novelraw Chapter 258: Special Profession Spellsword, Ridiculous Numbers
Chapter 258: Special Profession Spellsword, Ridiculous Numbers
When the dust settled, Lin Mo strolled back to the group without hurry.
"Are you alright?"
Dirk asked with concern.
"I'm fine, I'm fine." Lin Mo waved his hand.
"This is too dangerous."
Sherfilia frowned as she looked at him.
"Mr. Lin Mo...."
Finnie’s eyes seemed to glisten with unshed tears, looking like she wanted to come over but felt awkward about it.
After all, the fight wasn't completely over yet.
But the greatest threat had already been dealt with by Lin Mo. Before that, he had also killed several monsters, and only a few remained, so dealing with them was easy and pleasant....
With the crisis over, the group returned to the cave Lin Mo had carved out.
At last, Lin Mo had time to sort out his thoughts properly.
In that instant, a flood of new information surged into his vision.
Lin Mo didn't have time to examine it all closely. On one hand, the most important thing was to seize that sensation and thoroughly master the fusion of mana and qi-and-blood. On the other hand, he still had to stay aware of the danger around them.
Entering that mysterious state didn't mean Lin Mo lost all perception of the outside world.
In fact, he had contingency plans. If those incoming messages couldn't be handled before an attack landed, he would swap places with the clone he'd prepared in advance.
Alright, it was time to go through everything one by one...
First were the basic attribute boosts resulting from the two skill upgrades, which pushed both his mage and warrior professions to level 11 simultaneously, reaching the Elite threshold.
Then came that strange sensation of mana and qi-and-blood intermingling. After penetrating its secret, Lin Mo also obtained a brand-new profession—Spellsword.
But that raised a question... a question Lin Mo had often pondered before.
After achieving this special class transfer, what would his professions look like?
Would the Warrior and Mage professions simply disappear and fuse into Spellsword?
If so, what about the attribute bonuses from future profession level-ups? The Spellsword profession certainly seemed powerful, but could a single profession's level-up bonuses possibly match the combined bonuses of his original two professions?
This worry was, realistically, only Lin Mo's problem.
After all, ordinary adventurers could only receive bonus attributes from one profession, so a stronger transfer or special transfer profession would usually be an upgrade without downside.
Worrying aside, Lin Mo couldn't abandon the transfer because of it. He pushed the questions aside and decided to act first.
Now, the results in front of him were clearly beyond what he had expected.
Lin Mo had not imagined a Spellsword or similar special transfer would affect his original professions so that he still received attribute bonuses from those former professions as usual. He had expected either the Spellsword's bonuses to be weaker than the combined Warrior and Mage bonuses, but he never expected what came next.
"Promotion conditions met, profession Warrior (lv10) promoted—current profession Warrior (lv11)."
"Acquired profession attribute bonuses: Strength +10, Constitution +10, Agility +4!"
"General promotion conditions met, profession Mage (lv10) promoted—current profession Mage (lv11)."
"Acquired profession attribute bonuses: Strength +2, Constitution +3, Agility +3, Mana +10, Spirit +6!"
"Special transfer achieved, acquired special profession—Spellsword."
"Current special profession level: Spellsword Lv1! Acquired attribute bonuses: Strength +50, Constitution +20, Agility +20, Mana +50!"
???
Even Lin Mo, who was used to "cheating" by gaming mechanics, stood there stunned for a long moment.
Wait, were those attribute bonuses for real?
The earlier Warrior and Mage bonuses were already outrageous, but since they were ordinary promotions to Elite, they were somewhat reasonable.
But what was up with the Spellsword bonuses?! Those numbers looked like they were thrown out with a foot!
After thinking it over carefully, Lin Mo gradually caught on.
The Spellsword's level was not LV11 like the Warrior and Mage;
it was LV1.
So that meant the Spellsword existed as an extra profession independent of the original profession system?
If that was the case, its leveling system would be completely different from normal professions. Maybe the Spellsword profession wouldn't reach level 2 until his Warrior and Mage professions both hit level 20.
Viewed this way, the absurd numbers started to make a kind of sense...
Sense my foot!
Putting aside that this thing was clearly an extra bonus... giving you a million at once is not the same as giving you ten thousand a year for a hundred years;
they are totally different concepts.
After all these stacked bonuses, Lin Mo's attribute panel had reached a terrifying level.
[Name]: Lin Mo
[Professions]: Warrior Lv11, Knight Lv4, Assassin Lv7, Mage Lv11, Priest Lv10, Ranger Lv7
[Attributes]:
Strength: 122 (+122 = 244)
Agility: 76 (+114 = 190)
Constitution: 49 (+85 = 134)
Spirit: 32 (+60 = 92)
Mana: 122 (+124 = 246)
Fire Elemental Affinity: 26% + 26% = 45.24% (after decay)
Ice Elemental Affinity: 27% + 12.5% = 36.125%
The bonus attributes had completely eclipsed Lin Mo's base stats, bringing every attribute to levels utterly mismatched with his profession ranks.
Frankly, his current Mana stat was not far behind Flora's.
According to Lin Mo's guess, Flora's total Mana attribute should be around 300 points;
she was a Mage above level 15, almost level 16.
Of course, there remained a significant gap in base Mana.
But in real combat, there was little practical distinction between base Mana and total Mana;
the advantage lay with the augmented Mana.
Strictly speaking, Lin Mo's Shared Cultivation skill system only recognized base attributes.
So he could still extract a little benefit from Sherfilia.
Besides numerical increases, promotion to Elite brought some trait upgrades.
For example...
"Your Warrior profession skill—Warrior's Heart has upgraded!"
[Warrior's Heart] Lv3: Tempered by countless years, you have grown into a powerful warrior. The will to fight burns in your heart, making you fearless and relentless!
Skill effect: Endurance increased by 30%, skill cost reduced by 30%
Just like when he had previously been promoted to Veteran, this general promotion to Elite once again improved his profession skill's effects.
Also, the profession insignia he had earned upon reaching Veteran was upgraded to Elite.
"Congratulations on becoming an Elite-level Warrior. Your understanding of combat has deepened. Your profession tier has advanced, obtaining Profession Insignia—Elite: increases Warrior skill casting and projectile speed by 20%!"
The Mage profession saw a similar upgrade.
"Your Mage profession skill—Mage Heart has upgraded!"
[Mage Heart] Lv3: The mysteries of the elements unfold, and the glory of spells shines upon you!
Skill effect: Mana recovery speed increased by 30%, mental load for casting reduced by 30%
"Congratulations on becoming an Elite-level Mage. Your understanding of magic has deepened. Your profession tier has advanced, obtaining Profession Insignia—Elite: increases Spell Surge by 20%!"
These improvements were all practical, though fairly conventional and expected.
What excited Lin Mo more was whether the new profession Spellsword would also bring similar changes.
As it turned out, it did.
"Congratulations on successfully transferring to the special profession—Spellsword. Acquired profession trait: Heart of the Spellsword."
[Heart of the Spellsword] LvMax: You may freely use mana to enhance Warrior-type skills and freely use qi-and-blood to enhance Mage-type skills, and you can combine existing profession skills into powerful combination techniques. Magic Qi skills' power +30%!
Exactly as Lin Mo had suspected: in strict terms, the special profession didn't have rigid "skills" in the traditional sense. Any skill he had obtained could utilize "magic qi," transforming freely into new forms.
For example, the Moon Sky Charge he had just used was a new skill formed by combining Blood Moon Sky Charge and Blazing Spear.
The reason it used Blazing Spear instead of Blazing Sky Fire Spear was that combining two epic-level skills was slightly more complex, and Lin Mo didn't quite grasp it in that instant.
In other words, as he grew more proficient, he could develop Spellsword skills even stronger than Blazing Moon Sky Charge.
It reminded Lin Mo of a saying: no move surpasses having a move.
The Spellsword's logic was the same—having no fixed skills could mean the most versatile and strongest possible techniques.
Additionally, these combination skills did not have their own separate proficiency systems, but—
"Defeated Level 11 monster Deep Rock Colossus..."
[Blood Moon Sky Charge] Proficiency +90
[Blazing Spear] Proficiency +90
Indeed, using combination skills powered by magic qi to kill monsters could simultaneously increase proficiency for both component skills.
Only, Blazing Spear had already reached max level, so extra proficiency was meaningless.
However, Lin Mo could later combine two non-maxed skills into a magic-qi ability, thereby raising proficiency for both at once and greatly accelerating his leveling.
Furthermore, the special profession skill Heart of the Spellsword provided a brutally simple damage bonus:
Any skill using magic qi received an additional 30% skill power.
Keep in mind that combination skills using magic qi were already strengthened compared to their original Warrior or Mage forms;
adding another 30% made them unimaginably powerful for regular professions.
The concrete effect was what Lin Mo had just demonstrated with Blazing Moon Sky Charge: one-shotting a level 11 Mid-Level Lord-Level monster renowned for its defense felt trivial, and he hadn't even used half the skill's potential.
It was a pity that because the profession was called Spellsword, Lin Mo's current trials with magic qi could only pair well with Warrior-type skills;
Assassin and Knight skills didn't mesh as well yet.
But that was okay. The Knight profession paired more naturally with the Priest profession for combinations.
As for Assassin and Ranger professions, theoretically they could combine with Mage skills to gain power, but Lin Mo couldn't find a good method yet. Based on his experience, unlocking some special profession synergies might require simultaneous general promotions.
That was a long way off;
the Mage profession's next general promotion might not come until level 20, when it advanced to Transcendent.
Or maybe Assassin and Ranger could combine on their own...
Shaking his head, Lin Mo stopped dwelling on these complexities. Thinking too much only gave him headaches;
it was better to proceed step by step.
Having resolved one crisis didn't guarantee safety, but there had been no movement outside for a long time.
Apparently, solving this batch of monsters so easily had completely surprised whoever had started it.
They probably had no idea what kind of monster it would take to threaten the outstanding Lin Mo.
The atmosphere in the chamber was a bit heavy. After all, the group wasn't very familiar with each other. Though they'd fought side by side, they were still in danger, and there wasn't much to talk about.
If they stayed silent, it could further weigh on everyone's mood.
So Dirk stepped forward at just the right moment. "Don't be so quiet... Although the crisis isn't fully over, those people will need time to send more monsters. Take advantage of this break to relax. Being wound up all the time won't help the next fight."
"Yes, yes..."
Luke chimed in to agree. "Everyone should eat something first, replenish some stamina."
That reminded everyone, and they took out the food they carried to have a quick bite.
Lin Mo wasn't going to just eat dry rations. While he wouldn't make a big fuss, he did set up a small fire and roasted the meat stored in his Spatial Ring, making a Little Burger.
The firelight in the chamber brightened the small space.
The smell of roasted meat drew everyone's attention. The meat jerky and bread they had suddenly seemed less appealing.
So they all followed suit and roasted their food. Freshly roasted meat was, after all, much better than jerky.
Naturally, they sat together around the fire.
Eve looked at Lin Mo with curiosity—
not because of the burger, but because of him.
Lin Mo noticed her gaze. In the past, being stared at so openly would have been awkward.
But now... well, it was still a little awkward.
Mainly because she kept staring without any attempt to hide it.
He forced himself to lift his head. "Miss Eve, right... Is there something you want?"
Eve was startled, seeming to realize she had been rude for staring. She cleared her throat and went straight to the point. "That skill you used just now..."
At those words, everyone perked up.
They were not fools. Whether the elite students from the Royal National Academy or the mid-level adventurers among them, they had all noticed the difference in Lin Mo's move.
Normally, such things were secrets;
few would ask directly like Eve did.
But since she had asked, everyone leaned in to listen.