Chapter 61: Just a Little
“What’s going on with my eyes?”
[Manifestation of extraordinary abilities. A normal phenomenon among powerful Awakened.]
The narrator calmly explained.
“So I count as a powerful Awakened now?” Xu Zhi was a bit surprised.
[…]
[You should get out more.]
“It was a joke.” The girl chuckled. “I know I’m strong. I’ve got that much self-awareness.”
She wasn’t some brainless Aberration—how could she not have a sense of her own strength?
It had only been two months since the anomaly began, and she was already ahead of the other Awakened.
After rinsing off with stored cold water and changing clothes, Xu Zhi briefly reminisced about civilized society. At least back then, you didn’t have to worry about not having hot water for a bath.
But if she had to choose, she definitely preferred the present.
Stepping out of the bathroom, Xu Zhi piled the leftover cores in front of her familiars again. “There’s still some left. Eat as much as you can handle, and when you’re done, go out hunting.”
So for the next week or so, Xu Zhi spent most of her time at home feeding her familiars with cores. Once they leveled up, she continued feeding them. Under this force-fed influx of resources, their growth was astonishingly fast.
Yi had reached level 27. Its [Evolution] level was still at 3, but its attributes had nearly doubled. From level 20 onward, the growth with each level became very noticeable—and the higher the level, the greater the gap from before.
As for Gouzi, due to the lack of [Blade] attribute cores, it was only level 22. Fortunately, its [Evolution] level had reached 2, which gave it a decent stat boost compared to when it had just hit level 20.
Zhen, on the other hand, had plenty of [Winter] attribute cores and had reached level 24, soon to be 25. Even its [Evolution] had caught up to Yi, just recently reaching level 3.
Unlike Yi and Gouzi, who were clingy whenever they woke up, Zhen always remained aloof. It would simply open its sapphire eyes to locate Xu Zhi, confirm she was nearby, then bow its head and continue devouring cores.
It wasn’t like Gouzi, who insisted on being held and patted and praised. Nor was it like Yi, who would sneakily wrap its tail around Xu Zhi’s ankle.
And it definitely wasn’t like that pathetic Aberration, who would collapse and roll on the ground like it was dying whenever Xu Zhi got more than a meter away.
Zhen was always calm and proud, carrying a sense of divinity unbefitting a mere beast. Every motion exuded vitality. Xu Zhi often perceived a dignified restraint in it. With its flawless, otherworldly appearance, she found herself watching Zhen more than the others.
After over a week, Xu Zhi had nearly depleted her supply of basic cores—except for the 200 she had deliberately saved for emergencies. Among all the familiars, the one progressing slowest was the Aberration.
She had to admit—aside from Yi, who had needed her to micromanage everything at first, this Aberration had cost her the most effort.
The other familiars could regulate themselves, eat a reasonable number of cores, and level up slowly. But not the Aberration.
It constantly exuded hunger. But the moment it ate just a bit too much, [Restlessness] would resurge, forcing Xu Zhi to monitor it constantly and feed it a [Lamp] core whenever something went wrong.
And once it got a [Lamp] core, things got worse. It would wail like a child, crying in pain, only calming down when Xu Zhi held it close—on her lap, in her hands, stuffed in a pocket, or even twisted into a hairpin to wrap her long, uncut hair.
By now, Xu Zhi had gotten used to using the Aberration as a handy tool. It could shapeshift—looked like deadwood, but was incredibly flexible, unbreakable, and bendable. She even considered using it as a doorknob, if only it could leave her side.
Thanks to Xu Zhi’s “dedicated” care, the little Aberration had finally reached level 18.
At level 15, instead of the usual one-point increase in Spirit per level, it gained an extra point.
Xu Zhi had exploded: “This is what you meant by it’d get a little better? That’s it?! Just one point?!”
[Yeah. Why? Not satisfied?]
The narrator was shamelessly confident. It hadn’t lied—“a little” improvement meant exactly that.
Xu Zhi laughed in frustration. “At this rate, it’s going to stay an idiot forever!”
[You named it ‘Xiao Dai’ (Little Dummy), didn’t you expect this?]
Xu Zhi: Absolutely not.
She really thought this thing had potential.
[Don’t worry. When it hits level 20, it’ll get a little better again.]
“Your little better—”
Xu Zhi trailed off, falling silent.
It was level 18, and its Spirit was only 21. Just 21!
Each level only increased Spirit by 2 now!
Still, while Mind was a major weak point, the Aberration’s other attributes were way overpowered.
[Familiar: Aberration Lv18]
Mind: 21
Body: 3600
Attribute: Cup
Traits: Bloodlust Lv6; Stealth Lv5; Agility Lv5; Pain Lv7; Restlessness Lv1
Special Abilities: None ]
Perhaps due to the torment of the [Lamp] cores, a new trait—Pain—had emerged and was leveling up rapidly.
“What does this ‘Pain’ trait do?”
[It multiplies all the pain it inflicts. Even soul-deep, indelible pain. It’s a very powerful trait.]
“Sounds useful.”
Like it was made for torture.
But it also meant every time it ate a [Lamp] core, the Aberration was truly in agony.
Xu Zhi sighed. “Well, dumb is dumb.”
No matter what, it was still her child. She couldn’t just toss it. What else could she do?
Lately, Zhen had been going out every morning to forage for fruit. Its efforts paid off—Xu Zhi now had three black fruits in storage.
One she planned to use for a trade, one she’d eat herself, and the last…
“What would happen if I fed this fruit to the Aberration?”
She looked at the game console.
[You really do have the strangest ideas.]
[Why do you want to feed it that all of a sudden?]
Xu Zhi’s gaze was steady. “No particular reason. Just suddenly thought—what if I did? What would happen?”
“And once I thought that, I decided to go for it.”
[…]
Such erratic thinking—and such bold execution.
[I can never predict what you’ll do. But I won’t stop you from doing anything you want.]
“So basically, you have no idea what’ll happen if I give it the fruit?”
Xu Zhi asked the million-dollar question.
[…]
[I’m just a game, not a prophecy machine!]
[No one’s ever done it. I can’t predict the outcome. But you can try.]
“Of course I’ll try.”
Xu Zhi raised an eyebrow, tone unwavering.
Abarition use is living armor