Ashley

I have no idea what time it is when I wake up, but when I do, I find that it’s at the very least day time. Even if it’s still raining hard.

Just how long is it going to rain for anyways?

I stare up at the sky for a few seconds before shaking my head and climbing to my feet. Then I open my Skill Tree and look at the new skills I got over the course of my hunt last night.

{Poisonous Bite – Coats the user’s teeth with poison.}

{Incorrigible Appetite – Allows the user to eat anything, regardless of whether it would normally be edible or not for their species.}

{Enhanced Hearing – Your sense of hearing will be more acute.}

{Dark Vision – Allows the user to see in darker lights.}

{Sonic Screech – Allows the user to let out a high pitch screech that will disorient enemies.}

{Shadow Step – Allows the user to teleport to a location covered by their own shadow.}

Overall, I’d say I got a pretty good lineup of skills. With all of them except the first being genuinely useful.

Most are also passive skills that are always active as well. Even the Poisonous Bite skill is passive.

Fortunately I don’t taste the poison in my mouth, otherwise that might’ve turned out rather unpleasant. I might even have had to get rid of the Skill Tree in question.

There were also plenty of monsters in the area that I was able to kill and get a root skill from. Spiders, zombies, some sort of large bat, some panthers, and even a single shadow panther. Of which I got that last skill from.

The shadow panther was also a higher level than the other monsters. Probably some sort of rare monster, or maybe an elite or something like that.

I’ve heard there are some rarer monsters out there.

In fact, there are even monsters that are known as Unique Boss Monsters. Monsters that are one of a kind and never appear again.

They also are always the boss of a Domain.

Well, anyways, I stretch a little before walking over to the edge of my Spire. Of my new home. And when I look down at the park, I find myself frowning a little. Because there aren’t many monsters left down there for me to hunt.

What bothers me more though is that there are quite the number of people just sitting there at the entrance of my Spire. As if they’re all waiting for me to come out.

Some people are even camping there with cameras.

Actual cameras.

I glance past the park to find the lights shining in the buildings, showing that a lot of them have likely been cleared of monsters. Meaning that the world will probably go back to running semi-normally within a couple days. With the exception of the monsters, System Events, and any visitors who are invited here.

Okay, to be more accurate, people will start working again most likely, and things like the internet and TV will be back up and running. And politics will probably continue.

I glance down at the cameramen on the ground.

Hmm. Maybe a bit earlier than that.

Well, whatever.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

These monsters aren’t the only ones I can deal with to level up. In fact, they’re probably the worse option, considering the other options I have.

There’s the option to go into a Gate, and the option to enter a System Event.

I need to do it once a week anyways. Plus I’d like to start getting Skill Points again.

And more importantly, it’ll help me avoid the people down below. Because the best way to deal with problems like them is to act like they don’t exist.

I nod my head once in affirmation of that thought before selecting the icon for the System Hub. An icon that stayed on my interface even after returning to Val. Then I navigate to the Successor Hub and enter it, leading to a flash of light before I find myself inside of the hub.

Alright. Time to see what sort of System Events there are.

I navigate to the Solo Events section, only to find it separated into six different sections. Each labeled with a Class ranging from E through A, along with S.

Not sure why S is randomly higher than A, but whatever. It for some reason feels right, so I’m not gonna question it.

Of the six sections, all of them are grayed out with the exception of Class E.

Okay then. Right. So I should probably do some research into these Class things before I actually join an event.

So with that thought in mind, I go ahead and leave the Solo Events tab and enter the Forums tab instead. Then I proceed to do some more research.

And fortunately for me, the research doesn’t take long at all.

Class Requirements Introduction

Class E – The Initialization Class. It's maximum level is level 175.

Class D – Users must at least be level 100, must have won first place in at least ten Class E System Events, and must pass the Class D trial. It's maximum level is level 375.

Class C – Users must at least be level 250, must have won first place in at least 25 Class D System Events, and must pass the Class C trial. It's maximum level is level 750.

Class B – Users must at least be level 500, must have won first place in at least 50 Class C System Events and have a win/loss ratio of at least two wins for every three losses, and must pass the Class B trial. It's maximum level is level 1750.

Class A – Users must at least be level 1000, must have won first place in at least 100 Class B System Events and have a win/loss ratio of at least one win for every loss, and must pass the Class A trial. It's maximum level is level 2500.

Class S – Users must at least be level 2500, must have won first place in at least 250 Class A System Events and have a win/loss ratio of at least nine wins for every loss, and must pass the Class S trial.

So it’s a rather simple system. Albeit somewhat hard to rank up at first glance.

And as for the benefits of ranking up? There are quite a few including but not limited to getting a special skill unique to yourself with every rank-up, getting access to the higher ranked System Events which will have better rewards and stronger opponents, access to more System Menus, and an increase to your level cap. Which is apparently a thing.

The level cap is always halfway from the required level to reach the Class above you to the required level of the Class two Classes above you. So the level cap for Class E is level 250 minus level 100 divided by two plus 100, equaling 175. Meanwhile the level cap for Class D is level 375.

Class S doesn’t have a level cap though. And Class A’s level cap is the required level of Class S exactly.

On another note, there are apparently rewards for winning streaks in the System Events. So that’s nice.

Also, while Domains on Val count as System Events for our weekly requirements, they don’t count as System Events for the win-streak and ranking system. So these are only for System Events in the System Hub. Or special System Events that might appear on our planet once in a while.

Overall, it’s a rather annoying system. Simply because it means I have to fight in these System Events to get past my level cap. And I’m not really a fan of interacting with others. Which will apparently be more common than I had thought, even in the Solo Events.

I slump a little at that before sighing and moving to the Solo Events tab once more. Then I go ahead and select Class E.

Well, at the very least, this will let me test if killing someone in a System Event – which is a permanent death unlike the tutorial, unless someone has an incredibly expensive Life Coupon – will let me take their Skill Tree. And if it does, then I should be able to get some nice Skill Trees from the System Events. Better ones than the monsters on Val give, considering that these Skill Trees will actually be meant for use by people.

The tab opens up to a very long list of System Events. Each of which have a video showing the event’s stage, a list of how many participants are currently signed up for the event and how many there will be total when it fills up, a description of the event, how many winners there will be, each of whom get first place, and, of course, the name of the event. Not in that order.

Also, at the end of each description is a list of rules or requirements for the event.

Which includes how long the event is expected to run.

Most of them seem to last about half an hour to an hour. But I do see a few that last upwards of an entire day.

Well, time to search for an event to try.