Ignorant of his impact on the world, Max leisurely made his way to the level 2 zone, eager to find the monsters who awaited him and steal their talent.
The Level 2 Zone was a bushy area, with surprises expected at every step. It was denser than the level 1 forest and was populated with more hunting groups and parties.
Max was walking around, wishing to find any clues on the monsters that inhabited the area, but had no luck yet.
-27
Suddenly, he felt a pain in his leg, and as he turned to look around, he saw a monster. This monster was a creature that looked like a rat, but instead of the traditional rat, it had donkey ears and long legs. It had blood in its mouth and Max realised that the rat had bit him!
Max quickly shot a fireball at it, wishing to avoid taking any more damage and a fight.
-65
After realising that it wasn't enough, Max decided to swing his staff at it, testing his new melee damage while killing the rat quickly at the same time.
-15
[You have killed the Giant Rat]
[You have gained 6 copper coins]
[You have plundered 3 Per]
Max decided to check the status window of the Giant Rats and check out its talent.
---
[Giant Rat]
[Talent:] Increased Perception (F)
[Health Points:] 80
[Mana Points:] 120
[Stamina:] 100
[Speed:] 13
[Attributes:]
Vitality - 8
Strength - 10
Agility - 13
Endurance - 10
Intelligence - 12
Perception - 22
[Skills:] Bite - Level 1 - If the user bites the enemy, Deal 10 points of damage to target + 75% of user Per to target - Consumes 10 mana - 3-second cooldown.
---
Max furrowed his eyebrows as he saw this skill, yet hesitated when he saw the amount of damage he took and wondered if he was capable of using it in a desperate situation.
It got him wondering, 'What will happen if I use Bite? Will I have to bite my opponent for it to work?'
Max resigned himself to getting this skill; after all, it's not like he would reject a free skill. However, he was determined to never get in a situation where he had to use it.
And so Max's hunting journey began. This time, instead of staying alone the entire time, Max saw a few different hunting groups as they killed Giant Rats. Most parties had a balanced team, with 1 mage, 1 healer, 1 warrior, 1 knight and 1 summoner. Max also occasionally saw a martial artist, however, due to their difficulty to use and progress, they were exceedingly rare.
Max continued to hunt and finally received the notification of gaining their talent after killing his 53rd Rat.
[Talent Gained - Increased Perception (F)]
[F Talent - Increased Perception]
[Talent Description]
[While it is one of the weakest talents in the world, it is extremely useful in sensing opponents and avoiding traps.]
[Talent Effect]
[1. Increases Perception by 50%]
While this talent was almost the same as Increased Speed, Max appreciated this talent more this time as he realised how important each talent was and how much of an edge they give you.
By this point, Max had already received his limit of 40 Perception stats, boosting his overall Per by 20. He had also received the Bite skill and levelled it up to level 4. He had also levelled up once, reaching level 6. After reaching level 6, Max immediately added 3 stats to Vit and 2 to End, boosting his HP and Stamina.
After receiving his talent, Max continued to hunt the Rats, wishing to reach 100 kills as soon as possible to summon the boss. Max worked tirelessly, and just after killing his 99th Rat, Max decided to go to the village and restock on all supplies and take a break before facing the Rat Boss. This included buying Mana potions, health potions, checking up on the auction and going outside of the game for a while to clear his head.
Speaking of the auction, Max's skillbook's price had increased tremendously over the past few hours and wasn't looking to stop anytime soon. Almost every guild with deep pockets was allocating most of their resources towards obtaining it, even at the cost of offending powerful people. It was that enticing for everyone who played Genesis.
Its price had increased from a measly 5 silver to 3 gold and 25 silver, making Max's decision of not selling both at the same time a great idea. It astonished him when he looked at his item's new price, and he recognised that he had the liberty of buying anything he wanted without facing the problem of cash shortage.
So he scoured through the auction house, looking for any equipment he could use, but hadn't found anything yet. It seemed that the drop rate in Genesis was abysmal and that finding good loot in this game was much harder than getting quality loot in former games.
He decided to stick to buying 15 Mana Potions and even bought 5 Health Potions this time for a change. But although he had avoided Health Potions before because they cost 5 times more than the Mana Potions, as he was now swimming in a pool of money, Max decided to invest in his quest a bit more. He bought them for a total of 7 silver and 50 copper, gaining a discount of 50 copper.
Max was then certain that he was ready for his fight and could deal with the Rat Boss with more confidence now.
As he went back into the bushes, Max checked the effects of his new skill, not that he ever planned to use it.
[Skill:] Bite - Level 5 - If the user bites the enemy, Deal 20 points of damage to target + 150% of user Per to target - Consumes 30 mana - 3-second cooldown.
While he may have never wished to use it, Max had no choice but to admit that Bite did a lot of damage and using it would greatly alleviate his troubles while fighting.
At the same time, Max got wary of the stats and damage of the Rat Boss but realised that he had prepared for the battle the best he could, and losing right now would just mean that he wasn't worthy of his SSS talent.
Soon, he found his next Giant Rat, killing it, and the notifications he was waiting for had come.
[Congratulations on killing 100 Giant Rats consecutively]
[You have received the title - Rat Hunter]
[Level 6 Mini-boss Giant Rat Boss is now looking for you]
---
[Rat Hunter]
[Given to someone once they kill 100 Giant Rats consecutively on their own.]
[Title Effect:]
[Adds Mark of Rats on user]
[+3 on Perception]
[Mark of Rats]
[Effect:]
[Gives a tracker to the Giant Rat Boss towards user until either one of you is killed.
All Giant Rats will be wary of you and avoid you if possible.
If the user kills, rewards are doubled, but if the user dies, penalties are doubled.]
---
This was the mark Max was waiting for. He knew that killing 100 Rats would make the boss come to him; however, he was still afraid of needing a different way to find it.
Max immediately got ready to fight it. It would most likely have a higher perception than him, so it would be for the best if Max were ready and prepared for all sneak attacks.
He was waiting for 10 minutes, yet the boss still hadn't arrived. The pressure was getting to Max as his focus started to waver. However, he still didn't lose it as Max was going to make sure he won this fight.
As the seconds stretched into minutes, another 10 went by, and Max finally lost his concentration for a second, believing that maybe the Rat Boss wasn't coming; however, a second was all it needed.
-95
Max suddenly felt a sharp pain in his stomach, and he didn't need to look to know what it was. The Rat Boss had finally attacked him and taken advantage of his decline in concentration.
"Rats! I need to leave NOW!"
Max immediately activated Swift Dash and ran away from there without even looking at the Rat's status, knowing that he would die if he didn't run and recover from his injuries.
Once he had finally run far enough, Max used 1 Health Potion, looking to recover so that he could last longer in the fight.
This time, Max didn't stay in one spot and decided to move around instead, not letting the Rat Boss know where he would be and rendering its surprise attack useless and forcing it to come out.
Only Max knew how much of a gamble he was taking with this strategy. If the Rat were a bit smarter, it would have immediately recognised Max's lacking stamina and how he could continue this for long; however, the Rat Boss wasn't that smart and was confident in its abilities, so it decided to come out in the open.
Max immediately sent out a fireball, which hit the Rat right in its face, causing a lot of damage.
-65
This attack finally bought Max the time he needed to look at the Rat Boss's status.
---
[Giant Rat Boss]
[Talent:] Enhanced Perception (E)
[Health Points:] 120
[Mana Points:] 150
[Stamina:] 150
[Speed:] 15
[Attributes:]
Vitality - 12
Strength - 15
Agility - 15
Endurance - 15
Intelligence - 15
Perception - 50
[Skills:] Bite - Level 5 - If the user bites the enemy, Deal 20 points of damage to target + 150% of user Per to target - Consumes 30 mana - 3-second cooldown.
---