SWNOVELXO Chapter 28: Grinding
Lucien vanished instantly and rolled to the side.
The monster was thrown into confusion, stirring around for a brief moment, its orb-like white eyes darting here and there.
Then it extended its mouth, revealing those wicked teeth. The monster looked like a Groot—a grotesque and malicious white Groot.
It shifted, its elongated limbs twirling in the air, searching for the human.
However, Lucien struck from behind. He pierced the Darkness Cutter into it from the back, then grabbed one of its arms and set it ablaze.
The monster blazed and staggered forward. Lucien immediately turned to deliver a strike to one of the monsters lunging at him, but he was too slow. The monster kicked into his ribs, sending him flying. He rolled across the ground and slammed against a tree.
[You have lost 244 health points]
[You have entered internal bleeding state]
[You will lose 2 health points every 10 seconds]
Things were beginning to get difficult. Aside from the appearance of an elite rank monster, it seemed to him that the normal rank monsters were beginning to learn his pattern and adapt.
Lucien dragged himself up, leaning against the tree.
The Elite Palebranch Wight was still burning. However, just as he stood up, the monster suddenly lashed out with a terrifying cry that tore through the silence. Then everything fell quiet.
[Elite Palebranch Wight has resisted burn state]
[Elite Palebranch Wight is enraged.]
[All Normal Palebranch Wights have gained 30% resistance to fire damage and burn state.]
Lucien raised a brow in disbelief.
'Uh? You can't just take away my trump card! I'm cooked—cooked is what I am.'
He vanished from sight and moved, appearing in front of the Elite Wight. The monster brought its hands down upon him as Lucien used both hands to bring down the katana.
Joining his second hand with the katana, the weight finally settled right—it felt perfect.
As Lucien brought down the blade, he suddenly disappeared, and the strike landed on the monster's back, splitting it with devastating sharpness—the kind that made the blade itself glint with the pride of an evil cutter.
[You have dealt 1,589 damage]
[You have dealt burn damage]
[Target has resisted]
[Target has resisted]
Lucien sent his elbow backward, throwing a jab to the face of the closest monster. But it wasn't just a jab.
The monster's face split apart instantly. Then Lucien ducked as another limb flared forward but missed him, and his hand swung, slamming into the elite Wight's leg.
[You have dealt 203 damage]
[You have dealt critical damage]
The monster buckled, its steps misplaced and balance lost. This gave Lucien the edge he needed. He lunged forward and didn't stop striking down on the monster like a madman, until eventually it collapsed.
He stood above the fallen body like a ruthless hunter.
[You have slain Elite Palebranch Wight Lv. 60]
[You have gained an item]
[You have gained pale wood ×1]
[You have gained 4,008 Fusion Points]
[You have Leveled Up!]
[You have gained +3 General Attribute Points]
[You have gained +5 Class Attribute Points]
[You have Leveled Up!]
[You have gained +3 General Attribute Points]
[You have gained +5 Class Attribute Points]
[You have Leveled Up!]
[You have gained +3 General Attribute Points]
[You have gained +5 Class Attribute Points]
[You have Leveled Up!]
[You have gained +3 General Attribute Points]
[You have gained +5 Class Attribute Points]
Lucien smiled with fulfillment.
'Level sixteen… now that's some real progress.'
Apparently, Elite monsters offered far more rewards than normal monsters—which was to be expected.
'I should check the forum for all available monster ranks when I log out. For now, however…'
Lucien slowly turned to the remaining monsters.
'Ten points to Agility, ten to Strength.'
Then the slaughter began.
***
After a while, Lucien was covered in ash. As he leveled up from the kills, killing more became relatively easy. He sat atop a small mountain of wooden corpses and stared at the HUD display, cold light emanating from his eyes.
———
[PLAYER PROFILE]
Name: Cien
Alias: Sharp-Killer
Gender: Male
Age: 26
Race: Human
Class: [Classless]
Level: 29
HP: 3,100 / 3,100
MP: —
FP: 4,330
-
[CORE ATTRIBUTES]
Strength: 85
Stamina: 65
Agility: 85
Dexterity: 76
Composure: 75
Intelligence: 189
Wisdom: 23
Attribute points: 0
-
[SYSTEM NOTES]
Status Effect: [You can use any item, skill and buffs that belong to any class.]
‐
[FUSION]
Fusion Tier: I (You can temporarily fuse with anything between level 1 - 100 for Fusion Points ranging from 5 to 1,000)
Fusion Acquired: [Night and Day dagger, lv.1], [Fire Tome Lv.1], [Blessing of Strength], [Elite Wolf Lv.45], [Named Monster White Steel (Dungeon Boss) Lv.50]
Common Traits: [Predator's Instinct/P], [Crimson Hunger/P], [Pack Memory/P], [Steel Rend/A], [Cleave/A], [Knowledge of Fire/A]
Unique Traits: [Alpha Sovereignty/P], [Feral Restoration/P], [Instincts Lock/P], [Ego Echo/P], [Stealth/A], [White Crown/A/I]
NOTE: When you lose all Fusion Points and your level returns to 0, you will lose all Acquired Fusion and Traits.
Lucien stared at the last piece of information first. He was confused—because he had actually lost all his Fusion Points, and yet here he was…
Though he'd returned to –1, what did that have to do with anything?
He shrugged, feeling like a cheat.
'Maybe the game's system has fallen for me. Heheee.'
Of course, such a thing was absurd and impossible. Lucien examined his profile interface, feeling satisfied and proud of himself. He was getting stronger—his stats had improved dramatically too.
'For now, I definitely don't want to lose any levels or fusions.'
He opened his hand, manifesting the pale wood from the Elite Palebranch Wight he'd killed. It had been the only Elite monster to appear; the rest he'd battled were all normal rank.
He sighed and fused with it.
[You have fused with material Pale wood for 600 Fusion Points]
[You have acquired Trait: Pale Skin (Rare - Passive): Your skin has become paler, stronger and has developed slight resistance to burn damage and fire-type attacks.]