Shadow Marsh, a high-level monster zone where creatures of Levels 58-68 roam.
With Kalis's strength, he could easily one-shot even Level 100 wild monsters. However, the Level 100 map [Abyssal Rift] was over 80 kilometers from Valorian.
The inter-regional teleportation arrays hadn't been unlocked yet, and a three-and-a-half-hour hike would be totally not worth it.
"I'll accumulate experience here first." Kalis thought to himself, his gaze sweeping over the two core monster types in the marsh.
The first was [Mire Phantom], translucent swamp wraiths shrouded in dark green toxic mist.
They excelled at unleashing corrosion rays and poison magic, dealing decent damage with a continuous HP drain effect. Despite their low HP, they had a built-in 58% physical and magical damage reduction, making them quite tricky to handle.
The second was [Marshrock Golem], formed from obsidian and humus at the swamp bottom.
Their 4.5-meter-tall bodies were like mobile fortresses: terrifying defense, thick HP, slow movement, and immunity to most poison-based crowd control. They were the perfect targets for stationary damage dealing.
Kalis stepped into the dense monster area, gathering pale blue magical energy in his hand. A [Magic Missile] accurately hit the nearest Marshrock Golem.
Crack!
Amplified ten thousand times by the [Ultimate Amplification] talent, the unassuming Magic Missile erupted with world-destroying power.
The 4.5-meter-tall Marshrock Golem instantly shattered into humus and gravel, converting into 720 Experience Points that merged into his experience bar.
"Only 720 XP per monster? Level 35 requires 420,000 XP to level up. That's really slow..." Kalis curled his lips. Even if he killed 28 monsters per minute, it would take nearly twenty-five minutes to gain a level.
But this speed was already far beyond ordinary players. Normally, Level 35 should be reached on the third day after server launch, and leveling efficiency would have slowed down significantly.
Zap!
Blue thunder tore through the marsh mist. [Thunder Chain] accurately hit a distant Mire Phantom, and 756 Experience Points popped up.
Due to the scattered monster distribution exceeding the 3-meter bounce range, the skill failed to trigger chain damage.
Kalis simply stepped into the cluster of monsters. Every few seconds, he casually threw a normal attack, crushing monsters with terrifying damage.
They were all instantly killed; no need for follow-up attacks at all.
He pushed deeper into the marsh, his experience bar increasing steadily. Just then, a system notification suddenly sounded:
"Ding～ You have received a friend request!"
Kalis opened the panel. The requesting ID was "Lenore," none other than his real-life best friend Lenore, a lively, sharp-skilled girl.
"Lenore?" He accepted the request immediately.
"Kalis! It's really you!" Lenore's clear and astonished voice came through the communicator.
"The first Mythic Boss kill, the top of the level leaderboard in the announcements, it's actually you! What kind of cheat are you using?"
To prevent well-known players from being harassed, *Eternal Realm* blocked the nickname search function. Players could only add friends via their unique "Identity Serial Number."
Before creating their characters, Kalis, Lenore, and Eira had already exchanged their serial numbers. Without this prior exchange, they couldn't have found each other accurately.
Lenore had just left the starting village. After adding the friend and seeing the Level 35 and the top leaderboard badge, she was completely lost for words.
"What can I say? My talents are too overpowered. Even the system chases me to give rewards. I'm really troubled by it." In front of his friends, Kalis didn't hide his pride, his tone teasing.
This wasn't boasting; his [Ultimate Amplification] talent was truly bug-level.
"Damn it! If I'd known you'd be this strong as a Mage, I never would have let you play Tank before!" Lenore shouted excitedly on the other end. "Quick, tell me which main city you're in! Eira and I are coming to find you right now!"
"Valorian," Kalis reported the main city name, not forgetting to complain. "Making me play Tank wasted three years of my life. You'll have to serve me faithfully to make up for it later."
"Fine, serving you faithfully is no problem! " Lenore joked, then changed the subject. "By the way, what good stuff did the Mythic Boss drop? Is there any equipment suitable for my Archer? Eira's a Priest, she's also waiting to get some hand-me-downs!"
Kalis checked their status panels: Lenore was Level 12, an Archer wielding a Fine-grade Longbow; Eira was Level 11, a Priest wearing high-quality starter cloth armor. Clearly, they had rushed over as soon as they left the starting village.
"I have a Level 50 Priest Legendary weapon [Divine Grace Tome], but your levels are too low. Take your time leveling up."
"Damn it! A real Legendary weapon!" Lenore exclaimed. "I heard Legendary equipment starts at over 100,000 gold coins in offline transactions! Kalis, I'm sticking to your side from now on! When I level up, you have to prioritize giving me equipment!"
"Don't worry, I won't forget you two," Kalis replied with a smile. "Cross-main-city teleportation isn't cheap. Don't rush over. First, form a team to level up near the starting village."
"We're already at the teleportation array!" Lenore's voice was filled with excitement, followed by Eira's calm addition: "Cross-main-city teleportation costs 15 gold coins. It's killing me to spend that much. But being able to latch onto the top-level player's coattails is worth it."
"Damn! 15 gold coins? This game is way too greedy!" Lenore suddenly wailed. "We should have saved up first! Now we only have 3 gold coins left, all from starting village quests!"
Kalis laughed loudly: "Then find a team to level up first. I'm not switching main cities for now. Come find me when you're higher level, and I'll help you stock up on equipment."
"Fine. Eira and I will form a team to level up first. We'll contact you later." Lenore replied helplessly. "Oh, right! Eira said she can be your exclusive Priest from now on, healing and buffs guaranteed to satisfy you!"
"Sure. Enjoy your 'two-person world'... Wait, a Boss spawned! Gotta go, time to loot!" Before Kalis could finish, he caught a glimpse of a huge monster spawning ahead. His eyes lit up, and he hung up the call immediately.
"What the hell..." Lenore's complaint was cut off mid-sentence. She was helpless against Kalis's "Boss-obsessed" personality.
Ninety meters ahead, a 15-meter-tall Marshrock Golem had just spawned. Its body was covered in dark purple magic patterns, surrounded by dark green toxic mist.
It was slamming the ground with its massive arms, making a "boom boom" sound that shook the swamp slightly.
Kalis checked the status panel:
[Marshrock Golem Abyssal Guardian (Epic Boss)]
Level: 75
HP: 580,000/580,000
(Target level is too high to display additional data)
"Free experience and equipment, why not take it?" A smile curved Kalis's lips. He quickened his pace, holding the Star-Patterned Staff.
The Mage's attack range was 28 meters. As soon as he entered the range, he unleashed [Thunder Chain without hesitation.
The Epic Boss's aggro range was 60 meters. The moment Kalis entered the area, it stopped slamming the ground, turned around, and its huge head locked onto him.
It clenched its fists and roared in anger, preparing to attack. But its movement speed was extremely slow—before its fist could swing down, the blue thunder had already hit its forehead accurately.
Zap!
-5,489,632!
The terrifying damage instantly emptied the Boss's HP bar. The 15-meter-tall Marshrock Golem froze in place, then crashed to the ground, shattering into obsidian fragments, humus, and toxic mist, kicking up a cloud of murky dust.
"System Notification: You have defeated the Level 75 Epic Lord [Marshrock Golem Abyssal Guardian], gained 680 Reputation Points!"
"System Notification: You have gained 238500 Experience Points!"
"System Notification: Congratulations! Level increased to 36!"
The golden light of leveling up shone on Kalis, faster than the Boss's collapse.
He hurried forward to loot the drops. The ground was scattered with a large amount of gold and silver coins, five Epic-grade equipment pieces, and a pile of consumables.
Just then, a skill book glowing with dark gold light caught his eye, making his eyes light up.