Its counterpart no longer existed. Slain by the player Defil3d, who had caused its creation weeks prior. Since the First Balverines demise several other players had undertaken the quest, but not to the point of the Balverine. As the only creature of its kind in the game, the White Balverine watched its prey from afar. It immediately recognized the player TankGod.

"I'm telling you that bloke is the Hero of Strength in the making. Absolutely unbelievable he is."

"We know, we were there too."

The Balverine jumped from one tree to the next. There were six of the players in total, all walking steady on a stone path through the woods. The settlement of Docktown was close.

TankGod raised his voice even louder. "But did you see the way he just sliced that monster up like it was nothing? All of us combined couldn't have done that!"

"We know Jason." The same player said again, the Balverine identified him as NeonTiger.

Tank looked at Neon. "Well why am I the only one who seems impressed by this?"

"You're not, it's just been three days and we've already kind of gotten used to it mate." RICH answered from the back.

Jason scuffed. "He's heaps better than even that kid Apollo. And we all remember how good he was right?"

"He didn't run away like that kid either…" The plump player, Lightweight, muttered from the back of the group.

TankGod shook his head. "Ah he's alright, just a bit awkward is all. I'm sure he'll make it back in time for the main show."

The Balverine stopped, the men and their voices trailing off as they approached the streets of Docktown. The creature looked on. Several players and NPCs of high level had been gathering for the past few days, all beyond the creature's capabilities. Unable to strike, the White Balverine kneeled atop the tree branch and watched the town.

Its original target, the player Apollo, was further on in the same direction. Even more inaccessible to the Balverine than the others. The creature snarled before it once again leapt out of sight.

Not matter how long it took, it would wait.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Ryuu stared the stall vendor, unable to process. He blinked.

"Three….hundred…..gold pieces? For a pistol? Are you serious?"

The merchant nodded, her expression remaining the same. "Yes, that is correct sir."

"Does it like….shoot flames or something? Will it give me wings? What exactly am I paying three hundred gold for in this?"

The woman gave him a blank expression, not uttering word. Ryuu sighed. Voice recognition has its limits I guess.

"There you are!"

Ryuu turned around to see Ellie standing in front of him. He immediately noticed the two new swords she sported at her side, while the dye of her adventures outfit was changed to a dark black.

"Well, at least one of us found something to buy. It looks like you even fit your username now."

AssassinX93 shrugged. "It's not hard. There's tons of other places to buy things around here, you don't have to focus on just one of them." Ryuu could still feel the blank eyes of the gypsy vendor behind him, he motioned Ellie to start walking.

The marketplace had grown an order of magnitude since Kungen had defeated Titus. With both new players and the NPCs of theirs quests pouring in seemingly by the hour. Ryuu was sure the population had reached a hundred already, with no signs of stopping.

"My equipment still pretty up to date for now, so I should be good." Ryuu let his hands slide in his pockets. "Let's go do something else."

"Another quest?"

Ryuu looked up at the sky. The sun had already begun its descent. "I don't know, we're supposed to all meet with Kungen at the docks around sunset right?"

"Yeah, around that time. Let's just explore for now."

Ryuu shrugged. "Lead the way."

Ryuu and Ellie had both gone up a level in the recent days, taking up a few quests around the area with FistOmen and Herman. Though both of the players had undertaken a quest on their own the day before, leaving Ryuu and Ellie to lounge around Docktown by themselves once again. They'll be back, everyone will be back.

Ryuu found himself having to stick close to his cousin as they made their way down the main street, the narrowness of it causing both NPCs and players to bump shoulders. This is like a sample of Bowerstone in the early days. Ryuu sped up to be beside Ellie.

"You think all of these players are as high leveled as us?"

"Probably. Or maybe even higher like Uloveme."

"What happened to her anyways?"

Ellie shrugged. "Bet she's out helping more players get to town."

They walked past the pub that Ryuu and Ellie had entered when they first arrived in the town. Inside they could hear the echoes of several voices hollering. Ryuu stopped and stared at the large stone building. That place sure has gotten a lot rowdier in the past few days….

"Definitely not in there again." Ellie kept walking, Ryuu had to pick up his pace again to catch up.

"Yeah, yeah I know. Was just thinking about the quest line we finished in there."

"Don't remind me, that sixth part was absolutely ridiculous."

Ryuu laughed. "Worse than being kidnapped for the day on the fifth part?" Ellie rolled her eyes.

"No, but it was just weird. I don't know why the developers would put that in a game."

Ryuu knew his cousin had a point. Kind of an odd move on the developers part, but then again we are trapped in a virtual death-game by a psychotic billionaire genius. But the more Ryuu thought about the conclusion of the Bower Front questline, the more he had to wonder. Why didn't it just end after the kidnapping? Uloveme said the last part would be interesting, but she didn't say that Aladdin was-

"Woah, sorry man!"

Ryuu recoiled off of someones chest. His automatic response kicked in before he even looked up. "Huh? Oh sorry about that I wasn't paying attention."

"It's all good dude, this place is getting pretty crowded." The mans blonde hair was dressed in what Ryuu could only describe as a man bun, the first he had seen in game. The mans clothes were the trademark adventures outfit dyed in a lime green, like his eyes. He extended his hand. "I'm Pureyoo, nice you to meet you man."

Ryuu looked at Ellie and then back at Pureyoo, slowly shaking his hand. "Uh…yeah. I'm Ryuu and this is my cousin El-" Ryuu cut himself short, Real name are still a nono right?

"My name tags a handful, so just call me Ellie." She finished for him. A smile slowly crept on Pureyoos face.

"Oh cool, so you guys are with a bigger group then?"

Ryuu shook his head. "No, just us two."

"What, that's crazy!"

"Why, aren't you alone right now?" Ellie asked.

Pureyoo laughed. "What? Oh no, no I'm with a bigger group. We came here because of that Global Quest that was started."

"Oh wow, how many of you are there?"

Pureyoo put a finger to his head to think. "Sixteen or seventeen? I'm not sure, we've taken in a lot of new ones on the road. I'm actually going into the pub to go meet them now, you guys wanna tag along?"

Ryuu exchanged glances with his cousin again. She spoke first.

"No we're alright for now. Were just looking to relax before the fight."

Ryuu could see Pureyoos smile dip a little. "Ah well no worries guys, I guess I'll catch you with the all the others later tonight then?"

"Definitely." Ryuu waved his hand and opened up his 2D screen. "Ill even add you just in case." He noticed Pureyoos smile rise a bit after that.

"Sweet, I'll do the same. Nice to bump into some new faces, literally I guess."

"Likewise."

Ryuu nodded at Pureyoo before the man walked towards the inn. He couldn't help but noticed the massive rifle strung across his new friends back as he walked. Ranged too huh? Ryuu watched as Ryuu opened the door to the inn, greeted by several loud cheers.

"Why didn't you want to meet all of them?" Ryuu asked, his cousin already pacing ahead.

"Too much noise and too many people. I just want to relax for now."

Ryuu sighed, he was never good at changing her mind. "Whatever we'll catch them later I guess."

"All sixteen?"

Ryuu smiled. "Yup, and I'll make sure we introduce ourselves to every last one of them." Ellie groaned.

They eventually found their way towards the waterfront, a series of docks encompassing several buildings facing the great gulf of Bower Lake. The sun was a bit further down then, its light glistening off of the lake water for miles in the distance. Docktown was small, but Ellie and Ryuu had taken a slower route, zipping in around the several small streets of the town. They took their seat by a small bench in front of the water. Ryuu exhaled loudly.

"So that's how were getting to Bower Island I'm guessing." He said as he looked at the giant wooden ship parked in front of them. He waited for his cousin to respond. "Ellie?"

"What? Oh yeah." Ellie responded as she scrolled through her menu screen. "I think so, Kungen didn't really mention the specifics of how were doing it from what I remember."

"Well I don't think he was expecting all of us to swim there."

Ellie punched her cousin in the arm. "Shut up."

Ryuu laughed. "What? Weirder things have happened in this game."

"Like the time you saw the player riding a horse?"

"Ah yeah, forgot about that guy…" Ryuu recalled when he saw the mounted Knight in black armor, Defil3d, who he rode past him in the village far back in the Bower Woods. "I bet you he's going to be here to help fight Oceanus."

Ellie yawned. Ahead of them a change in the wind had caused the boat to creak back and forth in the water. "The more the merrier..." She said as she continued to scroll through her menu. Ryuu sighed and sunk down into his side of the bench.

Ugh, now I'm tired. He stared at the boat, the frigate. It was large, or at least as large as any he had seen on the shores of Bowerstone. At least what parts the game let us look at back there. He wondered how many people it could hold, and who exactly would drive it. An NPC? Kungen? Ryuu looked at his own hands and then back at the ship. Maybe me? Couldn't be too hard. Ryuu closed his eyes and imaged himself piloting the massive ship. He grinned.

"How long again?"

"Still a few hours…." Ryuu let his eyes crack open a bit. To his right, past the ship and the many small docks he could see the faint outline of an island. Bower Island. It was many miles away, but Ryuu could still make out the faint shape of the fabled Hero Hill at the top. This time tomorrow, I'll be there. He closed his eyes again.

"Ellie."

"What?"

Ryuu waited a few seconds.

"….Are we there yet?"

"Ugh..." Ryuu couldn't see it but he was sure his cousin was rolling her eyes, the thought giving him another smile.