The truly valuable items remained tucked away in his inventory. Ethan Sorel had no intention of selling the Dark Gold equipment or the skill book Regi had dropped. That kind of haul would fetch a king's ransom, but only after he left the Starter Village. The Level 5 Gold-tier gear, however, was perfect bait for WealthSupreme.
But Ethan’s objective was far more ambitious than mere Gold Coins.
"Alright, Whitenox, since you're being so direct, I won't beat around the bush," WealthSupreme announced, his confidence flooding back now that he knew he could pay the remainder later. "Name your price."
"The weapon is thirty Gold Coins. The plate armor is forty. The other pieces are twenty each," Ethan stated, his tone flat and business-like. "The four skill books are one hundred Gold apiece. As for this last one..." He singled out a final, unassuming tome. "I'll give you a discount. Let's call it five hundred Gold Coins."
"Five hundred?"
Even for a man who prided himself on his wealth, the figure was staggering. WealthSupreme was floored. He knew that for Level 5 Gold-tier equipment and C-rank skills, his party was likely the only group in the village with the capital to even consider such a purchase. It was a matter of supply and demand; they desperately needed this power spike. Still, the price was extortionate.
Anyone who’d ever played a game understood the principle: the earlier you acquired top-tier gear and skills, the more insurmountable your advantage became. In a few weeks, this Level 5 equipment would be vendor trash. Everyone had started at the same time; there would be no new waves of players to sell outdated gear to.
He could stomach the other prices, but that last book… five hundred gold? A discount? The man was treating him like an idiot.
That thought evaporated the moment his eyes fell on the skill description.
【Revive】(C-Rank, No Level Requirement, Active)
Resurrects a target player outside of combat, reducing their death penalty by 50% (excluding Lifespan loss).
Range: 50 meters
Cast Time: 5 seconds
Cooldown: 60 seconds
Mana Cost: 300
Requirement: Cleric-type Class
Revive. Even if it couldn't be used in the heat of battle, it was still resurrection.
Five hundred Gold Coins? Was it expensive? Hell no, it was a bargain!
Leveling past 5 was already becoming a slog. A single death meant losing an entire level. With `Revive`, that penalty was halved.
Marshmallow’s eyes lit up, a hungry glint in them. She was their Cleric. With that skill, her importance to the team would skyrocket.
WealthSupreme’s hesitation vanished. He slapped his hands together decisively. "One thousand and eighty Gold Coins. We'll take it all!" He immediately initiated a trade with Ethan, placing 580 Gold Coins into the window. "I'll pay you five-eighty now, Whitenox. The remaining five hundred tomorrow. Is that acceptable?"
A shimmering, translucent contract materialized between them. Ethan scanned its terms and gave a curt nod.
[System: You have successfully signed a contract with player "WealthSupreme". The player has pledged to complete the transaction within 24 hours. In case of default, the player will incur a daily penalty of 10% of the outstanding contract value until the agreement is fulfilled. (Penalties will be automatically deducted from the player's inventory. The system will collect a 50% processing fee.)]
With the transaction complete, WealthSupreme immediately began distributing the gear and skill books, a deliberate display for Ethan's benefit. He wanted to show that joining his team was a lucrative proposition.
Ethan watched with an amused glint in his eye. If he remembered correctly, the first effect of `The Golden God` Talent allowed its owner to shake a "Golden Bough" once a day, yielding a random amount between 1 and 999 Gold Coins. Was this man so certain he’d roll over 500 tomorrow? More likely, the other two effects of his Talent were the source of his confidence.
Soon, the party was decked out in their new gear, the excitement on their faces impossible to hide.
WealthSupreme turned back to Ethan, a trademark grin plastered on his face. "Thanks again, Whitenox. With this stuff, our chances of snagging the Nightmare First Clear for The Mistwood are much, much higher."
"Oh? Is that so?" Ethan’s lips curved into a meaningful smile. "Are you certain you'll be faster than me?"
The joyous chatter died instantly. Smiles froze, melting into expressions of disbelief and then dawning horror.
They had completely forgotten.
Whitenox had already claimed the World First Clears for Inferno and Catastrophe, but nothing stopped him from going back to claim the Nightmare one as well. How could they possibly compete with him?
The realization hit them like a physical blow. A flicker of anger crossed their faces; they felt like they'd been played. The hot-tempered player, WakingUpIsHard, glared at Ethan, his mouth opening to curse, but MapleWhisper quickly grabbed his arm, shaking her head.
WealthSupreme’s composure returned, though his smile was now strained. He looked Ethan straight in the eye. "That's not a funny joke, Whitenox. Let's hear your terms."
Hook, line, and sinker.
Ethan had no intention of setting foot in The Mistwood again. He was already Level 8, while the mobs and boss in Nightmare difficulty were only Level 7. Not only would he get no Over-Level Bonus, his experience gain would be slashed by 50%. It was a waste of time he could be spending grinding.
But the `Soulstone of Vitality I` from the World First Clear reward? That, he would not abandon.
"My condition is simple," Ethan said calmly. "All `Soulstone of Vitality I` from the World First Clear reward belong to me."
MapleWhisper had triggered a system announcement before; Ethan was certain they knew exactly what a Soulstone of Vitality was.
Comprehension dawned on their faces. So that was his real target.
For a moment, they were torn. A `Soulstone of Vitality I` only granted thirty days of Lifespan to anyone other than Ethan. The oldest among them, WealthSupreme, looked to be in his forties at most. They didn't have the same desperate, short-term need for Lifespan that Ethan did.
But it was Lifespan. A priceless commodity. If they refused, they'd get no World First Clear reward at all. But if they agreed, what was the point of even getting the clear if the most valuable part went to someone else?
Ethan had anticipated their hesitation. His gaze shifted to MapleWhisper. "Tell me," he asked suddenly, "how many Soulstones of Vitality did you get for the World First Kill on that Bronze-tier boss?"
MapleWhisper was momentarily taken aback by the question but answered truthfully. "Two."
"Have you absorbed them yet?"
"Not yet."
"I see..." Ethan's eyes gleamed. He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Then let's make another deal. I will personally guarantee you the World First Clear for Nightmare. More than that, I'll give you the power to start farming Inferno difficulty." He paused, letting the weight of his words sink in. "My price is the soulstones from the Nightmare clear... and the two you're holding right now. How about it?"
Faced with his escalating demands, WealthSupreme and MapleWhisper, rather than getting angry, both blurted out their response in near-unison.
"Deal!"
The reason for their instant capitulation was the five new items Ethan had just presented.
Five pieces of Level 5 Dark Gold-Tier equipment.
A gentle breeze rustled the tall grass of the plains, the sun warm on Ethan Sorel's skin. He lay with his eyes closed, hands laced behind his head, a stalk of foxtail grass dangling from his lips. To any observer, he looked like a man without a care in the world.
In reality, he was grinding levels faster than any other player in the game.
Dozens of meters away, his legion of one hundred skeletons moved like a tide of bone and steel. They swept across the prairie, a relentless engine of destruction that tore through packs of wild beasts. While their rampage ruined the otherwise picturesque scene, it also caused Ethan’s experience bar to tick upward without pause.
[You have slain a Level 10 Prairie Bison. 50% Over-Level Bonus applied. +30 EXP.]
[You have slain a Level 10 Elite Savanna Wolf. 50% Over-Level Bonus applied. +150 EXP.]
[You have slain a Level 10 Champion Savanna Dire Wolf. 50% Over-Level Bonus applied. +450 EXP.]
[...]
This was a Level 10 monster zone, one of the few high-level outdoor maps available in the Starter Village. Every moment, more monsters fell to his skeletal army, their life force converted into a steady stream of experience for Ethan. While most were Normal mobs, their sheer numbers made up for it.
At this stage of the game, every other capable player was busy trying to clear The Mistwood dungeon. As a result, Ethan had this entire high-level map to himself.
If another player were to witness this, they would likely cough up blood in sheer outrage. How was it fair that they had to struggle and sweat for every point of EXP, constantly fearing for their lives, while this man simply lay back and watched his levels climb?
Fair or not, Ethan didn't care. He was about to hit Level 9.
His forty Skeleton Warriors acted as an unbreakable frontline, pulling mob after mob into the kill zone where the remaining Skeleton Marksmen and Mages unleashed a merciless barrage. The slaughter was as efficient as reaping wheat.
A moment later, a brilliant golden light enveloped his body.
[Congratulations, player "Whitenox"! You have reached Level 9! All Quad-Stats +1, Skill Points +1, Free Attribute Points +15.]
Just one more level and I can leave the Starter Village, Ethan thought, sitting up. He allocated his attribute points according to his usual build but held on to the skill point.
There was simply nothing worthwhile to spend it on. His passive skills were rank-based and didn't use points. `Death Drain: Feedback` required ten points for its first level-up, making a single point useless. The only skill he could upgrade, `Soulfire Burn`, was a low-level ability with pitiful damage that he planned to replace soon anyway. Better to save the point.
"I wonder where the hell Bramwell went," he muttered, glancing at the 758 Gold Coins in his inventory.
After his deal with WealthSupreme, he hadn't come straight to The Verdant Plains. He’d returned to the village first, intending to get his new equipment appraised. To his immense frustration, the appraiser's shop in Starter Village #9527 had been closed. Inquiries at neighboring shops revealed that the appraiser, Bramwell, had concluded that no one in the village could possibly have obtained items requiring appraisal yet. So, he had left on a "field excursion."
The man was apparently a painter in his spare time, and his destination was none other than The Verdant Plains.
So, Ethan’s first trip back to town had yielded nothing more than a few sets of comfortable undergarments and some recall scrolls. Everything else for sale was useless to him.
"The Verdant Plains are huge. Who knows where that guy wandered off to paint," Ethan grumbled, patting the dust off his pants as he stood. In truth, he was only moving because his skeletons had cleared the immediate area of monsters. He wasn't about to go on a wild goose chase for Bramwell. He could always get the gear appraised after leaving the village. It was all Level 10 anyway; he couldn't even wear it yet.
"Five hundred thousand experience points. This is going to take a while." To get from Level 9 to 10, there were no dungeons. The only way was to grind an astronomical number of monsters in the wild. By his rough estimate, he'd have to wipe out the entire Prairie Bison population of The Verdant Plains several times over.
After moving to a more densely populated spot, Ethan found a large, flat-topped boulder, lay back down, and crossed his legs, lazily resuming his power-leveling. The Ossian Legion instantly re-engaged, a maelstrom of death that no beast could withstand.
"This is still a bit slow," he mused, watching the rate his experience bar was climbing. His eyes fell on the `Expanded Summoning Capacity` skill. He had the gold now, and more than enough Soulstones of Vitality. He wondered... was it enough for an Ascension? Or maybe even a Cataclysm?
A thought sparked in his mind. Cataclysm.
[Target: Expanded Summoning Capacity]
[System: Please select the desired Ascension Tier (Tier 1 / Tier 2 / Tier 3). (Click for details)]
Option 1: Override existing Ascension effect. Re-Ascend to D-Rank `Expanded Summoning Capacity`. Cost: None.
Option 2: Override existing Ascension effect. Sublimate to C-Rank `Expanded Summoning Capacity`. Cost: 100 Gold Coins.
Option 3: Override existing Ascension effect. Cataclysm to B-Rank `Expanded Summoning Capacity`. Cost: 20 Years of Lifespan.
"Twenty years?!" Ethan’s mouth went dry. A B-rank skill wasn't worth that price, but a skill empowered by his Calamity Trait certainly was. If he had enough Lifespan, this was a no-brainer.
He quickly did the math, counting the soulstones in his inventory. His eyes widened. It was possible.
Counting the two he'd acquired from MapleWhisper, he now had 64 `Soulstone of Vitality`. Thanks to his own Trait's Ascension, they had all been upgraded to `Soulstone of Vitality II`, each granting 120 days of life. 64 multiplied by 120 was 7,680 days. Just over twenty-one years. It was enough. Just.
The `Expanded Summoning Capacity` skill, despite its low level, was the cornerstone of his power.
There was no need to hesitate. He immediately absorbed all 64 soulstones. A torrent of raw life force flooded his system, a sensation so potent and clarifying it was almost painful, an ecstatic shock that left him gasping. The feeling of pure vitality was a high beyond compare. His Lifespan soared to just under twenty-two years.
"The feeling of gaining Lifespan... it's truly intoxicating," he whispered to himself. Then, with absolute resolve, he made his choice.
"Cataclysm, Tier 3!"
[System: Are you sure you wish to consume 20 years of Lifespan to override the previous Ascension and Cataclysm the skill "Expanded Summoning Capacity" to a higher grade?]
"Confirm!"
The sublime warmth he had just gained vanished as quickly as it came, a chilling void left in its wake as two decades of life were stripped from him in an instant.
[System: You have lost 20 years of Lifespan.]
[Lifespan: Less than 2 years remaining.]
[Your E-Rank skill "Expanded Summoning Capacity" has successfully undergone Cataclysm, becoming the B-Rank skill "Expanded Summoning Capacity".]