MMORPG: Rise of the Peerless Pumpkinmancer

It had been a few days since the chicken trials had been cleared. Yet, the Demon King hadn't made a single ripple since then. It felt so odd coming from him. 

Were the wolf and human duo slacking? Quite the opposite: they were grinding at a hectic pace. They were like hermits seemingly living in dungeons by now, all for the sake of progression. 

They had been farming XP a bit….actually A LOT!

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[ STATUS! ]

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Player: Jack' O Level 10 

Class: None

Title: New Leaf Slaughterer 

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To leave the tutorial, one needed to attain level 10 and to have completed at least 2 out of the three dungeons. 

This meant that Jack already had the qualifications to leave. He would simply have to talk to the village chief to do so. 

Then why was he still here? Was it out of sympathy for his friends? Was it not to stand out too much? Was it because he felt attached to the place? Hell the fuck no!

No, he stayed because the tutorial was one big quest, and his grading would be horrendous if he left right now. His gains would depend on his performance. 

The criteria were as follow: 

1. Accomplishments realized 

2. Combat power achieved 

3. Life skill mastery attained 

It just turned out that the first two points could both be realized in the dungeons. The harder the content he cleared, the better his gear AND achievements would be. 

That is how the human and wolf were now preparing to storm the Fox Grove once more. The little one shuddered as it remembered how dangerous the inside was. They had already died a few times. 

"Remember, use your nose: smell the fox's musk. That's the best way to deal with both bosses. Can you do that?" 

"Woo!" (I'll try!") 

"I know that it's hard, but you can manage. I believe in you." Jack encouraged. 

Moon Moon felt a warmth course through its body. It was so lucky to have such a nice master! Even when it screwed up, he would still be there to guide it.

"Don't just try, do it. You're the mighty Moon Moon after all." Jack confidently winked. 

"Woo!" (Yes, master!) 

It would have to be worthy of its name for sure! Then they entered the scary dungeon: 

[Entered Dimensional Dungeon Fox Grove!]

[Difficulty = Hard]

That little difficulty change was like heaven and earth. 

The general clearing strategy remained the same, but the bosses were buffed. It was as if life was breathed into them as they gained new abilities. They now had to adapt to the new boss patterns. It wasn't that bad for Jack, but it was hella confusing for the wolf!

The Hunter began to blink a few meters at a time. What it lacked in range, it made up with sneakiness. There were no signs at all that it would do it, and one had to rely on one's instinct to evade it. 

Like any wolf, Moon Moon had naturally sharp senses, but that didn't include a prediction ability. This fight already was a huge hurdle for it. They would actually manage to clear it at times, but it depended on luck. 

Did it have to be this way? Not really. 

Every time the humanoid fox assassin tried to jump on Jack, he would sidestep it. This puzzled the little wolf to no end. It was as if the answer was right next to it, but it was too dumb to grasp it. 

All that Jack kept repeating was: 

"Give it time. It's normal to fail at first. You need to guess where and how your opponent is going to move. All that matters is that you never give up." These words were all that kept Moon Moon struggling so much. 

As for the loot? The hard version gave stuff like that: 

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Uncommon Shadowy Belt

Rank F+

Level 10

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[Armor Rating] 2

[Armor Type] Leather

[Durability] Great (Except Light)

[Attribute] +3 AGI

[Trait] + Shadow Affinity (F) 

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What did it have over the level 5 version? One armor, 1 AGI, and a slightly better trait. It was better stuff for sure, but it wasn't that big a deal either. Oh, and the random loot was still the same level 5 trash. 

They were there for training, for Moon Moon's training to be exact. What gave the pet a lot of trouble was the last boss. 

<Protector of the Fox Grove! Lv 10!> 

It was two levels above the Normal version and slightly stronger. What made it especially challenging was its new ability: Fox Mirage. 

It made it so the fox would spawn clones all over the place. The issue was that it would keep moving around, mixing with them. While they weren't dangerous, they were great distractions. 

One could be bashing a fox only to realize that it was an illusion. Then the real one would appear out of nowhere for a backstab. Jack couldn't just point the enemy out because it kept changing position. 

Jack needed Moon Moon to go through the fur fortress ability reliably. Without the pincer attack, his damage output was capped at 1. For a boss that was level 10, 1 damage per hit wasn't cutting it no matter how many potions one had to regenerate. 

Now they were facing this guy again. 

— Sniff Sniff! — 

"Woo!" (Victorious!) 

It took a few tries, but Moon Moon finally figured it out. It was very subtle, but there was a slight difference between the original and the clones. 

As soon as it managed to sense it, the sneak attacks of the boss stopped working. It would go like this: 

— Chomp! — 

The boss would bite at Moon Moon's position only to end up with a mouthful of air. 

"Woo!" (Ridicule!) 

As if it would get surprised by such a smelly bastard! It felt so rewarding to be able to survive! 

The rest of the fight happened without any issue. After all, as long as the little wolf wasn't dying, this wasn't too hard. 

When the boss fell, Moon Moon radiated with satisfaction and pride. Its tail was wagging non-stop, and its paws were raised in what was supposed to be a V sign. 

+ Random Loot! 

"Are you ready for the next difficulty then?" Josh chuckled. 

The little wolf gulped loudly in frightened expectations…

Creator's Thought

Turns out that when I focus on leveling up, it doesn't take that long. The best for XP is really to kill small mobs in extreme quantities or to cheese the same boss over and over lightning-fast. I was doing both at once.