A system notification popped up, catching Ethan off guard.
A General’s Token? What the hell was that? And it was just a fragnt?
He imdiately opened his inventory to inspect it.
[General’s Token (Fragnt)]
Description: 100 fragnts can be synthesized into a complete General’s Token.
Effect: Grants unrestricted entry into the General’s Sanctuary.
Notes: First-ti monster kills have a higher drop rate. Only 100 fragnts exist in total. No more will be produced once they’re all acquired.
Ethan frowned.
The General’s Sanctuary?
He’d never heard of that before—not in this life or the last.
Was it so kind of hidden zone? Or maybe, in his previous life, all 100 fragnts had been dropped, but no single player ever gathered them all?
He shook his head. It didn’t matter right now. One hundred fragnts wouldn’t be easy to co by anyway.
He closed the inventory and dashed off toward the entrance of the General’s Tomb’s second level. The monsters ahead were Level 77. He was only Level 50. A 27-level gap ant a massive experience bonus.
His heart thumped with excitent.
If the second level had choke points, he could kite the mobs efficiently—but first, he’d need to scout the layout.
---
[Ding... System Notification: Your Alt character has joined a party!]
[Ding... System Notification: Your Alt character has left Mining Zone 1894!]
Ethan blinked. He’d seen his Alt mining earlier and hadn’t paid it any mind. As the main account holder, he received alerts for the Alt’s activity.
Curious, he opened the Alt panel. Level 40. The party notification likely ant soone—no doubt Morzan—was dragging it into a dungeon.
A thought sparked.
Should he start leveling the Alt too?
If Morzan was controlling it, they could tag-team on the Carnage Faction side. That could actually work.
He ntally called out to Morzan, but there was no response.
Figures. The old geezer had probably muted their link—or wasn’t spying on him at the mont.
Ethan opened private chat instead.
NotADruid:
"Don’t bother with the dungeon. I’ll take you leveling in a bit."
A full minute passed.
NotARogue:
"Uh...? The little brat finally logged on! Do you know how exhausting it’s been trying to keep your level up?
You’re gonna level ? Worry about your second-place rank first, hotshot!"
Ethan rolled his eyes and responded after a mont:
NotADruid:
"My bad. I’m almost Level 51."
Another minute went by.
[Ding... System Notification: Your Alt character has left the party!]
NotARogue:
"Co on, hurry up and pull over!"
NotADruid:
"Wait until I find a safe spot!"
Ethan could practically hear the impatience in Morzan’s voice. The old man had clearly noticed his leveling speed and was getting excited. Still, summoning him now would be a death sentence.
---
It took over thirty minutes to reach the second level’s entrance—an absurdly long ti, even at Ethan’s speed. That showed just how massive the General’s Tomb was. The staircase wasn’t even at the far end of the map; it was in the middle. aning a full run from the main gate to the back would take over an hour.
As he descended the stairs, he slowed his pace. Just around the corner lay the second-level entrance—and two Corpse Guard Warriors always spawned there.
There was no cover. No sneaking past. Not with that 27-level difference.
Two choices, he thought. Fight head-on... or run like hell and break combat.
He decided to try separating them first. Fight one. Test the damage. If it got hairy, he’d bail.
That was the plan.
But the mont he peeked around the corner—both guards turned in unison, their glowing eyes locking onto him like rabid bloodhounds. They charged.
---
These weren’t the slow, dragging husks from the first floor. They ran.
One of them had a fully transford left arm—a massive, jagged scythe that glead in the dim tomb light. Its right hand swung freely at its side as it barreled forward.
Ethan’s eyes widened.
’Nope. Hell no.’
He activated Swift Stride and bolted just as they closed in. A gust of wind kicked up behind him as he narrowly slipped past them.
They were fast. Faster than he expected—almost rogue-level agility. And once they started chasing... they didn’t stop.
Two turned to five. Five beca ten.
The monster density down here was insane.
Ethan grimaced.
---
Eventually, fifty or sixty Corpse Guard Warriors were hot on his heels. So would peel off if they couldn’t keep up, but new ones kept joining the pack.
’This isn’t sustainable. I need a choke point. Fast.’
He couldn’t just run aimlessly and aggro the entire floor.
Twenty minutes later, he spotted a ruined stone pillar—but it was too tall to climb. He’d need sothing lower... or at least a series of jumps.
Ten more minutes passed before he finally found a broken column—about seven ters tall. It was just doable.
He took a deep breath, then activated Accelerate, Leap, and Double Jump in quick succession.
With a burst of montum, he vaulted up—barely catching the edge. He scrambled onto the top.
---
Down below, over a hundred Corpse Guard Warriors sward the base of the pillar.
Ethan wiped a cold sweat from his brow.
If these monsters could destroy terrain, he’d be screwed. Thankfully, they just roared and waved their bladed limbs uselessly.
He opened his Alt panel and summoned the rogue.
The mont the Alt materialized beside him, it turned, eyes widening at the undead tide below.
"What the hell did you do to deserve this?" Morzan exclaid, appalled.
Each of those mobs stood over six feet tall, bulked up like pro wrestlers, and wielded terrifying weapon-arms. The sight was definitely sothing.
"Tsk. I’m here to level you, and you’re still whining?" Ethan shot him a glare.
Morzan huffed. "Level ? This is your Alt, kid! I’ve been sharing EXP with your main to level you up!"
"Oh, so now you rember it’s my Alt? You’ve been taking it out for strolls every day. You better start paying rent, freeloading geezer."
"You... fine!" Morzan gave up arguing and pulled out a folding chair. Then ca a sun umbrella, a table, a flask of wine, and so snacks.
Ethan blinked. "Didn’t you quit drinking?"
"I quit that day," Morzan said matter-of-factly, taking a long swig. "This wine, though? Chef’s kiss."
Ethan muttered a curse under his breath and turned to face the horde. Might as well get to work.
---
He toggled the EXP share to give his Alt the full cut. He was too close to leveling up himself—any monster kill might push him past 51, reducing the EXP bonus from the level gap.
Since the Alt wouldn’t get the bonus from being lower level, he’d have to work with what he had.
Solar Flare went out first—an area debuff. Lunar Beam was single-target, so it wasn’t worth using right now.
He focused on one monster and started hamring away.
-36!
-24!
-48!
That was his highest skill damage. Even with Divine Fatal Strike on a crit, it barely hit 300. The monsters had 385,000 HP.
One kill would take an hour, he estimated.
Still, when Celestial Barrage activated, it was a sight to behold—even if the damage was hilariously low.
-1... -1... -1...
Snowflakes in a hurricane.
Ethan sighed.
He suddenly wished Lyla were here. They could sit under the stars—well, teor skill effect—and talk about life.
Instead, the one lounging next to him was an old man in a a rogue’s body, sipping wine like he was on vacation.
He let out another sigh and dug in for the grind.
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