"Gadwall is mostly the same except for a new three-story building," I told Sawyer, my youngest sister, through a WeeCee connection. I was back inside MCO, facetanking five Hermit Crabores. But I was no longer hiding in my tiny nook anymore. "Oh, and they did put air conditioning in all the classrooms. That would've been great if they had those when we went there."

"I guess Gadwall really didn't have much budget back then," Sawyer's gentle voice said. From how she sounded and her appearance, one would expect her to work perhaps as a kindergarten teacher or at a daycare.

People would be amazed when they'd find out she was managing a huge ranch—her own business, not a family one—up at Swamphenshire. And she was also a butcher despite her small frame. Great-aunt Jemma's farm had made a significant impression on her.

"Well, they should have more budget now after my donation."

"What did you ask in return?" she asked with a hint of a chuckle.

"I didn't ask them for anything."

"And that's the code for manipulating them into giving you something. I bet it's renaming—"

"Renaming the library into Herald Stone Hall. Yes."

"Seriously?" She laughed out loud. I knew this was the upper limit of her expression of joy, and it still sounded very reserved and calm. "I'm going to visit Gadwall when Mum and I go there to see that." Mum was staying at Sawyer's ranch. The fresh air of the countryside helped her regain her health drained by working multiple jobs for several years to keep our family going.

We continued talking about their scheduled flight, our plans for our family gathering, how we'd surprise Mum with the house, and visiting Pops' grave. Everything is coming full circle. I thought the same thing when I opened the boxes containing my old items.

[ Loot: 148 Artas, (3) Crab Leg, (2) Clump of Chitin, (Broken) Fortified Brass Vest ]

[ Increased: Player Level to 10! ]

"Yes! Finally," I exclaimed. My shell exploded, killing two Hermit Crabores. "Aw, too bad. Only a broken—oops. Sorry, Sawyer."

Level ten was my aim before returning to the Craggy Crabore. However, after such a long grind, I was nearing the next Rank of my Aritu Form Ocadule. And so, I decided to continue grinding here for a bit longer.

It was an incredibly slow process to level it. The Gli from the Hermit Crabores was divided between feeding my lone Ocadule and Mardukryon Cidule and their skills. I had only leveled my [Ancestral Constitution] with Gli once; the next would take ages, its Gli bar crawling like a geriatric snail.

In a way, I was lucky I didn't pick either [Fiery War Stomp] or [Cleansing Flames]. I didn't have an immediate use for them, and they'd be just Gli sinks.

This was why many max-level players still hadn't completed Ocadules with fully capped skills, much less their race’s Cidule. Perhaps it could be done if a player concentrated only on a couple of Ocadules until they reached level one hundred and five. But the max level wasn't the endgame. It was only the beginning of the actual game.

"What was that?" Sawyer asked. "Wait, are you playing MCO?"

"I am," I said. "Did Nelly tell you about it?" I trotted back to the spawning point of Hermit Crabores to pull more of them. The surviving one of the batch I was fighting scuttled after me, chomping my ass with its claws. It died from retribution damage.

"Yes, she did. And it sounds like you're having lots of fun."

"It's a good break from work," I nonchalantly said, not wanting to admit how much I enjoyed reliving my childhood.

"I'll leave you to your game then. See you next week!"

"See you," I copied her. “Tell Mum I love her.” After we said our goodbyes, I mulled over which skill would get my new Lesser Skill Points. [Greater Pyro Shell] or [Rusting Ground]?

Although [Rusting Ground] was only a Common Quality Shard, it increased my damage output by reducing enemies’ Armor. I had previously invested three LSPs in it, bringing it to level four.

Lvl. 4 Rusting Ground: Inflict a curse on a small area (limited to two Grounds), causing any enemies entering it to lose 18 Armor for each second, up to a maximum of 90 Armor. This corrupted state lasts for 7 seconds after leaving the area.

Cost: 45 Energy

Duration: 30 Seconds

Cooldown: 5 Seconds

It was quickly becoming my favorite skill. Especially effective against the Hermit Crabores with crude shells on their backs made from junk, this skill seemed to negate their increased armor. And I also found out from testing that [Greater Pyro Shell] was indeed physical damage, likely with the fire element, so there was also a synergy.

Using debuffs as a tank appeared to be a good plan—I might aim for it, employing different types of debuffs.

However, I didn't want to increase its level further for now. Each level increased Energy cost, and it was a huge Energy-guzzler. Given that I didn't invest any points into Spirit, I barely had any Energy regeneration to speak of. I mostly relied on herbs and fruits harvested from the forest that gave Energy. It would've been great if this was a Mardukryon-based skill so it would consume AS instead.

And thus, I decided to level up [Greater Pyro Shell].

Lvl. 7 Greater Pyro Shell: Glorious blessings of the ancestors coat you with a formidable barrier of protective flames that boosts your defenses and absorbs (71% of incoming damage) up to the amount of Ancestral Shroud/Energy spent to summon it added by (28% of Armor). When the barrier expires or is depleted, the damage it has absorbed is dealt to nearby enemies.

Grants: +275 Armor, +9% Armor

Cost: 26% of Max Ancestral Shroud for Mardukryon; 20% of Max Energy for other Races

Duration: 22 Seconds

Cooldown: 6 Seconds

The lowered cooldown was a welcome improvement. And the additional Armor made up for my horrendous equipment or lack of it in most slots. This showed the effectiveness of investing LSPs in only a few skills rather than several.

I had read a tip for beginners: it was best to pick a good DPS skill and dump all LS to it. With that, a player could then power level, one-shotting monsters within their level range with ease, raking in Essence and Gli.

As for my new Greater Skill Point, which I received every multiple of five levels, I placed it on my [Ancestral Consitution]. It increased from level four:

Lvl. 4 Ancestral Constitution: Mardukryons inherited but a minute fraction of the divine solar vitality of their ancestors.

Passive: +85 Armor and Magic Resilience, +150 Health, +50 Ancestral Shroud

Each time damage is received (Max stacks [4]):

+15 Armor and Magic Resilience, +10 Health per Second, +40 Health

Duration: 25 seconds per stack

To level five:

Lvl. 5 Ancestral Constitution: Mardukryons inherited but a minute fraction of the divine solar vitality of their ancestors.

Passive: +250 Armor and Magic Resilience, +5% Armor and Magic Resilience, + 250 Health, +150 Ancestral Shroud

Each time damage is received (Max stacks [5]):

+40 Armor and Magic Resilience, +15 Health per Second, +50 Health, +30 Ancestral Shroud

Duration: 30 seconds per stack

I whistled in amazement. Skills provided by Cidules had incredible growth; I could see why they took so long to level. Some guides even advised not to take any Ocadules early so that all Gli would go to the race Cidule. This also demonstrates the value of Greater Skill points.

I turned my attention to the Hermit Crabores. An Elite variant had shown up. I hit them from a distance with Mehubanarath's sling. All of them, including the Elite. I wanted to try my new tankiness.

As they approached closer, I stood firm to face them all.

Following up on what Eclairs had told me, I learned that if two shields were equipped, only the higher block chance stats would apply rather than merge. It was unfortunate, but that aspect wasn't my main goal with dual-wielding them. It was the powerful Head-On Block—shields would use their respective amounts when executed successfully.

Full stacks of [Ancestral Constitution Shell], check. [Greater Pyro Shell] up and already on cooldown. [Rusting Ground] to my left, its brownish-orange haze swirling at hoof level. Lastly, I changed my sling to the new shield I looted a while ago, dual wielding it with my [Thatched Buckler].

Thorny Worn Targe | Item Level: 7

Rare | Shield | Off-hand

68 Armor

23% Chance to Block 75 Damage

Head-On Block 150 Damage

Deal 150 Retribution Damage to the enemy each time you execute a Head-On Block with this Shield

Requires: 20 Might, 35 Vigor

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

+35 Retribution Damage (Physical)

+12 Vigor

The crab monsters made their signature leap like a group of ninjas.

“Bring it on!” I said, rearing up on my hind legs, my front legs cycling in the air. It was exhilarating, as if I were on an ancient battlefield before the two armies clashed.

The Hermit Crabores fell from the skies, with the heavier Elite descending the fastest. I shifted away from its landing spot onto the [Rusting Grounds] area, not wanting to take the brunt of its fall.

WHAM! The AoE damage hit me.

My shell held firm, a testament to how hard I'd become. But it didn't completely absorb all damage, so my health was reduced by a small chunk. My regeneration could take care of it, but I still cast [Healing Touch] to ensure I had full health as much as possible when facing the whole group.

The rest of the Hermit Crabores slammed down, some landing on me. A whirlwind of snapping claws followed.

BOOM!

Wow! That took a while, didn’t it? A fresh new shell enveloped me as I was surrounded by seafood.

A claw came down. I raised my shield. The other claw quickly followed it, but my shield was ready to meet it. The retribution damage for Head-On Blocks from the [Thorny War Targe] boosted my DPS. [Rusting Grounds] was also doing its magic.

Soon enough, a couple of the naked ones died.

That's so fast! I thought, pleased with the considerable difference between now and when I first came here. With this much damage, the Craggy Crabore would be served on a platter with no sweat.

An idea popped into my head.

Is it time? Can I do it now?

I moved forward to the Hermit Crabore's spawn point by the archway. Two new giant crabs crawled through the gap between the boulders. My shell exploded and caught them in the blast. Enraged, they pounced on me. I no longer needed to actively attack them to get their aggro.

And then I just stood there.

"AFK leveling time," I said as I accessed my WeeCee to read business reports. "Do people still say AFK nowadays?" WeeCee had holo-keyboards, so that expression applied to them. But I had no idea if it was still used when it came to VR Helms.

I had done AFK leveling in a few RPGs using tank characters, but only on rare occasions. Since I was renting a PC at Vanguard Gaming, it was a waste of money to spend hours AFK leveling when I could level faster in higher-level maps, leeching off my DPS friends.

Several times, I wished I had my own computer that could run Nornyr Online. Then I’d imagine myself leaving my character AFK leveling while I went to school—Mum probably wouldn't have allowed that because it'd ramp up the electricity bills.

"Living the dream," I said as I dropped [Rusting Grounds] by my hooves. This would be slower than if I took advantage of the Head-On Block retribution damage, but I could lower the volume and work while leveling.

A pretty good deal, if you ask me. And people should ask me if they wanted answers. My answer: It's a pretty good deal.

Eventually, my Aritu Form Ocadule reached level two, and I went off to meet my craggy friend.