Upon their arrival in [Universal Ascension], it was completely normal for ordinary players, no matter their race, to know almost nothing about the world they had been thrown into.
There was no guide, no explanation, no long tutorial waiting for them. They were simply dropped in.
Aside from a few basic system ssages and vague instructions, the world offered them nothing.
No one explained the rules or how power truly worked.
Everyone was forced to learn through trial, error... and death.
Leon knew this better than anyone.
From his perspective, the difference between players was clear from the very beginning.
Those who ca from eternal-level worlds were different. They moved with confidence. They reacted faster.
They were never surprised by sudden changes or hidden chanics. Even when sothing completely new appeared, they acted as if they had already expected it.
They knew things. They always did.
Among the countless pieces of information that most players wouldn’t understand until much later, there was one that seed painfully basic in hindsight: attributes.
Constitution, Strength, Agility and Spirit.
Simple concepts, or so most people believed.
Many players spent weeks, sotis months, treating attributes as nothing more than numbers.
Things that increased damage or health in a very shallow way. They invested points blindly, copied others, or ignored them entirely while focusing on skills instead.
Only much later did they realize how wrong that approach was. Leon already knew the truth.
After fifteen years inside this world, there was nothing unclear about attributes to him. He understood them far better than most players ever would, even at higher levels.
Take [Constitution], for example.
Most players thought it simply ant how much damage they could take before dying. A bigger health pool. A sturdier body. That was it.
But that understanding was fundantally flawed. Constitution was not just HP.
It was durability, resistance, how much physical force your body could endure.I
t was how many status effects you could resist or outright ignore.
It was how much punishnt you could take without flinching.
A high constitution didn’t just let you survive longer, it changed how the world interacted with you.
The sa could be said for [Strength], [Agility], and [Spirit]. They were all deeper than people assud, though constitution was by far the most misunderstood of them all.
That was why Leon had done sothing that would have looked reckless to anyone else.
He had let the assassin entity strike Emilia directly. Not because he was careless.
But because he wanted to show her directly.
Fwoosh!
The assassin moved in an instant once more, its figure blurring as it closed the distance. The dagger in its hand shimred faintly as it slashed toward Emilia with killing intent.
Clang!
The sound rang out sharply as the blade bounced harmlessly off her skin.
There was no blood. No wound. Not even a scratch.
At the exact sa mont, Leon moved.
Slash!
His sword cut through the air in a clean arc, forcing the assassin to retreat imdiately.
The entity jumped back, landing lightly before taking a stance.
For the first ti, Leon and Emilia were able to clearly see it.
---
[Moon Sect Devout (Mutated)]
[Level: 25]
[Exclusive Talent: Blood Moon Worshipper (B-Level)]
[Combat Power: 35,000]
[Details: A moon sect devout that has decided to take a dagger rather than a scepter.]
---
This devout was different from the others they had faced so far.
It was stronger. Sharper. More dangerous.
A crimson aura burned within its eyes as it stared at them, its body tense as it surged forward once again.
Slash!
Instead of targeting Leon, it aid directly for Emilia.
Clang!
Once more, the dagger failed to even pierce her skin.
The devout froze for a split second, disbelief flashing across its twisted expression.
"How...?" it muttered, slashing again and again in desperation. "How is this even possible?!"
No matter how many tis it struck, the result was the sa. The blade simply could not break through her defense.
"Our turn now," Leon said with a grin.
Powerful Fireball!
A blazing sphere of fla shot forward, roaring through the air. The devout reacted quickly, leaping aside as the fireball exploded where it had been standing.
But the mont it landed—
Divine Beam!
Emilia was already prepared.
A brilliant beam of light shot forward, striking the devout directly before it could regain its balance.
"Argh...!"
The creature scread as the attack tore through it, its body staggering from the impact.
And before it could even think of counterattacking—
Slash!
Leon appeared behind it. One clean strike was all it took. The devout’s head fell to the ground, its life ending instantly.
Ding!
[You have killed "Moon Sect Devout (Mutated)" and gained 5,000 experience points.]
[100% Drop Rate has triggered...]
The devout dropped a [Moon Sect Devout Robe 2], and unlike the others, it also dropped its weapon.
[Moon Sect Dagger (Elite): 500 Attack, 300 Strength, 250 Agility. Requirent: 1,500 Agility.]
Leon glanced at the items briefly before storing them away. His inventory was steadily filling up from all the kills, and he was more than satisfied with the results so far.
Then he turned to Emilia.
"Give your scepter and robe for a second," Leon said with a grin.
Emilia didn’t hesitate. She already knew exactly what he was planning.
Leon had been saving the items that dropped from the devouts for this exact mont. One by one, he pulled them out and began fusing them together.
Fwoosh! Ding!
[Enhancent failed.]
Leon didn’t stop.
Ding!
[Enhancent successful!]
Again. And again. He continued using the materials he had gathered, pushing the items further and further until—
[Moon Sect Devout Robe 5 (Uncommon): 1,500 Defense, 750 Constitution, 500 Spirit.]
[Moon Sect Scepter 4 (Rare): 1,300 Magic Attack, 1,000 Spirit, 500 Agility.]
Only then did he hand them back to Emilia. Her eyes widened as she looked at the upgraded equipnt.
"Holy shit," she muttered. "Your talent really is sothing..."
"I hope you learned sothing from what happened earlier," Leon said calmly. "You can’t get hurt."
Emilia still felt so skepticism. She wasn’t the type to blindly believe sothing like that, and she definitely wasn’t eager to test it herself.
But after seeing a mutated monster fail completely to break through her defense... she couldn’t deny it anymore.
She felt more confident than before. Not enough to throw herself into danger, but enough to trust her own strength.
Just like that, Leon and Emilia continued deeper into the [Hell] difficulty [Blood Moon Cathedral].
Along the way, they encountered new enemies, this ti, actual monsters instead of natives.
---
[Moon Devout Beast]
[Level: 25]
[Combat Power: 34,000]
[Detail: A wolf-like beast that has devoted itself to the "Blood Moon".]
---
These monsters weren’t much of a threat either, but they served another purpose. They dropped essences.
[Moon Devout Beast: Consuming will increase Spirit by 7 and Constitution by 6.]
Leon consud them without hesitation, steadily enhancing his attributes even further.
None of the monsters they encountered were strong enough to slow them down, let alone endanger them.
[ 105 Spirit, 90 Constitution.]
Thanks to that, Leon continued leveling smoothly.
Ding!
[Congratulations, you have leveled up to Level 19 20!]
[Due to "Heaven’s Blessing", you have gained 200 points in all attributes and 200 free points to distribute.]
Emilia glanced around as another group of monsters fell.
"Are you sure this is the [Hell] difficulty?" she joked. "Feels more like easy~"
Leon didn’t answer, but his gaze remained focused ahead.
Before long, they reached the end of the [Blood Moon Cathedral].
And there, it wasn’t a boss that awaited them, but a massive gate engraved with a gigantic crimson symbol.
No matter the direction, all the light of the [Blood Moon] seed to converge upon it.
The area around the gate was completely silent. No monsters approached. No devouts lingered nearby.
It was as if the place itself was sacred and forbidden.
Even Leon felt sothing was off.
’That thing doesn’t exist in [Normal] or [Hard] difficulty,’ he thought, his eyes narrowing. ’It really is exclusive to the hardest one.’
Without hesitation, he pulled the [Blood Moon Crystal] from his inventory.
The mont it appeared—
Fwoosh!
The crystal began to float, drifting forward until it stopped directly in front of the gate.
Ding!
[You have been recognized as worthy, Celestial.]
[But unfortunately, you may only proceed alone in the "Blood Heart Challenge"]
"Seriously?"
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