Kalis immediately sent a trade request, eagerness burning in his blue eyes beneath his blue-gray gradient short hair.
"Oh… Okay! Thank you so much!" Lia's eyes widened in surprise, clearly not expecting someone to accept such a high price.
She quickly approved the trade, transferring all four pieces of equipment. She even tried to add him as a friend while the trade succeeded: "Once I finish my quest, I'll definitely… Huh? Why are you leaving so soon!"
Before she could finish, Kalis had already turned around and rushed out of the starting village, his figure vanishing into the forest path in an instant.
His mind was now filled with returning to the cave as soon as possible, using his new equipment's damage to finish off Augustus. After all, every extra minute of delay increased the risk of someone stealing his loot.
On his way back, Kalis quickly equipped the new gear. Gliding his fingertips over the status panel, the series of numerical changes made a smile curve his lips:
[Name]: Kalis
[Class]: Apprentice Mage
[Level]: 7
[Talent]: Ultimate Amplification [Transcendental Mythic]
[Health Points (HP)]: 356/356
[Mana Points (MP)]: 89/89
[Spell Attack Power]: 45 (Original 24 + 15 Oak Staff + 3 Thorn Ring + 3 Village Chief's Blessing)
[Physical Defense]: 5 (Original 2 + 3 Lightweight Leather Boots)
[Spell Defense]: 4 (Original 1 + 3 Village Chief's Blessing)
[Strength]: 7
[Intelligence]: 24 (Original 21 + 3 Village Chief's Blessing)
[Constitution]: 13 (Original 10 + 2 Lightweight Leather Boots + 3 Village Chief's Blessing)
[Spirit]: 7
[Agility]: 7
"Spell Attack soared to 45 points directly! With the talent amplification, Magic Missile damage can exceed 500,000!" Kalis cheered inwardly.
Along the way, he encountered blocking Level 9 monsters, [Shadow Lynxes].
Raising his hand, he cast a Magic Missile, an astonishing 503,218 damage, instantly killing the monster. While rushing back, he also made up for the experience deducted from his deaths.
Five minutes and ten seconds later, Kalis returned to the isolated mountain cave.
Meanwhile, the two "Shadow Claw" Guild players who had been secretly following him were hiding outside the cave entrance, whispering reports to the guild channel: "Vice President, there really is a treasure marker inside the cave! There must be a super Boss in there!"
Deep in the cave, as soon as Kalis's figure appeared, he saw the Gilded Lion King Augustus lying on the ground, his gilded mane disheveled and messy.
His HP bar had dropped to 1.56 million, less than 50 percent of his total HP. Clearly, the continuous attrition had completely shattered his will to fight.
"Augustus, prepare to die!" Kalis raised his hand to condense magical energy. A pale blue projectile took shape in his palm, shooting toward the lion king with a sharp whistling sound.
487,562 damage!
"Stop! I surrender! Please stop!" Augustus let out a painful wail, his massive body curling up. Fear filled his amber eyes. He only wanted to save his life now, even if it meant sacrificing the inheritance.
Kalis snorted coldly, showing no intention of stopping: "Surrendering now? It's too late. The experience and drops from killing you are far more valuable than your empty promises."
Before the words faded, Magic Missile's cooldown ended, and a second attack hit Augustus's lion's forehead again.
492,187 damage!
Augustus's HP bar instantly dropped to 1.07 million, equivalent to 33 percent of his total HP.
He panicked completely, waving his lion claws frantically, his voice pleading: "I'll offer Caron the God of War's inheritance with both hands! You won't be able to drop the inheritance item by killing me, only I can initiate the inheritance ritual while alive!"
"A Knight inheritance? I already told you, that's my least favorite class." Kalis smiled and raised his hand, shooting a third Magic Missile. "But your life, I quite want that."
498,736 damage!
Augustus's HP plummeted to 570,000. Golden blood stained his gilded mane.
He wailed and retreated, his voice breaking into a sob: "The Supreme God's inheritance will double your stats after class change! It's more than ten times stronger than an ordinary Knight! Are you really not considering it?"
"Ten times? That's just so-so." Kalis remained unmoved, a fourth Magic Missile already condensed. "My talent is more useful than any inheritance."
501,329 damage!
Only 60,000 HP remained for Augustus; he was almost dead. Just then, hurried footsteps came from outside the cave, mixed with noisy shouts: "Hurry! Keep up! The Boss's roar is coming from inside, definitely a huge Mythic monster!"
Kalis frowned. Someone was coming, what a hassle!
"I'll finish you first!" No longer hesitating, Kalis shot a fifth Magic Missile straight at Augustus.
Augustus knew he was doomed. Instead of begging, his massive body slowly stood up, a hint of determination flashing in his amber eyes.
He didn't resist; instead, he raised his lion claws and let out a deep roar toward the sky. Ancient Common Tongue echoed through the cave, carrying a sacred yet eerie ritualistic aura:
"Damned adventurer! I, Augustus the Gilded Lion King, in the name of Caron the God of War's mount, impose an eternal curse upon you!
All beasts and monsters of the Divine Grace Continent shall regard you as a mortal enemy, sparing no effort to kill you!
Followers of the gods shall deem you a heretic; you shall never set foot in any temple of the gods!
The inheritance light of divine-aligned classes shall be permanently shielded from you, and you shall be barred from all war-related contributions and reputation!
Your name shall be inscribed on the Abyssal Judgment Monument, bearing the hatred of monsters for all eternity. This is an eternal curse—until the end of time!"
Magic Missile had already hit Augustus's brow. The 52,187 damage completely emptied his HP bar, but the curse incantation did not stop.
Golden runes rose from the lion king's corpse, winding around Kalis's wrist like chains, eventually forming a faint golden curse mark.
"Ding～ You have been afflicted with [Eternal Hatred Curse] by [Augustus the Gilded Lion King]!"
[Eternal Hatred Curse (Mythic)]: Permanently active
Cannot enter any temples of the gods
Cannot inherit any divine-aligned classes
Cannot gain any "war-related" contributions or reputation
All monsters' hatred toward you is maxed out; you are defaulted as the primary target. Taunt effects cannot be dispelled
"Damn it, this curse is way too cruel!" Kalis stared at the mark on his wrist, his mouth twitching.
The first three restrictions deprived him of all divine-aligned gameplay, while the last one's "super taunt" meant he had gone in a big circle only to be forced into becoming a "mobile aggro magnet." It was practically a joke of fate.
But the next second, a series of system notifications completely dispelled his frustration:
"Ding～ Congratulations! Defeated Level 50 Mythic Lord [Augustus the Gilded Lion King], gained 12,000 Reputation Points!"
"Ding～ Congratulations! Became the first player in this zone to defeat a Mythic Boss, received an honorary reward: one Mythic equipment!"
"Ding～ You have defeated Augustus the Gilded Lion King, gained 3,500,000 Experience Points!"
"Ding～ Congratulations! Level increased to 8!"
"Ding～ Congratulations! Level increased to 9!"...
"Ding～ Congratulations! Level increased to 35!"
"Ding～ Notice: Your level has reached 10. You may travel to Silvermoon Main City to complete class advancement!"
Golden leveling auras bloomed consecutively around Kalis, his level soaring from 7 to 35 in one go, completely pulling ahead of all other players.
After all, it had only been an hour and a half since the server launched. Fewer than a hundred players across the entire zone had reached Level 10 for class advancement, yet he was already a Level 35 Advanced Mage!
Even more surprising was the new Mythic equipment in his backpack. The dazzling red robe had extremely overpowered stats:
[Godslayer Robe (Mythic)] (Honor-exclusive reward: Untradeable, Unmodifiable, Undiscardable, Never Droppable)
Core Attributes:
Max HP + 3800
Physical Defense + 58
Spell Defense + 115
Spirit + 55
Special Effect: [Spiritual Spring] Automatically restores 60 MP per second. Higher Spirit attribute increases recovery speed.
Ultimate Effect: [Immortal Soul] When taking fatal damage, automatically negates the damage and generates a sacred shield equal to 100 percent of your max HP, lasting 12 seconds (24-hour cooldown).
Equipment Description: Forged from fragments of Caron, the God of War's divine robe, it contains god-slaying power. The wearer shall be regarded as a challenger to the gods.
"No level requirement and such broken stats!" Kalis put on the robe without hesitation.
The deep blue robe covered his entire body, with silver god-slaying patterns flowing across it. The faint, flickering light exuded both understated elegance and luxury.
After putting it on, his max HP soared to 4156 points, and both defenses reached terrifying values. Even if he stood still and let ordinary monsters attack, they couldn't break his defense at all.
Just then, dense footsteps came from the cave corridor.
More than forty players dressed in unified black leather armor surged in, surrounding a man wearing a red cloak. All their names were prefixed with "Shadow Claw," clearly a guild collective operation.