As Ares suspected, the Gold Bone Sword was soulbound to him.

He flipped to the second tab.

Special Equipment Slots.

[Backpack], [Mount], [Pet].

[Backpack] was lit up. The other two were grayed out, marked "Locked."

He checked the unlock conditions. [Pet] required level 20.

[Mount] needed a whopping level 50.

Ares wanted to roll his eye sockets. He settled for flickering his green flames.

His experience gain was abysmal. Level 20 would take forever, 50 was a pipe dream.

He dismissed the thought and clicked on the glowing [Backpack] icon.

Before he could even check it out…

*WHOOSH*

The pile of loot in his hands vanished, sucked into the backpack.

The items organized themselves neatly, each type taking up a single slot, stacking together.

He had 13 of those white Beginner Swords.

And his backpack had… 10,000 slots!

And that was just white quality.

Ares knew, instinctively, that his backpack was different. Not like other players'.

But he'd need to find another player to confirm.

Another weird thing: his backpack could be upgraded.

The materials? Equipment.

Melting down equipment converted it into [Refinement Stones], based on quality.

Ares didn't hesitate. He melted down all the spare gear.

Twenty-seven pieces of white trash, minus the helmet he'd equipped, turned into 26 [Refinement Stones].

Neatly stacked in a single slot.

Ares clicked on it. Each slot held up to 100 stones.

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Whoa.

This thing was massive!

Ares did the math. His backpack could hold a million items!

10,000 different types!

Did the game even *have* 10,000 different items?

Ares's mind wandered, then he glanced at the empty Rune and Skill tabs, dismissing them for now. He stood up and looked ahead.

Respawn time!

Ares charged forward, his Gold Bone Sword a blur, one-shotting everything in his path.

He poured the Evolution Points into his left arm and right leg, maxing them both to Level 5 in under an hour.

His right arm hit Level 6.

And, most importantly, he leveled up!

[Name: Ares]

[Race: Human]

[Status: Undead Skeleton]

[Master: Necromancer Mordred]

Attributes:

[Level: 6]

[Attack: 1221]

[Strength: 1237+100+1000 (2337)]

[Defense: 5]

[Agility: 121+1000 (1121)]

[Magic: 5]

[Intelligence: 5]

[HP: ∞]

[Backpack: 26/10000 slots available]

Body Evolution:

[Gold Bone Sword: Level 6, Next Level: 100,000 Evolution Points]

[Gold Bone Right Arm: Level 6, Next Level: 100,000 Evolution Points]

[Bone Left Arm: Level 5, Next Level: 1000 Evolution Points]

[Bone Right Leg: Level 5, Next Level: 1000 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 closed his panel with a satisfied clack and walked towards the barrier.

This time, he passed through without resistance.

Level 20 zone, here he comes.

Ares swung his sword.

One swing, a swathe of dead spiders.

He continued onward. His boosted agility made him significantly faster, quickly reaching the level 30 zone.

Another barrier. Seriously?

Level 30 zone, just out of reach.

Ares sighed. Leveling up was the only way.

He turned to the nearest cluster of Level 29 [Venomous Spiders].

Level 10 zone: +200 HP per level.

Level 20 zone: +1000 HP per level.

These level 29 spiders had a hefty 11,100 HP each.

Not messing around.

Ares's [Attack] was 1221. He'd need 10 hits to kill one.

But his [Strength] was a solid 2337. Did that factor into his damage?

Time to experiment.

Ares unleashed a full-power swing at the group of [Venomous Spiders].

*SWISH*

Seven spiders instantly vaporized.

The eighth had a sliver of health left.

Ares's eye sockets flared.

That much damage?

He quickly checked the spider's stats.

[Normal Monster: Venomous Spider]

[Level: 29]

[HP: 9160/11100]

[Attack: 30, 2-second interval]

[Additional Attack: Spider Venom]

[Poison Effect: -5 HP per second for 3 seconds, stacks up to 5 times]

The enraged spider spat venom at Ares.

Ares didn't even flinch, his mind racing, crunching numbers.

8 spiders, 7 dead, 1 barely alive. The last spider had 9160 HP left. That meant his attack had dealt 79,640 damage!

Over 65 times his base attack!

No, wait.

His base attack was 1221, but his [Strength] wasn't just for decoration. It had to be boosting his damage.

But by how much?

With the +5 [Intelligence] from his helmet, Ares's mind was sharper, calculations faster.

He quickly found the answer.

1%!

[Strength] added 1% to his attack!

2337 [Strength] meant +23.37 attack.

So…

His attack had been amplified 64 times!

Why 64?

He remembered [Talent 2: Invincible].

[Personal strength boosted by 2 to the power of level.]

2 to the power of his level…

He was level 6…

2 to the power of 6…

It clicked.