Kalis didn't hesitate for a second. He tapped the confirm button with his finger. The Meteor Descend skill book in his backpack transformed into a streak of blazing gold-red light, sank into his palm, and vanished without a trace.
"Ding～ Congratulations! You have learned the Legendary skill — Meteor Descend!"
The moment the system notification faded, a dazzling orange-gold icon appeared in his skill bar, and the skill details popped up immediately:
[Meteor Descend]
Rarity: Legendary
Effect: Channel the power of stellar fire elements to summon a giant meteor to crash into a designated area. Deals devastating damage equal to 2100% of your Spell Attack to the central target, while inflicting 60% splash damage to enemies within a 35-meter radius.
Cast Time: 10 seconds
Mana Cost: 550 points
Cooldown: 60 minutes
Staring at the stats, Kalis couldn't help but chuckle softly, his eyes brimming with undisguised excitement, his tone laced with a hint of arrogance: "2100% damage multiplier... 840 Spell Attack can dish out 18,480,000 damage!
Plus, the area boost from the staff, the splash radius jumps straight to 70 meters, and the damage within that range hits 9,240,000! Gahaha... I'm basically a walking natural disaster!"
He was itching to find a swarm of monsters to test its power right away, but reason quickly overcame the urge. The Second Class Advancement was the top priority right now.
The Second Class Advancement was the dividing line for all classes. It not only unlocked core skills like crowd control immunity and super armor but also increased the attribute growth multiplier. Every single attribute point could be converted into a final value far exceeding the current one.
But Kalis's advancement path was different from other players. Although he held the Tome of the Celestial Mage, he lacked a Mage NPC above Level 100 to act as his guide.
Uthor, the mentor who had helped him complete his first advancement, had long since disappeared without a trace. Judging by the man's attitude back then, there was no way he would lend a hand again. After racking his brain, Kalis had no choice but to look elsewhere.
"But where do I find such an NPC?"
He'd spent the entire day either grinding monsters in Godfall Basin to clear his red name or tangling with Shadow Claw's forces. He hadn't even touched the main quest, and had zero clue about the distribution of high-tier NPCs in the game.
After hesitating for a moment, Kalis opened his friend list and sent a private message to Lenore: "Lenore, you're the most well-informed. Help me find some Mage NPCs above Level 100 who aren't affiliated with any temple. I need to complete my Second Class Advancement."
At that moment, Lenore was partying with Eira, Mireya, Seraphina, and the others. As soon as she saw the message, she replied instantly: "Leave it to me! Give me a sec to ask around!"
Less than five minutes later, Lenore's message popped up again: "Kalis, sorted! Sending you the list now! We're about to pull the BOSS here, gotta go! Talk later!"
"Got it. Hit me up if you run into something you can't handle," Kalis replied, and a long list of NPC information arrived shortly after.
He clicked it open, and dense lines of text filled the screen in an instant:
List of Unaligned High-Tier Mage NPCs
1. High Priestess of Frost — Elena
Level: 175 (Mythic Boss)
Location: Frostveil Citadel, adjacent to Glacermist City
Note: Defends the citadel against northern monsters. Has a frosty temperament and dislikes being disturbed by outsiders.
2. Grand Storm Archmage — Duncan
Level: 180 (Legendary Boss)
Location: Aerindor City, serves as Commander of the City Defense Mage Corps
Note: A hardline Mage. Only accepts players who can pass his trial.
3. Flame Sanctuary Mage — Ralonar
Level: 200 (Mythic Boss)
Location: Core Lake, exclusive NPC of the Level 150 high-risk map
Note: Has guarded Core Lake alone for a thousand years. Extremely lonely and is exceptionally friendly to players who take the initiative to strike up a conversation.
4. Lunar Bard — Dafiona
Level: 150 (Mythic Boss)
Location: Boulder Town, a Level 5 small town
Note: Loves wandering the land and singing ballads. Proficient in star and moon magic, always ready to help others.
5. ...
The list recorded the information of a whopping 37 high-tier Mage NPCs. Kalis flipped through more than a dozen entries before his eyes started to swim.
"The ones from Frostveil Citadel and Aerindor City sound like they're tied up with wars. They definitely won't be easy to deal with—chances are I'll get chased out on the spot," he analyzed, stroking his chin. "Core Lake sounds perfect, but it's a Level 150 map. Just traveling there would take over three hours. Way too much of a time-waster."
His gaze finally settled on the name Lunar Bard — Dafiona.
"Her. It's decided."
The world of Eternal Realm Online was staggeringly vast. The jurisdiction of a single Level 3 main city was comparable to that of an entire country. Although scattered Level 4 cities with interconnected teleportation arrays dotted the region, the distance between cities was often thousands of kilometers, making travel a sheer torment.
Core Lake was a Level 150 monster zone located within the jurisdiction of Ignispeak City. Only a tiny handful of players had ever set foot there while doing quests.
Kalis didn't want to waste too much time on traveling, so he decided to go for the closest option.
"Boulder Town... Let me find it..."
He opened the world map and searched for the name directly.
In the next second, the map automatically indexed and pinpointed its location within the jurisdiction of Valorian City.
Boulder Town was located northwest of Valorian City, only 950 kilometers away from the Level 4 city of Galewind City. A journey from Galewind City would take no more than half an hour.
Kalis didn't hesitate any longer. He immediately cleaned out his backpack, keeping only the Tome of the Celestial Mage, a small number of healing potions, and key items, then set off on his journey for the Second Class Advancement.
He paid a 10-gold teleportation fee to travel from Drakenspire City to Valorian City first, then spent another 1 gold to teleport to Galewind City.
This Level 4 city was far smaller than a main city. The teleportation square was only the size of a small training ground, and the streets were no more than three to four meters wide. Wooden houses lined both sides in an orderly fashion. Compared to the sprawling main cities, this small town felt much more down-to-earth, with a much slower pace of life.
There weren't many players around. Since Level 4 cities had no resurrection arrays, players who died would be teleported straight back to a Level 3 main city, so no one was willing to stay permanently. On top of that, NPCs, quests, monster spawns, and other resources were far inferior to those in main cities. Most of the people lingering here were casual players who didn't like competing for resources.
"Huh. Fancy that—no one's yelling at me to get out of the way," Kalis muttered.
He walked out of the teleportation array and glanced around. Not a single patrolling City Guard was in sight. For a moment, he felt a little unaccustomed to the peace.
He opened the world map to locate Boulder Town, and was just about to start walking when a clear, slightly surprised female voice suddenly rang out beside him: "It's you! That 'stupid rich guy' Kalis!"
Kalis turned his head. A female player wearing a white mage robe and holding a spellbook was hurrying toward him.
"Hold on! This time, I'm definitely giving you your money back!"
She rushed up to Kalis in three quick strides, spread her arms to block his path, her tone firm and unyielding.
"No way. What are the odds of running into her here?" Kalis froze on the spot, dumbfounded.
This female player was none other than Lia, the girl from the starting village who'd sold him three whiteboard items for 5 silver coins, then chased after him demanding a refund because she thought she'd undersold them.
Checking her character info, he saw she'd already reached Level 39. Her class was Lunar Magister, and she was even on the level rankings, a pretty solid player, all things considered.
Millions of players, seven main cities, dozens of Level 4 cities. To bump into her here of all places... The odds were astronomical!
"Quick! Accept the trade!" Lia didn't waste any time and sent a trade request directly.
Kalis sighed, helpless. 5 silver coins—converted to real currency, that was barely enough to buy a bottle of mineral water. And this girl had chased him all the way here for that.
"Fine, fine. If you insist on giving it to me, I'll take it," he grumbled, clicking accept.
To his surprise, 50 silver coins were sitting in her trade slot.
"When the server first launched, 1 gold coin was used to exchange for 100 real currency units. Now it only exchanges for 10—game currency has depreciated tenfold!" Lia counted on her fingers, explaining earnestly.
"I charged you 5 silver coins for those items back then. Based on the current exchange rate, that's actually worth 50 silver coins now. The real value of those three items is equivalent to 5 silver coins at today's prices. I overcharged you, so I should return 45 silver coins. But since a whole day has passed, I'm adding an extra 5 silver coins to compensate you for interest, capital turnover, and time wasted!"
"Click confirm, and we'll be square!"
She rattled off the whole explanation in one go. Kalis tuned most of it out, simply clicked confirm to take the 50 silver coins, then turned around and walked away.
"Hey! Add me as a friend!" Lia chased after him, sending a friend request immediately.
Kalis didn't even think about it. He clicked reject on the spot.
"Why not?" Lia looked at him, her face crumpling into a hurt, confused pout.
Kalis's mouth twitched violently.
The first time he'd rejected her was because she'd called him a "stupid rich guy," a slight he'd taken to heart.
But this time? He was just plain scared.
Running into someone this stubborn and calculating... If they ever had any financial dealings in the future, she'd drive him nuts.
This kind of person was the last thing he needed as a friend!
Thinking fast, Kalis activated the effect of his Swiftstep Boots. The 110% movement speed boost kicked in instantly. His figure turned into a blur and vanished at the end of the street in the blink of an eye.
"Get back here! What's wrong with you? Did I do something to offend you?!"
Lia stared at his retreating back, stamping her foot in anger, her pretty face flushed bright red.
She'd gone out of her way to return his money, and not only did he refuse to appreciate it—he ran away from her like she was a plague!
Was she really that scary to look at?