Chen Li was sitting cross-legged on his bed, chin propped on one hand, staring at The Guide to Forging Curios as he sank deep into thought.
Bang!
"Chen Li, I found a folder on your computer named [Learning Materials], but it's password-protected and I want to see—" Kaguya Houraisan didn't even bother knocking, simply bursting through the door.
"Knock before you enter my room!" Chen Li slammed The Guide to Forging Curios directly into Kaguya Houraisan's face.
"Ow, that hurts." Kaguya clutched her forehead and squatted down.
The Guide to Forging Curios was a weapon. The more Curios it contained in its Omni-Archive, the higher its lethality.
Though its book form made it a slightly less effective blunt instrument, as a Soul Armament, it naturally attacked the soul directly!
Which is why it hurt so damn much!
And it was almost impossible to defend against.
—Afraid it wouldn't hurt enough when hitting people, so I put all the stat points into Pain Value!
However, when hitting Kaguya, Chen Li had only used the Guide's initial base power.
"You'd better have a good reason, and not because you wanted to see some 'learning materials.' Otherwise... I'm very curious, can a Hourai immortal eat noodles while doing a handstand?" Chen Li said, getting off the bed.
"Hiss... eat noodles upside down? Um, actually, I missed you so much that I just had to come running. It wasn't because of any learning materials."
"Really?"
"Really. And after not seeing you for ten minutes, I feel like you've gotten even more handsome. It's making my heart flutter a little," Kaguya said, giving him a thumbs-up.
"..."
"Hm? Wait... Chen Li, what did you do? Why does your aura feel a little different?" Kaguya paused, then asked with a hint of suspicion.
Hiss, this guy didn't secretly modify my affection level for him or something, did he?
"Well, that's probably because I leveled up."
As he spoke, Chen Li glanced at the professional level displayed on the Guide, which he had just summoned back to his hand.
Lv2 (4/200)
This was what Chen Li had been doing holed up in his room.
The Guide stated that increasing his level would enhance his physical constitution, mental fortitude, resistance to various elements and foreign energies, and the learning speed for skills below his current level.
The moment he leveled up, Chen Li did indeed feel a certain degree of enhancement to his base physical attributes. He hadn't noticed the other enhancements yet.
But the most pleasant surprise after leveling up was the increase in his initial forging cost (Cost).
It had increased from the original 10 points to 12.
This meant that as long as he forged a slightly more powerful Curio, he could save two Crystals right off the bat!
The more Curios he forged, the more Chen Li felt that the initial 10-point budget was simply not enough.
Professional levels are great. I need to level up! I need to level up like crazy!
---o---
"Leveled up? I've leveled up so many times, why haven't I felt anything?" Kaguya was a little confused.
"Kaguya, have you ever heard a certain song lyric?"
"What lyric?"
"Your childhood and my childhood are completely different~"
"Wait, isn't it supposed to be 'seem to be the same'?"
"That's not important. What's important is that I have a special panel. So the types of attributes I gain are a bit more varied," Chen Li said.
"Emmm, fine, whatever. You don't even have a personal panel anymore, what's there for me to argue with you about?" In a flash, Kaguya thought it through and let it go.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"
So what if I don't have a personal panel? I have The Guide to Forging Curios!
"Ehehe!" Kaguya stuck out her tongue and ran out of Chen Li's room.
But the next moment, she pushed the door open again and poked her head back in.
"Right, send me the password for the learning materials, thanks."
"Eight 8s. Alright, go play," Chen Li waved his hand dismissively.
"Okay-dokie."
"...Whatever, I won't bother with this airhead. I feel so energized after leveling up, I just want to forge something." Chen Li clenched his fists, his hands feeling a bit itchy.
Although the Guide didn't explicitly state that forging Curios consumed stamina, no one could work all day and not feel tired.
But after leveling up, it was as if all that energy had been fully restored.
"This is a good time to ask the little elf. See if it has any clue about the benefits of leveling up, and also about that Fame system..."
Although it was a bit strange to use the little elf as an encyclopedia, the weak were meant to have their surplus value thoroughly squeezed by the strong!
As for the learning materials Kaguya wanted to see?
"Damn it! How is it actually learning materials?!" Kaguya's head throbbed as she stared at the various incomprehensible forging documents inside the folder.
"I will remember this grudge!"
---o---
(Miracle: I have reviewed the source code of The Guide to Forging Curios. From level 1 to 10, you will gradually liberate the Position that originally belonged to the Miracle system. This Position is akin to a buff; the higher the Position, the stronger your resistances and the greater the bonus to your attacks and crowd control abilities.)
(Furthermore, your rate of improvement will be faster until your strength reaches the upper limit of your Position. This includes, but is not limited to, physical fitness, mental strength, and the speed at which you learn low-level skills.)
(But be warned, Position is not a definitive measure of strength. A human can't beat a tiger, but can't they beat a newborn tiger cub?)
(From level 11 to 20, you can gradually transfer this Position to The Guide to Forging Curios.)
(This will allow you to retain the upper limit of your Position while freeing you from the shackles of the [Light of Miracle] Position.)
(While this leveling logic is admittedly a bit convoluted, and theoretically, it could have allowed you to ascend to the heavens in a single step and instantly gain strength commensurate with your Position, doing so would have only made you lose even more, including your [Humanity] and [Emotions].)
(Finally, I implore you to redeem the name of the Light of Miracle. Prove that the [Light of Miracle] truly belongs to the camp of Order, and is not some inherently evil "Uchiha brat (world destroyer)." This is the origin of the Fame system, and you could consider it the [Light of Miracle]'s last wish.)
"Did I just get spoiled?" Chen Li scratched his head.
Things like shedding one's "Position" weren't usually revealed until the later stages of a profession, right?
Thinking about it that way, The Guide to Forging Curios was pretty thoughtful.
As for the Fame system...
Chen Li could only say that he would try his best to maintain his reputation.
Well, try...
This note was, of course, from a new Curio Chen Li had just forged. He was absolutely smitten with it.
[The Scales of Merit]: The Great Merit Competition officially begins today!
Effect: Performing any positive actions of a selfless, healing, altruistic, saving, or benevolent nature will grant "The Approbation of Sublime Morality" (Merit). Merit can be used to avert disaster, increase luck, offset karma, bring misfortune upon others... and can even be used to do certain things not permitted by morality.
PS: The more Approbation of Sublime Morality one holds, the higher the moral ground from which one can accuse others!
"What do you mean, 'can be used to do certain things not permitted by morality'?" The first time Chen Li saw that line, he was profoundly shaken.
Once again, facts had proven that the more Entries a Curio had, the more "stable" its effects were!
This Curio was forged by Chen Li using the "Merit" he obtained from slaying youkai in Inuyasha's world and a single grain of wheat from the Blessing of Abundance.
The Merit he had acquired could be used directly, or he could extract the [Merit] Entry from it.
Chen Li figured this stuff was quite useful, so he wanted to turn it into a sustainable resource.
Adding a grain of Abundance wheat was also a way to expand the channels for obtaining Merit.
The definitions of Abundance and Merit had some overlap, making them highly compatible.
It turned out his idea was correct and he had succeeded, but due to the small number of Entries, he couldn't lock down the scope of the Curio's effect, so it had undergone a certain degree of random variation.
Dad always said: "Close enough is good enough."
But Dad also said: "A miss is as good as a mile."
Because the base materials for this forging were of very high quality and already possessed their own inherent rules, and the Entry brightness was also high, there was no need to enhance it further. Thus, extracting the [Merit] and [Abundance] Entries only cost 3 Miracle Crystals in total, but the Curio required an additional 5 points of Entry Capacity.
A higher required Entry Capacity meant a better-quality Curio. It was just a shame that such a good Curio only granted 8 points of professional experience.
In that respect, the increased initial Cost had indeed saved Chen Li Crystals, but it also cost him two experience points each time.
But the pros definitely outweighed the cons. After all, if Chen Li wanted to, he could spend all his Crystals on a single Curio.
"Alright, the Curio for gaining Merit is in hand. Now to go get some Merit!" After putting away the small, palm-sized ball of Merit that remained after the forging, Chen Li thought for a moment and opened The Guide to Forging Curios.
Every grievance has its source, every debt its debtor. The best source of repayment, as always, was to be found among his clients.
Time to go to another world and farm some Merit!
[You there?]