Manco had gained another four levels, bringing him to level 15. His crossbow mastery was stuck at 20 due to the cap, so he only occasionally use 「Crippling Shot」 to reduce the number of threats he had to deal with. His mana bolt spell reached level 11, and an additional variant was unlocked.

After another skirmish, Manco sat on a branch and inspected his modest spell arsenal.

『 Mana Bolt (lv11) 』

- Type: Active. Damage. Cast time: Instant

- Mana cost: 15 (10 + 50% Arcane Surge)

- Element: Neutral

- Damage: 9.6 (8 + 20% Arcane Surge)

- Cool down: 0.42s

—o—

Among the EoL community, Mana Bolt was universally considered the joke spell. Available to every spell caster, it was notoriously bland and boring. It did neutral damage, and its visual effect - a transparent, shimmering projectile - was virtually unchanged from level 1 to 100, except higher level bolts looking a little larger.

To add insult to injury, the spell was also bugged. As a tier I skill, it could theoretically be maxed out by a level 50 character, but for some reason, the improving rate slowed down to a crawl after the spell reached level 30.

The first and only player to ever max out Mana Bolt was a level 301 Black Mage. Since leveling spells was done by dealing damage with it, this mage reportedly used Mana Bolt almost exclusively for 3 years, or a whopping over 9,000 hours of play.

His gameplay videos showed that at level 100 each bolt did 50 damage and cool down became 0.1 seconds, resulting in a DPS of 500 without buffs. While it performed decently, it was not particularly outstanding, especially considering the amount of work involved.

The Black Mage's dedication to something so soul-numbingly boring was applauded for about one week then promptly forgotten. People only remember how notoriously tiring it was to max out Mana Bolt. Some players demanded Immersive Interaction to fix the spell, but most simply did not care. Eventually, the spell was never fixed and became a shorthand for hard work with little result to show for it.

Manco was not too impressed with this spell, but he found it adequate for now. What he was truly aiming at was the skill that it would unlock at level 20. Mana Bolt unlocked one additional skill or spell every 10 levels.

He turned his attention to the first spell that Mana Bolt had unlocked.

「Mana Blast」

- Type: Active, Damage. Cast time: 2.5 x Mana Bolt cooldown (Charge)

- Mana cost: Variable. Maximum 1.5 x Mana Bolt mana cost

- Element: Neutral

- Damage: Variable. Maximum 2.0 x Mana Bolt damage

- Cooldown: 0s

—.—

To use the spell, he would need to cast and hold it in his hand. After a specific duration (depending on Mana Bolt's cooldown), it would be fully charged and could be released. If he discharged the spell before it was fully charged, it would cost less mana and also do less damage.

The Blast was a mixed bag. From the Damage-Per-Second standpoint, it seemed lacking compared to the Bolt. It did 2 times more damage but took 2.5 times as long to cast. However, it had a small "explosion" effect, so when used against crowds, it would not lose against the Bolt. In addition, from the efficiency point of view, it was superior to the Bolt, costing 50% more mana and doing 100% more damage. It could not be upgraded, and damage per second was scaled based on Bolt, so its usefulness was ultimately tied to that of Bolt.

Manco checked the in-game clock. The time was 7:30 p.m. The last rays of sunlight were disappearing, and darkness was encroaching.

"Time for bed!" he muttered to himself.

Upon leaving Mistwood Village, Manco had decided he would spend the night in the forest. He would sleep on one of the trees, and at first light tomorrow, he would scout the Corrupter's cave and might try confronting it. He was also aching to try out the Mind Link spell.

Although he wanted to harvest the rest of the animal carcasses, he decided against it. At night, all sorts of dangerous creatures would roam about the forest. Coupled with poor visibility at night, he would only put himself in danger if he stayed out in the open.

Sighing, he moved away from the killing ground which was now covered with more than a hundred animal carcasses. Slowly he adjusted the sense simulation back to the normal level. Wincing from the combined odor of a hundred odd dead bodies, he made his way to another "escape tree" that was the furthest away.

After climbing up the tree and pulling up all the ropes, he made his way up until he found a spot that was both comfortable and well hidden.

With ropes and pieces of leather, he fashioned together a makeshift harness, which he used to secure himself. Then he covered himself with a brown blanket for warmth.

Manco was soon proved right to be careful. When the last ray of sunlight disappeared completely, the forest was covered in complete darkness. The air was still, save for the sounds of leaves blowing in the wind.

Manco kept still, letting the passive Camouflage skill take effect. He listened intently, and soon, he began hearing sounds.

The sounds of the nocturnal creatures.

They crawled, stalked, slithered and scurried about. They growled and chittered. In complete darkness, it was easy to be overwhelmed by so many sinister sounds made by unseen creatures, but Manco was unfazed. He was familiar with it.

Nevertheless, he still felt a little uncomfortable when he heard the creatures squealing in delight, presumably as they saw the corpses of the corrupted animals. With great vigor, they rushed toward the banquet and soon, ripping and tearing sounds were heard along with grunts of pleasure and snarls of discontent.

Double checking to make sure he was well hidden, Manco opened the menu and selected the option to Log out.

〔--- LOGGING OUT ---〕

〔--- Please wait until the device powers off completely ---〕

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

As Mahn Li stretched his body, he looked at the digital clock which showed 1:05 pm. When he logged out, the in-game time was 7.50 pm. Night time was eight hours, which meant he would need to log in four hours from now to take advantage of the in-game daylight.

"Okay, what do I do now?"

For the next 20 hours (or 40 hours in-game) he would be under a buff that increased experience gain, so it was tempting to keep leveling. However, Mahn Li knew better. Playing non-stop would only help a little in the short term while costing him dearly in the long run. He learned that lesson the hard way a long time ago. He decided he would need to figure out a schedule to keep himself healthy.

Reluctantly, he began cleaning up his apartment. He would be stuck here in the foreseeable future, so it would be a good idea to make it look less like a pig sty and a potential health hazard.

Opening the tiny window for the air to circulate, he grabbed several large bags and began stuffing them with things he knew he would not need. Books of old subjects that he had been too lazy to throw out, broken electronics, old clothes, decks of cards, game boxes, cheap action figures, and other knick-knacks. Opening the fridge he cleaned out all the expired or rotten food and wiped it clean.

He began vacuuming the room, which was quick as the place was tiny. Then he did the dishes and put them back on the dish rack.

The clock showed 1:41 pm. "Damn! It 's only been 35 minutes?" he grumbled. "Oh, right! I'll do the laundry!"

Gathering the sweat-soaked mattress covers and blankets, he carried them to the apartment block's common laundry room and stuffed them into the empty washer-dryer machine. It would be done in about an hour. Back to his room he dragged out a clean mattress and blanket and replaced them on the bed.

Mahn Li then ordered some grocery from the supermarket downstairs to be delivered to his apartment. As he was no gourmet chef, he deliberately picked the easy-to-cook food such as eggs and leafy vegetables which could be boiled. He also ordered rice and beans and rounded the purchases with soy sauce and some bananas. This was not the most healthy way to eat but it was still better than instant noodles while being cheaper than eating at food stalls.

When the groceries arrived he made a meal of steamed rice and beans, with boiled eggs and vegetables dipped in soy sauce. He avoided watching the news and concentrated on eating instead. After the meal, he cleaned up, took a shower and retrieved the laundry from the laundry room.

It was now 3:55, an hour left until it was morning in game. Setting his alarm for an hour he lied down for a quick nap.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

〘 Death Forest 〙[1]

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Opening his eyes, Manco was glad to find all his limbs intact.

Glancing at the notifications flashing at the edge of his vision, he opened them.

〔 Mastery improved: Camouflage. Level ► 7 〕

〔 Mastery improved: Camouflage. Level ► 8 〕

…

〔 Mastery improved: Camouflage. Level ► 17 〕

(Soft cap exceeded. Leveling speed reduced by 98%)

Overnight, probably hundreds of creatures had walked by under him while unaware of his presence. As he was lying still in a branch thick with leaves and covering himself, the game had considered him to be 'using camouflage' and has awarded mastery points accordingly.

Putting away the blanket and undoing his harness, Manco made his way to the ground and walked toward yesterday's leveling spot.

All of the hundred carcasses were consumed in one way or another. Some were simply missing their soft parts like the bellies or thighs and had the head intact. Others were torn apart, as shown by the broken, twisted piles of bones that were left. Others were seemingly eaten from the inside out, with only a skeleton covered in skin left.

Shrugging with indifference, Manco walked among the gruesome looking corpses and began checking them for loot.

The ones that were eaten from the inside out left surprisingly intact pelts, which was a welcome gift. Others yielded tooth, sinew, and bits of meat. Occasionally there were some human items such as rings, earrings, bracelets, and even coin purses.

The place was strangely quiet, with no more predators approaching.

"Could it be because the dead bodies scared them off?"

The creatures had probably learned that this place was dangerous. Apparently, they were not always vicious and suicidal as he thought.

"Well, that simplifies things!" Chuckling, Manco opened his map and looked for the Corruptor's cave. Now, where could he find a scout?

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Footnotes:

[1] From Misty Woods, keeping going west would eventually take players to the area called Death Forest.