How About It, Not Convinced?

How about it, not convinced?

After [Restlessness] dropped to level 1, Xu Zhi tried feeding the Aberration a [Cup] Attribute Core.

It only needed to consume one more Evolution Point to level up, and not long after swallowing it this time, the Aberration chose to level up on its own.

[Familiar: Aberration Lv3

Spirit: 0

Body: 210

Attribute: Cup

Traits: Bloodlust Lv2, Stealth Lv1, Agility Lv1, Restlessness Lv1

Special Ability: None]

[Evolution Points 50:200]

Its Spirit was still 0, as expected. Bloodlust had gone up a level, though, and its Body had reached 210 at level 3. If she remembered correctly, Doggie had only had 40 at level 3.

The difference was way too huge.

But... no matter how strong its Body was now, it was useless. Xu Zhi did not dare let it out at all.

Still, this Familiar offered a glimpse of the enormous gap between Aberrations and humans or animals. The difference was even greater than she had imagined.

Once the level-up was complete, the [Desire] and [Hunger] thoughts that had only just subsided surged back within the Aberration.

A bad feeling rose in Xu Zhi's heart. She asked, "Don't tell me I have to feed it blood every time it levels up?"

"Isn't there a more permanent solution? I'm not some walking blood bag!"

[There is, but it cannot be done for the time being.]

"Then at least tell me the method first."

[After level 10, feeding it a high-level Lamp Attribute Core can resist Restlessness.]

"...I haven't even seen a Lamp's shadow."

Xu Zhi felt that this condition really was a little difficult to fulfill.

After level 10... was that because level 10 was when this thing gained intelligence?

Then its Spirit would probably remain 0 until level 10.

[That is why I said it cannot be done for the time being.]

The Narrator's tone remained rational and cold.

"Fine, got it."

With a helpless sigh, she picked up the knife again and poked a small hole in her finger. She could not even be bothered to wipe it clean this time, simply using the wound to feed the Aberration core after core, force-feeding it all the way to level 7.

[Familiar: Aberration Lv7

Spirit: 0

Body: 550

Attribute: Cup

Traits: Bloodlust Lv3, Stealth Lv1, Agility Lv1, Restlessness Lv2

Special Ability: None]

[Evolution Points 150:750]

"Wait, why is Restlessness level 2?"

[Because it consumed too many Cup Attribute Cores at once. It can still be removed.]

Xu Zhi looked at the Aberration, whose appearance had barely changed, and could not help sighing. "Why is an Aberration so delicate?"

But then she thought about it. It was a [Cup], after all. She had tried staying in a Spirit Vessel with the [Cup] attribute before, and it really had not felt good.

"Fine."

Xu Zhi grimaced and fed the Aberration a few more drops of blood, finally erasing the Restlessness brought on by leveling up.

"Good thing it's me now. If this had been back at the beginning, where would I have gotten so much blood for you to burn through?"

The girl grumbled as she fed it cores. The Familiar, which resembled a piece of Withered Wood, could not really understand what she was complaining about. It had practically no mind to speak of. At most, it could sense simple, direct emotions from Xu Zhi's words and respond accordingly, like it had to her earlier questioning.

Now, words with no particular meaning beyond casual complaints were completely beyond its comprehension. Its empty mind was not enough for it to react in any way, so it merely looked like a piece of lifeless Withered Wood.

It was actually pretty deceptive.

After feeding it blood in fits and starts—far more than she had expected—Xu Zhi finally fed the little glutton up to level 10.

[Familiar: Aberration Lv10

Spirit: 1

Body: 1280

Traits: Bloodlust Lv4, Stealth Lv2, Agility Lv3, Restlessness Lv1

Special Ability: None]

[Evolution Points 0:1000]

[Congratulations, your Familiar has reached level 10 and gained intelligence. You may now name it.]

How moving!

Its Spirit had actually increased by a whole point!

It had broken through 0!

Xu Zhi was expressionless. That's so amazing.

"So, the sign that it has gained intelligence is this one point of Spirit?"

[What, you're not convinced?]

[It's fine. Adjust your mindset. You'll realize later that having 1 point is already impressive.]

"Heh. It'd better be."

It was time to name something again, but thankfully, Xu Zhi already had an idea this time.

"It's so dumb. I'll call it Little Dummy."

Unlike before level 10, when it had been as unresponsive as a block of wood, Xu Zhi clearly sensed a trace of indignation from this piece of Withered Wood. It was unwilling to accept the name but unable to resist, leaving it faintly aggrieved.

Still, it was worth mentioning that the Aberration's appearance had changed slightly after reaching level 10. It... had branched.

Though it was completely inconspicuous, a small twig had indeed grown from what could be considered its "head," still resembling a withered brown thorn.

Xu Zhi could not quite figure out how this thing evolved. Aberrations had always taken countless ever-changing forms, and all kinds of deformities existed. Perhaps hers was already considered relatively "normal-looking."

"Can it still not leave my side?" Xu Zhi asked.

[Yes. Although it has gained intelligence, it remains extremely ignorant. It cannot resist external Temptation and requires strict discipline.]

[Lamp Attribute Cores can increase its resistance to Temptation.]

Xu Zhi sighed at that. "Lamp Attribute Cores aren't easy to find around here."

But it was not impossible. It seemed she would have to speed up her plans.

Seeing that Little Dummy was temporarily behaving itself, Xu Zhi opened the Spirit Vessel interface and began save-scumming. She continuously consumed currently useless cores to randomly create the cheapest Spirit Vessels within the city, recording each random location.

After randomly rolling nearly twenty times, she finally landed near the outskirts of Nanshan Villa District again.

After recording the location, she had spent nearly a hundred cores. Even though she only invested one core each time for the randomization, saving those locations truly cost a great deal. That was under the premise that saving fees within the city were much lower than outside.

It was worth mentioning that she rolled the city center three more times during that process, and as soon as the two seconds of invincibility ended, the Aberrations around her instantly killed her.

There had been no changes in the city center. Those Aberrations remained packed together in dense masses, quietly waiting for something.

"Isn't the probability of rolling the city center a little too high?"

Cloud City was huge. There was the city center, the First Ring, Second Ring, Third Ring, outer suburbs, countryside, and vast stretches of deep mountains. The Old Residential District where she was only occupied a tiny corner of the Third Ring.

Using only twenty attempts to roll the location she wanted today had already been incredibly lucky, yet three of them had landed in the city center. That was clearly abnormal.

The three rolls had all been in different locations within the city center. With a certain thought in mind, Xu Zhi recorded those locations as well.

"Now it's time to get to work."

"Xiao Zhen, fly to that place you visited before and wait for me."

"Oh, right. Will it affect it in any way after I enter a Spirit Vessel?"

Xu Zhi suddenly thought of something and pointed at the Aberration as she asked the game.

[No. It will remain beside your main body.]

"That's good."

She opened the window. The white Gyrfalcon beat its wings and flew into the Black Fog, while Xu Zhi sat back down on the sofa and prepared to enter a Spirit Vessel.