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

Hua Zitong's clear eyes swept over him, finally settling on his hands.

Where is your weapon?

arms?

Li Wu was taken aback. He noticed that Hua Zitong was holding a worn-out wood-chopping knife, and then realized that he was empty-handed.

Yeah, the profession is Arcane Archer, so at least you need a bow!

On a whim, he opened his backpack and found it completely empty.

He then opened his equipment inventory and discovered that a bow icon was already equipped in his weapon inventory.

How do I take it out?

Li Wu tried silently reciting in his mind: "Summon weapon."

next second.

hum-

With a slight spatial tremor, a longbow composed of pale blue light appeared out of thin air in his right hand.

This bow has an extremely simple design; the translucent bow body has no superfluous decorations, only emitting a faint light.

At the same time, a thick, ancient book with a dark blue leather cover inlaid with silver runes floated quietly to his left, its pages moving without wind, making a soft "rustling" sound.

Arcane Bow (Normal) (Bound)

[Type: Weapon]

[Requirement Level: None]

[Required Class: Arcane Archer]

Physical Attack: +5

[Magic Attack: +5]

[Special Effect: Constructs energy arrows using mana, eliminating the need for ordinary arrows.]

Promotion Requirements: Absorb 5 pieces of equipment of the same level.

"Arcane Bow, Arcane Tome"

Hua Zitong's voice rang out, and she seemed to be quite familiar with these two things.

"The Arcane Bow is an exclusive weapon for Arcane Archers; it cannot be dropped or replaced. The advantage is that you don't need to buy arrows; it directly consumes your mana to generate energy arrows."

She paused, then added a fatal flaw.

"But the cost is that it consumes an extremely large amount of mana!"

"As for that arcane tome, all your unique skills will need to be learned from it. The price is that you cannot learn any general skill books."

"That's all I know. The rest you'll have to figure out on your own."

Li Wu nodded, thinking to herself, "I thought you knew everything!"

However, having a custom weapon sounds pretty cool.

Before leaving the village, the two also picked up several other beginner quests, such as "killing field mice," "killing slimes," and "gathering herbs," because even a mosquito bite is still a bite.

Afterwards, the two officially left the dilapidated starting village.

"Let's go to the Misty Swamp in the west. The Corrupted Treants there are extremely slow-moving, have high health and defense, and nobody wants to fight them. It's perfect for you to practice."

With a clear goal in mind, Hua Zitong led Li Wu directly west of the beginner village.

They perfectly bypassed the slime spawn areas that were teeming with newbie players.

Looking around, there were heads everywhere, more than monsters. A dozen people were frantically attacking a jelly-like slime, and the scene was extremely chaotic.

Soon, they arrived at a swamp that reeked of decay.

The ground here was muddy and murky, with eerie bubbles rising from the dark green puddles. The skeletons of unknown animals hung from several withered, crooked trees, creating a sinister atmosphere.

"roar……"

A deep roar came from not far away.

A humanoid monster, entangled with rotting tree roots and pitch-black vines, was moving its body at an extremely slow pace.

It has no facial features, only a thick trunk covered with dark green moss and disgusting fungi.

Information about the monster automatically appeared before Li Wu's eyes.

Corrupted Tree Spirit (Normal)

[Level: 1]

[HP: 200/200]

[Skills: None]

[Description: A plant corrupted by evil forces, slow-moving but with tenacious vitality.]

A full 200 health points!

Those slimes at the village entrance with only 80 HP are nothing compared to it! No wonder nobody comes here!

"You do it." Hua Zitong stepped back a few steps, completely handing the battlefield over to him. "Try your attacks and get a feel for the moves."

Li Wu nodded, suppressing the distracting thoughts in his mind.

He mimicked the way archers do in movies, holding the arcane bow in his left hand and pulling back the virtual bowstring made of energy with his right.

A strange feeling came over me.

There was no physical arrow, but as he drew the bowstring, the surrounding energy rapidly gathered, and an arrow made entirely of pure white light quickly condensed and took shape on the bow!

Aim!

put!

call out!

The arrow of light shot out of the bow, leaving a blinding white trail in the dim environment, and with a whooshing sound, it accurately struck the trunk of the corrupted tree spirit!

-10!

A small but significant red damage number appeared above the Corrupted Treant's head.

A total of 10 points of damage, is that damage... okay?

Li Wu felt a little uneasy.

Before he could think of anything else, the next second, his gaze inadvertently fell on the blue bar representing mana in the upper right corner of his attribute panel, and he froze.

[Mana Points: 80/100]

"???"

Li Wu blinked hard, momentarily doubting whether she was seeing things.

That arrow just now, just one shot, actually... actually consumed a full 20 points of his mana?!

He only has 100 mana points in total!

Doesn't that mean I can only shoot five arrows?

After five arrows, he became a useless piece of trash who could only stare blankly.

How are we supposed to play like this? Shoot five arrows, then sit still and wait for mana to regenerate?

At this moment, he finally understood why this profession was called "the weakest hidden profession in history" by everyone!

"Bang!"

Just as he stood there stunned, a dull thud suddenly came from ahead.

It's Hua Zitong!

In those few seconds of shock, the corrupted tree spirit had already slowly moved over.

Seeing him standing there in a daze, without saying a word, Hua Zitong grabbed the broken woodcutter's knife and charged forward, slashing the tree spirit hard with the knife!

-20!

-20!

-20!

Hua Zitong's movements were clean and efficient, each attack precisely striking the same spot, with damage numbers constantly appearing above her head.

It dealt 20 points of damage!

It's twice my own!

Moreover, she doesn't need to expend any magic power at all!

Li Wu felt a burning sensation on her face as she watched this scene.

This gap is too big!

Just as he was thinking, the tenacious decaying tree spirit finally let out a wail, collapsed to the ground, and turned into a pile of rotten wood chips.

【Ding! 】

[You participated in the defeat of the 'Corrupted Treant' and have gained 1 experience point.]

At the same time, a completely different system notification sound quietly rang out deep in his mind!

[Ding! The talent 'Soul Devourer' has been successfully triggered!]

[You have successfully absorbed the life energy released by the hatching tree spirit. Luck +0.01, Intelligence +0.01]

He stared intently at the two lines of golden system notifications that only he could see, his blood seemingly about to boil over in that instant!

coming!

It's really coming!

This talent... it really can absorb attributes!

Although it was only a negligible 0.01 point, so small that it could be almost ignored.

But this represents infinite possibilities!

As long as he keeps killing monsters, his luck and intelligence can increase indefinitely!

Arcane Archer is weak in the early game? High mana cost? Low damage output?

That's all because of a lack of intelligence!

Intelligence directly affects magical attack power, maximum mana, and skill effects!

As long as his intelligence increases, the mana consumption problem will be solved sooner or later! His damage will also increase!

And luck!

That's the rarest and most mysterious attribute! It affects drop rates, critical hits, and can even trigger serendipitous encounters!

At this moment, all the previous despair, resentment, and frustration vanished! In their place came ecstasy and excitement!

Li Wu suddenly raised his head and looked at another corrupted tree spirit wandering not far away.

At that moment, the slow-moving, foul-smelling monster was no longer an annoying obstacle in his eyes.

Those were glittering attribute points, points that could allow him to defy fate!