With the discovery of the level reset function as well as the fixed status increase, the magic knight class was said to be industrialized. Along with these two discoveries, a third discovery was made for Magic knights. That was Magic Customization.
Initially, the magic knight was rated as a weak class due to it’s inability to cast magic above the intermediate tier. The only benefit to choosing the class was the ability to cast magic despite being part of the front-line, however this benefit was considered a weakness rather than a privilege. Magic knights were unable to cast Wall and thus unable to be the tank in the frontlines.
In this world, there are three tiers of magic. Basic, Intermediate and Advanced
Basic tier magic was considered a useful magic to have due to it’s quick cast time and high power for it’s cost.
Advanced magic was magic with a large area of effect with a long cast time. However, despite this it was still easy and effective to use as it also has extremely high firepower.
However, unlike the other two tiers which were highly regarded, Intermediate magic was looked down upon as an irrelevant tier to master.
Basic and Advanced tier magic were extremely efficient in terms of their consumption as well as effects, producing good results for relatively low cost. Whereas Intermediate tier magic was inefficient in results.
Intermediate tier magic has a reasonable area of effect with range and it’s cast time wasn’t very long but not short either. It’s power wasn’t spectacular for it’s cost, making it a tier that had many niche uses.
High-levelled magicians often taught others that Basic magic was effective in dealing with weaker monsters while Advanced magic should be used when the number of monsters are too many or too powerful. Thanks to this, there weren’t many uses for Intermediate magic and was considered a waste of skill points to invest in.
They weren’t wrong. Intermediate tier magic was indeed useless when compared to the other tiers available. However, Intermediate magic was superior in one aspect. Customization.
If it was possible to place the level of each spell’s fundamental concepts in numeric values, the values of Intermediate tier magic was more efficient compared to other tiers.
When Magic Customization was discovered, magic knights were given an ability that magicians did not have.
That was the flexibility to customize their spells to provide powerful attack spells as well as supportive magic. Magicians didn’t have the ability to sacrifice their range and cast time to increase the power of their attack spells. However, that wasn’t the true benefit of Magic Customization. It’s true potential lies in it’s supportive magic.
When magic knights’ power level was reevaluated, it wasn’t the flexibility nor the attacking magic that caused them to be rated highly. It was the ability to freely alter the blessings that they provided to the party. This characteristic alone was enough for the class to be deemed as the strongest.
[This makes three!] (Luna)
After the trio had left, Luna and I continued to look for rock golems in order to raise our levels.
The subsequent battles were much easier once the baggage was gone. After defeating our third golem, I became Level 6. It was an incredible leveling pace as there was a huge level difference between the monsters and us, giving us a bonus gain in experience as a reward.
Since Luna was in my party, the experience was evenly distributed between the two of us, so Luna’s was currently Level 6 as well.
[Alright its time to head back, I’ve pretty much drained all my mana.] (Youya)
[Youya, Luna wants to fight. There’s no point if Luna doesn’t fight.] (Luna)
[It’s because Luna is here that I can focus on my battles. If Luna wasn’t here, I would worry about multiple golems appear once the battle was over.] (Youya)
[I understand. But still…] (Luna)
It seems that Luna was dissatisfied that she did not have a chance to enter the battle.
However, even if Luna did join in the battle, she would not be able to land a scratch on the golem. It’s defensive stats were far too high for adventurers with our levels. That being said, she was still crucial in our battles as she was constantly on the lookout for monsters that would join in on the battle. That alone saved me a lot of energy and was an important role, but it seems that she is still dissatisfied.
[Don’t worry, tomorrow you’ll get a chance to fight monsters. Now that we’re Level 6, you should have at least 5 skill points. Let’s use this opportunity to level an attack skill. I’ll recommend the optimals skills and you’ll choose which skill you wish to use.] (Youya)
[Yay!] (Luna)
Luna smiled happily as her tail shook back and forth. She seems happy that she’ll finally get an attack skill. Could she be a battle maniac?
For thieves, there aren’t any actual attacking skills although offensive skills do exist. For offensive skills, there are two styles that can be used. One was a style that specialises in critical hits while the other specialises in abnormality effects.
The former has a high skill floor, requiring talent and technical ability. If successfully executed, it will provide the user with tremendous explosive power whereas the latter requires knowledge and battle sense. Once the user has enough experience with his abilities, he will become an important asset in future battles.
Although it is certain that Luna will choose the first option, I will have to determine whether she has the talent for Critical specialization. Although having the ablity to land critical hits packs a huge punch, if the user doesn’t have the talent for critical strikes, the skills learnt would become dead skills as they wouldn’t be used in any other way.
Relying on Luna’s Presence Detection, we successfully evaded monsters as we travelled down the mountain towards the exit.
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For our first adventure, it is impressive that we managed to level up five times while obtaining a rare drop at the same time.
We headed towards the guild hall as we returned from the dungeon
The guild plays three important roles.
Firstly, the guild serves as a consultant for adventurers. When inquired, the guild staff will explain specific details about dungeons including the level and monsters that will appear.
Secondly, the guild serves as a store that collects drop items from dungeons. Everything that is dropped by monsters can be sold at the guild. Using it’s huge network, anything can be sold and delivered to anywhere around the country.
Lastly, the guild is the distributor of quests in the countries. Quests accepted from all around the world are shown here for adventurers to accept.
The guild is a crucial lynchpin for the lives of adventurers as they were arguably the main source of income for us. Without them, it would be difficult for us to sell the items from dungeons to other vendors. The guild also takes a commission depending on the amount given for the drop items. Depending on the commission, guild points are given and once the amount of points reaches a certain amount, the adventurer will be promoted to a higher rank. The higher the adventurer’s rank, the more advantageous it would be when travelling around the country. There are special privileges that are only given in certain countries and cities once you are at a high enough rank. Therefore it is rare for adventurers to avoid cashing out their items at the guild unless it was an absurd amount.
However, there was something strange that caught my eye.
When I took a look at my status back in the dungeon, I realized that my rank was currently Bronze, the lowest rank for adventurers. Back then, I was at the top rank, White.
Although I expected my status to completely reset thanks to the goddess statue, I didn’t expect the statue to reset my guild points as well.
Looks like I’ll have to raise my guild rank as well as my level this time.
I sneaked a peek at the quest board before heading to the cashier. Just as I hoped, I found a quest that requested for the Karakuri heart from the Rock Golem. After defeating three golems, two Karakuri hearts were dropped.
I’ll be submitting only one of the hearts for the quest and the other will be kept for crafting magical items in the future.
Turning in items for quests were much more beneficial than simply cashing them in for money.
By completing quests, not only do you earn a bonus, but you also earn the original price of the item back in cash as well as guild points.
The amount that we had earned was quite a hefty sum for a beginner dungeon. It seems that lady luck has been smiling upon me ever since i met Luna.
[Luna, let’s head over to the bar tonight. We earned a lot more money than expected today, thanks to that we can afford to eat more of the meat you liked.] (Youya)
The glint in Luna’s eyes shined brightly. However, that glint quickly disappeared as Luna began to shake her head.
[It’s okay, the new skill is more important. Luna wants to become stronger.] (Luna)
I widened my eyes at Luna’s statement.
I can’t deny that I was looking forward to eating good food tonight, but watching Luna give up the food for training gave me a bit of a shock.
[Alright, then let’s settle for a sandwich tonight then. We’ll drop by the store later and get the ingredients for the sandwich. That way we can enjoy a delicious dinner while training.] (Youya)
[ As expected of Youya! Youya is so smart! I like smart Youya!] (Luna)
Afterwards, we bought plenty of meat as well as other ingredients before returning to the inn.
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Me and Luna were facing each other in the courtyard of the inn. Both of us held a wooden dagger in our hands
[The skill I want Luna to learn is Assassinate. It was the same skill with a cool name that you liked.] (Youya)
[Yay! Luna can finally look cool! I want to assassin!] (Luna)
Her sentence was strange for sure, but somehow I know what she means.
Being an assassin is a difficult task. It depends purely on Luna whether or not she can successfully pull it off.
[Assassinate is a powerful but difficult skill to pull off] (Youya)
[I want to learn! Teach me please.] (Luna)
Luna ears begin to perk up as she began to listen.
I started to recall the list of skills available in the game in my previous life. As a former player, I have more or less memorised every single skill in the game. Although I haven’t really memorised the explanation for every skill, I have or less grasped the mechanics and effects of the skills. Although it wasn’t very impactful in the game, it is important to understand the skill that you are learning so that you avoid learning dead skills as much as possible. Dead skills are prevalent in this world as many beginner adventurers learn skills without understanding their skill’s effects and ending up regretting their decisions.
Generally, adventurers should have a general idea of what skills do they wish to obtain, and narrow down skill tree that they wish to learn. Furthermore, the skills that are present within the skill tree should be narrowed down only to the most important skills as skill points are scarce in this world. Not a single point can be wasted.
In the game, Assassinate was a skill that has the highest damage multiplier that also has the highest power correction value when the attack lands as a critical hit. However, if the attack doesn’t land as a critical, it turns into a basic attack without any bonuses.
[Assassinate is an attack that mainly relies on landing critical hits. You have to land the attack on the opponent’s weak spot otherwise the skill will not activate.] (Youya)
The activation condition speaks for itself. That was how difficult this skill is. An adventurer who is trained to land critical hits is talented, however it was a tall order for adventurers to land a critical hit to activate their skill. Even possibly leading to their death as their attacks will drain mana even on basic attacks.
[I guess the main difficulty in adding this skill, would be being able to land critical hits consistently?] (Youya)
During the game, it was easy to raise our critical chance by increasing the speed stat. However it was still a percentage chance to land the skill. In this world, that was the most important question when obtaining this skill. Critical hits did not rely on luck, but rather on talent. Everything in this world has a weak spot, if you do not land the attack on their weak spot then it will not activate a critical hit.
[Landing critical hits is an important skill for adventurers to grasp. The weak points vary based on the monster, but generally the weak spot for each monster are soft. When you land a full-power strike onto the weak spot, the damage will be amplified and reverbrate throughout the body. It is an easy idea to understand, it isn’t easy to execute. Even with training, only people with talent are capable of performing it. There are some who are unable to execute it even after years of experience.] (Youya)
In order to land a critical hit, the skill and knowledge of the monster’s weakpoint would be required. For the skill required to land a critical hit, the person would need a sense of swordsmanship and martial arts to transfer power from their whole body into their attacks.
[Sounds incredibly difficult. Can you do it Youya?] (Luna)
[I can almost always land critical hits, especially against monsters.] (Youya)
Actually, I had zero sense on how to detect a monster’s weak point. However after continuing to hone my swordsmanship for several decades, I’ve managed to sharpen my concentration. Along with my combat experience, I became able to land a critical hit whenever and wherever I could.
[Youya, I want to try it. I won’t be able to learn just by listening.] (Luna)
[I feel the same way.] (Youya)
I took out a wooden doll from my magic bag and stabbed it into the ground. The magic doll was a magic item, the invincible Scarecrow-kun. It has incredible durability along with automatic regeneration, making it the perfect practice dummy for battles.
[First we will work on your techniques. An average adventurer often swing their sword using their arm strength. However contrary to what people think, that isn’t the most effective way to attack.] (Youya)
I swung the wooden dagger against Scarecrow-kun, producing a dull wooden sound.
[The most effective way of landing an attack, would be to utilise your whole body, releasing the power of your whole body into the swing.] (Youya)
I stepped forward while twisting my waist, bending my arms accordingly while swinging my dagger forward. The impact was a few notches higher than before, producing an explosive ringing sound.
[Wow, they are totally different.] (Luna)
[Naturally. The first blow was performed with my arm strength while the second used my entire body. Needless to say, the second blow is required for a critical hit to register.] (Youya)
Based on my experience, there isn’t even a single adventurer out of a hundred that can perform this as more emphasis was placed on a person’s status than their techniques.
[Luna. I am giving you a warning. You will give up on learning Assassinate if you aren’t able to land a critical hit on Scarecrow-kun who isn’t even moving by tomorrow morning. Simply put, you don’t have the talent if you can’t even do this. Then, you will have to choose a skill that is easier to execute.] (Youya)
[Difficult. Theres only one night…] (Luna)
Ho.. She understood that performing that attack wasn’t as easy as it looked just from that one attack. It may look simple to perform, but that was because I have been doing it for years. Asking a novice to perform the attack in one night might be too harsh.
But I cant afford to wait for Luna to grow.
[Don’t worry about failing to perform the strike. Even if you can’t perform the cirtical hit, you can still specialize on attribute anomalies. Well that is if you fail before the time limit.] (Youya)
I faced Scarecrow-kun and released nine consecutive attacks.
Each of these attacks were nine different slashes that can be performed with a blade. Diagonal. Left. Right. Up and down.
The different slashes were Karatake, Kesaki, Miginagi, Migikiue, Gyakufuu, Hidarikiue, Hidarinagi, Gyaku,Togetsuki.
TLN note: I don’t know what these terms are, but I am assuming they are names.
[Eventually you will have to learn how to perform all nine slashes. Otherwise, performing critical hits will merely be a dream. In a battle, not only do you have to understand which slash would to perform, but the opponent will be moving as well. This is how much you have to prepare in order to master Assassinate. If you can’t even land a critical hit on a stationary target, it is better to just give up entirely.] (Youya)
I am being too harsh on Luna, but if I don’t do so, it could be detrimental to her rather than beneficial if she ends up learning the skill without being prepared.
[I understand. I’ll do it!] (Luna)
Luna’s fox tail began to bounce up and down.
[Now then, try to choose one slash among the nine that you think is comfortable for you and give it your best.] (Youya)
[Uhn. Just watch me do it!] (Luna)
Luna held her dagger and swung it at Scarecrow-kun with various patterns that resemble the nine strikes. Her strikes aren’t accurate in the slightest but it looks like she is trying to find her most comfortable strike.
It’ll probably be too difficult for her to find a comfortable strike as well as learn how to perform it properly. If it was Luna.. i guess the attack would have to be a thrust.
[Luna, try to perform a thrust.] (Youya)
I took my dagger and performed a thrust onto the wooden dummy.
[Amazing.. Youya is awesome! Luna wants to do a thrust just like Youya!] (Luna)
Luna looks at me with shining eyes as she saw me perform a thrust on the wooden dummy
[If you can imitate this thrust by tomorrow morning, then you pass.] (Youya)
[Ok!] (Luna)
Luna wasted no time in performing a thrust that looks similar to my demonstration.
I could see myself in her actions. It is clear that she was trying to imitate my movements from earlier.
[Luna. Drop your waist a little lower and try not to hyperextend your arms. Stop stretching right before your arm is straight.] (Youya)
I stepped behind Luna and grabbed her waist from behind, correcting her posture.
[Let’s do the thrust slowly with my assistance. We’ll correct your posture after each try.] (Youya)
[hhnn? Uhm.. Youya.. Nevermind.] (Luna)
After listening to her weird reply, I realized that her face started to turn red.
Is she getting excited from swinging a sword?
After performing the movement multiple times, Luna’s movement became much more fluid and she could perform the thrust on her own. She continued to perform the same action after I removed my assistance, then her action started to change, becoming much more personalized for herself. As expected of Luna, she has an incredible sense when it comes to battle techniques. Thrust after thrust, her movements became cleaner and the wasted movements were being minimized.
At this rate, it looks like her attack may be perfected by tonight.
I continued to advise Luna on her actions while cheering for her in my mind. Honestly I hope Luna clears this trial as the skill she likes is a skill i would like to have in my party, but that depends on her.