In the Cadillacs and Dinosaurs instance, Cheng Tian had indirectly completed a main quest settlement, bringing his free attribute points to 7 and skill points to 4. He decisively used them all before entering the instance.
His bare Spirit attribute increased from 21 to 28, and his Lv1 Ten Commandments skill also became Lv4.
Originally, Cheng Tian had intended to allocate some free attribute points to Charm, but since the riding requirement for the Primeval Wyvern dropped from 15 Charm directly to none, Cheng Tian decisively put everything into Spirit.
With the sunfire mask's buff, higher Spirit meant more health, and it also accelerated his mana regeneration rate. Extreme stat allocation was perfectly fine.
If he couldn't achieve balanced stat allocation and turn himself into a standard wooden bucket with every plank long enough, then choosing extreme stat allocation, turning his bucket directly into a scoop for water, was also a reasonable choice.
As for skill points, Cheng Tian had also wanted to continue with extreme stat allocation, investing resources into the Hundred Demons' Night Parade. But upon seeing that from Lv4 onwards, each level required 2 free skill points, Cheng Tian decisively threw his resources into Ten Commandments.
A skill's tier, while determining its inherent strength, also influenced its subsequent growth rate.
E-rank and D-rank skills, though lower rated, required fewer resources to grow. For example, E-rank and D-rank skills from Lv1 to Lv10 each only required 1 free skill point.
C-rank and B-rank skills, however, required 2 free skill points from Lv4 onwards.
A-rank skills raised the bar even further, requiring double the points for each level-up from Lv1.
As for S-rank, regular skill points could no longer be used for leveling up… This could be seen as a possibility Heaven's Chosen Space granted for lower-tier skills to surpass higher-tier ones. As long as one was willing to invest resources, an E-rank Lv14 'Lunge' might not necessarily be inferior to an S-rank Lv1 'Heavenly Overlord Slash'.
Upon reaching Lv4, Ten Commandments evolved from a simple ability to convert living corpses into a temporary control ability effective against human races. Not only could it hard-control for 2 to 5 seconds, but it could also interfere with the target's actions, just like controlling a normal living corpse.
The player who had been turned into a living corpse and shot an arrow to ambush his companion was controlled by Cheng Tian.
Under the buff of high Spirit attribute, Cheng Tian's Ten Commandments' maximum casting range in a straight line reached 280 meters. Thus, he easily deduced the approximate location of the ambusher by backtracking the arrow's flight path. A sweep of Ten Commandments locked onto the target, and he decisively activated Ten Commandments.
The war elephant Mammoth, connected to Cheng Tian's mind, had already initiated its "turbo" mode, striding with its massive, dark-pillar-like elephant legs, thudding towards the outer side of the camp that Cheng Tian had targeted, beginning its war elephant charge.
As for the sacrificial arrow's derivative flame scorching, which should have engulfed Cheng Tian and the war elephant, it now enveloped Cheng Tian's body like a fiery cloak. Not only was Cheng Tian himself unharmed, but his mana bar was even rapidly rising—
The effect of Primeval Shell triggered. The sacrificial arrow's explosion damage and subsequent scorching damage were being absorbed by the sunfire mask at a 50% rate and converted into MP recovery for Cheng Tian.
Among all current elemental attributes, the one Cheng Tian feared least was fire damage.
Cheng Mouren, who already had 20% permanent fire resistance, saw his fire resistance increase to 45% with the addition of the Azure Fire Dragon Scale Armor. While he took the direct damage from this Lv3 sacrificial arrow, the explosion and subsequent burning damage were directly halved. And the Primeval Shell's ability to absorb fire damage, capped at 18 points per single instance, directly turned an arrow that should have caused screams of pain into a small blue potion for Cheng Tian.
Overall, this arrow ultimately only dealt 31 weapon damage to Cheng Tian, and it was the kind that deducted from the mana bar first. However, the total MP recovery brought by the fire damage was a full 72 points, even replenishing the 40 MP Cheng Tian used to cast Ten Commandments.
This is what you call reversing the electric meter!
Just taking a beating without fighting back was clearly not Cheng Mouren's style, and at this moment, the oppressive force brought by the war elephant's charge was fully unleashed.
All obstacles on the path were treated as nothing before the war elephant. It wasn't a mindless charge either; its trunk, placed in front, skillfully pushed allied NPC units blocking its path aside, only knocking over and destroying tents and poles. It seemed reckless, but was actually meticulous.
"Everyone! Follow the Orange Knight! Charge! Engage the enemy!!!"
Seeing the war elephant charge, Arthur unhesitatingly drew the Sword in the Stone from his waist and roared with full vigor.
His voice seemed to be magically enhanced, echoing directly over the now-calmed camp. Hearing Arthur's command, the Knights and militiamen of the faction seemed to have golden battle hawks appear above their heads, regaining a surge of morale. They grabbed their weapons and charged out of the camp, closely following the war elephant.
Arthur, as the true leader of the faction, didn't mind Cheng Tian, an outsider Holy Grail Knight, stealing his thunder. Instead, he issued the correct command at the right time.
At the same time, Arthur decisively grasped a magic item, resembling a chess piece representing a "knight," stored in a small pouch at his waist.
The magic power on the magic chess piece vanished, replaced by a warhorse mount, its fur as white as snow and adorned with red barding, appearing out of thin air. It charged and braked sharply beside Arthur, affectionately nudging him with its large head.
In the world of the Knights of the Round Table, many mounts were carried and kept magically. This was why, when they saw the war elephant Mammoth, they were only surprised by Cheng Tian's choice of mount species, not by its sudden appearance.
But just as Lancelot and Percival also performed the same mount summoning action and were preparing to charge along, Arthur stopped them with a shout.
"Don't go out with them! Stay in the camp and organize some people, prepare water. The enemy is very likely to use fire arrows to burn the camp!"
Lancelot, who had initially been slightly displeased with Arthur's order, changed his expression drastically upon hearing the content. He immediately turned his horse around and galloped in the opposite direction from Percival, who had already moved.
After giving the command, Arthur himself felt a bit of lingering fear. If that arrow, mixed with fire elements, hadn't landed on Cheng Tian just now, but on a tent, the fire would probably have spread by now, wouldn't it?
As Arthur thought of this and redirected his gaze to the still most conspicuous and explosive elephant tribe on the battlefield, his eyes couldn't help but narrow.
Because he saw that two magic orbs were floating on either side of Cheng Tian's shoulders, following him. At the same time, a pair of wings, seemingly constructed from holy light, had appeared on Cheng Tian's back, like a messenger of heaven personally blessed by a goddess, pointing the way for all the bewildered and uneasy Knights and militiamen of the Knights of the Round Table faction to follow and charge!
[Kingdom of Britannia, Knights of the Round Table faction, Morale +20.]