7

Expanding outwards from the city center a dome of multi-color light began to enclose an area of two to three square kilometers in Cloud City.

People that saw the barrier being constructed fled from the approaching curtain of light lest they be trapped inside. Although they didn't know what the dome was for no one wanted to take the risk of being inside when it closed. Those that weren't fast enough were quickly enveloped making those ahead of them sprint even faster.

Those fleeing didn't know if but in the center of the city four statues, each ten meters tall rose out of the ground. In addition to the statues a group of six ancient one room buildings were constructed. What purpose did these buildings serve? Cheng Yang knew but the people of Cloud City certainly didn't.

At the same time Cheng Yang and the others were running towards Phoenix Village.

Lau Hui played basketball so running was draining but not a problem. The other two however were struggling greatly. Even so they had managed to make it 700 meters in the last four minutes which was already commendable.

Cheng Yang's face crumpled, just now he had detected multiple energy fluctuations around them. This fluctuation could only mean one thing. Monsters had appeared.

Fifty meters ahead of the group a curtain of light shimmered and a large gray wolf with black fangs stepped out. It let out a wild howl before charging at Cheng Yang.

Lau Hui and the others jumped in shock. Where had such a ferocious carnivore jumped out from. Not to mention what a weird appearance and entrance.

"Magic Missile!" Cheng Yang thought. Mana was pulled out of his body and through his stave forming a ball of white. Cheng Yang gathered mana for two and a half seconds before shooting the ball of light towards the wolf like a bullet.

Cheng Yang struck the wolf dealing thirteen damage, severely injuring the monster's head. The wolf was only a Low Grade Immature monster so Cheng Yang was able to suppress it.

Even after such severe injuries the wolf didn't show even a hint of fear or a desire to flee. Monsters were vicious and would always fight to the death.

"That thing is still alive?" Lau Hui gasped. Even as a normal person he could tell that there was a strong power contained within Cheng Yang's attack so he thought the wolf would be killed instantly.

Cheng Yang began charging another shot while explaining, "This is only the lowest level Venom-Fanged Gray Wolf. It has around thirty health whereas I only deal thirteen damage. Killing it with a single Magic Missile is impossible for me." When he finished talking another bolt of light hit the monster.

The wolf's fur splattered with blood and it's charge was broken again.

After their initial shock the three bystanders were able to calm down. Even so how could they accept that such a monster existed in this world. What did Cheng Yang mean health? Level? Weren't those words used in video games?

The wolf howled in pain as it desperately tried to close the distance to Cheng Yang. Without flinching Cheng Yang sent out a final Magic Missile which shot directly through the wolf.

The wolf fell to the ground and didn't get back up. The fight had ended.

After it died the faint white lights flew out of the monster's body and into Cheng Yang's. These were Experience Fragments, pieces of condensed power that all magical creatures had.

Experience Fragments didn't directly raise a person's strength but they were incredibly valuable.

Firstly when using the Meditation skill if you had a large amount of Experience Fragments you could absorb a little bit of the energy vastly decreasing the time it takes to level up.

Secondly, you needed Experience Fragments in order to advance to level up with each subsequent level requiring an more. This also applied to leveling up skills.

Finally, Experience Fragments would become the only currency used after the apocalypse. This wasn't just because humans could trade them among themselves but also because god would bless humanity with vendors that sold various equipment who only accepted Experience Fragments. Each major city would start with six: a blacksmith, a woodworker, a leather worker, an enchanter and an alchemist in addition to a general store.

Cheng Yang was pleased to see the number of Experience Fragments he had increase on his properties panel. The only downside was that his territory wouldn't also gain Experience Fragments since he was more than a kilometer from the walls.

Although monsters had started to spawn Cheng Yang wasn't concerned. Since the area was clear of monsters before there wouldn't be any large groups right now. Cheng Yang was confident he could handle one or two monsters on his own.

As the group continued Cheng Yang also killed a fox-like monster with a razor-sharp tail. at this point Cheng Yang's mana had been cut in half. Just to be safe he would need to meditate.

Mana passively recovered one point every minute but using the Low Grade Meditation skill increased that rate to thirty points per minute. Cheng Yang was able to recover his Mana in just thirty seconds since his Standard Grade Meditation skill was twice as good as the Low Grade one.

Once he was finished the group started moving again. The rest of their journey went smoothly since only a few monsters would spawn every hour and the group didn't meet any problems until they were 800 meters from the village walls. They were ambushed by three monsters that attacked with sword like claws which Cheng Yang was still able to easily kill. Low Grade Immature monsters were helpless before Cheng Yang who was a level higher.

From afar they could see that the village walls were surrounded by monsters.

Cheng Yang hurried his group towards the north gate. When the doors finally shut behind him he let out a sigh of relief.

He hadn't hesitated to go out and save Lau Hui but it was still very risky. Cheng Yang understood this new world quite well that it wasn't uncommon to meet hordes of monsters and although he could outrun them, he would have had to leave Lau Hui to die.

Boss Lee ran over to Cheng Yang, "Mr. Cheng, soon after you left more than twenty wild beasts started to prowl outside the walls. They seem to want to break in what do we do? Also, can you explain more what becoming a Professional will do for use?"

Cheng Yang waved his hands, "After the apocalypse monsters will begin to spawn so you'll need to work your ass off fighting if you want to live. Being a Professional will give you the chance to do so."

"What now?" Boss Lee was at a loss. After Cheng Yang left the other had viewed him as the leader. All he could do however was try to keep everyone calm. Now that Cheng Yang was back he didn't know what the next step was.

Boss Lee was a sensible man, knowing that Cheng Yang knew things others did not he stayed silent and waited for Cheng Yang to voice his opinion.

"The next step is to have everyone here perform a class change ceremony. Right now I don't have enough Experience Fragments to let you all become Professionals so it may take a while." Cheng Yang said.

While dictating his plan Cheng Yang went to the top of the wall to shoot the monsters below with Magic Missiles.

Every three attacks Cheng Yang killed a monster gaining a few Experience Fragments for himself and a few for Phoenix Village.

After killing seven monsters the number of Experience Fragments Cheng Yang had was 12 and the territory had 10.

When he reached the number needed for a single class change ceremony Cheng Yang jumped down from the wall. "Hiroko, come with me to perform a class change ceremony. Once you're a Professional come up and help me kill monsters."

"Huh? Why me?" Yu Kai asked, "Why not someone like Liu Hau who has played this kind of game before?"

"Liu Hau is more suitable to become a warrior and wouldn't be able to safely attack the monsters. You're a natural Ranger however and will be able to attack them from on the walls."

Cheng Yang remembered that Yu Kai had a C-Rank innate ability that increased attack range by 20% and physical damage by 10%. A mediocre gift except that increased attack range was a rare attribute to have.

Yu Kai quickly went to the ranger statues and was covered in a curtain of multi-color light. When he emerged he had a bow in his hands an a quiver of arrows on his waist.

Using his privilege as the Lord, Cheng Yang used the Territory Altar system panel to view Yu Kai's attributes.

Yu Kai

Phoenix Village Citizen

Class: Ranger

Level: Low Grade Apprentice (0%)

Age

20

Life Span

110

Health

25

Mana

25

Physical Attack

6.5

Magic Attack

1

Physical Defense

1

Magic Defense

1

Attack Speed

1

Movement Speed

2

Innate Abilities

Receive 30% more stats in the Physical Attack attribute when you level up

Increase Attack Range by 30%

Movement speed is increased by 100%

Skill

Meditation (Low Grade): Meditate to absorb experience fragments and level up

Reinforced Arrow (Low Grade): Imbue your arrow with magic power increasing damage | Damage: 7.5 | Cost: 4 Mana | Cast Time: 3 sec | Proficiency: 0%

Equipment

Wooden Bow: Status symbol of the ranger | Damage: 6.5

Quiver: A magic bag that can hold 60 arrows | Spawns one arrow every minute

Cheng Yang was baffled when he saw Yu Kai's innate ability. How did it increase to S-Rank? His innate ability had also grown but he could explain that through his reincarnation. What about Yu Kai though? Why did his grow?

After thinking for a bit Cheng Yang guess that the chances of getting a good Innate Ability decreased the later you became a Professional. It was a good hypothesis but he would need to test it.

Regardless of the cause Yu Kai's S-Rank innate ability took a burden off of Cheng Yang's heart. Among those of the same level those with worse innate abilities would find it very hard to defeat someone with a better one.