Just as Ethan was about to respond to Skyblade's message, his interface chimed with a cascade of notifications.
He opened his friends list and nearly groaned at the sight. His friend request inbox had exploded. Without hesitation, Ethan toggled on the auto-decline friend requests function and wiped the slate clean.
By now, he had long set his privacy settings to block private messages from anyone who wasn't already on his friends list. Denied a direct way to contact him, these people resorted to flooding him with friend requests instead. Most of them were players from Zone 1314. They must have guessed the mysterious leaderboard ranker was him and were trying to confirm it.
Ethan sighed and opened the rankings panel, switching his visibility setting to hidden.
This action caused a huge reaction from the world chat.
[Anonymous]: "Hey, that Level 12 guy just disappeared from the list!"
[Anonymous]: "Yeah, what's happening? You think he exploited some glitch and got banned?"
[Anonymous]: "Serves him right for showing off! Ban him for eternity!"
[Anonymous]: "I'm telling you, it's that druid guy! He must've glitched his way into the starter zone!"
Reading the world chat made Ethan roll his eyes. "Idiots," he muttered to himself. "You don't even realize that hiding from the rankings is a privilege reserved for top players. That's what we call staying low-profile."
After handling the notifications, Ethan couldn't be bothered to reply to Skyblade. Instead, he focused on the spectral wolf in front of him, Basic Appraisal.
---
[Corrupted Spectral Wolf]
Class: Common
Level: 15
HP: 2400
Attack: 68–118
Defense: 59–98
Ability: Swift Stride (Increases movement speed by 70% for 10 seconds. Cooldown: 1 minute.)
Description: A relentless minion of the dark world. No prey escapes its pursuit.
---
Ethan frowned, recalling that the Wolf King also had the Swift Stride skill. He had originally planned to kite the boss using speed, wearing it down slowly. That tactic might not work here. He'd have to reconsider.
Well, while he was here, he might as well grind. These spectral wolves may have been three levels above him, boosting their defense by 1.5 times, but his almost 500 attack power was more than enough to break through.
As for their attacks? It was quite laughable. A three-level gap might triple their critical hit rate, but Ethereal's crit multiplier was only 1.5x. Even at their best, they couldn't scratch his defenses.
With a predatory grin, Ethan muttered, "Let's go big."
In an instant, his form shifted into that of a panther. Without hesitation, he lunged straight into the pack of spectral wolves.
The wolves exploded into a frenzy. Howls filled the night as the pack descended upon him.
He glanced back to see a swarm of over ten wolves hot on his heels, some activating Swift Stride to snap at him relentlessly. Their bites barely grazed his 1,200 HP, chipping away tiny slivers at a time, utterly insignificant.
Ethan darted left and right, controlling the group's positioning. Then, shifting again into his owl form, he unleashed Sunburn into the heart of the pack. A vibrant 3x3 zone of burning flames engulfed the spectral wolves, applying a Burn Debuff.
---
[Sunburn]: Deals burn damage equal to 35% of player attack power every second for 26 seconds.
---
A cascade of damage floated above the wolves:
-31, -24, -31, -24…
With each tick, an additional true damage of 24 points stacked on.
In his owl form, Ethan's defensive stats rose by 36%, making him untouchable. The only downside? Casting spells left him stationary. He gritted his teeth and stood his ground, layering Lunar Beam on each wolf.
Switching back to panther form, he dashed through the pack, raking them with Rend to stack true damage. Unfortunately, Rend consumed 35 energy per cast, draining him after only three uses. Frustrated, Ethan abandoned the move.
Thirty seconds later, the pack lay scattered across the ground, defeated. A flood of +300 XP notifications filled his interface.
Checking his health, Ethan noted he'd lost over 400 points. Despite his high defense, sheer numbers still wore him down, ticking away ten points per second from minor hits.
Ethan frowned, realizing the train-pulling method wasn't efficient against Corrupted Spectral Wolves. Their high movement speed made it hard to gather them into a proper group for grinding. He'd need to find slower monsters to execute this strategy effectively.
He scavenged the fallen wolves, pocketing a handful of single copper coins and tattered pelts. Though he had over 300 gold in his inventory, a huge fortune, it felt wrong to leave behind even small gains. A man who knows the value of every penny is a wise man. Every coin counts.
While rummaging through one of the larger wolf corpses, something caught his eye, a book. A grin spread across his face.
Skill books were rare, with drop rates of only 0.01% from common monsters. And yet, here it was:
---
[Skill Book: Bramble Bind]
Effect: Summons thorny vines under an enemy, rooting them in place and dealing damage equal to 10% of the player's attack per second. Lasts 10 seconds. Cooldown: 1 minute.
Notes:
PvP: Affected players can destroy vines by attacking them.
Vine HP equals 10% of the player's max HP. Vulnerable to fire magic, which ignores durability and destroys vines instantly.
Class: Druid (Owl Form specialization required)
Level Requirement: 10
Cast Type: 1 chant syllable + 1 hand gesture
---
Ethan's grin widened. This is exactly what I needed! Only moments ago, he'd been worrying about how to take on the Wolf King. Now, this skill offered a solution. With its near-instant cast time, it was a perfect counter for the boss's speed.
He didn't hesitate, one click and the skill was learned.
Switching to Stealth, Ethan crept toward the hill's center. Soon, he arrived at the Wolf King's hunting grounds.
Surveying the area, his brow furrowed. The terrain was too cramped, with Corrupted Spectral Wolves roaming on all sides. Fighting the boss would inevitably draw the others' attention, making the battle nearly impossible. He'd have to clear out the small fry first.
Four directions. Four groups. Ten minutes of grueling work. Eventually, he carved out a safe zone. During the process, Ethan tested his new skill and quickly realized a key detail: timing was everything. Bramble Bind had to be cast the moment the Wolf King activated its Swift Stride; otherwise, the boss's enhanced speed would make dodging easy.
Taking a deep breath, Ethan positioned himself 40 meters from the Wolf King, his max casting range. For the first time across two lifetimes, he'd attempt a solo fight against a commander-tier boss without exploiting terrain.
Earlier, he'd used Basic Appraisal to check its stats. The Wolf King had 34,800 HP, over 600 attack, and a moderate 200 defense.
'This is going to be interesting.'
Ethan initiated the fight with Sunburn and Lunar Beam, casting both back-to-back.
---
-1, -24!
---
The Wolf King howled, taking two powerful strides toward Ethan before pausing, its hind legs bending in preparation for a leap.
Now! Ethan's hand moved swiftly. Bramble Bind!
Thorny vines erupted from the ground, ensnaring the Wolf King's paws just as the characteristic whirlwind of Swift Stride began to swirl around it. The boss struggled, growling furiously, but the vines held firm, preventing it from moving even an inch.
Ten seconds passed. As the vines dissolved, the Swift Stride effect also faded, leaving the Wolf King to charge forward at its default speed.
Though still fast, Ethan's panther form had a slight edge. He kited the beast in wide circles, forcing it to chase him hopelessly while repeatedly. When safe, he shifted into his owl form to reapply debuffs before switching back to panther form to stay ahead.
The Wolf King growked angrily, unable to navigate the terrain or cut him off directly. It was nothing more than a hulking mass of fur and frustration, endlessly eating Ethan's dust.
Ethan kept one eye on the Bramble Bind cooldown, knowing it was identical to the boss's Swift Stride cooldown. As soon as the skill came off cooldown, he cast it again without hesitation. Timing would determine the success of this hunt.