After the shopping spree, it was getting late, and Xia Lin returned to the mansion.
As soon as I opened the door, I saw Sera sitting in front of the long table in the living room, with dozens of glowing runes floating around, intertwined into a complex three-dimensional structure.
Those runes were constantly rotating, combining, and separating, emitting a dark purple light.
"Are you back?" Sera didn't even raise his head, and drew something in the air with his fingers, "Have you bought everything?"
"Well, I bought a bunch of life-saving gadgets." Xia Lin put Space Bag on the sofa, and his eyes were attracted by the strange light in front of Sera, "This is----"
"I have already started with the basic structure of Mystery Lock. You see, this is the most basic energy circuit----"
With a wave of her finger, the runes were immediately rearranged to form a Hexagram frame.
"This is the locking core, this is the trigger, this is the feedback loop - it's still rough, but at least it works."
Xia Lin took a few steps closer and carefully observed the suspended structure.
The arrangement of those runes is extremely exquisite, and each node is properly connected to other nodes, forming a self-consistent magic network.
"Awesome, this thing looks much more complicated than I thought." Xia Lin said in sincere admiration.
"It's really difficult." Sera rubbed his temples, "This knowledge is so obscure that it took me three whole days to figure out the most basic principles. And--"
She paused and tapped her finger in the air.
Those runes suddenly trembled violently, and purple Eldritch Energy spurted out from the nodes, condensing into a miniature energy barrier in the air.
"I can only use Eldritch Energy to simulate the most basic Mystery Lock. The real Mystery Lock needs Arcane Energy as the basis, and I----"
Before he finished speaking, the energy barrier suddenly collapsed and turned into specks of light that dissipated in the air.
Sera sighed, "See? Eldritch Energy is too unstable to maintain a complex structure."
At this moment, Xia Lin suddenly noticed something.
Sera's temperament has changed again.
It feels like----
(upgraded?)
Xia Lin narrowed his eyes and quietly turned on [Item Appraisal].
[Sera]
[Race: Tiefling]
[Occupation: Warlock(Great Old One Patron/Pact of the Tome)Ly.9]
[Attributes: Strength 8, Agility 14, Constitution 8, Intelligence 18, Perception 11, Charm 22 (19+2+1)]
[Status: Full of magic power, thinking is rising]
[Note: Her sect master seems to be becoming more and more generous to her. Perhaps it is because her recent research direction has touched on some "interesting" areas.]
It's level nine.
And the most important thing is that the charm attribute has been improved a bit, from 18 to 19.
With the bonuses of Headband and Badge, the charm value now reaches an astonishing 22 points.
"Your sect master upgraded you again?" Xia Lin said, while taking out the pair of [Scholar's Monocle] from his arms
Passed it over.
Sera has become accustomed to the strange words that Xia Lin occasionally pops up.
She took the glasses and tilted her head. "According to you - yes."
"After I studied Mystery Lock and the diary during this period, the sect leader seems to be more generous with his power."
She raised her hand and conjured a thick magic book out of thin air.
The cover of the book is dark purple leather, with silver runes inlaid on the edge. Sera turned to the last page, and her signature was already on it.
"This Tome of Pact." Sera said softly, "Before, this thing could only allow me to perform some of the tricks of other professionals, which is better than nothing. But now——"
She raised her head, with a strange light shining in her eyes. "Now it's finally useful."
"How to use it?" Xia Lin asked curiously.
"As long as you sign this book, it will save your life when you are about to die."
Sera's tone was calm, but the words he spoke were full of weight.
Xia Lin immediately opened [Item Appraisal], and more detailed information appeared in front of him.
[Pact Boon]-[Gift of the Protectors]
[Effect: You can have up to 4 creatures sign their names on the last page of the book. When the number of creatures named Hit Points in the book drops to 0, the creature will magically retain 1 point of Hit Points. Once this ability is triggered, no creature can benefit from it again until you complete Long Rest.]
[Remarks: Equivalent to four lives. But the price is that the soul of the signer will have a weak connection with the suzerain. But don't worry, it's just "weak".]
Xia Lin raised his eyebrows.
"That's awesome." He smiled, "It seems that if we want to die, we need your approval."
"That's okay if you want to understand it, but that's not everything."
Sera stood up and stretched out his hands.
"I also gained two new spells."
"[Blight] and [Synaptic Static].
Xia Lin opens the identification again.
[Blight(4 rings)]
[School: Necromancy]
[Effect: You extract the water and vitality from the target's body, causing 8d8 Necrotic Damage. The damage is more when cast at level 5
High. Plant creatures have disadvantage on this saving throw, and the damage is maximized.]
[Note: Watching your enemies fall like dried bacon is a different kind of art.]
[Synaptic Static(5 rings)]
[School: Enchantment/Psionic]
[Effect: You select a point within 120 feet, triggering an explosion of Divine Power energy. All creatures within range must roll Intelligence Saving Throw, or take 8d6 Psionic damage on a failed save. Creatures that fail the save also suffer "Confusion": for the next minute, their attack rolls, Ability Check, and Constitution saving throws to maintain concentration are minus 1d6.]
[Note: Turning the enemy's brains into mush is more effective than killing them.]
[Blight] is simply a plant nemesis. If you had learned this earlier, you wouldn't have to fight so hard in Royal Botanical Garden. Sera could suck that mother plant into a mummy all by yourself.
And that one [Synaptic Static] is even more terrifying. It is a super-wide A0E plus a powerful Debuff. For Warrior, who has low intelligence, this is simply a nightmare. How can he kill people when his brain is in a mess?
"Do you need me to demonstrate it to you?" Sera turned around with a dangerous smile on his lips.
"Forget it, forget it." Xia Lin waved his hand quickly, "I don't want to ruin this family."
"You're smart." She leaned back lazily on the sofa, crossing her long legs, "I think when Celia and Kade come back in a few days, their abilities should also be improved, right?"
"It's true, Xia Lin. Following your adventure, we have reached a state that we could never imagine before."
Xia Lin said haha, "We all go through these things together and grow together."
(I only have the system to upgrade so quickly----)
He thought to himself, but then he realized it.
(But I thought about it, each of them also has a "system". Sera has a suzerain, Kade has Iomedae, Celia has Nothikura----)
Perhaps, this is how professionals in this other world grow.
Sera put on the pair [Scholar's Monocle] and opened the book in front of him again.
The golden chain of the monocle hung beside her cheek, combined with her loose silk nightgown and horns, creating a contrasting beauty that was extremely erotic yet intellectual.
"This thing is really magical." She said softly, "The knowledge I didn't understand just now suddenly became clear to me. I continued reading."
"Okay, okay, hurry up and get to work." Xia Lin said with a smile.
Sera got up and was about to go upstairs. When she reached the stairs, she suddenly turned back. "Actually, I think you are more suitable to study Mystery Lock."
"Huh?"
"You are smarter than me." Sera said seriously, "Although I don't want to admit it, your way of thinking is indeed more suitable for this kind of logical thing."
"There are specializations in magic, my great scholar." Xia Lin waved his hand, "You are a spell caster, this is your field."
Sera shrugged, turned and went upstairs.
Xia Lin watched her leave, but murmured in her heart:
(Although my intelligence is indeed higher than yours, I don't have the proficiency in [Knowledge (Mystery)] and [Knowledge (Religion)]----)
According to the system's judgment, he is an illiterate who "has a quick mind but has not read a few magic books".
On the other hand, Sera has a serious academic background. Coupled with the skill point bonus brought by her high level, she has surpassed Xia Lin in theoretical knowledge.
He called up his own Attribute Panel.
[Xia Lin·Toremo]
[Career 1: Magic Warrior Lv.8--Experience value: 59325/90000]
[Career 2: Monk(Drunken Fist Master)Lv.1-Experience value: 15000/90000]
[Current total level: 9]
"Sure enough, there is a part-time penalty----"
Since taking part-time job at level 1 Monk, the system has determined that his total level has reached level 9. This means that if he wants to increase the level of any profession, he needs to fill the big hole leading to level 10.
Moreover, the pools for the two professions are calculated separately.
However, he can transfer the proficiency of Magic Warrior to Monk through his own training bias.
You are free to choose the direction of career growth.
But Xia Lin discovered an interesting mechanism.
More importantly, he discovered that by "understanding" the experience of a specific profession, a large amount of professional proficiency can be obtained, and it is a percentage.
For example, when Qi Feng taught him [Drunken Boxing] before, that kind of enlightenment directly filled him with level one Monk. Then he realized [White Crane Spreads Its Wings] and directly gave him 15,000 proficiency.
"Monk's level is low, and the threshold for understanding basic skills is also low." Xia Lin rubbed his chin and analyzed, "If I continue to learn some advanced moves from Qi Feng, such as [dodge] or [Feather Fall], I should be able to gain a lot of Monk proficiency
degree."
"And this part of proficiency——maybe it can be transformed through the system and given to Magic Warrior by blood transfusion?"
This is like using a large player to support a small player, or using the "easy upgrade" characteristics of low-level professions to feed high-level professions.
"Looks like I have to go find that old drunkard for a few drinks tomorrow."
Just when Xia Lin was thinking about how to get some more secrets from Qi Feng, there was suddenly a dull knock on the door downstairs.
"Dong dong dong."
The sound is very soft, but very rhythmic.
Xia Lin frowned, walked to the door and opened it.
Then he froze.
There was a tall man in black standing outside the door.
Xia Lin was shocked.
He wore a well-tailored black robe and a strange mask on his head.
The long beak curves downward, and the two round glass eyecups reflect the candlelight from the porch.
Xia Lin subconsciously took a half step back and put his hand on the hilt of the sword.
But the man in black just bowed to him gracefully, and then took out an exquisite invitation card from his arms.
It was a black card with gold patterns inlaid on the edge.
The man in black handed the invitation to Xia Lin, then saluted again, turned around and disappeared into the night.
Not a word was said during the whole process.
Xia Lin took the invitation back to the living room and examined it carefully under the candlelight.
The card read in gilded letters:
[Sincere invitation]
[Mr. Xia Lin·Toremo and his team]
[Four days later, 7 p. m.]
[Holy Light Avenue 127]
[Charity Gala]
[Wear formal attire to attend]
[Sir Azma's Charity Foundation]