Venomous Dance

The Rock Behemoth roared, a deafening sound that shook the dust from the towering stone pillars. It locked onto Kaelen’s position in a fraction of a second. Without any hesitation, the colossal beast lowered its jagged shoulder and activated Boulder Rush. The ground trembled under its sheer weight, kicking up thick clouds of dry earth as it barreled forward like a runaway freight train.

Kaelen triggered Sprint. His leg muscles burned with a sudden surge of power, boosting his movement speed by fifty percent. He pivoted on his heel, shifting his weight just in time. The massive beast tore past his fragile frame, the razor-sharp stone edges of its shoulder grazing the fabric of his starter tunic by a hair's breadth. A suffocating gust of wind followed in its wake, tearing through the quiet encampment.

Kaelen let out a slow breath and glanced at the deep trenches carved into the dirt by the charge. "That was close."

He knew the math. The Rock Behemoth’s base attack power hovered around 150, but under the effects of Boulder Rush, that number spiked to a lethal 200. With his pitiful Level 0 stats, taking that hit head-on meant an instant death and a free trip straight back to the spawn point.

The Rock Behemoth was notorious among rookie players for a reason. Its impenetrable defense, massive health pool, and innate healing capabilities made it the most obnoxious monster to face in the early game. Normal attacks barely scratched it, and any progress made was swiftly erased by its relentless health regeneration. It was a nightmare for anyone else.

But Kaelen held the perfect counter. His SSS-Rank Soulreave Venom dealt massive true damage, bypassing physical defense entirely, while simultaneously disabling all forms of health recovery.

The moment he dodged the lethal charge, Kaelen spun around. He gripped his coated dagger and struck back with Fatal Ambush. His blade became a blur, executing three rapid, precise strikes against the beast’s rocky hide.

"-1"

"System Notification: Poisoned State applied successfully."

"-5"

"-1"

"System Notification: Poisoned State applied successfully."

"-5"

"-1"

"System Notification: Poisoned State applied successfully."

"-5"

Following the third strike, Kaelen watched the Rock Behemoth’s movements turn sluggish. A steady, merciless stream of "-5" damage numbers began popping up over its hulking head. With three maximum stacks of the Poisoned State applied, the beast bled out 15 HP every single second. Given its colossal pool of 10,000 health points, a single cycle of his venom drained 900 points of health.

Kaelen quickly calculated the numbers in his head. Taking down a single target would require twelve grueling minutes. Waiting around for one monster to slowly bleed to death was far too inefficient for his tight schedule. He needed to push his limits.

Making a dangerously bold decision, Kaelen darted deeper into the desolate encampment. He navigated the rugged terrain with purpose, throwing small stones and flashing into the visual range of the wandering beasts. He actively pulled aggro from more monsters, carefully counting them as they roared in fury. Two, three, four, five.

He stopped there. Given his sluggish Level 0 movement speed, kiting exactly five Rock Behemoths simultaneously was his absolute mechanical limit. Pulling a sixth would be suicidal.

What followed was a deadly, sweat-inducing dance. Kaelen relied heavily on nearly a decade of intense, past-life combat experience. He knew that tactical principles remained universal, regardless of his current class. He flawlessly wove between the massive beasts, managing their aggression and predicting their overlapping attack patterns.

The greatest threat they posed was Boulder Rush. Fighting five at once meant perfectly timing all five of their charge activations. He rapidly alternated between his innate Stealth and Sprint abilities, slipping through the narrow gaps between the charging behemoths with microscopic precision.

His mental focus remained razor-sharp. He watched the subtle shifts in their stony shoulders, anticipating the exact millisecond they would lunge. He sidestepped a crushing blow from the left, dropped into a roll to avoid a charge from the right, and immediately refreshed his poison stacks on the nearest target. The scent of pulverized stone and acidic venom hung heavy in the air. He knew that a single misstep or a mistimed dodge would result in instantaneous death, rendering all his grand plans meaningless.

For thirteen relentless minutes, the grinding of stone and furious bellows echoed through the encampment. Kaelen kept his breathing steady, his eyes darting between the five monstrous forms.

Finally, the first Rock Behemoth let out a hollow groan. It collapsed unwillingly, its massive stone body dissolving into a blinding streak of white light.

"System Notification: Congratulations, you have successfully killed a Rock Behemoth and gained 500 Experience. As you defeated a monster five levels above you, you have received an additional 100 Experience."

The fall of the first beast signaled the end for the rest. Over the next minute, the remaining four behemoths succumbed to the venom, their health pools drained to zero. They shattered into identical streaks of white light.

Kaelen glanced at his interface. Reaching Level 1 required 10,000 Experience points. After the grueling, high-stakes fight, he had gained a massive influx of 3,000 Experience. His experience bar now sat comfortably at 30%. A faint smirk crossed his face as he imagined the desperate players back in Emberpeak Town, mindlessly slaughtering Level 1 Redfur Rabbits for a pitiful 20 Experience each.

He let out a tired sigh and walked over to inspect the loot.

He sifted through the meager monetary drop first. Fifty copper coins. It was a pathetic sum for taking down five elite-tier early-game monsters. However, his eyes widened as he spotted a heavy, jagged object resting in the dirt.

He picked it up, feeling the immense weight of the weapon.

[Stonecleaver]

[Rarity: Common]

[Level Requirement: 7]

[Attack Power: 18–25]

[Class Restriction: Warrior, Knight]

[Description: A massive greatsword carried by Rock Behemoths, crude in design but capable of delivering terrifying damage.]

Kaelen stared at the highly coveted piece of loot. In *Clash of Immortals*, equipment suffered no stat penalties as long as it was equipped within a ten-level gap of the player's current level. The Level 7 requirement simply indicated the tier at which the item dropped, not a hard restriction. This meant that any fresh Level 0 Warrior or Knight could wield this high-damage weapon and immediately dominate the early game.

Unfortunately, as a Thief, he could not equip the greatsword.

He didn't hesitate. Kaelen immediately opened the Immortals Trading Platform. He desperately needed real-world currency right now. He had just secured Serena, and a crushing debt of 3.2 million still loomed over his head. He had promised to pay off the remaining balance within seven days. He made that bold promise because he knew the game's economy; in the chaotic early phase of *Clash of Immortals*, even a Common gear piece with stats this high could sell for astronomical prices.

He listed the Stonecleaver and switched the listing to auction mode. He selected Elysium Crowns as the required currency. He confidently set a short, thirty-minute auction timer with a starting bid of 1,000 Crowns, and a minimum increment of 100 per bid.

With the auction live, Kaelen dismissed the interface from his vision with a wave of his hand.

He had no time to waste staring at menus. He gripped his poisoned dagger and resumed his intense hunt. He moved through the shadows of the stone pillars, locating the next group of monsters. He strictly pulled exactly five Rock Behemoths at a time, refusing to let greed or overconfidence ruin his rhythm.

He carefully straightened out his winding kiting route. He systematically advanced deeper into the encampment, moving with lethal grace. At the very end of his meticulously planned path lay the true prize of this zone: the Bronze Unbound Chest.

Immersed in the adrenaline-fueled rhythm of the fight, his eyes remained glued to the massive enemies bearing down on him. He tracked their movements, dodging another deadly Boulder Rush. He was utterly unaware of the small inbox icon flashing nonstop in the corner of his peripheral vision, and he was even less aware that his single thirty-minute listing had just caused the entire Elysium server to go insane.