I maxed out the Scholar talent at the start, but I want to be a Warrior.

drum.

These aren't temple fair drums; they're war drums. Deep, rapid, one beat after another, like fists pounding on the chest.

Gu Cheng was awakened by the sound.

He suddenly opened his eyes—a wooden ceiling, the smell of herbs, and excruciating pain all over his body. Before he could even figure out what was going on, a whole bunch of memories that didn't belong to him were crammed into his mind: a boy named Gu Cheng, living in Anle Village, a small village on the border of the Dayu Dynasty. His parents and family had died in battle ten years ago when the barbarians raided the border. He was raised by his uncle Gu Chang'an and fell off a cliff three days ago, seriously injured and unconscious.

Two memories were fighting in his mind, and the pain made his vision go black.

crossed.

Before he could process this fact, a rectangular screen of light suddenly appeared before his eyes. It was semi-transparent, visible only to him, and displayed lines of text—

He only had time to glance at it: Constitution 22, Strength 18, Spirit 69...

Then the door was kicked open.

A man with a weathered face, carrying a long spear, and with a cold, sharp gaze appeared before them.

That was Gu Chang'an, his uncle.

Behind him were a cacophony of voices, cries, and the clanging of metal.

"Awake? Hide away and take care of yourself." Gu Chang'an glanced at him, his tone urgent yet full of concern. "Don't move. Barbarian scouts have reached the outskirts of the village, and I'm organizing the able-bodied men to resist."

He turned and left after saying that.

Gu Cheng opened his mouth, but Gu Chang'an had already disappeared outside the door.

The war drums are still beating.

Gu Cheng leaned against the headboard, panting heavily. Transmigration, a system, and barbarians—three things had hit him at once, and his brain was still overloaded.

He couldn't understand how he had found himself here when he opened his eyes, having been lying in bed reading a novel.

As a veteran leader of an online literature platform, he knew that the first thing to do after transmigrating was to figure out his situation before deciding how to live.

He looked down at the screen in front of him.

【宿主：顾诚】【体质：70（上限）/ 22（重伤）】【力量：48（上限）/ 18（重伤）】【精神：100（上限）/ 69】【精神来源：原身23 +双魂融合46】【破限点：1】【战士技：无】【文士技：探查（唯一）】【擅长兵器：无】【装备道具：暂无】

Constitution 22, Strength 18, Severely injured.

For a 15-year-old boy to fall like this, the low blood pressure readings are normal.

However, with a physical constitution cap of 70 and a strength cap of 48, this body's potential has not been fully realized.

Looking at the Spirit stat, the maximum is 100, and it's currently at 69.

The text in parentheses reads "Dual Soul Fusion"—the superposition of two souls gave him a mental talent far exceeding that of ordinary people.

The upper limit is the ceiling; what he can actually use right now is the present.

He tentatively focused his attention on the "breakthrough point," and the system displayed a note:

[Limit Breakpoint: Can be consumed to increase the upper limit of a certain attribute. Currently holding: 1. Note: Spirit has reached its absolute limit and cannot be broken through further. This is a host-specific ability.]

A scream came from outside the window, followed by the sound of horses' hooves.

Very close.

Gu Cheng's heart suddenly raced. He tried silently repeating "investigate" in his mind—

The screen glowed slightly, revealing a semi-transparent layer of information in his field of vision. He looked out the window—

[Fulong Mountain, Anle Village] [Barbarian cavalry raid on the village (in progress)] [Enemy forces: approximately 120 cavalry] [Our forces: approximately 80 able-bodied militiamen (unorganized)]

120 riders.

Gu Cheng's pupils contracted slightly.

He recalled fragments from the original owner's memories—the scimitars of the barbarian cavalry, the villagers being cut down, the burning houses. One barbarian cavalryman could be exchanged for five or six militiamen; 120 cavalrymen against 80 untrained peasants—this was not war, it was slaughter.

The war drums suddenly stopped.

Instead, a furious roar came from the direction of the village's north gate—

"Gu family lads! Form ranks!"

Gu Cheng recognized the voice.

Gu Chang'an.

He struggled to climb to the window and peered out through the cracks in the wooden planks.

Flames soared into the sky from the north gate. Gu Chang'an stood at the forefront, carrying a long spear, followed by dozens of strong young men wielding hoes and machetes.

In the firelight, a dark mass of barbarian cavalry was emerging from the night. There were far more than 120 riders—that was the vanguard; more cavalry continued to appear from the mountain path.

Gu Cheng silently recited "investigate" in his mind, focusing his attention on Gu Chang'an—

【姓名：顾长安】【年龄：35】【体质：86（上限）/ 83（当前）】【力量：90（上限）/ 86+1】【精神：65（上限）/ 62（当前）】【战士技：破军枪（一阶）、惊雷枪（二阶）、龙影枪（三阶）封印、八荒破军（四阶）封印】【文士技：坚守（一阶）、落雷（二阶）封印】【擅长兵器：长枪（宗师）】【装备道具：浑铁枪（力量+1）】【状态：心魔未消（战力衰减30%）】

The original owner only had a vague concept of "strength and weakness" in her memories, such as fourth-rate and third-rate, which were all bits and pieces she picked up from casual conversations with her elders when she was a child, and she couldn't piece together a complete system.

But one thing he was certain of: Gu Chang'an was very strong.

In his memory, ten years ago when the barbarians invaded the border, Gu Chang'an once single-handedly defeated a barbarian commander of ten thousand men, striking fear into the hearts of the barbarians.

His strength, placed in a remote village like Anle Village, would be absolutely top-tier.

But the last line—

Inner demons remain (combat power reduced by 30%).

Whether it's 86 or 88, if you get a 30% discount, how much is left?

The scimitar flashed briefly in the firelight.

Gu Chang'an made a move.

He didn't retreat; instead, he charged forward. His spear trembled, and a faint glint of light appeared at its tip—

Broken Army Spear.

With a thrust of the spear, the tip carrying visible force, it pierced the chest of the leading barbarian cavalryman. The horse neighed in agony, and the rider fell to the ground.

The second cavalryman followed closely behind. Gu Chang'an dodged the curved blade to the side and then used his spear to knock the horse off its back.

The third.

the fourth.

the fifth.

The gun moves like a dragon, each shot taking a life.

The vanguard of the barbarian cavalry fell in rows before him like wheat stalked by a sickle.

The surrounding young men cheered.

But Gu Cheng noticed that after Gu Chang'an drew his gun, his body swayed noticeably.

His marksmanship was fast, but there was an unnatural pause between each shot, as if he was suppressing something.

Heart demon.

That 30% attenuation isn't a fixed reduction in injury severity, but rather a symptom that flares up every time a hit is made.

By the eighth one, the tip of Gu Chang'an's spear began to tremble slightly.

Blood seeped from his left shoulder—he didn't know when he had been slashed.

There were still more than a hundred barbarian cavalrymen.

"Form ranks! Don't scatter!" Gu Chang'an roared, his voice trembling slightly.

The able-bodied men gripped their knives and guns, their legs trembling, but not one of them retreated.

The barbarian cavalry began to disperse, with some continuing to press forward on Gu Chang'an from the front, while others circled around to the sides and charged towards the civilian houses that were not defended by soldiers.

The flames were getting closer.

The cries and screams grew louder and louder.

Gu Cheng clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms.

He looked down at his stats—Constitution 22, Strength 18, Severely Injured.

Forget about going to the battlefield, he can barely even get out of bed now.

Mental potential cap is 100, currently at 69.

The investigator can only view information, not attack people.

In his current state, even a lowly barbarian soldier could cleave him in two with a single blow.

On the screen, the "Scholar Skills" section only has one option: "Explore".

He recalled a line of system comments he had scanned earlier—

[Skill Awakening: Reaching 50 in a single attribute unlocks the first skill, 60 unlocks the second, 70 unlocks the third, and so on. The strength of the awakened skill is directly related to the attribute level at the time of awakening—the higher the attribute, the stronger the awakened skill. Those who successfully awaken are known as "the chosen ones."]

Spirit 69.

I've crossed the thresholds of 50 and 60, and am just a little short of 70.

In other words, he could theoretically awaken another scholar skill.

But how do I trigger it?

The system didn't say.

"boom--"

A loud bang.

The wall behind Gu Cheng was smashed.

A wild horse charged in from the broken wood, the barbarian cavalryman on its back had a fierce face, and blood was still dripping from his scimitar.

He saw Gu Cheng on the bed, grinned, and spurred his horse straight over.

The scimitar was raised.

The blade reflected the firelight.

Gu Cheng's mind became exceptionally clear in that instant.

It wasn't calmness—it was that when fear reached its peak, the body instinctively cleared away all distracting thoughts.

He couldn't hear or feel anything; all he could see was the falling scimitar.

The screen suddenly lit up.

A line of text exploded—

[Host's mental concentration is highly concentrated. The conditions for awakening the second Scholar's Skill have been met.]

[Awakening Conditions: Spirit ≥ 60 (Already met) / High mental concentration during extreme fear (Currently met) / Host actively triggered (Not triggered)] [Attempt Awakening?]

The scimitar was already overhead.

Gu Cheng did not hesitate.

"Awaken!"

White light flooded my mind.

The pain was excruciating—even more intense than when I traveled through time, as if someone had driven a red-hot iron needle into my forehead.

He gritted his teeth, his nails dug into his palms, and blood flowed down between his fingers.

In the white light, an image appeared before his eyes—

Three throwing knives.

These were no ordinary throwing knives. The blades were translucent, gleaming with a cold, eerie light, as if they were formed from spiritual energy. They hovered in front of him, their tips pointing outwards, trembling slightly.

The image disappeared.

The intense pain receded.

The scimitar was still falling.

Gu Cheng's body moved before his brain did—he suddenly raised his right hand, and three semi-transparent cold lights condensed between his index and middle fingers.

He was thrown out.

Three throwing knives shot out into the air.

The first blow pierced the right wrist of the barbarian cavalryman who was holding the sword.

The scimitar slipped from his hand, spinning as it flew toward the ceiling and embedded itself deeply into the wooden beam.

The second blow pierced his throat.

The barbarian cavalrymen froze.

He looked down at the translucent blade against his neck, his eyes filled with disbelief.

The third blow pierced his forehead.

He fell backward and tumbled off the horse.

It crashed heavily to the ground and never moved again.

The wild horse was startled, neighed, and crashed through another wall before charging away.

The room fell silent for a moment.

Gu Cheng was panting heavily, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.

Sweat mixed with blood soaked through his clothes, and a trace of coolness lingered between the middle and index fingers of his right hand.

He looked down at his hands—there was nothing there.

A new line of text appeared on the screen:

[Awakening Successful.] [Gained Scholar Skill: Flying Daggers (Tier 1)] [Flying Daggers (Tier 1, Scholar Skill): Condenses spiritual energy into flying daggers for ranged attacks. Currently, up to 3 daggers can be condensed, each dealing a small amount of spiritual damage. Power increases with spiritual attribute and skill level.]

Three throwing knives.

He killed a barbarian cavalryman.

Gu Cheng stared at the corpse on the ground, his chest heaving violently.

The throwing knife had dissipated, leaving only three charred holes.

No blood flowed from the wound—the marks of the mental energy burning were blackened at the edges, like they had been branded with a hot iron.

Scribes skills.

He awakened.

The original owner's memories contained this concept—those who could awaken warrior skills or scholar skills were called "the chosen ones".

Outside the window, Gu Chang'an's furious roar pierced the night: "Hold on! Hold on for me!"

Gu Cheng clenched his still trembling right hand and stood up.

My legs are very weak.

The wound is tearing open. Vision is blurred.

But he stood up.