Olivia raised her head and stared at Jason. He's a monster in human flesh. The only thing he's lacking is stats and skill levels. She imagined Jason fighting the strongest person she knew. Her father. If they had equal stats, who would win? Even after thinking long and hard about it, she couldn't find the answer. She held a deep hatred for her father, but she would never underestimate him.

She was lucky to have met Jason. With him, she would be able to grow stronger. Perhaps one day strong enough to surpa.s.s her father. She imagined it. What face would he make at that moment? Olivia smirked. It sent s.h.i.+vers down her spine just thinking about it.

Stay calm. Olivia chastised herself. A reward only comes after hard work; she can't lose herself to fantasies. Her eyes grew determined as she stared at Jason. A challenging glare pierced the air. As she was about to stand up, her communication necklace trembled. "Who?"

"Roy!" A vibrant voice came from the other side. "You guys have been training for forever. Don't you know taking a break is good for the body? Let's get some food, yeah?"

Olivia's stomach rumbled at the thought of eating. The past few hours of constant battle had left her exhausted. Still, she forced the feeling down. "No thanks."

Just as she was about to hang up, Roy forced out an intimidating voice. "As the guild leader, I have determined that this food outing is a mandatory guild event. If you skip, there will be punishment, young lady!"

Olivia's eyebrow twitched. "I'll take the punishment."

With that, she hung up and began to stretch her body.

Outside the colosseum, Roy was stunned silly. This jerk! He immediately called someone else. "Jason! The guild meeting scheme didn't work. What do I do?"

"Hm? Really? Maybe it's because you were the one that asked. She might not take you seriously." Jason wondered aloud.

"I'll show her that I'm not to be messed with! Hang on." Roy ended the call and kicked the ground. I don't have enough authority, huh? I'm not taken seriously, huh? Don't want to listen to me, huh?

Roy folded his arms over his chest as he dialed Olivia. She answered a second later. "What?"

Roy glared at an invisible enemy. "Let's duel. If I win, you have to come. If I lose… well… I don't know."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "I don't have time for this."

"Hmph. Too scared? Fine. I understand." Roy moved to end the call.

Olivia's face fell. "Scared? Of you? Are you serious?"

"It's okay. I won't tell anybody." Roy said seriously. Inwardly, he was laughing with glee.

Olivia cooled down and snorted. "Trying to rile me up? It won't work. Although, I think it's time you figure out how weak you are."

The call ended just as Roy was about to respond. He was unsure if his plan worked or not. A moment later, a screen appeared in front of him, asking whether he wanted to join Jason and Olivia's colosseum dimension. With a grin, he entered the arena and glanced around.

Jason felt something and sat up, only to find Roy. "What's going on?"

Roy waved to Jason as he explained. "I'm duelling Olivia."

"Oh. Good luck." Jason stood up and moved to the edge of the arena.

Roy picked out a sword as his weapon. He swung it around a few times and grew confused. "Why do I feel so weak?"

Olivia explained calmly from the other side of the arena. "We have the same stats and skill levels."

"Oh, that's cool." Roy nodded in understanding. He performed a few exercises to get used to his new body.

After a minute, Olivia called out. "Ready?"

Roy stopped, took a deep breath, and faced his opponent. "Yep."

Both sides grew quiet as they prepared for battle. Olivia's posture was low, while Roy's was balanced. He could advance or retreat at a moment's notice. Suddenly, Olivia kicked the ground, charging straight for Roy.

Unwilling to be outdone, Roy narrowed his eyes and sprinted forward. Just as they were about to clash, Olivia twisted her wrist and shot out a shuriken. Caught by surprise, Roy hastily parried with his sword, deflecting the shuriken to the side. When he looked back, Olivia was nowhere to be seen. Before he could look around, he felt pain in his back. He tried to move, but his body wouldn't respond. He was stunned.

Quickly, he activated freedom, removing the effect. Fl.u.s.tered, he spun around with a swing of his sword. Olivia ducked and swiped out with her leg, knocking Roy off his feet. He hit the ground with a thud.

Olivia plunged her daggers towards Roy's heart. Victory was in sight. All of a sudden, a blinding golden light shot out from Roy's body. Olivia felt her daggers meet an invisible barrier. No matter how hard she pressed, they wouldn't budge. Shocked at the unfamiliar skill, she backed off.

As Roy stood to his feet, Olivia inspected the transparent golden barrier surrounding Roy's body. However, in the next moment it dissipated into nothing. Frustrated at already using a trump card, Roy charged forward in order to capitalize on Olivia's shock.

Olivia was no novice and quickly recovered. She expertly stepped back and dodged Roy's attack. Seeing that Roy had gained the initiative, she grabbed at her waist and tossed out a small ball. With a soft boom, smoke covered both Olivia and Roy.

Roy glanced around in surprise. Even this is possible? He squinted his eyes, but it was no use. He could only think of one thing to do. Roy plunged his sword into the ground, activating consecration. Golden veins spread along the ground, dealing damage to all foes in the area. Olivia's stealth was canceled from the damage, but it was too late.

A loud snap rang through the air as Roy's leg bent inward. He groaned as he fell to the ground. Olivia stabbed out in succession. By the time Roy hit the ground, eight holes appeared in his body. In the next moment, Roy dissipated into light and reappeared on the other side of the arena.

He was flabbergasted. "It's over, just like that?"

Olivia twirled a dagger between her fingers as she walked over to Roy. "Satisfied?"

Roy's mouth hung open, still surprised at how quickly the fight had ended. In the next moment, he blinked as a wide childish grin spread across his face. "Wow, you are so strong! That's great. The guild definitely needs more experts like you, hahaha!"

Olivia nearly staggered from Roy's unexpected reaction. She had a.s.sumed he would say 'you cheated' or 'that's not fair', but instead he was happy? It didn't make any sense.

Roy patted Olivia shoulder excitedly before taking a look at the gadgets on her belt. "Wow, look at all these tools. Maybe I should get some?"

From afar, Jason called out. "Hey, are you two done? I'm starving over here."

Olivia glanced over. "We're done. Let's go."

"Huh?" Roy stood still as Olivia teleported out of the colosseum. Upon realizing what she meant, he turned and gave Jason a thumbs up.

Jason shook his head with a laugh as he disappeared in a flash of light.

A short while later, Jason, Roy, and Olivia were eating at the best restaurant in the city. They ate near the balcony on the second floor, so they got a good look at the patrons below. As Roy ate, he praised Olivia. "Wow, you attack so fast. I noticed it was quick when we fought monsters together, but experiencing it first hand is totally different."

"Mm." Olivia struggled to respond. She didn't know how to. When had she ever been praised? She couldn't think of a single instance.

Suddenly, a devilishly handsome man in a grey tailored suit strolled over to their table. He knelt down on one knee and handed Olivia a ring. "My lady, you are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. Would you please accept my gift?"

Jason and Roy were stunned at the unexpected visitor. Olivia simply gave the man a glance before inspecting the ring. As she read its stats, she froze.

(Celestial) Enchanted Diamond Ring

+5% Attack Speed

+5% Critical Damage

+10 Damage Added To Each Attack

+200 Health

Requirements: Level 50

"Celestial grade!" She muttered aloud. This was the first time she had seen a celestial grade equipment. How rare was this? If sold, it would probably sell for over a hundred thousand gold! And this man was simply giving it to her because she was pretty?

"What?" Both Roy and Jason went wide-eyed upon hearing Olivia. Their thoughts were the same as hers. Jason himself had never expected that a Celestial grade equipment would appear so soon. It wasn't that it couldn't happen, but that it was just so rare. Celestial was only one grade lower than Divine, and Jason had only ever seen one Divine grade equipment in his entire life.

"My lady, your hand, please." The man said softly, his voice bewitching.

Still shocked, Olivia extended her arm. The man slipped on the ring before gently kissing the back of her hand. By the time everyone recovered, the man was already walking down the stairs. They watched as he tossed a large bag onto the counter next to the kitchen. Gold coins fell from the bag and covered the counter. Surprisingly, it was full of gold coins.

The man glanced around with a charming smile. "Thank you for the delicious meal. This is just a small token of my grat.i.tude. I hope you accept it."

A well-dressed elderly women exited the kitchen upon hearing the commotion. When she saw the bag of gold coins, she connected everything together and bowed. "Of course we will accept. Thank you for your patronage!"

"Hahaha!" The man swaggered out of the restaurant, leaving everyone wide-eyed from his flamboyant display of wealth.

A few moments later, everybody in the restaurant began to discuss what just occurred. Up on the second floor, Roy leaned forward. "This ring really is Celestial grade!"

Olivia held her hand up to the candle on the table. The ring glittered with colorful lights, as if it knew it was Celestial grade.

Suddenly, a shriek came from below. "Where'd the gold go?!"

Roy, Olivia, and Jason glanced over the balcony, where they found the well-dressed elderly woman shaking the bag back and forth. "All of the gold coins just dispersed into light! What happened? Is there a thief?"

"A thief?" Roy glanced around warrily.

As the restaurant burst into motion, Jason fell silent. His train of thought was interrupted by a gasp from Olivia. "My Celestial ring disappeared!"

"What?" Roy widened his eyes. "Wow, it really is gone!"

Suddenly, Jason felt like he was struck by a bolt of lightning. He shot to his feet, ran down the stairs, and exited the restaurant. He gasped for breath as he glanced left and right, but was unable to find the handsome man from before. A moment later, Roy and Olivia appeared by Jason's side. "What's wrong? Did you see the thief?"

"That was no thief." Jason smirked. "It was the champion of Alister, the G.o.d of tricks!"

Roy and Olivia gasped in shock. "A champion?!"

Jason nodded as a carefree smile spread across his face. He had finally met yet another comrade from the alternate-past. Alas, he just missed him. Finding the champion of Alister was harder than finding a needle in a haystack. It was a futile effort.

Roy was confused. "What abilities does that champion possess? He can make items disappear?"

"No." Jason shook his head. "The champion of Alister specializes in illusions. The Celestial ring and gold were fake."

"Oooh!" Roy's eyes lit up. "So he's basically a scammer!"

Jason coughed lightly. "Uh, yeah. I suppose you can say that."

Unable to find the champion of Alister, Jason, Roy, and Olivia split up. Jason and Roy went to manage their kingdoms, while Olivia made her way to the colosseum.