On the obsidian plains of Godfall Basin, Kalis was still mechanically harvesting Wraith Soldiers. About ten minutes after the Spheres Crusaders' server announcement, two clear system notifications exploded in his ears one after another:
"Ding～ Congratulations! Your Sin Points have been completely cleared, and your name has returned to neutral white status!"
"Ding～ Congratulations! You have leveled up to Level 59!"
A faint golden glow of leveling swirled around him, and his status panel refreshed instantly. Level 59 once again widened the gap between him and other players across the server.
Kalis suddenly stopped casting spells, let out a long sigh of relief, and his tense shoulders finally relaxed. Hours of tedious monster grinding had finally come to an end.
"Finally, I can get out of this hellhole!"
His tone was filled with relief. He raised his hand and crushed the Return Scroll he had long prepared.
A faint glow of spatial distortion flashed. With a backpack full of top-tier equipment and 750,000 gold coins, he was instantly teleported back to the main city square of Drakenspire City.
Carrying a huge sum of money and having just reached Level 59, Kalis's mind became active: "Perfect timing to splurge at the Auction House! Replace all my gear with Epic items above Level 50 and experience the life of a tycoon!"
But as soon as he stepped out of the teleportation array, a patrol of City Guards marched straight toward him. The leading soldier had a look of impatience and shouted gruffly: "Get out of the way! Don't block the teleportation array!"
Kalis was stunned. These NPCs either ignored other players or politely asked them to move aside, but they treated him with such hostility—as if they were mortal enemies. Watching the soldier squad stride away, a playful sneer tugged at Kalis's lips. He thought to himself: "Revenge is a dish best served cold. "
Suppressing his minor resentment, he turned and headed straight for the Main City Warehouse.
Upon arrival, he first retrieved his class-exclusive weapon from storage, the Celestial Staff. The light blue staff was wrapped in nebula patterns, and the crystal ball at the top seemed to contain a miniature starry sky. A Legendary-level energy fluctuation surged forth:
[Celestial Staff]
(Class Exclusive, Non-Tradable, Non-Modifiable, Non-Discardable, Unlosable)
Rarity: Legendary
Level Requirement: 50
Class Requirement: Celestial Mage
Spell Attack +210
Intelligence +55
Constitution +30
Effect [Mastery]: 2% chance to instantly reset the cooldown of a class-exclusive skill when used
Effect [Celestial Expansion]: Increases the scale of all spell-type skills by 100% (based on initial scale)
The moment he equipped the staff, Kalis's Spell Attack directly exceeded 550. He waved the staff in satisfaction, then quickly began replacing the equipment in his backpack: "Put on all the wearable Epic and Legendary gear, and buy the missing pieces from the Auction House!"
He moved quickly to equip his best available gear, then rushed to the Auction House. After withdrawing the proceeds from his previously listed items, he resolutely purchased three Level 50 Epic items.
Even the Level 30 Epic Gauntlets of Lunar Glow he had obtained not long ago, and the Level 20 Sapphire Belt dropped from Shadow Claw's Vaelen, were replaced with higher-tier gear suitable for Level 50.
After changing his equipment and allocating attribute points, Kalis's status panel was completely refreshed, luxuriously impressive. Even without the ten-thousand-fold talent boost, his panel alone placed him among the top elite players on the entire server:
[Name]: Kalis
[Class]: Celestial Mage (Promotable)
[Level]: 59
[Talents]: Ultimate Amplification (Beyond Mythic), Celestial Dominance (Legendary)
[HP]: 10,200/10,200
[Mana]: 1,580/1,580
[Spell Attack]: 840
[Physical Defense]: 125
[Magic Defense]: 195
[Strength]: 92
[Intelligence]: 315
[Constitution]: 145
[Spirit]: 278
[Agility]: 115
[Potential Points]: 0
[Mastered Skills]: Magic Missile, Thunder Chain, Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Meteor Shower, Star Wind, Crystal Barricade
[Equipment Slots]:
[Celestial Staff (Legendary)]: Spell Attack +210, Intelligence +55, Constitution +30
[Mana Crystal Pendant (Epic)]: Max HP +550, Spirit +105
[Heroic Spirit Holy Ring (Mythic)]: All Attributes +34
[Flameweave Ring (Epic)]: Spell Attack +30, Intelligence +12, Physical Defense +12, Additional Fire Magic Damage (Negligible for Kalis)
[Godslayer Robe (Mythic)]: Max HP +3,800, Spirit +55, Physical Defense +55, Magic Defense +105, 55 Mana Regen per second
[Vitality Mage Hat (Epic)]: Max HP +480, Constitution +12, Physical Defense +22, 12 HP Regen every 5 seconds
[Scholar's Belt (Epic)]: Max HP +380, Spirit +12, Magic Defense +28, 6 Mana Regen every 5 seconds
[Frostweave Leggings (Epic)]: Max HP +420, Constitution +12, Physical Defense +18, Magic Defense +18
[Blossom Mage Gloves (Epic)]: Max HP +280, Intelligence +22, Spirit +12, Magic Defense +18
[Swiftstep Boots (Legendary)]: Max HP +520, Agility +22, Movement Speed +110%
Looking at the panel, Kalis couldn't help but click his tongue: "I originally wanted to stack pure Attack attributes. After all, every 1 point of Spell Attack equals 12,500 Shield Points, which is much more reliable than stacking HP and Defense. Unfortunately, there are too few pure Attack Epic items for Level 50 at the Auction House. I'll have to make do with these for now."
He suddenly remembered something he'd seen earlier and sighed with envy: "Large guilds really have more resources. Shadow Claw's Vaelen could learn Inferno Blast at only Level 20, but I'm already Level 59, and my Intelligence has just passed 300. It's frustrating how some people have it all!"
A thought struck him, and his eyes lit up: "Wait, Spheres Crusaders is also a large guild! Their influence might even be bigger than Shadow Claw's now. Why not ask Seren for a favor?"
With that, he immediately opened his friend list and sent a private message to Seren, getting straight to the point: "Guild Master Seren, I need a favor."
Seren was clearly still busy with guild recruitment, but he replied quickly with enthusiasm: "Go ahead, Kalis! If it's within my power, it's no problem at all!"
Kalis explained his request concisely: "I need pure Intelligence equipment for Level 50 Mages. The higher the Intelligence boost, the better—I don't care about other attributes. Price is no issue. I have plenty of gold coins on me. As long as you have the goods, money isn't a problem!"
"Pure Intelligence stacking? You must be trying to learn a high-tier skill, right?" Seren was experienced in the game and guessed his intention immediately.
He agreed readily: "No problem! This is a trivial matter for our guild. Send me your coordinates, and I'll have one of the guys deliver them to you right away. Don't worry about the money, it's nothing!"
"That won't do! The equipment I need isn't cheap. A full set is worth a fortune..." Kalis felt a little embarrassed about accepting such an expensive favor for free.
But Seren replied with a laugh: "You just want to learn a skill, right? Return the equipment after you're done! We've already made a 120 million gold coin deal; we're practically partners now. I wouldn't charge you rent for borrowing a few pieces of gear!"
"Uh... You're right!" Kalis suddenly realized and quickly thanked him: "Thank you so much, Guild Master Seren!"
"Hahaha, stop calling me Guild Master! I'm just a few years older than you. Feel free to call me Seren!" Seren enthusiastically tried to build rapport. He knew how terrifying the potential of a top-tier player could be. Even if he couldn't recruit Kalis to his guild, he definitely didn't want to make an enemy of him. Doing him this favor would only benefit the guild.
After exchanging a few polite words, Seren went back to handling guild affairs. Kalis waited in the main city square for over ten minutes and soon saw an Assassin player with the Spheres Crusaders guild tag hurrying over.
"Kalis, sorry to keep you waiting!" The man's name was Cory, Level 35, somewhere between the first and second tiers. His tone was very respectful.
"Thanks for making the trip," Kalis replied politely, not putting on airs.
The two initiated a trade on the spot, and four pieces of pure Intelligence equipment appeared in Kalis's backpack instantly:
[Boots of Wisdom (Epic)]: Intelligence +35, Intelligence +35 (Dual Intelligence Boost)
[Tome of Erudition (Epic)]: Intelligence +110, Effect [Erudition] (Additional Intelligence +55)
[Ring of Sage's Restraint (Epic)]: Intelligence +35, Intelligence +25
[Amulet of the Arcane Spirit (Legendary)]: Intelligence +160
These four pieces of equipment were purely for Intelligence stacking—all other attributes were useless.
For ordinary players, they were tasteless to keep and a pity to discard, but they were perfect for Kalis. Since they had agreed it was a loan, he didn't have the nerve to ask to buy them. He planned to return them after learning the skill.
As soon as he equipped these four items, his Intelligence soared to 580. The Meteor Descend skill book in his backpack immediately popped up a learning prompt:
"Ding～ Detected that your Intelligence attribute meets the learning requirements. Do you want to learn Meteor Descend? After learning, the skill book will disappear from your backpack."