CHAPTER 40: CHAPTER 40: KILLING THE DOG PACK, 24 HOURS HAVE PASSED

All the dogs surrounding Stark had been buffed by the [Ruined Roar] of the leader.

Their fur bristled, eyes glowing faintly red from the effect.

Their movements had become sharper, their snarls more vicious.

Each step they took cracked the rubble beneath their claws.

But even then... it didn’t bother Stark that much!

When a dozen dogs rushed at him together, he didn’t even flinch.

He simply spun his staff in his grip, planted his feet firmly on the broken street, and activated his [Strong Magic Barrier].

A shimmering dome of light snapped into place around him just in time—

BAM! BAM! BAM!

All the dogs slammed into it at once, claws screeching across the surface, fangs snapping against it with crazed force.

The barrier shook violently, spiderweb cracks spreading fast, but it didn’t collapse.

"Good enough," Stark muttered with a smirk, ’Killing the leader will remove the buff, then the others will be defenseless.’

His grin widened as he raised his staff toward the ruined city dog leader.

Sovereign Vines!

The ground beneath the dogs split open with a violent rumble.

Dark-green vines shot out like spears, slamming into every single dog in the area.

Their yelps echoed in the air as the impact sent them tumbling.

-36,150!

The numbers floated up, bright and satisfying.

A normal player might have had to fight for several minutes with a well-coordinated team to bring down this pack.

Unless you had a class or a talent that was outrageously powerful, the [Ruined City Dogs] and their leader were simply too much to handle solo.

But for Stark... It only took two spells.

The leader froze mid-step, as the vines crushed through its chest.

Its 75,000 HP bar plummeted to zero in an instant, and the massive beast collapsed onto the cracked street, lifeless.

Beside it, several of the lesser dogs, already weakened from the earlier [Cataclysmic Fireball], dropped dead as well, leaving only a handful still standing.

Those that survived skidded to a halt, growling uncertainly.

Their glowing eyes darted from their fallen leader back to the lone human standing in front of them.

The confusion didn’t last long.

They began to tremble.

They couldn’t understand it, how had one human, just one, killed their entire pack so easily?

And so... instinct took over.

They turned tail and tried to run.

"Oh hell no," Stark grinned, raising his staff high. "You’re not getting away."

Cataclysmic Fireball! Corrosive Crystals! Lightning Strike!

The spells erupted in rapid succession.

A roaring fireball exploded against the fleeing pack, consuming a cluster of them in flames.

Five more were pierced clean through by his corrosive crystals.

And the last dog, the farthest one, was struck by a crackling bolt of lightning.

Its body stiffened mid-leap, locked in place as arcs of electricity danced violently across its fur.

Stark walked forward, staff lowered, watching them drop one after another.

"None of you are leaving."

The dogs must have realized it now.

No matter how fast they ran, no matter how desperately they struggled, they couldn’t escape this human.

One by one... they fell.

Ding!

---

[You have killed "Ruined City Dog Leader (Level 18 Rare-Rank Boss)"]

[You have killed x14 "Ruined City Dogs (Level 18)"]

[You have gained 69,000 experience points.]

[You have gained 8 Evolution Points!]

[You have gained 56 Lives!]

---

This wasn’t quite enough to level up, but Stark was close, and satisfied.

Hand of Avarice!

[You have gained 6 Evolution Points!]

[You have gained 48 Lives!]

"Perfect."

He bent down, picking up the few items the dogs had dropped.

[Ruined City Fur (Rare)], [Ruined Dog Claw Dagger (Uncommon)], and a couple other scraps.

Not bad, but his inventory was starting to look dangerously full.

’My inventory is yet again starting to fill up,’ Stark thought with a click of his tongue.

He’d have to see if any players were selling backpacks soon, though he doubted it.

Every single player in the [Ruined City] already knew by now that inventory space was limited, and that made any storage item worth a fortune.

For now, though, he pushed that problem aside and opened his status.

[Current Evolution Points: 47.]

"Perfect."

He only needed three more to evolve a legendary skill into mythical.

But instead of rushing it, Stark decided against it.

He much preferred evolving his three remaining epic-rank skills to legendary first.

And so he did.

[Do you wish to consume 10 Evolution Point to evolve "Stronger Magic Barrier"?]

"Yes."

Ding!

[You have evolved "Strong Magic Barrier" (Epic) to "Powerful Magic Barrier" (Legendary)]

[Current Evolution Points: 37.]

---

[Powerful Magic Barrier (Legendary): Summon a barrier around the user that can endure attacks, it has 10,000 → 20,000 HP. 30 (15)-seconds cooldown.]

---

"Good."

With that barrier in place, it would take either a powerful boss or an incredibly high-damage monster to even break through.

Most enemies couldn’t touch him now.

The cooldown hadn’t gone down, but it hadn’t gone up either. That was good enough.

Moving quickly, he shifted to his next two skills.

[Do you wish to consume 10 Evolution Point to evolve "Corrosive Crystals"?]

"Yes."

Ding!

[You have evolved "Corrosive Crystals" (Epic) to "Plague Crystals" (Legendary)]

But instead of stopping to check the panel, Stark instantly moved to the next one.

[Do you wish to consume 10 Evolution Point to evolve "Lightning Strike"?]

"Yes."

Ding!

[You have evolved "Lightning Strike" (Epic) to "Storm of Lightning" (Legendary)]

[Current Evolution Points: 17.]

’Perfect.’

He pulled up the panels together.

---

[Plague Crystals (Legendary): Summon up to 5 → 10 crystals that deal 700 → 1000 damage each. Applies the "Poison" status effect. 8 (4)-seconds cooldown.]

[Poison: Deals 30% → 40% of damage received for 5 seconds.]

---

[Storm of Lightning (Legendary): Releases a storm of lightning that will hit any enemy within radius, dealing 500% → 800% of spirit and also has a chance to apply "Stun". 20 → 18 (9)-seconds cooldown.]

---

Now every single one of his combat skills gleamed gold in his menu.

---

[Skills: Cataclysmic Fireball (Legendary), Powerful Magic Barrier (Legendary), Hand of Avarice (Legendary), Plague Crystals (Legendary), Sovereign Vines (Legendary), Curse Flower (Legendary), Storm of Lightning (Legendary)]

---

Stark clenched his fist.

With this power, he felt like he could even challenge the [Church Sanctuary] zone at level 25 already.

But he shook the thought aside.

The [Church Sanctuary Key] could only be used once.

Wasting it on overconfidence would be stupid.

’Six days until the [Ghost Hunt] event... I’ll grind until then.’

He had to reach at least level 25 before leaving the [Ruined City].

...

Hours passed in the [Outskirts].

Stark grinded relentlessly, killing everything in his path.

Most monsters here were level 16–19, and they went down easily under his spells.

The [Ruined Cities] were massive, sprawling across what felt like endless streets and collapsed towers.

It made sense, they had to be big enough to fit hundreds of thousands of players at once.

But size came with risk.

Monsters lurked in every corner, and progress was slow.

Still, Stark pushed forward.

By the time he stopped, he had leveled up twice.

---

[Congratulations, you have leveled up to Level 18 + Level 19!]

[You have gained 10 points in all of your attributes, and 10 free points to distribute.]

[You have gained 27 Evolution Points!]

[You have gained 398 Lives!]

---

While grinding, he’d been testing too.

Fighting monsters below your level gave far less experience and lives, that much was obvious.

But when he checked, he confirmed something else.

With [Evolution Point Decay], he got no evolution points from enemies three levels below him.

One level lower gave him half. Two levels lower gave him a third.

Above his level, though, the rewards were slightly better.

It was clear: if he wanted to keep evolving fast, he had to fight tough opponents. No shortcuts.

Just as he was about to head toward a level 20 zone, a sharp ding rang out.

[You have gained 5 Evolution Points your talent’s passive.]

"Damn."

He had almost forgotten about that.

---

[Infinite Evolution (SSS): Upon killing strong monsters, there is a chance to obtain "Evolution Points", allowing you evolve your skills.]

[Passive: You gain 5 Evolution Points every 24 hours, it may increase with time.]

[Current Evolution Points: 49.]

---

That meant twenty-four hours had officially passed since the opening of [Eternal Soul].

Stark clenched his fist, smiling faintly.

"I’m infinitely stronger than I was in my past life. Perfect."

But just as he thought that—

A panel appeared in front of every single player in the [Eternal Continent].

Ding!

[The "First Calamity" is coming in 28 days.]