A Comprehensive Network: An Endless Adventure Begins as a Wanderer

Cheng Yi stretched his body, feeling the lightness and agility brought by the Level 2 Wanderer, and felt more relaxed than ever before.

"Draw a card!"

[Detected that your character has not yet selected a Wanderer specialization for their current level. Please select your specialization skill from the following options.]

1. Swift Hands (Normal/Professional Skill/Mastery School)

2. Tomb Howl (Rare/Class Skill/Ghostly School)

3. Shadow Binding Ritual (Rare/Class Core Skill/Shadow Binding School)

Swift Hand

Type: Professional Skills / Mastery School

Description: You can perform one of the following actions with a single swift movement:

1. Dexterity. Make a Dexterity (Dexterity) check to use a thief's tool to unlock a lock or remove a trap, or use this check to pickpocket.

2. Using an object. Performing an action, or a magical action, to use a magical item that requires that action.

P.S.: This skill used to be called "Quick Hands," but later, for some unspeakable reasons... —Mark, the ringmaster of the Multi-faceted Prank Circus.

[The tomb screams]

Type: Class Skills / Ghostly School

Description: When you deal damage to a creature with a sneak attack, you can immediately inflict Dark Corrosion damage on the second visible creature within 30 feet of that creature. The damage you deal to the second target is equal to half of the damage from your first sneak attack.

P.S.: When you push someone toward the grave, the wailing of the dead will briefly surround you. — Jargam, the Gravekeeper of the Deep

Shadow Binding Ritual

Type: Class Skill / Shadow Binding School

Description: You can use a ritual to draw upon and bind the power of shadow to yourself. Performing this ritual requires at least one hour of meditation in a non-magical, dark environment. At the end of the ritual, you choose one of the following effects, which lasts for three natural days or ends prematurely when you perform the ritual again:

1. When you are in dim light or darkness, as part of your movement, you can teleport to an unoccupied space that is also in dim light or darkness and that you can see. Then, until your next attack, your Dexterity (Stealth) checks will receive a bonus to your level and give you an advantage.

2. When you are in dim light or darkness, if you move at least half the distance of your speed, you gain permanent half-body cover (your armor class and dexterity saving throws gain a +2 bonus) until your next attack.

3. When your melee or ranged weapon attack hits, you can make the attack deal additional Dark Corrosion damage equal to your Stealth bonus.

P.S.: Ordinary thieves steal only valuables; Shadow-Binding Thieves, however, use secret rituals to bind their shadows, secretly shape their bodies, wield the power of the netherworld, and traverse the darkest paths. —Shadow-Binding Clan Precepts

P.S.: Don't teleport me, you dog shit-bound shadow! — [999+ hot comments on the Cross-Net Arena]

"Holy crap, who released the third party?"

Cheng Yi's eyes twitched as he looked at the third option.

Without a doubt, he withdrew his money.

The Shadowbinder, a subclass of the Wanderer originating from the third-party rulebook "The Book of Dark Tides," has received an epic buff in the Cross-Network.

What does it mean that as long as I am in low light or dark environments, I can keep teleporting and still get high additional damage?

Is it possible to have both?

Without hesitation, Cheng Yi directly chose the Shadow Binding Ritual.

[Your choice was successful; you have acquired the class skill: Shadow Binding Ritual]

A coolness, deeper and softer than when he gained agility, instantly swept over his entire body, no longer confined to his legs, but slowly spreading along his limbs and bones, entangling his bones, seeping into his muscles, and permeating his nerves. Unlike the lightness and agility brought by agility, this coolness carried a tranquility that blended with the darkness, as if he was meant to coexist with the shadows.

At the same time, countless pieces of knowledge about the Shadow Binding Ritual, meditation methods, and details of the ritual flooded into Cheng Yi's mind like a tidal wave:

How to construct a barrier for meditation in non-magical darkness, how to eliminate distracting thoughts and guide the power of shadow into the body, how to precisely control the rhythm of the ritual, and even the breathing frequency and key points of mental concentration during meditation are all slowly permeating Cheng Yi's brain.

Those insights about shadows also emerged: shadows are not cold nothingness, but a tangible force; how to perceive the flow of shadows in dim light and darkness, how to use the power of shadows to stabilize one's body and conceal one's tracks, how to accurately lock onto the target space during teleportation, how to attach the power of shadow corrosion to weapons...

Cheng Yi could clearly feel that the power within his body was being reorganized, establishing a strange connection with the surrounding shadows...

Your talent [Shadow Affinity] has been upgraded: lv1 -> lv2

[Shadow Affinity (lv2): The Shadow Binding Ritual envelops you, like a deep and warm swaddling cloth.]

Cheng Yi stroked his chin and opened the boxed lunch he had bought on his way home from the clinic.

The rice was covered with sweet and sour scrambled eggs with tomatoes. Amidst the red, yellow and white colors, the glistening braised pork, though a little cold, still emitted an aroma that made those who hadn't eaten lunch yet very hungry.

Dry rice is the most important thing.

As for the secret rituals?

The sun was still shining in the sky at one or two o'clock in the afternoon, so where did this non-magical darkness come from?

-------

That night, Cheng Yi, who suddenly appeared from the living room to the second bedroom, felt the shadows shifting around him.

He then thought of a popular comment.

If a Shadow Binder doesn't teleport, can they still be called a Shadow Binder?

Cheng Yi stood in the second bedroom, his eyes slightly closed, carefully experiencing the changes brought about by the Shadow Binding Ritual.

The shadows, like living water, gently wrapped around his limbs, waist, and neck, fitting him perfectly in every inch.

It's no longer just about hiding, but about being truly embraced by the shadows.

Each teleportation doesn't draw magic from one's own body like when casting a spell like "The Mage's Hand." Instead, it draws power from the surrounding shadows, and as long as the shadows exist, this power is inexhaustible.

With a thought, he flashed through the darkness once more, instantly teleporting from the doorway of the second bedroom to the sofa. He then opened the [Multiverse Network Player Exchange Forum (Apprentice)].

These past two days, Cheng Yi has been spending less time on his phone and chatting in group chats. After all, the guys on the forum are all talented and have pleasant conversations.

A forum for extraordinary individuals is undoubtedly far more appealing than a forum for ordinary people to chat and gossip.

Of course, that ruthless guy is an exception...

The forum for players of the cross-network is refreshed very quickly. Even in the apprentice section (levels 1-5), there are a vast number of diverse cross-network players.

Previously, Cheng Yi would click on anything interesting he saw to take a look, just like a newbie who had just entered a large game pit.

But I was soon overwhelmed by all sorts of irrelevant posts, and even got a face full of Versailles posts...

As he scrolled through the pages, Cheng Yi suddenly came across a post that seemed quite helpful to him, at least judging from the title.