NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1
Reinforcement System
The bright moon hangs high, draping the forest in a mysterious veil of mist, tranquil and profound.
Tall trees stood firm, their branches swaying gently with the breeze, producing a soft rustling sound.
Silver-white moonlight pierced through the tree tops, casting dappled shadows on the forest pathway below, as if a thin layer of frost had been laid down.
Lifting his gaze, one could see every leaf adorned with a silver edge, shimmering with a cold brilliance.
“Finally, I’ve found signs of life.”
In the quiet expanse of the forest, a young man wearing tattered clothes brushed aside the bushes blocking his path, using the moonlight to guide his steps forward.
After what seemed like an eternity, standing atop a hill, he gazed into the distance where flickering lights illuminated a distant village.
The young man’s name was Bai Luo, a transmigrator from the Celestial Kingdom.
“Do you know how I survived this past week?”
Without mentioning the concept of a lucky item, the sudden transmigration allowed Bai Luo to fully experience the joy of wilderness survival.
For a whole week, Bai Luo endured the elements, relying solely on wind and dew for sustenance.
Had it not been for the power of his lucky item granting him overwhelming combat strength, Bai Luo would have surely been devoured by the tigers, leopards, and wolves lurking in the mountains.
Bai Luo didn’t know the reason behind his transmigration; one moment his eyes were closed, the next they opened to find himself in the middle of a forest, accompanied by a reinforcement system known as his lucky item.
“System, display my attributes.”
[Bai Luo]
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Abilities: Magic Power Growth (SR), Magic Power Control (R)
Items Held: 4 R-grade Enhancement Cards
Comprehensive Evaluation: Seven-digit number (Early Stage)
Current Draw Opportunity: 1/7 (Seventh guaranteed SR)
Having spent nearly a week in this world, Bai Luo had largely grasped the operational mechanism of this system.
Firstly, the system’s functionality was rather straightforward. Besides displaying current attributes, its sole feature was the enhancement function.
Enhancement was divided into two parts: enhancing one’s own abilities and items held.
Based on the rarity of the items and abilities, they could be categorized into five levels: N, R, SR, SSR, UR.
As for whether there existed anything above UR, Bai Luo was currently unable to determine.
Additionally, draw opportunities were obtained daily via a lottery mechanism similar to mobile games. Bai Luo received one chance each day to draw an enhancement card.
When Bai Luo first arrived, his only ability was ‘Magic Power Growth,’ rated at the N level.
On the first day’s draw, Bai Luo acquired an R-grade Enhancement Card, which he used to upgrade Magic Power Growth from N to R.
Over the following days, Bai Luo accumulated 4 R-grade Enhancement Cards and 1 SR-grade Enhancement Card after signing in consecutively for five days.
Magic Power Control was an ability that Bai Luo awakened on his own while perceiving and utilizing magic power. Like Magic Power Growth, its initial rating was also at the N level.
With two enhancement cards used, Magic Power Control was upgraded from N to R, while Magic Power Growth was elevated from R to SR.
“System, perform a draw.”
Bai Luo looked up at the moon, timing his daily midnight draw accurately.
[Congratulations Host, you have obtained 1 SR Enhancement Card.]
“An SR? Not bad, at least there’s still the guaranteed SR.”
Not drawing an SSR or UR did not surprise Bai Luo. According to the system’s drop statistics, the probability of obtaining an SSR was only 1%, and UR even less so, appearing once in a thousand draws.
Fortunately, low probability did not mean Bai Luo couldn’t obtain UR Enhancement Cards. The system featured a synthesis function, allowing 10 R cards to be combined into 1 SR card, and by extension, 1 UR required 1000 R cards.
Even with poor luck, Bai Luo could elevate an ability to UR within three years at most.
“System, enhance Magic Power Control.”
Bai Luo had no habit of hoarding enhancement cards, especially when obvious improvements were possible.
[Enhancement Complete]
[Magic Power Control: R→SR]
“Sss…”
In the next moment, with the upgrade of the Magic Power Control skill, Bai Luo felt the previously sluggish flow and use of magic power instantly become ten times smoother.
How could this sensation be described?
It was akin to the difference between flowing sand and free-flowing water; the former can be grasped, while the latter permeates everywhere.
“What kind of world is this?”
Bai Luo extended his hand, and a silvery glow emerged from his palm.
Then, with a thought,
“Whoosh~~”
The silvery magic power bloomed into countless threads, light as spider silk yet incredibly resilient.
Bai Luo had a feeling that if he wished, he could even vaporize his magic power, making it completely intangible.
“Is this what SR-level Magic Power Control feels like?”
Bai Luo realized he had underestimated the potential of SR-level abilities. When he previously upgraded Magic Power Growth from R to SR, he had already noticed something significant.
Now, with Magic Power Control breaking through to SR, Bai Luo further understood the value of SR.
[Magic Power Growth]
Introduction: This world’s living beings possess inherent magic power, which accumulates as they grow and reaches its peak during their physical prime.
In other words, Magic Power Growth did not provide growth starting from zero. According to the system’s description, the Magic Power Growth skill granted Bai Luo the limit his body could achieve at age 20.
Therefore, after upgrading Magic Power Growth from R to SR, Bai Luo’s internal magic power surged dozens of times over.
Yes, dozens of times.
Exaggerated, but this was Bai Luo’s immediate impression. The feeling of having boundless energy within, capable of causing massive destruction with just a small release, almost overwhelmed him.
However, upon seeing the seven-digit evaluation provided by the system, Bai Luo quickly snapped back to reality.
Invincible?
Don’t joke around; merely a seven-digit rating.
According to the Reinforcement System’s grading criteria, single-digit was the strongest, while ten-figure was the weakest.
Before transmigration, Bai Luo was an ordinary person ranked as ten-figure.
[Bai Luo]
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Abilities: Magic Power Growth (SR), Magic Power Control (SR)
Items Held: 4 R-grade Enhancement Cards
Comprehensive Evaluation: Seven-digit number (Mid Stage)
Current Draw Opportunity: 0/30 (30th guaranteed SSR)
Looking at the changes in the attribute panel, Bai Luo soon noticed the comprehensive evaluation and the guaranteed draw reminder.
“Seventh guaranteed SR, 37th guaranteed SSR.”
“Could the system later offer a UR guarantee?”
While Bai Luo speculated, he suddenly noticed the distant village ablaze with fire, momentarily startled. He then utilized precise magic power control to enhance the response of his brain and senses.
“Aaaah~~”
“Help! Someone save me!”
“Daddy, Mommy, waaaah~”
“No, don’t come near me, ah!!!”
Faced with pleas and screams, instead of compassion, a brutal massacre ensued.
“Pfft!!”
A blade glided through, splattering blood, staining the snowy scene beneath the fiery glow with crimson.
“What’s going on?”
Bai Luo observed two groups in the village. One group wore black clothing, their expressions crazed. The magic power emitted by these individuals was chaotic and violent, making Bai Luo instinctively uncomfortable, as though encountering something unclean.
As for those being pursued, they had animal ears and tails, clearly a group of beast people!
These beast people were not the orcs from fantasy worlds but more akin to humanoid creatures from Japanese-style alternate dimensions. They differed little from humans, possessing only some animalistic features.
Within moments, fewer than fifteen villagers remained alive in the entire village.
“Are these mountain bandits raiding the village?”
Without hesitation, Bai Luo leaped down from the hill, transforming into a streak of silver light that sped astonishingly fast toward the village under siege.
“Swish!”
A black-clothed person killed another beast person, turning his head to quickly spot a new target.
She was a girl of about seven or eight years old, dressed in a light green kimono. Her pale golden cat ears trembled with fear as she panicked toward the village entrance.
“Thud!”
“Yaaah!”
Suddenly, the girl tripped and fell face-first into the snow.
The kitten-like girl lay sprawled out, her terror-filled eyes watching the approaching black-clothed person as she crawled backward desperately. “Help! Someone save me, Mommy waaaah~”
Bodies littered the ground, blood flowed freely.
The sight truly shocked Bai Luo, who came from a peaceful era.
At that moment, a fierce sword strike descended, aimed at the back of the catgirl’s neck—a fatal blow.
“What?”
But in the next instant, the black-clothed swordsman’s pupils contracted sharply in disbelief.
He couldn’t believe what he saw: a handsome young man stood between him and the catgirl.
The blade halted, blocked by a delicate finger!
“Isn’t this a bit too much?”
Bai Luo’s voice was deep, tinged with hidden anger. “You don’t look like a bandit. Is there really a need to kill everyone?”
Using magic power perception, Bai Luo confirmed every living person in the village. Among the fallen bodies were elders, children, and women—no one had been spared.
He wasn’t the type to meddle unnecessarily.
But witnessing such atrocities, Bai Luo simply couldn’t bear it.
“Are there any reinforcements?”
To Bai Luo’s surprise, the black-clothed swordsman, upon seeing his sword blocked, didn’t retreat but swung another attack.
“Pfft~~~”
Blood spurted from the swordsman’s throat as his vision spun before fading into darkness.
“What the hell!”
Ignoring the severed head that fell to the ground, Bai Luo had spent seven days surviving in the wild, killing countless beasts and monsters. His tolerance for internal organs and blood was extremely high.
As for killing people…
Bai Luo was someone who liked to reason. But when the other party tried to kill him, what else was there to say?
“Are you alright?”
Bai Luo picked up the catgirl who had collapsed. Everything happened so fast that the girl hadn’t even had time to react.
“Big Brother!”
The catgirl saw the decapitated corpse of the black-clothed person but wasn’t afraid. Instead, tears streaming down her face, she threw herself onto the ground pleading, “Please, save us!”
The girl reacted quickly. The black-clothed swordsman had chased her, Bai Luo saved her and killed the swordsman, so Bai Luo wasn’t the enemy.
And Bai Luo was strong.
Though she hadn’t seen it, the swift death of the black-clothed swordsman made Bai Luo’s strength evident.
“Alright.”
“Besides, I can’t stand the idea of entire villages being massacred anyway.”
Bai Luo ignored whatever grudges might exist between the village and the black-clothed people. He now only wanted clarity.
Moreover, Bai Luo was curious about where his own strength stood in this world.
“Stay here; it’ll be over soon.”
The young man placed his hand on top of the catgirl’s head, wrapping her in streams of silvery magic power, as if draping her in a thin veil.
In the blink of an eye, the girl’s wounds healed under the silver glow, leaving her smooth skin without a scar.
The residual magic acted like a protective barrier, ensuring that even if the black-clothed person were a hundred times stronger than before, he wouldn’t harm the catgirl in the slightest.
“Swish!”
Having done all this, Bai Luo disappeared from the girl’s sight.
“Big Brother?”
The girl anxiously looked toward the village engulfed in flames, wanting Bai Luo to be careful. However, the youth’s speed was too fast.
“Aaaah!!”
Between the burning wooden houses, a streak of silver light darted like lightning through the flames. Wherever it passed, the originally rampaging black-clothed figures fell one after another.
“Too weak.”
Bai Luo appeared among three black-clothed individuals. With just a glance, he disappointedly remarked, “Weak magic power, crude control, and chaotic minds. Are you even human? You’re nothing more than shoddy mass-produced products.”
With the enhancement of Magic Power Control to SR, not only did it bring abilities but also deepened Bai Luo’s understanding of magic power.
In Bai Luo’s magic power perception, the invading black-clothed people were very strange.
Firstly, the magic power within them was extremely chaotic, making it ten times harder to control compared to normal magic power.
As for the quantity of magic power,
Bai Luo considered the black-clothed people’s magic power weak, relative to his current self.
But compared to the beast people in the village, the black-clothed people were evidently stronger.
“Die!!”
Their disordered minds prevented the black-clothed people from contemplating Bai Luo’s origins. Almost instinctively, they attacked him.
“Sigh~~”
Bai Luo wanted to hold back, at least keeping a few captives to inquire about the situation.
However, it seemed unnecessary now.
“These guys are purely artificial puppets; asking them won’t yield any information.”
With a slight raise of his finger, invisible threads of magic power erupted like a storm, slicing the three black-clothed individuals into pieces.
Instantly, blood splattered everywhere.
Before the blood could drip, Bai Luo’s figure vanished from the spot.
He had already locked onto all survivors in the village and proceeded to rescue them based on their level of danger.
Since he had chosen to side with the beast people, Bai Luo wouldn’t leave any regrets.
He would save all 15-plus beast-eared girls without exception!
“Drip, drip.”
Soon, Bai Luo stood amidst the blood-soaked grounds. He scanned the area, confirming that not a single black-clothed person remained alive in the village.
Behind him, a group of beast people huddled together.
There were 12 in total, all girls. The youngest was still in swaddling clothes, the oldest no more than fifteen or sixteen years old.
At that moment, they knelt on the snowy ground, expressing their gratitude to their savior.
The flickering firelight filled the air with the smell of burnt charcoal and scorched flesh.
The girls cried bitterly. The tragedy of losing parents, having their village destroyed, and experiencing the devastation of family loss was enough to drive anyone to despair, regardless of the world.
“Do you have any plans?”
Bai Luo helped the girls rise. He didn’t know their identities or origins.
But since he had saved them, naturally, he needed to arrange what came next; otherwise, wouldn’t his efforts have been in vain?
“Sir, thank you for your kindness, esteemed sir.”
Finally, a slightly older girl stepped forward. She had silver-gray hair, fox ears drooping from her head. Though her clothes were disheveled, she radiated youthful beauty.
Even Bai Luo, who had seen many internet celebrities in his previous life, couldn’t help but take a second glance.
“Just call me Bai Luo.”
“Lord Bai Luo.”
The fox girl’s name was Hong Ye, the daughter of the village chief.
“Our village is called Xia Fog Village. Like the nearby Demon Fox Village and Big Wolf Village, we are ordinary people who have lived for generations in the Beast People Nation.”
Hong Ye’s mother was from the Demon Fox Village.
In the current situation, she could seek help from the Demon Fox Village.
But the others, having grown up in Xia Fog Village, had lost their parents. Following the traditions of the beast people, the fate of those who were plundered would undoubtedly be tragic.
As the chief’s daughter, Hong Ye couldn’t abandon them.
Thus, Hong Ye was caught in a dilemma. Her only choice was to lead the girls to the Demon Fox Village, hoping the villagers there would accept them.