With the territory shield, Lin Chen was confident he could take down those two zombies.
After the territory shield was built, it was not a case of all is well that ends well. Maintaining it daily required 10 energy points. Lin Chen had only invested enough energy to last two days, leaving him with only 80 points from his initial 300.
Many things could be converted into energy. For example, trees within the territory could be converted into wood or energy, and weeds and bushes could too.
However, Lin Chen did not use them. The former took a long time to grow and could be used anytime if left in the territory, while the latter had an extremely low conversion rate, almost useless.
On the other hand, the Copper Coins obtained from killing zombies earlier had a relatively stable conversion: 1 Copper Coin could be converted into 1 energy.
If each zombie could drop 3 Copper Coins, it would be a good source of income.
Lin Chen took off his jacket, removed the sleeves, cut them into strips of cloth, then found a suitable wooden stick and tied the cleaver to it.
Holding the extended cleaver, he cautiously returned near the tent. At this time, the two zombies were wandering not far from the tent.
He moved closer, attracted the zombies' attention, and then moved towards the territory shield.
As expected, after he stepped into the territory, the zombies were blocked outside, scratching at the invisible shield.
Lin Chen raised his extended cleaver and chopped down forcefully, successfully eliminating the two zombies.
[You killed Zombie x1, gained Kill EXP x1, Copper Coin x3]
[You killed Zombie x1, gained Kill EXP x1, Copper Coin x3]
Indeed, each zombie dropped 3 Copper Coins. Lin Chen picked up the Copper Coins and put them in his pocket.
After picking up the drops, the zombie corpses quickly turned into two piles of yellow earth, safe and pollution free.
Afterward, he once again made his way to the tent by the lake; the joy of looting was endless.
In game terms, he had acquired:
Tent x1, Moisture proof Mat x1, Sleeping Bag x1, Oversized Backpack x1, various Men's Clothing, Folding Table and Chairs x1, Instant Noodles x10, Instant Hot Pot x1, 1.5 L Mineral Water x3, Pot x1, Small Cleaver x1, various Disposable Bowls and Chopsticks, various Seasonings, various Fishing Equipment, Plastic Bucket x1...
He guessed this person had planned to camp and fish here for a few days. Now, it all benefited him. Lin Chen cheered inwardly: "Thank you, prepared fishing friend, for saving me from destitution! I will not have to worry about going hungry for the next few days!"
He happily gathered and packed these items, then grunted and groaned as he moved them into his territory.
After finishing all this, Lin Chen sat on a folding stool, opened the Spell list in the player handbook, and read it carefully.
Spells were divided into 0th to 9th levels. 0th level Spells were also called cantrips; their Spell effects were generally mild, caused little damage, were easy to learn, and did not consume much mana.
Once mastered, 0th level Spells could consistently be cast for only 1 mana.
Starting from 1st level Spells, one could only learn Spells of a higher level when their professional level reached an odd number. This meant he could only learn 2nd level Spells when he reached level 3.
Lin Chen glanced at his level
[Druid LV1 (3/100)]
Feeling that leveling up was a distant prospect.
Just starting to learn Spells, even though the external environment was unstable, he could not rush it. Lin Chen still planned to start with 0th level Spells.
The only 0th level Spell that could play a role in combat was Glitterdust, which could cause temporary blindness, but zombies had no vision, so it was not useful for now.
Many other practical utility Spells, such as Create Water, Clean Spell, and Light, could solve some current living problems.
His supplies were currently ample, and he was near a water source, so Create Water was not urgent for now. Clean Spell was even less necessary; with survival not guaranteed, cleanliness was not as important.
Light, used for illumination, was quite good. Lin Chen had not found any lighting equipment near the tent. By common sense, camping and fishing outdoors, and not just for one night, should involve some lighting supplies and charging devices. However, Lin Chen could not even find a mobile phone, nor a lighter.
Lin Chen suspected that many electronic devices had disappeared when the Apocalypse Game descended.
Finally, Lin Chen chose to learn Druidcraft first.
It was the most complex and versatile 0th level Spell. It could create a small flame to ignite objects, predict the weather within 24 hours, or instantly make flowers bloom, seeds sprout, leaf buds unfurl, and create minor, harmless, instantaneous sensory effects like falling leaves, a gentle breeze, or a scent.
What Lin Chen valued most was its ability to start a fire. A bonfire could be used for cooking and illumination. While not as convenient as Light, it could serve the purpose.
After selecting the Spell, Lin Chen first read through the theory of spellcasting.
It turned out that different professions had different spellcasting methods. Among them, pure spellcasting professions like Mages were the most difficult, while divine Spell professions like Priests and Druids were the easiest.
For example, Mages needed to memorize complex Spell structures, energy circuits, and various spellcasting techniques.
Druids and Priests, on the other hand, only needed to be familiar with the incantations of relevant Spells and then pray to the 'god' they worshipped for help to successfully cast a Spell.
The difficulty lay only in the formulation of the prayer Spell and the 'god's' will.
Compared to the gods worshipped by Priests, the Druids' 'god,' Nature, was more impartial. It had no personified consciousness, and the difficulty of praying for help was not great. It was more like communicating with the forces of Nature and then, by articulating the Spell, letting it help with the casting.
The higher one's affinity with Nature, the easier the communication. The higher one's Perception attribute, the clearer and more accurate the articulation.
Lin Chen held a small dry twig and, following the method in the handbook, used his Perception to touch and mobilize the forces of Nature, then articulated the Spell.
The first time, thin smoke rose from the small dry twig, almost igniting.
According to the handbook, this meant the mobilized forces of Nature were insufficient, or the articulation was not strong enough.
The second time, he successfully ignited the small dry twig, but because he used too much force, his mana consumption was excessive.
He adjusted again and again; the feeling of communicating with Nature was incredibly comfortable and smooth, like being embraced by a kind elder, which fascinated him.
Unfortunately, his mana was not much, only 60 points. Restoring mana required sufficient rest, so he had to use it sparingly.
After Lin Chen successfully stabilized his spellcasting consumption to 1 mana, he began practicing the second 0th level cantrip, Light.
This time, his progress was much faster. The first attempt allowed him to condense a marble sized Light source on his fingertip. Although it had not yet met the illumination standard of Light, the mana consumption was not excessively high.
With frequent spellcasting, his mana quickly ran out. Even if Lin Chen wanted to practice desperately, he could not; he could only spend a lot of time recovering, then continue practicing once recovered.
It took him most of the day to barely control the mana consumption during spellcasting. The Spell effect was still below the standard, but it was enough for now.
Lin Chen looked at the powerful effects of the 1st level Spells with reluctance and sighed, "This Apocalypse Game is too difficult!"
He was lucky to be in the sparsely populated mountains. After defeating the zombies around him, he could still find a place to slowly learn his professional abilities.
But people like him were a minority. Most people were still in densely populated cities. Just imagine that scene: zombies equal in number to humans, and getting scratched would also lead to infection and transformation into a zombie.
Even if one obtained game qualifications, various abilities still needed time to learn slowly. Relying on this to escape from a horde of zombies was no small feat.
Fortunately, as long as one could find a place to hunker down for a while, killing zombies was not difficult, so there was not a complete lack of hope.