The Face of The Enemy

The notification meant that the AET app had been downloaded. The users of the AET app varied from players that could afford the Xgear and those that could only dream of the virtual realm. It was the only way they could experience a piece of the magic.

They treated the top players like stars, although most kept their real identity hidden, their virtual avatars could be akin to that of heroes conquering a new world.

The app suggested he imported his contacts so he could reach his friends that also had the app. He willingly complied, although Levi didn't have any friends left that he still spoke to, but he still had the contacts of all his reading buddies that had since made it into med school.

The only person he could truly call a friend was his sister, Darcy.

"This is basically everyone" he thought out loud as he scrolled through the seemingly endless list "even Mr. Lucky, the landlord?!"

He messaged Darcy before moving to explore the app. It was a relatively simple app regardless of the size. 

It had a video section where you could watch live streams of different players and also posted videos of walkthroughs and intense battles from other players.

The marketplace feature had people trying to trade their real world currencies for Aetheria gold and back. There were also people requesting uncommon game items for huge sums of money.

And then the community and Newsfeed section. This was the central home page. It displays a constantly updating stream of pages, blogs and posts from friends and communities you follow.

He scrolled a little bit, reading the different post made by the different accounts. Talking about various interests.

>Who is the strongest player? 'The Pirate King' or 'The Dragon Slayer'<

>How the 'Pirate king' is so strong as an Anti player<

>The strongest player– the world Rank #2 'The dragon slayer'<

>Hidden quests you probably don't know about<

>Must read–The system is rigged and you can never become a top player<

>How to become a top player<

'Did he slay an actual dragon?! Not like I've ever seen one but I heard they were more than 100 feet tall and could fly high above the clouds, with impenetrable skin and the ability to breath fire or summon lightning and someone actually slayed that beast?'

He didn't need anymore information to know that top players were beings that had achieved feats akin to godhood. 

He hadn't gone too far down before a post with a familiar moon crest with five stars symbol caught his attention. It was titled the 'Moon Knight clan discovers hidden city VALHALLA'.

As if compelled by his curiosity he clicked on it, the image he saw as the page opened brought back dreadful emotions and memories. It was him, the white haired warrior that killed him, with the name 'Leviathan' written boldly beneath. His heart pounded and eyes became red as the feeling of anger within him swelled.

He read further; "The moon knight clan, one of the top clans in the world of Aetheria led by their leader, the legendary player Leviathan, has added another achievement to their name as they discover the hidden dungeon VALHALLA deep within the Badlands. Many high ranked mercenaries has been recruited for this quest, including world Rank #4 Exodus-The warlord, the recruition is still ongoing to help grow other players."

The post was made by the official Moon Knight clan account and was met by different controversial comments like;

>Are we getting paid in drops or cash?

>Lol, the same trick using the lower rank as bait

>Y'all making it sound like you'll let us unranked join? 

By now his anger had died down and given way to a new thought. A grin slowly stretching across his face

'This is good, in fact this is very good, there's no need for me to scourge the earth looking for them'

He checked out the account to see if he could learn more, but to his disappointment there wasn't much information about the members of the clan.

'What was I expecting, why would they release important information about their members. They only posted what would make them look good'

Leviathan-Currently ranked #9th in the official world ranking. Being one of the three warriors to gain a draconic status in the form of a class upgrade to 'Draconian warrior' during the first Ragnarok event: -The Draconic War-. The other two being the Title holders 'The Dragon Slayer' and 'The Dragon Tamer'.

In Aetheria online, statuses like Class upgrades and Titles probably came with its own benefits. He recalled his class 'Craftsman Apprentice' had two different skills to its name.

He identified the other two as the vice captain of the Moon knight clan 'Raindeer' who is ranked #16th and 'Lonely Cry' rank #42nd on the official world ranking.

'they are all top players that means they must be very strong, and they are also part of clan… Darcy had mentioned how strong joining a clan would make you, that means I might have to fight a whole clan'

But this thought didn't make him distressed rather he wore a look that reflected his resolve.

"Just one clan? Who cares how strong they are? I'll destroy everything that stands in my way"

For most people this may sound very presumptuous, but for Cian he was almost certain he would be capable of dominating the world of Aetheria once he returned. 

All he needed was for everything to fall in place so he could activate the greatest cheat the game had ever seen.

"Now all I need to do is get past the first huddle" he said as shifted his gaze to the console that had almost been fully consumed by duct tape sitting innocently on the table.