Wasted

Looking at Literature (19% beginner) on the Data Panel in front of him, he impatiently ordered the Shadow Servant to send Literature (66% beginner) into his body again.

This was the best of the Literature Light Orbs. If they simply added together, then he would only need three Literature Light Orbs to break through the beginner level and reach proficient-level Literature. He wanted to know what Literature proficiency beyond the beginner level would be like.

As Literature (66% beginner) entered his body, his eyes stayed fixed on Literature (19% beginner) on the Attribute Panel. Soon, the 19% began to rise.

But when it reached 69%, the progress stopped increasing.

"So they don't just add together!" David couldn't help saying with a shake of his head.

He had greedily assumed that all the orbs granting him the same ability could be added together, but that wasn't the case.

It made sense. The person who had reached 66% beginner-level Literature and the one who had reached 19% beginner-level Literature had overlapping knowledge of the subject—and a great deal of it.

Only 3% of the knowledge from the 19% beginner-level Literature orb was new. David guessed that the more orbs he absorbed, the more knowledge would overlap.

Then, as before, a vast amount of memories flooded into him. There were lessons, studying, self-study, and reviewing, just like last time. But the owner of these memories had clearly worked much harder.

When he came to again, he ordered the Shadow Servant to send another orb into his body: Literature (28% beginner).

This time, something went wrong. As soon as the red orb entered his body, he felt dizzy, then passed out.

After a long while, David awoke from his unconsciousness. He checked the time on his Identity Bracelet and found that he had been out for half an hour.

He hadn't gained any memories this time. Uneasily, he had the Shadow Servant activate his Attribute Panel. Literature (69% beginner) was still there, unchanged.

He then checked inside the Shadow Servant. The red Literature (28% beginner) orb had indeed disappeared.

David realized he had wasted a red orb. It contained Literature knowledge worth 28% beginner-level progress. Even if he devoted an entire year to studying Literature, he might not be able to gain that much knowledge on his own.

He knew his own abilities well. Neither his predecessor nor he himself had been any kind of genius.

If his predecessor had been a genius, then despite having the means to eat Fortified Meat regularly, he would have raised his strength to only six hundred kilograms. He wouldn't have needed to risk his life and strengthen himself through a sacrificial ritual.

And if David himself had been a genius, he wouldn't have spent his previous life stuck in a third-tier city. He would have gone to one of the big cities long ago, joined a major company, and strived for a better future.

That was why wasting the red Literature (28% beginner) orb hurt so much.

At least it had only been an orb of knowledge in the subject of Literature, not one of the most precious ones.

He made up his mind to figure out how the orbs worked before he used up the ones for Literature and Mathematics.

He also came up with a name for them: Knowledge Light Orbs.

The deaths of nearly a hundred people at once were a rare occurrence. As far as David could remember, so many people had seldom died at once in Peilan City.

Besides, when people died, David couldn't always be there in time to use the Shadow Servant to absorb their souls.

So, for the time being, these were all the Knowledge Light Orbs he could obtain. He couldn't bring himself to kill people just to get more—not only did he lack the ability, but his conscience wouldn't let him.

He didn't use any more Knowledge Light Orbs after that. Having wasted the previous one, he suspected that, in his current condition, he could only fuse with two Knowledge Light Orbs within a certain period.

He stood up and performed the Eighteen Forms of Body Technique from memory. His predecessor had been extremely familiar with the forms; even the Shadow Servant had rated his skill at 10% beginner.

But this was still David's first time practicing the Eighteen Forms of Body Technique. Although his movements were precise, it took him over an hour to complete them.

Yet this time, practicing the Eighteen Forms of Body Technique felt very different from what he remembered.

He was drenched in sweat, and every muscle in his body seemed to be twitching. The results were far better than he had expected.

In his memories, his predecessor had only felt slightly tired after each session of the Eighteen Forms of Body Technique.

He wondered if his Body Technique had improved, so he ordered the Shadow Servant to activate the Attribute Panel.

Sure enough, he saw Body Technique (10% beginner) had become Body Technique (20% beginner). This single practice session had accomplished as much as ten years of his predecessor's training.

He was baffled. He hadn't dared fuse with either of the two Body Technique Knowledge Light Orbs.

Under those circumstances, his Body Technique had improved dramatically. What had caused it?

David's gaze moved across the Attribute Panel, finally settling on Spirit: 2.8 (1).

Of all his attributes, this seemed to be the only one that had changed in some unknown way. He strongly suspected that the Shadow Servant had absorbed the dead people's souls and increased his Spirit.

His sudden leap in progress was especially striking. It was the kind of improvement only a genius could make, and perhaps the reason for that was his increased Spirit.

Of course, he would need another opportunity for the Shadow Servant to absorb new souls before he could confirm whether that really increased his Spirit.

His heart pounding, David closed the Attribute Panel, then couldn't help checking the only orange Knowledge Light Orb inside the Shadow Servant: Sniping (20% proficient).

He steadied himself. He didn't know where the Sniping (20% proficient) Knowledge Light Orb had come from, but he knew it was his only chance to become a Sniper Armored Warrior. He couldn't afford to waste it.

David couldn't understand how, among a crowd of people who had come to see a star, there could be someone who had trained in Sniping to 20% proficiency.

Such a person had to be an Armored Warrior—and a rare kind of Armored Warrior at that: a Sniper Armored Warrior.

But he soon thought of another possibility. The people in the bookstore had died because of the scattered fragments of a hover shuttle. The Sniper Armored Warrior had most likely been the person aboard it.

That Sniper Armored Warrior had caused the deaths of everyone in the bookstore, and had nearly killed David in the explosion as well.

David let out a long breath and severed his connection with the Shadow Servant before standing up. For now, he couldn't control the Shadow Servant and his own body at the same time.

He brushed the dust off himself. It was a habitual gesture, but Emma, the smart manager of his home, kept the place clean. How could there be any dust on the floor?

Suddenly, he stopped brushing himself. His hand had struck his pocket, where he had forgotten he was carrying something.

David took out the Metal Cylinder, regretting that he hadn't handed it over when he saw the police.

At the time, the sight of bodies strewn everywhere had left him stunned. How could he have thought of that?

If he turned the Metal Cylinder in now, he would be in trouble. He had obtained it illegally, and it could affect his college entrance exams.

"No one saw me, so I won't tell anyone about it!" Holding the Metal Cylinder, David made up his mind at once.

That left one question: what exactly was this Metal Cylinder?

He had never seen anything like it in his memories. It looked a little like a miniature monocular telescope.

He held the Metal Cylinder in front of his right eye. Through that eye, he saw a basement that looked completely different.

A set of data appeared on the left side of his vision: wind speed: 0; wind direction: 0; temperature: 25 degrees; humidity: 42%.

Whenever he focused on any spot in the room, distance data appeared before his right eye.

Beneath it was a line of text: Main sniper weapon not detected. Exoskeleton armor not detected. T3 Sniper Auxiliary Device cannot operate.

At last, David knew what the device was called. Now that he knew its name, it would be easy to find out more.

He opened his Identity Bracelet and connected to the civilian Skynet.

Due to the cost and other factors, Peilan Planet's civilian Skynet could only access information from within the planet. It couldn't connect to more distant planets, but that was enough for David.

He searched for "T3 Sniper Auxiliary Device," and hundreds of results appeared.

He opened them and looked through them one by one. Most merely mentioned the T3 Sniper Auxiliary Device, with few offering any detailed description.

But when he opened a page called Sniper Enthusiast, he found some useful information about the T3 Sniper Auxiliary Device.

The T3 Sniper Auxiliary Device was a military-grade sniping aid. Price was beside the point; it simply wasn't sold to the public.

According to Sniper Enthusiast, the T3 Sniper Auxiliary Device could increase a Sniper Armored Warrior's combat power by thirty percent. Even in the Military, only a small number of elite Sniper Armored Warriors had access to this powerful device.

David's heart stirred. The T3 Sniper Auxiliary Device was useless to an ordinary person, but all he had to do was think of that orange Sniping (20% proficient) Knowledge Light Orb to know how greatly the device could enhance his abilities.