[Your personal panel has been updated!]
[Lord: Qin Feng]
[Race: Blue Star People]
[Talent: Evil Aura (King of War)]
[Profession: Ranger (Lv. 1), Divine Chosen Lord (Lv. 1)]
[Life Value: 101]
[Strength: 7, Agility: 8, Spirit: 6, Constitution: 7]
[Weapon: None]
[Equipment: Ordinary-Level White Lord Set (All Attributes +6, All Units +10% Attack, +10% Defense, 10% Life)]
[Lord Skills]
[War Blessing (Passive): During an Imperial Expedition, you and your army gain +100% to All Attributes. This does not include villagers and production-type subjects... The higher your Divine Chosen Lord level, the greater the attribute bonus from this effect.]
[Ranger Skills]
[Bow Mastery (Passive): Your Archery Skills are significantly improved... The higher your Ranger level, the greater the arrow damage, range, projectile speed, and piercing power.]
[Eagle Eye (Passive): Your Field of View can now penetrate obstacles, allowing you to see what is behind them and detect units in Invisibility... The higher your Ranger level, the wider the range of your Eagle Eye.]
[Forest's Darling (Passive): Your movement speed in forests is increased by 50%.]
[Hunting (Active): Can be used once per day to attract a group of specified small beasts to your vicinity. Killing them provides Food.]
...
[Hidden Exclusive Talent (Cannot be detected by any Investigation ability in the Lord World)]
[Bloodthirsty (Lv. 1): Permanently increase Life Value by 1 for every enemy killed. Permanently increase 1 Attribute point for every 10 enemies killed. Each upgrade costs 50 Dragon Crystals.]
[Recruit Prisoners (Lv. 1): After battle, you can capture some enemy units at or below 1-star. Over time, these prisoners can be recruited with 100% certainty. Each upgrade costs 50 Dragon Crystals.]
[Middle-earth Warhammer (Lv. 1): Allows you to change into one of two Legendary Professions from Middle-earth Warhammer. All Legendary Professions from this module do not affect the monster-killing and leveling efficiency of your Lord World Profession, and can gain additional Experience Points through specific actions. Each upgrade costs 50 Dragon Crystals.]
[Unit Upgrade (Lv. Max): Your soldiers gain experience in every battle. Once the promotion conditions are met, you can spend Dinars or Gold Coins to upgrade them directly.]
...
After opening his personal panel, the sudden appearance of dense, lengthy descriptions nearly made Qin Feng's eyes blur.
Fortunately, he had been a top-tier player in his past life and had long since developed the habit of reading every word carefully.
'It seems the Riding and Cutting system that was forced upon me has only revealed four functions so far. It has also merged with this Lord Game to some extent, transforming into these so-called Lord Talents.'
'I'll have to upgrade these Talents step-by-step to gradually unlock their full power.'
'But... what is this Dragon Crystal?'
'Every single Lord Talent requires it for upgrades?'
After a moment of contemplation, Qin Feng suppressed the urge to immediately ask MC.
After all, as a player from Riding and Cutting who had 'cut in line' to enter the Lord World, he was already a conspicuous anomaly.
In reality, there was also a Death Knight who wanted to take his life.
If he acted too abnormally at this stage and asked questions he shouldn't be asking yet, he couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't expose a weakness and have his location locked down by enemies lurking in the shadows.
'Hmm...'
'I should deal with the immediate troubles first...'
'and worry about the Dragon Crystal problem later...'
Having made up his mind, Qin Feng looked toward the forest clearing in the distance and used the only Active ability he currently possessed as a Ranger: Hunting.
[Hunting activated. You have summoned a group of Fire Foxes near your territory. Please hunt and kill them to your heart's content to obtain Food and fur!]
As the system notification faded, the silence of the forest was shattered.
In an instant, a scarlet tide surged from the woods ahead. Dozens of fiery-red foxes burst out from the bushes, drawn to the source of the sound like a swarm of bees to honey, rushing forward impatiently.
Dry leaves flew under their sharp claws, and fine dust kicked up into the air, dancing in the columns of light that pierced through the canopy.
Their fur, like burning flames, shimmered with an eerie luster under the mottled light. Their fluffy tails swept across the ground, making a rustling sound.
"Attack!"
"Everyone, charge!"
Qin Feng gave the order and led the charge, swinging the Stone Axe—unrecognized by the system—and smashing it down on the head of the lead Fire Fox.
BAM!
The sound of cracking bone mixed with a dull thud, and scarlet fluid splattered onto his clothes!
Under the crushing force of his newfound strength, the Fire Fox didn't even have time to twitch before it collapsed like a limp rag, blood bubbling from its throat and soaking the dry leaves beneath it.
However, before he could fully withdraw the Stone Axe, more than ten scarlet shadows pounced ferociously, taking advantage of the moment he was off-balance.
In an instant, sharp canines tore through his cotton clothes, ripping two bloody gashes into his forearm. Pain shot through Qin Feng's body like an electric current.
But within a breath, the deep, stinging pain suddenly transformed into a warm current, and the torn wounds scabbed over and healed at a visible rate.
'Lord Talent! Evil Aura! Fast Healing per second! Increased movement speed!'
'This thing is also a Heaven-defying existence!'
With that thought, a glint flashed in Qin Feng's eyes. He spun and swung his Stone Axe, the force of the blow kicking up dust and pebbles. Coordinating with the villagers who wielded Stone Axes and Bone Blades, they fanned out and cornered the snarling pack of Fire Foxes in the clearing.
Then, the rasping sound of blades tearing through fur and the dying wails of beasts rose one after another.
In just a few moments, the dozens of scarlet figures had all fallen into pools of blood.
[Battle Over!]
[Your Divine Chosen Lord level has increased to 2!]
[Your Ranger level has increased to 3! Your Attributes have increased accordingly!]
[Your Life Value has been permanently increased by "Bloodthirsty"!]
[In this battle, you successfully captured three enemies with your Powerful might!]
The system notifications sounded right on time. Qin Feng flicked the blood from his Stone Axe, his gaze falling on three Fire Foxes huddled and trembling nearby. Their names had already turned a harmless white.
[Prisoner Name: Fire Fox (White)]
[Life Value: 10/10]
[Power Assessment: Zero-star (Gray)]
[Note: Due to game rules, you cannot attack prisoners, nor can you obtain any valuable items from them.]
'Alright.'
'A standard Riding and Cutting ending.'
Qin Feng stared at the three Fire Foxes huddled in the pile of fallen leaves, rubbing his chin as he mused:
"So."
"Should I keep these three frail little Otherworld foxes, or would it be better to just abandon them?"
After a moment of thought, Qin Feng decided to keep the three Fire Foxes for now. Once the conditions for their recruitment were met, he would integrate them into his army.
The reason was simple.
According to the settings of the Riding and Cutting game, players didn't need to spend extra resources to Recruit Prisoners. At most, they had to pay some daily wages and provide daily Food.
If they died quickly enough,
these three Fire Foxes were essentially temporary combat power he got for free.
They wouldn't even consume much Food.
Although their combat strength was frankly pathetic—they couldn't even beat a vanilla villager with a Stone Axe, making them total pushover mobs from a Newbie Village—
he had chosen the "King of War" Destiny, which came with the heaven-defying trait of a 100% bonus to All Attributes.
Coupled with the 10% bonus to Life, Attack, and Defense from the six-piece Ordinary-Level Lord's Equipment, he could train even three rabbits into War Beasts.
"Anyway,"
"they'll definitely be good enough as cannon fodder to fill the ranks."
...