Stealing Skills
"Why do you look so bad?"
Nordri frowned, looking at the evasive gaze of Li Aozi, and scolded:
"How can you cooperate with the experiments like this? You need to maintain a healthy state."
"Had a nightmare."
Li Aozi rubbed his temples; what happened yesterday made him a bit anxious.
After all, he was just an ordinary person. Encountering such unexpected situations, suspicion and anxiety caused mental exhaustion, leading to wild thoughts.
"A nightmare? Just empty delusions. Only the weak fear nightmares; the strong charge forward and win even in their dreams." Nordri scoffed at this.
However, he quickly adjusted his mindset and, taking advantage of the topic, asked Nurse Nordri:
"I think it's not just nightmares causing my mental state to be bad—doing the same training every day is just too boring."
Nordri rolled her eyes at him but then thought it made sense.
Day after day, he was just doing physical training. Meanwhile, other patients in the activity area were chatting, laughing, and playing various ball games, while Li Aozi watched from the side, inevitably feeling unbalanced.
'I still need to pay attention to the patients' psychological issues.'
Remembering Li Aozi's semi-mad, semi-rational state before he was taken in, Nordri still felt a bit apprehensive.
Seemingly harmless, Li Aozi could instantly render her, a martial artist, powerless when in that state.
Looking at the harmless Li Aozi in front of her, who occasionally glanced at the distant patients participating in activities with envy and longing in his eyes, Nordri pondered for a moment and nodded.
"So what do you want?"
Nordri asked:
"I can't let you join group activities with others; you are still under isolation monitoring."
"I know—since that's the case, at least add some different exercise activities, Nurse? Doing the same training every day is just too dull."
"Alright, what do you want to do?"
Li Aozi pretended to think for a moment and said:
"How about you teach me boxing?"
Martial arts.
Nordri initially wanted to refuse but stopped herself.
Training him in some basic moves wouldn't be harmful.
Besides, martial arts require long-term foundational practice and repeated learning. At over 20 years old, Li Aozi's bones were set, making it unsuitable for him to start martial arts.
Moreover, learning some fighting techniques without entering the realm of martial artists posed no threat.
Within seven steps, the gun is fast; within seven steps, the gun is both fast and accurate.
If he truly learned some fighting moves and formed muscle memory, next time he lost control, he wouldn't think of hiding blades in his mouth for a sneak attack but would instead try to fight back in a combat stance.
'If you use a hobby to challenge someone's professional skills, I would welcome it.'
With this in mind, Nordri quickly decided and readily agreed:
"Alright, but my standards are high. Martial arts are not for everyone. Since you want to learn, I'll have to test you. If you fail, you'll continue with physical training."
Li Aozi was delighted and immediately rolled up his sleeves:
"Come on, I've been waiting for this!"
Seeing his enthusiasm for learning martial arts, Nordri internally sneered: I was happy about practicing martial arts initially too; you'll realize your mistake soon.
[Prompt: Nordri Crowe is teaching you the skill—[Basic Combat]]
[This learning session is initiated by the other party, no experience required]
[Do you accept?]
"This is what I've been waiting for!"
Li Aozi rubbed his hands in anticipation. Nurse Nordri had no idea he had an NPC template panel.
In the game "Star Abyss," players needed to consume a lot of experience and special resources to learn skills. However, NPCs could learn and teach each other skills without any cost.
During past storylines, players often saw scenes of NPCs "passing on skills" to each other. It was discovered early on that NPCs could teach and learn skills from each other without any cost if both parties agreed.
The official explanation was to prevent the gap between players and NPCs from being too large, affecting the game's immersion. Besides providing a topic for discussion, players didn't mind this too much—who has the time to be jealous of NPCs?
Of course, if it was self-learning, NPCs were far inferior to players. NPCs needed to study, seek out mentors, and worry about going astray when encountering difficulties.
Players only needed to obtain knowledge books and patiently wait for the progress bar to finish to master a subject.
Li Aozi didn't have any specialized knowledge and couldn't be sure if he had player-like characteristics. However, the NPC template was real, and he enjoyed the benefits of being an NPC.
[You have learned the skill [Basic Combat] from Nordri Crowe, current level: Lv.1]
[Basic Combat] Lv.1: You have a basic understanding of unarmed combat, no longer randomly swinging or exposing weaknesses.
Images of punching, kicking, dodging, and counterattacking flashed through Li Aozi's mind, and he felt his movements becoming more natural and powerful.
"Although I don't plan to waste experience, this skill is very practical and worth upgrading if I get the chance."
Relying solely on the Gravity Aoneng, the [Mutant]'s panel attributes still needed to be developed. Li Aozi had to slowly accumulate and shape his combat style.
"The basic theory has been explained." Nordri said: "Next, it's time for practice."
"Practice?"
Li Aozi didn't react in time.
Bam!
With a blank expression, Nordri suddenly punched at him!
Crack.
The common sense and techniques imparted by [Basic Combat] integrated into his muscle memory. Li Aozi instinctively raised his hand to protect his face, sidestepping the punch. Despite only being grazed by the strong gust of wind from her punch, his thin body staggered back a few steps, almost falling.
"Hmm? Nice reflexes."
Nordri was slightly surprised. She knew Li Aozi's physical condition well, and for him to avoid a direct hit and adopt the correct defensive posture indicated he had been paying attention.
"Not bad, it seems you have some potential. But to learn to fight, you must first learn to take a beating."
Nordri clenched her sandbag-sized fists and, like a hungry tiger, lunged at Li Aozi again!
Li Aozi calmed his breathing, his face showing fear and apprehension.
"Stop! I'm a patient!"
He had already shown a weak demeanor before, and now he needed to maintain it. Dodging while acting in character as a gentle Frosted Land man, he exaggeratedly shouted:
"What are you doing~ Oh my, oh my~~"
——————————————
"What's the latest on Li Aozi's monitoring results?"
The professor, holding a tablet, deftly operated it, casually asking Assistant Anna:
"It's been two weeks now, any findings?"
"His platelet count, cell activity level, thyroid-stimulating hormone, and brainwaves are slightly higher than average, but still not on par with true transcendent beings."
Assistant Anna spread out the report in her arms, reading seriously:
"Head Nurse Nordri subjected him to training on par with the Frosted Republic's military standards. Even after blood and bone marrow extractions, he could return to normal the next day... But she also noted that at this level, he merely matches the Heavenly Ring's super soldier plan, far from the standards of a level five infectee—not even close to level four."
"I see."
The professor placed the tablet on her lap and said indifferently:
"It seems Head Nurse Nordri is getting along well with him, their relationship is quite harmonious."
"Harmonious?" Anna was stunned: "He's almost being trained to death..."
"Based on the interaction records, on the first day of training, Li Aozi mentioned 'ZX-102'—even so, Nordri managed to control her emotions. That's quite surprising."
"Indeed..." Anna hesitated: "Previously, Korqi merely mentioned removing room 102, and she broke his limbs. Considering this, Li Aozi's relationship with her isn't too bad."
"How about the intelligence tests?"
"Multiple tests placed his IQ between 121 and 117, still within the normal range." Anna reported honestly.
"No intellectual transformation, strong but not exceeding transcendent physical abilities. Interesting, someone seemingly ordinary causing so much trouble—doesn't that make him more suspicious?"
"You mean...?"
"When a soldier returns unscathed despite being shot several times, should you reinforce where he was hit or where he wasn't?"
Anna paused, then realized: "Survivor bias!"
"Past studies on infectees focused on physical and intellectual levels, but we seem to have overlooked that transcendent beings themselves are diverse."
"Previous level three and four infectees mostly exhibited physical mutations, and increased intelligence was due to brain abnormalities—this led
us to subconsciously believe: mutations caused by infection occur in the body."
"Can a virus truly cause mental mutations?" Anna hesitated: "The infectees we've contained at most awakened spiritual sight, but even people from the four nations without Esha infection can awaken. Research on spiritual mediums has been slow."
"So, is it possible that past berserk infectees experienced mental mutations? But since we couldn't control the research, we overlooked this."
The professor stroked her chin with interest:
"Perhaps, in other areas, Li Aozi possesses strengths beyond our expectations."
Assistant Anna remained silent, deeply believing in the professor's words. Beyond loyalty, the professor's insights were worth considering.
"Or further, those past berserk patients might be showing tendencies of infection deepening..."
"Level three infectees are immune to diseases, with physical deformities."
"Level four infectees have body mutations, hormonal imbalances, far surpassing ordinary people. That's why they go berserk."
"Theoretically, level five infectees should exhibit brain mutations, showing the virus's attempt to control the host... But Li Aozi's brain scans showed no abnormalities."
"So, we can consider another direction, focusing on mental mutations instead of the brain."
Anna pondered deeply, already planning to shift her research focus.
The professor gently brushed her white hair aside, glancing at the computer screen. The black screen reflected her elegant and beautiful face.
Her gaze focused on the reflection of the corners of her eyes.
Some wrinkles slowly spread, contrasting sharply with the surrounding smooth skin, making them particularly noticeable.
"In that case, I plan to apply for ZX-626's ability usage permit, shifting research direction might yield progress."
Assistant Anna noticed the professor spacing out and asked:
"Professor?"
"…It has begun."
"Are you listening?"
"Oh—" The professor snapped back, about to answer when an ear-piercing alarm sounded in the room.
Woooooo——