This time his movements were much more agile, and after spending two more days, he successfully leveled up his Breeding Skill to LV10. There wasn't much worth noting over these two days, except for an incident where an enchanting woman emerged from the farmhouse owner's room and sashayed back and forth in front of Xiao Buli, causing him a spell of frustration because he was unable to continue feeding the pigs with the NPC there. After a few rounds, seeing that Xiao Buli had no reaction, she put her hands on her hips, huffed coldly, then looked at the dumbstruck Xiao Buli, sighed helplessly, and went back in.
This woman must be the farmer's wife, I guess. Not sure if there might be some special hidden quest that could be triggered, but with the max level of the Breeding Skill in sight, he decided it was better not to complicate matters unnecessarily. Xiao Buli didn't ponder any further and immediately threw himself back into the vigorous enterprise of pig-feeding. With a flash of golden light, he finally succeeded in leveling up his Taming Skills to LV2 and also grasped another skill—'Wild Beast Knowledge'.
Wild Beast Knowledge: (Knowledge Skill) Due to long-term contact with animals, you have gained a certain understanding of the lifestyle of wild beasts. (This skill can improve the success rate of Taming Skills), unlocks the Beast Compendium feature, and the animals you understand will appear in your Skill Bar in the form of a compendium. Taming Skills have a 50% higher success rate when applied to animals already listed in the Beast Compendium.
Currently, the Beast Compendium only contains one creature—pigs.
Besides the skills, leveling the Breeding Skill to max level also improved attributes; this time there was an increase of one point each in stamina and speed.
Upon deciding to resign from the farmer, the latter seemed quite reluctant to let him go, babbling on and on. However, noticing Xiao Buli's apparent lack of interest in responding, the farmer understood his resolution to leave. So, somewhat helplessly, he took out a purse and counted out the wages for the past few days, totaling over four hundred copper coins, of which two hundred were the compensation for four days of pig-feeding, and the remaining were from three days of grass-cutting profits.
Opening the character panel once again, he found that his character's attributes had improved significantly. Although there was no leveling system, his strength must have considerably increased.
Character Name: Xiao Buli.
Occupation: Swineherd/Harvester.
Intelligence: 13. — High comprehension, extremely strong analytical ability, average memory.
Strength: 11. — Can carry 55 pounds, base attack power 11, (one point of Strength corresponds to a carrying capacity of five pounds, and one point of attack power)
Speed: 11 — Your running speed is average. (Speed determines Movement Speed and attack speed)
Agility: 14 — You have a pair of very agile hands. (Agility determines hit rate and dodge chance)
Stamina: 13. — Stamina Points 120 (1 point of Stamina corresponds to 10 Stamina Points).
Physique: 10. — Health points 100. (1 point of Physique corresponds to 10 Health Points).
Charm: 12. — You're quite good-looking.
Spirit: 13. — You possess a spirituality that surpasses ordinary people.
Luck: 7. — Your luck is a bit bad.
Skills—
Life Skills: Breeding LV10, Harvesting LV10.
Knowledge Skills: Wild Beast Knowledge LV1.
Combat Skills: Taming Skills LV2, One-handed Sword Specialization LV3, Chain Sword Strike LV1.
Money: 4 silver coins and 23 copper coins.
The currency exchange rate in this game is 100 copper coins = 1 silver coin, 100 silver coins = 1 Gold Coin. The sum of his earnings over the past week amounted to just over four silver coins. Without even calculating, Xiao Buli knew this game had to be the hardest he'd ever played in terms of making money.
So what should he do now? Should he focus on improving his Taming Skills, or should he learn the so-called Basic Sword Skills?
"You're playing pretty well,"
an abrupt voice sounded from behind him, startling Xiao Buli, because he hadn't heard any footsteps before. He instinctively turned to look and found it was the guy with the black hoodie, who had passed the test with him. Having only met this fellow once without ever speaking to him, and never having seen him again afterward, Xiao Buli had almost forgotten him. Unexpectedly, the man had now suddenly shown up.
"In truth, Taming Skills aren't very useful. They might be handy early on, but later on, they become virtually worthless because tamed wild beasts cannot be revived after death. You have to repeatedly capture new ones, so they can only be used as consumables. There are quite a lot of limitations,"
Xiao Buli responded with an "Oh," but said nothing else. "What about Swordsmanship skills, then? Are there similar skills to learn in the village?"
Of course, the militia captain of Dahuang Village is a master swordsman, you can learn from him."
Following the man's guidance, Xiao Buli made his way to the village barracks and easily found the militia captain at the guard post by the village's main gate.
He chose to inquire about the captain's skills, and indeed, the militia captain affirmed that he had Swordsmanship skills to teach. What Xiao Buli couldn't accept was that he actually demanded a tuition fee of three silver coins! Could he see the pittance Xiao Buli had in his hands? He thought to himself. The 4 silver coins and 23 copper coins were his earnings from a whole week's work, and having to spend most of it on learning a skill was a bit hard to swallow.
Seeing Xiao Buli's lack of response after a while, the militia captain couldn't help but sneer, "What, too expensive for you? Humph, I wouldn't bother teaching anyone else if it wasn't for your decent potential."
Decent potential? Was it because of the One-handed Sword Specialty LV3 skill? It seemed that all the grass cutting and pig feeding weren't in vain. Three silver coins really were not cheap, but based on Xiao Buli's gaming experience, he knew skimping on learning skills was definitely not an option. After weighing the pros and cons, he resolutely decided to pay the tuition fee.
After taking the three silver coins as tuition, the militia captain took out a one-handed longsword and began explaining and instructing Xiao Buli.
Because it was a game, there was naturally no need to put in much effort to learn. Not long after, a set of Sword Forms was executed, and with a flash of golden light, a line of text appeared on the screen.
System Notification: You have learned Basic Swordsmanship LV1. You can view this skill in your Skill Bar.
Xiao Buli opened his Skill Bar to take a look.
Basic Swordsmanship: State Skill, activating this state provides you with higher accuracy and blocking efficiency while using a one-handed sword in combat. Current Swordsmanship level LV1.
Skill Notes: This is a basic set of Swordsmanship skills, created after long and careful refinement by many veteran warriors. It integrates various Sword Forms such as lifting, blocking, stabbing, and slashing. Although the moves are simple, they are very suitable for beginners. Proficiency 0/100.
However, leveling up this Basic Sword Skills wasn't as simple as harvesting or breeding. Nor could it be improved through life skills like the One-handed Sword Specialty; one must engage in actual combat to gain Skill Experience, and with each level gained, the experience required would increase.
But it did seem to be much more useful than his previous skills. As Xiao Buli turned to say thanks, the man was already gone, and he didn't know when he had left.
He looked around and saw other players were immersed in their computers. The man wasn't among them, and it seemed that no one had noticed him leave. It was really quite strange.