The Crowling Warrior activated its Frenzy ability, and its dual blades whirred through the air as it relentlessly chased Ethan.
Ethan leapt into the air, twisting mid-flight as he clawed and raked at the creature.
He landed with a sharp spin, whipping his tail across the warrior's face.
-123! (Critical Hit!)
The Crowling Warrior howled in agony before collapsing in a heap.
Ethan bent down to pick up a bronze coin before slipping into stealth and stalking his next target.
In his past life, Ethan had heard that the quest item required for the Owl Form had a 1 in 500 drop rate. He'd have to eliminate countless Crowlings before completing this task. Luck might see him through the next kill, or it could take all night, especially with today's game session about to end.
At least the Crowlings provided decent experience points. This one had just given him 120 XP, likely thanks to the system's scaling mechanics.
With no competition for mobs here, farming experience was unexpectedly peaceful.
After taking down several Crowlings, the quest item still refused to drop. Ethan continued deeper into the Crowling Nest, determined to see it through.
Just as he closed in on his next target, chaos erupted deeper in the nest.
Ethan turned toward the noise, spotting a sleek, pink panther bolting in his direction. Hot on its heels was a Crowling Warrior, while two Crowling Spellcasters trailed slightly farther behind, flinging instant-cast spells at the fleeing panther.
'A Druid? And… a female?'
The sight caught Ethan off guard. The panther darted past him, unintentionally dragging his target along with it. Though the Druid's control was decent, she appeared panicked. While the melee warrior couldn't catch her, the spellcasters were relentless with their bombardments.
If she hadn't pulled Ethan's target, she might've whittled down the pursuing warrior already. But with two Frenzied Crowling Warriors now chasing her, she was losing ground fast.
Her health bar dropped to a third, and Ethan made a snap decision. Druids had to stick together, after all.
Slipping behind one of the spellcasters, he unleashed two ferocious slashes.
-135! (Critical Hit!)
The Crowling Spellcaster barely clung to life, proving how much softer it was compared to the warriors.
Ethan finished it off with a well-placed swipe. The creature fell to the ground without dropping so much as a feather.
Meanwhile, the pink panther hesitated for a moment upon noticing Ethan. That slight pause nearly cost her as the warriors closed in, slicing her health bar dangerously low. She quickly turned and resumed running.
But this time, she wasn't heading for the nest's exit. Instead, she began circling around Ethan.
Ethan nodded approvingly. This time, he hadn't saved the wrong person.
If she had kept running for the exit, the monsters would've reset and headed back to their original positions, with Ethan becoming their next target. But by keeping the warriors engaged on her wjile she circled him, she ensured Ethan could deal with the mobs one by one without attracting their aggro.
Smart. She wasn't selfish.
If she'd been the type to prioritize her own survival over everything else, she'd have led the mobs out, reset them, and left Ethan to fend for himself. Instead, she was trying to ensure they could both come out of this alive.
Ethan assessed the situation. The spellcasters were still the bigger threat, especially with their relentless spells.
Darting toward the second spellcaster, Ethan lunged, his jaws closing on its neck in a bite.
He'd built up five energy stars from his previous kills, perfect for testing the power of Savage Bite. At least these mobs weren't as revolting as the pus-covered Corrupted Zombies outside the nest.
[Savage Bite—Average Completion! +2 Proficiency!]
Ethan cursed under his breath. The damage wasn't much better than his Shred skill, but considering it was his first attempt with Savage Bite, and only an average completion, it wasn't too bad.
Skill completions were ranked: Poor, Average, Good, Perfect, and Extreme. Extreme completions could del up to double the skill's maximum damage. In the later stages of the game, professional players chased after Extreme completions. Hitting an Extreme 20% of the time was enough to earn a spot among the legends.
Unlike beginner skills, learned and unlocked abilities came with levels, maxing out at Level 20. Each level significantly boosted a skill's base damage, but the experience required to level them up was astronomical.
In his previous life, Ethan's Level 120 Rogue had only managed to bring his highest skill to Level 6.
Dispatching the Crowling Spellcaster with two quick Shreds, Ethan bent down to collect a bronze coin.
He turned just in time to meet the charging pink panther. As they passed each other, Ethan's energy had just regenerated to 40 points. A perfectly timed Shred struck the critically injured Crowling Warrior, finishing it off instantly.
Under the stunned gaze of the panther, Ethan followed up with a claw attack.
The other Crowling Warrior roared in anger and redirected its aggression toward Ethan.
"Why are you staring? Help out!" Ethan barked at the panther.
He was out of energy and had taken a quarter of his health in damage while fighting off the mobs. While he wasn't afraid of the Frenzied warrior, he wasn't going to do all the heavy lifting while she just watched.
"Oh!" came a soft, almost timid response.
The panther circled him hesitantly. Ethan kept the monster busy, letting her get in a few hits. Her attacks, however, were laughably weak compared to his.
That was her maximum damage? Ethan couldn't take it anymore. He rushed forward, unleashing another Savage Bite.
[Completion: Average.]
With a sigh, Ethan followed up with two Shreds, finally bringing the Crowling Warrior down.
With a faint clatter, the monster dropped a skill book, a bronze coin, and a reinforcement stone. Ethan blinked in surprise, this was a jackpot by the standards of low level mobs.
Under her gaze, he bent down to scoop up the loot. The skill book, Rake, immediately caught his attention.
It was exactly what he needed: a strong opener. Outside of stealth, Rake inflicted a bleeding effect. When used in stealth, it added a 5-second stun on top of the bleeding. It easily outclassed the Rogue's Cheap Shot, which provided only a stun without any damage.
The panther remained silent, simply watching him. Ethan felt a twinge of guilt. He activated the item-sharing feature and gestured toward her.
"How do you want to split it? Your call," he offered.
She hesitated for a moment before transforming into her human form.
"I don't need anything," she said softly. "Thanks for saving me. My name's Haven's Dawn."
Ethan froze at the name, memories from his past life flooding back. She was the only Druid to ever achieve the title of a legendary player. Not because of raw skill, but because she was the only one stubborn enough to keep playing the class until it became viable.
Her fame had come during a nation-wide war, where she had unleashed a skill called Forbidden: Rebirth.
Druids were largely overlooked in the late game, with their only redeeming feature being the Tree Form's ability, Rebirth, the game's only skill capable of reviving players mid-combat.
Haven's Dawn, through some extraordinary encounter, had unlocked the forbidden version of this skill. During that war, when Dragonspire was on the brink of total collapse, she resurrected every fallen ally within a 3-kilometer radius. The battle had turned from a certain loss to an overwhelming victory.
The cost? She lost 20 levels, and the skill had a staggering 180-day cooldown.
Now, standing before this future legend, Ethan felt a surge of excitement. But what shocked him even more was her appearance. Apart from her deep brown skin, she was just a young girl—12 or 13 at most.
His mind raced. If he could build a good relationship with her now, would she become an invaluable ally in the future?
And suddenly, a new thought took root:
What if he could recruit all the future legends before they became overpowered?