MMORPG : Ancient WORLD

"Slavik Makarov, it\'s been a long time since I last heard that name," Magnus said with a slight chuckle.

"The Ivanovich family\'s kidnapping of Venedikt Makarov was entirely unexpected because, to the world, Slavik Makarov is long dead, and only a selected few, even in my family, know that he lives,"

"But I am not surprised you know about him, given what I believe your background to be," Magnus added, his words carrying an ambiguous weight.

"As for Venedikt, you don\'t have to worry about his safety as I have sent our best men to finish the job as quickly as possible and rescue him to safety,"

"I will also be careful that my plans do not affect the two brothers from now on since they seemed to hold great value for you to come looking for me in such an open manner," Magnus said with a calm and friendly smile, not revealing any hidden intent.

\'So he is on to us, but the question is how much does he know?\' Alex thought, not needing confirmation to realize that Magnus suspected, if not knew with near serenity, that they were associated with the organization and what roles they played.

While at the moment, they were protected because of Zero, their connection to the organization was now known to one of the worst individuals, and if he poked around, his identity as a Ruler would also come to light sooner or later.

Alex knew that his identity was very much safe for the time being because he had registered it as Reaper long ago and had left a good enough trail that no one would be able to link him to his real self.

Alex had made sure that both Venedikt and Andrei had little to no past, and their personas and characters had different presences, with complete backgrounds for the former.

However, If someone knew them in the real world and could dig out their record in the ancient world, while it would not be enough to confirm their connection to their personas, it would still be good enough to suspect it with it having more chances of being correct than wrong.

\'It was bound to happen sooner or later, so now we just need to be careful, and everything will turn out fine,\' Alex thought, feeling much more relaxed than he expected he would at finding himself in trouble.

Alex knew that sooner or later, someone would slip, and their identity would be revealed, and while it would be bad, it would not mean the end of them.

While it was not ideal that Magnus was on to Venedikt and Andrei, it did not really matter since, in the best-case scenario, they could come to an agreement, and in the worst, Alex could just use his influence to gain protection for everyone.

Alex also understood that Magnus knew better than to antagonize the organization, knowing they had the backing of someone powerful, so his only choice would be to secure the best benefits he could using his advantage.

"I am not worried about their safety since I acquired protection for them and many others who showed value months ago," Alex said, knowing it was best to play brave than dumb in their situation.

Alex knew that since they were now in the limelight and would be getting watched if they were not already being watched, it would not be hard to figure out that all three of them had entered the ancestral realm because of their long absence and quick growth.

"I wonder how did you do that?" Magnus said, looking genuinely surprised.

"I gave up the formula of Mystium Ore," Alex said, intentionally giving up the information that he could have kept a secret.

Alex could have kept his reasoning of giving up the legendary Ore a secret because Zero would never reveal it, but he did reveal it to tell Magnus that he had the means of protection and would not shy away from using them.

"Now that this minor issue is resolved, let\'s discuss business," Alex said, and after a short pause, he continued.

"I wish to meet with Slavik Makarov," Alex said, his mind already calculating what he would offer in exchange.

Alex had come prepared with a list of valuable resources, including elemental chambers, instance dungeons, mythic quest lines, and more.

However, now that he was dealing with Magnus, he had another option, something the other party had expressed a keen interest in during their last meeting.

"If you wish to learn whether he could be used to sway your associate and cause you trouble, then I can answer that for free, but if you wish to own him, then we can discuss a price," Magnus said, his eyes gleaming with a mixture of amusement and calculation.

"If you are concerned that I will use their father to sway their loyalty, rest assured, I have no such plans."

"As for meeting Slavik Makarov, I can arrange it, but you would not learn anything of use from him because he died long ago."

"Now, the man is no more than an empty husk, an individual with a singular purpose, and that is to serve," Magnus said, and seeing Alex\'s questioning gaze, he continued,

"It was three years ago when my father told me about the man who was my teacher, my guardian, my one true friend for nearly a quarter of my life, and I can still remember that day very clearly because it was on that day he took him from me," Magnus said, a tinge of sadness evident in his voice.

"Slavik Makarov\'s name was left behind with his old life, and he was given a new identity of Nachtmahr, meaning Nightmare or the Terror of Night in old German."

"Slavik is a trained killer, a person sent to do the dirty work of Russia, and he was the best at it with none like him, so when the world changed, it was decided that he was no longer needed,"

"He was meant to die, and with his death, his family was supposed to be given the honor they deserved for his faithful work for the country of Russia."

"However, Slavik knew that if he died, sooner or later, his family would be killed by the enemies he had made, giants he had challenged for the sake of Russia."

"As much as he loved his country, he knew those in power would never spare the funds needed to protect his family for life."

"So he made a deal with my family, who promised to protect his family in exchange for his life, but to do so, he had to have his normal memories wiped clean, so no memories of the family he was willing to lay down his life to protect," Magnus explained, his voice tinged with a mix of admiration and pity.

"Nachtmahr had his memories erased once more since the first time, so at the moment, he only has memories of the past three years,"

"So, at this moment, Nachtmahr is no more than a cruel weapon with no emotions, a thing that only knows how to kill and do the bidding of his master," Magnus said, the calm and confident smile returning to his face, and with it, the mix of emotions in his voice were also gone.

Alex felt gutted knowing the story made too much sense to be a lie, and unless Sir Slavik held no love for his family, the scenario fitted his life perfectly.

"While his memories could be restored, doing so would mean his death, as he knows too much sensitive intel."

"However, if you buy him from me, you could choose to restore his memories and return him to his family, who may or may not want him back, or simply kill him to eliminate a loose end," Magnus said, his tone matter-of-fact yet charged with underlying tension.

\'This situation is getting more and more troublesome to deal with,\' Alex thought, his mind going through the available choices and their outcomes.

Alex was not worried that his brothers would betray him over their father even if he had more tragic circumstances, so the choice was between leaving Sir Slavik to his grim fate or giving him a new life.

The first choice, albeit cruel, was the wise one since it eliminated the possibility of Sir Slavik being used to leverage against him, but the second choice was something that Alex felt he should do as their brother.

"It looks like you are in luck. Nachtmahr is currently on a job, so let me show him to you in action." Magnus said, a cold smile playing on his lips.