"Can't the Divine Gift talent fuse?"
John furrowed his brow. He knew that higher-level players needed to use more Artifact Cores to fuse.
And powerful rare classes needed Intermediate and Advanced Artifact Cores.
Did his Divine Gift talent also need Intermediate or Advanced Artifact Cores?
"Keep fusing!" John still chose to keep fusing his stats.
Even if the Divine Gift talent couldn't fuse with reality, it didn't matter much. He spent most of his time in the game. When he got stronger later, he could fuse again.
The Basic Artifact Core turned into tiny lights and merged into his body.
John felt warm inside. A special Strength flowed into his arms and legs, but nothing else happened.
He thought to himself and cut the game connection.
A dizzying spin, and John's mind returned to the real world. He could feel a strong Strength inside his body, but he still felt dizzy.
His level was only 10. All the stat points he had gained were in Agility and Constitution. The stats from his gear couldn't fuse with reality. His Spirit stat was still only 9.
Spirit was what kept him in the game longer.
His physical strength hadn't improved much. He needed to find a way to raise his Spirit in the future. The best choice was to switch to Life Priest, which had a skill to boost base stats.
He looked at Isolde, who was still in the game, looking peaceful. He felt a sense of satisfaction.
"Time to cook."
He didn't wake her up and went to the kitchen to make lunch.
In the Lord's mansion, Macbeth cried and complained to a serious middle-aged man.
"Dad, you have to help me get revenge. That John is arrogant and wild. He doesn't even respect you. I got killed by that guy again. My level dropped to 4. If this keeps up, I can't even leave the newbie village."
The serious man was Macbeth's father, Tork.
"It's all your fault. You couldn't even beat a support Cleric. What kind of face do you have crying to me?" Tork looked disappointed. He had spent a lot of resources to raise Macbeth.
But the kid was good at eating, drinking, and having fun. He never worked hard at training. He was like dirt-no way to fix.
"Dad, it's really not my fault," Macbeth cried, forcing out two tears. "That John is strange. His Physical Damage is really high. Even the newbie village guards were killed in one hit."
"Killed the newbie village guards?" Tork frowned, clearly not believing him.
The newbie village guards were 30-level Stage 2 players. A newbie couldn't even touch them, especially not a support Cleric.
But that John was really strange. Even when Karlove Academy students joined together to attack, they couldn't kill him.
He thought for a moment and said coldly, "I'll take care of that guy. You get stronger as soon as possible. I've heard that Celestial Academy is coming to recruit this year. There are two spots. If you get into Celestial Academy, your future is unlimited."
"Does our town have a Celestial Academy recruitment spot this year?" Macbeth's eyes lit up, his expression happy.
There weren't many players who had awakened rare hidden classes in Karlove Academy. Only him and Anna. He had almost a 100% chance to get into Celestial Academy.
Tork knew this kid was getting too full of himself. He gave a strict warning: "You're not even close to the level Celestial Academy wants. For the next few days, you stay in the game. I'll get you a game pod. And stay away from that woman named Anna. She's got deep plans, and you can't control her."
"Got it," Macbeth said, nodding carelessly. Then he thought of something and bit his lip. "Dad, how are you going to take down that John? I want to kill him myself!"
He thought about his past few days in the game. He'd been killed by John three times, and he was still stuck at level 4. His anger boiled.
Tork shot him a cold look. "You don't need to do anything. I'll send him to the Buffer Zone, put him in the army, and get him killed during the beast wave."
Macbeth was disappointed but didn't say much. Whatever it took, as long as John was gone, it was fine.
On the other side, John finished cooking lunch and woke up Isolde.
"John, you made a big mess this time. The Demon Race showed up. It's causing a lot of trouble in The Alternate World. Some big groups are paying attention to you," Isolde said, looking at the food on the table and swallowing hard. She shared what she had seen in the game.
John was still in the newbie village and didn't know what was going on outside. But he didn't care much about it.
"Isolde, I have some good news for you," he said with a smile. "I'm leaving the newbie village soon. When I do, I'll help you with your class advancement."
"Really? So you're not targeting Karlove Academy players anymore?" Isolde didn't really expect much. John leaving the newbie village was good, but just letting Karlove Academy off the hook was too easy.
"Of course not. I already found two helpers," John said with a mysterious smile. With those two werewolves watching over them, the Karlove Academy players would have a hard time.
"Is that so?" Isolde thought he had found help from other academy players and didn't ask much.
"Let's eat. I'm starving," she said, grabbing a big piece of meat and eating it hungrily.
Beep...
At that moment, both their phones rang at the same time. It was an announcement.
"Buffer Zone is under heavy attack from multiple beast waves. We are now forcing the recruitment of non, official Karlove Academy players to join the patrol mission. Report to the town square at 8 AM tomorrow. Anyone who doesn't show up will be expelled from the city."
Both of them read the message and frowned.
John laughed coldly. "I feel like this is targeting me."
"That's really low," Isolde said, angry. She lost her appetite and said, "John, I still have some gold saved up-ten thousand coins. Tomorrow, I'll turn it in and get your spot instead."
Karlove would force its people to join the Buffer Zone every few months to block the beast waves. The task lasted three months.
But the death rate was high - up to 50%. Those who survived said the soldiers didn't treat them like humans. They were sent on dangerous missions, and sometimes used as meat shields.
Even though it was forced, there were secret deals. If you paid 10,000 gold coins to the Lord's mansion, you could avoid it.
This was how the Lord's mansion made money.
"Isolde, what about you?" John said, touched.
Isolde smiled and said, "I'm fine. I've reached level 30. I didn't finish the Stage 2 trial, but I've fused my game stats once. It's not dangerous."
John didn't think so. Last night, she couldn't even beat the weakest Demon Soldier.
The beast waves in the Buffer Zone were definitely even more dangerous.
John said, "Isolde, you should buy the spot. I've also fused my game stats. I can fight monsters just fine."
He now had over 2,400 Physical Damage. His HP, without any gear, was 350. As long as he didn't meet a Stage 3 monster, he could handle it.
"You fused your game stats?" Isolde was surprised, then a little sad. Artifact Cores were rare. John fused his stats at level 10 - that was a waste.
She hesitated, then said seriously, "In that case, we go together. I don't want to pay the Lord's mansion. And I'm yours. If something happens to you, I won't live alone."
"Isolde!" John gently held her hand and stared at her. This feeling was something he had never had with Anna.
Isolde blushed slightly and pulled away. "Stop looking. Let's eat first. After we eat, I'll take you to buy some weapons and gear to protect ourselves."
"Okay," John said, not refusing.
After lunch, they bought weapons and gear.
Isolde picked out a set of light steel armor and a long sword. It cost over 2,000 gold coins.
She also chose a leather armor and a thick, wide shield.
Isolde was a hidden class, Guardian Knight, and she needed a shield. But the shield was too heavy. She rarely used it in daily life.
They returned to their place, stored the gear, and took Fenric outside the city.
They couldn't bring Fenric into the Buffer Zone. It was too dangerous. But if they left him in the neighborhood, no one would take care of him.
Isolde untied Fenric's reins. She looked sad and said, "Fenric, I have something to do. You have to survive on your own for a while. Be careful."
"Snort!" Fenric was almost human. He let out a loud snort and rubbed against her, then left with obvious reluctance.