Kael's magic cost 20 MP, and with his total of 150 MP, he could use it a few times before needing to sit down and wait for his MP to recover.
After killing the first wolf, more of them showed up to attack him as well. But since he still had some MP left, it was easy for him to take down the rest.
[+5 EXP]
[+5 EXP]
[+Wolf Fang (Common)]
[+Wolf Fur (Poor, Damaged)]
[+5 EXP]
Besides the experience he was gaining from killing the wolves, Kael was also picking up some items that might—or might not—be useful for him later.
His strength was impressive. With his new skill, Beast Claw, he could kill a wolf with a single hit! That was way stronger than what most players could do at that point in the game.
While many players had to form parties just to take down wolves quickly, he could do it solo.
Eventually, though, he had to sit down on the ground and rest until his mana fully recovered. While waiting, he decided to send a few messages to Lucas to check how things were going on his side.
"You know that skill I got? It's one-shotting the starter monsters here," Kayn said.
It took about a minute for Lucas to reply. He was clearly busy fighting monsters.
"No way. For real? Dude, take advantage of that and level up fast. I'm pretty sure you're gonna be the first player to hit level 2," Lucas replied.
Lucas was confident Kael would be the first. The reason was simple: not even a full team of players could kill the starting monsters that quickly.
In other words, it was almost guaranteed Kael would be the first to reach level 2.
While he was still waiting there, Kael was caught off guard by a group of players! It was the same group that had been following the trail of dead wolves.
When they saw Kael sitting there, leaning against a tree, they were surprised.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" one of them said. "Looks like someone else has been following the same trail we were."
Kael lifted his head and looked at the players. He had no idea what kind of trail they were talking about.
Confused, he said, "Trail? I'm not following any trail. I just came here to kill monsters and level up."
The players didn't believe a single word he said.
"You really think you're gonna fool us with that? No solo player can stay in this part of the forest," one of the players said.
Kael wasn't stupid. He thought about what they were saying and realized—the trail they were following might actually be his!
He had been so focused on killing wolves and leveling up that he didn't even notice he was leaving wolf corpses all over the place. That would definitely catch the attention of any player passing through the area.
"Now what do I do?" Kael thought.
Should he just agree that he was following the trail? That sounded better than admitting he was the one killing all those wolves so easily.
He sighed, "Alright, you caught me. I did see some wolf bodies and decided to check it out. I've been lucky not to get attacked by a group of wolves so far."
The player who seemed to be the leader of the party let out a laugh. "Told you that's what he was doing. Anyway, you can stay here—me and my friends are gonna follow this trail. You're not stealing our chance to kill this Field Boss we found."
Kael frowned but said nothing.
"If I catch you following us," the player added, "you're dead, got it? PK's already enabled, and you'll lose EXP and even some of your starter gear. Not that you have much, by the looks of it."
That was too much. Kael liked keeping his identity a secret, but he wasn't about to let these players talk to him like that. That crossed the line.
"Mind waiting a minute? I have a friend who was also following the trail—I think he found something important," Kael said.
The players agreed to wait. Kael opened his friends list and sent another message to Lucas.
"Yo bro, what's the penalty for killing players? Think they'll be able to catch it on video? I don't want people finding out I've got a special class. Not yet, at least," Kael asked.
This time, Lucas replied quickly.
"The penalty's just being locked out of town for a bit. From what I know, the more monsters you kill, the faster it goes away. If you only kill a couple players, it's a small penalty. And no, they can't record you that easily. The moment you hit one of them, it counts as active combat, and you can't start recording or screenshotting during that," Lucas explained.
That was exactly what Kael needed to hear. He stood up and smiled at the players.
"Guess what—I think I just found something you guys might like," he said.
The group leader perked up. "Really? Is it about the Field Boss? Go ahead, tell us everything."
Kael then said, calm as ever, "Yeah. I just found out I'll have to kill you guys. Sorry 'bout that."
He activated Beast Claw and struck the leader. His attack was just too fast for the leader to dodge, and because they were really close to each other, it was even harder!
Kael had been killing the wolves with just one Beast Claw up to that moment, but he had no idea how it would go against players. Well, it was even better. The attacked killed the leader instantly.
[Player Killed]
[Items dropped from the player you just killed]
That was good. Kael didn't stop there. He used his Beast Claw again, and this time, he attacked the player next to where the leader was.
The player tried to block the attack, but it didn't work. He died the same way the leader did.
Those were the two tanks of the group. The one remaining was just a healer who could not defend himself.
He begged for mercy. "Bro, let me live, please. I'm not like my friends."
Kael had a smirk in his face. "You are a corpse, just like they are."
He killed the healer too.