Free Web NovelChapter 4: [4]: Reaping the Arrogant, Level Four Reached
Vance approached Levi with a supreme, unearned confidence. In these early hours of the game’s launch, the average player was barely Level 2, armed with standard common weapons that dealt maybe 15 damage a swing. Vance, relying on his cash-shop bronze armor which provided a solid 15 Defense, felt completely invincible against normal beginner attacks.
He saw Levi’s health bar hovering at 60 percent. He assumed Levi was heavily damaged, terrified, and out of mana.
Levi didn’t bother exchanging words. He knew exactly how the Player Killing mechanics worked in Starfall. If you initiated a PK in the wilderness, your username turned red. If you died with a red name, the game violently stripped you of your unequipped inventory and a massive chunk of your XP.
To Levi, Vance and his two little friends weren’t intimidating players. They were just walking loot piñatas.
"Didn’t you hear him?" Jarek barked, taking a step forward. "Drop the loot, loser."
Levi let out a short, dismissive sigh.
Vance’s face twisted in anger. "Fine. Learn the hard way."
Vance lunged forward, swinging his bronze broadsword in a highly telegraphed, sloppy overhead strike. It was the swing of someone who had never actually been in a real fight.
Thanks to his newly plundered stats, Levi’s Agility now sat at 8. His reaction time was noticeably sharper, and his virtual muscles fired faster. He didn’t even need to block. Levi simply pivoted on his heel, shifting his weight to the right. The bronze sword cleaved through empty air, whistling harmlessly past Levi’s ear.
Vance stumbled forward, off-balance from his own swing. He completely exposed his back and his two friends standing clustered together right behind him.
It was the perfect setup.
Levi spun his Serrated Scythe in his hands, shifting to a wide grip.
"Reaping Arc," Levi said.
His mana dropped by 10. The jagged blade erupted in a blinding, crimson light. Levi swung the weapon in a massive, horizontal sweep that covered a full three-meter cone.
Raw damage at 81.
The wave of red energy slammed into Vance first. Vance’s paid armor had 15 Defense. 81 minus 15 resulted in 66 Final Damage.
The energy wave tore entirely through Vance and hit Jarek and Tamsin, who were standing right behind him. Both of them were wearing default starter gear with a miserable 5 Defense. 81 minus 5 resulted in 76 Final Damage to each of them.
Because they were all Level 2 players with base Vitality, they only had 100 maximum HP.
The single sweeping strike hit them like a freight train. Massive red damage numbers exploded into the air.
[-66] [-76] [-76]
Tamsin and Jarek shrieked in absolute panic as the NerveDive’s pain engine registered the massive, sudden trauma to their digital bodies. Their health bars instantly plummeted from full green into the critical, blinking red zone. Both of them were left with exactly 24 HP.
"What the hell?!" Jarek screamed, dropping his rusty sword and clutching his chest. "Why does it hurt so much?!"
They had never experienced hyper-realistic VR combat before. The sheer shock of losing 75% of their health in a single fraction of a second completely broke their morale. Before either of them could even think about turning to run away, Levi took a single step forward and went to work.
He didn’t use a skill. He just used raw, violent efficiency.
He swung the scythe down on Jarek. 45 Attack minus 5 Defense equaled 40 Damage.
[-40]
Jarek’s remaining 24 HP vanished. His eyes went wide as his body shattered into thousands of glowing pixels, instantly logged out and sent back to the respawn point in the village.
Levi reversed his grip, carrying the momentum of the swing directly into Tamsin’s neck. Another 40 Damage.
[-40]
Tamsin vanished into pixels exactly a second after Jarek.
Vance was left standing completely alone. He watched in sheer horror as his two guildmates were instantly vaporized by a guy wearing a dirty peasant tunic. Vance’s own health was sitting at an abysmal 34/100. His bronze armor had barely kept him alive.
Vance’s hands started shaking. He took a step backward, raising his sword defensively. "Wait. Man, hold on. We were just joking around."
Levi turned his cold, dead gaze back to Vance. His username was now glowing a faint red, marking him as a PKer.
"You brought a sword to a harvest," Levi muttered.
He stepped forward, swatting Vance’s pathetic block aside with the heavy haft of his scythe, and drove the jagged blade directly into Vance’s chest with a basic attack.
Levi’s 45 Attack chewed through Vance’s 15 Defense, dealing exactly 30 Damage.
[-30]
Vance gasped, falling to his knees. His health bar was left with exactly 4 HP. The scythe’s bleed effect didn’t even need time to tick. Levi coldly ripped the blade out of Vance’s chest and kicked him squarely in the face for 4 points of physical damage.
Vance’s health hit zero. He shattered into pixels, leaving behind a small pile of unequipped loot on the grass.
Levi exhaled slowly, the adrenaline fading. He earned exactly zero XP for killing players, but the message was sent. He wasn’t going to share the woods.
He knelt down and sifted through the items Vance and his friends had dropped. Mostly useless trash, but he did find a handful of copper coins and three [Lesser Health Potions].
Levi pulled the stopper off one of the small glass vials and downed the red liquid. The potion tasted faintly like cherry syrup. Over the next ten seconds, a warm, soothing sensation washed over his avatar, restoring his health back to a perfect 100/100.
He stored the other two potions in his inventory. Now entirely alone in the Weeping Woods, the silence returned, broken only by the ambient rustling of dead leaves.
Levi gripped his scythe and pushed deeper toward the center of the zone. His main goal wasn’t the Elites. His goal was the first true Field Boss of the region: The Level 5 Venomous Broodmother.
Along the dark path, he encountered several Level 4 Forest Spiders. They were ugly, aggressive things that spat minor poison. Levi didn’t bother using his mana on them. He relied on his newly increased 8 Agility to weave around their webs, cleanly slicing them apart with basic attacks.
He slaughtered exactly four of the giant spiders in a row. They granted 10 XP each.
The Level 4 Forest Spiders are classified by the game engine as ’Swarm-Type’ monsters.
Even though their level is higher than the Level 2 beetles, their health pool is pathetically low (only about 30 HP, compared to the beetles’ 60 HP).
Because they spawn in massive packs and are so fragile, the Starfall system severely nerfs their XP yield down to 10 XP. It’s an in-universe anti-exploit mechanic to prevent players from using AoE (Area of Effect) skills to power-level off huge swarms of weak bugs.
[System Notification: You have slain a Level 4 Forest Spider. Gained 10 XP.]
[System Notification: Level Up! You are now Level 4.]
The golden light of progression washed over him, completely restoring his mana pool and washing away his simulated fatigue.
Levi opened his menu. He had 5 free stat points to spend. Knowing that the upcoming boss fight would require him to dodge an insane amount of area-of-effect attacks, he dumped all 5 points directly into Agility.
His Agility and Speed both spiked to 13. He did a quick practice pivot, marveling at how fast his avatar responded to his thoughts. He was turning into a hyper-lethal glass cannon.
He closed the menu and stared into the dark canopy ahead. Thick, corrosive webbing was starting to cover the trees. The boss was close.
Updated Stat Sheet:
- Name: Levi | Level: 4
- Class: None | Talent: [Supreme Harvester (SSS-Rank)]
- HP: 100/100 | Mana: 50/50
- STR: 15 | AGI: 13 | VIT: 5 | INT: 5 | LUK: 5
- Attack: 45 | Defense: 5 | Speed: 13
- Core Skills: [Reaping Arc (Uncommon)]
