Chapter 4: Breaking the Wall

Days blurred into nights, then back into days within the perpetual twilight of the deeper woods in Genesis. For Kael, time was measured not in hours, but in slain monsters and the agonizingly slow crawl of his experience bar towards Level 10. The 10x EXP multiplier for this threshold was proving every bit as formidable as he'd feared. Gloomfang Spiders and Thorn Boars, once decent sources of progress, now yielded frustratingly small increments.

Level 9: 17880 / 25000 EXP

He crushed another Thorn Boar, its hide transmuting into a welcome chunk of EXP.

[System]: Thorn Boar defeated! +120 EXP! [System]: Loot Drop: Boar Tusk x2 [System]: Boar Tusk detected. Transmuting via Absolute Assimilation... +50 EXP! (25 per tusk) [System]: Loot Drop: Thick Hide Patch x1 [System]: Thick Hide Patch detected. Transmuting via Absolute Assimilation... +35 EXP! [System]: Total EXP Gain: 205 EXP. Applying 3x Multiplier... +615 EXP!

Level 9: 18495 / 25000 EXP

Over 600 EXP, a solid gain just a few levels ago, now represented less than 3% of the remaining bar. Kael growled, punching a tree in frustration – the trunk shuddered, dropping a few leaves, but the haptics only registered a dull thud against his knuckles. He needed bigger prey. Faster gains.

Driven by impatience, he abandoned the familiar spider and boar grounds, pushing further into unmapped territory. The woods grew older here, the trees thicker, the undergrowth wilder. He stumbled into a grove shrouded in an unnatural mist, where the air felt cold. Twisted, dark-barked trees stood like skeletal sentinels, their branches clawing at the dim light. Corrupted Treants.

These were significantly tougher than the boars. Level 10-12 mobs, according to the fragmented whispers he sometimes caught from passing players who quickly skirted the area. Their bark-like hide was incredibly tough, and their slamming branch attacks hit with bone-jarring force.

His first fight against one was brutal. [-45 HP] from a single swipe that he failed to dodge cleanly. His high-Strength punches barely seemed to dent its bark. It took a dozen solid hits, chipping away at its health, while he absorbed punishing blows. Only his superior level (still 9), substantial Vitality, and the sheer power of his Strength allowed him to finally bring it down.

[System]: Corrupted Treant defeated! +250 EXP! [System]: Loot Drop: Blighted Heartwood x1 [System]: Blighted Heartwood detected. Transmuting via Absolute Assimilation... +80 EXP! [System]: Loot Drop: Sap of Decay x1 [System]: Sap of Decay detected. Transmuting via Absolute Assimilation... +60 EXP! [System]: Total EXP Gain: 390 EXP. Applying 3x Multiplier... +1170 EXP!

Level 9: 19665 / 25000 EXP

More than double the EXP of a boar! This was it. It was dangerous, taxing his health pool heavily between fights (forcing him to wait for regeneration or risk engaging wounded), but it was faster. This misty, dangerous grove became his new, solitary hunting ground. He battled Treants, dodged their slowing sap attacks, and occasionally fought off packs of Shadow Mastiffs – fast, high-damage canine shadows that often appeared when a Treant was weakened.

The grind was harrowing. He had several near-death experiences, saved only by landing a killing blow fractions of a second before his HP hit zero. He learned to use the environment more, luring Treants into tighter spaces where their wide swings were hampered, or using terrain elevation to briefly escape the Mastiffs.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of tense battles and slow, hard-won progress, he stood before a particularly gnarled Treant, his health low, his EXP bar shimmering on the very edge.

Level 9: 24850 / 25000 EXP

This was it. He dodged a heavy slam, gritting his teeth as splinters flew past his face. He poured every ounce of Strength into a final sequence of punches against the Treant's core. CRACK! The creature groaned, its misty form dissolving.

The numbers flowed in, pushing the bar over the threshold—

[System]: Congratulations! You have reached Level 10! +15 Stat Points available. Health and Mana fully restored.

A wave of pure relief washed over Kael, so potent it almost buckled his knees. The oppressive weight of the EXP wall vanished, replaced by the warm, invigorating surge of the level-up. He had done it. Level 10. A milestone that likely marked the entry into 'real' content for most players, achieved by him through sheer, brutal, itemless grinding.

He immediately checked his status, the full window shimmering before him in the eerie grove:

Name: Kael

Level: 10

Class: Novice (Potential paths available)

HP: 850/850

MP: 65/65

Stats:

Strength (STR): 96 (Base 10 + 86 from levels 2-9)

Dexterity (DEX): 10 (Base 10 + 0 from levels)

Vitality (VIT): 68 (Base 10 + 58 from levels 2-9)

Intelligence (INT): 10

Wisdom (WIS): 10

Stat Points Available: 15

The numbers were stark. Incredible Strength and Vitality, letting him hit like a freight train and soak damage that would flatten others, but rock-bottom Dexterity, Intelligence, and Wisdom. He was a blunt instrument. The constant struggle against the Treants and Mastiffs, the frustrating near misses on dodges, finally convinced him. He couldn't rely solely on tanking hits forever.

He allocated the 15 points from Level 10: 8 into Strength (pushing it over 100!), 5 into Vitality, and, for the first time, 2 precious points into Dexterity. It wasn't much, but it was a start. STR: 104, DEX: 12, VIT: 73.

A Shadow Mastiff materialized from the mist nearby, sensing his presence. Before, he would have braced for impact. Now, with fresh stats and the Level 10 power boost, he reacted differently. As it lunged, he shifted his weight, a slightly smoother motion than before thanks to the DEX bump, letting the shadow-claws pass millimeters from his side. His fist met the Mastiff's skull with devastating force.

[System]: Shadow Mastiff defeated! +180 EXP! [System]: Loot Drop: Shadow Essence x1 [System]: Shadow Essence detected. Transmuting via Absolute Assimilation... +55 EXP! [System]: Total EXP Gain: 235 EXP. Applying 3x Multiplier... +705 EXP!

Level 10: 705 / 4000 EXP

He felt the difference. The kill was faster, cleaner. The small Dexterity investment had paid off immediately. The EXP requirement for the next level was drastically lower than the wall he'd just climbed, back to a more standard progression.

Standing there in the misty, dangerous grove, Kael felt a profound sense of accomplishment mixed with his ever-present isolation. He had conquered the first great filter of Genesis, alone and bare-handed. He glanced back the way he came, towards the safer, now-trivial starting zones. There was nothing left for him there.

He'd overheard snippets from the few geared players who dared skirt this grove – talk of "Silverhaven Outpost," the first real hub beyond the newbie zones, lying somewhere past these cursed woods. A place with proper quests, dungeons, maybe even class trainers.

That was the direction he needed to go. Forward. Deeper into Genesis. He set his displayed level to 3 via Veil of the Novice, pulled his metaphorical hood down, and started walking towards the edge of the corrupted grove, leaving the remnants of his first great grind behind him. The journey was far from over.

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