Lu Yun slept until midnight. When he woke up groggily, he felt as if something had been added to his mind. He focused his attention and immediately sensed a dim, gray space. At the center of the space stood a tree, somewhat resembling a locust tree, ancient and weathered. Around it was a small clearing, with a distinct patch of land about five meters square—clearly arranged.
"What is this?" Lu Yun wondered. He took a deep breath to clear his mind, and strange knowledge began surfacing in his brain.
After about ten minutes, he finally sorted through the information and understood what had happened. He had obtained a legacy called "Seed of Darkness". But whose legacy was it, and where did it come from? Lu Yun couldn't know—at least, not yet. The knowledge was in his mind, but he was too weak to fully comprehend it.
This Seed of Darkness was the strange soul talent he had seen in the game. In his perception, it had levels like a game skill, though he sensed it wasn't really that simple—some force had packaged it in a way that made it understandable to him as a "skill."
His Seed of Darkness was now level 1. Its ability was basic rooting, which required finding a suitable target. Only after a target was rooted could further operations proceed. Higher levels of the Seed would unlock more capabilities.
Currently, the level 1 Seed corresponded to the arranged patch of land. Once rooted, a dark tree linked to him would manifest there.
The space in his mind was referred to by Lu Yun as his "Conscious Sea." He sensed that this knowledge was originally expressed in Dark Language, which he had begun to partially understand. In Dark Language, the mental space was called the "spiritual domain."
The dark power he had acquired was Dark Primordial Force, usable to trigger various skills. Besides basic rooting, he also gained the skill Dark Probe, which was used to locate potential rooting targets.
"Interesting… I really became an Esper?" Lu Yun's heart leapt, though he wasn't overly euphoric. In this world, Espers were one in a million, mostly employed by national authorities and rarely appearing publicly. Any news involving an Esper would instantly trend in the top ten.
Lu Yun felt surprisingly calm. Hungry, he reached for his phone—only to find his hand was now a furry paw.
"What!?" Shocked, he jumped out of bed. When he landed, in the faint light, he saw his small front legs, hind legs, and fur-covered belly. He had shrunk in height.
"What the hell? What happened to me? A dog? No—a wolf!" Suddenly, it clicked. Looking at his fur and paws, this was Blood March from the game. His primary attribute was six dark, giving him almost black fur; 2 fire + 2 earth manifested as four stripes along his body.
He ran to the bathroom, intending to check the mirror, but now his height was only about 30 cm. The sink was over a meter tall. No matter how he jumped, he couldn't reach it.
Spotting a small stool nearby, he recalled the wolf's skills. Concentrating, he sensed an available skill:
★ Leap (Lv.1): Consumes 20 stamina, charges for 1.5 seconds, increasing jump height and distance by 20%. Cooldown: 1 minute. Each level increases height and distance by 5%.
He dragged the stool over, jumped onto it, activated Leap, reached the towel rack, and then jumped onto the sink.
In the mirror, he saw it—Blood March, the black wolf, with two short red stripes on its forehead and two long yellow stripes on its back.
"What the hell? The Seed of Darkness gives me this ability? No way… I like gaming, but I prefer being human." His mind whirled as he paced in front of the mirror.
After a moment, he took deep breaths and focused on calming himself. He concentrated on his mind, in the Conscious Sea. He did not feel the wolf there. Thinking back to the skill use, he visualized the wolf and willed himself to return to human form.
Almost instantly, the reflection changed. The wolf transformed back into his human self, naked and crouching on the sink.
"Phew… it worked." He remained cautious for a while, staring at himself before finally descending from the sink.
Back in his bedroom, he dressed and checked the time: 12:30 AM. Hungry, he grabbed his phone and went out.
Walking through his neighborhood, Lu Yun pondered the Seed of Darkness and his wolf transformation. He had learned a lot about the Seed, but how did he become the wolf? There was no corresponding information in the Conscious Sea.
He reached the nearby streets and found a barbecue shop. Sitting down and ordering food, he drank a soda while thinking.
Suddenly, he heard a few pleasant female voices. Turning, he saw several young, attractively dressed girls—likely nightlife workers grabbing late-night snacks. He had seen plenty before.
One seemed relatively pure-looking; the voice came from her. Lu Yun decided to test Dark Probe.
Focusing, he sent out the probe. Feedback came immediately: Non-rootable target, cooldown 1 minute.
Non-rootable? That made sense. The girl was attractive, decent figure, height moderate—but she was non-rootable. His fleeting interest vanished, replaced by slight disgust at her profession.
Lu Yun immediately noticed the psychological shift and associated it with the Seed of Darkness. Good—he wouldn't be distracted by such people.
When the probe's cooldown ended, he continued scanning while eating. In half an hour, he checked 31 targets—none were rootable.
He wasn't upset. He saw it as experimentation; none were suitable. He preferred the first rooted target to have a close connection—ideally a beautiful girl. If not, a smart, strong male could suffice.
Deciding to scout his alma mater tomorrow, he thought about potential juniors. If none suitable existed, no problem—Xia City, the largest city on the East Sea coast of Yuxia Federation, had over 30 million residents. Time was on his side.
After a feast and buying two large bags of junk food, Lu Yun returned home.