its a gamble.

"There's going to be a problem though," she then said as I stood there thinking,

"You are going to need more than that one avatar you currently have."