Level 1 to Infinity: My Bloodline Is the Ultimate Cheat!

The problem with the Discipline Priest specialization was that it offered almost no damage output in the early game, and its healing capabilities were practically nonexistent.

The way it healed teammates was by dealing damage—a percentage of the damage inflicted would then be converted into healing. Because of this, no team in their right mind would take on a Discipline Priest during the early stages. They were seen as dead weight.

During the starter phase, most priests who tried the Discipline path quickly switched to Holy or Shadow specializations as soon as they unlocked their first form quest.

Holy Priests focused on healing, while Shadow Priests leaned into damage-dealing. This left the Discipline path severely underpopulated, and by the time large-scale wars broke out in the late game, guilds and teams were desperate for Discipline Priests. But they were nearly impossible to find. You couldn't just delete your character and start over, and with most of the real-world population already in Ethereal, there was no way to rebuild the player base.

Ethan watched from a distance as the trio struggled with their monster. He couldn't help but feel a little sorry for them. Transforming into his Owl Form, he cast [Moonfire] and [Sunburn], two debuff skills that dealt damage over time. The monster, which they had only managed to whittle down to half health, was instantly killed.

The three of them froze, staring at the now-dead monster. They turned to see Ethan, back in his human form, walking toward them.

"Instant kill…" Ryan muttered, clearly impressed.

"I can't believe you're actually the Druid God," Evelyn said, her eyes wide.

Ethan scratched the back of his head, unsure how to respond. "Uh… well, since I'm free today, how about I help you guys level up?" he offered, trying to break the awkwardness. Plus, his rogue alt needed some leveling too.

"That'd be great!" Evelyn said, her face lighting up.

Ding…

[System Alert: [WhisperingFlora] has invited you to join their party!]

Ethan accepted the invitation and checked out the other two members' names. He almost burst out laughing. Leeroy's character name was MyBrotherIsAFraud, and Ryan's was MyElderBrotherIsADog.

"Your names are…" Ethan started, then stopped himself. He wasn't one to talk—his own character name wasn't exactly a masterpiece.

He summoned his rogue alt but didn't add it to the party. Instead, he had it follow them in stealth mode, just close enough to leech experience.

"Evelyn, where are you guys planning to go? And why couldn't you talk about it over the phone?" Ethan asked as they walked. He casually flicked out instant-cast spells, effortlessly killing level 20 mobs with a single [Moonfire] debuff. The four of them left a trail of corpses in their wake, drawing the attention of other players in the area.

Player: "Whoa… who's that owl guy?"

Player: "No idea, but man, I wish I had someone to power-level me like that."

Player: "Yeah, the elites in our guild never bother with us."

Player: "They're too busy leveling themselves. Who's got time to carry noobs?"

Player: "That owl guy… could he be the Druid God? He's already level 45!"

Player: "No way, stop making stuff up."

Player: "Honestly, at this point, if someone told me the Druid God was level 100, I wouldn't even be surprised."

The surrounding players nodded in agreement. The Druid God was a legend, and nothing he did was surprising anymore. If anything, the real news would be if someone managed to kill him or catch up to his level.

"Evelyn, why couldn't you just say all this over the phone earlier?" Ethan asked, casually casting spells as they walked.

"Because in the age of big data, privacy is an illusion," Leeroy cut in.

"Yeah, what he said," Ryan added with a shrug.

Evelyn nodded. "A friend of mine in the industry told me that Ethereal is the only platform completely off the grid—no surveillance, no data tracking. That's why the government hates it."

She glanced at Ethan. "You probably already know this, but that's also why the U.S. in-game isn't actually called the U.S. It's 'Dragonspire' for legal and political reasons. The devs had to rename it to dodge all the regulations trying to shut them down.

So, anything we say or do here can't be monitored—at least for now."

Evelyn had said "for now," but Ethan knew that "for now" could stretch indefinitely. Ethereal was created by Morzan, a figure shrouded in mystery. It wasn't a product of Earth's technology but something far beyond—a fusion of advanced science and arcane principles, a realm governed by its own laws.

After chatting for a while, Ethan asked, "So, what are your plans for the future?"

The question seemed to dampen their spirits. Leeroy was the first to respond. "We're taking it one step at a time. We're planning to head to the Ironvale Mountains first, then figure things out from there."

"The Ironvale Mountains?" Ethan stopped in his tracks, turning to look at Leeroy. "Why are you going there?"

His tone was urgent, and the trio exchanged puzzled glances, wondering why Ethan was so worked up about their destination.

"We're going for the Decennial Ranking Tournament hosted by the Noble Eight Lineages," Evelyn explained.

Ethan's jaw dropped. He was too stunned to speak, though internally, he was buzzing with excitement.

"Uh… you don't have to look so shocked," Evelyn said, noticing his reaction.

"Wait… you… you know where the Silverwood family's territory is?" Ethan's voice trembled slightly.

Evelyn frowned. "Of course we do. Our grandfather took us there ten years ago. It's not exactly a secret."

"Not a secret?" Ethan was baffled.

"Yeah, the locations of the other seven families' hidden territory are common knowledge in the supernatural world. They just don't open their gates to outsiders most of the time. Pretty much everyone in the supernatural community knows about them."

Ethan felt a mix of relief and frustration. He'd been searching for this information for so long, and it turned out to be common knowledge among those in the know. He'd been stumbling around like a blind man in a maze.

"Tomorrow, I'll come find you. Take me with you," Ethan said, trying to sound calm.

"Why?" all three of them asked in unison.

"Uh… to broaden my horizons?" Ethan replied awkwardly.

They clearly didn't buy it, but since Ethan didn't seem willing to elaborate, they didn't press further. Evelyn looked like she wanted to say more but ultimately stayed silent. Ethan pretended not to notice and continued obliterating every monster in their path.

As they chatted about trivial matters, Ethan invited them to join Renegade Alliance. He also sent a message to Slashblade, letting him know that the three newcomers were the Chase siblings.

After a while, Leeroy kept glancing around, muttering something to Ryan. Finally, he turned to Ethan. "Ethan, do you feel like there's a rogue following us?"

Ethan's eyes flicked toward his rogue alt, which was standing about twenty meters away. How could Leeroy sense it? Even with detection gear, he shouldn't be able to pick up on it from that distance. There was only one explanation.

"Do you have a hidden talent?" Ethan asked, his curiosity piqued.

"A hidden talent? What's that?" Leeroy looked confused.

Ethan hesitated, realizing Leeroy was a complete novice when it came to game mechanics. "Uh… do you have any skills or attributes that increase your ability to detect stealth?" he rephrased.

"Detect stealth… you mean this?" Leeroy shared a skill link in the party chat.

MyBrotherIsAFraud: Skill Link: [War Stomper (Exclusive)]

'hmm?' Ethan's eyes widened.