Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat!-Chapter 224: Edge of Survival
After finishing the transformation, Ethan turned his attention to the weapon's attributes.
Passive Ability #7: Increases the range of all skills by 1.5 meters.
He had already noticed this effect earlier.
Originally, in his Panther and Bear forms, his attacks were melee-range, with a maximum reach of 1 meter. Now, his attacks had become mid-to-long range, allowing him to strike enemies up to 2.5 meters away.
This gave him a lot more flexibility in combat.
As the saying goes, "An inch longer, an inch stronger."
With the Panther form's high-speed movement, he could now use skills from 2.5 meters away. Kiting melee enemies felt incredibly smooth! Even against ranged enemies, he could strike first, avoiding the need to get too close and risk breaking stealth.
Next, he examined Dynamic Ability #1.
Spirit Embodiment: Grants the skill [Spirit Embodiment]. Summons 16 Druidic Spirits to aid you for 3 seconds. Each spirit casts spells and skills based on your current form.
Ethan smacked his forehead. A skill with a 10-minute cooldown, and he hadn't used it even once. Having such a powerful ability felt unfamiliar, but it was a game-changer.
The next five skills all had a 30-day cooldown. He decided to save them for emergencies—they were his trump cards for survival or turning the tide in a fight.
He had too many enemies. Every guild in the Blackridge region probably wanted him dead. In the Northern Frontier, Zachary was aggressively investing in guilds, and it was only a matter of time before they clashed. Without a few aces up his sleeve, he'd be in trouble.
Right now, his target was a level 59 elite monster: Death Essence.
Engaging it in melee combat was out of the question. The level difference was too great, and all his melee attacks would likely result in Miss.
Ding…
[Global Announcement: The holder of [Divine Ability Scroll: Fatal Strike (Divine)], Little Horn, is currently at coordinates: 19875.56897.25985. Holding time: 00 hours 00 minutes 00 seconds. If the holder maintains possession for 12 hours, they will gain permanent ownership of the scroll.]
Ethan glanced at the system notification. At first, he didn't pay much attention—there had been too many announcements about Divine Ability scrolls lately. But when he saw the name Little Horn, he knew this was it. The battle for the Divine Ability was about to end. In his past life, Little Horn had been the one to obtain the Fatal Strike ability.
The timeline in Northern Frontier had changed because of him, but other regions remained unaffected. If things played out as they had before, Little Horn was about to become a legendary figure.
Ethan had met Little Horn twice in his past life. He was a decent guy.
Shifting his focus back to the Death Essence, Ethan transformed into his Owl form and immediately cast two debuffs on the monster. He followed up with alternating casts of Solar Flare and Lunar Beam.
-495!
-589!
The level difference was still a problem. The Owl form didn't have any defense-ignoring bonuses. Even with Passive Ability #4 on his artifact (In Owl Form, after casting a Lunar or Solar spell, the next spell of the opposite type deals 50% increased damage) his attacks were still only dealing three-digit damage.
The Death Essence entered combat, and Ethan realized it was a ranged monster. Its only ranged attack was a basic one, where it hurled a slow-moving soul projectile. Its skill attacks, however, were all area-of-effect abilities centered on itself.
The visual effects were terrifying—countless soul cyclones whirled around the monster, emitting eerie howls. From its emerald-green body, torrents of corruption erupted, splattering in all directions.
The area-of-effect attacks range were small, and they didn't affect Ethan at all. He felt a wave of relief. If he had tried to fight this monster in melee, it would have been a nightmare. The 360-degree soul cyclones surrounding it looked deadly, and he doubted even his Bear form could withstand a single hit from those gusts.
Now, all he had to do was dodge the slow-moving soul projectiles it threw. Seeing no immediate danger, Ethan decided to use the weapon's skill, Spirit Embodiment, for the first time.
After a three-second cast, sixteen skills erupted from him in rapid succession. Solar Flare, Lunar Beam, Stellar Surge, Full Moon Descent, and more—skills he didn't even know of, spewed forth like a barrage of blue fire from a Gatling gun.
-5942!
-7895!
-3564!
-2564!
-15897! fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
Stellar Surge, a skill equivalent to the Owl form's ultimate ability, was something he hadn't even learned yet. And Full Moon Descent, an advanced skill, appeared as well. Although it only triggered once, the damage—over 15,000, was absolutely satisfying.
The sixteen skills slammed into the Death Essence, instantly reducing its health by 20%. Normally, his damage output wasn't this high, but during Spirit Embodiment, even the weakest skill dealt over 2,000 damage. This skill was insane—a three-second, sixteen-hit burst. And it seemed to ignore level suppression!
Finally, after using Spirit Embodiment three times, the Death Essence dissipated without a sound. No corpse remained, and the loot dropped directly onto the ground.
Ding…
[You have slain: Death Essence. Experience bonus for killing a higher-level monster: 4500%. You have gained 1,085,600 EXP (Base EXP: 11,800 + Overlevel Bonus: 531,000 + Divine Ability Growth Bonus: 542,800).]
Ding…
[System Notification: Congratulations! You have reached Level 43!]
Ding…
[System Notification: Prismatic Stone's Nurturing, Stage 3 Progress: Slay Death Essence: 1/1.]
Ding…
[System Notification: Congratulations! You have completed: Side Quest - Prismatic Stone's Nurturing. Reward: +2 Levels.]
Ding…
[System Notification: Congratulations! You have reached Level 45!]
A flood of system notifications overwhelmed Ethan. He stared at the screen, stunned.
It was over? Just like that? He was already Level 45! All the suffering he'd endured over the past few days had paid off. He hadn't expected the side quest to reward him with +2 levels. If only he'd waited until he was at a higher level to complete it—that would've been even better.
In Ethereal, side quests were unpredictable. Some clearly stated their rewards, while others gave no hints at all. Rumor had it that the final rewards for these quests were entirely random. Sometimes, you might get nothing, but if you were lucky, you could walk away with high-tier gear, weapons, or even Divine Abilities.
A +2 level reward was pretty underwhelming at this stage. These kinds of level-based rewards were more valuable when completed at higher levels.
Ethan had been hoping for something more exciting, like a Mythical creature or a rare item. Still, reaching Level 45 wasn't bad. Morzan had mentioned that once he hit Level 45, his real-world abilities would see a significant boost. He hadn't expected to reach this level before going to find Lyla. Now, it was time to head to Ironvale Mountains.
As he walked over to where the Death Essence had dropped its loot, he opened his inventory to sort through his gains. But when he saw what was inside, he froze.
