The Second Attribute Core

The Second Attribute Core

After having Little One carry her wheelchair up to the second floor, Xu Zhi carefully checked the room again. Only after confirming there were indeed no signs of anyone living here did she close the door and take out the Game Console.

She had no intention of sending Little One away to hunt or search for those black fruits just yet. Though time was indeed pressing, she knew how to prioritize. In an unfamiliar place like this, it was only natural to keep Little One close for a while longer.

Besides, she had an appointment later.

"Search the building. See if there's anyone else here."

Xu Zhi did not send Little One too far away. Within a single building, at Little One's current speed, it could quickly reach her even if she encountered danger.

While Little One searched the building and Little Dog continued hunting, Xu Zhi did not even begin tidying the room. She took out the Game Console and directly began controlling Little Dog's hunt.

The hunt went unexpectedly smoothly. One prey after another appeared, and almost all of them were asleep, making them easy to take down. In less than half an hour, Xu Zhi had controlled Little Dog into killing four prey.

Little One returned to the room at that moment.

After selecting the option to continue searching for prey, Xu Zhi looked up at Little One and asked, "Is there anyone else here?"

The great snake shook its head in a very humanlike manner.

"Fine. Guard this place."

With that, Xu Zhi lowered her head and continued looking at the Game Console. Another round of hunting had just ended.

What caught Xu Zhi's attention was a faintly glowing object among the prey's corpse on the pixelated screen. Then, a line of text appeared in the center of the screen.

[Your Familiar hunted prey above its level while it was asleep, and gained an unexpected reward.]

[How astonishing. Your luck seems to be exceptionally good.]

As the text appeared, a line resembling the item pickup notifications in other games also appeared in the lower-left corner of the screen.

[Energy Core +1]

Upon seeing the words clearly, surprise appeared on Xu Zhi's face.

She got another one already?

She hurriedly opened the inventory. Sure enough, in addition to the gray [Moth] Attribute Core, there was now a pale yellow core.

She selected it, and a single word appeared beside it: [Blade].

"Ah... this wasn't drawn here by me too, was it?"

Xu Zhi immediately thought of how both her Familiars possessed the [Blade] attribute.

[Attributes reinforce and counter one another. Most of the time, living beings can only awaken the attribute most compatible with themselves.]

[However, this does not mean every living being can possess only one attribute. Generally speaking, no more than three attributes exist within a living body. It is simply that the conditions for awakening a second attribute are extremely harsh.]

[This core was indeed not attracted by you, but neither was that entirely untrue.]

[It was attracted by your Familiars. Yet in a sense, your Familiars are one with you. Could that not also be considered being attracted by you?]

[Would you now like to learn about the Blade attribute?]

"Of course."

Xu Zhi truly wanted to suggest that the narrator skip the choice next time.

[Blade: the principle of war and resistance.]

[It contains brute force, betrayal, cunning, and pain. Its elements may be conquest and rule, struggle and resistance. Its traits are cunning and Bloodlust; within its violence lies a certain ingenuity.]

[You have gained a basic understanding of the Blade attribute. Other attributes will be unlocked once you possess their corresponding Attribute Cores. As for the specific uses of Attribute Cores, please explore them yourself.]

It was quite fitting for her Familiars.

But she was somewhat puzzled by the part about conquest and rule.

Still, this attribute had arrived at just the right time. She already had a rough idea of how to use the core.

This [Blade] Attribute Core would be perfect for an experiment, though she would have to wait until after she finished talking with that young woman.

Xu Zhi directly took the core out into the real world and put it in her pocket, then continued controlling Little Dog's hunt. After another hour or so, thanks to most prey having no chance to resist, Little Dog rapidly rose to level 8.

Looking at the refreshed evolution point progress bar, Xu Zhi sighed. She still had to manually level it up twice more before auto-play would unlock.

She looked at the gray dog on the screen, which had grown nearly as large as a Tibetan Mastiff after leveling up, and thought for a moment. "I might as well give you a name early."

After thinking simply for half a minute, Xu Zhi came up with a name for her second Familiar.

"You'll be called Doggie from now on."

The big pixelated dog could not hear her. It merely stood there and wagged its tail in boredom, completely unaware that it had been given a rather perfunctory name.

Xu Zhi checked the time. Two hours had passed, and it was time for her appointment with that young woman.

"Let's go, Little One. Let's see whether that sister has returned."

She did not get back into the wheelchair. Without an elevator, it was simply too inconvenient.

As she climbed the stairs, she suddenly thought of Doggie's size, nearly comparable to that of a Tibetan Mastiff. If it grew a little larger, it could probably serve as a mount. Then whenever she needed to go out, why would she still need a wheelchair?

Xu Zhi's frail body left her somewhat out of breath after climbing just one floor. She stood outside the door and steadied her breathing for a moment before raising her hand to knock.

A reply quickly came from inside. "Who is it?"

Xu Zhi realized that there really was nothing wrong with her ears anymore. Even through the door, she could tell that this was the same voice she had heard two hours ago.

"Big sister, I came to see you as promised."

She answered in an obedient tone, as though she were some well-behaved child.

The other person fell silent for a moment. Xu Zhi heard footsteps approaching the door, so she retreated two steps. Beside her, Little One flicked its tongue and stared intently at the door.

Soon, the door opened. The young woman Xu Zhi had seen that morning stood inside. She looked much the same, except her tracksuit was now covered in dirty bloodstains. She had probably only just returned home and had not had time to change before someone knocked on her door.

With that amount of blood loss, if it had been her own blood, she probably would not even be able to stand.

"Did you go hunting just now, big sister?"

Xu Zhi asked with a smile. The other woman did not hide it and nodded, her gaze covertly darting toward Little One. Her expression was tense. She probably could not let down her guard around this unfamiliar girl and the great snake.

But since she had not chosen to flee and had opened the door as promised, she evidently did not intend to do anything hostile despite her wariness. The woman shifted slightly aside, making room for them to enter.

"Come in. Sit for a while. I'll go change clothes."

She pointed to the bloodstains on herself. They were indeed quite heavy. Xu Zhi also noticed that the woman had thick calluses on her fingers. Unlike Xu Zhi's overly slender, delicate fingers, hers looked rather powerful—hands suited to holding a knife.

"Then excuse me."

Xu Zhi entered politely and obediently sat on the sofa. The woman hesitated when she saw this, but before going into the room to change, she still took a paper Cup and poured Xu Zhi a cup of bottled water.

"Thank you." The girl spoke in a soft, gentle voice. If not for the python lying at her feet, she would have sounded very easy to bully.

Yet although she acted extremely obedient, she never once reached out to touch that cup of water.