Another Harvest
The cheers were still echoing when Black's eyes turned back to the battlefield.
The tide had clearly shifted. The humans were winning.
"It was him."
His gaze narrowed, locking onto a figure in the crowd—a young man, no older than his twenties, with bold eyebrows and sharp, clear eyes. He carried a kind of innate confidence, something solid and magnetic that made people instinctively trust him.
Black recognized him immediately. Alaric.
The guy had awakened a D-rank talent—Thunderstrike.
Only seventeen D-rank talents had ever awakened in the Starter Village. One of them had been Kael, but Kael hadn't lasted long. Now, only sixteen remained. And Alaric was one of them.
More than that, Thunderstrike was one of the stronger D-rank talents. Not rare enough to inspire awe, but powerful enough to gather a following. A talent people could rally around. And they did. Alaric had quickly become one of the village's most recognized names—half myth, half idol, especially among the newer players still fumbling with their novice blades.
This time, he'd taken seven others and left the village. Now, only six remained beside him.
Black's curiosity got the better of him. He turned toward the skirmish to get a clearer view.
A sudden burst of electric blue lit up the field. Alaric's palm crackled with lightning as he slammed a bolt straight into a massive serpent.
The snake reeled. Its huge body locked up, limbs spasming in the grass. The lightning hadn't just hit—it paralyzed.
Alaric's strike had landed hard. The thing wasn't dead, but it was hurting.
The others didn't waste the moment. All six rushed in at once, blades raised, slashing with everything they had.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The air filled with the sound of steel against scale. Sparks flew, but the blades barely dug in. The serpent's hide was thick—impossibly thick. Their attacks left nothing but scorched marks and scattered flakes of broken scale.
Even so, the beast roared.
Pain. Not deep wounds—but enough pain to drive it mad.
Its paralysis wore off in a flash, and it twisted in rage, fangs bared, eyes glowing with fury. It surged toward the attackers, ready to rip them to pieces.
But again, lightning crashed.
Kacha!
Alaric hit it with another bolt. The beast locked up mid-lunge, convulsing violently before freezing in place.
The team didn't waste the opportunity—they split and retreated fast, vanishing in different directions just as the snake started to recover.
It whipped around, even more furious now, its massive head swaying as it searched for the main threat.
Its eyes locked onto Alaric.
Among the seven, he was the only one who could actually hurt it. The others were distractions, fleas. He was the real danger.
Hisssss! Hiss! Hiss!
It raised its head high, tongue flickering through the air. Then it lunged—fast, faster than before.
Alaric turned and ran.
He wasn't afraid. He was calculating. Thunderstrike couldn't be cast back-to-back. Every use had a cooldown of at least ten seconds.
The others understood what was happening. Without being told, they chased after the serpent, slashing at its back again and again, trying to distract it.
Sparks flew, scales shattered, but again, the wounds were shallow. Still, it was pain. Real pain.
The viper hissed in fury and whipped around, mouth open wide, aiming to swallow them whole.
Just then—another bolt.
Kacha!
Lightning exploded again from Alaric's hand, and the serpent locked up once more, electricity surging through its coils.
The others scattered, and the cycle repeated—attack, retreat, distract. Over and over, they kept hammering away.
Alaric struck when it mattered. The rest wore it down in between.
It was working.
The beast's movements were slowing. Its attacks lost their bite. Its power was fading with every pass.
Black watched in silence, something turning in his chest.
He activated the All-Seeing Eye.
[Fierce Beast]: Venomous Ninefold Viper
Level: 1
[Combat Evaluation]:
[Traits]: Brutal, bloodthirsty, highly venomous
[Drop Rate]: 0.1%
Black blinked.
"…Wait. Drop rate?"
That was new.
He stared at the stat again. 0.1% drop rate. Meaning: this thing had a chance—however small—of dropping loot when killed.
That was huge.
A thousandth of a chance wasn't much, but it was something. The system was revealing itself bit by bit.
Just then, something shifted on the battlefield.
Another bolt cracked down. The Ninefold Viper screamed—a piercing, ragged shriek that echoed across the field.
Then it collapsed.
Its body twitched violently. A moment later, the light flared—blinding and white-hot.
The serpent exploded into light. Seven separate beams burst out from its body, shooting straight into the seven fighters.
Each of them was bathed in white glow.
The largest beam went straight into Alaric.
For a second, all was still.
Then the shouting began.
"Haha! I got 5 energy points!"
"I only got 3! But still, that's huge!"
"What the hell?! I only got 1! Are you kidding me? I was right there in the thick of it!"
"Quit whining, Li. You know the Heavenly Dao calculates contributions fairly. No bias. If you only got 1, that means you didn't do shit!"
"Yeah, yeah. Maybe I'm just too good-looking to work hard."
Black watched from the bushes, eyes narrowed. But inside, something clicked.
So that's how energy distribution worked.
Kill something as a group—split the energy based on your contribution.
A system designed to encourage teamwork. To make humans help each other.
Fair. Efficient.
But limiting.
A creature like that Ninefold Viper gave only 40 energy points in total. Split among seven people, no one walked away with much. Some got five. Some got one. Even Alaric, the clear MVP, couldn't have earned more than half.
Black clenched his fists slowly.
He could kill a snake like that by himself.
Forty energy points—all his.
Only now did he realize how wide the gap was.
Then something strange happened.
A light ignited around Alaric again. This time it didn't flicker—it blazed.
His entire body was wrapped in white flame.
The crowd gasped.
Black did too, eyes widening.
What the hell?
Why was he glowing like that?
The light slowly faded. And there Alaric stood, his eyes open, chest rising and falling. A soft smile touched his lips.
Someone rushed up. "Boss Alaric, what was that?! You lit up like a torch!"
"Yeah, man, you scared the hell out of us! You good?"
Alaric chuckled. "Relax. I'm fine. I just leveled up."
The moment he said it, the field erupted.
"WHAT?! Boss Alaric hit level 2?!"
"Tch, fucking amazing..."
"Meanwhile I'm still stuck at level 1, 17 out of 100. Fuck my life..."
Everyone looked at Alaric with new reverence.
And envy.
Hidden behind the bushes, Black's brows furrowed.
A level 2 human.
This was the first time he'd seen one with his own eyes.
He was curious now. Just how much stronger was a level 2 compared to level 1?
From the way Alaric carried himself… the difference had to be significant.
Well—only one way to find out.
Black activated the All-Seeing Eye again, focusing on Alaric.
[Combat Evaluation]: 2 Stars
"…That's it?"
Black blinked again, puzzled.
Those stats… they weren't as impressive as he'd expected. In fact, they were lower than his own—and he was still level 1.
Even without leveling up, his raw attributes were higher.
Alaric's overall strength, factoring in his awakened talent, probably barely hit the 3-star mark.
At most, he might win a one-on-one with a level 1 beast. But it'd be close. A coin toss.
And Black?
Black's combat rating sat at the peak of 2 stars. With his stacked talents and advantages, his actual strength hovered close to 4 stars—maybe even the upper limit.
Which meant...
He could crush three or four Alarics if it came down to it.
And he hadn't even hit level 2 yet.
That realization sent a thrill down his spine.
Black exhaled slowly, lips curling into a quiet, private smile.
He was stronger than any of them knew.