Training My Skills

The outskirts of Maple Leaf Town were teeming with monsters.

Aggressive goblins, ravenous wolves, and the deadliest of them all... no, not some legendary beast—just an oversized, furious rooster.

All these creatures had higher base stats than the players, making early leveling a nightmare. Solo grinding was nearly impossible, forcing most players to form parties.

Zane Carter, however, had different plans.

Spotting a creature called a "Flare-Tailed Rooster," he dashed forward.

Steal!

With a quick lunge, he brushed his right hand against the creature's multicolored tail feathers.

Steal, a Rank 1 skill, came with severe limitations: low success rate and a mandatory physical touch requirement to activate.

[Steal failed. Skill Proficiency +10 (Base=1, boosted to 10 by Infinite Potential)!]

"Damn, Infinite Potential is really something else!"

Zane grinned. With this rate, he only needed nine more attempts to push Steal to Level 2.

In Ascension Online, active skills improved through repeated use. Each activation granted +1 proficiency point. Steal, however, was special—failures still awarded 1 point, while successes gave 2.

Just as he processed this, the rooster, having been thoroughly molested, snapped back in rage and lunged at him.

"Stealth!"

Zane vanished into thin air.

The Flare-Tailed Rooster lost its target and clucked in confusion.

Thanks to Infinite Potential, his chosen skills had their cooldowns reduced by 50% and energy costs slashed by 80%.

As soon as Stealth wore off, Steal was off cooldown again.

Zane struck once more.

Failure!

For a split second, he could've sworn he heard the rooster scream, "Bro, WTF?!"

Enraged, the rooster launched a flurry of pecks.

-10! -9!

Zane dodged desperately but still took two hits.

"What the hell? Even Level 1 mobs hit this hard?!"

With no choice but to flee, he sprinted away.

"Haha, look at that newbie getting wrecked by a chicken!"

"LMAO, let's put it out of its misery."

A nearby party laughed as they surrounded the rooster and commenced a righteous beatdown.

Yep, his target got stolen.

Monster spawns were plenty, but with so many players around, kill-stealing was inevitable. Zane didn't bother complaining—he was planning to run away anyway.

"I need weaker monsters to train my skills. Otherwise, I'll have to party up. This game's early leveling is brutal."

Scanning the area, he suddenly noticed something odd.

To the west of the town gates, in front of a small grove, a group of female players was leisurely grinding—a stark contrast to the chaos elsewhere.

"Weird."

Curious, Zane activated Stealth and crept closer.

Upon arrival, he realized that this area was occupied solely by female players.

A short distance away, three girls were struggling against a ridiculously adorable creature.

Zane inspected their target.

[Bouncy Rabbit – LV1]

Type: Common Monster

HP: 200

ATK: 12

Skill: Bounce Strike

Description: A peaceful creature that won't retaliate unless it feels its life is in danger. Grants minimal EXP, making it a poor grinding target.

"So they only fight back if they're attacked? Then if I only use Steal and avoid harming them, they won't even react?"

Zane's eyes lit up. Jackpot.

"Dude, don't tell me you're gonna farm Bouncy Rabbits?"

His Stealth had worn off, and a passing solo player gawked at him.

"Not worth it, man. These things give trash EXP and no loot. You gotta kill like five just to get 1 EXP."

Zane smirked. "I like taking the road less traveled."

Without another word, he strolled toward the rabbits.

"Bunnies are way too cute to kill, don't you think?"

He muttered as he reached out.

Steal!

His palm lightly brushed against the back of a grazing rabbit.

[Steal failed. Skill Proficiency +10!]

The rabbit trembled slightly but didn't turn around, simply resuming its feast.

"Good bunny. Love ya."

Zane could hardly contain his laughter.

The strategy was set. He cycled Stealth and Steal repeatedly.

With Infinite Potential reducing his skill costs, Stealth only required 8 MP and Steal a mere 4 MP. As long as he avoided damage, a short meditation would restore his resources in just a few minutes.

So, he sat back and farmed skill proficiency like a madman.

[Stealth succeeded. Skill Proficiency +10!]

[Steal failed. Skill Proficiency +10!]

[Steal leveled up! Now LV2. Success rate increased to 2%!]

Less than a minute in, Steal leveled up. Shortly after, Stealth followed, increasing its duration by 2 seconds.

Zane was in heaven.

"Yo, dude, what are you even doing?"

"Come party with us, man. We're all solo players, no discrimination. It's better than harassing rabbits."

By now, players reaching Level 1 had noticed Zane's antics.

Some mocked him. Others extended friendly invites.

Zane ignored them all.

He was averaging 60 skill proficiency per minute, minus downtime for recovery.

Of course, there were unexpected events.

[Steal successful! You stole Basic Mana Potion ×1 from the Bouncy Rabbit. Skill Proficiency +20!]

Turns out, as Steal leveled up, its success rate climbed too. Occasionally, he'd actually snag an item.

There was also a slight problem when that happened. Successful theft will trigger the rabbit's rage.

…Which he promptly countered by vanishing into thin air.

The more he practiced, the more frequently he succeeded. Unfortunately, the loot was mostly garbage.

Time passed.

Thirty minutes later…

Whoosh!

All around him, golden level-up flares erupted as players hit Level 1 or even Level 3, departing from the newbie zones.

Meanwhile, Zane's Steal had already broken past the usual Rank 1 skill cap, reaching LV5!

"Okay… skill grinding is efficient, but damn, this is getting boring."

Restlessness crept in. The urge to cause chaos was growing.

"No, no. Just a little more. Let's hit Steal LV6 first."

Suppressing his mischief, Zane continued grinding.

To pass the time, he pulled up the Regional Chat.

[Regional Chat – Maple Leaf Town]

"BREAKING NEWS: Lonely Wind Cliff location confirmed!"

"RIP. The Domination Guild's leader, Unyielding Tyrant, just led a squad of Level 3s into the mountains. Quest rewards are as good as gone."

"LOL. BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: They all got massacred!"

"Skyfall Guild and Domination Guild teamed up for another attempt!"

"HOLY CRAP. They still can't clear it! We still have a chance!"

"WTF. Those guild bastards are blocking the mountain entrance, stopping anyone else from trying. Absolute scumbags!"

Zane chuckled.

"I knew it. That quest ain't that easy. Good thing I didn't bother."

As he mused, two alerts suddenly popped up.

[Stealth reached LV3! Infinite Potential triggered a skill mutation!]

[Steal reached LV6! Infinite Potential triggered a skill mutation!]

His hands froze.

Then his lips curled into a grin.

"Oh… hell yes."