CHAPTER TWO: ROMAN EMPIRE

"So let me get this straight you are not an NPC?" I asked the strange warrior that sat before me at the town's pub house. After spending what seemed to be an hour teaching my newly made friend how to revive a player, I decided to take him back to the town called Argo to try and see if a questline would pop up. To my disappointment, nothing appeared. Now I'm left sitting at a pub house watching the man called Spartacus chug down his fifth cup of wine.

"Another!" Spartacus shouted while slamming his cup against the table.

"Yeah, how about no," I replied, shielding his cup from the waiter's pitcher. The waiter instantly understood the message I was trying to give and proceeded to help the next table. "You don't have a player icon, you're not an enemy and you're not an NPC. Who are you?" Spartacus chuckled slightly as he wiped the residue of wine that was left on his beard.

"You are quite the funny man. I believe I told you. I am Spartacus Champion of the Arena, the slayer of titans," Spartacus replied proudly.

"I get that much, what I want to know is how did you get in here?" Spartacus gave a confounded look as he began casting his gaze at the entrance of the pub.

"I believe through the front door."

"No, I'm not talking about the pub house! How did you get in the game?"

"Game?" Spartacus raised his right eyebrow while leaning back against his chair. "What sort of game are you playing?"

"Um…Death Gaze Online. The latest and potentially greatest virtual MMO of all times," I responded briefly. I watched as Spartacus narrowed his eyes while leaning forward toward me.

"What is an M…M…O?" He asked with the smell of wine and lord knows what else escaping his breath. I nearly vomited the moment the stench hit my nostrils. I quickly leaned back away from him with disgust and disappointment. I wasn't getting anywhere with just talking to him.

Before I could answer his question, a loud commotion had occurred just outside the pub house. I could see NPCs scurrying away from the town's center alerting everyone to run for their lives. What is going on? I thought while rising to my feet.

"It sounds like trouble, we should check it out," said Spartacus. Finally, something we both can agree on. We rushed outside to see a player being assaulted by a group of Roman men and the one leading the group was none other than Gaius Julius Caesar. We watched as the young male player began crawling away from the approaching army begging for mercy while staring into the face of the iron-clad general.

Caesar stood with his hands behind him. His soldiers had stood beside him with long javelins that weren't recognized in the game's weapons catalog. They did, however, hold a strange glow almost identical to Spartacus's blade.

"It…it cannot be…" said Spartacus suddenly. I shifted my attention to the now sober gladiator to see his hands fidgeting slightly and his eyes filled with anger. Did Caesar arrive here the same way Spartacus did? Are there more individuals like them out there? Is this all part of the game? So many questions and no time for answers.

My thoughts were instantly pulled away when I heard the low groan from the player who received a javelin to the chest. His avatar began dissolving into data instead of the usual ephemeral ghost rising from his corpse. "That's definitely not part of the game," I stated as the whole surrounding area let out a massive gasp which turned into several shrieks.

"Let this be a lesson to you all, if I command you to kneel you shall do so accordingly," Caesar ordered as he watched the chaos ensue amongst the people. He turned to see Spartacus and me standing before him and began chuckling slightly to himself.

"What's going on, the town is supposed to be a safe zone there's no way enemies should be able to get in let alone attack us," I said while faltering back slowly. "And why didn't that player respawn he just vanished into data and that was it. Did he log out?"

"Koichi, ready yourself. You take care of his men I'll handle Caesar," said Spartacus as he unsheathed both of his blades and spun them within his hands.

"His men?" I questioned. I glanced over to see their levels, but nothing was shown. The soldiers began approaching us with their javelins facing forward. I took the liberty to use one of the smoke bombs that I received from the preorder and flung it at our feet. The smoke blinded the Romans as I quickly grabbed Spartacus by the arm and pulled him away from the incoming battle.

We managed to conceal ourselves within the shadows, one of the main abilities I have as an assassin. Much to Spartacus's dismay, we kept quiet and hid until the coast was finally clear. I quickly disengaged my ability allowing us to appear in the middle of the alley next to the pub house.

"What did you do, he was right there, he was mine!" Spartacus shouted.

"Look I know you think you're a total badass because you took down that level 10 monster but there's no way we could've taken on that army alone. Our only choice was to run away!" I retorted hoping he would listen to reason.

"Fine, so what now!?"

"That's a good question…" I began to ponder on what to do. Should I send out a request for help? Perhaps create a party with the players that are still in town. One thing was for certain, Gaius needed to be stopped. I quickly went into my social chat and sent out an alert to the surrounding area informing them that an enemy had infiltrated a safe zone.

I then shifted my gaze toward Spartacus who was still teeming with anger, "if we're going to do this," I said finally, grasping his attention for the moment "we gotta be smart about it."

"Agreed, I'll follow your lead little man, you know this world more than I," said Spartacus.

He really just called me a little man I thought with narrowed eyes. I shook off his comment and beckoned him to follow with my right hand. We stuck to the shadows as we followed the Romans into the marketplace. There we could hear players discussing the Roman's presence amongst themselves as if it was some type of event.

Their march suddenly came to a stop as Gaius turned to face another player who was completely oblivious to what was occurring. "You there, by chance have you seen a Thracian accompanied by a young boy dressed as a common rogue?"

"Dude I have no idea what you are talking about man," said the player.

"Dude…? I am not your Dude I am Gaius Julius Caesar!" Gaius retorted. He regained his composure and stared down at the player. "Now bow to me."

"Dude I ain't bowing to nobody," said the player while sharing glances with his fellow party.

"Very well then," Gaius replied, signaling for his men to strike down the player instantly. His avatar began to disintegrate into data the moment Gaius's men Javelin pierced the chest of the player. The rest of his party was left in shock as they clenched their weapons tightly while watching their teammate vanish before them.

"Did he respawn?" The mage of the group asked.

"I don't think so. He's not coming up on my HUD," said the group's thief.

"Now then I sure hope the rest of you learn from your friends' mistakes," said Gaius as he turned to face the three remaining party members. "Now kneel!"

"Do not bend the knee!" The voice of Spartacus shouted from beside me on the roof of a nearby shop. We stared down at Gaius and his men with anger in our eyes. That was the second player we watched get taken out by these historical figures and we did not want to witness a third.

"Ah, the Thracian dog decides to reveal himself," said Gaius. The party members quickly retreated away from the scene while the remaining crowd began to falter back slightly.

Did they not receive my message before? I thought to myself. I could feel the cold sweat dripping down the side of my cheek as I weighed the odds of us coming out of this situation alive.

"There's too many of them, and no one seems to be willing to fight…" I said softly while clenching the blade that was sheathed behind me. "What should we do?"

"We fight…" Spartacus replied. He leaped off the roof and I followed him soon after. "Gaius, I shall have words!"

"It's too late for words Thracian, it's time for you to pay for your crimes. Escaping to such a desolate place will not prevent your demise. The die is cast," said Gaius. He reached for his sword and unsheathed it slowly. A slight grimace appeared upon his face as he directed the blade towards us, signaling to his men to take charge. The Romans began to march steadfastly towards us with their shields held before them and their Javelins directed at us.

"Not so fast!" A voice called out from the crowd, halting the Romans immediately. I searched through my HUD display to see a level seven swordsman making his way through the crowd and into the center of the battlefield "I'm not sure who or what you are but this place is meant for players. Enemies are not welcome here." The swordsman had a red headband covering his forehead and was dressed in light armor composed of black and red colors. His sword was sheathed at the waist and his hair was spiky blonde. He held a confident smirk on his face as he unsheathed his sword and spun it within his right hand.

"Titus…" I said softly while reading the player's handle name.

"I got your message," Titus responded while glancing back. "It looks like everyone else is low-level and is too scared to stand up and fight. Let's party up and watch each other's backs!" I nodded my head in agreement as I sent the request. Titus accepted instantly allowing his vitals to appear on my HUD.

"Let me join as well!" A female voice called out causing both Titus and I to share glances amongst ourselves. The girl rushed over towards us with her wooden staff in hand and her white hood bouncing behind her. Once she reached us, she placed his hands on her knees and began panting heavily. I instantly recognized her the moment I saw her blonde pigtails and blue eyes. She was the girl I had saved earlier from that event.

"It's…it's you…" I said immediately. I noticed her handle was named Kasumi, she was a white mage class level 5.

"You're the boy that saved me from that event monster," the girl stated. She bowed her head slightly while placing her hands before her. "I'm sorry I ran; I didn't want to lose my first life so soon in the game."

"Neither did I…" I replied with narrowed eyes. I sent the request for the party to Kasumi and the three of us along with Spartacus prepared ourselves for the oncoming onslaught of Gaius Julius Caesar.