Chapter 4: Rapid Ascension in Rank, Preparing for the Crimson Forbidden Zone!
In less than an hour, he had already leveled up to level 2.
It’s worth noting that over 90% of new players with average aptitude, without any guidance, would take at least half a day or even a full day to level from 1 to 2!
By comparison, Lu Ming’s leveling speed seemed as though he had activated a turbo boost.
To solve the problem of insufficient mana early on, Lu Ming allocated all three attribute points gained from leveling up to Spirit.
As a result, combined with the automatic increase of 10 mana points and 1 Spirit point per level, Lu Ming’s mana surged from 20 to 70 points!
Moreover, with a total of 5 Spirit points, Lu Ming now regenerated 0.5 mana per second, enough to offset half of the mana consumption from his War Stomp skill.
At the same time, as Lu Ming’s level rose, the War Stomp skill automatically upgraded to Level 2.
The bonus to the attack power of allies within range increased from (Trickmaster 10% attack +3) to 10% attack +5.
On the surface, it seemed like only a 2-point attack increase.
But for Lu Ming, whose skills were amplified tenfold, this translated into a full 20-point boost in attack power!
In addition, the Necromancer Warrior’s level rose alongside Lu Ming’s to level 2.
Just like with the player’s growth, the Necromancer Warrior’s upgrade granted +10 mana, +20 HP, +1 to all five attributes, plus 3 free attribute points.
War Stomp had already maximized the Necromancer Warrior’s output potential.
Therefore, Lu Ming assigned the Necromancer Warrior’s attribute points as 2 Agility and 1 Strength to improve its maneuverability.
After allocating the points, he opened the status panel:
[Necromancer Warrior] (Stage 1)
[Level: 2]
[Owner: Shadow Phantom]
[Physical Attack: 61] (including 57 points extra from War Stomp)
[Speed: 4]
[Armor: 2]
[Magic Resistance: 2]
[Mana: 40]
[HP: 90]
[Skills: None]
...
With Lu Ming’s level reaching 2, the maximum number of summoned Necromancer Warriors also increased to 20.
Opening the summon panel, he used the accumulated 90 points of Soul Power to summon.
Swirling shadows erupted around Lu Ming as ten fully armored Necromancer Warriors stepped out of the darkness, answering the call.
Under Lu Ming’s command, all twenty Necromancer Warriors, enveloped in the War Stomp aura, scattered throughout the Shadow Forest to begin their slaughter.
With the War Stomp’s additional attack bonus rising from 36 to 57 points,
the Necromancer Warriors could kill a level 1 Jungle Spider with only one sword strike, dealing 60 damage—instantly killing the spider with just 50 HP!
Lu Ming began to mentally direct his undead legion deeper into the Shadow Forest to hunt more advanced level 2 to 3 Jungle Spiders.
Even level 2 Jungle Spiders with 90 HP or level 3 ones with 150 HP could not withstand two to three hits from the Necromancer Warriors.
Thanks to the extra 2 Agility points, their speed of 4 easily outpaced the level 1 to 3 Jungle Spiders.
Thus, in terms of both damage and speed, the Necromancer Warriors were utterly dominant.
Within the War Stomp domain, it was a slaughterhouse for the undead legion!
The twenty Necromancer Warriors swept through, unstoppable, cutting down every level 1, 2, and 3 Jungle Spider in their path.
Through remote mental control, Lu Ming discovered he could share the vision of all his Necromancer Warriors.
Wherever the warriors passed, a map gradually formed in Lu Ming’s mind.
Moreover, if the Necromancer Warriors strayed more than 500 yards from Lu Ming, they would immediately halt as if powerless.
“It seems the maximum control range for Necromancer Warriors is 500 yards.”
“That matches the effective radius of War Stomp perfectly.”
Besides absolute obedience to their master’s commands, the Necromancer Warriors possessed slight autonomous awareness, knowing to collect loot for their master after battle.
All loot gathered automatically transferred directly into Lu Ming’s inventory.
Everything was fully automated!
He had never encountered a more comfortable leveling method.
Unfortunately, the drop rate in the Abyss was extremely low.
By now, Lu Ming had slain over a hundred Jungle Spiders.
He had only earned 15 copper coins and not a single piece of equipment.
Though Lu Ming knew early-game money wasn’t the priority—it was leveling up and growing stronger that mattered.
Once strong, money would come easily.
Still, at this moment, Lu Ming urgently needed some cash to cover the rent for skill scrolls and equipment purchases.
Otherwise, the landlord would kick him out!
Just as Lu Ming pondered this,
battle notifications flooded in like a tide.
[Ding~ Killed level 1 Jungle Spider, +1 XP!]
[Ding~ Killed level 3 Jungle Spider, +4 XP!]
[Ding~ Killed level 2 Jungle Spider, +2 XP!]
...
In less than an hour,
a golden light shone down again.
[Ding~ Congratulations on reaching level 3! +1 to all attributes, +10 mana, +20 HP, +3 free attribute points; next level requires 500 XP!]
Lu Ming repeated his strategy, putting all three free points into Spirit, raising it to 9 and pushing his mana to 120 points!
War Stomp leveled up to 3, increasing the attack power bonus to allies within the area to (Trickmaster 10% attack +8).
The mana cost for activating the skill rose from 3 to 4 points, but the sustained mana consumption remained at 1 point per second.
With 9 Spirit, yielding 0.9 mana regeneration per second, Lu Ming could finally keep War Stomp running continuously without frequent pauses to recover!
Additionally, the maximum number of Necromancer Warriors increased from 20 to 30, greatly enhancing Lu Ming’s monster-killing speed.
He leveled up again at 9 PM and once more at 11:30 PM—
[Player ID: Shadow Phantom] (Lv5, Trickmaster)
[Account Aptitude: Ten Stars]
[Strength: 7]
[Agility: 5]
[Spirit: 17]
[Endurance: 5]
[Constitution: 5]
[Physical Attack: 10]
[Armor: 5]
[Magic Resistance: 5]
[Speed: 5]
[Mana: 220]
[HP: 180]
[Gold: 0 Gold 0 Silver 83 Copper]
[Experience: 13/1200]
[Skills: Reconnaissance (F Rank), War Stomp (F Rank)]
In one night, he had jumped from level 1 to 5, accomplishing in hours what would normally take ordinary players three to five days.
Lu Ming couldn’t help but marvel: the strength of this ten-star account was simply ridiculous!
He recalled his past life, how he had endured humiliation for five years, crawling like a lowly worm to reach level 200 and obtain the Divine Scroll.
Choosing Trickmaster over the system-recommended Mage class had proven to be an extremely wise decision.
Otherwise, no matter how many Necromancer Warriors he summoned, they would be nothing more than disposable cannon fodder.
Now, each of Lu Ming’s Necromancer Warriors, empowered by the Trickmaster’s enhancements, was like a demonic god from the depths of hell!
At level 5, Lu Ming could summon up to 50 Necromancer Warriors.
War Stomp at level 5 increased the attack power bonus for allies within range to (Trickmaster 10% attack +15).
With Lu Ming’s 10 physical attack points, multiplied by the tenfold “Comprehensive Amplification,” this translated into a massive 160-point attack power bonus for the Necromancer Warriors!
Adding the warriors’ own 11 attack points,
their level 5 attack power reached a terrifying 171!
Lu Ming couldn’t help but mutter, “A fully Strength-invested, well-equipped level 10 second-tier warrior probably couldn’t break three digits in attack power.”
The thought that these fearsome warriors obeyed his command—and that he could control as many as fifty at once—filled Lu Ming with excitement!
In this brutal state, even the highest-level 5 Jungle Spiders in the Shadow Forest couldn’t survive two strikes from the Necromancer Warriors.
“According to Abyss’s rules, players only earn 1 forced experience point for killing monsters below their level, and the drop rate is drastically reduced.”
“There’s no real value in farming here anymore.”
Having been reborn, Lu Ming now had a clear goal.
He knew that each major newbie village had an 8 to 10 level dungeon called the Blood-Red Forbidden Zone.
This dungeon had been famous worldwide for over a century!
It featured six difficulty tiers: Normal, Elite, Epic, Legendary, Nightmare, and Hellfire, each exponentially harder than the last.
Players only had one lifetime chance to enter this dungeon.
The Blood-Red Forbidden Zone was unique to the national server.
Historically, after a century since the Abyss world’s arrival, the highest completion record on the Great Xia server was at the Nightmare difficulty.
Though far ahead of other countries, they were still one step away from conquering Hellfire difficulty.
It was said that last year, the Meriga nation produced a six-star aptitude player alongside two five-star players.
With strong national support, these elites teamed up to finally clear the Hellfire difficulty of the Blood-Red Forbidden Zone on the Meriga server, earning as a reward a skill scroll with infinite growth potential!
It should be noted that in the Abyss world, skill quality cannot be improved after acquisition; initial quality is permanent unless replaced by a higher-quality skill of the same type.
In his previous life, after five years of playing, Lu Ming’s highest skill quality had only reached D rank.
Infinite growth meant the skill could eventually reach the supreme SSS rank!
The market value of that skill scroll reportedly exceeded one billion US dollars!
Therefore, Lu Ming’s first goal was to claim the reward for the first Hellfire difficulty clear on the Great Xia server’s Blood-Red Forbidden Zone.
His immediate objective was to level up to 8 to meet the dungeon’s entry requirements.
Checking his current status,
he saw that under the Necromancer Warriors’ slaughter, the quest “Who Stole the Ring” had reached its highest tier: kill 300 Jungle Spiders.
It was now 11:30 PM, and Lu Ming felt a bit hungry.
“I’ll head back to the newbie village, turn in the quest, log off for a late-night snack, then come back to grind on higher-level maps.”
Just as he prepared to summon all Necromancer Warriors back and return home,
through the shared vision of one of his warriors scattered in the Shadow Forest, Lu Ming suddenly spotted several figures quickly approaching his position!