Ding!

[Do you wish to consume 50 Evolution Point to evolve "Hand of Oblivion"?]

"Yes."

Ding!

[You have evolved "Hand of Oblivion" (Legendary) to "Hand of Oblivion" (Mythical)]

[Current Evolution Points: 10.]

Karl watched the notification fade with a small spark of satisfaction.

His EP had dropped sharply, falling all the way back to a tiny number again, but he didn't mind.

The important part was that he had evolved another one of his skills.

In fact, he had evolved several of them in the last few minutes.

That alone made everything worth it.

'I guess I should really start hunting higher-leveled bosses,' he thought with a grin forming across his face.

He wasn't completely sure when he would do it or how soon he would attempt it, but he knew one thing for certain: the higher he climbed in terms of difficulty, the better the rewards would become.

That was the whole reason the stronger players always targeted the hardest monsters first, bosses simply dropped more, and with the boosts Karl had, that effect was multiplied tenfold.

Still smiling, he immediately pulled up the new description of the evolved skill.

---

[Hand of Oblivion (Mythical): Can be used on monster corpses, granting a 100% chance to obtain another loot/reward, in addition to that, if the loot is an item, there is a 25% chance to increase the rank by one.]

---

"Damn!"

Karl couldn't help but say it out loud.

The skill's description hadn't changed much, and it made sense.

The base effect was already perfect on its own; nothing could go past a 100% chance, so the system couldn't increase that anymore.

Still, what the evolution did add made the entire thing even more ridiculous.

From now on, whenever he used [Hand of Oblivion] and the loot he received happened to be an item, weapon, armor, accessory, anything, then there would be a 25% chance that the item's rank would go up by one.

Just like that, with no drawbacks of any kind.

If he used the skill and got an epic item, there was now a 25% chance it would turn into a legendary item on the spot. Simple as that.

Sure, 25% wasn't the highest number. It wasn't guaranteed at all.

And most of the time, the reward he received was EP or Lives anyway. But it didn't matter.

Even a low chance was still a chance, and if it ever happened… Karl knew it would help him tremendously in the future.

In later stages of [Gods Ascension], a single rank-up on equipment could completely shift the balance of strength.

And the skill didn't mention any limit, which meant he could theoretically do it again and again every time he got lucky enough.

"Haha," Karl said, his mind blazing with potential ideas and future scenarios, "Looks like I'll be able to get much more..."

He had fully finished everything he planned to do here.

All evolutions, all upgrades, all items collected.

He had squeezed every bit of value he could out of this battle.

Which meant there was no reason to stay.

Karl turned around and glanced at the [Gardener]'s corpse one last time.

Its enormous body sat motionless, the vines slack, the floral growth dried and twisted.

A boss that had terrorized the labyrinth for who knew how long was now just another defeated monster.

He stared for a split second, then walked away without hesitation.

It wouldn't resurrect for nearly a full day, which meant no player would have to worry about it during that time.

The [Flower Labyrinth] would be far safer, at least temporarily.

Once he left the clearing, Karl continued walking deeper into the labyrinth.

The [Flower Labyrinth] itself was absolutely massive.

Branching paths, winding hallways made of stone and vegetation, and countless dead ends filled with monsters.

Karl had leveled up a lot already, so staying in this specific location would be pointless.

These monsters couldn't give him anything valuable now.

The only way forward was… well, forward.

And indeed, as he turned around a corner and headed into a new section of the maze, he immediately arrived in another clearing.

Inside, several monsters turned toward him.

---

[Flower Seed (Level 27)]

[Rank: Rare]

[HP: 90,000]

---

[Toxic Flower (Level 28)]

[Rank: Elite (Boss)]

[HP: 290,000]

---

The [Flower Seed] were small, plant-like creatures made of thin vine bodies that sprouted from the ground like weeds.

They were quick and annoying, and they tended to move in groups.

Meanwhile, the [Toxic Flower] stood almost two meters tall, with a fully bloomed flower head that sat on a thick stalk.

It pulsed with a poisonous aura that filled the surrounding air.

The moment Karl entered the clearing, all the plant monsters instantly turned toward him.

Toxic Air!

The [Toxic Flower] wasted no time and activated its skill, releasing a thick wave of toxic fumes.

Ding!

[You have been afflicted by "Poison"]

A faint green mist surrounded Karl as the poison seeped into his skin.

-50! -50! -50!

Damage numbers ticked over his head, but Karl didn't react at all.

The poison was way too weak.

Compared to his current health, over 4,500 thanks to his constitution and equipment, this level of poison wasn't even a threat.

The monsters themselves didn't seem threatening either.

Instead, Karl simply lifted his staff and aimed it at all the monsters.

Fire Meteor!

Fwoosh! BOOM!

-482,400!

The explosion lit up the clearing with flames, instantly wiping out every single monster.

The [Flower Seed] evaporated in the blast, and the [Toxic Flower] completely collapsed, melted by the heat.

Having access to elemental weaknesses was insane.

In any future battle, some teams would spend hours researching elemental weaknesses of specific bosses just to squeeze out as much damage as possible.

A 1.5x damage boost from an elemental weakness could be the difference between a raid being impossible and manageable.

And bosses affected by weaknesses often stumbled or staggered more too.

Karl let out a small grin as the notifications popped up.

Ding!

---

[You have killed x8 "Flower Seed (Level 27)"]

[You have killed "Toxic Flower (Level 28 Elite-Rank Boss)"]

[You have gained 3,000 experience points.]

[You have gained 1 Evolution Points!]

[You have gained 21 Lives!]

---

Karl didn't even blink at the rewards.

Of course the experience was terrible. He was level 34 now.

Killing level 27–28 enemies wouldn't give anything significant. Anyone could figure that out.

As for Lives, 21 wasn't bad but also nothing special.

But what truly caught Karl's attention… was the Evolution Points.

He had suspected something earlier.

There was no proof until now, but seeing it firsthand confirmed everything.

[EP Decay] was real.

The [Flower Golem] he killed earlier had been a level 28 rare-rank boss… and it gave 8 EP.

This [Toxic Flower], which was technically a higher-rank elite boss, only gave 1.

That proved it. He couldn't farm the same bosses forever.

Eventually, the EP reward would drop lower and lower until he probably got nothing.

Still…

Hand of Oblivion!

Ding!

[You have gained 1 Evolution Point!]

[You have gained 12 Lives!]

He also noticed a few items on the ground.

None had evolved, and all were rare or elite-rank, nothing special.

Still, he collected the [Flower Daggers] and then noticed something else: a small item next to the boss' corpse.

Karl crouched down and picked it up.

[Toxic Ring (Elite): Protects from low-level poison. Requirement: Level 28.]

"Oh!"

Karl grinned.

This was the first ring he had obtained in this life, and he immediately equipped it.

Fwish! Ding!

["Poison" has been cured.]

He was still poisoned from earlier, but the ring immediately removed the effect.

Not bad at all. It would help against monsters that used poison.

Though of course, it said "low-level poison," so he still had to be careful.

[Rings: 1/5 equipped.]

Just like backpacks and necklaces, rings had a limit.

Backpacks maxed at three, necklaces at two, and rings at five.

Still, Karl was satisfied.

Without wasting more time, he adjusted the ring on his finger, looked ahead, and kept moving forward.

He was eager to dive deeper into the [Flower Labyrinth].

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.