Finally!
Li Wei felt a surge of joy. It had taken him about a week, but he had finally completed the first stage of the Knight's Path.
'Wait a minute... did the system say something about a class change?'
He glanced at Don Quixote, who was muttering some incantation beside him, and with a thought, opened the quest panel.
Sure enough, two completely different Knight paths popped up on the system panel at the same time:
[Class Change Triggered!!!]
[Knight's Squire Li Wei, you have met all the requirements to become a Knight. You possess excellent physical fitness and the virtues a Knight should have. Now is the time to choose your class change.]
[Path Selection 1: Lord Knight]
[As a Lord Knight, you will no longer receive attribute bonuses. Instead, you will receive more rewards in the form of Gold Coins. You will have your own territory and bring a prosperous life to the people of your fief. Class Change Reward: 100 Gold Coins, unlock the Lord's skill tree.]
[Path Selection 2: Heroic Knight]
[As a Heroic Knight, you will no longer receive rewards in the form of Gold Coins. Instead, you will receive more attribute bonuses. You will pursue climbing higher peaks and becoming a legend. Class Change Reward: +0.2 to all four attributes, unlock the Knight's skill tree, obtain Knight's Body.]
Li Wei stood rooted to the spot, momentarily uncertain which path to choose.
It seemed as if both paths led to greatness.
Taking the Lord's development path, it looked like he could become incredibly wealthy in the future and build an unrivaled commercial empire.
Taking the Hero's development path seemed to be about developing personal might to its absolute limit; in the future, he might really become a real-life Superman.
He decided to head back first. He would wait until he was back in the basement to cool down and make his decision.
The more he stood at a crossroads in his life, the calmer he needed to be.
Meanwhile, Don Quixote's dubbing ceremony had also officially ended.
"...By order of the esteemed Duke, I now declare that you are relieved of your status as an Attendant," Don Quixote finished his incantation and clapped Li Wei on the shoulder. "You are now a glorious Knight."
"Does that mean I don't have to call you Lord Knight anymore?" Li Wei came back to his senses and said jokingly, "We're equals now, right?"
Don Quixote paused, his sleepwalking brain seemingly giving the question serious thought.
"For now, yes," he said. "But after we drive out the Witch together, the Duke will grant me a promotion."
"Alright, alright," Li Wei shrugged. "So, can we go back now?"
Don Quixote looked at the boundary stone that had been moved to the side of the road. After nodding, the two of them returned to the basement, following the same path back.
As the sound of Don Quixote's snores filled the basement, Li Wei made his decision:
He would abandon the path of the Lord Knight and instead choose the Heroic Knight, pushing his personal strength to the absolute limit.
Although the path of the Lord Knight was also very good, and it would immediately give him 100 Gold Coins as start-up capital.
But Li Wei was a firm believer in one saying:
'When my neighbor hoards grain, I hoard guns. My neighbor is my granary.'
'As long as I can truly become a Superman—no, even a Homelander—I'll be able to do whatever I want in this world.'
'I've walked on thin ice my whole life, relying entirely on my own efforts! System, add the points!'
After Li Wei carefully checked and rechecked, looking it over more than ten times to be sure, he took a deep breath. With a thought, his consciousness slammed down on the page representing [Heroic Knight].
[You have chosen your profession: Heroic Knight]
In an instant, the system's page dissolved into motes of light and entered his body.
A power more than twice as immense as when he had added 0.3 attribute points at once flooded into his body in the form of light motes.
This time, the sensation wasn't a 'warm current' or a 'great river'.
It was a raging torrent.
It was as if molten iron was being poured directly into his marrow, or as if a pair of invisible, giant hands were forcibly tearing apart every bone, nerve, and muscle fiber in his body, shattering them, and then reforging and reassembling them with an impossibly dense, incredible material.
"Ugh..." Li Wei bit down hard, gritting his teeth. "This time... it feels a little different..."
He could clearly hear a series of CRACKING and POPPING sounds from within his body, as if his bone density was constantly increasing. His spine was like a great dragon startled from its slumber; the skin on his back rippled violently as each vertebra shifted, growing thicker and harder.
A century seemed to pass, and yet it also felt like only an instant.
Li Wei slowly climbed up from the mattress, his body completely drenched in sweat. A faint, dark red, bloody grime was even seeping from his pores.
[Strength 1.2]——[Strength 1.4]
[Constitution 1.2]——[Constitution 1.4]
[Agility 1.2]——[Agility 1.4]
[Spirit 1.3]——[Spirit 1.5]
[Acquired: Knight · Bronze Body]
[Poor Eloquence]——[Eloquent Speaker]
[Eloquent Speaker: Once per day, you can directly persuade those with weak wills. Against those with strong wills, you have a 50% chance of persuasion.]
[Berserk] has been upgraded, duration extended.
[Berserk: Once per day, for 60 seconds, your Strength, Constitution, and Agility attribute checks are doubled.]
The flood of system messages made Li Wei a bit dizzy. He immediately pulled up his attribute panel:
[Name: Li Wei]
[Age: 17]
[Profession: Knight · Bronze Body (Extraordinary)]
[Strength: 1.4]
[Spirit: 1.5]
[Agility: 1.4]
[Constitution: 1.4]
[Skills: Eloquent Speaker, Berserk]
[Equipment: None]
'I've gained a profession,' Li Wei thought to himself, 'but what is this Bronze Body thing?'
With a thought, another page popped up with a detailed description of the Bronze Body:
[Knight · Bronze Body (Extraordinary): This is your first step into the Extraordinary realm. Your body is gradually evolving in an unbelievable direction. You are now surrounded by a special layer of power that can be activated at will.]
[When activated, it slightly enhances your body's resistance to damage and provides good protection against weapons, diseases, and plagues.]
After reading through the long list of updates and the skill descriptions, Li Wei, standing in the washroom, couldn't help but laugh out loud.
This time, he had really struck it rich.
A total of 0.8 attribute points had boosted his physical fitness by a huge margin. It was no exaggeration to say that any one of his physical stats was now on the level of an international athlete or a super-soldier.
His two skills had also been upgraded one after another, perhaps due to the increase in his Spiritual Power.
The persuasion skill had evolved, and the duration of [Berserk] had doubled.
But what interested him more was the newly acquired [Bronze Body (Extraordinary)].
He felt as if his entire body was now enveloped in a layer of substance that only he could see, a layer that he could activate and deactivate at will, like a passive skill.
"'Good protection against weapons...'"
Li Wei's gaze fell upon the manual razor on the sink.