Daniel's Crisis

"Augh!" Daniel fell flat on the ground, his energy completely depleted. Not able to continue the battle anymore, he shouted "Stop! I give up!" 

Nico halted his steps, a smirk forming on his face. "Heh, even with a legendary skill, you're still not even 10 percent as powerful as me." He mocked Daniel.

"Well, how do you expect me to win against a man who's lived for centuries?" Daniel laughed. Although he was defeated badly, he was still proud of his skills. He managed to shock even Nico for a moment, that alone was more than enough for him to be satisfied.

"Hm… you're right, how can I, the one chosen by '???' get defeated by a kid like you." Nico chuckled before leaving the training hall. Lumi followed behind him, leaving Daniel alone in the room. 

"Well, I should get going too." Daniel sighed, getting up from the ground. He walked out of the hall, making sure to lock the door behind him. Going to the reception, he put the keys on the table in front of the receptionist and left the training facility.

Nico was standing outside, waiting for Daniel. "Oh, you're here! Teleport us to the inn now." He shouted from a distance, seeing Daniel approaching. 

"Huh, such a lazy person you are, senior. You've been trapped for so long, why not take this chance to explore the city?" Daniel suggested. 

"Uh, sure then…" Nico nodded in agreement, he was indeed getting lazier day by day. He didn't want to turn into a lazy old geezer and be mocked by Daniel everytime.

"Let's go then!" Daniel gestured at Nico and Lumi to follow him. Lumi climbed up onto his shoulder, treating Daniel like her personal cab service.

Daniel facepalmed, "You will never change, Lumi." He started walking, followed closely by Nico. After arriving outside a large, magnificent alchemy shop. It was the most popular and the best alchemy shop in the city. Daniel knew about this as he always checked the forums and news about Divine Path. Players all around the world would always share clips and videos of this specific alchemy shop. It was like a luxurious palace made for the rich. The owner of the shop was a big shot not only in the city but in the entire empire. 

A large statue of the owner was placed outside the shop. Nico's eyes widened. He looked at the statue in utter disbelief. "Huh?!" 

Daniel turned towards Nico, only to find his shocked expression. "What happened, senior?" He asked, puzzled about Nico's sudden change in expression. He could feel a violent, murderous aura flowing out of Nico's body. 

"T-this… is he still alive?!" Nico questioned, showing disgust towards the statue of the man. The guards around the statue felt the murderous aura and decided to take action against Nico and Daniel. 

"Don't come closer! Retreat right now!" The captain of the guards shouted at Nico. He gripped his halberd in his hands, pointing it towards Nico. 

"Let's go back, senior. We're gonna get ourselves into trouble if anything bad happens." Daniel grabbed Nico by his shoulder and walked away from the shop. He knew about how influential and powerful the alchemy shop owner was. Once, a streamer at level 190 tried to cause trouble in his shop and got promptly executed. Losing levels after dying was a horrible punishment.

"Daniel, I may owe you my life but you don't get to stand in my way. Do that again and I won't hesitate to cut you down where you stand." Nico sounded almost distant like he was more than an A.I at this moment. 

"You don't know just how much power the shop owner holds. Even an expert like you won't be able to do much against him. I just wanted to save you there…" Daniel explained, a bit annoyed by Nico's unusually aggressive behavior.

"On the contrary I know exactly how much power he holds." Nico looked away from Daniel's gaze. "I think this is where we part ways for now, I'm gonna visit an old pal." He just walked away.

Daniel stood at his spot, looking at Nico's back as his figure slowly disappeared. He couldn't comprehend what just happened. "HUH?!" only one word left his mouth. "What the hell just happened?!" He tried to follow Nico but it was already too late. "Nya~" Lumi rubbed her cheek against his leg, trying to provide what little comfort she could. 

Daniel looked at her and picked her up, gently caressing her soft, fluffy head. "I am fine, Lumi. No need to worry." He assured her, a smile forming on his face. 'Uh, he should've at least told me where he's going before running off like that…' He thought inside his mind. The events that occurred today were weird to him. He had never seen Nico's aggressive form, and he even threatened him earlier.

Daniel decided to just call it a day and teleported back to the inn. "Why did he just explode Like that?" Daniel sighed and plopped down on his bed, the moonlight permeating the room, giving a soft and somber glow to Daniel's already bad mood. "Dammit!" Daniel got under his covers and fell asleep trying to forget about the day's events.

***

(9:00 pm central square)

"Man who made this place so complicated?" Nico grumbled under his breath. Looking around Nico could safely say this place changed in 4 centuries. "That damn Henry guy! How the hell is he still alive?" Nico was practically flowing with rage.

He managed to keep his age as it was even after centuries passed because he was chosen as the guardian of the ruins by '???', but he couldn't fathom how his once old friend was still alive.

"Just you wait, Henry…!!"

(Author: Heya guys, here's today's chap! The power stone supply is running low these days, and it's a bit discouraging for me. Support the book by sending power stones daily and help us climb up the rankings! Ty!)