Chapter 11: Hey, Reincarnator

"Click." A soft snap, and the last buckle was fastened.

Li En put on this fine, lightweight leather armor, with a faint blue arcane shimmer playing across its surface.

Rumor had it the leather came from a petrified giant lizard supplied by Li En's own clan; while alive, its hide was tough enough to turn an ordinary blade.

Normally, paladins and warriors both preferred heavy armor; only rangers, rogues, and other light-class professions liked leather, since a light hide wouldn't hamper their agile movement.

"This armor's really something." Li En ran a hand lightly over the lizard scales, well pleased with its thinness and toughness.

Forcing himself into armor was a move born of necessity, but this was already the best protection Li En could actually wear; a real suit of plate would crush him flat as he stood now.

For pure melee classes like paladins and warriors, though, having armor versus not having it was two entirely different things.

Being able to take a hit and trade blows versus having to dodge every single strike — the margin for error and the room to adjust one's tactics in real combat were worlds apart.

Paladins especially, those tanky melee fighters who loved trading wound for wound with their foes, were more than half-crippled without armor.

Li En picked up a fruit knife and drew it lightly across the surface; not even a mark. He nodded, satisfied — it would do for now.

The enchantment layered over the thick hide of the petrified lizard gave it, at only slightly more weight than ordinary leather, the defensive rating of chainmail; though still inferior to a Supernatural item-grade petrified giant lizard's full body, cheap arrows couldn't pierce it easily.

He could go in swinging, but only for one hit, only a little.

Watching Li En grin happily as he kept stroking the armor, Talia beside him opened her mouth, blushed for a heartbeat, and finally turned her head away.

This wasn't gear supplied by the precinct — they weren't rich enough to own magical items. This was Talia's personal stash from her adventuring days; even though it was a unisex cut and deliberately weathered, it still carried a faint orange-blossom scent.

She'd specially asked an enchanter-tailor friend to alter it in a rush; since her original build was already a good bit larger than Li En's, cutting away some material and trimming it down made it just barely serviceable.

Li En didn't notice this little episode; his hairless-ape-grade sense of smell wasn't sharp enough.

"Tch, combat power below 5, trash." The armor was still a touch too big, and looking in the mirror at his scrawny self — even a fitted leather suit hanging loose on him — Li En could only laugh at himself.

But self-mockery aside, his physical foundation being so poor was the one reality he couldn't dodge right now.

"To put it bluntly, if we corner that killer now, there's a high chance the whole team gets killed instead."

Justice requires strength, and right now Li En had none.

Li En's current combat ability was fine for bullying small-time thugs, but against a real Supernatural being, the hard flaw of being a "degenerate (hairless ape)" was right there on the table.

【Creature Grade: Inferior Stone. Status: Strength 2, Physique 3, Agility 3, Spirit 5 (16).】

【Draconic Shift: 3%. Awakened Racial Talent: Dragon Eye (Pierce to Truth).】

【Beast Shift: 2.5%. Awakened Bloodline Ability: Tongue of Tongues (Understand Human Speech).】

These were his body's baseline stats; how to put it — a comparison would make it clear.

【Creature Grade: Rough Stone. Status: Strength 4–5, Physique 5, Agility 3, Spirit?】

【Racial Talent: Four-Chamber Cud (Rough Stone).】

【Assessment: Purely on hardware, he could beat three of you and you'd never grind him down — he just breathes and eats and heals back up.】

This was the data on the minotaur little Belain; Li En had gotten it naturally by touching the ancient book at his waist while observing with Dragon Eye.

These numbers weren't linear either — the higher they climbed, the wider the gap.

This minotaur warrior, who had never undergone a species leap, had at least triple Li En's strength, plus the racial talent of breathing to regenerate.

Worth mentioning: previously Li En's Dragon Eye could only appraise himself; now it could appraise others — a result of the Heroic Soul possessing his body.

On one hand, the Heroic Soul possession had massively boosted his Spirit stat (soul, mental power); on the other, there was that powerful Soul Skill of Su Er's.

【Soul Skill: Wall Smasher (Gold): Your will is your warhammer. A Supernatural ability infused with your will and fury, capable of partially ignoring the target's defenses.】

This Soul Skill was strong; stacked onto Li En's racial talent Dragon Eye, it let him see straight through the target's base abilities and racial talents.

"This is worse than being blind." But it didn't seem any different — before, everything was question marks; now, everyone he looked at was a big, beefy dude.

Reality was cruel: it wasn't that the minotaur was too strong, but that Li En was too weak.

【Creature Grade: Bai Yin. Status: Strength 10+, Physique 10+, Agility 12+, Spirit?】

【Known Racial Talents: Blood Scent (Rough Stone), Lightfoot Flicker (Bronze), Blood-Soaked Frenzy (Bai Yin). Assessment: Keep staring, keep staring and I'll eat you up!】

This absurdly overpowered set of stats belonged to Talia, the precinct-flower superior who was always hovering around Li En.

A former underground explorer, she could take ten Li Ens at full health with one hand.

Physical hardware was the foundation of everything; against crushing-level stats ten or even a hundred times higher, even superior combat techniques and class skills couldn't do much.

The so-called Rough Stone grade was the normal adult average for orcs in this world — datanized, it was barely an average of 5.

And Li En's "Inferior Stone (Crushed Stone)" rating was something only the disabled and degenerates had, on par with children — almost an average of 2.

Talia's Bai Yin species had gone through at least two evolutionary leaps; not only were her hardware stats monstrous, she'd awakened at least three powerful racial abilities along the way, plus combat styles, class skills, and even Soul Skills built around them.

Rumor had it Talia was the number-one fighter of the three precincts in the dock district. Li En didn't think that serial killer was stronger than her — otherwise the killer wouldn't have deliberately avoided her patrol zone.

Also worth noting: from the Juan Sect files Li En noticed the crime scenes completely skirted Talia's area. That might be why she fundamentally didn't trust the precinct in the first place — she'd originally planned to catch that murderer alone.

But in the eyes of someone this strong, the "Li En at full power" could casually one-shot her, acting like a brainless little fangirl. Li En could no longer estimate just how strong Su Er really was — that Tier-6 paladin in the Heroic Soul-possessed state on the first day might have been the absolute limit of Li En's body.

After all, the Su Er in his memories was a grey-haired great wolfkin who moved like lightning, a quasi-mythical physical specimen; this broken body of his must have been very uncomfortable for Su Er to use.

"Even just for self-defense, I have to have power. This time might be my chance."

After using the Heroic Soul card to save himself, and after "Su Er" hacked down that noble Young Master, Li En had no retreat left — he couldn't entrust his life to a nobleman's magnanimity and sense of propriety.

Even if someone protected him now, could they protect him for a moment, let alone a lifetime?

He craved the power to protect himself as soon as possible, and this time might be the chance for a public-funds procurement.

More important than money was a channel to obtain Supernatural items — and until now, Li En had had neither.

"The Cursed Ogre Gauntlets — I'm still trying to acquire them, but… don't get your hopes up. Their production is entirely random; nobody dares use cursed items day to day, and even if an alchemist makes one, they might just destroy it on the spot. I've mobilized my explorer contacts to hunt them down, but that takes time…"

If the hardware wasn't there, in this Supernatural world, patching the gap with "gear" and "magic/divine spells" was viable — and there were plenty of precedents.

"So, a relic that uses Holy Power… alright, got it." Watching the female officer's tail droop as she shook her head, Li En could only sigh.

This was expected — everything he'd named was rare.

In these final ten days, he still had some temporary class levels; the Ancient Oath Knight's strength wasn't low, and with Su Er's combat experience, as long as he had suitable hardware (base stats), Li En wasn't without a fighting chance.

Patching up base stats couldn't be done by normal means, and species ascension wasn't a short-term matter… but crooked, off-the-wall methods? Li En actually knew a few!

The cursed Ogre Gauntlet, in its normal form known as the "Giant Strength Gauntlet," is a highly effective magical item for boosting strength, favored and widely used by melee fighters.

Among the materials for such items, core components often include the "arm muscles and bones" of "Giant Strength Creatures."

During the processing by alchemists and enchanters, there is a certain probability that the vengeful spirits of the dead will curse the item, giving rise to the classic "Cursed Ogre Gauntlet."

A normal Giant Strength Gauntlet enhances the user's strength based on their original capacity.

The effect of the Giant Strength Gauntlet after being cursed is actually stronger, directly "fixing the user's strength at the Ogre tier."

This value, Li En estimated conservatively at over 12 points, has already reached the standard level of a third-tier Paladin.

As a price, if used for too long, your arms will truly turn into Ogre arms, and gradually the entire race will deviate and twist; to put it bluntly, you will become the victim's Ogre.

"For a normal Giant Strength Gauntlet, I can think of a way." Cursed items are too rare, often carrying extremely strong side effects, and it is hard to specifically buy one in the short term.

Talia is actually already quite formidable; the Giant Strength Gauntlet is originally a very high-end and precious magical item, and a Cursed Giant Strength Gauntlet is something you can encounter but not seek out.

If it really cannot be done, post a long-term acquisition request and try your luck, but there is truly no time now, so Talia must use her connections to try.

"It won't work; the amplification effect is too far off, and my hand will break."

Even if the Giant Strength Gauntlet adds one or two points of strength, the actual effect is nearly doubled; Li En is still at the tier of a strength-less chicken.

More troublesome is that his constitution, as fragile as paper, cannot withstand the sudden surge of strength, and the final result might be a broken hand or foot the moment he exerts force.

Strength-type warriors must possess excellent constitution; this is common sense in this world, and a fragile physique is Li En's biggest problem right now.

Then, why was Su Er so fierce when possessing him back then? This must mention the specialty of the Paladin profession.

It is generally an advancement for pure warriors, but it combines divine arts and holy power; although it requires divided attention, it still possesses melee capabilities exceeding ordinary warriors by a margin, and is known for heavy armor and high magic resistance.

The reason is quite simple: among its divine arts, there is a host of abilities that use "divine arts" to strengthen one's own body.

"Without Holy Power Arts, it is truly difficult." Without obtaining such a holy artifact, Li En is truly very depressed; this is the thing he needs most right now.

Holy Power Arts are a divine art system starting at the third ring (tier); it can convert holy power, divine arts, and spiritual power into pure physical strength, while constitution and magic resistance are both enhanced.

In the early stages of a Paladin, this ability is actually a useless bone.

Even if you enhance it, you still cannot defeat a pure warrior; melee brutes have obvious advantages in combat technique and hardware, and your small amount of spiritual power and holy power can at most buff one or two attribute points, unable to cause a qualitative change.

But for high-tier Paladins, this is an essential ability; the buff magnitude will be terrifying, giving birth to a heavily armored tank that cultivates both strength and constitution with high magic resistance.

Right now, Li En still has as high as seventeen points of temporary spiritual power (given by Su Er's possession state); once buffed by Holy Power Arts, it will be quite terrifying. Li En estimated Su Er's on the first day was even higher, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to kill a kid with a single slash; he must have also attached holy power to the blade.

Li En does not know Holy Power Arts here; items capable of using divine arts are rare and precious, called holy artifacts, and basically only the True God Church has the qualification to hold them.

For them, Talia's face, or even the face of the entire city's police system, is not enough to look at.

Can Li En borrow it himself? Holy artifacts capable of using third-tier divine arts are not cheap; he simply cannot afford this cost, nor does he have time to get to know people and go through procedures.

"Holy Power Arts are indispensable in this system..."

The Cursed Giant Strength Gauntlet, Holy Power Arts, and a high-resistance Paladin form a classic bug in the Paladin profession card.

Use the cursed gauntlet to get strength for free, then use your own high resistance to resist the curse, and even turn the malicious curse of "turning into an Ogre" into a long-term gain of "enhanced arm strength."

And at Li En's current level, without the resistance and physique enhanced by Holy Power Arts, he really won't last long before turning into an Ogre.

In this world, high-level combat power is systematic, and within this "express train" Paladin system, Holy Power Arts in the divine art system are the key.

You might not be able to get a high-quality Cursed Giant Strength Gauntlet, but Holy Power Arts are definitely needed.

"As expected, there is only one thing to try."

【Detected that the synchronization rate of the first Heroic Soul exceeds 20%; the Heroic Soul grants the host recognition, activating the Dream Training Mode (this mode will trigger a series of unknown consequences, please choose carefully)】

Activating the Heroic Soul card, while gaining power, Li En also sensed the impact of a level of schizophrenia.

He doesn't know if this is good or bad, but right now, there seems to be no choice.

"Activate it tonight."

If it cannot be obtained here, there is only trying to obtain it from the Heroic Soul.

After finishing a day's work, Li En returned to his residence, put away his equipment, and placed the blade by his bedside.

"Dream Training Mode... Start." Touching the unknown ancient book, Li En gradually fell into slumber.

This night was dreamless, or rather, a long, long dream.

But just as it began, a somewhat familiar voice gave Li En a big surprise.

"Yo, transmigration Li En Sudar, you're here?"

(End of this chapter)