Less than a minute had passed before Ethan had even made his way back when a golden light flashed over his body. It was clear that those mages had succumbed to the venom. Since he was already close to leveling up, the experience gained immediately pushed him to level 15.
He allocated all 10 attribute points into Stamina, as fighting against ranged monsters had made him fully realize the importance of defense. He was determined to become a tanky Assassin.
After distributing his points, he waited for his skills to come off cooldown before heading back. As he approached, he saw the remaining six Sorcerers standing warily in place, looking tense. The corner of Ethan's lips curled up. "Scared now, huh?"
He activated Stealth and crept closer. As soon as he got near, he burst into a sprint, slashing at the nearest two sorcerers and applying venom stacks.
This time, the sorcerers reacted instantly and attempted to retreat.
But Ethan's speed was no joke—did they really think they could outrun him? He pursued them relentlessly, striking down one after another. Before long, the remaining four had also been poisoned. In the process, he only got hit by three Fireballs.
With all targets poisoned, Ethan turned and ran. As expected, the moment he bolted, the sorcerers hurled spells at him in panic. However, he activated Void Step, avoiding the attacks entirely before dashing away effortlessly.
A minute later, he returned. By now, all the sorcerers had fallen. Scanning the ground, Ethan found one Black Iron piece of equipment and five silver coins.
[Sapphire Necklace] (Black Iron)
Magic Attack +50
Mana +300
Cooldown Reduction +2%
Bonus Attribute: Spirit +21
Requirement: Mage, Priest
"Not bad. That little miss will probably like this," Ethan muttered, snapping a screenshot of the item's stats and sending it to Sophia.
Sophia: "How much?"
"This girl is still as prideful as ever." Ethan chuckled to himself. If he set the price too low, her ego wouldn't let her accept it. To accommodate her, he checked the Auction House for Black Iron items, noting that most ranged between 50,000 to 70,000 dollars. Since his was from a level 20 monster, it had slightly better stats. After a moment's thought, he replied, "70,000."
This time, Sophia didn't haggle, apparently finding the price reasonable. They quickly finalized the trade. Just as the transaction was completed, Ethan received another system notification.
Ding! The item you listed on the Auction House has been purchased. Sale price: 80,000 dollars. After deducting a 15% transaction fee, 68,000 dollars have been transferred to your linked bank account.
"Oh right, I almost forgot about that shield I put up earlier. Pretty decent price. But man, these auction fees are brutal… I'd rather trade with Sophia. At least she pays upfront and doesn't deduct fees." Ethan sighed.
By now, it was already past 8 AM. He decided to log out and grab some breakfast. Since there were no monsters around, he logged off at the same spot.
Taking off his headset, he habitually checked his phone balance—and instantly sat up in shock.
"Holy crap… I actually broke a million?!" Seeing the 1.01 million dollars in his bank account, Ethan could hardly believe his eyes.
After counting the transactions in his head, he realized it was real—he had unknowingly hit his first one million dollars milestone. Excitement surged through him, and he paced around his room four or five times just to calm himself down.
"Should I buy a gaming pod now?" he muttered. But looking around his small rented apartment, he realized that even if he bought one, there was no space to put it. "Forget it, I should settle my housing situation first."
After grabbing breakfast outside, Ethan quickly returned home and logged back in. His top priority was completing the Hidden Quest, and while doing so, he planned to take down a Silver-ranked Boss to reap more rewards.
Logging back in, he reappeared at Blackwind Stronghold. Exploring the middle sector, Ethan assumed the area had been cleared, but to his surprise, he encountered a formidable figure.
At this moment, that formidable figure was glaring at him with a look of pure rage.
Ethan immediately cast Insight to assess his new opponent.
[Blackwind Stronghold Strategist] (Bronze-tier Boss)
Level: 20
Health: 350,000
Magic Attack: 900
Physical Defense: 400
Magic Defense: 480
Movement Speed: 95
Skill 1: Fireball – Launches a fireball at a designated target, dealing 120% magic damage. Cooldown: 3 seconds.
Skill 2: Ice Spike – Fires an ice spike at a designated target, dealing 130% magic damage and reducing the target's movement speed by 30% for 5 seconds. Cooldown: 10 seconds.
Skill 3: Explosive Flames – Releases a burst of flames at a designated location. Upon reaching the target area, the flames explode, dealing 145% magic damage to all enemies within a 3x3 radius. Cooldown: 2 minutes.
Skill 4: Hailstorm – Summons a hailstorm over a designated area, dealing 135% magic damage to all targets within a 5x5 radius and reducing their movement speed by 30% for 5 seconds. Cooldown: 1 minute.
Ethan swallowed hard. Four skills, and an incredibly high magic attack. He quickly turned and ran out of the boss's aggro range. If he was going to fight, he needed to activate Stealth and get in close before making his move.
Checking his status after leveling up, he saw that he had gained 40 additional health, and Immortal Physique had provided an extra 30 points from slaying 30 spellcasters. His total Health now reached 3,046, while his Magic Defense had risen to 236. His Venom damage had increased to 426 points, with an extra 6 points gained from the last few kills.
"I can do this!" Ethan calculated his odds. If he had to endure all four of the boss's attacks at once, he wouldn't survive. However, aside from Fireball and Ice Spike, which were instant-cast, the other two spells likely had casting times.
If he could activate Stealth, get in close, and burst into a sprint, he could land two strikes in a second, apply two stacks of venom, and retreat within two seconds, taking at most three skills in the process.
"Alright, let's do this!" Ethan resolved. He activated Stealth and crept towards the Blackwind Stronghold Strategist, who was still pacing around, oblivious to his approach.
When he got close enough, Ethan suddenly burst into action, activating Sprint and slashing twice in quick succession before darting away.
"You damn thief! You're dead meat!" the strategist roared.
Immediately, an Ice Spike struck Ethan, slowing his movement by 30%. A Fireball followed right after, dealing significant damage. Then, the boss began casting Explosive Flames, but thanks to the 0.5-second cast time, Ethan managed to escape the blast radius before it detonated behind him.
After successfully retreating, Ethan checked his health and smirked. "Not bad. I can handle this."
He waited for the cooldown timers. Just before the minute mark, he dashed in again to refresh the Venom stacks. Without Sprint, he had to tank three skills this time, but he still managed to escape safely.
After a seven-minute battle, the Blackwind Stronghold Strategist finally collapsed to the ground.
Ding! Congratulations! You have slain the Bronze-tier Boss [Blackwind Stronghold Strategist]. You have gained 200 reputation points and 28,800 experience points. Your pet [Silverfang] has gained 7,200 experience points.
Ding! Talent ability triggered: Venom damage increased by 1. Current Venom damage: 427 points.
Ding! Immortal Physique activated: Maximum health increased by 1 point. Current Immortal Physique bonus: 576 additional maximum health.
Ethan checked his experience: Level 15, 37,406/70,000.
"Ugh, I'm already halfway to leveling up again… These boss fights just give too much EXP," he muttered. Then, as he glanced at the loot scattered across the ground, a grin spread across his face. "But hey, the rewards make it worth it."
He quickly dashed over and picked up everything. The boss had dropped 4 gold, 32 silver, 2 Bronze-tier items, 3 Iron-tier items, and—unexpectedly—a scroll and a strange fruit.