Chapter four: Cold Steel, Colder Blood

Jihan strolled through the market square, browsing the many goods that the merchants of Runedel offered. Truthfully, he was not interested in buying any of such goods, but his curiosity wouldn't let him pass them by entirely either.

Jihan of the past had never gotten to see the beginner city before its annihilation, and as such wanted to take in the city to the fullest before moving on with his plans.

The further inwards he went, the goods being sold changed from food and clothes to armor and weapons, great forges could be seen lining the sides of the street as countless blacksmiths forged weapons and armor in countless different styles and fashions.

Heavy Steel for knights and warriors, leather for assassins and thieves, and magically imbued cloth for mages. Longswords, daggers, shields, bows, and even greatswords were displayed proudly, lining the walls of the blacksmiths' stalls.

Jihan already possessed a weapon far greater than what these blacksmiths could produce, but he still needed armor before continuing on his way.

In his past, he had worn the standard attire until it had been destroyed, unable to purchase anything better than trash to defend himself.

But in only four hours, Jihan had over one hundred thousand gold in his inventory, it was absolutely a scam. Jihan was proud of himself, giving absolutely no thought to the fact that he had just robbed the greatest assassin cult in Synchronize for almost no reason.

After looking for quite some time, he finally walked over to an old man on the corner of the street, hammering away at a piece of what seemed to be steel.

"Where in the world did you happen upon Cold steel?" Jihan raised an eyebrow, pointing at the ice blue block of metal, not a trace of heat present as the old man hammered away at it.

The blacksmith continued to hammer away at the Iron, but looked up at Jihan with eyes of bewilderment.

"A beginner like yourself knows of cold steel? Impossible." He squinted at Jihan, before returning to his work.

"There's something different about you, but I can't tell what. Regardless, you're right. This here is cold steel."

Jihan pulled a large bag of gold out of his inventory, plopping it down onto the table beside the blacksmith.

"Can you make me an identical set of armor, using thin sheets of cold iron in between the leather?" His question would normally sound idiotic, but cold steel was not a normal metal.

Steel forged in the northernmost region, imbued with an eternal frost. It could not be forged by normal means, and was incredibly hard. However, when combined with another material, it became incredibly flexible and fluid, yet remained equally as hard and defensive as solid steel armor.

The blacksmith gave an amused laugh, taking the bag of gold off the counter with a smile.

"You're an interesting man, come back in two weeks." He began hammering once more, leaving Jihan to wander around to his hearts content.

At least that's what it looked like. Jihan already had a very clear idea of where he needed to go next.

The temple of blood.

An S grade dungeon that was normally impossible without being level 120 or higher.

"Zeref, come out." He spoke forwardly, arriving at the great temple hours away from the city of Runedel.

A hidden dungeon that was not discovered for almost three years despite being in the central plain, a dungeon that would not reveal itself to anyone who had not killed at least one hundred people.

The first person to clear the temple of blood was 'Ares, the pk god'. A player who only got experience and items by fighting other players, often killing two, three or even five players at once just because he was bored.

But the first clear reward of this dungeon was something very good, and coincidentally something Jihan wanted.

'Blood God's ritual book.'

An item that gave the three skills of the Blood God, and also the strongest of many items that 'Ares' used in his fights.

Blood explosion, which allowed any amount of blood to explode , the size of the explosion dependant on the amount of blood.

Blood manipulation, which lets one freely control not only their own, but others' bloodflow and circulation.

And lastly, Blood field, the 'banned pk skill'. A field that used all nearby blood to form a barrier that would both trap and weaken everyone except the caster inside an impenetrable field of blood.

Jihan's plan was rather simple. Instead of only using thief class Skills, he would collect the strongest skills before anyone else, and monopolize them for himself, dominating the game's meta since the first day of Synchronize's release.

But first, he had to clear the temple of blood. And by he, Jihan meant Zeref, who fortunately met the level 120 requirement to survive during the duration of the skill 'Blood field'.

"I greet the founder." Zeref bowed, awaiting Jihan's orders.

Jihan merely smirked, pointing at the entrance to the temple.

"I want you to kill everything in this temple."

Zeref scoffed before nodding.

"If you insist, I will take out the trash."

The man's personality had completely flipped, not a trace of Alexander's cheerful nature present in the man before him.

...

Jihan couldn't help but be surprised at Zeref's combat capabilities, dealing with the enemies inside the temple with ease. The shadow-like daggers in the man's hands flickered in and out of sight, appearing alongside their wielder behind the backs of the many chimeras that stood in their way.

Jihan also got all the xp for Zeref's kills, due to the simple fact that npcs could not level up by 'farming'..

[You have leveled up!]

[You have...]

[You..]

[New notifications: 32]

Jihan had shot from level 17 to level 49 in only half an hour, Zeref's monstrous speed and power proving to be even beyond Jihan's expectations for him.

A blood curdling shriek resounded from the throne of flesh in the great pool of blood, an emaciated woman with raggedy white hair that stood at twice the height of a man gathering all of the blood around in a small orb.

Jihan shouted to warn Zeref, but his blades cleaved the vampire's head from its neck even before it could finish casting blood field.

[You have...]

[New notifications: 35]

Level 52.

Jihan was almost disappointed at how fast Zeref had killed the boss, not even allowing it to cast its main skill.

"I have cleared the temple of trash, founder." Zeref returned to his side, his smoldering blades disappearing as quickly as they appeared.

[You are the first player to clear 'The temple of blood'. Your achievement will be recorded in the Records of Time, and you will receive additional rewards.]

[You have completed a dungeon with 0% probability of survival, you will receive secret rewards.]

What?

Jihan had never seen such a message before, or even heard of one.

"Completed a dungeon with 0% chance of survival?" His brow furrowed, but he eventually closed the window.

"Let's go, Zeref." Jihan waved, and the two teleported out of the dungeon.

The beginning of Jihan's conquest had gone rather smoothly, obtaining two cheat like items on the first day. But he knew it was not enough, not even close to enough. There were still many skills and items that he needed to monopolize, and allies he needed to find sooner rather than later.