Dexter wanted to hug her, but Stella raised her hand in expectation.
"Where's my staff?" she asked, pouting.
"Oh... yeah, right. I almost forgot."
Dexter pulled a staff from his inventory — it resembled a hammer with an elongated handle, nearly twice Stella's height. The weight distribution was intentionally unbalanced, making it function more as a blunt weapon than a traditional holy staff. Fortunately, he'd crafted those weight-mitigating gloves; otherwise, Stella wouldn't have been able to lift it.
Modeled after a holy staff, it enhanced healing spells while converting 30% of damage dealt into health regeneration.
"What's it called?"
"I named it the Holy Bonk Staff."
"That's... weird..." Stella blushed at the name. In their native language, "bonk" meant... something embarrassing.
…
Outside the Crimson Tree Zone, players slaughtered each other relentlessly. The war between Limitless Alliance and the attacking guilds had transformed when Dexter suicided in their midst — now the battle raged over the loot beside his corpse.
"NO! IT'S JUST A CIGARETTE! BELIEVE ME!"
Any player who looted Dexter's body immediately became the target of every spell, dying instantly. Each resurrection only brought another swift execution. No faction would back down — all were desperate to claim the contents of that loot bag.
The items that shouldn't exist in Eldrion.
Unbeknownst to them, it truly was just a pack of rolled dry leaves and nothing more. Yet nobody believed it.
Skeletal remains piled up alongside their discarded loot bags. As more guilds joined the fray, even Limitless Alliance questioned whether to continue fighting or let the newcomers tear each other apart — but greed proved too powerful a motivator.
...
Weeks after Dexter's suicide in the Crimson Tree Zone, the war over his mundane dry leaf pack persisted until nearly every guild across Eldrion — whether in the Warring Kingdoms or Uncharted Zones — had heard of the legendary loot.
Yet Dexter and Stella remained blissfully unaware of the chaos unfolding in Eldrion.
Stella proudly displayed her new equipment through Sunscar Kingdom's streets, drawing mesmerized stares from merchants and adventurers alike.
"D-Dexter... everyone keeps staring at me..."
"Oh yeah? But you're blushing... I can't tell if you're enjoying it or not."
"Of course I'm enjoying it..."
Dexter stopped mid-step, studying Stella's flushed face.
"The attention or the equipment?"
"O-of course the equipment!"
With a playful smile, Dexter ruffled her hair.
"I know... Just teasing you. Come on, let's head to the Arena — it'll help you practice combat against people."
They proceeded to the southwestern district where a massive coliseum stood. Though crowd roars and cheers echoed from within, all the merchants and adventurers outside appeared completely unfazed — seasoned spectators accustomed to the constant spectacle.
Stella and Dexter spent almost the entire morning waiting in a long queue. Fortunately, Stella was always prepared — her bag perpetually stuffed with food rather than spare equipment.
When they finally reached the front, Dexter addressed the ticket clerk:
"Excuse me, what do we need to do to join the Arena? Are there any requirements?"
The clerk eyed Dexter appraisingly. Thankfully, Dexter had switched his bracers for a cloak and staff, presenting himself as a respectable mage rather than his infamous loincloth-clad persona.
"There are two Arena types," the clerk explained. "The Face-Off is fatality-free, ideal for solo participants. For party combat, we have the Obsidian League — fatal encounters where death is permanent. That offers 2v2, 3v3, and 5v5 matches exclusively."
"If you want to join Face-Off, simply respond to the arena announcer's call — it's first come, first served. For the Obsidian League, I'll need your names, your team name, and which match type you wish to enter: 2v2, 3v3, or 5v5."
Dexter rubbed his chin, weighing their options. Face-Off would keep Stella safe with its no-fatality rules, but Obsidian League's 2v2 would give her real combat experience — though it would require his participation too.
'Well... I think 2v2 should be fine. If push comes to shove, I can protect her while analyzing her fighting style for future battles,' he reasoned.
"We'll join the Obsidian League," Dexter declared. "I'm DND, she's LunaticPrincess... and our team name is IBonkSheBonk."
"Wh-what? No! Change it to something clearer, Dex!" Stella urged.
"Nope... it's perfect. I don't see any problem — you bonk, I bonk. Simple as that."
The clerk stared at them bewildered but reluctantly recorded the names Dexter provided. Afterwards, he handed them complimentary tickets to watch the morning matches before their scheduled afternoon battle.
The interior of the coliseum was massive. During the ongoing Face-Off event, a leather-armored man wielding a crossbow traded projectiles with a cloth-clad woman hurling ice orbs.
Stella's mouth hung open in awe, completely captivated by the spectacle.
"Wow! Dex! Look! Can I fight like that someday?" She pointed excitedly at the ice mage.
Dexter shook his head.
"Probably not. Your fighting style's too direct. You should focus on mastering warrior techniques, not magic."
"But you gave me this weird-looking staff... Will it actually help me fight enemies?"
Dexter simply smiled, offering no explanation.
The specialized equipment he'd crafted for Stella was so unconventional that Eldrion players would struggle to identify its skills. While the items technically existed in-game, Dexter had modified their effects — maintaining familiar animations but producing completely different results.
Especially the Holy Bonk Staff. Designed as an elongated, slim hammer yet classified as a Holy Staff, it shattered expectations. No one would suspect the blonde girl smashing skulls was actually their party's healer.
"Of course it will help you... Trust me. You could take them all alone — it's just two-versus-two. Nobody will spam spells at you like they did to me in those damned Uncharted Zones when I was killing those fu—"
Stella instantly pinched his cheeks and silenced him with a kiss.
"I said no cursing around me..." she murmured against his lips.
Stella's small gesture didn't escape the crowd's notice. Though Dexter shivered, it wasn't from her sudden kiss — but from the hundred male gazes now drilling into him.
"YOU! GET DOWN HERE! FACE-OFF RIGHT NOW!"
The chant spread like wildfire:
"FACE-OFF! FACE-OFF! FACE-OFF!"
For the first time in Sunscar Kingdom's coliseum history, every spectator united for a single purpose: to destroy the man who'd claimed their dream girl.