Chapter 9: Changing Profession to Mercenary, Physical Growth
Time flew by, and another two months passed in the blink of an eye.
[spirit power: Level 15 (149/4000)]
Even while running missions in the Soul Hunting Forest, thanks to the care of the others, Zhao Liuyun's daily Meditation never stopped, and his spirit power naturally broke through to Level 15.
During this time, he traveled back and forth between the Mercenary Group and his martial uncle's pharmacy.
The pharmacy served as his base of operations.
The Medicinal Bath solution also had to be prepared by Martial Uncle Huang Xin.
When there were no missions, helping to make medicine could still earn a good amount of money, and assisting with diagnoses allowed him to accumulate some Physician Profession experience.
Going to the Mercenary Group meant following them to complete Mercenary missions.
Mercenary missions were mainly divided into three categories: Spirit Hunting, Gathering, and Transporting.
The meaning of Spirit Hunting was self-evident; Gathering mainly involved collecting herbs, and sometimes fruits.
Spirit Hall had its own herb gatherers, so these types of Gathering missions were usually posted by outsiders, specifying particular medicinal materials.
This was the path Zhao Liuyun had considered when he initially sought medicinal materials.
However, now that he had joined the Mercenary Group, he could gather items himself in the Soul Hunting Forest, and he could also use Tian Wenlong's connections to purchase corresponding medicinal herbs and poisonous grasses at a low price.
His original plan was naturally discarded.
Transporting was hard work, involving carrying the corpses of dead Spirit Beasts out of the Soul Hunting Forest.
There were specialized guards, so they didn't have to face the Spirit Beasts directly, but the forest paths were rugged and difficult to travel. Only Spirit Masters with no special skills and a White Ring first spirit ring were willing to expend so much effort to earn this money.
The Long-Tusked Elephant Mercenary Group mainly focused on Spirit Hunting.
Most were high-quality Spirit Hunting missions for century-old Spirit Beasts, with occasional decade-old Spirit Hunting missions bought in bulk by groups of ten or more people.
The number of Spirit Masters was limited, so there weren't as many Spirit Hunting missions as Zhao Liuyun had initially expected.
However, each trip to the Soul Hunting Forest lasted several days. Combined with the 50% boost from Focus, the Professional Experiencefor the Mercenary Class grew the fastest, yielding roughly 150 to 180 points per trip.
In just two months, Zhao Liuyun participated in six missions. When the last mission ended, his experience points had accumulated exactly the 1000 points required for Change Profession.
[Required Professional Experience for the Mercenary Class has been met. Change Profession?]
As was his custom, Zhao Liuyun did not rashly initiate the Change Profession immediately. Instead, after the mission ended and he said goodbye to everyone, he returned alone to the pharmacy, to his own room.
After two months of hard work and traveling, he had long been anticipating this day.
A Class Trait related to the physique!
He suppressed his excitement, his eyes flashing with a fervent light, and whispered in his heart, "Change Profession!"
The Panel quietly changed, and simultaneously, his physique, which had rapidly increased to 7 points through Medicinal Baths and training, also changed.
On the Panel, [physique] flashed incessantly, its value soaring upward like a rainbow.
Zhao Liuyun didn't have time to think deeply before a powerful wave of hunger surged over him.
It was fiercer than the Dragon Blood Tree Medicinal Bath!
In an instant, the hunger made him dizzy.
"I need to replenish energy quickly!" This was the only thought left in Zhao Liuyun's mind.
With trembling hands, he took out the Spirit Beast jerky he always kept ready after training from a wooden box, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed hard.
The chewiness that was usually quite flavorful now felt terrifyingly tough, dry and hard like wood chips.
Why couldn't he chew it down?
Zhao Liuyun glared fiercely, but his body lacked energy, leaving him weak and powerless, making chewing extremely difficult.
Emotional outbursts were useless; what couldn't be chewed remained as stubborn as ever.
Fortunately, he still had pastries to fill his stomach.
A portion that usually required five or six careful bites to savor was now swallowed whole in two mouthfuls.
After consuming two catties of pastries, the hunger finally eased considerably.
His physique surged by 5 points, finally stabilizing at 12 points.
The numerical display seemed somewhat illusory; clearly, the Panelwas falsely elevated to 12 points, and his body had not substantially met the requirement yet.
Indeed, Zhao Liuyun could still feel the echoes of hunger signals reverberating inside him.
This was a sign of severe energy deficiency.
However, with the initial supplement, he wouldn't faint from hunger, and continuous eating afterward would gradually fill the deficit.
Laboriously gnawing on the jerky, Zhao Liuyun finally had the presence of mind to Focus on the changes in the Panel.
New Class [Mercenary Lv1], New Trait [Robust and Strong], New Skill [Combat Instinct].
Good luck! He gambled on a physical trait!
[Robust and Strong (Mercenaries possess robust physiques, abundant vitality, and great strength)]
Unlike Dexterity, which bestowed muscle flexibility upon Zhao Liuyun's already agile body when he was young, this forced increase in stats required more energy and nutritional supplements.
He subconsciously squeezed his biceps; the muscles forged through two months of hard training had already taken initial shape.
Although they currently felt soft due to the lack of energy, and massaging them brought a slight stinging and itching sensation, this was precisely the sign of rapid physical growth.
Acquiring this physical trait instantly saved him an unknown amount of painstaking effort.
A trait is a talent bestowed by the Class, meaning his body would no longer be a weakness, effectively compensating for the last shortcoming of a Mental System Spirit Master.
One trait might not be enough, so in the future, he would find a few more professions!
Zhao Liuyun walked toward the kitchen while eating.
It wasn't mealtime yet, but he had to cook some meat.
His body was crying out for sustenance, suffering from extreme nutritional deficiency, and he couldn't ignore it.
Finding a small stool to sit on, Zhao Liuyun continued to study the skill.
[Class Skill: Combat Instinct (Mercenaries possess powerful combat intuition and can make quick judgments based on instinct)]
Intuition... the mysterious sixth sense?
He tried activating the skill.
There seemed to be no change.
A question mark popped up in his mind, but Zhao Liuyun decided to let it be.
Wait a moment, let's check the consumption.
Combat Instinct should primarily consume mental energy, which he happened to excel at.
After dipping and eating a large piece of boiled Spirit Beast meat, Zhao Liuyun didn't notice the slightest sign of mental sluggishness.
The consumption was very low, so low it was almost imperceptible.
Since it was Combat Instinct, emphasizing the word "combat," perhaps its true power could only be displayed in actual battle.
A flash of inspiration struck Zhao Liuyun's mind—
If that was the case, why not keep it constantly activated during peacetime?
That way, he could constantly guard against sudden attacks.
He could turn [Class Skill: Combat Instinct] into [Class "Trait": Combat Instinct].
This was a constructive idea. Upon careful consideration, among all his skills, this was the only one that was suitable.
Other skills either consumed too much energy or had specialized uses, making them unsuitable for constant maintenance.
Only Combat Instinct remained in a low-consumption standby state when there was no fighting.
After taking a trip to the toilet and emptying his stomach, Zhao Liuyunreturned and continued to eat ravenously.
Martial Uncle Huang Xin couldn't help but come over to ask, worried that Zhao Liuyun had suffered some kind of shock.
But he only received the answer, "I'm hungry."
The true goal was to replenish his energy as soon as possible, turning the 12 points of physique on the Panel from illusory to real.
A deeper reason?
There is no reason!
It was a secret, and asking further would be impolite.
Huang Xin had been struggling in the Spirit Master's world for many years and knew well that many things should not be probed, so he stopped asking questions.
After taking five days off from the Mercenary Group Leader to eat and drink heavily, consuming Spirit Beast meat worth roughly fifty gold coins, the 12 points of physique finally became concrete.
Zhao Liuyun's body underwent a complete transformation.
It was like absorbing a spirit ring.
His shoulders were broad, his collarbones clearly visible, and his arm muscles were full, showing firm curves even when relaxed. His abdominal muscles also gained distinct lines.
Ten points of physique corresponded to the level of a normal adult male. Due to his age, Zhao Liuyun's height was only about 1.4 meters, so these 12 points were mostly added to his tendons and muscles, making his muscles tight and powerful.
"If I continue the Medicinal Baths and training, absorbing the second spirit ring when I reach Level 20 shouldn't be a problem."
On the sixth day, the Mercenary Group members had just finished their previous mission and temporarily had no new commissions.
Zhao Liuyun helped out at the pharmacy, flipping through medical books to gain general experience.
Just then, a boy who walked into the store caused his pupils to contract sharply.
He wore a light blue tight-fitting suit of simple design, with a belt inlaid with twenty-four pieces of jade wrapped around his waist.
"Tang San?"