Chapter 4

"Really, this attribute..." Su Chen now felt speechless, unable to find the right words to describe it. Just from the numbers alone, among players, this attribute was already considered extremely powerful.

According to the official data, the attributes of ordinary people were all around 10, a balanced value. Anyone with over 14 points was at least a one-in-a-hundred professional talent. If not for the attribute inheritance, Su Chen would not have reached his current values in Agility and Intelligence, and there was even some risk with his Intelligence.

"However, it's also quite lopsided! Being a battlefield meat grinder is no problem, but for other matters, I'll have to rely on others for help." After a brief moment of thought, Su Chen came to a conclusion, "Am I being too greedy? The convenience and enhancements that come with this identity are not just about attributes. Just the background abilities and regional specialties alone can make test players and VIP players far stronger than ordinary players."

Thinking of this, Su Chen looked out the window at the ordinary players who were continuously getting off the vehicles, a hint of pity in his eyes. However, this pity quickly disappeared, and he immediately focused on the "Order Army" class abilities.

Battle Insight (Ex): You can enter a state where you can mystically perceive the battlefield around you. As long as you are not caught off guard, you can add an insight bonus equal to your Intelligence modifier (up to your Order Army level) to your defense and reflex saves.

Weapon Adaptation (Ex): Training and mastery of various weapons and tactics give you the opportunity to become more proficient with specific weapons. For feats that require a minimum fighter level (such as Weapon Specialization), you can consider your Order Army level - 2 as your fighter level to determine if you meet the conditions.

Furthermore, you have the ability to flexibly adjust your weapon training. Each morning, you can spend an hour practicing to change any feat that applies only to a specific weapon to apply to another weapon (such as Weapon Focus). During practice, you must also have the weapon you want to convert. For example, if you want to convert Weapon Focus for a greatsword to a longsword, you must have a longsword to practice with.

In this way, you can convert any feat, and you do not need to adjust them all in the same way. You cannot adjust feats that do not meet the prerequisites after adjustment. For example, you must be proficient with the weapon you need for Weapon Focus; if you have both Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialization for a longsword, you must convert both when changing the weapon.

"Compared to the military path, there's still a slight improvement! Although there are only two, for a first level, this is already very good. **Silk Warriors will cry when they see this." Su Chen nodded in satisfaction. With the abilities of the 11 base classes (including Warrior, Mage, etc.) now published, it was quite convenient to compare. What was there for Su Chen to be unsatisfied with?

"Next is the optional part." Su Chen began selecting feats, martial techniques, and skill points.

For feats, Su Chen chose Mighty Strike without hesitation. It was an excellent combat feat, allowing the user to, when activating this active feat, choose to subtract a specific value from their attack bonus before attacking a target and then add that value to the damage, with the value not exceeding twice the base attack bonus. This effect can be turned off, but turning it off will result in a 6-second inability to attack.

For the next martial techniques and stances, Su Chen's first choice was Perfect Spirit—using concentration ability to replace will saves. For Su Chen, who had low will saves and low Perception, there was no reason not to choose this.

However, the next three techniques were a bit of a headache. The Wave School's Wind Splitting Slash was excellent, with extra damage and increased attack range, making it very satisfying. The Iron Heart School's Steel Wind was suitable for group fights, and Steel Strike was good for one-on-one battles.

The Devoted Heart School's "Heavenly Punishment Strike" healed the user and allies when hitting an opponent, which was very useful at any time. Unfortunately, it had restrictions on enemy factions, making it difficult to use on the battlefield. The White Crow School's Disrupting Attack and Leadership Attack were both team-cooperative techniques, making them less suitable for selection.

Su Chen's second choice was NTR Charge, no, Bull Charge. The powerful knockdown effect and extra damage had significant tactical value at his current level. Although the usage time might not be long, the technique could be replaced later.

For the remaining two, Su Chen hesitated for a long time but finally chose Heavenly Punishment Strike and Wind Splitting Slash. Regardless, healing and ranged damage projection were very important. Even with professionals, it was better to have some control over it.

Next, Su Chen was particularly cautious in choosing stances and steps, as they could not be replaced later. As a passive ability, their effects would last throughout his career.

The Devoted Heart School's "Soul of Martial Arts" provided unique recovery abilities, which were very useful at low levels but depreciated quickly. The same applied to Punishment Stance and Clear Body. Considering his development prospects, Su Chen finally settled on Leadership Charge—whether in solo battles or team cooperation, increasing charge damage was always beneficial.

For skills, after maxing out the Steel Soul School's signature skill 'Concentration,' Su Chen allocated the remaining points to Jump, Tumble, Balance, and Diplomacy. The rest would be decided later as needed.

After completing all this, Su Chen began searching for his initial equipment in the house. In a small room, he found a set of fine chest armor with a helmet and a large two-handed weapon similar to a halberd.

Looking at the system data: Large Halberd

Item Level: Masterwork Weapon (Two-Handed)

Attack Type: Slashing and Piercing

Required Attributes: Strength 16 / Agility 12 / Large Size

Damage: 2D8

Critical: 18-20/X2

Special: Counterattack

In a chest in the room, he found about 150 gold coins. According to Su Chen's memory, if gold had not significantly depreciated, this was a substantial amount of money for his current status.

"Alright, let me go out and see what changes have occurred in this world!" After preparing everything, Su Chen walked out of his three-story house and began his adventure in the second world.

It had been over a month since entering "Diala Continent," and the game had transitioned from its tumultuous early days to a stable development phase. This turmoil affected not only NPCs but also players. The large player organizations that initially stood tall all fell in the conflict with the game's original forces. Some players who were initially reckless had already started their second generation of characters.

Additionally, NPCs hired players to fight against enemy forces, and many organizations could not resist the offers. A large number of players had to restart due to the depletion of 10 divine tears (resurrection stones). This period's players were cannon fodder, with some not even qualifying as such.

Player power had plummeted. A few organizations with substantial real-world resources could only disband and operate cautiously, relying on in-game forces for survival. This made the restless players finally settle down and develop slowly—benefits were in the hands of a few, both in and out of the game.

Clearly, the current dead players could not gain anything from bloodline inheritance. In a country with collective punishment laws, some new characters were still wanted. More importantly, training their successors required at least six months of in-game time, so Su Chen would not see them for now. For players eager to earn credit points in the game, this was a significant setback.

After a long time of understanding, Su Chen confirmed that players could be resurrected by resurrection spells within a specified time after death. Even with just a little finger, the temple could resurrect players through advanced resurrection spells, eliminating the need for resurrection stones. Of course, the gold required for any resurrection spell was not a small amount, and no player in the game had such wealth yet.

More importantly, Su Chen clarified his character's situation. He was surprised to find himself in the original Ashwood Town. Besides the three-story house, he also owned a shop, which brought him 10 gold coins per month. He also had a part-time instructor job in the militia, earning 5 silver coins per day for 6 days a month—this was a family benefit, so the pay was not high. The rest of the time was at his disposal. Through training, Su Chen finally had a thorough understanding of the game's combat system.

In this game, hitting and critical hits were not determined by dice rolls but by whether the weapon struck the correct part in the correct manner (a larger critical range meant a lower difficulty for critical hits). In this mode, some feats in the D&D-like system, such as initiative, lost their original effects. In the current combat engine, players' attack actions were entirely controlled by their will, allowing melee experts to strike first even when acting last, making initiative irrelevant.

Attack bonuses were replaced by hit bonuses. In the combat engine, a high hit bonus and a low defense from the opponent meant that most attacks would be judged as misses. However, hitting a vital area would grant additional hit bonuses, giving low-level characters a chance to break through high-level monsters' defenses.

Reflecting on his past month of questing, apart from his militia instructor duties, he started with simple tasks like delivering messages, witnessing transactions, and trials, gradually advancing. Su Chen rationally chose the East District, where small merchants and artisans lived, with better security conditions. His daily tasks involved mediating neighborhood disputes and resolving issues like short weights and measures. He generally avoided more chaotic areas.

Of course, such a good job was not available to everyone, thanks to Su Chen's current in-game identity.

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