Lightning Strike!
Zap! Bam!
[Moon Orb: 1/3]
Karl hit the orb floating above the undead moon mage once more, and the crack spread even wider across its glowing surface.
The sound of lightning echoing in the massive hall mixed with the faint hum coming from the chain that held the orb in place.
Since [Lightning Strike] was basically the fastest attack Karl could throw out, the orb couldn't dodge it.
It wasn't alive, it wasn't reactive in the way a normal monster was, and it didn't tilt away to avoid the hit the way the boss itself did.
It simply took the blow, and the damage showed clearly.
But the undead moon mage wasn't just waiting around quietly while Karl tried to break through its barrier.
It wasn't going to let him destroy the orb without doing anything.
As the crack spread across the moon orb, the boss raised its staff again, and silver energy began to spiral around the orb at the top of it.
Moonlight Storm!
The moment the skill activated, the entire atmosphere in the hall changed.
The light in the windows seemed to sharpen, the reflection of the moon on the stone floors became clearer, and thin silver threads spread through the air like electricity crawling through mist.
Karl instantly got a bad feeling.
This was not one of those simple spells he could shrug off.
This was one of the boss' finishing attacks, an area-of-effect spell that would sweep across everything and kill anything in its range.
If he let the undead moon mage finish casting this skill, Karl would die instantly.
He knew that only his [Lightning Strike] could reliably hit the moon orb, since everything else had travel time or needed precision.
And he also knew that if the undead moon mage released this attack, he'd be vaporized on the spot.
The problem was obvious: if he stayed at a distance and tried to cast another spell, he wouldn't make it in time.
If he hesitated even a little, he would die.
If he wasted even a second thinking, the Moonlight Storm would tear the hall apart and kill him.
And so…
'No time for thinking.'
Karl rushed forward at full speed, sprinting straight toward the undead moon mage with no hesitation at all.
His feet slammed into the stone floor, his robe trailing behind him, and the wind pressed back against his face from how fast he was moving.
The undead moon mage looked genuinely confused as Karl charged toward it.
A mage running into melee range made no sense.
It was something that simply did not happen.
It had never seen another mage fight like this.
It had no idea how to even react to this kind of movement.
"Die."
The undead moon mage lifted its staff higher, silver light gathering at the tip.
But Karl didn't stop.
Instead, he stepped onto the wall, using it like a springboard as he kicked off of it.
He launched himself up into the air, spinning lightly before he planted his foot against the boss' shoulder and used that momentum to push himself up one more time.
He bounced on top of the boss' head and—
SLAM!
Karl swung his staff downward with all the force he could muster, hitting the [Moon Orb] directly.
The orb was already on its last durability, and the moment his staff connected, the entire thing shattered like fragile glass.
Shards of silver light scattered in the air, dissolving before they touched the ground.
Immediately, the silver chain linking the mage to the moon orb snapped apart, dissolving into small particles of light.
The shield around the undead moon mage cracked, then shattered completely, breaking apart with a sound like shattering ice.
The barrier was gone.
The undead moon mage released its [Moonlight Storm] the very next instant.
Since it had already charged the skill, the moment its shield broke, the wave of moonlight exploded outward.
Silver energy surged like a storm ripping through the hall, rushing outward in all directions with a deafening roar.
Karl was still in midair from the jump, but he reacted instantly.
Powerful Magic Barrier!
A glowing barrier formed around him as the wave hit.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The storm slammed into the barrier over and over, but Karl managed to tank the hit.
The barrier flickered dangerously, but it held long enough.
Karl had no time to relax or even breathe.
Still midair, he pointed his staff downward toward the undead moon mage.
Cataclysmic Fireball!
The fireball shot downward like a blazing comet.
BOOOOM!
-22,350!
[Boss HP: 0/75,000]
With its barrier gone and its HP low, the boss had no chance.
The fireball slammed into its chest and blew it apart instantly.
The light in its eye sockets faded completely, the silver aura around its body fizzled out, and the undead moon mage collapsed onto the ground.
Its staff fell from its fingers with a dull clatter, and the blackened bones cracked slightly as it hit the floor.
Ding!
---
[You have killed "Undead Moon Mage (Level 15 Epic-Rank Boss)"]
[You have gained 50,000 experience points.]
[Congratulations, you have leveled up to Level 14!]
[You have gained 5 points in all of your attributes, and 5 free points to distribute.]
[You have gained 10 Evolution Points!]
[You have gained 100 Lives!]
---
'I guess this time I got more EP,' Karl grinned to himself, looking down at the defeated boss.
He immediately noticed that two items had dropped next to the body.
He crouched down and picked them both up to inspect them.
---
[Undead Moon Mage Robe (Epic): Mage-type equipment. +47 Spirit, +30 Constitution, +98 Magical Resistance, +82 Physical Resistance. Requirement: Level 15.]
---
[Moon Staff (Epic): Mage-type weapon. +100 Spirit, +45 Agility, 7% Cooldown Reduction. Requirement: Level 15]
---
"Damn it."
Karl should have been thrilled to get such powerful items, but the level requirement ruined it.
This was one of the annoying parts of [Gods Ascension].
If you pushed too far ahead and your actual level didn't match the content you were clearing, you ended up with items you couldn't even use.
Even if Karl found the absolute best staff in the whole game, if he wasn't the correct level, he wouldn't be able to equip it.
It simply wouldn't allow him.
Ding!
[You cannot use the "Moon Staff" yet.]
Karl sighed but stored the items anyway.
He would equip them soon enough once he pushed his level up.
After he put everything away, he headed toward the end of the hall.
A purple chest sat there, glowing faintly, waiting for him.
[Epic Chest]
'Nice, another one,' Karl grinned.
The color of the chest always represented the rarity of the reward inside.
He already knew the order:
White for Common, gray for Uncommon, blue for Rare, brown for Elite, violet for Epic, and gold for Legendary.
Anything above that was even more insane, but not something he needed to think about right now.
Karl placed his hand on the chest and poured his mana into it.
Click!
The chest opened, revealing the item inside.
[You have opened the "Epic Chest" and obtained the "Moon Beam" skill book.]
"New skill book," Karl smiled.
This was one of the skills the undead moon mage had used, and it had dealt a good amount of damage to his barrier earlier.
[Skill Book: Moon Beam (Epic). Requirement: Level 14]
Chest rewards usually followed the player's level, unlike boss drops.
Karl didn't hesitate at all.
Ding!
[You have learned the skill "Moon Beam"]
---
[Moon Beam (Epic): Charge the beam for a second before launching it for 3 seconds toward an enemy, doing 1,000 damage per second. 60 (30)-seconds cooldown.]
---
"Hm."
Karl studied the description.
It was definitely strong, actually, it was his strongest damage-dealing skill now.
But it required a one-second charge time and proper aiming.
That made it a bit tricky, but it didn't matter. Power was power.
"Oh well."
He closed the panel.
This was still an incredible addition to his spell list.
A portal appeared in front of Karl a moment later.
He stepped through it and exited the [Moon Temple].
Outside, there were still many players lingering around, talking and waiting.
But when they saw Karl walk out of the temple alone, they reacted instantly.
"Wait, did he clear the zone?"
"He just walked out by himself…"
"No way, he did it alone?"
"His team is probably behind him."
Karl ignored all of them and looked at the panel.
[You have cleared the "Moon Temple"]
[You are not allowed in anymore.]
Some zones only allowed one clear per player.
This was one of those zones.
Karl didn't care. He had gotten everything he needed.
'I need to get to level 15 quickly,' he thought, 'Then I can get even stronger and challenge the [Moon Tower].'
[Level: 14 (26,000/60,000)]
He was close, but he needed to fight level 14 or 15 monsters so that [Experience Decay] didn't slow him down too much.
'Last stretch before entering the [Moon Tower].'
The [Moon Tower] was the first major zone in the entire game.
Major zones were brutal, but mandatory.
Every player had to climb the tower to reach level 25 and progress.
Anyone who couldn't at least clear the [Third Floor] would be stuck forever.
For Karl, reaching the [Fourth Floor] was just the start.
He needed to reach the fifth floor, defeat its boss, and obtain the [Moon Crystal] to complete the quest from Oliver.
And so, there was only one thing left to do:
Karl needed to grind until he reached level 15.