----

While traveling back toward Gena Village, Kieran stopped multiple times to rest against the trees and catch his breath. His character's Stamina drained at an unusually rapid rate because it linked directly to how well he could control himself.

Since his mental fatigue was incredibly high, his regeneration rates plummeted with corresponding sky-high consumption rates. Typically, Kieran could make the journey from the Forest of Beast's dungeon area to Gena Village in under an hour, but he stopped every 10 minutes to rest for thrice that amount!

Kieran's only saving grace was that his level made nearby monsters avoid him. Otherwise, a crowd of powerful wolves would undoubtedly surround him.

'This is exactly why I can't over-exert myself without the proper virtual equipment. I need that pod, but it's just far outside of my financial limits right now,' Kieran inwardly groaned while gripping a tree by his side.

Kieran's current VR Helmet was extremely lacking in every sense compared to the Virtual Pod he mentioned. Not only did the Virtual Pods monitor and help regulate the player's vital signs, but its synchronization rate was far better.

Even the worst-quality virtual pod supported a 100% sensory emulation, meaning every sensation could feel exactly like real life.

Of course, if the user wished to, they could manipulate the settings and lower them to their liking. After all, not everyone would want to experience the sensation of having a bone crushed while inside the game. It was already an unimaginable pain in real life. Most people came to the game scene to escape life, not experience it again.

Conversely, some people would gladly experience such a feeling. For example, people with sicknesses that affected their ability to feel or ability to move, leaving them confined to a chair or bed for the rest of their natural lives.

What's more, the 2x time dilation made it even more enjoyable, allowing ample time for average people to abandon the reality of their dreadful situation. A day inside Zenith Online was equal to half a day in reality. Even individuals tied down by responsibilities would have time to enjoy the game at the most casual level and maintain a relatively fair amount of progress.

As long as it wasn't their goal to compete with people who played for a living, then they were bound to enjoy the game.

Meanwhile, Kieran finally amassed enough power to continue his journey back to the village. Even if Kieran added more points to Vitality and Endurance, it wouldn't affect his current situation.

This wasn't an issue regarding Kieran's character, so it couldn't be appeased by any actions performed in-game. What Kieran needed was rest. But, he couldn't log out just yet. Even if he possessed a tremendous lead over the others, he still needed to complete his quest to receive the rewards.

Therefore, Kieran trudged his body back to Gena Village, arriving almost an hour and a half after leaving the dungeon area. His first stop was the Warrior Hall. However, before entering, he equipped all of his armor and weapon. He already understood Scar's personality; Kieran would be berated if he entered the Hall looking like a beggar.

The moment he arrived inside the Warrior Hall, Scar lifted his head and gazed at Kieran with a faint smile. A crimson glow danced within his pupils as he stood from his throne-like chair and walked towards Kieran while clapping slowly and loudly.

"It would appear you've completed the task given to you. And, it seemed you've even gone overboard," Scar said. He stopped in front of Kieran a moment later and inhaled softly. A proud smirk appeared on his face as Scar nodded contentedly.

"I smell the blood of a strong beast on you."

"That's because there is some," Kieran said before revealing a small vial. Although the quest didn't mention anything regarding a quest item, this still dropped from Grifear after Kieran cleared the dungeon. It was a small vial containing a liquid oddly similar to blood.

「 Blood Essence (Quest Item)

Item Rank: Rare

Item Grade: Exceptional (54)

Description: The condensed essence of a monster. The essence holds all of the properties of the beast it comes from. It can be used in multiple ways, but alchemy and forging are the most common. 」

Scar snatched the vial from Kieran's palm and tossed it upward while sparing the item a cursory glance. He gleaned all of its details in a second and smiled at Kieran. Suddenly, the vial froze in the air while Scar made a minor motion.

"You did well."

〈System: You have completed the quest ?A Warrior's Task?!〉

〈System: You have received 5 Silver Coins.〉

〈System: Your favorability with Scar has increased by 50 points! [Status: Friendly]〉

〈System: You have leveled up! [Lv.17 → Lv.18]〉

〈System: You have received 5 Unassigned Attribute Points and 2 Skill Points.〉

"Since you've done well, it's only fitting that I reward you, no? Make sure to stand still," Scar instructed.

Kieran obliged with a faint nod. Truth be told, he didn't wish to move at all. So, the command to stand still didn't seem like a command at all.

Suddenly, Scar snapped his finger, and the Boss Blood Essence vial shattered. A crimson gleam resonated from Scar's eyes as he slowly glided his finger across the empty space. In response, the blood followed his guidance.

Afterward, Scar flicked his finger, causing the essence to fly towards Kieran, penetrating his chest. Shockingly, there was no pain following this action. The Boss Blood Essence entered Kieran's body, but he felt a somewhat pleasant sensation that subsided quickly.

historical

A few notifications appeared before Kieran's view in exchange for the disappearance of the pleasant feeling.

〈System: Strength has increased by 11 points.〉

〈System: Vitality has increased by 10 points.〉

〈System: Endurance has increased by 7 points.〉

Kieran's eyes widened in surprise. He didn't know that Blood Essence had such an effect. It was even better than some potions made by Apprentice Alchemists in some cases!

However, Kieran also felt something was amiss because the description didn't explicitly mention this property. As a result, Kieran turned toward Scar with a skeptical gaze.

"Does all Blood Essence have this kind of effect?"

Scar shook his head with a proud expression as he practically ignored Kieran's skeptical gaze.

"Nope, not at all. Didn't you say before that I should give you a special reward? That's what this is, and it's accomplished by using a characteristic of my expertise. After going above and beyond, surely I need to reciprocate the same."

〈System: Scar's favorability towards you has increased to ?Intrigued?!〉

"I see," Kieran nodded before ultimately taking a seat. He took a look at his stats before softly shaking his head with a difficult-to-read expression.

「Name: Aatrox

Lv.18 (Experience: 0/30,000)

Class: Warrior

Title(s): None

----------------------------

[?Stats?]-

Health: 535/535 (0.2 HP regen/sec)

Mana: 130/130 (0.15 MP regen/sec)

Stamina: 150 (0.15 Stamina regen/sec)

Attack Power: 202

Defense: 127

-----------------------------

[?Attributes?]-

?Strength: 85 (58 + 27 + 0)

?Intelligence: 20 (20 + 0 + 0)

?Agility: 44 (41 + 3 + 0)

?Endurance: 40 (20 + 20 + 0)

?Control: 30 (30 + 0 + 0)

?Vitality: 45 (30 + 15 + 0)

?Perception: 50 (50 + 0 + 0)

[Unassigned Stat Point: 10]

[Skill Points: 4] 」

The first thing that caught Kieran's attention was his Experience. Although the quest rewarded a level up, it erased all of the progress made by his achievement reward. While it was a trade-off, Kieran still felt it was an acceptable trade-off. It wouldn't take long for him to acquire enough Experience to reach Lv.20 and hopefully begin his transition into a Tier 1 class.

The second matter that impacted Kieran significantly was the condition of his stats. Not even a Knight of the same level had a hundred percent chance of possessing the same amount of Health and Defense that he did.

Regrettably, Kieran noticed he had a lot of future balancing to do regarding his stats. As of right now, he was far too slow for any of the more difficult tasks he had in mind. More importantly, his Control was beginning to lag behind considerably.

While Strength was his overall focus, he couldn't unleash the full potential of this Attribute without having the Golden Ratio present. This became even more obvious after undergoing a class promotion.

Aside from the matters involving his stats, Kieran was more surprised by the loot in his possession. Even though he didn't pick up the equipment from the boss and instead left it to the others, his inventory was flush with Silver and Copper Coins. Perhaps not even gaming organizations who were in the process of setting up gold farming operations had as many liquid funds as him.

Because he didn't take most of the equipment, the party allowed him to keep nearly 60% of the coins earned in the run. As a result, Kieran had upwards of 45 Silver after including the quest and achievement reward.

The only downside to his current situation was the fact Beginner Villages didn't give access to specific systems, nor was there an Auction House available. Therefore, players would have to set up temporary stalls to sell their items for the time being.

After a thought, Kieran opened the mailing system and funneled all of the useless equipment in his possession to Altair, attached with messages regarding what he should do with it. He didn't see himself having the time to sell, especially since he wanted to log out soon.

Once he finished all of this, Kieran looked at Scar, who seemed to have an unusual expression when factoring in his usual demeanor.

"I have a question, Aatrox. Do you know what a Berserker is?"

Ding!

〈System: You have triggered a hidden questline! You may continue with the questline depending on your response and action.〉

Kieran's eyes sparkled with excitement upon reading this message despite his exhausted condition. Earning Scar's intrigue, amongst a few other factors, allowed Kieran to trigger the beginning of his special class change!