Lord Of The Lost

The Forum Master suddenly stirred from his thoughts.

"There's no God's Path out in the open!" he muttered. "The gods have hidden it away."

He paused, looking troubled. The border town had no magic academy, so there was no chance of switching careers to become a magician.

"Even the advanced paths only have four abilities each," he added, shaking his head.

William explained, "These advanced paths are incomplete versions of the Divine Path."

The Forum Master nodded thoughtfully. "The Divine Path can merge with higher paths, and higher paths can also blend with lower ones."

A complete Divine Path, he said, should ideally have six core abilities.

This revelation wasn't lost on William. Many players had noticed the same thing. For example, the "Warrior" path could merge with the "Guardian" path, and the "Magician" path could overlap with other magical paths. A magician could do most of what a mage could, but not everything. On the other hand, there were things mages couldn't do that magicians also couldn't.

But the challenge was clear: advancing to these higher paths came with a steep price. The requirements were tough, and not everyone would make it that far.

As for the Divine Path itself, it was still a mystery. It was something no player could access at this stage.

"It's overwhelming," the Forum Master sighed, looking at the page with regret. "But I can't follow this path. It doesn't suit my talents."

He knew the danger of dealing with Black Forest creatures; prolonged exposure led to mental corruption and a drop in one's mental value. For now, that path was closed to him.

Changing the topic, he added, "Wallace, we've finished cleaning up the thief's gear."

They had gathered eleven high-quality items, dozens of bows and crossbows, a few hundred iron arrows, and a pile of white-board weapons. Originally, there had been twelve high-quality items, but William had destroyed one, the [Spiked Shield].

"What do you want to do with all this?" he asked.

William smirked. "Don't even think about it. I'm not selling them to you at a discount."

The Forum Master felt a pang of disappointment. He still owed William five magic gold coins from the last transaction, so he didn't feel right asking for a favor again.

"Are you planning to sell them to the Magic House?" he asked.

"Isn't the Magic House interested in this stuff?" William frowned. "They'd probably look down on it anyway. I'm used to using a knight's lance, these low-grade items just don't cut it for me."

Most of the items were just odds and ends, barely worth anything, maybe a dozen gold coins in total. What he needed right now was magic gold coins, not regular ones.

The loot from Shadow Castle had already been divvied up. In total, there were only eight magic gold coins. He and Metatron each took two, while the remaining four were split equally among the other three members.

As for the regular gold coins, plus magic gems and jewelry, those were evenly distributed among all five of them. For his share, he ended up with twenty regular gold coins.

The dragon scale armor was showing signs of wear after all the fighting. He'd wanted to buy some dragon's blood for repairs, but he was low on cash. The Magic House, unlike a blacksmith, only bought magical materials, and even if he sold off some high-quality weapons, they'd go for a pittance.

At the moment, everyone was struggling financially. Some players had even resorted to becoming thieves, though there was little to gain from it, magic gold coins were practically non-existent, and even ordinary gold coins were hard to come by.

"It's my game time," the Forum Master said. "If there's no other way, I'll just auction it on the forum," before logging off.

Metatron was gone almost immediately after that.

A few moments later, William found the captain, who was carrying a bag filled with fine-grade props. The captain looked surprised to see her.

"Hey, I heard you killed those thieves. That's impressive!"

William wasted no time asking, "How's the [Puppet]?"

The captain grinned. "It's amazing! It's like mowing down grass. This puppet can unleash the full power of a superhuman, totally unstoppable in battle!"

With the puppet's help, he'd wiped out tons of thieves and racked up experience. But, since William had been the one to defeat the thieves, the player alliance had disbanded right after. The captain had already returned the [Puppet] to the Forum Master.

William changed the subject. "How's it going here?"

The captain scratched his head. "Not bad. I know a couple of people from each village. I like to make connections. The more friends, the better." He was kind of a forum celebrity at this point.

William dropped the bag onto the ground with a loud thud. The captain's eyes widened when he saw the weapons spilling out: iron swords, scimitars, daggers, meteor hammers, just about every weapon imaginable, all gleaming with a cold light.

William clapped her hands. "Pick something from here and then help me find ten people."

"Of course, brother!" the captain replied eagerly.

"Make sure their level is at least level 8," William instructed. "Pick people you trust, and we'll form a group the day after tomorrow."

"Damn it! Leave it to me, big brother! I won't let you down!" The captain slammed his chest, his voice full of confidence. When it came to fighting in a team, he swore he'd march through fire and water without hesitation.

William decided to trust him. Sometimes, it's better to give things away than hold on to them.

The full moon was just two days away. William hoped these players could live up to his expectations when the time came.

---

Magic House

William walked into the Magic House and immediately approached Hall. "Do you have a knight's lance?" he asked.

Hall gave him a puzzled look.

Wing, standing nearby, raised a finger and pointed upwards.

"Calcifer wants to see you," he said.

---

On the rooftop, William found Calcifer waiting for him. As soon as Calcifer saw him, a smile tugged at his lips. "Ah, now it makes sense. You didn't choose the 'Devil' path. You went this way instead."

His voice was smooth, almost like it hid some secret, and it sent a chill down William's spine.

William shrugged, a grin playing on his lips. "Isn't this a good choice?"

He thought Calcifer was a bit of a pervert for seeing through him so easily. Despite using [Secrecy], Calcifer had still figured him out.

Calcifer shook his head, a knowing look in his eyes. "The path of God isn't about being good or bad. It just is."

He paused before adding, "Anyway, the demon wolf is long gone, probably dead or hiding somewhere nobody cares about. Consider yourself lucky. You won't have to worry about one jumping out at you when you reach the end of your journey."

William's eyes narrowed at his words. There was something oddly cryptic about what Calcifer had said, but he didn't press for more.

"Why would that happen?" William asked, sensing there was more to the story.

"All things will come together in time. You'll understand later," Calcifer replied, his tone shifting.

He waved a hand as if brushing the subject aside. "But I've been meaning to ask you... Where did you get that knight's lance? It's the standard weapon of the Knight Corps, and every lance is recorded in their book."

Calcifer raised an eyebrow and asked with a smile, "Don't tell me you found it in the Black Forest?"

William couldn't help but smirk. "Moonlight Village."

Calcifer's fingers, hidden in the folds of his black robe, brushed against a crystal ball. It glowed faintly as if reacting to his touch. He nodded in understanding. "I see. The knight who survived the Black Forest must've left it behind in Moonlight Village."

William leaned in, getting straight to the point. "So, do you have any other spears like that?"

Calcifer's smile never faltered. "I could get you a knight's lance, but according to the king's decree, this weapon is exclusive to the kingdom's Knight Corps. No one else is allowed to possess one. Are you planning to join the knight corps?"