Although he died and returned to the shelter, Charles remembered the direction and confidently controlled his character to proceed. Soon, he arrived at the village he had discovered yesterday.
Along the way, he encountered scattered Corroders, which Charles easily dealt with and collected some materials.
Upon reaching the village again, the sound of Corroders' roars could be heard from the phone screen.
"It seems that many Corroders have gathered here again," Charles muttered, undeterred. He controlled his character to enter the village, wielding a poisonous wooden club and starting a rampage.
With a swing like smashing a watermelon, one strike would crush a head.
Charles hacked his way from the village entrance to the innermost part without even blinking.
In no time, he arrived at the church.
Just like yesterday, it was still quiet and desolate.
However, this time, Charles was much more cautious.
Approaching slowly, he arrived at the door and quietly pushed it open without making a sound.
Through the gap created by the opening door, Charles saw the Shriekers aimlessly drifting inside.
Shriekers floated like ghosts but had a corporeal form, presenting a humanoid figure with a face consisting of a mouth full of sharp teeth. Their skin was pale gray, giving them a peculiar and eerie appearance.
Shriekers were typical creatures of darkness, born from the darkness and originating from the power of evil gods, rather than being contaminated like Corroders.
Their strength could be considered both strong and weak.
The most significant factor was the piercing sound they emitted, which not only shattered the body but also caused damage to one's spirit.
That's why Charles felt uncomfortable even in front of the screen yesterday.
But dealing with them was relatively simple.
Just plug your ears.
Yes, it was that simple.
As long as you couldn't hear the Shrieker's sound, you could easily deal with it.
So, whenever Charles went out exploring, he always prepared a few earplugs in his pocket to be prepared for Shriekers.
This game, created by the will of the Earth, seemed simple but was extremely realistic.
Charles opened his backpack and inside was a piece of torn cloth he had picked up in the village before. With a click, many options popped up, including one for tearing the cloth.
Clicking on it, the cloth split into two pieces.
Clicking again, more options appeared, including the choice to "insert into the ears."
Charles immediately clicked on it.
On the character's ear on the screen, two clumps of cloth appeared.
After doing all this, Charles raised the corners of his mouth, confidently controlling the character to enter the church.
The Shrieker immediately noticed and opened its bloodthirsty mouth, emitting a piercing scream.
The torn cloth couldn't completely block the sound, and Charles could still hear some of it, causing discomfort, but it was bearable.
Charles seized the opportunity and immediately controlled the character to charge forward, aiming at the Shrieker's head and swinging the poisonous wooden club.
"Die!"
With a loud bang, a powerful strike landed.
The Shrieker staggered but didn't fall dead.
Its resilience was much stronger than that of Corroders.
However, Charles remained unfazed. He clicked the attack button again.
With another loud bang, another strike landed.
This time, the Shrieker finally fell to the ground. Although its head didn't shatter, it lost its vitality.
[Do you want to harvest?]
Of course!
Charles clicked "yes."
A prompt appeared.
[Harvest successful. You obtained Shrieker's Skin.]
"Not bad," Charles said, raising the corners of his mouth and nodding in satisfaction.
He remembered that Shriekers dropped two types of materials: Shrieker's Skin and Shrieker's Heart.
"All of these are quite useful."
The first one, when ground into powder, can be added to building materials as an excellent soundproofing material.
The second one is a material for making potions. It seems to temporarily increase speed, but unfortunately, Charles doesn't know the recipe.
With the Shriekers dealt with, there were no more enemies in the church.
Otherwise, they would have come out while Charles was fighting the Shriekers.
That's why Charles could make this judgment.
Next, he began exploring the interior of the church, searching for useful resources.
In no time, Charles found something useful under the statue in the church's main hall.
[Divine Water.]
[Description: A special water source in religious belief. It is rumored to contain the divine power sprinkled by the gods, and it has the effect of removing curses from the body and possesses some killing power against evil spirits.]
"Good stuff."
Charles's face revealed a smile.
The Divine Water was stored in a golden bottle in front of the statue, containing about 200 milliliters, neither too much nor too little.
Charles immediately stored it away, hesitated for a moment, and then opened his backpack to prepare for synthesis.
[Iron][Corroded Iron Knife]
Although the wooden stick in his hand was not bad, compared to an iron weapon, its power was significantly weaker. If he had a suitable weapon, a single strike would have been enough to instantly kill the Shriekers; there would be no need for a second strike.
Today, the synthesis count had refreshed, so Charles planned to create a weapon first.
As for the poisonous wooden club, he could keep it and bring it out when encountering suitable enemies.
Alternatively, he could sell it to someone.
Activating his talent ability, he clicked on the synthesis option.
The two items merged, and a brand-new iron knife appeared.
[Synthesis successful. You obtained the item: Iron Knife.]
[Iron Knife.]
[Description: A weapon carefully forged by a blacksmith, very sharp.]
He equipped it, replacing the wooden stick in the character's hand with the long knife.
In comparison, the iron knife looked much more imposing than the wooden stick and had greater killing power.
Next, Charles continued to search.
Unfortunately, this church had existed for too long, and many things inside had decayed and lost their value. Charles could only collect some materials.
It wasn't until six or seven minutes later that he finally found a reward on the second floor.
It was a black iron chest emitting a metallic luster, lying quietly in the corner of the second floor.
Charles's eyes lit up with joy as he directly opened the chest.
[You opened the Black Iron Chest and obtained the Basic Class Rune: Mage.]
As the chest released a soft glow, Charles's expression froze for a moment before being replaced by ecstatic delight.
"It's a class rune! I used to mock others as lucky dogs, but it turns out I'm the lucky one?"
"Hahaha, I love it."
Charles happily picked up the rune, and the information appeared on the screen.
[Basic Class Rune: Mage.]
[Description: When used, it grants transcendent basic class Mage, along with corresponding specialization and talents, as well as passive blessings.]
Without any hesitation, Charles clicked to use the rune.
The rune transformed into a stream of light that entered the character's body.
Then a series of prompts appeared on the screen.
[You have obtained the class: Mage.]
[You have obtained the Mage Talent: Meditation.]
[You have obtained the Mage Specialization: Elemental Affinity.]
[You have obtained the Mage Basic Skill: Fireball.]