Chapter 6: A Proactive Choice
Matthew Serre,
Race: Human.
Age: 17 years and 9 months.
Profession: Level 1 Arcanist (1/1000).
Experience Pool: 0.
Talents:
Dragon Bloodline LV1, ???.
Feats:
Legendary Feat - Fate's Choice.
Passive: Insight into the essence of most things, presented in the most familiar form.
Active: Consume 100 Fate Coins to activate Fate's Choice, where misfortune accompanies opportunity, and danger is hidden within fortune.
Fate Coins: 108!
Spell Skills:
Cantrips LV5,
Minor Repair, Detect Magic, Light, Ray of Frost, Clean, Mage Hand, Magic Fireworks, Wither Flower, Cook Food.
Level 1 Spells (Cost 10 Mana Points):
Magic Missile LV3: Releases 3+3 magically constructed missiles, each dealing 3 points of magic damage to the enemy.
Sleep LV4: Casts Sleep with a Will save of 3+4; the target falls asleep, waking upon taking any damage.
Rapid Fireball LV4: Sequentially releases 4 small fireballs, each dealing 2 points of damage.
Attributes:
Strength, 12, Modifier +1
Dexterity, 14, Modifier +2
Intelligence, 24, Modifier +7
Constitution, 15, Modifier +2
Wisdom, 18, Modifier +4
Charisma, 16, Modifier +3
Luck, +4 (Temporary)
Spell Attack, 5.
Physical Attack, 3.
Defense, 2.
Hit Points, 31/31 (Constitution x2 + Profession Level), Light Injury.
Mana Points, 250/250 (Intelligence x10 + Profession Level x10).
Skills:
Knowledge 198 (Near-Legendary), Meditation 158 (Near-Legendary), Perception 106 (Advanced), Deception 105 (Advanced), Leadership 101 (Advanced), Evasion 86 (Intermediate), Persuasion 75 (Intermediate).
Life Contract: Time Dragon Beast!
Evaluation: A boss in normal development!
"An Arcanist truly lives up to its name as an advanced profession, and Matthew Serre's talent does indeed qualify as a super genius. The sum of his six main attributes reaches 99 points, even higher than my total attributes as a Level 39 Great Arcanist!"
In Matthew's memory, the maximum attribute for an ordinary player cannot exceed 18 points, with a total attribute value of only 60 points!
"The game *Arcane Emperor* is different from other games; players can only increase their attributes by 1 or 2 points through leveling up every 4 levels, or by advancing their profession and completing certain critical rituals."
"Just like me, as a Level 39 Great Arcanist, who's standing at the pinnacle of player power, my total attributes are still lower than those of a Level 1 Matthew Serre!"
"Indeed, only games consider balance; reality only considers domination!"
"No wonder Matthew Serre was a super genius who could rival Karsas in talent!"
But Matthew quickly snapped out of his thoughts and, noticing Ralph's hesitant gaze, instinctively asked:
"Wait, the Scarlet Moon? Aberration monsters?"
Seeing Ralph nod solemnly, Matthew's heart surged with turmoil as countless bloody and painful memories flooded back.
The Scarlet Moon, seemingly a terrifying presence from the realm of evil gods!
Every evening, the blood-red moon would cast twisted and terrifying light.
All creatures exposed to it had a chance to undergo aberrations.
It starts with physical changes—aberrant creatures would grow extra limbs, organs, and their structures would quickly alter.
This process lasts from 0 to 7 days.
Soon after, once the physical changes are complete, the dark side of their personality would grow uncontrollably, penetrating deep into their minds.
Once this stage is reached, the creature's sanity rapidly fades, replaced by bloodlust and a craving for slaughter.
This process lasts for a month!
Most aberrant creatures reveal themselves through wanton killing and die during this stage.
Only a few aberrant creatures, after devouring enough flesh and souls, undergo aberrations deep within their souls.
Once the soul aberration is complete, they regain their sanity but become loyal followers of the Scarlet Moon.
From then on, their lives and time are dedicated to spreading the Scarlet Moon's influence, creating more aberrant worlds!
For thousands of years, the Scarlet Moon has influenced the entire material plane with its terrifying and twisted power.
Matthew Serre's memories contained much hidden knowledge about the Scarlet Moon and information about aberrant creatures that even Matthew had not known.
Every full moon brought the danger of aberrations that affected the entire material plane!
But in Matthew's memories from his past life, it was completely different.
Players entered *Arcane Emperor* on this very night. While they occasionally encountered strange aberrant creatures in adventures, players were usually the ones getting killed.
But the large-scale Scarlet Moon events didn't happen until 20 years later!
Matthew had previously thought that the appearance of the Scarlet Moon events was just the release of a new expansion, increasing the game's difficulty.
But now it seemed things were not as they appeared!
There was a deeper secret at play here!
"Wow, after living here for decades, I never realized there were so many secrets hidden. The game developers and the company really misled me!"
Though Matthew said this to himself, he quickly calmed down. He knew very well how terrifying the Scarlet Moon and the aberrant creatures were.
Under the Scarlet Moon, the average adventure level in the wild would reach a staggering 7+, and it would require a team!
The average level of aberrant creatures also reached 4, and as the game progressed, legendary-level aberrant creatures even appeared.
These creatures, nearly impossible to kill like demigods, caused many catastrophic and terrifying attacks.
Suppressing his unease and searching his memories, Matthew could now confirm that while the current Blood Moon was dangerous, it was far less terrifying than it would be 20 years later.
Thinking of the temporary "Luck 4" mark on him, Matthew licked his lips and chose a possibly more dangerous path:
"Let's get to the outpost quickly, eat and rest immediately, then continue on the road to avoid any unexpected developments."
Ralph agreed with Matthew's decision, feeling that today had been too strange, and they couldn't remain passive, entrusting their safety to mere hope.
After all, compared to the isolated outpost in the Misty Swamp, a village with about 2,000 people and dozens of soldiers was much safer.
This decision wasn't hidden from the others; Ralph encouraged them as he spoke:
"Everyone, hang in there; we're almost there, and then we'll be safe."
"Prepare for any potential danger; any object approaching without warning should be first warned, then attacked!"
The group moved with more urgency, as for most of them, today had been an incredibly thrilling day.
But it was too thrilling; now, all they wanted was to get through it safely.
The sun gradually approached the horizon.
The red light penetrated the mist.
The dark green Misty Swamp was tinged with dark red, giving it a desolate and bleak sense of unease.
The convoy arrived at the outpost at 4:40.
They were 20 minutes early!
Ralph had the Serre family banner raised and led a few soldiers inside to negotiate.
Matthew could vaguely hear that it was quiet inside, feeling a bit surprised.
The other side's reaction suggested they were unaware of Sweetwater Town's fate this afternoon.
Ralph returned, confirming Matthew's guess, bringing back two anxious soldiers:
"This is our Lord, and this is Captain Sean of Outpost 16."
"Captain Sean has agreed to let us rest and eat here, but he has a small request..."
Matthew noticed Angela standing alertly in front of him, appreciating the knight's vigilance, as he calmly focused his gaze on the anxious Captain Sean.
"As expected, Ralph is very shrewd, not revealing the situation in Sweetwater Town..."
"Given that..."
Unlike other transmigrators who might eagerly seek allies, Matthew instead maintained a distant and indifferent demeanor:
"Just say what it is."
Whether I agree or not is another matter!
Captain Sean, whose face bore a scar, saw the Serre family crest on Matthew's chest, a hint of excitement flashing in his eyes. He slightly bowed his head and spoke in a soft, pleading tone:
"Honorable Lord, the soldiers of our outpost are all villagers from Bay Village. We heard that a dangerous beast appeared in the village yesterday, and we're worried about our families' safety."
"But we are bound by duty and cannot leave easily."
"Only you, my Lord, have the authority. Please, take us back to the village."
"Once we deal with the dangerous beast, we will return to the outpost as soon as possible..."