The next day, dawn broke faintly.
Without need for an alarm, Fang You broke free from the shackles of his blankets, full of energy, and wished he could practice the basic swordsmanship dozens of times.
He was brimming with energy! Unlike before when he would sleep early and rise late, always feeling sleepy, at this moment, if he turned on the computer to write a chapter of his novel, he would surely finish it quickly.
But writing was nowhere near as joyful as playing games.
No, how could saving the world be called playing games? He was striving for the survival of the world.
"First, let's get some food."
"Just boil some noodles, that's easy."
Fang You was in a cheerful mood, but his cheerful day ended with breakfast.
Looking down, the chopsticks in his hand had snapped, even though he hadn't used any force.
He was too busy yesterday and nearly exhausted all day, he hadn't noticed it then, but today, everything he picked up felt too light, and he had to be careful not to exert too much force.
"After all, my physique has more than doubled in strength from when I first started."
"I must quickly get used to my current state, otherwise, I'm bound to break something else."
Fang You did a hundred push-ups, two hundred squats, and practiced the basic swordsmanship a few more times before he felt about right and adapted.
After dispersing most of his strength and taking a rest, Fang You began his daily routine.
Saving the world.
That sounded too grand. It was simpler to just rid the world of the Mysterious Evil.
...
Time passed.
Since the Bureau knocked on his door that day, Fang You stayed home for a week, never stepping outside his door.
During this time, by dispatching the Apostle of Fate, Black Blade, he cleaned up six areas infested with Mysterious Evil, none too strong. Not to mention comparing them to the second time, even the Knocking Child from the first encounter was stronger than most of these six.
Black Blade struck them down with a single blow.
This made Fang You realize that this was the true level of a one-star Mysterious Evil. As for that thing he encountered on the construction site, he wasn't sure if it was the top of the one-star level, or if it was just straight out of the norm.
"It's good news that Mysterious Evil isn't generally that strong, but... the destiny points I get from dispatch missions have decreased."
The first dispatch mission, ridding the construction site of the Mysterious Evil, earned him '0.6 destiny points' and 'one Skill Book'.
But the six times after that, he only received between 0.2 to 0.4 destiny points, and there was no Skill Book, replaced instead by a material called 'Mysterious Crystals'.
Its use was unclear.
Fang You opened the game, and as of today, he had gathered a total of 2.6 units of destiny points and eight Mysterious Crystals.
This was after using two double benefit cards, which had to be used before dispatch, but now he was reluctant to use his remaining one.
The gains were too low.
It might be more worthwhile to save for a two-star Mysterious Evil dispatch mission, except two-star Mysterious Evil...
"If the Mysterious Evil at the construction site wasn't an outlier, then a two-star Mysterious Evil would be truly terrifying."
"With Black Blade's strength, it's highly likely he wouldn't stand a chance."
"And around here, the dispatch map only revealed one two-star region and two one-star regions left."
"That's definitely not enough for the third destiny draw."
It's not like he couldn't continue to gather the points.
Dispatch missions scanned the area centered around him; all he needed to do was change his location.
But the outside world was too dangerous; he would wait to move until he truly had the ability to protect himself.
Yeah, he was still a bit short.
Five days ago, he used the 'Spirit Tracking' Skill Book; the process was similar to when he learned basic swordsmanship, only more complicated.
It wasn't just about practicing; he had to soak his eyes in a special liquid.
This time learning the skill wasn't very tiring, but the pain made Fang You remember washing his eyes when he was a child. Just thinking about it made his eyes uncomfortable.
After learning the skill, his eyes were sore for several days, going through a gradual process of transition and adaptation. However, using the 'Skill Book' to enhance Spirit Tracking to proficient level did not cause him much discomfort.
Fang You blinked his eyes, and momentarily activated the Mysterious Evil Tracking vision.
With the proficiency level of Mysterious Evil Tracking, his use had already become on par with Black Blade's six days ago; he could easily switch it on and off and was able to capture traces of Mysterious Evil up to one or two hundred meters away.
Of course, there were none in his field of view.
If there were, Fang You would have to consider calling over Brother Black Blade or just running away.
Fang You brought up his own panel.
At this moment, he possessed proficiency-level Basic Swordsmanship and Mysterious Evil Tracking, as well as 'Palm Thunder,' an offensive skill he was preparing to learn.
He had one Skill Training Card left.
It wasn't all used on himself; three were given to Brother Black Blade, as he still needed to rely on Brother Black Blade to fight the BOSS.
Fang You brought up Black Blade's information.
"Black Blade"
"Physique: 3.1+0.1"
"Spirit: 1.2+0.1"
"Skills: Basic Blade Techniques (Proficient: 15%), Blade Slash (Expert: 5%), Mysterious Evil Tracking (Proficient: 15%)"
"Equipment: Beginner's Battle Blade"
Compared to the first day, it was a world of difference.
Among them, Black Blade's physique had increased by 0.1 unit, which he improved through regular training. Don't ask how Fang You knew; ask and the answer is peeping....checking the game diary.
And the 0.1 unit increase in spirit was due to the breakthrough of Blade Slash to expert level.
Yes, novice level, proficient level, the next level would be expert.
Using one 'Skill Training Card' could improve a proficiency-level skill by 33% of its proficiency, and three cards were needed to upgrade a skill to the expert level.
He had allocated all to Black Blade's main offensive skill, 'Blade Slash.'
"The day before yesterday during the Mysterious Evil purging, Black Blade had already demonstrated the capability of expert-level Blade Slash."
"Compared with the proficient level, the enhanced Blade Slash can not only be used for an instant burst, but can also maintain the bloody blade light for a short period, and even slightly extend the blade light."
The expert level brought with it the characteristic of variability.
Undoubtedly, while increasing Black Blade's lethality, it also enriched his combat methods.
Perhaps in the future, if Brother Black Blade continues to improve, he could actually slash out a blade light of forty meters?
The only problem was,
maintaining the bloody blade light with expert-level Blade Slash consumed more energy, potentially turning Black Blade into a three-second blade.
"Now, Black Blade could probably take down the construction site Mysterious Evil with two slashes, but when facing two stars..."
Gazing at the Dispatch Map, at that conspicuous two-star Mysterious Evil, Fang You fell into deep thought.
Just a few hundred meters away from the two-star Mysterious Evil, there was a one-star Mysterious Evil.
Maybe,
today could be an opportunity to remove that one-star Mysterious Evil, let Black Blade run over to take a look, assess if there is a fighting chance, and if there's real danger, also have an escape route.
Rather than being randomly sent and bumping straight into a two-star Mysterious Evil.
That's the plan!
...
Half an hour later,
Several kilometers away from Tai Ping Residential Complex, in a desolate grove, Black Blade walked out unhurried with a mask on, shook his blade, and started walking down the cypress road towards the distance.
This place was desolate.
The location was already remote to begin with, and as it got slightly darker, not a single soul could be seen on the entire road.
This was convenient for Black Blade.
He looked towards the end of the street, where behind the dilapidated fence, stood a building that had been abandoned for over a decade.
It was also the destination of Black Blade's journey.