He shivered.
He was practically naked. The Red Vow had taken its payment in durability, shredding his low-level gear into scrap. He was standing in a high-level zone in his underwear and a leather vest, holding a sentient sword that was currently purring with a terrifying sense of satisfaction.
"Don't get used to it," Kage muttered to the blade, sheathing Mumyo. "We aren't doing that again unless the payout covers the therapy bills."
He rolled his shoulders, testing the joint that had been on fire moments ago. The level-up heal had done its job—the structural damage was gone—but the phantom sensation of his rotator cuff tearing remained in his mind.
Status check.
He pulled up his character sheet.
Level 17.
Six unspent attribute points.
He stripped the ruined scraps of leather from his frame, tossing them into the ash. They weren't even worth selling to a vendor. The loss was annoying (mostly the stat drop) but manageable. He had walked into this knowing that the Vow was a transaction, not a gift.
"Alright," he sighed, the Operator persona stepping into the forefront to manage the logistics. "Let's see if the risk-reward ratio holds up."
He stepped toward the nearest loot pile.
In older MMOs, looting this many enemies would have been a chore - walking to each corpse, kneeling, opening a window, dragging items. But Crown of Destiny, for all its hyper-realistic physics and complex lore, had capitulated to one specific gamer convenience: Area Loot.
As Kage reached for the one Shrieker’s remains, a holographic radius expanded from his hand, tagging every lootable object within twenty meters. The windows merged, collapsing into a single, massive grid of potential profit.
"Thank you, developers," Kage murmured.
He scanned the list.
[Currency acquired: 32 Silver, 72 Copper]
Kage raised an eyebrow. The internal calculator clicked. Average of around 3 Silver per kill. That’s nearly ten times the drop rate of the goblins in the starter zone.
It made sense. The economy of an MMO was always tiered. If he stayed here and farmed efficiently, without destroying his gear every time, he could generate gold at a rate that would make it worthwhile RMT-wise.
Then, he looked at the trash.
[Calcified Ash-Gland] x14
[Shrieker Wing-Membrane] x8
[Hollow Bone Shard] x22
The Ash-Glands were filtration components, likely useful for Alchemists trying to brew potions for hazardous environments. The membranes were leatherworking mats. He swept them all into his bag. Inventory space was money waiting to be realized.
Then, his eyes caught the glow at the bottom of the list.
It wasn't the white of common items, or even the green of uncommon. There was a distinct, deep blue pulse emanating from one of the icons.
"Jackpot," Kage whispered, the exhaustion bleeding out of his stance.
He withdrew the items, holding them up against the bleak grey light of the zone.
[Strider's Hollow-Bone Leggards]
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Quality: Uncommon (Green)
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Type: Medium Leg Armor (Bone/Leather)
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Armor: +22
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Agility (AGI): +5
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Strength (STR): +2
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Requirement: Level 16, 17 AGI, 15 STR
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Description: Legguards formed from the interlocking chitin plates of an Alpha Shrieker's legs. They are incredibly light but rigid, designed to deflect wind and talons.
[Sonic-Weave Wraps]
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Quality: Uncommon (Green)
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Type: Cloth/Leather Hybrid Gloves
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Armor: +5
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Attack Speed: +10%
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Requirement: Level 15, 20 AGI
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Description: Bandages woven from the vocal cords of a Shrieker. They hum faintly when the user strikes a solid object.
And the prize:
[Treads of the Ashen Dune]
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Quality: Rare (Blue)
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Type: Leather Boots
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Armor: +18
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Agility (AGI): +4
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Stamina (STA): +3
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Requirement: Level 18, 20 AGI
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Passive Effect: [Weightless Step] – The wearer distributes weight evenly, preventing them from sinking into loose terrain. Movement speed penalty on these terrains is negated.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
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Description: Boots crafted from the light, hollow bones and treated leather of a Shrieker. They feel like they weigh nothing at all.
Kage stared at the boots. They were constructed from pale, hardened leather and bone, looking almost like exoskeleton fragments. They were ugly, and absolutely perfect.
Weightless Step.
He looked down at his feet, buried three inches deep in the soft ash. Every step in this zone was a struggle against friction, a constant drain that slowed his combat tempo. These boots were the key to the zone. They were the difference between fighting the environment and using it.
"But of course," Kage said, his voice flat. "There is a catch."
Requirement: Level 18.
He was Level 17.
"One level," he grumbled, resisting the urge to kick a pile of ash. "Always one level."
He stowed the boots in his bag. They were his next milestone. But the other two items... the greaves and the wraps - he needed them now. His defense was currently negligible; a stiff breeze would crit him, and he had to make up for the lost stats. There was one glaring problem, though.
Agility: 15
Pure classes had it easy. A warrior dumped everything into Strength and Stamina or Agility, depending on the playstyle. A mage poured everything into Intellect. Their gear paths were linear, efficient, and boring.
But Kage was playing a Legendary Poet. His primary stat, the source of his mana (Awen) and his power, was Artistry. Every point he didn't put into Artistry was a point he wasn't scaling his class mechanics.
However, he refused to play as a backline caster. He was a melee-range skirmisher who used poetry to break reality. That meant he needed to hit things, dodge things, and wear armor that stopped things from killing him.
He needed Artistry for power.
He needed Strength for damage, gear, and weight capacity.
He needed Agility for speed and gear requirements, especially with Mumyo. It was probably his most efficient stat due to Zero-Point Inertia.
"MAD," he muttered. "Multiple Attribute Dependency. The bane of efficiency."
He looked at his six unspent points. They were a precious resource. He wanted to dump them all into Artistry.
But the gear...
The math began to scroll through his mind, cold and undeniable.
Current AGI: 15.
Target AGI for Greaves: 17.
Deficit: 2.
If he spent 2 points on Agility, he could wear the Greaves.
The Greaves gave +5 AGI.
17 (Base) + 5 (Item) = 22 AGI.
The Wraps required 20 AGI.
It was a cascade effect. Investing two points unlocked the ability to wear two items, which in turn unlocked the stats to wear the boots at level 18 (which also required 20 AGI).
"Fine," Kage said to the empty air. You win this round, game design.
He opened his attribute panel.
[Agility: 15 -> 17]
He confirmed the change. The slight tingle of the stat increase washed over him—his reflexes feeling marginally sharper, the world moving a fraction of a percentage slower.
He pulled the Strider's Hollow-Bone Greaves on. They were lightweight, made of white chitin plates that interlocked with a satisfying click.
[Equipped: Strider's Hollow-Bone Leggards]
[Agility increased by 5.]
He flexed his legs. Lighter. Much lighter.
Next, the Sonic-Weave Wraps. He wound the strange, vibrating cloth around his hands and forearms. They vibrated faintly, a sympathetic resonance that made his fingers tingle.
[Equipped: Sonic-Weave Wraps]
[Attack Speed +10%.]
He looked at his remaining 4 points.
He was a Poet. If he ignored his Muse, the class was just a gimmick.
[Artistry: 70 -> 74]
Kage closed the panel. He was still frail compared to a dedicated tank like Valdrias, he hit softer than a pure Warrior, and he lacked the burst of the mages, but he was becoming something else entirely. A problem that was hard to categorize.
Finally, he turned his attention to his new Title.
[Title: The Error in the Math]
The effects were potent. Giant Slayer's Algorithm (15% reduction in level suppression) was incredible for power-leveling. The Many (buffs when outnumbered) was practically designed for his current plight - being underleveled for the zone.
He moved to swap it in.
Then he stopped.
He looked at his current title: [Eulogist of the Faithful].
Effect: +5 All Attributes.
Kage did the mental arithmetic instantly.
+5 to every stat meant +25 total attribute points. At Level 17, that was equivalent to twelve levels worth of stat points (ten, factually, since INT gave him nothing except maybe some INT checks).
Without Eulogist, his Strength would drop by 5 (ruining his damage and carry weight). His Stamina would drop by 5 (losing 50 HP). His Artistry would drop (losing Awen). And crucially, his Agility would drop by 5.
If he unequipped Eulogist, his base AGI would drop from 17 back to 12.
The Greaves required 17.
They would unequip automatically.
Then his AGI would plummet further, unequipping the Wraps.
He would be naked again.
"Scaling versus flat stats," Kage murmured, rubbing his chin. Error in the Math is a percentage scaler. It gets better the stronger I am. Eulogist is a flat boost. It’s overpowered early game, but falls off when I have 500 stats.
Right now? He couldn't afford to lose the +25 stats. The foundation of his build was resting entirely on the shoulders of that one title.
Eulogist stays, he decided.
Now, for the real prize. He had saved the notification for last. Level 15 was a milestone for nearly every class, and the Architect of Verse was apparently no exception.
Kage tapped the icon.
[New Core Ability Unlocked: Verse-Crafting (Form III: The Haiku)]
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Type: Active
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Cost: Baseline: 350 Awen
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Description: A Couplet dictates an action; a Haiku dictates a state of being. By structuring three concepts into a rigid, contemplative form, you impose a static narrative upon the environment itself.
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Composition Rules:
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Structure: The verse must follow a strict 5 - 7 - 5 syllable count.
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Keywords: Must contain Three distinct [Conceptual Keywords].
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Effect:
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Creates a Narrative Domain.
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Within this domain, the reality of the zone is overwritten by the truth of the Haiku.
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Kage stared at the panel, his mind immediately dissecting the mechanics.
"350 Awen," he muttered. "Inflation hits everywhere."
It was a staggering jump. A basic One-Word poem cost 50. A heavy Couplet ran him 100. This was three and a half times the cost of his strongest form. At his current pool of 920 Awen, a Haiku would drain nearly forty percent of his total resources in a single cast.
But the effect... Zone Manipulation.
He frowned, tapping his chin with the hilt of Mumyo. If a Couplet is a bullet that tells a target to break, he theorized to the empty ash wastes, then a Haiku isn't an attack at all. It’s a rule change.
It was more about changing the board he was standing on. A state of being. If he wrote a Haiku about [Heat], he would likely turn the localized area into a furnace. If he wrote about [Bind], the very air might turn to molasses.
But the execution is a nightmare, he groaned.
Couplets were easy; rhyme was intuitive. Even under pressure, the human brain sought patterns in sound. But a Haiku?
Five syllables. Seven syllables. Five syllables.
And he had to jam three specific Keywords from his limited Lexicon into that rigid scaffold.
Trying to count syllables while a boss tried to separate his head from his shoulders was a recipe for a quick trip to the respawn. It was too slow, too cerebral for the chaos of real-time combat. It required a pause, a breath, a moment of stillness that no enemy would grant him.
His eyes flicked to his [Rhythmic Recall] skill, the ability to store one pre-casted spell for instant release.
"Well," Kage said, closing the window with a decisive swipe. "That settles that."
The Recall slot was no longer for emergencies. From now on, that slot belonged exclusively to Form III.
The Operator side of him grinned. It was cumbersome, expensive, and difficult to use.
But the payout looked infinite.
He closed the interface.
He was geared. He was leveled. He had a new Form to test. He had cash in his pocket and a sword that whispered to him.
Kage adjusted the straps on his new greaves and looked deeper into the Ashenvale Foothills. The path ahead wound upward, disappearing into the thick, swirling grey fog. The silence had returned, total and oppressive.
It had been nearly an hour since he killed the first Shrieker in this zone.
Usually, in a high-traffic zone, mobs respawned in minutes, sometimes seconds if the player density was high enough. The System managed resources dynamically; more players meant faster meat for the grinder.
Here?
Kage looked back at the empty crater. Not a single Shrieker had respawned. The ash was still undisturbed where the bodies had fallen.
It meant the road behind him was clear. It also meant that anything ahead of him had been waiting a very, very long time for a guest.
He tightened his grip on the hilt of Mumyo.
Secrets awaited him in the deep grey: the acrid, pervasive smell of burnt paper, and the violent, buried pulse of a Calcified Memory Vein, a node that exploded rather than yielded.
He began to walk, his new greaves clicking softly as he disappeared into the monochrome curtain of falling ash.