Level 65 and a Skill Pack Flood
Blacksmith and enchanter Kiri von Pergus, whom Carpe had met in the beach city of Ruana.
In return for helping recover his family's treasure, Carpe had extracted one promise from him.
"I shall hone my skills while awaiting my benefactor. Should you ever visit the capital, please seek me out."
A promise to reinforce his gear anytime he showed up.
That was exactly what Carpe was bringing up now.
-Hmm. Item enhancement... not a bad idea. What's your level at right now?
"63."
-Perfect timing. Just a bit more and you're there.
The capital Fergus mentioned referred to Luisillan, the capital of the Rudineria Federation.
Unlike other regions, Luisillan had a level restriction for entry—a rule that applied to the capitals of other nations as well.
-Level 65. Just two more levels and you can head to the capital. Conveniently, there's a decent hunting ground nearby. Hit 65 and move right out. Oh, wait a sec. The route works out great, doesn't it?
"What does?"
-One of the materials for Royard was red mithril, right? You can get it in Jenonia, but Luisillan has it too. Might as well grab some while you're there for the enhancements.
"Whoa, talk about coincidence. How does it line up so perfectly?"
-Who knows. Coincidence... or fate...?
"Huh? What do you mean by that?"
-Come on, doesn't it seem too perfect? Everything falling into place wherever you go, freebies dropping left and right. At this point, maybe some cosmic force is pulling the strings of your destiny?
"What kinda nonsense is that?"
-And regression makes sense?
"That's cheating with your cheat key... "
No matter how absurd something was, compared to regression, it seemed downright ordinary.
Yeah. Compared to a seven-time regressor dying in-game and getting drawn as another player's Patron Spirit at zero stars, a cosmic will meddling in his fate might actually sound more realistic.
"Guess I should start with a thank-you. Here's to the Cosmic Will—looking forward to more good luck!"
-...Yeah. What can I even say to that. Let's just hunt.
"Fireball!"
Fireball
Kaboom!
Carpe's spell slammed into the Dark Clay. A mud-like monster that thrived in dark, damp places.
"Groooaaan..."
Hit by the fire magic, the Dark Clay let out a pitiful wail before crumbling to dust.
And with it came the rising alert window.
Level up! Bonus points awarded.
"Phew. One more level to go. These mud guys aren't too tough."
-These sticky bastards are especially weak to magic. Being mud, they're vulnerable to fire, and with all that moisture, ice works too. Wind, lightning—they're weak to everything, really.
But weak to magic as they were, they had massive resistance to physical attacks.
Slash with a sword, and the mud would split only to reform. Blunt weapons would deform them briefly before they snapped right back.
-If you really wanna take 'em with weapons, use elemental ones. But magic's way easier.
"Mage-specialized hunting ground, huh."
Carpe was currently on the underground fourth floor of the Ant Hell Dungeon.
He'd started on floor 20 anyway, so no need to travel far.
The lower floors were perfect for level 60s, and floor 4 happened to be full of monsters easy for mages to handle.
"Not that it'd be smart for a mage to come solo—that's suicide. Oh, another one. They keep popping up just when you forget."
Just because it was mage-friendly didn't mean only mages hunted here.
Plenty of physical classes too—and among them, assassins and rogues were especially common.
Which wasn't exactly intuitive.
The Assassin class had the absolute worst matchup against Dark Clay.
Most skills were physical, and with the Dark Clay sensing via temperature rather than sight, stealth didn't work.
But assassins flocked to floor 4 anyway, thanks to prey even tastier than the Dark Clay.
Mages.
Their targets were the mage players hunting Dark Clay.
-Mages tend to have low HP, perfect pickings for assassins.
"Fourth one now? No wonder they call this a PvP hotspot."
About 20 meters ahead, one player was plastered against the wall, holding his breath.
Stealth skill active. Unaware that Carpe had stealth-detection gear.
"......"
Carpe ambled along as if oblivious.
Then—
"Die... huh?!"
He casually caught the assassin's swinging dagger.
The assassin panicked, trying to yank it free, but his strength stat was way below Carpe's.
The blade didn't budge.
"N-no way. A mage?!"
"Why do you guys all have the same playbook?"
From the attack pattern to the reaction when their weapon got grabbed.
All identical.
"Feels like someone dropped a tutorial vid. Did you all watch the same one?"
"Huh? Wait, what? Thought you were a mage—turns out you're a fellow pro? You study from that RaSe channel vid 'Backstab to Your Spine' too...?"
"...There’s actually a tutorial?"
He'd just tossed it out as sarcasm.
But hearing there really was one made Carpe chuckle in disbelief.
"That axis of evil strikes again. Makes sense—spotlight a PK paradise for assassins, and it'd rake in views."
Carpe wrenched the weapon away and tossed it to the floor.
Weapon Drop
"Th-this wasn't in the master's video!"
"Yeah, maybe splurge on a top-tier tutor who covers edge cases. See ya."
Thwack thwack!
Carpe pummeled the assassin, who wasn't high-level anyway. Two hits and he grayed out, vanishing.
In his place lay a leather armor set. From the shadows, Mukhyang popped out and snatched it up.
"Heh. Great EXP, solid drops—what a god hunting spot."
-The EXP and item givers are different mobs, but yeah, god-tier spot.
After that, Carpe summoned all four retainers and got to work.
Tina and Gillian tanked the Dark Clay with their bodies while Mukhyang blasted them with magic.
"Master! Herded 'em!"
Mirage, transformed into a "Flame Hummingbird," rounded up Dark Clay from all over.
Exploiting their sensitivity to heat.
Carpe leaped into the clustered mob.
"Permafrost!"
Permafrost
Crackle!
The AoE 9-star skill froze them solid.
The sticky mobs shattered into ice shards without resistance.
"Phew. Feels good. Mages gotta do AoE farming."
-Pace is solid. Might even hit the level today.
"Yeah. Depends on how well we herd."
-Right. Grind hard. One level away—enhancements and red mithril await!
"But does it have to be red mithril? Regular mithril works too. What's so special about the red body?"
-Romance. It's all about the romance!
The big remaining materials for Royard: three heavy hitters.
Red mithril, unicorn horn, Pegasus wing.
Unlike the "Supreme Spirit Essence" engine core, these were added to the blueprint purely for style.
Carpe had drawn them in excitedly while designing, but gathering them felt like a chore, so he'd considered revisions.
-But it's not just style—they boost performance big time.
"...Ellis did say that."
Those three materials brimmed with potent magic on their own, elevating the doll's quality when used.
Royard's Soul Stone grows uneasy: "Could it be...?"
Royard's Soul Stone stresses: "Master, I trust in you."
-Doesn't that poor young soul tug at your heartstrings?
"Fine, fine. Let's make it proper since we're at it."
Royard's Soul Stone breathes a huge sigh of relief.
Carpe resumed the grind.
Mob after mob after mob.
And the occasional PKers too. After about two hours...
Level up! Bonus points awarded.
You have reached level 65. Reward: Intermediate Skill Pack. Check your inventory.
"Yes!"
He'd hit 65 before his daily login time ran out.
Bonus skill pack included. A perfect end to the day—but Carpe hadn't anticipated the rewards still coming.
"My liege."
"Yeah? What's up?"
"I've reached it too. Looking forward to your guidance again."
Tina handed him a rectangular object.
-Intermediate pack: 2-star to 8-star skills.
-Chance for Radiant Tistania-exclusive skills.
"Whoa?"
-Oh? Makes sense—Mukhyang just hit 30, so the others were due.
Tina had reached level 30.
But that wasn't all.
"Master. Master."
"Yeah? What?"
"Me too."
Mirage handed over her skill pack too.
Heh heh! What a coincidence. Even this general has one!
And Gillian too.
"...Whoa."
Stunned by the sudden skill pack avalanche, Carpe pulled up their status windows.
All three dolls at the exact same level.
-Hm. Dolls' levels sync up or something? Makes sense—Mirage started at 15 when recruited, Gillian at 25. Lines up roughly.
"...Wow."
Cheonma muttered something, but Carpe barely registered it.
Four skill packs out of nowhere. His mind was reeling.
Four packs.
Four draws.
Four times the joy!
"Raaagh!"
Carpe roared once per pack—four times total.
The Ancient God of Play palpitates with excitement at the current situation.
The Ancient God of Play bestows great favor. Positive blessings granted for the next four draws.
Draw time had arrived.