"Panel."
He pulled out a chair, sat down, and took a sip of water.
Name: Chen Lun Race: Human (Eastern Continent) Template: NPC (Countdown to Version 1.0 open beta: 401 days, 05 hours, 25 minutes, 47 seconds) Level: 16 Experience: 7000/240 Health: 140/230 Stamina: 90/150 Sanity: 4/6 Main class: [Sequence 9 Beast Tamer LV10 (MAX)] (Fate Faction) Subclass: [Fisherman LV6] Attributes: Strength 24 (+2), Dexterity 15, Endurance 8 (+2), Intelligence 8, Faith 3 Special attributes: Charisma 7 (+2), Willpower 5, Insight 3, Luck 3 Remaining points: 7 skill points, 3 attribute points Remaining assets: 10 Gold Pounds, 37 Silver Earls, 800 Copper Crowns, [Low-sequence flesh-faction mysterious substance] ×3 Skills: Quick Hands and Sharp Eyes LV1 (Passive), Sea Legs LV1 (Passive), Beast Speech LV1, Animal Mimicry LVMAX, Friend of Animals LVMAX (Passive) Combat power: 21 [Evaluation: Transcendents are ashamed of you, but at least you have learned how to crawl through the mystical realm.]
With a swipe, Chen Lun spent his surplus experience to max out his starting subclass, [Angler], bringing his total level to 20.
His attributes rose accordingly, and he gained 2 skill points and 2 attribute points.
[Angler] was an extremely common life-skill class, so its attribute growth was nothing special.
It was unremarkable, providing Chen Lun with 1 Dexterity and 1 Endurance every two levels. Better than nothing.
Next, he maxed out [Beast Speech LV1]. The skill capped at level 3, costing Chen Lun only 2 skill points.
At max level, [Beast Speech] was no longer limited to ordinary animals. Chen Lun could now communicate with certain supernatural animals, or beings that were animals in a conceptual sense.
As for [Angler]'s two passive skills, Chen Lun had no intention of wasting skill points on them. He would have plenty of other uses for those points later.
That left him with 7 skill points and 5 attribute points.
He would not spend these reserves just yet, either. They could serve as an ace up his sleeve against unexpected situations.
Chen Lun nodded in satisfaction. For now, he had improved everything he could.
If he wanted to level up further, he would have to add another subclass or consider advancing his main class.
"It's still too early to advance my sequence. I'm also missing the corresponding supernatural knowledge required..."
Chen Lun sighed.
In his previous life, he had followed the [Moon Faction] mystical pathway. Now, he was on the [Fate Faction] pathway instead.
Because the [Fate Faction] was a hidden pathway, Chen Lun knew very little about it.
There had been posts about it and players who followed it, but they were exceedingly rare.
His impression of this pathway was that he had no impression of it at all.
In that version of the game, neither players nor NPCs of the [Fate Faction] had much of a presence.
Perhaps it would shine in later versions, but that had nothing to do with Chen Lun anymore. He would never get to see them.
"From now on, I'll have to feel my own way forward..."
Chen Lun did not think this pathway was weak.
Compared with the low-sequence stages of other pathways, he already rated his main class, [Sequence 9 Beast Tamer], very highly.
It was exceptionally adaptable and versatile, with its ceiling and floor depending on the individual.
Take [Animal Mimicry], for example. Although it could retain no more than 10 animal traits, the effects he could achieve by freely mixing and matching them were pretty damn nice.
Chen Lun rose and walked to the window, thinking about his next steps.
"Mm..."
Just then, Froy made a faint sound from the bed and slowly woke.
"Where am I?"
Chapter 20: Why Are You So Good to Me?
Froy weakly sat up.
First, she "looked" around, seemingly realizing that she was surrounded by darkness. She reached up and touched the linen strips wrapped around her face.
Then she fell silent.
Chen Lun slowly walked over and waved a hand in front of her.
"You can't see anymore... right, both your eyes were destroyed."
Supporting his elbow and resting his chin on his hand, he studied the nun sitting on the edge of the bed.
Although she was still young and wore a loose robe, she already showed hints of the mature, commanding beauty she had been in his previous life.
With Froy's current affection toward me, it should be fine if I do something...
"Are you staring at me because you want to do something indecent?"
Froy tossed her head, lifted her face toward Chen Lun, and "stared" straight at him.
"Uh... aren't you blind?"
Chen Lun was startled. Had she seen through his thoughts?
"My eyes are blind. That doesn't mean I'm oblivious."
Froy smoothed her hair, tucking the disheveled pale-gold strands behind her ear.
"It gave me incredibly keen senses. I can't see, but I can feel."
The "it" Froy mentioned was clearly the [Sun-Averting Potted Plant].
Chen Lun rolled his eyes.
"You should've said so. I was going to buy you some new clothes, but you can go buy them yourself later."
"New clothes...?"
Froy looked puzzled. Had he been staring at her all that time just to buy her clothes?
Chen Lun pulled the chair over to the bedside and sat down.
"Were you planning to keep walking around outside in a Red Apple Church nun's robe? Are you worried they won't be able to find us?"
He tugged at his own linen shirt and sniffed it. The sour reek of sweat nearly knocked him out.
"My clothes need changing, too.
The inn has bathing facilities. Once we've eaten something, I'll take you there."
Froy quietly "looked" at him. After a while, she said softly:
"Thank you."
The food the innkeeper brought was quite good.
Perhaps because Chen Lun had been generous with his money, there were two large roasted lamb chops and a pot of stewed meat in addition to the bread and water.
Once they had eaten and drunk their fill, Chen Lun took Froy downstairs.
The bathhouse was a separate, single-story building beside the inn.
He did have some gentlemanly manners, after all, and did not make the blind girl buy her own clothes.
After taking Froy into the bathhouse, Chen Lun went shopping nearby.
Besides buying several sets of ready-made clothes at the tailor's, he also bought shoes, a backpack, and some odds and ends that might come in handy.
He folded Froy's clothes and left them outside the door, weighing them down with a pair of women's leather shoes. Only then did he go enjoy a good bath himself.
When Chen Lun came out of the bathhouse, he saw Froy waiting outside in a long black dress.
In the sunset, her long, pale-gold hair fluttered in the breeze, and a strip of black silk still covered her eyes.
Chen Lun had swiped it for Froy at the tailor's while the proprietress was not looking.
"Nice. You look lovely."
That was Chen Lun's verdict.
Not just lovely. So big, too.
I underestimated Froy's assets. Guilty as charged.
Froy seemed a little surprised.
"Really?"
Come to think of it, she had never worn pretty clothes before. Ever since she had been sold to the Red Apple Church, she had worn nothing but nun's robes.
But her voice soon grew downcast again.
"It's a shame I can't see them anymore."
Chen Lun sighed inwardly.
"You'll still have a chance to recover someday...
Since you know about Transcendents, you must also know that the mystical realm holds all sorts of possibilities."
Before you continue