Chapter 6: Infinite Skill Level

***

Three days later.

Eastern Region of Ascardan City.

Ethan was thrown back hard and coughed up blood. Elle grew more panicked as she kept casting buff skills on Ethan to help his HP regenerate.

“Hang in there, Ethan!” Elle urged.

He pushed himself up from his knees, wiping the blood from his lips with his hand while gripping his Iron Longsword tightly.

In front of him, Ethan clearly saw the level 10 monster guarding the cave—the very place where the last treasure chest in Ascardan City’s eastern region was hidden.

At first, Ethan thought the chest was unguarded, but he was wrong.

The developers had upgraded the treasure chest’s quality, and now the entire cave was defended by a monster.

Ethan didn’t mind fighting monsters, but he hadn’t expected a level 10 beast when he was still only level 9.

He pulled out a Level 2 HP potion and drank it, restoring his health.

On top of that, the buffs Elle kept giving him gave Ethan a better chance at striking back.

[Blood Dire Wolf (Lv. 10) || HP: 325/500]

“Ethan, we should retreat. Don’t keep fighting this thing,” Elle said.

“Stay back, Elle. I can beat it,” Ethan replied firmly.

Pain and fatigue are slowing me down. That Neural feature really hits hard. But at least I know three of its attack patterns now. I just need to wait for its strike, then counter.

A glowing red circle formed beneath Ethan’s feet—the sign the Blood Dire Wolf was about to launch a claw attack from the ground.

Ethan leapt back just in time, dodging the strike.

He dashed around and thrust his blade forward several times, triggering a critical hit. Relief washed over him, but it still wasn’t enough.

[Blood Dire Wolf (Lv. 10) || HP: 275/500]

Ethan jumped back after dealing damage. The Dire Wolf staggered, pushed away by Ethan’s second skill.

I can’t keep relying on crits. Looks like it’s time to try this class’s combo.

He gripped his sword tightly, then lunged forward. His ultimate skill activated automatically.

Right after, he swung sideways, sending out a red slash—the first skill.

For the finishing strike, he unleashed a flurry of thrusts, activating his second skill to tear into the wolf’s body.

[Blood Dire Wolf (Lv. 10) || HP: 115/500]

Ethan smirked, but the combo drained him badly. The Dire Wolf roared, readying a close-range attack. Ethan raised his blade to block, but the beast’s howl slammed into him with crushing force.

His body was hurled back against a tree, blood spraying from his mouth. Ethan was seriously wounded, and Elle’s fear spiked.

“Akgh!” Ethan groaned.

“ETHAN!” Elle screamed.

She glared at the monster and raised her staff, activating her ultimate skill. A glowing rune appeared over the Dire Wolf, intimidating it and stunning it for ten seconds.

Elle dashed to Ethan’s side as a red warning panel appeared in front of his eyes—his HP had fallen below the safe limit.

She pulled out an HP potion and helped him drink it slowly. The red panel vanished, and Ethan’s body glowed green as his energy returned.

That combo might be the only way to finish this fight.

“I’ll have to do the combo again,” Ethan said, opening his inventory and drinking an MP potion to restore enough mana for all three skills.

The combo was simple: skill three, then skill one, then finish with skill two. Ethan already knew exactly how much MP it would burn.

“Are you sure? If you get hit again, you’ll die!” Elle protested.

“I’m sure enough,” Ethan said.

He stood, sword ready, waiting for the monster to strike. When the Dire Wolf lunged, Ethan and Elle dodged together—then Ethan unleashed his combo once more.

His ultimate knocked the wolf back and slowed it, the sideways slash followed, then a flurry of thrusts tore through its body.

Elle watched anxiously as the Dire Wolf collapsed to the ground. Its body shimmered, then faded away into particles of light.

“Hhh… hhh…”

Ethan fell to one knee, his sword stuck into the ground for support. Elle rushed forward, raising her priest’s staff and casting a golden rune over him, healing his wounds.

“Thank you, Elle.”

“Hold on. You’ll recover.”

Moments later, Ethan’s injuries began regenerating. He pushed himself back onto his feet, not fully healed but strong enough to move again.

[Congratulations! You killed monsters!]

[Name: Blood Dire Wolf (Lv. 10) || New Records]

[+450 EXP]

[Congratulations! You leveled up]

[Level 9 → Level 10]

[EXP: 1350/1550]

[+10 AP]

[Congratulations! You obtained drop items:]

[+200 Gold] [1x Blood Wolf Fang (Rare)] [1x Wolf Leather Gauntlets (Rare)] [1x Wolf Fang Necklace (Rare)] [1x Pyro Crystal (Uncommon)]

Ethan smiled. The EXP boost pushed him straight to level 10, unlocking new features.

[Congratulations! You unlocked Talent!]

[Congratulations! You unlocked Skill Rise!]

He nodded. Talent meant a big power-up, and Skill Rise let him level up his skills beyond their base strength.

I’ll check that later.

Elle also gained EXP from the fight, pushing her up to level 8. That was good progress for her, and she was happy to see she could survive three whole days in the game.

“Let’s go to the treasure chest,” Ethan said.

Elle agreed. Together they walked deeper into the cave until they found a chest with blue stones embedded as ornaments.

Just a glance told them this chest was no ordinary one—it had to be at least Rare, maybe even Epic.

Ethan opened it. A glowing panel listed the rewards.

[Congratulations! You obtained items:]

[1x HP Potion Lv. 3] [1x MP Potion Lv. 3] [1x Spirit Lumen Crystal (Rare)] [1x Flamefang Sword (Rare)] [1x Ring of Nature (Rare)]

Ethan immediately stored the potions. He equipped the Flamefang Sword, replacing his old Iron Sword.

As for the Spirit Lumen Crystal and the Ring of Nature, he handed them both to Elle.

She was shocked, especially after reading the ring’s stats—it restored 10% HP and MP every five seconds.

“Shouldn’t you—”

“You take the ring. I’ve got other rings in mind, but haven’t found them yet,” Ethan cut her off.

“Our job here is done. Let’s go.”

***

Ascardan City.

Night.

Ethan rented two inn rooms, one for himself and one for Elle. Even though it was just a game, he still had enough sense not to share a room with her.

Inside his room, Ethan opened his status panel and began allocating his new AP.

Those crits saved me earlier. Maybe if I boost crit rate damage, I can flip the fight in my favor next time.

[ATTRIBUTES:]

[ATK: 198 || DEF: 185]

[STR: 35 || AGI: 20 || INT: 5 || CONS: 25 || WIS: 5]

Ethan studied his stats. Strong enough for monsters around level 10 to 12, but he knew harder challenges were coming.

“With the Iron Chestplate and Wolf Leather Gauntlets, my DEF is better. And the Flamefang Sword boosted my base ATK a lot,” he muttered.

“Alright, enough about attributes. Time to see my talent.”

He opened the Talent panel. But as soon as it appeared, the blue panel suddenly turned blood-red.

What the hell? Why does this feel like a cursed talent?

[INFINITE SKILL LEVEL!]

[Desc: A talent that allows a player to raise skill levels beyond the system’s limit.]

[Talent Quest:]

[1. Defeat 50 monsters (Lv. 1–5) using only Skill 1]

[Duration: 72:00:00]

[Reward: Skill 1 Lv. 1 → Skill 1 Lv. 10]

Ethan froze, staring in disbelief at the crimson panel. The quest promised instant power—but the cost was deadly.

This is insane! That quest is basically asking me to die!

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