A world announcement hung above the clouds, proclaiming, [World Announcement!: Player Crimson Fury, Player ShadowStalker, Player Blue Butterfly and Player Ironclad have become the first players to have cleared Skeleton Grave dungeon and the first to have encountered a guardian and defeat it. Congratulations!]
Han Jingzhi, elegant and swift, danced around with his shadow sword in hand, effortlessly decapitating four hobo goblins surrounding him. Their corpses plummeted to the ground, but Han Jingzhi didn't pause. He continued his dance, slaying two more goblins who attempted to flee.
Lilith, watching like a spectator enjoying a street performance, clapped. "Brother Han Jingzhi's growth is truly astonishing," she remarked, "like a sponge absorbing water, he easily comprehends everything from his own weaknesses to his strengths. In just a few hours, his swordsmanship and soul power have increased by leaps and bounds." Her gaze flickered with absolute happiness.
After dispatching the last copper-ranked hobo goblin, Han Jingzhi, following Lilith's instructions, retrieved the necessary body parts and stored them in his inventory.
[You've leveled up to Iron rank (stage 3!). +2 status points to distribute freely!]
[You have obtained the title Hobo-Goblin slayer, +50% damage on each successful strike landing on any Hobo-Goblin] (Redevelop)
"Why is there a reduction in the soul power I'm currently absorbing from the monsters I've been killing?" Han Jingzhi thought to himself, dismayed by the meager amount of soul power gained after spending so much time and effort slaying Hobo-Goblins.
Lilith, hearing his lament, laughed out loud and patiently explained, "The more creatures of the same type and level you kill, the less benefit you will get as your soul power acquires some resistance against them. Only by killing other creatures will you be able to acquire more benefits... Of course, you can still level up by killing those low-ranked hobogoblins, but you will only get two status points when you level up, no extra benefits."
Han Jingzhi nodded, understanding her explanation, and called upon his status screen:
[Basic information:
Name: Han Jingzhi.
Battle Zone: Alliance
Rank: Iron rank (Stage 3!)
Occupation: Warrior
Class: None «Locked» (Class can be unlocked at higher levels)
Title: Hobo-Goblin slayer
Soul Power: 19,651/20,115
HP: 1700/1700
MP: 2550/2550
STR: 20
AGI: 21
VIT: 23
INT: 20
Available Status Points: 25
Fame: +5,000
Mana: 1,500
Skill(s):
Basic information skills (Description): Can see information about Players and Monsters that do not exceed the user's level more than 10 levels.
Armament: The Shroud Of Darkness
Weapon: Shadow Sword]
The additional stats to Han Jingzhi's STR, AGI, VIT, and INT were due to the number of Hobo-Goblins he had killed, both from helping the few humans he encountered and the others he killed on his way. Looking at his available status points, Han Jingzhi felt quite proud. After several hours of grinding, he had obtained 25 status points, an impressive amount considering the number of monsters he had slain.
While pondering how to distribute his status points, Lilith suddenly suggested, "Put more points in your agility and your strength, and the rest on Vitality since you're not the mage warrior type."
Now that she had become Han Jingzhi's partner, she could see his stats, and the same applied to him, albeit with a few restrictions due to his current weakness.
"Right!" Han Jingzhi agreed. It was indeed true that he wasn't the mage type of warrior, but he might acquire magical skills in the future. He invested 10 more points into his Agility, raising it to 31, and 10 more points into Strength, boosting it to 30. Han Jingzhi could now feel himself filled with immense strength and speed compared to when he had just started the game. After all, the game had only been released a few days ago, and he was already on Iron rank stage 3, with two more stages to cover before evolving to a Copper rank evolver.
To some, his evolution might seem fast and rushed, but considering his strength, the overpowered armament, The Shroud of Darkness, and the Shadow Sword, and his support, Lilith, it was understandable how Han Jingzhi had leveled up so quickly.
However, looking at the remaining 5 status points, Han Jingzhi added 3 points to his Vitality, slightly increasing his health points (HP). Don't forget, his HP had already increased due to his level up. The last 2 status points went straight to his Intelligence stat, hoping he might learn a magic skill in the coming days.
After all of this was done, Han Jingzhi's status screen now looked like this:
[STR: 30
AGI: 31
VIT: 26
INT: 22
Available Status Points: 0]
Finally done, Han Jingzhi patted his novice armor, which he had been equipped with ever since he arrived in this world. But now, the armor was quite tattered, and its durability was almost gone. He decided to get a new one by opening the shop on his system. He couldn't continue to rely on Lilith for everything. The shop was only available for those who had become an evolver, so ever since Han Jingzhi entered the Iron rank stage 1, the shop had been open, but he had just decided not to use it.
Opening the shop, it was filled with all kinds of weapons, potions, herbs, skills, and even armaments and armors. Scrolling through the various items, he finally saw the kind of armor that could last him for a while.
A pale purple robe with lightning designs on its body.
[Purple robe
Defense: Absolute
Rank: Copper
Description: The purple robe's function is to only protect the user's body and also neutralize any lightning form of lightning attack, but this doesn't mean it can block it entirely, but will cut off the damage a little.]
After going through all the information, Han Jingzhi liked the armor. He glanced at the price, a hefty sum of 1,500 gold coins. So far today, Han Jingzhi had only earned 1,500 gold coins, making him feel quite depressed that his first earnings would be spent on this. But his complexion soon brightened as he saw an exchange option on the system where one could swap monster materials for gold coins. Using the exchange option, he earned a sum of 2,000 gold coins, quite a profit, so he bought the armor without hesitation and equipped it.
While Han Jingzhi was busy with all of this, Lilith, on the other hand, was figuring out where they needed to go next. Just as Han Jingzhi finished, he told her they could head to a tavern for the night since he would soon be logging out. He couldn't make her sleep in the forest to wait for him, even though she was overpowered and didn't mind.