To upgrade a Skill from Common-tier to Adept-tier, you need ten Skill shards and Adept proficiency in said skill.
One monster gave one or two Skill Shards depending on their rarity and strength. That meant killing five to ten monsters to raise a skill.
From the six Firespitters he carved up, he cut out twelve Skill shards from their bodies. A perfect hunt.
He opened his status to check what skills were at the limit.
◇—Status—◇
Name: Horus
Title: Lonely Moon
Class: Common Swordsman
Attributes:
[Endurance] > 17 (Common)
[Tolerance]> 20 (Common) [Skill limit reached]
[Physicality]> 20 (Common) [Skill limit reached]
[Perception]> 20 (Common) [Skill limit reached]
[Reflexes]> 18 (Common)
[Basic Swordsmanship]> 20 (Common) [Skill limit reached]
[Basic Archery]> 8 (Common)
[Shelter building]> 13 (Common)
[Cooking]>13 (Common)
[Striking proficiency]> 17 (Common)
[Twilight Swordsmanship]> 15 > 16 (Common)
[Trap disarming]> 2 (Common)
Weapons slot (4): Celestial Steel Sword
Quest(s): None
He had four skills he needed to upgrade. If every Firespitter he killed gave him two Skill shards, then he needed to kill 20 to upgrade them.
But fighting increased his skill levels. Like [Twilight swordsmanship] had gone from 15 to 16. By the time he killed 14 more enemies, it would reach level 20, the Common-tier limit, and he would have to upgrade it.
[Reflexes], [Striking proficiency] and [Endurance] were also getting really close to Adept-tier.
He was told that reaching Adept-tier in two skills often meant you could call yourself an Adept-tier Awakener.
He had seven skills that were almost Adept, and he just awakened. Was that odd?
Shaking his head, he decided to focus on which skill to upgrade.
Tolerance related to how well he took pain, poisons and pleasures. He didn't quite need it right now.
Physicality was how much force his body could generate. These natural skills came even if you didn't have a class and you could learn sub-skills; techniques that relied on how high your skill was to perform.
He only knew two; [Breath Stalling] and [Dimish Presence]. Both were taught to him before he even awakened. You could learn them as long as they were Common-tier.
As an unawakened he practiced using breath control, but now It was all about manipulating his mana.
Perception was similar, he learnt sub-skills for enhancing his hearing and sight, but never got the hang of skills for smell and taste.
Both Physicality and Perception would be useful though…
He sighed and glanced at Basic swordsmanship. It had small sub skills like basic forms and attacks, but nothing a human couldn't do.
Adept Swordsmanship could perform more complex actions. Horus was pretty sure you would gain your first Chain skill.
So not really useful.
If it were [Twilight Swordsmanship] that was at the limit, he would choose that immediately. Adept-tier [Twilight Swordsmanship] came with the [Crescent Slash] sub-skill.
Let's go Physicality then, Firespitters aren't very stealthier or fast, so my Perception is enough.
[Spend 10 Skill shards to upgrade Physicality to an Adept-tier skill?]
[Checking the skill requirement?]
[Skill: Physicality]
[Rarity: Common]
[Adept tier requirement: Currently good health.]
Being healthy now means becoming superhuman, even if you lose that health later.
That's just weird.
[Congratulations! You have upgraded Common-tier Physicality to Adept-tier Twilight Body!]
This was the physical skill of people with the [Twilight Swordsman] class. He wondered whether he would just get [Adept Physicality].
How is this going to work when I learn the Class Skills of classes like [Sword Saint] or [Sun Swordsman]?
Maybe it would work like [Basic Swordsmanship], where he would just have a separate [Physicality].
[Twilight Body]
[Rarity: Epic]
[Description: Using Twilight mana, your body can perform inhuman feats. You heal faster at night and gain a significant boost in strength.]
The inhuman feats were sub-skills he had to master for himself. By manipulating Twilight mana, he could do things like phasing through objects.
He did this with his sword when he fought the Firespitters. The sub-skill was formerly called [Fading], an aspect of Twilight mana.
He currently knew of three sub-skills using Twilight mana. [Fading], [Moonshadow], and [Crescent Slash].
Hopping slightly, Horus felt the enhanced power of his new body as he launched almost twenty inches off the ground easily.
Walking over to the hole he used to enter this section, he measured it to be around eight feet above the ground. The group of new awakeners he just sent off had to climb up to the hole.
Horus braced himself and jumped. His body sailed through the air weightlessly, landing at the edge of the hole easily.
He had to crouch to fit, but a smile still tugged at his lips. He could probably jump higher than that and over a longer distance. Adept-tier [Physicality]was incredible.
He could only imagine the boost at the Elite or Master tier.
●——●
The journey back to the safe zone was quiet and arduous. Some places in the tight tunnels made him very anxious of being caught between two enemies.
Crawling out of the tunnel and into the safe zone, he let out a breath he didn't know was held.
I do not like that.
There were people waiting, casually chatting in the dark, spacious cavern. They followed the stone tab and entered a tunnel that led to the first floor in a line, each waiting for the people in the tunnel to finish their crawl before entering.
It felt more like a bank lobby than a dungeon, but it was the preparation of their predecessors that allowed for such a carefree time.
He couldn't see any Slayers or Soldiers supervising. They allowed the new Awakened to take this journey alone. Also, allowing them to go deeper into the dungeon, fight monsters, and complete their first quests.
Some people were linking up with their friends to brave the dungeons with maps issued to them by Command, while others just lounged around.
The Enchanter boy from that group was here. His leg was stitched up, and he sat by the stone tablet.
"Thanks for your help again, sir Horus!" the boy said with a beaming smile.
"You aren't leaving?" Horus asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Nope. I can stay here and enchant weapons for some money. Would you like a sharpness enchantment, a magic-strengthening enchantment, or a self-cleaning enchantment? They are all high-quality and last 48 hours! I learnt them from my dad, an Elite-tier Enchanter."
The boy drove a hard bargain so Horus patronised him, getting a self-cleaning enchantment for his clothes and a magic-strengthening enchantment for his Celestial steel sword and the basic sword the system had gifted him.
"You're very cautious," the boy said as he weaved golden lines over his sword. "Most people who came in with a weapon declined the system's gifts."
"It's free, and I can fight with two swords at once," Horus said.
Once it was done, Horus paid the surprisingly low price and offered the boy a handshake. "Stay safe, try exchanging some healing for an enchantment if you meet a healer, and leave if there's any danger, okay?"
"It's an honour to have the Future of Bloodhaven worry about me," The Enchanter said, raising a thumbs up. "Thanks for the healer idea, too, all I was thinking about was money."
He left the boy, just as he heard Wally's voice. A smile lit up his face. They were both transported to the same dungeon. Unfortunately for Wally, his sister was too.
"I'll be fine, don't nag," Wally said to June, who hovered over. "Leave."
"If you'll be fine, I'll be great," June retorted, rolling her eyes. "I'm just a Bard anyway, it's not like I'm cursed with being a frontline fighter. That's George and Jenneth's problem."
Two of June's friends close by glared at her playfully. June's group seemed to consist of four people.
A Tank, a Spear user, a Water mage and June, the Bard. He could tell just by their equipment.
They all turned as Horus approached, eyes widening. Horus sensed their muscles tightening. Were they expecting a fight?