Dante and Lila quickly left the plaza.

They ducked into a quiet and instanced tavern near the edge of the commercial district.

The ’Gilded Boar’ was relatively empty. It provided a safe space away from the chaotic main streets of Ironhold.

They slid into a corner booth.

Lila let out a long and exhausted breath. She rested her wooden staff against the table.

The adrenaline from the brief fight was clearly wearing off, leaving her looking a bit pale.

"I really hate fighting other players," Lila muttered and rubbed her temples. "They are so unpredictable."

"You handled yourself perfectly," Dante said. He ordered two digital mugs of water from the interface of the tavern.

"A chantless AoE gravity crush is an incredible opener. How did you even unlock a class like that? Most players are still trying to figure out how to equip their beginner swords."

Lila took a sip of the water as it materialized.

"I did not do a massive quest chain, if that is what you are thinking," Lila explained. Her voice was quiet.

"I got incredibly lucky. During the initial spawn in the beginner zone, I drew an S-Rank innate talent: [Mana Convergence]."

"It passively doubles my maximum mana pool but completely prevents me from equipping physical weapons or heavy armor."

Dante nodded. The Zenith Protocol loved its trade-offs.

"I was wandering around the edges of the safe zone trying to find low-level herbs to sell, and I stumbled into an unmarked cave," Lila continued.

"There was a glowing obelisk inside. The system scanned my massive mana pool and deemed me a suitable vessel. It just forcibly injected the [Astral Arcanist] class into my character data."

"Just like that," Dante mused.

"Just like that," Lila agreed.

"It is a bizarre class. It relies entirely on spatial manipulation and localized gravity."

"The passive ability removes all my chant times, which is amazing, but the mana costs for the spells are astronomical."

"If I cast [Gravity Well] twice in a row, my entire mana bar zeroes out, and I am a sitting duck."

Dante smiled slightly. "So you are a glass cannon with a very small magazine."

"Exactly," Lila laughed nervously.

"Which is why I hide behind my beginner robes. If I look like a useless low-level cleric, people usually leave me alone. Except for those Iron Viper idiots."

Dante opened his infinite inventory.

He didn’t pull out the gold coins or the Dark Demon materials.

He reached past the [Staff of Cinders] and grabbed the two pieces of high-tier armor he had looted from the Spire and the Frostfire Steppes.

He placed them on the wooden table.

[Item Appraised: Ash-Walker Treads] (Silver Tier)

[Item Appraised: Heart of the Ignis] (Dark Demon Tier)

Lila froze. Her eyes widened. She recognized the Dark Demon classification immediately.

The heavy magma-forged chest piece glowed with a dull aggressive heat. It completely contrasted the sleek silver-plated greaves.

"Dante," Lila whispered and stared at the chest piece. "That is endgame armor. Why are you putting that on the table?"

"Because you are taking it," Dante said simply.

Lila practically choked on her water.

"Me?! I cannot take this! I am a support class! I just told you my talent restricts me from wearing heavy armor!"

"It restricts you from wearing physical heavy armor," Dante corrected her and tapped the dark magma plating.

"Read the fine print on the item classification. The [Heart of the Ignis] is not forged from steel or iron."

"It is forged from localized thermal magic. The system classifies it as Aether-Weave. It bypasses physical encumbrance penalties for casters."

Lila pulled up the appraisal prompt. Her jaw dropped.

"Six thousand points of physical defense," Lila read aloud. Her voice trembled. "And a passive fire aura."

"It grants a massive base Strength boost, which you do not need," Dante added and leaned back in the booth.

"But the defense makes you incredibly durable. If you are going to keep flattening people with gravity magic, you need to be able to take a hit when they eventually flank you."

"The silver boots give you immunity to environmental hazards and a speed boost. You need mobility to manage your cooldowns."

Lila looked back and forth between Dante and the glowing armor.

"Why are you giving this to me?" Lila asked. Her voice was quiet and genuinely confused. "You could sell this for millions of real-world credits on the auction house."

"I have billions," Dante shrugged indifferently. "And I do not need it. I have my own set."

He tapped the dark purple plating of the [Carapace of the Void-Devourer] currently covering his chest.

"Besides," Dante added. "you owe me for stepping in front of the dagger of that assassin."

Lila flushed slightly. She reached out to touch the heavy magma chest piece.

The defensive stats were undeniably alluring for a player who hated taking damage.

"This is too much, Dante," Lila said. But she didn’t pull her hand away.

"What about you? If you have this much high-tier gear, why are you still registered as a basic Warrior? You are Level 55. You should have taken your Class Advancement days ago."

Dante let out a short dry laugh.

"I tried," Dante said. "I went to the Class Advancement pavilion here in Ironhold. I did the whole ritual with the mentors."

"And?" Lila asked and leaned forward.

"The system rejected me," Dante explained. His expression was completely deadpan.

"The mentors tried to force the baseline class code onto my avatar, but the Zenith Protocol literally threw an error prompt."

"The NPC told me my cosmic weight was too dense. I apparently have too many anomalies in my system architecture, so a standard class upgrade physically cannot fit into my data."

Lila stared at him. She blinked once. Twice.

Then, she burst out laughing.

It wasn’t a polite stifled giggle. She threw her head back and laughed so hard she had to wipe a tear from her eye.

The mental image of the all-powerful and server-terrifying Outworlder getting physically rejected by a basic tutorial system was too much.

"Too dense?" Lila laughed as she imagined the system error. "The Zenith Protocol basically called you fat."

"It called my data dense," Dante defended himself. A small smirk broke his stoic expression. "I am mathematically heavy."

"You are too fat to learn sword magic," Lila giggled and shook her head. "That is the funniest thing I have heard since this nightmare game started."

Dante let her laugh. It was a nice break from the constant tension of the open world.

When she finally calmed down, she looked at the glowing armor on the table.

"Alright, mathematically heavy," Lila smiled warmly.

"I will take the armor. I will not equip the chest piece in town. Walking around in Dark Demon gear would cause a riot. But I will keep it in my inventory for when I am out gathering herbs."

She reached out and tapped the two items.

The heavy magma chest piece and the silver greaves dissolved into light. They integrated seamlessly into her inventory.

"Thank you, Dante," Lila said earnestly. "I mean it."

"Consider us even for the lockpicking incident back in the real world," Dante replied.

He stood up from the booth.

"Where are you going now?" Lila asked and secured her wooden staff.

"The City Lord," Dante said and checked his digital map.

"I have to turn in the Beast King quest from the Frostfire Steppes. After that, I need to figure out my next move. Let Sera know I will message her if I need to move any more excess loot."

"Will do," Lila nodded. "Stay safe out there, Boss."

Dante walked out of the tavern. He left the Astral Arcanist to organize her new endgame gear.

He navigated the crowded streets of Ironhold and headed directly toward the towering and heavily fortified structure of the Lord’s Keep.

The city was in full swing now with major guilds openly recruiting in the plazas and merchants shouting over the din of the crowd.

He climbed the grand central stairs and pushed the heavy double doors open.

The grand hall was lavish. It was lined with massive red banners and towering marble pillars.

The City Lord was sitting on his elevated gear-driven throne. He looked down at Dante with his glowing artificial eyes.

"Outworlder," the City Lord boomed. His voice carried the heavy scripted sound of a high-tier quest NPC.

"You return quickly. Do you bring news of the Frostfire Steppes? Has the Beast King been eradicated?"

Dante didn’t answer verbally.

He opened his infinite inventory, retrieved the massive scorched [Head of the Ignis Behemoth], and casually tossed it onto the red carpet at the base of the throne.

The heavy skull landed with a loud satisfying thud.

The dynamic system of the City Lord hitched for a fraction of a second to process the localized completion parameter.

"Astounding," the City Lord said. His scripted tone shifted into genuine reverence.

"You have cleared a Apex threat in mere hours. The Veridian Alliance owes you a great debt, Champion."

[System Notification: SSS-Rank Regional Quest Completed.]

[Processing Rewards...]

Dante waited for the system to dump a massive pile of gold or another piece of high-tier gear into his lap.

Instead, the City Lord stood up from his throne.

The massive NPC walked down the red carpet and stopped directly in front of Dante.

He didn’t pull a weapon or a bag of coins from his armor.

He reached into his belt and pulled out a tightly rolled black parchment sealed with a glowing red emblem.

"Your strength is absolute, Champion," the City Lord said. His voice dropped the public majestic echo and turned incredibly serious.

"But raw strength alone cannot unseal the darkness that threatens this sector. I require your discretion."

The City Lord held out the black scroll.

"The Beast King was merely a symptom of a deeper infection," the City Lord explained.

"A containment zone has failed. The Sunken Necropolis of Vane, an ancient crypt submerged beneath a toxic lake in the eastern swamps, is actively emitting pulses of necrotic energy."

"It is an SSS-Rank threat. If it is not resealed, the corruption will eventually spread to Ironhold and mutate the local wildlife."

Dante looked at the black scroll.

[Hidden Quest Triggered: The Sunken Necropolis]

[Classification: SSS-Rank (Containment)]

[Objective: Enter the Sunken Necropolis of Vane and neutralize the source of the necrotic corruption.]

[Warning: The entrance mechanism of the crypt requires three distinct mana signatures to unlock. This quest strictly requires a 3-person party. Solo entry is prohibited by systemic locks.]

Dante stared at the warning text.

"A strict three-person party," Dante read aloud. "I do not do parties. I run solo."

"The system seals on the Necropolis require synchronized mana inputs to bypass," the City Lord explained smoothly.

"You cannot force the doors open with raw physical damage no matter how absolute your blade is. You must find two allies."

Dante crossed his arms.

The Zenith Protocol was actively forcing him to engage with other players.

It knew his solo progression was completely unbalanced, so it was locking high-tier progression behind mandatory cooperative mechanics.

"Fine," Dante sighed and took the black scroll. "I will find a group."

"I grant you these," the City Lord said. He handed Dante three small glowing blue crystals.

"Emergency teleportation talismans. The Necropolis is unpredictable, and the necrotic rot is lethal. If the corruption overwhelms your party, crush these. They will instantly extract you back to Ironhold. Do not hesitate to use them."

Dante pocketed the talismans.

He didn’t plan on running away, but a free extraction tool was always useful.

He turned and walked out of the Keep.

He needed a party of three.

He already had one candidate. Lila was an Astral Arcanist possessing instant-cast massive burst-damage gravity magic.

She was incredibly strong, and he had just equipped her with endgame armor. She would be his DPS support.

But he needed a third.

Dante opened his system interface and scrolled through the localized leaderboards as he walked down the steps of the Keep.

He needed a tank.

Someone who could soak damage while he set up his Zenith-tier executions, and someone who wouldn’t try to stab him in the back for the boss loot.

As he scanned the list, his regional chat pinged with a massive localized alert.

It wasn’t a system announcement. It was player-generated intel.

[Regional Chat - ScoutMaster: MASSIVE MOBILIZATION! The Black Dragon Syndicate, Vanguard’s Legacy, and the Apex Coalition are all marching on the eastern swamps! They are not fighting each other! They have formed a temporary alliance!]

Dante stopped walking.

The three biggest and most hostile guilds on the server, the ones he had systematically humiliated, locked down, and robbed had put aside their national rivalries to form a massive siege army.

And they were all converging on the exact location of his new SSS-Rank quest.

"Well," Dante murmured. A cold smile touched his lips. "It looks like I will not have to look far for a fight."