The Value of Settings

In the small cabin, Feng Xue held a pocket watch. The more cheerful he had been before, the more dejected he was now.

In his Golden Finger's Appraisal Vision, two prominent lines of text appeared on the pocket watch—

Name: Pocket Watch

Elements: [Item], [Time], [Stop]…

Yes, although he had gathered "Time Stop," this pocket watch hadn't transformed into a [Moon Clock] or [Cassiopeia] as Feng Xue had hoped. Instead, it had become a False Thing with the two elements of [Time] and [Stop].

Good news: the reforging didn't fail.

Bad news: the reforging also didn't succeed.

"Tsk…" Feng Xue looked at the ticking pocket watch with some reluctance, and finally put it into his pocket. There were many possibilities for it not becoming a Phantom, such as not having enough elements, insufficient concentration, or not enough [Knowledge] invested, all of which were possible.

However, since it was still a False Thing, the Golden Finger could continue to reforge it. As long as he collected elements related to Time Stop, Feng Xue believed he would eventually be able to craft the Phantom he desired.

After some self-consolation, Feng Xue, feeling somewhat dispirited, aimed his crosshairs at the remaining junk, continuously clicking the reforge option. As items were decomposed into particles and vanished without a trace, his panel gained quite a few useful elements.

After a full day of smelting and reforging, Feng Xue obtained several Phantoms and also roughly confirmed several rules for the "Reforge" function.

First, reforging could definitely embed the selected elements into the chosen base material.

Second, depending on the amount of [Knowledge] invested, reforging had a certain probability of randomly generating new elements. The upper limit of the number of elements was unknown. Newly generated elements would definitely be compatible with the base material, but not necessarily compatible with the originally possessed elements.

Third, the probability of forming a Phantom was not directly related to the amount of [Knowledge] invested. Although investing more [Knowledge] would increase the probability of generating new elements, if the new elements were incompatible with the original elements, it would hinder the formation of the Phantom.

Fourth, it was almost impossible to strip specific elements without damaging the False Thing, but elements had a chance to change during the reforging process.

Feng Xue had the most profound impression of the last two points. He had painstakingly integrated elements like [Bloodthirsty], [Killing], [Bleeding], and [Penetration] into a dagger. During reforging, he invested a "huge sum" of 500 Tower to gamble for something big. As a result, not only did it not become a Phantom, but the original [Killing] element was preceded by "Not," becoming a [Not Killing] element. In the end, Feng Xue could only smelt the thing.

Conversely, some elements that had little presence were pieced together, and he crafted a decent main combat weapon.

Inserting the dagger into the sleeve on his left arm, Feng Xue took stock of his gains.

Besides the Blade of Suffocation in his right hand and the dagger he had just created, he had acquired three more Phantoms.

One was his upper garment. After successful reforging, this upper garment directly became a three-piece set including an outer jacket, pants, and an inner lining. It looked much simpler than the original Ezio style, leaning more towards Altair's feel. However, it didn't come with accessories like daggers, throwing knives, or belts. Its specific attributes also appeared simple and unadorned—

Name: Phantom · Assassin Set

Elements: [Assassin], [Clothing], [Stealth], [Lightweight]

Description: The standard uniform of the legendary assassin organization "Brotherhood." Wear it, and you will inherit the Creed of the Assassin. This set of clothing allows you to enter a state of stealth, making it impossible for others to detect your information. When you put on the hood, your presence will be greatly reduced, making it easier to escape others' gazes. When falling from a height, it is easier to mitigate damage.

Remarks: Lacks everything, do as you please.

The second Phantom was the belt with the assassin's emblem. To be precise, it was one of the three pockets behind the belt. When he hadn't figured out the reforging rules yet, Feng Xue had dismantled the three small, useless pockets behind the belt for experimentation. Unexpectedly, one of them underwent a qualitative change, becoming a small waist pouch that could be tied around the waist, only about the size of a fist—

Phantom: Storage Pouch

Elements: [Storage], [Item]

Description: A pouch capable of holding a large number of items and retrieving them at the holder's will. Its storage capacity is immense and does not count towards weight. However, only items that can pass through the opening can be placed inside.

Remarks: Too big, it can't get in!

This storage item, which seemed like a standard protagonist's equipment, was undoubtedly an unexpected joy for Feng Xue. In fact, this thing was purely used as a stepping stone for him in the early stages. Even the storage element was something that came with the small leather pouch. However, it wasn't without its flaws. After all, the opening of this thing was only fist-sized, so the items that could be put in were also limited to that size. It was clearly impossible to put all his belongings in his pocket like some novel protagonists.

As for the third Phantom, it was something reforged from the shoes of the scavenging set—

Name: Phantom · Silent Boots

Elements: [Silence], [Shoe], [Equipment], [Assassin]

Description: A pair of shoes that can extend the wearer's lifespan. They are lightweight and agile, making almost no sound when walking in them. After disengaging from combat, they can increase the wearer's speed and slowly restore external injuries.

Remarks: This thing is unreliable, and... extremely ugly.

"Extremely ugly, I agree." Feng Xue looked at the pair of green cloth shoes and decided to go to a tailor to customize a pair of leather boots one size larger, planning to wear these shoes as socks—in fact, their softness was about the same as socks.

As for landing silently…

Are you kidding me? This is a Phantom!

What is a Phantom?

A Phantom is something that activates its ability as long as you meet its conditions. As long as Feng Xue wears it, even if he puts a layer of metal greaves over it, he can still land silently!

Measuring the size of the Silent Boots, Feng Xue put on the new Assassin Set and the ordinary leather boots he wore when he first arrived (the boots from the Assassin Set he was wearing when he transmigrated). He was about to go out. Just as he was tying the laces, a familiar feeling suddenly descended upon him.

For a moment, Feng Xue felt the [Knowledge] within his body rapidly spinning, colliding, and reorganizing. The instant a brand-new Tag appeared within Feng Xue's body, he finally understood what the phrase "Wear it, and you will inherit the Creed of the Assassin" from the Assassin Set meant.

This thing directly condensed an [Assassin] Tag for him!

Feeling the massive amount of knowledge surfacing in his heart, Feng Xue began to suspect if the Manager had also obtained Tags like [Swordsman] through the greatsword.

After some thought, he took off the Assassin Set, but the Tag did not disappear. Instead, his Work Card vibrated with a completely different notification than before—

"New Tag discovered, connect to Browser?"

"..." Feng Xue grinned, clicked "Yes," and put their clothes back on. However, as they entered the backstage area intending to hide their Assassin Tag, they found the option bar displayed a prompt: "Stealth mode entered. All Tags are invisible."

At that moment, Feng Xue once again recognized the world's rule of "settings over everything," and felt a bit more at ease about walking the streets wearing Phantoms.

After all, before discovering this, the Stealth effect of the Assassin set was just text displayed by the Golden Finger, and they didn't know how effective it truly was. But they couldn't not wear Equipment; otherwise, if danger arose, could they say, "Wait a moment, I'm going home to get my gear"?

A strong sense of security was accompanied by an unprecedentedly inflated confidence. Today's success made Feng Xue believe that if they maintained this pace, they could accumulate a full set of divine gear within half a year and head towards the legendary Residential Area.

"No, I can't get overconfident, I need to play it safe! The Sword God of Ten Mile Slope is my goal!"