Prestige Grinding : I Can Reset My Level

Kara approached Sora, watching as he lay motionless on the ground, his body fully healed, but his spirit bruised. She reached out, intending to ask if he was alright, but the words caught in her throat. One look at his face was enough to tell her that he wasn't. His usually bright, determined eyes were dull, as if he was lost.

Without a word, she reached down and helped him to his feet. Sora stood, still in a daze, as if the ground had become the only familiar thing left to him. They walked together in silence.

After several minutes, Sora finally broke the quiet. "We're leaving Stockholm," he muttered, his voice low but firm.

Kara stopped in her tracks, blinking in surprise. "What? We can't just leave! We've only just enlisted. We have responsibilities now. You know deserting would get us killed."

Sora paused, his eyes narrowed as he processed her words. "We're not deserting," he said, shaking his head. "But we're too weak right now. If we stay here and march into battle without preparing, we're dead. You saw it—what happened today. Richard toyed with me. I'm no match for him, and there are probably hundreds more like him on the other side, maybe even stronger."

Kara wanted to argue, to tell him that it was fine, that they could survive, since the opponents would be forcibly weakened to level 80, but she couldn't. He was right. The gap between them and their peers was enormous. Richard had crushed Sora without even trying, and if they were to face enemies of that caliber—or worse—there was no way they could survive in their current state.

Sora's face hardened. "We've got three days before the war resumes. We need to use that time to train, to level up. Even if the enemy's power is capped at level 80 for the battles, they certainly have ways to increase their strength and be extremely strong... We both need to level up. Our ranks are eye-catching, but not strong enough. They'll target us, and we'll be the first ones to fall."

Kara's breath caught in her throat. She had been thinking the same thing ever since the duel ended. They were too exposed, too inexperienced. But hearing Sora say it aloud made it real, and far more terrifying.

He glanced at her, noticing her hesitation. "Listen, Kara. It's just a reminder that I'm still a frog at the bottom of the well. Every time I think I've climbed out, I find myself in a bigger well."

His words echoed in the still air, and Kara found herself staring at him, searching his face for any sign of the despair she had seen earlier. But instead of pain, there was a quiet determination in his expression. .

"This defeat," Sora continued, his voice gaining strength, "was inevitable. Now, we have to bridge the gap between us and the rest of the world if we're going to survive. We can't afford to waste time."

He reached into his inventory and pulled out a map. "I got this earlier at the Swedish Adventurer's Guild, before the test. There's a level 80 zone nearby that's offering an XP boost this week. It seems that the amount of high level players killing endless monsters triggered XP boosts in quite a few zones, so we need to make use of it. We can grind there for three days, level up, and be ready for the war."

Kara looked at the map, then back at Sora. Something about him still felt off— as if he was forcing himself to keep going.

But as if reading her thoughts, Sora shot her a quick glance and said, "Don't worry about me. I've been through worse, and I've always come back stronger. I'll be fiine. Right now, we need to focus on getting strong enough to make it through this war."

Kara nodded slowly, feeling a mix of relief and concern. Sora was strong, and she had started to believe he was invincible, almost including herself in such category. This was a wake-up call for her as well.

They pressed forward, following the path that led them to the hunting zone Sora had marked on the map. The landscape shifted as they traveled, dense forests and rocky terrain known as Kolmården.

When they finally arrived, the atmosphere felt different—heavier. Sora remembered the first time he entered a similar place, and died instantly. He had grown since then, and did not fear such zone anymore.

Without hesitation, Sora and Kara stepped inside, leaving the safety of the lower level region behind.

As a beast emerged from deep inside the forest, its presence sent a wave of tension through the air. Its dark fur dripped with water, and its sharp, predatory eyes locked onto Sora and Kara. The notification flashed before them: