Looking at that expectant face, Duolin thought carefully and said:
"I can teach you."
"What do I need to give in return?"
[ Howling Pothos ] asked without hesitation.
In classic adventure games, learning skills from NPCs either involved spending money or building relationships, but players nowadays don't have many...
Duolin was also stumped by this question. According to the internal regulations of the Tree Worship Church, the direction of Alienation and the number of Alienation that can be carried out all require approval and reporting at each level. Only priests with a clean background and qualifications can learn.
But Duolin also knew in his heart that the Second Holy See was different from the behemoth that was the Tree Worship Church...
Therefore, perhaps my own change should begin here, not by teaching him in sequence, but by... directly teaching him the methods of Directed Alienation.
So he said to [ Howling Pothos ]:
"I have no intention of bringing the elaborate rituals of the Tree Worship Church here, so I will directly teach you how to activate the ability of Directed Alienation."
As for the compensation...
Duolin's thoughts drifted back to the distant Holy City, to the plants he had planted with his own hands, now swaying in the wind...
We can't go back to the Holy City, and even if we could, it wouldn't be in a peaceful way.
Duolin looked upstream, at the area where they had spent the previous night logging.
Perhaps he should start planting trees here again, so he said to [ Howling Pothos ]:
"Ten tree seeds, that's it."
[ Howling Pothos ] was clearly stunned for a moment, because he had been worried that he hadn't prepared enough money, so he exchanged the tree seeds he had obtained by helping the villagers with Ed.
This brought his current holdings to a huge sum of 72 silver and 5 copper coins.
He hadn't expected Duolin to charge tuition with tree seeds, nor had he expected learning a skill to be so cheap.
If the exchange rate between tree species and silver coins remains stable, then every player who receives the newbie gift pack can directly exchange for tree species and then come to learn the relevant skills.
The wonderful fantasy of the entire server watching him with envy ultimately only existed in his mind. [ Howling Pothos ] quickly realized a fact: the official " World of Disorder " had set the cost of skill learning so low, probably to encourage players to learn skills soon after creating their accounts.
Although it's not a mandatory task, learning this Alienation technique will undoubtedly reduce the wear and tear on common tools...
"Please wait a moment."
[ Howling Pothos ] ran towards the castle to find Ed, and soon received a promise that "tree seeds and silver coins can be freely exchanged".
So he quickly exchanged ten seeds for Duolin's.
After checking the viability of the tree seeds, Duolin put them into his pocket and looked at the resolute-looking Elite Warrior in front of him:
"I'll teach you how to Directed Alienation right now."
"Good."
[ Howling Pothos ]'s eyes shone brightly, his attention focused on the scene before him. He was beginning to look forward to how the game would teach skills; a simple "[Learning in progress]" pop-up would probably be a bit cliché.
As he expected, nothing happened; only Duolin, who had entered professor mode, chattered on and on beside him.
Duolin first gave a brief explanation of what Directed Alienation is, while [ Howling Pothos ] started recording and captured this setting chapter.
Directed Alienation – an ability that members of the Tree Worship Church discovered amidst the chaos after the outbreak of the Demonic Tide.
Before the outbreak of the Demonic Tide, the Tree Worship Church had existed for thousands of years, but it did not have the concept of coexisting with trees.
However, in order to survive after the Demonic Tide, the cardinals from a century ago took the lead in completing the " Planting " on their bodies, and subsequently, symbiosis with plants became the basic principle of the Tree Worship Church.
Directed Alienation has emerged as a result; the more powerful a member of the Holy See is, the more likely they are to achieve things that others cannot even imagine through Directed Alienation.
In Duolin's narrative, the intensity of Directed Alienation is closely related to the user's individual strength; there is no situation where the original body is weak but the Alienation part is very strong.
After explaining the basic settings, Duolin began to guide [ Howling Pothos ] through its first Alienation.
He still remembers the scene more than a decade ago when he first tried to actively Alienation his palm, knowing that once he had done it under the guidance of someone else, he could do it himself for the rest of his life.
However, the first Alienation is not so easy to succeed; the probability of failure is not only there, but also quite high.
"Based on your symbiosis with plants, channel your Psionic Energy to the parts of your body you wish to Alienation."
Duolin, now in teacher mode, spoke seriously, while [ Howling Pothos ] stared at its 1-point Plant Compatibility and 0-point Psionic Energy Compatibility on its panel, sinking into deep self-doubt.
But he still closed his eyes, trying his best to find the Psionic Energy that might not even exist.
However, the result was beyond his expectations. After closing his eyes, Howling Pothos saw a verdant world like a grassland, and in this world, he seemed to have found a wisp of Psionic Energy. However, the energy was too thin and too weak, and even the game system could not detect it.
"Does this game even have a separate setting for the state you enter after closing your eyes?"
With these words uttered to itself, [ Howling Pothos ] began to guide the wisp of Psionic Energy, like a candle flickering in the wind, toward its arm, following Duolin's instructions.
At the same time, he silently recited the object he wanted to Alienation:
"Knight's sword, knight's sword, knight's sword..."
"It actually succeeded on the first try?!"
As Duolin forcibly suppressed a soft gasp of surprise, [ Howling Pothos ] opened her eyes.
He could clearly feel a change in his right hand; his five fingers seemed to have completely disappeared, and he could only confirm that his wrist could still be twisted.
Looking to her right, [ Howling Pothos ] found no trace of the knight's sword, only a wooden sword with a blade about the same length as a ruler from her student days emerging from her sleeve.
The blade was about ten centimeters long, with a slightly rough surface, like an unpolished blank. Even the edge wasn't very smooth or sharp; it would be a miracle if it could even cut bread.
What fruit knife? Where's my knight's sword?
[ Howling Pothos ] doubted that she had seen it wrong, but then thought about her own poor special attributes, and that success on the first try might already be quite difficult.
At this moment, he was certain that as long as he recovered that Psionic Energy, he would be able to release the Directed Alienation once again.
In other words, he actually learned a skill from Duolin!
As for the knight's sword, let this fruit knife grow stronger through training.
[ Howling Pothos ] looked up at the shocked Duolin, and was about to say thank you, but her body suddenly collapsed uncontrollably, twitched a few times, and then fell silent.