2 Chapter 2: Preliminary Planning

Chapter 2: Preliminary Planning

"I remember that the later main storyline didn't specify the exact cause of Viscount Cain's death."

William Cain, who had just realized he was reborn only to face a death plot soon after, frowned and recalled information from his previous life, trying to steer this new incarnation of Viscount Cain away from such a fatal storyline conclusion.

The story of "Gods Apocalypse" took place in the Gaia Main World, surrounded by myriad otherworldly realms, divine kingdoms, and beneath the vast sea of stars, the abyss and hell shrouded in darkness and blood.

In the Gaia Main World, there were six continents: Fanor, Isen, Kortan, Tudos, Gerna, and Anora, each corresponding to different game server regions, with unique early main storylines for each. The Fanor continent served as the primary starting location for players from Earth.

William, in his previous life, mainly operated within the Fis Kingdom on the Fanor continent, so he was quite familiar with the main storyline of the 1.0 version of "Gods Apocalypse."

The Fanor continent, resembling an irregular rectangle covering hundreds of millions of square kilometers, featured several human kingdoms across its central and eastern fertile plains, the vast Navia Forest in the south home to the Elf Kingdom, the boundless snowy plains in the north inhabited by various magical beasts and races, and the magnificent Kano mountain range stretching between the central and western parts of the continent, beyond which lay the desolate western deserts.

The Fis Kingdom, established in the east of the continent, benefited from the fertile lands provided by the Gerto River that originated from the Kano mountains and flowed through the kingdom to the Pearl Sea to the east, offering convenient transportation and thus prosperity compared to neighboring nations.

October 10th was the Annual Holy Festival in the Fis Kingdom, a time of joy and celebration as people decorated the cities and gave thanks for the year's harvest while praying for favorable weather in the year to come.

The grandest celebration took place in Canlight City's Victory Square, hosted by the royal family, attended by the king and all nobles in the city, marking the most important moment in Canlight City each year.

During the festival, King Morton Fis presided over the ceremony, surrounded by ministers and nobles on horseback, showing their respect and support for the king, while the city's populace, guarded by the royal guard, enjoyed free food and wine, watching the ceremony unfold.

This year, just as King Morton Fis was about to light the torch symbolizing the coming year's harvest, a gold-Tier assassin suddenly attacked, slaying several nobles around the king in full view of the onlookers, leaving their bodies before the king and the crowd.

Viscount Cain, or William Cain as he was now, was among those unlucky nobles, the highest-ranking victim of this heinous attack. To minimize the negative impact on the kingdom, this assassination was labeled the "Viscount Cain Assassination Case."

Most players, being lovers of conflict and instability, were thrilled by the assassin's daring act of slaying nobles and escaping the Golden Lion Knights and court magicians, with many wishing they could take the assassin's place.

This event even influenced the game's profession statistics, with the Fis Kingdom seeing a higher percentage of players choosing the assassin class compared to other kingdoms, reflecting the impact this event had on players.

For the Fis Kingdom, this was a severe blow, tarnishing the royal family's reputation during the most important festival, leading to the death of several nobles and sparking one of the catalysts for the war in the 2.0 storyline.

Despite the kingdom's victory in the war and the benefits it brought, the "Viscount Cain Assassination Case" was forgotten, with no follow-up investigation, as if erased from the kingdom's memory, only recorded as one of the causes for the Fanor continent war in player-written histories.

"Damn it, what did Viscount Cain do to deserve this treatment!" William Cain lamented for the unfortunate fate of his current identity, feeling injustice for the character he once enjoyed watching in the game's cutscene.

Some players speculated that the assassination was staged by the Fis Kingdom as a pretext for war, especially coveting the seaport of the neighboring Bertrich Kingdom, but without evidence, this theory remained speculative, and with subsequent major events, the assassination gradually faded from discussion.

"Still too little information, and with over three months until the assassination, there's no way to figure out who wants me dead," William murmured, pressing his temples.

In the end, it all came down to power. If he were a legendary mage, he wouldn't have to worry about being assassinated by a high-level assassin; a single legendary spell like Meteor Blast would be enough to send the assassin to hell.

Thus, the immediate priority was to enhance his own strength. William summoned the system panel again, examining each piece of data closely.

Currently, at level 30, he was a bronze mage, which he recalled was the level cap in the 1.0 version of "Gods Apocalypse." In the game, most professions, including mages, progressed through tiers: Bronze (0–50), Silver (51–100), Gold (101–200), and Legendary beyond 200, with higher levels beyond legendary unexplored since "Gods Apocalypse" had not yet released content beyond level 200 in his previous life.

Ordinary level, ordinary attributes, and even his notable court viscount status did not directly enhance his combat capabilities.

Even William faintly felt that the main reason for his assassination was not his status as a court viscount.

Thus, what was most worthy of his effort was...

William looked at the talent section of his information panel.

"Talent: Jack Of All Trades"

"Tier: Legendary"

"Effect: Your talent breaks through limits, allowing you to learn and master other professions' specialties and skills. The more professional skills (excluding primary profession skills) you master, the faster your growth rate will be (Current extra experience value bonus: 0%)."

William furrowed his brows, rhythmically tapping his finger on the bed as he sank into thought.

After the excitement of obtaining a legendary talent subsided, William also realized some limitations of this powerful ability.

Although the Adapter talent was indeed strong, allowing William to master specialties and skills across professions, it also presented a new challenge.

That was the skill level! In the world of "Gods Apocalypse," merely learning a skill was just the beginning; skills had to be leveled up to unleash their true potential, enhancing damage and effect priority.

For example, a level one "Invisibility" skill from a rogue could easily be detected by any bronze-tier professional through intuition alone.

Therefore, prioritizing skill level enhancement was crucial, and leveling up skills required the expenditure of experience points.

For some core professional skills, upgrading these skill levels could be even more critical than raising the character level.

If William indiscriminately learned a plethora of skills from other professions without sufficient experience points to upgrade these skills, they wouldn't be much use in actual combat, merely serving as fodder for his talent.

Even with the extra experience value bonus from the Adapter talent, it likely wouldn't satisfy all the upgrade requirements for his skills.

But!

The Jack Of All Trades talent allowed William not just to master skills from other professions but also to acquire various specialties!

Specialties could be understood as passive states that continuously enhanced oneself, typically boosting attributes, effects, resistances, and more.

Compared to professional skills, specialties did not require leveling up, were more powerful, and were harder to acquire.

Take, for example, William's mage specialty "Magic Mind," which doubled the intelligence attribute modifier, a common effect among mage specialties.

Each profession had its unique specialties, and different specialties essentially dictated one's development path.

If William was correct, he could also acquire other professions' specialties!

The mere adjustment of corresponding attributes from these specialties was already incredibly powerful.

If William were to acquire any warrior's specialty, his strength attribute would also receive a double modifier.

What kind of tactic was this?

Not only was he stronger than others, but he was also tougher!

William felt he had found the correct way to utilize his talent.

While selectively learning professional skills, he would focus more on acquiring specialties from various professions.

Perfect!

Who was William?

A top-tier power leveler from "Gods Apocalypse" in his previous life + a reborn individual!

The ways and means to acquire powerful skills and specialties of various professions were all in his head.

Wasn't this returning to his area of expertise?

What was there to worry about?

Just grind it out!