When the Bone Wolf was absorbed and devoured, a blurry casting image flashed through Qimeng's consciousness.
It was the complete process of how the Bone Wolf compressed and shaped its mana, transforming it into sharp blades for launch.
“This is a mana trait with a clear logical structure?” Her heart swelled with joy.
This meant she wasn't just devouring experience packs; she was plundering these creatures' innate talents.
Without time to think further, the bottom of the pit had already fallen silent. Qimeng retracted her roots and let out a long breath, feeling refreshed all over.
“I'm full, even a little stuffed.”
She casually raised her palm, and with a slight thought, several small wooden spikes immediately appeared in the air. Their surfaces gleamed with a chilling luster, clearly a replica of Bone Spikes.
“What is this, Wood Spike?”
She enthusiastically tried to flick one.
The first spike veered off course, piercing only air. The second one struck a nearby rock with a crisp sound. The third one barely flew two meters before losing all momentum and falling to the ground, unable to demonstrate its power.
The air was silent for a moment.
Qimeng looked at the wooden spikes on the ground, falling into a long silence.
“Hmm, it seems my accuracy still needs practice.”
She wasn't discouraged in the slightest; instead, she found this leveling process particularly interesting. After all, as a novice, who starts at max level right away?
The lingering afterglow of the sunset faded, and the forest grew dim. Qimeng decided to continue clearing magical beasts in this starter zone under the cover of night.
Or rather, to verify the skill drop rate mechanism she had just discovered.
Before this, she had absorbed the low-mana creatures from her inventory, which were purely generic monsters and yielded no traits whatsoever.
“It seems only creatures of the Bone Wolf's caliber are worthy of having a skill drop rate.”
As she walked, sensing her surroundings with her roots, a target quickly appeared. It was an iron-fanged rat gnawing on tree bark.
Although its teeth were hard, in Qimeng's eyes, it was just a pest stealing food in her backyard.
With a thought, her roots shot out like spirit snakes from their lair, dragging it underground before it had any time to react.
The absorption began.
However, the warm current was faint, and afterward, her mind was as calm as water.
“As expected, nothing but experience.”
Next, she dealt with a Low-tier magical beast, a Lone Insect. That creature was incredibly fast, but its vigilance was pitifully low.
Her roots bound it, absorbed it, and still yielded nothing.
Qimeng sighed softly.
“The drop rate is too moving, it's practically a non-chief's nightmare.”
However, just as she almost thought she'd return empty-handed today, she encountered a much larger iron-fanged boar. Its tough hide, when touched by her roots, gave Qimeng an unprecedented sense of thickness.
In her consciousness, an image flickered—an innate talent called Tough Hide. The next second, a layer of light brown woody keratin appeared on the back of her hand, and tapping it with a stone produced a crisp clinking sound.
“Tough Hide? At least my defense is enhanced, not bad.”
Continuing onward, this time it was a Rock Armored Beetle. Its shell was as thick as a fortress, and it moved as slow as a snail.
“This kind of magical beast has almost zero combat power. What's it good for besides taking a beating?”
Although Qimeng disliked it, the “since I'm already here” principle still led her to absorb it. As the absorption continued, a circle of tiny, rotating roots actually appeared on her palm, looking like a natural miniature drill.
“Digging Enhancement?”
She tried pressing it into the ground, and it drilled into the soil without any resistance.
“It's practically a divine skill for expanding my territory! I thought it was useless just now, but it's unexpectedly effective!”
Subsequent hunting led to encountering a dozen more magical beasts, but her luck was average, with most being pure experience packs.
Qimeng squatted on the ground, looking thoughtfully at the pile of grayish-white residue before her.
“The pattern is roughly clear now.”
“Only stronger Low-tier magical beasts have a chance to yield trait skills; the weaker ones can just replenish my mana reserves.”
As night enveloped the forest, she returned to her main body. Her roots retracted, depositing the mana captured today within her body.
Reviewing today's harvest:
The Bone Wolf granted [Bone Spike], providing a ranged attack method.
The iron-fanged boar granted [Tough Hide], fine-tuning her defense.
The Rock Armored Beetle granted [Digging Enhancement], significantly enhancing her terrain manipulation ability.
“It seems tomorrow's development pace can be even faster.”
She looked up at the tree canopy. Several pale green flower buds shimmered in the night, her badges of growth.
I'll do another round of hunting late tonight to see if I can expand my skill library.
...
Deep night had fallen, and the forest was enveloped in cool mist. After a full day of activity, Qimeng welcomed her relaxation time.
A bath.
This hidden water pit was her private bath, which she had painstakingly dug and filtered with her roots for several days using tree work.
The water was crystal clear to the bottom, and moonlight scattered upon it like crushed silver flakes.
“Every day is even more fulfilling than in my previous life.”
She remarked casually, unhesitatingly untying her leaf dress and tossing it to the bank. Anyway, in this dark, deep forest, no one else would come besides her, the tree.
As her body sank into the water, a cool sensation enveloped her skin, and Qimeng couldn't help but hum contentedly.
“So cold... but so comfortable.”
She cupped the water, letting the clear stream run down her collarbones, tracing the graceful curves of her body. This long-lost human bathing habit evoked in her a feeling of almost luxurious satisfaction.
Whether it was the betrayed knight of her past life or the ordinary corporate slave before Reincarnation, those memories seemed to be washed away by the water at this moment.
Now, she was Qimeng. She was the constantly evolving Demon Tree, and the ruler of this forest under the moonlight.
She closed her eyes, washing the water from her long hair, her ink-black strands spreading across the surface. Just as she was enjoying this tranquility, an unexpected change occurred.
In the center of the water pit, an unnatural ripple spread. It wasn't caused by the wind, but rather as if a substance was being forcibly condensed in the air.
Qimeng's eyes snapped open, looking alertly at the water's surface. A faint glow emerged from it.
That mass of originally transparent water swiftly outlined a rounded facial contour, followed by a slender neck, delicate collarbones... A pair of eyes, like blue gemstones, slowly opened, so pure they contained not a single blemish.
It was a translucent maiden, surrounded by faint, ethereal ripples of water.
Qimeng's eyes widened in surprise. She had seen this entity in ancient texts of the Knight Order.
One of the Six Elemental Spirits...
[Water Spirit]
A fragment of the rules born where moonlight and pure water converged, said to exist only in myths.
“Seriously? It appeared in my bath?”
Before Qimeng could recover, the petite Water Spirit gracefully glided over. It suddenly extended a translucent finger and touched Qimeng's chest.
There was no superfluous ceremony. A cool, healing sensation spread throughout her body.
Immediately afterward, the Water Spirit transformed into a streak of light and gently merged into her body.
“Hmm...?”
Rate on N.U.
