n

n

nKrow tucked in to avoid debris, then flipped and landed on the herb field.

nThe tail swung again, this time for him.

nKrow triggered double-jump.

nThe length of solid muscle slammed into the field, sank, crushing herbs, stones, and the very ground under it.

n

"You better hope that doesn't come out of my pay.

"

nHsraaahhhsssaaasss!

n

"No idea what you mean.

" Krow aimed at the eye again.

"Hiss this.

"

nThe serpent dodged, lunged.

nUgh.

nHe glanced behind, then leaped backward as he shot. Darkspear after darkspear.

nCritical Hit! Critical Hit!

nHsrraaaahh!

nKrow misjudged the distance, his feet skipping past the ledge he'd aimed for. Tumbled over. His eyes widened as the serpent lunged again.

nToo close for the revolver to maneuver. Coils whipped around him. He bound upward, using the snake's body as jumping point.

nIt would not let him go that easily. Fangs came for him.

n-30% HP.

nMajor Poison.

nKrow triggered doublejump, levered the skill to whip a leg at the snake's head.

nThe kick took the possessed serpent by surprise.

nYou have achieved 50 Points of Dexterity!

nThe subclass Ac…

nHe ignored the notices.

nA flick of a hand, the revolver disappeared into Inventory. He replaced the weapon with the butcher's cleaver.

nKrow landed on the pile of coils, leaped to trigger doublejump again, and buried the butcher's cleaver in the second eye as far as it could go. Critical hit.

nHe used the cleaver as a lever to flip upward.

nHsraaaaaaaahhssss!

nHe pulled the cleaver out, covered in gore, put a hand on the serpent's head. Too small to land on, but enough to gain the stability to shove the cleaver into the other eye.

nHsrrrrgh…

nThe snake shuddered, head lowering to rest on its coils.

nKrow straddled the neck and started shooting.

nHss—yaaahhhh…!

nA cloud of…something rose from the carcass, the hiss changing mid-sound to something like a scream before dispersing in the wind.

nYou have defeated your opponent in battle!

nYou've gained two (2) Silver Serpens from a monster!

nYou've gained twenty (20) Gold Drax from winning a Single Combat Challenge with an opponent ranked at least 20 levels higher than you!

nIlas Krow is the first player to win a Single Combat Challenge with an opponent ranked at least 20 levels higher! Do you want to publish this achievement?

n

"No.

"

nHe was stunned as the reports continued.

nYou've gained the Underdog Might Badge from winning a Single Combat Challenge with an opponent ranked at least 5 levels higher than you!

nYou've gained the Goliath's Bane Badge from winning a Single Combat Challenge with an opponent ranked at least 10 levels higher than you!

nYou've gained the Rival to Heracles Badge from winning a Single Combat Challenge with an opponent ranked at least 20 levels higher than you!

nYou have gained one (1) level to achieve Lvl 12!

nAnd he was just lamenting that his last life never had a second badge...

nKrow laughed, propped himself against the large serpent, resting.

nYou've gained a Silverstripe Wavy Spine from a monster!

nThat brought his collection of monster bones to four. He really should have them made into proper Ghost Stones for his Ghostcaller subclass. He kept forgetting.

nHe placed the bone in the inventory and took out potions to recover. Over half his HP had been sliced off, and was still ticking lower with the Major Poison debuff.

nIf he hadn't surmounted the half-century mark for DEX earlier, the fight would've been more difficult.

nHe sighed, opened his Profile.

n*

nName: Ilas Krow

nLevel: 12 (2%)

nRace: Draculkar

nHP: 100%

nMP: 100%

nMagicAptitude: 11

nElement: Shadow

nBattleclass: Sharpshooter: (Mark Critical @ 11%)(Dual Wield @ 0%)

nCrafterclass: Enchanter ~Skills~

nSubclasses:

nScout First Apprentice: (Eyes of an Eagle @ 33%)

nButcher Third Wright: (Knife Handling @ 100%) (Meat-carving @ 55%)

nTinkerer ::|Expand|::

nAcrobat Third Wright: (Rope Trickster @ 100%)(Eight-armed Juggling @ 50%)

nTracker First Apprentice: (Target Marking @ 100%)

nGhostcaller Second Apprentice

nTalents ::|Expand|::

nForester First Apprentice: (Basic Skills: |Stalk||Hunt||Trap||Harvest|)(Fleet of Foot @ 32%)(Shaded by Boughs @ 5%)

nMain Weapon: Starfall Revolver Lvl 9

/50 Unique Quality: A-

nStat Points: 5

nBadges: ButchererUnderdog MightGoliath's BaneRival to Heracles

n*

nFifty points of Dexterity boosted his Acrobat to Third Wright and added a skill called Dual Wield to his Sharpshooter.

nDual-wielded revolvers?

nA grin of anticipation grew wide across his face.

nIt sounded too complicated, really. But he still wanted to start practicing as soon as possible!

nAbout to put all his points in VIT as he generally did, he noted that STR was 47.

nSTR was faster to gain points than VIT, but…

nHe really wanted to see what he got from 50 points of STR.

nHe hesitated, then shook his head.

nAlright then! Make up for the VIT points later!

nYou have achieved 50 Points of Strength!

nThe skill Rifle-wielding has been added to your Sharpshooter Class due to your increase in Strength!

nKrow lifted his brows, nonplussed.

nWasn't the rifle a basic weapon for the Sharpshooter class?

nWhy would he need 50 STR to use one?

nUnless the initial stat distribution and the rate of gain for the different stats of each player changed depending on what weapon they chose? Sure, but still didn't explain that much.

nPossibly to prevent players from changing weapon types like they changed their clothes.

nTo encourage Specialization.

nWas it that important?

nThere were different basic weapons within each battleclass, after all. If the developers thought people wouldn't start mastering all the weapons available to them, they didn't know gamers.

nIf they were subtly pushing for specialization…

nKrow tapped fingers against the holster of his gun.

nShould he max out the levels of the Starfall Revolver before starting to level a rifle?

nThat would be difficult.

nHe'd need the rifle long before he achieved that. Considering the situations where he required a rifle even now, he should start leveling one soon.

n

"Hello there!

"

nKrow looked up. A couple of the villagers were waving at him from an upper field.

nHe glanced around, winced.

nThis field of herbs was a lost cause.

n

"Are you alright?

"

nKrow straightened, waved back.

"I'm fine!

"

nHe closed his Profile.

nA draculkar vaulted the stone stile and bounded down the steps.

nAn adult, with a braided black beard.

"Are you certain you're alright? It sounded like a difficult fight. The twins came running, saying you were fighting a Silverstripe.

"

nKrow glanced at the upper field. He'd taken a few quests from the twelve-year old twins who kept a small goldencoat goat herd. He smiled at the two pale faces looking back.

nAh, they were staring at the large snake.

nHe turned back to the draculkar, who was now looking around in dismay.

n