Chapter 5: Two-Man Party, Rushing the First Floor Labyrinth!
Earlier, the hidden achievement "Terminal Velocity" had doubled Seito's base Agility.
Starting with 18 points, the achievement had bumped him to 36. It was a one-time explosive growth, but as he reached Level 5, he gained another 24 points through leveling and manual allocation. His speed sat comfortably at 60.
Closing the menu, Seito looked over at Maple, who was currently sorting through a pile of glowing loot.
Even for a legendary gamer, Maple's luck was terrifying. Out of fifty mundane mobs, she had pulled six pieces of equipment. For a normal player, killing a hundred monsters usually yielded nothing but a few copper coins and some tattered hides.
"Any Agility gear in the pile?" Seito asked.
"Three pieces!" Maple beamed, laying them out on the grass.
[Zephyr Ring (Green)]: +15 AGI, +150 MP.
[Gale Pendant (Green)]: Grants minor Wind Element affinity, +15 AGI.
[Storm Treads (White)]: +10 AGI.
"Perfect."
Seito didn't hesitate, equipping all three instantly.
[Ding! Total Agility has reached 100.]
[Hidden Achievement Unlocked: "Path of the Specialist." Reward: +100 Permanent Agility!]
A sharp grin tugged at Seito's lips. By hitting the 100-point milestone through gear, he had triggered another massive growth spurt. Now, even if he stripped naked, his base speed was a staggering 160 points.
Looking at the stats, he realized just how vital Maple was to his build. Most of the drops were "Accessories"—the rarest drop type in any MMO. She was a walking, talking luck charm.
Checking the official database, he noted the equipment tiers: White, Green, Blue, Purple, Orange, Red, and Gold. While White through Orange could be dropped by monsters, Red and Gold items were "Relics" that had to be crafted using incredibly rare materials.
"Maple, what's your Defense looking like?"
"290 points!" she chirped with a silly, innocent smile.
"Then let's keep grinding," Seito said. "We need to hit Level 10 before anyone else."
In God's Domain, there were no formal "Class Advancement" NPCs. Much like Sword Art Online, your "Class" was simply a reflection of which stats you chose to master.
Four hours later, the two sat in a small clearing deep within the Ancient Forest. The corpses of elite mobs surrounded them, slowly pixelating into the air.
[Congratulations! You have reached Level 10!]
[You have 5 Attribute Points to allocate.]
Without a second thought, Seito dumped them all into Agility.
"So there really isn't a Class Change at Level 10," Seito muttered, glancing at his lopsided stat sheet. He turned to Maple. "Sell the extra gear to the NPC. We need the Gold for high-grade potions. It's time to head to the First Floor Boss Labyrinth."
God's Domain was structured just like the towers in Aincrad—100 floors, each guarded by a terrifying Floor Boss.
Currently, the average "Top Player" was lingering around Level 8 or 9. Seito pulled up the World Chat to gauge the competition.
[Tianya]: Guys, stop solo-grinding. We need to form a raid party. We can just throw bodies at the Boss until it dies. Meet at the gate!
[Klein]: Man, this game is brutal. Are we seriously going to get stuck on the first floor?
[Sally]: Sigh... This is such a drag. Can someone just clear the Boss already?
[Homelander]: Stop complaining and get to the Labyrinth. We need numbers!
Seito blinked when he saw a familiar name. Sally? That was Maple's best friend, Risa Shiramine. She had logged in today too, but it seemed she was focusing on solo-leveling, likely planning to power-level Maple later. Little did she know, her "clumsy" friend was already a Level 10 fortress.
"I got 6,200 Gold for the junk! Seito-kun, here is your half."
[Ding! Player 'Maple' has sent you 3,100 Gold.]
"Thanks. Let's stock up on Large Health Potions back at the Novice Village. Then, we head straight for the Boss."
"Wait..." Maple tilted her head, looking adorable in her confusion. "Are we going to join the big raid groups?"
"No," Seito said, pointing at the two of them.
"Just us. We're going to duo it."
Maple's eyes went wide. "Ehhh?! Just the two of us?!"
Seito's plan was simple. If the Boss was like the Hydra from the original story, he'd let Maple build up poison resistance and then literally eat it. If it was a massive beast, he'd use Dimensional Blink to get inside its reach and let Maple tank the internal damage. And if it was a high-damage, small-hitbox Boss? He'd simply use his superior speed to carry her out of there before things got ugly.
"Don't worry," Seito said, giving her a reassuring look. "As long as you're with me, you won't take a single point of damage."
"Okay... if you say so, Seito-kun!"
After buying 100 Large Health Potions each, the "Spear and Shield" duo turned their backs on the safety of the village and marched toward the towering shadows of the First Floor Labyrinth.