[Mufeng]
[Class: Unclassed]
[Tier: Tier 0]
[Talent: Extract Magic Energy attribute affixes to strengthen one's own class skills.]
[Attributes: Strength 1.9, Agility 2.1, Physique 1.8, Spirit 4.3]
[Skills: Healing Spell (Common 2-Star)]
Mufeng walked along, observing his own attributes, especially the talent column, thinking to himself: "With stats as weak and vanilla as these, there isn't a single bright spot. The only thing I can count on is this cheat-like talent. But first, I need items with Magic Energy attributes."
"Mufeng, look what I brought you! It's the Tier 0 equipment you've been wanting the most."
At the school gates, Mufeng suffered over five seconds of hard crowd control.
He stared blankly at the peerless beauty before him. Seeing her in the flesh in reality was ten times more stunning than in his memories.
Like a lotus emerging from the clear water, naturally beautiful without any artificial adornment!
Seeing Mufeng standing there stupidly, Muxue assumed he was still angry and deliberately ignoring her. She walked closer, handed over the equipment, and said softly:
"It was sister's fault last night; I shouldn't have hit you. Don't be mad anymore, okay? Didn't you keep crying out for a set of gear you could wear when changing classes? I borrowed it for you, hurry up and put it on to see how it fits."
"Oh."
Not only was she gorgeous, but her voice was gentle and sweet too!
Mufeng felt himself falling. His heart had been heavily struck by an arrow—simultaneously painful and exhilarating, sweet and tingling.
In their early years, Mufeng's parents kept failing to conceive, so they adopted Muxue, only to later successfully give birth to Mufeng and Muyun. But they treated Muxue as their own flesh and blood, loving her even more because of how exceptional she was.
The parents had never hidden her background from Muxue, telling her about the adoption early on. Muxue hadn't taken it to heart and lived life as usual, simply becoming even better to her younger siblings.
Mufeng took the equipment and put it on.
[Metal Sword (Common) Tier 0: Attack 1-2, Strength +1.]
[Cloth Cap (Common) Tier 0: Armor +1, Spirit +1.]
[Cloth Robe (Common) Tier 0: Armor +2, Physique +1.]
[Cloth Gloves (Common) Tier 0: Strength +1.]
[Cloth Shoes (Common) Tier 0: Agility +1.]
Normal Tier 0 equipment did not come with extra attributes, so these five pieces could be considered minor top-tier items that required a huge amount of effort to collect.
They provided five points of attributes, plus three points of armor and two points of attack—things extremely precious to an unclassed Tier 0 novice.
It was no exaggeration to say this set of equipment could serve as an heirloom for an ordinary family.
"Look, you look so much more energetic now that you've got the gear on," Muxue said, patting Mufeng's shoulder and nodding.
"Sis, that Xie family aren't good people. We should just return the equipment; we don't owe them any favors."
Although the equipment was good, the thought of such a pretty big sister having to beg others made his heart ache.
Of course, the most important thing was that each of these five pieces of equipment only added a single point to an attribute. Even after putting them on, it fundamentally wouldn't change his situation as a weak, vanilla newbie. Perhaps it was enough to clear ordinary dungeons, but nightmare difficulty was still a far cry away.
Even with his cheat, without any striking attribute affixes to exploit, chicken-rib affixes that only added a single attribute point were completely useless—it would be an utter waste of the cheat.
Muxue looked at Mufeng in surprise, not expecting her younger brother to have changed so much today. His usual boastful and grandiose talk was gone; he seemed to have grown up a lot all at once, even knowing that the Xie family were no good.
"Silly, once they're borrowed, the favor is already owed. Returning them now means we still owe the favor just the same. Don't worry about these favors, just focus on your class advancement. Remember, if things really don't work out, just concede and don't try to force it. Leave the money to me."
"Sis, I know. I won't push myself—after all, you only get one life. If I died, how heartbroken you and Mother would be!"
Hearing this, Muxue was surprised once again, never expecting Mufeng to utter such mature and sensible words.
She couldn't help muttering to herself: yesterday evening upon returning from the governor's mansion, hearing that Mufeng had chosen nightmare difficulty, she had given him a harsh slap across the face before rushing anxiously out to borrow equipment.
Now that she saw Mufeng again, what on earth had happened in between? Surely her slap hadn't knocked Mufeng into his senses, right?
The truth was actually just that. Mufeng, who had been doted on by his mother and Muxue since childhood, had been heartbroken to the core after receiving that slap, remaining in a daze and out of his mind ever since—which was what allowed the current Mufeng to successfully transmigrate.
The two of them arrived at the trial dungeon entrance to handle the paperwork. Muxue instructed him once more:
"Mufeng, seeing how you've suddenly grown up today gives me a lot of peace of mind. Yesterday when I was so angry, it wasn't because you chose nightmare difficulty; I was mainly mad at your childishness and immaturity. Now seeing you like this, I actually think your choosing nightmare difficulty is a good thing. Go get a taste of it—be bold and charge in. Whatever happens, your sister has your back."
"Don't worry, Sis. I'll never let you down again."
Mufeng nodded, turned around, and walked into the dungeon. He wasn't just saying those words casually; he was making a silent vow in his heart.
"Dear adventurer, welcome to Goki Village. A pack of white wolves is harassing the village nearby, and I'm preparing to wipe them out. Would you invite me to join you?"
As soon as he entered the dungeon, a peak Tier 1 warrior appeared before Mufeng, extending an invitation.
At the same time, the quest prompt appeared.
[Please eliminate the white wolf pack in Wolf Mountain within three hours. If overtime passes without completion, the quest fails.]
Three hours—plenty of time, quite considerate of newcomers.
Mufeng looked around left and right, searching for the Goki Village the warrior mentioned, but alas, there was not a trace of it. If he could go to the village, perhaps he could get into contact with more attribute items.
"I come from a very far place. Can we go to your village to rest and regroup before setting off?"
"No, this is already Wolf Mountain, some distance from the village. We must set off immediately to wipe out the wolves. If you're not going, I'm heading out alone."
Helpless, Mufeng had no choice but to agree.
...
Time flicked back to the instant the NPC warrior fell. Along this entire journey, Mufeng hadn't picked up a single Magic Energy attribute item, and he truly wasn't reconciled to conceding in such a dejected manner.
Along the way, he had gradually formed some ideas regarding the use of his talent cheat.
The attribute affixes mentioned by this cheat didn't explicitly specify only the extra attributes attached to items—did an item's name count as an affix?
Mufeng cast his gaze toward the Metal Sword in his hand, and directed his talent skill at the three characters: Metal Sword.
To his surprise, it was actually usable. He couldn't help exclaiming inwardly: It would be even more perfect if those three characters "Metal Sword" could be split apart into "Metal" and "Sword."
As his thought arose, a space symbol suddenly appeared between "Metal" and "Sword," and the system panel prompted:
[Do you want to add the Metal Sword affix to your Healing Spell skill?]
[Yes.]
[Skill attribute affix successfully added.]
Before the white wolf lunged over, Mufeng cast Healing Spell on himself. A flash of metallic luster swept across the surface of his skin, and when a white wolf bit down, it chipped three of its teeth right out.
White Wolf: ?