Before leaving, Lin Feng used the system's probe on Lorma (the Aranara) and received the following info:
[Individual Information: Aranara — Lorma]
Level: 36 (Can manipulate Elemental Power; possesses strength beyond ordinary)
Element: Dendro
Traits: Plant Spirit, Lankalara 3, Dreamwalking, Growth
Emotion: Happy
Friendliness: 70 (The little Nara stopped the monster, protected Lorma — is a good Nara.)
Most of the data matched Lin Feng's expectations. At this stage, Lorma wasn't especially powerful within its tribe, so a modest level made sense.
Still, seeing a friendliness of seventy made Lin Feng feel oddly embarrassed — even though everything Lorma said was true, his conscience twinged faintly.
He opened the detailed descriptions of the traits with his mind:
Plant Spirit: A ward of the God of Wisdom, born from plants; can glean information from nature's memories.
Lankalara 3: A memory-based magic; its strength correlates with the richness of the memory.
Dreamwalking: Able to freely traverse specific dreams and reality.
Growth: As a seed, each Aranara's destiny is to grow into a Shalan Tree.
Seeing those numbers after the traits, Lin Feng formed a guess: the digits likely indicate the trait's development level — the higher the number, the more developed that trait is. Traits without numbers were probably passive effects or innate characteristics.
If he probed an Aranara that had accepted Lamuh-Kukunda's memory and was about to become an Awakened Tree, the Lankalara suffix might be an 8 or even a 9.
While pondering this, Lin Feng pressed onward. Without a vehicle, human travel was inevitably slow — especially through a rainforest's tangled terrain. He glanced at the Treasure Hoarder Weasel asleep on his shoulder and compared their sizes; he immediately dismissed the idea of riding it to save time.
Night fell. There were no signs of human activity along the way; raindrops pattered against the leaves with a constant spat. Worrying about catching a cold, Lin Feng stopped and, cradling the weasel, slipped into a hollow at the base of a giant tree, deciding to continue tomorrow.
He stroked the obedient weasel in his arms and remembered the little terrier he'd raised as a child — about the same size. Too bad once he'd grown up, to see it again he could only flip through the old family photo album.
A pang of sadness hit Lin Feng as he realized there was no going back. He buried his face in the weasel's soft fur. The animal didn't resist; instead it nuzzled his cheek with its small head.
Feeling the cool air and that small warmth in his arms, Lin Feng ran his fingers over the weasel's soft, pale-gray belly and suddenly thought of Paimon. Maybe Paimon's importance to the Traveler exceeded what he'd imagined back in his old life?
"From now on I'll call you Little White," he said with a half-joking smile. "Though Paimon's also fitting—both can eat like crazy."
"Squeak?"
Little White closed its eyes in contentment and burrowed closer; clearly it didn't mind the name.
Lin Feng had long noticed that despite Little White's godlike array of abilities, its intelligence wasn't particularly high — about on par with a smart large dog from his previous life. It could understand commands, but it didn't possess highly complex reasoning.
Although Lin Feng and Little White shared a kind of mutual understanding and could roughly gauge each other's intentions, he doubted whether those boss-level skills on the weasel's panel were really usable by it. For a mere weasel to draw a blade from another dimension and execute something like Musou: Severance seemed too much to expect.
He'd try later. For now, even with just a base panel of level 999, Little White was more than enough protection in Teyvat.
His only real worry was his own frail body — one wave of aftershock and he might be toast. Maybe buying a small courtyard in Liyue was still the best plan.
Lost in future daydreams, he was snapped back when a jungle tree frog glided past between two giant trunks with a soft quack.
He suddenly realized he hadn't probed himself since crossing over. Curious, he stared at his palm and silently issued the command: Probe.
Detailed data bloomed in his mind:
[Individual Information: @￥%& — Lin Feng]
Level: 19 (Conditions unmet) (A very strong ordinary human; among Treasure Hoarder rookies you can still hold your own.)
Element: None
Traits: [#%*&], Elemental Resistance 7 (Conditions unmet), Elemental Affinity 6 (Conditions unmet), Robust Physique 3 (Conditions unmet), Agility 1 (Can be enhanced)
Emotion: Shocked
Friendliness: ——
!!!
Lin Feng was genuinely stunned.
He'd always felt his physical strength was far better than in his previous life, but he'd chalked it up to the naturally superior constitution of Teyvat's inhabitants. Seeing this panel — while still far below Little White's — gave him a clear picture of his own talent.
That alone should've been pleasing. Instead, what really floored him was…
"???"
"Am I… not even considered human in Teyvat?!"
He glared at the garbled text in the Race field, half-amazed, half-exasperated.
He'd already investigated the so-called Primordial Creature Development System. As the name implied, it could enhance non-human creatures: changing levels, adding or strengthening trait abilities, and more. But using these functions consumed energy stored within Lin Feng himself. Overuse would have consequences: mild cases would cause dramatic weight loss, severe cases would be instant death and a forced restart of life. Fortunately, the system blocked upgrades if he lacked sufficient energy, displaying "Conditions Unmet."
How did he know all that? Because every time he'd tried to alter Little White's traits, an overwhelming sensation of lethal danger pulsed through his core, preventing the change.
Up until now he'd thought the damned system was useless — after all, he already had Little White. No matter how many other creatures he beefed up, none would outclass that bug-tier pet (except its appetite, which was a bug in itself).
But if he himself counted as a Primordial, operability changed drastically: raise his level → stronger physique → larger energy capacity → raise level again. The loop was obvious.
For a moment, Lin Feng thought being a Primordial might not be so bad. If fate wouldn't give him that role, he'd gladly take it.
He looked at the only editable trait available now: Agility 1. Heart racing, he asked Little White to keep watch and hit Enhance without hesitation.
—Blackness.
The last thing he felt before falling was the childlike, crushing sleep of utter exhaustion.
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