Free Web NovelChapter 10: [10]: Blood in the Crypts, The Hollow King’s Envoy
Garret’s party fanned out into a standard tactical formation. The two warriors locked their shields together in the front, the rogue slinked to the side looking for a flank angle, and the squishy mage and cleric hid safely in the backline.
Garret clearly thought he was playing 4D chess. He arrogantly assumed that because Levi was solo, he was terrified.
"I’m not going to ask twice," Garret barked, taking a threatening step forward. "Drop the cores and the scythe, and we’ll let you respawn without losing XP."
Levi glanced at his mana bar. It was sitting perfectly at 50/50.
"I was just thinking," Levi replied coldly, his voice echoing off the stone walls. "That walking back up those stairs to hunt down the last fifty skeletons I need sounded incredibly tedious."
Garret frowned, not understanding the insult. "What are you talking about?"
Before Garret could even blink, Levi activated his brand-new Silver skill.
"Phantom Step."
Levi felt 20 Mana instantly drain from his pool. His body dissolved into a blur of dark shadow. He bypassed the physical space entirely, teleporting exactly 5 meters forward. He passed straight through Garret and the other tank, reappearing directly behind the party’s frontline!
He was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the backline Mage and Cleric.
Panic erupted instantly. "He’s behind us!" the cleric screamed, frantically trying to raise his wooden staff.
Levi didn’t give them a fraction of a second to react. He gripped his scythe and dumped another 10 Mana.
"Reaping Arc."
The blade ignited with a violent red light. Levi swept the scythe in a massive horizontal arc!
Raw damage at 171. The squishy Level 5 Mage and Cleric were both wearing cheap cloth armor that provided a miserable 5 Defense.
171 minus 5 equaled exactly 166 Final Damage.
Because they were Level 5 casters with baseline Vitality, they only had 100 Max HP.
The silver-edged scythe cleaved cleanly through both of their torsos. There was no struggle. No epic duel. Just two massive red [-166] numbers floating in the air as both players were instantly cut in half. They shattered into a cloud of pixels before they could cast a single spell.
"What the fuck!" the Rogue yelled.
The Rogue lunged at Levi, thrusting a bronze dagger aimed straight at Levi’s ribs. But Levi’s 18 Speed made the attack look like it was happening in slow motion. Levi casually sidestepped the thrust, grabbed the Rogue’s extended arm, and drove the heavy butt of his scythe directly into the guy’s skull.
Levi’s 95 Attack easily chewed through the Rogue’s 10 Defense.
[-85]
The Rogue staggered, his health bar dropping into the deep red. Levi effortlessly spun the weapon around and delivered a quick, basic slash to the chest.
[-85]
The Rogue shattered into pixels.
Three players dead in less than four seconds. Garret and the remaining warrior finally managed to turn around, their faces completely pale with horror. The numerical advantage they were relying on had evaporated.
Garret roared in sheer fury. "You hacking piece of trash!"
He charged forward with his shield raised, initiating a [Shield Bash] skill. It was a linear, highly telegraphed rush. Levi didn’t bother teleporting. He simply strafed to the right, letting Garret fly past him, and unleashed a flurry of basic attacks on Garret’s exposed flank.
Garret’s heavy iron armor mitigated some of the damage, boasting a solid 20 Defense. But it didn’t matter. Levi’s raw stats were simply too overwhelming.
95 Attack minus 20 Defense meant Levi was hitting for 75 damage per swing.
Levi landed three rapid strikes in a row.
[-75] [-75] [-75]
Garret’s health bar vanished. He collapsed onto the stone floor, dropping his iron shield, a handful of copper coins, and three minor health potions before dissolving into pixels.
The secondary warrior didn’t even try to fight. He dropped his sword, turned around, and bolted for the stairs. Levi just let him go. Earning zero XP for player kills meant chasing him was a complete waste of stamina.
Levi calmly walked over the spot where the party had died, picking up their dropped potions and copper.
"Guilds are so annoying," Levi sighed, shaking his head.
With the minor interference dealt with, Levi spent the next few hours treating the second and third floors of the Ashen Crypts like his own personal harvesting farm. He completely mapped the dungeon layout, isolating groups of skeletons and wiping them out with extreme prejudice.
His new Phantom Step skill made the combat loop unbelievably fluid. He would teleport directly into the center of a mob, unleash Reaping Arc, and physically dodge his way out of the cluster to pick them off.
He slaughtered exactly 150 more skeletons across the lower floors. Gaining a massive 250 XP per kill due to the slightly higher mob levels, the experience flooded his progression bar. He needed 37,500 XP to push through the next few levels, and the relentless, non-stop grind delivered exactly that.
The golden light of leveling up washed over him three separate times in the dark tunnels.
He had officially hit Level 10.
Levi sat down on a stone coffin to allocate his 15 new free stat points. He needed to keep his damage as high as possible to counteract the level suppression of future zones, but his new Phantom Step skill cost a heavy 20 Mana per use. Relying entirely on cheap potions was getting annoying.
He assigned 10 points directly to Strength, pushing his raw physical power even higher. He took the remaining 5 points and dumped them into Intelligence. In Starfall, 1 point of INT granted 10 maximum Mana.
His stats updated immediately. His Strength hit 35. Combined with his scythe, his new Total Attack was a devastating 115. His Intelligence hit 10, completely doubling his Mana pool from 50 to 100.
He was finally starting to look like a real threat.
Levi checked his inventory. He had exactly 100 Undead Cores stacked in his bags. The trial was complete.
He made the long walk out of the crypts, climbing the stone stairs and stepping back out into the scorched, ashen air of the surface. He jogged back to the Hamlet of Oakhurst, keeping his hood up to avoid the throngs of Level 3 players still arguing over slime spawns.
He returned to the ruined chapel and found Silas sitting on the same crumbling tombstone, holding his wooden begging bowl.
Levi didn’t say a word. He just opened his inventory and dumped the 100 Undead Cores directly into the old man’s bowl. They clattered loudly, the necrotic energy humming in the quiet graveyard.
Silas reached out, his blindfolded face turning toward the cores. A slow, grim smile spread across his cracked lips.
"You survived the dark," Silas whispered, his voice resonating with that strange, metallic echo. "You carry the harvest well, boy."
[System Notification: Hidden Quest Phase 1 Completed.] [NPC Silas Trust increased.]
Silas stood up, the deathly aura rolling off him once again. He pointed a bony finger toward the southern horizon.
"This village has nothing left to teach you," Silas commanded. "Leave this place. Travel south to the City of Thresholds. Grow stronger. When you reach the fifteenth milestone of your power, you must locate the hidden Shrine of the Hollow."
Silas leaned in, his voice dropping to a terrifying whisper. "There, you will face the Avatar of the Hollow King. Survive his wrath for three minutes, and the true power of the Herald shall be yours. Fail, and your soul will remain in the dark forever."
Levi accepted the updated quest log. A Level 15 trial against a Level 50 boss meant for a three-minute survival check. It was going to be an absolute nightmare of dodging and damage mitigation.
But Levi just grinned. He gripped his Silver scythe, his eyes fixed on the southern horizon. The tutorial was over. The real game was finally about to begin.
Updated Stat Sheet:
- Name: Levi | Level: 10
- Class: None | Talent: [Supreme Harvester (SSS-Rank)]
- HP: 280/280 | Mana: 100/100
- STR: 35 | AGI: 18 | VIT: 14 | INT: 10 | LUK: 5
- Attack: 115 | Defense: 14 | Speed: 18
- Core Skills: [Reaping Arc (Uncommon)], [Phantom Step (Silver)]
