The Second Skill Imprint

"I don't believe it! This isn't real! Quick! Tell me you're lying to me! Please!"

"Aaaah! This is so unfair!"

Lin Tang's anguished cries echoed throughout the Calamity Base.

Cheng Shaofeng pursed his lips. "I don't know why the Phantasmal Illusion gave so much experience. Maybe it's because the female ghost's attack energy was too high? So the clones could absorb more energy from it?"

Thinking about it, it did seem somewhat reasonable. After all, when the female ghost activated her Phantasmal Illusion, dozens of Raiders had passed out on the spot.

It was impressive that 'Forgiveness Cap' and Xiao Xiao could break free from the illusion so quickly.

"Could it be... the faster you break free from the Phantasmal Illusion, the more experience you get?"

"Tomorrow, I'll have Thin Dog and the others try it out."

Today, Cheng Shaofeng had deliberately had the female ghost leave the illusion active, all so the players could get a good chunk of experience. It was too good to pass up!

200 points at a time. Grinding for a whole day as a Raider might not even yield that much experience.

Cheng Shaofeng was currently editing the dungeon's description, preparing to release an update announcement tomorrow to inform all players.

Meanwhile.

The three of Thin Dog were devastated, as if they had lost their parents.

They perfectly embodied the sentiment, "I'm afraid of my brothers suffering, but even more afraid of my brothers driving a Land Rover!"

While it was frustrating to grind for experience slowly themselves, seeing their friends level up was even more agonizing.

"That female ghost really should die!"

Lin Tang shouted again.

Thin Dog and Demonic Fox covered Lin Tang's mouth. The group exchanged information about their respective gains for the day.

Thin Dog's group, through their "Save the Hunter's Son" side quest, had obtained the mysterious item Jade. They had also explored a mysterious cellar that respawned Skeletons, acquiring 12 mysterious Skulls, 1 piece of Radiated Material, and they had also hunted down the Prey needed by all five of them.

After 'Forgiveness Cap' returned from Salt Well Town, he found some Iron Ore in a cave and brought it back with a small cart.

Xiao Xiao, upon her return, worked quickly to craft five high-quality stone spears for the five of them to turn in for the quest.

With the basic tools obtained from Salt Well Town, her crafting speed had increased.

The group first went to Cheng Shaofeng to turn in their daily quests.

[Quest 'Hunting' completed, Reward: 50 Merit Points, 5 Iron Coins.]

[Quest 'Collect Metal Materials' completed, Reward: 50 Merit Points, 5 Iron Coins.]

[Quest 'Craft Weapons' completed, Reward: 100 Merit Points, 10 Iron Coins.]

The five of them had completed these three daily quests together, each receiving 200 Merit Points and 20 Iron Coins.

Additionally.

Demonic Fox pulled a Black Box from his pocket.

"Esteemed Lord, I've found another piece of Radiation Energy. Can the base use it?"

Cheng Shaofeng's eyes lit up.

Another piece of energy!

He placed his hand on it, allowing the base's nanobots to begin absorbing the energy.

[Calamity Base charging...]

After a moment, the absorption was complete.

[Charging complete, this charge: 1%, Base remaining energy: 2.28%]

"Soldier, you've done excellent work! The base's operations cannot function without energy. This is essential for producing clones, decomposing loot, and checking item attributes. We need more such energy. This is your reward."

[Quest "Find Energy" completed, Reward: 300 Merit Points, 30 Iron Coins.]

This quest reward was obtained solely by Demonic Fox.

"Hiss~ The reward for this quest is equal to the combined rewards of the other quests. It seems energy really is valuable. Tomorrow, I'll check if the two Raider camps still spawn this item."

All five of them touched Cheng Shaofeng, backing up their character data.

After all, this experience... was hard-earned.

Especially the two players who had leveled up to Level 2; they had backed up their data in Salt Well Town already.

Next, the group began to go their separate ways.

Xiao Xiao obtained Iron Ore from 'Forgiveness Cap' and gained access to the tools the Lord had just purchased from the base's public warehouse. She was about to undertake something significant.

"First, I'll craft a furnace and smelt the iron! Tomorrow, we'll go straight from the Stone Age to the Iron Age!"

After saying that, Xiao Xiao went to dig clay by the river.

'Forgiveness Cap' then started discussing the attribute panel with Thin Dog and the other two.

"Back then, my watch indicated that reaching Level 2 would unlock the character attribute panel and skill tree panel, and allow job specialization. But after we returned, the watch displayed that the functions were not yet open and to await version updates. It's probably due to the internal testing. I'll go ask designer Sentinel about it when I log off later."

Thin Dog: "Okay, waiting for your news!"

After their discussion, the "Forgiveness Hat" also went to help Xiao Xiao dig for clay. It was almost time to log off for the day, and there wasn't enough time to do anything else. What if their character was forcibly kicked offline and left to be picked up by mutated creatures in the wilderness?

Only the seemingly dazed Lord and three combat-class players remained in the base.

The Demonic Fox took a skull from the small cart and placed it on the [Attribute Conversion Tower].

"Let me see what this is."

A blue light scanned it, and the item's description appeared on their watches.

[Vitality Skull]

[A skull that has lost its vitality, but energy still surges within. Perhaps some good loot can be obtained from it.]

"Huh? This is loot?"

Lin Tang took a closer look and noticed it did have some luster, especially as it was getting dark.

"Then let's see what good stuff we can decompose!"

Lin Tang put it into the [Loot Generator].

Beep, beep, beep~

The conveyor belt dragged out one piece of loot.

[Shattered Skull]

[Inlay (for Breastplate and Helmet)]

[+2 Health Regeneration per second]

[+8% Energy Regeneration Speed]

"Good stuff! Anything that increases health regeneration is good stuff!"

Thin Dog and the others were able to use their gains today entirely thanks to the health regeneration; it could be said that they had recovered several lives' worth of HP today.

Thin Dog said, "Let me inlay one onto my breastplate. My health regeneration speed will reach 8 points, and it also adds percentage-based energy regeneration speed. I can use my aura better without that bone off-hand. It's very practical."

Lin Tang remarked, "The equipment system in this game is quite interesting. Different types of inlays have different functions, and they can greatly increase our combat power. I'm setting a small goal for myself: to collect all the inlays in this game."

Since it could produce items, there was nothing more to say about the other 11 skulls. They were all thrown into the generator to produce loot.

This thing wasn't like prey that could be eaten; it had no other use besides generating loot.

10 pieces of loot rolled out with the conveyor belt.

The Demonic Fox looked at all the loot and frowned, "This skull can only drop one piece of loot at most, which is quite a gap compared to the 1-3 pieces of loot from each Raider. Perhaps the level is too low?"

Mixed in with this batch of loot was a palm-sized square box.

Lin Tang, with his sharp eyes, picked it out first.

[Skill Imprint: Skeleton Revival]

[The art of reviving skeletons is the first and most basic ritual for all necromancers. Necromancers infuse their will into the bones of the dead, urging them to serve them.]

[Active Skill]

[0/16 Level]

[Next Level: 1]

[80 Energy Cost]

[18 minutes Skill Cooldown]

[Summon Count per Cast: 1]

[Max Summon Count: 1]

[Skeleton Warrior Ability: Ancient Weapon, deals both physical and vitality damage to enemies. (Skeletons are affected by equipment that boosts pet damage; minion strength increases with skill level)]

[Applicable Profession: Necromancer]

[Requires 1 Necromancer Class Specialization Point]

The three of them looked at each other.

They had gotten an excellent drop!

This was a skill!

Thin Dog imagined the three of them going out to fight with three skeletons, thinking how powerful that would be!

In the early stages of the game, what was the difference between this and cheating?

At the same time, Cheng Shaofeng, who was editing the game's next version update, received a reminder from Zero.

"Master, the base has produced a second Skill Imprint. Please record it promptly."