Sophia Johnson was grateful that she had developed the habit of hiding her emotions at home, so her expression management was quite good. She didn't show any overly ridiculous expressions when she saw the fruit appear in front of her.
She was silent for two or three seconds before extending her fingertip and gently tapping the black fruit.
It was slightly cool to the touch, smooth like a glass marble.
Sophia Johnson held the fruit in her hand and brought it up to examine it. She wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but she felt like the fruit, which resembled a glass bead, had some black liquid churning inside it.
"Can I eat this thing?" she wondered, and just as she lowered her head, she happened to see a line of text appear on the game screen.
[You're contemplating the origin and purpose of this fruit. You've thought a lot, but sometimes things aren't that complicated. This is just a fruit. It can become a seed, grow into a towering tree after long periods of time and energy nourishment, or it could serve a simpler purpose...]
[To be eaten.]
From the surprised tone of the narrator when she picked up the fruit, Sophia Johnson deduced that this was likely a rare item in the early stages of the game. After thinking about it for a moment, she decided to feed it to the little snake. If there were no problems, when she found another fruit, she might try eating one herself.
"But how do I put this back into the game?" she muttered.
As soon as she finished speaking, the black fruit disappeared from her hand.
Sophia immediately opened her game inventory, and sure enough, the black fruit was there.
She clicked on the fruit and chose to feed it to the little snake.
[Good choice. Your familiar definitely needs it.]
[After consuming the unknown fruit, a massive energy begins to surge within the familiar's body. It needs to quickly find a safe place to digest the energy brought by the fruit.]
[Please choose: Find a safe place to sleep and digest the fruit. Estimated time: 1 hour.]
"One hour?"
Sophia Johnson was a little surprised. The previous upgrades had taken no time at all, but this fruit seemed to require a whole hour to digest?
She started to look forward to what surprises the little snake would bring after fully digesting the fruit in an hour.
Besides, she had just woken up and started playing the game without having time to freshen up, so that one hour was a good time for her to get ready.
By the time Sophia slowly finished getting ready, sitting in her wheelchair, bringing her game console to the living room, and taking her medicine with a glass of warm water, the time had almost passed.
She looked at the handheld console screen, waiting for the countdown to finish.
[Your familiar has struggled to digest part of the fruit's energy. It is still too weak and couldn't fully absorb all of the fruit. Despite that, it still gained considerable benefits.]
[Level Lv3 → Lv10]
[Mental: 120
Physical: 480
Attributes: Blade
Traits: Poison Lv5, Sharp Lv3, Bloodthirsty Lv3, Cunning Lv1]
[Current required evolution points: 0/1000]
[Your familiar has reached level 10, and its intelligence has awakened. You can now name it.]
Wow.
Sophia Johnson didn't expect such a huge boost for the little snake from such a small fruit. She looked at the screen, where her familiar had grown into a massive black python, and marveled. What excited her even more was that when the game showed the snake's level reaching 10, her own body also underwent a noticeable change.
Her breathing became easier, the constant feeling of weakness faded a bit, and the dizziness diminished. At least now, when she suddenly turned her head, she didn't feel like she was about to vomit. However, her heart didn't seem to have changed much, and it seemed that raising the snake to level 10 wasn't quite enough.
But at least now, she didn't have to worry about suddenly collapsing from weakness.
After thinking for a while, Sophia Johnson named the little snake "Xiao Yi."
Yes, it was that simple and direct. Sophia quickly admitted that she had no talent for naming things.
Nothing to be ashamed of!
The girl pressed the confirm button indignantly.
[Now that it has a name, your familiar has finally gained intelligence and can slowly absorb the surrounding energy to gain evolution points. From now on, you only need to give it general directions, and your familiar will carry out your commands on its own.]
"What does that mean?"
Sophia Johnson was confused at first but soon saw an option appear on the screen.
[Please choose: 1. Let your familiar continue leveling up as quickly as possible, 2. Let your familiar search for mysterious items scattered across the land, 3. Rest.]
Sophia Johnson chose option 1, and another line of text appeared on the screen.
[Your familiar has accepted your command. Due to its trait of Cunning, its chances of injury and death are reduced, and the likelihood of reckless hunting is lowered.]
[Your familiar has started leveling up. You can inspect the results in 7 hours.]
"Huh?"
Is this turning into an idle game?
What should she do in these seven hours? Keep reading?
But the game clearly wasn't going to give her such a leisurely opportunity.
[For some special reason, you will be able to extract one trait from your familiar.]
[Please choose: Extract.]
"Special reason?"
Sophia Johnson thought for a moment, uncertain whether this reason was due to the black fruit or because her familiar had reached level 10.
But in her heart, she felt the black fruit was more likely the cause.
Either way, this was a good thing.
Extraordinary abilities had been around in the real world for a year now, and there were still very few extraordinary beings. Sophia Johnson had once dreamed of becoming one, but she had always thought that such luck wouldn't favor her.
Now, it seemed like her dream might actually come true.
After extracting Xiao Yi's traits, she would possess an unusual ability and no longer belong to the "ordinary" category.
When the moment came, Sophia realized that her emotions weren't as excited as she had imagined. Perhaps the existence of the game console had already dampened part of her excitement.
Of course, her heart couldn't support such intense emotions.
She thought about the traits that Xiao Yi had. If possible, she would definitely want to extract the highest-level poison trait. Her body was weak, and poison might be a life-saving ability.
But with a 25% chance, it wasn't very high but not too low either.
With some mixed emotions, Sophia Johnson chose to extract.
[Extracting...]
[Congratulations, you've extracted: Bloodthirsty Lv3.]
Sophia Johnson fell silent.
Bloodthirsty was exactly the trait she least wanted to get.
Because this trait clearly required some "violence" to be effective, and with her current body, how would she be able to use "bloodthirsty"?
[Due to the difference between you and your familiar, the trait has undergone some changes.]
[Bloodthirsty Lv3: When fighting enemies, the blood of your opponent will activate your ability, prolonging your lifespan. You can draw small amounts of vitality from the blood, replenishing yourself. The more blood you consume, the more excited you become. However, prolonged exposure to bloodlust will taint your mind.]
As this line of text appeared, Sophia felt her blood seem to boil for a moment. The vision in her eyes turned scarlet but disappeared in the next second, and the feeling of blood surging within her quietly faded away.
"...What was that feeling?"
It was quite a strange sensation. She had never felt so "pumped up" before. It was odd, but surprisingly, Sophia didn't dislike it.
Although it was a trait that required "violence" to be effective, the fact that she could draw vitality from blood to replenish herself actually suited her quite well. After all, what she lacked was strength and "endurance." Being such a sickly person, she could barely last in a fight before running out of energy. If she could use bloodthirst to keep her body within a manageable range of energy, she might be able to catch her opponent off guard and even counterattack.
[Please note: Since your trait comes from your familiar, when your familiar's traits level up, your traits will also improve. If your familiar dies, the trait will disappear.]
Sophia Johnson raised an eyebrow, thinking this was actually a good thing.
After all, there was no way she could level up Bloodthirst herself, nor did she know how to upgrade it.
[Because your first familiar reached level 10, your second familiar has been unlocked.]
[Would you like to enter the initial interface and begin cultivating the second familiar?]
"Eh?"
There's more to this?
"Of course, yes!"