Chapter 35: The Possibility of Self-Created Skills & Returning in Defeat
Chapter 35: Chapter 35: The Possibility of Self-Created Skills & Returning in Defeat
After dealing with the Golden Scorpion Mother’s body, Jon raised his Warrior Apprentice level to 5, unlocking several new Skills to prepare for a potential attack from the Blood Eye Association.
——
[Shield Charge LV.1 (Ordinary): Consumes 15 Qi. Raise your shield to charge a short distance, dealing 200% weapon damage with a chance to knock back enemies. Cooldown: 10 seconds.]
[Stance Switching LV.1 (Ordinary): Consumes 5 Qi. Switch between Attack Stance, Defense Stance, and Agile Stance. After switching, the effect of the previous stance persists for 4 seconds, and the effect of the new stance is increased by +10%. Cooldown: 2 seconds.]
[Attack Stance: Attack Damage +2%, Critical Strike Rate +2%]
[Defense Stance: Defense Reduction +2%, Block Value +4%]
[Agile Stance: Evasion Probability +2%, Attack Speed +2%]
——
There wasn’t much to say about Shield Charge. It was a run-of-the-mill Ordinary Skill.
Stance Switching and its three corresponding stances, however, were different.
Almost every school of Warrior had its own special stances, but without exception, they all stemmed from these three basic ones and had strict requirements for their respective Skill Levels.
Mastering the different stances, switching between them flexibly in battle to handle various situations—this was an essential part of every Warrior’s training!
Jon was, of course, no exception.
As a former team’s main tank, he most commonly used Defense Stance and its more advanced forms. However, he wasn’t clueless about the other two. In fact, he was quite familiar with them.
After all, even tanks need to deal damage sometimes...
And aside from these two Ordinary Skills, there was one not-so-ordinary Skill.
——
[Modified Dragonman Swordsmanship LV.1 (Rare)]
[Passive Effect 1: All Dragonman Swordsmanship skills’ effects are increased by 20%.]
[Active Effect 1: Consumes 30 Qi to enter the "Dragon Force Burst" state, increasing the effect of the next Dragonman Swordsmanship skill used by 30%.]
[Currently Mastered Skills: Dragon Claw Swing]
[Dragon Claw Swing: Consumes 20 Qi. Strike enemies within a certain range, dealing 200% weapon damage with Piercing Effect +20. Can be freely chained into other Dragonman Swordsmanship skills.]
——
He had obtained this special Swordsmanship from a local Swordsman while undertaking his job-change trial for the Advanced Level class, Dragon Blood Warrior. The trial had taken him to the overseas Dragon-man Country, specifically the Black Scale Dynasty, home of the Ancient Dragon Priest Grune Golden Eye.
Although it was called a Swordsmanship, it was actually a comprehensive skill with both passive and active effects. At max level, it granted a total of five Sword Skills, two Passive Effects, and two active effects, which was quite impressive.
Unfortunately, at the time, Jon had already mastered a Perfect Level Swordsmanship, Dark Flame Erosion Sword, which surpassed this Swordsmanship modified from a Dragon-man Martial Skill in every aspect.
So, naturally, he had left the Skill unused, only taking it out a few times for fun when sparring with friends.
But now, after rummaging through the list of his still-locked Skills, he was shocked to discover that until he reached level 50 and re-mastered Dark Flame Erosion Sword, this Modified Dragonman Swordsmanship was the best Swordsmanship available to him.
His other few low-level swordsmanship skills couldn’t even compare...
A Swordsmanship he once looked down on was now going to be his main combat Skill.
How unpredictable life was.
"Sigh, what else can I do? I’ll just use it and practice with it for now..."
That was Jon’s attitude toward this Swordsmanship.
Of course, only someone like him, who had no shortage of high-level Skills, would be so dismissive of a systematic Rare Swordsmanship that could be learned at the Apprentice Level and remain useful all the way to the Official and even Advanced Levels.
For the native inhabitants—whose Soldier and Knight classes corresponded to the Apprentice and Official Levels—possessing such a Swordsmanship would be enough for them to become famous in their own right.
As for matters beyond Skills—like his Power increasing to 10 points, his Constitution to 17, which then became 22 after adding the 5 points from Blood of the Earth—there was no need to dwell on it.
It just meant his Life Value had increased to 660 and his Qi Value to 160, strengthening his survivability and combat endurance.
Nothing worth mentioning, nothing at all.
By comparison, what interested Jon most was the prompt that had appeared when he landed the final blow against the Scorpion Mother.
[You have grasped a sliver of the true meaning of "Balance".]
[You may consume Experience Points to recall this true meaning for a chance to comprehend a "Balance"-related Skill.]
[Current Recall Attempts Remaining: 3/3]
In Yino, a prompt like this usually meant only one thing: you could now try to create your own Skill!
But for players, this wasn’t necessarily something to be happy about.
The "skill creation" system was a complete pitfall, much like those detestable gacha games with their pity mechanics that still conned you out of hundreds of pulls.
The only difference was that this system consumed your Experience Points.
While some lucky bastards had managed to pull ultra-powerful Rare, Perfect, or even Epic Level Skills through this system, the vast majority of people who poured their Experience Points in only received a pile of useless Skills. They even had to spend money to unlearn them just to keep their skill page clean...
But that was in the game.
Players might have just landed a spectacular attack by chance, triggering the prompt. But even after investing their Experience Points, they had absolutely no control over the resulting Skill.
But Jon wasn’t playing a game now, was he?
When he unleashed that strike, concentrating all his Qi and Blood and Magic Power, he had distinctly felt something that couldn’t be felt in the game.
Perhaps, for him, things would be different?
The young Warrior stared at the prompt, his eyes glittering. It seemed to hold an endless allure.
’You’ve already gone through something as impossible as transmigration. Could the odds of pulling an Epic Level Skill really be lower than that?’
’You’re the protagonist! You’re number one! Trust your luck! Today’s the day you make it big!’
’Anyway, it’s just a few Experience Points. Just give it a try... What if it works?!’
All kinds of tempting thoughts echoed in Jon’s mind, and he couldn’t help but let his focus drift toward the prompt...
"Alright then... I’ll give it a try..."
He clicked the prompt and chose to input his experience.
As it happened, the remainder of his leftover experience was exactly 648. Wasn’t that a sign from the heavens?
Time to test the waters with one pull!
[Consume 648 Experience Points to recall the true meaning of "Balance"?]
"Yes!"
Filled with anticipation, desire, and a hint of excitement, Jon hit confirm!
The sensation he had felt when delivering that final slash surged through his body once more, making him feel as if all his power was about to merge into one.
Qi and Blood with Magic Power, body with soul... Under the influence of the Heart of Balance, they intertwined and compressed one another, guiding Jon’s Spirit into a sublime and ineffable state.
"Is... is this the legendary union of spirit and flesh!?"
"Am I about to step into the realm of cultivation!?"
However, just as Jon felt he was about to ascend on the spot and become a venerable ancestor, a cold, impersonal prompt slapped him right back down to earth.
[Failed to comprehend a "Balance"-related Skill. Please try again.]
"FUCK—!"