-976! (Weak Spot Attack)
The level 6 wild boar, casually grazing, instantly dropped dead.
"Ding! You have killed a level 6 wild boar and earned 60 experience points. Killing 4 levels higher grants an additional 24 experience points."
Tristan nodded in satisfaction.
One-shot kills and the experience were decent.
Calculating the efficiency, leveling wouldn't take long at all—he'd still only need a few wild boars to level up.
"Maybe I should allocate more points to Strength after I level up?"
While waiting for Shadow Stealth to cool down, Tristan continued to think.
The main limitation for him right now was attack power.
But after some deliberation, he dismissed the idea.
Not only that, but he was now considering revising his previous plan and putting all of his free attribute points into Agility.
The damage increase from Strength was limited. Right now, the bulk of his damage came from Breaking Stealth Strike, with its fixed damage being crucial.
Instead of adding more Strength, he might as well focus on Agility to speed up his leveling.
"Rather than adding a few points to Strength, I could kill more monsters and accumulate Evolution Points. With the Black Iron Shadow Stealth, the base values are already high, and if I can evolve it to Bronze level, I can at least double the damage."
"However, the second evolution will cost at least two points or more, and I still need to evolve Shadow Dagger. Looks like I need to keep grinding."
With that thought, Tristan threw himself back into leveling.
With his current experience gain speed, he would level up in no more than ten minutes—nothing too slow.
...
As Tristan continued his wild boar slaughter, a small team was also heading toward the Wild Boar Plains.
They chatted as they walked.
"Drake, do you think we can take on the wild boars? The lowest level is 5."
"Are you teaching me how to do my job?"
"No, no, of course not."
"Don't worry, Drake is a hidden class Heavy Armor Warrior. His defense is more than three times that of normal players. Sophie is a Holy Fire Priest, and she can add Holy Damage to our attacks, enough to break the wild boar's defenses."
"Sounds about right. I was just overthinking it."
"ExoGenesis is so popular that the low-level zones are packed with players. We can't even get any monsters. The rabbits spawn and die within two seconds, hacked to pieces by players. If we stay in the low-level zones, leveling will be slow. It's better to try here."
"Exactly, with our setup, we can fight above our level. Plus, the extra experience bonus will make it faster than competing for monsters."
"Boss, you're brilliant!"
The team chatted as they moved forward, soon noticing something.
A player wielding a longbow pointed at the wild boar's corpse in the distance, surprised. "Looks like someone got here before us."
The leader, a Heavy Armor Warrior, looked around, confused. "Why don't I see any other teams?"
"Yeah, if you want to kill wild boars, at least a small team should be around."
"Not just that, ordinary players would just get wrecked. The other side is probably using hidden classes like us."
"ExoGenesis really is full of hidden talents. There are so many hidden classes even in this tiny newbie village."
"Can't see anyone, do you think they were sent to the respawn point by the wild boars?"
"Could be. Look at those wild boars—starting from level 6, their attributes skyrocket. You can't underestimate them."
The leader, the Heavy Armor Warrior, waved to silence the discussion, his voice low. "Stay alert. Let's look for the level 5..."
Before he could finish, a level 6 wild boar suddenly dropped dead with a thud.
Not only that, a ball of light dropped beside it.
Looking at the icon, it was an equipment drop.
The team's archer immediately grew excited, shouting, "That wild boar just killed itself!"
He started to move forward to grab the loot.
But before he could take a step, the leader pulled him back.
The man's expression was serious. "Someone's here."
The archer looked up and saw a figure slowly materializing, glancing at them from a distance before disappearing again.
The brief moment made the archer question whether he'd seen things.
Looking back at his teammates, they wore similar expressions of doubt.
It seemed like someone had been there.
But then again, maybe not.
Was there anyone there at all?
The Heavy Armor Warrior looked toward the team's assassin and said, "That's definitely an assassin's Stealth skill, right?"
The assassin nodded, then shook his head. "It should be Stealth, but the problem is, you can't use Stealth immediately after Breaking Stealth—it needs to cool down first."
The warrior asked, "Could it have been a stronger Stealth?"
The assassin waved his hand, like a rattling bell. "Impossible. No matter the game, stronger Stealth is usually a high-level skill, something a player at this level can't have."
The warrior, an experienced player, knew this too.
Then, his thoughts clicked. He turned to where the figure had disappeared and called out loudly, "I'm Drake, I'd like to be friends with you."
Drake had realized something.
There had indeed been a player earlier.
That level 6 wild boar hadn't killed itself—it had been taken out, and with a single strike no less.
Adding to that, the immediate use of Stealth meant the player was clearly an Assassin class hidden profession!
This got Drake's attention.
He was determined to create the top guild in ExoGenesis, and a player with skills like that was someone he could not afford to ignore.
Tristan, still in Stealth, paused for a moment.
It was him.
In his previous life, Tristan had often clashed with Drake.
They were both Heavy Armor Warriors, and they'd both fought tooth and nail for the top spot on the Warrior leaderboard.
In the end, Tristan had won out thanks to his more suited talent, securing the number one spot.
Now, encountering Drake again, Tristan couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia as he looked at the other's heavy armor.
As for Drake's invitation, Tristan had no intention of accepting.
He could never submit to anyone.
But Drake was still someone worth making an acquaintance with.
With that thought, Tristan deactivated Stealth and appeared, greeting, "Ah, Drake, I've heard much about you."
Drake immediately sent a friend request.
"Player Drake has sent you a friend request. Do you accept?"
Yes/No
Tristan selected "Yes."
Drake looked at the new name in his friend list and bowed slightly. "Ah, Blackshade, it's an honor."
The archer in the back muttered under his breath, "Blackshade? I don't think any top players have this ID."
Drake turned and glared at him. "Shut up."
The archer quickly responded, "Yes… yes, sorry."