A long silence filled the rented apartment.
Fang Ran looked left, then right, but in the end, he still did not dare speak first. He stared at the system interface in confusion. Hadn't the system called him something like Z-whatever-A Night Crow back then?
How had it suddenly become this damned Night's Pilgrimage of Thought and Memory? Where was the crow?
But deeply aware that he was currently a troublemaking brat, Fang Ran swallowed and obediently waited for the "parent" to speak first.
Meanwhile, Ling looked at Fang Ran, who was clearly full of little schemes yet pretending to be a "good kid," then at the system interface floating before her, which displayed Night Artifact ZXC9-A—Night's Pilgrimage of Thought and Memory.
Ling felt that either the world had gone insane, or she was hallucinating.
Good heavens, just what had this bastard done to obtain a Night Artifact while he was only E-Rank?!?
It was like an elementary school student somehow buying a handgun!
Inside the data space, Ling was no longer floating. She stood directly on a flat surface, staring at the interface showing the outside world, her large eyes gleaming with disbelief!
ZXC9-A
An A-rank Night Artifact!?
This was no longer a question of whether it was a handgun or not!
Ling almost found the whole thing absurd enough to laugh at. She, a veteran Night Battle Participant who had lived through an entire century, only possessed one Night Artifact. Yet this guy, who had become a Night Battle Participant only three days ago, had gotten an A-rank Night Artifact!?
Ling felt like the world was unreal!
"Just what the hell did you do in that scene!?"
The moment Ling came back to her senses, she asked that question again. This time, however, there was no anger in her voice—only shock!
"Uh..."
Fang Ran's face instantly stiffened. He pressed his lips tightly together, looking as though he would rather die than say anything.
Ling watched him for a while before snorting, letting the matter go for now. Her anger from learning that Fang Ran had caused trouble earlier had also been diluted by the shock of this Night Artifact.
Like a "brat," Fang Ran instinctively glanced at his "parent." Once he sensed that he was safe, he immediately put on a silly grin and asked Ling like a curious child:
"So, uh... is this equipment of mine any good?"
Any good? If an A-rank Night Artifact was merely any good, then what counted as impressive?
But Ling did not feel like telling Fang Ran that. She scoffed internally and replied flatly, "Not bad."
Hearing that answer, Fang Ran rubbed his hands together and sighed in relief. At least his desperate efforts had not been for nothing. Then he hurriedly asked about something else he did not understand:
"Oh, right. The system said this equipment was called Night Crow before. Why did it change names? Did it switch it out for another one?"
Ding. Night Artifact selection is based on the participant's behavioral patterns observed by the system within the scene. No substitution has occurred. Ding. The participant's English proficiency was detected within the scene. A detailed Chinese translation has therefore been provided.
Fang Ran: "..."
Damn it! One day, I'll pass CET-4 and show you!
"Did you hear that?" Ling shot Fang Ran a glance, then added, "Thought and Memory come from Northern European mythology—the two ravens on the shoulders of Odin, the chief god. Read up on foreign cultures when you have time. Stop looking like an illiterate!"
Seeing Fang Ran turn his head away and pretend he had not heard her, Ling felt stifled again. Night Artifacts generally originated from things familiar to people, whether modern or mythical.
Fang Ran's artifact, Night's Pilgrimage of Thought and Memory, which belonged to the god king's shoulders, clearly came from mythology. And when no one currently knew which Night Artifacts of the same rank were stronger or weaker, anything connected to a mythological chief god certainly would not be weak.
Its source was said to be the two ravens perched upon Odin's shoulders: Hugin, representing "thought," and Munin, representing "memory." They were Odin's spies, flying across the world at night and reporting everything they had seen and heard to their master every morning.
"Uh, right. Is that really the only description?"
Fang Ran pointed at the interface, which only displayed the name of the Night Artifact. Ling glanced at it and explained calmly, "All Night Artifact descriptions are like this. The system only tells you that much. The artifact's exact power still depends on the user developing it."
If this guy were to develop it, he could consider using it according to its role in the myth, Ling thought.
"Oh." Fang Ran nodded. Ling glanced at his expression, which showed that he had not really understood, and sighed.
"What else don't you understand?"
"Uh, not much. I just want to know what the values on Silver Severing Dragon Tooth and my own stats actually mean." Fang Ran scratched his head and asked awkwardly.
Ling looked at him in surprise. What exactly happened in that scene? Did it actually make this unmotivated guy improve?
"What do you mean specifically?"
"Like Magic Value. Silver Severing Dragon Tooth has 19 Magic Value. What about my own? And what exactly does it do?" After thinking for a moment, Fang Ran asked the question that puzzled him the most.
The changes those values had brought him in the earlier scene had been enormous, yet some things had remained unchanged, leaving Fang Ran deeply confused.
In the scene, he had used the Shadow Card to pin down the shadows of those C-Rank powerhouses, preventing them from moving. But Fang Ran did not think his Magic Value was higher than theirs.
Could it be that he was naturally gifted, with absurdly high magic power!?
At that thought, Fang Ran's heart suddenly burned with excitement!
"Heh. I don't know what you're fantasizing about, but it's probably not what you think." Seeing Fang Ran's drooling, wishful expression, Ling coldly poured water on his dreams.
"Magic Value only determines Magic Energy Value. The power of an ability depends entirely on how much Magic Energy Value is invested in that attack. Physical energy works the same way."
"Uh, so ability power doesn't determine damage anymore—it determines mana capacity instead?"
"Is that the only kind of nonsense comparison you know how to make?"
Ling mercilessly looked down on this Silver-rank noob, then sneered and dealt him another blow. "As for your own attributes? Heh. They're too pathetic to look at, so I could not even be bothered displaying them on your simplified interface."
"My god, so that's how it was?"
Fang Ran covered his face and collapsed onto the bed. Before this, he had thought he had defeated those big shots because he was uniquely talented and had some special constitution. The real reason was that those people had run out of Magic Energy Value and physical energy!
"So!"
Ling controlled the Power Bank and floated high above Fang Ran's head.
"Starting tomorrow, every night, you will properly train your abilities."
"I won't ask what happened in this scene, and I won't ask how you got another card."
"But!"
Ling's voice was incomparably stern and serious.
"You have to work hard!"
Fang Ran shuddered and asked in a trembling voice, "How hard are we talking??"
Ling's voice was firm and icy, less than an inch from Fang Ran's face.
"You already possess a top-tier Night Artifact."
"So, within three scenes, within one year..."
"Reach D-Rank."
Aaaah, finished writing!!! Thanks to all the readers who tipped me.
But honestly, what I really want is for the comments section to be livelier. In other words, I want people to praise me.
Ahem, I seem to have accidentally told the truth. That isn't important.
Finally, please leave comments, bookmark, recommend, and tip! I'll take anything except requests for more chapters!! (As for the person who slandered me for being five feet three, I've written your name down in my little notebook.)
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