Chapter 106: Breakthrough in Battle
On December 8, 2014
Author: Floating Tower by Zhu Sheng
With 5,000 points of Killing Experience acquired, Soren’s expression was somewhat excited.
He currently had over 10,000 accumulated Killing Experience, enough to simultaneously level up his Wizard and Thief classes. However, he forcibly suppressed this impulse; it was better to hold off on upgrading his basic profession levels for now, as he didn’t need to level up to deal with these Earth Elementals. It would be best to save it for future advancement to an Advanced Profession. Triggering the Advanced Profession with his current abilities was merely a matter of time; even without the conditions, he could create them himself, for example, by becoming an Advanced Assassin.
The Advanced Assassin had just three prerequisites: 100 points in Stealth, a Killing Heart (100 kills), and lastly, 50 points in Alchemy (Poison Making).
His Stealth skill was sufficient, the Killing Heart was a background specialty, and Assassins were all cold-blooded professionals.
Once his assassination targets reached 100 people, he could automatically master the specialty “Killing Heart,” which would grant him an additional point of Will. Soren had numerous assassination targets; as long as he was given a little time, achieving 100 kills would be a small feat. As for the final requirement of 50 points in Alchemy, that would require some time spent learning to make poisons. Being an Assassin was initially one of his top choices for an Advanced Profession, but ultimately he chose the Stealth Assassin, who was better at going undetected. (Native plot characters have an Apprentice Assassin profession that does not require the “Killing Heart” specialty, but they must complete a series of assassination tasks to formally advance to Assassin.)
The battle concluded.
Just when Soren was about to look for the elemental core in the Earth Elemental’s corpse, a series of data suddenly floated up:
“Battle concluded.”
“You dealt 7 (+2) points of slashing damage to the Earth Elemental!… Target is dead!… ”
“Extracting soul energy.”
“You gained 2,550 points of Killing Experience.”
………………
“In repeated killings, your Combat Skills have become increasingly flexible!… ”
“You have obtained information about the specialty ‘Reflex Evasion.'”
“You have obtained information about the specialty ‘Agile Movement.'”
………………
Specialty information appeared!
Soren couldn’t help but freeze for a moment. The nearby halfling patted him on the shoulder, lifted the elemental core, and asked in confusion, “What are you spacing out for? Quickly take down the next one; there’s still a lot left!”
Soren quickly regained his focus. He glanced at his data display.
It wasn’t clear if it was an accumulation of experience or due to the recent fight, but he unexpectedly received two pieces of information, both of which were extended specialties of the Wanderer class; if he didn’t spend specialty points to obtain them, he would only grasp them through battle. Generally, those with richer combat experience, even at the same profession level, would possess more specialties than those who didn’t engage in much fighting. Thus, while the two might seem to have similar levels, their combat effectiveness could differ drastically.
“Reflex Evasion [Personal Specialty]: Through prolonged battles, your reflex capabilities have gradually been honed. When facing surprise attacks, assassinations, or sudden assaults, you won’t be caught off guard due to your developed neural reaction abilities, which are sufficient to handle such unexpected circumstances. In the event of certain area and spell attacks, you can also rely on your reflexes to evade the core areas of the attack, reducing the damage taken. [Reflex +1, Evasion (Roll) +5.]”
“Agile Movement [Personal Specialty]: Through countless battles, your footwork has become increasingly nimble, allowing you to effortlessly evade most attacks. Your movements during combat are like dance steps, and your nimbleness is precisely what defines you. When facing enemy attacks, you can skillfully avoid a significant amount of damage. [Evasion +1, Evasion (Dodge) +5.]”
Both specialties were very familiar to Soren.
However, receiving information on two specialties at once still surprised him.
In the many fights he had engaged in before, he had almost never received any specialty information; now, to have two show up simultaneously couldn’t just be a coincidence; it was likely due to other factors. For instance, he was currently under the effects of ‘Greater Lightness’ and ‘Haste,’ or perhaps he hadn’t been hit at all during his fight against the Earth Elemental.
The more Soren contemplated, the more he felt this probability was high.
When he initially practiced the specialty ‘Extreme Sprint,’ it also required the assistance of spells; at that time, he was under the effects of ‘Lighten Body’ and ‘Greater Haste,’ running at extreme speeds on the surface of a river, repeatedly falling into it over ten times before finally mastering the ‘Extreme Sprint’ combat specialty. Although he had fought plenty before, it was unlike the feeling of dancing on the edge of a blade; being hit by Earth Elementals was no joke, and throughout the entire encounter, Soren’s attention remained highly focused.
He glanced at the halfling beside him and said in a serious tone, “Let me handle the next one alone. I feel like my combat skills are about to break through?”
It could actually work like this!?
The halfling was momentarily taken aback, then asked, “Are you sure?”
Soren nodded.
Previously, he also had a hypothesis that, under high attribute conditions, the speed of comprehending and mastering specialties would be enhanced; after all, there’s a world of difference between having 15 points in Agility and 20 points in Agility. Many abilities required corresponding physical conditions to master. Currently, Soren had 24 points in Agility, higher than when he practiced and mastered it before; back then, no spellcaster was willing to waste precious spells to assist him in honing his specialties.
Wizards like to cast “Canny Intelligence” on themselves when learning high-level spells, as high intelligence aids in spell learning efficiency. He might have now reached the critical point for specialty breakthroughs; the current high attribute state’s effect on specialty training was likely several times more effective than usual, which is why he received two specialty prompts in succession. The 4-point Agility spell boost was equivalent to 8 levels of Wanderer having all their free attribute points allocated to Agility.
Facing the Earth Elemental alone was indeed a bit risky.
When Soren lured out one Earth Elemental, he immediately felt the pressure increase. Without the halfling there for cover and distraction, his frequency of attacks drastically decreased, as he had to devote more energy to dodging attacks. Previously, he could take seven or eight opportunities to strike within a minute; now, two or three was the limit. Gloria seemed somewhat puzzled; after asking the halfling, she partially understood, but her expression looking at Soren was somewhat strange.
A breakthrough in the midst of battle?!
This seemed like an achievement only legendary figures could achieve, right?
Where did Soren get the confidence to believe he could break through his original combat skills in just a few minutes of battling?
Could he also be a Son of God?
That shouldn’t be the case!
His talent was just slightly above that of an ordinary person; in some areas, he was close to genius level, but there was still a vast gap compared to the astounding talents of a Son of God!
Clang, clang, clang.
Soren attacked blade by blade, not seeking a temporary outburst, simply ensuring that he wouldn’t be struck by the enemy.
He weaved around the Earth Elemental, only striking back with a blow during the gaps after the enemy’s attacks. After attacking, the Earth Elemental would retract its arm, providing about a second of attack interval. One second was enough for Soren to do plenty; he struck the Earth’s elemental arm, then suddenly twisted and leaped onto its shoulder, delivering a powerful slash towards the enemy’s neck just before landing.
The battle continued.
Soren’s movements seemed much more agile now, and he seemed to grasp the pattern of the Earth Elemental’s attacks; the rhythm of the fight gradually started to favor him.
Clang, clang, clang.
When Soren once again landed several slashes to the neck of the Earth Elemental, the enemy’s massive body collapsed with a thud, its entire rocky structure beginning to crumble, turning into piles of sand and gravel in the blink of an eye. After eliminating the Earth Elemental before him, he didn’t rush to extract the elemental core but closed his eyes to recall the previous battle process and then took a long breath.
Another information prompt appeared:
“Battle concluded.”
“You dealt 8 (+2) points of slashing damage to the Earth Elemental!… Target is dead!… ”
“Extracting soul energy.”
“You gained 2,600 points of Killing Experience.”
………………
“In the recent battle, you gained insights into your combat skills!…”
“You have obtained information about the specialty ‘Reflex Evasion.'”
“You have obtained information about the specialty ‘Agile Movement.'”
………………
This was already the second information prompt.
Based on Soren’s past experience, there would likely be one more information prompt before mastering the corresponding specialties, meaning the next Earth Elemental could very likely allow him to comprehend both specialties simultaneously. He gestured to the halfling beside him again, whose expression was clearly one of exasperation, but Soren had no time to mind that; after taking a moment to catch his breath, he enthusiastically lured in the second Earth Elemental, calculating the intervals between its swinging attacks based on the battle rhythm he had just accumulated.
Clang, clang, clang.
The continuous sounds of slashing echoed, and Gloria’s expression became much more serious.
Soren had surprisingly become adept within just a few minutes; although the efficiency of the battle wasn’t high, he had repeatedly anticipated and dodged the Earth Elemental’s attacks in advance. By the end, he could even strike the joints before the enemy attacked to interrupt the rhythmic flow of the Earth Elemental’s moves. The halfling’s expression was one of shock; as a Wanderer, he certainly knew how high the requirements for such actions were. Soren’s skills had remarkably improved in a matter of minutes, so much so that even he found it hard to believe.
Finally.
When Soren killed the Earth Elemental before him, the long-awaited prompt appeared:
“Battle concluded.”
“You successfully mastered the specialty ‘Reflex Evasion!’…”
“You successfully mastered the specialty ‘Agile Movement!’…”
“You have obtained information about the Advanced Profession ‘Shadow!’… Advancement requirements are [Reflex Evasion], [Agile Movement], 100 points in Stealth skill, 50 points in Evasion skill…”
……………… (To be continued ~^~)
