The Era of Gods

Chapter 488: Chapter 488 Many Years Later

“Someone discovered the dungeon so quickly?”

After watching for a while and piecing together information from player conversations, he had a rough understanding of the dungeon.

This was a low-level dungeon called ‘Secret Forest Dungeon’, which told the story of an underground creature kingdom in the forest near Mooncolor Town. One day, the kingdom fell into corruption under the influence of the Demon’s dark power, specifically targeting nearby hunters and caravans. The Sheriff of Mooncolor Town then entrusted players to kill the Demon deep within the Spider Kingdom.

The quest started with the Sheriff of Mooncolor Town and involved a series of tasks before one could gain access to the dungeon.

Following the guide, Lin Xiao started the quest chain with the Sheriff, with the first task being to investigate the uprising of forest spiders deep within Silvermoon Forest.

Normally, this was a task that required a team to complete, but his magic damage was too high. His first Lightning Chain was an AOE (area of effect) attack, and even though its base damage was somewhat lower than a regular level 2 Fireball Technique, Lightning Chain could hit up to six targets simultaneously. Coupled with 200% additional magic damage, his output was formidable.

First, he cast a Lightning Shield on himself, pulled a dozen monsters together in one breath, and stunned them with a wave of Lightning field for six seconds, then turned around to cast Lightning Chain.

The monsters, level 12 or 13, had about 170 or 180 health. Just one Lightning field could deal over 120 damage. Coupled with the small lightning strikes from the Lightning Shield when he was attacked, his talent at level one added an extra +5 Intelligence, which meant at level 11, he had an extra 55 points of Intelligence on top of his normal growth and base attributes, totaling 88 points of Intelligence.

The regular additional damage from the Lightning Shield was Intelligence * 0.2, and with bonuses, it was Intelligence * 0.6. With 88 points of Intelligence, that equated to about 52 points of spell damage, which was significant.

Basically, after one wave of Lightning field, these small monsters were left severely wounded, and he could finish them off with a Lightning Chain.

By employing this strategy to pull groups of monsters, he leveled up before the quest was even completed.

It took him nearly two days, but he finally completed the quest chain and obtained the key to the dungeon.

The main reasons it took so long were the time spent killing monsters and traveling because at just level ten-plus, he didn’t have a mount and had to rely on his legs to get anywhere.

At this time, he was exactly level 13. Although the dungeon required level 15, he could enter at level 13.

The Secret Forest Dungeon was located in the depths of Silvermoon Forest, with a faintly green-light-emitting portal standing within an arch made of countless spider webs. Sporadically, forest spiders would spawn at the entrance, only to be promptly killed by nearby players.

As the hottest dungeon around, it attracted hundreds of players, and the regional channel was full of people looking for teams.

Observing this lively scene gave Lin Xiao a sense of nostalgia, as if he had gone back to before he crossed over, when he used to play a game called Demanimal World.

Come to think of it, aside from the different world background, many of the game settings were extremely similar to Demanimal World. He couldn’t help wondering if the Dominator had also played that game.

He casually picked a team seeking members and sent an application. A few seconds later, the respondent asked:

“How many levels, what class, and what specialization?”

“Level 13 Mage with Lightning Specialization.”

“Lightning Specialization?”

There was a moment of silence on the other end before they responded:

“Your level’s a bit low, but let’s try once. Just to be clear, if your magic damage isn’t enough, we’ll kick you.”

“Okay.”

An invitation to join the team came, and they already had four members. With him, there were five; two Mages, a Priest, and two Warriors.

The other Mage was an Elf Fire Mage, one Warrior a Pandaren Defense Warrior, and the other a Tauren Weapon Warrior, while the Priest was a Human Holy Priest.

The races were fairly popular, without any overly powerful or non-mainstream ones. Lin Xiao’s Star Spirit was also counted among the Humans, just super handsome.

Upon entering the dungeon, the first sight that greeted him was two large spiders hanging upside-down from a great tree: two level 16 elite monsters with over 800 health. The Pandaren Defense Warrior pulled out his hammer and moved forward, saying:

“These two gatekeepers are strong. After I draw their aggro, wait three seconds before we attack. If you get webbed, don’t panic, just keep casting.”

Ten seconds later, a loud boom echoed in the dungeon as a thick bolt of lightning struck the left spider. The massive spell damage instantly took away half of the elite monster’s health. It aggroed onto Lin Xiao, shrugging off the MT who was desperately trying to shield, and lunged towards him.

The Fire Mage immediately launched a Fire Specialization attack to control the monster, and the Warrior struggled to attract the aggro, but his insufficient damage and taunt ability on cooldown meant he could only watch as the elite chased after Lin Xiao.

Luckily, the monster had less than a third of its health left, and it was quickly slain after a barrage of attacks.

Afterward, the team looked at him in surprise, and the Mage couldn’t help asking:

“Dude, is Lightning Specialization really that powerful?”

He shook his head and said,

“It’s my talents that make lightning spells so potent, but of course, the burst damage from Lightning Specialization itself is quite high.”

“I somewhat regret choosing Fire Specialization,” he mused.

“You can always switch later,” they responded.

The team captain was very familiar with the dungeon and led them to the boss after the fewest possible monster encounters. Relying on his explosive power, he fought all the way to the end and defeated the final boss of the dungeon, a Demon Magician.

The dungeon didn’t have any extra storylines. After killing a total of five bosses, they cleared it, earning two blue pieces of equipment and more than ninety silver coins, almost one Gold Coin.

After emerging from the dungeon, he turned down the captain’s offer to continue and instead went to sell the junk items. After buying some potions, he entered the dungeon alone to grind solo.

From his previous run, he had analyzed the elite monsters’ attack power and health, as well as the layout of the dungeon, and he realized he had the potential to solo grind.

First, he would cast Lightning Shield and draw a large group of elite monsters, dealing substantial damage in the process. Then, he would use Lightning field every ten seconds to control the situation and stay alive, casting Lightning Chain every two seconds. As long as he wasn’t surrounded and killed, he could easily clear a wave.

With solo dungeon grinding, he leveled up even before he had finished a full run.

After that, almost every hour or so, he could complete a solo run, each run yielding about eleven or twelve pieces of Blue Equipment, and five or six Gold Coins.

As his level rose and he became more proficient, the time it took for a solo run decreased, getting to the point where he could do one every half an hour.

Six days later, his level reached Level 20. As his level was much higher than the dungeon monsters, the experience gained per run wasn’t much, but the money and equipment were plentiful.

So he stopped solo grinding and started to lead others through the dungeons to level up, charging one Gold Coin per person for each run, which meant an additional four Gold Coins per group.

This strategy of infinitely leading runs continued for almost a month. One group after another of players graduated from Mooncolor Town at levels 18 or 19 and moved on, while he stayed to farm, stopping only when his Gold Coin stash exceeded five thousand.

While other players of the same level had just a few Gold Coins, this was a considerable fortune which meant he wouldn’t have to worry about money for a long time.

After all, even though this world is like a game, it’s not really a game. There are no gold farms as jobs, nor can you buy Gold Coins with money—you have to earn everything yourself. Money is very valuable and retains its worth.

It’s difficult to get by without money in any part of the world. Whether you are leveling up, learning Skills, or buying equipment, you need money. Spending a month and a half to farm five thousand Gold Coins was, in the long run, very worthwhile.

With enough money, his next step was naturally to go to the Lightning Tower and learn all the remaining Skills. In addition to upgrading the levels of his existing Skills, he also learned two new Skills: Lightning Strike and Thundercloud, the latter of which could only be learned at Level 20.

Level 1 Lightning Strike: Channels the power of lightning to strike a target, dealing 450 points of direct Lightning damage and stunning the target for two seconds, then inflicting Lightning damage every three seconds for the next 15 seconds, with total damage equal to the first hit.

Mana cost: 55 points, instant cast, cooldown 15 seconds.

Level 1 Thundercloud: Summons a Thundercloud with a 60-yard radius that lasts for 15 seconds, dealing up to 1500 points of Lightning damage to all enemies within range.

Mana cost: 112, instant cast, requires channeling.

He also maxed out the Talents for Strengthening Lightning Chain and Lightning Extension, using up a total of eight Talent points, and put the remaining three points into a newly available Talent called Lightning Spark, with five levels in total, reducing the casting time of Lightning Chain and Thunderbolt by 0.1 for each level, for a total reduction of 0.5 seconds at max level.

With enough money in hand, he no longer needed to worry about earning money. He spent a good amount to buy four twelve-slot bags, stocked up on Mana-restoring potions, and went out to begin his monster grinding journey for leveling up.

For him, doing quests was too bothersome, especially since many weren’t about killing monsters but involved various errands and collecting task items, with some having frustratingly low drop rates.

Time passed unknowingly, and many players spread out from their Novice Villages to the entire world. Every day, the world channel buzzed with new discoveries, with dungeons or new maps being found all the time.

As interaction increased, acquaintances met, and players began to form groups. Many seniors from third and fourth years set up guilds in the main cities, gathering classmates to band together.

In the world channel, Lin Xiao often noticed announcements about guilds being formed by familiar prestigious Colleges, including Radiance.

Three and a half years after his arrival, Lin Xiao, who had now reached Level 55, finally saw a message from his girlfriend looking for him in the world channel. At that time, he had been grinding for half a year in a place called Land of Curse, filled with powerful Undead monsters of Level 55 and 60.

The higher the level, the harder it was to advance, requiring more and more experience. Even with his high efficiency, he had only managed to reach Level 55.

Almost sick from the endless grinding, he decided not to continue when he saw the message from his girlfriend. He left to find her learning some Skills, taking up professions, and improving riding skills along with his equipment.

The grind had left him feeling numb, with nothing but his level surpassing other players in their forties. Many things had not been updated or replaced.

His current state was like that of a player who had leveled up through hired grinding, with nothing but the level to show for it. Nevertheless, in the game, level was everything. With a high level, everything else could be sorted out—it was just a matter of time.

He opened a teleportation portal and went directly to the Lightning Tower, a bit of magic he had learned at Level 30, which allowed instant transportation to the Lightning Tower. In one go, he learned all the Skills he could, then took up two professions: Tailor and Enchant, the most common professions for magic-based classes.

PS: After typing this out, I feel like there’s something odd about these two chapters today, but on closer inspection, I can’t pinpoint what needs to change or where the oddity lies.

This dungeon’s pace was very fast initially. Over several chapters, while throwing out the setting, it quickly transitioned through the first ten years, aiming to open the gateway to Outland sooner.

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