Ares one-shotted the spider.
5 Evolution Points acquired.
He'd figured out the Evolution Point formula. Starting at level 10, every 5 levels added 1 point to the reward.
Thank goodness for that, or he'd be grinding until the end of time.
Now that he understood his stats, Ares focused on farming Evolution Points and experience.
Sadly, he was still bound to Mordred. He only got a tenth of the experience from each kill, further crippled by his talent, barely inching to level 6. His experience bar was practically frozen.
He probably couldn't enter the level 30+ zones without leveling up.
But at this glacial pace, Mordred would hit level 20 before he even dinged 7!
Ares's eye sockets flickered with green flames, occasionally flashing crimson.
He had to kill Mordred.
The restrictions were crippling.
But how? Players didn't really die in this game…
When would that loathsome Necromancer show his face again?
Ares's mind raced, but his sword arm didn't stop. He carved a path of destruction through the monster hordes.
He didn't discriminate. He killed everything in sight, moving on as monsters respawned, circling back to repeat the process.
He didn't tire. He didn't stop.
But the Evolution Point cost for unlocking his [Bone Left Leg] and [Bone Skull] was insane. 202,000 points. It took ten solid hours of grinding.
He'd lost count of how many monsters he'd slain. His experience bar had barely budged, maybe 10%.
His experience gain was already reduced by 99.99%, and he had to share the remaining 0.01% with Mordred.
Ares decided that the moment Mordred logged in, freedom was his top priority.
As for his summon duration…
Ares glanced at the timer. Thousands of hours. He could AFK for months.
No time to waste. He spent all his Evolution Points.
Golden light flashed and shimmered. When it subsided, Ares looked at his gleaming gold sword, arms, and right leg. He felt… mismatched. Like a Frankensteinian creation.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
His left leg and skull were flashing on his panel. He unlocked them, dumping the remaining points in.
Both shot up to Level 5!
Excellent. Except for his spine and ribs, he was all gold, baby.
His panel updated.
[Name: Ares]
[Race: Human]
[Status: Undead Skeleton]
[Master: Necromancer Mordred]
Attributes:
[Level: 6]
[Attack: 2221]
[Strength: 3437]
[Defense: 5]
[Agility: 2337]
[Magic: 1121]
[Intelligence: 5]
[HP: ∞]
[Backpack: 26/10000 slots used]
Body Evolution:
[Gold Bone Sword: Level 7, Next Level: 1,000,000 Evolution Points]
[Gold Bone Right Arm: Level 7, Next Level: 1,000,000 Evolution Points]
[Gold Bone Left Arm: Level 6, Next Level: 100,000 Evolution Points]
[Gold Bone Right Leg: Level 6, Next Level: 100,000 Evolution Points]
[Gold Bone Left Leg: Level 5, Next Level: 10,000 Evolution Points]
[Gold Bone Skull: Level 5, Next Level: 10,000 Evolution Points]
[Bone Spine: Unlocks at Gold Bone Sword Level 8, Gold Bone Right Arm Level 7, Gold Bone Left Arm Level 6, Gold Bone Right Leg Level 6, Gold Bone Left Leg Level 5, Gold Bone Skull Level 5]
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 stared at the status bars next to his name.
Three bars.
Top: Gold experience bar, showing [9.2%].
Middle: Red health bar, showing [∞].
Bottom: Blue mana bar, showing [1121].
Ares tapped his finger bones against his thigh bone, pondering the numbers.
So, the skull boosted [Magic].
The spine probably boosted [Defense], which was still stuck at its base value.
As for [Intelligence], which made him think clearer and faster, that seemed to come only from equipment. He hadn't found a single piece of gear or material that boosted it, despite all the monsters he'd killed.
He'd have to table that for now.
He'd look for better gear later.
Thinking about gear made him almost miss Mordred. Almost.
It had been nearly twelve hours, hadn't it?
Why wasn't he back yet?
Log in already and set him free!
Crimson and green flames flickered in Ares's sockets, waves of killing intent rising and falling.
Suddenly, a familiar summoning tugged at him.
Ares looked up. It was coming from the spot where Mordred had logged off.
He was back!
Ares didn't hesitate. He practically leaped with joy, sprinting towards the summoning point.
The game map was huge. It took a normal player days to fully explore a single zone.
Even traveling in a straight line took hours.
Most players were low level, with weak gear and low [Agility].
But Ares? His [Agility] was a monstrous 2237.
He can cross from the level 20 zone, through the level 10 zone, and then return to the starting area—all of this can be accomplished in just ten minutes.
Not a long trip for him, but Mordred had no idea Ares could move that fast.
He logged in and noticed his level had jumped.
From 6 all the way to 14!
Before he could celebrate, he realized his mutant skeleton was gone!
Panic set in. Had it despawned because its timer ran out?
But its timer was the longest of all his summons.
Mordred frantically opened his minimap.
It had a summon tracking feature. He scrolled around, finally locating Ares.
His face turned green.
His precious skeleton was in the level 20 zone!
"How the hell did it get there? Shouldn't it be in the summoning dimension when I'm offline?"
Mordred was baffled, but he wasn't going anywhere near that zone.
He was level 14, but all he had was his starter gear and his staff.
Necromancers were squishy. He'd get ripped to shreds in the level 10 zone, let alone level 20!
Mordred racked his brains for a solution, then noticed his precious skeleton was speeding towards him.
Moving ridiculously fast, like there were no obstacles in its path.