The Forest of Beasts' Change

The dungeon was far from over, yet everyone sighed after Hrulhar dropped to the ground, lifeless. Amongst those who cheered, Sithik was the loudest.

"Thank god it's over. That was so stressful that I can still feel my hands shaking," Sithik clutched his chest with a deep sigh.

"I didn't do much, but even I felt the pressure," Aspaira uttered, glancing at Kieran and Altair. 'It's not just their stats. They both seem like they're deeply familiar with combat.'

From what Aspaira saw, Altair and Kieran exhibited a frightening capacity for battle, but she feared Kieran's limits more. Every time he battled, it was like he made instant adaptations.

Hrulhar's loot wasn't the greatest, but it wasn't bad, either. It dropped a few pieces of equipment, 4 Silver Coins, and a special item.

「 Quicksilver Daggers (Rare Weapon)

Attack Power: 25

AGI +10

Effect: While wielding this weapon in active combat, the user has a 5% chance of having their AGI +25 for 10 seconds. (The effect has a cooldown of 15 seconds.) 

Description: A streamlined pair of daggers forged to be incredibly light yet sharp.

Durability: 25/25

Restriction: 55 AGI, Lv.10 」

The daggers were exceptional and focused on increasing the user's speed. This naturally suited Altair as the only Thief within the party. In addition to the Quicksilver Daggers, there was also a skill book.

「 Skill Book - Vanish (Special Consumable)

Item Rank: Uncommon

Item Usage: Upon usage, the skill book imparts the skill - Vanish.

Description: A lesser version of an Assassin's Stealth. One must possess Vanish to learn Stealth in the future. 

Requirements: Thief Class, Lv.10 」

"What a lucky break for you, dude," Kieran said, indifferently tossing both items in Altair's direction. It had no use to everyone else, and even if he sold it, the worth didn't equate to having Altair in his debts.

Kieran's image of Altair remained fixated on what he could become in the future, so Kieran understood the practicality of investing for the long term.

Short-term gains were needed sometimes, but in this case, it was more detrimental than beneficial. 

"How does it feel to most likely possess the first Rare Item available to players?" Kieran chuckled. He momentarily looked at the faint purple glow surrounding the Quicksilver Daggers before averting his gaze.

Kieran was familiar with a drop's rarity based on the color of its idle radiance.

A faint purple glow indicated a Rare Item.

"These daggers are amazing," Altair said, testing them with a few sharp slashes. Faint silver flashes lingered before vanishing. "I should probably forfeit my share of the coin loot since I received this weapon."

"Meh, we'll see. But I'll keep your suggestion in mind," Kieran shrugged. His gaze shifted towards the dungeon's depths with an unusual expression.

'We've only completed the first half of the dungeon.'

Meanwhile, Aspaira, Sithik, and Cygnus sifted through the small loot pile for any Cloth Armor, but there was only a top, which went to Sithik.

All of a sudden, Kieran turned to Aspaira after recalling a piece of important information. "You didn't pick up Bind?"

"Bind? No," Aspaira said with a light blush on her cheeks. "I thought about getting it, but I didn't have enough SP after leveling up my skills."

Not everyone was as fortunate as Kieran and Altair. SP was tough to come by at this stage in the game if one couldn't obtain a Starter Package. 

"You should prioritize broadening your skill repertoire over skill levels. Skills will level regardless, so SP dumping is only advised during crucial times or for bread-and-butter skills," Kieran explained.

Nevertheless, Apsaira had leveled up twice after Kieran killed Hrulhar, so her current SP sufficed to purchase Bind.

"Also, Mages aren't preferred solely for your Magic Power. You must also take into account that Mages are incredibly versatile. You require foresight as a Mage if you intend to take the class far."

Aspaira absorbed the advice before purchasing the skill. The party possessed a limited number of crowd-control skills necessary for boss battles.

Correcting their mistakes wasn't the only matter Kieran attended to. He also glimpsed the stream's state from time to time. After his battle against Hrulhar, many more people joined the stream.

The current number of viewers rose from 24,000 to slightly under 60,000!

It was an unprecedented number for a brand-new game, but that's what happened when one rode the hype.

Kieran's stream wouldn't have garnered this attention if it weren't for it being Zenith Online's launch day. This one stream was becoming responsible for reviving the VR Category on the GRC platform, which had experienced a sudden nosedive due to a lack of IRL events, etc.

Unfortunately, the increased viewership meant a greater variety of hateful people that left harsh comments. It was the product of a toxic community that sought the downfall of talented people to feel better about their bleak lives. 

Kieran then looked at his stream.

'This toxicity would have led others to quit streaming, but my skin isn't that thin. I couldn't care less about the harsh comment. On the contrary, I find them amusing. I love watching pointless people behave stupidly as if their opinion matters.'

┌───────────────────

«Stream Chat» -

«BotDetector187» - Yo! Not gonna lie; your teammates are bots, dude! Real NPC behavior.

«IlikeGoldfishies» - Dude, you're so cracked at this game! But how doesn't your teammate know the importance of crowd-control skills? HUH?!

«4IPessimist» - This run should have failed ten times already. The streamer and that Thief are carrying those trashcan players! But hey, what do I know? :kekw:

└───────────────────

Kieran stared blankly after reading several of the messages.

The chatters were completely unfiltered, with zero compassion for how Sithik or the others may feel. Fortunately, Sithik and the others couldn't spare the time to watch Kieran's stream and have their feeling trampled upon. 

After checking the stream, Kieran minimized the interface to where he could manipulate the stream at a mere thought or press of the floating buttons beside him. 

The interface could be used to mute the streaming audio or disrupt the visual feedback. 

After resting to recuperate some of their lost Stamina, Kieran slowly led the others down the pathway. Moving too quickly would only increase their Stamina Consumption Rate before they could reach the next part of the dungeon.

Due to how large the dungeon was, it took over an hour to reach the end of the path, where the forest underwent an abrupt change. Although the trees remained large, the trunks now had crystals embedded in them, and the large crystal rocks jutted from the ground.

Kieran heard a low pounding noise not too far away as many bears appeared from the depths of the new forest setting. The smaller bears in the front resembled standard grizzly bears with blotches of their fur replaced by hardened crystals.

"Oh, that isn't good," Aspaira muttered. She recalled from her last run that this part of the dungeon tested a party's ability to unleash damage.

「Lv.12 Quartz Bear (Elite)

Beast Type

Health: 1,700/1,700 (100%) 」

Kieran relaxed his shoulders and cracked his neck with a calm expression. "It's a good thing you received that weapon, right?"

"No kidding," Altair answered with a faint nod.

As he spoke, Altair kept his gaze affixed on the two larger bears in the distance. They were double the size of the Quartz Bears.

「 Lv.12 Razing Guraha (Rare)

Mini-Boss

Beast Type

Health: 5,000/5,000 (100%) 」

「 Lv.12 Reinforced Shibak (Rare)

Mini-Boss

Beast Type

Health: 6,000/6,000 (100%) 」

While the Quartz Bears weren't a problem, Guraha and Shibak were another story because they were considered mini-bosses. A Mini-Boss existed as a standalone monster category that only existed within dungeons. 

Mini-Bosses weren't as powerful as real bosses, but they could become much stronger than typical monsters.

"We need to separate the Elite from those two right now. Afterward, we'll hard-focus Guraha. It's the real problem here," Kieran ordered while readying himself for battle.

Guhara posed the greatest threat due to its hidden trait. 

"Aspaira, you'll need to use Bind as frequently as possible. As soon as you bind them, unload your spells," Kieran directed.

Afterward, Kieran considered the most practical lure—Altair's speed.

Guhara and Shibak were both unbelievably slow, so dodging their attacks wasn't tricky. Kieran's priority was eliminating the Quartz Bears to reduce the number of enemies encircling them. 

Whoosh!

Once the plan was decided upon, everyone sprang into action. 

"Savage Break!"

Bang! 

Kieran led the assault with Savage Break before following up with Charge to stun the affected bear. A second later, Kieran unleashed Force Slash, Directional Slash, and Heavy Slash in rapid succession.

With the help of Critical Hits, Kieran dealt with the first Quartz Bear in 30 seconds.

〈System: You have gained 620 EXP.〉

〈System: You have leveled up! [Lv.12 → Lv.13]〉

〈System: You have received 5 Unassigned Attribute Points and 2 Skill Points.〉

[Experience: 520/6,700]

Unlike before, Kieran chose to conserve his UAP until he understood how difficult these two Mini-Bosses were.

At the same time, Aspaira followed Kieran's directions and unleashed her Mana Bullet, Aqua Bullet, and Flame Wave on a bound Quartz Bear.

The team quickly found their rhythm by listening when Kieran called for them to dodge Guraha's ground-pound attacks.

〈System: You have gained 600 EXP.〉

〈System: You have gained 600 EXP.〉

〈System: You have gained…〉

Cleaning up the Quartz Bear proved to be an easy task, taking no more than ten minutes for the ten Quartz Bears. By the end, Kieran had amassed a decent amount of EXP.

[Experience: 5,920/6,700]