[Awakening Energy Pearl: After use, one can obtain 100 Awakening Energy.]
[Awakening Energy: The energy required to unleash an Awakening and to elevate its level.]
Wang Tao looked at the explanation and seemed to roughly understand.
"So Awakening has levels, similar to Special Ability Levels? To upgrade Special Ability Levels, one needs to integrate Crystal Cores, and to upgrade Awakening levels, one must integrate Awakening Energy Pearls? Moreover, activating an Awakening also consumes Awakening Energy..."
Wang Tao tried it out, but he couldn’t use the Awakening Energy Pearl at the moment, probably because he hadn’t undergone an Awakening.
It was unclear how common Awakening Energy Pearls were. If every four-level zombie could drop one, then that would be quite nice. If it required good luck to obtain one, that would be frustrating.
The fourth item was a large black heart-shaped object―which was actually the heart of a Night Demon. However, it wasn’t named just a heart; it was called... a Weapon!
[Fourth-Order Weapon・Night Demon Type I]
[HP: 10000/10000 (limit 100000)]
[Status: Can be awakened]
[Enhancement: Independent Attack (Weakness: Afraid of Ultraviolet Light)]
[Independent Attack: Can perform attacks independently as ordered by its master, but is vulnerable to ultraviolet light.]
Seeing the attributes of this heart, Wang Tao was filled with question marks.
"What’s this? Could it actually summon a Night Demon to fight?"
Driven by intense curiosity, Wang Tao immediately tried to awaken it.
He soon felt a faint consciousness, but he couldn’t awaken it―compatibility wasn’t high enough.
Wang Tao slapped his forehead and hurriedly took out Crystal Cores to increase the Compatibility of the [Night Demon Type I].
Then Wang Tao discovered that this thing really consumed a lot of Crystal Cores!
For a Level 3 Weapon like the Entangling Roots, one Level 3 Crystal Core could fully restore Compatibility. But for the Fourth-Order Weapon’s [Night Demon Type I], one Level 3 Crystal Core could only restore 10% Compatibility, a Level 2 Crystal Core could restore 1%, and a Level 1 Crystal Core... couldn’t be used at all.
So does that mean that one Level 4 Crystal Core would be needed to restore 100% at once?
Wang Tao didn’t have many Level 4 Crystal Cores on hand, so naturally, he couldn’t experiment with it here. Therefore, he used Level 2 and Level 3 Crystal Cores to fully max out the Compatibility of the [Night Demon Type I]. Although it was costly, he had to use them when necessary.
Then Wang Tao tried to awaken it again.
Wang Tao’s heart suddenly surged like flowing water, then materialized in front of him into a more than two-meter-tall Black Night Demon!
It really was a Night Demon!
Jiang Shixue and Lightning, standing nearby, were startled and immediately became vigilant of the Night Demon.
This Night Demon was different from the ones Wang Tao had seen before. It was a pure black Night Demon, while the Black Skin Night Demons he had killed before only had black bone armor, with the rest of their bodies being red.
So it was easy to tell the difference.
But no matter how you distinguished it, this was a Night Demon! It still looked somewhat intimidating, especially to Lightning, whose fur stood on end.
Wang Tao reached out to the faint consciousness and beckoned.
Then he saw the Night Demon immediately crouch down, its limbs touching the ground, and just like a puppy, it placed its head in front of Wang Tao.
The touch felt terrible.
Lightning tilted its head, its small eyes suddenly displaying a hint of confusion.
After noticing this, Wang Tao burst into laughter, immediately crouched down, hugged Lightning, and thoroughly ruffled its fur before letting it go. Lightning then vigorously wagged its tail, knowing its master hadn’t replaced it with something new.
Jiang Shixue also realized that this was something Wang Tao had concocted, and she curiously touched it as well.
"Brother, this is..."
Watching the Night Demon squat motionlessly in front of Wang Tao, Jiang Shixue was puzzled.
"This is a Fourth-Order Weapon, similar to my Entangling Roots and Iron Tree Vines..."
As he explained, Wang Tao made the Night Demon perform various actions.
After studying it for a while, Wang Tao also roughly figured out what this thing was all about.
Unlike his Entangling Roots, the [Night Demon Type I] could only engage in independent combat, and it could not be worn on the body. It was a bit like the Iron Tree Vines.
However, Iron Tree Vines needed Wang Tao as a carrier, usually resting on his wrist. The Night Demon, on the other hand, didn’t need that; it could operate independently of Wang Tao.
Wang Tao could use it by simply issuing a command in his mind, but it wasn’t very flexible.
That’s because controlling it involved a rather complicated process: Wang Tao had to think of what to do, then issue the command, then the Night Demon would receive the command, and finally execute it. It wasn’t a case of Wang Tao thinking something and the Night Demon doing it immediately.
There was a certain delay in this process.
Working with it seemed less effective than coordinating with Jiang Shixue. Wang Tao and Jiang Shixue knew each other well, and with just a gesture or a glance, they both knew what to do.
The Night Demon was a bit slow; although it had a very faint consciousness, this consciousness was not enough for it to possess self-judgment.
Comparing it to Lightning, if Wang Tao let Lightning roam free, Lightning might play around and stick to Wang Tao. But if there was sudden danger, Lightning would unquestionably become vigilant and join the fight. If it realized the enemy was too strong, Lightning might even hide. And if it saw Wang Tao in danger, Lightning just might risk its life to save him...
Lightning had its own intelligence and judgment.