Zenith Online: Rebirth of the Strongest Player
chapter-16

A large damage number appeared above the Shadow Wolf's head, once again drawing the attention of Kieran's party members. It was large enough to defeat the wolf altogether, which in turn granted a decent sum of experience. It was far more than any other monster had rewarded.

Ding!

〈System: Partying Effect has activated. Party Experience increased by 400%.〉

〈System: You have received 400 Experience. 〉

〈System: Medallion of Growth's effect has activated. [400 Bonus Experience has been acquired.〉

A light azure glow appeared around Kieran's body while the notifications appeared. This glow was the medallion's cosmetic activation effect, which virtually reduced Kieran's leveling conditions by half. It wouldn't be long before he leveled up after killing just one beast.

The others in the party also received 400 Experience despite Kieran slaying the monster alone. The reason for this lies in the Dungeon Party Experience Distribution System and Party System incorporated effects.

Inside Zenith Online, partying together was heavily promoted. The party bonus was incorporated to get players to party and form solid teams of matching skill levels. Although partying up splits the experience into equal shares, the party bonus negates this split by rewarding a bonus equal to the missing parts of Experience.

In short, a party of two leveling in a field would receive a 100% Experience boost on every kill. The same goes for dungeon experience. However, this is separate from the clearance reward, which is determined based on individual contributions.

The party bonus didn't give more experience than the monster's actual worth. So aside from maintaining a steady leveling experience, there was nothing else to exploit. However, leveling quickly should be done cautiously.

While it was unknown if this function remained true for dungeons outside of the beginner villages, it applied to the Forests of Beasts. Every member, if at similar levels, received identical Experience portions.

"W-what… 600 damage? Are you serious?" Altair muttered with widened eyes. Even he couldn't deal that much damage when he hit a critical, and his class hinged upon critical strikes!

Meanwhile, Kieran paid no attention to his teammates for the time being. Instead, he led his attack on the second pinned wolf. The faint glow wasn't present like with the previous wolf. That was because its health threshold hadn't dropped low enough.

The faint glow didn't ensure a critical hit on the next attack; it simply revealed that the monster's defenses suffered an injury, thereby lowering it from its initial value. Consequently, an attack dealt on the area where the faint red glow appeared would deal increased damage. Depending on how deep the color was, it increased the chances of landing critical damage.

In Kieran's case, he triggered the critical hit because Savage Break's Armor Break effect made it easier to achieve. But, Kieran wasn't one to revel in such a small feat. He unleashed a Force Slash directly at Shadow Wolf's glowering face.

Bang!

-61

The damage was underwhelming, but Kieran expected as much. He quickly followed up with an Upward Slash that damaged the wolf's eye. Thus, an unusual damage number for a basic skill appeared above the wolf's head.

-122

The wolf's health was reduced to below 30%. Meanwhile, Aspaira finally managed to land a hit on the Shadow Wolf Altair battled against.

-177 (Aqua Bullet)

Surprisingly, her damage was almost unaffected by the wolf's defenses. After all, Physical and Magical Defense were two different concepts, with the latter having yet to be included in the game.

Physical Defense, in simple terms, can be seen as an individual's resistance to physical attacks. Conversely, Magical Defense quantified an individual's resistance to magical attacks. This was one of the reasons why Kieran didn't accept additional physical classes. They needed to diversify the group's damage spectrum.

Although physical skills required Mana, that wasn't truly the case. Physical players couldn't emit Mana to empower an attack at their current level. Instead, the instant the skills were activated, the system converted Mana into an attack source that suited the class.

In a Warrior's case, that Mana turned into force. It didn't possess magical properties because this force was loosely known as physical might.

Therefore, Altair's eyes glistened with excitement, whereas Aspaira beamed happily.

"Sheesh, you need to land your attacks more often! We'll be able to deal with it in no time," Altair commented.

"I'll try. It's not easy to hit these monsters, y'know? So don't get your hopes up high," Aspaira responded.

Meanwhile, Kieran continued to unleash attacks as fast as he could. Although his attack speed at the moment was inferior while using a heavy weapon, he managed to execute two attacks within a 1.5-second window.

Finally, he jumped atop the fallen tree and aimed his sword down before executing Thrust. His greatsword pierced straight through the wolf's skull, rewarding another sumptuous boon of experience. The azure light appeared, but it was overlapped by a golden luster surrounding Kieran's body this time.

〈System: You have received 800 Experience. 〉

〈System: You have leveled up! [Lv.6 → Lv.7]〉

〈System: You have received 5 Unassigned Attribute Points and 2 Skill Points.〉

The moment he finished up his pinned Shadow Wolf, Kieran swept the floor. As a result, he collected a good amount of Copper Coins, some wolf fangs, and seemingly refined wolf pelts.

After storing the loot, Kieran dashed over while glancing at his skill menu. 'All of them are on cooldown for the most part, but Charge is about to be back up.'

"Yo, let's hurry up and finish them off," Kieran called out.

"I'm right here with you," Altair responded.

"Please do!" Aspaira exclaimed.

On the other hand, Cygnus and Sithik remained alert towards the back of the party. Their hands continued to grasp their crosses while monitoring the party interface for any signs of damage being taken. They were surprised when Altair continued to dodge the Shadow Wolf's attacks by the skin of his teeth.

However, it was unknown if that'd remain true. The Shadow Wolf suddenly retreated far back into the pathway before holding its head to the sky. Tiny purple motes appeared in the sky above its mouth, collecting into a condensed sphere.

This attack was one of the reasons Kieran pinned the two Shadow Wolves at the begging of the fight. Sadly, he knew all too well that the tree couldn't catch all three wolves. The outcome had been tested many times in the past. The third wolf would always be just far enough that it possessed sufficient room to evade the falling tree.

Meanwhile, if Kieran stunned that wolf, he would be caught under the tree and suffer an instadeath.

'Tch, such a shame that we haven't reached the Animation Cancel just yet. I really need the hyper-reality to set in,' Kieran thought. Once that appeared, people could manipulate their skills with greater freedom. But, that manipulation came at a cost.

Regardless of his current condition, Kieran could only look to Altair. "Don't let that wolf release its skill. Follow me!"

Kieran changed from running towards his member to heading in the wolf's direction. The sphere formed rapidly, but Kieran activated Charge once he arrived within three meters of it.

The attack in question was known as Darkness Howl. It released a ring of dark energy that could disorient the party since it doubled as a sound-based attack.

Altair could hear the severity in Kieran's tone, so he activated one of the Thief's basic skills, Swift Steps, increasing his movement speed by 30%. This sizable increase matched Kieran's Charge, allowing both of them to arrive before the Shadow Wolf.

Kieran's shoulder made contact, disrupting the skill. At the same time, Altair circled around the wolf's back and used a skill known as Deep Puncture. Coupled with the twenty percent damage increase, Altair's Deep Puncture dealt considerable damage.

-100

-345! (Deep Puncture)

Afterward, Kieran followed up with Force Slash as it came off cooldown, dealing slightly over 70 damage. Suddenly, both Kieran and Altair's eyes widened as both of them ducked.

Whoosh!

A fireball passed above their heads, hitting the Shadow Wolf squarely in the face. But, both of them couldn't help but give Aspaira helpless gazes.

-192 (Fireball)

"What the shit?! Woman, are you trying to bald us? We are too young to be experiencing male pattern baldness!" Kieran exclaimed.

"Your aim is more horrendous than me in the morning," Altair scoffed.

As a result, the two Priests in the back covered their mouths, struggling to keep in their laughter. Aspaira turned beet-red as she felt slightly embarrassed by their quips. She stomped her foot and shouted back.

"Hey! At least give me some credit because this is hard! It's not like we're gaming on some ancient console with a controller! Besides, this is the hardest mode possible and an Elite monster! I've never tried it before―what more do you want from me?!"

The duo just groaned. They then attacked in unison, delivering a relentless flurry of attacks. Within a few seconds, with the help of Aspaira's potentially lethal spells, the third wolf was defeated.

〈System: You have received 750 Experience. 〉