The Fight Begins
Shin exited the shower in his apartment, grabbing a towel and drying off the morning of the midterm battle. It was the first time he logged out since he learned about it.
Sienna had reached out to him a few times during his closed-door training, and he learned that the rest of his class had been running dungeons while he was away.
The young man wrapped the towel around his waist, exiting the bathroom as he walked through the empty apartment to the kitchen, eating breakfast.
He dressed quickly and entered his office, where his Dive Pod was set up, entering it and returning to Themiscrya.
Shin stood when he opened his eyes inside the game, still kneeling in the secret training room. He navigated the menu, accessing his status window.
[Name: Shin]
[Race: Human]
[Class: Rookie]
[Level: 5]
[Guild: None]
[Familiar: None]
[Sprite: None]
[Companion: None]
[Martial Power: 580]
[Spiritual Power: 155]
[Regal Power: 10]
[Divine Power: 140]
[Available Points: 12]
Completing the forty weapons at the intermediary, expert, and master levels drastically increased his Martial Power while receiving a significant boost to his Spiritual and Divine Powers.
He navigated to the Skills Window, reviewing the abilities he had learned while studying skillbooks over the past couple of months.
[Martial Artes]
[Focused Thrust]
[Sword Saint's Skillbook]
[Rank: E]
[Progress: 110/250]
[Greatsword Required]
[Lunges toward an enemy with a piercing strike that hits multiple times and inflicts Stagger on the opponent, decreasing the casting speed of Spiritual Artes.]
[Blade Burst]
[Battledancer's Skillbook]
[Rank: F]
[Progress 89/100]
[Any Sword Required.]
[Unleash a wave of non-elemental energy at an enemy in front of you with a slash of your sword.]
[Counterstance]
[Knight's Skillbook]
[Rank: F]
[Progress: 0/100]
[Shield Required.]
[Braces for an attack, blocking it and retaliating with a powerful counterattack.]
[Focused Strike]
[Spearman's Skillbook]
[Rank: E]
[Progress: 218/250]
[Spear/Lance Required.]
[Leap backward, evading an attack and unleashing a devastating thrusting attack and inflicts Suspense, decreasing movement speed.]
[Chi Trap]
[Shaolin's Skillbook]
[Rank: D]
[Progress 28/500]
[Gauntlets Required.]
[Create an invisible glyph on the ground when triggered by an enemy, unleashes a sphere of energy that deals continuous damage to the enemy. Maximum Traps: 1]
[Shadowstrike]
[Thief's Skillbook]
[Rank: D]
[Progress: 3,12/500]
[Daggers Required.]
[Disappears into the shadows and reappears behind the enemy, unleashing a flurry of powerful strikes and inflicting Wounded, increasing damage taken.
[Sidewinder]
[Rogue's Skillbook.]
[Rank: E]
[Progress: 136/250]
[Throwing Weapons Required.]
[Somersaults into the air and throws weapons in an arc, striking the enemy, dealing quadruple damage with 50% accuracy. Deals octuple damage against enemies with Wounded and never misses.]
[Focused Shot]
[Spiritual Archer's Skillbook]
[Rank: E]
[Progress: 178/250]
[Any Ammunition Required.]
[Imbues an arrow/bolt/bullet with non-elemental energy and unleashes a concentrated shot at an enemy and inflicts Disorientation, decreasing the activation time of Martial Artes.]
[Point Blank]
[Shotgunny's Skillbook]
[Rank: D]
[Progress 65/500]
[Any Gun Required]
[Dash forward, breaking through the enemy's defenses and appearing directly before them to deliver a close-range attack and send them flying away.]
[Arcane Ward]
[Warden's Skillbook]
[Rank: D]
[Progress: 90/250]
[Staff Required.]
[Conjures a ward underneath the User. Casting Spiritual Artes while standing inside the radius of the Ward will automatically be cast twice.]
[Lustrous Shield]
[Paladin's Skillbook]
[Rank: C]
[Progress: 15/1,000]
[Shield Required.]
[Conjures a magical barrier around the User's shield that decreases damage taken and reflects projectiles back at the enemy.]
[Spiritual Artes]
[Ruin]
[Sorcerer's Skillbook]
[Rank: B]
[Progress: 69/2,500]
[Wand Required.]
[Unleashes a non-elemental blast toward the enemy.]
[Conjure]
[Wizard's Skillbook]
[Rank: C]
[Progress: 894/1,000]
[Grimore Required.]
[Draws out an element the User is attuned to and unleashes an attack toward the enemy.]
[Banishment]
[Pilgrim's Skillbook]
[Rank: E]
[Progress: 1/250]
[Orb Required.]
[Temporarily inflicts the enemy with Blindness, Disorientation, and Mute, decreasing their accuracy and speed and preventing them from using Artes.]
[Ninjutsu]
[Ninja's Skillbook]
[Rank: E]
[Progress: 48/250]
[Katana Required.]
[Utilizes ninja tools to unleash Divine Artes.]
[Final Release]
[Samurai's Skillbook]
[Rank: E]
[Progress: 178/250]
[Greatkatana Required.]
[Utilizes the Sword Spirit residing within the Greatkatana to materialize them and unleash devastating effects dependent on the weapon.]
[Heal]
[Priest's Skillbook]
[Rank: F]
[Progress: 0/100]
[Staff Required.]
[Removes minor injuries, restoring the target's health.]
[Purge]
[Scholar's Skillbook]
[Rank: F]
[Progress: 0/100]
[Staff Required.]
[Dispells debilitating effects from the target.]
[Traits]
[Ambidexterous]
[Ninja's Skillbook]
[Rank: B]
[Progress: 12/2,500]
[Allows Dual-Weilding. Weapons equipped in the off-hand deal 30% less damage. Allows the use of Shield Martial Artes with two weapons.]
[Gian'ts Grip]
[Warlord's Skillbook]
[Rank: C]
[Progress: 478/1,000]
[Allows the User to wield two-handed weapons in one hand, dealing 50% less damage and equipping a Shield simultaneously.]
[Weaponsmaster]
[Rank: SSS]
[Increases damage dealt by all weapons by 25%. Increases Critical Chance by 15%. Increases Critical Damage by 15%. Decreases equipment degradation by 500%.]
[Shatterpoint]
[Rank: SSS]
[Unlocked from Weaponsmaster. During intense focus and concentration, the User experiences a complex preceptory phenomenon where the User is able to see the most opportune series of actions to unleash a devastating strike.]
[Heavenly Mana Circuit of the Divine Omni-Wizard]
[Rank: S+]
[Progress: 487,125/1,000,000]
[Allows the User to draw in mana from their environment. Increases mana regeneration by 50%, doubled if standing still. Increases Spiritual Power by 10.]
[Omni-Magic Mastery]
[Rank: F]
[Progress: 45/150]
[Grants the User the ability to manipulate all fifteen elements. Increases Spiritual Power by 5.]
[Martial Grandmaster's Heavenly Battle Meditation]
[Rank: S+]
[Progress: 245,763/1,000,000]
[This Trait has two effects: Active Effect: The User briefly enters a meditative state that increases all attributes by 10 for the User and their allies. Decreases the enemy's attributes by 10. Passive Effect: While cultivating, the User absorbs Divine Cores 100% faster with double effectiveness.]
[Experience Bonus]
[Rank: N/A]
[Set Effect - 9/14]
[Receives 90% more experience from all sources.]
[Hardcore Bonus]
[Rank: N/A]
[Increases experience from all sources by 100%. Increases Skill Aptitude Rate by 100% while training. Increases Item Drop Chance.]
He sighed heavily, dismissing the window as his time was up, and he could no longer advance his character any further. Standing, he departed the training hall and went through the city.
He was granted access to the castle and quickly navigated through the hundreds of hallways toward a large stone square arena in an open courtyard.
Allison, James, and Karina stood beside the platform, with Director Kim standing in the center, wearing his wizardly vestments and holding a large staff with half a dozen massive gemstones of various colors attached to parting branches at the top.