17 Episode 2: Testing Capabitilies (1)
Through the grassy plains near the Town of Parm, a young man steadily walked on the dirt roads as he made his way to [ Black Fang's Forest ], a hunting ground that was infested by wolves.
While on the way, Shinto was deep in thought, pondering on what to do with his 10 Stat Points obtained from the book that he had bought earlier. "Hmm... With my class being that of a support type, I'll need to consider how my stats would progress in the future."
For a support class, one would typically focus their stat points on agility and stamina. This was because of the reasoning that having higher agility meant being able to dodge and manoeuvre around the battlefield much more easily while having higher stamina meant sustaining in battles much longer.
At times, the intelligence stat would also be a focal stat to focus on as it directly increased the magical capacity of spells related to healing or debuffing skills. As such, most supports were versatile in their stats distribution. However, that was mostly the case for a typical support class.
"...for the stat progression of my class, it's hard to decide on what path I should take with it," he muttered to himself as he swiped his fingers to the side, opening up his status window. Then, he scrutinized the details of the class attributes in front of him.
...
-Class Attribute-
You are the diviner of light and shadow. As such, you will receive certain bonuses when you are within certain environments.
•Under the night skies or in darkness, you will gain a 25% boost in mobility and sight. While under the sunlight or within bright lights, you will instead gain a 20% boost to defence and magic power.
•As a diviner between light and shadow, abnormal status conditions do not work well on you when the one who would inflict said condition is of a lower status than you.
"..." At the sight of the screen detailing his attributes, Shinto fell deeper in thought as he considered the two possible paths that his class would be able to take. "...under different circumstances, I would get a different sort of buff depending on my environment," his line of thought continued. "Then... Would that imply my class would have a dual focus because of it?"
The implications from his class attributes were telling. If he was in darkness, Shinto's mobility and sight would increase, as such allowing him to discreetly support his allies while remaining under the radar. On the contrary, if he was within bright lights, then he would receive a buff to his defence and magic power—thus implicating that he should be more offensive and aggressive in battles.
"...if it's implying such things, then my skills would be reflected on it." With a nod of his head, Shinto's attention turned towards his skill window, where he now focused on two of the five skills at the top of his list.
...
[ Shadow Fields Lv 1 ] [ 20 Shadow Gauge ] [ Cooldown: 3 Minutes ]
The user creates a veil of shadows that enshrouds a wide area of 25m in darkness for 30 seconds. Thereafter, all who are within the field will receive various debuffs or buffs depending on the person.
•Those who are deemed as enemies will be blinded and have their stats decreased by 5% (Stackable with other abilities). Meanwhile, those who you deem as allies will have their vision enhanced and they will have their stats increased by 5% (Stackable with other abilities).
•When the user is within his own field, a Shadow Gauge Point will be regenerated by one for every five seconds while in the field. This will last until the duration of the skill ends.
...
[ Divinity Point Lv 1 ] [ 15 Divinity Gauge ] [ Cooldown: 45 Seconds ]
A ray of light is shot out by the user towards an enemy—dealing 175% light magic damage. If the skill lands successfully onto a target, 16% of the damage dealt will be absorbed back into HP.
"Hmm?" As Shinto turned to look at his skills, he was slightly amused. "So it is reflected on it after all. Shadow-based skills look to be more support oriented while Divinity-based ones seem to be more offensive..." With the implications seemingly true, he shifted his gaze back to his stats. "Then there's also the fact that my class skills don't consume mana at all."
Thanks to his passive, [ Divining Gauge ]—Shinto didn't need to worry about putting in Stat Points on his intelligence just to raise his MP. However, even with that fact known, he was still caught up between the three main stats that he would need to focus on.
"...even if I wanted to skip intelligence and instead go fully into agility and stamina, I can't really do that due to my divinity-based skills," he slightly frowned. "They'll be voided of most usages if I ignore them."
Shinto had obtained two light-based skills and three shadow ones. And from the information that he had gotten from those five skills, the respective themes of the skills leaned heavily on one side. As such, he needed to balance his stat points between all three main stats at once.
"Hah... This isn't going to be easy," he shook his head helplessly. "Between focusing on raising my light and shadow skills potency, as well as needing to have more sustainability overall... I'll need to distribute my stats carefully."
With two sides wanting to take a different path from one another, Shinto had to decide on the best course of action for both worlds. Though, it was hard not knowing anything at all. The future of his class was up in the air.
"...sigh." Shinto scratched his head as he turned back towards his status window. While still in thought, Shinto took a long deep sigh as he then nodded his head. "Right. Ignoring the future for now... In the current state that I'm in, I think focusing on damage would be far more important than mobility and survivability. After all... I don't even have anyone to support."
Finally coming to a decision, Shinto wasted no time as he then began splitting the Stat Points—putting five into intelligence, three into agility and two into stamina.
"Yep. This should do." Seemingly satisfied, he breathed out a sigh of relief. "Alongside the amulet that I got from the scammer, I should be fine for the time being."
With his stats all sorted out, Shinto successfully reached the hunting grounds. Now, it was time to test out his newly obtained skills.
...
Within Black Fang's Forest, a pack of black and silver wolves could be seen scattered around the area. There, a young man discreetly approached the pack as he prepared to launch a basic attack—unleashing out a spark of mana from his wooden staff that he had bought in the marketplace.
[ Wooden Staff ]
Rarity: Common
Attack Power: 2 ~ 7 (Magic)
Durability: 105/105
*Intelligence +1
A wooden staff that is infused with the essence of magic, allowing a beginner to channel out their Mana into the weapon, thus letting them cast out a small spark of magic to a foe.
Condition(s): None.
Weight: 10
...
As the mana spark collided against one of the wolves, the pack immediately turned towards the direction of the assailant with a growl. "Grrr..." Following up with that, a loud howl pierced through the night as the monsters began pouncing at the young man—Shinto.
"Alright. Got their attention!" Quickly as the wolves jumped toward him, Shinto hurriedly leapt backwards as he began continually launching basic attacks after basic attacks over to the mobs while at the same time, maintaining a distance between them.
[ You have dealt 8 damage to Black Fang Wolf! ]
[ You have dealt 7 damage to Black Fang Wolf! ]
Shinto was attacking the few wolves via a method called kiting. It was a basic tactic in which one would continuously maintain a certain distance between themselves and the enemy they were targeting. As such, allowing the player to damage the monsters whilst being safe at the same time. Though, this could typically only be applied for range attacks.
"Grr...!!" In an attempt to chase after Shinto, the wolf at the forefront frantically pounced and pounced. Unfortunately for him, Shinto had been whittling down the wolf's HP to a low amount.
"Now then... This should be a good time to use this skill in action." In thought, Shinto's staff waved in the air as he then began chanting out a spell. In the next moment, a white spark of light protruded out from the staff.
[ Shadow Diviner's Skill - Divinity Point ]
...
[ You have dealt 11 damage to Black Fang Wolf! ]
[ You have recovered 3 HP! ]
[ You have defeated (Black Fang Wolf)! ]
[ Your level has risen to 2! ]
[ You have obtained 10 Stat Points. ]
[ Your Divinity Stat has increased by 1. ]
"Hmm... With a 175% increase in damage alongside 6 Intelligence plus the attack power of seven from the staff... The damage isn't too bad at all."
"Grr..." With the defeat of the wolf's friend, the remaining monsters' aggro increased. At that moment, they continued to pounce at Shinto. "Awoo!"
"—now with that skill out of the way... Let's test out this other skill." With a seemingly innocent smile on the poor wolves, Shinto's staff began waving in an arc. Soon after, a spark of blinding light shot out from it.
"Grr...!?"
