After opening the box, Shen Yi visited the trading market in the slum area.
Compared to the regular trading market, this one was much quieter.
Most of the weapons and skill scrolls for sale were non-graded. Since selling to the shops involved a 40% tax, many adventurers chose to sell in the market to avoid unnecessary losses. Adventurers like Shen Yi who didn't want to waste time and sold their novice task weapons directly to the shop were in the minority.
Whether it was through robbery, working, or waiting in the market, these were the methods adventurers used outside of missions to gain more benefits. Although the profits were small, they were safe and reliable. It was said that after reaching difficulty three, there would be a specialized exchange where you could list items for sale at set prices. But for now, everyone had to exchange time for bloody points in this market.
Wandering through the market, Shen Yi, perhaps recognized by some who had seen him in the bar, was approached by several adventurers trying to sell their wares. However, he mostly shook his head in disappointment.
Due to the limited number of combat skill slots, Shen Yi was reluctant to buy ordinary skills of little significance. Just as he was about to leave, someone approached him and opened an energy screen.
"Arc Trajectory Technique: A gun technique that fires bullets in an arc, making them difficult for the target to dodge. Learning conditions: Basic-level Gun Mastery, 15 points in mental strength."
Shen Yi just smiled lightly.
Seeing his lack of interest, the adventurer became anxious, "My friend, this is a gun skill scroll I got from the Assassin's League, not available in the shops. If you've seen that movie, you should know how awesome this gun skill is. I'm not asking for a high price, it's a D-grade skill, 3000 bloody points. I'll give it to you for 2500, how about it?"
Shen Yi replied indifferently, "Gunfight backgrounds are more common in difficulty one worlds, but beyond that, it's mostly magical settings. The role of firearms diminishes, so why should I learn gun skills? I don't feel that my combat skill slot is enough to waste. Besides, just because it's not available in the store doesn't mean it's good, right? This Arc Trajectory Technique doesn't enhance bullet attacks; what's the use besides turning? If I can hit the enemy, what's the difference between curving and straight shots? It's just a flashy but impractical skill."
The adventurer was visibly deflated.
In fact, most adventurers were very rational in selecting skills. This was a place of life and death, and no one dared to pursue flashiness over effectiveness.
Shen Yi's reasoning made sense. Buying a skill without much power wasn't a wise move, especially when it was a gun-related skill with limited prospects.
The adventurer, having tried to sell the scroll for many days without interest, complained, "Seems like I'll have to dump it in the shop. I think this skill isn't meant for enemies but for one's own people. Whoever gets it will be the one with the headache."
However, his remark about using it on one's own people sparked an idea in Shen Yi.
Right!
Didn't he have medical and smoke bullets and other special bullets?
Although the Arc Trajectory Technique didn't enhance attack power, its flexibility in use was significant. Using it with special bullets could bring great effects. Given the existence of special bullets in Bloody City, there would likely be other sources of special bullets in the future. These bullets were valuable and would need some effective gun skills to support them...
Thinking this, Shen Yi quickly said, "How about this? I'll give you 2000 bloody points for the scroll, and I'll see how it works. If it doesn't work well, it's my bad luck."
The adventurer was overjoyed, earning 200 bloody points, though not much, at least he hadn't wasted his time. After all, finding a job in Bloody City only yielded a few hundred bloody points.
After the transaction, the relieved adventurer patted Shen Yi's shoulder and said, "Thanks, brother. Let me tell you something. Normally, skills and equipment not sold in the store are quite good, with a high cost-performance ratio. This Arc Trajectory Technique, I don't know why it's so lousy. But some things you won't know unless you try. Give it a shot, and if it really doesn't work, I'll teach you a few ways to get rid of it."
"What ways?" Shen Yi asked.
The adventurer answered seriously, "One: use a Forgetfulness Scroll to forget the skill and free up a skill slot. But this means you waste a skill and the price of a Forgetfulness Scroll. The upside is that Forgetfulness Scrolls are available in shops and aren't too expensive. Two: use the Imprint
Technique to transfer the unwanted skill back onto a blank scroll, allowing you to resell the skill. However, Imprint Technique is a high-level auxiliary skill, and blank scrolls cost quite a few bloody points, so it's impossible to earn it all back. Three: when completing some high-level tasks, you often get special rewards, one of which is expanding the skill slot. Four: the legendary profession system. I've heard that Bloody City allows professions, and profession skills don't occupy skill slots. As for the specifics, I'm not too familiar."
Shen Yi was astonished.
Out of the four methods the adventurer mentioned, he only knew about the Forgetfulness Scroll, not the others. Especially the existence of a profession system in Bloody City was beyond his expectations.
"Do you know what professions there are in the profession system and how to obtain them?"
The adventurer shrugged, "I'm not sure, I've heard it's hard to get."
Shen Yi thought for a moment and nodded, "For the information you've given me, the 200 bloody points difference is worth it. Thanks."
The adventurer chuckled.
With the scroll in hand, Shen Yi immediately confirmed his learning.
"You have learned the Arc Trajectory Technique."
"When using this skill, you first need to visually lock onto a specific target. Once the target is locked, no matter how they move, hide, or disguise themselves, they will always appear in your vision."
"The duration of the visual lock is 5 seconds, with a range limit of 100 meters, consuming 1 point of mental power. Cooldown time ten seconds. Skill effect priority 10."
"After locking onto the target, shooting at them will cause the bullet to automatically find a flight curve that bypasses obstacles to attack the target."
"After the bullet leaves the barrel, the lock is automatically lifted. The Arc Trajectory Technique has seven levels, each level can lock onto one target, extend the locking time by one second, and increase the visual locking distance by 100 meters."
"This skill can be combined with most gun skills."
Shen Yi was stunned by what he saw.
Shen Yi realized he had indeed stumbled upon a treasure.
If the adventurer had known the true capabilities of the Arc Trajectory Technique, he would have regretted selling it, probably not even for 5000 bloody points.
The real value of the Arc Trajectory Technique was not in shooting curved bullets but in its visual locking ability and compatibility with other gun skills. Visual locking allowed adventurers to keep opponents directly in their sight during combat, clearly seeing every move, especially those who thought they were cleverly hiding behind. Combining it with other gun skills essentially enhanced the threat level of those skills.
The Arc Trajectory Technique was a purely auxiliary skill, but its practical value was quite high.
Shen Yi had seen the Assassin's League film before and had been puzzled by the practicality of curved bullets since human vision is linear. How could you ensure your curved bullets hit targets you couldn't directly see, let alone hit them critically? This was an aspect that everyone had seemingly overlooked.
The Bloody City added a visual locking ability to the Arc Trajectory Technique, giving it true value. The skill's low energy consumption of just 1 mental power point and its short cooldown time made it very beneficial, both in and out of combat, satisfying Shen Yi greatly. The only downside was the skill's low priority, which might limit its effectiveness against adventurers with shielding and stealth abilities. But for a D-grade skill, it was already performing better than expected.
However, Shen Yi soon realized that he still hadn't resolved the issue of weak attack power. All three of his skills were auxiliary, and he lacked sufficient offensive means against strong opponents.
It seemed he still needed to purchase a powerful melee attack skill, Shen Yi sighed.
Considering his remaining two skill slots, he felt overwhelmed.
After browsing the market without finding a suitable skill, Shen Yi decided to visit the regular area.
After paying 100 bloody points as a toll, he arrived at the market in the regular area.
"Hey? Is that you, kid?"
Shen Yi turned around upon hearing the voice, only to find the Scar-faced Man, the novice guide officer, standing behind him.
It turned out the Scar-faced Man was an adventurer from the regular area.
The Scar-faced Man looked at Shen Yi with a grin, "I knew you made it out alive when I received a thousand bloody points last time."
"I haven't had the chance to thank you for your help. Without that gun in the novice task, I would have died," Shen Yi said sincerely.
The Scar-faced Man waved his hand impatiently, "Let's not talk about that. You've already repaid me, we're even. Kid, remember this. In Bloody City, there are only interests, no favors!"
"Thanks for the reminder."
"It's been a month; you must have just completed an official mission?"
"Yes, so I came here to see if there are any skills I need."
"What are you looking for?"
Shen Yi briefly described his skill requirements.
The Scar-faced Man shook his head repeatedly, "You want a one-handed skill, with upgrade potential, and a D-grade skill, that's not very realistic. Such skills are hard to find. But if you need something urgently, I have an equipment that might temporarily meet your needs."
Saying this, the Scar-faced Man opened his energy screen.
"Thunder Bracers: D-grade high-quality equipment. Increases strength by 15 points when worn, comes with the skill: Thunder Strike. Consumes 3 mental power to inflict additional 45 points of damage to the target, with a 10% chance of stun effect for 3 seconds, and a 10% critical hit effect, doubling attack power. Wearing requirements: 15 points in strength, basic hand-to-hand combat specialization, skill cooldown time 1 minute. Bloody point value 3000 points. Skill effect priority 20. This equipment cannot be advanced or upgraded."