Feeling the emptiness inside his body, Meng Lei was speechless. That single fireball had completely drained his mana—the consumption was way too high!
"I need more mana!!!"
Meng Lei turned his gaze toward the Fire Wolf. He had never touched magic before and didn't know how to obtain mana. Right now, the only way was through picking up drops, and across the entire battlefield, only the Fire Wolf had any chance of dropping mana orbs!
Unfortunately, over the next few minutes, no more mana orbs appeared. Instead, other light orbs dropped, completely shattering Meng Lei's hopes. However, his strength continued to grow steadily, and the [Physique] stat quickly broke through 10!
The system's cold notification sounded at the perfect moment: "Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have advanced to Apprentice Warrior. Please keep working hard and strive for further breakthroughs!"
"Apprentice Warrior?"
The attribute panel had indeed changed!
Host: Meng Lei Race: Human Wealth: 0 Physique: Apprentice Warrior (10/100) Spirit: Ordinary Person (4/10) Mana: 0 (0/10) Magic: Fireball Spell (Lv1)
"I've become an Apprentice Warrior?" Meng Lei was stunned. "Isn't this leveling speed a bit too fast?"
Apprentice Warrior!
Even though the word "apprentice" was in the name, it was far stronger than an ordinary person!
Magic Beast Village was located on the edge of the Magic Beast Mountain Range. The villagers lived off the mountain—hunting and gathering herbs for a living. To survive in the mountain range, one needed real strength, so the villagers were generally fierce and tough!
Yet out of nearly a hundred people in the entire village, only a handful had reached Apprentice Warrior. Many villagers simply didn't have the talent. Aside from being slightly stronger than average, very few could actually become Apprentice Warriors!
For someone like Meng Lei to go from a protected "weak, old, women, and children" status to Apprentice Warrior in just a few minutes—the speed of progress was absolutely terrifying!
"Apprentice Warriors are really strong!"
"I've seen them rip tigers and leopards apart with their bare hands and punch wild boars to death. They're even more insane than those boxing champions and special forces kings back on Earth!"
"I'm an Apprentice Warrior now too!"
"Does that mean I'm as strong as them?"
"Time to test it out?"
Meng Lei glanced at his own thin arms and legs, picked up a spiked rake, and quietly crept forward!
His steps felt lighter!
The rake felt lighter too!
"Roar—!"
A two-meter-long, green-faced, tusked wild boar charged straight at him. Its bristles stood up like steel needles, and its razor-sharp tusks gleamed with a chilling cold light.
If an ordinary person got hit by this thing, they would be smashed to pieces.
"Take Grandpa's rake!"
Meng Lei roared and swung the spiked rake down with all his might!
"What are you doing?! Get back immediately!"
Guard member Job beside him jumped in fright. He hurriedly raised his greatsword and slashed at the bristled wild boar!
The bristled wild boar was incredibly powerful and destructive. Even Job had to go all-out against it. Meng Lei was just a kid—who was he trying to get killed by charging in like that?
But the next moment, Job's eyes widened in shock!
Crack—!
The spiked rake smashed into the wild boar's head like a hammer smashing a watermelon. With a crisp crack, the boar's skull split open!
Brains splattered everywhere, blood sprayed wildly!
The bristled wild boar let out a final wail, then continued charging a short distance from sheer momentum before crashing heavily to the ground. It lay completely still—stone dead!
"It… died?"
Job's mouth hung open, his brain struggling to process what he had just seen. "Meng Lei… actually killed the bristled wild boar? How is that possible?!"
"I killed this boar? So this is how strong Apprentice Warriors are?"
Meng Lei was overcome with excitement!
"Ding! Killed 1 Bristled Wild Boar. Gained 10 gold coins!" the system announced.
"10 gold coins?"
Meng Lei was momentarily stunned.
"Ding! Friendly reminder: After the Host kills a target, you will receive corresponding wealth points!" the system explained coldly. "Wealth points represent the fortune you possess. They have many uses—you can use them to increase your stats, exchange for skills, or simply spend them!"
"I see!"
Meng Lei nodded in understanding. He didn't rush to use the 10 gold coins and instead charged toward the next beast!
"Ding! Drop detected. Would you like to pick it up?"
"Pick it up!"
"Ding! Fusion successful. Host's Physique +3!"
"Yes! That's the stuff!"
"This is exactly the feeling of getting stronger!"
"Coming to the village entrance was the right call!"
The thrill of growing stronger was intoxicating!
Meng Lei loved this feeling!
"Keep going!"
Meng Lei rushed at the next beast—this time a ten-meter-long python-type creature covered in green scales!
Its forked tongue flicked in and out, its snake eyes flashed with cold light, and it slithered forward in an S-shaped pattern. Its slippery body made people's stomachs turn.
"Go to hell!"
Meng Lei swung his rake and sliced the python's head clean off!
"Ding! Killed 1 Green-Scale Python. Gained 20 gold coins!"