【Seven Sins – Greed Triggered】
【Plundered Skill: Blood Manipulation LV2】
【Plundered Skill: Demonic Common Tongue LV1】
【Plundered Skill: Avatar of Nightmare LV1】
【Plundered Skill: Bite LV6 → LV7】
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On the mycelium-covered ground lay a stone-skinned wild boar. Its gray-brown belly was marked with several gashes—clearly Norris’s handiwork. If it had been Gray, the thing would have been reduced to a lump of mangled meat.
After resting for two days, the kid had once again thrown himself headlong into fighting monsters.This time, Lin Jun had simply asked him for one of his kills, which was now lying here while Norris stood by watching.
The boar’s hide clung tightly to its skeleton, every rib jutting out starkly. Even its eye sockets had sunken into deep pits.
In front of it stood a Puji, and above its head floated a crimson sphere that faintly reeked of blood.
Lin Jun, controlling the Puji, manipulated the blood orb, trying to reshape it the way a half-vampire might. But after several attempts, he failed.
In the end, he could only hurl the entire orb like a bomb. When it exploded on the ground, its force was about the same as a Mushroom Cannon shot.
Lin Jun’s evaluation: too low level, for now only good as entertainment.
That said, it did look pretty intimidating.
“Do you want this skill?” Lin Jun asked Norris, who had been staring at the blood play with a dazed look.
Norris shook his head quickly. Being mistaken for a monster was one thing; being mistaken for a vampire was quite another!
Lin Jun didn’t press him. His second round of enhancements hadn’t been finalized yet, so to some extent he could take personal preferences into account.
“Oh right, here, this is for you.”
A Cow-Horse Puji reached into its belly and pulled something out, tossing it over.
Norris caught it and looked at the small iron shard in his hand. “What’s this?”
Lin Jun explained: “A nail file. If you use it, your claws won’t grow back for several days. You’re not used to your claws being too long, right? This should be perfect for you!”
Norris treated it like a treasure! Honestly, this thing was only useful for Norris. Gray would never even consider filing down her weapons.
After finishing his tests with 【Blood Manipulation】, it was time to try 【Avatar of Nightmare】.
The name sounded impressive, but in reality it was just turning into a bat. Still, it was exciting enough—Lin Jun was only missing flight.
Under the skill’s effect, the Puji transformed… into a Bat-Puji—a Puji with bat wings.
Wait… wasn’t the style all wrong?
Lin Jun recalled how half-vampires transformed: blood swirling around them, condensing into a real bat.
And here? What the hell was this? How was it any different from the glider wings he had crafted himself?
But before long, Lin Jun realized—it really was different!
Without his control, the Puji actually flew with its bat wings!
It could even cling to stones upside down with its two round feet!
So this was the power of a skill!
The “wings” he had painstakingly crafted were merely clumsy imitations—not even one percent as effective as the real thing.
The only drawback was that, whether from the skill being too low level or the Puji being too big for the wings, it flew slowly and with great effort.
The tiny wings had to flap desperately just to keep it aloft. Stop for a moment and it would plummet like a stone. Natural energy drained rapidly too.
Lin Jun even tried mounting a Mushroom Cannon on it. Sure enough, it couldn’t handle the recoil. Not only was the aim useless, but after a single shot it would spin out of control and crash.
So this flight ability wasn’t much use for close combat either. But at least it still had its all-purpose self-destruction!
Seeing his boss becoming absorbed in the “game” of making Pujis self-destruct, Norris very wisely backed away.
He was genuinely afraid the boss might decide to slap a self-destruction on him too…
Back in the mushroom forest, Norris pulled out his new iron file and cautiously started trimming his claws. Ten centimeters really was too inconvenient.
He couldn’t clench his fists properly, couldn’t grip things well, and it caused many other hassles.
Though they were great in battle, he decided to at least restore one hand to normal.
His claws were so long that by the time he finally finished filing one down, he looked up to find a big black mushroom squatting silently beside him…
“Se… senior?”
After all these days, he knew this big black mushroom was actually a dragonkin.
He had also witnessed the power of her fists, so he dared not show the slightest disrespect. But since they hadn’t interacted much before, Norris had no idea how to get along with this “senior.”
Gray didn’t react to the word “senior.” Truthfully, she didn’t know what it meant.
She simply stared intently at Norris’s glittering silver scales.
Gray really envied him. Those shiny scales were so beautiful. Too bad her own were dull and black.
Unconsciously, she leaned closer. Her chubby Puji hands pressed against his body.
That touch made Norris a little flustered. He didn’t even know this senior’s gender, but either way—he couldn’t handle being groped like this!
“Senior, what are you doing?”
He scooted backward, but Gray moved in again, refusing to give up.
Her Puji hands groped his body faster and rougher.
“Senior, senior! What are you trying to—ahhhhh!!”
With a scream, a silver scale—still stuck with a bit of skin—appeared in Gray’s hands. Norris curled up on the ground, clutching his shoulder in pain.
Perhaps realizing she had done wrong, Gray panicked, scooped up some mycelium, slapped it on Norris’s wound, and then ran away…
Norris: ???
His scream even startled Lin Jun, who was still experimenting with flight.
Quickly figuring out what had happened, Lin Jun had a Puji bring over a bottle of beginner healing potion. The Puji poured it over Norris’s shoulder, cleaning away the dirt and mycelium as well.
The wound wasn’t too serious, and with the potion it healed quickly. Only the missing scale would take time to grow back.
Lin Jun was quite sympathetic to Norris’s plight, and kindly added 【Mimicry】 (for changing color) and 【Regeneration】 (for recovering from injuries) to the next round of enhancements.
He decided to scold Gray later. If she wanted something shiny, she couldn’t just snatch it!
And besides, it was one thing to rob outsiders, but Norris was one of their own. Rules had to be kept.
Before long, Norris—still checking his wound—saw the big black mushroom trudging over reluctantly with a big armful of stuff.
Frightened, he immediately stood up, ready to run. That feeling of being overpowered and helpless brought back too many unpleasant memories.
“Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. Gray is here to apologize,” the boss’s words stopped him in his tracks.
Apologize?
Norris forced himself not to bolt as the big black mushroom came closer.
She stretched out her hands and shoved a pile of glass shards into his arms. Then, unable to bear the pain of parting with her treasures, she turned and ran back to the mushroom house.
Lin Jun came out at just the right time to explain: “Alright, alright. Gray has given you her third… no, her fourth favorite things. Just forgive her this time.”
Norris looked down at the sharp glass shards tearing up his clothes.
Huh?
Lin Jun even kindly suggested: “Oh, and next time you go hunting, if some scales get knocked off, try collecting them. Gray will really appreciate it!”
Norris blinked, stunned, then slowly nodded.
Maybe… maybe he really should collect some of his shed scales.
At the very least, next time this senior wanted to peel him, he could trade them for his life…