All equipment and skills had levels.
Gray meant "broken," white meant "ordinary," green meant "excellent," blue meant "outstanding," and purple meant "one in ten thousand."
This common knowledge of the nightmare, along with countless techniques for moving the body and feet, surfaced in Shen Ye's mind.
It was as though he had become an Elf.
He had begun training his footwork and body movements at a very young age, and after years of practice, he had finally mastered this combat footwork.
However, Deer Walk Beneath the Moon had a rather high Agility requirement.
Only with nine points of Agility could he execute the entire footwork technique freely and completely.
Shen Ye slapped his forehead, turned to the desk, opened his schoolbag, and took out his report card.
The teachers' overall assessment of him read:
Strength: 1.2;
Agility: 2;
Mental Power: 0.7;
These were his overall test results when his body was free of any illness or injury.
In fact, reaching "1" in Strength and Agility was already considered good for a middle school student.
One represented the level of an ordinary adult man.
As for Mental Power-
As long as someone could awaken Mental Power, even a value of just 0.1 meant they had a promising future.
After all, many people could never awaken Mental Power.
Having it and not having it.
-That was an insurmountable gulf in life.
As long as you had Mental Power, high schools had corresponding training methods to help you improve it.
Once Mental Power reached a certain level, you could use Spellcraft.
Spellcraft was the truly terrifying power, as well as one of humanity's main ways of combating various threats.
Shen Ye fell into thought.
He had gained one Attribute Point by devouring a descriptor. Adding it to Agility would give him three points of Agility.
Based on his thorough understanding of Deer Walk Beneath the Moon, three points of Agility would only let him perform its "Dodge."
"Charge" required six points of Agility.
"Sidestep" involved subtler body movements and footwork, requiring nine points.
If he could obtain good evaluation descriptors, he would soon be able to use Charge. With a few more days of effort, he might even be able to perform the complete Deer Walk Beneath the Moon!
Anticipation appeared in Shen Ye's eyes as he looked at the silver medal again.
If he wore this medal through the Gate tomorrow and teleported directly to Elf Territory, he might obtain a higher evaluation descriptor.
A single Marrow-Replenishing Pill could never do this much.
This was a good deal.
"You're truly generous, sir. All right, deal!"
Shen Ye placed the Marrow-Replenishing Pill in front of the Gate.
Light immediately rose from the Parchment covered in the contract.
Equivalent Exchange was established!
The Marrow-Replenishing Pill vanished at once.
Shen Ye looked through the window and saw Big Skeleton holding the Marrow-Replenishing Pill and swallowing it in one gulp.
The next second.
Strange runes lit up around the skeleton.
The runes emitted dark mist as they revolved endlessly around its legs.
The skeleton chanted an obscure incantation.
But it suddenly stopped.
It glanced back at Shen Ye, thought for a moment, then opened the door at the other end of the corridor, crawled inside, and shut it tightly.
-Are you afraid I'll steal your Spellcraft?
I can't even understand it!
Shen Ye waved a hand in annoyance and dismissed the Gate.
Suddenly.
He heard a faint click.
It came from the living room.
The front door made a sound, then fell silent.
Strange.
If his parents had come home, they would have called out to him or chatted with each other. Even if they did neither, he would have heard them changing into slippers.
Yet there was nothing.
Dead silence.
Shen Ye suddenly realized.
-Whoever's here means trouble!
Could the person who used the "Cursed Sculpture of the King of Myriad-Fallen Evil Ghosts" to harm me have come again?
Is he here to kill me?
Before he could react, his bedroom door moved as well.
Shen Ye's pupils contracted sharply.
His parents would never push open his door without a word.
What should I do?
If it's an enemy, how should I deal with them?
He pressed his hand against the wall and called out silently.
The Gate appeared.
In the darkness.
There was only a soft bang.
The bedroom door opened.
A person wearing a black bodysuit and a black face mask appeared before Shen Ye.
The person held a handgun.
An assassin!
Shen Ye abandoned all illusions, yanked open the Nightmare Gate on the wall, and rushed inside.
At the same time.
A trace of confusion flashed through the assassin's eyes.
Why was there another door leading to a different room inside the bedroom?
But there was nothing to consider now.
-All I have to do is rush over and kill that boy, and the mission will be complete!
In a flash, the assassin reached the doorway and looked inside.
By then, Shen Ye had added his only Attribute Point to Agility, crossed the relatively short corridor, and reached the tightly closed door at its end.
An instinctive sense of danger rose in his heart.
Shen Ye suddenly ducked almost flat against the floor. With one hand brushing the ground, he slid several swift steps across it as though surfing.
His movements were swift and graceful, like a wild deer racing beneath the moonlight.
Bang!
A few sparks flashed on the door.
A bullet!
Shen Ye's heart jolted.
By using Dodge, the first move of the Elven Battlefield Footwork technique Deer Walk Beneath the Moon, he had actually avoided the bullet's trajectory!
He looked back-
The assassin seemed somewhat surprised as well, but gave a disdainful snort and charged through the Gate.
He entered the corridor of the Nightmare World!
In that split second, Shen Ye pressed his hand against the tightly closed door before him.
-Big Skeleton had locked the door when it left.
But I don't need to open it!
Gate!
Shen Ye shouted inwardly.
Another door appeared in front of the tightly closed door-
This Gate was particularly good at adapting to its surroundings. Here, it had once again taken the form of a hospital ward door.
-This was Shen Ye's ability!
He pushed the Gate open, darted inside, slammed it shut behind him, and fell onto his bedroom floor with a thud.
He was back!
Dismiss-dismiss my Gate!
Shen Ye repeated silently.
Following his will, the Gate on the wall immediately vanished.
-The assassin had been left inside!
The Nightmare World.
In the dark corridor.
The assassin had already rushed up to the tightly closed door.
Everything around him was pitch-black.
As he ran, the fragments of bone scattered across the floor had distracted him slightly. On top of that, Shen Ye had blocked his view-
So all he had seen was Shen Ye rushing through this door and slamming it shut.
-After all, who could have imagined that two doors had actually been overlapping just now?
And who could have imagined that, just today, someone with the ability "Gate" had appeared in the world? And that it was that very boy?
"A secret room? What a surprise."
The assassin spoke in a mocking tone.
That was right.
Judging by the long corridor behind him, beyond this door should be the Shen Family's secret room.
He had never expected killing a boy to yield such an unexpected bonus.
"Listen, whoever's inside. Come out now, and I promise I'll only take you back. I won't kill you."
"I'm counting down five seconds. If you don't come out, I'll kill you!"
"Five,"
"Four,"
"Three-"
Click.
The lock turned, and the door opened a crack.
The corners of the assassin's mouth curled up.
A fifteen-year-old boy really was innocent and easy to fool.
This would save him some effort.
The assassin raised his handgun, pulled the door open with his other hand, and laughed wildly.
"You little brat, remember to be smarter in your next life!"
The door swung fully open, revealing the scene inside.
There was no fifteen-year-old boy.
Nor was there any Shen Family secret room filled with wealth and treasures.
There was only a four-meter-long skeleton draped over the doorframe, its chin propped on one hand, looking at him with eerie Ghost Fire burning in its eye sockets.
"Monster!"
The assassin's expression changed. As shots rang out in rapid succession, he was already retreating at full speed.
But-
There was a wall at the end of the corridor.
The door from earlier had long since vanished.
Looking back at the skeletal monster, he saw that the repeated bullet hits had not injured it at all. Instead, it drew a Bone Spear.
The skeletal monster murmured an obscure incantation, and dim green flames immediately appeared on the Bone Spear.
-What an unexpected delight.
My new trading partner is so efficient and wealthy that he's sent me a fresh, living creature to eat.
Perhaps I should show a little sincerity in our trades.
A dozen or so minutes later.
A door suddenly appeared on the wall at the end of the corridor.
Shen Ye stood before it and glanced inside.
Big Skeleton sat amid the bloody liquid, looking down at its right leg.
-Its broken shinbone was gone.
In its place was a length of newly grown, pale bone.
Seemingly noticing Shen Ye's gaze, Big Skeleton casually waved a hand-
The Parchment on the door suddenly burst into white light.
Immediately afterward.
A white mask landed in Shen Ye's hands.
Lines of small text rapidly appeared on the Parchment representing the contract:
"Your living sacrifice has greatly satisfied the other party."
"In accordance with the principle of 'Equivalent Exchange,' the other party has offered this item, which has received the contract's approval."
"Crown of Pale Shadows (green equipment, excellent grade)."
"Description: Permanently imbued with advanced shadow Spellcraft from the Dark Abyss. Anyone who wears it can disguise themselves as an Elven life-form."
"-Meticulously crafted by the Undead Race."
Shen Ye paused, then suddenly remembered something and reached for the Silver War Medal.
This medal could teleport him to Elf Territory.
But I'm human.
As a human, how could I have earned military merit on an Elven battlefield and won a medal like this?
It would definitely arouse suspicion.
I might even be arrested as soon as I arrived.
Only with the Crown of Pale Shadows can I disguise myself as an Elf and truly enter Elf Territory safely, right?
He slowly raised his head and looked through the glass window.
Big Skeleton was eating the corpse without even looking up.
That made sense.
I'm just a fifteen-year-old human.
In his eyes, I was originally nothing more than food, and he had no need to care whether I lived or died.
Was he now making up for it with this Crown of Pale Shadows for disguise because he saw value in continuing to trade with me?
What an utterly pragmatic skeleton.
Shen Ye put the white mask on his face and walked over to look in the mirror.
Sure enough, he had become a man with almost excessively handsome features, long, pointed ears, and eyes like emerald gemstones, his whole body exuding a natural aura.
Good!
With this mask and the medal, I'll definitely venture out and earn a good evaluation entry tomorrow!
(Thanks to Fire River Sky for the Alliance Leader donation. As usual, I'll release extra chapters for the Alliance Leader after the novel goes premium. Thank you once again for your support!)