Oblivious to his impending doom, Mordred Blackwood finished his solo act and drifted off to sleep. The forced logout debuff hadn't lifted, so no dice on logging back in. He missed his last shot at putting Ares down.
Meanwhile, Ares stood over a pile of dead level 19 monsters, watching them fade away, then glanced at his Gold Bone Sword, deep in thought.
He noticed [Talent 2] was finally unlockable, and only cost a measly 10 Evolution Points.
Points weren't a problem. He smashed that unlock button.
His panel shimmered, updating.
[Name: Ares]
[Race: Human]
[Status: Undead Skeleton]
[Master: Necromancer Mordred]
Attributes:
[Level: 5]
[Attack: 1121]
[Strength: 5+1+5]
[Defense: 5]
[Agility: 5]
[Magic: 5]
[HP: ∞]
Body Evolution:
[Gold Bone Sword: Level 5, Next Level: 10,000 Evolution Points]
[Bone Right Arm: Level 2, Next Level: 10 Evolution Points]
[Bone Left Arm: Unlocks at Bone Right Arm Level 5, Gold Bone Sword Level 6]
[Bone Right Leg: Unlocks at Bone Right Arm Level 5, Gold Bone Sword Level 6]
[Bone Left Leg: Locked]
[Bone Skull: Locked]
[Bone Spine: Locked]
Traits:
Undead Summon;
Initial Duration: 10 minutes [Killing a target absorbs life force, extending duration];
[Talent 1: Infinite Evolution (UR)]
[Infinite Evolution: Leveling efficiency reduced by 99.99%, gain Evolution Points per kill. Enhance strength.]
[Talent 2: Invincible (GR)]
[Invincible: Personal strength boosted by 2 to the power of level.]
He now had a "Body Evolution" section. Interesting.
Upgrading his [Bone Right Arm] had juiced his [Strength].
The red [+1+5] showed the bonus from his two upgrades, a direct 1:1 conversion to his stats.
Ares eyed the locked body parts. He had a theory.
They probably matched up with his other, currently wimpy, stats.
He'd figure it out when he unlocked them.
His gaze dropped to the [Invincible] talent, confusion flickering in his bony sockets.
"2 to the power of level"? What in the underworld did that even mean?
Sadly, no helpful pop-ups or explanations appeared.
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He figured it was a dud and filed it under "useless."
With his boosted strength, swinging the Gold Bone Sword felt like a feather, making mincemeat of level 15 monsters.
Then he one-shot a level 16 monster.
Then 17, 18, all the way to 19.
One-shot every time.
That wasn't right. Level 15 and up should have taken at least two swings!
Now, he wasn't just one-shotting single level 19 monsters.
He was obliterating entire groups!
He didn't even need to touch them. A swing of his sword within range…
And *WHOOSH* - a giant crescent-shaped energy wave sliced through the air.
Instant carnage.
It didn't even stop after wiping out the monsters. It kept going until it smacked into something solid, using up all its juice.
It ignored distance entirely.
"Something's wonky…"
Ares thought back over his recent upgrades, his gaze locking onto [Talent 2].
It had to be that [Invincible] thingy!
Ares didn't need a lab coat and a microscope to figure that out.
But he still didn't get the whole "2 to the power of level" mumbo jumbo. The level 10 chumps were too weak to test it on.
"Well, time to farm some levels."
Ares shrugged and went back to work, his Gold Bone Sword a blur.
Evolution Points, once a precious trickle, now poured in like a flood.
Even his experience bar was actually moving.
Still slow, but noticeable.
10,000 Evolution Points for Level 6? Child's play. He hit that in an hour.
With points to spare, he maxed his [Bone Right Arm] to Level 5.
He instantly unlocked the flashing [Bone Left Arm] and [Bone Right Leg], dumping the rest of his points into them.
Both hit Level 3.
His panel updated, showing some serious gains.
[Name: Ares]
[Race: Human]
[Status: Undead Skeleton]
[Master: Necromancer Mordred]
Attributes:
[Level: 5]
[Attack: 1121+10000]
[Strength: 121+1016]
[Defense: 5]
[Agility: 5+16]
[Magic: 5]
[HP: ∞]
Body Evolution:
[Gold Bone Sword: Level 6, Next Level: 100,000 Evolution Points]
[Gold Bone Right Arm: Level 5, Next Level: 10,000 Evolution Points]
[Bone Left Arm: Level 3, Next Level: 100 Evolution Points]
[Bone Right Leg: Level 3, Next Level: 100 Evolution Points]
[Bone Left Leg: Unlocks at Gold Bone Sword Level 7, Gold Bone Right Arm Level 6, Bone Left Arm Level 5, Bone Right Leg Level 5]
[Bone Skull: Unlocks at Gold Bone Sword Level 7, Gold Bone Right Arm Level 6, Bone Left Arm Level 5, Bone Right Leg Level 5]
[Bone Spine: Locked]
Traits:
Undead Summon;
Initial Duration: 10 minutes [Killing a target absorbs life force, extending duration];
[Talent 1: Infinite Evolution (UR)]
[Infinite Evolution: Leveling efficiency reduced by 99.99%, gain Evolution Points per kill. Enhance strength.]
[Talent 2: Invincible (GR)]
[Invincible: Personal strength boosted by 2 to the power of level.]
Ares sat in the desolate wasteland, waiting for respawns.
He was mowing down monsters faster than they could respawn.
His arms boosted [Strength].
His right leg boosted [Agility].
His left leg probably did the same.
That +16 agility wasn't a joke.
He'd gone from a slow, clackety walk to a clackety *run*.
The upgrade costs were getting out of hand, but the stat boosts were insane. And getting more insane with each level.
His attack was through the roof.
Too bad he couldn't get into the level 20 zone yet.
Ares glanced at his almost-full experience bar, a bony grin spreading across his face.
He had a feeling that at level 6, that stupid barrier would be toast.