Needing time to recover his mana and stamina, Marcus had retreated from the free for all brawl of monsters by returning to his ghost form. Taking a few moments to examine the battlefield Marcus could see that thousands of monsters were already lying on the floor dead a large number of them killed by himself.
'Okay, I have managed to get this far and in about three minutes I should be ready to fight again but for now I should spend some of my skill and stat points so I can come back even stronger.'
'Status'
Name: Marcus Ferrous
Age: 28
Race: Unbound Ghost
Level: 21
HP: 980/980 (True Value 1070)
MP: 970/970
Status Condition: Soul Damage
STR: – (+83)
AGL: 82
VIT: – (+83)
INT: 97
SPR: 107 (-9)
Stat Points: 0
Skill Points: 4
Unique Skills: Personal Status, #######, Solid Soul
Skills: Small Item Box, Lesser Regeneration Lvl 1, Digging Lvl 1, Fighting Lvl 3, Magic Circulation Lvl 3, Iron Magic Lvl 4, Disassembly Lvl 3, Stealth Lvl 2, Lightning Magic Lvl 3, Creature Appraisal Lvl 3, Fire Magic Lvl 1, Danger Sense Lvl 3, Darkvision Lvl 3, Scythemanship, Superior Lvl 4, Healing Magic Lvl 1, Mana Regeneration Lvl 3, Speed Burst Lvl 2, Mana Body Lvl 2, Powerful Slash Lvl 2, Physical Resistance Lvl 2, Heighten Spells Lvl 1
Blessing of Iron
Race Abilities: Invisible, Ethereal, Chill Zone, Float, Possession (Limited), Undying
Possessed Race abilities:
Specter Powers: Ghost Sounds, Spectral Arm
'There we go, reaching level twenty-one was a huge milestone since it means the skill and stat points I get at every level has doubled, but skills are starting to get more expensive to upgrade. I still have few skill points, but I think I should save them just in case. Now then, it is time to get back to it.'
With his status sorted out and upgraded Marcus dropped back down into the fray ready to fight once more.
Looking around Marcus identified a dangerous opponent, a massive slime that was running through the other monsters and dissolving them with its acid body. Wanting to get rid of this major threat since it was already level twenty-three, Marcus charged forward and let of six incredibly fast scythe slashes slicing through the slime.
Unfortunately, each of his slashes did barley any damage, and the slime noticing the threat lunged its body towards Marcus.
Marcus using his speed burst quickly moved away, left a fire shot in his place, and watched as the flames boiled and evaporated some of the slime. However, he noticed that the slime quickly recovered the mass that he had just burned away.
'Figures, slimes are always known for their recovery speed. I am going to need to hit it with a bunch of damage at once, so this is the perfect opportunity to try out my new spell.'
Dodging another one of the slime's body slams Marcus began spinning his arm around as rings of electricity started to form before he shot them off towards the slime. When the rings connected with the slimes body they wrapped around and restrained it while constantly shocking it.
Having his new lightning bind spell shocking and restraining the slime Marcus moved in with his searing weapon enchanted scythe in one hand and a flame blade in the other. Slashing and stabbing the slime as fast as he could, the thing's entire body began to boil and steam from the massive amount of heat Marcus' attacks were generating.
Soon the slime's entire body began to shake and, his danger sense blaring louder than it had in a long time Marcus stored his scythe and deactivated his solid soul. With not even a millisecond to spare, the three seconds it takes for Marcus to go from solid to ethereal was all he had before the slime exploded, dousing a massive area in its acid.
'That was close it nearly dissolved me there, but it looks like that move killed it so that is one massive threat beaten. If it were not for me that slime may have been the ultimate winner since most monsters only have physical attacks. Now where to next, should I seek out the other top contenders or fight some more fodder to level up. That was a pretty intense fight so I think I will alternate between strong foes and fodder monsters each time I level up.'
With a new strategy, Marcus went to an area where a group of weaker monsters none being over level twenty were currently fighting, and joined the fray. Swinging his scythe around in circular motions slowly increasing his centrifugal force Marcus tore through dozens of monsters who were unable to resist his veracious offense.
After killing hundreds of monsters this way, Marcus leveled up to twenty-two and jumped out of the fray going back into his ghost form to safely assign his new stat points. Going with ten to spirt and intelligence, six to both vitality, and strength and eight to agility Marcus, was ready to fight once more.
'Hm, who should I go for now, there are still dozens of strong monsters around that I could consider front runners, but which one should I fight first. The strongest creature I can see is that huge level twenty-five octopus, but it is currently engaged with another strong monster, and I do not want to fight both of them at once. Ah, that one will do, a level twenty-four ogre that is wearing a crown and he appears to even have a magic great sword.'
His next target chosen Marcus floated right above the ogre's head before he resolidified and dropped down swinging his scythe. Casting his searing weapon spell as well as activating his powerful slash skill, Marcus was certain that he would be able to land a fatal blow.
However, the ogre feeling its life in danger, quickly swung its great sword towards the sky. When the two weapons met the frosty aura from the ogre's great sword and the flames surrounding Marcus' scythe created a mist as the two weapons fought for dominance.
Surprisingly, it was Marcus who lost out, as the ice enchantment on the great sword overpowered his searing weapon spell. Acting quickly Marcus kicked away as ice had started to form over his hands. Landing on the ground a few feet away from the ogre, the monster glared at Marcus the being that dared to challenge it.
Full of rage the ogre rushed towards Marcus swinging its massive sword around in wide arcs. As Marcus avoided each powerful blow the ogre's fury continued to intensify and its attacks became even more clumsy.
'Even with its impressive weapon it is still just a big dumb brute swinging its sword around like a club. While this may be effective against other unintelligent monsters, he is never going to hit me with those attacks.'
While Marcus was thinking about the lack of skill the ogre had with its sword and evading each of its strikes, the ogre had become completely livid. Fueled only by anger the ogre started swing its sword down like a hammer trying to squash Marcus like he was playing a game of whack-a-mole. With each of the massive strikes the ogre unleashed it left a glaring opening which Marcus exploited. Soon the ogre was riddled with cuts and punctures as blood flooded down its body.
Having lost a massive amount of blood the ogre dropped its sword and fell to it knees no longer able to move. Bringing his scythe around in one big arc Marcus detached the ogres head from its body.
Having defeated another top contender Marcus searched out for another group of weak monsters, quickly picking them off and continuing his strategy.
…
After over a day of fighting there were only three monsters left, Marcus, the massive octopus, and a three headed hydra. Marcus had just finished off his previous opponent giving him enough experience to reach level twenty-four. Exhausted from his nonstop battling Marcus sat down and watched the battle between the hydra and octopus, waiting to see which one would be his final opponent.