The eight members of the Galeforce Squad were no strangers to the edge of a blade. Every one of them was a veteran of countless life-and-death struggles, and while their raw power levels varied, their combat instincts were every bit as sharp as Ash Valor’s.
Against a swarm of Level 95 mobs, they operated like a finely tuned machine. They pulled aggro with surgical precision, chained their area-of-effect skills without a second of wasted downtime, and ensured their baseline damage output was pushed to its absolute limit. Ash himself was a whirlwind of destruction; between his Ninefold Shot and a stack of tactical buffs, his clearing speed was nothing short of monstrous.
Kill Count +9. Experience +4,215. Silver +102.
Even with the experience split eight ways, the returns were lucrative. Ash felt a surge of grim satisfaction.
"There’s a bonus reward from the Planar Vault if we hit Level 100 within three years," Ash said, checking his HUD. "Forget three years. We’re hitting that mark in two."
Lately, Ash had made a habit of checking the global Leaderboard. It was a humbling experience. Evan Valor was already closing in on Level 180. In Azure Prime, Evan was a living legend—the man who had single-handedly saved the entire Plane. Ash knew he couldn’t match that pace yet, but the gap only fueled his drive.
"At this rate, Level 100 in two years is a guarantee," Brett Fang grunted, slamming his shield into a mob's face.
"God, this is insane," Grant Fang chimed in, wiping sweat from his brow. "I swear, leveling through the 70s felt slower than what we're doing now."
"Shut it, Grant," Brett snapped. "If you think it’s slow, maybe look at your pathetic DPS. Don’t go blaming your Tank for your own lack of firepower."
"He’s right," another squad member added with a smirk. "If you don't form a contract with your fourth and fifth beasts soon, we’re kicking you out."
Grant threw his hands up. "What do you want from me? I’m still pouring every cent into my second beast. I’m too broke to feed a fourth!"
"All of you, shut up and focus," Brett growled, though there was no real heat in it. "Check the combat logs. All of you combined barely match the Captain’s output."
The banter was constant, a byproduct of growing up together and surviving the meat grinder of the front lines. It was the kind of bond that few outside the top guilds ever truly understood.
"The Captain is a man of few words," Lyra Fang noted, glancing at Ash. "Just keeps his head down and kills. He’s a beast."
"I'll show you a beast!" Brett barked.
Lyra blinked, looking innocent. "Captain, I wasn't talking about you."
Ash shook his head, momentarily forgetting that Lyra was Brett's sister. The sibling dynamic was always a minefield. "I know, I know. Not talking about me."
He turned his focus back to the map. "Cole, you’ve hit Level 90. Stop wasting time on the trash mobs. Stealth up and scout the perimeter. Find me Elites or a Boss. We aren't leaving any big game behind."
As the squad’s sole Assassin, Cole Fang was their eyes and ears. While the rest of the team ground through the rank-and-file, Cole would mark high-value targets. When he found one, the routine was simple: Brett would pull the Boss at range, and Ash would peel off a portion of his Ninefold Shot to burn it down. With his current attack speed, Ash was proc-ing Death Strike every hour or two. It was only a matter of time before even the toughest Boss folded.
"On Boss and Elite loot, I take a fifty-percent cut," Ash stated firmly. "The rest is split equally among the seven of you. We clear this now so there’s no resentment later."
No one argued. Without Ash, they couldn't even touch a Level 90 Boss. His raw base damage was high, but it was his reliance on Death Strike that truly bridge the gap between 'difficult' and 'impossible.'
"No complaints here," Brett said.
"Fair is fair. You’re doing the heavy lifting, Captain," another added.
"Honestly, just tagging along for the XP is enough of a win. Getting paid on top of that? I’m in."
Ash felt a small, nagging spark of vanity. He was starting to enjoy the praise a bit too much. It was an addiction he hadn't expected. Feeling generous, he waved a hand. "Fine. You guys are broke anyway. Take sixty percent of the split."
The squad erupted into cheers. Ash immediately felt a pang of regret. Damn it. Flattery really is a weakness.
【Ding! Guild Member Caden Marlowe has slain a Level 130 Silver-Tier Lord. All members: All Stats +5.】
The global announcement silenced the group. Brett stared into the distance, stunned. "Wait, there are Guild-wide buffs for kills like that?"
"You didn't know?" Ash asked. "Half a year ago, when the Undying Realm invaded, I was pulling five or six hundred extra stat points a day just from Guild activity."
"Shut up," Brett groaned, his face tightening. "Don't tell me that."
"I told you, Brett," Grant laughed. "We should have joined a Guild ages ago. Think of all the stats we missed."
"I said shut up! I'm already regretting it!"
Caden Marlowe was on another level. Even if it was a team effort, taking down a Level 130 Lord was the stuff of legends. To Ash, Caden was a titan on the horizon, someone to be envied and emulated. But Ash wasn't doing poorly himself. His level was climbing slowly, but his raw power was stabilizing into something terrifying.
"As long as we stay alive," Ash muttered to himself, "we get stronger."
They had pushed ten miles past the Guild Grounds, thirty miles out from Southhaven. Elites were common here, but Bosses were becoming a rarity. Ash didn't mind. Sometimes the drop table for a high-level Elite was better than a Boss anyway. For the rest of the squad, Level 90 Silver-tier gear was still a massive upgrade.
"The higher the tier, the rarer the Bosses," Brett noted. "That’s just the math of Azure Prime."
"True," Ash agreed. "If we're talking Level 150 Bosses, there might only be a handful in the entire Plane. If we want high-tier progression from here on out, we’re going to have to dive into Dungeons."
Dungeon Bosses were a different breed—smarter, stronger, and cramped in environments that favored the monster.
"Once we’re fully synced, the eight of us might be able to take a Level 10 Team Dungeon," Ash suggested.
The squad went silent.
"Captain, that's suicide," Grant said. "Level 10 Dungeons are balanced for a hundred-man raid."
None of them had ever stepped foot in a Level 10 Dungeon. The stats on those Bosses were nightmare fuel; a single misplaced skill could one-shot a veteran Tank.
"The mobs past Level 10 aren't just beasts," Ash explained, his voice grim. "They’re sentient entities from other realms. Like what we saw in the Level 4 Dungeon. That’s where the Epic-Tier loot is. Most people wait until they’re Level 110 just to go back and clear Level 10 content. They grind until they’re decked in Epics just to survive the run."
He thought of the elites in The Skystrider Guild—Victor Ward and his crew. They were Level 120 and fully geared in Epics, and even then, their survival wasn't a guarantee.
"Every Dungeon above Level 10 isn't a raid," Ash said. "It’s a small-scale war."
He couldn't fathom how Evan Valor could solo Level 100+ Dungeons. The gap was astronomical. Evan likely possessed an S-rank talent, or perhaps something even more absurd like an SS-rank. Talent was the one thing you couldn't change, but Ash wasn't deterred. His path was harder, but for the first time, he saw a way forward.
Over the next few weeks, the experience poured in. Victor Ward and Lily Mercer, being lower level, shot up to Level 80 quickly. Ash, meanwhile, had only gained a single level.
"Captain," Grant noticed, "your XP curve is messed up. You're lower level than me, but I'm out-leveling you. What gives?"
"I've got a Phantom Summon eating half my share," Ash lied smoothly. He wasn't about to mention his Soulbound Weapon—the fact that he shared a weapon type with Evan Valor was a secret he intended to keep.
"A Phantom Summon?"
"Yeah, a shared one."
"What tier is it?"
"Epic."
"Are you kidding me?" Grant shouted. "Which one of us is the Summoner here?!"
His prized Silver-Tier White Tiger suddenly looked like a house cat. The idea of a "shared" summon reaching Epic-tier was insulting.
"Keep grinding, Grant. You'll get there," Ash said, patting him on the shoulder. "I know a Level 110 Summoner. Maybe I'll have him give you some pointers later. Look, another Elite. Pull it. Let's get your three beasts up to Silver-tier."
For an average Summoner, Silver-tier was the ceiling. They started with one beast and gained another slot every 20 levels. At Level 90, Grant should have had five. Someone like Zane, at Level 110, was a madman with six beasts, and he was already eyeing a seventh for Level 120. Zane wasn't a genius; he was just rich. In Azure Prime, money bought power, regardless of your class.
"I wonder if practitioners from other Planes have it easier," Ash mused, his fingers ghosting over his bowstring.
【Ding! You have slain a Widow Champion. Gold +630. Guild Contribution +7,000. Experience +90,000.】
【Drop: Violet Warden’s Helm (Epic-Tier!)】
Ash’s heart skipped a beat. They had killed a dozen Elites and only seen one Gold-tier drop. To see purple light now was a shock. He looked at his teammates, then at the helm, and sighed. None of them could use it yet, and he needed the liquidity. He tossed it directly into The Exchange.
【Item Sold: 200,000 Gold.】
【Distribution: 120,000 Gold sent to squad members.】
The notifications hit the squad like a physical blow. Each of them suddenly found nearly 19,000 Gold in their accounts.
"Captain... what is this?"
"We hit the jackpot," Ash said. "Collect your pay."
"Holy shit," Grant whispered. "This is more money than I've seen in my entire life."
"I can finally contract my new beast!"
"I'm buying a full set of Level 90 Gold gear. Right now!"
Ash watched them celebrate, a bittersweet smile on his face. He’d kept 80,000 for himself, but he was still nearly a million Gold away from his goal of two million. Seeing them hug and cheer made the grind feel human again.
Three months passed. They had circled the outskirts of Southhaven for hundreds of miles. Ash and Victor reached Level 90 at the same time, while Brett and the others pushed to 94.
【Level Up! All Stats +5. Free Stat Points +20. Attack Range +10m. Attack Power +5,000.】
【Congratulations on reaching Level 90. You are now a powerhouse of the Plane. Planar Vault Reward: 6,000 Gold.】
His range was now 220 meters. Between his levels and the random stat procs from One in a Million, Ash was a completely different beast than he had been three months ago. He spent 20,000 Gold to upgrade his own kit to a Level 90 set, bringing his total savings to 1.2 million.
[Ash Valor]
Level: 90
Total Stats: 51,236
Attack Power: 66,006
HP: 198,000
Defense: 16,725
Attack Range: 220m
Attack Speed: 3.8
Movement Speed: 58
Skills: Ninefold Shot, Armorpiercer (Lv.2), Crushing Blow (10% chance for double damage).
With potions and buffs from the squad, his attack power peaked at 80,000 and his attack speed hit 6.0. He could delete a Level 90 mob in seconds.
But the time for the squad to part ways had come.
"Go back to the city," Ash told them. "I’ve talked to Orion. He’s going to slot you into the Level 10 Dungeon runs."
"But Captain, you won't get any XP if we leave," Brett argued.
"Dungeons have big-shots to carry you, but they're still dangerous. Be careful," Ash said, ignoring the protest. "You’re stagnating with me. Go get your gear and your levels."
"Fine," Brett smirked. "Go solo your Bosses. We’ll come back and carry you once we're Level 110."
"In your dreams, Brett," Grant laughed. "Even at 110, you won't touch his DPS."
Ash watched them go. He was used to the cycle of leading and letting go. He needed 800,000 more Gold to upgrade his Soulbound Weapon to Gold-tier. If he put his head down, he could grind it out in two months.
He was now capable of soloing Level 90 Elites and most Bosses, provided they weren't fliers or high-mobility Assassins with Shadowstep.
As he worked, he kept an eye on the Planar Forums. The news was grim.
High-level monsters appearing in the wild. Some can turn invisible.
Titan Locusts and Ashveil Wraiths spotted near Prime Citadel.
Hundreds of Void Rifts detected outside city walls. Danger level: Extreme.
Ash decided to play it safe. He stayed away from the Level 100 zones for now. Meanwhile, The Skystrider Guild was flourishing.
【Orion has spent 10 million Contribution Points. Guild Level increased to 4.】
【All members: All Stats +50. Attack +10%.】
The Guild Grounds expanded, territory doubled, and new facilities like the Alchemical Works went online. Orion even issued a new directive: Recruiting Crafting Classes. Free power-leveling provided. Join Ash Valor’s group for carry.
"You're turning me into a goddamn battery, Orion," Ash muttered. But he didn't stop. He could take newbies to Level 60 in no time.
"Ash," Orion messaged him privately one evening. "Watch your back. The Crimson Vow is active again."
"The Crimson Vow? What did I do to them?"
"Flynn Larkin was one of theirs. Half the names on the Bounty Board are associated with that alliance. They’ve been hunting solo players lately. They’re high-profile, and they’re vicious."
Ash remembered the anonymous message he’d received months ago. "I’m fine. I’m deep in the high-level zones. They won’t follow me here."
"Just stay sharp. Buff your HP. Don't be a glass cannon."
Ash ignored the warning and went back to the grind. Seventeen hours into a marathon session, just as the sun dipped below the horizon, he prepared to Blink back toward the Guild Grounds.
Then, pain exploded in his neck.
-25,186!
The red numbers flared in his vision. A weakness strike.
"Son of a..."
A shadow flickered at the edge of his vision and vanished. An Assassin. A pro. He had waited until Ash was at his most exhausted, his focus slipping after nearly twenty hours of combat.
"Blink!" Ash shouted.
He reappeared ten meters away, but before his feet even hit the grass, another blade bit into his back.
-15,396!
They had predicted his Blink exit. This wasn't a random encounter. It was a coordinated execution.
"Again?!" Ash snarled, Blinking a second time only to be met by a third strike.
-14,396!
He stopped running. If he kept Blinking, they would just bleed him dry. He spun, firing a volley into a nearby cluster of mobs.
+1,500 HP. +1,650 HP.
His lifesteal kicked in. It was his only lifeline.
"He’s got lifesteal!" a voice hissed from the darkness. "Don't let him recover! Go!"
Ash committed the voice to memory. "A bit much for one Archer, don't you think?" he yelled, downing a Potion of Instant Recovery. "How many of you are there?"
"I told you," the voice returned, dripping with malice. "Join us or die. You think soloing Level 90 Elites makes you special? It just means you have better loot for us to take."
Ash recognized the voice now. It was the sender of the anonymous message. "You’ve been tracking me this whole time?"
"Your footwork and range won't save you here. To an Assassin, ten meters is nothing."
Ash didn't waste another breath. He popped every combat stimulant in his inventory. Attack power and agility surged. Shadowstep! Shadow Reaper! Venom Fang!
The darkness erupted in a flurry of steel.
-21,569!
-18,306!
-19,236!
-24,530!
Ash’s health bar plummeted. 30,000 HP remaining. One more hit and it was over. But in that split second of contact, his bow sang.
-39,165! (Lifesteal +1,180)
-41,392! (Critical! Lifesteal +1,209)
-82,963! (Crushing Blow! Lifesteal +2,469)
【You have slain Felix Quill. Bounty Reward +3,000 Gold.】
Ash didn't stop. He chugged another potion and began blind-firing in a 360-degree arc, creating a wall of arrows around himself.
"Finish him! He’s only got a few thousand left!" the leader screamed.
They were hesitant. The Crushing Blow that had deleted their comrade had spooked them. They were waiting for their stealth cooldowns, trying to stay hidden. If they had charged all at once, Ash would be dead. But they were greedy; they wanted the kill without the risk.
"My turn," Ash whispered.
He didn't aim at the shadows. He aimed at everything. Six volleys a second, nine arrows per volley. A rain of death saturated the clearing.
-39,456!
-41,368!
【You have slain Derek Crane.】
【You have slain Everett Larkin.】
Ash slammed a bundle of Arcane Grenades onto the ground at his feet and Blinked twice in rapid succession.
BOOM!
The explosion lit up the night. In the flash of arcane fire, Ash saw a silhouette trying to retreat. He snapped an arrow to the string and let fly.
-42,317!
【You have slain Callum Zhou.】
Four dead. The silence that followed was heavy with the smell of ozone and blood. Ash continued to fire blindly, his arrows hissing through the tall grass. "Who's next?" he roared. "You want my gear? Come and take it!"
No one answered. The remaining Assassins had seen enough. Ash’s health climbed back to 150,000. Only when his bar was nearly full did he allow himself to breathe.
He didn't wait around. He turned and sprinted toward the Guild Grounds, Blinking on cooldown.
Back in the safety of the perimeter, he messaged Orion. "Boss, help! Ambush!"
Orion responded instantly. "Ash? Where are you? Send coordinates."
"I'm back in the Territory. Just made it."
"Wait... you're back? The logs say you just killed five Level 90 Assassins from Crimson Vow. In the dark?"
"Barely," Ash said, his hands still shaking. "They almost had me."
"Jesus," Orion muttered. "You’re a freak. Go to sleep, Ash. We’ll deal with the fallout tomorrow."