Chapter 5: Chapter 5

Once Mu Ying managed to keep her spellcasting cost at just 1 mana, she started practicing her second level 0 cantrip: Light.

This time, her progress was much faster. On her first attempt, she managed to conjure a marble-sized ball of light at her fingertip. It wasn’t quite up to the standard brightness of the Light spell, but the mana cost wasn’t too high.

With frequent casting, her mana was quickly depleted. Even if she wanted to practice nonstop, she couldn’t—she had to spend a lot of time recovering before she could continue.

It took her most of the day to finally get her mana consumption under control while casting, though the spell’s effect was still below standard. Still, it was good enough for now.

Mu Ying looked longingly at the powerful effects of the level 1 spells and sighed. “This apocalypse game is just too hard!”

She’d gotten lucky—she happened to be on a sparsely populated mountain, and after taking out the nearby zombies, she could find a safe place to slowly learn her class abilities.

But she was in the minority. Most people were still in densely populated cities. Just imagining that scene—zombies equal in number to humans, and anyone bitten would turn into one too—was terrifying.

Even if you got into the game and gained abilities, you’d still need time to learn them. Trying to escape a horde of zombies with just that would be nearly impossible.

Still, as long as you could find a place to hole up for a while, killing zombies wasn’t that hard. There was still hope."

"Mana took too long to recover. With her mana depleted, there was still time to practice skills, so Mu Ying seized the opportunity to familiarize herself with her abilities.

She currently had three class skills. The techniques for using these skills were directly imprinted into her mind, so they weren’t difficult to learn.

However, most skills didn’t have fixed effects. Although there weren’t clear level distinctions, factors like class level, skill proficiency, and one’s understanding of the skill all influenced its effectiveness.

Of the three skills, only Animal Companion wasn’t affected by proficiency.

Every druid could use this skill to gain an animal companion—and only one. Unless the previous companion died or was sent away through a ritual, you couldn’t get another.

With hopes of summoning a powerful animal companion that matched her own aesthetic—ideally something fluffy and easy to care for—Mu Ying used the skill.

The result was both hilarious and exasperating.

Within the summoning circle appeared a palm-sized, chubby little creature with sparse black-and-white fur, its pink skin clearly visible beneath.

It was exactly her type—absolutely adorable—but it was just too small! This was obviously a newborn panda!

Mu Ying carefully scooped it up. In her player’s manual, the Animal Companion skill had changed to [Animal Companion (Ailuropoda)], and she could expand it to view its details.

[Nickname: To be chosen]

[Species: Ailuropoda (Giant Panda)]

[Stage: Infant]

[HP: 100%]

[Talent: Feeding (Can slowly increase attributes and awaken abilities by eating. As an infant, it can only consume liquid foods.)]

[Attributes: Strength 1, Constitution 1, Agility 1, Intelligence 5, Perception 5, Charisma 15]

[Abilities: Emotional Bond, Loyalty]

Perhaps due to its young age, its strength, constitution, and agility were extremely low, but just looking at its Feeding talent, it was clear this little one was different from the pandas in zoos—easy to raise, with plenty of potential.

Mu Ying was instantly smitten. This talent meant that as long as she could provide enough food, the little guy could keep growing and stay with her for a long time.

Through their emotional bond, Mu Ying could also sense its feelings. The way it clung to her finger and sucked on it with gusto made it obvious—it was hungry.

As for liquid food, all she had right now was water. She warmed some up and fed it to the panda, and to her surprise, it drank happily.

A wave of contentment came through their bond. Mu Ying felt a bit guilty—it wasn’t like she meant to neglect a national treasure, but she really didn’t have any extra supplies.

A little worried about whether the little one could grow up healthy with her, Mu Ying decided to name it “Roundy,” hoping it would grow up strong and sturdy.

Once the little panda was full and fell asleep, Mu Ying tucked it into her pocket, walked up to a tree, closed her eyes, and used Nature Sense.

In her perception, countless streams of natural energy flowed within the tree, vibrant with life. Mu Ying curiously “watched,” but before she could see clearly, she was forced out of the Nature Sense state.

After several attempts, she managed to maintain it a bit longer each time, and her perception grew clearer. Mu Ying felt herself drawing closer to nature, a curious and wonderful sensation.

[You have completed a class cultivation and gained 1 class experience.]

She hadn’t expected that using Nature Sense would grant class experience—an unexpected bonus. Mu Ying immersed herself in the Nature Sense perspective again.

This time, she noticed that in one area, the natural energy was a bit dim and sluggish, not flowing smoothly. Normally, vibrant natural energy appeared as a crystalline green.

Mu Ying opened her eyes and checked the spot. There, she found a dodder seedling parasitizing the tree, absorbing its nutrients. Mu Ying carefully removed the dodder, then used Nature Sense to harmonize the tree’s natural energy. Soon, the stagnant area began to flow smoothly again.

[You have completed a class cultivation and gained 2 class experience.]

Mu Ying pondered. A druid’s power came from nature. To gain more strength, she naturally couldn’t be separated from nature. Drawing close to, understanding, and protecting nature—all of these could count as class cultivation.

But what exactly was nature? Mu Ying felt that nature was the environment all living things depended on, with plants being the most important part of that environment. So, places with lush vegetation had the densest natural energy—like this forest.

On Deep Blue Star, forest coverage was actually quite low. Human traces covered almost every part of the planet, occupying most of the land. Many mountains and forests had been destroyed, and the natural environment was far from ideal—desperately in need of restoration.

Suddenly, Mu Ying felt a cool sensation on her wrist.

She raised her left hand and saw that the vine bracelet she’d worn since childhood seemed to come alive, emitting a faint green glow. A spring of water, about the size of a teacup, appeared before her.

This bracelet, the only thing possibly connected to her origins, had suddenly changed. Mu Ying felt a sense of “finally, it’s happening.”

As someone who had awakened memories of a past life, how could she not have a cheat item? Of everything she owned, the bracelet was the most suspicious. She’d tried all sorts of experiments on it before, but none had worked.

Now, she finally felt a connection with the bracelet, as if she’d finally gained its recognition. With a thought, she could make it merge into her wrist, turning into a faint vine-shaped mark.

Curious, Mu Ying used the item identification function on the bracelet.

[Nature’s Bracelet]

[Quality: Orange—Mythic]

[Effect 1: Spring of Restoration: As a practitioner of nature’s path of restoration, you can use Nature’s Bracelet to manifest a spring. The water within has nourishing and restorative powers, and long-term use can cause species to evolve in better directions. The further you progress on the path of restoration, the greater the quantity and potency of the spring water.]

[Note: This equipment has not yet revealed all its powers. Its limits are unknown, and it can only be wielded by a recognized master.]

According to the player’s manual, equipment quality from lowest to highest was: White (Common), Green (Uncommon), Blue (Rare), Purple (Epic), Gold (Legendary), and Orange (Mythic).

She hadn’t expected the bracelet to be an artifact, with even more abilities yet to be unlocked. Its changes seemed related to her recent insights and actions. She wondered how to unlock the other powers.

After studying it for a while with no results, Mu Ying turned her attention back to the spring. The water had nourishing and restorative effects—perfect for feeding Roundy, or watering plants. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much of it, so she’d have to mix it with other water.

She didn’t need to summon the spring every time she wanted water; she could condense it directly onto her fingertip. Mu Ying produced a drop and tasted it herself—it was sweet and refreshing, but she didn’t notice any other effects.

Just then, she felt a squirming in her pocket. Roundy, drawn by the scent, poked its head out.

Mu Ying produced a bit of Spring of Restoration water, mixed it with some mineral water, and fed it to Roundy. This time, it drank with even more enthusiasm. Afterward, it rolled over with a satisfied hum. ︿(￣︶￣)︿