[Name: Ares]
[Race: Human]
[Level: 10 (EXP 38%)]
[Strength: 11 → 47 + 21]
[Agility: 11 → 36 + 10]
[Defense: 11 → 85 + 40]
[Intelligence: 12 → 20 + 5]
[HP: 1750/1750]
[MP: 14 → 20]
[Talents: Basic Attribute Boost, Basic Attribute Absorption, Armament Absorption]
[Basic Attribute Boost (F): Freely allocate 10 attribute points]
[Basic Attribute Absorption (E): 0.01% chance of gaining 1 random base attribute point upon killing a target (does not trigger if the target is 10 levels or more below you)]
[Armament Absorption (D): Your weapon can absorb other equipment to evolve. Current success rate: 3%. If successful, attributes increase; if it fails, weapon quality drops. With maxed-out Luck, the actual success rate is 20%. There is a 10.1% chance to inherit a skill from the absorbed weapon after a successful upgrade.]
[Current Talent Rank: D (EXP: 0%)]
[Unallocated Attribute Points: 0]
[Hidden Attributes:]
[Luck: 10 (At Max)]
[Charm: 0]
[Perception: 0]
[Inventory: 475/1000]
[Wallet: 9874 Gold]
Ares looked over his updated stats, reading the details for his new talent again and again.
"So it's do or die, huh?"
Armament Absorption was obviously bursting with potential, but being just D-rank held it back—only a 20% success rate even with the boost from Luck.
Using the Rusty Iron Sword as an example, if the evolution failed, its E-rank quality would drop to F-rank.
Does that mean the sword would shatter if it failed again?
Ares emptied everything from his pack, laying every piece of gear on the ground and testing them one by one.
Thinking it over, he first picked up the hammer dropped by the Rock Golem.
"This thing's quality is pretty high, maybe it'll help my success rate."
With that in mind, Ares silently activated the absorption. The Rusty Iron Sword in his hand glowed green, enveloping the Earth Hammer.
In an instant, the Earth Hammer dissolved, becoming blue stardust that floated into the Rusty Iron Sword.
Whoosh—
A flash of blinding light flickered, and Ares heard a notification in his head:
[Your Rusty Iron Sword has absorbed a higher-quality weapon, increasing Growth Value and raising evolution probability.]
[Rusty Iron Sword Growth Value: 0% → 100%!]
[Congratulations! Your weapon has successfully evolved!]
[Your weapon has inherited a skill from the Earth Hammer.]
When the glow faded, Ares noticed that the sword no longer looked so badly rusted. The blade was clean and shiny, basically an ordinary-looking sword now.
He quickly pulled up its status panel:
[Weapon: Sharp Iron Sword (Bound)]
[Quality: D-rank]
[Level: 21]
[Attack: 8–12]
[Skill A: Bleed (1% chance to inflict Bleed on hit, dealing 5 HP damage per second for 5 seconds; can stack up to 3 times. Critical hits guarantee Bleed.)]
[Skill B: +6% Critical Rate]
[Growth Value: 0%]
Ares stared at the Growth Value, a bit puzzled.
Still, he kept trying, feeding it another piece of gear. This time, there was no rainbow-colored glow—just a faint blue shimmer. The item in his hand disappeared, and the weapon's status changed slightly:
[Growth Value: 0% → 1%]
Huh?
One piece of E-rank gear raised it by 1%?
Excited, Ares fed the rest of his gear to the Sharp Iron Sword. It took a full three minutes to absorb all 84 items.
The Sharp Iron Sword's Growth Value went from 1% to 85%.
Still 15 points short…
Guess I need 15 more E-rank items to max out at 100%. Maybe hitting 100% lets me try evolving again. If it does evolve, it'll probably need even more gear the next time.
Ares stood up and looked out over the nearby plains, mumbling to himself, "I've pretty much cleared out the beasts here, and my stats are way higher than before. I should head somewhere more dangerous for better efficiency."
He recalled the guide he'd bought earlier. He already had a solid grasp of monster distributions and level ranges in this game. Right now, he was in Howling Plains, home to monsters around levels 10 to 30.
Beyond Howling Plains lay the Crimson Flame Desert, where monster levels hovered between 30 and 60. Higher-level mobs probably yield more EXP…
Ares first made a trip back to the main city to clear out his inventory. He had no more gear to sell, and no one seemed to want the materials he'd listed, so he just let them ride on the auction house. If any sold, the gold would stay in the auction house until he returned.
He then restocked on Return Scrolls and Locator Scrolls. Locator Scrolls let him travel instantly from the city back to his previous spot—saves a ton of time. Thankfully, each scroll only costs a single silver coin, so he used them freely without guilt.
Since he was already pretty close to the Crimson Flame Desert, it only took him about five minutes to get back after ripping open a Locator Scroll and setting off again.
The Howling Plains were thick with plant life, but as he approached the edge of the Crimson Flame Desert, the greenery thinned until finally a scorching blast of heat hit him full force—he'd arrived.
In every direction, the Crimson Flame Desert held only rolling dunes. Nothing else at a glance.
Looks pretty harmless. But Ares knew the real danger wasn't on the surface.
Sure enough, after just a couple of steps, his foot sank. A massive pincer lunged for Ares's leg.
He jumped back, but it was tough to push off the soft sand, so he barely avoided the attack.
Seconds later, countless pincers burst from beneath the dunes. Then came their bulky bodies, shaking off the sand as they emerged.
Ares's expression tightened.
These were Bloodthirsty Sand Crabs, a level 45 group-type monster in the Crimson Flame Desert.
[Bloodthirsty Sand Crab • Normal]
[Level: 45]
[Attack: 34–51]
[Defense: 97]
[Speed: 11]
[HP: 800/800]
[Skill: Bloodthirsty Claw—attacks cause severe pain, HP -45, plus ongoing bleed for 5 seconds.]
A single Bloodthirsty Sand Crab already hit hard, but they usually swarmed in packs of thirty or forty, which was downright terrifying for most players. Even though they were just "Normal" rank, they were harder than some Elite monsters.
But…
Ares glanced around. There only seemed to be a dozen or so crabs?
That was good news—totally manageable!
With his Sharp Iron Sword in hand, Ares charged forward.
Slash, sweep, thrust, chop…
Even though his sword's base damage was only 8–12, Ares's upgraded attributes pushed his total damage much higher. On top of that, the Sharp Iron Sword had two skills, and Bleed triggered constantly during the fight.
A flurry of red "-5" markers floated up, filling the air. One Sand Crab after another fell dead on the sand.
After just three minutes, Ares wrapped up the skirmish.
He was surprised to realize that wielding this sword felt incredibly smooth, like it was a perfect match for him.