"Charmander, come out and get some fresh air."
Because this world was rather dangerous, Chen Yi had rarely let Charmander out. From now on, he would let Charmander out for some air and Energy Cubes whenever no one was around.
It had been a long time since Charmander had come out into the wilderness. Looking at the wide-open surroundings, the previously listless Charmander appeared extremely excited.
"You've had it rough. Don't worry, this won't happen again."
Chen Yi promised.
"Cha... char..."
"How did I get out? Of course, I hid at the Bottom of the Carriage. For a mage proficient in every element, escaping is easy."
"With no one possessing high Mental power around, they can't even detect Spatial Fluctuation."
"Char?"
"This time, I came out so you and this weapon can grow stronger."
"And to test the theories I've organized over all these days."
The formerly proud Charmander had been unable to indulge its nature for so long that only its cute side remained. It clung to Chen Yi, constantly asking all sorts of questions.
"Char?"
"Why am I not leveling up? Without breaking through my attributes, my main attribute can only reach 49 at most. Improving it by that little would be less useful than refining my spell and combat system."
Chen Yi led Charmander toward the Empire Border. This place was said to be a disaster zone for Demon Race invasions, and displaced civilians could be seen all along the way.
Under the Mimicry Spell, kind-hearted Charmander could not help feeling sympathy for these people.
"Char?"
"Charmander, we currently don't have the ability to save others. The prerequisite for helping people is having enough strength to spare."
Charmander might have pitied them, but if the Mimicry Spell were lifted, these civilians would flee for their lives the instant they saw Charmander.
After traveling for three days, Chen Yi encountered this world's monsters for the first time.
Venomous Spider
lv: 7
Constitution: 8
Strength: 12
Intelligence: 3
Agility: 14
Spirit: 6
Skills: Poison Attack, Bite, Web Spinning
This entire forest had been occupied by Venomous Spiders. They stood fifty centimeters tall, pitch-black all over, with eerie patterns on their backs.
Thick spiderwebs stretched between the trees, and the spiders waited at their centers for prey to approach.
"Charmander, are you ready to start fighting?"
"Char!"
After several days of travel, Charmander's mental state had recovered considerably.
Facing spiders larger than itself, Charmander showed no fear whatsoever. Instead, it was eager to give it a try.
Chen Yi took out the Staff of Healing to share Experience Points, awkwardly added Charmander to the party, and set the experience distribution to 6:4.
Charmander got six, Chen Yi got four.
According to Iris, as long as one killed monsters while carrying a weapon, the weapon would grow.
The low-level monsters that were originally useless to Chen Yi could now give Charmander and the staff experience.
After lifting the Mimicry Spell, Charmander and Chen Yi emerged from the grass. The spider monsters, blessed with exceptional eyesight, spotted them immediately.
"Shriek!"
A piercing screech rang out, and all the Venomous Spiders rushed in their direction.
Flamethrower!
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Unlike mages, who controlled elemental particles, Pokémon possessed elemental power within their bodies.
Flamethrower dealt 14 Burn Damage to the Venomous Spider.
Flame dealt 5 Burn Damage to the Venomous Spider.
Several spiders within the flames were attacked at once. Their body hairs caught fire, continuously inflicting follow-up damage.
Soon, the first spider closed in on Charmander. Its abdomen contracted slightly, and white silk shot from its mouth.
"Charmander, dodge! Watch for the windup before its attacks."
After estimating Charmander's strength, Chen Yi figured that three at once was probably its current limit.
Then he would use the other spiders to verify his ideas. Chen Yi had stockpiled dozens of notebooks.
A crimson Stone Wall rose from the ground, and the high temperature distorted the surrounding air. The Venomous Spiders at the front, unable to stop in time, slammed into the wall and released a disgusting smell.
Player Yi dealt 12 Burn Damage to the Venomous Spider.
"As a defensive skill, it seems less than ideal. Adding Fire elemental didn't improve the Stone Wall's defense. All I got was negligible damage."
Chen Yi pulled out a notebook and drew a cross over that hypothesis.
"Charmander, jump to dodge its claws, then use Flamethrower to take one out first."
Charmander, which had been locked in a fierce struggle, brightened up. It knew what to do now.
Chen Yi was not a qualified trainer. He would rather Charmander learn how to fight on its own.
After confirming that Charmander had no problems, Chen Yi turned his attention back to himself.
The Staff of Healing struck the ground heavily. As Mana poured out, the ground ahead rapidly turned red. Trees and spiders alike began to burn, but that was all.
"Creating a Lava Field failed. Unlike ice elemental, there is plenty of water in the air, allowing rapid cooling and the creation of terrain advantages."
"Burning soil to the point of magma requires far more Mana Points than estimated, yet the result is far from ideal."
Chen Yi drew another cross in his Little Notebook.
He glanced at Charmander and saw it kill a Venomous Spider with Iron Tail. He praised it, "Well done, Charmander."
Having received praise, Charmander's tail flame burned even hotter.
Appropriate positive feedback could increase a Pokémon's enthusiasm for battle, and Charmander's performance in its first fight truly surpassed Chen Yi's own by far.
If he had faced a Venomous Spider at level one, he probably would not even have known how he died.
Watching the Venomous Spiders draw closer, Mana poured from Chen Yi's body again. A fireball with a radius of one meter appeared dozens of meters overhead.
The fireball instantly crashed into the ground. A massive explosion erupted amid the Venomous Spiders, and flames spread outward from the blast's center.
A large swath of spiders turned into Experience Points.
Chen Yi was speechless. No wonder the predecessors of Fire Mages all loved explosions. Fire dealt damage too slowly, while explosions dealt damage quickly and hit harder.
If explosions had not been so ineffective against warriors of the same level in the later stages, Chen Yi would have been unable to resist researching them.
Pulling himself together, he had long known this path would be difficult. It was perfectly normal not to succeed in a short time.
"Keep going, keep going!"
"Charmander, rest for now. You're not suited for fighting while exhausted."
After killing three Venomous Spiders, Charmander's condition had declined severely.
Chen Yi often experienced the negative effects of exhausting his Mana, so naturally, he had no intention of forcing Charmander to fight while fatigued.
So Charmander plopped down on the ground and watched Chen Yi conduct his experiments.
The Venomous Spiders endured all kinds of fire-element attacks, but without exception, they all fell before Chen Yi.
With sufficient Mana, these low-level monsters had no ability to get close to Chen Yi at all.
After a long while, the forest that had once been filled with webs became a charred ruin. Scattered across it were Copper Coins and a small amount of equipment.
Obtained 852 Copper Coins.
The level gap had caused the drop rate to become especially low.
Chen Yi did not even want to put those few gray pieces of equipment into his backpack.
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