Chapter 13 – Magic Crystal and Enhancement

Volume 1: Apocalypse Beginning

After clearing out the entire street of Zombies, Wen Yu ignored the soreness and numbness in his hands, tossed aside the Fire Axe that had lost its killing power, and walked toward the Exchange Pillar at the intersection.

"Welcome to the Exchange System."

The familiar voice sounded, but Wen Yu paid no attention to the clear female voice. He communicated with the Exchange Pillar through his thoughts: "Check Points."

"Remaining Points: 168."

Ever since Wen Yu parted ways with the Guardian Squad, he had been frantically clearing Zombies along the way, and finally, before noon, he had accumulated more than 150 Points.

Wen Yu thought carefully for a moment, then opened the equipment exchange list and began searching meticulously.

After a while, Wen Yu made up his mind. For protective gear, a durable weapon would definitely make his path of evolution much faster.

"Exchange: one Steel Blade."

"Steel Blade: F-Rank equipment, forged from refined steel, possesses strong lethality against Level 1 and below creatures. Consumes 50 Points. Exchange?"

"Yes!"

Wen Yu did not rush to exit the Exchange System, but instead opened the item exchange option again.

"Exchange Level 1 Attribute-less Magic Crystal."

"Level 1 Attribute-less Magic Crystal: basic Level 1 Magic Crystal, can be used to enhance the physical attributes of Level 1 Class Holders. Consumes 100 Points. Exchange?"

"Yes!"

After exchanging for two items, Wen Yu exited the Exchange Pillar and picked up the two items on the pillar, examining them closely.

The Steel Blade needed no further introduction; anything produced by the Stone Pillar was guaranteed to be of top quality. With a length of 1.2 meters and a sharp blade, it was undoubtedly a finely crafted weapon.

In fact, this kind of Steel Blade had accompanied Wen Yu through almost every battle in his previous life. The reason was simple: it was cheap and durable.

For this F-Rank Steel Blade, Wen Yu was intimately familiar with its weight, length, and sharpness. Although the Soul Master's combat style did not favor close-quarters fighting, Wen Yu absolutely could not do without a sturdy and reliable weapon in the short term.

The Magic Crystal was a crystal about the thickness of a thumb. This kind of crystal could be said to be the source of human advancement. Magic Crystals could enhance physical attributes, but there was a problem of randomly generated skills after Promotion.

In his previous life, after Wen Yu became a Level 1 Warrior, since the Level 1 Attribute-less Magic Crystal cost 100 Points and the attribute Magic Crystal cost 200 Points, all his enhancements were done using Attribute-less Magic Crystals.

When he went through the Promotion Trial, he suddenly discovered that after promoting from Level 1 to Level 2, he had not gained any new skills.

It was only later that he learned that during the enhancement process, the skills obtained depended on the proportion of Magic Crystals used.

If all enhancements were done using Attribute-less Magic Crystals, it would result in the worst kind of Promotion-no skills gained. This greatly affected the growth potential of Class Holders.

In this life, since Wen Yu had switched to the special Soul Master class and could no longer gain new skills himself, choosing Attribute-less Magic Crystal enhancement had no impact on him at all.

So naturally, he promoted using the Level 1 Attribute-less Magic Crystal.

Holding the Magic Crystal in his hand, Wen Yu calmed his rapid breathing and emptied his mind. Slowly, he felt a cool energy seep from the Magic Crystal into his body.

As this cool energy continued to flow, the originally transparent Attribute-less Magic Crystal gradually shrank and slowly disappeared.

Wen Yu opened his eyes and felt the increase in his strength.

"Hmm, my physical attributes have increased by about 0.5 times, just like in my previous life. It seems there's no change due to the special class."

Wen Yu quickly adapted to his newly enhanced physique, picked up the Steel Blade, and headed toward his destination-Riverside Park.

…

Recalling the location of Riverside Park, Wen Yu remembered that Mudanjiang City itself wasn't large. Riverside Park was located in the city center and, as the only park in Mudanjiang City, it always had a huge flow of people nearby.

In the Apocalypse, the more bustling the area, the more Zombies there would be. Wen Yu had already prepared himself mentally for this.

Although Wen Yu was unafraid of those trash-like Zombies, what about thousands? Tens of thousands? Just imagining such a scene made his skin crawl.

Even a Level 3 Class Holder would be torn to pieces in an overwhelming Zombie tide.

So, before heading to the city center, Wen Yu decided to strengthen himself a bit more.

Carefully searching the nearby shops, Wen Yu changed into a new outfit at Hailan Home.

Looking at himself in the mirror, Wen Yu noted that for Class Holders, once they changed class, their appearance would be subtly altered.

Just like in his previous life, when Wen Yu became a Warrior, his muscle strength increased dramatically after each Promotion. At Level 1, it wasn't obvious, but after Level 2, his previously skinny frame immediately bulked up.

He noticed he had grown several centimeters taller, and his previously lanky figure was now more robust. The Soul Beast on his shoulder added even more of a mysterious air to him.

Wen Yu smiled in satisfaction. The Soul Beast on his shoulder stared at the mirror in confusion, as if it couldn't understand why there was another Soul Beast that looked exactly like itself.

After gently rubbing the Soul Beast twice, Wen Yu turned and walked out to the street.

He had already cleared this street once. In the time it took to change clothes, another large group of staggering Zombies had appeared on the street.

Zombies weren't individually strong, but as long as these monsters could track their prey, they would never give up-not even if you fled to the ends of the earth.

Wen Yu didn't know how many Zombies were trailing behind him, but no matter how many, the ones before him weren't a threat.

Gripping his newly acquired Steel Blade, Wen Yu charged straight at them.

…

A dozen or so Zombies posed no threat to Wen Yu whatsoever. They didn't even touch the hem of his clothes before the small group in front of him was wiped out.

However, one Level 1 Zombie did give Wen Yu a bit of trouble.

It was at the front of the pack, looking no different from the ordinary Zombies, which meant Wen Yu let his guard down.

But as Wen Yu got close, the Level 1 Zombie suddenly burst into action, displaying its strength all at once.

Base attributes: 2 points.

Yet in the face of Wen Yu's combat experience, it was useless.

Zombies of the same level were absolutely no match for Class Holders of the same level. Besides the fact that Zombies didn't have any skills, the main reason was that Zombies couldn't coordinate their movements and were physically uncoordinated.

Wen Yu split the Level 1 Zombie's skull with three strikes and gained 10 Points.

Many survivors still remained in the residential buildings nearby. Hearing the intense fighting outside, they poked their heads out the windows to look.

"Save me!"

"Big brother, please don't go, help us!"

"Brother, I'm XXX, please save me, I'll pay you!"

Ignoring the pleas of these weaklings and the corpses scattered everywhere, Wen Yu continued walking toward the city center.