2: Chapter 2 The sound of steel is melodious, and blood is piled up.

The wind in the Rift Wasteland, carrying grit and a foul stench, scraped across the skeletal remains of buildings, emitting a wailing sound.

Lin Yan reined in his presence, moving slowly along the broken walls, his gaze scanning the surroundings vigilantly, not daring to be the slightest bit careless.

This was a 1-star novice Dungeon, riddled with crises.

Even the lowest-level monster posed a fatal threat to him, a Level 0 with only an F-rank Talent.

Fortunately, he had the hextech system and the Gold-tier Heartsteel; these were his only reliance for survival in this desperate situation.

He did not rashly venture deep, but instead groped slowly around the spawn point.

Steady progress and hunting low-level monsters one by one was the optimal solution for stacking Heartsteel.

Before long, a faint rustling sound reached his ears.

Lin Yan instantly held his breath, concealing his form behind half a concrete wall, and peeked out.

He saw that not far away, near a pile of rubble, a monster slightly larger than a house cat, with grayish-black fur and exposed fangs, was sniffing the ground with a ferocious appearance.

It was the most common mob in a 1-star Dungeon—a Rift Rat.

Lin Yan had no detection ability and could only recall the common knowledge about monsters he had learned in class.

The attributes of a Level 1 Rift Rat should be:

[Monster: Rift Rat]

[Level: 1]

[HP: 200]

[Physical Attack: 18]

[Physical Defense: 8]

[Magic Defense: 6]

[Type: Common mob, no skills, melee biting attack]

The Rift Rat was the most basic mob in the novice Dungeon and also the most suitable target for him to practice on and stack Heartsteel.

He quickly calculated in his heart: Without Heartsteel, according to the damage calculation formula learned at school, actual damage = (panel damage - defense × 0.5) × (1 + damage bonus) × (1 - damage reduction rate (max 90%)).

The damage from one attack with his standard issue dagger on the Rift Rat was 16 points, requiring 13 attacks to kill.

However, after triggering Heartsteel, a single critical hit could reach 46 points.

The damage from a Rift Rat biting him was 8 points, and he could withstand many hits.

It seemed that adding 2 points to Constitution was still somewhat useful at Level 0.

Lin Yan gripped the standard issue dagger in his hand, his fingertips applying slight pressure, and his eyes became focused.

He slowly moved his body, circling to the side and rear of the Rift Rat, ensuring he would not be discovered immediately.

Then, following the effect of Heartsteel, he silently locked onto this Rift Rat.

An invisible mark landed quietly on the Rift Rat, without any light or sound.

Only Lin Yan could perceive that the mark had taken effect, and the countdown had officially begun.

1 second, 2 seconds...

Lin Yan's heart rate accelerated slightly as he stared fixedly at the Rift Rat, patiently waiting for the moment the 3-second vulnerability was exposed.

He did not act rashly; a mere 3 seconds seemed exceptionally long at this moment.

The instant the third second fell, a flash of brilliance crossed Lin Yan's eyes.

He clearly saw a faint, almost imperceptible light red spot appear on the Rift Rat's neck.

That was the fatal vulnerability marked by Heartsteel!

Now!

Lin Yan took a light step, his body suddenly rushing out.

The standard issue dagger in his hand struck mercilessly and accurately at that vulnerability!

Squelch!

The dagger sank into the monster's body.

The Rift Rat let out a sharp, miserable shriek, and immediately after, a crisp, melodious sound with a metallic texture rang out suddenly in Lin Yan's mind—

"Steel!"

This sound was clean and crisp, as if metal and stone had clashed, or like the ringing of power breaking through shackles.

Hearing it, it surpassed all the heavenly sounds in the world to Lin Yan.

The corners of his mouth lifted involuntarily, and deep in his eyes rose a thick obsession.

It sounded so good!

This was the sound of Heartsteel triggering.

Every sound represented the stacking of HP, representing that he was one step closer to the path of invincibility!

[Ding! Successfully hit the Heartsteel vulnerability, dealing 10% of your maximum HP as true damage (30 points) to the Rift Rat, with an additional 16 points of standard issue dagger attack damage!]

[Rift Rat HP remaining: 154 points!]

[Heartsteel effect: Permanently increases maximum HP by 20% of this damage amount, currently increasing by 6 points, maximum HP increased to 306 points!]

[Heartsteel stack count: 6 layers!]

The cold system prompt accompanied by that melodious sound of steel made Lin Yan feel comfortable all over.

He did not get entangled in the fight.

The Rift Rat retaliated crazily after feeling pain, its fangs biting down hard, but Lin Yan easily dodged it with cautious footwork.

He knew well that Heartsteel had a 30-second cooldown on a single target; at this moment, he couldn't trigger the vulnerability again and could only consume it slowly with normal attacks.

Lin Yan kept his distance, not fighting the monster head-on.

He would hit once and retreat, dodge the attack and then counterattack, waiting for Heartsteel to cool down.

30 seconds later, Heartsteel's cooldown finished.

He struck the red vulnerability again.

"Steel!"

[Ding! Successfully hit the Heartsteel vulnerability, dealing 10% of your maximum HP as true damage (31 points) to the Rift Rat, with an additional 16 points of standard issue dagger attack damage!]

One minute later, amidst Lin Yan's maneuvering, he "steeled" it for the third time.

The Rift Rat's HP bottomed out completely, and with a scream of unwillingness, it fell softly to the ground, turning into a cold corpse.

[Ding! Successfully killed a Level 1 Rift Rat, gained experience: 11 points!]

[Current experience: 11/100, still 89 points away from leveling up!]

According to the Dungeon experience rules published by the Federation, basic experience for normal monsters = monster level × 10.

The Rift Rat was Level 1, so the basic experience was 10 points; he was currently Level 0, and the monster level was 1 level higher than his own, so the experience increased by 10%, ultimately gaining 11 points.

If one's own level was higher than the monster, it would decay by 10% for every level higher, and no experience would be gained if more than ten levels higher.

However, elite monsters and bosses were not affected by this.

He was still quite far from the 100 experience points needed for Level 1.

But he didn't care about the experience; what he cared about was the Heartsteel stack count, the stacking of HP.

[Heartsteel stack count: 18 layers!]

Feeling the slightly rising vitality in his body, Heartsteel had triggered a total of three times.

The maximum HP of 318 points was 18 points more than the initial amount.

It seemed insignificant, but he knew that as long as he kept hunting, this number would grow geometrically.

During the battle just now, he had been attacked 8 times by the Rift Rat.

Lin Yan glanced at his remaining HP; it seemed that the HP increased by Heartsteel did not directly restore HP, but only increased the HP cap.

[Current HP: 236/318]

"Again."

Lin Yan whispered, his eyes becoming increasingly firm.

He bent down to check the Rift Rat's corpse; no equipment or skill books dropped, only 2 insignificant low-rank dimensional crystals.

He casually put them away and continued to search for the next target nearby.

He was like a patient hunter, wandering in the safe area around the spawn point.

He only picked on lone Level 1 Rift Rats, never provoking groups of monsters, nor stepping into unknown dangerous areas.

Locking onto a target → waiting for 3 seconds of marking → hitting the vulnerability → listening to the melodious sound of steel → stacking HP → maneuvering → waiting for cooldown → occasionally using normal attacks to finish it off.

He had mastered this set of procedures.

"Steel!"

"Steel!"

"Steel!"

Each Rift Rat could be "steeled" three times.

One crisp sound of steel after another kept ringing in Lin Yan's mind.

Each time, it made him feel joyful; the more he listened, the more addicted he became, and he even couldn't help but look forward to the arrival of the next sound of steel.

He was immersed in the pleasure of this stacking, forgetting the danger around him, forgetting the mockery he faced when he Awakened.

In his eyes, there was only the monster's vulnerability, only that sound of steel that obsessed him.

One, two, three...

As one Rift Rat after another fell at his feet, Lin Yan's experience points rose steadily, the Heartsteel stack count climbed continuously, and his HP also continued to soar.

[Killed a Level 1 Rift Rat, experience +11, current experience 22/100, HP 338 points, stacks 38 layers!]

[Killed a Level 1 Rift Rat, experience +11, current experience 33/100, HP 359 points, stacks 59 layers!]

[Killed a Level 1 Rift Rat, experience +11, current experience 44/100, HP 380 points, stacks 80 layers!]

...

Unknowingly, Lin Yan had already hunted 9 Rift Rats, his experience reaching 99/100, just 1 point of experience away from leveling up to Level 1.

As he became more proficient, the number of times the Rift Rats hit him decreased, but he had also drunk two bottles of low-level health potion.

And his maximum HP had also soared from the initial 300 points to 512 points, with the Heartsteel stack count fixed at 212 layers!

The abundant vitality in his body made him clearly feel that his body had become tougher.

His originally thin frame had also become slightly more robust due to the physical bonus from Heartsteel.

Just then, the tenth Rift Rat appeared in his field of vision, still a Level 1 common mob.

A hint of anticipation flashed in Lin Yan's eyes; he skillfully locked onto the target and waited for the 3-second marking time.

Once again, the three sounds of "Steel" rang out, and the vulnerability was hit!

[Ding! Heartsteel effect active, HP increased to 543 points, stacks 243 layers!]

[Killed a Level 1 Rift Rat, experience +11, current experience 110/100!]

[Level up: Level 0 → Level 1! Gained 1 free attribute point!]

Looking at his Level 1 status and the 1 free attribute point in hand, Lin Yan did not hesitate at all and directly added the attribute point to Constitution.

He was taking the path of stacking HP with Heartsteel; the higher the Constitution, the more HP, and the higher the Heartsteel vulnerability damage would be, making the resulting cycle even more terrifying.

Other attributes could be temporarily set aside at this stage.

There was no need to mention Spirit; as for Agility, most monster speeds in the novice Dungeon were not particularly exaggerated, so there was no need to add it.

Although Luck could increase monster drop rates, and everything related to probability.

The instructor had said in school that every free point in the early stage should be used to strengthen combat power to increase survival chances.

Especially, do not add Luck; Luck was an attribute that required a massive amount to cause a qualitative change.

Adding it in the early stage was no different from not adding it at all.

[Attribute point +1]

[HP increased by 100 points, Physical Defense +5, Magic Defense +5!]

The warm current of leveling up swept through his whole body, and the attribute point was added directly to Constitution.

Lin Yan felt a lightness in his body, and his attribute panel refreshed automatically, with various attributes seeing a small increase.

[Current Level: 1]

[Current Attributes: Constitution 4, Strength 1, Agility 1, Spirit 1, Luck 1]

[Current HP: 332/643]

[Current Mana: 100/100]

[Physical Attack: 20]

[Magic Attack: 10]

[Physical Defense: 25]

[Magic Defense: 20]

[Speed: 10]

[Talent: F-Rank Weak Constitution]

[Skill: None]

[Equipment: Standard Set, standard issue dagger]

[Upgrade Experience: 10/200]

[Free Attribute Points: None]

[Items: low-level health potion × 1 (restores 20 HP per second, lasts 10 seconds); some food; low-rank dimensional crystal: 20]

The instantly soaring HP greatly boosted Lin Yan's confidence.

643 HP was far beyond Awakened of the same level.

Even his peers who had Awakened a Class C Talent definitely could not compare to his HP at this moment.

He gripped his dagger, feeling the surging vitality in his body, the sound of steel still echoing in his ears, and the corners of his mouth curled into a calm smile.

Stacking health to develop; the initial results were showing.

In the distance, the low roars of several Rift Rats came.

Lin Yan's eyes narrowed, he reined in his presence, and once again moved slowly toward the direction of the monster's roars.