Tristan's words left Cole Hunter in deep thought.
He hesitated.
The Beast Skull was something he had barely obtained after a life-threatening battle. Originally, he had planned to use it to further his own strength, but instead, he was ambushed by the Wolf King.
Although he had survived, he lost a leg, rendering him completely useless.
Thinking about it, Cole Hunter's anger flared up.
He could no longer take revenge on his own; he'd have to rely on someone else's hands.
Moreover, with his current condition, even if he held onto the Beast Skull, it would be useless. It was better to vent his anger.
He couldn't suffer, and neither could the Wolf King!
As for Tristan requesting the quest reward in advance, Cole Hunter didn't mind.
He understood the rules of ExoGenesis.
After a moment of contemplation, Cole Hunter spoke slowly. "I can give you the Beast Skull, but don't forget your promise. Bring me the Wolf King's head in three days."
Tristan's face lit up with joy. "It's a deal."
"Ding, you have accepted the time-limited quest—Hunt the Wolf King."
"Quest Description: The Wolf King ambushed Cole Hunter, leading to his injury. Cole Hunter is eager to avenge himself and wants you to bring back the Wolf King's head in exchange for a generous reward."
"Quest Rewards: 3000 XP, 30 silver coins, 30 points of Cole Hunter's favor."
"Quest Countdown: 3 days"
"Please note, you have received the quest rewards in advance. If the quest is not completed on time, the rewards will be revoked, and 5 points will be deducted from all attributes as punishment."
With the system's prompt, Cole Hunter made a new move.
He walked to the side of the bed, moved it, and took out a wooden box from under the bed. With great care, he handed it to Tristan.
"Ding, you have obtained a special item—Beast Skull."
[Beast Skull (Unique Item)]
Effect 1: Beast Blessing: Each level-up grants an additional 5 free attribute points.
Effect 2: Hunting Moment: Each time you kill 100 monsters or 1 BOSS, you gain 1 Evolution Point, which can only be used for equipment or skills. The required points for evolving the same target will increase. (Current Evolution Points: 1)
Note: The pre-paid quest rewards have been locked. The item cannot be traded, destroyed, or discarded until the quest is completed. The item will not drop upon death.
Amazing!
Tristan whistled in admiration.
As expected from a unique item, its stats were formidable.
In ExoGenesis, every level-up would typically grant 1 point to secondary attributes, 2 points to main attributes, and 5 free attribute points, for a total of 10 points.
Now, with the Beast Blessing, Tristan would gain an extra 5 free points, effectively giving him 15 points per level-up.
This was equivalent to Tristan gaining 1.5 levels' worth of attributes compared to others!
Even considering the attribute bonuses from his hidden class, 5 free points were significant.
As the saying goes, "A quick step leads to even faster progress." With Tristan's memory and his early-game advantages, he would quickly build momentum, eventually reaching an unprecedented height!
Moreover, even in the later stages, the Beast Skull would remain valuable.
In fact, its true power would only fully emerge in the later phases of the game.
The true strength of the Beast Skull didn't lie in its first effect, but in its second.
Killing monsters grants Evolution Points.
Although the scope of this effect was limited to equipment and skills, it didn't matter—Tristan didn't need to evolve anything else.
Player strength in ExoGenesis came from three sources: talent, equipment, and skills.
Early on, skills were the core.
Skills like Shadow Stealth and Shadow Dagger were particularly powerful.
The Beast Skull also provided a bonus Evolution Point, which was an unexpected surprise, and Tristan was planning to find a place to use it to enhance his abilities.
Calming his mind, Tristan left Cole Hunter's house without a second glance.
Hunting the Wolf King wouldn't be easy. At the very least, he'd need to level up a few times and improve his attributes first.
It was a perfect time to accumulate some Evolution Points from the Beast Skull.
Meanwhile, Tristan's actions had caught the attention of the surrounding players.
In particular, when he took the wooden box from Cole Hunter, many players were stunned.
What was going on? How could this guy receive the quest?
Immediately, some players protested.
"How the hell can this guy get the quest?"
"He's definitely cheating!"
"Not necessarily. I saw this guy speak so firmly. Maybe this cripple only responds to strength?"
Whoosh.
Thud.
The player who had spoken arrogantly collapsed on the spot.
"Let me try!"
Another player eagerly stepped forward and declared, "Bro, hand over your quest!"
Whoosh.
Thud.
More players surged forward, trying to get the item from Cole Hunter's hands.
Others took a different approach, blocking Tristan's way.
Tristan didn't want to waste time arguing with these people. He immediately activated Shadow Stealth.
Seeing Tristan suddenly disappear, several players were left stunned.
"Where did he go? How did he vanish?"
"Is this… Stealth?"
"Wait, I'm also an Assassin. Why can't I use Stealth?"
"This guy must have bought VIP status! Quick, bring up the recharge entrance. I'm swiping my card!"
"Black market, this must be black market shenanigans!"
...
Walking through the shadows, Tristan looked at his own skill.
Shadow Stealth was already cooling down!
This was another pleasant surprise for Tristan.
In his previous life, as a Warrior, he knew the characteristics of Assassin skills.
Normally, Stealth skills would start their cooldown only after breaking Stealth.
But Shadow Assassin broke this limitation and started the cooldown while still in Stealth mode.
What did this mean? Tristan knew it all too well.
He could now wait for his skills to cool down while in Stealth, then activate Breaking Stealth Strike and immediately disappear back into Stealth!
He didn't need to wait like regular Assassins, who either had to choose a stronger form of Stealth or run around for a while after breaking Stealth before they could hide again.
The safety factor was completely maximized!
The only downside was that the cooldown for Shadow Stealth was relatively long—20 seconds.
"I guess I'll need to evolve Shadow Stealth to shorten the cooldown,"
"Or maybe find some cooldown-reducing gear."
As Tristan pondered, he made his way past the crowds.
He felt the true strength of being a Shadow Assassin.
What made this class unique was permanent Stealth!
Regular Assassins had time-limited Stealth abilities.
Even if they maxed out their Stealth skill, there was still a time limit, and the cooldown period after breaking Stealth left them vulnerable.
That "cooldown period" was the most fragile moment for Assassins!
But Tristan was different.
As long as he wished, he could be in Stealth forever!
And there was another distinction between Tristan and regular Assassins:
Tristan didn't need to find a chance up close. He could throw a Shadow Dagger from a distance, and the usual methods of detecting Stealth wouldn't be able to find him.
The enemies wouldn't even think to look for him at a distance of several dozen meters.
With Stealth, Tristan quickly made his way to the village entrance.
Newbie Village was already bustling with activity, but the area outside the village was ten times more crowded!
Tristan observed for a while, then decided to move on.
It was too crowded here. To maximize his potential, he needed to head to a higher-level area to grind.