So Good—That Wild Boar Skill Was Incredibly Useful

Gan Ming wasn't surprised.

A level 1 Soul Snatch had been unlikely to succeed in the first place.

Besides, this pig was level 3.

He maintained his pressing posture and silently counted to ten.

Again.

[Soul Snatch failed. Cooldown: 10 seconds.]

Huh?

Failed again?

Gan Ming licked his lips.

Ten seconds later.

The third attempt.

[Soul Snatch successful!]

[Skill stolen: Fanged Charge (Passive Skill. After every two normal attacks, the third triggers a charged attack, dealing 150% physical damage.)]

[Current active slots (0/3). Activate immediately?]

Gan Ming didn't hesitate for even a second.

Activate!

A warm current flowed from his palm into his body, spreading through his meridians and into his limbs.

Gan Ming clenched both hands into fists.

He felt as though some rhythm-based combat technique had been etched into his muscle memory.

Every third slash automatically triggered a Heavy Strike.

It cost no mana and had no cooldown.

As long as he kept attacking, it would keep triggering.

Gan Ming rose from atop the Pig Monster.

He looked at the short blade in his hand, then lowered his head to look at the pig on the ground, which had more skills than he did.

He had learned his first combat skill from a pig.

Was that embarrassing?

Not at all!

Was it useful?

Of course it was!

And now, Gan Ming was increasingly grateful that he had chosen Healing back then.

During this fight, he had used Healing once every minute on average, restoring a total of 255 health.

Without Healing, he would have had to chug at least four Lesser Life Recovery Potions.

A set only had five potions. If he used four in his first battle, what would he do afterward?

Healing didn't cost money. As long as he had mana, he could use it.

Saving money was making money.

The survival philosophy of the poor never went out of style.

Gan Ming stored the Pig Monster's corpse in his ring and found a spot with his back against a large tree to sit down.

He closed his eyes and rested.

That had been his first truly intense battle. He needed to completely calm his mind first.

After his mana had fully recovered.

Gan Ming got up and continued deeper into the woodland.

Without Detect, he could only rely on his eyes and ears.

Fortunately, the forest wasn't too dense, and his view remained fairly open.

The tracks on the ground were also obvious.

After all, Iron Bristle Wild Boars liked rooting through the earth for food. The soil wherever they passed was churned into a mess, so he only needed to follow the trail.

After advancing roughly a hundred meters, he heard that familiar grunting again.

Gan Ming slowed his steps and poked his head out from behind the cover of some bushes.

Well, damn!

Two Iron Bristle Wild Boars were huddled together, rooting at a fallen rotten log. They were about the same size as the previous one.

Two pigs at once?

With his current physique, even with Fanged Charge, he couldn't withstand two pigs charging him together.

Gan Ming didn't act rashly.

He silently noted their location and quietly left.

Right, time to get out of here.

He'd let those two live a little longer, then come back to collect them after leveling up a few times.

Gan Ming bypassed that area and continued east for another hundred meters.

The trees in this area were noticeably thicker, their canopies denser, while large patches of moss and exposed roots began appearing across the ground.

Then he saw something strange.

About a dozen meters ahead, a face had grown on the trunk of an ancient tree thick enough that two people would struggle to wrap their arms around it.

Two tree hollows formed its eyes, while a horizontal crack in the bark formed its mouth, crookedly embedded in the trunk's surface.

The entire tree was dark green, and not a single leaf grew from its branches.

Instead, dead branches stretched in every direction.

Its roots sprawled across the surface, covering an area two or three meters wide as they slowly wriggled over the ground.

The Soul-Stealing Panel popped up automatically.

[Soul Snatch target: Monster]

[Species: Withered Wood Treant]

[Level: 5]

[Skills (3): Bark Armor, Rotten Root Entanglement, Woodland Affinity (Passive)]

Three skills?

Gan Ming examined them one by one.

[Bark Armor]: Increases own defense by 100% for 10 minutes. Mana cost: 20.

[Rotten Root Entanglement]: Summons underground roots to bind the target, preventing movement for 3 seconds. Cooldown: 20 seconds. Mana cost: 15.

[Woodland Affinity (Passive)]: While in a woodland environment, defense increases by 10%, and 1% health is restored per second. This effect applies whether in combat or not.

When Gan Ming saw that final passive skill, his eyes widened instantly.

While in a woodland environment.

Defense increased by 10%.

One percent health restored every second.

Whether in combat or not.

It worked either way?

What did that mean?

It meant that as long as he stood in these woods, it was like carrying a healing spring with him.

One percent per second. With his 80 health, that meant recovering 0.8 per second...

In one minute, he could recover 48 health.

And on top of that, there was Bark Armor, which could double his defense...

If these two skills appeared in the Awakened Association's skill shop, they would probably be priced at no less than five figures.

Maybe even more!

He had to get them!

Gan Ming looked around, confirmed that there were no other monsters nearby, then drew his blade and rushed forward.

The Withered Wood Treant reacted slowly.

By the time Gan Ming rushed close, the "face" on its trunk had only slowly turned toward him, dark green light shining from its hollow eyes.

He slashed down.

Crack!

-7

"Hmm? Only 7?"

Gan Ming's tiger's mouth went numb, and it felt as though he had struck a chunk of iron.

This Withered Wood Treant's defense was absurdly high.

With Bark Armor's 100% boost and Woodland Affinity's additional 10% enhancement.

His ordinary iron short blade dealt pitifully little effective damage with each strike.

But Gan Ming didn't retreat.

Second slash.

-10

Third slash!

Fanged Charge triggered!

An extra surge of power flowed from his arm into the blade.

The force of the third slash abruptly soared.

Crack!

-14!

A palm-sized piece of bark was cleaved away, exposing the grayish-white wood fibers beneath.

The Withered Wood Treant let out a muffled roar.

Its roots wriggled rapidly.

A rustling sound came from beneath the ground.

Three or four roots as thick as arms burst from the soil and wrapped around Gan Ming's legs at tremendous speed.

[You have been bound by "Rotten Root Entanglement" and cannot move for 3 seconds.]

Gan Ming glanced down at the roots wrapped around his calves.

Didn't matter. He hadn't planned on dodging anyway.

He stood where he was and continued slashing.

One slash.

-9

Two slashes.

-9

Third slash, Fanged Charge!

13!

Snap!

Another piece of bark flew off.

Three seconds later, the roots released him, and Gan Ming took two steps back to widen the distance.

The Withered Wood Treant's attack methods were actually quite limited.

It simply swung its branches at him.

Getting hit hurt quite a bit, but compared to an Iron Bristle Wild Boar's ambush, it was nowhere near as threatening.

After all... trees couldn't chase people.