18: Chapter 18: Four skills at once? Oh no, I've become the carry!

On the day the dungeon ended, Hu Jinsi locked himself in his bedroom.

The curtains were drawn tight, blocking out the afternoon sun.

He sat cross-legged on his bed with the virtual interface of the profession shop spread out before him, his fingers swiping across the projected screen as his gaze swept over various meditation auxiliary equipment.

Incense burners, incense, Taoist scriptures, whisks, yoga mats... prices ranged from a few hundred to tens of thousands.

Hu Jinsi's gaze finally settled on a string of dark prayer beads, priced at 1,999 credits, which was exactly at the upper limit of his psychological expectations.

[Prayer Beads: Immovable Seal]

[Type: Auxiliary Equipment (Wrist)]

[Mind Seal: When you wear these prayer beads and enter a state of Deep Meditation, you gain advantage on your first saving throw against mental interference and emotional fluctuations.]

[Tactile Memory: As your fingertips trace each smooth wooden bead, your meditation gains +1 per round. (Class Experience + 1)]

[Item Description: Strung together with seven dark Bodhi seeds and one slightly pale bone bead on a flexible, darkened leather cord soaked in sweat and oil. The bone bead is rumored to be made from the finger bone of a wandering monk who severed his own finger, strung here to remind himself that "slaughter is ultimately a dead end; stopping the conflict is true compassion."]

Hu Jinsi stared at the bone bead for a long time, muttering to himself.

"This 'Mind Seal' thing is purely for show at this stage. If I'm already experiencing emotional interference and mental fluctuations, wouldn't it be better to just go to sleep instead of meditating?"

He twisted the newly worn prayer beads on his wrist, feeling the smooth texture of the wooden beads. "I haven't even seen a proper psychic monster in the dungeon yet; what use is this mental resistance to me? It would be more practical to give me two more points of meditation gain."

However, the "Tactile Memory" attribute was real money.

Getting one extra point of experience per round of meditation meant his talent—a massive experience sink—could finally catch its breath.

Calculating this way, his "fully armed" meditation experience per hour had reached 12 points.

"Buying the box but returning the pearl, a classic case of buying the box but returning the pearl," Hu Jinsi sighed, looking at the suddenly reduced balance in his wallet.

"There are still 'Enlightenment Incense' for over three thousand and 'Concentration Pendants' for over five thousand in the shop, but unfortunately, my wallet isn't fat enough to pay for them. Keeping up with the squad without falling behind is victory enough for now."

He wrapped the prayer beads around his wrist three times, confirmed that the bone bead was pressing against his pulse point, sat cross-legged, and sank into Deep Meditation.

The speed at which qi circulated through his meridians was indeed a bit more settled, like a rushing stream being guided into a gentle riverbed.

The numbers on the experience panel jumped more steadily than before, and every round of breathing carried a solid sense of reality.

...

On Thursday afternoon, his phone buzzed incessantly on the nightstand.

Hu Jinsi opened his eyes from his meditative state, picked it up, and saw two messages pop up at the same time.

Lin Rui: [Amusement park, going?]

Su Wan: [Jinsi! Lin Rui said he'd keep his promise and take me, Su Qing, and Su Yu on the roller coaster! Are you really not coming? Su Qing says she'll buy you the biggest cotton candy!]

Hu Jinsi glanced at his experience bar; he was still nearly 1,000 points away from touching Level 6.

He gritted his teeth and typed three words on the screen: [Not coming, busy.]

Su Wan's voice message followed immediately, the background filled with noisy crowds and cheerful music: "You cultivation maniac! If you aren't Level 6 before the end of the next dungeon, we won't wait for you!"

Hu Jinsi converted the voice message to text, his eyes never leaving the panel, though the corners of his mouth curled up.

He definitely wanted to go, but looking at those numbers, he had to suppress the thought.

At the amusement park, Lin Rui was standing next to the merry-go-round, holding four sodas.

Su Wan, holding the hands of her younger sisters Su Qing and Su Yu, one on each side, jogged over from the direction of the haunted house, her ponytail swinging with her steps.

"Sis! That roller coaster was too scary!" Su Qing was still excited, her cheeks flushed. "Brother Lin Rui didn't scream the whole time; he was even calmer than you!"

Su Wan poked her sister's forehead irritably: "Your Brother Lin Rui is just poker-faced, not calm."

Lin Rui handed over the sodas; his expression was indeed unchanged, but his ears were slightly red.

He owed Su Wan ten meals and ten shopping trips, and this was only the first one fulfilled.

It was originally an agreement between the two of them, but Su Yu had insisted on tagging along after hearing about it, calling it "supervising on behalf of Brother Hu Jinsi," but she was actually just a giant third wheel.

"Is Jinsi really not coming?" Su Wan took the soda, poked the straw in, took a sip, and asked indistinctly.

"He said he needs to meditate." Lin Rui paused and added, "He wants to reach Level 6 before the end of next week's dungeon."

Su Wan blinked and didn't speak again.

She checked her own experience value; she was also less than 500 points away from Level 6.

"I need to hurry too," she muttered softly. "My parents said the Mithril has already been delivered to the house. I've also accepted a commission from the Adventurer's Association, so I estimate that in a month at most, the Siren's vocal cords will be in my hands."

Lin Rui nodded: "Then your collar quest is only one step away."

"Yeah!" Su Wan smiled, her eyes curving into crescents. "When I reach Level 10, I'll have a huge change too. I'll show you all what a real Siren Songstress is."

Su Qing was biting her cotton candy, looking at her sister and then at Lin Rui, when she suddenly revealed a sly smile: "Sis, are you two on a date?"

"Eat your candy!" Su Wan stuffed the cotton candy into her sister's mouth, but her cheeks quietly turned red.

...

Returning to school on Friday, the atmosphere in the classroom was completely different from usual.

Teacher Fan stood on the podium, not holding a lesson plan, but a stack of combat analysis reports from each squad from the previous week.

He commented one by one, his tone stricter than usual, but also more pragmatic.

"Don't blindly copy the routines of the Jack-of-All-Trades Squad; every class has its own characteristics. Classes without area-clearing capabilities in the early stages should be especially careful."

"Look at the Nature Squad; they've found their own style. They don't rely on that trap-based approach and can still achieve impressive efficiency. So, you need to broaden your thinking; imagine what your class allows you to do, and to what extent you can do it."

"Even if you can use firebombs, don't throw them around. Go practice in training class; don't panic, and don't throw them at your teammates' feet. Last Tuesday, a squad in Class 2 burned their own people into critical condition and had to be forcibly teleported out."

"Finally, don't blindly copy Lin Rui's wrestling scheme. Think about how much strength Lin Rui has, and think about his total weight in full gear. Can you achieve that? Don't come back having rushed in front of monsters with your little bodies, unable to even move a thigh—you can't just send yourselves to death like that."

The students below were writing furiously; no one dared to look up or lose focus.

The Knight Squad incident weighed like a heavy stone on everyone's heart, and the school was clearly adjusting its strategy to focus on expanding the students' subjective initiative.

During the training class, Teacher Zhang personally stepped in, leading several squads to repeatedly practice formations for countering Defias Thief.

The old scar on his left cheek was particularly conspicuous in the sunlight, and his voice was hoarse but every word was clear: "High-perception classes, don't just rely on your eyes. Is your perception just for show? At this level, thieves cannot be completely invisible. Listen to the sounds, feel the flow of the wind."

During the break, the trading corner at the back of the classroom was as lively as a vegetable market.

"Li Hao, do you have any more firebombs? Give me five!"

"What about Scorching Glue? I need three portions; I'm using them in Goldshire next week!"

"Wait, I booked them first! Can you increase your production of these firebombs?"

Li Hao's alchemy lab bench was surrounded.

This usually shy boy had his glasses covered in gray dust and his cuffs stained with suspicious charred marks, but he was busy and beaming.

He hadn't even entered the dungeon last week; he had spent the whole time in the lab making firebombs and Scorching Glue, yet his class experience hadn't fallen behind much—for a hybrid combat-lifestyle class like Alchemist, there were far more ways to practice the profession than just going into dungeons.

"A hybrid class really has the capital to 'hybridize'," Hu Jinsi leaned against the corridor railing, watching Li Hao's money-grubbing look, and muttered to himself.

"Making bombs and throwing bombs are essentially being an Alchemist. It's hard to say if it will be strong in the future, but it's definitely a lucrative profession. Whoever rated this class as D-grade must have taken bribes, and they aren't even afraid of the World Consciousness giving them trouble."

...

Preparation for the weekend was in full swing in the apartment.

Hu Jinsi placed his iron-wrapped staff across his knees and carefully checked the iron-wrapped parts at both ends.

In the first dungeon, one end had already cracked, so he spent 80 credits to replace it with a new one. Now it was completely intact and felt heavy in his hand.

He replenished three sets of throwing knives, totaling 90, and stuffed them into his backpack.

It was a pity that the Defias brothers didn't drop throwing knives, otherwise he could have saved this money.

He oiled the bicycle chain and checked the folding mechanism three times to ensure it wouldn't jam at a critical moment.

The most important thing was the string of prayer beads on his wrist.

Hu Jinsi sat cross-legged on his meditation cushion and entered Deep Meditation, feeling his experience points accumulating faster than before.

Half an hour later, he opened his eyes and did the math: with the bonus from the prayer beads, he could now get 3 points of experience every 15 minutes.

If he could maintain meditation for 10 hours a day, that would be 120 points.

Coupled with the sleep time saved by Deep Meditation, there was a good hope of gathering enough experience for Level 6 before the end of next week's dungeon.

In the residential garden, the whistling sound of a short sword slicing through the air could be vaguely heard.

Lin Rui was practicing the combo of [Tactical Roll] into [Charge], and the floor was thumping loudly.

Su Wan was in her living room, holding the repaired lyre and tuning it repeatedly.

She plucked the strings with her fingertips, tried a few newly learned scales, and her gaze drifted out the window from time to time, looking forward to the arrival of that moment of qualitative change.

...

On Sunday morning, the pale green dungeon vortex swallowed the three of them again.

Entering Goldshire for the third time, even the dizziness had become familiar.

The forest, the morning mist, the silhouette of the Lions Pride Inn in the distance—everything overlapped with his memory.

The monster-grinding process had been optimized by them into an assembly line—tripping pigs with snares on the farm, illuminating Kobolds with headlamps in the mines, grilling Murlocs over campfires by the lake—the efficiency was extremely high, and it was calm and uneventful.

The battles during the day were not worth mentioning.

The trio's coordination was already tacit; Lin Rui's Charge and Tactical Roll were being used more and more proficiently, Su Wan's Thunderwave could always accurately cover the maximum number of enemies, and Hu Jinsi was like a brick—transported wherever he was needed.

In the evening of the first day of the dungeon, the three returned to the Lions Pride Inn.

The fire in the fireplace was burning brightly, and Hu Jinsi took an iron pot and seasonings out of his backpack to fry a few pieces of wild boar meat brought back from the farm.

Grease dripped onto the charcoal, sending up a flurry of tiny sparks, and the aroma soon filled the hall.

Su Wan sat by the fireplace holding her lyre, her fingertips gently plucking the strings.

She wasn't casting a spell; she was just practicing the path of the Bard, using the sound of the lyre to organize the rhythm of the day's battle, letting the melody flow naturally from her fingertips.

She was playing a piece she had improvised in the dungeon; it lacked structure but carried a strange sense of rhythm.

The notes jumped in the air like a group of moths attracted by the firelight, circling, rising, and then falling into a warm silence.

Suddenly, her fingertips trembled.

The lyre let out a clear, long ringing sound; it didn't sound like it came from the instrument, but rather like something inside the instrument had woken up.

Su Wan opened her eyes, and the panel unfolded silently in her consciousness, with lines of text flowing with a pale golden shimmer.

"I..." She opened her mouth, the sound stuck in her throat, and then it suddenly rose, "I'm Level 6!"

The lyre almost slipped from her arms.

She jumped up, gesturing excitedly, her cheeks flushed red by the fire: "I have one more spell slot! I have five spell slots now! Five!"

Lin Rui was wiping his short sword with a fine cloth; hearing this, he looked up and the corners of his mouth curled up: "Congratulations."

"Not just that, not just that!" Su Wan couldn't stop her excitement, spinning around in front of the fireplace with her lyre, "I've unlocked the chanting mechanism! From now on, I can sing six times a day, and as long as I have enough stamina, I can sing for as long as I want! I don't have to count the seconds for casting time anymore! The Bard finally doesn't have to be a spell-slot beggar!"

She took a deep breath, as if afraid someone would interrupt, and rushed to continue: "I've also learned three new things! The first is called Spell-Breaking Melody, specifically for dealing with magic that relies on sound—things like sonic attacks, verbal curses, and charms. When I play this, I can turn them all into a mess of noise! The second is called Restful Melody. From now on, whenever we take a short rest, as long as you can hear my lyre, the recovery speed will be significantly faster! And there's a new spell called Faerie Fire! Whoever gets hit by it will glow. When we attack them, their accuracy will drop, and they won't be able to stealth! From now on, any thief who wants to sneak up and ambush us should ask me if I agree first!"

She finished in one breath, her chest heaving violently, eyes burning with excitement as she looked straight at Hu Jinsi: "How about that? Impressive, right?"

"Impressive, very impressive." Hu Jinsi applauded with a smile, adding another piece of meat to the pot. "Su Wan's qualitative leap this time is flashier than both of ours combined. In the future, inside dungeons, you'll be our human searchlight and sound system."

"Go to hell!" Su Wan scolded with a smile, but she couldn't suppress the smugness at the corners of her mouth. She sat back down by the hearth, her fingers still trembling slightly as she held her lyre—the lingering aftershock of her excitement.

Hu Jinsi smiled and played along, but in his heart, he was calculating his experience bar.

Just a little bit more. Just a little bit more to go.

That night, Hu Jinsi did not sleep.

He placed his meditation cushion under the attic window of the inn, sat cross-legged in meditation, and slowly turned the prayer beads in his palm. The sky outside changed from ink-black to deep blue, then to the pale white of dawn. Qi circulated through his meridians, and the numbers on his experience panel crept up bit by bit, each round of breathing deep and long.

At 7:00 AM, as the sky just began to pale, the panel gave a gentle vibration.

[Level Up: Level 5 → Level 6]

[Experience Points: 1/6400]

[Qi: 5 → 6]

Hu Jinsi opened his eyes; there were bloodshot streaks in them, but he was as hyper-excited as if he had drunk ten cups of espresso. He couldn't wait to look at his skill bar, his heart pounding in his chest.

[Monk (Classic School) gains new skills: Flurry of Blows, Parkour]

[Flurry of Blows: Consumes 1 Qi. After you perform an attack action, immediately perform two independently resolved unarmed strikes.]

[Parkour: Consumes 1 Qi. Doubles your movement speed for the duration of one breath and doubles the distance of your next jump.]

"Woohoo! Monk, Monk, I finally have skills related to martial arts." Hu Jinsi was so moved he almost rubbed his eyes. "Wait, no, the prompt text isn't finished yet."

[Monk (Mistweaver School) gains new skills: Spinning Crane Kick, Roll]

[Spinning Crane Kick: Costs 1 Qi to activate. You spin at high speed using one foot as an axis. Upon activation, immediately perform an unarmed strike (kicks are also considered unarmed strikes) against all enemies within a 2-meter radius, with an initial rotation speed of 1 revolution per second. Channeling Effect: During the time you maintain this skill (within 3 seconds), any enemy that enters or is within your attack range will immediately trigger an unarmed strike (damage halved) for every revolution you complete; Maintenance Effect: After channeling ends, you can choose to consume 1 point of Qi to maintain this skill, otherwise the effect ends.]

[Roll: No cost, 2 Charges. You quickly Roll a distance in a specified direction (not exceeding half the distance of your maximum movement speed in the same amount of time). During this movement, you are considered to be in a half-cover state or receive a small evasion bonus against ranged attacks.]

Hu Jinsi stared at the panel, two thoughts exploding in his mind simultaneously.

The first thought: "One school gives me two skills? I'm invincible."

The second thought: "Spinning Crane Kick... oh no, I've become the carry."

He took a deep breath and quickly calmed down. His personal panel was private; others couldn't see the specific skills, but he had to be strategic when showing them to his teammates. [Spinning Crane Kick] and [Roll] were both skills derived from talents and could be hidden.

But [Spinning Crane Kick] was his main tool for farming monsters in the future and couldn't be hidden, so he would have to sacrifice [Roll]. But it wasn't like [Roll] couldn't be used; he would just say he used [Parkour]. Who said Parkour couldn't be used while rolling? He was the Monk; no one understood Monk skills better than him. This was called flexible movement.

He pushed the door open and went downstairs. Lin Rui and Su Wan were tidying up their items in the hall. When they saw him come down, they both looked up, their gazes landing on his slightly red eyes.

"Leveled up?" Lin Rui saw the signs of his overflowing Qi at a glance.

"Level 6." Hu Jinsi grinned and shared the skills with them—of course, a carefully filtered version. "Didn't drag you guys down."

Lin Rui leaned in to look, his gaze lingering on the three active skills, his expression gradually becoming complex. He pointed at the panel, enunciating each word: "Flurry of Blows, Parkour, Spinning Crane Kick... Three? You get three skills at Level 6 as a Monk? I only got two at Level 6 as a Soldier."

"In the early stages of a new class integrating into the Water Blue Star system, skill counts are unstable; there are plenty of precedents." Hu Jinsi shrugged, looking calm. "Look, I got more Mistweaver skills than others when I was Level 1. Getting one more at Level 6 is a normal fluctuation. Maybe it's a superposition effect from the fusion of the Mistweaver School and the Classic School—the World Consciousness hasn't even figured it out itself yet."

Su Wan leaned in and counted on her fingers: "One single-target pursuit, one area-of-effect spinning attack, one speed-boosting displacement... F-word, how is your class so overpowered? I want that too!"

"Wanting it won't help, this is Monk-exclusive." Hu Jinsi raised his chin smugly, then straightened his expression. "It's getting late. I have some tactical ideas regarding my new skills. Let's talk about them on the way to Crystal Lake."

The three of them pushed out their bicycles and rode along the forest path toward Crystal Lake. The morning breeze, carrying moisture, blew against their faces. Dew still hung on the roadside weeds, and where the wheels rolled over, they startled a flock of early-rising sparrows.

"Lin Rui, when we start the fight, don't throw the Molotov cocktails and grenades yet." Hu Jinsi shouted while pedaling, his voice drifting back with the wind. "Let me test the quality of my new skills first and see if I can clear the field without explosives."

"What do you mean?" Lin Rui slowed down to ride alongside him.

"The usual rules: I'll lure the Murlocs into the campfire array and trip them with tripwires." Hu Jinsi's eyes shone, his fingers gesturing in the air. "But this time, I won't stay outside to finish them off. I'll Charge straight into the middle of the fire and start spinning with [Spinning Crane Kick] right in the pile of fallen Murlocs. You two stay outside; Lin Rui, you stab with your spear, and Su Wan, you use your bow, no spells. We'll attack from inside and out."

He quickly did the math, his tone growing more and more excited: "I have 6 points of Qi now. Activating Spinning Crane Kick takes 1 Qi. It can spin for 3 seconds, one revolution per second, and each revolution can hit all targets within a 2-meter radius. After the 3 seconds are up, I can spend another 1 Qi to keep it going, which equals 2 Qi for 6 seconds of continuous AOE. Theoretically, I can damage the Murlocs 6 times in 6 seconds. Plus your follow-up attacks, there's no way the Murlocs can survive 6 seconds. 6 points of Qi is enough for me to handle three waves of monsters. Su Wan, you have 5 spell slots now; combined with Lin Rui's explosives, you can also handle three to four waves. If we calculate twenty Murlocs per wave, six waves would be one hundred and twenty. We might only need one short rest in the middle to clear out all the Murlocs on the shore of Crystal Lake."

Lin Rui and Su Wan calculated silently in their hearts. Upon calculating, they were both startled. Su Wan almost toppled off her bicycle and scrambled to steady the handlebars: "One hundred and twenty... in one hour? When we first entered this dungeon, just clearing those few dozen Murlocs on the west bank took us half a day, and we were exhausted!"

"That's the qualitative leap of Level 6." Hu Jinsi grinned. The wheels rolled over a piece of gravel; he used the force to leap half a foot into the air and landed steadily again. "And what really wastes time might actually be the effort of setting up the campfires and tripwires along the shore. Once the traps are set, I'll be a human harvester."

Lin Rui gripped the handlebars, his eyes gradually changing from shock to determination. He remembered the embarrassment of their first encounter with the Murlocs—the slimy scales, the disgusting mucus, the fish eyes that were impossible to hit. And now, they were actually discussing clearing the field in an hour.

Setting Collection — [Hua Lian]

[Hua Lian]

[Core Class Positioning: State-switching Tactical Tank. You are not an unchanging city wall, but a battlefield multi-tasker that changes instantly according to the combat situation. Your power comes from the "Face Mask" painted on your face. Each mask represents an ancient War Soul possessed from an opera character, granting you different combat stances.]

[Class Introduction: Offstage, he is a performer silently painting his face; onstage, he is a famous actor who shocks the entire audience. When the greasepaint covers his face, he is no longer a mortal—the loyalty of black makes him as solid as a rock, the treachery of white makes the enemy burn with rage, and the fierce scarlet turns him into a deadly grim reaper. His face is the banner of the army; every change of his face is a tactical reversal.]

[Class Characteristics: You must prepare several "Face Masks" before battle and can switch by spending time "Painting the Face" during combat. Each mask provides unique offensive and defensive bonuses and tactical skills, but maintaining a mask consumes "Charm" (Focus).]

[Painting the Face and Masks: This is the soul of the class, divided into pre-battle preparation and mid-battle switching.]

[Pre-battle Preparation (Painting): During rest, you can spend time (e.g., 10 minutes/mask) to carefully paint a mask. The number of "Painted Masks" you can have prepared at once is limited (e.g., equal to your level). Each mask must record its color and the character it represents, which determines its abilities.]

[Mid-battle Switching (Changing Face): Standard Action Painting: Spend a full round (Standard Action + Move Action) to quickly paint, switching to a prepared mask. This process provokes attacks of opportunity and requires a "Concentration" check to prevent interruption.]

[Charm Consumption: Maintaining a non-initial mask continuously consumes a resource pool called "Charm" (similar to concentration value). When Charm is exhausted, you are forced back to the initial no-bonus state and fall into a brief "Exhaustion".]

[Class Skill — Basic Training · Opening Face: Master the painting of basic Black Face and White Face. Black Face - Zhang Fei - Defensive Stance. High damage reduction, increased aggro generation, can taunt a small range of enemies; White Face - Cao Cao - Control Stance. Attacks have a chance to inflict "Disturb" (reduced accuracy). Movement speed slightly increased.]

[Class Skill — Face Mask · Red Face & Blue Face: You unlock the painting of Red Face and Blue Face. Red Face - Guan Yu - Duel Stance. "Single-Rider Challenge": Marks a single strong enemy, causing huge aggro and damage bonuses, but defense is reduced; Blue Face - Ghost - Counter-Attack Stance. When attacked, deals counter-damage to the attacker based on the damage received, with a chance to inflict "Fear".]

[Class Skill — Swift Painting: Can switch masks with a Swift Action, but the new mask's effect starts in the next round.]

[Class Skill — Face Mask · Gold Face: You unlock the painting of Gold Face. Gold Face - Divine General - Burst Stance. Attack power and attack speed are significantly increased for a short time, and you gain Cleave ability, but Charm consumption is accelerated.]

[Class Skill — Unique Skill · Spirit Possession (Ultimate): Unlocks the "Spirit Possession" form of the current mask, consuming a large amount of Charm to gain the legendary enhanced version of the mask's effect for a short time (e.g., Black Face gains group taunt + damage reduction, Red Face gains multiple guaranteed-hit slashes).]

[Key Attributes: Constitution (CON, Charm pool, survival), Charisma (CHA, affects mask strength and aggro), Strength (STR, damage)]

[Class Disadvantages: Switching Vacuum: Extremely vulnerable while painting, relies on teammates for protection. Resource Management: Charm pool is limited; abuse leads to premature loss of combat effectiveness. Reliance on Preparation: Unprepared masks cannot be used, and you may be helpless in extreme situations.]