3: Chapter 3 Rift Rat Swarm, Open Steel!

Before long, a faint yet dense rustling sound reached his ears.

Lin Yan instantly held his breath, pressing his body against the broken wall, revealing only his eyes as he peered toward the source of the sound.

On the other side of the pile of rubble, three Rift Rats—slightly larger than house cats, with grayish-black fur and protruding fangs—were sniffing the ground.

Their movements were agile, and their eyes were vicious. Further away, dozens more Rift Rats were wandering back and forth.

A single Rift Rat posed little threat, but once they formed a small pack of five or more, they remained a lethal combination for a novice Awakened without any equipment advantage.

Especially for someone with an F-rank Talent like Lin Yan, in the eyes of others, encountering five Rift Rats was no different from throwing one's life away.

But the corners of Lin Yan's mouth curled upward slightly.

To others, it was a crisis; to him, it was the sound of "Heartsteel" delivered to his doorstep.

He gripped his standard issue dagger tightly, his fingertips applying slight pressure as he felt the cold touch of the blade. The next moment, he lowered his body, using the cover of broken walls, rubble, and weeds to silently circle around to the side and rear of the Rift Rat pack, not making a single sound throughout the process.

Lin Yan decided to clear out these three Rift Rats that were slightly further away from the main pack first, before taking out the others.

Reaching the optimal position, Lin Yan did not hesitate and immediately activated the Heartsteel effect.

An invisible ripple spread out from his body, landing precisely on the three Rift Rats. There was no light, no sound, and it did not alert a single monster. Only Lin Yan himself could perceive that a three-second countdown had quietly begun in his heart.

One second. Two seconds. Three seconds!

In an instant, a faint, barely perceptible reddish dot appeared on the necks of all three Rift Rats.

Lin Yan pushed off with his feet, his leg muscles exploding with power as his body shot out like an arrow released from a bow. The standard issue dagger cut through the air with a sharp, short whistling sound. Without any flashiness or unnecessary movements, he pierced precisely and accurately toward the first reddish dot.

Pfft—

The tip of the dagger sank into the Rift Rat's body without any resistance, its cold edge directly rending the monster's flesh. The Rift Rat let out a piercing, shrill scream, but before the sound could fully spread, Lin Yan had already pulled out the dagger, pivoted, and stabbed at the weak points on the other two Rift Rats.

Three crisp, pleasant sounds, like metal striking stone, exploded in Lin Yan's mind.

"Heartsteel!" "Heartsteel!" "Heartsteel!"

Lin Yan's pores opened up, and an indescribable pleasure surged into his heart. This was the sound of Heartsteel taking effect, the sound of his HP skyrocketing, the sound of him stepping toward invincibility, one step at a time.

[Ding! Successfully struck the Heartsteel weak point, dealing 10% of your own maximum HP as true damage—64 points—to the Rift Rat, plus an additional 16 points of basic attack damage from the standard issue dagger!]

[Rift Rat remaining HP: 120!]

[Heartsteel effect: Permanently increases maximum HP by 20% of the damage dealt. Current increase: 13 points. Maximum HP increased to 656!]

... The third hit.

[Heartsteel stacks: 283!]

The system notifications rang out one after another, but Lin Yan had no desire to linger in battle. He knew very well that he could not trigger the weak point again at this moment, and continuing to fight head-on was meaningless.

Therefore, the moment the dagger pierced the last Rift Rat, he exerted force to pull away, his body drifting backward like a willow catkin, perfectly dodging the Rift Rats' furious lunges and bites while leading them away from the other Rift Rat pack.

The Rift Rats missed their target, turned around, and charged at Lin Yan again, their fangs flashing with cold light as the stench of decay hit his face.

Lin Yan's eyes were calm, his footsteps moving nimbly. He did not engage the monsters head-on but instead adopted the safest kiting tactic.

He precisely dodged every bite, waiting for the Heartsteel cooldown to end before turning back to counterattack. Each Rift Rat could only take three "Heartsteel" hits from him before their HP bar hit bottom after three rounds of weak point attacks.

His constitution far exceeded those of the same level, and his HP held an absolute advantage. Even if he was occasionally grazed, he only lost a few points of health, which was completely inconsequential.

After a few more crisp, pleasant sounds, the three Rift Rats let out a wail, their bodies collapsing softly to the ground, losing all signs of life.

[Killed Level 1 Rift Rat × 3, EXP +30, Current EXP 40/200, HP 769, Stacks 369!]

Lin Yan let out a long breath and looked down at his hands. The vitality surging continuously within him made him clearly feel that he was getting stronger bit by bit. In just a few minutes, his HP had increased by over a hundred points.

Little by little, the grains of sand pile up into a pagoda.

At this rate, it wouldn't be long before his HP broke into four digits, or even five. By then, let alone the mobs of a 1-star Dungeon, even a BOSS would only be crushed by his physical body.

Lin Yan suppressed the excitement in his heart and checked his status. His HP was still healthy, having consumed only a tiny fraction; he still had one low-level health potion left, his equipment was intact, and everything was in peak condition.

He did not linger, turned around again, and vanished into the shadows of the ruins.

"Heartsteel!" "Heartsteel!" "Heartsteel!"

One crisp, pleasant sound after another rang out incessantly across the desolate Rift Wasteland. One, two, three... Rift Rats on the edge of the pack, lured out by Lin Yan, kept falling under his dagger.

His Heartsteel stacks skyrocketed, and his HP soared all the way up. After the fifth Rift Rat was killed, his HP broke through the one-thousand-point barrier.

Inside the Dungeon, his physique also became slightly more robust as his HP continued to increase, his lines becoming more defined and full of power.

Lin Yan opened his attribute panel:

[Current Level: 1]

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

[Current HP: 278 / 1015]

[Current MP: 100 / 100]

[Physical Attack: 20]

[Magic Attack: 10]

[Physical Defense: 25]

[Magic Defense: 20]

[Speed: 10]

[Talent: F-Rank Weak Constitution]

[Skills: None]

[Equipment: Standard Issue Set, standard issue dagger]

[EXP to Next Level: 90 / 200]

[Free Attribute Points: None]

[Items: low-level health potion × 1 (Restores 20 HP per second for 10 seconds); Several food items; low-rank dimensional crystal: 36]