After leaving Eron behind, Rai tightened the grip on his weapon and headed toward the outer perimeter of Redleaf Village. His steps were quick, focused. The conversation with Eron had reaffirmed something important—time was precious, and he had far too little of it.
"Level 15. That's the goal for now. I need to reach it as soon as possible"
Only after reaching Level 15 would players gain access to the gates of the main cities. That's where the real game began. That's where his plans to earn gold, recruit allies, and lay the foundation of his future guild would truly start.
Most of the player base wouldn't reach that point for another two weeks, some advanced players and elite groups maybe in ten days—but Rai?
With his experience, insider knowledge, and an edge no one else had—memories of the future—he was confident he could do it in less than a week.
But first… he had to grind, and gain as much exp, as he could, as fast as possible.
He turned off the beaten path and walked toward the Elder's house once again. The wooden hut with herbs hanging off its windows gave a faint whiff of mint and smoke.
The old man was seated outside, puffing on his carved bone pipe, a familiar gleam in his eyes.
"Ah, young one. Back so soon?" the Elder said. "You've got that look in your eyes, the same one that you had last time—ambition."
"I need a quest," Rai said, straight to the point. "Something with monster extermination. The kind that gives good EXP and coin."
The Elder raised a brow and stroked his beard. "Monster hunting you say, most of the ordinary hunting quests have already been taken by other players. But, I do have one job no one's dared to take. There's a cluster of Forest Fangs—spider-type monsters—nesting west of the village. Ten of them, including their broodmother."
Rai's eyes lit up. He remembered this quest well. It was classified as a minor boss extermination quest, almost impossible for any early player to complete solo.
"I'll take it."
"Don't say I didn't warn you," the Elder muttered, handing him the crumpled quest parchment. "If the poison doesn't kill you, the fangs will."
Quest Accepted: "Purge the Forest Fangs"
Objective: Defeat 10 Forest Fangs and their Broodmother (Minor Boss)
Recommended Level: 5+(solo), 3+(squad)
Reward: 450 EXP, 30 silver Coins, ??? Item Drop
After saying goodbye to the elder, Rai moved swiftly toward the western edge of the forest. The path was shadowed and twisted, the dense canopy blotting out sunlight. But he moved with purpose. His stats were still low right now, but that didn't matter.
"Unlike others… I know how to use mana."
While most of the player base was still swinging swords without skills, struggling to understand the complex mana flow system, Rai was already synchronizing his breathing and movement with his Arcane Veins—a hidden internal mechanic that took others weeks to master.
Finally, he spotted the first spider.
Crouched near a root system, its chitinous body the size of a large dog, eight red eyes twitching, poison dripping from fangs.
[Forest Fang – Level 2]
Rai stepped softly. "I remember this breed of monsters. They're slow and they also have very low mobility. That's their weakness, and with my class and 'phantom step' skill it should be child's play for me."
He dashed in.
[Shadow Rend]
A crescent blade of dark mana arced through the air, slicing the spider in half before it could react.
+80 EXP
He kept going. Two more spiders scuttled out from their web-covered nest. He ducked under a venom spit, rolled forward, and stabbed upward.
[Phantom Step]
[Piercing Fang]
Two down. Three more emerged. He fought methodically, evading and striking with calm precision.
By the time the Broodmother crawled out—a grotesque spider the size of a small car—Rai had taken down 9 of the Forest Fangs. His breathing was heavy, his mana bar hovering just above empty.
[Broodmother – Level 5]
Minor Boss
Its fangs gleamed. It roared—if spiders could roar—shaking the silk-woven trees around them.
Let's end this.
Rai charged, dodging a swipe of its massive limb. He jumped to the side, letting the limb crash into a tree. Using [Shadow Step] once more, he blinked behind the creature and thrust his dagger into a glowing red weak point on its abdomen.
[Execution Slash]
CRITICAL HIT!
With a shuddering screech, the spider collapsed, limbs twitching.
+1000 exp
[World Announcement]
Player [The Fallen Shade] has defeated the first Minor Boss of the game!
Their actions have been etched into the Legends of Eidolon.
Reward Bonus: +10% EXP for 1 hour.
Across the world, players saw the notification and froze. The forums ignited. Streams scrambled to cover it. Dozens of guilds immediately began looking up 'The Fallen Shade'. They began wondering who was this 'The Fallen Shade' who had achieved a world announcement twice now.
In the Forest, Rai exhaled and sank to one knee.
"Minor Boss cleared. Loot time."
He opened the corpse's inventory.
Loot Obtained:
15 Silver Coins
1 Minor Venom Sac
[Tearfang Dagger – Uncommon, Level 5] A wickedly sharp dagger coated in faint venom. Favored by forest hunters.
Equipment Grades: Trash < Common < Uncommon < Rare < Unique < Epic < Legendary < Godly
Uncommon gear at this stage was a major find. Most players wouldn't get their hands on even a Common item until Level 5 or 6.
He examined the dagger:
Tearfang Dagger
Type: Dagger Grade: Uncommon Level: 5
Stats:
+8 Attack
+2 Agility
Passive: Minor Poison effect (5% chance on hit)
Rai grinned.
This will carry me till Level 10 easily.
Loot dropped by monsters was not purely random—it factored in:
Monster level and rarity (e.g., normal, elite, boss)
Player's own level and performance (finishing moves, combo chains, skill utilization)
World Event modifiers or hidden mechanics like "first kill" or "title-bearer bonuses"
Gear was categorized into distinct rarity tiers based on their stats, enhancements, and passive abilities. From lowest to highest, they were:
Item Tiers (in order):
Trash: Broken items or junk materials, usually sold to vendors for pocket change.
Common: Basic functional equipment. No special bonuses.
Uncommon: Slightly better crafted, sometimes with minor stat bonuses or weak passives.
Rare: Gear that offers unique passives or synergy with certain classes or skills.
Unique: These items often had custom names, lore, and were crafted or dropped under special conditions. Could boost affinities or skill trees.
Epic: Extremely powerful items rarely seen before level 50. Often belonged to dungeon bosses or event rewards.
Legendary: Items of myth, often named in world lore and tied to famous quests, bosses, or lost heroes. Only a few hundred existed per kindgom. Each owned by a royal family, or ancestral treasure of a noble family.
Godly: Reserved for actual gods, Divine bosses, or endgame World events. Forged from pieces of divinity or sacred events. A mortal wielding one would be considered a world-breaking anomaly.
"Even a single Legendary item could shake the balance of an entire guild war.""And Epic-tier gear? That alone could earn you a place in a top guild."
These were the common statements about these weapons in his previous life.
Then there were the truly rare ones—Growth-type equipment.
These items were alive, in a way. They didn't just sit in your inventory as tools—they evolved with you.
They started out weak—barely better than Common or Uncommon—but they had the potential to become Legendary or even God-tier over time, based on:
User's affinity with the item's element or type
Situational growth triggers- depends onthe item itself(e.g., bloodshed, moonlight, specific enemies)
Skill usage, kill count, or emotional connection
Such items were exceptionally rare, and most players never encountered even one.
Lyra's signature staff was one such item.
A simple wooden staff with a purple gem, found in an obscure shrine tied to the Elven Goddess of Moonlight. No one other than Lyra knew about it's true power, about how much strong it truly was.
"Maybe one day… I'll find my own growth weapon." "But for now, this dagger will do."
He glanced at the time. Still a few hours of grind left before real-life lunch.
Rai stored the Tearfang Dagger in his equipment menu, swapped it into his main-hand slot, and moved deeper into the forest with a silent resolve.
While moving, he opened his status screen to check his exp, he had killed 10 spider monsters who gave a total of 800 exp, along with which he had also killed the broodmother which gave him 1000exp so he had gained a total of 2250 exp considering the exp gained from the quest too.
[LEVEL INFO]
previous: lvl 0 (210/1000)
Current: lvl 1(1460/2000)
(NOTE: after each level the amount of exp required to go to the next level doubles. But after every 20 lvls this exp returns to 1000, but this new 1000 exp is much much harder to earn.)