Ashwood Forest.
Layer upon layer of treetops formed an airtight canopy, shutting out the moonlight. Whether it was the sound of the wind or the chirping of insects, everything in the forest seemed especially piercing to the ear.
My head hurts…
Consciousness gradually returned to his mind, and his scattered vision came back into focus.
Where is this…
Wang Dong looked around in confusion, and the scene before him clearly entered his eyes.
A campfire burning merrily, a slightly tattered tent, and three people sitting around the fire as they rested.
A very standard adventurer’s wilderness camp.
The problem was… why had he appeared in a damn place like this in the middle of the night?!
Wang Dong’s heart jolted.
As his mind fully cleared, an immense flood of memories surged into his head as well.
Only after a good while did he completely understand his current situation.
In short, he had transmigrated.
He was no longer some ordinary passerby from Blue Star. With a sudden turn, he had become a novice adventurer in another world—Zelier.
“Uh… I…”
Zelier subconsciously raised a hand and touched his face. The smooth, tender, elastic skin was vastly different from that of his previous life.
That was only natural. After all, his current body was only sixteen years old—a genuine youth.
“What are you spacing out for again, Zelier?”
The man by the campfire plopped down beside Zelier and boldly slung an arm around his shoulders.
Zelier worked hard to search through the memories in his mind.
The other man was called Gray, a swordsman in this adventurer party.
However, compared to his swordsmanship, Gray was clearly far more outstanding on the battlefield of romance.
He had brilliant golden hair that fell to his shoulders, and his face always wore an unruly, carefree smile. He was the sort of fellow who knew very well how to please women.
There was also a ranger in the party, Vales, said to be a half-elf.
It was just that Zelier studied him for a long time before he could make out a clue from the slightly pointed rims of his ears. Who knew how many generations the bloodline had been diluted.
Then there was the party leader, Marcus.
A tall, burly man with a buzz cut, wearing a hard leather vest, his thick arms exposed. He held a small round shield in his left hand and a warblade in his right, giving off a very dependable sense of security.
Lastly, there was himself.
Zelier, a sixteen-year-old novice adventurer, green and immature. His profession was…
Zelier’s spirits lifted as he caught two words that greatly interested him—mage!
Yes, he was actually a mage.
Seeing that Zelier had gone silent for so long, Gray assumed he still had not adapted to the environment, so his hand tightened slightly.
“Relax. No need to be so nervous. Once this mission is over, I’ll take you to the tavern in town to properly unwind. Maybe I can even help you go from a boy to a man while we’re at it.”
“Tch. Your head’s full of dirty thoughts.”
A disdainful snort came from the other side of the campfire.
The ranger Vales looked rather contemptuous. “If you have that time and money, you’d be better off using it to properly improve your strength.”
Perhaps it was because of the thin elven bloodline in Vales’s body, but his face always seemed to wear an expression that said “strangers keep away.”
Zelier looked at him, and a sentence in authentic Wu dialect involuntarily popped into his mind.
Damn short-lived species. Are we elves something a little brat like you can claim kinship with?
“Vales, are you elves all uninterested in reproduction?”
Gray wore a frivolous smile. “But I heard your father was quite the amorous man. I’d guess you already have quite a few half-half-half-half-half-elf brothers from different mothers, right?”
Vales’s face turned ashen.
He hated people who sowed affection everywhere, just as he hated his own father.
“All right, save your strength.”
A deep voice interrupted their bickering. Party leader Marcus walked over to act as mediator.
“We’ve been wandering around the outskirts of Ashwood Forest for five days. We don’t have much in the way of supplies left, so it’s about time to head back. Zelier, you take the first half of the night. Gray, you take the second. We’ll set off first thing tomorrow morning.”
The night gradually quieted down, and dense stars climbed into the sky.
After organizing and exploring the original owner’s memories, Zelier had gained a preliminary understanding of this world’s magic system.
Every mage possessed a Source Seed in the sea of consciousness within their brain, and mana was born from that Source Seed.
To cast a spell, one had to guide mana along the structure of the spell formula and complete a full cycle.
The so-called spell formula structure was something similar to a circuit diagram.
Every spell had its own unique spell formula structure. Mana had to trace it with absolute precision along the predetermined path. Only then could the spell succeed.
And the only spell Zelier currently knew was Fireball.
He slowly exhaled, closed his eyes, and focused his mind.
Mana flowed out from his sea of consciousness like water, then completed its circulation in his mind.
Immediately afterward, a tiny wisp of flame popped out from his fingertip.
So magic is real.
Zelier stared at the flame and murmured inwardly.
For a native of Blue Star, this sight was quite shocking.
This was no trick performed by some street magician. It was true “magic,” producing fire from empty hands.
However, with Zelier’s strength, this was all he could manage.
You could not expect a sixteen-year-old youth from a poor background, whose magical knowledge came entirely from self-study, to know more.
The original owner had neither outstanding magical talent that would make great mages compete to take him as a disciple, nor immense family wealth to hire a professional magic tutor.
With both his parents deceased, after thinking it over, the only option he had was to first join the Adventurers’ Association, take commissions to earn some money, and then plan for the future.
This mission was not complicated. The objective was to hunt wild wolves in Ashwood Forest and eliminate the beast threat.
It sounded rather dangerous, but wild wolves did not even count as magical beasts. Moreover, the three others besides Zelier had fairly rich experience, so up until now, nothing unexpected had happened.
Then Zelier focused slightly, and an illusory interface that only he could see slowly took shape.
Zelier: lv 1 (99/100)
Leveling up grants 4 attribute points.
Basic Attributes: Each increase costs 1 point.
Strength: 65
The first choice for physical warriors. It can improve bodily strength in the most direct way.
Want to punch through an iron plate with your bare hands? Then choose Strength!
Weakly related to Constitution. Every 6 points of Strength increases Constitution by 1 point.
Agility: 60
Inseparable from coordination and speed. It allows you to control your body to the greatest extent.
If you want to be an assassin, an agile body is a must. No one will hire an assassin who cannot even climb a wall, and when a mission fails, you can run away faster too.
Related to Strength. Every 4 points of Agility increases Strength by 1 point.
Constitution: 68
A vanguard’s best friend, representing the body’s ability to endure.
In general, the higher your Constitution, the harsher a beating you can take.
Related to Strength. Every 4 points of Constitution increases Strength by 1 point.
Spirit: 67
A mage’s lifeblood. It can increase the mana storage limit of the sea of consciousness, allowing mages to throw out more fireballs.
It can also improve the quality of mana produced by the Source Seed, making every portion of mana more effective.
Intelligence: 66
Don’t misunderstand. Intelligence is not IQ. An idiot is still an idiot.
However, increasing Intelligence can enhance your comprehension. For example, warriors can quickly grasp combat techniques, while mages can understand more complex spell formula structures.
As for vanguards—vanguards only need to go up and get hit. They do not need Intelligence.
Strongly related to Charm. Every 4 points of Intelligence increases Charm by 1 point. (Smart people are always more likable.)
Advanced Attributes: Each increase costs 2 points.
Perception: 30
Improves scouting range. When Perception reaches a certain level, you can even see through an enemy’s weaknesses in battle. An essential skill for assassins who kill and rob.
Of course, that is the ideal situation.
At the very least, if you put points into it, your chances of surviving an ambush while you sleep will be a little higher.
Charm: 45
Oh-ho-ho, now this is an all-purpose attribute.
Although it cannot benefit you in combat, in daily life, it brings plenty of advantages.
For example, it might make the little sister downstairs give you gifts now and then, or have some rich woman from the imperial capital take a fancy to you during an adventure, letting you live the carefree life of a kept pretty boy from then on. (A must-have point allocation for slice-of-life players.)
Ultimate Attribute: Each increase costs 4 points.
Luck: 41
If you don’t put points into me, I’ll make sure you choke to death the next time you drink water.
Just kidding. Luck is actually a very metaphysical thing, connected to all probability-based events.
In a certain sense, as long as you are lucky enough, 99 points of Luck are no different from 1 point of Luck.
If you think you are the child of destiny, then maybe spend your points somewhere else.