Vol. 3 Chapter 8: New Skills

Chapter 8: New Skills

Back at his hideout, Lu Li had the shadow assassins erase any traces that could lead back to him before he started treating his injury. The game store offered a repair function, but it required the player to be in a safe state and accept a relatively short treatment.

He chose the healing option, spending 30 game points to repair the wound in his abdomen. Several green lights floated out, attaching to the wound, and within seconds it was healed. This repair function was useful, but it couldn't be used in dungeons, was quite expensive, and required a safe state, limiting its practicality.

As he toyed with the newly acquired modules, Lu Li's thoughts drifted. The module dropped by the Human-Faced Rat was a Rule Module: Launch, which could be useful. However, the two modules he retrieved from the skill slot were Deepen and Stimulate, precisely the ones needed for his Silent Meditation Technique. It seemed too coincidental—no, it was absurd. [TL: Someone in the shadows]

More than such coincidences, Lu Li believed that some entity had given him these two modules when he reached out to grab them. It was so blatant, so brazen. Lu Li squinted his eyes. "Should I be angry? Yes, I should be."

Piecing together the evidence, it all started a year ago when he nearly drowned. Underwater, he saw a figure, which altered his soul and personality. Then, a month ago, he entered this strange game. In hindsight, the difficulty of the test dungeon was terrifying. If not for his special abilities, he would likely have died. This could be explained by the game adjusting the dungeon's difficulty based on the player's strength.

The real anomalies started with the Assassin module. Just when Lu Li needed a module, it appeared in the shop, which could still be chalked up to coincidence. But in the Mermaid dungeon, problems skyrocketed.

First, the difficulty was off the charts. As a newbie, he encountered seasoned players with shady histories. The mission failed mysteriously, leading to a punishment task, and then came the witch's warning. She mentioned "He" had given Lu Li many things, and then there was the interrupted conversation on the ship.

Later, the punishment mission was inexplicably completed. Lu Li had no idea how; he merely arrived at Black Tide Beach to find the descent of a great entity had failed, and the witch was dying from backlash.

The six modules rewarded after completing the mission included the Claw Ghost module, precisely what Lu Li lacked. This led him to initiate this test, openly exposing his information to draw other players and see if some higher power was shielding him.

Lu Li tossed the modules in his hand and smiled. Now it seemed this higher power indeed had his back. However, Lu Li touched his now-healed abdomen and chuckled. "Is this supposed to be a warning?"

Lu Li had developed the shadow sphere to encase himself, continuously infusing it with shadow energy, which enhanced its defense and strength. Although the Black Wind was powerful, it was hastily unleashed, so Lu Li was largely unharmed. The penetrating injury from the black fur could barely break through the shadow's defense. How could a nearly vanished black cat pierce through and severely wound Lu Li? Who would believe that?

He stopped pondering these behind-the-scenes machinations. For now, he could only wait patiently. Opening the forum, Lu Li followed the data provided by Moon Shadow to begin assembling the new Silent Meditation Technique. Once all the modules were in place, Lu Li commenced his first meditation.

"One, two, three…" With Lu Li's silent count, his soul instantly entered a state of extreme tranquility. The world fell silent, and within this serene space, his soul seemed to be nurturing something. A bit of spiritual power was extracted, then consolidated and fed back into the tranquility, making the space even quieter. A deeper part of the soul began to reveal itself.

More spiritual power was extracted. When Lu Li emerged from the tranquil state, he was surprised to find something new in his mind. It was indescribable, yet he could sense its presence.

Suddenly, a memory or information surfaced, linked to the time he had used the water restoration spell and connected with a great entity. This piece of meaningless information now seemed like a mouse caught by a cat, dragged from Lu Li's memory and devoured by the mysterious entity.

Recalling the meaningless incantation, Lu Li found he couldn't remember it at all, as if that memory was entirely erased. Then, the incantation for the water restoration spell was expelled from the depths of his memory and swallowed by the mysterious entity.

After a while, the entity "spat" out an incantation and vanished. Lu Li involuntarily thought of the witch's words: "He" had given him many things. He then checked the new incantation.

The feedback from the incantation revealed that it still produced restorative water with a "worm," but now Lu Li needed to consume a considerable amount of magic power and could exert some control over the "worm." Although it now required magic power, Lu Li felt more at ease with the spell.

Putting aside the spell and the mysterious entity, Lu Li examined the boost in his spiritual derivative quantity from this meditation. In the dungeon, the witch's methods had released his accumulated emotions, raising his soul evaluation to 3.01 and his spiritual power derivative to 2.39. After this meditation, the numbers had increased to 3.03 and 2.43, respectively.

He sent the data to Moon Shadow, confirming the meditation technique was settled. Lu Li then began planning his new skills. The Fear Touch was already sufficient with its current modules, and the Shadow Legion was attached to the masks, freeing up a skill slot. Lu Li considered designing a new skill.

Looking at the existing modules, Lu Li calculated silently, drawing a model and figuring out which modules to add, how to compensate for his shortcomings, or strengthen his strengths, gradually forming an idea...