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After the lively gathering ended, Li Si and Ya Er agreed to return tomorrow so he could practice the long whip with her. Then he got ready to leave.

"See you tomorrow!" Ya Er waved at Li Si.

"I'll walk you out," Arsen said as he stood, giving Li Si a meaningful look.

Keeping his expression neutral, Li Si followed Arsen out of the villa.

"What is it? Why did you specifically keep me behind?"

Li Si stood on the steps by the roadside, lowering his head to study the green shoots emerging from the cracks between the stones.

"Viscount Kane."

Arsen hesitated for a moment before speaking to Li Si.

"I'm sure you've already noticed that Miss Ya Er's identity is anything but ordinary."

Li Si remained silent, tacitly acknowledging Arsen's words.

The most outstanding youngest son of a duke's family acted like a scolded child in front of Ya Er. Who wouldn't notice?

"Before I receive permission, I cannot tell you Miss Ya Er's identity. I hope you can understand."

Arsen paused, then said seriously, "I don't want to know whether Miss Ya Er meeting you was a coincidence or whether there were other reasons behind it. But I hope you won't do anything harmful to Miss Ya Er."

Arsen did not finish his sentence, but Li Si naturally understood what he meant.

Li Si truly did not care about the veiled threat in Arsen's words. If he could reveal that he already knew Ya Er's true identity, he would have wanted to bow his head and cling to Ya Er's golden thigh in advance.

He was just short of saying, "If you do not disdain me, Si would be willing to take you as his sworn mother."

As for harming Ya Er, that was overthinking it.

A Story Protagonist, a Chosen One destined by fate—she was practically born with the Goddess of Luck at her side. No matter what difficulties she encountered, she would always turn danger into safety. Ordinary people simply could not scheme against such fortune.

"Sir Arsen, I will not do anything detrimental to Ya Er. This is my promise as Viscount Kane."

Li Si spoke solemnly to Arsen.

"I hope so."

Seeing Li Si make a guarantee in the name of his nobility, Arsen's expression softened considerably. After all, the kingdom's nobles placed great importance on their reputations. He nodded and said, "Welcome to our adventurer team, Li Si!"

"Thank you, Arsen. See you tomorrow, then!"

Back at his residence, Li Si sat beside the small table in his bedroom. He picked up the iced fruit tea Rosie had specially prepared for him and pondered the events of the day.

Meeting Ya Er today had been an accident, and even more unexpectedly, he had joined Ya Er's mercenary group just like that.

It had gone so smoothly that it was almost unbelievable!

It seemed he could give the plans for the Sacred Festival some serious thought. If he could gain Ya Er's support, he might have another way to break the deadlock.

However, Ya Er's current strength should only be that of a Gold Warrior. If he wanted to wait for her next breakthrough, he would have to wait until the later stages of the Version 2.0 storyline.

But Li Si had no need to plan for matters that far away. He should settle the Sacred Festival first.

Someone had definitely planned the matter involving Camus deliberately. Fine. Since they had failed to achieve their goal last time, they certainly would not let it go. Li Si only needed to wait for them to expose themselves.

Improving his strength still took priority. There were many things he could not accomplish with the strength of a Novice Mage, such as his development plan for civilian enchanted items. At the very least, he needed to advance to Intermediate Mage before he could reproduce the special magic rune arrays in his mind.

Although there had been many surprises today, he had accomplished every purpose he had for visiting the Mercenary Guild.

He had registered his mercenary identity.

Training for his final weapon proficiency had also been put on the agenda. Though the long whip seemed like a weapon rather unsuitable for men, Li Si was not picky. As long as he could gather all ten weapon proficiencies, that was enough.

He had also unexpectedly joined the Ya Er Adventurer Team, so he would not need to worry too much about future quests and experience.

On the surface, his teammates were all Silver-level. Even if there were experience penalties, the experience he gained from completing quests would not be insignificant.

And there was Ya Er, whose true strength was that of a Gold Warrior. She was quite unlike that half-baked Welf. Considering Ya Er's uniqueness, Li Si suspected that she might already possess strength comparable to a high-ranking Gold Warrior.

His own strength was still far too low.

After thinking it over, Li Si summoned his panel and decided to use all the experience he had accumulated so far to raise his class level first. Skill levels could wait.

[You have consumed 735,604 unallocated experience points!]

[Your personal level has increased: 30 → 31!]

[You have gained Strength +1, Agility +1, Intelligence +2, Charm +1, Mystery +1, Endurance +1]

[Your personal level has increased: 33 → 34!]

[You have gained Strength +1, Agility +1, Intelligence +2, Charm +1, Mystery +1, Endurance +1]

[You have allocated 10 Free Attribute Points]

[Your Intelligence attribute has increased: 76 → 96! (Attribute Modifier)]

As a series of system messages appeared, Li Si felt refreshed. The slight fatigue from the day was completely swept away, and his mind became much clearer.

So this was the effect of improving his attributes?

The attribute increases of his previous game character had merely been virtual numbers. He had never experienced them firsthand.

Li Si summoned his status panel.

Name: Li Si Kane

Race: Human

Level: 34

Health Points: 1280/1280

Mana Value: 2000/2580

Status: Normal

Experience: 0/210000 (Unallocated Experience: 15820 points)

Main Class: Arcanist (Novice)

Secondary Class: None

Talent: All-Rounder

Attributes:

Strength 39

Agility 40

Intelligence 96 (Attribute Modifier)

Charm 42

Mystery 37

Endurance 39

Luck 3

Free Attribute Points 0

Specialties:

Arcane Mind—Intelligence receives a 2x value modifier, Elemental Affinity +100%, Arcane Submodule unlocked

Advanced Fatigue Resistance—Reduces the degree of negative effects on the body while fatigued, stamina recovery speed +50%

Rank Suppression—You gain additional power when facing lower-rank professionals. Current bonus: (10%)

Dauntless Challenger—Damage received from Rank Suppression is reduced by 30%. Has a chance to resist negative conditions such as fear, intimidation, silence, confusion, charm, and more

Low-Grade Robust Body—Health Points increased by 10%, improves recovery speed from light injuries, and slightly increases your resilience and Elemental Resistance

Skills: Cantrips (Mage Hand, Cleanse Spell, Flash Spell), First-Circle Spells (Fireball Spell, Ice Arrow Spell, Human Charm), Second-Circle Spells (Ice Blade Spell, Windwalk Spell, Earth Escape Spell, Restore Moderate Injury, Levitation Spell), Third-Circle Spells (Chain Fireball Spell, Elemental Shield, Stinking Cloud Spell, Humanoid Immobilization Spell), First-Circle Arcana (Fuel Spell), Third-Circle Arcana (Blue Ball Spell, Ray of Aging), Martial Skills (Furious Slash, Shield Bash, Resistance Enhancement, Minor All Stats Boost)

Milestones: Novice Mage (Bronze-level), The First Step of the Strong (Silver-level)

Legendary Points: 10 (Kingdom-level—Court Viscount Legendary Points +10)

Equipment: Emerald Staff, Emerald Amulet, Concentration Ring

(You've made a little progress, going from cannon fodder to slightly stronger cannon fodder!)

He had to admit, wielding power felt pretty good!

Li Si nodded in satisfaction. Although he had nearly drained all the experience he had painstakingly accumulated, his attributes had improved across the board, making it worthwhile.

What was more, he could now obtain a stable source of experience through mercenary commissions, so he no longer needed to agonize over whether to raise his personal level or skill levels.

Li Si declared: I want it all!

After indulging in that satisfaction for a while, Li Si poured the no-longer-chilled fruit tea down his throat and prepared to head to the laboratory to begin today's magical research.

Not only did he need to research new arcana, but he also needed to master new Third-Circle Spells.

Li Si was not one of those Chosen Ones. He had to make the most of every moment. Only through bit-by-bit accumulation could he ultimately gain the power to control his own fate.