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Chapter 7 Refreshing Leveling

Willowbrook Forest is a beautiful expanse of maple trees, where level 5 minor monsters roam. It is an absolute forbidden area for players below level 3. Even though Eric has reached level 1, he is no match for the level 5 monsters.

However, Eric dashed into Willowbrook Forest without hesitation, carefully proceeding deeper.

From time to time, level 5 Timberwolves could be seen patrolling. Eric, being only level 1, had to maintain a safe distance; otherwise, the Timberwolves' keen sense of smell would detect him.

The Timberwolves had 400 health points and strong attack power. With Eric's health at only 120 points, the Timberwolves could easily kill him. Eric had to quietly avoid the Timberwolves and take a detour.

Along the way, besides the Timberwolves, there were also cute and clumsy young bears rolling around in the grass. They appeared adorable but were actually fierce. Although they were also level 5 monsters, melee fighters disliked bear-type monsters more because of their thick health and high defense, making battles more exhausting.

Just as Eric managed to sneak past a young bear by the trees, he heard a wolf howl behind him.

"A wolf nest!" Even the calm Eric couldn't help but exclaim.

In his previous life, many level 4 to 5 players teamed up to grind monsters in Willowbrook Forest. It wasn't just because of the abundance of monsters but mainly because of the many valuable drops such as skill books, leatherworking materials, and equipment.

Additionally, the forest was filled with numerous herbs and ores to gather. However, one of the dangers was the wolf nests.

The wolf nests were extremely secretive and hard to detect. If one inadvertently entered the alert range, a group of Timberwolves would pounce, ranging from 3 to 8 wolves, posing a deadly threat.

As a resurrected player, Eric had very bad luck. Suddenly, seven Timberwolves rushed out. As a level 1 player, Eric couldn't handle them.

The Timberwolves were fast, but Eric was not slow either. With all his attributes added to agility, his movement speed was 6, making him a very fast player, even though he was a level 1 swordsman. Despite his agility, his speed was still slightly slower than the Timberwolves.

Seeing that he was about to be caught, Eric didn't hesitate and directly activated his life-saving skill, "Gravity Liberation."

He immediately felt as light as a feather, his speed increasing significantly, quickly leaving the Timberwolves behind, disappearing into the forest.

After several minutes, Eric arrived at a towering mountain range, with several large mountains rising hundreds of meters high in the center of Willowbrook Forest. The mountaintops were shrouded in mist, resembling a fairyland on earth.

"Finally arrived."

Eric looked at the majestic mountains, surveyed the surroundings, and spotted a small waterfall, so he walked towards it.

In his previous life, players were already in their twenties in levels, naturally having high attributes and being able to do many things that low-level players couldn't. Therefore, they liked to explore various places in Divine Realms: Legends. The central mountains of Willowbrook Forest were well-known, so ShadowForge Studios sent a small team of Assassins to investigate.

What they found was that the central mountains were a treasure trove. Many rare ores, herbs, and even treasure chests were discovered while climbing. At the mountaintop, there was a Mithril-tier Chest.

In the wilderness of Divine Realms: Legends, many hidden places had treasure chests waiting for players to discover. The contents varied greatly, from small copper coins to rare gold equipment. The quality ranged from Common, Bronze, Dark Iron, Mithril, Adamantine, to Obsidian. Even a Common-tier Chest could contain valuable drops, let alone a Mithril-tier Chest.

Thanks to this Mithril-tier Chest, ShadowForge Studios quickly became renowned in Silvervale City, accumulating considerable wealth in the early stages.

Inside the Mithril-tier Chest were not only equipment but also a potion-making formula and a forging blueprint.

In the early stages of Divine Realms: Legends, the drop rate for alchemy formulas was less than one in ten thousand, let alone forging blueprints. Forging could create Bronze Level equipment, and Uncommon Equipment was something players lacked the most. Therefore, the drop rate for blueprints was even lower, making it easy to profit from these items.

Eric wanted to earn 16,000 credits within ten days, and all his hopes were pinned on this. Naturally, he wouldn't leave anything for ShadowForge Studios. Low-level players couldn't climb mountains because their agility was less than 40 points; they couldn't activate the basic skill "Roofwalker's Grace" to climb rocks and mountains. The central mountains had no paths up, so climbing was the only option.

Although Eric didn't have 40 agility points, he had the Ring of Gravity. When activated, he could climb mountains effortlessly.

With Gravity Liberation active, Eric climbed the rocks easily, reaching a height of 2 feet.

As Gravity Liberation was about to cool down, Eric found a clearing to rest and wait.

Just as Eric was about to sit down, the rock wall suddenly shook, and a colossus of stone emerged, roaring loudly.

The colossus of stone was a normal monster, level 5, with 550 health points.

"Here it comes."

Seeing the colossus of stone approaching, Eric was prepared. He took out exploding berries from his backpack and threw them forcefully at the feet of the colossus of stone, causing a burst of orange sticky juice to cover the ground.

Although the colossus of stone was a level 5 monster with strong attacks, thick health, and high defense, it had very slow reactions. Its attack speed was slow, and its turning and movement speeds were even slower. With at least 20 agility, one could easily manipulate the colossus of stone, making it a favorite target for many Assassins. They could defeat such slow monsters effortlessly without losing any health.

Eric didn't have 20 agility, but he had exploding berries. These exploding berries had an area effect within a 9x9 feet radius, slowing the monster's movement speed by 30% and reducing its turning speed by 70% for one minute. This was a godsend against slow monsters, and after more than two months since the launch of Divine Realms: Legends, many players used this method to kill slow, high-level monsters. However, slow monsters were rare in Divine Realms: Legends, making continuous leveling difficult.

With the exploding berries, the colossus of stone's movement speed decreased sharply.

Eric drew his novice sword and charged behind the colossus of stone, striking it with a blow.

The colossus of stone took 3 damage to its head, which was negligible compared to its 550 health points. Moreover, it regenerated 1% of its health every 5 seconds, equivalent to 5.5 health points every 5 seconds, making it challenging to defeat within a minute.

After being attacked by Eric once, the colossus of stone attempted to turn around to strike back. However, its turning speed was already extremely slow, and with a 70% reduction due to the exploding berries, it became extremely sluggish. Eric followed up with two normal attacks and then a Slash, dealing -3, -3, -6 in quick succession.

Due to level suppression, the Slash's effectiveness wasn't great. However, because the colossus of stone was four levels higher, there was an additional increase in skill proficiency. Combined with the swordsman's talent, the proficiency of the Slash increased by 3 points, making it an excellent place to enhance skill proficiency.

The colossus of stone struggled to turn around to face Eric, but he didn't give it a chance. He circled around to its back and continued his assault.

Thunderbolt!

A lightning flashed, causing 4 points of damage, followed by another strike dealing 5 damage, and a final one dealing 7 damage.

All three lightning strikes hit, increasing the proficiency of the Thunderbolt skill by 3 points.

This was followed by several more sword strikes.

A series of 4-point damage strikes, each dealing more damage than the previous. Although Eric's damage increased with each strike, the cumulative effect was significant. The follow-up effects of Thunderbolt were potent, deepening the damage for 15 seconds, significantly speeding up the kill rate, and allowing him to end the battle within a minute, saving the expensive exploding berries.

Despite the colossus of stone's high health and attack, it couldn't hit Eric. It became a practice dummy for Eric to gain experience and skill proficiency.

Skill proficiency didn't increase just by using skills; there was a 20% chance of gaining 1 point of proficiency when fighting monsters of the same level. The chance increased by 40% for one level higher, 70% for two levels higher, 100% for three levels higher, 150% for four levels higher, and 200% for five levels higher, reaching a maximum of 200%. Killing a level 5 colossus of stone allowed Eric to increase skill proficiency several times faster than others.

In less than a minute, the colossus of stone finally fell.

System: [Player Kai Blackthorn defeats a level 5 colossus of stone with a level 1 character, gaining a 400% experience boost and obtaining 120 points.]

Eric's experience bar increased, leaving him only 880 points away from reaching level 2, which meant he only needed to defeat eight colossi to level up.

The central mountains were undoubtedly a great place for leveling up and collecting treasures, but by the time people discovered this, it was already two months later.

After slaying the colossus of stone, Eric searched around and found a piece of bronze ore, a material for making Uncommon Equipment. He also found a hard stone and, shortly after, discovered a rare herb called the Skylark Flower, the main ingredient for making basic healing potions.

As Eric approached the flower, another colossus of stone emerged, prompting him to throw another exploding berry.

Thunderbolt!

Slash!

In no time, Eric obtained another hard stone, 120 experience points, and a significant amount of proficiency.

With the cooldown of the Ring of Gravity over, Eric continued climbing upwards.

He killed colossi along the way while searching for rare herbs.

With the eighth colossus of stone defeated, Eric reached level 2. He allocated all his points to agility, reaching 16 points. He was only 4 points away from activating the skill "Agile and Nimble," and his slashing proficiency reached 300 points. To reach the next level, he needed 600 proficiency points, which would increase his additional damage to 12 points and reduce the cooldown by one second.

If other players knew about his leveling speed, they would probably go crazy. It took other players five to six hours to go from level 0 to 1, let alone from level 1 to 2, which would take at least seven to eight hours. However, Eric managed to reach level 2 in less than twenty minutes, a speed akin to a rocket.

Approaching the fallen colossus of stone, Eric searched for any loot.

"I'm quite lucky; I actually got a piece of equipment," Eric discovered. It was a cloth armor, which left him feeling a bit disappointed.

Gorgeous Cloth Robe, a Common Level equipment, level 4, with +3 defense, +10 magic, and durability of 20/20.

However, as Divine Realms: Legends had just launched, the drop rate for equipment was extremely low. Even Common Level equipment was rare, let alone level 4 Common Level equipment. Someone would surely buy it at a high price.

Eric stored the equipment and was about to continue climbing when he noticed a cave not far ahead.

Walking over, Eric's heart rate suddenly increased.

A massive colossus of stone was sleeping in the cave, covered in silver-white rocks rather than the usual deep gray color.

Elysium, a special elite monster, level 6, with 900 health points.

Special elites were more formidable than regular elites. A level 6 elite could be taken down by a six-person team, but to defeat a level 6 special elite like Elysium, it would require at least 12 to 15 players and even more. In other words, it would take 15 level 6 players to take down Elysium.

Without hesitation, Eric charged toward Elysium, unleashing a series of Thunderbolts, with lightning strikes flashing across Elysium's massive body, dealing significant damage.

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