A flurry of green numbers bloomed over Hazel’s head as the healers instantly reacted.
+1231
+729
+887
+563
…
A cascade of spells—Heals, Regens, a Guardian Spirit, a Power Word: Shield—wrapped around her.
Simultaneously, Starbloom and Lunara unleashed a volley of debuffs, weakening Greatear’s attack power and slowing its ferocious swipes. Hazel expertly managed the boss’s aggro, backpedaling toward the location Kael had indicated.
Soon, she had the alpha howler positioned perfectly near the massive boulder at the edge of the clearing. With her back to the stone, she planted her feet and raised her shield, absorbing Greatear’s relentless assault.
-2719
+1179
+1523 (Absorbed by Shield)
…
-2387
-1374 (Bleed)
[Dispel]
+1214
+857
…
Hazel’s 2500 defense, combined with her damage reduction talents, allowed her to mitigate about 3000 physical damage per hit.
Greatear’s 5000-damage auto-attacks were the main threat, occasionally mixed with a 2000-damage claw swipe or a bleed that ticked for over 1000.
As long as the heals were timely and the dispels were fast, she was in no real danger. The only challenge was the immense strain on the healers’ mana pools; they had to coordinate their casts and rotate breaks to stay in the fight.
Throughout this, Kael did nothing but watch from the sidelines. Lila found it strange but held her tongue, not wanting to disrupt his plan. After five minutes, with the tanking routine stabilized, Kael finally moved.
He turned to Lila and Velora. “Don’t come any closer,” he warned them again. “Whatever you do, stay put.”
They both nodded. “Okay.”
Kael summoned his clones, then directed one to walk toward the cave entrance in the center of the clearing. He and the remaining clone stood back, a safe fifty yards away.
As the advancing clone came within ten yards of the cave, the distant Greatear, still pounding on Hazel’s shield, threw its head back and let out a piercing shriek.
“Screee! Screee!”
An echo of chittering calls answered from deep within the cave. A moment later, a tide of thirty monkeys—Level 28 Howler Guards—poured out of the entrance. They swarmed Kael’s clone, leaping on it with vicious intent.
-1785
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
-1938
…
The clone was torn to shreds in an instant. But at that same moment, Kael’s Phantom Barrage arrived.
-8227 (Row 1)
-23352 (Row 1, Critical Hit)
-19734 (Row 2, Skill + Pierce)
-35713 (Row 2, 1x Critical Hit)
-65890 (Row 2, Double Critical Hit)
-24239 (Row 3, Skill + Double Pierce)
…
The Howler Guards had 60,000 HP each. The initial volley killed more than ten of them outright and left the rest heavily wounded.
The surviving monkeys immediately charged Kael. He and his other clone began to backpedal, firing continuously. The monkeys had a movement speed of 12, while Kael’s Moving Shot allowed him to kite at a speed of 16. They couldn’t hope to catch him. Even better, the monkeys ran in a straight, predictable line, allowing Kael’s piercing shots to hit two or three targets at once.
Twenty seconds later, all thirty monkeys were dead.
[System: You have slain Howler Guard, gaining 12,000 EXP.]
[System: Lucky Bonus triggered! You gain an additional 12,000 EXP.]
[System: You have slain Howler Guard, gaining 12,000 EXP.]
…
In a flash, Kael’s experience bar jumped by over 400,000. For Lila and the others, the gain was even more staggering—nearly 500,000.
“Whoa, that’s insane! Half a million XP!” Lila exclaimed, instinctively taking a step forward.
“Stop! Don’t move!” Kael commanded sharply. Lila froze in her tracks.
Exactly thirty seconds after the first wave, Kael summoned another clone and sent it toward the cave. Greatear shrieked again, and another thirty Howler Guards poured out. Kael repeated the process, annihilating them with practiced efficiency.
From their distant vantage point, Lila and Lunara could only watch, dumbfounded. They looked at each other, their jaws practically on the floor.
They had discovered an XP fountain. A new wave of thirty monkeys every thirty seconds. One wave was worth about 400,000 experience points for Kael. That was two waves a minute, 120 waves an hour—nearly 50 million experience per hour.
An hour later, Lila and the others hit level 20. Kael hit level 24.
And so, a bizarre, dynamic scene unfolded on the mountaintop. In one corner, Hazel stoically endured a beating, her shield arm aching from the strain, while her dedicated healers frantically spammed spells, chugged potions, and rotated breaks.
In the middle, Kael endlessly kited packs of dozens of monkeys. And in the safest, most distant corner, Lila and Lunara, bored out of their minds, had opened the system’s built-in game menu and were playing a match of checkers.
The one working the hardest, by far, was Kael. Even on auto-attack mode, the repetitive strain of pulling, kiting, and clearing for hours on end was mentally exhausting.
The group farmed form one in the afternoon until seven in the evening. For six straight hours, their levels shot up. Kael earned nearly 300 million XP, going from Level 23 (100M/120M) to Level 25 (140M/160M). Lila and the others all reached level 24.
Suddenly, Greatear let out a final, furious cry, leaped backward, and disappeared into its cave. The women, seeing the boss retreat, had no idea what had happened and rushed over to Kael.
“What’s going on? Where’d the big monkey go?”
Kael’s brain was fried. He didn’t have the energy to explain the day/night spawn cycle. “We’ll come back tomorrow,” he said, and without another word, he pitched a temporary logout tent and vanished from the game.
The others looked at each other, unsure what to do, their gazes settling on Lila. She knew that a six-hour, high-intensity grind was incredibly draining. After a moment’s thought, she said, “I’ve got some things to do anyway. Let’s all log off. We’ll meet back here tomorrow at 9 AM.”
“Sounds good.” The rest of the group pitched their tents and logged out.
Kael sat up in the pod, rubbing his temples. Thank God for the pod; he wasn't sure he could have lasted that long with the old helmet. He stepped out and walked to the bathroom. Realizing he hadn’t showered in days, he felt a sudden itchiness and turned on the water.
When he emerged from the bathroom, he found four complete sets of clothes laid out on his bed, from underwear to outerwear. Sofia must have had them rush-ordered that afternoon. He changed into a new outfit and looked in the mirror. The change in his appearance and demeanor from that morning was stunning. Clothes truly make the man.
He went downstairs to the dining room. A steaming bowl of seafood pasta was waiting for him on the table. Maria was in the kitchen, cleaning up. Lila was nowhere to be seen.
Kael pulled out a chair and sat down. “Maria, where’s Lila?”
Maria turned from the sink. “Miss Whitmore went home, sir. To her family’s estate on Lake Windermere. She said not to worry about her and that you should attend to your own business.”
Kael nodded and twirled the pasta around his fork, devouring it in minutes.
“Buurp.” He patted his stomach, completely satisfied.
The next morning, as Kael was eating breakfast, Lila rushed in. He saw the troubled look on her face.
“Lila, what’s wrong?” he asked.
A stiff, forced smile crossed her face. “It’s nothing. Let’s just get in the game and level.”
Kael sighed. He guessed it had something to do with Caleb Mordant. But his rebirth had already set the butterfly effect in motion.
In his previous life, Caleb had never been hospitalized. Kael had no idea what would happen next.
