Every town's first player to reach level 2 will unlock the town's level ranking board and earn 1 point of reputation.
The first player to reach level 5 will activate the town's teleportation portal and also earn 1 point of reputation.
However, right now, aside from Riven reaching level 8, no other towns have any players who have reached level 5!
A group of level 4 players are desperately grinding monsters, trying to reach level 5...
Only when a town has a player reach level 5 and activate the teleportation portal can it connect with other towns.
There is one rule: towns in the Riverbay City region can only connect with other towns in the same region and cannot access towns in other areas...
At this moment!
On his way back to Shell Town, Riven encountered Ironclad, accompanied by twenty-three of his underlings!
Riven noticed that this group seemed alert, clearly aware of his area damage abilities, so they didn't cluster together...
But with Riven wielding the platinum-grade Ghost Twin Daggers, even his basic attacks could take down a player with just two strikes!
He found the perfect angle and executed a Shadow Slash!
-1225!
-1219!
-1231!
...
Riven turned into a shadow, swiftly passing through the group and triggering over ten damage numbers.
The Shadow Slash was a single strike, yet it instantly killed over ten of them!
Then, Riven couldn't be bothered to hide anymore. Wielding the Ghost Twin Daggers, he moved with lightning speed, becoming a ghostly assassin, charging at the remaining ten or so players!
Ironclad and his subordinates were frozen in fear, unable to move!
"Quick, take him down!"
"One person fighting so many of us? He's dreaming!"
"Watch out for his invisibility!"
They saw the 'Shadow' materialize and tried to fight back.
After striking back, they quickly became desperate!
Since Eclipse of Eternity was somewhat similar to reality, attacks couldn't lock onto a player.
Riven's agility far surpassed theirs, and he flawlessly dodged all their control skills!
As for the attacks that landed on him...
They barely scratched the surface, dealing single-digit damage.
Many couldn't even break through his defenses!
Riven's level was higher than theirs, and his equipment was superior. The golden-grade 'Ghostfire Leather Armor' granted him overwhelming combat power against these players!
Ironclad and his gang quickly started crying out for mercy!
"Shit, don't come any closer!"
"He's too fast! We can't hit him, how do we even play?!"
"Please, don't kill me! I have less than a year to live... Ah!"
...
Riven had no intention of showing mercy.
"I was planning to take on the boss, but since the boss already wiped you guys out, I couldn't be bothered."
"But now you're taking the initiative to cause trouble, and you expect me to let you off?"
Riven's figure moved like a ghost, swiftly traversing the dark forest!
In the end, he wiped out Ironclad and his twenty-two underlings.
When people began fleeing in all directions, two managed to escape...
It wasn't because Riven couldn't catch them.
It was simply that they had split up, and those two were far enough away that Riven saw no need to waste time chasing them.
"Such a shame, the total remaining lifespan of these guys barely adds up to over thirty days..."
"So poor."
Riven shook his head.
During the time he was taking out these players, he received a system notification...
Due to his excessive killings, he had gained a level of the 'Murderer' negative status.
At level one of Murderer, a death results in a 75% loss of current lifespan!
At level two of Murderer, a death results in an 87.5% loss of current lifespan!
In other words, every level of the Murderer status meant a player would essentially die once more upon death.
However...
Riven had the Ghostfire Bell!
Even if he accidentally died once, he wouldn't lose any lifespan!
So, Riven didn't care about the 'Murderer' negative status!
After all, this status wouldn't decrease his stats or affect his progress. As long as he didn't die twice in a row, it wouldn't impact him at all...
Soon, Riven returned to Shell Town!
His Ghostfire Leather Armor, with dark red flame patterns on the black base, looked both stylish and menacing. The moment he entered the town, it drew the attention of everyone around.
"It's Shadow! Damn, that leather armor is so cool!"
"Is that a golden-grade leather armor? I'm so jealous, he really soloed the golden boss!"
"Heh, I bet he must've exploited a bug to solo the boss..."
"Ha, do you think you could exploit a bug too?"
Amidst countless envious and jealous gazes, Riven walked to the town's central plaza.
Suddenly, a group of people approached him, extremely respectful...
The leader was a pale, tall young man.
It was him who had tried to snatch the Golden Ghost Ship loot with his team earlier, but they were all instantly wiped out by Riven!
"Sir Shadow, I'm really sorry," the tall young man lowered his stance and approached Riven. "Brother, this is an assassin skill book we just gathered enough lifespan to buy... please accept it, and let's pretend nothing happened, okay?"
This situation caught Riven by surprise.
He glanced at the skill book the young man handed over.
[Strike (Normal): Assassin skill book. Single-target skill, adds 20 attack on hit and causes a 2-second stun. Cooldown: 22 seconds.]
It was a control-type skill book. Since he offered something for free, he won't refuse. Riven casually accepted the skill book and said indifferently, "Alright."
With the skill book in hand, he immediately learned it.
Then, Riven waved them off and finally met the waiting young woman, Lina...
However, Riven didn't know that the tall young man, codenamed 'Idle Cloud,' watched him leave, a ruthless look flickering in his eyes.
"What's the use of being strong in Eclipse of Eternity?"
"As long as I find you in the real world, I can imprison you and make you my slave to collect lifespan!"
"Once other towns activate their teleportation portals, I'll send a woman over and figure out how to get his information."
Idle Cloud, whose real name was Xander Wood, was a famous second-generation rich kid in Riverbay City.
He sneered and thought, 'Just now, I heard Shadow's voice, it sounded unfamiliar.'
'He definitely isn't from our circle of elites... which means, this guy is at most an average person.'
'I'll send a seductress to lure him in, and I'll make sure he falls for it!'
...
Riven met Lina.
The young woman wore a black mage robe that tightly hugged her curvaceous figure, giving off an alluring aura.
"Here."
Riven casually tossed a golden-grade mage skill book and a golden-grade mage equipment to her.
Lina had been a little nervous, unsure if Riven would tell her that the boss didn't drop any mage gear. After all, greed was human nature.
But when she reached out, she caught both golden-grade items!
One was a fire-elemental area damage skill, with an additional 150 attack!
The other was a mage necklace, adding 15 spirit and 3 mana per second!
"Ah..."
Lina's mind buzzed. These two items... were too amazing! With this, she would definitely soar high into the skies and become a top-tier expert!