Zyrus leisurely drank his last bottle of fruit juice and looked at his status window.

Status:

[Name: Zyrus Wymar]

[Race: Human]

[Class: None]

[Level: 3]

Exp: 2380/3375

[Title: None]

[Achievement: First Blood in tutorial, Goblin Slayer, First step of the Spearman…]

[Talent: None]

[Strength: 9]

[Agility: 9]

[Vitality: 8]

[Intelligence: 9]

[SP: 12]

HP: 80

Crit rate: 10%

Crit damage: 100%

[Spear Sweep] [Spear Slash] [Spear Thrust]

[Basic Spear]

ATK: 30

[Basic Armor]

DEF: 50

Currency: 38C

[Goblin’s Blood essence x1]

He didn’t get enough Exp to level up, but his SP had increased by a lot. Just with that he could be as strong as a lv 5 human.

‘Well, it only works for now.’

When one started getting class and race-related quests on level thresholds, stats were no longer the main reward for leveling up.

It was quite a complicated process. The higher your level is, the more difficult it would be to level up. If that wasn’t frustrating enough, the value of stats got lower and lower as you leveled up.

Although they were still important, they only improved one’s overall power by a decimal level!

At that point, everyone was focused on their skills and bloodline abilities.

‘It's too early to think about that.’

Zyrus knew that it would take a long time for him to recover. Instead of worrying about the uncertain future, he might as well enjoy this feeling of rapid improvement. He finished his remaining ration and touched the skill window.

In the next second, he saw another prompt instead of the information about his skills.

[You have acquired three skills related to the weapon “Spear”]

[Would you like to merge them?]

Yes/No

He didn’t hesitate and clicked “Yes”. By doing this, his three skills would be combined into one. It would be much easier to use and level them up this way.

In terms of cooldowns and freedom of movement, a weapon specific skill was much better than three general ones.

Besides, he was sure that he’d get something good. The three skills were a part of an achievement after all.

[Merging successful!]

[You have acquired the skill, “Basics of Sojutsu”]

‘This is great.’ Zyrus clenched his fist as he looked at the skill description.

[Basics of Sojutsu (D-): You have started to learn about the art of spearmanship. Learn more about the basics of Sojutsu to further upgrade the skill.]

[Note: This skill can only be used when using ‘Spear’ as a weapon]

Effects: ATK + 20, Crit rate +5%, Crit damage: +10%

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CD: None

‘On top of being a D rank skill, it’s a passive one with Crit stats as well!’ Zyrus stood there with a foolish grin on his face.

For the first time since his regression, he was truly happy. He had been stressed for a very.. very.. long time. Only he knew how hard it was to advance with a lacking foundation. Was a D rank skill strong? Of course not. Forget a D ranked one, he even disdained using the A ranked skills in his prime.

But that was only relative. A D rank skill for a lv 5 player might be more suitable than an A ranked one. There were cases where players reached the sky with one step, but Zyrus knew that it wasn't his path. Be it his previous life or this time around, Zyrus wanted to progress step by step. Only this way could he fully control his strength.

‘It’s been a while,’ He stood there amidst the glowing mushrooms and looked at the starry sky with a bittersweet smile, recalling the phrase his comrade used to say,

'Although it's fake, it's beautiful all the same.'

Only after an hour had passed did he hear a cheerful shout, pulling him out from the sea of memories.

“Woohooo! I Freacking did ittt!” Lauren screamed as she jumped on Kyle,

“C-Calm down will you!” Kyle spoke with red cheeks.

Zyrus looked at the blushing Kyle who was patting Lauren’s head and thought,

‘I guess it’s time to make new memories..’

…

The next day,

“Have you guys remembered what I’ve told you so far?” Zyrus asked while cutting branches on his way.

The sun had just risen in front of them as they moved towards their destination.

“Yes, we’re going to a boss area where we might find other humans.”

“And we should be careful of the snakes; they can kill us in one strike.”

Kyle and Lauren spoke one after another.

“And what about the snake’s characteristics?” Zyrus asked like a teacher.

“They are called ‘Keliodus serpents’, they are rainbow colored and extremely poisonous,” Kyle answered as he swung his sword on the way.

“I’ll attack them and retreat when my cooldown starts. At that time Kyle would protect me.”

Zyrus hummed in response and added,

“Be cautious. This will be your first life-and-death battle. They are all at level 5, and don’t forget they are considered as a boss monster when they are in a group. In a way, we might be fighting two boss monsters.”

“We will.” they replied in tandem.

Keliodus serpents had high Attack and low Defense. They were polar opposites of the stone golems.

Zyrus made them fight against the golems for this exact reason.

As long as they could kill the snakes first, everything would work out.

“By the way, do we get drop items since it’s a game-like world?” Lauren asked while fiddling with her daggers.

She had nothing to do on the way as her weapon wasn't suitable for clearing the way. Apart from throwing her daggers at poor trees on the way, she had asked a lot of questions about the sanctuary, but Zyrus only answered one-tenth of them. Even then, it was a lot of precious knowledge.

“It does, but I’ll be taking all of them.” Zyrus shrugged as he looked at them.

Kyle and Lauren nodded without hesitation. They weren’t in an equal relationship to begin with. In fact, Zyrus was treating them much better than they’d initially thought.

As if aware of what they were thinking about, Zyrus reminded them in a firm tone,

“Keep in mind what I told you when we made the deal. When I order you to do something, you’ll do that. Without any questions”

They didn’t reply immediately, but they acknowledged that nonetheless.

Kyle had an inkling about what their first order would be, but he didn’t say anything about it. He guessed from the subtle hints Zyrus gave along the way that the snakes wouldn’t be their only opponents.

He gripped his sword with determination and walked beside Lauren. He didn't know anything about fighting against monsters, but when it came to dealing with humans, there were few who could be his match.

A couple of hours later, they finally arrived at their destination.

There was a serene lake in front of them. Small islands were scattered on the periphery of the lake, enough for a dozen people to stand upon.

Their placement might seem natural but only those who are proficient in arrays would discover the true secret behind this place. Zyrus naturally didn't know anything about arrays, but thanks to his past memories he knew enough to take advantage of the situation.

“It’s really big!” Lauren exclaimed as she looked at the other end of the lake. The towering trees they had passed by were now like blades of grass on the other side.

“Yeah, It’s quite large for something that's called Celestia’s cradle.”

Zyrus wasn’t as enthusiastic as the duo he was thinking about a different matter. On the other end of the shore was a different tutorial area. He knew that there were 4 or 5 areas that shared this lake.

And that meant that he had only one chance to get the loot. If it was something common then he could invade other camps and farm it there, but this boss could only be encountered once in the tutorial. Even if he knew about the other Celestia's cradle, there was no way he could travel across dozens of tutorial areas within a week.

‘I hope the final boss drops a poisonous essence,’

It was one of the irreplaceable items for him if he wanted to become a monster.

‘Nothing I can do. Item drops depend on luck after all.’

Zyrus strolled towards the lake and breathed in the moist air. It would have been an amazing place to relax if not for the horrors that lay beneath the calm surface. He stopped about a dozen meters away and took out his spear.

Kyle and Lauren saw that he was waiting for them and they too hurried after him.

“Can you sense anything different here?” Zyrus spoke as he pointed at the glass like water.

Kyle and Lauren observed for a while, but they could only shake their heads in the end.

“The scene in front of us is a mirage. We’ll be sent to the real ‘Celestia’s cradle’ after we walk ahead.”

“Mirage?” Kyle questioned with furrowed brows. It wasn't like he didn't know about mirage, but the scene in front of him didn't seem right.

“Indeed. As I said, this is a boss monster area that is shared among many tutorial zones.”

Zyrus walked ahead while the two followed his steps.

When they were about to reach the shore, they saw the system message pop up in the air.

[You have reached Celestia’s cradle]

[Would you like to proceed further?]

[Yes/No]

[Warning: Boss area ahead! Recommended level: 5. It is advised to form a party before entering]

The screen was saffron in color unlike the previous dull gray.

“How do we form a party?”

“No need for that. We’ll just go in.” Zyrus replied as he touched ‘Yes’

Kyle and Lauren did the same and they too disappeared after Zyrus.

When they opened their eyes again, they were astounded by what they saw.

They were standing on one of the islands in the middle of the lake, but that was the least of their worries.

They saw a group of ten people surrounded by a tide of snakes.

Seven colored and about a meter long Keliodus serpents were slithering around the party like oil on water.

“He sure is fast,” Zyrus snorted as he looked at the party leader.

A man no older than him was fighting against the group of Keliodus serpents. Despite his average appearance, he looked like a mighty warrior as he held the shield with both of his hands.

He was wearing a plate armor which made him shine like a watchtower. Although it looked cool, he was in deep trouble for that very same armor.

“That looks great.” Kyle clicked his tongue as he looked at the shining knight.

“Unfortunately for him, the snakes are thinking the same thing,” Zyrus looked ahead with a gloating expression.

He knew who that man was. He was quite a well-known figure in his previous life.

The divine shield, ‘Hajin Choi’.

“Um.. shouldn’t we focus on that side?” Lauren squeaked as she pointed behind them.

“There should be about ten of them right?” Zyrus spoke without looking back.

“How did you know?” Kyle asked in a curious tone.

“It’s simple. There are 3-4 snakes per person in each wave. Once we kill all of them, the big guy will show up”

He then looked at them and smiled, a smile that made them shiver under the bright sun.

“Try to survive until then.” Zyrus encouraged the nervous duo and charged towards the crawling serpents.