As Xen tore through the horde of goblins on the bridge, he noted in the corner of his vision something new.

  [Solo Hunter] active: 50% increase to all stats.

  When he had unlocked this passive, he had thought he understood what a 50% increase could mean, but now that he was experiencing it, he realized he hadn't had the faintest idea just how truly ridiculous it was. After all, the amount of hidden stats getting buffed increased with his level. 50% of his stats at level 1 wouldn't give him much of an advantage, but now that he was level 32 in his slime form and level 25 in his Human form, the number of hidden stats being buffed had to be staggering.

  Otherwise, how else could he obliterate a Clay Orc with a single punch? Thankfully, it wasn't only his strength stats that were seeing a buff. If that was the case, his own arm would have ruptured from the force. His Indomitable Defense also seemed to scale with his current capabilities, as his armor held firm even when he took a Clay Smash directly to the arm.

  Grinning behind his dented helmet, Xen was a blur as he tested his increased speed to run circles around the comparatively slow Clay Goblins and Orcs.

  "Appraisal," Xen said, pulling golden mana to his eyes.

  [Clay Orc (Level 29)]

  [Clay Goblin (Level 16)]

  [Clay Goblin (Level 14)]

  [Clay Goblin (Level 19)]

  [Clay Goblin (Level 20)]

  [Clay Goblin...]

  Other than the Clay Orc that was a few levels below him, the goblins were now hardly worth his attention. With a horizontal slash, he dismembered three goblins that were launching at him in one go, and the force sent their bodies hurling through the air and crashing into the lake.

  Xen laughed—he had never felt so strong.

  [Solo Hunter] active: 40% increase to all stats.

  He stopped laughing as he saw the number in the corner of his vision decrease, and he immediately felt the drop in stats despite not being in combat. It was only for a moment before his body adjusted, but a sluggishness had overcome him, and he didn't like that feeling one bit.

  "One, two, three, four," he counted the monsters still on the bridge. "So I get a 10% increase for each monster nearby, good to know."

  As if sensing the brief lull in the battle, a system message appeared.

  You have killed multiple opponents. Due to the level disparity, reduced experience is rewarded.

  Experience split between [Necroplague Slime] and [Human] form.

  [Mind Slime] has leveled up: 32 -> 33.

  [Human] has leveled up: 25 -> 26.

  "Level disparity?" Xen said with confusion, tilting his head. This was the first he had heard of such a thing, as until now, he was more used to seeing bonus experience rewarded.

  [The average stats of your opponents are significantly below your buffed stats, resulting in a one-sided battle]

  "So?" Xen questioned again.

  [The system rewards challenge. Due to the buff given by [Solo Hunter], your stats are significantly above those of your level. To reduce abuse of the system, buffs and other factors are taken into account when calculating the experience to be rewarded after a kill]

  Xen frowned. "Even when this passive is part of my own skill? That seems unfair... can I turn Solo Hunter off?"

  [Yes. Do you wish to do so?]

  "Would I get a normal amount of experience for killing these goblins without the Solo Hunter passive?"

  The system didn't provide an answer, so Xen agreed to having the Solo Hunter passive turned off. The following feeling of strength vacating his body was nauseating, and he had to struggle for a moment to stay standing. Once the feeling faded, he engaged the understandably distant monsters that had assumed a defensive formation on the bridge in battle. One Clay Orc and three Goblins. The fight was more challenging than it had been with the [Solo Hunter] passive, but not so hard that he had to struggle.

  Killing one at a time to check the system messages, he confirmed that he still received reduced experience for each of the Goblins, with all three being below level 20, resulting in an over ten level difference as he was sitting at level 33. However, the Orc, which was level 29, gave him normal experience.

  Overall, it made sense. The Goblins were all a one-shot with just a sword swing and using Xen's raw strength. Meanwhile, the Orc required him to use at least one skill to kill.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  I didn't even think about it before, but it's smart of the system to hold me back this way. I still have an advantage, as my level 33 slime form seems to add stats to whatever form I take. So even if I took on my level 1 Elf form, I would likely have stats equal to a level 10. Not to mention the numerous skills I have to utilize. But I didn't even consider how abusable buffs would be to powerlevel, as bonus experience is rewarded when killing enemies stronger than you. Wait, does that mean members of the Iron Legion get reduced experience due to their leader's skill? If so, it's no wonder only weaklings seem to join that guild.

  Xen ceased his musings and flicked the blood off his sword. The bridge was now covered in corpses that he was siphoning mana from, yet he had only leveled up once from the massacre due to the level disparity. Disappointing, but he had gleaned a lot of information about the system's workings and gotten used to fighting at 50% increased strength.

  Walking forward, he eyed the floor boss who had retaken a seat on his throne. Which confused Xen. Was it arrogance? Had he accepted defeat? Or did that throne represent something more?

  "Appraisal," Xen said, activating the skill again. Above the floor boss, the same message appeared from earlier.

  [Underworld Orc (Level 41)]

  Funnily enough, the message that had struck fear in his heart before now didn't faze him as he now possessed the capabilities to win. Not that it would be easy, but he had a chance.

  He looked down and focused on the throne for a long time, and continued to pour mana into his eyes until finally something appeared.

  [Earth Mage Throne: Rare Grade]

  A runic throne designed to draw in mana from the earth. Those who sit upon it will experience a significant increase in mana regeneration.

  Xen's eyes narrowed as a theory he had been working on was confirmed.

  Everything related to the system had a cost associated with it.

  To control this many Clay monsters, endlessly resurrect them from afar, and even conjure three massive bridges to span a lake, can't have been easy on the Underworld Orcs' mana reserves. However, Xen could have accepted it as possible if this were done by a lich or other magical race, but Orcs didn't seem to be very magically aligned creatures, judging by how the other Orcs fought. So, even if this Underworld Orc was a more magical variant of an Orc, it still shouldn't be this capable. Yet it had been, which initially confused Xen.

  To think you could use so many grand spells one after another because of that throne, Xen mused and changed his opinion. Much like his own advantages, so long as that throne remained operational, the Underworld Orc could fight above that of a typical level 41 mage, as it didn't need to be as wary of mana costs.

  The throne had to go, which was easier said than done, considering the already powerful floor boss was sitting on it and still had a few Clay Orcs and a small horde of goblins standing guard around it.

  "Let's consider how I should approach this. First, system, show me what I'm working with." A large amount of text appeared, but he focused on what was actually relevant.

  ??[Name: Xen]

  [Level: 33 (C)]

  [Race: Necroplague Slime (Rare Variant)]

  [Current Form: Human (Level 26)]

  [Class: Shapeshifter (Unique)]

  Necroplague Slime: Level 33 (C)

  < [Devour (S)] - [Appraisal (C)] - [Geomantic Perception (B)] - [Shapeshift (E)] - [Soul Leech (D)] - [Withering Hex (C)] >

  < [Undeath Resonance] - [Blight Aura] >

  Human: Level 26 (C)

  [Class: Spellblade]

  < [Multilingual (B)] - [Buff of the Berserker (C)] - [Corruption Missile (B)] - [Quiet Steps (D)] - [Crescent Rage (B)] - [Indomitable Defense (C)] - [Phantom Strike (D)] - [Vampiric Blade (C)] >

  < [Sword Proficiency] - [Solo Hunter] >

  Free Skill Slots (10):

  Slot 1: [Devour (S)]

  Slot 2: [Multilingual (B)]

  Slot 3: [Appraisal (C)]

  Slot 4: [Geomantic Perception (B)]

  Slot 5: [Shapeshift (E)]

  Slot 6: [Radiant Smite (E)]

  Slot 7: [Clay Smash (C)]

  Slot 8: [Necrotic Pulse (D)]

  Slot 9: [Quiet Steps (D)]

  Slot 10: [Earthen Regeneration (B)]

  In such a short time, he had accumulated a truly exhausting list of skills and passives. Luckily, that gave him many ways to approach the fight.

  "Crescent Rage and Clay Smash should do the job of taking out the throne, which leaves the question of how I will even get close enough in the first place," his gaze flickered to the Underworld Orc perched on his Earth Mage Throne and then back at his status screen. "If he is remaining seated and not bothering to fight me right now while I'm still at range, his mana reserves are low and he is recovering them, or he's confident in victory on his side of the lake. Perhaps those remaining Clay monsters are his trump card? Can he empower them to the point of being a threat?"

  Wait, what is a trump card? How do I even know that word... whatever. Chalk it up to the memory soup.

  Xen sighed. There were too many unknowns. But the Underworld Orc still hadn't seen everything he was capable of, either.

  "I could always just leave, it's not like I'm locked in here in a life and death battle anymore, as I've far outleveled the once so threatening horde," he looked over his shoulder and saw Randy helping his friends with the potions that he had retrieved from the lake. "I could even make it out with those three, and there's nothing the floor boss can do about it."

  His gaze settled back on the floor boss, and he smirked behind his helmet. If victory was impossible, he knew when to run. But with the possibility to grow so much stronger right before him, did he have a choice? Could he run, knowing only more fighting and death awaited him in the future, no matter what he did? While these three humans seemed to be okay with him, he was actively saving their lives. There was no telling how their opinion would change once this was over.

  So the only thing that guaranteed his future was getting more powerful, and this floor boss would be the next major stepping stone to that goal. Not to mention, he wanted its form and skills.

  Glancing over his skills one last time, he formed a quick plan. He would focus on the guarding Clay Orcs first, hopefully before they could be empowered. He would then wipe out as many Goblins as possible, but leave enough that his [Solo Hunter] passive gave him the maximum boost. He also wanted a few goblins around in case he needed to use them as emergency healing sources via Vampiric Blade.

  I'll then try to get the Underworld Orc to exhaust his mana pool while keeping within five meters to stack up my Blight Aura, which inflicts a slowly stacking debuff that reduces healing, regeneration, and magic defense. It also boosts the effectiveness of corruption-type effects. I can then strike the floor boss with a Withering Hex, which will weaken him further and inflict rotting damage that should mess with his spell casting.

  Xen lowered his body into a sprinting position.

  Once that's all done, I take out the throne, and then the weakened Underworld Orc will be a free kill. Worst case, I can always retreat into the lake and escape.

  With that, he charged ahead down the bridge toward his first boss fight.

  All alone.

  Just the way he liked it.

  to read ahead!