Mini-Boss

Once the wave of skeletons was defeated, another wave appeared afterward. 

If the first ones had a small red skull on them, this one had two red skulls. This means that they were at least 40 levels higher than Dave's Level. 

Elite Skeleton. Level?? 

☠☠ 

This was beyond what Dave could handle, these skeletons were vastly different from the others. They had old and ruined armors on them, destroyed mostly but still, they wielded equipment. So, they should enable them to deal more damage and receive less. 

Some Elite Skeletons had shields and some even had bows. However, with the help of Bone Breaker and Stainless Steel, they were wiped out without a problem. 

The difference between a player and a monster was calculated either way. The penalty that a monster will suffer if a player is higher level than they are will be the same. Meaning that Bone Breaker and Stainless Steel could deal double damage to the monsters, increasing their clearing speed. 

Moments later, the platoon of monsters was wiped out. 

Dave's level reached Level 20! 

Right now, even if he was not dealing damage, he was still receiving part XP thanks to the Supporter's EXP system. 

Bone Breaker and Stainless Steel didn't get any XP due to their High level on the other hand so All the remaining XP was transferred to Dave. 

Still, the system was not that benevolent. A player can only be power leveled to level 99. Any more and they would have to rely on themselves. Otherwise, a group of high leveled warriors can easily help other reach staggering levels by power leveling them in high leveled areas. 

The XP penalty becomes staggering once one reaches 99. Then, if the player didn't deal enough damage or participate in healing or supporting party members, they won't receive any XP even if they were in a party. This penalty is not included in the Last Hit of an enemy. Any player can receive a good portion of EXP if they dealt the last hit even if they were not in the party. 

Dave then puts on the Iron armor that was given to him by the two. And his current stats were as follow. 

Level 20 

Name: Death Stroke 

Race: Human 

Health: 3500+(175) 

Mana: 1100 +(55) 

Stamina: 2100 (105) 

Rage/Focus: 100 

Intelligence: 110 +(5.5) 

Wisdom: 110 +(5.5) 

Dexterity: 110 +(5.5) 

Agility: 110 +(15) 

Vitality: 1 +(0.05) 

Strength: 150 +(5.5) 

Magic Absorption: 500 

Damage Nullification: 1000 

Immunity: 10% +(0.05)% 

HP Regen: 0.1/sec +(0) 

Mana Regen: 1.1/sec +(0) 

Stamina Regen: 20/sec +(0.5) 

Rage/Focus: ---- Regen: 1/sec 

Title: I know it all! 

Dave wouldn't have been able to wear the equipment. Because he didn't have the required strength for it. But because he saved up on his attribute points through level ups, he accumulated enough to raise his strength by 40. 

Every 5 levels a player would gain 10 attribute points. Normally it wouldn't be enough for a player in the long term. Even a player with Level 1000 would only have a total amount of 2000 attribute points. That is how hard it is to have attribute points. 

Normally players would use weapons or equipment with high stats to balance out the difference in the lack of attribute points. This was why the early bonuses that Dave had obtained were significant. 

The stat requirements of weapons will force players to use their attribute points wisely. But there are some armors that have bonuses and can help raise a player's attribute points. The heavy iron set had ones too. 

1200 Hp in total

+8% immunity 

+800 Damage Nullification + 400 magic Absorption. 

However, once the bonus set equipment is in play the stats become like this. 

1500 HP in total 

+10% immunity 

+1000 Damage Nullification +500 Magic Absorption. 

His title also added percentage to his stats. With the exception of his defensive values. 

On the other hand. Dave had a total of 3500 HP. This was due to the bonus hp gained per level. Each level would give its owner 100Hp. 

Now Dave had a good armor for his level, though he had used his 40 attribute points. He no longer had any more to use on other stats. Dave wanted to raise his vitality but still. The Hp increase of these armors was much better than if he were to raise his vitality. 

Stamina would also increase by 100 for every level up. 

So far Dave had only his basic weapon, though his defensive values had increased, his damage output was still mediocre. But that was not going to last for long. Dave had the intention of selling the flesh cleaver he received from Bone Breaker to get a proper weapon suiting his current level. 

"Oh, your stats have increased! You already had enough stats to wear that armor at level 20. Very good, you have good foundations." Said Bone Breaker, however, a glint of envy was plastered on his face… why would he be envious of Dave? "It's all thanks to you, I hope to be of use now." Said, Dave, 

The two of them laughed 

"You don't really need to do anything really; we only need a third player to activate a small contraption. We didn't want to invite other players because they might get greedy and fight us over the boss. Or they might call their guild members to ruin our quest," said Bone Breaker being truthful for once. 

"Oh, what is your quest?" asked Dave 

"Let's stop loitering here, we are wasting time," urged Stainless Steel trying to change the subject. 

It seemed that they didn't want to speak about the quest. But Dave didn't care, he already had more than enough equipment and had a good and stable start, so he didn't pursue the matter. 

Once they had cleared more monsters, Dave's level increased more. And his quest had already been completed. He was tempted to go back to the church and finish his quest, but he had to do as he promised and help them with their dungeon. 

When they were before an old tomb, the two of them began drinking some potions. 

Power potion? 

It raises their damage output to make clearing the dungeon faster. 

The two of them entered the tomb and Dave followed. 

Ding! 

{You have entered the Desolate Tomb of the Exiled Knight. 

The boss in this dungeon has already been defeated. No bonus XP or rewards shall be given once the dungeon is cleared...} 

This was the first time Dave entered a dungeon, and he received a notification telling him about it. 

"Alright, let's pick up the pace," said Bone Breaker. His shining shield shimmered with a bright light and the priest used,

"Holy radiance!" 

Two skeletons of a higher tier than the monsters outside attacked them. But they were terminated without a problem. 

These monsters had a higher level and probably higher Hp, the damage value that Bone Breaker was dealing exceeded the Hp of the monsters. Every hit was a kill. 

It was like the two of them were bullying the weak monsters. 

The tomb was a long corridor that was littered with coffins on the walls. Skeletons and undead would charge out of them the moment the party reached their Aggro zone. However, none of the monsters would even bother attacking Dave, they were all attacking Bone Brealer. 

"You can try your luck attacking these small fries. They won't OT"[1] Said Bone Breaker. However, to Dave's dismay. 

"-0hp" 

Sigh… without needing to look at the damage log, Dave understood that the Defense value of the monsters and the level gap suppression penalty had made him deal almost no damage to them. This was frustrating, Dave felt useless there but it didn't discourage him. He then used Destructive smash on the skeleton. It got stunned, but the damage value was still 0. However, this meant that he could still stun monsters even if their Defense was much higher than his damage. 

Dave then retreated back; there was no reason for him to do anything. These two would instantly destroy these small fries so it was nothing. 

Dave also understood why it would be hard for players to Level up after level 99. Monsters would have ridiculous amounts of defense. And if they didn't deal enough damage to the monsters, they won't gain any XP. So, it was better for players to rely on themselves, and fight monsters with an equivalent to their levels. 

Going to a level 400 area while a player is level 100 would be idiotic, they would deal no damage to the monsters. 

Once at the end of the dungeon, there was a single skeleton that stood silent and imposing. "It's a miniboss. The dungeon's boss has been eliminated but a miniboss will always remain here. This is a Death Knight!" 

Indeed, it was worthy of the name. The skeleton was wearing armor that was in a much better shape than the Elite skeletons that Dave had fought before. The Death Knight was imposing and had a green shaded set of armors while its eyes shone in an eerie red light. It wielded a flamberge black sword on his right and a dark kite shield on his left. 

Lesser Death Knight. 

Level??? 

Hp??? 

Defense??? 

☠☠☠ 

Looking at the difference between Dave and the monster he was shocked. Three skulls?! 

This means that it is at least 100 level higher than Dave's level! 

"Alright, after we kill this guy, we can finish our quest!" said Bone Breaker as he charged forward. 

Dave had to only stay on the sidelines and wait for Experience. 

If a mini-boss was 100 levels higher than Dave, then the boss that was defeated, what level would he be? And this was but a lesser Death knight. 

If Dave didn't meet these people, how long would it have taken him to fight monsters of the level? Solo XP is really hard. Especially as a paladin, but it was safe. thought a paladin was a tank class and considered useless for solo play Dave had done his research and found out that paladins can upgrade to Holy Knights later. These Holy Knights are all-rounders with great defense and self-buffs, and had good striking power. 

He knew that the paladin route will take him a long time but when he reaches level 100, he can switch his class and be able to enjoy his solo gaming. 

Dave knew that being a solo player was a hardcore gamer's route. They challenged themselves and the game. Solo players don't have a guild to rely on, and don't join parties. But alone, they have all the right to their loot and findings. No need to share their hardearned work with anyone else. 

And so, Dave watched the battle between the lone Death Knight and the two bullies

[1]

OT or Over Threat in games means that the Threat Value of the attacker exceeded the main Tank/highest Threat in a party.

For example, in games, tanks have high Threat values, followed by priests and healers. Due to this, the monsters would always attack players with high threat. If a player OT it means that they had dealt more damage to the monster that it exceeded the threat value of the tanker. This can also happen if a healer heals a huge amount of hp making his threat level increase. In games, players need to keep a tab on their Threat level so that the tank would keep the monsters occupied and the rest can DPS.