Starting from Zero

Book 2, Chapter 6

Grinding!

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Ugh. That name list looks terrible. But dunno how to fix that.

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I carried what I got from King Chemist, satisfied, and rushed outside the city.

Here I come my dear monsters!

I checked over the ranking board. There are some changes, several new entries popped up.

Rank Name Race Gender Level Class Pet

1 Big Blade More Killz Half Orc Male 71 Warrior Level 11 Wild Horse Leader

2 Merciless Autumn Wind Angel Male 70 Warrior None

3 Red Moon Divine Demon Female 70 Dark Wizard Level 38 Night Spirit Lord

4 I Luv Money Demon Female 69 Priestess None

5 Sky Fire Human Male 69 Spellsword None

6 No Dating Gnome Male 69 Rogue+Black Mage None

7 Descended God Angel Male 69 Warrior None

8 Sunshine Half Elf Male 68 Archer None

9 Tender Heart Half Elf Female 68 Archer None

10 T-Rex Half Orc Male 68 Warrior None

Look at all that. I'm only 29. This is embarrassing!

I took out the grinding map King Chemist gave me. Now this is something really useful! This is no ordinary map. Apart from the landscape around Lost City, there are detailed information about the levels and characteristics about the monsters at various grinding sites.

Following the route on the map, I came to a valley behind the city. I searched for a whole morning in order to find its entrance, during which I cursed the designers of this city plus their families over and over! The city got only ONE exit, ON THE LAKE, I came out from there and ran half a circle around the lake to reach where I am. I'm so asking my mother to find that designer and give him a mouthful when I get back!

According to the map, this is called the Dark Valley. It is said those evil souls who refuse to live in the Lost City would stay here. The chemist said that monster here spawn really fast, besides their levels will get higher as I go deeper. Their level patterns are clearly divided here so it is a perfect place to level up.

I tried walking into the valley and didn't encounter anything for half a mile! Don't tell me that King Chemist guy is trolling me!

I kept on walking and finally saw a figure ahead. As I got closer I made out its identity. A zombie, its body is highly corroded and is giving out a serious stink which makes me want to puke right away. Why in the world would they implant so much reality into the game?!

With the ethic of being a professional gamer, however, I still charged forward against the terrible odor. This may look strange to people but personally I love grinding. Many people hate it when they need to spend time leveling in an online game, but to me, the whole process is something worth enjoying.

I slashed at the zombie. Oneshot kill. So weak!

Another zombie wandered closer, I used Identify first. It succeeded in one go. My Identify skill is now level 4 after all. It reads Rotten Zombie, level 30 monster, whose normal attacks have a chance to poison the target. Slow movement, head is weakpoint. Only level 30. No wonder they're so easy. I have pretty insane Attack now, killing something at the same level in one hit is totally normal.

I cut at the newcomer zombie. It stumbled but didn't fall. I quickly finished it with another hit. Looks like I can't guarantee one-hit KOs!

I found a third zombie pretty fast. Just as the chemist's map said, there are a good number of monsters here and they usually come in groups with only one kind stuffed together, good place for grinding.

If you don't mind the smell, that is.

Most zombies went down with one hit. About 1 or 2 out of 10 would need a second finisher. 2 hours passed and I already reached level 35. Damn this is fast!

Knowing that my Attack is high, I started to march deeper into the valley, killing zombies along the way. Another zombie appeared. Nothing new. I cut--wait it didn't die. I hit it again. It's still running! Realizing that this is no ordinary Rotten Zombie, I used Identify. Not surprised, there's something different about this one. The name is Zombie (without "Rotten"). Level 40 monster, its claws carry potent poison. Slow movement, head is weakpoint. Ohh something stronger. No wonder two hits won't kill it. I stepped to its backside and made another slash. And then kept chopping around it while watching it turn around in slow-motion. It finally died after 7 or 8 attacks! Cling! Two silver pieces dropped on the ground. Aha! Now that's a lot richer than those rotten ones!

After I traveled further into it I got a bit tired. So I found a stone wall and logged off while leaning of it. I checked the time after removing my helmet. 3 pm. Wayne is not here. I got some quick snack, toilet, then continued my game. When I appeared I found myself surrounded by a group of zombies. Somewhere more than 30 of them! But I'm facing their backs. I zigzagged outside the monsters through the gaps. Man they're so slow.

I recalled that I should level up my Lucky as well. I need it to help me grind or PvP in the future! After a command in my mind, Lucky appeared in front of me. It flew into my arms and began to rub against my chest. "Hey Lucky! Now you need to train hard! No one's going to bully you if you got high levels! Now try yourself on those ugly ones!"

It seems to have understood what I said. Lucky stepped onto my shoulder, began to cast something using its tiny claws. Then a small fireball flew towards one of the zombies. Poof. Now a charred zombie is standing in front of me. But looks like it didn't take much damage.

Seeing the fireball ineffective, Lucky dropped its head. I patted its tiny head. "No worries, they look terrible but they are level 40! Even if you're dragon you are level 1, of course your fire won't do much to them."

Hearing my encouragement Lucky lit up. Again, at the same zombie, Lucky shot another---wait, not one, but an array of fireballs! Oh for the love of--- How fast can dragons cast spells?? There are almost no intervals between Lucky's fireballs which makes it like a machine gun. That unfortunate zombie took at least 20 shots within 10 seconds, then turned into ash and disappeared, leaving three silver coins behind.

Seeing the zombie went down, Lucky hopped on my shoulder joyfully. A system notice followed up: "Congratulations! Your Companion has reached level 5!" Before I can react I just felt my shoulders suddenly gained a weight. Lucky became a lot larger. It was barely a feet in length including the tail, now it's almost one full meter! My goodness at this rate he's gonna get bigger as a small hill!

As I'm thinking, another zombie approached me. Lucky went up and smashed the zombie with one claw swipe! The system notice sounded again. "Congratulations! Your Companion has reached level 8!" Now Lucky is one and a half meter!

When I'm standing dumbfounded, Lucky has began to displaying its super speed. It just dashed up and down in the zombie crowd, while I hear countless "Congratulations" from the system. When I recovered from my shock I immediately shouted: "Stop! Lucky! Come back!"

Lucky spread its now 5-meter-long wings and appeared in front of me with one leap. Then it began to pose and display its huge body to me as if trying to ask for compliment. Oh good heavens. Lucky is already level 36 now after such a short fight. Because I share the experience, I'm now 36 as well. The Lucky in front of me has reach the size when we first met, like a bus, its body covered with shiny black scales!

"You're awesome!" I patted Lucky's head. "With your help my level's gonna skyrocket. But I got to keep you a secret! If anyone knows about such a nice companion they'll try to take you!"

(In [Zero], a companion who already has a master can be captured too. But companion with a Loyalty above 80 will only have a success rate of less than 0.01%. While the ones with 95 or higher Loyalty are totally impossible to capture.)

Hearing this, Lucky immediately grasped me with its front claws and whined.

"Ooouch! Let go! You are killing me!"

Lucky quickly released me. I sat on the ground and breathed hard. "Well your strength is just as big as your body! Don't do that again alright?"

Lucky nodded its head rapidly.