Forty minutes later, the Spectral Wolf King crashed to the ground, lifeless, its massive fra stirring up a cloud of dust.
Four server-first kill notifications lit up the sky, but as usual, Ethan opted to stay anonymous.
The experience points rewarded were just 12,000 in total. Quite disappointing, considering the risk.
In Ethereal, experience gained from defeating monsters increased exponentially with level gaps. If a monster's level exceeded a player's by up to five levels, the system granted 100% bonus XP per additional level. From six to ten levels higher, the bonus jumped to 200%. Beyond ten levels? A staggering 300%.
That's why, when Ethan, at Level 5, took down the Level 20 Swamp Leviathan, he raked in an astonishing 3,000% XP bonus.
For context, regular field monsters granted experience equal to ten tis their level. Elite monsters offered fifty tis their level, while Boss monsters rewarded a hundred tis. Dungeon monsters, however, provided ten tis the XP of their field counterparts but ca with challenges that no average team could overco without flawless teamwork.
Despite the XP potential, solo grinding or dungeon diving was an option only for the most skilled or reckless players. The majority had to team up, dividing the spoils. The result? Experience gains so thin they were barely worth the effort.
Ethan surveyed the loot scattered across the ground, feeling his excitent quickly fade. Nothing extraordinary. Not even a single silver-tiered item. All he got were a few Reinforcent Stones and a bronze-tiered belt that needed appraisal.
Unlike high-tier items like the Blazing Bracelet, or the Primal Warstaff he'd looted from the Swamp Leviathan, lower-quality gear required appraisal. Without it, the items couldn't even be equipped.
Unfortunately, Ethan couldn't return to town to appraise the belt. Right now, being a red-nad player, he was barred from city gates, risking capture and imprisonnt by the town guards until his Sin Value dropped to zero, a ti sink he couldn't afford.
Not that it mattered. With his loot secured, Ethan moved on, setting his sights on the next target: the Level 10 Berserk Bear.
Just as he was about to head out, a loud ding interrupted his thoughts.
[Global Announcent: Player 'Feather' has achieved the first kill of the Level 10 Boss 'Berserk Bear' in the Eastern Sector of Dragonspire! Rewards will be distributed via inbox shortly.]
Ethan froze, his heart sinking. Then another ding followed, this ti, a national announcent.
Looking up at the glowing text, Ethan groaned. He should've prioritized the lower-level Boss. Now, at least 100 gold coins worth of rewards had slipped through his fingers.
"Feather, huh?" Ethan muttered, suppressing a pang of annoyance. "That Archer seems as good as ever even in this life. Guess the god of arrows lives up to his title."
The system announcent's wording made one thing clear: Feather had taken down the Berserk Bear solo. Team efforts had different phrasing, and Ethan knew it.
Still grumbling over the missed opportunity, Ethan sprinted toward the Berserk Bear's spawn point.
The Boss's stats flashed across his vision. It wasn't much of a threat to him now. At Level 12, he had a two-level advantage over the Boss, giving him the edge. Without hesitation, he launched into battle.
Minutes later, the Berserk Bear crumpled under Ethan's relentless assault, netting him a regional first-kill bonus and over ten gold coins.
Among the loot was a bronze-tiered cloak, visually striking but still unappraised.
With two Bosses down, Ethan focused on strengthening his weapon. Using Reinforcent Stones from both battles, he pushed his weapon to 30. His attack power surged past 500, and his Mastery stat gained two points.
At Level 12 with 41% XP progress, Ethan knew he'd soon outgrow the Starter Zone. But first, he needed to grind enough to leave at the earliest opportunity. The Starter Dungeon required a ten-player team to bypass its intricate traps and chanisms, and soloing it was impossible, even for him.
If Feather could solo a Level 10 Boss, Ethan needed to reach the main city before him to claim the rewards waiting there. Ti was of the essence.
Ethan turned his attention to grinding. Pulling groups of Corrupted Bears using a train strategy, he lured small clusters toward him. Despite his attacks, the monsters frequently fled mid-combat, causing him to lose progress. To keep them engaged, Ethan allowed himself to take a few hits, ensuring they stayed in combat.
The process was slow and grueling. After a few waves, he had to pause, catching his breath and recovering health before continuing.
After finishing off the current wave of Corrupted Bears, Ethan opened his friend list and sent a ssage to Skyblade:
"Get Slashblade and that Paladin guy. et in the Level 12 monster zone. I'll power-level you guys."
He included his coordinates and told them to follow the main road until they reached the outer edges of the area, where he'd co to fetch them.
With their pitiful Level 4 stats, those three couldn't survive a single swipe from the Berserk Bear, let alone fend off the Corrupted Bears.
The trio, thrilled by Ethan's offer, scrambled to make their way to him.
While waiting, Ethan kept busy farming more monsters.
Over an hour later, a notification popped up from Skyblade:
[We're here.]
Ethan walked out to et them, and as expected, Skyblade looked as proud as ever. He strutted over, carrying a shield on his back and a single-handed sword at his hip.
Looking at him, Ethan felt a flicker of regret about advising Skyblade to switch to a Shield Tank build. With that attitude, he'd probably cause chaos during any dungeon raid.
"Hey, um, Legend!" Skyblade greeted him with a cheeky grin.
Ethan ignored him and patted Slashblade on the shoulder. "Let's go. With your heals, I'll be fine. You two can head back."
"What?! Skyblade and Williams blurted out in unison, their faces a mix of disbelief and indignation.
"Uh..." Slashblade hesitated, caught off guard.
Ethan burst into laughter. "Relax, I'm just ssing with you. You two aren't totally useless, you'll help pull mobs."
With a smirk, he sent out team invites.
[Ding... Slashblade has joined the party!]
[Ding... Skyblade has joined the party!]
[Ding... SeraphWarrior has joined the party!]
It was only now that Ethan noticed Williams's in-ga na: SeraphWarrior.
He froze for a mont. SeraphWarrior wasn't just any player, he was a legend. Though he didn't rise to prominence in the early days of Ethereal, he beca a big na during the Great National War event. Along with Heaven's Dawn, he was one of the elite players who had cented their place in history.
Ethan studied him curiously. Back then, during the ga's late phase, Ethan had been reduced to scavenging abandoned mines, hunting for Titanite to survive in the real world. He'd never heard Skyblade ntion either Slashblade or SeraphWarrior. Did sothing happen to their group later?
Pushing aside his doubts, Ethan led the group down the cleared path into the Corrupted Bear spawning grounds.
He assigned Skyblade and SeraphWarrior to pull mobs, while Slashblade stayed close to Ethan as a mobile health reserve, healing him as needed.
Surprisingly, the two lower-level players made excellent lures. From a distance, the monsters spotted them imdiately, charging in packs toward the group.
When the mobs entered Ethan's attack range, he unleashed Sunburn, pulling their aggro toward himself. With the threat neutralized, the two players went off to pull more monsters.
At first, Skyblade and SeraphWarrior scread for help, their panicked cries echoing across the battlefield.
But once the first wave of monsters fell, and the XP notifications started flooding their screens, their terror turned to delight. With the 700% bonus for level-gap kills, each player earned 378 XP per monster, a massive boost that skyrocketed their progress bars.
For Ethan, the gains were very little. Solo, he would've earned 240 XP per kill. With a party, his share dropped to 108 XP.
Still, the team bonus, 20% extra XP per additional party mber, helped soften the blow. Without it, his losses would've been even greater.
As the rest reveled in their rapid leveling, Ethan smirked. At least they were getting their fill.
___
Author:
Twenty six Chapters in. Please drop a review of what you think of the story so far. Don't forget to leave so power stones.
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