Thorn Entangle wasn't a hard crowd-control skill; it was a skill-shot.
In other words, it could be dodged with proper positioning.
Liam had been hit earlier largely due to carelessness, and because the three Treant Commanders had timed their Thorn Entangle perfectly to cut off his retreat. Now that he was hyper-focused, he repositioned the moment he saw the casting animation begin.
Combined with his high damage output and the bouncing arcs of Chain Lightning, the number of Twisted Treants steadily dwindled. As their ranks thinned, Liam’s kiting became even more fluid.
Finally, the last Twisted Treant in the area collapsed.
Ding! You have reached Level 9. AP +5.
Gaining an entire level in a single stage—the leveling speed was nothing short of insane. Moreover, with the passive effects of Resurgence, Liam’s health had already climbed back to full.
Meanwhile, at the Pagoda Club’s Log-off Chamber.
A massive screen played a video on loop: Liam soloing the Twisted Treant King. A young man stood at the head of the conference table, his expression grave.
"You've all seen the footage," Bulwark Pagoda said, glancing around. "Fenrir, you're an Archer too. Give me your take."
Fenrir Pagoda stood up immediately. "His damage numbers are high, but his mechanics... they're truly terrifying. Even if you halved his stats, he’d still be able to solo that boss on skill alone."
Pagoda Zealot chimed in from the side, "Why are you showing us this? What's the play?"
"I want an analysis," Bulwark Pagoda replied. "If I want to poach him, how much is he worth? I offered him a ten-million-dollar annual salary, and he didn't even hesitate to turn it down."
Fenrir Pagoda's brow furrowed. "With that level of skill, he’s no nobody. He was likely pulling eight figures—maybe more—during the PC gaming era." He paused, thinking of a legendary Marksman who once commanded a salary of over eighty million. "Given the hype behind Twilight of the Gods, with his talent and those hidden attributes, a hundred million a year wouldn't be an overstatement."
"If you factor in his influence on the guild’s prestige and his ability to carry us through the early game, that number could easily climb to a hundred and fifty or even two hundred million," Fenrir added honestly.
As the Guild Master of the Pagoda Guild, Fenrir himself only made around twenty million. But Liam’s performance had left him utterly floored.
"I see," Bulwark Pagoda nodded. "Organize the members still in the Novice Village. Get them into the Twisted Thicket dungeon. If possible, every player should try to farm the Level 10 Twisted Treants."
"Understood," Fenrir replied.
Bulwark Pagoda cleared his throat, a hint of smugness creeping into his voice. "Also, take a look at my current stats."
He shared the attributes of his newly acquired Treant Set to the group. Fenrir’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head.
"A total health bonus of 5,800? And the Armor and Magic Resist are that high? Not to mention the set bonuses..." Fenrir sucked in a sharp breath. "How much did this set cost you?"
"Four hundred thousand, plus a carry to Level 10. It was supposed to be three hundred thousand, but I threw in extra for these two Black Iron pieces."
Fenrir was stunned. "That’s... that’s it? That’s a steal."
He wasn't exaggerating. A single piece of Level 10 Elite Grade gear was worth at least twenty thousand. Sold individually, the thirteen pieces would easily clear four hundred thousand. But this was a complete set, plus a power-leveling service to Level 10.
"Frost Monarch sold it to you?"
"Yeah."
"The guy must be loaded if he doesn't care about the money," Fenrir muttered.
He had no way of knowing that Liam had settled for that price simply because he was desperate for quick cash. Besides, five years from now, once The Cataclysm began, real-world currency wouldn't be worth the paper it was printed on.
The Twisted Thicket
Liam entered the third stage. Waiting for him were four Twisted Treant Kings.
Twisted Treant King (Black Iron Boss): Level 10
HP: 186,800
Attack: 598
Skills: Summon Treants, Resurgence, Vine Bind, Thorn Shield, Vine Cage.
Their skill set hadn't changed, but their raw stats had spiked significantly. And there were four of them.
Liam didn't waste time. He drew his bow and fired.
Zip!
CRITICAL! -1,685
As expected of a Black Iron Boss in a Hell Difficulty dungeon, their defense was massive. Even with the 300 extra attack power from the Thunder-Strike Bow, his critical hits felt lackluster. Most of that damage was still being carried by the Hand of Heavenly Punishment.
It was also worth noting that the King’s Vine Bind was different from the standard treants. It was nearly unavoidable, as the vines erupted directly from beneath the player's feet with almost zero travel time. With Liam’s current Attack Velocity, he could only reliably interrupt two bosses at a time.
But he was facing four.
The battle ignited instantly. The four bosses showed a spark of intelligence, fanning out to encircle Liam. A Vine Cage began to manifest around him.
The Vine Cage was their slowest spell and the easiest to disrupt. Liam shut it down effortlessly. However, the bosses used the simultaneous cast to wall off his escape routes.
Instead of retreating, Liam lunged forward—right into their teeth.
-598
-597
-598
By moving inward, Liam had entered the range of their basic attacks. The four Kings lashed out at once, stripping away over two thousand of his health. But as soon as the cage effect dissipated, Liam darted back, opening the gap.
He resumed his kiting. As long as he didn't get caught in a chain-stun from Vine Bind, his massive health pool and the Resurgence passive meant the chances of being burst down were slim.
He whittled them down one by one until the first King collapsed. After that, the tension broke. It wasn't long before the remaining three followed suit.
In Twilight of the Gods, dungeon loot was calculated at the very end. Before the final clear, mobs only yielded experience. This saved Liam the trouble of stopping to loot corpses in the middle of a run.
He stepped into the fourth and final stage of The Twisted Thicket.
Upon entering, he was met by a tree standing a hundred meters tall. Thousands of vines swayed from its branches like weeping willow strands in a storm. At first glance, it didn't look like a boss—just a massive, ancient tree.
Hydra-Cypress (Bronze): Level 10
HP: 1,528,000 / 1,528,000
Attack: 1,358
Skill: Verdant Rebirth
Liam’s eyes narrowed. Only one skill?
He knew better than to relax. Often, the bosses with the fewest skills were the most mechanical nightmares.
Zip!
Liam took the initiative.
-785
No crit, but the damage was decent. However, a heartbeat later, he realized why the Hydra-Cypress was feared.
-1,355
-1,355
Two thick vines whipped across his chest in a blur, deleting over two thousand health instantly. It was absurd. Liam realized the boss’s reach covered the entire arena; there was no "safe zone" to outrun its basic attacks.
"Are you kidding me?" he hissed.
With thirty thousand health, he could only take about fifteen of those hits before folding. He kept his hands moving, peppers the trunk with arrows while his mind raced. When the vines lashed out again, Liam threw himself into a roll.
Whap!
The vines hit the dirt where he had been standing. A spark of hope lit up in his eyes. The basic attacks were dodgeable, which meant this was a fight of attrition.
To play it safe, he swapped back to the Jungle Longbow. He needed the health boost and the lifesteal. Relying on Resurgence alone wouldn't keep him topped off against this many incoming attacks.
The Hydra-Cypress had too many vines, and it attacked with different ones every time. Even with his reflexes, 100% evasion was a pipe dream, especially since he hadn't invested any points into Movement Speed.
+50
+16
+16
His health began to crawl back up as he scanned the massive tree for a weakness. Every monster had one. Hitting a weak point was the only way to force a critical hit now that his crit rate was effectively zero without his main gear.
"There."
In his past life, Liam had never actually seen the Hydra-Cypress. He had been too busy grinding for gold to care about Hell Difficulty, and by the time the player base was strong enough to attempt it, everyone had already moved on to Level 20 dungeons in the Capital Cities.
Zip!
Another arrow flew. Liam was dancing now, pushing his mechanics to the limit to dodge even basic swings. Then he saw it—tucked behind the main trunk were nine blood-red vines. At the tip of each vine was a dark red, bulbous head.
One of the heads turned toward Liam, its bark contorting into a twisted, mocking grin.
Zip!
CRITICAL! -1,574
The red numbers popped up, sending a jolt of adrenaline through him. Found the weak spot.
Zip!
Zip!
The air hummed with the sound of loosed strings. The blood-red vines tried to weave and bob to avoid the projectiles, but Liam was a veteran of a thousand battles. To him, their movement patterns were as predictable as a metronome.
CRITICAL!
CRITICAL!
CRITICAL!
This was the beauty of weak-point manipulation. Even with a 1% base crit rate, precise strikes could force a constant stream of massive damage. Liam’s lips curled into a smile as his lifesteal procs increased alongside his damage.
Maintaining a rhythm of two arrows per second, he slowly bled the Hydra-Cypress dry. Finally, the boss’s health dipped to 10%. It was in the execution zone.
Then, the world turned green.
A blinding emerald light erupted from the tree. In a single pulse, the Hydra-Cypress’s health bar snapped from 10% back to 100%.
Liam stared, his jaw dropping. "What the hell...?"
He felt like his brain was short-circuiting. This was a Novice Village. This wasn't a Level 200 World Boss. How could a Level 10 Bronze Boss have a full-heal reset?
A million curses screamed through his mind, but he didn't stop. He couldn't. He gritted his teeth and began the process all over again.
Fifteen grueling minutes later...
Ding! You have slain the Bronze Grade Hydra-Cypress. XP +31,280.
Ding! You have achieved the Server-First clear for 'The Twisted Thicket'. A Server-Wide Broadcast is about to begin. Would you like to hide your name?
"No."
Server-Wide Broadcast: Congratulations to player 'Frost Monarch' for achieving the Server-First clear of 'The Twisted Thicket'! May his legend continue!
Server-Wide Broadcast: Congratulations to player 'Frost Monarch' for achieving the Server-First clear of 'The Twisted Thicket'! May his legend continue!
The announcement sent shockwaves through the various parties still struggling inside the dungeon.
"Holy sht! Frost Monarch again? He cleared it solo? How is that even possible?"
"Soloing the boss was one thing, but the whole dungeon? Did he awaken a SSS-Rank talent in the starter zone?"
"It’s gotta be a Hidden Class. No 1-Star talent is this cracked."
While the common players gossiped, the guild leaders were busy kicking themselves. A Server-First clear meant legendary rewards.
Ding! You have completed the Hell Difficulty clear of 'The Twisted Thicket'. Calculating rewards...
Ding! You have received: Black Iron Treant Set x1.
Ding! You have received: Skill Tome x13.
Ding! You have received: Heart of the Treant x4.
Ding! You have received: Elite Grade Equipment x35.
Ding! You have received: Gold Sovereigns x350.
Ding! You have received: AP +50.
Ding! You have received: Quest Scroll x1.
The flood of system prompts left Liam dizzy. The rewards were staggering.
He could use the Black Iron Treant Set immediately, as Server-First rewards ignored level requirements for the earner. However, the set was designed for Guardians; wearing it as an Archer would make him look like a total amateur. Among the thirty-five pieces of gear, there were also three Bronze Grade items—mostly tank gear, but better than nothing.
Then, his eyes landed on the Skill Tomes. Specifically, one skill stood out: Verdant Rebirth.
Verdant Rebirth (Passive Skill): 1-Star Rank
Effect: When your HP falls below 10%, you immediately recover 10% of your maximum health.
Cooldown: 24 Hours.
Cost: None.
Mastery: 0/10 (Mastery is gained by sacrificing Skill Tomes. Each tome grants 1 point. Certain rare tomes may grant more.)