Chapter 75: Attribute Rewards
While Su Xiao was contemplating, a notification from Reincarnation Paradise appeared.
[Detected that the Hunter has four main attributes: Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Intelligence. All four main attributes have reached 80 points. Please select a reward for reaching 80 points in the main attributes.]
[True Strength is the Hunter's main attribute. True Strength (unarmored) has reached 80 points. The Hunter may choose one of the following rewards.]
Madman: True Strength +3
Strength Shock: Melee combat will now carry a shockwave effect. Each shockwave deals 2% of the enemy's Health as True Damage and has a chance to stun the enemy.
Muscle Defense: Greatly increases body defense. Increases resistance to slashing, blunt, and piercing attacks.
Crimson Blood Shadow (Rare Reward): When injured, for every 10% of Health lost, your Attack Speed +8%, Movement Speed +8%, and Dynamic Vision +3%. This effect can stack up to 4 times. When Health recovers above 95%, this bonus is lost and enters a 20-minute cooldown.
...
There were 4 options. Options A and C were both tempting: one increased True Strength by 3 points, the other enhanced body defense.
Option B was also strong, but unfortunately, that kind of ability wasn't suitable for Su Xiao. The shockwave from Option B could only be triggered during bare-handed melee combat, not when using a weapon.
However, compared to Option D, Options A, B, and C weren't even worth considering. Su Xiao hadn't expected the reward for reaching 80 Strength to be this powerful.
Option D could no longer be considered a simple attribute-attached ability; it was more like a passive ability that had grown through long-term, high investment.
For every 10% of Health lost, it increased Attack Speed by 8%, Movement Speed by 8%, and Dynamic Vision by 3%. And this bonus could stack up to four times. That meant when Su Xiao's Health dropped to 60%, he would gain a 32% increase in Attack Speed, a 32% increase in Movement Speed, and a 12% increase in Dynamic Vision. That was nearly a one-third boost in speed. The Dynamic Vision increase was also significant. As for the uses of Dynamic Vision, there were too many to count. It was an attribute second only to Neural Reflex Speed in melee combat and also provided a bonus to Instinct.
What was even more valuable was that this buff had no duration. As long as Su Xiao's Health was below 95%, this bonus would remain active.
Fighting harder as the battle wore on—that was the essence of this ability.
Su Xiao chose Option D without hesitation. As soon as he made his choice, a blood-red energy appeared out of nowhere, entered his body, and eventually reached his heart, fusing with it.
Thump, thump, thump, thump...
Su Xiao's heartbeat suddenly accelerated before calming down after a long while.
Just after selecting the Strength attribute reward, the Agility attribute reward appeared.
[True Agility is the Hunter's main attribute. True Agility (unarmored) has reached 80 points. The Hunter may choose one of the following rewards.]
Shadow Dancer: While in shadows, greatly boosts Stealth-type skills.
Heart Hunter: Piercing an enemy's heart grants a chance for an instant death judgment on this attack.
Living Being Severance: When making a melee attack, if the enemy's external defense is successfully breached and damage is dealt to the enemy's body, this melee attack will add 'True Agility x 3' as defense-ignoring damage.
...
There was no Rare Reward this time, but these three options left Su Xiao conflicted. Option A was immediately ruled out; it was an Assassin-type ability that he had no use for. As for Options B and C, these two rewards seemed tailor-made for Su Xiao.
One was an instant death judgment, the other added defense-ignoring damage during melee combat, and the value was high, comparable to the damage effect of Cyan Steel Shadow Energy. More importantly, this defense-ignoring damage would grow as his Agility attribute increased.
After hesitating for a long time, Su Xiao chose Option C, Living Being Severance.
As soon as he made his choice, a change occurred within him. Two streams of unknown power entered his arms and quickly subsided. It wasn't an energy, but a permanent enhancement effect.
Su Xiao gripped his sword hilt, and the newly acquired bonus effect immediately activated, which satisfied him greatly.
Before he could catch his breath, the Stamina attribute reward appeared. This was the first time he had received a reward related to the Stamina attribute.
[True Stamina is the Hunter's main attribute. True Stamina (unarmored) has reached 80 points. The Hunter may choose one of the following rewards.]
Iron Bones: Permanently increases physical defense.
Vibrant Life: Permanently increases Health recovery per minute.
Giant Physique: Permanently increases Abnormal Status Resistance by 18%.
Unshakable Mountain: Reduces blood loss rate by 30% when injured.
Tyrant (Rare Reward): Permanently increases Health by 600 points.
Death Baron (Rare Reward): When wielding a shield-type weapon...
...
Su Xiao directly ignored Option F. He would never wield a shield in his life. What real man uses a shield in battle? Besides, those who use shields are the ones getting beaten up, and they can't even fight back—it's very frustrating. After getting a Gold-quality shield, his first thought was to sell it.
The Stamina attribute reward required no deliberation. Su Xiao directly chose Option E, 'Tyrant.' This would make his Health pool even more terrifying, turning him into a genuine melee fighter who could dish out damage, take hits, and had incredibly high attack power.
A feeling of vibrant life appeared within him. Su Xiao's breathing suddenly became much smoother, and the vitality of his various organs greatly increased.
It had to be said, the rewards for reaching 80 points in an attribute were astonishing. Having only obtained three rewards so far, Su Xiao's combat power had already increased by at least several times. That's right, several times.
Leaving aside the 'Crimson Blood Shadow' reward from the Strength attribute, just the 'Living Being Severance' ability from the Agility attribute had greatly boosted his offensive capabilities. 240 points of defense-ignoring damage was, in some situations, not inferior to True Damage. It was worth noting that the True Damage dealt by Cyan Steel Shadow Energy was also 240 points; it was just that its rank was higher than defense-ignoring damage.
Now, if Su Xiao slashed an enemy with a frail physique, he might cut them down in one blow.
The 600 Health points from the Stamina attribute reward significantly enhanced Su Xiao's survivability. 600 Health was equivalent to the Health bonus derived from over 50 points in the Stamina attribute.
The rewards for reaching 80 points in an attribute did not disappoint Su Xiao. Now, only the Intelligence attribute reward remained.
[True Intelligence is the Hunter's main attribute. True Intelligence (unarmored) has reached 80 points. The Hunter may choose one of the following rewards.]
Eye of Magic: Choosing this reward will transform your eyes into 'Eyes of Magic,' greatly boosting Mage-type abilities.
Serenity: Can enter a Serenity state, sealing all senses, recovering 1% of Mana per minute.
Mana Surge: Mana +500 points.
Heart of Nature: Enhances perception ability. This ability greatly boosts Meditation and Perception-type abilities.
...
Option A was directly ignored. Su Xiao had absolutely no use for the Eye of Magic; he couldn't even learn spell-type skills. As for Options B, C, and D, they left him conflicted once again.
Mana recovery speed, Mana cap increase, and perception ability enhancement—all were things he needed.
The first two had immediate effects, while the latter concerned his future development. Su Xiao suspected that the Heart of Nature ability might enhance his perception of Blade Dao.
Su Xiao tried to consult Reincarnation Paradise, asking if Heart of Nature would provide a bonus to Blade Dao improvement. Reincarnation Paradise's reply was exceptionally 'thoughtful.'
[Inquiring about related information requires a payment of 100,000 Paradise Coins...]
Su Xiao raised an eyebrow. The exorbitant fee confirmed one thing for him, so he chose Option D, reluctantly giving up Options B and C.
It had to be said that although Su Xiao's Blade Dao was very strong, its rapid growth rate had led to a lack of some deeper perception of the art. Option D perfectly compensated for this. It was an intangible benefit, yet one that could genuinely enhance his strength.