Chapter 34: Prelude to the End of Assessment

Mysterious Realm, Dusk Valley

As Dave left Lightning Valley and entered the Dusk Valley, he felt a rush of adrenaline. The Dusk Valley was known for being more dangerous than its predecessor, but Dave was determined to reach the deep section of the valley. As he ran, he encountered low-level monsters that could earn him additional points if killed. However, Dave opted not to waste time on them. He knew that his competitor was currently capable of killing high-level monsters, and any delay could widen the gap between their scores.

Finally, Dave arrived at one of the locations in the deep section of the valley. His heart was racing as he scanned the area for any signs of danger. Suddenly, he saw movement in the distance. He approached cautiously, and as he got closer, he realized that he was facing an opponent. Dave knew that he had to be careful and assess the situation. He carefully surveyed his opponent and checked its status, preparing himself for what could be a fierce battle.

.....

[Name: Treant]

[Health Point: 19,500/19,500]

[Mana: 3000/3000]

[Physical Attack: 900– 999]

[Defense: 300]

[Rank: Bronze Stage ★]

[Elements: Plant, Earth]

[Skills: Vine Whip, Leaf Blade, Sweet Scent]

[Description: The majestic creature that stands tall in the heart of the forest is known as the Nature's child and Guardian of the woods. Its bark has unique face-like patterns that add to its mystique. The division between its trunk forms a clear distinction between its legs. Its long, slender branches extend outwards, serving as its arms and providing a sense of grandeur to its overall appearance.]

(A/N: Hi I'm deciding to add element property so most monster will receive more or less base on their elements)

....

"Earth Element!" Dave is contemplating whether to confront it or not. He then takes a look at his own status and did some calculation.

.....

[Name: Dave Blake]

[Class: Squire]

[Level: 4 - Middle Iron Level]

[Health Point: 1,100/1,100]

[Mana: 300/600]

[Experience: 1907/2000]

[Defense: 145(+15)]

[Physical Attack: 99(+100) – 109(+150)]

[Attributes: STR: 25(+9), AGI: 14(+2), DEX: 6, INT: 3, VIT: 11(+5)]

[Skills: 

Triple Slash Level 4

Parry Level 1]

[Tome skill

Lightning Blade]

[Talent: Infinity Edge (O)]

[Equipment: Battle Sword, Breast Plate, Greaves, Steel Gauntlet

Equipment Effect:

+300 HP

+30% increase in PATK per attack

+15 Defense]

.....

After thoroughly examining the statistics of the Treant and comparing them to his own, Dave decided to abandon the area and look for a more suitable opponent. Being proficient in lightning-based skills, he made the choice to head towards the ocean or any water-based location.

"I should level up first to improve my stats," Dave thought.

Upon reaching Dusk Valley's rocky beach, he immediately began his hunt for low-level monsters. He encountered 8 - 1★ - Iron stage creatures and engaged them in battle, skillfully defeating each one. As a result, his experience bar increased by 120 points, and his ranking points increased by 80 points, bringing him closer to his goals.

[Congratulation! You level up, +1 level]

[Prompt! You obtain 5 stat points]

[Prompt! You obtain 1 skill point]

After he leveled up to level 5, he arranges his stats ratio to 3STR:2AGI and skill point went to [Tripple Slash].

This increased his PATK by 6 points and his movement speed and attack speed became much faster.

He did his calculation again; he can deal at least 1500 points per hit using his skill if he faced opponents who is at elemental dis-advantage. 

...

Dave was feeling frustrated and dejected. He couldn't understand how his two rivals were so much stronger than him, despite starting their journey together at the same time. The gap between them seemed to be growing with each passing minute and it was getting harder for Dave to keep up with them.

Dave was not someone who liked to take risks if the odds were not in his favor. He believed in his skills and abilities, but only if he knew he had a good chance of winning. He wouldn't take on a challenge that he didn't think he could handle.

His frustration peaked and he couldn't help but express his annoyance out loud, "How can they be so strong! We've started at the same time yet still the gap is getting bigger." His emotions started to become unstable again.

He couldn't help but feel angry with himself for not being able to keep up. He was determined to do something about it, "F*ck! If I can't hunt 1★ - Bronze stage, then I will hunt 10★ - Iron stage, to keep up with you two! I don't believe you can keep doing what you are doing!"

What Dave didn't realize was that Gabriel and Tigram didn't think about their chances of winning before taking on a challenge. They relied on their instincts and believed in their abilities, which helped them emerge victorious even against the toughest of monsters.

.....

Mysterious Realm, somewhere in Dusk Valley.

Gabriel had just defeated a Lord-Rank monster and was on the lookout for more challenges. He had grown bored of the iron-stage monsters and was now searching for bronze-stage monsters to satisfy his thirst for adventure. He ventured deeper into the valley, hoping to find stronger monsters that would provide him with more experience, equipment, gold, and skill books.

As he made his way deeper into the valley, Gabriel was surprised to find that the monsters he encountered were of a higher grade than he had first anticipated. He wondered why there were so many bronze-stage monsters in this area, considering it was supposed to be a low-level assessment dungeon.

Little did Gabriel know that this dungeon was, in fact, a low-level assessment ground, but it was not the same as the ones he had encountered before. This assessment ground was a mysterious realm used by the emperor to train the soldiers of the empire, and the highest possible grade of monsters found here was 5★ - Silver stage.

Gabriel began to analyze the data he had on this place and decided to farm for experience, equipment, gold, and skill books. He was hoping that his lucky streak would continue and that he would find everything he was looking for.

Gabriel summoned his [Curse Totem (☯️)] and started to hunt groups of monsters. He was surprised at how easy it was to defeat them; some of the monsters tried to fight back, but after just two or three seconds, they died. Others tried to take him down with them, but they were unable to break past his [Shield].

At first, Gabriel hunted three-unit monsters at the same time, killing them quickly and gaining 6,800 exp points. This caused him to level up to level 7, but he ignored it and continued hunting. Thirty minutes later, he had already hunted five units of monsters, and he was confused by his calculations. He expected to level up to level 8, but he did not gain anything except for a rise in the exp bar.

Gabriel decided to check his experience panel and was shocked to discover that he required 42,000 exp to level up to level 8. He was determined to continue his search for stronger monsters and to gain the experience he needed to level up.

...

It is common knowledge among players that to advance from level 1 to 2, one must acquire 500 experience points. Similarly, to reach level 3, one needs to obtain 1000 experience points, to go from level 3 to 4, one must gather 1500 experience points and to reach level 5, one needs to collect 2000 experience points. The requirements become even more challenging from level 5 onward, as to proceed from level 5 to 6, a player must attain 2500 experience points and to advance beyond that, the player must gain 3000 experience points from level 6 to level 7.

It is rumored among players that the last two levels of the Iron stage, i.e. levels 7 and 8, are the most difficult to level up. To advance from level 7 to 8, a player must add up all the experience points required from levels 2 to 7 and then multiply that sum by 2, which amounts to a daunting 21,000 experience points. This is an arduous task, particularly when one is relying on killing low-level Iron stage monsters. The fastest way to level up is by killing 42 - 10★ Iron stage monsters, except Gabriel and Tigrem who can both kill 1★- Bronze stage monsters.

To reach level 9, a player must have twice the amount of experience points required to advance from earlier levels, which means gathering 42,000 experience points. The chasm between levels 9 and 10 is great, as it marks the transition from the Iron stage to the Bronze stage. To advance to level 10, a player needs to accumulate a staggering 100,000 experience points.

Due to the harsh requirements of experience points, some players choose to remain at lower levels, while others persist but end up giving up halfway through. Only a lucky few can navigate through the challenging levels and reach the Bronze tier, Orion. Unless a player is willing to be power-leveled or has enough wealth to buy Experience orbs from the expensive market, these requirements can be almost impossible to meet.

.....

Upon seeing the amount of exp he needs, Gabriel face turns gloomy, he opens his Ranking points to take a look.

[Name: Gabriel Heart

Rank: First

No. of Kills = 89 - Iron ★, 18 - Iron ★★, 13 - Iron★★★, 3 - Iron★★★★, 1-Iron ★★★★★★★★★★, 1-Bronze ★ (shared), 5-Bronze ★, 1★ - Bronze - Lord Rank

Points = 17,360

Class: Support - Type, Healing]

"It's hard to level up now that I've hit the late stage of Iron level."

" AAAAAAAAHUUUUUUU" he took a deep breath and close his Ranking points panel.

Then, he continued on his journey.

...

Mystical Realm, in an unknown location

Two hours before the end of the assessment.

[Congratulations! You level up, +1 level]

[Prompt! You obtain 10 stats points]

[Prompt! You obtain 2 skill points]

[Prompt! You obtain exp orb (15,000)]

"Oh, another experience orb!" Gabriel said when he heard the notification.

He took out the experience orb and see its status.

[Name: Experience Orb]

[Type: Consumable]

[Grade: Green]

[Description: A one-time used consumable item. Upon using it, consumer will gain and 15,000 experience to their experience bar.]

This the 8th time he receives this drop item from killing the monster in this location. He already used the first 6 orbs he looted, and it raised a total of 90,000 points on his experience bar, shortening his time on hunting monster leaving him with 1 orb left and with the addition of this drop he has 2 orbs now.

"If this thing was sold in the market, many families will fight for it, this is enough to make a level 1 person, regardless how low their talents are, to a level 7 - Iron late stage in a blink of an eye."

"What should I do with this thing though? I don't lack gold for the mean time" Gabiel ponders.

Throughout his killing journey in this assessment, he receives a total of 28 gold coins and 76 Silver coins, just by killing monsters.

Currency drops on this world his fix which copper, and it also depends how strong the monster you kill.

Only Lord - Rank monster will drop gold, platinum and diamond coins, depending on the strength of the Lord - Rank monster you killed.

(A/N: 1★ - Iron = 100 copper coin, 2★ - Iron = 200 copper up to 10★ - Iron = 1000 copper coins same concept applies to bronze, 1★ - Bronze = 2000 copper coins to 10★ - Bronze = 20,000 copper coins. For conversion 100 bronze = 1 Siver, 100siver = 1gold, 100gold = 1 platinum and 100 platinum coins = 1 diamond coin)

(A/N: I don't like to put gold drops or copper drops on the notification every time they kill so I will do the math and total it for you readers.)

He ponders a bit and decides to summarize his gains first.

....

As he left the deepest part of Dusk Valley behind, he embarked on a new journey towards an uncharted location. His purpose was to farm experience points and level up to 10, as he was aware that he had already met the level requirement to pass the ongoing assessment.

He knew that students who reach level 7 by this time will be considered to have already passed the assessment. The feeling of passing the assessment was like getting rid of a stubborn fishbone stuck in his throat.

Gabriel had already achieved one of his goals, which was to be the first one to pass the assessment. However, he was not content with just that. He set himself another goal to reach level 10 before the assessment ends.

During his journey, he encountered a wide variety of monsters in different stages. One of them was a 3★-Bronze monster known as Lizardmen. After successfully defeating it, he noticed a significant increase of 5,400 points in his experience bar.

Realizing the potential of this region, he decided to stay in the Marshes Grounds of the Mysterious Realm to farm more experience points.