With a quick tap, Aiden shut off his phone and outlined his next steps. At the moment, leveling was his only priority. For a Beastmaster, reaching Level 30 was a major milestone—that was when beast cultivation unlocked and an additional beast slot became available. Both his force and roster would see a sharp rise. "Everything else can wait. Hitting Level 30 comes first. At this speed, I'll get there in a few days. And I've been burning through marks nonstop. I need to stock up again." ... Night settled in. Day five arrived. A small gray shadow tore across the valley floor, releasing a continuous, piercing howl. Ashfog Valley had finally enjoyed half a day of peace—only for chaos to erupt again.Beasts in the Level 30 region were once more thrown into a nightmare. Ding! 'You've reached Level 24.' Ding! 'Your beast 'Gray' has reached Level 24.' ... By the end of the day, Gray had practically become a walking executioner. Any boss he came across was shredded beneath his dragon talons. Experience poured in at breakneck speed. Aiden climbed to Level 24. ... "Holy crap! Another surge! He widened the gap even more!" "This is absurd!" Players glued to the Leaderboard were losing their minds. They thought that, without the bonus from slaying a Level 100 boss—and with the slowdown in leveling—others would start catching up, but instead of shrinking, the gap exploded. "He's a complete freak of nature." … Meanwhile, outside Leafport, in the Level 10 zone, Greenwhisper glanced at the rankings and gave a bitter laugh. He led the first party in the MMO—aside from Nighthale's group—to clear a tier advancement trial. He knew he was strong. And because they'd left the spawn early, his five-man squad had been grinding nonstop. They held second through sixth place solidly. Even if their streak might not last, it was still a huge achievement, but compared to the guy at the top, it meant nothing. Greenwhisper checked his Experience Points bar: 'Level 10 (53%)'. Nine hours of grinding, just to fill half a bar. Back at the spawn point, the team had been leveling three times a day, but now the situation had changed entirely. It was impossible to picture how strong a player had to be in the Level-20 range to keep gaining two Levels a day. "It's always been the same—Nighthale isn't our real rival. You've already done amazing." Hearing the frustration in Greenwhisper's voice, his teammates tried to steady him. "We're not the best, but we're ahead of nearly everyone. Second place isn't bad." "And we're still holding spots three, four, five, six." "True." Greenwhisper chuckled and let the pressure go. Mindset reset. With someone like that out there, the rest of them could only fight for a second. Before leaving the village, he'd looked up at the man like a towering building—so tall he had to tilt his head back. After leaving the village, he realized the comparison was wrong. It wasn't a skyscraper.It was moonlight and stars—far beyond reach. The more he learned about Doomsday, the more endless and terrifying that player seemed. ... As the playerbase erupted with chatter, two enormous dragons lay curled inside Spawnpoint 9527's Wyrm's Lair—one shining with gold light, the other blazing a deep crimson. The only similarity stronger than their colors was the crushing Dragon's Might rolling off their bodies—like suns compressed into draconic forms. Holy Judgment Dragon—Radiant Dragon. Holy Judgment Dragon—Inferno Dragon. Two ancient titans who hadn't crossed paths in a millennium had gathered for a single purpose. "So the egg's been missing for days, and you're still lying in this dark pit sleeping?" A thunderous voice rumbled through the cavern. The Inferno Dragon's eyes glowed deep red, molten like flowing magma. "Scott, you're our seer. The fate of our entire race can hinge on your decisions."The Radiant Dragon stayed perfectly calm. His reply shook dust from the ceiling. "Calm down, Aztarion. Didn't you sense it on that human—the stench that makes every scale bristle?" "Are you saying those rotten old divine?" The Inferno Dragon's stare hardened with disgust. "Yes." The Radiant Dragon continued, "I'm not as careless as you think. This is fate weaving itself." "So, destiny means we put our hopes on a crawling little creature?" The Radiant Dragon snorted. "Even under Ascendant Amplification, a crawler stays what it is and remains hopelessly frail."