1Mad_Hatter1

Bloodlines Online, a game world where only those who learn to play can actually prosper.

With a realistic skill leveling system and a deeply fleshed out system for handling statistics every player must learn that they either develop their skills or they fall behind.

Ezekiel is a young man barely approaching graduation and working at his uncle's restaurant, The Chateau. Like many others he chose to buy Bloodlines Online just to explore a new game in the revolutionary field but just like every other player he was unaware of the significant role this game would play in the future.

Streaming, currency exchange, information, all sorts of methods to make money on Bloodlines would soon rear their head and anyone who had even a small advantage could soon rise to glory.

Will you rise through the honor of raiding dungeons to sell information? 
Will you gain wealth by selling your services as a power leveling carry?
Will you become a wealthy entrepreneur in the game? 
Blacksmithing, alchemy, enchanting, class unique boons, all of it will become a players easily obtained income.

The game hides a terrible secret though, a secret known to another player named Alexander.

Follow the path of Bloodlines Online whether you wish to learn magic, martial skills or simply like the characters, it is all up to you.

I do not own the cover art used and if the creator would like me to remove it i will do so.

Bloodlines Online

After leaving with his identification Ezekiel had more questions than answers.

He was very curious about what happened that exposed diana since he worried that he would expose himself as well.

Since he had no answers he felt that the best use of his time was to keep farming.

He was very curious about what the hard mode of the dungeon would bring.

Inside of the dungeon he felt that the mana was much denser.

What was strange was the fact that he could sense the skeletons from farther away because of how dense the mana inside of them also became.

In fact the mana had more than one change.

Previously the mana infused into the skeletons had a slight green tint to it that only lessened as they lost hp but these skeletons had a deep emerald color to their mana.

'Green is a weird one for necromancy. I would have assumed shadow mana was the one that made skeletons since its apparently evil but i suppose i was wrong?'

What also worried him was the level of the skeleton.

It took more than a single cast of his compressed shadowfire arrows but it was worth it to kill these things.

With each step in the dungeon he noticed more changes, from the experience bonus being +100% rather than +50% to the cave being strangely glowing with moss in certain places that had dense green mana.

At one point he even approached one of these pockets of green mana and wanted to examine it further.

This was where he made his mistake.

He appeared back at the opening of the dungeon with a baffled expression.

He didn't notice anything missing nor had he lost any levels so he wasnt sure if this game had consequences for death, or if the dungeons simply waved those consequences.

With a new determination and curiosity about what he died to he delved into the dungeon again.

He was able to easily kill the skeletons he passed and he watched for signs of traps.

He knew that he had died beside a patch of moss so he was wary around each one.

When he saw a similar large patch of moss as before he chose to examine it from further away.

It glowed a deep emerald color like every other patch of moss and skeleton in the dungeon so he couldn't see anything odd using his mana sense.

Using his actual vision he saw that it was strangely lumpy as if it was covering a group of stones rather than one large stone like some moss patches would.

When he couldn't see anything strange he returned to the start of the area so he could absorb the mana around him.

It took some time but when he was finished he could even see better with his mana sense now that all the shadow mana was gone.

With no other options Ezekiel just passed the moss by sticking to the wall opposite of it.

When he passed nothing happened and he felt relieved so he kept moving forward...

The next time he entered the dungeon he was enraged.

He rushed through it killing every skeleton he found.

Each time he died it was in a different area of the cave so it couldn't be a stationary trap.

The only difference between each of the runs was the moss being in different areas so he assumed the moss must have something to do with his deaths.

When he saw that large pile of moss he didnt take any chances.

'To quote a content creator from years ago, it is our right as humans to poke shit with a stick from a safe distance... well im a devil right now but thats irrelevant.'

He launched a fire nova on the moss.

What happened next was beyond shocking.

'It was a skeleton?! A skeleton set up an ambush?'

The moss was burning off of its body and it held a fine dagger that it tried to stab him with through a lunge.

The result was a very angry mage bombarding its head with dense spells.

"Take that you bastard! Let your little ambush do anything now!"

Dungeon Grinding