Ares didn't give a damn about the talents other people awakened, and he sure as hell didn't want to be treated like some cautionary tale. So he turned around and headed straight for the city gates.
There were only a few roads leading out of the village, each with plenty of traffic. As soon as he stepped outside, he spotted two beasts chasing and fighting each other.
Moments later, they tumbled right over to Ares, tangling together until both creatures collapsed in exhaustion, snarling weakly before keeling over.
They landed perfectly at Ares's feet.
Ares: "..."
Could this be what a Luck stat of +10 does?
He wasn't sure if the beasts were truly dead, so he nudged their necks with his foot. To his surprise, that single kick made both animals whimper and drop dead on the spot.
[Congratulations! You have killed a Lv15 Sawtooth Tiger and a Lv16 Ironclaw Panther. You've gained 20 Talent EXP.]
Aside from the system prompt, Ares also noticed two items on the ground nearby. He picked them up without hesitation, and another system message popped straight into his mind:
[Congratulations! You have obtained: Rusty Iron Sword and Leopard-Print Belt.]
[Rusty Iron Sword]
Quality: E
Attack: 5–8
Attribute: +3 Strength
Special Effect: 1% chance to inflict Tetanus on hit, causing a bleed-over-time effect.
Ares gripped the sword, feeling oddly comfortable with it. Then he checked out the other piece of gear:
[Leopard-Print Belt]
Quality: E
Defense: 5
Attribute: +30 HP
Mouth agape, Ares could only stare at these two items. Behind him, he heard an excited outburst:
"Holy crap! Two pieces of gear at once?"
"How's that even possible? The drop rate for equipment in Oracles is absurdly low—how'd he snag two in one go?"
"Not to mention, they're both E-grade gear!"
A bunch of jealous looks fell on Ares. But he tuned them out and studied his own EXP bar, feeling a bit confused.
He'd clearly earned 20 points of EXP for killing those two beasts, but his character's EXP bar hadn't budged from 38%. Instead, his talent bar now had a progress indicator reading [2%].
What does that even mean?
Unable to make sense of it, he just let it go. Without hesitation, Ares strapped on the leopard belt, hoisted his sword, and kept going.
Before long, he felt the urge to pee. He left the main road and walked down a secluded path. After he was done, he took just a few steps forward and stumbled on a wild boar caught in a snare.
[Ironhide Boar – Elite]
Level: 30
Attack: 15–26
Defense: 59
Speed: 0 (Restricted)
HP: 100 / 500
Skill: Thick Hide
The boar looked sickly, its coat dull and lifeless. It must have been stuck here for a while, HP sitting at a measly 20%. When it saw Ares approach, it struggled upright, baring its tusks in a furious squeal.
Ares's response was simple. He raised his sword and hacked down at the boar's back.
[-1]
The Ironhide Boar's defense was higher than he expected—his strike did only minimal damage. Still, that blow triggered the Tetanus effect. Poisoned, the boar started losing HP steadily.
[-3]
[-3]
…
In no time, this weakened boar dropped dead. Ares nudged the carcass with his sword, finding a glowing piece of loot underneath.
[Boar Hide Armor]
Quality: D
Defense: 15
Attribute: +100 HP
Special Effect: -50 Damage Taken
Ares couldn't believe his luck—he'd scored a piece of D-grade gear. Better yet, it reduced incoming damage by 50 points, meaning anything that hit for less than 50 damage would only deal 1 point to him.
As the Ironhide Boar collapsed, Ares also noticed his Talent bar jump from [2% → 5%].
Seeing that number tick upward, he felt a wild idea spark inside him. His character's level might be stuck for now, but…it seemed killing enemies could level up his talent?
His heart pounded. He hadn't been all that furious at James's words earlier, but they still stung. He'd been thinking: if his so-called "F-rank" talent really was so lame, how could he quickly build up power and avoid getting left in the dust by other newbies?
Now he seemed to have found a better path.
Hoping to test his theory, Ares headed off to the nearby Howling Plains. Supposedly, the plains were crawling with beasts of modest levels, a perfect spot for rookies to grind.
Normally, Ares wouldn't have known that, but he'd caught wind of it while waiting for his Awakening earlier—he'd overheard people's conversations.
Thanks to the commotion he caused back at the Awakening area—and the fact that he'd looted two pieces of gear the moment he left the city—Ares's name was already on a bunch of people's radars. They all watched, dumbfounded, as he strode right into the Howling Plains.
"What the hell's he doing?"
"He can't seriously be heading there for leveling, can he?"
"That's suicidal. Sure, we've all awakened our talents, but we have no real skills yet—just basic attacks. Fighting one isolated beast is doable, but out there you'll get swarmed in seconds. He'll be chewed to pieces before he can swing his sword a few times."
Someone rubbed his chin and guessed, "Maybe he got greedy after looting those two items and wants to find better gear over there?"
A chorus of eye-rolls followed.
"You kidding? He can't possibly be that dumb. Does he think he can be lucky every single time?"
"Ha! Look at him—maybe he really is that dumb."
One sharp-eyed observer pointed to Ares's silhouette in the distance. He'd just drawn the attention of three Plains Wolves closing in, and even more were on the way. Wolves usually ran in packs of at least eight…
Sure enough, several more Plains Wolves surrounded Ares from the front.
The onlookers shook their heads in unison:
"He's done for."
"Honestly, serves him right. He should be grateful that dying ingame only costs some EXP instead of meaning actual death. With a brain this small, he'd have fed half the beasts in these plains by now."
"Come on, let's move. No point watching a doomed idiot…"
They shrugged and left, so nobody saw how Ares gripped his sword and charged headlong into the wolves.
The second he raised that sword, a powerful sense of familiarity surged through him. He had no memories, but he felt as though he'd once been a master of swordsmanship. That instinct was the only reason he dared to rush a wolf pack on his own.
Sure enough, once he started swinging, the motions felt as natural as breathing—cuts, slashes, thrusts, all flowing seamlessly.
One…two…three…eight!
In the end, he killed eight Plains Wolves at the cost of 55 HP. Wolves or not, their attack ranged from around 20–30, not nearly enough to pierce his defenses. Their hits only dealt 1 point of damage each time they bit him.
After 55 wolf bites, he'd lost exactly 55 HP.
Ares pulled up his panel to find that, sure enough, his Talent EXP had climbed another 8%—from 5% to 13%.
"So I've got 87% left to go."
That didn't really seem so high. Checking the position of the sun, Ares figured it was barely past noon. Lots of daylight to burn, so he kept roaming the plains.
Wherever he showed his face, wolf packs keyed in on him like he was fresh meat. Time and again, they tried to bring him down, but they only ended up as more EXP for Ares.
While battling the wolves, Ares paid close attention to his status. Through repeated testing, he noticed the Rusty Iron Sword's special effect triggered way more often than 1%. It seemed to pop around 11% of the time.
Why 11%?
Could it be that each point of Luck raises trigger chance by 1%? If that were true, then Luck was even more powerful than he'd imagined.
…
Two hours later, he'd reached the heart of the plains after surviving eight waves of wolf pack attacks. His Talent EXP rose from 13% all the way to 100%.
Along the way, he picked up over forty different materials and ten pieces of gear, along with a decent stash of Oracles gold coins.
Ares managed to fully deck himself out, too—helmet, armor, boots, weapon, accessories, even underwear. He looked like a whole new man from top to bottom.
Surprised by the prompt telling him his Talent was ready to level up, Ares paused for a moment, marveling at how quickly this had happened. Then wonder gave way to excitement.
He didn't hesitate—he tapped the "Upgrade" button. The next second, his character panel flickered, and the data refreshed.