First Encounter with an Elite Monster

Early on the third morning, Lister finally got his body clock back on schedule.

He had already set out for the Three-Headed Hound encampment again.

The more mysteries surrounded him, the greater the danger they represented.

At the moment, what could put his mind at ease was not quickly investigating all the mysteries behind this, nor untangling the relationships among the city's great nobles.

The only thing that could truly give Lister confidence was power, the kind of power that stood above all of Will City.

And that power naturally meant the Three-Headed Hound caves were about to suffer again.

Some of the outer caves had been occupied by new Three-Headed Hounds, though there weren't many.

Lister could now be certain that monsters in the world of Divine Revelation no longer respawned.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

A sharp flash of white light swept past, and several Three-Headed Hounds around him fell to the ground.

Lister didn't let his guard down. He hurried forward.

His saber hacked cleanly into the backs of the Three-Headed Hounds' necks, severing their heads from their bodies.

After hunting Three-Headed Hounds for two days straight, Lister was exceptionally familiar with all their attacks.

Their intelligence was indeed low, and they couldn't even coordinate an attack on him.

He had gravely wounded them outright with a single draw slash.

Though his current Merrick Saber Technique could hardly be called flashy, that draw slash was certainly cool, as well as practical.

No wonder most saber-wielding martial arts players had loved learning it during the second act.

After half a month of this, he had wiped out more than half the Three-Headed Hounds in the Kayas Region.

Lister was now taking stock of his gains.

[Experience: 310,000]

With enough experience on hand, Lister first spent over 50,000 experience to raise his level to 20.

"Congratulations, your level has increased!"

"Congratulations, your lev..."

[Level: 20 (0/20,000) (class advancement pending, cannot increase)]

[Available attribute points gained: 3]

"Notice: You have reached level 20. Would you like to accept the class advancement quest?"

"No!"

Although Lister had been an ordinary player in his previous life, nowhere near the top ranks in the game, he was a veteran who had learned and studied plenty about how expert players developed their classes.

In Divine Revelation, every ten levels constituted a tier, and class advancement quests were undertaken at set stages.

The first advancement was at level 20, the second at level 60, the third at level 120, and the fourth at level 180.

The first advancement was the class advancement at level 20, where he was now.

There was actually no class advancement quest for it; quests of corresponding difficulty only began with the second advancement.

A player's level couldn't increase until they completed their class advancement.

Lister's level already made him a second-tier class holder, but because he hadn't completed his advancement, he could only remain at the second tier and couldn't break through to the third.

As for the classes available after advancement, Divine Revelation had all sorts. Players received suitable advancement quests based on their characters' skills and attributes before accepting the quest.

So when discussing classes with others, players only divided them into a few broad categories, such as martial arts, mechanical, and supernatural...

Many people could obtain exclusive classes, or even rare classes recognized by the system.

But a rare class really just meant it was rare-few players followed that path. It had nothing to do with strength.

Class advancement essentially solidified a character's accumulated foundation from before advancement, while opening a future path better suited to the player's current state.

Lister wasn't hoping to max out the Merrick Saber Technique or his passive skills before advancing. Those skills could still be improved afterward.

But before advancing, he had to at least max out all his basic attributes.

He hadn't had a choice before, but now he had a chance to start over, as well as the means to do it. Naturally, he would build a solid foundation.

If an attribute hadn't reached 20 points before advancement, and was only at 15, for example, then a barrier would already be in place after advancement, and its growth would start from 15.

Until the second class advancement, even if the player reached level 60, that attribute's maximum limit would be 55 points. There was no making up for falling behind before the first advancement.

[Attribute: Strength 14 → 17]

"Upgrade Merrick Breathing Technique?"

"Yes."

[Merrick's Breathing Technique LV3 → LV8: Additional strength +8]

"Congratulations, your overall rating has increased!"

[Overall rating: F → D]

Looking at the D-grade overall rating before him, Lister felt a surge of excitement.

Before he transmigrated, his character in Divine Revelation had been level 180, with the fourth-advancement class "Cosmic Origin Saber Wielder." Despite that high level,

among his four attributes, only strength had barely surpassed 120. The others hadn't even reached 100.

With each advancement, he fell far behind the top players, and he couldn't make up the difference. After several advancements, he was already half-crippled.

Not to mention that his class was half supernatural and half martial arts, having been forcibly shifted from the supernatural category to martial arts at the fourth advancement.

He could be considered true trash, with an overall rating that had remained at E-grade year-round.

The overall rating was an assessment of a character's strength at their current tier.

The more they leveled without increasing their combat power, the lower their overall rating would be.

A higher overall rating also meant a player was stronger at their current level and capable of fighting above their level.

At the same time, if a player's overall rating was higher than an enemy's, the system could detect more information about that enemy.

Lister had played the game for seventeen years before transmigrating without ever receiving a D-grade rating. This was his first time reaching D-grade overall.

Even for monsters, D-grade already represented an elite monster!

He figured reaching D-grade this time was mainly thanks to his eight additional strength points.

Added to his original 17, that gave him 25 strength in total, already breaking through the current level-20 barrier.

His four attributes weren't maxed out yet either. If he could continue raising them to the limit, he reckoned reaching an overall rating of B-grade shouldn't be a problem.

In his previous life, most of the game's top players had overall ratings clustered around B-grade. Only the top few hundred players on a server could reach A-grade.

In terms of monster ratings, B-grade represented a leader-class boss, while A-grade was a true lord-class boss!

Reaching B-grade or above meant a character had no weaknesses in their four basic attributes and definitely had something exceptional about them.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss..."

Just as Lister was immersed in the joy of his improved overall rating, a low growl came from the distance.

At the same time, an overpowering stench of blood hit his nose.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

It sounded like the footsteps of an enormous monster.

The ground began to tremble in response, and the stones at his feet shook rhythmically with the approaching footsteps.

Lister's expression instantly turned grave. He had long since ventured deep into the Three-Headed Hounds' territory.

The only thing here capable of causing such a commotion had to be the local Three-Headed Hound boss.

Suddenly, Lister felt a strong wind sweep over him, stinging his face in particular.

Having fought bosses before, he immediately understood that this was the Three-Headed Hound boss's Charge skill.

The next moment, a huge black shadow slammed toward him.

Fortunately, Lister had plenty of experience fighting monsters. He had anticipated the attack as soon as his face began to sting, and had already dodged to the monster's other side.

Crack!

Several towering trees behind the spot where he had been standing were snapped in half by the impact.

The great trees and their branches toppled in all directions, crushing one of the Three-Headed Hounds that had been watching. Unfortunately, Lister hadn't taken part in the attack and couldn't gain experience from it.

[Target found: Three-Headed Hound Knight]

[Comparing enemy and player strength for reconnaissance... Reconnaissance complete...]

[Level: Lv26]

[Health: 15,019/15,996]

[Stamina: ???]

[Attributes: Strength 24, ???, Intelligence 7, Agility 17]

[Skills: Charge (D-grade) LV17, (insufficient reconnaissance data) ???]

[Overall rating: D (elite)]

[Warning: This enemy is stronger than you. Avoid direct confrontation]

Sure enough, it was the only Three-Headed Hound boss in the area, and its overall rating had unusually reached elite grade.

Though its level was only five higher than the E-grade Three-Headed Hound he had encountered before, its overall rating represented its strength.

Its health alone was five times higher, and its attributes and skill levels were worlds apart.

If Lister had run into this Three-Headed Hound on the first day, he would definitely have turned and fled.

But now he had just finished allocating his points, and not only was he full of strength,

his own strength attribute was also one point higher than his opponent's.

There was no absolute gap in strength between them. The only particularly troublesome thing was its Charge skill, which was as high as level 17.

After all, he had now reached a D-grade rating himself, was in almost perfect condition, and had his combat experience and techniques from his previous life.

Lister was confident he could finish off the elite monster before him, the Three-Headed Hound Knight, right here today!