Free Web NovelChapter 2: [2]: Fusing the Sickles, Reaping Arc
Levi deliberately marched away from the village gates, pushing deep into the eastern wheat fields. He needed distance. By now, the hordes of beginner players had figured out the basic controls and were flooding the starting zones like a plague of locusts. If he stayed near the village, he’d be forced to compete with five other people just to tag a single mob.
He walked for twenty minutes until the sounds of shouting players faded into the ambient rustling of the digital wind. Out here, the mobs were slightly higher level, which naturally deterred the disorganized newbies.
Levi spotted his new targets. Level 2 Horned Beetles.
They were massive, ugly bugs the size of a microwave, sporting a thick black carapace and a jagged horn on their heads.
[Level 2 Horned Beetle] [HP: 60 | DEF: 4]
Levi cracked his neck and settled into a combat stance. He gripped the Rusted Sickle tightly. For the next three straight hours, he turned the quiet wheat field into a slaughterhouse.
Relying on the muscle memory and mechanical skill he’d forged as a scavenger in his past life, Levi danced through the beetles. The game’s AI at this level was laughably simplistic. The Horned Beetles had exactly one attack pattern: they lowered their heads and executed a linear charge.
Levi simply didn’t stand in front of them. He waited for a beetle to charge, effortlessly sidestepped at the last possible second, and brought his sickle down on the unarmored joints between their carapace plates. He took zero damage. Not a single bug managed to even graze his peasant tunic.
It was exhausting work. The NerveDive helmet perfectly simulated stamina drain, meaning Levi was legitimately sweating and breathing heavily in the real world. But his focus never wavered.
"Twenty-eight... twenty-nine... thirty," Levi grunted as he slammed his sickle down on the back of the thirtieth beetle.
[-10]
The bug shattered into glowing polygons.
[System Notification: You have slain a Level 2 Horned Beetle. Gained 20 XP.] [System Notification: Level Up! You are now Level 2.] [System Notification: Level Up! You are now Level 3.]
Levi wiped the sweat from his virtual forehead and let out a long breath. The double level-up felt incredibly satisfying, fully restoring his simulated stamina and clearing his fatigue.
However, leveling up wasn’t his main objective out here. It was the loot. The drop rates in Starfall were notoriously stingy in the early game. Players were expected to use their rusted starter weapons for at least the first five levels.
But through his relentless, three-hour grinding session, Levi had finally collected exactly what he needed.
He retreated to the safety of a massive, wide-trunked oak tree bordering the fields. He sat down in the grass and opened his inventory. Inside sat three [Rusted Sickles] and three identical skill books called [Minor Strike]. All of them were Common tier.
"Alright," Levi muttered, his heart beating a little faster. "Let’s see if this cheat is really as broken as it sounds."
He opened his status menu and selected the Boundless Fusion tab. A sleek, golden UI window popped up, displaying three empty item slots.
Levi dragged the three Rusted Sickles from his inventory and dropped them into the fusion slots. The system prompted him for confirmation. He tapped ’Fuse’.
Instantly, a blinding golden light enveloped his hands. The digital sound of grinding metal and shattering glass echoed in his ears. The three rusty, chipped blades melted into a pool of liquid light before aggressively reforming.
The light faded, leaving a heavy, vicious-looking weapon resting in his palms. The blade was curved sharply and jagged like a saw.
[Serrated Scythe] [Rarity: Uncommon] [ATK: 15] [Passive: 10% chance on hit to inflict Bleed for 5 DMG/sec for 3 seconds.]
Levi grinned. Uncommon gear on day one, hour three. Players wouldn’t normally see an Uncommon weapon until they cleared the Level 10 beginner dungeon. The raw damage increase was massive, and the passive bleed effect ignored defense completely.
Trembling with excitement, he opened the fusion window again. This time, he dragged the three Common [Minor Strike] skill books into the slots.
These books were basic beginner trash. They consumed 5 Mana and dealt 120% physical damage to a single target.
He hit ’Fuse’.
The three books dissolved into floating golden runes that swirled into a miniature tornado before condensing into a single, thick, leather-bound tome.
[Reaping Arc] [Rarity: Uncommon Skill Book] [Effect: Consumes 10 Mana. Deals 180% physical damage in a 3-meter frontal cone. Cooldown: 5 seconds.]
"An AoE skill," Levi whispered in disbelief. Area-of-Effect skills were absurdly rare and highly prized by elite guilds. Having one this early meant he could farm multiple enemies at once.
He selected the book and clicked ’Learn’. The tome shattered into motes of light that absorbed directly into his chest. The knowledge of how to swing the scythe, how to channel his mana into the blade, burned itself seamlessly into his brain.
Levi stood up and checked his status sheet. Hitting Level 3 had granted him 10 free stat points in total.
In Starfall, most solo players distributed their points evenly. A little Vitality to survive hits, some Agility to move faster, and Strength for damage. Levi wasn’t most players. He knew that the best defense was killing the enemy before they could even wind up an attack. He was building an extreme glass-cannon.
He dumped all 10 free stat points directly into Strength.
His Strength stat jumped from 5 to 15. He felt his avatar’s muscles tighten slightly, a surge of raw power flowing through his virtual arms.
He quickly calculated his new damage output. With 15 Strength, his Base Attack was exactly 30. Adding the 15 ATK from his new Serrated Scythe brought his Total Attack to a massive 45.
Levi stepped out from under the oak tree, his eyes scanning the field. A lone Level 2 Horned Beetle was wandering a few yards away, chewing on a stalk of digital wheat.
Levi gripped the Serrated Scythe with both hands and sprinted forward. The beetle heard him coming and turned, lowering its horned head to charge.
"Too slow," Levi mocked.
He triggered his new skill. He felt 10 Mana drain from his pool. The jagged blade of the scythe ignited with a brilliant, blood-red aura. Levi spun on his heel and swung the weapon in a wide, vicious horizontal arc.
A 3-meter wave of red energy tore through the air and slammed into the beetle.
81 minus 4 equaled 77 Final Damage.
A massive, critical-red [-77] exploded above the beetle’s head.
The bug only had 60 HP. The sheer force of the strike completely obliterated the monster, cutting the digital model cleanly in half before it shattered into a cloud of polygons.
Levi followed through with his swing, stopping the scythe just inches from the dirt. He stared at the empty space where the beetle had just been.
He didn’t even need to use a follow-up basic attack. He had one-shot a monster that was supposed to take a beginner player at least a full minute of tedious hacking and slashing to kill.
A low, dark laugh escaped Levi’s lips. The developers had tried to hide the Pioneer’s Auction House. They had tried to keep the Seed of the Harvester out of the game. But they failed.
With his Boundless Fusion ability, Levi realized he wasn’t just going to outpace the server. He was going to completely break the mathematical ceiling of this world. He slung the Serrated Scythe over his shoulder and turned his gaze toward the dark, ominous tree line in the distance. It was time to hunt bigger prey.
