I am the Arcane Archer, and all my skills are self-created.

Hua Zitong turned her head, her cold gaze falling on Li Wu, who suddenly sprang up from the ground.

The guy's face was filled with an uncontrollable excitement, and his eyes shone with an alarming brightness, as if two flames had been lit in the darkness.

"What has it become now?" Hua Zitong's voice was emotionless, but her hand gripping the woodcutter's knife tightened unconsciously.

"It's done! Of course it's done!" Li Wu excitedly pumped his fist, rushing to her side in a few strides. His voice was low, but his smugness was impossible to hide. "I solved our biggest problem!"

"The biggest problem?" Hua Zitong asked, somewhat puzzled.

In her view, with the "healing arrow," their biggest problem of survival has been solved.

"It's my fault!" Li Wu pointed to herself, grinning, "My mana bar! Miss!"

He spread his hands and began to do the math: "Look, a Healing Arrow costs 30 mana points, and I only have 240 mana points in total. I'll be out of mana after eight arrows. This isn't a healer, it's like an eight-shot revolver."

"If I want to take down those Lurkers, my mana is practically a drop in the ocean!"

Hua Zitong understood instantly.

indeed.

Li Wu's "Healing Arrow" has amazing effects, but the 30-point cost puts a lot of pressure on his current total mana.

If the battle drags on, he will soon find himself out of mana.

"So..." Hua Zitong's breath hitched slightly. Looking at Li Wu's "praise me" expression, an absurd guess surfaced in her mind, "You... created another new skill?"

"Bingo!" Li Wu snapped his fingers with a flourish, his whole demeanor radiating elation.

"Besides incantations like 'Heal' and 'Glory,' which represent life and restoration, there are other, more interesting things in the arcane tomes!"

As he spoke, he recalled the painful process of struggling in the sea of ​​knowledge he had just experienced.

His thinking was very clear: if the problem of mana consumption is to be solved, then open source is necessary.

Instead of waiting for recovery, it's better to take the initiative!

And isn't the best "source" these little monsters right in front of us?!

He quickly found two things that best matched his ideas among that pile of cryptic texts.

One is [缘], which belongs to the "principle of cause and effect".

The other one is [Devour], which belongs to the category of "State Change".

Looking at the surface meaning, "缘" means connection, and "噬" means to devour.

One is responsible for establishing connections, and the other is responsible for absorbing energy.

Put these two things together, and you get an invisible straw that you can stick directly into the enemy to drink their "beverage"!

Once the idea popped into his head, he couldn't stop it. Li Wu poured all his attention into it, first painstakingly reactivating the two secret texts in his mind.

Then came repeated attempts to weave these two completely different cryptic texts together using his mind.

This process is a hundred times more difficult than creating the "healing arrow".

The power of connection in the concept of "缘" (yuan) emphasizes stability and continuity, like a strong and resilient rope.

The devouring power of [Devour] is full of aggression and destructiveness, and is extremely domineering.

Forcibly mixing them together often results in a violent clash of energies, which then explodes in his mind with a "bang" and vanishes without a trace.

Li Wu's mana was also rapidly decreasing with each failure, and it looked like it was about to run out.

Just as he was about to give up and sit down to recover his magical power, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

Why force a combination?

"Fate" is the pipe, and "devour" is the pump. What he needs to do is not to melt the pipe and the pump into something new, but to properly "assemble" them!

Let the pipes connect, and let the pumps draw water!

The moment this thought came to mind, the two conflicting cryptic texts in his mind instantly found their respective places, forming a mysterious yet harmonious symbiotic structure.

Become!

"Watch!"

Li Wu didn't offer any further explanation; his actions spoke for themselves.

He drew back the arcane bow.

This time, what condensed on the bowstring was no longer a pure white physical arrow, nor an emerald green life arrow, but a... deep, dark purple energy arrow that seemed capable of devouring all the light around it!

"go!"

Li Wu loosened his grip, and the dark purple arrow silently pierced the air without a sound, precisely embedding itself in the thick carapace of the decaying crocodile not far away.

-9!

The damage is still the same pitiful damage, without the slightest change.

But the point is not the harm!

The moment the arrow struck, a dark purple band of light composed of pure energy appeared out of thin air!

One end of the light strip was connected to the arrow stuck in the crocodile's body, while the other end was directly connected to the arcane bow in Li Wu's hand!

"roar!"

The decaying crocodile roared in pain and rage, its massive body thrashing wildly in the mud, trying to break free from the strange arrow that was causing it such extreme discomfort.

However, the dark purple energy link was incredibly tough, clinging to it firmly no matter how much it struggled, like a maggot attached to a bone.

Li Wu, meanwhile, closed his eyes comfortably and let out a satisfied groan.

Cool!

A cool, pure energy was flowing into his body along the dark purple light band, rapidly replenishing his almost depleted mana!

His blue mana bar was climbing rapidly, bar by bar, at a speed visible to the naked eye!

At the same time, a crisp system notification sounded in his mind right on time.

[Ding! You have successfully combined the arcane runes [Fate] and [Devour] to create a skill. Please name it!]

"Let's call it... Siphon Arrow!"

[Ding! Naming successful! The skill "Siphon Arrow" has been added to your Arcane Book.]

[Siphon Arrow: Fires an arrow that drains energy, establishing a siphon link with the target, restoring mana and health to the caster every second. The link lasts a maximum of 15 seconds, or breaks if the target dies or becomes too far away. (Skill effect is related to magic attack and rune proficiency)]

Li Wu suddenly opened his eyes, his eyes filled with barely suppressed ecstasy.

It can even restore health! Double drain!

Hua Zitong was completely stunned.

She stood there, motionless, her usually calm eyes now filled with shock, and even a hint of... bewilderment.

As a reborn individual, her greatest asset is her absolute understanding of the future development and rules of this world.

But now, Li Wu's existence is tearing her understanding to shreds time and time again.

First, they created healing skills out of thin air.

Now, it's another unprecedented draining of magical power.

This is no longer as simple as a loser's career making a comeback.

This has essentially created a completely new professional system!

A monster system that belongs only to Li Wu, a system that is unheard of and unseen before!

"How's it going?" Li Wu, feeling the magical power returning to his body, turned to look at Hua Zitong with a radiant smile. "Now, are we qualified to pull off that big heist?"

Hua Zitong did not answer immediately.

She remained silent for a full five seconds, as if desperately trying to process the subversive scene before her.

Then, she slowly exhaled, as if that breath had carried away all her doubts and surprises.

When she raised her head again and looked at Li Wu, the feeling was completely different from before.

If Li Wu was merely an unlucky person she had dragged down, and she only thought of making amends to him out of guilt and a touch of pity.

She had even planned that once they left the beginner village and the difference in strength became significant, she would find an opportunity to part ways with him and go her own way!

So now, in her eyes, Li Wu is already a core teammate who can stand shoulder to shoulder with her, and even surpass her understanding in some aspects, and is capable of causing huge waves in the future!

"Walk."

Without further ado, Hua Zitong picked up her wood-chopping knife and took the lead, heading deeper into the swamp.