⸢Name: Percival Nightstar⸥
⸢Race: Human (Outworlder)⸥
⸢Class: Necromancer⸥
⸢Level: 10⸥
⸢Talent: Talent of Necromancy - Mythic⸥
⸢Experience: 10,890/15,000⸥
⸢Health: 25,790/25,790⸥
⸢Mana: 780/910⸥
⸢Defense: 305⸥
⸢Attack: 820⸥
⸢Summon Space: 10/17⸥
⸢Attributes:⸥
⸢Strength: 965⸥
⸢Agility: 905⸥
⸢Constitution: 925⸥
⸢Intelligence: 695⸥
⸢Dexterity: 725⸥
⸢Luck: 475⸥
⸢Perception: 775⸥
⸢Charisma: 1115⸥
Compared to his initial stats, the growth was extraordinary for so brief a span.
His attributes had increased as well, his mana pool ample enough to fuel increasingly potent Skills, and his Attack and Defense stats reflected growth in his combat skills as a Necromancer.
He compared these with his Swordsman stats.
⸢Name: Percival Nightstar⸥
⸢Race: Human (Outworlder)⸥
⸢Class: Swordsman⸥
⸢Level: 150⸥
⸢Talent: Talent of Magical Swordsmanship- Special⸥
⸢Experience: 502,610/500,000⸥
⸢Health: 25,790/25,790⸥
⸢Mana: 4989/5000⸥
⸢Defense: 4090⸥
⸢Attack: 7880⸥
The difference was stark, he noticed.
However, he also noticed that his mana, Defense and Attack stats were way higher at this Level as a Necromancer than they were at Swordsman.
The reason for this was obvious.
Necromancer had a Mythic Talent, while Swordsman was Special-Ranked.
Such disparity meant that a Lvl. 10 Necromancer could easily overpower a Lvl. 10 Swordsman.
Even at Lvl. 100, a Swordsman would still find it a challenge to defeat a Necromancer at half his level.
Percival checked his Summon Spaces. He saw he had seven spaces free and debated if he should fill them up while clearing the Gate World again.
Perhaps it was better to save them for when he reaches Lvl. 20.
He couldn't be certain how many Summon Spaces he would be rewarded after clearing this same Gate World multiple times.
It wouldn't be as much as before. Not even close.
Gate Worlds worked that way.
The initial clearing granted the richest rewards and loot, but after the Gate World regenerated itself into a re-clearable form, the rewards and loot drastically reduced.
This was to make sure that the first clearer remained an honorable position, earning the true rewards while subsequent players received lesser, duplicate rewards.
Crucially, the Gate World Aspect could be claimed only by its original clearer.
This meant no one else but Percival could own the Aspect of the Crownless King.
Unless, of course, they purchased it from him with mana coins.
Speaking of mana coins, Percival checked his currencies.
⸢12,450 Mana Coins⸥
⸢6 Skill Points⸥
The mana coins served no purpose now. He focused on the Skill Points.
Six.
It was the prudent move to save them for unlocking the Summon Soul Soldier Skill, but he had to arrive at Lvl. 20 first.
And for that, he was going to need more Skills.
That decided, he summoned his Skill Tree.
⸢Skills:⸥
⸢Summon Skeleton Soldier - E Grade⸥
⸢Grave Sense - E Grade⸥
⸢Soulfire - E Grade⸥
⸢Soul Draught - E Grade⸥
⸢Bone Spikes - D Grade⸥
⸢Grave Step - D Grade⸥
There were two new Skills available for unlocking.
⸢Corpse Explosion: Detonates a fallen corpse, dealing AoE necrotic damage⸥
⸢Cost: 2 Skill Points⸥ ⸢C-Grade⸥
⸢Summon Swap: Mobility skill that allows for location exchange with any summon. Mana cost varies by distance⸥
⸢Cost: 2 Skill Points⸥ ⸢C-Grade⸥
Percival unlocked both Skills.
He watched his Skill Tree expand, highlighting the new Skills available for purchase in the coming levels.
⸢Entropy Wave⸥
⸢Spectral Pull⸥…
"Hello, excuse me, Hero good sir."
Percival was dragged from his thoughts.
Lifting his head, he saw the female Healer Mage from earlier, her hands clasped nervously, a shy smile illuminating her face.
He regarded her with an eyebrow raise. "Can I help you?"
"Y—Yes. Uhm, my party was wondering if your Gate World is open for business," she said softly. "We traveled far and have finally found a party. It's been a year since I awakened and I'm not even at Lvl. 30. Please, don't send us away empty-handed, sir Hero."
Percival glanced at her party, who averted their eyes, then he returned his gaze to her. "The price is five silver per person."
The Mage half-gasped. "Five silver? Isn't that really cheap?"
Percival narrowed his brows. "So I should double it then?"
"No, no," she chuckled nervously, waving her hands. "I only said it out of surprise. This means we can clear it as many times as possible."
Without looking, Percival pointed to one of his Skirmishers. "Give it to him. He's the coin collector."
The skeleton looked at Percival with a tilted, confused head and then at the Healer Mage.
She gulped. "Of course." Then hurried back to her party.
Percival watched.
A party. A group of five Awakeners with the roles of Leader, Vanguard, Support and Attackers. Sometimes, a group of friends.
Percival once had such a party.
Now they were only a group of his killers. His betrayers.
He would never join a party. Never again.
Still, watching them bicker over payment, seeing that camaraderie, he couldn't lie to himself.
He missed it.
The Mage girl turned and waved a pouch of jiggling coins at Percival.
He commanded the designated Skeleton Soldier to go and retrieve the pouch of coin, then stand by the Gate, collecting fees from others who wished to enter.
Obedient, the skeleton clanked toward the party, taking the pouch from the Mage's trembling hand, then stationed by the Gate.
A Skeleton Guard.
Percival watched as the party entered into the Gate World.
Taking part in the Gate World monopoly was an unsettling feeling, but Percival wasn't going to kid himself.
The only thing more important than power in this world was coin.
He needed enough of it to get by. For travel permits, for weapons, for equipment, for Gate Worlds.
And for food.
His stomach rumbled again.
Suppressing a groan, he rose and headed for the market stalls.
There, from a wide-eyed nimble man, he bought two loaves of honey bread and a pouch of black grapes.
A Skeleton arrived with the coin and Percival paid, leaving the trader aghast.
Then, as he took bites of the bread, Percival re-entered into the Gate World to resume his grind to Lvl. 20.
He appeared at the Iron Gate, the familiar scent of old stone and iron filling his nostrils.
Without hesitation, he turned and walked through the entrance.
Having done this before, for Percival, the process was now a well-oiled machine.
In the Courtyard of Wilted Roses, his Skeleton Soldiers didn't stumble into the Bramble Wolves like they had before.
They encircled them and attacked with efficiency. Clattering, clanky efficiency, but sufficient enough.
Their swords found throats and joints more precisely. Percival didn't even need to use ⸢Soul Draught⸥ until the last wolf fell.
He cleared the chapel using ⸢Soulfire⸥ and ⸢Bone Spikes⸥. His Skeleton Soldiers dispatched the Vinebeasts and one of the Briar Boars, while Percival slew the other.
The Beast Source was destroyed in seconds.
EXP gain was slightly less, the loot a little thinner—fewer mana coins, elixirs and healing potions.
But he still carried on.
After the Creeping Corridor and the Petal Palace, he entered the Crypt once again to face the boss.
"WHO SEEKS TO DENY ME MY DESTINY?" the King cried.
Percival exploded into the fight.
In an attempt to get better at mixing Skills from both Classes, he tried to layer ⸢Soulfire⸥ into ⸢Bladewave⸥ as he activated it.
But the result was a sputter of blue flame that died instantly, the mana currents conflicting.
Percival grunted the failure away and continued the battle.
In a matter of seconds, the Crownless King fell once again.
⸢Gate World cleared successfully!⸥
⸢The courtyard is free from the chains of deathly vines forced upon them by a mad king⸥
⸢Rewards: +500 EXP⸥
⸢+1 Skill Points⸥
⸢+ 50 Mana Coins⸥
⸢Congratulations, you have leveled up!⸥
⸢Lvl 10 → Lvl 11⸥
⸢Congratulations, you have leveled up!⸥
⸢Lvl 11 → Lvl 12⸥
⸢+50 Mana⸥
⸢+50 Attack⸥
⸢+20 Defense⸥
⸢+70 Health⸥
⸢All Attributes increased by 3⸥
⸢Rewards: +2 Skill Points⸥
⸢+240 EXP⸥
⸢+1 Summon Space⸥
⸢+200 Mana Coins⸥
Outside the Gate, he settled against the mossy tree, chewing black grapes methodically, eyes locked on his Status Screen as he waited for cooldown.
Thirty minutes passed.
Percival rose and entered the Gate once again.
The process became a ritual.
Enter. Clear the Courtyard. Clear the Chapel. Clear the Corridor. Clear the Palace. Face the King.
Kill the King.
Loot dwindled to mere Common Beast Cores and a pittance of mana coins.
Percival didn't care.
The EXP, while diminished, was a steady drip feeding his growth.
He had become a machine, optimizing his own path.
He continued trying to mix his Skills, hoping to recreate his earlier unexpected success, but it never worked.
Switching to another Class either caused the magic of the first to sputter and fail or to not even activate at all.
Percival decided to shelf the ambition for now.
Later, he would train on his own, and try to master it. For now, his focus should remain on leveling up.
As the sun began to dip below the horizon, the party of Awakeners who had paid Percival for entry, stumbled out of the Gate, looking weary but triumphant.
They were heading home when they saw him.
The Hero stood up, and was marching straight back into the swirling blue distortion for the eighth time that day.
"By the gods, he's going in again?" one of them, a Swordsman, muttered. "Just how persistent is he?"
"The returns must be pathetic by now," the Ranger shook his head. "He's just wasting his stamina. Doesn't he know the rewards diminish with each clear?"
The Archer adjusted his glasses. "He probably doesn't care. Some Awakeners are addicted to grinding. And look, I don't know how he's doing it but he's in Lvl. 13 now."
"He's supposed to be the Hero," the Healer Mage said, a frown creasing her brow. "And he was summoned only today. If he's refused to help us defeat the Demon Lord, what could possibly be worth grinding a D-Rank Gate so tirelessly?"
—---—
Hours later, under the darkening sky, Percival slumped against the same mossy tree.
Even with a high Constitution, the exhaustion from clearing the same Gate over and over had finally gotten to him.
It was after the 11th clearing and his body was thrumming with exhaustion.
He checked his progress.
⸢Name: Percival Nightstar⸥
⸢Race: Human (Outworlder)⸥
⸢Class: Necromancer⸥
⸢Level: 15⸥
⸢Talent: Talent of Necromancy - Mythic⸥
⸢Experience: 27,890/35,000⸥
⸢Health: 25,895/25,990⸥
⸢Mana: 970/1105⸥
⸢Defense: 535⸥
⸢Attack: 1220⸥
⸢Summon Space: 16/25⸥
Only five levels left.
Percival sighed, drinking from a waterskin he'd purchased earlier.
His eyes drifted toward the Gate.
Even then, its blue swirl kept calling him in, urging him to clear the Gate World one more time.
But Percival couldn't do it. Not again. Not tonight.
The repetitive battles of the Gate World, the predictable tragedy of the boss. It had all become white noise.
Percival cursed and sank against the tree.
If he had to hear the Crownless King scream about his birthright one more time, he'd personally find a way to resurrect the bastard just so he could shove that floating crown on his head himself.