Incarnation

Despite their efforts, the two of them still hadn't had time to roast the snake. At that moment, Victor said:

"Hey, I'm a bit hungry. Let me eat something first."

Julius nodded and replied:

"Then let me go get some dry wood for you. Just stay here."

Before Victor could respond, Julius had already left. Watching his retreating figure, Victor laughed:

"Ha ha, this guy's not bad. I made a hat and cloak for him, and he immediately volunteered to get wood for me. That's good, he's not without knowledge, so he should find the right stuff to start a fire."

Meanwhile, Julius was wandering around, picking up dry wood and leaves. He wasn't afraid of getting lost since he had an excellent memory for directions.

After a while, he spotted something red on the ground. Moving closer to inspect it, he discovered it was a ring with a flame pattern on it. He picked it up and examined the information:

-----

Fire – Level 6

Magic: Fire Bullet

Effect: Deals damage equal to 160% STR with a burning effect for 5 seconds (cannot be extinguished). After 5 seconds, it becomes normal fire. The burning range increases with the owner's level.

Consumption: 10 mana per hit

-----

After reading the details, Julius laughed:

"Ha ha, this is great. We don't have any decent weapons yet. Now that we have this ring, we'll have some offensive power. Giving it to him is the best choice."

He then happily carried the dry wood and leaves back. Seeing his friend looking unusually cheerful, Victor felt very curious and asked:

"What's got you so happy? Did you find something important?"

Julius threw the sticks and leaves on the ground and looked at him with a grin:

"Ha ha ha, of course. I've got a present for you."

Victor's eyes widened in surprise. He had a hunch but still wanted to be sure:

"Don't tell me you found a ring while gathering wood by accident."

Julius nodded, took the red ring out of his pocket, and tossed it to Victor, saying:

"As promised, this is yours."

Victor caught the ring and checked the information. After reviewing it, he laughed:

"Ha ha ha, this is indeed a great treasure. I won't be polite then. With this, starting a fire will be very easy."

He then put the ring on his index finger, simply because it felt convenient. He shaped his hand like a gun and thought:

<Fire Bullet>

A small fireball appeared at the tips of his two fingers and shot forward at a very high speed. Although not as fast as a real gun, it was difficult to avoid. The fireball flew straight to the pile of leaves and ignited a large flame that lasted for five seconds before dying down to a normal fire.

Seeing this, Julius quickly threw dry wood onto the fire and said:

"Hey, this spell is really convenient. Starting a fire is incredibly fast."

However, Victor wasn't paying attention to Julius. He was focused on the sensation after using the spell. He said:

"Do you also feel physically exhausted after using magic, like your stamina is drained?"

Julius nodded and replied:

"That's right. I think using magic draws energy from your own body. It's similar to feeling tired after working."

Victor nodded, understanding the logic. He said:

"But right now, I can only fire ten shots at a time. Moreover, after using them, the body becomes very fatigued. I think our combat ability would decrease significantly afterward. So, I believe we shouldn't rely too much on magic. It's powerful, but the consumption is also high, so it should only be used when victory is assured or there is no other choice. By the way, can you ask about the rate of Mana recovery for me?"

Hearing this, Julius started conversing with Number One:

[Hey, what's the rate of Mana recovery?]

[1 hour recovers 5% of maximum Mana.]

[Can't you come out and play? If you want to play, you should be free a bit. Standing behind that screen isn't fun at all.]

Julius's words made Number One think about its earlier intentions:

"But I initially said I would be a system, so how should I change that now? Ah, that's right. Who said a system can't have an incarnation? As long as its power is at level 0, they won't object."

But he still had to inform the others first. After all, he didn't want to get scolded for no reason. He connected with the others and said:

"Hey, can the system have a level 0 incarnation outside? This way, the experience can be more varied."

The others didn't object, since level 0 was extremely weak and couldn't fight, so it wasn't an issue. They said:

"Agreed."

After getting everyone's agreement, he told Julius:

[Alright, I'm coming out now.]

At this moment, beside Julius, appeared an old man dressed in ancient sage-like clothing. This old man was none other than Number One. Both Julius and Victor were startled by Number One's sudden appearance. Julius asked:

"Are you Number One?"

Number One nodded and said:

"Yes, that's me."

Then Victor asked:

"Are you the system? Why are you so old?"

Number One replied:

"I'm here to play, so I chose to appear as an old and weak person. Besides, words from an old man tend to carry more weight, so I chose this form. Another reason is because I'm too handsome, and I didn't want to steal the spotlight from you guys. Oh, and Mana regenerates at 5% of its maximum per hour."

The first two reasons seemed normal, but when they heard the last reason, the corners of their mouths twitched. Julius said:

"Honestly, you don't look very godly to me."

Hearing this, Number One laughed and said:

"Ha ha, I'm just here to have fun. When having fun, one should be relaxed. But when doing something serious, I am just as you've seen before."

After listening to a few sentences between the two, Victor was very surprised. He had identified the true identity of this person called Number One. 

Moreover, he also noticed Number One's playful personality when he play, so he spoke very casually:

"Hey, thank you."

Being thanked out of the blue, Number One was momentarily stunned. At the moment, he wasn't using memory reading, so he wasn't very clear, and since he was using a level 0 body and not using any divine abilities. 

It wasn't that he couldn't do that, but if he did, the others would come looking for him. He asked:

"Why are you thanking me?"

Victor replied:

"Because you've given me an opportunity to realize my ambitions."