After studying for a while, Mel Carlo had only learned some basic words, like "good morning" and "hello."
The problem was not Mel Carlo. Anke's own knowledge was really rather limited.
A half-baked teacher was teaching another illiterate.
Mel was like an illiterate now. He could understand the language of this world, but he could not recognize its writing and could only start learning from the beginning.
At least in an environment like this, learning how to read was truly not easy.
As he prepared to leave, Mel Carlo named three people. "Akai, Lily, and Chocolate. Just those three. I'll think about the remaining spot."
After leaving the room, passing through the corridor, and walking down the stairs into the courtyard, Mel found that all the beggars had already gone to rest. Only Lily was still sitting beneath the eaves, waiting for him.
"Why aren't you asleep yet?" Mel looked at the little girl and let out a sigh.
"You hadn't come back, so I was worried about you."
"Alright, go sleep. We won't have to beg anymore."
"What happened?"
Mel told her everything about Anke taking them in as his underlings. From now on, they would not need to beg or steal.
People always felt uneasy about the unknown, but things were already bad enough. How much worse could they get?
Lily did not say much. At her age, after being busy all day, she was already exhausted.
Back in the room, the two lay down on the straw. Mel had not practiced his Theft skill for the day yet. He was already tired, so four rounds should be enough.
After practicing [Theft] with Lily four times, more than half of Mel's mana had been consumed. His limit was originally six times. Normally, practicing five times in one go meant he had to wait slowly for his mana to recover.
He did not want to exhaust himself that much today.
Effort Value +4, Current Effort Value: 28, [Theft Proficiency] 10/10000.
After sleeping deeply through the night, Mel still felt groggy when he woke up, as though he had not slept enough. This was the aftereffect of overdrawing his mana. He had deliberately kept some mana in reserve, which was why he did not feel too awful.
It felt more comfortable than the night he had practiced five times. The aftereffects of mana consumption could be clearly felt, directly reflected in one's mental state.
Mel Carlo once again told the three of them that they no longer needed to beg. He could not help everyone, but at least he could help the people in front of him.
Chubby fought for the extra spot for his friend, which surprised Mel Carlo a little. He had originally thought Chubby had no other friends.
Normally, they would all go out begging, but today they did not know what they should do. If they were going to train like a gang, combat techniques and skills were not things children like them could learn yet. They could only begin with the basics.
No one came to manage Mel Carlo, because he had his own things to train. First was [Back Hop]. Although it took less effort than frog jumps, after fifty consecutive jumps, his legs did not want to move anymore.
Effort +1 Effort +1 [Back Hop] Proficiency 51/10000, Current Effort Value: 78.
After finishing his Back Hop training, Mel Carlo began trying [Flying Blade]. This throwing-type skill could only be used with flying weapons such as throwing axes, throwing knives, or daggers. If he threw stones, they would not have nearly as much killing power.
Not only could this skill accurately strike vital points, it also had a certain piercing effect. But to him, it seemed more like a skill meant to pursue a one-hit kill. He could not buy a large number of throwing knives and daggers anytime soon, so if he made a move, he would only have one chance.
Effort +1 Effort +1 Proficiency +1
The numbers kept rising. With throwing like this, even practicing thousands of times a day would not feel too difficult. It mainly relied on arm strength and was nowhere near as exhausting as Back Hop.
The fatigue brought by Back Hop only required a brief rest before he could do another set. What he feared more was sore muscles the next day.
That day, Mel Carlo did nothing else and focused entirely on practicing [Flying Blade]. When its proficiency reached 1020, he stopped. The passive chain effect of Dagger Attack had granted him double Effort Value.
He glanced at the system panel.
[Dagger Attack] Proficiency: 1021/10000,
The extra point from the passive skill had been gained when he previously practiced the [Cutting] skill.
Current Effort Value: 2078.
As long as he used a dagger to practice [Flying Blade], it could trigger the [Dagger Attack] passive skill. The returns really were the highest for now.
Just one day of training was enough for him to draw two hundred times, equivalent to twenty ten-pulls. More than that, Mel Carlo was looking forward to seeing whether anything would change after he maxed out a skill's proficiency.
While resting and adjusting, he could also practice [Assassin's Breathing Technique]. Both proficiency and Effort Value could increase. Every breath added one point, but the breathing rhythm was slow, so the rate of increase was not actually fast. One breath took six seconds, meaning he could complete ten breaths per minute and gain ten Effort Value and ten proficiency.
Right after finishing his other training, practicing Assassin's Breathing was practically torture. After intense exercise, people naturally took deep breaths to promote circulation. Controlling his breathing rhythm this way made him feel a little dizzy.
In less than a minute, he could only stop for the moment. He had to let his body settle down first before continuing.
[Assassin's Breathing Technique] Proficiency 10/10000, Current Effort Value: 2088.
After all that training, more than half the day had passed. Next came the drawing. He just hoped it would not be Big White Rabbit milk candy.
Obtained: [Potato Chips] ×10
Draw again!
Obtained: [Cola] ×10
"What the hell? Everything from a ten-pull is the same. This is worse than single pulls." Mel Carlo had not looked at the lottery wheel. It did not display what rewards were inside, so every draw was blind.
Still, these things were not useless.
Keep going!
Obtained: [Bagged Instant Noodles] ×10 Obtained: [Mineral Water] ×10
After using up all twenty ten-pulls, Mel Carlo found that he had still received the same rewards as before. In the end, he got:
Potato chips: 50 bags. Cola: 50 cans. Bagged instant noodles: 50 bags. Mineral water: 50 bottles.
Current Effort Value: 88.
"Is this thing broken? Did the system get something wrong? This is a fantasy other world, and it keeps giving me daily necessities." Mel Carlo frowned. This was somewhat different from the system he had imagined. There was no mischievous system girl to banter with him, and even the system interface looked like a half-finished product. He could not make sense of these rewards either.
But then he thought about it. Perhaps he could sell these products in this world and become a little otherworld merchant. However, these things appearing so suddenly in this other world would be rather conspicuous. He still could not take them out to sell anytime soon. At the very least, he had to wait until he had some ability to protect himself.
Glancing at Chubby, who was training, Mel Carlo gave up on the idea of immediately sharing the food. If he kept taking out foods they had never seen before, not only would he be unable to explain himself, but he might also attract other people's attention.
After finishing the day's training, Mel Carlo went to eat with Akai and the others. They no longer had to eat foul-smelling black bread. Instead, they could properly enjoy some bread and a mixed porridge boiled from grains.
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