NOVEL NEXT Chapter 6: Upgrade!
Caiyi tugged at Arlo's hair and said, "Yes, Master. These are the Man-Eating Flowers. They have 50 HP, an attack power of only 3, and very low defense. However, their poison is quite potent—it inflicts 1 HP of damage per second for ten seconds if you're hit."
"You can see their stats?" Arlo asked, surprised.
Caiyi giggled. "Of course! I, Caiyi, can reveal the attributes of any monster that is up to five levels higher than you. Even if they're more than five levels above you, there's still a chance I can identify their basic stats."
"Impressive, truly impressive," Arlo praised, his eyes lighting up. Being able to assess monster stats meant he could choose his battles wisely—a vital skill for exploiting the weak and avoiding the strong. Caiyi was quickly earning his admiration.
"Alright! Watch me show my might!" Arlo yelled, charging toward the nearest Man-Eating Flower with his fists raised.
Fortunately, the flowers were solitary creatures and wouldn't swarm him. Targeting a single flower, Arlo threw a punch, dealing -18 damage as the number popped up over the flower's head.
With an attack power of 20, Arlo calculated that the flower's physical defense must be just 2 points. Since it only had 50 HP, Arlo realized he could take it down with three punches.
"Hahaha! These flowers are weaker than I thought!" Arlo laughed as he followed up with two more punches, easily defeating the first flower. Though it didn't drop any gear, just as Caiyi had said, it did drop money—two coins, to be exact. Picking up the two one-coins, Arlo couldn't hide his excitement. "Money! Real money! If I can earn two yuan per monster and take down 200 in a day, I'll be rolling in cash!"
"Ugh, Master, your ambition is so small," Caiyi teased, clearly unimpressed. "When you start fighting higher-level monsters, the money you earn will be far greater!"
"Heh, easy for you to say," Arlo retorted, adding the coins to his inventory. His funds now displayed as "2." He also noticed his experience points: 0% turned into 2%.
"Only 2%?" Arlo groaned. "So I need to kill 50 flowers just to hit Level 1? If the first level is this hard, how long is it going to take to reach Level 100?"
Caiyi giggled again. "Don't worry, Master. With hard work, you'll definitely hit Level 100 within ten years."
"Ten years…" Arlo's face darkened. "Whatever! As long as I can make money, who cares about leveling up!"
With renewed determination, Arlo threw himself at the next flower. The Man-Eating Flowers were slow to attack, while Arlo's agility gave him the upper hand. He cleared flower after flower with a simple three-punch combo. His experience steadily climbed, and after killing the 50th flower, his entire body began to glow with golden light. A wave of euphoria swept over him, making him feel invincible.
"Ding! Congratulations, Master, for reaching Level 1! Your stats have increased as follows: HP +20, MP +10, Strength +1, Constitution +1, Agility +1, Spirit +1. You also have 5 attribute points to allocate," Caiyi announced in her sweet, cheerful voice.
Laughing heartily, Arlo allocated his points with a 4:1 ratio between Strength and Constitution. Then he checked his updated stats:
Arlo:
Level: 1Strength: 15Constitution: 12Agility: 11Spirit: 11Luck: 10Wisdom: 10HP: 140MP: 120Attack: 30Magic Attack: 22Defense: 12Accuracy: 11Evasion: 11Speed: NormalMovement Speed: SwiftReaction Time: 50
Inventory:
Money: 2 coinsItems: None
Compared to Level 0, Arlo's HP had increased by 30, and his attack power had gone up by 20. It was a significant boost in combat power.
Among the coins dropped by the Man-Eating Flowers, Arlo discovered a blue potion for the first time:
Small Mana Potion: Instantly restores 100 MP.
"Nice! A valuable find!" Arlo said, tossing the potion into his inventory. Energized, he resumed his flower-clearing spree. After leveling up, he only needed two punches per flower, speeding up his kills. However, each kill now only granted 1% experience, slowing his progress overall.
Still, Arlo didn't care much about leveling up. His main focus was earning money. Over the next hour, he leveled up to 2 and accumulated 324 coins.
"Woohoo! Over 300 in just an hour! This is way better than working any regular job!" Arlo cheered, overjoyed.
Even better, two more potions had dropped, but this time they were red:
Small Health Potion: Instantly restores 100 HP.
However, despite killing 162 flowers, Arlo hadn't found a single piece of gear.
"The odds are too damn low!" Arlo muttered in frustration.
Caiyi frowned and yanked at his hair. "Master, don't use bad language! You're polluting my pure and innocent soul!"