Chapter 6

  Ben barely glanced at the level-up notification. He put the attribute point into Faith, raising the stat to 23, then dismissed the screen.

  He was focused on speed. He had obsessed over stats in his last life. This time, every second mattered.

  He quickly looted the fallen lizardmen and moved on, keeping his pace high while staying close to the treeline. He moved quietly through the brush, careful with each step. Years of experience let him read terrain instinctively. The caution slowed him slightly, but it was worth the trade-off. Being surprised, by monsters or players, was the fastest way to die.

  The starter village had been a safe zone. Out here, there was no such protection, so he avoided the roads and stayed hidden.

  Stealth offered another advantage. Surprise.

  His growing group of cherubs moved with lethal efficiency, cutting down lizardman patrols before they could react. Ben followed the trails they left behind, signs only someone familiar with monster behavior would notice. The deeper he went, the more lizardmen appeared. Their numbers increased, but their levels did not.

  They were still level three scouts.

  With surprise on his side, each encounter ended quickly. His two cherub warriors struck together, blades flashing in perfect coordination. As Ben leveled, his summons leveled with him. Their strength increased sharply. He replaced their training weapons with scavenged lizardman gear, and the difference was immediate.

  Each sneak attack became a kill.

  The cherub archers were no different. A single arrow from concealment was enough. Ben added his own shots when needed, though often the fight was over before he could draw.

  Ammunition was no longer a concern. With a proper quiver equipped, arrows were effectively infinite. Once they had upgraded from lizardman drops, none of them held back.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Even so, Ben noticed the slowdown.

  Killing enemies at his own level yielded far less experience. Progress crawled compared to before. By the time the lizardman hideout came into view, he had reached level four.

  The notification flashed. Ben closed it immediately and placed the stat point into Faith, pushing the number to 27.

  Most players would have started spreading points into endurance or agility by now. Death was costly. Being forced out of the game, even for an hour, broke momentum. Ben had seen streamers lose their minds over it.

  He could not afford that kind of caution.

  Faith was his damage. His summons scaled directly from it. Their strength, speed, and durability all rose together. If he remained fragile, so be it. He would rely on positioning, awareness, and experience to stay alive. For now.

  He slowed near the mountain, crouching low among the trees.

  Ahead, a large group of lizardmen gathered at the mouth of a cave carved into the rock. The entrance yawned wide at the base of the mountain, dark and foreboding.

  Ben recognized it immediately.

  Lizardmen favored deep dwellings. This was not just a camp. It was a dungeon.

  The scouts outside were manageable. What waited inside would not be. Their true warriors. Casters. Priests. Elites. Eventually, a boss.

  He would need a full party of at least level five players to even consider going inside.

  Ben backed away.

  Time was the problem.

  He was level four now, but he knew the beta players would not be far behind him, if they were not already ahead. They had options. Quests. Optimized routes. Non-combat leveling. Coordinated farming.

  Even with his summons, he could not outpace a skilled party forever.

  He needed another path forward.

  Ben moved along the mountain’s edge, watching his minimap as unexplored terrain remained shrouded in fog. He knew what he was looking for.

  After a few minutes, he saw the signs.

  Broken weapons. Bloodstains. Lizardman corpses scattered carelessly, not from a fight, but from slaughter.

  His gaze followed the trail upward.

  A rocky ledge jutted out ten feet above the ground. Ben clenched his fists.

  “This is a stupid idea,” he whispered.

  He did it anyway.

  He sprinted, jumped, and caught the rock, hauling himself up with a grunt. At the top waited another cave entrance, wide and dark. Bones littered the ground nearby, warning enough for anyone with sense to turn back.

  The cherubs moved first, drifting forward without hesitation. Their expressions were calm, resolute. Ben felt an unexpected comfort at their presence.

  He crouched and advanced slowly, far more carefully than he had in the forest. One mistake here would end everything.

  Somewhere in the distance, unseen eyes watched from the shadows.