Chapter 88: Broken Skills

Marcus and FreshwindElara walked hand-in-hand, a comfortable silence between them as they entered a desolate stretch of the Barrens. The ground here was nothing but a pale, bluish-gray expanse of rock, a landscape stripped bare of anything green or soft.

At the heart of this wasteland lay a shallow, sunken basin, a bizarre graveyard of strange rock formations and crudely carved stone beasts. This was the Stone Carving Forest.

It had once been a working quarry, the stone blocks hewn from its depths used for everything from city walls to the very statues now scattered across the ground. But a decade ago, a deep blast had cracked the earth, revealing a massive, gaping cavern. Ever since, a potent, raw energy had been seeping out of the fissure.

Before long, the quarry began to spawn creatures; the Stone Monsters and Bronze Golems. The closer one ventured to the cavern, the more formidable the monsters became. Many a high-level player had tried to plumb the depths of the fissure, lured by the promise of a legendary find, but the Magma Abyss had swallowed them all.

Silas the Wanderer’s map marked the spot with a grim warning, confirming the cavern’s label as the Magma Abyss. It spoke of unimaginable power and treasure, but even Silas, with all his skill, could not breach the deepest levels, leaving the abyss’s true nature a mystery.

The outermost ring of the Stone Carving Forest was home to Level 30 Stone Monsters and Bronze Golems; the local welcoming committee, and the weakest creatures in the area.

FreshwindElara quickly applied her suite of buffs to both of them. With his own Shield Guard and Knight’s Prayer active, Marcus felt like a walking fortress as he marched toward the nearest cluster of stone and metal.

The towering Stone Monsters and Bronze Golems had a surprisingly wide view. The moment they spotted the pair, they lumbered into a charge. Marcus was grateful the monsters weren’t packed in tighter. Being rushed by half a dozen of these behemoths at once; with their sheer bulk and rock-hard shells, would have been a genuinely pants-wetting experience.

He targeted the two charging Bronze Golems and the single Stone Monster with Insight.

Stone Monster: Level 30, Health: 2000. Essentially high-quality gravel that got a nasty energy bath from the Magma Abyss, evolving into a hard-as-nails brute.

Skill: Stone Skin (Active): Defense increased by 30%.

Skill: Meteor Strike (Active): Summons a giant rock to ruin your day.

Bronze Golem: Level 30, Health: 2500. High-quality scrap metal that also got zapped by the Abyss’s energy, turning it into a surprisingly strong automaton.

Skill: Golem’s Triple Slam (Active): Swings its club three times in rapid succession, with a chance to Stun or Knockdown.

“Right on schedule,” Marcus muttered, a grin spreading across his face.

Since the monsters were so politely lining up, he felt no need to keep them waiting. He hefted his Skeleton Blade and began the systematic slaughter.

He finally understood the sheer, glorious utility of the Cleric class. With FreshwindElara covering his back, all worry vanished. He didn’t even glance at his health bar, let alone reach for a potion. He just kept swinging the Skeleton Blade, carving up the Stone Monsters and Bronze Golems, watching the experience points for both of them rocket skyward.

The math of leveling was beautifully simple. Watching the experience bar leap with every over-level kill, he had to suppress the urge to let out a whoop.

Between FreshwindElara’s Power Buff and the 10% attack bonus from their party, Marcus was carving through enemies in three or four hits. It didn’t matter if the target was a high-defense Stone Monster or a high-HP Bronze Golem.

If a Critical Hit landed, it was a two-hit knockout. And against these slow-witted, low-Agility targets, his Critical Hit rate was a satisfying four out of ten.

’Maybe I’ll go down as the knight who only crits,’ he thought, amused. ’Not a bad title.’

His attack power was, admittedly, his weak point, but his defense was the stuff of legend.

When a high-Attack Bronze Golem landed a full combo of its Golem’s Triple Slam, the damage barely scraped 200; and that was before factoring in the golem’s own defense debuffs. Its normal attacks were so pathetic they weren’t even worth tracking.

’Well, that’s embarrassing,’ Marcus thought with a smirk. ’I’ve been selling myself short.’

Even without area-of-effect skills, his single-target damage was so high that the respawn rate of the monsters was struggling to keep up. ’Should’ve talked her into farming those swarms in Star Valley instead.’

FreshwindElara trailed behind him, watching the Knight’s effortless precision in combat. She found it difficult to reconcile this controlled fury with the quiet guy she usually chatted with.

Her older brother, Ace Dragonheart, a full-spec Warrior, was a beast in his own right. But even he was significantly slower at clearing mobs of the same level. And Marcus was dismantling monsters above his level.

But that wasn’t what held her attention. She didn’t really care about the broken efficiency or the blazing-fast experience bar.

What she liked was the simple rhythm of it. They traded jokes between kills, shared a look after a particularly slick move. And the unthinking way he’d shift position, cutting off any monster that even glanced her way, ensured she never felt a flicker of threat. That was the good part.

“Ding! Stonehaven, FreshwindElara has granted you Elemental Aegis. All elemental resistance increased by 20.”

“Ding! Stonehaven, FreshwindElara has granted you Elemental Might. Attack now deals an additional 20 elemental damage.”

’Hold up.’ Marcus paused, his brow furrowed. ’New skills? Since when?’ He turned to look at her, confusion plain on his face.

“Hit twenty,” she said, a bright, triumphant smile on her face. She flashed him a quick peace sign. “New tier unlocked. Elemental Aegis and Might. Let’s see how they handle a stress test.”

FreshwindElara was a hidden class, the Five-Element Cleric, and her elemental skills were apparently auto-learned. Convenient, he thought. That saved a fortune in skill manual gold.

He checked the descriptions. A flat 20 to resistance and damage. ’That’s… underwhelming. Are they broken?’

Only one way to know.

“You’ve got to be kidding me! Elara, these skills are insane! What else have you got?”

He’d just written them off, but after a swing at a Bronze Golem, his damage had spiked by over a hundred. The Golem’s Triple Slam damage dropped by nearly as much. Its basic attacks now tickled.

Like this, even if FreshwindElara took a coffee break, his own Knight’s Prayer would let him take a casual stroll through this place.

“Also got Elemental Sight,” she added, clearly proud as she tested her new toolkit. “Lets me see what a monster’s weak to.”

A hidden class indeed. Her skills were no joke. Marcus felt a spike of anticipation, wondering how she’d grow, and what that cryptic line from the Arch-Sorcerer Zion about “walking the Divine Path” really meant.

Speaking of hidden classes, he had one too. Lord Leon Drake of Dragon’s Peak Citadel had personally granted him the Royal Knight title. But so far, aside from the initial stat bump, it was all ceremony; no new skills, no flashy effects.

Probably a high-level payoff, he reasoned. Hopefully.

“Ding! Congratulations, Stonehaven! Your pet, the Shadow-Stained Gryphon King, has leveled up! It is now Level 15. Health increased by 100, Mana increased by 100, Attack increased by 80, and Defense increased by 80.”

“Ding! Congratulations, Stonehaven! Your pet has reached Level 15 and has learned the skills Great Storm and Dark Absorption.”

His Shadow-Stained Gryphon King and FreshwindElara’s Three-Winged Dark Gold Bat King had been feasting on the over-level experience. In just over four hours, his gryphon had shot up to Level 15.

“My Goldie hit fifteen,” he called over his shoulder. “How’s yours holding up?”

“Eighteen, but it’s starting to slow down,” FreshwindElara replied, a faint, amused blush on her cheeks. The shared, silly nickname for their formidable pets was an ongoing, private joke.

His Shadow-Stained Gryphon King was proving its pedigree as a Level 9 pet. Its growth stats were monstrous, completely leaving his Darkfire Phoenix in the dust.

The phoenix only gained 80 Health and Mana, and 60 Attack and Defense per level. They weren’t even in the same league. The gap was huge.

Still, the Darkfire Phoenix was his first. And it was gorgeous. He was attached to the thing. Stats or no stats, he was going to get its level up.

He pulled up the gryphon’s current status.

Shadow-Stained Gryphon King: Level 9 Dark Advanced Pet. Attributes: Dark, Wind, and Lightning. Direct blood relative of the Divine Beast Great-Winged Sky Leviathan King.

Level: 15

Stats: Health 2000, Mana 2000, Attack 1500, Defense 1500.

Ability: Resurrection: At least once per day. Full recovery upon resurrection, with all attributes increased by 30% for the first three minutes.

Skill: Great Storm (Active): Area-of-effect attack skill. The twin wings unleash a massive burst of wind energy to attack enemies, dealing an additional 150 Wind damage. Range: five meters in front of the pet. (Replaces Small Storm).

Passive: Great Wingspan: Flight speed increases by 1 every five levels. Flight speed increases by 50% when Health is below 30%.

Passive: Dark Absorption (Beginner): Absorbs 20% of Dark-attribute damage.

Can be ridden after Level 40.

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