Skill Points

Like the earlier Dire Wolf, the wolves growled menacingly. The only apparent difference was the fact they traveled in a pack.

'I wonder how long it'll be before Elite Monsters become the standard of monsters found in a leveling area,' Kieran wondered.

Although six Dire Wolves posed more of a challenge than a single Dire Wolf, Kieran eyed Elite monsters for their increased Experience and better loot.

Nevertheless, he accepted what he was given.

After all, his primary objective was completing his quest, and only one of those twenty-five kills has been completed thus far.

Kieran taunted the Dire Wolves while raising his blade in his left hand. "Come here, doggies."

Grrr!

Swoosh!

Almost as if his action successfully provoked this pack of Dire Wolves, they rushed toward Kieran while emitting feral growls.

Despite the incoming numbers, Kieran remained calm. He took one step and slashed his sword in a circular motion, followed by activating the Charge skill.

Thud! Bang!

The Dire Wolves were thrown back while the one in the center was forced to the ground by Charge.

-57

-71

Over a third of the Dire Wolf's Health in the center vanished. But, Kieran wasn't done. He plunged his greatsword beneath the wolf's jaw.

-173! «Critical Hit!»

Kieran found no difficulty in going against numerous monsters, even claiming the life of one with ease. Of course, they were only Normal Monsters, so it was difficult to gauge his actual ability.

〈System: You have gained 75 EXP.〉

'That makes two.'

Kieran kept a mental note of how many monsters he killed despite the fact the quest kept a record. It was simply a habit he established.

The Dire Wolves howled after smelling the blood of their brethren on Kieran's blade.

Their actions became even more frantic as they clawed and chomped at him, but Kieran made use of his decent AGI and dodged these attacks with swift movements.

Peng!

Whenever Kieran saw an opening in their rhythm, Kieran took the opportunity to unleash a counterattack.

-50

However, his counterattacks only focused on one monster at a time.

'Although I've been out of combat for years because of my ailment, my combat standard didn't decline as severely as I assumed it would have. Of course, my increased attributes and the Unique Warrior play a substantial role here.'

The fact Kieran took the time to consider this during combat was a testament to how little he thought of this battle.

As Normal Monsters, their rhythm didn't blend well, and they all moved as if they weren't aware of, or rather didn't acknowledge each other's presence. As a result, the wolves frequently collided with one another due to Kieran's movement patterns.

"Hehe," Kieran chuckled amidst the cacophony of feral snarls.

Watching these wolves come after him was akin to watching children as they tried to run through a narrow doorway.

Bang!

Kieran kicked a Dire Wolf in the face before creating space. "Let's test out this other skill."

Kieran's greatsword was enveloped in a violent outbreak of energy. It seemed similar to Warrior's Aura energy output with some minor differences.

The difference was that Kieran could feel an increasingly savage presence at its core rather than a solid drive.

This skill was naturally Savage Break, which he had yet to test out. Kieran was thrilled to see how it fared against Force Slash's damage.

Once the savage aura peaked, Kieran unleashed the strike upon one of the heavily damaged Dire Wolves.

Boom!

A frightening noise echoed throughout the forest as Kieran's sword smashed against the back of the foremost wolf, slamming its body into the ground.

-121

'It's regrettable this skill isn't a large-scale attack. One of the Warrior Class's main weaknesses is a lack of large-scale attacks. However, the damage is remarkable for my current level. It's more or less acceptable.'

Kieran judged harshly when it came to evaluating skills, so the fact that he found it acceptable was already a pleasant surprise.

〈System: You have gained 75 EXP.〉

'That makes three. One more, and we'll be Lv.3. No matter how I feel about Normal Monsters, you can't knock the practicality of fighting against higher-leveled monsters.'

Of course, not everyone could battle against higher-leveled monsters. A level was more precious to a monster than it was to a player in regard to attribute increases. 

One attack from a monster with an incredible level difference could be potentially devastating, which is why only elite players attempted to clash with monsters more than 2 levels higher.

Although Kieran was pleased with Savage Break, he did note that he didn't get a chance to evaluate the Defense Break effect and see if he could exploit the 15% present.

As Kieran turned his head, he noticed something strange about the positioning of the Three Dire Wolves. They had all arrived in advantageous positions to launch a simultaneous attack.

This didn't result from teamwork.

It was the result of the way Kieran dodged and counterattacked. These three Dire Wolves, now less than a meter away from him, could attack instantly.

Despite his understanding of the situation, Kieran remained in place. 'I wonder... can I still pull that off? Getting my body to react the way I want may prove somewhat difficult.'

Curious, Kieran had to attempt it.

Tang! Tang!

He deflected the two Dire Wolves in front of him before turning around to retaliate with his greatsword.

Scree!

A metallic screech rang out while Kieran took a step back due to the weight behind the wolf's swipe.

Concurrently, a damage value appeared above his head.

[-19]〈Aatrox: 171/190 Health〉

'I kind of failed...' Kieran thought, shaking his head with a soft sigh. Though he succeeded with the first two deflections, the third was too slow, resulting in a loss of Health.

"Welp, it was a decent gauge of my current skill. Nothing but to keep refining these movements again," Kieran muttered.

Afterward, it didn't take much effort for Kieran to dodge for an additional 10 seconds until Force Slash came off cooldown.

Bang!

Another Dire Wolf limply slid down a nearby tree after suffering a direct blow.

〈System: You have gained 75 EXP.〉

〈System: You have leveled up! [Lv.2 → Lv.3]〉

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

〈Experience: 50/400〉

A golden radiance illuminated Kieran's body as his level increased from 2 to 3.

Seeing as just over six and a half hours passed and he had reached Lv.3, Kieran assumed he was amongst the highest, if not currently the highest level player.

Considering he sacrificed 3 hours by stretching and familiarizing himself with his body, his progress was unthinkable!

Although he leveled up, Kieran's expression didn't seem joyful.

Rather than focusing on his minimal progress, he was more worried about how Zenith Online's EXP System functioned.

As the level difference lessened, he would receive less EXP.

Less EXP translated to slower progress.

Thus, Kieran couldn't relish in the glory of leveling up.

Aside from the problem with the level difference, another matter bothered Kieran. 'Damn! I didn't even move that much and yet I'm so tired! If there's one thing I can do without, it's the feeble body of a starter character.'

Kieran had only killed half of the Dire Wolves present, but he spent almost 50 Stamina while doing so. That was nearly half his Stamina!

Due to this outcome, Kieran chose to finish this battle as efficiently as possible. When Savage Break came off cooldown, he coupled the skill with a swift activation of Charge.

Kieran immediately killed two of the three remaining Dire Wolves.

〈System: You have gained 50 EXP.〉

〈System: You have gained 50 EXP.〉

While his Stamina Bar continued to deplete, Kieran dashed at the last Dire Wolf while a vibrant aura filled his greatsword.

Force Slash!

-245! «Critical Hit»

Kieran's greatsword sliced cleanly through the Dire Wolf, dropping additional Copper Coins, sharp fangs, and a tattered pelt on the ground.

〈System: You have gained 50 EXP.〉

Kieran collected the loot on the floor while thinking about ways to circumvent the high Stamina consumption. Eventually, he arrived at the only plausible answer.

'Until I can improve my energy consumption, I'll have to focus on improving my damage,' Kieran thought.

However, not many routes could accomplish this outcome.

In fact, there were only three: increasing one's attributes, improving one's skill levels, or obtaining powerful equipment.

Kieran opted for the second option because it held more value over barely increasing his attributes. Powerful equipment was out of the equation because a Normal Monster dropped rubbish.

There were two options when it came to increasing a skill's level.

The first was repeated usage of the skill. Using a skill against higher-level or high-rank monsters increased the amount of Mastery rewarded per usage.

The alternative was using the Skill Points gained with every level up, a route many players employed until it was no longer possible.

Though at this stage in the game, Skill Points (SP) could be considered extremely valuable. Luckily, Kieran understood something about the class he sought, so he didn't mind spending his SP as quickly as he obtained them.

When it came to determining how much SP a skill required to level up, only the Skill Rank was taken into account. Skill Level was irrelevant.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

〈System: You are using 8 SP to increase «Savage Break» from Lv.1 to Lv.3. Continue? [ Y | N ]〉

〈System: You are using 8 SP to increase «Warrior's Aura» from Lv.1 to Lv.3. Continue? [ Y | N ]〉

〈System: You are using 2 SP to increase «Force Slash» from Lv.1 to Lv.2. Continue? [ Y | N ]〉

Kieran didn't think twice. Otherwise, bringing up this menu would have been a waste of time.

In seconds, these three skills grew considerably more powerful.

「Force Slash (Lv.2)

Skill Rank: E Rank Active

Mastery (00.00%)

Skill Description: Deals 165% of the user's Attack Power by focusing their Strength into their arm and unleashing a strike powerful enough to produce a wave of force.

Consumption: 1 Mana Point

Prerequisites: Warrior Class, «Warrior's Aura»

Cooldown: 13 seconds 」

「Savage Break (Lv.3)

Skill Rank: D Rank Active

Mastery (00.00%)

Skill Description: Unleashes a decisive blow of destruction that deals 250% of the user's Attack Power and can trigger a Defense Break effect, lowering the enemy's defense by 15% for 3 seconds.

Consumption: 2 → 3 Mana Points

Prerequisites: Warrior Class, «Warrior's Aura»

Cooldown: 40 seconds 」

「Warrior's Aura (Lv.3)

Skill Rank: D Rank Active

Mastery (00.00%)

Skill Description: Manifests the aura of a Warrior by stimulating their tenacious will. While this skill is active, the user's attack damage increases by 18%.

Consumption: 1 Mana Point per 5 seconds

Prerequisites: Warrior Class

Cooldown: 57 seconds (Only begins after deactivation of the skill.) 」