Awakening：The Infinite Evolution of My Talent as a Low-Level Awakener - Chapter 115

Chapter 115: Contending for the Leaderboard
At this moment, Sterl quickly examined the values of his legendary ability.

[Legendary Ability: Shadow Stealth]

[Category: Shadow]

[Description: A legendary ability formed by combining the second awakening talent [Death Assassination] and the skills [Shadow Spike (Gold)] and [Shadow Wind (Gold)].]

[Effect: Passive – When you do not wish to be detected by enemies, your presence is significantly diminished. For each second in this state, the power of your next skill output increases by 2%, up to a maximum of 200% (the bonus effect is retained for three seconds after leaving the hidden state).

Active – You can vanish into the shadow realm, moving through it (this consumes a large amount of stamina). Entities in the main world cannot observe or attack you. This state can be maintained for up to two seconds. In this state, the power of your next skill output increases by 100% per second, up to a maximum of 200%. After leaving the shadow realm, the bonus effect is retained for three seconds.]

[Note: The bonuses from legendary abilities are independent of all other bonuses.]

“Huh? Just a pure damage increase? Doesn’t seem all that great.”

“But, the survival aspect is pretty good…”

“Wait a minute, independent bonuses???” Sterl’s expression shifted rapidly. He nodded slightly, feeling somewhat satisfied with his new ability, and then he was shocked.

He realized that his previous gamble with the legendary soul had really paid off!

First of all, the passive effect of Shadow Stealth greatly pleased Sterl. Reducing his presence was incredibly useful for someone who adhered to the path of stealth.

Not to mention that while reducing his presence, it also increased his damage output.

The active effect allowed Sterl to traverse into an alternate world. Beyond the damage increase, being able to stay in an alternate world for two seconds essentially meant two seconds of invincibility.

He had previously felt that he lacked survival skills, but now he was reborn!

Moreover, the most outrageous part was that the damage increase from the legendary ability was an additional bonus!

This meant that all of Sterl’s previous attribute boosts and skill damage enhancements could potentially be tripled under the effect of Shadow Stealth!

This was ridiculously overpowered!

The only drawback of [Shadow Stealth] was the massive stamina consumption required to traverse the shadow realm. Sterl, with his divine descent augmentations, could amplify his attributes to terrifying levels. However, his base attributes, though high, still fell short of true legendary status, and his stamina limit was calculated based on his base mental strength…

Seeing the phrase “massive consumption” made Sterl shudder. Would he even have enough mana to fully use [Shadow Stealth]?

“It should be fine. I can barely use this skill. During those two seconds in the alternate world, stamina potions can help restore some of my energy.” After assessing his capabilities, Sterl found that using Shadow Stealth to enter the shadow realm could deplete four-fifths of his stamina bar, making it nearly impossible to use any high-powered moves.

He would have to rely on stamina potions for continuous replenishment and remain in the shadow realm for the full two seconds to ensure he could use his next skill.

In summary, Sterl’s biggest headache now was still his lack of mana, or rather, his low level causing insufficient mana.

After organizing his newly acquired legendary ability, Sterl casually glanced at the mission panel. Instantly, he was taken aback!

“Damn! I’m losing out!”

He noticed that the leaderboard for the mission “Exploring the Netherworld” had an hourly reward! As long as he maintained the top ranking, he would receive 100 contribution points from the Dark Moon Alliance!

He realized that many players were already frantically racking up points.

At this moment, Sterl decided not to rush ahead. He activated the effect of Bloody Rush and charged forward, while also using Star Insight to scan his surroundings.

He mainly observed where the highest concentration of monsters was, and soon, he discovered a cluster of monster info bars in a basin to the southwest.

Sterl decided to detour slightly and enter the basin.

Perhaps because Sterl had not yet killed any NPCs, the surrounding monsters did not rush out to welcome him.

Without hesitation, he snapped his fingers.

Celestial Star!

Boom!!

High above, the Celestial Stars crashed into the basin. This time, Sterl had enhanced the range of the move with stardust, causing azure flames to burn wildly across an area of hundreds of square meters.

Countless monsters living underground were enraged as a result…

Soon, Sterl saw a giant, ferocious mole-like creature lunging at him from his right side.

Then from the front, behind, left, and right…

A dozen elite monsters named [Earth Moles] charged at him with hateful glares.

Instead of being scared, Sterl was delighted: “Perfect, all elite monsters. This will save me a lot of trouble!”

His next move was extremely simple. He directly used Star Point Finger and targeted the nearest mole.

The immense damage easily killed the creature!

The subsequent effect of star splatter caused the mole’s belly to suddenly inflate like a balloon, just as its kin were charging at Sterl with bloodthirsty intent!

The next second!

Boom!

The mole hit by Sterl’s attack exploded, sending out brilliant azure energy beams in all directions.

The overflow of energy from the creature was so intense that the beams formed a net, slicing in all directions.

After a faint slicing sound, there was a series of plopping noises.

The horde of Earth Moles was neatly diced into one-centimeter squares, stacked orderly on the ground.

This looked less like a battlefield and more like a slaughterhouse.

More than ten light orbs then fell to the ground, the loot from these elite monsters.

Sterl opened the mission panel again.

[Upload points? Yes/No]

[Display your disguised identity? Yes/No]

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

This time, Sterl didn’t hesitate and nodded twice.

To his pleasant surprise, the [Transcendence] system thoughtfully allowed him to choose to appear on the leaderboard under a hidden identity. Sterl chose the name “David” for the leaderboard.

At this point, the sixteen elite monsters each provided Sterl with 100 points, totaling 1600 points.

As a side note, the Shadow of Hatred, as a boss, provided 5000 points. Of course, this boss was substantially stronger than other 5000-point bosses in terms of combat power.

At this moment, Sterl checked the mission leaderboard. As expected, he had risen from an unnamed position to forty-sixth place.

Naturally, his rank couldn’t skyrocket to the top all at once.

After all, many players had set their minds on securing top positions on the mission leaderboard from the start to earn rewards.

Even though their grinding efficiency was not as good as Sterl’s, they had a head start of nearly a day.

As for Sterl, he had refrained from uploading the points he gained from killing monsters and bosses while collecting the Netherworld Water out of caution, so he still needed to grind more to contend for the top ranks.

Subsequently, Sterl transformed into a bloody shadow and dashed toward the location of the third Netherworld Water, continuously using Star Insight along the way to find new clusters of monsters.

Soon, Sterl stopped again, landing on an extremely calm and clear water surface. However, this seemingly tranquil water concealed hidden dangers.

Just as Sterl landed, he heard gurgling noises from beneath him, and then a series of scarlet eyes slowly opened under the water.

Splash!!

Dozens of monsters burst out!

Yet Sterl remained unhurried. Suddenly, colorful flames appeared around him…

…

At the same time, in a small town not far from the pillar of light marking the third Netherworld Water,

“Die!!” A burly man covered in various body paints roared furiously.

Seven or eight other players, also painted and standing around him, unleashed their skills together with the burly man.

A giant, semi-transparent, dragon-patterned elephant manifested, roaring towards a similarly massive dragon lizard.

The elephant’s tusks pierced into the dragon lizard, and the elephant charged, pushing the dragon lizard against a nearby rocky wall, pinning it there!

Boom!!

A thunderous explosion followed, the rocks shattered, and dust filled the air as if it were the end of the world.

The elephant continued its onslaught, crashing into the wall repeatedly until most of the wall had collapsed before it finally dissipated.

The dragon lizard, meanwhile, howled in agony and fell to the ground.

Its form gradually faded and shattered, dropping a pile of light orbs.

The burly man and the surrounding players all showed expressions of relief and joy.

“We finally killed it!”

“Do you think we might be the only team in the Netherworld capable of killing a boss right now?”

“Haha! We’re invincible!”

“Same rules as always, we’ll split the items. But Harriet gets all the points.”

Harriet, the burly man who had led the charge, merely smiled, appearing calm, but a hint of joy flashed in his eyes.

Harriet received a notification in his ear.

[You have gained 4000 points.]

[You have risen to second place on the leaderboard.]

“Second place isn’t bad.” Harriet nodded. Being in second place on the leaderboard meant he earned 80 Dark Moon Alliance contribution points every hour, not to mention the final rewards.

These contribution points were valuable! On average, 400 Dark Moon Alliance contribution points could be exchanged for a purple skill or a second-class platinum-level piece of equipment!

Moreover, accumulating 5000 contribution points allowed for the direct exchange of a gold-quality skill!