Chapter 46: The Law of Conservation of Smiles

Paul admitted that ever since he saw Li Rui linking arms with Guildmaster Nova in her office that day, his mood had been as sour as if he had bitten into a lemon.

Although he had heard that warlocks did not need to put in much effort, before witnessing one with his own eyes, he had always found the notion of “effortlessness” somewhat unbelievable.

He reasoned that even if warlocks could awaken their magic by simply indulging in pleasures, they would still need to practice daily to familiarize themselves with new spells, wouldn’t they?

Yet now, standing before him, Li Rui was demonstrating through his actions that Paul was not just mistaken—he was utterly wrong.

Paul and his companions only saw Li Rui shatter one undead skull after another. After pausing briefly for a second or two, he would then ask to borrow a teammate’s weapon.

One-handed swords, battle axes, halberds, daggers, longbows, short daggers, light crossbows, staffs, scimitars, rapiers, flails, maces, two-handed hammers, greatswords, dual-wielded weapons.

He tried every type of weapon the team had, even those held by the undead.

Just like when he first borrowed a one-handed sword from Brook, Li Rui would break the undead’s skull, pick up an unfamiliar weapon, fumble with it awkwardly at first, then within minutes become proficient—ultimately surpassing even Paul and the others in mastery!

Witnessing such a disheartening sight, the four teammates felt as if all their years of training had been utterly wasted.

In just over an hour, Li Rui had truly become a weapons master!

Paul guessed that if Li Rui’s strength and agility hadn’t remained unchanged, he would already be the strongest member of the team.

“How many ranks would he get if he went to the Adventurers’ Guild for evaluation now?”

Paul glanced at Li Rui, then at the other teammates, recalling the experiences of Galon and Brook during their assessments, and quickly came to a conclusion.

“His attributes are still a bit lacking, so... rank three.”

It was a suffocating verdict.

Milly had practiced archery since childhood; only after five or six arduous years did she achieve rank three. Yet due to insufficient strength, agility, and constitution, she could not advance to rank four under the guild’s evaluation system.

Moreover, since Milly was a civilian archer rather than a heroic ranger or wanderer, upon reaching rank four, if she wanted to avoid being stuck at that level forever, she would have to learn new skills and change her profession.

As for Li Rui, a warlock with limitless potential, he had mastered the fundamentals of the warrior class within just over an hour—the “Battle Qi,” the first-level warrior skill “Energy Recovery,” the second-level core ability “Action Like a Tide,” and one of the essential third-level combat styles, the “Warrior” style’s “Mastery of Heavy Strikes.”

It should be noted that the “Battle Qi” in the Endi world differs from the Dou Qi in the Dou Cangqiong world; here, “Battle Qi” merely reflects physical vitality and cannot, at least at lower levels, be expelled externally to form offensive energy blades or mounts.

“Energy Recovery,” true to its name, restores a warrior’s vitality at low levels and can heal minor injuries.

“Action Like a Tide” is the core ability of the warrior class, allowing a warrior who has already expended the force of an attack to instantly break limits and unleash a second strike like a flash of lightning.

Li Rui believed this ability was what prevented warriors from being completely overshadowed by spellcasters.

The attack using “Action Like a Tide” was so swift that even the attacker himself could barely react.

Then there was the third-level warrior skill “Mastery of Heavy Strikes,” a combat instinct that increased the chance of delivering critical hits, making enemies more prone to falling, dropping their weapons, or even being killed outright by a single blow.

After extracting memories from the undead, gaining these professional skills and mastery over numerous weapons, Li Rui felt his stamina was now comparable to what Paul had once envied in others—beastlike.

Running up and down continuously for over an hour, baiting undead, then wielding various weapons with ease—previously, he would have been exhausted to the point of collapse, but now he felt utterly untroubled.

Besides the warrior’s memories, he had also absorbed those of the barbarian class.

However, the barbarian profession offered little beyond “Berserk” and heightened intuition, and since “Berserk” was not something he wished to demonstrate just yet, he decided to wait until they left the mine before telling his teammates.

He would then need their help to restrain his intelligence-diminished self during the berserk state so he could still recognize his comrades.

Having extracted memories of both warrior and barbarian classes, as well as weapon masteries, Li Rui still did not stop.

There were simply too many undead—sixty-five in total. Even though he had absorbed many memories, some repeated, fifteen undead remained.

Li Rui estimated he could clear the blue section on the undead wheel with this haul.

“Crack!”

Another undead skull was smashed.

This time, he finally drew a blue section ability.

“Enchanted Skeleton: Even without flesh and blood, you can still move using your own bones.”

Interesting.

Next!

“Crack!”

“Negative Energy Affinity: Negative energy environments slow the burning of your soul fire, making you feel comfortable, but simultaneously causing your body to weaken gradually.”

An ability with both positive and negative effects? Interesting.

Next!

“Crack!”

“Soul Devour: Simply standing beside a dying creature allows your soul fire to consume the escaping spiritual aura, strengthening your soul fire.”

“Hm?!”

Li Rui straightened up immediately.

This was it!

This was the prize he sought!

“When I get out of this mine, I’ll head straight to a slaughterhouse and devour the souls of animals!”

With the “Soul Fire” and “Soul Devour” traits, his soul would inevitably grow stronger and stronger.

Such strength would surely boost his intelligence, perception, and charisma as well.

“Maybe someday I can become a true mage and experience the real power of a grand sorcerer...”

With this thought, a joyful expression spread across Li Rui’s face.

However, as the well-known law of conserved smiles dictates, when one person smiles, another inevitably does not.

Let us shift our perspective upward, to the sky.

From above, the mine entrance of Amos Mine lay north of a hundred-meter-high hill, while at the southern foot of that hill stood a small wooden cabin.

“Bang!”

The wooden door of the cabin was kicked open roughly, and a mage dressed in a black robe emerged.

“Who! Which bastard is messing with my undead army?!”