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Beth taught me alot about boxing. Well... more about fighting really.

I had spent most of my life running. And thanks to this place I was finally able to grasp the one thing I had avoided most of my life.

Beth and I had entered crouched stances with our fists at the ready. You could feel the tension in the air as we stared at each other. Suddenly a bell rung. Like the bells you here in the old wrestling shows. The kind that echoes through the stands filled with crowded people.

At that bell sound we started.

Beth and I started circling each other like two wolves. Neither making a sound as we did so. We were both waiting to see who would make the first move. After a moment I stepped forward slamming my foot down and throwing out a straight punch. Beth side stepped and brought up her arms as I adjusted and turned the punch into a swing.

She blocked and spun sending out a swing of her own. I ducked feeling the air rush past with her swing. I sent out a kick to the back of her leg but she jumped and I missed.

I quickly stood up and entered my stance again. Truth be told Beth and I had been doing this for a couple hours. And I thought I was improving. I actually managed to make Beth block a strike for once. Normally she was fast enough to dodge and it would go zipping over her head and she would punch me hard enough to send me sailing to the edge of the ring.

But after a couple hours of fighting I had found my rhythm. As steam from our frames started filling the air we called it quits. Overheating was no joke. Your body could break down and that could take weeks to get fixed. Thoth was constantly fixing people for doing the exact same thing. Overheating meant your body broke down and in some cases literally fell apart.

So keeping ourselves in shape without overheating was a top priority. We eventually took our much needed break.

Steam rolled off of us in small clouds as we began to dump water on ourselves. Its digital whoosh went through the air and onto us as it forcefully cooled us off.

Beth let out a sigh of relief at the chill of it. Meanwhile I shifted into anubis and shook the water off like a dog. My fur comically stood on end afterwards making me look like a big black fluff ball.

A buzz hummed in the air as the cleaner beetles came over and began mopping and wiping down the equipment. Another set of buzzing followed as I felt the other beetles emerge and start playing with the fur I had sticking up.

It was a funny sensation but nonetheless I let them do their thing. I stayed this way till the buzzing died down and they had had their fun. It was amazing to me that the system could actually create such unique traits within itself. (The beetles personalities was one thing. But to allow them to have fun... what exactly is this place really?)

"So intriguing." I hummed as a little beetle went to the tip of one of my claws.

"What?" Beth asked with a confused look at me.

"Oh. Um."I said a little sheepishly. ( I didn't think I said that out loud.) I thought to myself.

"I was just wondering how the system makes it so little creatures like these have such a personality." I said as Khepri wove between my fingers. I began to shrink again and my claws became small and glove covered again.

"I have no idea. But I imagine that perhaps some personalities that meet their final end here have a way of surviving in some twisted fashion. Maybe their personalities are copied in some way by them?" She said with a thoughtful frown.

I nodded as I looked at Khepri who had settled in my palm. (And so another mystery joins the pile.) I thought as I opened my pet ranch and he soared in.

Unfortunately I hadnt found more filler viruses besides the two this last trip through the dome. But I currently had enough pets as it was.

The ranch still was the same as always. The pyramid in the background and the sphinx seemed normal enough. The sand swirled lazily in the wind.

To be honest I was a bit disappointed. I wondered if it could get bigger or if I needed more pets to make that work.

/ You need 10 more pets for an upgrade to be available for your Pet Ranch./ Interface chimed in my head as a screen suddenly appeared. It showed my current count in green numbers as well as the needed amount in red.

I let out a sigh of relief. " Thanks for the info." As I turned and saw Beth was already changed and going back up the stairs.

"Come on! The rewards package should be here by now!" She called out as she rushed up to the main floor.

I smirked a bit as I stretched and slowly made my way up the stairs. I wasn't in any rush. The rewards would arrive with or without me.

I found everybody gathered around the video table when I arrived. They were going over the footage of what happened during the dome.

Lily, Hoy, and Henry had been transported to the completly opposite side of the map from where Beth and I had gone. They were put in an old town house. While we had been put in the sewers with a couple dozen others. And by the looks of it only Beth and I made it out.

I had sat down in a chair and we began to review what had gone wrong when a knock was heard at the door.

Beth was jittering in her seat with excitement as we all had an idea what it was.

"Why dont you go get it?" I said with a smile.

She bolted from the chair and ripped the door open. And there was Icarus. Wide eyed and surprised.

He held out two little cubes. "Delivery for the death hunter faction!" He said in a slightly shy voice.

I chuckled a little as Beth took them both and said thank you. Icarus blushed and took off before she could close the door.

She held up the bigger cube and it turned green. While the smaller one remained the same color of black.

She tossed the small one to me as she placed the other one down. She eagerly looked at Lily. "Can I?" She asked.

She almost looked like a dog waiting excitedly for its owner to throw a ball. Lily burst out laughing. "Sure! Why not."

Beth clapped her hands and tapped the box.

"Open!" She squealed.

The box bloomed into a brilliant flower as it faded away into data bits. Four orbs floated about slowly till they sat in front of the others.

Confused at the amount but not wanting to be greedy I looked at Lily.

It almost seemed like she knew what I would ask. "You got a special reward. So to make it more fair they make it so you dont get anything else. It's a bit of a rip off but it does make more sense."

I nodded at her explanation as I saw everyone open their gold balls. Lily, Henry, and Beth got parts while Hoy got a pair of gauntlets he couldn't use. He shrugged and seemed happy enough.

I smirked as I looked at the box in my palm.

I felt a little nervous this time as I held it. (What could be inside?) I thought as I finally opened my mouth.

"O-open." I muttered and the box ignited.

It didnt bloom like the flower. It literally lit itself ablaze. Digital fire burned away the outside till it revealed the thing within. It was a copper colored ball with Egyptian inscriptions all over it. My eyes went wide as everybody gathered around to look at it.

"Is that what I think it is?" Lily asked out loud.

"That cant be. I thought they no longer gave those out after the first hundred year launch." Hoy said.

Beth and Henry were quiet as ghosts as I looked at them all in slight fear.

"W-what is it?" I asked trying not to stutter.

Lily smiled like a maniac. "That's an upgrade ball."

I looked at her expecting more of an expectation. But she was busy staring at the thing in front of us.

"And...." I asked nervously. "Anybody care to explain?" I said loudly.

Henry looked down at me with an almost jealous glare. "In the Beggining, The Blood gave players a type of bead. It was used to upgrade body parts and weapons of every kind. With the beads alot of people made it to A rank quickly. But eventually they started getting more and more scarce.

I heard there was an actual war over them a long time ago. But after a couple years a different system was introduced and they became more of a legendary item. These days factions would annihilate us if they knew we had even one of these." Henry said as he suddenly turned his gaze away.

Lily smiled a little as she patted my head.

"Might as well use it. Dont care what or where just use it before it's found out."

I shifted and began to consider what I should do. Torsoe upgrade meant health. Arms meant strength. Legs for speed. And my head would increase my processing speed, eyesight, and thought capacity. And so I thought for a moment before placing the orb to my head.

I needed better processing power. I had speed and my health was ok as long as I could heal. My arms weren't used for brute strength combat and I could just swing my sickles quickly enough because my dexterity was high. The coffin made a good shield but I found it difficult to use at times. And so I decided on my head.

The orb emitted a gold light as it entered my head. And I felt the world spin. Light shined from my eyes as my vision improved. My sense of smell understood more and I could actually smell my faction mates around me.

My teeth sharpened and my tongue became more sensitive to taste. Even my ears could pick up the most sensitive sound.

A ding suddenly rang in my head as a notification appeared. /You have reached max rank for your body. Would you like to rank up?/ I heard Interface say.

"Yes." I said and suddenly the world went black. As I found myself floating amid the darkness something else was going on.

....

OUTSIDE-

Everyone had backed away from Sil as darkness rose from his feet. It cocooned him in a dark crimson veined egg. Digital lines ran across it glowing like they were uploading something. The sound of a faint heartbeat could be heard within if you pressed your ear to its shell.

Lily was smiling broadly as Henry shrugged and went to sit down.

Beth sat on the floor watching intently over the next few hours as the eggs exterior slowly changed. It shifted from a dark crimson to a pearly pink.

INSIDE THE EGG-

I floated. Deep in the darkness as scenes played before my eyes. A birthday I had when I turned 16. The small meal that had been prepared spread out around the table.

My 6 year old stepsister sat to my right. Her face round and happy as we sat. Her dress had small daisies on it with a yellow background.

Her eyes stared up at me with expectation as though wanting something. Happily I patted her head in response.

Suddenly the scene changed. A younger starved version of me handing out broken chunks of bread to other homeless people. The bread was stale and burnt but noone complained as it was still food.

Another scene change happened. The worst of my memories that I had tried to block out as long as I could remember.

A scene of a young boy holding a bloodied brick as a large man laid on the ground before him. A strained and stretched suit on his bulbous body. His face contorted by blows too cruel and brutal to be considered human.

Bruises covered the boy from head to toe. Cuts lined his face, hands, and feet. A bloodied knife laid on the ground close to the man. I felt disgust at the memory but I knew one thing. If I hadn't done what I had. I would have died.

My mind seemed to fill with a resolve as I knew what I had done. My eyes didnt tear up in either my past or present self. I felt nothing to be certain. I was like a stone. Solid and unmoved. Focused and understanding as to what I had done and what I might've needed to do in the future.

But at that moment I had also resolved to avoid fighting as much as possible. I would if there was no choice. But that was what I had agreed within myself.

The scene once again changed as my body warmed.

Waking up in the cryo tube. The fear and anger I had felt then. The betrayal and hate I had felt at that time. But it was then that I realized something. Something I now understood made me different. I had been chosen to hold the Anubis form.

Not because I was a killer. Or a guard dog of the dead. But because I chose to help or kill those that had deserved it. Something Anubis would do. He was the god of healing and pestilence. The true god of death.

At that moment I saw him. A large jackal of black energy filled with starlight. A mask of Gold and onyx covered the upper part of his face. His eyes the color of rubies as he looked at me and with a small smile. As though to say "well done kid."

The egg cracked. And my illusions ended. I was dragged from the dark and into the blinding light. I blearily raised a hand in front of my face as I found myself sitting on the ground. My surroundings were the same from when I left. The faction house.

Taking a deep breath I centered my thoughts and tried standing. I felt my ears brush the ceiling telling me I had grown again. My height had increased as my ears touched ceiling at 10 feet tall.

The others gathered around with happy expressions. As I looked down I noticed something. A golden glint in the corner of my eye. Rotatingnmy eyes around I noticed it was around my eye. A golden gleam of sorts.

I turned to look at my face in the reflection of the holo table. My previously bandaged face had now been covered. Covered in a mask of gold and onyx. The mask of Anubis. The bottom jaw of the mask was missing. But the eyes were Ruby in color and held a gleam of bloodlust and cunning. Large pupils and wide irises like a dogs. It was beautiful. Scary. But beautiful all the same. /Rank Up Successful/