Disclaimer: I tire of this...

A/N: This is where the fic becomes less like Maple Story and more like a hybrid of Warcraft, The Matrix, Star Ocean 3 AND Maple Story. By the way, if the romance parts in this chapter seem sub-par, feel free to blame me; I suck at writing this kind of stuff anyway. Our action fight-scenes are much better.
Chapter 4: The Hacker and the Dragon

Ryden barged through the double-doors to the Land of Wild Boar, looking for Merth. He had heard that the assassin had been training here in search of elusive Jr. Boogies, so Ryden hoped to find him before he left.

It was a stroke of luck; Ryden managed to catch Merth just as he was leaving the area.

"Merth!" The Fighter called out. The assassin turned his head in the direction of the voice, and beamed widely as he saw Ryden coming towards him.

"Ryden, I guess you're here to inform me of your decision to join our guild?" Merth assumed.

Ryden nodded, and said, "Yes. Sorry about making you wait so long, but it was difficult making up my mind."

Merth's grin grew even wider. "Don't worry about it; many others even higher leveled than you still took much longer than you to make up their minds to join. Any other friends of yours interested in joining?"

Ryden's smile faltered. He had been slightly nervous about this part…

"Merth, you wouldn't really mind if one of my… friends was actually a member of Necropolis?" Merth's grin turned sour, but to Ryden's relief he didn't turn angry or lash out at him. Instead, he seemed disappointed.

After a moment of silence the assassin finally said, "It would be… all right. But make sure nobody else knows about this, or the guild master will boot you out faster than you can say 'Dark Lord'."

Ryden thanked his friend for his understanding and departed from the Land of Wild Boar. He pulled out his personal PDA, which looked more like a Game Boy than anything, and he flipped it open. He brought up the World Map screen, and a digital image of a bird's eye view of Victoria Island appeared. A small text box also popped up near the screen's bottom, and he typed in '/find Astella'. As he hit the enter button the text box disappeared and a small yellow blip appeared near the center of Victoria Island; looked like Astella was in the dungeon.

Ryden flipped the PDA closed and stuffed it back into his pocket. Setting off through Perion's Deep Valley, he cut his way through groups of various boars and stumps with his newfound power and his greater mastery of the sword, and soon enough he had reached Sleepywood. He checked in at the hotel's regular sauna, exchanged the loot he had gathered from the monsters for a few replacement potions, and rested for a few minutes before checking out and delving deep into the Ant Tunnel.

It was several sections inward before he found Astella training at the Deep Ant Tunnel. When he first saw her on a lower ledge she had been surrounded by Zombie Mushrooms. His first instinct was to jump down and slay the undead mushrooms with a round of Slash Blasts, but it wasn't necessary.

With a wave of her staff a column of green light surrounded Astella. The undead mushrooms withered as the healing magicks countered the necromancy that had resurrected them, and a number of them fell over to the ground, dead for good.

She repeated the spell one more time to clear the area of any stragglers, and within moments the entire ledge had been cleared. Ryden jumped down to join her, and the magician yelped in surprise as he landed behind her with a sudden thud.

She whirled around, obviously anticipating a threat, but she sighed in relief when she was it was only her friend.

"Hey Ryden, good to see you." She greeted him with a smile.

Ryden returned the smile, and remarked upon registering her new level 35 magician equips, "Good to see you too, 'Stella. Making rapid progress, I see. Already a Cleric?"

Astella grinned and replied, "Yeah, it's all thanks to my guild members, they've been helping me train. They said that I've got 'potential'." She emphasized the word 'potential' with an overdose of skepticism, indicating that she didn't really believe her guild mates, or had much respect for them for that matter.

Guild… Ryden thought to himself. Maybe she's already joined them… "Astella?"

"Hmm?"

"You've joined Necropolis, haven't you?" Ryden almost dreaded her answer, but he steeled himself and prepared for her answer anyway.

"Yeah, I have. Why?" Ryden mentally cursed at the misfortune, but he decided to tell her anyway.

"'Stella… I've joined Last Hope." To his surprise she didn't turn angry or declare him to be a sworn enemy or anything like that; she just seemed to become rather downcast, murmuring a small "Oh."

"You're not angry or anything?" He asked her.

"Well, Ryden, I…" The cleric bit her lip, unsure of what would happen if she just put across her feelings bluntly. She didn't want to scare the poor fighter away by being too forward, but she had to tell him now, before circumstances forced them apart.

Ryden on the other hand took her hesitation to be the sign of something else. He had been fearing it would come down to this one day; right now the scene was just replaying itself over and over again in his head. Astella would tell him that they could only be friends, never more, and she would awkwardly leave, leaving Ryden alone and heartbroken.

Ah, what the hell. If I'm wrong then I'll bear the consequences myself. He stepped closer to Astella and just as she opened her mouth to say something, he kissed her on the lips.

The female cleric gasped slightly in shock, stunned for a split-second before she closed her eyes and melted into the kiss. They stayed like that for several moments, their lips connected, before they reluctantly broke away. Astella looked up into Ryden's blue eyes, and she could see a burning determination in them.

She quickly pulled away from him, shaking her head. "I'm sorry Ryden, but we can't do this. We're from opposing guilds; this will never work."

Ryden winced inwardly at her alleged rejection, but it was slightly comforting to know that she returned his feelings. Undeterred, he stepped forward and took her by the shoulders, locking her gaze in his.

"Look into my eyes, 'Stella. We can do this. I won't let some prissy, stuck-up guild masters get in our way; we will make this relationship work." The fire in his eyes blazed with burning determination, and Astella could tell that Ryden was willing to be with her, no matter the price.

"I… guess so. The power of love conquers all, doesn't it?" Ryden chuckled at his new girlfriend's corniness, and he moved his face closer to hers to peck her on the lips.

Before he even moved an inch his PDA started beeping, and Ryden fished it out of his pocket, irritated. He flipped it open, and saw that he had one new message from Merth.

"Sorry, 'Stella. I've gotta go, Merth's calling me." He told her as he read the message. Astella nodded understandingly and kissed him on the cheek, bidding him goodbye. Ryden returned the kiss for a brief moment before breaking off leaving the Ant Tunnel.

Astella watched his retreating back with a smile, happy that she had finally gotten together with him. Now all they had to do was keep their relationship a secret. Her eyes slowly traveled down his back, down to his…

Stop it! Bad Astella! Bad! No dirty thoughts about him! She furiously thought as she mentally slapped herself for even entertaining the notion. She was so distracted that she never heard the padded footsteps coming up behind her until she was suddenly grabbed by the neck and turned around, being shoved against a nearby rocky wall while a gloved hand that had metal spikes protruding from its knuckles maintained its iron grip on her throat.

She reflexively grabbed at the hand, attempting to pry its fingers loose, but they were as unyielding as solid steel bars. She stared in terror at her assailant, a thief who was clad in ornate armor and had a pair of demonic wings that were currently folded behind him like a cape. His skin was pale as death, giving him the appearance of a corpse, and his upper canines had grown much longer than his other teeth, granting him a marked resemblance to a vampire.

"D-Dreznor!" The cleric squeaked in fright at the sight of her guild superior. Dreznor stared back down at her with eyes that glowed a bloody red, and Astella shrank back even further.

Though Dreznor was a thief, he couldn't be considered an assassin or a bandit; he was neither. In the dark ages of Bera each job held a secret, additional path that only the bravest or most foolhardy would take on. That path granted more power than any of the others, but it also came at a hefty price; the dark powers that were involved in that kind of advancement always required a sacrifice, most often at the expense of the soul. Those who descended down that path frequently became psychotic killers, madmen who lived to cause naught but destruction and despair. When the Four Wise Men of Victoria Island rose to power they banned every one of those Dark Paths, and all mention of them was erased from every copy of every job manual in Bera.

All but those that were held in Ossyria. Necropolis scholars traveled to El Nath, and discovered ancient copies of the job manuals, each one detailing how one could attain the power of the Dark Paths. The scholars immediately distributed these manuals to their higher-ranking members, and they were the first to descend into darkness. Dreznor was one of them, and though he was once a respected assassin, when he accepted the power of the Dark Path of the Thief he became something else entirely.

A Fel Rogue, one who possessed both the ranged prowess of an assassin as well as the deadly speed of a bandit in close combat. It was not long before Dreznor advanced even further, into the 3rd job class of the Thief's Dark Path – a Dreadlord. As a Dreadlord Dreznor was granted control over the creatures of the night as well as their nature, and he was bestowed immense vampiric power, along with a certain extent of hypnosis; Dreznor was excellent at manipulating people to do his bidding when he wasn't scaring or beating the shit out of them. As Dreznor gained more power, his appearance became warped, becoming less and less human with each passing level as the power he absorbed corrupted him further.

The Dreadlord tightened his grip on the Cleric slightly and lifted her up into the air, cackling sadistically as Astella kicked her legs spastically, her eyes bulging with terror. He bored into her eyes with a soul-chilling gaze that caused her struggling to become even more frantic, and he growled out in a voice as deep and menacing as the crashing ocean, saying, "I could kill you with a simple flick of my wrist. No one, and I mean no one, encounters a Last Hope member and lets them get away unscathed. Our guild master, my dear Astella, considers such behavior treason. Surely you know that?"

The terrified cleric frantically nodded her understanding as she struggled to break free of Dreznor's grip, but she may as well have been trying to bend adamantium. Dreznor chortled again at her futile efforts, and he loosened his grip on her throat just enough for her to speak.

"But your relationship with that Last Hope scumbag could prove useful to me. Where is he heading now?"

Struggling to draw breath, she croaked out, "I-I don't k-know! He-he said that he was g-going to meet with his guild's Jr. Master, he must be out of Sleepywood by now-" She was cut off as Dreznor abruptly released his hold on her throat, and she fell to the ground on shaky legs that promptly buckled under her weight, landing her roughly on her rump. Clutching at her sore throat and gasping for breath, she scrambled away from the Dreadlord, backing up against the rock wall, desperate to put as much distance between her and him as possible.

Dreznor snapped his fingers, and three Fel Rogues appeared out of the shadows, kneeling behind their master. For all intents and purposes Fel Rogues looked just like regular thieves, but they each had the emblem of Necropolis emblazoned onto their equipment, and their eyes burned with an evil light that no other thief could possibly emanate. Astella cringed as one of the Fel Rogues leered at her, but Dreznor made sure they didn't move a muscle until they were told to do so.

"Thank you, my dear. Your information is of great assistance to us. I will ensure that you will be… duly rewarded," Turning to his Fel Rogues, he commanded, "Gather all available units in the immediate vicinity and take that impudent fool out. No witnesses either, for that matter."

One of the Fel Rogues spoke out, "I don't like that idea. I can take him by myself-"

The Rogue was promptly sent smashing into the cavern wall by an unseen force.

"I'm not asking you to like it. I'm asking you to do it. Our operations in this area are too vital for anyone to find out, be it the leader of Last Hope or some depraved grunt! You will see to it that he does not live to see another sunrise, or you will not," the Dreadlord bellowed, his booming voice laced with rage.

His point made, Dreznor wrapped his wings around himself and disappeared in a flurry of bats. His Fel Rogues enfolded the shadows around themselves, and they vanished along with their master.

Slowly getting up onto her feet, Astella picked up her fallen staff and rubbed her sore bottom. Duly rewarded, my ass. She thought bitterly to herself as she cast a healing spell on herself, soothing her sore throat and causing the aches in her body to disappear.

She was seriously starting to regret joining Necropolis…

"That's the last time I trust anyone for directions…" muttered Ryden under his breath. A Magician near the exit of the caverns had given him a short cut, and Merth seemed to be in an urgent hurry to meet him, so he blindly took the short cut. But alas, the dense forest could be the most unforgiving of terrain at times, and after a while, Ryden realized he was totally lost. He tried backtracking, but every damn tree and every damn bush looked the same.

Sleepywood was a mystical place; even in the middle of noon it seemed to be perpetually evening. Ryden flopped down on a large boulder and contemplated his next move, when suddenly, a large group approached from the other side of the clearing. There were Rogues, Warriors, like himself, Magicians and Bowmen. It was one huge hunting party, perhaps after one of the rarer games in the area.

Out of courtesy, Ryden got up and greeted them with a shout, "How fares the hunting?"

A thief at the front of the group returned the greeting, "Excellent, thank you. We have just located our prey."

"Do you, by any chance, know the way back to Sleepywood town?" Ryden queried again, "I've been wandering these woods for quite some time now and I need to get out, desperately."

"We can't point you back to town," replied the thief slyly, "But we can take you another place."

Relieved, Ryden asked again, "And where would that be?"

The large party fanned out around the lone warrior, weapons drawn.

"We're bringing you for a joy-ride, warrior of Last Hope," the thief straightened up, revealing the emblem of Necropolis emblazoned onto his armor, "To hell."

Ryden tried to run, but realized that that option had closed for him. The Necropolis members had him totally surrounded. Ryden glanced quickly at their ID tags. The level ranges were from 50 to 30, the lowest being the level 29 Magician in front of him.

Taking a gamble, Ryden raised his blade and charged forth at what seemed to be the weakest link of the chain. He hoped to smash past the Magician, then run for his life and hope to lose his pursuers. As he closed the distance between him and the Magician, he raised his blade high and brought it down in a killing arc…

Only to have it held at bay by the Magician's Sapphire Wand, with almost casual ease. Giving a snort of disgust, the Magician launched a Magic Claw attack, which bit right through the lone Fighter's armor, and sent him sprawling on the forest floor.

"How the…" Ryden gasped in shock.

"Simple. We aren't ordinary players anymore. When we swore allegiance to Necropolis, we were bestowed incredible powers," explained a Wizard from the group, his wand held at the ready to cast a spell, "I'll give it to you though, Fighter. You fought more gloriously than your other comrades. We'll make your death quick."

The Wizard muttered an incantation, and a huge pillar of lightning descended from the heavens and engulfed Ryden. Whatever scream of pain escaped from his lips was promptly drowned out by the awesome display of sheer power.

When the attack finally died down, Ryden could no longer feel his body. His sight grew dim and his strength wore out. But before unconsciousness overcame him, he saw someone leap in front of him with a drawn blade. Then, he surrendered to the blackness.

"You up yet?" an unfamiliar voice asked.

"Ugh…what happened?" Ryden slowly pulled his aching body up to a sitting position. He studied his surroundings. Gone was the clearing where he had rested, and fought the Necropolis members. Instead a warm campfire and a towering figure replaced that.

"You bit off more than you could chew. Fancy that. Someone like you picking a fight with Necropolis," the stranger spoke.

"They attacked me first!" Ryden leapt to his defense.

"Regardless, you were defeated. Who do you think you are, your father?" the stranger's words hit him like a sledgehammer.

Ryden contemplated for a while, before asking again, "You knew my father?"

"Not personally. But unless you were living in a hole for the last twenty years you've surely heard of Dracon, the legendary crusader." came the reply, "Either way, now that you're alright, my business here is over." The stranger turned on his heel and left.

"Wait! Who are you?" shouted Ryden.

"A nobody," said the stranger, pausing for a while.

"Even a nobody has a name, let's hear it," replied Ryden.

The stranger tensed, then slowly eased and gave his introduction, "Rodriguez Smithsonian J. Gustav III."

"In short?" a baffled Ryden asked again.

"Smith. Just Smith will do," he replied with a smirk.

"All right then Smith, I'll-" Ryden was cut-off mid-sentence. The Sleepywood forest wasn't very thick, neither was it very dark, but Smith had somehow disappeared.

"Never mind…"

Ryden realized that he'd been unconscious for several hours and was aware that Merth was waiting for him. Thankfully, he'd found one of the many dirt tracks that led out of the forest.

Making haste to catch up on lost time, he jogged along the track, taking in the sights and sounds of the forest, which seemed friendlier now that he'd found his way again. Then, at a bend in the road, he heard voices coming from deeper in. Despite knowing full well that curiosity killed the cat, Ryden crept in silently, intent on seeing what was going on.

Peering out from a huge oak from which he was hiding behind, he saw several people standing around some sort of distortion in the distance. It was a ceremony of sorts, he had heard about the locals worshipping deities in the woods, but this felt…more sinister. Upon closer inspection, it dawned upon him that all present bore the emblem of Necropolis on their uniforms.

"What's going on?" Ryden wondered out loud.

"What you see before you is a spatial distortion. What I see is a glitch in the server," someone's voice came from behind. Smith's.

"Glitch?" queried Ryden.

"Do you believe there is another world out there, Son of Dracon?" asked Smith.

"There are many things we do not know," was the reply.

"Good. Your mind is open. The first step to knowledge. You know about Agents and Game Masters don't you?" Smith asked again.

"The guardians of Bera? The ones who preserve the order of the world? Who hasn't heard about them," said Ryden.

"Guardians of the world, but guardians against what?" Smith asked again.

"Hackers," Ryden came to the conclusion.

"Indeed. You learn fast, Son of Dracon," commented Smith.

"But why here?" asked Ryden, beginning to grasp the picture, but still totally clueless.

"There was once a great order of hackers, the Order of Koaxia. They were once Agents, but displeased at the way the Game Masters were governing the server, and their attitude of isolation towards the politics of the players, they split off and became vigilantes, taking the law into their own hands," explained Smith.

"What happened next?" Ryden asked, eager to know the rest of the story.

"They were defeated by the Game Masters and banished. But during that last titanic battle, parts of the server were damaged. We call these damaged bits glitches. The Game Masters and Agents sought to fix all of them, but no matter how hard they tried, there were always stones left unturned," Smith continued with his tale.

"Like that," Ryden gestured at the gathering up ahead.

"Necropolis has been secretly using hacks to gain immense strength. And I believe there is more to their plan. I must stop them," declared Smith. He got up and approached.

Finally, Ryden was able to see Smith's full battle-garb. He was clad in black from head to toe, and bore twin Katanas on each side of his utility belt. Polished steel pauldrons grieves and gauntlets shimmered in the dim morning light. Around his chest he wore a cuirass that was shaped like a man's rib cage. There was no helm on his head. Instead, he only wore a pair of jet-black sunglasses.

Ryden glanced quickly at Smith's identity card, eager to see what level and job class the imposing stranger was. Smith moved swiftly, but Ryden was able to register Smith's level fast enough.

Such a strong guy, confronting level 80 players on his own. Surely he's at least level 100…

Ryden never knew how wrong he was. On his PDA, Smith's level was registered as a blank.

Blank? But even newbies start at level 1. Surely there's some kind of problem- Ryden then recalled his mother telling him to always consider both sides of the coin.

Then the realization struck Ryden like a meteor. If he's not level 0, then his level is…too high to be displayed.

He glanced up and saw Smith decapitate a level 87 Crusader with almost casual ease.

Order of Koaxia all banished my ass…

The Necropolis fighters were all seasoned veterans. They took up defensive positions and closed in onto the lone Smith all at once, attacking from every angle. Swords and spears shone with unholy light as they rained down killing blows. For all their effort however, the fighters of Necropolis found all their strikes deflected by a strange invisible barrier that surrounded their assailant.

"Fools," muttered Smith, as he thrust his Katanas into the gut of a Dragon Knight. The man barely got a chance to scream in pain before Smith sliced off his head, denying him such a luxury.

Mages and bowmen from the rear of the Necropolis formation loosed barrages of spells and missile attacks on him, causing huge cataclysmic explosions and kicking up a curtain of dust.

Despite the thoroughness of the attack, it either missed, or Smith was unaffected by it. The vigilante stepped right out from behind the curtain of dust, seemingly unscathed. Raising an outstretched arm, he uttered a spell, "Incendia!"

Swirls of bluish-red flames erupted from the ground, gracefully spiraling towards the heavens. The display was beautiful beyond words, and even the Necropolis members paused from their assault to gape at it in awe. But the awe was replaced by that of dread soon enough.

The swirls ascended to a certain height, before descending at a rapid pace, bringing an immense pillar of flame down with it. The Necropolis members standing directly underneath were reduced to ashes instantly. Those lucky enough to be outside the immediate blast radius were knocked off their feet by the impact. Not that it mattered anyway; Smith redirected the pillar on top of them, killing them too.

Within a few moments, the fighters of Necropolis lay either in ashes, or in pieces, scattered all around the clearing. Smith walked up to the spatial distortion and extended his hand. With one touch, it disappeared. Smith turned to leave, but a rustle in the bushes caught his attention. Striding up to the source of the noise, he pushed aside the bushes to reveal a terrified cleric staring up at him with all the dread and hatred reserved for the devil himself.

From his vantage point, Ryden gave out a gasp as he realized who the cleric was. Astella! What the hell is she doing here?

Smith spoke first, "I'm surprised to see one young and untainted such as you to be in cahoots with them."

"I…" Astella stammered, "I believe I'm old enough to make the right choices of friends."

"A poor choice, no doubt," replied Smith. "You ally yourself with hackers and murderers. Kids these days…"

"And he who kills murderers is not a murderer himself?" Astella blasted, obviously enraged by the deaths of her guild mates.

"I walk the fine line between killer and executioner. At times even I feel confused," mumbled Smith softly, "Regardless, you shall die."

"For what? Hacking? Kill yourself first before you come kill me! You're no saint! You're just another hacker!" Astella's rage gave her confidence. Summoning her strength, she ignited a holy arrow and launched it at Smith, only to see it bounce helplessly off Smith's defensive barrier.

"Correct. I admit I am a hacker, but one such as you does not know how deep the hole really is. Train for ten thousand years more in hell before you try to raise a candle towards me," Smith raised his arm, "Incendia!"

The pyroclasm of death started again, this time more merciless than the first. Ryden tried to tear his face away as Astella's magical defenses evaporated in seconds, but her screams of agony kept him looking back. Then, on impulse, he sprung forth from his hiding place, dashed towards Smith, and stabbed him through the gut with his blade.

Smith grunted, but the spell continued.

Painfully, Ryden slashed Smith three more times across the back, opening huge gaping wounds, each enough to kill a man. Finally, Smith sank to one knee, and the spell stopped.

Ryden then sprinted over to Astella and held her in a defensive embrace. As Smith straightened up to resume his attack, Ryden called out, "You want to kill her? Kill me first!"

Emotionlessly, Smith demanded, "Move aside."

"How about, 'no'?" taunted Ryden.

"I will not hurt a law-abiding player such as you, but hackers like her must die," Smith said.

"You are a hacker too, how does that make you different from her?" Ryden queried, his voice brimming with rage.

Smith let out a snort, and then relented. Turning on his heel, he replied without looking back, "You will live to regret your folly this day, Son of Dracon. And I will be there to see it happen."

With that, the vigilante strode into the forest, and disappeared.

Relieved that the monster of a man had left, Ryden quickly checked up on Astella. Her pulse was weak and her breathing short. Her robes were all charred black, and at places where the flames had incinerated right through, Ryden discovered horrifying burn wounds. He had to get her to a healer – quickly.

Damn, damn, damn…Why does this always happen to me…

A/N: Crap, I realised that I forgot to put the credits in the last chapter! Anyway, here they are, for characters that debuted in both the last chapter and this one.

Mr. Thief a.k.a. Merth: As stated in the last chapter, his IGN is 'mrth1ef'. He's a level 52 assassin at this moment. One thing I know is that his buddy list is always full.

Dreznor: Completely original character; there's no such thing as a Dreadlord in Maple Story.

Rodriguez Smithsonian J. Gustav III a.k.a. Smith: Included at the request of a friend who has a banditsin but wanted his character to be granted god-like powers. Hence, Smith was born. And yes, we ripped off his shortened name from The Matrix.

Ok, the Dark Paths are entirely original job paths that I created, though some of the names were ripped off from Warcraft III or Warhammer 40k. If you want greater detail then I can elaborate further.

Warrior's Dark Path: 2nd Job – Death Knight, 3rd Job – Bloodthirster, 4th Job – Daemon Prince.

Magician's Dark Path: 2nd Job – Necromancer, 3rd Job – Warlock, 4th Job – Chaos Sorcerer.

Bowman's Dark Path: 2nd Job – Beastmaster, 3rd Job – Dark Ranger, 4th Job – Headhunter.

Thief's Dark Path: 2nd Job – Fel Rogue, 3rd Job – Dreadlord, 4th Job – Voidwalker.

I'll elaborate only on 2nd and 3rd job classes here; 4th jobbers are extremely rare in this story and they warrant their own introductions.

Death Knight: Death Knights were once heroic, virtuous defenders of Bera. However, they were corrupted by the subtle machinations of Necropolis' Guild Master and lured to his dark standard. These former heroes were given untold power and the promise of immortality in exchange for their loyalties. Although they retained their humanity, their twisted souls were bound to their Guild Master's will for all time. Bestowed with black, vampiric runeblades, death knights now serve as Necropolis' mightiest foot soldiers.

Bloodthirster: Drained of their humanity and cursed with a terrible bloodlust, Bloodthirsters are driven to madness by a never-ending desire for violence. These insane warriors live to cause nothing but mindless bloodshed as they joylessly seek to slaughter as many opponents as possible. A Bloodthirster's insatiable yearning to rend and tear flesh has affected not only his mind, but his body as well. Drenched in the blood of countless victims, his skin is dyed an ominous crimson hue, and his eyes burn with a sadistic hunger to cause pain. Endless hours of killing and mutilating have developed his body to inhuman proportions, sporting insanely over-sized muscles that enable him to tear apart adamantium with his bare hands. Because their terrible bloodlust also causes severe mental degradation, Bloodthirsters now serve as Necropolis' notorious shock troopers.

Necromancer: Though they retained their humanity after making their pact with darkness, necromancers became some of the most terrifying agents of Necropolis. These dark, nefarious men and women were once thought to be aspiring geniuses by the Magocracy of Ellinia. However, their insatiable lust to delve into the dark arts drove them to forsake their very souls. Necropolis' Guild Master granted theses malevolent magicians true power over the dead in exchange for their obedience. The shadowy necromancers have the power to raise skeletal warriors from the grave and bestow a number of dark enchantments upon their fellow comrades, thus serving as Necropolis' supportive spellcasters.

Warlock: Born as a Necromancer reaches the pinnacle of his powers, warlocks are absolutely corrupt and unimaginably powerful. Their chaos magicks have burnt out whole landmasses and annihilated countless species in Bera's Dark Ages. Having mastered the powers of entropy and destruction like no other, warlocks now serve as Necropolis' tacticians and strategists.

Beastmaster: A cunning hunter, able to call forth the creatures of the forest to serve him. These lone wandering archers often come from shadowy backgrounds, seeking the essence of combat through the mimicry of wild beasts. With unparalleled keenness, deadly accuracy, and the ability to manipulate the creatures of the forest to do his bidding, Beastmasters serve as Necropolis' scouts and trackers.

Dark Ranger: Dark Rangers are similar to their regular cousins, but focus on shadowcraft more than nature. They are silent and invisible stalkers of the shadows, felling unsuspecting opponents with a single arrow. Dark Rangers still favor the bow as the ultimate weapon, using the same arts that Athena Pierce taught for decades. Their spells work with manipulating the essences of of life and death, as well as various horrible curses and mind-enslaving abilities. Dark Rangers are found only in Necropolis. No other guild has the Dark Paths' history coupled with the personal knowledge of shadows to learn the arts of a Dark Ranger. In fact, many Dark Rangers refuse to teach their arts to anyone who wasn't an archer or a Necropolis member.

Fel Rogue: Fel Rogues are dark, shadowy warriors who are shunned even by their own guild members. The stealthiest among the Dark Paths, a Fel Rogue can pass off as a regular thief if one is able to hide their sinisterly glowing green eyes. They possess the ranged prowess of an assassin as well as the deadly speed of a bandit in close combat. Coupled with an additional ability that allows them to wield one-handed weapons with efficiency identical to that of a warrior, Fel Rogues are deadly opponents, regardless of their range. Masters of stealth and guile, a Fel Rogue's victim generally never sees his killer approaching until it is too late. With unparalleled skill in infiltration and wet work, Fel Rogues are among the best of Necropolis' assassins.

Dreadlord: Dreadlords are incredibly powerful individuals who wield the powers of the night and mental domination. These cunning, malefic beings serve as Necropolis' Guild Master's most trusted lieutenants. At their Guild Master's order, they ensure that Necropolis' operations are carried out smoothly to sow chaos in the world. Though Dreadlords have been known to revel in the gore of single combat, they generally prefer to manipulate and beguile their enemies from the shadows.

As stated earlier, 4th jobbers warrant their own introductions, but just to clear things up here's the hierarchy system one can find in Necropolis.

Initiate (1st Jobbers): These 'newbies' are granted the lowest rank and the measliest measure of power as they first join Necropolis. If one is to ascend through the ranks they must first advance into their next job, then pass an additional test set by Necropolis' Jr. Masters in order to gain access to more of Necropolis' secrets.

Rebel (2nd Jobbers): The second lowest rank, these are mostly regarded as 'grunts' by the higher-ranking members of the guild. Once a Rebel advances past level 50 he may be promoted to a sergeant-esque post within the Rebel ranks, where he is granted command over the lower-leveled Rebels. Rebels possess more power than Initiates, but they know little of Necropolis' true hacks. Still, they are dangerous foes, superior to any normal player due to the hacks that they use.

Hacker (3rd Jobbers): The middle rank, right before Jr. Master. A fully-grown hacker of Necropolis, they now possess knowledge of a majority of Necropolis' hacks; regularly used ones include those that grant them superhuman strength, speed, endurance, and a certain extent of telekinesis. Though they do not possess enough power to completely break the rules of the reality set around them, they certainly have more than enough to bend them to their advantage.

Elite Hacker (4th Jobbers): The Jr. Masters of Necropolis, there are only four individuals who are in this class, each of them belonging to each respective job's Dark Path. Comprised of a Daemon Prince, a Headhunter, a Chaos Sorcerer, and a Voidwalker, these four answer directly to Necropolis' supreme master, and the Hackers answer to them. They each possess enough power to alter the very reality they exist in, having god-like powers that few can compare with.

Master Hacker (Guild Master): The supreme guild master of Necropolis, this man does not belong to just any job class; hacks have allowed him to advance even further than that. He is now a non-existent 5th Jobber; well, technically it's non-existent because 5th Job doesn't exist at all, but he is still more advanced than any 4th Jobber. He possesses the powers of all the jobs, and much more. He is truly a force to be reckoned with, having unparelleled knowledge of hacks and how to use them to bend and break the very fabric of reality on a whim. The only person who can even hope to wound him would have to be another hacker.