His strength reached 556, physique 250, energy 1,669, and agility 165. His advanced traits added a critical hit chance of 25 percent, critical damage of 215 percent, three percent damage reduction, five percent resistance to other elements, and ten percent resistance to dark attacks. On top of that, his rare attributes shone with 65 luck points and 68 charisma. Two pieces of epic-tier equipment and a mythic badge had greatly enhanced all his stats. Especially his health, which more than doubled. Honestly, Aiden's current attributes easily surpassed other players by leagues even without Gray in battle. Any casual fireball could break through 2,000 damage, and a critical hit would deal 4,000. Of course, this was under ideal conditions. With the enemies' damage reduction buffs, the damage would drop slightly, but it was still shockingly high. …After leaving the blacksmith guild, Aiden went straight to Ashfog Valley. According to his original plan, reaching level 20 would unlock a few hidden quests nearby. In the past, that might have been worthwhile, but now the rewards held little value for him. Even with a stroke of luck, the best he could hope for was epic-tier equipment. The time each quest required far outweighed the benefits. It was far more efficient to focus on leveling. The fog hung thick in the valley. A flash of Dragon's Breath streaked across the air and slammed into a half-human-sized black rat. '12355 damage' Under the massive hit, the level 30 ferocious creature vanished instantly. Howl! Gray cheered with joy. Leveling up felt like playing a game to him. Aiden walked with his hands behind his back and occasionally cast a fireball. He felt completely relaxed. He realized he hadn't seriously spent any time leveling since entering the game. Most of his time had gone to traveling, stealing dragon eggs, and exploring dungeons. In reality, all the time he had actually spent leveling probably added up to just a few hours. And yet, he still topped the leaderboard. Other players spent eight hours a day grinding, but the difference in efficiency between them and him was staggering. Bam! Bam! Bam! With Aiden and Gray bombarding the valley, the level 30 area was thrown into chaos. All the beasts died or fled. Even the few bosses that usually dominated the area scattered in fear. Ordinary beasts could still escape due to their numbers, but powerful boss beasts with valuable rewards were impossible to ignore. Four hours later. Bam! Dragon's Breath erupted again. Gray flapped his wings as his tiny claws drew arcs through the air.'12300' '2654' '2339' A chain of terrifying damage rained down on a blood-red giant python. The level 30 mutated boss' health bar emptied completely. Ding! Congratulations! You have defeated the level 30 mutated boss, Ashfog Serpent King. Ding! Congratulations! You have reached Level 21. Ding! Congratulations! Your companion 'Gray' has reached Level 21. "Level up." Aiden grinned and collected the drops from the boss. Luck was on his side. He received a piece of gold-tier equipment and a second-level skill book for strength classes. Yet compared to these, Aiden valued the experience the boss provided the most. Overleveling a mutated boss yielded insane experience.Thanks to that, his efficiency in Ashfog Valley increased dramatically compared to earlier. Four hours of fighting had filled ninety percent of his experience bar. In his previous life, Aiden needed four days on average to level from 20 to 21. Even the top players could only manage a level every two to three days with a planned team. Now? He could gain ninety percent of a level in just four hours! With thirteen hours of daily gameplay and the time spent hunting bosses accounted for, he still gained at least two levels each day. This speed was at least six times faster than other top players. He would reach level 30 in under five days. "Let's keep going." He allocated all 30 points from leveling to energy. After exhaling deeply, he set out with Gray to hunt more wild bosses. Hours passed as they moved through the valley.