NOVEL WEB Chapter 3
Third Chapter: Demon Fox Village
“Bai Luo-sama?”
“It’s fine.”
Noticing Hong Ye’s curious gaze directed at him, Bai Luo gave the charming fox-eared girl a smile to ease her concern.
The group traversed through the mountains. There was no direct path between Xia Fog Village and Demon Fox Village; they had to cross over hills and valleys to get there.
Bai Luo initially worried that the girls were too young and might not endure the journey.
However, he clearly overestimated their vulnerability.
The physical constitution of beast people in this world was excellent. Even without considering magic power enhancement, it was generally two to three times better than humans.
They stopped once along the way for rest.
Carrying the remaining supplies from the village, they hastily replenished their strength before continuing without delay.
Seeing the girls who had been traveling all day still gritting their teeth to keep going, Bai Luo felt heartache for their maturity.
Demon Fox Village was far from Xia Fog Village, requiring at least another half-day of travel to reach the destination.
With no other choice, Bai Luo found an open space for the girls.
Thus, the beast-eared girls skillfully took out materials from their backpacks and, under Hong Ye’s direction, quickly set up a tent large enough to accommodate everyone.
This scene left Bai Luo amazed.
“Our beast people often go into the mountains to hunt, so we learn from a young age how to live in the wild.”
Things like living off the land were quite common among beast people. Even children knew what to do.
Their chosen camping spot was near a stream with a big tree providing shelter from the wind and rain. If they weren’t fleeing, it would have been rather picturesque.
“Brother Bai Luo, Chun and Qiu found fish in the river!”
The black-and-white cat girls ran happily to Bai Luo like adorable little balls, reporting their discovery.
Bai Luo intended to warn them about the cold weather and the dangers of being in the water.
He subconsciously projected his understanding of Earth’s children onto the beast-eared girls.
But Hong Ye reassured him that they were natural hunters and such concerns were unnecessary.
Moreover, the two cat girls were already very skilled at catching shrimp and fish in the water.
“Alright then.”
Bai Luo reluctantly agreed, considering the differences between the worlds, and could only remind them: “Be careful.”
“Hi~~~”
With permission, the two cute cat girls joyfully went off to catch fish.
The wolf girl and dog girl in the group voluntarily guarded everyone. Their noses were incredibly sensitive, just as good as real wolves or dogs.
Even the youngest girls, around five or six years old, did what they could.
They gathered firewood, filled water skins with stream water, and cleaned the dishes, making Bai Luo marvel at the virtue of the female members of the beast race.
After enjoying a delicious meal of fish soup cooked by Hong Ye herself, Bai Luo and the others entered the tent to rest their bodies after a day of mountain trekking.
At night, Bai Luo opened his eyes.
Around him were the soft breathing sounds of the sleeping girls. They slept deeply, obviously exhausted.
“System, check-in.”
Bai Luo opened the system and performed the eighth day’s check-in.
[Check-in successful, congratulations on obtaining ‘SR Enhancement Card’ x1]
“SR Enhancement Card?!”
Bai Luo couldn’t believe his luck; he managed to draw an SR card without any guaranteed rewards.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have any attributes that need boosting right now.”
“To synthesize an SSR, I’m still short by 9 SR Enhancement Cards.”
That was what Bai Luo thought initially. However, when he opened his attribute list, he noticed a strange symbol.
[Bai Luo]
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Abilities: Magic Power Growth SR (Upgradable), Magic Power Manipulation SR (Upgradable)
Items Held: R-Level Enhancement Cards x4, SR Enhancement Card x1
Comprehensive Evaluation: Seven-digit number (Early Stage)
Current Draw Opportunity: 1/30 (Guaranteed SSR on the 30th Draw)
“Upgradable?”
Bai Luo didn’t fully understand at first. He focused on ‘Magic Power Growth,’ and immediately, the system displayed an option box.
[Would you like to consume 1 SR Enhancement Card to upgrade Magic Power Manipulation level?]
“Consume SR Enhancement Card to upgrade Magic Power Growth level?”
After pondering for a long time, Bai Luo finally made his decision.
“Upgrade!”
It was just one SR Enhancement Card, which he couldn’t use anyway. It was better to try adding points to test this new function of the system.
Soon after, Bai Luo saw a change in the Magic Power Growth attribute.
From Magic Power Growth SR, it became Magic Power Growth (SR+1).
At the moment this information appeared, Bai Luo felt an immense increase in his already vast magic power.
“This?!?”
Bai Luo suppressed the surge in magic power using his SR-level magic control without making a sound.
“One times!!”
“My magic power has increased by a whole factor of two!!”
Bai Luo was greatly shocked. He hadn’t expected consuming one SR Enhancement Card to yield SR+1, which directly doubled his original power.
Not only that, but Bai Luo also received some additional information.
If he used an SSR Enhancement Card to enhance his current Magic Power Growth, the system would return one SR Enhancement Card.
Yes, skills of SR rarity can be upgraded directly with SSR Enhancement Cards, but they can also approach SSR level step by step by consuming SR cards.
Similarly, if Bai Luo later obtained more SR Enhancement Cards and consumed them, such as +2, +3, +9,
When using SSR Enhancement Cards, the system would still return 2, 3, and 9 cards respectively.
Of course, if an SR+9 skill receives one more SR Enhancement Card, the quality of the skill can be upgraded to SSR.
However, the final step from SR to SSR would have an even more exaggerated reinforcement ratio compared to the previous ones combined.
So in a sense, +1~+9 is akin to buying funds.
The Enhancement Cards haven’t disappeared; they’re just accompanying Bai Luo in another form.
“This mechanism is pretty good, very user-friendly!”
Bai Luo was satisfied with the system’s operation. This way, the SR Enhancement Cards accumulated by Bai Luo would find their use.
The only regrettable part was those R cards.
Skills of R rarity cannot be enhanced to R+1, R+3, etc.
“But R-level Enhancement Cards have a higher drop rate, so stockpiling ten for synthesis won’t take much time.”
“On the other hand, isn’t this magic power amplification rate a bit too exaggerated?”
Bai Luo had considered the strength difference between SR and SSR but hadn’t anticipated such a large gap.
SR+1 is twice the power of SR, leading us to speculate on the strength of SR+9.
First, it could be 10 times the power of SR.
Then, SR+9 reaching SSR undergoes another qualitative change, aligning with the prestige of SSR.
The other possibility is somewhat terrifying.
“Exponential explosion!”
“If each enhancement doubles the base power, then SR+9 would be more than 500 times the power of SR.”
Due to lack of information, Bai Luo couldn’t determine which scenario applied: “Still need to wait for another SR Enhancement Card. We’ll know once we add it.”
As for the increased magic power,
SR-level manipulation was already sufficient to handle the current surge in magic power.
In fact, it greatly improved Bai Luo’s endurance.
After all, magic growth brings not only magic capacity but also faster recovery speed and quicker growth.
“Today’s sign-in result didn’t yield an SSR, but the SR was quite lucky.”
With this joy, Bai Luo hugged Hong Ye’s silver-gray fox tail, which resembled a blanket, and covered himself with it: “Gaining strength means I can survive better in this world.”
“Hmm…”
Hong Ye noticed Bai Luo’s action.
She didn’t reject it but instead relaxed her body, making her tail fluffier and softer.
The beast-eared girls had long noticed that Bai Luo liked their ears and tails.
Although they didn’t fully understand why,
Being favored by Bai Luo was certainly a good thing.
The only thing that troubled Hong Ye was that Bai Luo’s affection didn’t involve romantic desires.
“Ah.”
“What’s wrong?”
Hearing Hong Ye sigh, Bai Luo thought she was worrying about Demon Fox Village, unaware that Hong Ye was doubting her own charm.
The silver fox girl questioned her appearance and gentle demeanor, yet why could Bai Luo remain unmoved?
Beast people were different from humans.
The more dangerous the situation, the stronger their desire to reproduce.
Hong Ye, as a teenage female beast person,
Having lost her family, at her most sorrowful moment, suddenly encountering Bai Luo, a hero sent from heaven, how could she resist?
Especially Bai Luo’s rare friendliness among beast people.
There was no doubt that if Bai Luo were to make a move on Hong Ye, given all these factors, the silver fox girl wouldn’t refuse.
Even if there were children nearby, doing certain things wouldn’t be appropriate.
But you could at least touch her!
Hong Ye was already so close; where couldn’t Bai Luo touch?
“Don’t worry, I won’t abandon you.”
However, Bai Luo didn’t know Hong Ye’s thoughts. He assumed she was concerned about Demon Fox Village.
“Hmm.”
What else could Hong Ye say? She could only force a smile.
The better Bai Luo treated them, the more moved and captivated Hong Ye became.
“The conspiracy behind Xia Fog Village, Demon Fox Village, and the eastern and western tribes.”
Facing absolute strength, Bai Luo didn’t need to worry: “If necessary, I’ll just crush through!”
Originally, Bai Luo thought this way.
However, the next day, when Bai Luo and the beast-eared girls appeared in the woods outside Demon Fox Village, the scene before his eyes defied his expectations again.
“Isn’t this just running around for nothing?”
Bai Luo watched as flames soared into the sky, snowflakes fell, corpses lay everywhere, and thick smoke billowed—just like a replica of what happened outside Xia Fog Village.
“It’s on fire!”
“Why is this happening?”
The scene in Demon Fox Village shocked the women, reminding them of the massacre that occurred three days ago.
“The situation seems unusual.”
Bai Luo didn’t rush to act. This wasn’t because he was afraid, but because the feedback from his magical perception was peculiar: “The intruders are not the same as the black-clothed people we encountered earlier; they are ordinary beast people.”
In other words, the attackers of Demon Fox Village were not the black-clothed people but another group of beast people.
So was this an internal war among beast people?
“Bai Luo-sama?”
Hong Ye looked at Bai Luo, anxious but unsure how to express herself.
If the situation was the same as with Xia Fog Village, Bai Luo would intervene without Hong Ye needing to ask.
But the problem was, it seemed like a war had broken out among the beast people.
War doesn’t have notions of good or evil.
Besides…
“It’s already too late.”
With powerful magical perception, Bai Luo didn’t need his eyes to see everything happening far away.
He divided the survivors in the village into two groups: invaders and defenders.
The defenders were few, while the invaders numbered at least several hundred.
Without a doubt, Demon Fox Village had lost.
“Ah.”
Bai Luo sighed. He realized that the people in this world seemed particularly cruel.
The purpose of the beast people invading Demon Fox Village was clear—to exterminate everyone.
Elders, women, children, none were spared, just like the black-cloaked swordsmen Bai Luo encountered earlier.
The current situation was like ancient villages clashing over water sources.
There was no justice or evil, only survival.
“But even so, isn’t this excessive?”
Bai Luo’s past moral values made it hard for him to accept such slaughter.
At least, the children as young as the beast-eared girls were innocent.
“You stay here, I’ll go check and look for survivors from Demon Fox Village.”
“You must be careful.”
“Hmm.”
Bai Luo reserved defensive magic power for the girls and then, under Hong Ye’s grateful gaze, headed towards Demon Fox Village.
Demon Fox Village was Hong Ye’s maternal relatives. She used to frequently visit here with her mother.
Therefore, at this moment, Hong Ye was worried about her cousin, fearing something might happen to her.