An Enhanced Beast Appears

[Name: Nora Hild Garuda] [Level: 11] [Class: Lucky Gourmet] [Skills:] [Gourmet: When eating, has a chance to gain 1–10 experience points and temporary stat boosts.] [Lucky Star: When eating, has a chance to gain buffs, up to a maximum of eight active buffs.] [Current Buffs: Friendly Aura, Auto-Counterattack, Defense Boost, Iron Skin.] Little Nora checked its attributes; nothing had changed much. Between Level 10 and Level 11, aside from the number going up, it seemed to have grown only slightly stronger. To this day, Little Nora had not fought a single monster. But because it already possessed its first skill upon entering, it had simply eaten its way through the beginner village, chomping and munching until it reached Level 10. From there, it followed the map and arrived easily at Fukang City. *Clang, clang, clang!* "Quick, quick, quick! An enhanced beast has appeared in the Fukang Mountains!" "An enhanced beast? Damn, what are we waiting for? Let's go, let's go!" The bells of Fukang City began to toll as a class holder flew into the city, landed atop the city gate, and shouted at the top of his lungs. All around, the class holders manning street stalls alongside Little Nora hastily packed up their wares and streamed out of the city. Little Nora quickly caught the attention of the vendor beside it and asked, "Tom, what's going on?" "An enhanced beast showed up! Hurry, we can talk on the way!" Tom said as he stowed his goods. Little Nora nodded and readily packed up its own things before jogging to keep pace with him. As they ran, Tom explained, "Every once in a while, a 'Source of Enhancement' falls somewhere in the Zhen Realm. Only monsters can absorb these sources, and any monster that does turns into an enhanced beast. "For us class holders, the odds of winning against an enhanced beast one-on-one are absolute zero. The only way to bring one down is by banding together. "And once an enhanced beast is defeated, everyone receives rewards based on their individual contribution." "What kind of rewards?" Little Nora asked curiously. Tom answered, "The best, naturally, are Character Enhancement Stones, followed by Class Enhancement Stones, Skill Enhancement Stones, Equipment Enhancement Stones, and Weapon Enhancement Stones. Usually, though, it's very hard to get a whole enhancement stone. Most people only get fragments as rewards. A hundred fragments can be fused into one complete stone." Saying so, he pulled out a diamond-shaped gem fragment to show Little Nora. Little Nora looked closely and saw the name displayed on the fragment in Tom's fingers: [Leather Armor Enhancement Stone]. Even if he gathered enough to fuse a complete stone, it would only work on leather armor. "Character Enhancement Stones... Can they enhance our own bodies?" Little Nora asked next. Tom nodded. "Right. We're only common class holders right now. Enhance yourself ten times, and you become an Elite Class Holder. Another hundred times, and you're a Heroic Class Holder. Another thousand times makes you a Legendary Class Holder—though I've never heard of anyone actually reaching that level." "What about ten thousand times?" Little Nora asked. Tom chuckled. "No clue. I only heard all this from a friend myself." Once outside the city gates, Little Nora and Tom melted into the flowing crowd. Everyone was heading out to hunt the enhanced beast; after all, such creatures were far too powerful for one or two class holders to handle alone. Only by joining forces could they take down an enhanced beast and earn enhancement stone fragments. As for a complete enhancement stone, no one dared dream of claiming one for themselves. …… Meanwhile. After receiving Little Nora's letter, Yu Xian packed up his belongings, seated himself in the sturdy crook of the Giant Ghoul's arm, and let the creature carry him toward the Fukang Mountains. Within the Fukang Mountains, the local fauna began to show far greater diversity. In the Evil Woodlands, almost no other creatures could be found due to the ghouls. The Fukang Mountains, by contrast, were vastly livelier, and Yu Xian easily spotted several types of monsters. [Gossip Bird] [Level: 5] [Skills:] [Slander Attack: The Gossip Bird possesses the ability to gather gossip on its target, then spreads rumors to inflict mental damage on enemies.] [Remarks: Gossip Bird: This guy is a simp!!!] …… [One-Eyed Wildebeest] [Level: 11] [Skills:] [Single-Horn Charge: Channels power into its single horn and charges with full force. Penetration power increases based on the distance traveled.] [One-Eyed Lock: Once locked on by its single eye, invisibility becomes completely ineffective. Furthermore, the creature can sense the target's location anywhere within a radius of a hundred li.] [Remarks: I'm totally not cross-eyed!] …… [Foolish Panda] [Level: 15] [Skills:] [Fool's Advantage: Defense increased by 30%, pain perception reduced by 50%, strength increased by 100%.] [Black-and-White Bomb: Condenses a fool bomb and hurls it at the target. If the target looks directly at the bomb, its detonation pauses; the moment the target's gaze turns away, it explodes instantly.] [Remarks: Who's the real fool?] …… Anxious to reunite with Little Nora, Yu Xian simply noted these monsters in passing without ordering the Giant Ghoul to engage. Bypassing numerous creatures along the way, Yu Xian sat perched on the Giant Ghoul's arm until the distant outline of Fukang City came into view. Fukang City sat upon a fertile plain nestled beneath the mountains. The city was laid out in a neat, orderly square packed with dense clusters of buildings. At that moment, however, Yu Xian noticed what appeared to be a very thin black line stretching outside its walls. *A crowd of people?* Yu Xian guessed from the distant silhouettes. He immediately ordered the Giant Ghoul to pick up the pace, worried that something had gone wrong in the city. After all, a line of people appearing out of nowhere usually meant Fukang City had come under some lethal threat, forcing the class holders to evacuate in haste. Ten minutes later, he met the vanguard of class holders rushing out from the city. "Excuse me, what happened here?" Yu Xian scanned the crowd and picked out a kind-faced, middle-aged man to ask. The man glanced at Yu Xian and said, "An enhanced beast has appeared." "An enhanced beast?" Yu Xian had the Giant Ghoul set him down, then jogged forward to join the crowd, asking out of curiosity. The middle-aged man proved quite friendly and explained, "Every so often, a Source of Enhancement falls randomly into the Zhen Realm. Any monster that obtains one grows much stronger." "Understood. The monster that powers up becomes an enhanced beast. What do we get for killing it?" Yu Xian nodded at once. Mechanics like this were trivial to figure out; anyone who had played games even a little would immediately recognize the concept. It was nothing more than a world boss. The middle-aged man went on to explain the details. Hearing this, Yu Xian quickly deduced that Little Nora would almost certainly join in on the commotion—which meant heading out to hunt the enhanced beast would be the fastest way to run into it. Having sorted that out, he immediately declared his intention to participate and fell smoothly into rank among the hunting party.