Ch. 363 - Talent Upgrade

“How many points are you short?”

Suna looked at Yang Yi, her red eyes resembling crystal-clear rubies.

“I’m still short of 28,000 Player Points,” Yang Yi replied.

Suna wrinkled her nose. Yang Yi had only recently transferred 20,000 points to her, and now he needed to take them back again. It was practically as if this had all been planned in advance.

【Crew Member Suna transferred 30,000 Player Points to you】

As soon as he finished speaking, Yang Yi received the transfer notification. The speed of it surprised him.

He hadn’t expected getting points from Suna to be this easy. It was practically like the seashell coins in his own pocket, with a portion disappearing from time to time.

After receiving these points, Yang Yi’s total Player Points reached 52,740, enough to purchase a Talent Enhancement Card.

“What are you laughing at? You don’t think you can borrow them without paying them back, do you?” Suna said with some displeasure.

But Yang Yi ignored her. He had no intention of paying them back at all and was prepared to simply refuse to repay them.

“By the way, how many points do you have left?” he asked, changing the subject.

“54,972.”

“Perfect, then.”

Yang Yi nodded and sent Suna a piece of information.

It was information from a post on the forum. The post recorded a comparison of a talent before and after enhancement, and the poster was Justice Knight.

That guy had hardly used any of his points and wasn’t interested in blind boxes either, so he happened to have enough points on hand to exchange for a Talent Enhancement Card.

The effects before enhancement were as follows:

【Duel Enthusiast: Spirit Limit +1. If engaged in a one-on-one duel, your body’s potential will be stimulated, allowing you to fight with all your strength. All attributes except Spirit temporarily increase by +1 until the battle ends or the number of combatants changes. Activates once every 24 hours. None of the bonuses can exceed the mortal limit.

Upon winning the battle, recover 20 points of Sanity.】

After enhancement, the effects of this talent were greatly increased.

【Duel Enthusiast (+): Spirit +2. If engaged in a one-on-one or one-on-many duel, your body’s potential will be stimulated, allowing you to fight with all your strength. All attributes except Spirit temporarily increase by +2, lasting until the battle ends or the number of combatants changes. Activates once every 12 hours.】

After winning the battle, recover 50 points of Sanity and escape from madness.】

“Use this example as a reference. The expected enhancement effects are roughly doubled attributes, breaking through the mortal limit, optimized effects, and a shortened cooldown. It’s an all-around enhancement.”

Yang Yi summarized it while already deciding which talent he would enhance. It was none other than Iron Will.

After all, Refusal of Death could already break through the mortal limit. After enhancement, it would most likely also involve doubled attributes, an extended duration, a shortened cooldown, and similar improvements.

It would be better to enhance Iron Will first. Not only would it be easier to trigger, but it could also increase his Spirit attribute limit.

It should be known that Spirit was arguably the most difficult attribute to increase. There were almost no pieces of equipment or supernatural paths that increased Spirit, making such things extremely rare.

Moreover, many supernatural paths deducted Spirit. If one’s Spirit attribute were reduced to 0, they would probably never awaken from madness. There had been no such case so far.

“Suna, I recommend that you also enhance a talent that increases your Spirit limit. That would be safer,” Yang Yi tactfully suggested.

After all, Suna’s other talent was Forbidden Scholar, which would reduce her attribute limit. If the enhancement doubled the deduction to 40 points, it would truly be dangerous.

However, it was also possible that the deduction would become 10 points, meaning the negative effect would be reduced by half. The specifics were something Suna would have to decide for herself.

After thinking for a while, she still decided to enhance Witch’s Blood, prioritizing increasing her Spirit first. In any case, she would eventually enhance the other talents as well.

It was just a pity that there was no Talent Copy Card. The talent she actually wanted most was Iron Will. If she had it, she could conduct research without restraint, with no need to worry about going mad...

After the two finished discussing it, they prepared to purchase the enhancement item.

Tricia hid inside her own house and watched the entire process, but from her perspective, the vending machine didn’t exist at all, so she couldn’t understand what the two of them were talking about.

After a while, she began to feel bored and took out a piece of compressed biscuit that had already been cut into pieces and started eating it.

Yang Yi, meanwhile, came to the vending machine. His Player Points soon appeared on its display—52,740.

Then he pressed the Talent Enhancement Card option. A card immediately dropped from the vending machine’s dispensing slot, but before Yang Yi could pick it up, it had already disappeared.

【Select the talent to enhance】

Yang Yi saw two options appear in his field of vision. He directly chose the first one—Iron Will.

Immediately afterward, Iron Will was enhanced into Iron Will (+).

【Iron Will (+): You never admit defeat, and even the abyss cannot shake your will. Spirit Limit +2. Sanity and Spirit will always retain at least 1 point, and you will not develop suicidal thoughts.

When your Sanity decreases significantly (less than or equal to 50), you will enter the Frenzy (+) state.】

After reading the information, Yang Yi immediately entered his werewolf form to check the effects of Frenzy (+). (Transforming into a werewolf causes Sanity to decrease by 50.)

【Your Sanity is too low. You have entered the Frenzy (+) state. You are immune to almost all mental negative effects. Strength +4, Agility +2, Constitution +2, Spirit -4. You ignore pain, do not know fatigue, are brave and fearless, and will fight until death. You can break through the mortal limit until your Sanity recovers above 50.】

He immediately let out a high-pitched wolf howl.

“I feel surprisingly good right now!”

Yang Yi couldn’t help saying this as he looked toward Suna. She slightly furrowed her brows because Yang Yi’s eyes were filled with blood vessels, and they even had a reddish tint.

“You... what happened to you?!”

Tricia was stunned. This was the first time she had ever seen Yang Yi transform into a werewolf. The compressed biscuit in her hand unconsciously fell onto the desk below.

Yang Yi also realized that this appearance was not quite right. He could barely stand upright, so he suppressed the violent desire to fight deep within his heart and transformed back into human form.

His breathing was much more rapid than before, however, and the blood vessels in his eyes had not disappeared.

“You really are a believer of the Great Blasphemer! I knew it!”

Tricia came back to her senses and pointed at Yang Yi, shouting.

“Uh...”

Yang Yi was actually rendered speechless. He looked at Suna, who had her arms folded across her chest, then looked back at Tricia before replying, “Y-yes... I do believe in it a little.”

He demonstrated with his fingers, indicating that he only believed a tiny bit. He didn’t dare openly admit his true identity.

After sharing the enhanced effects with Suna, it was her turn to purchase a Talent Enhancement Card and enhance her talent.

She enhanced Witch’s Blood, and she also sent Yang Yi a copy of its effects.

【Witch’s Blood (+): You thirst for knowledge. Your red eyes are your proof, as well as a curse you were born with. Spirit Limit +4.

You revere reason. Most strange creatures and phenomena will only make you curious. Every point of Spirit will increase your Sanity Limit by one point (only the Spirit Limit is counted).

But remember, touching taboos will also bring disaster. The Holy Light will spare no effort to capture you and roast you with the most blazing sacred flames.】

“An ability that can increase the Sanity Limit—this is really something good!”

Yang Yi sighed with emotion.

After all, Suna’s Sanity Limit was only 80, and this talent could make up for that weakness very well.

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