CHAPTER 10: CHAPTER 10: CURSED TREE, VINE SWING SKILL

Venom Crystal!

-1000! -150! -150!

Each of Stark’s attacks landed cleanly, the numbers popping above the boss’s head.

In total, every single strike dealt 1,750 damage.

The best part was the cooldown, Stark could fire one every six seconds.

That meant in the early stages of the game, he was a walking powerhouse of damage.

Of course, there was still danger.

The [Inferno Fox] wasn’t just going to stand there.

Its flames were brutal, and even a single hit could probably kill Stark.

Even at level 3, a rare-ranked boss could deal around 200 damage in one strike.

That just so happened to be Stark’s current HP.

In other words, one mistake and he was dead.

But Stark was focused.

It only took four venom crystals to bring the boss down to the brink of death.

And just when its health was almost gone, the [Inferno Fox] turned tail and tried to escape.

The monsters in this game weren’t mindless.

They had some level of intelligence. And when close to death, some tried to run.

"Oh, you don’t," Stark’s eyes narrowed as he dashed forward, staff aimed right at the fox.

Venom Crystal!

Fwish! Boom!

The crystal shot out and struck the fox squarely.

The impact echoed across the scorched clearing, and the boss’s body froze mid-stride.

Its health bar dropped to zero.

The creature let out a final screech before collapsing, its burning body hitting the ground with a dull thud.

Ding!

---

[You have killed "Inferno Fox (Level 3 Rare-Rank Boss)"]

[You have gained 1,500 experience points.]

[Congratulations, you have leveled up to Level 4!]

[You have gained 5 points in all of your attributes, and 5 free points to distribute.]

[You have gained 4 Evolution Points!]

[You have gained 9 Lives.]

---

Obviously, higher-ranked monsters and bosses gave more experience, which is why Stark got so much from this one.

But Stark wasn’t done yet.

Hand of Avarice!

A dark, shadowy hand extended from his staff and gripped the fox’s corpse.

Ding!

---

[You have gained 4 Evolution Points!]

[You have gained 4 Lives.]

---

Stark blinked in shock.

"Eight Evolution Points instantly?" He grinned wide. "Incredible."

With eight EP in hand, he could evolve at least one or two skills.

He didn’t waste a second and pulled up his skill list.

[Skills: Great Fireball (Rare), Magic Shield (Uncommon), Hand of Avarice (Elite), Venom Crystal (Uncommon)]

He thought carefully.

"It costs 3 EP to go from Uncommon to Rare, and 5 EP to go from Rare to Elite... If I pushed [Hand of Avarice] to Epic, it would take 7 EP.’

It was tempting, but not the smartest right now.

Instead, he decided to boost his offense.

[Do you wish to consume 5 Evolution Points to evolve "Great Fireball"?]

Ding!

[You have evolved "Great Fireball" (Rare) to "Scorching Fireball" (Elite)]

[Current Evolution Points: 3]

---

[Scorching Fireball (Elite): Conjure a scorching fireball that deals 300% → 400% of Spirit. 20 → 15 (7.5)-seconds cooldown.]

---

"Not bad at all."

With his remaining EP, he evolved another skill.

[Do you wish to consume 3 Evolution Points to evolve "Venom Crystal"?]

Ding!

[You have evolved "Venom Crystal" (Uncommon) to "Toxic Crystal" (Rare)]

[Current Evolution Points: 0]

---

[Toxic Crystal (Rare): Summon a poisonous crystal that deals exactly 100 → 150 damage, it also applies the "Poison" status effect. 12 → 10 (5)-seconds cooldown.]

[Poison: deals 15% → 20% of damage received for 5 seconds.]

---

With two evolved attack skills, his damage output had skyrocketed. He felt unstoppable.

And then he noticed the loot on the ground.

---

[Flame Ring (Rare): +6 Spirit, +15 Fire Element Resistance. Requirement: Level 3.]

[Storage Backpack (Uncommon): Adds 5 slots to your backpack, allowing you to hold more items.]

---

"Perfect!" Stark slipped the ring onto his hand.

A small ember flickered along its edge, glowing faintly.

Specialized items like this were good in the early game.

With the added fire resistance, Stark could tank fire attacks much more easily.

He also equipped the [Storage Backpack], increasing his holding capacity.

He clenched his fist and smirked. "I’ll be level 5 in no time."

Without hesitation, he pushed deeper into the Shadow Forest.

Along the way, he unleashed his new skills on every monster he saw.

At level 4, most enemies had around 1,500 HP.

A single strike from Stark, whether [Toxic Crystal] or [Scorching Fireball], was enough to wipe them out.

The only problem was the Evolution Points.

Normal monsters almost never dropped them.

Stark racked up kills, but not a single EP fell.

Still, it wasn’t a waste. His EXP bar climbed steadily.

And soon, he found something much better than common mobs.

---

[Cursed Tree (Level 4)]

[Rank: Uncommon (Boss)]

[HP: 7,500]

---

This proved just how much rank mattered.

After all, the flame fox had one level lower than the cursed tree, but because of its higher rank after evolving, it had the same HP, and almost the same strength.

Regardless, Stark lifted his staff and launched a [Scorching Fireball].

Some monsters could have elemental weaknesses to specific skills, and for the cursed tree, it was obviously weak to fire.

When you dealt an attack to a monster that had a weakness against it, it deals 1.5x more damage.

Fwshhh! BOOM!

-2,760!

A massive hit. Nearly a third of the tree’s health gone in one shot.

It tried to retaliate, swinging its massive branches at him.

Stark dodged, weaving around its sluggish strikes, before hurling another fireball.

Then another.

BOOM! BOOM!

The cursed tree roared as flames engulfed it, its bark blackening and cracking until it finally collapsed.

Ding!

---

[You have killed "Cursed Tree (Level 4 Uncommon-Rank Boss)"]

[Congratulations, you have leveled up to Level 5!]

[You have gained 5 points in all of your attributes, and 5 free points to distribute.]

[You have gained 2 Evolution Points!]

[You have gained 3 Lives.]

---

Stark frowned slightly.

"I gained less EP than with the fox, even though this thing was higher level."

He thought for a moment.

Maybe it wasn’t level that determined EP drops. Maybe it was rank.

He crouched beside the corpse and activated [Hand of Avarice].

The shadowy hand reached out, but this time it fizzled out.

["Hand of Avarice" has failed.]

’It currently has a 75% of success,’ he thought, ’But if I evolve it one more time... will it become 100%?’

But at that moment, a skill book dropped from the cursed tree and made Stark’s light up with surprise.

[Skill Book: Vine Swing (Uncommon). Mage-type skill book. Requirement: Level 4.]

"New skill book for my class!" Stark’s grin widened.

Ding!

[You have learned the skill "Vine Swing."]

---

[Vine Swing (Uncommon): Summons a small vine from the ground that will swing with immense force at a target. Deals 100 damage + 100% Spirit. 40 (20)-seconds cooldown.]

---

"Three attack skills now." Stark clenched his fist.

Better yet, he could evolve the vine skill to rare-rajo later once he collected more EP.

Ding!

[Congratulations, you have unlocked the "Novice Town #783’s" Teleportation Array!]

Level 2 had unlocked the level leaderboards.

Level 5 unlocked the teleportation array.

And level 10 would be the next milestone.

[Go back to the town to activate it!]

"Maybe later," he muttered. "For now, I need levels and items to sell."

With his new skill and his boosted firepower, Stark marched deeper into the Shadow Forest, eyes gleaming.