Besides the experience point notifications, Sterl also got another system prompt in his ear...
[You have cast [Flamestorm] once. Proficiency +2, current proficiency: (2/100) Beginner.]
Sterl nodded in satisfaction. Just this one wave of Flamestorm had brought him 100 points of experience, enough to level up to level 2.
However, he couldn't level up just yet.
As mentioned before, in "Transcendence," the experience gained from killing enemies needs to be converted into one's own strength through meditation.
Sterl would have to return to his base and refine the experience points at home to officially level up.
The proficiency prompt was a pleasant surprise for Sterl. Using magic once had added two points to his proficiency!
He could only attribute this to [Arcane Spirit], which had endowed him with a terrifying magical talent, hence the rapid increase in proficiency.
Soon, Sterl could get [Flamestorm] to the mastery level!
And if his magical talent was really as good as it seemed, even breaking through to the expert level seemed hopeful!
By the way, the proficiency system in [Transcendence] is divided into five levels: Beginner, Mastery, Expert, Master, and Enlightenment.
From Beginner to Expert, it's all about increasing the skill's casting speed and power. Reaching Master level, besides the aforementioned improvements, also allows one to teach the skill to others.
As for achieving [Enlightenment], Sterl wasn't clear about its benefits, but he had heard it could optimize the essence of the skill...
While Sterl pondered, the corpses of monsters ahead shimmered with light, catching his eye.
He stepped forward and picked up the item within the glow.
[You have obtained a copper coin.]
"Nice." He smiled.
Credit points are the internal currency issued within the base, while the universal currency in [Transcendence], besides what's issued by various national forces, comes from coins obtained through monster hunting and quests in the game system.
Copper coins, silver coins, gold coins, and purple gold coins, each denomination has a 100:1 exchange ratio against the next level up.
In the base, a copper coin can be exchanged for 10,000 credit points, but the drop rate of copper coins from low-level monsters is very low. Otherwise, players wouldn't struggle so much.
Sterl, as a newbie, got off to a good start.
Next, he encountered another group of monsters in the forest. The monsters were spread out, so Sterl used two Flamestorms to deal with them, and gained 50 experience points.
If other players knew about his leveling efficiency, they'd be green with envy!
Because for a typical player group, they might not even get 50 points of experience per person in a day.
However, Flamestorm, being a green-quality skill, consumes a lot of energy. Fortunately, Sterl can activate his talent, [Descend of the Gods].
Player's energy and stamina values are converted from their base spirit and constitution stats. Activating talents doesn't increase the cap.
But higher spirit and constitution stats can achieve faster energy and stamina recovery.
As Sterl hunted, Flamestorm's output was already sufficient. So he didn't need to activate his physical talent. Instead, he chose to activate his talent to recover mana while searching for monsters.
After clearing the monsters, Sterl paused and thought:
"It's pretty much confirmed that heading southeast increases monster density. So there's no need to save the experience potion anymore."
He didn't use any medicine before, mainly because he was afraid of waste. Now, without hesitation, he took out the bottle of crystal clear liquid.
Then, Sterl focused to check the potion's properties.
[Basic Experience Potion: Use to gain an additional 30% experience for 10 hours.]+
"Wait??"
Sterl was taken aback.
He had never imagined that his evolution ability would also work on items?!
After a few seconds of thought, Sterl decided to use an "evolution" charge.
After all, if he could max out everything on his panel, saving evolution charges was a waste.
However, the plus sign behind the experience potion also gave Sterl a wake-up call.
"Maybe... my cheat ability is broader than I imagined?"
"After this leveling session, I can experiment a bit. Maybe I can evolve various equipment, pets, titles, or even other people's talents?"
Sterl's first reaction was whether he could help Linna and Rayna evolve, but he quickly dismissed the idea.
Sterl was clear-headed. Until he was strong enough, he must not reveal his evolution ability to anyone.
To put it bluntly, Sterl even doubted whether he could keep the secret perfectly. Adding up his ages from both lives, he wasn't even 40 yet, far from those truly cunning characters.
What he could do was minimize the number of people who knew about his evolution ability and disguise himself as much as possible—
I'm just a player with low-level talent who developed quickly through various adventures.
Sterl pondered while searching for a wave in the forest, cleared two more groups of monsters, gaining a total of 80 experience points and 8 points of Flamestorm proficiency.
Finally, at 3 p.m., his evolution charge was recharged.
Sterl pocketed the experience potion and silently said, "Evolve."
The crystal bottle concealed by his clothes emitted a faint golden light, then turned into a wine-red potion.
Sterl eagerly took out the potion.
[Advanced Experience Potion: Use to gain an additional 120% experience for 48 hours.]
"Holy shit! More than double the experience?! And it lasts for two whole days??"
Seeing the new potion properties, Sterl's heart raced. The basic experience potion was already a good item in the base, but it couldn't compare to this advanced potion!
And the duration was even more outrageous—two days!
Even the higher-ups in the base could only occasionally use [Intermediate Experience Potions] that increased experience by 50%.
Given this situation, since Sterl had an evolution charge every day, he could keep leveling up with a 120% experience bonus!
And he could even spare an evolution charge every two days.
How fast would his leveling speed be?! He'd outpace everyone in the base!
"No plus sign afterward? Is it already evolved to the max?"
"Did it go straight from basic to advanced because it's a one-time-use item?" In his excitement, Sterl took the opportunity to study his cheat ability.
First, he confirmed that the evolution limit is related to the item's quality.
Second, he had a new hypothesis: the evolution effect for one-time-use items seemed to be doubled.
According to common sense, it should be a beginner experience potion, and it will only become an advanced experience potion after the second evolution to intermediate experience potions…
Without hesitation, Sterl ventured further, found a new group of monsters, and unhesitatingly drank the experience potion.
"Forty-eight hours is a bit long."
"Linna and Rayna's official leveling group is set to leave in two days. Hope I can catch up," Sterl mumbled.
He approached, directly provoking the twelve monsters ahead!
Eight level two goblins, wielding whips, drove four tamed level one wild boars to charge at Sterl.
However, the outcome was that, because the monsters grouped together.
Boom!!!
Sterl's Flamestorm engulfed them all, turning into a series of notification sounds.
[You have killed [Goblin], gaining 22 experience points.]
[You have killed...]
...
Then, for a full two days, Sterl went on a killing spree outside the base, with each Flamestorm turning the low-level monsters into wheat in a field, effortlessly reaped by him.
[You have killed...]
[You have killed...]
His ears were filled with constant experience gain notifications.
With the double experience bonus, Sterl averaged 140-150 experience points per hour, and during those 48 hours, he didn't even sleep.
Crazy mob grinding!
...
Until—
Boom!!
Vivid flames surged around Sterl, turning a group of goblins, which had surrounded him and were in the midst of attacking, into mummified corpses.
A prompt was heard by Sterl's ear.
[You have cast [Flamestorm]. Proficiency +2, current proficiency: (378/2000) Mastery.]
[You have killed...]