They left the cliff behind and headed toward the next treasure chest. Riding their camel mounts, they moved south until they reached a small village near a lake.
There, one treasure chest was hidden in the middle of the lake's island. Ethan and Elle had to either swim across or use a boat to get there.
From time to time, they saw other players fighting low-level monsters to get the EXP they needed to level up.
Ethan wasn't interested in that. Until he reached level 10, he and Elle would keep traveling to collect the chests he remembered.
"Is it far?" Elle asked. Ethan shook his head.
"When we get to the village, we'll already be close."
The village they were heading to came into view. The villagers were busy with their daily activities, but there weren't many players around.
That made sense—there weren't many monsters near the village. If players wanted to hunt, they had to leave the village and look outside.
"We're here," Ethan said.
He hopped off his mount, and Elle followed right after. They kept walking south, passing medieval-style houses until they reached the village lake.
"A wide and beautiful lake."
"This is the best fishing spot for beginners," Ethan replied.
"The game's in chaos. Players are fighting just to level up and survive. Only an idiot would waste time fishing for fun," Elle explained.
"We didn't come here to catch fish."
"Then what?" Elle asked.
Ethan raised his hand and pointed forward. In the middle of the lake were three islands—one large and two small.
He explained that the treasure chest was on one of the smaller islands. The large one only had low-level flying fish monsters.
"Are they dangerous?" Elle asked.
"For you, yeah. Not for me. They're weaker than kobolds, but their attack patterns are a pain."
Ethan walked over to a fisherman's boat tied up at the dock. When he tapped the boat, a system panel popped up, showing the price for one trip to the island.
[Lake Boat]
[3 Gold per trip] [Y/N]
He confirmed the payment, and the two of them climbed aboard. A fisherman began rowing, carrying Ethan and Elle toward the island.
They could have swum across since the game had an auto-swim feature, but the fatigue effect would wear them down.
When they arrived on one of the small islands, luck was on their side. Right in the middle stood an unguarded treasure chest.
"As I promised, you get to open this one."
"With pleasure," Elle said.
She crouched down in front of the chest and opened it. Items popped up for her, along with gold and EXP. The EXP even pushed her to level 6.
"I leveled up."
"Really? That's great. You also got extra attribute points," Ethan said.
"You still haven't helped me figure out how to set mine."
Ethan smiled and nodded. Since the small island was safe from monsters, they both decided to take the time to set their attributes there.
[Profile]
[Name: EthanArk]
[Class: Warrior]
[Level: 5]
[Status Attributes]
[ATK: 150 || DEF: 135]
[STR: 25 || AGI: 10 || INT: 0 || CONS: 20 || WIS: 5]
[AP: 0]
Ethan finished his status setup and looked to the side. Elle seemed lost, not understanding how attributes worked at all.
He could tell she wasn't a veteran player. She acted like someone playing for the first time because her friends dragged her into it.
So there are people like her, huh. Makes sense, I guess. She's a girl, and not many women play Tower of Ascension… except Ashley.
"Since your class is Priest, and Priests are strong in magic and support, you need to prioritize these two stats," Ethan said, pointing at INT and WIS. Elle nodded and asked how many points she should put there.
"I don't know, maybe around 20? Just make sure those two are higher than the rest," Ethan explained.
"You can decide the rest yourself."
"Alright," Elle replied.
She finished setting her stats, and Ethan was done too. Now they both had enough strength to survive. Ethan would rely on his warrior skills, while Elle used the healing powers of a priest.
"All done," Elle said.
"Good. Let's head to the next spot."
Elle didn't argue. Whatever Ethan did, she'd go along with it. For now, she was starting to trust him, though there was still a bit of suspicion in her heart.
Before moving on, Ethan glanced toward the large island. He saw strange fish monsters swimming around, and his curiosity grew.
"How about we delay the trip and go check out the big island first?" Ethan asked.
"Wait! You want to fight monsters?" Elle asked, startled.
"They're just weak monsters, nothing to be afraid of."
"You'll get EXP too," Ethan added.
"But what if you die?" Elle pressed.
"HAHA! They're small fry. Nothing to worry about. Why are you so negative?"
Ethan boldly crossed the wooden bridge connecting the islands. Elle followed nervously behind him, her heart racing and fear creeping into her chest.
She trusted Ethan could probably beat them, but there was always a chance something could go wrong.
Ethan stopped when he saw a group of marlins flying in circles. Their sharp sword-like snouts glinted, and their fins looked like wings.
"Flying marlins?" Elle gasped.
"Step back and get your buff skills ready for me," Ethan ordered. Elle nodded.
Ethan drew his sword and swung it sideways. A slash of red energy shot forward, striking the monsters and exploding.
[Blue-Winged Marlin (Lv. 3) || HP: 75/100]
Blue-Winged Marlins. I haven't fought these much, but that doesn't scare me.
The marlins screeched, showing rows of shark-like teeth under their long, sharp snouts.
Elle lifted her priest's staff, golden light wrapping around Ethan as a system message popped up.
[Buff received: +20% Physical Damage || +10% Defense || +5% HP Regen]
Ethan's body glowed gold. He felt ready to cut them all down. With a leap, he dashed forward, swinging his longsword wide, slashing through several marlins at once.
"Behind you!" Elle shouted.
Ethan spun and slashed, but nothing was there.
"I meant to your side!"
He quickly swung again, blocking a marlin that had been about to blindside him. It worked, but Elle's warnings were throwing him off.
"Thanks, but could you please just stay quiet and focus on healing me?" Ethan grumbled.
"O-Okay."
He gripped his sword tight and leapt forward, slamming it down from above. The strike knocked enemies back and slowed them, making it harder for the marlins to escape.
"You're not getting away from me!" Ethan yelled.
[Blue-Winged Marlin (Lv. 3) || HP: 0/100]
Several marlins dropped dead. Ethan took a few scratches from their sharp snouts, but he kept fighting until most of them retreated back into the lake.
When it was over, he collapsed to the ground, exhausted but victorious. He had slain about eight marlins.
[Congratulations! You killed monsters!]
[Name: Blue-Winged Marlin (Lv. 3) || New Records]
[+120 EXP]
[Congratulations! You leveled up]
[Level 6 → Level 7]
[EXP: 820/900]
[+10 AP]
[Congratulations! You obtained drop items:]
[+80 Gold] [8x Marlin Blades (Common)] [8x Marlin Meat] [4x Aqua Crystals (Uncommon)]
Ethan picked up the loot. The Aqua Crystals especially caught his eye. They were useful for enhancing buffs.
Aqua Crystals? If only it were Pyro… my base ATK would've gone up.
He glanced over and saw that Elle also gained EXP from supporting him in battle. Not as much, but still decent.
"I got EXP?"
"I told you, as long as you help me, you'll get your share," Ethan explained.
He tossed the four Aqua Crystals to Elle. Water-element crystals were great for buff enhancement, especially for mages and priests.
According to Ethan, she'd get the most benefit out of them later.
"Aqua Crystals aren't valuable to a warrior like me. You take them."
"Thanks, but… what do I even do with these?" Elle asked.
"There's a buff enhancement feature. Slotting certain crystals will give you permanent buffs. There are hundreds of different ones."
"From what I know, Aqua gives better MP efficiency," Ethan added.
"Whoa, that'll help me save mana."
"Exactly."
Ethan noticed more marlins appearing on the big island. Fighting again when they were outnumbered wasn't worth the risk.
"Let's go."
They ran back to the smaller island, where the monsters wouldn't bother them.
"What now?" Elle asked.
"We rest here until we're recovered," Ethan said.
He pulled out eight cuts of marlin meat from his inventory. Elle's stomach growled when she saw them, making her smile shyly.
"We'll eat and rest. Tonight, we'll go for the third chest."
Elle nodded. She helped prepare the meat while Ethan gathered wood for a fire.
They could've eaten it raw, but cooking it over a campfire made it feel more like survival, and it gave them light.
[Congratulations! You unlocked a skill]
[Skill: Basic Cooking (Lv. 1)]
"Basic Cooking?" Elle asked, confused.
"It's a casual feature. Once players get to higher levels, some get bored of grinding monsters and tower bosses. They spend their time fishing, cooking, or even gardening," Ethan explained, lighting the campfire.
"Oh, this game's actually pretty interesting."
"Tell me, this is your first time playing, right?" Ethan asked. Elle nodded.
"Yeah. My college friends started earlier. They dragged me along to join them," she admitted.
Her friends were probably at higher levels already, though she wasn't sure how skilled they were.
"Since everyone's chars look like their real faces, you'll find them eventually," Ethan said.
"Yeah, I hope so."
"What about you?" Elle asked.
Ethan went quiet, then gave a small smile as he flipped the marlin meat roasting on the fire.
"I'm just a newbie who got unlucky and ended up stuck here."
"So that means we're in the same boat?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
"Do your friends play too?" Elle asked.
He sighed and handed her some cooked marlin. "They do, but they're far from the starter city."
"Then let's help each other find our friends," Elle said, chewing the tasteless meat.
"Sure."