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

The Misty Swamp, as its name suggests, is filled with a nauseating stench and a putrid smell.

A string of bubbles occasionally rose from the murky mud, as if something was breathing underwater.

The monster here is a level 3 [Corrupted Crocodile].

[Rotten Crocodile]

[Level: LV3]

[HP: 210/210]

Attack Power: 25

[Skill: Death Roll]

Compared to the level 1 Corrupted Treant, these crocodiles not only have more health, but also an extra skill, making them significantly more difficult to deal with.

"I'll lure the monsters, you find opportunities to deal damage."

Hua Zitong gave a brief explanation, then gripped her machete and cautiously approached a decaying crocodile that was dozing by the edge of a mud pit.

Li Wu took a deep breath and drew back the arcane bow in his hand.

After the upgrade, he can now shoot a total of twelve arrows.

Although the increase in attack power is not significant, it is undoubtedly a huge improvement.

"roar!"

Hua Zitong slashed the crocodile's tail with her knife, eliciting an angry roar.

-25!

The corrupted crocodile suddenly turned around and opened its blood-red maw to bite at Hua Zitong!

Hua Zitong neither dodged nor evaded, but instead lowered her body, and the machete drew a tricky arc from bottom to top, accurately blocking the crocodile's jaw!

Clang!

-35!

A huge damage number appeared above Hua Zitong's head, and her health bar dropped a little bit instantly.

Such high attack power!

Li Wu's heart tightened, and he dared not be negligent. The energy arrow that he had already prepared was instantly released from the bow!

call out!

-9!

It's even less damage than before!

Helpless, Li Wu added all his free attribute points to Intelligence, with only a small amount added to Strength when leveling up.

Although it's impossible to discern the defensive attributes of this corrupted crocodile, it's certainly higher than the level one corrupted magic tree from before.

This is the result of the situation.

In the murky swamp, Hua Zitong nimbly dodged the bites of the decaying crocodiles.

Each swing of her machete whistled through the air, landing precisely on the crocodile's relatively vulnerable belly or joints.

-25!

-26!

The damage numbers kept popping up steadily, but the crocodile had a full 210 health points, and each kill required a lot of her energy.

What's more troublesome is that the Corrupted Crocodile's attack power far exceeds that of the previous Treant.

Several times, in order to find the best angle to attack, Hua Zitong had to endure the crocodile's attacks head-on, and her health bar dropped piece by piece.

Whenever her health drops below half, she will not hesitate to pull out a bottle of cheap red potion from her backpack and gulp it down.

+30!

The medicine had an immediate effect, but Li Wu felt uneasy about it.

He stood not far away, mechanically drawing his bow and shooting arrows.

call out!

-9!

call out!

-9!

Each arrow fired dealt pitifully low damage, as if it were merely tickling a thick-skinned, decaying crocodile.

He's like a pendant now, a cheerleader who only knows how to shout "666".

No, he wasn't even as good as a cheerleader; he didn't even dare to make a sound, for fear of disturbing Hua Zitong's fighting rhythm.

After firing all twelve arrows, he had to immediately sit cross-legged and race against time to recover his mana.

Hua Zitong bore all the pressure alone.

Lure monsters, tank damage, deal damage... she's like a tireless fighting machine.

But Li Wu clearly saw that when she drank the third bottle of inferior treatment medicine, her brows furrowed involuntarily.

This [inferior healing potion] is sold at the pharmacy in the starting village, but it's quite expensive, costing 20 copper coins per bottle.

They had only earned about a hundred copper coins from completing missions, plus the hundred copper coins each person received upon entering the Origin Realm.

I only bought fifteen bottles of healing potions!

If this level of consumption continues, how can we achieve efficient monster farming?

Li Wu's heart sank, and a strong sense of powerlessness and shame welled up inside her.

He's a man, yet he expects a girl to fight for him on the front lines, while he can only coast along in the back, barely contributing anything.

This feeling is a hundred times worse than being judged as having a "trash profession" when you awaken!

No!

It can't go on like this!

Li Wu suddenly stood up from the ground, staring at his control panel.

"Right now, all my attribute points are in Intelligence, which has resulted in my magic attack being almost twice as powerful as my physical attack!"

"But how do I use this magic attack?!"

Li Wu discovered that no matter how he shot arrows, they all dealt physical damage. But since the class name was Arcane Archer, magical attacks must have some use.

"Arcane Tome?!"

Li Wu's eyes lit up when he suddenly saw the Arcane Tome in his backpack!

Yes, and I also have the Arcane Tome!

He was so focused on leveling up and getting familiar with his talents that he completely forgot about this!

A thought flashed through Li Wu's mind, and an ancient book emitting a faint light appeared out of thin air in his palm.

【Arcane Tome (Bound)】

[Rank: None]

[Type: Job-Based]

[Effect: Records all arcane incantations; the source of all Arcane Archer skills.]

[Introduction: Arcane is language, and cryptic script is letters. When you learn to write, the whole world will sing for you.]

The moment the book was turned, Li Wu's mind felt as if it had been overwhelmed by an invisible torrent.

Thirty-six ancient and complex symbols, carrying an ineffable amount of information, were forcibly poured into the depths of his consciousness.

That wasn't written words; it was more like... a primordial perception.

"Blazing"—he felt as if he were at the heart of a volcano, experiencing the violent pulse of energy as it was released from its restraints.

"Pan"—he felt himself transformed into an unmoving mountain range, experiencing the most solid and stable structural force within matter.

"Flow"—his consciousness seemed to merge with the stream, glide over the pebbles, and then rise as clouds, experiencing the all-pervasive adaptation and transmission.

"Glory", "Darkness", "Fleeting", "Eternity"...

Each symbol represents an abstract description of the world's most fundamental level.

This flood of information comes quickly and goes quickly.

Within just two or three seconds, Li Wu's forehead was covered in cold sweat, and his face was pale.

He looked at the Arcane Codex in his hand again, and the pages had returned to their original ancient state, as if everything just now was an illusion.

But in his spiritual world, the thirty-six secret texts were imprinted on him, clearly visible.

It turns out that learning skills from books is not as simple as just learning.

Instead, create skills!

The Book of Arcane Arts contains thirty-six different arcane runes, upon which all skills are built.

These cryptic texts are less words and more descriptions of the essence of the world, the most primal interpretations of its laws. They have no concrete form, yet can be conjured into all sorts of magical effects through thought.

"Arcane Archer... Arcane runes... My skills must be inscribed on arrows through these runes!" Li Wu suddenly realized.

Since Hua Zitong's healing potions consume a lot of energy, why doesn't he try learning a healing skill?

This would not only relieve her stress, but also prevent him from becoming a useless person who only knows how to scratch an itch.

He flipped through the arcane tomes again, searching for any texts related to healing, and finally pinpointed the [Heal] text in the "Art of Manipulation" and the [Glory] text in the "Form of Origin".

These two secret messages, judging from their surface meaning, must be related to treatment!

"Yu...Rong..."

Li Wu closed his eyes, the images of the two cryptic texts appearing in his mind as he pondered their deeper meaning.

This was a hundred times more difficult than he had imagined!

Understanding even a single cipher text had already consumed a tremendous amount of his energy.

Li Wu gritted his teeth and refocused. He tried to understand it in a more abstract and intuitive way.

"The healing process... allows the goal to return to its wholeness."

"Glory...is to give it life."

As his understanding deepened!

Suddenly, Li Wu felt two bright lights appear in his mind, one of which was "Heal" and the other was "Glory".

Become!

I've finally figured out these two secret texts!

But that's not all!

He also needs to combine them and inscribe them onto the energy arrows.

He could feel his abundant mana being rapidly depleted. Each failed attempt took away a small portion of his mana.

"No, we can't give up!"

He began to imagine how, when a wound appeared, arcane energy would flow like gentle water, infusing the vitality of [Glory] and then using the restorative power of [Heal] to reconnect and heal the damaged tissue.

This process requires extreme focus and precise control over energy.

He tried to use his mind to draw the combination of the two cryptic symbols on the energy arrow in his hand.

The first time, the energy arrow trembled slightly before dissipating into the air.

The second time, a faint green light appeared on the arrow, but it quickly faded away.

The third time, he felt he had touched some kind of threshold. He could almost hear the dialogue between the ciphers and feel the resonance they created when they combined.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, but his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

"Yes! That's it!"

He opened his eyes and saw a bright green energy arrow silently floating on the arcane bow in his hand. This arrow emitted a faint glow, completely different from the white energy arrows he had shot earlier.

It worked!

Although he didn't know how effective it would be, at least he had successfully inscribed the secret text onto the arrow!

"roar!"

The roar of the corrupted crocodile came again, startling Li Wu from his immersion in arcane magic.

He looked at the battlefield; Hua Zitong's health had dropped to half again.

Without a second thought, Li Wu abruptly raised his arcane bow and aimed at Hua Zitong!

"Hua Zitong! Catch!"

He roared and shot out the emerald green energy arrow, which was imbued with the secret runes of [Heal] and [Glory]!