Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

429 Road to Evolution

As Ashley Cox prepared to take a big step in her relationship with Klaus Park, little did he know that his life was far more hectic than he could have imagined.

Since meeting Charles Richards before the finals of the Three Great Human Nations Tournament, he had decided that he needed to maintain a balance between studying for the Special Program, his personal life, and Rise Online. The agreement with Charles to start researching to help Rhyzer inspired him to stop neglecting some areas of his life. As a result, he had to stop doing NPC quests in RO, because while it was financially rewarding because he got not-so-ordinary items and drops, it was very demanding on his time, sometimes requiring him to play for days at a time, which he could not do now.

Anyway, his main focus in RO was to level up and prepare for a showdown against the Legendary Rank Boss, there was also no reason to do any quests, as doing quests was definitely not one of the best ways to gain levels.

In particular, leveling up in Rise Online was more complicated than in other MMORPGs. In RO, the experience points needed to level up increased greatly with each level you reached, and while each new action or monster you killed could give you a lot of XP, the more you repeated those actions and killed the same monsters, the less XP you would get.

Kaizen was at level 94, which meant he would need over 100,000 experience points to reach level 95. That's the equivalent of spending days killing monsters in an ordinary farming area or defeating an epic level boss. And since he was also trying to balance the Special Program with his personal life, he didn't have time to spend whole days in an area hunting. As a result, he preferred to venture into unknown areas rather than hunt in places where there were already many players.

Right after mandatory classes ended on Monday, Kaizen planned to travel to a region called Rokku, a mountainous region that seemed to be little explored by players due to its extremely dangerous monsters and hostile climate, which ranged from tremendous wind and rain to extreme heat.

Kaizen looked up Rokku on the web, but found no more relevant information than what was shown on his map. It was definitely not a good place to venture alone, but he had the confidence to do so. When Kaizen entered the area, he was dressed only in ordinary leather armor so as not to attract attention if he met other players, and he was carrying a prototype sword with a curved blade that he wanted to test to see if he could adapt well to the sword's shape.

Kaizen walked cautiously along the path that snaked between the mountains, observing the rugged landscape around him. The scorching sun burned brightly in the blue sky, stinging the psyker's eyes. Meanwhile, the wind was blowing hard, forcing Kaizen to kick the ground to keep from being blown away. He could also feel the sweat dripping down his forehead from the intense heat.

Despite the hostile weather, Kaizen continued to advance, keeping his sword in a defensive position and his senses alert for any imminent danger.

From what Kaizen had discovered, the monsters of Rokku were known to be extremely dangerous, and while they were usually aggressive, they were also stealthy, able to surprise groups of players in a matter of seconds of inattention. So Kaizen knew he had to be prepared for any eventuality.

As he made his way along the trail, Kaizen noticed that the vegetation around him began to thin, becoming nothing more than a visual cacophony of dry bushes and trees. He knew that this region was known to be inhospitable, and now he could see the reason.

As he drove on, Kaizen began to feel a little anxious, as if a growing fear was building in his chest. He stopped for a moment, trying to concentrate and listen for any sign of imminent danger, but all he could hear was the sound of the wind and distant birds. However, the feeling that something was wrong would not go away, causing Kaizen to remain alert and ready to act at any moment.

It was then that he heard a sharp crack of dry twigs coming from his right. Kaizen turned quickly, holding his sword tightly, and stared at a bush for a few seconds, but nothing appeared.

"I guess I'm being too paranoid." Kaizen said to himself as he lowered his sword.

The Psyker took a deep breath to calm his breathing and his racing heart, but just as he was about to walk back, he heard the sound again, this time coming from his left. This time, however, Kaizen turned to see a large brown snake with scales that looked more like blades crawling toward him. Immediately, Kaizen prepared to defend himself, turning his sword diagonally and waiting for the monster to strike.

The snake approached quickly, its yellow eyes fixed on Kaizen as its forked tongue moved frantically. Psyker remained calm, waiting for the right moment to act. As the snake prepared to strike, Kaizen deftly dodged, leaping to the side and making a quick thrust with his sword. The blade struck the snake, but it was not enough to kill it. In fact, as the blade struck the snake's thick scales, a clang sounded as if Kaizen had swung his sword against a steel plate.

[Creature: Pantheon Serpent

Level: 197 | Attribute: Reptilian | Nature: Mutant

HP: 1000 | MP: 200

Attack: 170 | Defense: 137 | Speed: 191

Strength: 76 | Wisdom: 30 | Resistance: 300

Resistance to spells of: Blindness and Earth].

…

Edited by: DrHitsuji

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