Could it be that, like the protagonists in those novels, he had brought a system with him?
At that thought, Harrot began shouting wildly in his mind, "System, system, come out!"
Sure enough, as Harrot called out to the system inwardly, a character panel appeared in his mind.
It really existed. Harrot was beside himself with excitement. Sure enough, every transmigrator came with a cheat.
Harrot found this character panel extremely familiar. Wasn't this the character attribute panel from "Mount & Blade"?
The character panel displayed Harrot's four primary attributes, skill levels, and Weapon Proficiency.
------ Character: Harrot Level: 1 Health: 5151 35 (base health) + 20 (Strength bonus) - 2 (Death Curse) - 2 (near-death coma once) Strength 20, Agility 4, Intelligence 9, Charisma 7 Free Attribute Points: 4 Skills: Iron Flesh lv0, Power Strike lv0 (Strength) Athletics lv0, Weapon Mastery lv0 (Agility) Trainer lv0, Inventory Management lv0 (Intelligence) Leadership lv0, Trade lv0 (Charisma) Free Skill Points: 9 Weapon Proficiency: Affects the effectiveness of using related weapons. Every point of Weapon Proficiency slightly increases attack damage and attack speed. One-Handed Weapons 15 Two-Handed Weapons 36 Polearms 33 Throwing Weapons 11 Archery 3 Crossbows 0 Free Weapon Proficiency: 40 ------
After realizing that this was the character panel from "Mount & Blade," Harrot's wild joy faded somewhat.
"Mount & Blade" was a game he had been playing before he transmigrated.
Harrot had played that game for nearly eight years. He could be said to know it inside and out, and precisely because he knew it so well, he felt somewhat regretful.
Why did I have to be playing this game before I transmigrated? If I'd brought along a system from something like "Heroes of Might and Magic" or "Diablo," wouldn't that have been great? Harrot thought greedily.
In "Mount & Blade," players had three types of points.
The four major attributes of Strength, Agility, Intelligence, and Charisma; the skills under those four attributes; and various Weapon Proficiencies.
Besides improving a character's physical abilities, every attribute point also came with additional benefits:
Strength increased maximum health by 1 point.
Agility increased Weapon Proficiency by 10 points.
Intelligence increased skill points by 1 point.
Charisma increased the troop limit by 1.
At the same time, the level of every skill related to an attribute could not exceed one-third of that attribute.
For example, Harrot had 20 points of Strength, so his Strength-related skills could be raised to lv6. But with only 4 points of Agility, his Agility-related skills could only reach lv1.
Players began with 4 free attribute points, free skill points equal to their Intelligence, and free Weapon Proficiency equal to ten times their Agility.
As a game, "Mount & Blade" was very fun, but as a cheat, it felt a little underwhelming.
The game did not have a fantasy setting, and its design tried to stay as realistic as possible. As a result, the upper limit of a character's combat ability was extremely low. Even a top-tier Knight could be beaten to death by a dozen or so low-level bandits.
Even with the best equipment, getting hit by a crossbow bolt from an ordinary soldier would still cause damage and injury. And even the weakest soldier, as long as he had a lance, had a chance to kill the player in a single strike.
Although there was no level cap in the game, leveling up became increasingly difficult at higher levels. After level 30, the experience required to level up became astronomical.
Simply put, this system could only turn a player into a powerful "ordinary person." Forget about fighting a thousand enemies alone or becoming a dragon-slaying hero.
After carefully examining the attribute panel, Harrot roughly understood why his body had recovered. Not only that, he also somewhat understood why the previous Harrot had died for no apparent reason.
When he transmigrated here, the original Harrot was already dead.
In the original owner's memories, he had been perfectly normal all along. After entering the Gladiatorial Arena, he had not suffered any attack. He had merely felt a jolt, grown dizzy, and then died for no reason.
Looking at the explanation beneath his maximum health, what should have been 55 health had become 51. Two points had been deducted because of the Death Curse, and another two because of near-death.
The Death Curse was probably what had killed the original Harrot. He had likely been cursed by someone without realizing it. As for near-death coma, it probably meant that Harrot himself had suffered a fatal Heavy Strike from some unknown creature but had not died.
In "Mount & Blade," a player did not die when their health reached zero. Instead, they fell into a near-death coma. Moreover, lost health recovered at a rate of 1 point per in-game hour. Generally speaking, going from empty health to full health only took two or three in-game days.
No wonder he had felt completely healed upon waking from his coma. No wonder he had survived despite suffering what should have been a fatal blow. It was all because of the system.
Still, it was fortunate that the original Harrot's cries had awakened his consciousness just before it dispersed, activating the system.
Merely sacrificing some maximum health to go from death to coma—having experienced it once already, Harrot felt it was an incredible bargain.
With this effect alone, Harrot felt that this system might not actually be inferior to something like "Heroes of Might and Magic" or "Diablo."
After all, no matter how strong someone was, they could still fail someday. One extra life meant one more chance, not to mention that this was more than just one extra chance.
However, it was still unclear just how powerful the system's resurrection function was. Harrot guessed that if he suffered fatal injuries such as decapitation or being cut in half, he probably would not be able to revive.
The appearance of the system brought a turning point to Harrot's greatest difficulty—the gladiatorial match!
Although the upper limit of a game character's strength in "Mount & Blade" was not high, it was still a game. The power granted by the system was beyond reality and would definitely be enough to deal with gladiators!
The physical fitness of humans in this world was about the same as in his previous life. Due to nutrition, their average level was even lower.
No matter how strong the gladiators in the Gladiatorial Arena were, they were only exceptionally powerful ordinary people. That was also why Harrot could be sold for the high price of fifty gold coins without even being tested.
After all, in battles between ordinary people, physical ability was the most important factor in determining victory or defeat. That was why combat sports in his previous life all had weight classes.
Of course, Harrot did not believe that humans in this world were truly identical to those of his previous life. In a magical world with extraordinary powers, if humanity had nothing to rely on, it would not deserve to survive and continue. It would have gone extinct long ago.
Harrot felt that the original owner simply lacked knowledge and therefore did not understand. A lowly Commoner from a remote village naturally could not know anything high-class.
According to Mount & Blade's attribute settings, an ordinary adult male generally had around 6 points in each of the four attributes.
Harrot's Strength was three or four times that of an ordinary person. He could absolutely be considered naturally gifted with immense strength, but his Agility was only 4. That severely limited his power. What use was great strength if he could not hit anyone?
The reason his Intelligence was as high as 9 was probably because his soul had transmigrated. For a modern person with a decent IQ who had received higher education, such an attribute was perfectly normal.
After thinking carefully for a moment, Harrot allocated all his attribute points and skill points.
He put all his attribute points into Agility, raising it from 4 to 8 and easing the awkward problem of being strong but unable to hit anyone.
There were far fewer skill types than in the game, only eight. In the end, Harrot chose lv2 Athletics, lv2 Weapon Mastery, lv4 Power Strike, and lv1 Inventory Management.
Each level of Athletics increased movement speed by 10%, allowing him to further make up for his weakness in speed.
Weapon Mastery was a core combat skill, allowing him to better use and master weapons.
Power Strike allowed him to better exploit his advantage. Every point increased his melee attack strength by 8%.
Inventory Management, meanwhile, was a rather magical skill. Every point added 6 inventory slots. Simply put, it was storage space!
The 6 inventory slots did not store items according to volume, but according to type. Items of the same type could stack, somewhat like the settings in online games.
Two of the inventory slots were empty, while four contained items: Ragged Straw Shoes, +3 Defense; Worn-out Gloves, +2 Defense; Tattered Woolen Sweater, +5 Defense; and the Sword Fighting Manual.
"Sword Fighting Manual": Requires 7 Intelligence to read. The book recorded the insights of many swordsmanship masters. After reading it, Weapon Mastery increased by 1 point.
The three shabby pieces of equipment could be taken into reality or equipped in the equipment slots.
After putting them all on, Harrot's appearance did not change at all in reality. Only the system's character panel gained a +10 Defense buff.
This buff significantly improved Harrot's physical defense. At the very least, sharp little stones could not break Wang Wu's skin unless they were thrown with force.
Of course, applying a little more force would immediately break through his defense. They were only three shabby pieces of equipment, after all. He could treat it as having practiced one or two layers of Golden Bell Shield.
What could be confirmed was that system equipment could be taken out and used as real clothes, but real clothes placed in the inventory could not be worn as equipment.
Harrot tried putting the shoes he was wearing into the inventory, but there was no option to equip them.
That made Harrot somewhat regretful. The system's equipment slots could have given him an extra layer of defense compared to others, but unfortunately, he had no way to obtain more equipment from the game.
Just as Harrot was about to take out the Sword Fighting Manual and read it in secret, he was interrupted by a series of footsteps.
Several guards in the distance were walking toward Harrot's cell. The Big Nose leading them was the guard who had followed The Bald Man earlier.
The Big Nose guard had the jailer unlock the cell door with a key. Crossing his arms, he said, "The boss told us to take you to the Training Ground. Come with us. You'd better behave yourself. If you try anything, we won't be polite!"
Harrot happened to want to test the strength he had gained after adding points as soon as possible. He nodded and followed the guards.
The Training Ground was not far from the cells. After following them for only a few minutes, Harrot was nearly there.
From a distance, he could see more than a dozen gladiators training inside the Training Ground. Two gladiators in the middle of the ring were sparring with wooden weapons.
The guards brought Harrot to the entrance of the Training Ground. The guard at the entrance seemed to know Big Nose, and after exchanging greetings, he let them through.
Before Harrot entered the Training Ground, Big Nose reminded him, "Once you're inside, train however you want. If your hands are itching, you can find someone to spar with, but don't beat anyone to death or cripple them. When night falls, we'll take you back to your cell!"
"Mm, I understand."
Harrot nodded and answered Big Nose obediently before walking into the Training Ground.
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