Chapter 28: The Awakener’s Gambit

After buying several sets of clothes and food with Ye Xiaoan, Yenir returned to the gathering hut.

Watching his mother busily preparing a meal, Yenir’s eyes softened. After a quick greeting, he decided to check his gear first.

As for the house, he planned to move in tomorrow—a pleasant surprise for his mother.

Check Equipment

Murmuring under his breath, he retrieved a longsword from the system’s temporary storage and began inspecting it carefully.

The blade was a striking silver-black, etched with two blood grooves along its medium-thick body that added an extra aura of menace.

“Silver Scale Sword: White Grade”

“Equipment Attributes: Strength +1, Agility +1”

“Equipment Effect: Attack Speed +10%. A chance to inflict additional bleeding when dealing damage.”

…

“Tengling Boots: White Grade”

“Equipment Attributes: Agility +1”

“Equipment Effect: Reduces noise by 50% when moving and improves climbing ability.”

After reviewing the equipment stats, Yenir swiftly evaluated them.

They were just ordinary gear…

But he wasn’t too concerned—white-grade equipment usually only offers basic stats along with some low-level effects.

Unlike blue or the rare orange gear, which provide higher stats and come with added skills.

Equipment grades range across five tiers: White (Ordinary), Blue (Fine), Orange (Epic), Gold (Legendary), and Red (Forbidden).

For most Awakeners, gathering a full set of white-grade gear was an achievement in itself.

After equipping his longsword and boots, Yenir eagerly eyed the final skill book.

“Flash Step Slash (C Rank) Sword Technique”

“Flash Step Slash: Consumes 20% stamina and 1000 Spiritual Energy. When activated, it grants a brief dash and concludes with an attack dealing 135% of his Strength attribute.”

“Skill Requirements: Agility 25, Constitution 20”

Hmm?

For a brief moment, Yenir was taken aback; reading the skill requirements, his expression turned oddly troubled.

The C-rank Flash Step Slash seemed quite promising—merging offense and defense while adding a dash of extra attack power.

He could imagine that if this technique evolved to SSS Rank, its mobility would be dramatically enhanced.

But there was a catch…

A single glance at his attribute panel left Yenir speechless.

He had put all 7 advanced points plus a further 4 from mission rewards into Willpower. His plan was simple: with an SSS-level skill in hand, why waste time slowly upping combat stats when he could one-shot his foes?

In fact, a high Willpower would boost his Spiritual Energy enough to break free from the system’s limits and let him unleash his SSS-rank sword technique at will.

Yet Yenir hadn’t expected that, to make up for a deficit in Credit Points, someone had specifically arranged for him to acquire a rather exceptional sword technique.

For a moment, he was utterly stumped…

Looking down at the Flash Step Slash, Yenir shook his head slightly and decided to set it aside for now.

His current Agility and Strength barely reached 10 points each—with gear bonuses, he was still lagging by over ten points.

In his previous life, the Capital Zone had supplied him with ample resources to boost his stats; yet he’d overlooked the fact that most skills come with strict attribute requirements.

After rubbing his chin in thought, Yenir decided to purchase a batch of Spiritual Energy Fruits along with some new gear.

He figured that once his other attributes were bolstered and he advanced to Stage Two, he’d be ready to master this skill.

He had even considered buying some of the most mediocre sword techniques to evolve directly.

However, since sword techniques with special effects tend to improve dramatically upon leveling up, he wasn’t in any rush.

With his skill bar already occupied by two techniques lacking any unique effects, striving for convenience further would be counterproductive.

After listing his buying requests on the trading channel, Yenir’s thoughts drifted back to memories of his past life.

Dungeons… Wild Mutants… Secret Realms…

Where should he level up?

The high-level mutants around Tianfeng had long been wiped out by the Military, leaving only a few auto-refreshing leveling spots to hone low-level Awakeners.

To hunt high-level mutants, he’d have to scour the wilds—a time-consuming venture, and encountering multiple foes during a skill gap could mean a swift death.

After a swift recollection of past experiences, Yenir quickly locked onto a target.

“Corpse Academy!”

If his memory served him right, there was a dungeon in the wilds of the Tianfeng Security Zone where the most formidable mutants were of Stage Two.

As a doomsday dungeon, not only did defeating mutants boost one’s level, but clearing it could also yield special rewards based on performance.

Most importantly, that dungeon was the hotspot around Tianfeng for Spiritual Energy Fruits to drop!

With that in mind, Yenir grabbed a scrap of paper and quickly recorded the crucial details of the dungeon from memory.

If you’re going to do something, do it right—he remembered that no one had ever achieved a top score there.

Armed with an SSS-level skill, he was supremely confident he could farm there to his heart’s content!

….

The next morning brought a light mist.

On his motorcycle, Yenir sped right out of the city.

Ignoring several teams of fellow Awakeners trying to recruit him for group play, he headed straight for the dungeon.

He had already entrusted Wang Zhen with handling his relocation, confident it would be a wonderful surprise for his mother.

His motorcycle roared like a bolt of lightning, its high-revving engine emitting a deep, buzzing hum as he accelerated.

Along the roadside, heaps of abandoned vehicle wreckage flashed by as he raced on.

After nimbly avoiding a few severely decomposed zombies, Yenir ducked low and plunged into the wasteland.

….

“Ding: Your purchase request for Spiritual Energy Fruits has been completed; payment has been automatically deducted.”

“Ding: 6300 Credit Points deducted. Acquired Spiritual Energy Fruit (White – Basic Strength) x1”

“Ding: Your purchase request for Spiritual Energy Fruits has been completed; payment has been automatically deducted.”

“Ding: Credit Points deducted. Acquired Spiritual Energy Fruit (White – Basic Agility) x3”

“Ding: Your purchase request for equipment has been completed; payment has been automatically deducted.”

…

A barrage of system notifications rang out.

Yenir watched order after order being fulfilled, a hint of satisfaction lighting up his face.

Since his prices weren’t low, he soon received a considerable haul of gear and fruits.

He paid no mind to the steadily depleting Credit Points.

As long as he could boost his combat power, everything was worth it.

After spending over 30,000 Credit Points, he had almost managed to gather a complete set of white gear.

Eyeing the recently traded supplies, Yenir slowed his motorcycle and, without hesitation, equipped himself.

A tactical vest crafted from mutant hide, two shoulder pads, a pair of gauntlets, tactical leather pants, and a ring.

Apart from a helmet and accessory gear, Yenir was now fully geared up.

“In total: +4 Strength, +7 Constitution, and +3 Agility, along with a bundle of miscellaneous physical defense stats.”

“Even without resorting to his skills, he should be capable of going toe-to-toe with a Stage One mutant…”

Feeling revitalized, Yenir quickly evaluated his combat prowess and decisively swallowed the highest-priced Spiritual Energy Fruit.

At 6000 points a piece, one could say it cost as much as an entire apartment.

A wave of relaxation swept over him, and a brand-new power surged within his body.

“Ding: Spiritual Energy Fruit consumed. Strength +1”

“Ding: Spiritual Energy Fruit consumed. Agility +1”

…

After a few more system prompts, Yenir squeezed his right hand with satisfaction, feeling his entire body burst with explosive power.

Six fruits had granted him an additional 3 points in both Strength and Agility.

Not bad at all—combined with his gear, his Strength now reached 17.

However, to truly become a top-tier Awakener, he still had to amass a lot more resources.

Considering how few Credit Points he had left, Yenir felt a hint of pressure.

Before advancing to Stage Three, he needed to procure and sell more valuable resources.

Two hours and four minutes later.

“Screech–”

The motorcycle, speeding down the road, suddenly decelerated and executed a brilliant drift before coming to a halt.

Balancing on one foot, Yenir fixed his gaze on the valley in the distance.

Frowning slightly, he listened as a series of agonizing screams emanated from the valley’s entrance.

He saw a truck-sized spider mutant rampaging through a convoy, relentlessly slaying desperate survivors.