"Halt!" the guard by the huge gate shouted. Donned in a gray armor and helmet, the guard held a polearm that was nearly two meters long as he stared at the person walking at the front.
"State your name!"
"Hmm?" the guy in the blood-smeared chainmail glanced at the guard as a status window appeared in front of him.
____________________
[Camelot Knight]
Level: 180
Health: 175,500/175,500
____________________
'Just a mere nameless NPC...' he thought as he read the status window.
As someone who had conquered multiple VRMMO games and remained unrivaled throughout those times, the experience and game sense he possessed was vastly superior compared to your average lad.
'It's a fact that anything or anyone, be they an NPC or a monster if they were without a name or a title, then they were but expendable characters in the game.
His eyes full of indifference, he replied. "I'm Handsome Lunatic. The one who will stand at the top of this world."
*****
Currently, within the Devilwood Forest, a group of six people could be seen fighting a monster that resembled an infamous demon talked about in myths and fables.
Boom!
Hup—
Sky grunted as he was launched into the air due to the shockwave from the Demon Spawn's stomp.
He somersaulted and landed beside a beauty whose appearance could be said to be '
"It's a bit stronger than the one I killed previously," he said.
Queen nodded as she clenched her iron spear. "It's a few levels above the one you slew earlier."
Her beautiful face was serious at this moment. She glanced at her status and saw a few system messages about her stats reduction and debuffs.
"With you here, it's doable," Spectre said as his figure turned blurry. He stepped into the darkness which the surrounding was covered in and disappeared.
It was the assassin and other such class' most important skill—Stealth.
As his figure blended in the darkness, Salvator raised his round shield which shone with a white luster and dashed towards the Demon Spawn.
"Be sure not to get hit if possible." Sky warned.
The attack power of that monster was no joke.
He didn't even know if that guy could survive a single attack from the Demon Spawn.
Salvator didn't say anything but he nodded his head.
"Provoke!" he roared as he activated a taunt-skill, inciting the monster's aggro for a few moments.
"Nice one!" yelled Kyle as he lowered his body and tightened his grip on his greatsword.
In less than a second, his weapon started glowing as he struck the Demon Spawn.
[You have dealt 80 damage to the target!]
"Damn, so weak," he grumbled when he saw his puny two-digit damage.
"Of course it's weak!" smirked Su Yan as her mouth moved, seeming to chant a spell while holding her wooden staff forward. "Calling the elementals of flame—Fireball!"
A second later, a small crimson-colored magic formation appeared at the front of her staff as a fire was launched from within.
[You have dealt 149 damage to the target!]
She didn't let up as she conjured multiple magic attacks, albeit all of them basic.
[You have dealt 92 damage to the target!]
[You have dealt 110 damage to the target!]
[You have dealt 105 damage to the target!]
"Tsk." Kyle clicked his tongue as he saw the red-colored numbers appear above the Demon Spawn. "A magician's DPS is really something else, putting all your stat points into a single stat, how envious."
"Hmph." Su Yan only smirked in response.
"Less talking more fighting," Queen said as she smashed her spear at the monster.
The sight of the valiant beauty was simply astonishing.
Roar!!!!
Right then, the enraged Demon Spawn roared as it suddenly pointed its claws at Salvator. Its claws turned jet-black, darker than night itself.
A stream of black smoke suddenly revolved at the monster's claws.
Seeing this, Sky's expression changed as he dashed forward, his speed incredibly swift. "Careful! It's using a curse-skill!"
Since he had fought and beat a Demon Spawn earlier, he had also experienced its skills firsthand.
'They were no joke.'
Therefore, when he saw the demon's actions, he instantly knew that it was casting a skill.
It was a debuff that would reduce one's stats and movement speed by 30% while draining one's health by 800 damage every second.
And the skill's duration was 5-minutes long!
It was a good thing that the Demon Spawn casted it when it was on the brink of death.
Otherwise, he would've died from the DoT alone since the curse-skill couldn't be dodged without special items or skills that could purify such debuffs.
Therefore, when he saw the monster cast the skill on Salvator, he swiftly warned the guy. Since Salvator's level was only a third of his own level, the man would instantly die once he gets cursed.
Salvator heard his words as he felt a chill run down his spine. He didn't hesitate one bit and immediately withdrew.
Kraaaa!!
The demon didn't seem to agree as it howled.
However, right before it released its skill, Sky appeared under its massive figure and used [Chop] towards the monster's wrist.
His high strength stat proved itself useful as his weapon shone with blue light, hacking the demon's flesh.
[You have dealt 1,202 damage to the target!]
[You have interrupted the target's skill.]
Roarrrrrrrr!!!!
The Demon spawn howled in rage as it swung at Sky.
One could hear the wind being sliced.
However, just then, a blurry figure suddenly appeared behind the monster.
It was Spectre!
The assassin jumped and used one of his arms to wrap around the demon's neck, while the other came towards the demon's right eye.
He caught the demon off-guard as his dagger stabbed its target.
[Critical hit!]
[You have dealt 200 damage to the target!]
Spectre plunged his weapon deeper as he climbed the demon's shoulder who cried in pain.
He then pulled his dagger out and stabbed its other eye before leaping down, leaving his weapon embedded in the demon's eye.
His figure once more disappeared as he stepped in the darkness, suggesting his Stealth's cooldown was finished.
His timing, decision making, and control of his skills were impeccable!
Seeing this, Sky smiled and unleashed an onslaught of slashes at the Demon Spawn.
The others followed suit and used their available skills as they relentlessly attacked.
Just like this, time passed and the Demon Spawn's health dwindled, while the team's synergy increased.
*****
[The enemy has been slain!]
[You have received 100 World Reputation and +1 Fighting Spirit for your Combat Achievement!]
[All stats +1.]
[You have received 413,828 experience points.]
[Your level has risen.]
[Your level has risen.]
[Your level has risen.]
[Your level...]
[Your...]
[...]
[...]
[You have obtained: Intermediate Potion x2.]
[You have obtained: Demon Spawn's Meat.]
[You have obtained...]
[You have...]
[You...]
[...]
[...]
"Finally." Sky sighed in relief as he glanced at the Demon Spawn's corpse before looking at his status window.
While he considered the fight to be 'easy', the monster's giant health pool was a different matter altogether.
Sure none of its attacks could hit him since he could read the demon's attack pattern through its minute body movement allowing him to dodge with ease, however, he had still suffered under the level suppression and stats reduction, which led to his decreased DPS.
Add that to the Demon Spawn's health, it was enough to give Sky a headache.
The fight was too long and too stale!
____________________
[STATUS]
Name: Sky
Level: 46
Class: None
World Reputation: 1,510
Health: 2,175/2,175 Mana: 500/500
• Strength: 251 (+7) • Vitality: 73
• Agility: 213(+7) • Intelligence: 58 (+15)
• Dexterity: 73 • Fortitude: 58
• Comprehension: 22 • Luck: 10 (+15)
• Fighting Spirit: 11
Stat points: 130
-----
Skills:
[Intermediate Sword Mastery] (Lv. 4)
[Skeleton Summoning] (Lv. 2)
[Chop] (Lv. 2)
____________________
He smiled at the free stat points. But this time, he didn't use all of them.
"Add 30 stat points into Strength and Agility."
'Since I have teammates now, I won't have to solo and keep using all the free stat points.' he thought.
Let's save them for a rainy day.
[Strength stat has increased by 30 points.]
[Agility stat has increased by 30 points.]
____________________
[STATUS]
Name: Sky
Level: 46
Class: None
World Reputation: 1,510
Health: 2,175/2,175 Mana: 500/500
• Strength: 281 (+7) • Vitality: 73
• Agility: 243(+7) • Intelligence: 58 (+15)
• Dexterity: 73 • Fortitude: 58
• Comprehension: 22 • Luck: 10 (+15)
• Fighting Spirit: 11
Stat points: 70
-----
Skills:
[Intermediate Sword Mastery] (Lv. 4)
[Skeleton Summoning] (Lv. 2)
[Chop] (Lv. 2)
____________________
Meanwhile, while he allocated his points into the two stats, Queen and the others had dazed expressions.
The reason for this was the continuous notification windows that appeared in their vision. They didn't seem to end as they kept popping up!
Kyle sucked in a cold breath seeing them. He then suddenly laughed like a madman.
"Hahahahahahahahaha! Power!" he shouted as he raised his fists while tears streamed down his eyes. "This is what I'm talking about!"
'Why's he laughing and crying at the same time?' Sky thought, confused.
Of course, he didn't know the difficulty of raising one's level. He didn't know how much difficulty Kyle had experienced just to reach Level 11.
And now, after just a single battle, his level suddenly soared rapidly, as if on steroids.
While they didn't overreact like Kyle, Queen and the others were also giddy at this moment.
How could they not be happy when they saw their experience bars filling up continuously without stop.
"Damn it, I had to travel around EverGuard, talk to hundreds of NPCs, and do all kinds of things just to reach Level 11..." Kyle choked exaggeratedly. "Who knew I could level up this fast just by killing a monster..."
His teary eyes then shifted towards Sky as he dove towards him.
Sky: "...?!"
"Big brother!" he cried as he grabbed Sky's leg. "Handsome big bro!