Ghoul Brawler(Rare Elite)
LVL: 35
HP: 10200
Skills: (Savage Charge) (Skull Crusher) (Berserk) (Ground Pounder)
Description: A proud Knight that got corrupted with darkness through unimaginable pain turned into a monster that is not dead or alive
'let's fight him head-on to evaluate my strength. All my fighting experiences come from my past life, and right now, I am powerless and fighting weak and slow monsters.'
Alex walked cautiously toward the ghoul because he knew it was an aggressive creature that would not care for the injuries it received. After all, the ghouls don't feel any pain.
Ghouls are very annoying monsters to handle; they don't feel pain and will fight even if their limbs are cut off, only stopping when they get killed.
When Alex was some feet from the ghoul, it opened its blood-thirsty eyes and sprinted at him, swinging his battle axe.
Alex blocked the axe attack and got pushed back some steps "your strength is greater than mine but do you have the brain to use it properly."
Alex said with a mocking smile as he made some distance from the ghoul.
ROARRRRR
The ghoul roared at Alex with anger, like he understood the meaning of Alex's words.
The ghoul charged at Alex using the Savage Charge skill, bridging the distance in the blink of an eye.
Appearing in front of Alex, the ghoul used the Skull Crusher skill, bringing the battle axe on him with speed and momentum.
Not expecting the beast to use two skills simultaneously, Alex could only block by raising his great sword between his head and the battle axe.
Not ready for the strike, Alex could only put in a quick guard that got blown by the sheer force of the attack, and the battle axe came crashing on his shoulder, sending him back and taking 20% of his HP.
'This bastard is intelligent and can use his skills properly,' Alex thought as he watched the ghoul standing in his place and not attacking him like giving back the insult he had received.
Alex didn't take the full damage because just before the axe hit his shoulder, he jumped a little, and when the battle axe hit his shoulder with no resistance to the ground, Alex used the axe strike momentum to propel himself back, taking less damage than a direct hit.
'I need to get used to my strength. Right now, I cannot use the water defense style correctly.'
Alex developed the best defense for his simple but effective play style in his previous life. The water defense style was simple first, don't get hit, and when it is unavoidable, use the attack force and redirect it while taking as little damage as possible.
"you are dead," Alex said as he charged at the ghoul, and in return, the ghoul Swung his axe at Alex's head.
Alex used his sword to parry the axe throwing the ghoul off balance; utilizing the moment of weakness, he swung the sword from down to up swiftly, cutting the ghoul's arm.
"Let's end this. I don't have time to waste on a mere weakling." Alex said as he continued dissecting the ghoul.
.....
After some time, Alex could be seen standing near the dead ghoul with the creature both arms and legs cut off with sword marks present all over the body; one can tell the ghoul didn't die a peaceful death.
"This guardian also dropped a personal note with his message to someone, "Alex searched for any other note that the creature dropped but didn't find any.
'This note didn't have anything significant other than how the first young master had a plan, and if they succeeded, they would become strong, and he would get the power that he could never reach.'
'The first young master is Clifford Forechester. What plan he had that would give him and his followers power, and did they succeed or fail? Everything is shrouded in mystery.'
"Well, the boss will have the answer that I need."
Alex continued his journey to the last floor to complete the promotion quest and find the secret that Forechesters hid from the world.
Alex reached the third floor and started his hunt for the beast; this floor was better than the last two, filled with Elite and Rare Elite monsters.
Alex took some time hunting and progressing his promotion mission; it took 8 hours to clean the third floor from every creature.
Alex didn't find any clues about the dark history from other rare elite monsters he killed.
Alex was hunting for 16 hours and was online for even longer; even though the VR Pod put players into a deep sleep while providing nutrients, it was still not safe, at least not yet.
'The VR Pod that I got from the government store is not the latest; it puts strain on the brain of the player, so playing more than 30 hours is not advised, but once I get the money, I will buy the latest VR Pod in which I can play the game for days.'
Killing so many Elite and Rare Elites, Alex completed all requirements to get into the advanced class.
The promotion quest also got significant changes that even Alex didn't know existed.
{Rank Promotion Quest} [Rank One]
Objective 1: Kill 100 Common Monsters and 10 Elite Monsters
(OR)
Objective 2: Kill 10 Rare Elite and 20 Elite Monsters
...
Hidden Class:[Objective] 1: Kill 150 Common Monsters.
2: Kill 70 Elite Monsters. 3: Kill 40 Rare Elite
4: Kill 3 Epic Monster
Condition: complete all Objectives within 20 hours
...
Completion Time: 2 Days (48 hours)
Time Left: 30 hours
Failure penalty: One Week (In case of Quest failure player will not be given the promotion quest for one week)
Rewards: Promotion to first Rank (????) (????) [Rewards will be determined by player performance]
.....
Important Info: Player needs to kill the beast by himself; any outside help will not contribute toward the quest.
The less time the player takes to complete the quest, the better skills the player will get, and if particular conditions are met player can get the advanced version of the class and gain additional skills.
.....
Quest Progress:
1: Common Monsters (100/100) Elite Monsters (10/10)
2: Elite Monsters (20/20) Rare Elite (10/10)
...
Hidden Class Quest Progress:
1: Common Monsters (150/150)
2: Elite Monsters (70/70)
3: Rare Elite Monsters (40/40)
4: Epic Monsters (0/3)
Time Left: 1 hour and 52 minutes
Important info: Players can only acquire the hidden class in the first promotion Quest. After that player will not be eligible to get the Hidden Class through Promotion Quest.
....
"Whattttttt"
"What the hell is going on."
Alex was so surprised because to get the advanced class, players just needed to kill an epic monster that one could easily find, and players could get the advanced version of their chosen class.
Alex had never heard of any player getting a hidden class Quest during the promotion quest but seeing how brutal the conditions were. It was not surprising that nobody got it, and if a player did, he never published any news.
Alex started searching his memory that could give any clue regarding such a quest but could not find one.
'This is a very big discovery; there is no way I am the first player to find out about it.'
'Even with such difficult conditions to fulfill that 99% of players will never be able to complete in 20 hours, those pro players are different breed compared to normal players.'
'Those Big Guild must have found out about it first and monopolized it among each other not telling the normal players'
'Big Guilds are responsible for publishing the guides on the First rank promotion quest telling players if they want the best skills, they should complete the quest as fast as possible and don't waste time on killing extra monsters.'
'They hide the bigger truth behind the small reward of advanced class that players can get if they are strong, and no one will waste time killing more monsters and will be completing the promotion quest as fast as possible to get the best skills possible.'
'By chance, someone did find out about it. He will not be a normal player, and the player will understand that the big bosses of the world don't want to share this secret.'
'Players are selfish creatures, and with so much on the line that can change a player's life in this world and the real world, even when someone finds out the secret, he will take advantage of it to become strong and respected.'
'As for why the secret didn't leak even after five years and the player population reaching 2.7 billion players, those big guilds must have made a contract with each other to hide the truth using the AI ZERO.'
"I need to complete the quest within 2 hours, and about the 3 Epic monsters I need to kill, they can be found in the boss room."
"Let's see what this hidden class is all about."