Right as Karl landed the final blow on the [Soul Mage], the air around him trembled slightly.
A faint chime rang through his ears, but it wasn't just his.
Ding!
A global announcement echoed directly inside the minds of everyone inside Karl's novice town.
---
[Player "Oblivion" has killed the Elite-rank Special Boss: "Soul Mage"]
[You have gained 1 Prestige Point]
---
For a few seconds, silence followed.
Then, across the town, the reaction exploded.
"What the hell?"
"Wait, wasn't Oblivion that mage that was selling stuff in the market earlier?"
"Yeah, that's him! The one who took out those idiots who tried to threaten him!"
Dozens of players whispered and shouted at once.
Karl, however, just smirked faintly as he read the message again.
'Nice.'
[Prestige Points] didn't have much use right now, but later on, in [Gods Ascension], they became one of the most valuable currencies in the game.
You could trade them for high-level items, and eventually… for something even rarer.
Back when the game first launched, there had been tons of announcements like this.
Players were killing bosses everywhere, stacking [Prestige Points] quickly while everyone else lagged behind.
Now though, most of those easy chances were gone.
Still, Karl wasn't worried.
'I'll just have to catch up,' he thought. 'Do things others can't. The crazier, the better.'
He closed the panel and took a breath.
The announcement might have been local, only those in this novice town could hear it, but it was still a good start.
Once he reached the [Ascension Continent], things would change.
That was where most of the players were.
That was where power truly started to matter.
And if he managed to earn a global announcement there, his name would spread everywhere.
That was his goal.
For now though, his focus returned to the aftermath of the battle.
With the [Soul Mage] dead, the danger in the zone was already fading.
The death penalty had returned to normal: one life lost per death instead of twenty-five.
He glanced around at the destroyed square, then spotted a faint shimmer on the ground where the boss had fallen.
Karl's eyes lit up slightly.
'Special boss drops,' he thought. 'Let's see what you've got.'
Before he even moved, though, he grinned again.
'Evolution first.'
He opened his menu.
[Do you wish to consume 7 Evolution Points to evolve "Scorching Fireball"?]
He paused.
'Hm.'
Karl wasn't planning to evolve it, but at least he now knew the amount it took.
And so based on his current understanding, here was the current cost for evolution.
---
Common → Uncommon: 1 EP
Uncommon → Rare: 3 EP
Rare → Elite: 5 EP
Elite → Epic: 7 EP
---
It wasn't that expensive right now, but knowing that there are thirteen ranks makes it seem like it would climb fast.
He closed that window.
For now, he had 7 EP in total. Enough to evolve one of his main skills.
'I should focus on attack.'
He selected [Blizzard Crystal].
[Do you wish to consume 5 Evolution Points to evolve "Blizzard Crystal"?]
"Yes."
Ding!
[You have evolved "Blizzard Crystal" (Rare) to "Frost Crystal" (Elite)]
[Current Evolution Points: 2]
---
[Frost Crystal (Elite): Summon a frost crystal the deals exactly 250 → 400 damage, it also applies the "Slowness" status effect. 12 → 10 (5)-seconds cooldown.]
---
Karl's grin widened.
'Nice.'
Not only did the damage almost double, but the cooldown was even lower.
Being able to deal 4,000 damage every five seconds was ridiculous for this level.
Most teams needed over a minute to deal that kind of output.
'Alright,' he thought, closing the menu. 'I'll gather more EP later. For now, this is good enough.'
He turned back toward the loot.
Several glowing orbs were scattered near the fallen cloak of the [Soul Mage].
Karl crouched down and began checking them one by one.
Most weren't impressive, until a faint light caught his eye.
It was small, pulsing faintly with a soft silver hue.
Karl's eyes widened the moment he saw it.
'A special item this early? No way.'
He picked it up immediately.
---
[Revenant Necklace (Special Item): When worn, can summon a "Soul Revenant (Level 8)" to assist. 10-minutes cooldown.]
[Soul Revenant (Level 8): Rare-rank. 3,000 HP.]
---
'Damn.'
It wasn't top-tier compared to what would come later in the game, but for now, this was an incredible find.
Karl could definitely see several uses for it.
He equipped it right away, slipping the necklace over his neck.
A player can only equip up to two necklaces, so Karl was basically taking one of his empty spots for this.
If he ever found better ones later, he could swap them easily. But for now, this was staying on.
He did notice one thing, though: the necklace's cooldown didn't benefit from his class passive.
[Class Passive #3: All your spells' cooldowns are reduced by half.]
'Makes sense,' Karl thought. 'This isn't a spell, it's an item skill.'
Still, it didn't matter. It was strong enough as it was.
He kept checking the rest of the loot, quickly sorting what mattered from what didn't.
Then he found it.
The moment his eyes landed on the next item, his expression froze.
---
[Revenant Staff (Elite): Mage-type weapon. Spirit +36, Agility +16, Casting Speed +19%. Requirement: Level 8]
---
Karl blinked, his eyes widening.
His current weapon was the basic staff every mage started with.
This though… this was on a completely different level.
The moment he equipped it, the difference was instant.
His mana flow felt smoother, his casting sharper, his spells stronger.
He tossed his old staff aside without hesitation.
'No one would buy that junk anyway.'
Power surged through him, a faint glow wrapping around his hands as the staff synchronized with his stats.
He also opened his attributes menu and quickly distributed the 10 free points from his recent level-ups, 7 to Spirit and 3 to Agility.
[Spirit: 75 (+39)][1]
"Amazing," he murmured.
The only thing missing now was a new skill drop, but that could wait.
Karl closed all his menus and glanced around.
'I want to test my new special item and also see how much damage I can do.'
He left the destroyed square and moved deeper into the outskirts of the city.
It didn't take long before he ran into new enemies.
---
[Broken Sentinel (Level 9)]
[Rank: Rare]
[HP: 5,000]
---
[Sentinel Bear (Level 9)]
[Rank: Elite]
[HP: 6,500]
---
A group of three [Broken Sentinels] and two [Sentinel Bears] appeared down an empty street, their eyes glowing faintly as they noticed him.
Karl stopped and looked them over.
'Level 9 monsters,' he thought. 'Looks like I'm getting close to the edge of the town.'
At level 10, players could finally leave the novice town and step onto the [Ascension Continent].
That was Karl's next target.
So for now, leveling up was his main goal.
He took a deep breath, tightening his grip on his new staff.
'Here goes nothing.'
A faint grin formed on his lips.
As the monsters started to move, he reached for the necklace hanging around his neck.
The small silver stone embedded in it began to glow.
It swirled with energy before bursting outward, forming into a shape right in front of him.
[You have summoned a "Soul Revenant"]
It looked identical to the ones he had fought before: transparent body, grayish glow, hollow eyes.
Except this one wasn't hostile. It stood still, waiting.
Karl raised an eyebrow.
'I guess it will listen to my orders.'
He pointed toward the group of monsters ahead.
"You're bait," he said simply. "Attack them."
The revenant's hollow eyes flickered with light.
And a second later, it lunged forward, claws glinting.
'Hah,' Karl grinned, 'Nice, I guess I'll be able to use it indeed.'
[1] +36 from the [Revenant Staff] and +3 from [Shadow Rat Robe]