[Snakefolk Priest: Ilena]
[Race: Snake Person]
[Level: 5 (132/4000)]
[Health: 480]
[Attack: 51-54 (weapon bonus)]
[Attributes: Strength 21, Agility 17, Spirit 18, Constitution 24]
[Skills: Scale Armor (provides 10 additional armor to yourself or an ally; 90-second cooldown).
Snakefolk Frenzy (grants yourself or an ally the Frenzy effect, increasing movement speed by 20% and attack speed by 20% for 60 seconds; 120-second cooldown.)]
[Talent: Ice Bloodline (allows longer survival in extreme weather)]
[Hunger: 67]
[Loyalty: 68]
"Damn... What incredible stats. No wonder she's a level 5 creature!"
Cao Xing was amazed.
And, most importantly, he had seen Ilena's two skills: [Snakefolk Frenzy] and [Scale Armor]!
Both of these skills were actually buff skills.
Combined with his SSS-rank talent, they effectively gave them a permanent 10 points of armor!
(For convenience, 1 point of armor cancels out 1 point of attack.)
For Common creatures like Polar Folk, 1 point of Strength was roughly equivalent to 2 points of physical attack.
(The attack bonus from Strength varied according to class and racial talents; 1 point of Strength could add anywhere from 1.5 to 3 points of physical attack.)
In other words, aside from Dazhuang, it would be difficult for the other Polar Folk to deal any meaningful damage to Cao Xing.
That showed just how powerful a boost this skill provided in the early game.
The other skill, [Snakefolk Frenzy], increased movement and attack speed by 20%, making it an even more terrifying percentage-based buff.
At that moment, Cao Xing could only feel that he had really struck gold!
Suppressing his excitement, Cao Xing said, "Ilena, use Snakefolk Frenzy on us first."
In this world, he had to seize every opportunity to increase his strength.
Ilena flicked out her scarlet forked tongue and said, "It would be my pleasure, my lord~"
As she spoke, Ilena raised her spear, and a mass of red energy gathered around it.
Then she pointed her spear, and a ball of energy fell onto Cao Xing.
In an instant, Cao Xing felt a surge of scorching energy well up inside him, greatly increasing his attack and movement speed.
[Successfully used [Snakefolk Frenzy]. Talent [Eternal Power] has taken effect. This skill is now permanent...]
Seeing this notification, Cao Xing clenched his fists in excitement.
It really worked!
At the same time, Ilena raised her spear again, and a ball of white energy landed on his body.
Cao Xing felt an invisible layer of scales form over him.
[Successfully used [Scale Armor]. Talent [Eternal Power] has taken effect. This skill is now permanent...]
The scales were incredibly hard and smooth,
and only appeared when he was attacked.
In other words, under normal circumstances, Cao Xing still looked just like an ordinary person.
Cao Xing exclaimed excitedly, "Great, great! This has massively increased my defense!"
After the skills' cooldowns ended, Cao Xing had Ilena apply both buffs to himself and Liu Muxue as well.
After the notification of his talent activating,
Ilena also realized that the power inside her would not disappear as it had before, but would remain permanently.
She was a little confused. Then, after Cao Xing cast a permanent [Ice Healing] on her, Ilena understood why.
"My lord, your power is truly unfathomable. It will remain inside me forever."
Cao Xing gave her a strange look.
Why did that sound so weird...
He shook his head and started thinking about other things.
This Frenzy skill could increase speed by 20%.
In other words, if he could apply it to all four Polar Folk, it would increase their work efficiency.
So Cao Xing asked, "Ilena, can you still use your skills?"
Ilena gently shook her head. "My lord, these skills use up my spirit. I need some time to recover."
Cao Xing nodded.
Then he looked toward the four Polar Folk working in the distance.
Dazhuang and Erzhuang were each carrying a bundle of processed timber and jogging over.
Sanzhuang and Sizhuang were carrying several stones.
The sight of the four little people running across the snow with their short legs somehow looked comical.
They put the materials near the bonfire, and the materials disappeared automatically as system notifications appeared one after another.
[Wood +5]
[Wood +5]
[Stone +3]
[Stone +3]
Cao Xing calculated that one round trip for the four of them took about ten minutes.
There was an hour and a half left before dark.
That meant they could gather at most 90 more wood and 54 more stone for Cao Xing before nightfall.
"I need more workers, but I can only build one Polar Folk Hut."
"To recruit more Polar Folk, I'll have to upgrade the Polar Folk Hut."
"A level 2 Polar Folk Hut can recruit another four Polar Folk, which will greatly increase work efficiency."
"But the more Polar Folk I have, the more food they'll consume, and they'll also take up my population limit."
Cao Xing glanced at his population.
[Population: 8/50]
(The population limit for a level 1 territory is 50. It can be increased by upgrading the Lord's Hut.)
Just then, Sanzhuang trotted over to Cao Xing.
"My lord, I have something to report!"
Cao Xing looked at Sanzhuang. "What is it?"
Sanzhuang replied, "When Sizhuang and I were gathering stone, we spotted a Small Coal Mine about three or four hundred meters to the right ahead."
"But there seemed to be two Snow Wolves guarding it, so we didn't dare get close."
"I was worried that those Snow Wolves might threaten our camp, so I came to report to you, my lord!"
At the words "coal mine," Cao Xing's eyes lit up at once.
Coal was a higher-grade energy source than wood. It burned longer and gave off more heat.
If he could take over the coal mine, he could save a lot of wood to build other facilities.
Cao Xing quickly asked, "Do you know how strong those Snow Wolves are and how many there are?"
Sanzhuang nodded. "We watched them for a while. So far, we've only seen two Snow Wolves."
"They seem a little stronger than that viper."
Hearing that, Cao Xing's smile grew wider.
Two Snow Wolves, and according to Sanzhuang, they were a little stronger than the Snowfield Viper. That meant they were probably level three or four monsters.
Before he had summoned Ilena, Cao Xing wouldn't have been confident about taking them on.
But now, he could try to capture the coal mine first.
So Cao Xing nodded. "Good work, Sanzhuang!"
"Tonight, I'll give you and Sizhuang a portion of Snake Meat as a reward!"
At the thought of having Snake Meat for dinner, Sanzhuang's eyes practically sparkled.
He nodded excitedly. "Thank you for your generosity, my lord. Sanzhuang will do his utmost to contribute to you!"
With that, Sanzhuang trotted off on his short legs to gather stone again.
Liu Muxue had also heard their conversation. She asked nervously, "A Xing, are we going to fight?"
Cao Xing nodded. "Yeah. The coal mine is an important resource point, so it's best to take it as soon as possible."
Fear appeared in Liu Muxue's eyes, but she still mustered her courage and said, "I'll fight alongside you."
Cao Xing didn't refuse.
The Snow Wolves were powerful, but Liu Muxue already had three permanent buffs on her.
Whether in defense or recovery, both had improved tremendously. With level 5 Ilena alongside him, dealing with two Snow Wolves should be no problem.
But before the fight, he could still use a few items to increase their combat power.
Cao Xing took a purple poison sac from his backpack.
[Snowfield Viper's Poison Sac (Green)] [Effect: Apply to a weapon to inflict "Level 1 Poisoned" for the next 15 attacks.] [Uses remaining: 10.]
Cao Xing coated Ilena's Trident and Liu Muxue's Common Stone Axe with the poison.
A faint purple glow clung to their weapons.
After making these preparations, Cao Xing nodded and said, "Then let's set out now."
With that, he raised his Common Wooden Staff and headed out into the snow.
Ilena went first, holding her three-pronged spear.
Her serpentine body twisted across the snow, leaving a distinct trail.
Cao Xing and Liu Muxue followed behind her.
Shh... rustle...
The farther they got from the campfire, the deeper the snow on the ground became. It nearly covered their ankles.
Waves of cold washed over them.
After about four minutes, they reached the place Sanzhuang had mentioned.
There was indeed a pitch-black mine there, and a pile of mined coal lay beside it.
[Small Coal Mine: Special Resource Point] [Remaining resources available for mining: Coal *1754, Stone *754, Dirt *5360] [Current status: Cannot be claimed]
Before you continue