The taverns in Transylvania were never bustling with activity.
Apart from a few drunkards, most of the townspeople preferred to hide in their homes. The night belonged to the undead, and while cowering didn't offer any real protection, it did provide a psychological comfort to the fearful.
Van Helsing was sitting alone in a corner of the tavern, sipping his drink amid the raucous noise of the few drunks.
The noise abruptly ceased.
Shen Yi appeared at the doorway.
The few drinkers stopped their commotion, looking at Shen Yi with eyes filled with awe.
Shen Yi sat down beside Van Helsing.
"Gasken, get me a drink," Shen Yi said, tossing a silver coin to the bartender.
Gasken placed a full pint of beer in front of Shen Yi and pushed the silver coin back towards him: "This one's on me. Though I don't agree with your methods, I admit you were right."
This surprised Shen Yi.
When all the townsfolk were convinced by him, Gasken was the only one who opposed. Now, when everyone began to fear him, Gasken turned out to be the only supporter.
"Thanks," he said.
Then, raising his glass to Van Helsing, Shen Yi downed his drink in one go.
Van Helsing returned the gesture: "I must admit, my assessment of you during the day was wrong. You are an exceptional monster hunter. Strange that I never heard of you before."
"Perhaps because your assessment wasn't entirely wrong. My strength is indeed low, and I rely on my wits to compensate. But I wish I could rely more on my fists," Shen Yi smiled. "Maybe you could give me some pointers?"
Van Helsing looked at Shen Yi in surprise.
Shen Yi quickly added: "I'm sure you wouldn't consider Count Dracula an easy opponent. A stronger ally is always better than a weaker one, right?"
After a moment, Van Helsing nodded: "What do you want to learn?"
"Whatever you teach, I'll learn," Shen Yi replied eagerly.
He was desperate to improve his combat skills, like a thirsty traveler in a desert longing for water. First, he needed to possess, then he could choose.
"Well, I'll teach you some gun handling techniques," Van Helsing said.
Van Helsing began pointing out Shen Yi's deficiencies in using guns. After the discussion, Shen Yi received a prompt: You have been guided by Van Helsing. Your firearms expertise has increased to a basic level. Your gun handling skills and accuracy have improved, especially against moving targets. You have learned to attach your spirit to bullets, enhancing their attack power. Every point of spirit adds 10 points of damage to the bullet, up to a maximum of 100 additional damage. This is not a specific skill and cannot be further enhanced.
Shen Yi was stunned by the prompt. He had not expected such significant benefits from Van Helsing's advice. He felt more familiar with gun handling and more precise when shooting. But what excited him more was the spirit attachment technique.
Although Shen Yi already had two skills, he lacked in offensive capabilities. Van Helsing's teaching was akin to giving him an attack skill, albeit with ordinary effects and low power. But it was better than nothing.
This also made him realize something: not all rewards had to come from difficult battles. Communicating with story characters could also yield great rewards.
After advising Shen Yi, Van Helsing continued to drink alone, paying him no more attention.
Seeing no more benefits to gain, Shen Yi returned to Anna's house alone.
Anna was still awake. Seeing Shen Yi return, she quickly approached him, hugging his neck and giving him a peck on the cheek before softly saying, "For our hero."
Hero? This title puzzled Shen Yi. But he soon understood that it was more of Anna's trust in him than admiration. From her initial words upon meeting him to her current gaze, what shone was the light of hope.
Killing the vampire bride Marica had given Anna an unprecedented confidence.
She believed in Shen Yi, in his ability to create more miracles.
This was more valuable than any empty words.
Yet, beyond this trust, Shen Yi saw something else in her.
The girl's heart was burning with passion…
Shen Yi believed he could take Anna to his bed right now if he wished.
A fleeting romance?
The thought quickly surfaced in his mind.
He wasn't a rigid, inflexible man.
Although he had once deeply loved another girl, that was in the past. Qing Qing was dead, and one couldn't live in the past forever.
However, facing the girl's passion, he couldn't calmly consider whether it was worth it.
Emotionally, Shen Yi knew he would eventually leave this world. He was uncertain if this world would continue to exist after his departure. It seemed so real, with every person vividly alive, possessing thoughts and souls, capable of anger, hatred, and love — they were real people, not mere NPCs.
If they were indeed real, his departure would deeply hurt this girl.
From a rational standpoint, Gasken harbored deep affection for Anna. Love sometimes drives people insane, leading to irrational and foolish actions. Shen Yi did not want to jeopardize his relationship with the townspeople for such reasons.
On a broader scale, Anna was the princess of the town, bearing the mission to eradicate vampires. Being with her meant turning public affairs into personal ones, leading the townspeople to doubt whether Shen Yi's actions were for saving the town or the Valerius family.
Such a mix of public and personal matters could affect their trust in him.
From any perspective, it was necessary to keep a distance from Anna.
So, he had no choice but to ignore the girl's passionate affection.
Just as he was about to say something to excuse himself, he felt a sudden warmth in his chest.
It was a warning from the Crystal Tears pendant.
Shen Yi pushed Anna away and shouted, "Be careful!"
"Whoosh!" A swift shadow lunged at Shen Yi. Without time to draw his gun, Shen Yi grabbed a weapon rack nearby to block the attack. The massive shadow struck the rack and then him, sending him tumbling backward.
The shadow, a huge werewolf, pinned Shen Yi down, baring its fangs at his neck.
Shen Yi ducked his head and rammed into the werewolf's teeth. Though the werewolf's fangs were sharp, a human's skull is the hardest part of the body. Coupled with Shen Yi's doubled attributes, the headbutt broke two of the werewolf's teeth, causing it to howl in pain.
However, the recoil left Shen Yi somewhat dizzy.
Anna grabbed a curved knife from the scattered weapons and stabbed at the werewolf, but it swiftly knocked the knife away.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Shen Yi quickly regained consciousness, enduring the pain in his head. He grasped the werewolf's paws and, with a mighty effort, threw it against the wall. Surprisingly, the werewolf clung to the wall like a painting, unharmed, and stared fiercely at Shen Yi with glowing green eyes.
Shen Yi flipped his wrist, and his gun was in hand. He fired at the werewolf.
The werewolf howled and leaped onto the ceiling, dodging the bullet, running as easily as on flat ground.
"That's no ordinary werewolf!" Anna exclaimed in horror.
Shen Yi grimaced.
He already knew that.
His mental scan had been released, a routine part of every battle he fought.
"Elite Werewolf, Attack 12-20, Defense 7, Health 400. Special Weakness: Head, No Skills."
This elite werewolf, close in attributes to a Silver Wolf, lacked skills.
In the heat of battle, every second was critical. The werewolf didn't plan to give Shen Yi a second chance to heal. It roared and charged at him again.
Shen Yi stood firm, opting for a damage-for-damage strategy.
Bang!
A bullet hit the werewolf in the chest, causing a horrific -155 damage. The elite werewolf howled in pain, not expecting Shen Yi's lethal force.
10 points of spiritual attachment, resulting in 100 additional damage, plus the inherent damage of the holy bullet, resulted in this effect.
Simultaneously, the werewolf's claw struck Shen Yi's chest, hitting his heart and causing double damage. Shen Yi's recently restored health dropped by a third.
As the werewolf prepared to attack again, Shen Yi's left hand suddenly flashed with a chilling blade light - the hand axe from the Dwarf Chief.
With the axe's innate spinning throw skill activated, Shen Yi's strength of 10 points, plus the axe's 6-10 point damage, resulted in a damage range of 16-20. The axe flew from his hand, slicing the werewolf's shoulder, then returned to Shen Yi. The werewolf's forelimb was nearly severed, howling in agony as it collapsed onto Shen Yi.
The impact almost broke Shen Yi's bones, but he stubbornly raised his right arm and fired another shot at the werewolf.
9 points of spiritual power attached, 145 points of damage.
This was his last 9 points of spirit.
The werewolf's chest burst into a brilliant spray of blood, its bones and organs nearly visible.
However, as Shen Yi fired the shot, he immediately felt an extreme dizziness from depleting all his spiritual power.
This intense feeling of nausea and weakness filled his body, his vision darkening as if hit by a vehicle, utterly powerless.
Shen Yi felt he could barely stand.
This was his first time in combat to completely exhaust his spiritual power, and he hadn't anticipated such severe side effects. Seeing Anna raise her knife to strike the injured werewolf, he knew he had to act.
Shen Yi shouted with his last bit of strength, "Don't kill it!"
Anna stopped, astonished. "Why?"
"Because... it's your... brother," Shen Yi managed to say before collapsing unconscious.