Three-Headed Hound Knight

In the living room, as Chen Xinhe checked his family heirloom equipment, he noticed a wooden box on the coffee table.

Wasn't this what Anna's father, Viscount Anbeite, had given him when she came to see him that morning?

He had been busy figuring out who he was at the time, so he hadn't paid it any attention.

Now, Chen Xinhe picked up the small, intricately carved box and silently opened it.

"Congratulations! You have obtained one vial of 'Lucian's Turquoise Solution.'"

Inside the box was a small glass vial of deep-green liquid. Before the cork was removed, it gave off no strange smell.

After all, this was the second act's expansion, and its items were liquid solutions and reagents, unlike the first act's beginner village expansion, which had mostly featured pills.

[Lucian's Turquoise Solution]

[Quality: C-rank (rare)]

[Effect: Permanently increases all attributes by 1 point when consumed]

[Note: Attributes cannot exceed the level limit, and the solution cannot be consumed more than once]

Good stuff!

One point to every attribute amounted to four free attribute points in total. He would have to gain four levels to get that many.

Of course, these were only free attribute points within the limit; they couldn't exceed the level cap.

Only the passive skills of breathing techniques could increase a person's base attributes, and some passive skills even increased damage as well.

"Gulp!"

Chen Xinhe didn't hesitate. He drank it in one gulp.

He didn't know why Viscount Anbeite had given him this, but for now, he would take all the high-grade magic potions he could get that directly increased his attributes.

As for the price he would have to pay, everything could wait until after his duel!

"Congratulations, player. All attributes +1."

[Current attributes: Strength 14 (13+1), stamina 13 (12+1), intelligence 14 (13+1), agility 12 (11+1)]

[Health: 732/762 (732+30) (recovering)]

[Stamina: 431/451 (431+20) (recovering)]

At once, a tingling sensation ran through Chen Xinhe's body. He also felt a coolness deep in his brain. It did him no harm; instead, it gave his brain a sensation of pleasure like inhaling mint.

The feeling didn't last long. When he came back to his senses, his arms felt full of strength.

His mind was also much clearer, and his whole body felt much lighter.

He hadn't experienced this when he assigned attribute points to his character in the game. Now that he was actually in the game world, he hadn't expected a mere +1 to his attributes to make such a difference.

Three hours later, Chen Xinhe rode out of the inner city and reached the edge of the outer city.

"Baron, please proceed!"

Only after the guards opened the enormous city gate did Chen Xinhe truly leave the Duchy of Weir's main city.

Although the surrounding area was also part of the Duchy of Weir, monsters began to appear there.

Chen Xinhe didn't linger nearby. Instead, he headed for a leveling spot he remembered from his previous life.

An hour later, Chen Xinhe made his way deep into a range of hills.

He also found the target of his trip: a Three-Headed Hound Knight lair.

He could see a cave, with several hound knights standing guard outside and firelight flickering within.

A faint scent of blood also drifted out of the cave.

Chen Xinhe had dismounted by now and was approaching the cave at a brisk pace.

[Target discovered: Three-Headed Hound Knight]

[Scouting by comparing enemy and player strength... scouting results obtained...]

[Level: Lv15]

[Health: 1519/1556]

[Stamina: 989/1009]

[Attributes: Strength 13, stamina 16, intelligence 3, agility 6]

[Skills: Charge (E-rank, ordinary) Lv2, (insufficient scouting information) ???]

[Overall evaluation: F (ordinary)]

The system's detection was based on a comparison of the enemy's level and strength with his own, and it couldn't accurately identify most of the skills in the skill slot.

But to Chen Xinhe, these Three-Headed Hound Knights were just experience packs for grinding levels.

With their strength and Charge skill, he couldn't even withstand two hits head-on, but he was a veteran player of "Divine Revelation."

The enemies in the later expansions were the real enemies. There were plenty of ways to harvest the dim-witted monsters in the expansions of the first few acts.

Inside the cave, the Three-Headed Hound Knight seemed to catch an unfamiliar human scent.

The Three-Headed Hound Knight on guard at the outermost position quickly rose and looked in the direction of the scent.

The eyes on all three heads immediately turned cold, and low, quavering growls came from their mouths.

Suddenly, it seemed to locate the enemy.

The Three-Headed Hound Knight immediately broke into a sprint. Although its agility wasn't high, its Charge skill made it anything but slow.

Chen Xinhe, the target of the impending charge, stood in place and waited for the three-headed hound to draw closer.

The faint, foul stench of the three-headed hound grew closer and closer.

The long, pointed jaws of its three heads were already open, and a look of delight flashed across all three canine faces, as if they were about to taste something delicious.

The next moment, however, the three-headed hound saw the human in front of it half-crouch and slam the saber in his hand against the ground.

His whole body leaped into the air and rolled through a full three hundred and sixty degrees.

"Swish!"

As Chen Xinhe rolled through the air, he drew his saber in an instant and slashed the Three-Headed Hound Knight across the back of the neck.

"Crack!"

The blade seemed to strike the Three-Headed Hound Knight's spinal joint directly. All three heads flew off together, spraying hot blood forward through the air.

"Critical damage dealt: 2,173!"

"You have slain a Three-Headed Hound Knight and gained 641 experience."

After landing, Chen Xinhe turned to look at the decapitated three-headed hound, his expression growing grave.

The three-headed hound's fatal weak point was indeed at the back of its neck, just as he remembered.

But after he killed it, it hadn't dropped a single item-only experience.

Something wasn't quite right. Surely it should have dropped at least some basic gold coins?

But in reality, he had gotten nothing but experience.

Chen Xinhe held his impatience in check and continued toward the cave.

The farther in he went, the stronger the smell of blood became, and the rank, animal stench inside the cave grew stronger too.

In the game, he could dampen his five senses, but now that function had vanished entirely, just like the system's "log out" function.

As he fought down the nauseating smell, another hound knight charged at him.

[Target discovered: Three-Headed Hound Knight]

[Scouting by comparing enemy and player strength... scouting results obtained...]

[Level: Lv19]

The cramped space inside the cave made the Three-Headed Hound Knight's charge much more powerful and harder to dodge.

For an ordinary class holder in the early stages, most would have to take a hit head-on, except those of the ability-based classes.

If it encountered a squishy class like a magic user, one hit would probably send them straight back to their spawn point.

But its opponent was Chen Xinhe, who had combat experience from the middle and late stages of the game.

He kicked off the cave's rock wall and dodged the impact in an instant.

Then he seized the opening after its use of Charge and quickly drew his saber. As the system reported the damage from the brutal blow, this hound knight likewise fell.

Only because this one was a higher level and had stronger defenses did its head remain attached to its body.