5 Chapter 5: Level Grinding

Hanzo had spent the rest of the day grinding on low levelled enemies such as skeletons and Bog flies. They both died to one hit with the stats of the Dragonoid race, however Hanzo was currently experiencing something that he could not one hit.

Hanzo stared at his foe. Its skin was pale green and looked infected. Its eyes were souless and it's jaw was missing. Had this been in real life, Hanzo was sure he would have ran and hid in the toilet by now. The impact of it's appearance alone made him want to leave, it was just so disgusting.

It was a zombie. Much like the skeletons, Zombies are low levelled enemies, however unlike skeletons, they had a deeper natural defense.

"Let's see how well this starter sword cut's flesh"

He did not count the Bog flies, since the died to an unarmed punch of his. He had tried it as an experiment and was disappointed to find out the flies could not survive a single punch.

Hanzo rushed towards the slow walking zombie, it's arms started to flail and hit out in different directions.

Dodging the randomly flailing arms, Hanzo sliced in a horizontal direction aimed directly at the neck of the zombie. The sword raced straight at the neck and sliced through half of the neck.

Noticing the blades momentum stop, Hanzo pulled out the sword and kicked the floor to send himself back with more momentum. Meanwhile, the zombie used it's mouth to try and bite the fleeing Hanzo. Luckily, it's slow speed and the marshy floor prevented any contact.

Without wait, Hanzo darted back over to the zombie. Lifted his sword up once more and brought it slicing down like a guillotine, once again on the neck of the zombie.

The sword sliced through the already open wound and and severed the zombies head from its body.

Just like the prey before, it fell to the ground and several seconds later it evaporated, entering Hanzos body.

"I need a new weapon, any weapon better than this. I could have probably tanked a hit from a zombie, but if it struggles against a generic zombie, there's no way I can confidently fight other enemies at this rate. That would seriously slow down my levelling too"

Hanzo sighed in disappointment as he picked the pieces of gold up from the floor.

"It seems I am going to need to buy one from the Sanctuary traders"

For that he needed gold. Thus Hanzo decided he would try and reach 150 gold before he logged off, so he could get an upgrade on his weapon.

A satisfied smile sat upon his face as he stared down at his new purchase, a silver sword, quite similar to the starter sword however this time, it's edge was much sharper and had a small buff of damage after a kill. This was the daily sale item at Sanctuarys weapon trader.

Happy with his purchase, Hanzo decided to immediately test it.

After a few minutes of slicing skeletons with ease, he finally encountered another zombie. A crooked smile crept upon his face as he ran towards his victim. The zombie noticed Hanzo and immediately started to flail it's arms, alas it did not last long as Hanzo sliced it's head with his sword, separating it from it's body within seconds of their encounter.

"Now that's better, it may only be a common class item, but this will make levelling up a lot easier."

As the blue parrticles absorbed into his character, his vision suddenly flashed golden. He looked over to a flashing icon and noticed that it now had a +1 by the side of his stats.

Opening his stats, he was shown his current stats as well as his Racial Class and Job Class. Next to the Racial Class 'Dragonoid' it said 'Lv.2'.

Hanzo was pleasantly surprised at the level up, although it was only one level, he had not really done much except kill a couple of hundred low levelled enemies.

"That's pretty nice, let's try this out"

Once again, Hanzo went on a mindless rampage, killing every low levelled enemy he came across.

It had been roughly two weeks since the earlier access had started. Hanzo currently had a fairly good set-up consisting of medium class accessories and armor with a Medium Class weapon. Luckily, it was amazing when used in the farming area Hanzo frequented and some of the low level dungeons occupying the outskirts of Helheim.

Additionally, his Racial Class Dragonoid had increased up to level 6. This was something Hanzo was very happy with, after all it gave him his first at level 5. This skill was called 'Scale Mail', it is a Trigger skill that temporarily increases the users defense by making the scales on their body harden. This skill may be learned at a low level, but it has helped Hanzo greatly when exploring dungeons since some attacks are unavoidable, thus it reduces the damage taken in situations such as those. It increases the defense, thus Magic attacks still do just as much damage, but it let's Hanzo continue levelling as a solo player for a while longer.

Currently, Hanzo was locked in battle with a party of skeleton soldiers. There was only three of them, however they managed to last quite a whole considering their relative individual weakness. This encounter was the last battle before the boss room.

Hanzo weaved between the three skeletons and finally managed to land fatal hits in the small gaps between their armors, causing three consecutive critical hits.

"Easy as usual, though they are good practice to try out new fighting styles"

Hanzo picked up the gold and walked towards the large metal door before him.

He checked the status of his health and ensured he had no debuffs still active on him. Seeing everything was fine, he pushed open the door and entered the room. As he traversed past the doorway, he was met by a spacious room with large piles of bones in each corner. Various types of bones covered the floor, cracking under Hanzos feet.

Cautiously moving deeper, Hanzo sensed no enemies despite the large room and bones. Nonetheless, Hanzo increased his vigilance as he neared the center of the room. As soon as he got to the center, a deafening screeching shook the room. The bones crackled across the floor due to the vibrations.

Hanzo dodged to the side, trusting his instincts. Instantaneously, a large crash was heard from the spot that Hanzo dodged from.

Looking back, Hanzo was met with something he wished he could forget. Something that inspired pure rage in him, a troll. Not only was this a troll, it was a rotting troll that seemed to be much larger than the one Hanzo apparently looked like.

Sensing Hanzos glare, the Zombie Troll roared, picking up a club made of bone.

"Finally! A chance!"

A feral grin appeared on Hanzos face as he gripped his weapon tightly. He was so entranced with the future fight that he did not realise his entire image was being destroyed, his approachable attitude now seemed like an unhinged wild beast that would fight anything.

Bored of waiting, the Undead troll strode forward, slowly lifting up its club. Its muscular arms carrying the club that was the same size as Hanzo as though it was nothing.

Hanzo did not remain still, he darted forward preparing for a vertical slash as he neared the 15ft Troll. The troll lifted its club up high, ready to slam as Hanzo quickly approached.

His mind was focused, his eyes search for the minute movement of the troll. As he got within range of the club, Hanzo pushed forward ignoring the looming shadow plummeting down towards his body.

Hanzo planted his feet and let the momentum of his charge carry his sword directly slicing through the flesh of the troll.

Yet, Hanzo was not safe yet. The looming shadow was inches away from his body, about to collide.

Without hesitation, Hanzo triggered his Scale Mail skill, tightening his defense and taking the attack.

The club crashed onto his head, cracks appearing on the ground as he got sent sliding across the floor, crashing into a pile of bones.

After landing its mark, the troll staggered as its previously working leg seemed to become unresponsive.

"Fuck me, that was close. Note to self, keep suicide charges to a minimum"

Hanzo stood up and checked his HP. Since he managed to use his skill, he had shrugged off most of the damage, however he could not longer use it for 2 minutes. The cooldown was annoying but in some ways, it was a lifesaving skill.

Immediately, Hanzo switched to a defensive strategy. He readied his sword and watched the limping troll as it glared back at him.

Annoyed at the lack of movement, the troll started to approach Hanzo. Its club once again raised up high.

Unlike before, Hanzo stood motionless, his breathing steady as he waited.

The club reached its peak and instantly crashed down with a huge momentum. Hanzo waited for the last second before leaping backwards, avoiding not only the club, but the shock waves too.

As his feet touched the ground, he dashed in the direction of the troll and leapt up high, unleashing a sidewards slice towards the front of the trolls neck.

As it had just attacked and its wounded leg still hindered it, the troll was unable to react as Hanzo came slicing in. Its neck left defenseless received the full brunt of the attack.

When Hanzo had gotten a safe distance away, he noticed the troll had stood up once more. This time, its leg seemed to be healed and in perfect condition once more.

"Oh yeah... these fuckers heal"

Thus began the long battle of exchanges between Hanzo and the troll.

Eventually, the troll collapsed, its body missing an arm as its torso was covered in virtual blood.

Exhausted, Hanzo immediately sat down.

"That Scale Mail really does come in clutch. There's no way I would have been able to do major damage by myself if not"

For the majority of the fight, he had used Scale Mail to do any significant damage whilst he continuously whittled down the Trolls HP with fast attacks and dodges.

Aftrr a short rest, Hanzo approached the body of the Troll. Out of curiosity, he poked it, causing it to explode into a flurry of blue particles alongside a set of medium class materials and accessories dropping from it too.

He collected all of his spoils and turned to leave. However as he did, he heard a clicking sound behind him.

Instantly, Hanzo turned around in his battle stances, his sword drawn and in a defensive position.

Much to his relief, it was a chest that shone with a golden luster. Although he was wary of mimics, he knew this chest was special thus he opened it without hesitation.

As he did, a beam of white light shot out of the chest, causing Hanzo to shield his virtual eyes.

When the light had cleared, he saw a small banner at the bottom.

Curiously collecting the banner, Hanzo inspected the item.

Banner of Gaia

(World Class Item)

This is the banner of the worlds. If placed in a resources area, the resources will be continuously replenished by a bright white mist. Banner can be stolen without fighting and cannot be placed inside of guild bases.

"Oh shit..."

Hanzo facepalmed as a look of dread surfaced upon him.