Ding!
[Which skill do you wish to fuse "Moon Beam" with?]
While walking through the [Moon Plains] to level up, Karl obviously tried to fuse his newly acquired spell.
He kept moving through the open fields, the pale moonlight spreading across the entire landscape, but his focus stayed on the panel floating in front of him.
Every few steps, he tried another combination, but unfortunately, none of what he did actually worked.
No matter how he tried to match the spell, the fusion panel stayed the same, refusing every option he attempted.
'This passive hasn't been useful yet,' Karl thought, feeling slightly annoyed as the panel flickered again before resetting, 'Perhaps I can try with other skill books?'
He assumed he could only fuse skills he learned, but maybe that wasn't the case.
Maybe he could do it with the books directly?
The possibility made him slow his pace for a moment, looking down at the items stored in his inventory.
If that was the case, could he implement some of the skills from other classes into his own?
Could he take abilities meant for entirely different playstyles and fit them into his own kit?
It was something he needed to check later, but for now, it wasn't important.
He was still marching forward, still scanning the plains, still glancing ahead as the soft glow of the moonlight covered everything around him.
And as Karl finally looked up… he saw it.
In the distance, a giant tower rose far above everything else.
It stood like a silver pillar planted directly into the plains, glowing with a faint light that shimmered like moonlight made solid.
The entire structure felt like the moon itself was watching it, constantly shining down onto its surface.
The glow wasn't overwhelming, just a calm silver shine, but even from far away Karl could see how massive the tower actually was.
It went all the way into the sky, piercing through the soft fog layers above.
It was also by far the place with the most players.
Even from this distance, he could see silhouettes heading toward it, moving around its base, or gathering at the entrance.
'Perfect,' Karl thought, already planning ahead, 'I'll be able to sell my items there instead of going back to [Moon City].'
He didn't want to travel all the way back.
Selling here would be faster and more efficient, especially with the amount of loot he carried.
But even with that solved, he still had his main problem right now, which was the simple fact that he needed to get to Level 15 as fast as possible.
Thankfully, this one would be solved rather quickly.
Because at this stage of the [Moon Plains], the monsters were stronger, ranging from Level 15 all the way to Level 20.
This was where the players started grouping up, forming teams and moving together in order to deal with the much higher stats of the creatures here.
Karl could clearly see several parties doing exactly that – groups of three, four, or five players working together to take down a single monster just like before.
'Perfect.'
He stepped forward, making his way through the field until he eventually encountered a group of three monsters by themselves, drifting slowly across the plain.
---
[Moon Spirit (Level 15)]
[Rank: Rare]
[HP: 25,000]
---
Their bodies were pitch black from head to toe, floating like specters with no legs or feet, just wisps of smoky energy trailing behind them.
Their white eyes stared directly at Karl, emotionless and hollow, like pale moons placed inside dark voids.
Their forms flickered slightly when they moved.
'Well, I guess these are the monsters,' Karl grinned, raising his staff, 'Should be fine.'
He pointed his staff directly at them.
Cataclysmic Fireball! Frost Crystals!
Boom! Bam!
The spells erupted, blasting across the field.
The numbers popped up instantly.
-23,100! -7,500! -7,500! -7,500!
The fireball dealt most of the damage, almost erasing them outright, and the frost crystals finished the job without giving them a single chance to react.
Ding!
---
[You have killed x3 "Moon Spirit (Level 15)"]
[You have gained 7,500 experience points!]
[You have gained 27 Lives!]
---
'Well, I guess only a few more of those and I'll be good.'
They dropped nothing else besides the Lives, so Karl continued forward.
The fields around him grew busier the closer he walked toward the tower.
On the way, he also encountered some [Moonlight Wolves] sprinting across the terrain and a handful of [Shadow Beings] drifting along like dark figures searching for targets.
He cleared everything in his path, spells flashing, enemies disappearing in bursts of light.
And eventually, after a few minutes, right when he got really close to the [Moon Tower]… he found a boss.
---
[Moon Reaper (Level 16)]
[Rank: Elite (Boss)]
[HP: 70,000]
---
That thing had already been killing several players with its scythe, cutting them apart and absorbing their lives right there on the plains.
If it kept going like this, it would definitely evolve into something much stronger and become an actual issue.
Bosses that killed many players didn't just grow dangerous, they could become a disaster for anyone nearby.
This was exactly why defeating a boss early was always good, and why Karl wanted to stay "alone."
If he went to a place where many players gathered and died repeatedly, then the bosses and monsters in that area could evolve quickly, making things much more dangerous than they needed to be.
'Well actually,' Karl paused for a second, 'Does an evolved boss mean more EP?'
It usually meant more experience points and more Lives.
So actually, it wouldn't even be that bad for him as long as he could defeat it.
More rewards were always welcome.
Still, Karl was focused on leveling up right now, so he preferred defeating it immediately.
The [Moon Reaper] was a cloaked figure slightly floating above the ground, its form covered in a long, dark mantle that swayed even without wind.
A long scythe was gripped in its hands, the weapon glowing faintly with a silver aura.
Slash!
"ARGH—!"
It swung the scythe toward another player, cutting them in half with a single motion.
The body faded to light while the reaper absorbed the life energy immediately.
But while it was busy…
Karl believed that this was the perfect opportunity to test out his new skill.
Moon Beam!
He focused the power of the spell at the tip of his staff.
Just like the description said, the energy began gathering instantly, forming a bright silver charge.
But after only one second—
Fwish! BOOM!
A silver beam erupted from Karl's staff, firing directly at the Moon Reaper and colliding with it head-on.
The blast was so fast and so bright that several players nearby turned their heads in shock.
'This type of ability would have surely taken a LOT of mana,' Karl grinned, 'And looks like I can control it just fine.'
He didn't know if it was also his [Heir of Oblivion] class that made him proficient with all types of magic, allowing him to cast and control them without issues.
But it didn't bother him at all.
-15,000! -15,000! -15,000!
The Moon Beam hit the reaper for the full 3 seconds it lasted, each second dealing heavy damage.
Overall, half of the boss's health disappeared instantly.
The [Moon Reaper] had less HP than the [Undead Moon Mage] even though it was a higher level, and was also weaker since it only had one phase.
The reason for that was obviously the rank.
Regardless, the reaper turned toward Karl the moment it realized who attacked it.
Powerful Magic Barrier!
Karl cast his barrier just in time as the reaper cast [Moon Buff] on itself and rushed forward.
Fwish! Slash!
It struck Karl's barrier several times, but it wasn't strong enough to break through.
Karl ducked under the last scythe swing and stepped back to gain some distance.
He pointed his staff again, ready to end the boss, but—
Fwish! Slash!
The reaper closed in instantly, swinging again before he could cast.
'Hah…' Karl grinned, not backing down, 'That's what you wanna do?'
Fwish!
The reaper swung again, but this time Karl swung back with his staff.
BAM!
His hands shook from the impact, sending him sliding back, but he took no damage.
'Well, I guess staffs aren't really supposed to be used like this.'
Without wasting a second, he cast immediately.
Frost Crystals! Cataclysmic Fireball! Lightning Strike!
The reaper blocked the crystals with its scythe, but it couldn't block everything.
Boom!
-23,100! -13,860!
The boss froze, then faded in a burst of silver light as its scythe fell to the ground.
Ding!
---
[You have killed "Moon Reaper (Level 16 Elite-Rank Boss)"]
[You have gained 35,000 experience points.]
[Congratulations, you have leveled up to Level 15!]
[You have gained 5 points in all attributes, and 5 free points to distribute.]
[You have gained 9 Evolution Points!]
[You have gained 49 Lives!]
---
'Perfect.'
Some players around him stood frozen in shock at what they just witnessed, but Karl didn't pay much attention.
He simply crouched down and grabbed the scythe the boss dropped.
The weapon was heavy, humming faintly with the remnants of shadow energy.