Time slipped by faster than Lucas realized.
Half a month later, his grind paid off—he hit Level 30.
Along with the level-up came a brand-new general Assassin skill:
---
Level 30 General Skill – Throat Seal
Effect: A precise assassination technique targeting the enemy's throat. Deals 200% physical damage and silences the target for 5 seconds, preventing them from using any skills.
Cooldown: Standard.
Use Case: Disrupts enemy casters, disables skill combos, and forces them to fight with only basic attacks.
---
Lucas read over the description. A solid balance of damage and control, with a decent damage coefficient and the valuable silence effect. In the right situation, it could turn the tide of a fight.
A five-second silence was no joke. Against the right opponent, it could completely ruin their offense or defense.
But… for him?
Not so much.
The problem was simple—most enemies never survived long enough to need silencing. Ordinary monsters folded to a single hit from him, and the few that could endure his damage were usually dungeon bosses with leader-class templates—and those bosses were immune to most crowd-control effects thanks to their "boss immunity."
In other words, a flashy skill… but one he'd rarely need.
> "Honestly, I'd have preferred another pure damage skill."
Ever since hitting Level 20, Lucas had noticed a shift. The Assassin general skills he learned weren't pure DPS anymore—they were hybrid tools with both damage and control effects.
He knew enough about the Assassin progression path to realize why. Pure high-output skills would be locked behind higher thresholds—Level 40 and beyond.
Still, even by damage coefficient alone, Throat Seal's 200% was nothing to sneeze at. It outclassed his Level 1 starter combo (150%) and even edged out Fatal Deep Stab (180%). If Tearing Cut (220%) and Backstab (250%) were on cooldown, Throat Seal could serve as a respectable filler strike.
…That is, if the enemy somehow survived the initial burst.
And at least it was better than Sap, which had a measly 120% coefficient and only worked from stealth. Sap's 20% damage bump over a normal hit was laughably small.
He couldn't even remember the last time he'd used it—if ever.
---
"Man, I'm not even playing like an Assassin anymore."
Lucas shook his head, almost amused. His kit was stacked with deadly control tools, but they were practically ornamental. His raw damage output made most of them irrelevant.
If it weren't for the personal attribute panel reminding him of his class, he might have mistaken himself for a Berserker—charging headfirst into fights, shredding everything in his path, rarely even bothering with stealth.
"Forget it. If I don't need them, I don't need them."
He smirked.
> "Who says an Assassin has to be sneaky? As long as I can kill the enemy, I'm the strongest Assassin there is."
Sure, he admired the romanticized image of the "shadow killer"—appearing from nowhere, striking once, then vanishing without a trace. It was stylish, it was cool. But why waste time on theatrics when one attack already guaranteed the kill?
A real master didn't need a dozen moves. One strike should decide victory or defeat.
And by that standard… he was already a master.
No rebuttals accepted.
---
Satisfied with his own conclusion, Lucas kicked his heavy-duty motorcycle into gear and rode back toward the guild headquarters. He had business in the logistics department.
Inside, he found Emily Frost hard at work, buried in stacks of paperwork.
"Ha?" Emily blinked at the equipment application form Lucas handed her. She skimmed it, then froze.
"…Level 30?" Her voice pitched upward in disbelief.
Her eyes darted up to meet his, searching for any sign he was joking.
"You were only Level 25… what, two weeks ago? And now you're 30? Are you rocketing through levels?"
She knew the numbers. Normally, someone keeping up a strong pace might be Level 27 by now. Lucas had blown past that like it was nothing.
Even Jade Walker herself hadn't leveled that aggressively back in the day.
And now here he was, applying for a full set of Level 30 purple rare-quality armor and accessories, barely half a month after requesting the Level 20 set.
---
Emily narrowed her eyes.
> "I'm starting to think you're abusing your vice president privileges to drain the guild armory."
Lucas didn't even flinch. "If you don't believe me, check for yourself."
He pulled up his personal panel and let the glowing "Lv. 30" speak for itself.
Emily stared at the number, her skepticism faltering. She knew the guild's experience bonuses, the double experience buff, and the monster-rich hunting grounds could speed things up—but this? This was more than twice the pace of an average player.
Before joining the guild, Lucas had taken a week per level. Now, with all the boosts and his relentless monster grinding, three days per level was his norm.
If the buffs stacked—double experience and five-times experience—his speed would be absurd. But the system didn't allow it; activating one locked out the other.
---
He still remembered the disappointment the first time he tried to combine them. He'd been ready to go on an unstoppable leveling spree, only to have a prompt pop up:
"Only one type of experience boost can be active at a time."
The dream of ten-times experience had died instantly.
Even so, Lucas didn't think his current progress was unbelievable. If the boosts could stack, he'd have hit 30 a full day or two earlier.
---
Emily's gaze sharpened, her tone skeptical again.
"…You didn't secretly awaken some kind of experience-multiplier talent, did you?"
She wasn't half-joking. Even with guild support, nobody leveled this fast without something extra.
Lucas kept his face neutral. "Don't worry about that, Minister Emily. Just get me the equipment I applied for."
His tone was cool, businesslike—and intentionally so. Ever since Emily had teased him about his… personal quirks… last time, he'd been on guard.
As the saying went, a biting dog doesn't bark. He wasn't about to let her sniff out more than he wanted her to know.
Especially not after she'd had the nerve to accuse him of being a "White Rabbit" fanatic. Even if it was technically true, that was beside the point—and therefore slander in his book.
Unforgivable.
---
Emily gave a small, knowing smile, then replied in an exaggeratedly formal tone:
"Alright, Vice President Lucas, but first, please return the Level 20 equipment you were issued."
Her emphasis on vice president was deliberate, and Lucas caught it immediately.
The way she was jotting notes and approving forms so smoothly—it was almost identical to Jade Walker's style. Lucas was willing to bet she'd been trained personally by the guild leader.
Either way, she'd get him his gear. And he'd keep leveling.
Because Level 30 wasn't the end. It was just the next step toward becoming the most dangerous Assassin anyone had ever seen.
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