"Ding!"

"Congratulations on reaching Level 6."

After staying in the forest for a period of time, Lorne's level had reached Level 6.

In 'Divine Realm', the higher the level of the player, the more experience points would be required.

For players like Lorne, they needed 900 experience points to level up.

At least 52 demonized wild dogs needed to be killed in order to level up.

Calculating based on the continuous grinding speed, it would take half an hour.

To other players, gaining one level in half an hour was very efficient.

But to Lorne, it was too slow.

After all, he needed to earn 300 gold coins in half a month. If he relied on his current efficiency, he would never be able to complete his goal.

He knew very well that he had to raise his level as soon as possible and use that advantage to earn benefits from other players.

Otherwise, to him, such days of owing money were too torturous.

With that in mind, he left the forest.

He planned to go to a higher-level location.

Currently, most of the players were entering this region. Even if he stayed here to kill monsters, he would not be able to snatch many of them.

It was better to leave early and go deep into the resource-rich forest alone.

"Rock Valley?"

Opening the map, he focused on a dark area.

Because of the Missionary's Assessment, Lorne had to kill a hundred Stone Beetles, which were gathered in the Rock Valley to the northwest.

...

Half an hour later, Lorne emerged from the thick foliage.

Standing at the edge of the forest, what appeared before him was a canyon covered in rocks.

Looking up at the towering mountains on both sides, Lorne was certain that this had once been a bottomless river.

But now the river was dry, revealing a rocky riverbed.

The stone beetles listed in the mission were in this huge valley.

Crack!

As he pondered…

A rock nearby suddenly made a sound.

Lorne quickly looked over and saw that the rock was cracking. From the crack, limbs stuck out.

————

[Stone Beetle]

Quality: Normal

Level: 5

HP: 800 / 800

Physical Attack: 25-35

Defense: 50

Skill: [Rock Body]: Resists 50% of physical damage.

Introduction: A rock-type lifeform. Because its entire body is made of rocks, it has a powerful defense. Ordinary swords are unable to harm it.

————

"This is troublesome."

The sight of the creature gave him a headache.

Although the opponent was only a Level 5 monster, what was shocking was that its health points were as high as 800 points!

What was even more terrifying was that its [Rock Body] skill also made it immune to 50% physical damage. Coupled with 50 defense points, which player could kill such a monster alone?

Even the Two-Headed Demon Hound behind Lorne could not break through such a terrifying defense.

Therefore, there were only two choices before him.

1: Leave now and increase the pets' level before coming back.

2: Create a monster that deals magic damage.

Both options were feasible enough.

But there was not much time for Lorne to solve the problem.

Therefore, he decisively chose the second option.

"The most powerful defense of the Stone Beetles is physical defense, but in the face of magical damage, physical defense will immediately be useless."

"But the only question is, what kind of monster do I make?" Lorne considered.

When he came to this region, he encountered many types of monsters.

Many of them were magic-type creatures.

However…

Lorne had to find the right choice.

The health points of the Stone Beetles were too high. If he used magic attacks to kill them one by one, it would consume a lot of time.

He had to find a monster that dealt AOE damage.

However!

In the early stages of the game, monsters with AOE moves were rare.

He had to carefully choose among the monsters he had only seen once.

Suddenly!

His eyes lit up.

"Found it!" Lorne looked pleased as he murmured.

He remembered that he had encountered an ugly but suitable monster on the way to the Rock Valley.

With this in mind, he immediately left the valley and rushed into the forest.

Then, he began a carpet search for a land of depression.

According to his memory, the monster should be nearby.

But it was good at disguising itself. If one did not look closely, one would easily miss it.

After searching for ten minutes, Lorne finally saw something.

"There it is!"

Not far away, there was a dark green toad. Because its body color was the same as the forest, it took Lorne two attempts to find its trail.

[Poisonous Toad]

This was a monster that did not actively attack.

But if it was harmed, the poison sacs on its back would spray poison that would harm the target.

Thus, even though this monster was extremely ugly, as long as it was used properly, it would definitely be of great use.

While he was thinking, the Two-Headed Demon Hound had already subdued the monster with its companions.

Now it was Lorne's turn.

He had to think of a way to let this monster gain high defense. Otherwise, it would not be able to withstand the attacks of so many stone beetles.

As for how to create it?

He already had a plan.

He picked up a few ores from the ground and opened the synthesis template.

"Ding!"

"A monster prototype and material have been identified. The synthesis formula is: (Poisonous Toad) + (Ordinary Rock x5) = (???)"

"The cost is 120 bronze coins. Would you like to merge?"

Although it was only an ordinary rock picked up from the ground, it should be able to give the monster enough defense.

Lorne was confident.

He immediately chose to confirm it.

A familiar magic circle appeared, enveloping the poisonous toad.

Then, the rocks turned into yellow light that entered his body.

Unlike before, this fusion seemed to be even more thorough.

The yellow light completely enveloped the poisonous toad, as if it wanted to transform its entire body.

Soon, the light dissipated.

The ugly poisonous toad had also transformed.

The poison sacs on its back had turned to stone, as if a stone statue had cracked.

This was not what he had planned.

Fortunately, there was still poison spurting out from the cracks between the rocks. The poisonous toad's greatest weapon was still usable.

At the same time, he heard a pleasant reminder.

"Merging successful!"

"Congratulations on obtaining an Elite Monster—Stone Skin Poison Toad!"