Adventure World Online (AWO)

CRACK!

Chang Long pointed her finger upward, and a large violet-black magic circle appeared beneath her feet. It glowed with a radiant light, more beautiful than the one she had used before. Thunder echoed audibly, even though there was nothing but darkness above. The ghosts and pets all gaped in astonishment, scattering to escape the magic circle in a panic—just before their bodies could no longer move, frozen in place by the circle's binding. Luckily, they knew their master well enough to flee far, far away—far beyond the range of the magic circle's radius.

"Calamity Thunder."

Silence. There was no spectacular display of a thousand lightning bolts crashing down like last time. However, her wristwatch was blinking with light, drawing her attention. Chang Long raised it to look, finding a small notification window alerting her of something. When she pressed to open the message, a voice from the system spoke to her:

"Player Chang Long has fulfilled the specified condition and acquired the skill Resurrecting Thunderbolt from the Eye of Darkness. This is a sub-skill in the Path of Darkness and can only be used when the skill's name glows." Chang Long's mouth hung open at what she had just heard. She figured the new skill could probably only be used on certain groups of people—like awakening those two members of the Tribe of Darkness from hibernation.

"In that case… Resurrecting Thunderbolt."

Chang Long activated the skill again. This time, a powerful lightning bolt struck the two members of the Tribe of Darkness. Their bodies convulsed violently several times and then collapsed to the ground—like puppets with their strings cut.

"Whoa, hey. Was that resurrection or just straight-up murder!"

…..

Siegfried led Lycanth out from the domain of the angels—who had treated them coldly without sympathy. Their actions were like night and day. The two encountered thick mist once again. They had not spoken a word since Lycanth had returned to his human form. The young man was still stunned by his pet's act and changes.

"If there's anything you want to say, go ahead, master. I'm still Lycanth—the brutal werewolf you've always known."

Lycanth spoke. His voice was deep and resonant, pleasant to ears. His amber eyes still carried the gleam of a wild predator.

"I don't have any issue with you—it's just that I'm still in shock. I never thought drinking the blood of an angel could cause something like this. You can now change from human to beast and beast to human at will?"

Siegfried said, awestruck.

"For hundreds of years, I endured humiliation. From a mighty king, I became a vile beast. The result I've gained is still far from worth the torment I've suffered."

Lycanth replied coolly. Siegfried nodded, understanding his feelings well. Although what Lycanth had done seemed a bit extreme, compared to the centuries of pain he had endured, it was—as Lycanth said—still minor.

"My dear master, you are a kind and virtuous man. I want to repay you for freeing me from the curse. So tell me—would you like to have a werewolf army under your command?"

Amid the drifting fog, Siegfried did not know whether Lycanth's words could be trusted. A werewolf army was surely a dream many players longed for. And yet here he was, being offered one so easily—just like that? It seemed Lycanth could read the young man's thoughts. Of course, who would not be skeptical when offered an army with no strings attached? In fact, he seemed pleased that his master had the sense to think carefully, not jumping at the offer without knowing what might be hidden behind it.

"Of course, obtaining a werewolf army won't be easy. But you already possess the key—the crucial key—to acquiring that army, my dear master."

Lycanth said.

"A crucial key?"

Siegfried repeated the word in confusion. The two of them continued walking forward, using conversation to avoid getting separated.

"It's me, my master. I'm that one crucial key."

"Hey. Is someone over there? Help. Help me."

A familiar voice called out. Siegfried and Lycanth stopped their conversation and quickly rushed toward the source of the voice.

The owner of the voice asking for help was the Bird Sage. Though his body was tiny and round like a ball, he still had enough strength to drag Aswa—wounded and unconscious—out from the Sakunnamakorn's territory. When he saw Siegfried and Lycanth approaching, the Bird Sage looked overjoyed. He dropped his weakened body to the ground and panted wildly, leaving the two newcomers to check on Aswa's condition.

"Burn wounds. What did this guy run into?"

Siegfried said as he examined Aswa's injuries, then rummaged through his backpack for healing salve and bandages, along with various crystals, to begin first aid on the young man.

"T... The Sakunnamakorn, of course. I told him not to go in, but this guy wouldn't listen. Just look—because of his stubbornness, he ended up like this."

The Bird Sage replied.

"This guy's pretty impressive. Just a tiny thing, yet he managed to drag this lad all the way here."

Lycanth turned and spoke to the Bird Sage.

"I had no choice. I didn't want to stick around and wait to run into a second Sakunnamakorn."

The Bird Sage replied. Though he was curious about the identity of the one he was speaking with, he did not ask—too focused on watching Siegfried's first aid skills.

The young man shoved a blood crystal and a rejuvenating crystal into Aswa's mouth, then cleaned the wound with fresh water before applying healing ointment and wrapping it with bandages. Siegfried's technique was quite good—especially when compared to Chang Long. She once wrapped a paper cut like it was a sword slash, and splinted a broken arm so hard it made the guy look like a bodybuilder with one gigantic bicep. After waiting a while, Aswa began to regain consciousness.

"Oww. Chang Long."

Aswa mumbled and threw his arms around Siegfried—mistaking him for Chang Long who provided him first aid in the dream. But that sleep-talk sent a twitch through the eyebrow of the one who had helped him out of pure goodwill. Siegfried pushed Aswa's head away and did his best to suppress his growing rage. However...

"C'mere. Lemme smooch youuuu."

Aswa tried to pull Siegfried closer, believing he was Chang Long, and puckered his lips, ready to deliver a passionate kiss. What he got instead was a full-force straight right punch—from someone both jealous and furious at being about to be kissed. Aswa went limp and passed out all over again.

"Utterly disgusting…"

The Bird Sage grimaced as he spoke. Lycanth shook his head in exasperation and went to rouse Aswa. The young man looked slightly dazed as he saw Lycanth in human form, alongside Siegfried and the Bird Sage. He touched his cheek, which was throbbing painfully, and noticed a nosebleed trickling out—then asked,

"How did I end up here?"

"How you got here isn't important. The question is—can you walk yet? We still haven't found Chang Long."

Siegfried answered with a harsh tone. Aswa wiped the nosebleed from his nose and nodded. After receiving first aid and resting for a bit, he had regained enough strength to continue the journey.

"Then let's hurry. Chang Long must be really scared being all alone."

Aswa took the lead as if he knew where Chang Long was, with an air like he was the hero in a movie, rushing off to rescue the heroine who was in danger and waiting for his arrival.

The ever-gallant gentleman watched Aswa's actions with annoyance. No matter the time, no matter the situation, the guy could flawlessly display his gentlemanly image. But love was not something to be handed over so easily—it was a competition, a struggle to stay in the eyes of the one you love, and to ward off any rivals who might try to mess with them. In this situation, Siegfried would have to set aside his gentility for now, in order to score ahead of the dopey rival known as Aswa.

THUD

Siegfried subtly tripped Aswa, causing him to tumble, then strode ahead, leaving the bruised young man groaning and complaining on the ground, completely ignored. Lycanth and the Bird Sage hurried to catch up with Siegfried, afraid of getting separated again. The battered young man reluctantly got up and rushed after them, silently swearing vengeance on the elf, fearing that in his current state, getting lost alone would definitely mean a one-way ticket to the afterlife.

Two young men, one pet-turned-human, and the Bird Sage—who found something to grumble about with every step—were now walking into a certain place where the mist was gradually thinning. A golden peacock statue stood proudly atop a massive stone pedestal. Its height could almost be described as sky-reaching, because above them was the vastness of space, filled with tens of thousands of stars. They had likely appeared at the summit of the Heavenly Avian Temple.

"Whoa, this place is incredible."

Aswa exclaimed in excitement.

"How did we end up here? We were supposed to still be on one of the lower levels."

Siegfried said in surprise. The Bird Sage gave a soft cough, then spoke up.

"Warp system—it's all over the temple. You'll never know where you'll end up. It randomly drops you anywhere within the temple."

"Amazing. I never thought the Heavenly Avian Temple would have something like that."

Aswa said. The Bird Sage gave him a sidelong glance filled with irritation and pity, which riled Aswa up enough that he stormed toward the sage, spoiling for a fight.

"H... Hey, boy! What do you think you're doing?!"

The Bird Sage shouted at Aswa in alarm.

The young man smirked coldly and chased after the Bird Sage, who bolted upon seeing things were going south. The two of them ran in circles, watched with sheer exasperation by Siegfried and Lycanth. Even though Aswa was extremely fast, he pretended to chase just to exhaust the Bird Sage as punishment. Apparently, Aswa was not satisfied yet. Once the Bird Sage was too tired to run anymore, Aswa grabbed his legs and marched straight toward the stone pedestal, ignoring the bird's loud protests.

"Stop. Don't take me there. If you don't want trouble, stop right now."

"What, scared stiff already? I'm just taking you to be sacrificed to the peacock statue. Heh heh heh. What do they call it again—ritual sacrifice, right?"

Aswa laughed with a wicked tone. The Bird Sage had been irritating him for far too long. It was time to take sweet revenge.

"That's enough. He looks genuinely scared now."

Siegfried tried to stop him, but Aswa seemed to have no intention of listening.

"No way. This guy messes with me every step of the way—whatever I say or do, he finds a way to poke fun at me. Now that I've got the chance, I have to pay him back properly."

Aswa replied and kept walking toward the stone pedestal where the golden peacock statue stood.

"No, no, don't. If you don't want to start a fight with me again, don't you dare do it."

The Bird Sage tried to cry out and stop him, while Aswa laid his body down on the stone pedestal. He took out a rope and tightly tied the bird's two legs together. Then he pulled a short knife from his bag and pointed it close to the Bird Sage's body, making him scream at the top of his lungs while flailing and flapping his still-free wings to fend off the blade.

"Heh heh heh, the more terrified you look, the more fun this gets. Or wait—is this actually a real sacrificial altar?"

Aswa laughed with delight at the Bird Sage's pitiful screaming.

"Aswa, that's enough. You're scaring him too much now."

Siegfried started to feel both pity and annoyance at once, and so he called out to stop Aswa a second time. It seemed that Aswa had also had enough revenge. He nodded to Siegfried and turned to cut the rope binding the Bird Sage's legs.

It looked like the Bird Sage misunderstood Aswa's action. He thought the young man was only pretending to agree with Siegfried to trick him into lowering his guard, so he could scare him again for the thrill. But this time, the knife was held too close. Not knowing the young man's true intentions, the Bird Sage kicked Aswa's knife-wielding hand with full force.

"Ah…"

"Oh no—oh crap…"

Everyone was shocked. The short knife cut into Aswa's hand. His blood dripped onto the Bird Sage and the stone pedestal. The young man scowled at the fat bird, who now looked like his entire world was collapsing. The golden peacock statue began to shift, making Aswa jump back in alarm to take position and see what would happen next. And it occurred to him—maybe there really was a terrifying reason behind the Bird Sage's fear of this altar.

"Player Aswa has completed a blood pact with the Bird Sage. Initiating bond formation process."

The system announcement made Aswa's jaw drop. The peacock statue began to spray fine threads of silk onto both him and the Bird Sage.

The golden silk wrapped around them like cocoons. One end was attached to the Bird Sage, the other to Aswa. As the silk that had been sprayed faded away without a trace, the system's voice rang out again.

"Bond formation process complete. Player Aswa has accepted the Bird Sage as a pet. He can no longer be abandoned or transferred to another."

As the announcement ended, the golden peacock returned to stillness. But Aswa and the Bird Sage stood even more frozen.

"What just happened? Are those two okay?"

Siegfried asked Lycanth, who had been watching the same scene the entire time. The middle-aged wolf king turned to the young man and shook his head.

"I don't know, master."

…..

Chang Long collapsed into a sitting position with guilt, thinking that she had killed the two members of the Tribe of Darkness. But soon after, the fallen bodies began to move. Their tightly shut eyes opened, and they looked around in confusion. It seemed the long hibernation had left them disoriented, unsure of where they were. The members of the Tribe of Darkness looked around as though gathering their thoughts. Suddenly, their eyes locked with the stranger from another tribe. Their long-dormant instincts activated—they stood up quickly and gripped their spears tightly, ready to attack. However, due to the effects of their prolonged slumber, both men grew dizzy and collapsed back to the ground.

"Uh… I come in peace, okay? No need to look like you're about to kill me."

Chang Long said, seeing the expressions on the two men from the Tribe of Darkness.

"Who are you? And how did you awaken us from hibernation?"

One of the two men asked sternly.

"I'm the bearer of the Advanced Eye of Darkness. I currently have three in total, and I used the Resurrecting Thunderbolt skill to awaken you."

Chang Long answered, thinking that mentioning the Advanced Eye of Darkness right now might help keep that strange spear from being slammed into her skull.

"You are the savior, then? My apologies for my rudeness. Please, come inside. The Emperor and Empress are waiting to meet you."