In his current state Zack could only think of one thing, raising his skill levels to make his current abilities stronger and compensate for his skill cap.
Aside from Heal II, Ice Lance II and Chain Lightning II, the rest of his skills were still stuck at level 1.
He didn't bother counting Detect II, since that was more of a scout spell than combat-related.
Scrolling through his skill list, his gaze stopped at Resurgence, a skill he had not used even once.
He examined the skill for a moment before an idea struck him.
Without hesitation, he headed to a nearby shop that sold small animals. A cage of mice drew his gaze, fifty of them for just a single silver.
After the purchase, he went beyond the city's wall, finding a quiet, secluded clearing to experiment. He raised his hand, cold surging instantly as Ice Lance materialized like a spear of winter.
The mice didn't stand a chance. After the last target vanished in a flash of frost, Zack checked the skill window.
A thin, almost invisible shift appeared on the bar — 0.1 proficiency gained after roughly twenty casts. It wasn't much but it was proof that the method worked. The numbers moved and that alone was enough.
He allowed himself a short breath and a small, satisfied nod before closing the menu.
Next came Resurgence, the strategy he'd pieced together in the back of his mind. If his assumptions were right, his skill proficiency would climb far faster than normal and to his surprise, it worked.
A faint light enveloped one of the fallen mice, its tiny body twitching before it suddenly sprang back to life.
It squeaked sharply and scurried away into the grass as if death itself had been nothing more than a nap. Zack blinked, half-amused and half-relieved, as the system notification appeared.
[Proficiency +0.8]
A wave of relief settled over him instantly. The plan he'd been forming relied heavily on Resurgence working this way. If it hadn't, he had no clue how else he could've boosted his skill levels efficiently.
Then he activated Momentum Shift, resetting Resurgence's cooldown and casted it again, this time on another mouse.
[Proficiency +0.8]
Zack's lips curved slightly.
Skills in Immortals Conflict were divided into four tiers — Level 1, 2, 3 and Max.
Even pushing a single skill from Level 2 to 3 was enough to give Zack a headache; he couldn't even begin to imagine the grind required to reach Max.
He needed about two thousand more experience points, to hit level 6 which wasn't much. At the same time, he planned to push his skill levels higher. If he was going to grind, he might as well make it count.
He chose to put his questing and most of his crafting on hold, those could wait until later.
Still, he couldn't completely ignore his finances. Crafting potions was quick and easy enough and they sold well, so he'd keep brewing just enough to maintain a decent flow of silver, especially mana potions.
He was already using them but now he'd need far more.
His next goal was simple; hit Level 6 and spam every skill he had, burn through his mana, recover with potions and repeat the process.
Slowly but surely, his proficiency would climb, his spells would grow stronger and Resurgence would be the key that tied it all together.
And with this method, his passives would level up as well or at least, that's what he was counting on. He checked his status window and noticed Mana Surge sitting at 71% proficiency.
It was a passive that boosted his mana recovery by 5% and seeing the steady progress made him nod in quiet satisfaction.
But then his eyes shifted to another skill, Second Wind and his expression soured.
When he first got it, he thought it'd be a lifesaver: Automatically restoring his HP once it dropped below 20%. Now, however, it just looked like a nightmare to him.
The condition to trigger it was too specific, he'd have to deliberately keep his HP below 20% just to raise its proficiency.
He let out a deep breath and rubbed the back of his neck. For his class, the idea alone bordered on reckless. Out of all the abilities he had, this was easily the most troublesome one.
"Yeah… this one's gonna be a pain" he mumbled, deciding to leave it for now.
Maybe later, he'd find a safer way or an exploit... to increase it's proficiency without nearly killing himself in the process.
Zack strode into Ember Plains, the wind stirring dust across the sunbaked ground. This place had become notoriously popular and for good reason.
The monsters were perfectly balanced: not weak enough to be trivial, not strong enough to be deadly. They also gave decent experience hence ideal for steady leveling.
He knew the patch would hit in twelve hours and once it did, this territory would be swarming with guilds and skilled adventurers, turning even mundane hunts into high-stakes chaos.
Spotting multiple parties watching him, some neutral, some potentially hostile.
Zack ignored them and decided to move deeper into the region. None had attacked yet, so he let them be, moving toward areas with fewer players.
There, he resumed his routine grind: summoning a mouse, obliterating it with Chain Lightning, reviving it with Resurgence and then repeating the process with Momentum Shift.
This loop ensured his high-cooldown skills steadily gained proficiency.
Meanwhile, Ice Lance cleared the surrounding monsters with ease, while he spammed buffs like Adrenaline Rush and Arcane Surge to raise their levels as well.
He even experimented with buffing the mouse but it failed, so he shifted the focus to himself instead.
One after another, his abilities gradually grew stronger, Resurgence making the most noticeable gains. Only Second Wind remained untouched, paused for now.
Its tricky conditions were already complicated enough to wear on Zack's nerves.
***
With the patch scheduled to drop in just an hour, the normally quiet plains were starting to buzz with activity. Players hurried through the grasslands, scouting monsters and jockeying for prime hunting spots.
In the midst of this chaos, a small cluster of onlookers had stopped dead in their tracks, eyes fixed on a lone figure standing in a clearing.
Everyone froze.
"Who… is that?" one whispered, barely audible. "He's fighting a Level 8 mini-boss… alone!"
The massive creature towered above the surrounding minions, four of them wobbling nearby, ranging from levels six to seven.
Ashfang Elite [Level 8] HP: 3400/5800
Crimsonfang [Level 7] HP: 1800/1800
Stonepaw [Level 6] HP: 1600/1600
Crimson claw [Level 7] HP: 1750/1750
Blazetail [Level 6] HP: 1600/1600
The stranger muttered something under his breath and shimmering chains of arcane energy erupted from his hands, wrapping around the mini-boss and linking it to two of its minions.
A frozen projectile streaked forward, slicing through the air. It struck the mini-boss head-on, staggering it violently and a huge number 1296 blazed across its health bar.
The minions absorbed half the impact, each taking 648 damage, their bodies quivering under the force.
"Wait… what?!" a young player muttered, eyes wide. "He just dealt over a thousand damage in one hit… Is that normal?!"
"That's… not normal," a mage muttered, eyes narrowing. "Do we already have a hacker in this game?"
"Look at that… he's using some kind of chain spell" another spectator breathed, eyes widening. "The frozen projectile… the minions took half damage too!"
The caster didn't pause. Lightning coiled around him like a living thing, snaking across the ground before lancing toward the target.
The arcs rioted across the mini-boss, striking the minions in succession, numbers flashing: 1040, 1054.
The smaller foes disintegrated instantly, reduced to faint sparks in the grass.
"No way" an assassin gasped, "… what kind of skill is this?"
But he was far from finished.
A radiant halo blossomed around his form, glowing with divine brilliance. The light concentrated above him and a blinding beam of holy energy descended, striking the mini-boss with devastating force.
CRITICAL HIT! — 1,974 DMG
The creature's body exploded in a shower of sparks and fragments, leaving nothing behind but rare raw materials scattered across the clearing.
The spectators exchanged awed glances, unable to speak for a moment. "Can someone explain what's happening?" one whispered, eyes wide. "He just cleared it solo… and didn't even glance at the EXP notification!"
No one knew his name. No one dared approach. All they could do was watch in stunned silence as the lone figure calmly collected the rare drops, already fading from view like a ghost in the growing turmoil of Ember Plains.
The familiar shimmer of the Return Stone enveloped him and in an instant, Zack appeared in the bustling heart of Gaia City. It was his second trip back.
He moved to Auction board collecting the proceeds from his earlier sales and restocking his stalls with various potions he had crafted.
Opening his inventory, he noted with satisfaction: 37,445 gold coins. Each potion he sold now only earned him a modest 2 silver profit but Zack had been busy.
His arsenal of potions was extensive, inexpensive materials he brought it for other recipes and crafted other potions aside from mana potion and listed it for sale and the occasional clever resale of various gear and skills, as he no longer needed them brought him a decent haul.
He could easily become a market scalper, quietly earning decent gold on his own but he shook his head with a wry exhale. That wasn't what he was here for.
He was currently Level 6 and had already placed all five of his newly earned stat points into INT. His combat skills had grown by a mile. Chain Lightning was now Level 2 with 5% proficiency and Ice Lance was pushing toward 18%.
[Character Status – Zack | Priest | Level 6]
HP: 1090/ 1090
MP: 1155/ 1155
Magic Attack Power: 417.5-432.5 | INT: 135 | VIT: 42 | Physical Defense : 67
Active Skills
Ice Lance II — Launches a shard of ice at the enemy, dealing moderate magic damage.
→ Deals 130% Magic Damage with a 30% chance to Freeze and Slow by 30% for 5 seconds.
Mana Cost: 20 MP | Cooldown: 2 secChain Lightning II — Strikes the target with lightning that arcs to nearby enemies.
→ Deals 180% Magic Damage, bouncing to up to 5 enemies, each struck at least twice.
Mana Cost: 50 MP | Cooldown: 20 secJudgement Ray I — Calls down a beam of divine light to smite enemies.
→ Deals 180% of Magic Attack, with bonus damage vs Undead and Corrupted foes.
Mana Cost: 40 MP | Cooldown: 10 secCelestial Chains I — Binds 2–3 enemies with shimmering arcane chains.
→ Restricts movement by 20% and linked targets take 50% of shared damage.
Mana Cost: 30 MP | Cooldown: 25 secMomentum Shift II — Resets cooldowns of non-ultimate skills.
→ Instantly resets the cooldown of the used non-ultimate skill.
→ Each reset grants +10 to Main Stat for 20 sec | Cooldown: 80 secResurgence II — Revives a fallen soul with divine force.
→ Instantly revives a fallen soul with 50% HP and grants +20% to all stats for 30 sec.
Mana Cost: 150 MP | Cooldown: 300 secDetect II — Reveals hidden traps, weak points and nearby hidden mechanisms or chests.
Range: 80m radius | Cooldown: 15 secArcane Surge II — Temporarily boosts magical output.
→ Increases Magic Attack by 30% for 30 seconds.→ Grants Next skill 100% crit rate.
Mana Cost: 50 MP | Cooldown: 1 minAdrenaline Rush II — Pushes the body beyond its limits.
→ Increases Movement Speed and Attack Power by 20% for 15 sec.
→ Gains bonus attack (cap +50%) as HP decreases.
Cooldown: 110 secDivine Barrier II — Creates a protective field of holy energy.
→ Absorbs 300 damage for 10 sec; once its effect ends or broken, grants 10% Damage Reduction for 10 sec.
Mana Cost: 35 MP | Cooldown: 30 secHeal II — Channels divine light to mend wounds.
→ Restores 60 HP + WIS.
Mana Cost: 10 MP | Cooldown: 3 secPurify II — Cleanses corruption from the soul.
→ Removes all debuffs, grants 15% resistance to further status ailments for 10 sec.
Mana Cost: 30 MP | Cooldown: 2 secBenediction Aura II — Blesses allies with a restorative aura.
→ Restores 60 HP/sec for 10 sec and increases DEF by 15%.
Mana Cost: 80 MP | Cooldown: 1 minBlessing of Resolve II — Empowers a user with divine fortitude.
→ Increases DEF and Resistance by 25% for 30 seconds.
Mana Cost: 55 MP | Cooldown: 100 secFrost Barrier II — Forms a shield of condensed frost around the caster.
→ Absorbs damage equal to 55% of Zack's total Mana for 15 sec.
Cooldown: 1 min
Passive
Mana Surge II — The flow of mana within Zack strengthens.
→ Increases MP recovery by 15% and max MP by +200.Second Wind I — When HP drops below 15%, instantly restores 20% HP.
Passive Trigger: Automatic | Cooldown: 5 min
EXP: 6,240 / 40,000
Zack closed his status window, the translucent panels flickered once before vanishing.
For now, that was enough. The servers were set to go down in less than twenty minutes; four hours of downtime before the patch went live.
The soft glow of mana lamps blended with the low chatter of players, painting a calm, living picture before Zack.
Haze and Iris's guild invitation resurfaced in his mind.
Now, after examining the letter's message and realizing the reality of Immortal Conflict, it was evident, he required allies as much as they were in need of him.
Not a terrible notion, he contemplated.
Zack eventually logged off after verifying that there was nothing else to accomplish in the game.
He stretched out, exited the capsule and made his way to the kitchen to prepare dinner for both himself and Rin— who, as expected, was still awake. Not due to an alarm but simply because he was struggling to fall asleep.
Rin was leaning against the doorframe. "Yo," he greeted lazily, his eyes barely open. "So" he inquired, his voice muffled, "how's your grinding going? That skill cap thing going to affect you or what?"
Zack glanced in his direction while pouring himself a drink. "Grinding's going smooth, no complaints," he replied with a slight shrug. "But yeah… that cap will definitely affect me eventually."
Rin let out a low whistle. "Rough. Guess they really don't want players over stacking skills anymore."
"Mm." Zack replied with a brief, thoughtful noise, as though agreeing with him. "The system's forcing everyone to specialize."
They shared a meal in comfortable silence, both accustomed to the rhythm of late-night gaming that didn't require conversation.
Afterwards, Zack sifted through his recordings, trimmed a few clips, uploaded them to his channel and then returned to his room. By the time he finally settled in, his mind wandered to the upcoming patch.
He pondered what kind of disruption or balance it could introduce.
Before he realized it, the alarm was blaring.
He got up, splashed water on his face, answered nature's call and went back to his room just two minutes before the servers were set to come back online.
Without delay, he climbed into the VR capsule. A gentle chime rang out.
[Logging into The Immortal's Conflict]