Chapter 21 - Alliance

Chapter 21

~

"Goddamnit." Abaddon tiredly muttered into his palm, his boots drenched and wet as he stood next to the massive hole Nana contentedly floated in after he'd finally managed to convince her to at least contain the water, a small border of earth now stopping it from overflowing further. "What the hell am I supposed to do with this now?"

Sacred Saint had left a while ago, having given up on waiting for Nana to re-emerge when she failed to show even after roughly an hour had gone by.

Something he was thankful for, she might have tried to hide it but he could still faintly see her amusement of the situation shining through her mask.

Unfortunately whilst nice not having to keep up the pretence of not knowing who she was, her departure didn't really help him outside of that.

He had planned on using this area to establish the Guild Base because of it's sheer size but now he wasn't sure it was even worth thinking about.

Say he got rid of all the water, considering the massive freaking tunnel he couldn't see the bottom of she'd dug at a seemingly random but very annoyingly central location he was entirely unsure if the ground's structural integrity was only 'kind of shaky but still probably fine' or just a straight up lost cause.

He could, and most others probably would, ask Nana to reverse the changes with her bullshit Skills but another look at her frustatingly cute face a mix of satisfaction and relaxation told him that this was most likely the reason she even went along with this whole idea in the first place.

"Not optimal but I guess I can work around this somehow? Maybe?" Scratching his head, vexed, he scrapped his previous plan he'd thought up regarding the Guild Base's layout and began entirely anew, this time accounting for, or maybe even incorporating, Nana's 'pool'.

...

The next week Abaddon spent his time mostly making a more detailed design for the Guild Base's compound, deciding to use the others lots as craftsmen workshops instead of his initial desire to add separate sections belonging to each branch connected to a main building.

It was probably for the best considering that whilst large, the area he had to play with wasn't infinite. Much less now that Nana had apparently decided to make herself at home. He also had plans to expand the Guild from a small core of elites to start with into a normal or even big one eventually.

Speaking of which, Nana had also been busy disappearing into the hole for multiple hours on end to. . . He didn't actually know what she was even doing down there if anything at all, she pretty much only surfaced to eat or to bask in the sun to his knowledge.

He had ultimately found what she had been up to when he, walking past another lot he'd designated for the blacksmith hall polishing up on some smaller details, somewhat distantly heard water splashing sounding like it was coming from a deep well or something similar in kind.

Previous matter still fresh in his mind he promptly went to investigate.

Unfortunately discovering that. . . there was no well.

Following the noise he shortly after arrived at a small patch of grass towards the edge of the lot, crouching and parting it with his hands, he found a football sized hole leading further down into eventual darkness.

Pressing his ear against it he confirmed it as the source of what he'd been hearing.

Suddenly having a bad premonition he darted up with wide eyes and swiftly took off into a sprint to the other nearest lot.

"No, no, no- Nonononono-" When he quickly found an identical hole there too a ramping sense of panic urged him to immediately check on the others as well, despair setting in with each lot he inspected, all of them having 'mysteriously' gotten a hole of their own.

When he staggeringly arrived at the last lot resembling a dejected zombie more than human he expected this one to be no different, beginning his search with a heavy heart and a big sigh.

It was only when he'd scanned very nook and cranny without finding anything that a hope blossomed within his chest, a relieved smile climbing onto his face thinking that at least one was spared.

Just a few moments later however, that hope was ruthlessly trampled upon, cracking into thousands of pieces when he heard a small sound of dirt and rocks being displaced before the culprit of this whole mess suddenly appeared, Nana's head breaking through the earth right next to him.

Looking around she pretty spotted saw his legs, raising her head to meet his dead eyes, his visage barren as if he'd just had his soul sucked out of him.

When she just blinked innocently in response to being clearly caught red-handed Abaddon felt a burning rage erupt inside of him, gritting his teeth as he forced the syllables past his lips.

"Nanaaaa. . ." He growled, arms slowly reaching down towards her as his muscles tensed in preparation.

Another slow blink snapped the last straw of his patience, Abaddon instantly exploding into action pouncing like a cheetah descending upon her with an animalistic ferocity glinting in his eyes whilst a bellowing roar ripped out of his throat.

"NANAAAAAAA!!!"

Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough to actually catch her before she simply dove back down and disappeared.

Abaddon smacked face first into the ground, his extended arms forcbly pushed upwards with his chest and knees scraping against small pebbles, ending up in a crumpled heap with his ass in the air as a small cloud of dust poofed up around him.

His fingers and eye, his whole body really, twitched in agitation as an awkward silence hung in the air.

Spending a few minutes lifelessly contemplating if he was blessed or cursed to meet the girl back during Launch Day, he was broken out of his ruminations by a childish voice asking, and there was no way it was about him right, what 'someone' was doing followed by the mother's shocked gasp before she, to what he could hear, quickly dragged her child away.

"Kill me now."

...

Abaddon harshly grumbled under his breath as he retrieved the items he'd just bought from his [Spatial Storage], downing an [Waterbreath Potion] which was ludicrously expensive for what it was due to Crisa being pretty distant to any large bodies of water and flicking the ball-shaped [Glow Coral] to life, fastening it to his wrist using the strap ran through it.

He only had enough gold coins to buy them because he had been hounding the architects for Quests, partly because he'd been extremely poor but also to make use of their help in smoothing out any kinks in his plans, which-

Apparently trying to design anything functional with absolutely zero knowledge on the subject matter wasn't the best idea in hindsight, even if magic and magic items removed alot of the more stringent requirements when it came down to it there were still some fairly basic things he hadn't taken into account that they had no problems very loudly pointing out much to his embarrassment.

It almost felt like a teacher choosing him to grill out of everyone in class and went into excrutiating detail on everything he did wrong.

Either way, newly remembered mortifying memories aside, Sacred Saint had also been annoyingly persistent in her visits, though there was no real rime or reason to her arrival, something he found a bit odd since she seemed to be a calculating type.

It was probably his pre-conceptions assuming she would for some reason choose a specific time of day so he'd know when she would come and force him out of social obligation not to 'deliberately' be away when the 'star-struck little fan' sought him out.

Investigating just in case, he'd stalked around places he usually visited in [Stealth] and found numerous people discreetly watching from the corners of their eyes, some others even squatting on rooftops in [Stealth] themselves.

He may not have been a super expert or anything but basic core Skills had become somewhat of a science before his rebirth, he knew what signs to look for in newbies.

Sacred Saint would 'coincidentally' not come visit on days the 'paparazzi' were present cluing him in on those people very likely sent by someone else.

Unfortunately, the person behind them could be anyone really. It was impossible to guess relying solely on the knowledge that he and probably Nana were being monitored.

His knowledge did help him somewhat narrow it down because he was pretty sure he remembered Sacred Saint being close with a smaller group of people and she wouldn't give out information for free therefore, in combination with her meticulously avoiding being spotted, it was none of those Players.

Abaddon shook his head, he couldn't do anything about that at the moment so there was no point getting stuck in it and instead refocused his attention on the more tangible problem right in front of him in the form of Nana's first tunnel.

Despite his attempts at trying to catch her following his discovery she's easily managed to dodge him the moment he caught sight of her, his endeavor was made even more difficult because she'd expanded the holes he found in the other lots to a similar size as the first and as far as he'd seen she didn't really prefer any single one over the other.

It was like playing whack-a-mole, only, each mole was hundreds of meters apart from each other making essentially impossible to beat.

Now he was done playing by the set rules, he was jumping down into the mole's hole and it'd better run because if he got his hands on it he was going to throttle the life out of it.

Taking a deep breath, not that that would do anything with the potion in effect, he suppressed the terrified tingles in his legs and dove into the water.

Swimming further down still a bit freaked out by being able to breathe, the sensation was incredibly unnatural and his body did NOT like it, he inwardly wondered how the water could still be so clear even if in his mind it would've taken on a murky tint considering the dirt walls.

It was basically the picture perfect image of something you'd see on those supernaturally pristine 'tropical beach brochures' just dialled up to 11, like no one had even tried making it look even remotely semi-realistic.

Now that he thought about it, even the walls looked a bit odd.

Scraping his fingers across the surface he was a bit surprised, it felt like solid stone.

Continuing onwards the light level noticeably decreased the farther he went, the sun's beams muted this far down until he finally passed a brief layer of shadowy darkness.

Emerging on the other side his eyes blew wide open upon witnessing the unbelievably beautiful scenery presented before him.

The tunnel he'd been following opening up into a massive series of underwater caverns, winding passages stretched deeper inside criss-crossing and intersecting with no set patterns creating multiple tree-trunk like pillars of stone connecting the roof and floor scattered around the mix of circular and spherical areas.

Ribbons of ethereal light streamed down from the roof originating from something he couldn't quite identify, buried into the stone and clustered together looking like bushes of small greenish blue crystalline tree corals.

Illuminating the space around him coating it in a soft mesmerising turquoise glow wonderfully contrasting with the surrounding dimness giving it that fantasy-esque charm, it animatedly reflected off of the strikingly colorful patches of moss and coral dotting the cavern's surfaces.

Only snapping out of his daze minutes later Abaddon involuntarily exhaled a breath in awe inwardly marvelling at the sight as he looked around.

Getting a bit curious he sent an [Appraise] at the roof.

[Agualgae Corallystina] (Epic)

[Type: Flora]

[Information: The Agualgae Corallystina is a fast spreading flower species resembling organic crystal in both appearance and feel whilst still remaining pliable, planted under water it will rapidly work to transform the surrounding environment into one incredibly comfortable and suitable for aquatic lifeforms.]

[Effect: Promotes growth of aquatic fauna and flora, slight chance of spawning small creatures at random.]

". . .Where did she- Oh, right. She got another [Mystery Box] (Epic) from clearing the Dungeon, didn't she?" Abaddon muttered in thought, though rather than words it emerged as a stream of bubbles escaping his mouth. "But really, this thing grows fast as hell, huh?" Reaching out he lightly tapped the sharp spikes lining the 'branches'. "It took barely any time at all to transform all this into an underwater paradise. Guess that also answers why she's been down here so much then since she's also considered an 'aquatic lifeform', partly at least."

After swimming around for a minute or two, not straying too far from where he initially came down since the chance of him getting lost was just a hair's short of guaranteed, he was just about to start making his way up to the surface again when he suddenly felt the water around him getting restless.

Feeling a bit like he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, he had a slight moment of panic and subconsciously hid behind one of the pillars, discreetly peeking around it whilst activating [Stealth].

The currents quickly went from a gentle disturbance not strong enough to do much more than just be felt to a surge of jet-like flow stirring up the previously tranquil scene into a chaotic disorienting whirlpool.

Acting swiftly Abaddon grabbed onto and wedged himself into nearby crevices when he felt his body beginning to get dragged away.

Unable to really see anything anymore due to the water so frantically whipping around his heart almost leaped out of his chest when the cave shook prompted something enormous just barely able to fit inside select few tunnels raced past him immediately followed by a still big but noticeably smaller shape.

Remaining frozen in place, tensed to the extreme as his body clamped up like a massive tiger had suddenly just walked past him on the sidewalk Abaddon waited for another while even after the currents had calmed down to it's previous stillness before he felt confident enough to move.

He was well aware that he was inside a game, however, fully submerged in water 'trapped' inside a limited and unfamiliar space made his land loving lizard brain feel extremely vulnerable which had him on edge, the beautiful sight somewhat distracted him but the experience just now abruptly slapped the rose-tinted glasses off his face.

He also hadn't thought that he'd be encountering anything bigger than his hand down here, mostly because of the Agualgae Corallystina lulling him into a false sense of security so he had forgotten the unbelievably potent rouge element that was Nana.

He didn't know what else she had done or let in here, or even how she'd done so, but he sure as hell wasn't sticking around long enough to find out.

Slowly moving towards the exit, trying his utmost not to create any percievably disturbances in the water, he was just about to reach it when he caught something entering the series of chambers in his peripherals coming from where the previous chase had went and instantly entered fight or flight mode before his brain stuttered upon registering that, rather than some sea monster or another, the figure revealed itself, or 'herself' more like, to be someone familiar.

Leisurely swimming out of the tunnel was Nana, shortly after shown to be dragging a large creature resembling an armored puffer-fish sporting tough ridges along it's upper half and top, sporting a big mouth of sprouty sharp teeth and two lines of four increasingly smaller glossy black eyes trailing behind a bigger main pair set in it's wide flat face looking rather aggressive but oddly enough kind of dopily endearing.

Dorsal fin replaced by rows of spike like plates with maybe a dozen robust 1-2 meter long thick-hided, barbed whisker looking appendages sprouting out of it's sides, it's body narrowing towards the end equipped with a tall vertical tail fin, a set of bone like spikes jutting out to the side just before it.

The first thought that popped up in his mind when he saw it was 'dinosaur fish'.

Because that's just what it looked like and he instantly determined that he'd rather chug molten lava than meet that thing deep down in the ocean surrounded by the blue void.

Granted this one was about the size of a big van which was relatively small in comparison to the venerable colossals he knew GAO's depths hosted, and god forbid they grew any larger, but still.

Quickly spotted by the girl Abaddon stiffly reciprocated with an awkward wave of his hand, his previous bravado having faded with his anger.

Also, it was only now that he remembered that on top of turtle, she was also part some sort of dragon.

He hadn't heard of the Rage Glutton Dragon, but pretty much all dragon species in GAO were very territorial, combined with the 'rage' in the name he realized that he really should've thought this through before jumping the gun.

Fortunately Nana didn't seem to overly mind his presence, smacking the- 'Liuverianth Cage Serpent' a quick [Appraise] supplied, on the snout making it resemble a kicked puppy before she shooed it away, the properly reprimanded looking fish shortly after disappearing into another tunnel with a dejected air around it.

Done with that she then slowly swam over to Abaddon who watched the scene play out with a weird look on his face, did she somehow get the [Tamer] Skill when he wasn't looking or something?

...

"No. You are not approaching them."

"But-"

"Did you not hear what I said? You. Are. Not. Approaching. Them. Period." Sacred Saint stressed gravely, her sweet facade nowhere to be seen leaving a sort of calculating calm settling over her features. "Before I know who else is keeping tabs on them I'm not risking outing myself in such a moronic way, it would achieve absolutely nothing bar soothing your stupid pride which I do not care for in the slightest."

"But-"

"I don't care how good you think you are at remaining hidden, all it will take is a single, small little slip up and you'll be discovered then subsequently become useless to me. I recommend you don't do anything stupid, it would do you well remembering who is paying you." She ruthlessly hammered on, ignoring any and all protests and cutting the call, readying herself for another day of brushing up her presence in Abaddon's mind.

It wouldn't do to be forgotten, after all.

Much to her consternation she had yet to come in contact with Nana yet, but she was sure it was only a matter of time until it happened.

Apparently faster than she'd anticipated considering halfway to the first location she had in mind to check, out of the numerous places where she usually found him, she saw the person she was looking for entering the Auction House that had opened up not too long ago.

More importantly however, what really caught her attention was the giant girl slowly trailing after him.

Eyes widening slightly she immediately made her way over as fast as she could without drawing too many gazes onto her.

Stepping into the large building lavishly furnished with decorations she wouldn't find too out of place in her esteemed grandparents' mansions, she stuck to the wall, sitting down in an inconspicious corner of the ample lounging areas scattered throughout the expansive lobby.

Scanning the room she quickly found the duo, a task made easy thanks to the girl towering over everyone else, similarly sitting down a bit further into the building.

Shortly after she saw Abaddon gesturing in the air, most likely operating the menu.

Swiftly bringing up the Auction House's interface herself she eyed the 'new' tab like a hawk, pleased with her foresight of stocking up on gold coins the day before thanks to the rather flourishing market of trading the in-game currency for Credits.

Confusingly however, even after about a minute or two of waiting she failed to see anything out of the ordinary being listed.

The reason soon revealed when she decided to move her gaze from the floating window, seeing Abaddon looking like he was talking to someone.

She was fairly sure it wasn't the girl considering said girl currently looked both bored out of her mind and far away in her own world lazily sprawled out in the too small chair staring up at the ceiling with unfocused eyes despite sitting barely a meter apart from each other.

Sacred Saint inwardly frowned at the possible implications of the revelation, did they already have another Player they actively communicated with?

On top of that a good enough relationship with whoever it was to alert them about any items they'd put up for sale beforehand?

Because she couldn't think of anything else as a reason as to why they were even here if not to sell something, and why wait with listing it if not to gain some sort of benefit from it.

A move to deepen a tentative relationship she also considered a kind of benefit as well.

Seeing as there was now a, larger than she'd like, chance of her emerging at a loss clashing with an opponent possessing the advantage of most likely knowing just before an item appeared in the Auction House a small frown appeared on her face, decisively calling for some backup.

Also despite her forgetting, getting caught up in her excitement, it was only now that she realized that if she were to buy anything from them her cover would immediately be blown if the prices exceeded a certain amount of gold coins.

[GAO - Group Chat - Gathering of the Elite]

Sacred Saint: Everyone close to or nearby an Auction House get ready ASAP.

HeavensFavorite: What's the hurry?

Sacred Saint: I'm almost 100% sure Nana and Abaddon are about to put something up for sale and seeing who it is we're talking about here it's almost guaranteed to be something good. However, Abaddon is telling another Player about it and, firstly, I'm not confident enough I can snatch it before them and secondly, the method I chose to approach with doesn't allow me to act.

Imperial: I'm unavailable at the moment unfortunately enough.

BeastGod33: Same.

Dragon Emperor: Too far away, the heavens have ordained myself not making it back in time.

Diamon: +1

Warrior King: +1

Justice Bound: I'll be at the closest Auction House in a minute.

ThornyRose: Me too~ Lucky~!

HeavensFavorite: Present!

...

"Alright, then, we're both satisfied with the price Arctic Raven?"

"Yes."

"Good." Abaddon nodded, not that she could see it, and turned to the side, deadpanning upon seeing Nana looking like she'd rather be anywhere else but here at the moment.

"Nana. Hey, Nana!" It took poking her arm until his finger started hurting before she finally reacted, slowly opened an eye, regarding him with a sleepy stare as if she'd just woken up with a grumpy 'what do you want?' look clearly written on her face.

"Get ready to list the items." He said followed by which prices to set for each one.

Nana let out a huffy noise through her nose but nonetheless lethargically raised an arm and brought up the Auction House interface, gesturing being done about a minute later.

"Press confirm in 3 seconds." He said both to Nana and as a warning to Arctic Raven before relaxing back into the criminally comfortable chair, his mind wandering to more and preferably stable ways of procuring a steady stream of gold coins.

They had made a decent chunk of progress in his monopolization plans using what currency they already had, Crisa specifically having 10 large plots, 15 medium plots and 20 small plots up for sale, just 1 more large plot and the most sought after spots would fully be in their grasp.

Unfortunately he was abruptly shaken out of his day dream of grandeur by a frigid voice mixed with a hefty dose of suspicion speaking up.

"Are you sure that I was the only person you notified in advance?"

"Uh, yeah?" Abaddon answered in confusion, what prompted her to ask?

"I see. Then I suppose the person that bought the [Pearlescent Shawl] (Epic) the instant it appeared on the market was just insanely lucky." Arctic Raven commented sharply, the words coated with barely perceptible tones of bitter sarcasm and distrust she didn't quite manage to conceal fully.

"What?" Sitting up with a startle, Abaddon's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and quickly brought up the Auction House inferface, displaying the purple framed piece of equipment greyed out with 'sold' seemingly stamped onto the icon but according to her words, it wasn't acquired by Arctic Raven?

"Nana, who bought it?"

"Mmm. . . HeavensFavorite."

"HeavensFavorite?" Abaddon muttered to himself with eyes narrowed in thought, the name sounded sort of familiar but he wasn't sure exactly where he'd heard it.

It was only when he unintentionally spotted a certain pain in the ass sitting with her back turned towards them that it clicked in his mind, wasn't he a part of Sacred Saint's group?

Whispering curses under his breath because of course she would catch sight of them and of course she would be curious enough to follow them inside the Auction House.

From there it wasn't really rocket science puzzling out their purpose in coming here.

"Shit. Sorry, my bad Arctic Raven, that one's my fault. Apparently I wasn't being careful enough leading to a recent annoyance finding out about the trade." He quickly apologized, their first meeting was lightly put sub-optimal and showing himself any sorts of 'incapable' to someone as cut throat, at least according to his knowledge, as Arctic Raven didn't bode well for future interactions.

"I see." Abaddon was unable to glean her thoughts from the purposefully even voice. "Then, how do you propose we proceed from here?"

"Are you sure you can't come to Crisa in person?" He asked, they all started in Green Leaf Town so he wasn't sure how she'd already decided to leave far enough she wouldn't be able to return within a reasonable timeframe.

"No."

Her reluctance to tell him why she was even away also made any possible solutions he might've been able to come up with effectively useless.

"Then I suppose we'll have to postpone for now, I have no way of guaranteeing you securely getting the item before anyone else unless they don't know about it at all." Abaddon sighed.

"Noted. Contact me when the nearest opportunity presents itself." Arctic Raven voiced curtly, hanging up before he could even get another word in.

"Well. That didn't go quite as planned, did it?" Abaddon let out a frustrated breath, running his fingers through his hair as he slumped back in his chair with a sigh.

Nana didn't seem to share his concerns though, letting out a vaguely amused chuff in response.

"Oh, don't start." Abaddon grumpily muttered under his breath as he stood up, no point in unecessarily loitering around in the Auction House anymore not that their business had been temporarily halted.

Nana slightly perked up and quickly followed his lead, noises of bones crackling and a content hum sounding from behind him as the two shortly after exited the establishment.

Abaddon had thought he would be spared another headache in the form of Sacred Saint's persistent efforts to integrate herself into their 'circle' when he didn't see her chasing after them even a minute later and was just about to relax when a series of swift light steps was heard rushing towards them.

"Abaddon!" Abaddon's eye twitched as Sacred Saint's, in his opinion, bordering on sickeningly sweet voice called out from behind.

Though it could also be because he knew just how fake it was that he found it so grating on the ears.

"Sacred Saint."

If she caught the slight strain as he spoke she didn't show nor acknowledge it, sprinting until she arrived on his left side beginning walking in-step with them.

Well, relatively that is, she wasn't the tallest person and his, nevermind Nana's which he made sure to keep up with to not get left behind because he had a feeling she wouldn't wait for him if he lagged, normal pace forced Sacred Saint to speed-walk.

"What a coincidence, I was just selling some things my usual team and I got in the Auction House when I spotted you just as you left." She chirped cheerfully, leaning forwards with her hands daintily clasped behind her back regard Nana with a sparkling close-eyed smile framed by a few strands of golden hair that lightly fell with her movement. "And you must be Nana! I've been wanting to meet you for so long, I'm a big fan!"

Abaddon himself felt a bit suffocated trapped in between the two daunting people, granted one leaps and brounds more intimidating than the other.

Nana leisurely regarded her with a lazy side glance, a blink and an ambigious sounding hum, Abaddon unable to determine any real meaning from it, before once again redirecting her gaze forwards looking rather uninterested.

Upon seeing this Sacred Saint immediately adjusted her approach to a more subdued manner and instead, much to Abaddon's misery, engaged in 'pleasant' small talk about recent findings and rumors about GAO the whole way back to the main lot he intended to use as a Guild Base.

...

Arctic Raven eventually returned to Crisa after finishing whatever business she had who knows where and swiftly contacted got in contact about the trade which went through without a hitch this time, buying two of the Epics Nana got from the Dungeon for 20 000-23 000 gold coins each, the remaining 2 put up for sale in the Auction House for 40 000-45 000 a piece which was instantly snatched up not even a minute later by HeavensFavorite and Thorny Rose.

Everyone from the Gathering of the Elite chat group had rotated keeping watch on the market following the previous incident, their persistence having ultimately payed off.

Arctic Raven had also bought 12 pieces of Rare equipment with most of her remaining money for 500-750 gold coins each, the rest along with 28 Uncommon and 56 Common once again listed in the Auction House.

In total, Nana ended up a whopping 200 131 gold coins richer allowing her to buy not only the last Large plot, but also the other 14 Medium sized plots on top of the 20 Small sized plots for 130 000 gold coins leaving her with a still pretty substantial sum of 70 131 plus some extra she unintentionally gathered as a by-product of her working to further expand her cave system, culling monsters she found too unruly.

Abaddon now that they had already accomplished his most pressing goal of monopolizing all the purchasable plots, which as a side note had allowed a few other Players to catch up with him in terms of Level since he didn't have any free time to dedicate towards the matter, had breathed out a satisfied sigh of relief.

Sure he was pretty powerful already in terms of individual strength, discounting Nana he was probably sitting somewhere around Top 5 when it came to combat barring extreme circumstances, but getting his hands on the plots in some way felt more tangible to him.

Granted, Nana was still officially the owner of the land which. . . Yeah, he probably should still be a bit worried.

At least she could nominate him a sort of co-owner which allowed him to make changes to them, bigger alterations still needed her explicit approval before they could be carried unless he wanted to be deemed a criminal in the eyes of Crisa, now more than even considering Nana's 'Guardian' status, but still.

He had also created a Guild named Pandemonium Titans partly borrowing 'Titan' from Nana and Pandemonium because he didn't want to stick to any one single theme unlike what most other Guilds tended to do, the Guild Base was also dubbed the 'Hidden Depths' as a nod to his quite, in some way, otherwordly knowledge and also the massive literal depths hidden under. . . He'd wager alot of the Crisa Kingdom's landmass if not beyond at this point, originating from Nana's pools.

He wasn't sure of the exact size of her project at the moment but the only other time he'd dove down for another look at the now somehow even more entrancing scenery he saw a very noticeable increase in residents swimming around down there, something he was still confused of how she even managed to accomplish.

Where was she getting all the different monsters from?

Now that he thought about it, the Liuverianth Cage Serpent he'd seen the week prior, he vagualy recalled information about a similar if not the exact same monster species spawning somewhere around the Drowning Gulf Dungeon's location.

However that should be impossible, how the hell would she even drag it back if that were to be the case?

On the other hand, he had absolutely no idea where else it could have come from which only served to make him even more confused about the matter.

His curiousity had eventually won out prompting him to just ask her, the answer revealed to be thanks to the [Class Skillbook] (Epic) she got from the World Announcement for clearing the Dungeon.

[Monstrous Swimmer] (Epic)

[Lv.3]

[Type: Passive]

[Effect: Increases user's traversal speed in water by 150%]

[Cost: N/A]

[Cooldown: N/A]

With the Skill's help she essentially, as much as he didn't want to believe it, made a tunnel all the way to the fucking ocean she'd visited to Crisa in the time span of a few days, later getting started on kidnapping poor innocent monsters to fill her. . . At this point and with the newfound revelations calling it a makeshift Dungeon without loot wouldn't exactly be wrong which made him even more flabbergasted by the situation, with more things.

The Liuverianth Cage Serpent was apparently the first one she'd tried introducing and he had stumbled upon Nana bullying- convincing it into staying instead of trying to find a way out after multiple attempts at doing so ending in more beat- scoldings.

Either way, Abaddon. . . Didn't really want to think about how Nana had basically brute-forced her way into making monsters submit to her authority with just her fists.

On a brighter note he had the pleasure of witnessing Sacred Saint's face contorting with pure shock the first time she used [Appraise] on Nana, reveling in a schradenfraude-esque pleasure watching her sputteringly trying her utmost to keep her act up despite the enormous amount of disbelief she quite clearly felt at the time.

Serves her right Abaddon thought, although he had a better frame of reference regarding the level of Nana's sheer bullshit.

Even with Sacred Saint's in comparison to his limited knowledge of GAO in general she was after all still one of the foremost information brokers and had no trouble seeing how incredibly unnatural Nana was granted to a lesser degree than him.

Or she was more impacted by it actually?

Considering Abaddon was more aware of what incredible beings the current Player base hadn't even caught the shadow of that were lurking behind the scenes, and he himself in no way even remotely claimed to know everything about Gao, he was probably more jaded when it came down to it.

Thinking about it like that Abaddon felt a miniscule speck of sympathy spark inside him for Sacred Saint.

He doubted many if any at all had gotten past Tier 3 yet and suddenly seeing someone with a health bar very likely about 100 times that of the Top Tanks at the moment on top of regenerating 7-8 times their total HP every 3 seconds would probably be a hard concept to swallow for most.

...

"I'm not opposed to the proposition, however, I would like some more details on what exactly this 'alliance' would entail." Arctic Raven said with a business like tone, confidently sat straight-backed in the barren room of thick earth walls courtesy of Nana located on the far edge deeper into the Hidden Depths for privacy's sake.

"Haven't really decided on anything overly specific, I only have a few basic but pretty solid in my opinion guidelines at the moment. First, information related to each Guild stays within the alliance unless explicitly granted permission to spread it from parties possibly affected by it's publishing. Secondly, a requirement to notify and if available help the other in times of danger or whilst facing threats, and thirdly- Obviously, no backstabbing." Abaddon answered, he had no experience in any area similar to this so he was a bit stumped on how to advance further beyond this which was the extent of what he could do.

He was also afraid of going too in depth and strict with the requirements thereby possibly implementing a rule or stipulation that would negatively impact the Guild or alliance further down the line which meant a broad, generally vague but still somewhat sound foundation was his best bet.

Getting Arctic Raven more involved in the form of an alliance would help him alot with developing a better foothold and get a more organized system up and running.

He hoped at least, he knew she was something like a fallen business giant or something, she was most likely quite well versed in managing human resources.

Arctic Raven raised an eyebrow.

"The first two I have no problems with considering I will benefit from this agreement more than you, however, the third? I don't know if I should call you painfully naive or just an idiot if you truly believe such a 'rule' will in any way stop people's attempts." She looked at him unimpressed, she usually would not point this out but since she had inwardly already accepted to join she'd rather nip any problems in the bud right away.

Everyone of no consequence could be as stupid as they wanted and she wouldn't bat an eye, however, when there was a chance she could be dragged down due to their actions she was correcting that as soon as possible.

And she wasn't taking a no for an answer.

She had received alot of their help which allowed her to remain at the forefront of the Player base up to now and though her current affairs in the real world was taking it's toll, she wasn't an ungrateful imbecile, her pride was the only thing she still had left other than a burning desire for vengeance and revenge-

She refused to act so disgracefully.

"Hmm? Should I take this as your admission that the possibility of your betrayal is, not to mention impossible, but instead fairly probable?" Abaddon snorted lightly.

"As long as I am treated fairly with due respect you don't have to worry about me turning my back." Arctic Raven assured seriously. "On the other hand, I can't possibly be the only person you plan to invite to your little alliance, right?"

"In the future? Probably not, however, in the short term I can't think of anyone else I'd want to recruit." Abaddon shrugged.

"Sacred Saint? Although absolutely insufferable-" Arctic Raven's brows winkled in distaste remembering her first meeting with the vaguely familiar but more glaringly, infuriatingly plastic woman. "She must be at least somewhat capable Levelling at the pace she is, especially as a Healer."

Abaddon let out an exhausted sigh hearing just the name feeling a budding headache take hold, tiredly waving his hand as he swept his hair back with the other.

"Please don't remind me, she does that herself just fine."

The two spent the next half hour ironing out the details of the alliance, Arctic Raven much to Abaddon's relief didn't mind helping them out with the more managerial side of things which took a huge weight off his shoulders.

Abaddon had also, having priorly gotten permission from Nana, loaned out 1 Large lot and 3 Medium lots for Arctic Raven to use.

For a small price of course, but still.

"Then, I look forward to a fruitful cooperation." Abaddon eventually stood up, reaching out a hand.

"Likewise." Arctic Raven stoically reciprocated with a small nod, taking his hand in very brief but firm shake before swiftly pulling back. "Is there any particular reason as to why the girl was no present for this meeting?" She suddenly asked probingly as the two walked towards the room's exit. "I was of the impression that you were both working together as equals, should she not have a say in these matters, too?"

"You mean Nana?" Abaddon heard her let out a confirming hum and exasperatedly scratched his head, a bit unsure of how to best word his answer to concisely describe the somewhat alien mindset Nana seemed to possess without it sounding too strange or deliberately demeaning. "Well, she, um. . . Uh. . ." He grumbled out loud, brows furrowed in thought searching for the words.

"Yes?" Arctic Raven drawled sharply.

". . . Short answer? She doesn't really care about things like this."

"Is that so?"

Abaddon didn't even have to turn his head to look at her face to know her current expression, the suspicion practically dripping from her every word.

"I find it very hard to believe that someone would intentionally choose not to participate in a discussion as important as this." Arctic Raven declared with an increasing coldness radiating from her.

"Hey I'm not lying, alright? Just- Well, I guess you'll be able to form your own opinion soon enough considering we're going to be working together for the foreseeable future." Abaddon sighed. He could understand her wariness given her current circumstances, but come one, give him a break man.

Did he miss the MC starter package somewhere during his rebirth? Wasn't everyone supposed to unconditionally trust him after just a few sentences worth of actual conversation?

Well, either way it probably wouldn't be all that long until Nana got up to her usual antics verifying his words and hopefully dispelling some of the animosity the prickly woman seemed to hold towards him.

Moving to open the door Abaddon was suddenly startled when distant panicked yelling instantly filtered through the small crack, hastily pushing harder he rushed out swiftly followed by a grave-faced Arctic Raven who recognized the voice as one of her employees.

"Ah-" Abaddon exclaimed deadpan when he shortly after arrived at the commotion's source. "I guess she got bored and decided to amuse herself with what she had available."

". . ." Arctic Raven entered a state of stunned silence as she watched the chaotic scene playing out before her with a blank look.

"HELP!"

"You're doing fine! I wouldn't stop running if I were you though!"

"How long do you think it'll take till he gets added to the pile?"

"Iunno, a minute? Two maybe? "

"You think? Didn't Jerry last three?"

"Yeah, just about. Why?"

"Well he's got the lowest AGI out of all of us and still 'survived' the longest so, you know, it's probably kinda random when you're caught right?"

"Isn't that just because he had the most dramatic reaction and the loudest screams in comparison to everyone else?"

"Maybe, but wouldn't he just have been caught the quickest, then? I'm not surprised though, he absolutely shat himself the that time we went to watch that horror movie about mega carnivores hunting people from underground."

"You better not get caught for at least another minute, Eddy! I've got money on the line!"

"FUCK YOU ASSHOLE, THIS IS FUCKING TERRIFYING! DO SOMETHING!"

A small group of her employees slouchily sat in a half-circle sporting expressions of already processed resignation as if stranded on an abandoned island in the middle of the ocean, occasionally tossing a handful of gold coins in a heap piled up in front of them.

"Adding 15 coins and switching from 30 seconds to 1 minute."

"Hey, you can't just change your bet midway!"

Next to them was a small mountain of bodies, some seemingly knocked out with the more 'fresh' additions at the top just laying there panting like haggard dogs looking utterly exhausted and on the verge of coughing up a lung.

Thoroughly drenched in a slimy oil-like film with clothes in disarray and completely covered in patches of dust, grime and dirt, it painted a sorry sight indeed.

On the other hand, the man currently screaming his head off running like his life depended on it with a van-sized monster fish hot on his heels, a wide open jaw lined with two rows of sharp teeth, it's body wholly encased in a bubble of water conforming around it gliding across the ground leaving a trail behind it.

Still stuck processing the truly befuddling situation she had no time to react when the monster suddenly sped up, Eddy moments later caught in it's maw which then promptly shut amidst his terrified and shortly after muted screams.

Eyes widening in alarm Arctic Raven acted instinctively, swiftly retrieving her holstered bow and knocking an arrow, drawing back in a smooth motion before she released just a few seconds later.

[Serrated Shot]

Just as the arrow bursting with a prickly jagged energy was about to hit it's mark a tentacle of water manifested out the water cloak and smacked it out of the air.

Features sharpening into a grave frown Arctic Raven fetched another arrow from her quiver and drew back once again, the arrow's silhouette snappily obscured by a brightly burning deep red flame roaring to life around it.

[Searing Malice Arrow]

The projectile launched with a fluttering fwoosh like a flickering jet engine lighting a line of fire as it sheared through the air.

Arctic Raven let out a sharp tsk as the monster 'jumped' over the arrow which soared past underneath it.

When she reached for another arrow she suddenly lashed out to the side upon feeling someone touching her shoulder smacking Abaddon across the face with the bow frame.

"Ow-! For fuck-" He sputtered staggering backwards holding his nose. "Can you calm down for a second!?" He shouted loudly.

Snapping out of her trance Arctic Raven stalled, watching as Eddy got spat out into the pile in the same state as all the previous victims, lowering her arms to her sides with brows tightly knit in confusion.

"What's happening?" She barked at her non-slimy employees making the previously sullen group jump up, expressions brightening with hope.

"Oh, boss!"

"You're finally back!"

"Saved by the bell!"

Exclamations of relief rang out as they hurried over, warily eyeing the monster fish circling around them, breath hitching they quickly sped up seeing the diameter start shrinking.

"Please help us!"

"Explain." Arctic Raven commanded in her usual frosty tone.

"W-Well, while we were waiting for you to finish your meeting, that thing suddenly appeared from that hole over there." One of them pointed. "We didn't really know what to do at first and kind of froze seeing a monster in a safe zone until it suddenly started chasing people."

"Any attacks were neutralized by the water cloak and once the first person was 'eaten', we got even more panicked until he was spat out again, covered in slime but was mostly alright other than being weirdly exhausted." The man scratched his head. "When we tried to uh. . . Fle-" The speaker let out a wheeze beseeched with multiple elbows courtesy of his co-workers as another one continued. "When we tried to make a tactical retreat, we got caged in by walls tall enough we couldn't really do anything and then quickly chased down so we've been unable to really do anything other than waiting our turn."

Arctic Raven hearing what they had to say then turned to Abaddon who innocently raised his hands in the air.

"Hey, what's that look for?"

"Don't act stupid, why are there monsters under your lot?" She asked, eyes narrowing in thought, was one of them a Beast Tamer or something similar? She didn't know alot about the class itself but she knew Crisa's royalty had one employed partly responsible for the castle's security.

"It's Nana's, not mine. You'll have to ask her." Abaddon shrugged nonchalantly. "I honestly don't even know what goes through that head of hers half the time."

"Speaking of, where is she?" Arctic Raven was a bit peeved with him for neglecting to inform nor warn her of such an important matter, not only was there a chance, and now even a precedent, of mistakenly attacking thinking them hostile, but also because she really didn't want to deal with the awkwardness of possibly killing one as she didn't know whether tamed monsters would respawn or not.

"Over there." Abaddon casually gestured at the monster fish, now circling much closer than before in a manner not unlike a predator with it's prey.

Promptly being on the receiving end of multiple strange looks non-verbally asking if he was just blind, insane, or both, his eye twitched in irritation.

"Hey, Nana!" He shouted loudly, truly enjoying the way Arctic Raven and her group blankly watched the Liuverianth Cage Serpent start 'floating' in the air, lifting higher and higher until a pair of strong arms propping up it's body was revealed shortly followed by Nana who stepped out of the ground.

"Hmm?" She made a questioning hum, tilting her head curiously.

"". . .""

...

"Hey! Get the fuck out here!"

Abaddon knew it was bound to happen at some point with more Players now travelling from Kingdom to Kingdom, rolling his eyes upon hearing shouts coming from the other side of the 15 meter tall wall of thick bricks with a sharp clean finish looking to have be cut by a perfectionist surgeon's hand he had asked Nana to create running along the Guild Base compound's perimeter.

On a side note, the construction was also progressing smoothly, the job's estimated time until finished majorly reduced due to Nana also laying down the buildings' framework on top of further reinforcing it with her [Earth Magic] Skill, a Skill which he still found incredibly bullshit on so many levels it wasn't even funny.

Pausing his 'homework' given to him by Arctic Raven who had requested a more concrete outline she could work with, at the very least what he had in mind regarding the next goal in their developement, Abaddon found himself all too eager to engage the convenient excuse of an opportunity for a break presented before him.

He also had a feeling their 'visitors' probably wouldn't give up anytime soon and he couldn't concentrate with the constant noise in his ears either way.

"Yeah, yeah! I'm coming!" Abaddon yelled as he walked towards the gate momentarily silencing the people on the other side.

Nimbly scaling the wall using the footholds embedded it's side, only on the inside, he soon arrived at the top settling into a crouch as he looked down to see a group of. . . hmm, maybe 20-30 Players standing below him, a group of three standing in front of the rest.

"What do you want?"

He saw them startle slightly at his words, the fact that it took them more than a handful of seconds to spot him at all was kind of amusing and told him more than enough to about the stark lack of situational awareness they possessed.

Though 'safer', 'safe zones' didn't in any way prohibit harming or even killing other Players, it just boosted your regeneration and, if present, which it was in most Kingdoms, made the guards step in possibly leading to fines, imprisonment, or just straight up eviction along with a nice bounty on your head.

Severity depended on both destruction/disturbance caused, obviously, and also the Kingdom where the incident took place.

Either way, thinking you were completely safe anywhere in GAO wasn't the smartest idea.

You could attack anyone anywhere really, you just had to be sure that you could bear the repercussions of doing so.

"Are you the owner of this place?" The woman flanked by two men hovering behind her like bodyguards took a step forward and called out with a voice like a crow's screech, her admittedly captivating features set in a gravely affronted grimace.

. . .Technically? Kind of, but not really? Actually now that he thought about it, the answer was probably no.

Nana owned the lots and he ended up having to transfer Guild leadership over so she could designate this place as the Guild Base which required her to remain as such, him currently being the Guild's Co-Leader.

However, he did actually want to know what they were her for and he had a feeling the snooty woman just oozing priveleged 'everyone should obey my every whim' vibes was going to straight up refuse speaking to anyone 'lesser' in authority, so. . .

"Yep. That's me."

He lied.

"Good. I want to like, buy all your lots here. I'll give you 100 gold coins for each one." She ordered readily as if his agreement was already a foregone conclusion.

"That's nice." Abaddon said as he sat down on the wall's top in a more comfortable position. "I want to not get absolutely erased by a lazy swat from a certain someone so I guess we both have unrealistic desires. Funny that."

"Excuse me!?"

"What the fuck d'you say to her asshole!?" Idiot #1 immediately interjected on her behalf like a cat with it's tail stepped on, Abaddon recognizing the voice as the same one he'd heard shouting before.

"Why don't you come down here and say it to our faces, huh!?" Idiot #2 screamed up at him with all the threatening presence of a particularly loud chihahua.

"I'd rather not, thank you for the offer though."

"Fucking pussy! Are you really such a little bitch you can't even talk man to man!?"

"I would if I could, have any of you sad delusional horn dogs chasing the illusion of being validated by. . . 'that', possibly seen one somewhere?" Abaddon made it a point to put on a show of really looking around, cupping his hands over his eyes like binoculars.

"Fucking bitch!"

"Motherfucker!"

"Yeah, yeah." He nonchalantly waved off the schoolyard insults. "You really got me there, your mom and I wanted to keep it a secret for a bit longer but I guess the cat's out of the bag." Seeing Idiot #2 looking on the verge of popping a blood vessel just from that he probably hadn't been online. . . ever.

Look, Abaddon really couldn't care less about their words but now facing more normal Players, he had checked their Levels throughout the conversation and none of them were over 30, the urge to be an insufferable troll now that he was essentially untouchable was too enticing to turn down.

Watching the shouting pick back up courtesy of the idiot duo, now accompanied by the group standing behind them, Abaddon inwardly noted that Nana had perhaps influenced him somewhat as he retreived a vibrant Piston Knight Crab Leg emitting a tantilizing scent of spices intermixed with a chilly freshness from the meat itself that he had painstakingly bargained from her hands.

Snacking away it was only when he had gotten through about a fifth of it, the legs were actually huge and he couldn't even remotely match Nana's raging gluttony, that the woman caught his attention.

"Are you actually serious? You like, actually won't sell any to me?" She scoffed, flicking her hair with a flourish.

"Neup."

Going quiet the next moment Abaddon wondered what she'd do.

Wincing heavily as she suddenly decided to enact the most authentic real life version of a screaming banshee he had ever seen, though maybe more pressingly, heard.

Freeing his hands by chucking the leg back into his [Spatial Storage] his hands quickly flew up to shield his ears from the truly grating noise he could only describe as the human made version of nails scratching on a blackboard.

"What the f- Shut up!" He shouted down at her.

"Are you gonna sell the lots to me?" Pausing for a moment to ask, she instantly went back to throwing a tantrum when his reponse was a very nice middle-finger as revenge for tainting his ears with the demonic sounds of her screeching and whining.

"If you don't stop I'll come down there and throw you right out the city myself!"

"You can fucking try motherfucker! I've got all this on video and if you so much as touch me then I'll tell everyone I know and the whole fucking internet that you tried raping me!" She threatened, still screaming.

"Really? You're really going there?" Abaddon thought she'd stop at being an, albeit to an extreme degree, annoyance, but apparently she wasn't satisfied with just that and wanted to join the ranks of one group of the most disgusting slimy pieces of shit walking the earth.

"That's right! Fuck you gonna do now, huh!? HUH!? Absolutely fucking nothing, that's what!!" She screeched shrilly. "I was trying to be like all nice and shit but I guess you're too much of a little bitch to see that. You pushed me so don't blame me for this. Either you give me the lots for free or you go to jail the first fucking thing tomorrow morning motherfucker!!"

Abaddon's visage turned noticeably colder the longer she spoke, she could spew as much shit as she'd like but if she really went through with her threats it would indirectly impact his sister who didn't have anyone else to take care of her, and he'd sworn he would allow no one to harm her in this second lease on life he'd been granted.

"I think I'll choose the third option." He flatly replied with a mask of apathy settling over his face, already hearing the sounds of water turning restless coming from Nana's hole, the entrance of which had been transformed into an actual pool walled in with a circle of reinforced rock placed in the Guild Base's center.

He had a slight suspicion she wasn't all that happy with people clammoring so loudly and especially as 'close' as they were to her 'territory', the details of how exactly he discovered she'd 'claimed' territory in the first place he would rather not get into as it brought back some painful memories caused by accidentally infringing upon it.

Anyhow, even common versions of demis, more specifically non-monster demis, received enhanced senes granted to varying degrees depending on species, however, he wouldn't be all that surprised if Nana got a substantially stronger increase to hers, at least if her passives were anything to go by her monster heritage must've been some real scary beings.

Her PER also most likely played a part since it mixed so well with demis in particular given Stats strengthened whatever 'foundation' or 'base' already there from the start.

That particular tidbit a big reason as to why select Players were so highly sought after, talent in GAO although not an end all be all faucet was very real in determining strength.

"And what's that, huh?" The woman asked mockingly with an expression of viscious glee, her glistening lips drawing back into a cruel smirk enjoying the 'power' she held over him. "You think I'll just let you-"

Abaddon was hit with a dash of water as something blurred past him, an impact caused by a jump ringing out from behind him.

He hadn't even bothered trying to turn his head to catch her silhouette since he now knew Nana had not only a little, but an annoyingly whole lot more AGI than him meaning he wouldn't be able to keep up with her speed so it was a moot point, he kept his gaze on the woman who was moments later bodily lifted off the ground in a one arm hold around her midsection.

She didn't even have time to say another word as Nana still sliding across the stone tiled street to bleed of her monstrous momentum reared back in a stance reminiscent to a baseball pitcher.

"Noisy." He heard her grumpily mutter to herself before she with a light grunt, though more superflous as he knew probably barely felt the 'ball's' weight, threw the woman who flew like she'd just been shot out of a cannon in a massive arch leaving a boiling pot of terror, panic, fright and a whole slew of other similar emotions mixed into a heart-wrenching scream echoing out behind her.

"Damn." Abaddon breathed out, forced to squint to see the veritable pin-prick that became of the woman. "You actually threw her out of the whole Crisa Kingdom." An impressed whistle escaped his lips, he didn't know if she would go so far as Crisa's actual borders but that the thought had even crossed his mind was actually crazy.

Probably not though as much as the idea amused him.

After her posse recovered from their stunned dazes it didn't take long until most was given the same treatment as the woman, the few smart enough to zip up shivering in place not knowing whether it was okay to get the hell out of dodge or not.

"Guardian!" Fortunately they were spared risking the move by a man clad in full plate armor colored mostly silver with imposing golden accents around the edges, Crisa's emblem depicting an regal bipedal lion fastened with a forest green cloth to the chestplate's right breast.

"The King calls for your presence." He said with a deferential bow from his waist, his sabatons clinking together as he straightened to stand at attention quietly waiting for her response.

[Invasion of Crisa - Guardian] (Legendary)

Type: Kingdom-Class Quest

Quest Requirements: Defend the Kingdom of Crisa from the invaders.

Rewards: Calculated based on degree of success and contribution.