Two hours later.
Axir and the gang were in Bulban Forest, having killed eight level 5 Grayback Wolves by working together.
"Our party has perfect balance."
"Yeah, I also finally reached level 4 like you all."
"Our quest is progressing smoothly. Each of us killed fifteen to sixteen monsters," Axir said. "Just a few more and we will be done."
"What's with this Power Level in our stats? Axir has 328 Power Level while the rest of us are below 150." Yuta scratched his head.
"I think it depends on how well you use your cards and your proficiency with them," Selena said. "Axir has been killing all monsters perfectly and never missed."
"Yeah, Axir. Your skills somehow seem stronger. Any tips?" Jason asked.
Axir smiled and showed them his Cleave card. "As you can see, I've reached 100% prociency of this card, and it gives me 50% extra damage."
"So that's why."
"Wait, did you get 100% proficiency in all cards?"
"Yep."
"Fuck, are you a monster or what?"
"We'll reach 100% proficiency eventually, who cares?" Lexi rolled her eyes. "Anyway, we should continue hunting."
"Wait, let me distribute the stat points," Aoi said. "Axir, you are putting all of them in the Constitution or equally in Constitution and Agility?"
"The cards of the Warrior's Path deck scale with Constitution and Agility equally. From the five you got just now, put three in Agility and two in Constitution, but grow them equally."
"Alright."
The group continued in the forest.
'It's time to get rid of them.' Axir's eyes glinted. 'The lake is nearby.'
Soon, the group walked past some bushes and greenery as they saw the lake.
"Whoa, there's such a beautiful and big lake here."
"I bet there's something good here." Kazuo was excited.
"Yeah, monsters that will eat you in one gulp." Lexi snickered.
The group moved.
"Stop!" Axir suddenly stopped, his voice firm.
The group became alert.
"Monsters?" Jason narrowed his eyes as he looked around.
"Yeah, I just got crazy goosebumps." Axir looked ahead, his voice somber. "Trust me, my instincts are good. Give me a stone or something to throw."
"Here." Kazuo gave a wooden stick.
Axir grabbed it and threw it at the lakeshore, ten meters ahead. 'That's the spot if I remember correctly.'
Just as the stick hit the ground, a giant worm burst out of the ground. Its mouth was wide enough to gulp an adult human, and its body long enough to devour one whole.
"Holy crap..."
The group quickly moved back and hid behind the trees.
'It's here.' Axir grinned. 'Glad my memories are good. It's been years.'
[ Earthbuzz Worm ] - Elite
Level: 5
Power Level: 500
Vitality: 1000/1000
Mana: 500/500
Constitution: 100
Agility: 30
Perception: 30
Arcane: 50
Everyone began talking in a virtual mental chat instead of speaking out loud.
[ Yuta: This is crazy. I don't think we can beat it. ]
[ Lexi: Let's get outta here. ]
[ Jason: Calm down, Lexi. It may have higher stats than us, but we are more. We should be able to kill it. ]
[ Aoi: Umm, let's finish the quest first. So if we die against this worm and respawn back to the village, we can submit the quest and get rewards right away. ]
[ Kazuo: I agree. ]
[ Selena: That sounds good. ]
[ Axir: I am going to fight it now. If I die, I'll come back from the town. ]
Axir had distributed all stat points he got into Agility. Each level up grants 5 stat points. So he got 15 for reaching level 4, and put them in Agility, making it reach 35.
He did that precisely to kill this worm.
[ Selena: Are you sure, Axir? What if dying reduces our experience? ]
[ Axir: Guess we'll find out soon. ]
Without hesitation, Axir walked out of the trees and moved towards the lake.
The worm had already burrowed itself back into the ground.
[ Aoi: You think he will succeed? ]
[ Jason: I doubt. ]
[ Yuta: Ain't no way he is killing that worm. Look at its constitution. Moreover, its attack will likely one shot us. ]
[ Lexi: It's an Elite monster, which is why its stats are higher than regular level 5 monsters. ]
[ Kazuo: He is going…]
Axir was about to step into the range of the Earthbuzz Worm.
And he did step.
In the next moment, the ground beneath him sank slightly before a large mouth, big enough to gulp him whole, burst out.
But Axir had shifted his footsteps and was flexible when the worm attacked him, planting his feet on the edges of its mouth. He went up alongside the worm as it stretched almost ten meters long!
Jason and others watched with their mouth agape.
[ Yuta: Fuck, he's dead! ]
[ Lexi: Shit…]
[ Aoi: Did he plan that or get lucky with his feet? ]
The worm, seeing that it didn't eat its target, snapped its mouth shut.
But this time, Axir used the moment of its mouth closing and exerted his strength on the feet to jump!
And then, he used Rumbling Leap to go down while using Dominion Slash, boosting the damage with the kinetic energy of Rumbling Leap!
Rumbling Leap was usually used on the ground to leap high and cross distance, but Axir used it while in the air as he turned and shot down like a rocket.
His sword gleamed from the sun's light as he struck!
Dominion Slash!
A powerful downward slash with both hands. With his 100% proficiency in this card, this attack also reduces the target's defense!
Chreee!
Striking the worm right on its head and splitting it, Axir still continued in the downward motion, splitting it into two until the sword got struck midway.
The worm was going berserk, but it was already half-dead.
Cleave!
Axir roared as he exerted his full strength again while the sword was struck, and cleaved it, splitting the worm's body horizontally!
Watching the whole sequence, the group was dumbfounded and shocked.
[ You have successfully killed a level 5 Elite Monster — Earthbuzz Worm. ]
[ You have reached level 5. ]
[ World Announcement! Player Ace is the first player to kill an Elite Monster among the players of Planet Earth. +100 Gold. ]
"Holy shit, bro! What was that?" Yuta was excited.
"That was awesome, Axir!" Aoi's eyes shone.
"Yeah, crazy." Jason nodded, his eyes glinting with jealousy. "How did you do that?"
"That was amazingly cool, Axir." Selena smiled and arrived beside Axir, looking at the corpse of the worm that was disappearing, and picked up a material it dropped.
Worm's Acid Sac.
"There's something else there."
There was also a blue card floating in the air!
"It's a card?! So, Elites drops cards?" Lexi was surprised.
Axir touched the card, and it entered his body. "Maybe not all elite drops, but elites have a higher chance of dropping?"
'Well, I wasn't expecting this. I'll have to make some plans now.'
[ Congratulations, you have acquired a 2-star card—Earthburrow Travel ]
[ Earthburrow Travel ]
Card Quality: 2-star
Cost: 5 Mana per second.
Effect:
—> Allows you to move through the ground like a fish swimming in water.
This card was also great in the real world for escaping because players could respawn in-game, but in the real world, people can't respawn if they die. A lot were going to die.
Axir shared the card's info panel, shocking the group.
"This thing is insane, no?"
"Yeah, with this, Axir can escape easily in case he is in danger." Selena nodded. "It's a great card."
"Man, I also want one. This worm will respawn, right?" Jason wondered. And he actually got the answer back from the game.
[ Elite Monsters will respawn 24 hours after they are killed. ]
"It looks like they will respawn, but only after 24 hours."
"We should search around this lakeshore. Maybe there's more," Axir said.
"Yeah, let's do it."
However, there were no Earthbuzz Worm in any side of the Lakeshore. They made a full round and even killed other monsters as their quest of killing 20 monsters was completed.
Everyone reached level 5 while Axir reached level 6.
"Yo, what about those swans? They look pretty. Must be monsters, too, right?" Yuta pointed at the swans.
"So what if they are?" Lexi rolled her eyes. "They are right in the middle. If you want to go and see if there are any water monsters inside the lake, go ahead."
Axir rubbed his chin. "Our group doesn't have anyone with Archer's Path. I saw a few people with bows, and they might be able to hunt them and even acquire the dead bodies without getting into the water."
"We can buy thin, but strong string in the village and attach it to the arrow. All you need is to pierce the swan and then pull the string. You get your prey without entering the lake." Axir explained.
"Oh, that's genius. But I guess it's impossible for us." Jason wryly smiled.
"I think we should go into the lake," Axir suggested. "We have completed our quest, and there's no need to worry about any losses. The system said that we won't lose any exp upon dying."
"Hmm, then it's better to explore the lake." Selena nodded. "We'll try to get those swans if possible while searching the Lake."
In the end, the group decided to go explore the lake.
Axir's eyes glinted as a faint smile formed. It was time to get rid of them, so he could get stronger, because below this lake were two wonderful things.
And as he becomes stronger fast, these pieces of trash should know that if they want to get stronger and progress better, they must depend on him, so he would be able to use them.
He wasn't this impressive in his past life, even though he grasped the game faster and was better than most.
But with this second chance, he was going to get every opportunity and climb high!
His aim was not to become one of the ten Sovereigns like in his past life.
No.
This time, he was aiming to be the supreme player! Stronger than anyone!
'Become my tools, you fools.'
"Let's go." Axir entered the lake first and began swimming.
Rumbling Leap!
Splash!
Axir burst out of the water and jumped, crossing seven meters. It was low in distance and height compared to when he used it on the ground, but it was good enough.
Aoi copied him and also did the same.
"Leap is great!" Aoi cheered as she jumped again and arrived close to Axir.
"We don't have jumping cards like them, tsk."
Suddenly, Jason accelerated by using Shield Bash, but it was worse than swimming as he only got a short burst for three meters and then came to a halt since he was underwater, unlike Rumbling Leap, which shot Axir and Aoi out of the water to cross more distance.
The group was searching inside the lake and was closing in on the area where the swans were swimming.
The swans were not close to each other. Though there were some pairs of swans that stayed together closely.
The group slowed down and swam slowly before stopping and floating with their heads out.
Any close and the swans over ten meters away would notice.
But Axir's focus was somewhere else.
It was in the water.
'It should be here in some seconds.'
Below the lake, a pair of crimson eyes glimmered and closed in towards the group, rapidly and silently.