Soul Art Online

-Arthas -

We reached Lannisport a day earlier than expected. The captain had outdone himself and we paid him some bonus. Derek's people left right after that but not before inviting us to Sabaody again.

We went directly to Richard's place.

"Arthas! Welcome. How was your trip?" He asked as he looked at the group behind me. "You got slaves? And Damon… why is he here?"

I let out a sigh. "It's a long story."

"Come in. Let's talk over some tea."

We did just that. I explained the part about Damon betraying us.

If looks could have killed, Damon would have died already. First of all he apologised to us for sending us there.

"As much as I would like to have him skinned and hung on the walls of my building, that's not the best move. First of all, a T6 person is too useful to be killed just like that."

"I don't think people would appreciate his ugly muck hanging on your building either. It would be bad for business." I joked, making the man shake his head with a slight smile of his own.

"Yes… that too. Anyways, T6… they are among the top level fighters of any kingdom. So getting any one is rare, very rare… not to mention expensive. After all, that's the highest Tier a Slave Crest works on. I would suggest that you keep him as a guard in your Guild. It would keep people from having any ideas about your guild."

"You look worried." I asked, looking at the thoughtful look on his face.

"Oh… well, I was wondering who to trade with next. Our Dolphin's Song Trading Agency had a partnership with him."

"That's quite easy." I gave him a card belonging to Derek. "He is the guy we sold all the businesses belonging to Damon. You can contact him and deal with him."

He looked at the card. "Derek? You got a deal with Derek of the One Eyed Wolf!"

"Yes. he was the one who bought the Devil Fruit from me…"

"Devil Fruit!" The word seemed to have stunned him. "Just what the hell did you get yourself into Arthas? Explain the entire situation first."

I did exactly that.

"Ah! This damned bastard Damon…" He punched his table, breaking it in two.

I was taken aback by his aggression.

"Arthas, you are a newly appointed noble so you don't know of this but, the King of our country has wanted to buy a Devil Fruit for a long time. You could have received a high ranking Nobility had you sent the fruit to him, maybe even a chance to get a T7 Class. No, with a Logia, you could have received both… Even Llyne could have benefited… dammit… This fucking traitor…"

I looked at our team.

Bina was looking stoic as ever, no expressions on her face but her hands were clenched. Rose on the other hand… she looked guilty.

"Well, I am afraid that's out of the question. There was no way we could have left our comrades to be sold there."

"Yes… yes, that wasn't something we could allow. You did the right thing. We as the Knights of our Kingdom must value our honour and responsibility before anything else."

"Actually, I was wanting to ask you where to sell some of the things we had bought from Sabaody."

"Hmm. You can actually go to Greenfrost. It's a big city and the people would appreciate the goods you have to sell."

"I see. Thank you. I will do just that."

"I will get some rooms arranged for you all. Take some rest." He offered but we rejected. All of us had been doing nothing but resting the past week except for the day of hunting in Sabaody.

We wanted some action again.

- Game Master -

"Holy shit, that's a lot of notifications. Just how many references did he get?" He asked as he looked at the list. With one thought the video came in front of him.

"Ahahahaha, the balls on the guy. To say those lines to Rayleigh… hell, he even used Rayleigh's lines on Rayleigh himself. Alright, that definitely deserved the prize."

Taking some time to check on his junior's progress, he saw the scene of the auction.

Honestly, he was wondering if he would punch someone in the Auction House. Unfortunately, it wasn't the yearly auctions so there was less than a thousandth chance of encountering a World Noble and the reward wouldn't have been triggered on anyone except those…

The move he pulled there was smart… in fact, it was a perfect move.

Others might think of people in the game as simple npc but as the creator, he knew that wasn't the case. Most common npcs in the game were actually copies of actual people who have lived in the world, their personalities exact copies of the actual people, without any memories.

To create a new world, he couldn't have fake people everywhere. And when there are such people, some tend to act… scummy too…

This game was meant to force people together against a common enemy, test their bonds and only allow the strongest of the group to come out on the top.

As for whether they chose to protect the world or destroy it… that wasn't his problem. He was just giving them a chance to survive against the Alien Gods. He was no one's nanny or minder who would keep them on the so-called righteous path.

Still, the maid and the valkyrie… luck was indeed a great manipulator.

He looked at the list of quotes and finally paused at the last one.

"Red."

"Hmm?"

"Did he really get the Pizzaman reference?" He asked. The requirements for that one were extremely hard to get.

Then again, with the Devil Milf being there, he was perhaps one of the very few who could have done that.

"Oh yeah… should have looked. The woman was rewarding him for saving the maid." Red smirked.

He shook his head. He didn't like watching others fuck… he liked doing the deed himself better.

Still, he sold off the Swamp Swamp Fruit eh…

He would have been disappointed if he had eaten that one.

Devil Fruits and other skills were some aspects he had added in the game from his side. In this game, no one carried over their Sacred Gears.

In his game, everyone started off equally and had the power to reach the same height. Some easier than others but that was the only thing luck affected.

Creating the Devil Fruit powers wasn't that hard for him and the reason he liked it more than Sacred Gears was because you had to find it yourself. You didn't get stuck with it if you didn't want to.

That's why if his junior had accepted a mediocre one like the Swamp Swamp Fruit, he would have been truly disappointed.

Many people say that the power of the Devil Fruit depends on the user and all that bullshit and yet when given the choice, they would choose the Goro Goro no Mi over the Beta Beta no Mi…

Fortunately things seem to be going well.

"Take this time and grow stronger, Junior. You have to face very strong enemies in the future." He turned towards Red. "By the way, how is the progress of the people all over the server?"

"According to the plan. At this rate, we can start the next World Quest in four to five months."

"Good."

Right now, everyone was merely playing a tutorial. The second World Quest will be when things get interesting.

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Beta Note: The advance chapters are in order of what is updated, a first Tier will not get 2 advanced chapters for every story, only the next two to be released.

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Author's Note:

I am back with another chapter of 'Soul Art Online'.

Arthas met the Dark King and went on a rampage with the references.

The entire fiasco cost them some things and bought them some profits. We win some, we lose some…

I will concentrate a bit on Guild Development and the progress of the other groups for a while, see what trouble they are facing and how they are growing.

Enjoy the new chapter.

Good Day, Peace Out.