Chapter 990: The First Step into Dragon City
"Is that the Druid God?"
"Those prismatic pieces of gear... can’t you tell they’re all Divine-tier?"
"Are you blind? He’s not even hiding his character name."
"Look at him. He’s already that high level and he’s still farming experience dungeons. What are we even doing with our lives?"
"Why are you so worked up? I come here every day just to hang out and chat."
"That’s because you’re trash."
"Who are you calling trash? Your whole family is trash!"
"You little bastard, I’ll kill you!"
Ethan’s figure disappeared into the dungeon entrance, completely unaware that his arrival had just triggered a fight outside.
What started as an argument between the Druid God’s admirers and a group of jealous players quickly escalated. A few sarcastic remarks turned into personal insults, personal insults turned into attacks on each other’s families, and before long the two sides were shouting at each other at the top of their lungs.
The battlefield remained verbal for now, but the casualties to everyone’s dignity were considerable. If Ethan ever learned about it, he probably wouldn’t know whether to laugh or sigh.
Inside the solo dungeon, he immediately switched into Owl Form. The monsters that seemed impossibly durable to ordinary players were little more than moving targets in his eyes, as high-damage attacks swept through them in waves, erasing entire groups before they could pose any threat.
The dungeon followed a fixed layout. A long bridge stretched across a bottomless black abyss, and every wave of monsters had to cross it to reach the player. The bridge was only wide enough for four normal-sized monsters to stand side by side.
Ethan positioned himself at one end and dropped a Solar Flare near the opposite side. A pillar of brilliant light rose from the bridge like a permanent marker, and every monster that entered its range was instantly afflicted with a burning effect.
-6649!
-15764!
-6846!
-15647!
Damage numbers filled the air nonstop. Normal ticks dealt over six thousand damage, while critical hits exceeded fifteen thousand. And that was only the damage-over-time effect. Each burn tick alone hit harder than many players’ strongest burst skills.
"Haha... this is ridiculous. Starfall Barrage!"
He activated a skill he had once considered mediocre, and the moment it triggered, the entire battlefield changed.
-53467!
-108733!
Streams of starlight crashed down from above, striking every hostile creature within range. The skill’s power increased with the number of enemies present, so the more monsters there were, the more stars fell.
Back when he first learned it, Ethan had thought the skill was underwhelming. Now he knew better. Even the smallest damage numbers exceeded fifty thousand, and critical hits broke past one hundred thousand. This wasn’t a weak skill. It was outright extermination.
The monsters rushing across the bridge never even reached the halfway point before collapsing. Their bodies dissolved into white light as they died, and countless experience orbs streamed toward Ethan like a flood. Yet when he glanced at his experience bar, currently sitting at 99.47%, it barely moved.
Ethan clicked his tongue. "This last stretch is a real pain in the ass."
The first wave had been erased almost the instant it appeared. Running a quick estimate in his head, he figured that clearing all eighteen waves would probably grant only around 0.1% experience. This was going to take a while.
Ten minutes later, Ethan emerged from the dungeon entrance wearing a less-than-pleased expression. A run that would take most players one or two hours had taken him barely ten minutes.
More importantly, it had been a world-first clear of the dungeon’s solo mode, earning him a substantial first-clear experience reward. Even so, his progress was disappointing. Before entering, his experience bar had been at 99.47%. After clearing the entire dungeon, it sat at 99.67%. Only a gain of 0.2%, and that included the first-clear bonus. Without it, he probably wouldn’t have gained even 0.1%.
’Looks like I need to pick up the pace.’
The moment Ethan appeared outside, another wave of excitement swept through the crowd as a system announcement echoed across the world.
[Ding... Global Notice: Dragonspire player NotADruid has cleared Bone Grounds, Solo Mode, Normal Difficulty. Time: 10 minutes 42 seconds!]
The entire player base exploded. Ten minutes and forty-two seconds. Solo mode. It sounded impossible. Many players had attempted solo mode before, but not one had successfully cleared it. Most couldn’t even survive the opening waves. Damage dealers lacked the survivability. Tanks could survive but couldn’t kill quickly enough and would eventually be overwhelmed. As for healers, they were even worse off.
Players who had witnessed Ethan enter the dungeon, or who checked the newly updated rankings, were filled with envy. Was a full set of Divine-tier equipment really that absurd?
Foreign players couldn’t access Dragonspire’s regional rankings, so they had no way of seeing Ethan’s level or gear. To them, NotADruid had simply vanished for nearly two years before suddenly reappearing out of nowhere. Was he back for good? The official forums of Ethereal instantly descended into chaos.
Ethan, however, had no interest in any of it. He returned to the dungeon NPC, where a new difficulty option had appeared. Having cleared Normal difficulty, he had unlocked Expert. Without hesitation, he selected it.
Twenty minutes later, he walked back out, and another announcement immediately followed. NotADruid had cleared Bone Grounds, Solo Mode, Expert Difficulty, with a completion time of twenty minutes and forty-five seconds.
Ethan opened his character panel and checked the result. 0.03%. Even with the first-clear bonus included. His completion time had also been permanently recorded on the dungeon’s challenge leaderboard. If another player eventually beat his record, they would receive the leaderboard reward instead.
"Zero point zero three percent?"
Ethan almost lost his composure. He was so close to leveling up that the number felt insulting. At least he only needed one more run. If things continued at this rate, he’d have no choice but to jump directly to Grandmaster difficulty.
An hour later, he finally succeeded.
[Ding... System Notice: Congratulations! You have reached Level 125!]
[Ding... Dragonspire Regional Notice: Player NotADruid has reached Level 125. Awarded title: First Warrior of Dragonspire. Invitation received from the Lord of Dragon City.]
[Ding...]
[Ding...]
Notifications poured across his screen one after another. Ethan stared at the newly appeared quest and let out a slow breath. "Finally."
There was no reason to delay. He immediately returned to the city and headed straight for the teleportation plaza. After locating the teleportation NPC, he presented the token provided by the quest and requested transportation to Dragon City.
The NPC’s attitude changed instantly. His expression became noticeably more respectful, though Ethan knew the token check was mostly a formality. The system required the verification process before granting access. Once the token was confirmed, the NPC personally escorted him to the teleportation platform, and then, to the surprise of everyone nearby, he cleared every other player off it.
Under countless stares filled with curiosity, jealousy, and disbelief, Ethan stepped into the formation and vanished in a flash of white light. The world around him shifted, and a moment later, he opened his eyes and took in the familiar sight before him.
Dragon City. Magnificent as ever.
Towering buildings stretched toward the sky, decorated with gold, jade, dragons, and phoenixes. Every structure radiated wealth, status, and power befitting the greatest city in the kingdom. Yet despite its grandeur, the streets were completely empty. No players and no crowds; only silence.
Ethan had visited Dragon City in his previous life, but that had been during the late stages of the game. Back then, the city had been packed with players from every region, more crowded than any capital city in the world.
Now, however, things were different. At this moment, he was the only player here. The entire city belonged to him alone.