Looking at the Stats Panel, my experience increased by 0. My Attributes are:
Strength 15
Dexterity 20
Vitality 30
Mana 20
Life: 55 + 5 (Level Up) + 15 (5 Attribute Points). Mana: 20 + 2 (Level Up). Defense: 0 + 2 (Level Up). The four Resistances are still 0.
Others omitted (The way Attributes increase here is slightly different from the game).
A level up added 20 Life. If I put all points into Vitality, wouldn't I have over 2000 Life by Level 100? Add in Oak Sage, tsk tsk...
Of course, that's impossible. Without enough Strength and Dexterity to wear High-Level Equipment, having more Life is useless.
...
Through this battle, I felt I still have many shortcomings (obviously).
First, I can't control the actions of the Poison Creeper; it attacks entirely on its own. This kind of combat might add a few unexpected variables.
As a Druid, I instinctively feel that I actually have the ability to control the Poison Creeper's actions; I just haven't mastered the method yet.
Second, the Poison Creeper's Intelligence is too low. When attacking a Rotting Corpse, one attack is actually enough; the remaining poison damage is sufficient to bring it down. However, the Poison Creeper can't detect this and still performs a second attack, looking like it won't stop until the target is dead.
Combining these two points, it's actually just one issue: I can't control the Poison Creeper. If I could control it, these two points wouldn't exist at all.
It seems I need to figure out on my own how to properly communicate with the Poison Creeper.
"Little Flower"
I tried to give it a name to gain its affection. Don't all Online Game Novels have such cliché plots?
The Poison Creeper happily spun around underground, ignoring me.
"Don't like it? How about calling you Ru Hua?"
I thought it didn't like it, so I changed the name.
It spun and spun, still ignoring me.
"Could it be you don't like such common names? Then how about Xin Ru? Xin Ru, see how elegant and pleasant it sounds?"
I tried to pique its interest, looking utterly charmed.
It still didn't react.
"Oh, could it be you don't like Chinese names? That's right, this is an Otherworld. So, how about Philina?" I asked cautiously.
Still no movement.
"Oh, could it be male? Look at me, how about Henry? Or Jim? Sanji? Don't like any of those? Do you prefer alien names? Vegeta? Frieza? Majin Buu?..."
For a full hour, hundreds of names, almost draining my memory dry, but the Poison Creeper still didn't react. It just spun around underground, looking utterly leisurely as if it were half-dead.
It seems its Intelligence really isn't great, I thought resentfully, having wasted so much of my time.
I started another, more reliable method: trying to communicate with it mentally, like opening a Stash. My intuition told me this was the most effective way...
From afternoon until sunset, I just stared intently at the Poison Creeper. I believed that if it had any thoughts at all, it would get embarrassed by my staring.
The result was acceptable. By evening, I finally sensed the Poison Creeper's existence, albeit faintly. It was a strange feeling, as if an invisible thread connected us. Although it was very vague and hard to feel unless I concentrated, I had at least found the direction for communication, right? From now on, it would be about strengthening the training. I believed that one day I would be able to command the Poison Creeper as easily as moving my arm.
Over the next few days, I kept leveling up near the Den of Evil. Oh, no, it should be training. I could also give preliminary commands to the Poison Creeper, but these commands were still very vague. For example, if I directed it to attack a monster, and there were other monsters in that direction, it might just randomly pick one to attack.
I have to say, the Poison Creeper's attack is really high, and its poison is insane. Normal monsters, whether Fallen or Rotting Corpses, are guaranteed to die after one bite. The difference is that Fallen have less Life and die within 2 seconds after a bite, while Rotting Corpses with more Life take a little over 3 seconds to die.
This particularly frustrated me because the Poison Creeper's attack frequency is about once every 3 seconds, while Rotting Corpses often take a little over 3 seconds to die. This results in the Poison Creeper performing a second attack on Rotting Corpses that still have a sliver of Life left. The second attack is a complete waste of time and totally unnecessary. My mastery over the Poison Creeper is still low; I need to concentrate to issue commands to it. Issuing a command for it to attack the next enemy within 3 seconds is still a bit difficult for me. So, I can only watch helplessly as the Poison Creeper performs a meaningless second attack on the Rotting Corpses. Although the wasted time isn't much, it's still extremely annoying for someone who considers himself a technical player.
While diligently practicing communication with the Poison Creeper for the past few days, I haven't neglected "training" either. My experience has now reached 6248/8000. It seems after today, I'll be able to level up to Level 3. Hehe, the little girl Lin Ya took several months to reach Level 3, hehe. My speed is simply like flying a plane. I really am a genius.
In the future, I can bring the little girl Lin Ya out under the guise of leveling up... Thinking of this, my mouth started watering profusely.
But no, after just a moment of fantasizing, I immediately rejected the idea. This would easily expose the existence of my bugged amulet. I still don't fully understand the little girl Lin Ya's character. Although she is indeed extremely cute, pure, and kind, who knows if she might accidentally blab about it and attract the attention of certain people? I don't believe that all the Adventurers on the Dark Continent hold the idea of "unity and friendship" and "mutual progress." When the forest is big, all kinds of birds are there. There will always be some dark and malicious scumbags among them.
On the second day, I finally leveled up to Level 3. I also learned the life-saving skill—Werewolf Form. This powerful skill, whose stats are completely different from the game, indeed did not disappoint me.
Werewolf Form (Level 8):
Strength +17%
Dexterity 17%
Life +45%
Movement Speed +38%
Attack Speed +24%
Attack Accuracy +24%
Duration 40 seconds
Several of these stats are not divisible by 8. I estimated based on the game's method that at Level 1, Strength and Dexterity should each increase by 10%, and thereafter increase by 1% per level. Life increases by 10% at Level 1, and thereafter by 5% per level. Movement Speed is 10% at Level 1, and increases by 4% per level. As for the remaining two, Attack Speed and Attack Accuracy, I don't know if the 24% stat is +3% per level, or an initial 10% then +2% per level. However, I estimate it's the latter.
Werewolf Form is a pretty powerful skill. Perhaps its effect isn't very significant in the early stages, but once the later stages arrive and various stats become high, the increased stats will be terrifying. Especially since it even increases the initial stats Strength and Dexterity. Although it's relatively small, it also gave me a glimmer of hope for wielding that level mythical item.
I still put the 5 attribute points from this level into Vitality. Life increased by another 20 points. Now my Life is 95. If I undergo Werewolf Transformation, it will be 137, hoho, the same as my Poison Creeper. My safety has also been greatly guaranteed.
It's time to take a stroll in the Den of Evil.
...
...Before stepping into the Den of Evil, I had already prepared for an ambush. Werewolf Form was already cast.
"Werewolf Form..."
To enhance the effect, I coolly roared out this skill in a deep voice.
Immediately, my whole body was filled with crackling sounds of bones rubbing, and a bone-deep itch that almost drove me mad. Fortunately, it didn't last long, otherwise, I might really have torn my own flesh and bones.
"Roar..."
After the Shapeshifting was complete, I couldn't help but let out a roar towards the sky. This roar wasn't designed to be cool; it seemed like an innate nature, something I had to do. It was completely involuntary and beyond my control. After all, I wasn't stupid enough to roar loudly here. Wouldn't that be equivalent to activating monster-attracting mode?
After roaring, I felt something was wrong. I quickly scanned my surroundings. It seemed my roar hadn't caused any side effects, and I breathed a sigh of relief. It looks like I need to suppress that involuntary roaring habit after Shapeshifting is complete. It's too easy to attract the attention of monsters this way.
Hmm? What, that's not a good enough reason? Okay, okay, fine, I admit it, I concede. Don't hit my face, no flicking either! Ah, that's my kidney! I'll fight you to the death!
Cough cough... Actually, the biggest reason is, if I keep roaring like this, won't I be unable to sneak attack? Are you satisfied? Discussing the Wily Style privately is fine, why do you have to bring it out into the open? Wouldn't that be stooping low?
After the Shapeshifting was complete, I looked at my hands. They had become furry, with sharp claws and thick paw pads on the palms. The funniest thing was, looking down, I could actually see my protruding snout, and the nose on top. It looked like my mouth and nose were connected and sticking out. I knew my current appearance must be a wolf-headed human body. Looking at my claws again, the fur color was white. Hmm, so I was a little white wolf. It seems my bloodline is quite pure. This is an endangered, extremely rare protected animal! In my original world, it was much more precious than Adventurers, as long as it wasn't discovered by those hunters first...
After doing all this, I signaled the Poison Creeper not to stray too far from me, and then stepped into the Cave.
(end of chapter)