The message appeared right on time, just as Kieran had planned it.
The three-minute delay of his stream activation wasn't an arbitrary action with no meaning. After approximating how long convincing his teammates and reaching the first dungeon milestone would take, Kieran decided the delay.
The milestone, or rather hurdle, was the three Shadow Wolves before them.
Only two wolves could be handled with the tree gimmick, while the third would always escape in the nick of time, which is why Kieran had Altair entertain the last beast.
As they had stepped inside the Forest of Beasts' greatest difficulty, hoping to handle the monsters through normal means at their current level was somewhat foolish.
The Agility required for that feat was higher than what Kieran currently possessed. That's why the Shadow Wolves gained on him quickly.
Nevertheless, Kieran didn't concern himself with the what-ifs. He merely acted upon what needed to be done.
Because the immense tree crushed the Shadow Wolves, their Health each decreased by 1,000 points. Damage inflicted by the environment typically appeared as fixed damage, which ignored the affected party's DEF.
Without this feature, Kieran wouldn't have targeted the putrescent tree. Trying to knock down the tree would be pointless if it couldn't entrap the two Shadow Wolves by doing so.
'Great, the Forest of Beasts is somewhat tricky because some parts require sufficient AGI and others require a designated tank. But, as long as you know what you're doing, it possible to clear it with our current composition,' Kieran thought to himself.
He looked down at the Shadow Wolves howling weakly, unable to move due to the gigantic tree pinning them in place.
After gazing at the pinned wolves, Kieran glanced in the right corner of his peripheral vision. A minimized version of a simple user interface floating in his sights.
It consisted of an eye, which symbolized the viewers currently watching the stream, a typical textbox icon representing the chat feature, and an obscure icon resembling a coin below it to indicate the number of donations made.
Every icon currently read zero as the stream had just started. Since Kieran was unknown, the beginning of his stream garnered little to no attention. Most players weren't aware that an active streaming platform already existed.
After all, their time was spent leveling up and becoming accustomed to fighting inside Zenith Online.
Streaming, although highly profitable, was the least of their worries.
How could they manage a successful stream if their content wasn't entertaining? No one wished to watch a slow-paced battle where one made several clumsy mistakes.
GamerHub existed for elite players with charismatic personalities to showcase their skills.
Nevertheless, Kieran's current situation was temporary because a notification spread throughout Zenith Online and flashed on the official forum to alert players of an unprecedented change.
〈System: Attention all players, the Gamer Republic Connect, specifically the GamerHub.tv platform, has gone live! If interested, please check the «Zenith Online» category for active streamers!〉
Following the announcement, the Gamer Republic Connect tab flashed with a faint blue light. The flashing persisted until players, whether reluctantly or curiously, clicked on the tab to explore it in greater detail.
The feature was considered annoying, but it was efficient in terms of generating exposure.
'The streaming service was generally used to broadcast walkthroughs, events, or even PvP matches, but none of that is possible right now. At least… now for other players. As I need to create a name for myself to generate to receive special rewards, hiding my actions is essentially impossible. But, I can limit what I reveal.'
GamerHub.tv would undoubtedly become a lucrative platform in the future, so Kieran could only take advantage of the famous gamers' unfamiliarity with the game and claim initial advantages.
All he had was slightly less than $5,000 to his name. So Kieran needed money, and he needed it quickly, considering correcting his condition wouldn't be cheap.
Once the stream began accruing viewers, Kieran added a clickbait title that would attract greater attention later on: [Steamrolling a Beginner Dungeon: Forest of Beasts Very Difficult!]
After witnessing the Shadow Wolves' Health instantly deplete by 1,000 points, Sithik and Cygnus furrowed their brows.
Sithik even rubbed his eyes to ensure they weren't tainted or playing tricks on him.
"This is…" Sithik muttered incredulously, unsure of what to say. Were their doubts unwarranted? Could this party member truly be someone of godly skill?
Kieran ignored the reactions of his teammates and prepared to eliminate the pinned Shadow Wolves quickly.
〈System: You are using 6 SP to increase «Charge» from Lv.2 to Lv.5. Do you wish to continue? [ Y | N ]〉
Kieran agreed, producing significant changes within the customary Warrior skill.
Every five levels served as a small watershed where substantial empowerment occurred. And with the skill leveling up from Lv.1 to Lv.2 being effortless, Kieran only needed to use his remaining SP to push it to that small watershed.
「Charge (Lv.5)
Skill Rank: E
Mastery (00.00%)
Skill Description: After the user channels their force to empower their leg, they can charge forward with a large burst of momentum. An enemy hit during this dash suffers damage equal to 205% of the user's Attack Power. After being hit, the enemy is left «Stunned» for 2.5 seconds. The user's next attack deals 20% increased damage.
Consumption: 3 Mana
Prerequisites: Warrior Class
Cooldown: 30 seconds 」
The cooldown of Charge was higher than Force Slash and between Savage Break. But that was expected of skills with a utility effect. It was general knowledge that skills with utility effects possessed longer cooldown than pure damaging skills.
'The current stun period is perfect. Not too short but not long either such that it removes all difficulty from a fight,' Kieran thought.
2.5 seconds might seem like a lackluster period, but when utilized correctly, it could be the perfect window to overcome one's enemies.
After leveling up Charge, Kieran rushed toward the downed Shadow Wolves while horizontally brandishing his greatsword. Once he was close, Kieran angled himself to avoid hitting the tree.
Bang!
A loud noise resounded as Kieran rammed into the nearest Shadow Wolf.
-100
Considering his Attack Power and the damage value of Charge, it was safe to say the Shadow Wolves' Defense was decent despite it not being its forte. The wolf's stats were pretty high as an Elite Monster, especially since it was five levels higher than Kieran's.
Altair similarly frowned when he noticed his regular attacks dealt anywhere from 5 to 11 damage per strike.
"Elite Monsters are pretty sturdy," Altair remarked.
"Yeah, if you're not careful, they're enough to thrash us. But, I don't need to say much about your skill; I've seen it firsthand," Kieran replied.
Altair's brows furrowed the longer he dealt with his Shadow Wolf. "Bro, are you sure this is clearable if the first set of monsters is this difficult?"
Rather than respond, Kieran smiled cryptically. 'You'll see why it is clearable soon enough.'
A second later, Kieran turned toward Aspaira with a swift demand. "Don't just stand and stare; help him. We need to conserve our Mana and Stamina. Otherwise, the run will be drawn out."
"O-Okay!" Aspaira stammered after recovering her wits.
She then pointed her staff at the Shadow Wolf and performed a brief chant. The chant influenced her Mana, driving it to coagulate until it became a small water ball.
Afterward, Aspaira fired it toward the Shadow Wolf.
This skill was known as Aqua Bullet, an essential E Rank skill with a relatively short cooldown and high fire rate.
However, everyone's jaw dropped when Aspaira accomplished the unexpected. Her Aqua Bullet completely missed the Shadow Wolf!
"Oh, what the hell," Kieran groaned after watching this scene. He couldn't understand how she missed that shot if she had experience with the former difficulty.
Meanwhile, Altair kept the wolf locked in a small area by keeping it hit-stunned with a flurry of dagger strikes. Hit-stunned differed from the effects of Charge because it could be broken once the opponent found an opening.
Hit-stunning was more or less considered a temporary immobilization tactic.
"Ah—! So sorry," Aspaira muttered before conjuring another Aqua Bullet roughly five seconds later. Unfortunately, the outcome of this strike was even worse than the initial shot.
Altair had to abandon the Shadow Wolf and dodge!
Because there was no friendly fire system in Zenith Online, players could inadvertently damage their teammates. So, Mages were somewhat spurned at this stage in the game.
'Crap… I forgot about this,' Kieran inwardly groaned.
A Mage's spells had to be aimed well, or they'd become useless!
"Damn! I don't need a bath, lady. I need you to dish out damage!" Altair exclaimed with a hint of frustration in his voice.
The Shadow Wolves couldn't regenerate, but they did possess a ton of Health. So even though triumph was inevitable, it would be delayed if the party's DPS wasn't up to par.
'I can't waste too much time here,' Kieran thought.
He decided to unleash a strike powerful enough to enhance the damage of his next strike.
"Savage Break!"
Boom!
-636! «Critical Hit!»
Make sure to point out any spelling errors, grammar errors, or numbers/information that wasn't properly updated so I can immediately rectify those issues.
Thank you, guys!
Until May 15th:
Release Rate: 9 ch/week
50 Power Stones = +1 Ch
100 Power Stones = +2 Ch
250 Power Stones = +3 Ch
500 Powers Stones = +5 Ch
The heavy attack accompanied by a high damage value was powerful enough to claim the Shadow Wolf's life. This naturally rewarded a decent sum of EXP.
However, the granted EXP was greater than what Kieran expected for many reasons.
For starters, it was the first time he attempted the Forest of Beasts' greatest difficulty at such a low level, so the base EXP Value was massive.
Two, it was the first Elite monster he had killed thus far, so estimating its EXP was nearly impossible.
The last reason for his surprise was the Medallion of Growth in his possession, which was activated when he received the EXP.
An azure glow radiated from his body, blending seamlessly with his Warrior's Aura, followed by a few notifications.
Ding!
〈System: All party members will receive a «Dungeon Party Bonus» while inside the dungeon. An automatic 400% EXP Bonus will be applied to all monster-hunting EXP.〉
〈System: You have gained 400 EXP.〉
〈System: Medallion of Growth's effect has activated. You have gained an additional 400 EXP.〉
Since Zenith Online heavily advocated for party play, dungeons provided a bonus that would accommodate the number of people in the party.
The bonus would offset the original EXP division and allow players to receive 100% of the monster's EXP Value.
Of course, this effect was specific to dungeons. The bonus in an open-world setting would be applied differently.
"Damn… that was a Critical Hit, wasn't it?" Altair muttered with a strange glint in his eyes.
Achieving a Critical Hit wasn't easy due to the principles of this world, and the difficulty varied based on the player's class and precision of their strike.
Of course, there were handicaps set in place to help the less skilled players, and that was known as an individual's Critical Rate.
"Yeah," Kieran answered.
There was no use lying because different types of damage resulted in different font colors and corresponding special effects.
"Phew," Altair whistled. "600 damage? That would have been a massive hit regardless of a Critical Hit."
"This much is needed if we're to clear this dungeon," Kieran answered, switching his gaze to the remaining Shadow Wolf.
Though Savage Break and Charge were on cooldown, Kieran naturally resorted to his remaining skills while using Warrior's Aura to bolster his damage.
Grr!
The Shadow Wolf growled and glowered at Kieran, bearing its menacing fangs, but Kieran eyed them indifferently.
"Force Slash!"
Bang!
-61
Although the wolf's head was knocked back by the blow's force, the damage was somewhat underwhelming without the assistance of Charge or Savage Break. Nevertheless, the damage satisfied Kieran, given the wolf's immobilized state.
'Let's change our approach a bit,' Kieran thought.
Swoosh!
"Directional Slash!"
Kieran executed a swift upward slash that bypassed the Shadow Wolf's original defenses. Despite being a weaker skill, it dealt more damage than Force Slash due to the strike's placement.
Kieran moved when the Shadow Wolf howled and targeted the roof of its mouth.
-122
While he chipped away at its Health, he glanced toward Aspaira and Altair's battle with the other Shadow Wolf.
-177 (Aqua Bullet)
After several tries, Aspaira managed to land a clean hit thanks to Altair skillfully placing the beast within the path of Aspaira's attack.
Aspaira's damage without a Critical Hit was surprisingly greater than Kieran's, but that was due to the difference between Physical and Magical Defense.
The beasts in this dungeon were resistant to physical damage, but magical damage was a different story, which is why Kieran resolved to include a Mage in the party.
The unmitigated damage was akin to a secret weapon against these monsters. However, the issue of her horrendous aim required addressing if he wanted to maximize Aspaira's early class advantage.
"That raw damage is quite insane," Altair said, glancing at the wordless Aspaira. She hadn't expected that changing a few pieces of equipment would affect her damage this much. It was much greater after clearing her previous run.
"I-I know! I'm also shocked," Aspaira said after overcoming her initial shock, beaming at her accomplishment.
Altair noticed her glee but felt it was too early to be this happy. "Although your damage is incredible, it's not helpful if you can't consistently land your spells. Improve that aim of yours."
"I'll try. It's not easy to hit these monsters, y'know? So don't get your hopes up high," Aspaira responded.
While Altair voiced the need for better aim, Kieran judged his current circumstances.
'Even with my skill in using heavy weapons, my Attack Speed is a limiting factor. I can only swing my sword so many times with my current stats,' Kieran thought.
Compared to a speed-based class like a Thief, a Warrior was truthfully an all-rounder. Acceptable in all aspects but excelling in none.
It was one of the reasons players gravitated away from it—they found nothing unique about it.
However, forsaking early uniqueness to obtain it in the future was a sacrifice Kieran found acceptable.
The Warrior Class possessed marvelous paths that many close-minded players failed to grasp.
A few seconds later, Kieran jumped and thrust his greatsword through the Shadow Wolf's head, slightly impaling the ground.
A golden radiance embraced Kieran after this kill.
〈System: You have gained 800 EXP.〉
〈System: You have leveled up! [Lv.6→Lv.7]〉
〈System: You have received 5 Unassigned Attribute Points and 2 Skill Points.〉
[Experience: 130/2,000]
The two wolves dropped a decent amount of Copper Coins, some wolf fangs and pelts, but no equipment. Kieran stored the items within the Loot Table, a place that existed for all party members to view the items dropped thus far.
"Let's finish off the last one," Kieran called out.
"I'm right here with you," Altair responded.
"Please do!" Aspaira exclaimed.
Following Kieran's command, Cygnus and Sithik fidgeted in the back, high-strung and on high alert. Something about being in the dungeon's highest difficulty made it challenging to cope.
However, they breathed a sigh of relief when Altair narrowly dodged attacks aimed at him.
But, a change suddenly occurred when the remaining Shadow Wolf retreated to the darkness of the path before them and lifted its head.
Dark-element Mana converged above its mouth, forming a condensed orb.
This attack was why Kieran used the tree gimmick. Avoiding three such attacks was nearly impossible.
Once the wolf performed this action, Kieran looked at Aspaira. "Prepare a spell to deal with it in the end."
Next, he looked toward Altair. "Follow me. We mustn't let it release that attack. I can feel the Mana from here."
"Same," Altair nodded with a narrowed gaze. Motes of dark energy continued to flow toward the orb, increasing its size.
Whoosh!
Altair moved first with his superior speed, dashing toward the Shadow Wolf while Kieran prepared a Charge a few steps behind.
"Deep Puncture!" Altair called out, plunging one of his daggers into the wolf's back.
-345! «Critical Hit!»
An instant later, Kieran rammed into the wolf with enough force to disrupt the Shadow Wolf's Darkness Howl.
-100 «Stunned»
All of a sudden, Kieran and Altair widened their eyes and ducked after feeling a warm sensation approach.
Whoosh!
A fireball passed above their heads, obtaining a direct hit on the Shadow Wolf. Despite the success, Kieran and Altair couldn't help but give Aspaira helpless gazes.
-199 (Fireball)
"What the shit?! Woman, are you trying to bald us? We are too young to be experiencing male pattern baldness!" Kieran exclaimed.
"Your aim is more horrendous than me in the morning," Altair scoffed.
Cygnus stifled a laugh while Sithik clutched his stomach. Aspaira could only turn beet-red in embarrassment after feeling everyone was targeting her.
However, she didn't back down.
Aspaira stomped her foot and retorted loudly. "Hey! At least give me some credit because this is hard! It's not like we're gaming on some ancient console with a controller! Besides, this is the hardest mode possible and an Elite monster! I've never tried it before―what more do you want from me?!"
The duo groaned before landing a few more strikes to claim the Shadow Wolf's life.
〈System: You have gained 750 EXP.〉
[Experience: 880/2,000]
Make sure to point out any spelling errors, grammar errors, or numbers/information that wasn't properly updated so I can immediately rectify those issues.
Thank you, guys!
Until May 15th:
Release Rate: 9 ch/week
50 Power Stones = +1 Ch
100 Power Stones = +2 Ch
250 Power Stones = +3 Ch
500 Powers Stones = +5 Ch
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