Scaling the lush green stone mountain..
Kai observed it for a while and made a rough plan, estimating how high he could go with his five arrows before needing to wait for his MP to replenish. If he could get a good enough angle and wind power to send his arrow far above, that would be the best outcome.
"Let's just go a bit higher and see if I can shoot an arrow to the top from there..."
Kai shot an arrow straight toward a ridge 30 meters above and exchanged places with it. The view from here granted a better aim, but the mountain still loomed some 200–300 meters above. He needed to climb higher before he could release an arrow at an angle that would carry it all the way to the summit.
Waiting 30 seconds, Kai shot another arrow and climbed another 40 meters. From there, it became easier to send his arrow 50 meters higher with the help of wind, but he still aimed for a lower, safer ridge, continuing his slow ascent. If he died and lost the bow, he would never be able to retrieve his many items. He had noted his coordinates, and the video was being recorded, so finding this place again wouldn't be an issue. But reaching this height a second time? That wouldn't be possible. Dying twice had already knocked him below rank 30 on the leaderboard.
After 30 minutes of careful calculation, Godstep, and resting in between, Kai finally reached the top. The view of the entire valley stretched before him—clear, vast, and mesmerizing. The forest was far bigger than any of them had assumed.
"Haha, those guys are in for one hell of a journey.."
Then he turned around and saw an equally dense expanse, lush with greenery—or more like "bluerry," with so many blue, purple, and red trees mixed in. He couldn't see the end of it. Guess he hadn't been dealt any better hand either.
But he was determined to see this through. From what he had read on the Nexus Kin forums, everyone who started on this path encountered the common Shlensalan Event. Shortly after, for one reason or another, their starting villages were always destroyed, forcing them to move.
Some villages were wiped out by pure Exodians, the same as theirs. Others were bombarded by Exodian cities. In at least one case, the nearby Stonebinder city lords had issued an impossible quest to an entire village—failure meant surrendering property or manpower as tax. All the player families in that village had no choice but to give up their player relatives.
Between these accounts and the Nexus Kin players who had lost their villages searching for the nearest settlements, the logical step forward was clear: reach the Stonebinder town and gather as much information as possible.
And then there was this—
[Mission: Blood Debt
Difficulty: S+
Objective: Find the murderer of your family. [Hint 1: His name is Lord Bloodthorne. Maybe people in the Stonebinder town know about him.]
Reward: 50 Million Exp, ???]
Kai hadn't noticed it last night, but a few hours after his village was destroyed, every player who had spawned there received this main storyline mission. It was a chain quest—one that would likely span the entire game.
He also had a mission involving conflicts in three villages of Kalimari. At first, he thought his starting village was named Kalimari, but now it seemed the whole region shared that name. Only by reaching another settlement would he find out if the mission could continue.
Resting for a while atop the grassy hill of the mountain, taking in the view, Kai waited until he had at least 6 MP before getting up to continue his journey westward.
While waiting, he checked his inventory. His fingers hovered over an item he had received last night—Drops of Pure Exodian Blood. The usual "Drop" option was there, but another one caught his eye: "Consume."
Kai had no idea what would happen if he did. He accessed his holo from his interface and searched the web to see if anyone else had received this item or knew its effects. No results.
Not making a big deal out of nothing, Kai simply consumed it.
The next second, a notification appeared—
[Bloodline Skill: BloodWorld upgraded to three star.]
Huh? Skills could be upgraded? That wasn't possible before. Previously, once a skill was acquired, it remained permanently. There were some methods to remove skills and reclaim Skill Points, but there had never been an option to upgrade skills.
[Skill: BloodWorld
Rank: ⬟⬟⬟
Refresh Time: 7 seconds
Effect: The world drowns in pitch black, swallowing all but the living. Flesh glows pale white, blood blazes crimson beneath—every vein exposed, every heartbeat laid bare. Structures vanish. Only life remains—raw, fragile, and stripped of disguise.
BloodEcho – It leaves behind a haunting resonance on the target, making their blood throb unnaturally for a short while, forcing them to see the Bloodworld, overwhelming their senses for 1 second.]
An add-on skill? This was interesting. Could he upgrade the skill even further to reach its full potential—five stars? If so, True Exodian Blood Drops might be the rarest item in the game.
But killing Exodians—especially the true-blooded ones—was a suicide. They had the most advanced civilization. Besides, Kai suspected the blood wouldn't drop from just any Exodian. It would have to be someone powerful and important—someone like Lord Bloodthorne.
An ability that messed with enemy senses, even for just a second, was worth its weight in gold. This would help immensely in leveling up and surviving the forest ahead of him.
Kai was Level 14 now. One more level would grant him another SP. The reward from the Vengeance mission had also given him one SP.
Kai had been saving his Skill Points for the skill Deimos had learned. That wouldn't be possible anymore.
"Let's just see if I can survive.. I'll think about getting a skill if it becomes necessary."
There were many ways to acquire skills—performing specific tasks or repeating professional techniques. The internet was filled with guides.
But those were human skills. Not really worth much.
What Kai wanted were skills from the other two species. Those had fantasy elements that could allow players to perform feats far beyond their normal capacity. Both in the game world and in real life after the offline invitation.