Qualitative Upgrade (Part 1)

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"Hey Bro! Did you know what kind of item is that? That is an item that can't be brought by money alone." said Ravier at Shin, because the 'Talkative Lawless' suddenly become speechless when he saw the flask at Shin's hand.

Shin nodded his head confirming that he knows what kind of item he is holding. When Ember saw that, she can't help but ask. "Then why can't you just use it yourself?"

Lawless also can't help but agree to it. "Yeah, Brother Sickarius. Even though I can guess that you have a Special Class already, this item can also give you Higher Ranking Race together with a Special Class that is more suitable for you."

"That is right. And I've just take a look at the official website of the game. It says that this 'Demonic Saint TigerKin' can almost rival a 'Transcendent Being', if someone utilized it into its full potential." added Faker.

Shin thought for a moment before saying. "But I already have a Higher Ranking Race that compliments my Special Class."

Lawless knitted his brows before explaining their side. "Are you listening? Faker just said that this 'Demonic Saint TigerKin' can almost rival a 'Transcendent Being'!!! How can your current Race compare to it?"

Shin scratch his right cheek as hesitate for a moment, then he show them the details of his 'Nephilim' race and his special class.

"It's You!!!"

"What the?"

"Is that even possible?"

Faker, Ravier and Ember have different kind of reaction when they saw those details. Meanwhile, Lawless failed to control himself and become wild with his questions. " What the hell? What kind of dog sh*t luck did you stepped upon? Will you mind sharing it with this brother of yours? I will do everything so that I can also stepped on it. Come on Bro!!! *Blah!* *Blah!* *Blah!* *Blah!* ...."

It took some time for Lawless to calm himself down. And during Lawless wildness, Shin discovered that Faker and the other two also have thier own Special Class and Higher Rank Races.

Faker also have a 'Transcendent Being' race which is called 'Underworld Elf' and a Class of 'Abyss Walker'. Shin even check his 'Transcendent Race' Panel to confirm it, and sure enough Faker's race is added on the list.

On the other hand, Ravier and Ember have a race that is a level lower than the 'Transcendent Being'. And those are 'Great Naga' and 'Medieval Elf', while their classes are 'Ocean Weaver' and 'Flame Wizard' respectively.

"OK, all of you have your own Special Class and Higher Ranking Race, so this one is mine. How about you gift it to me Bro?" said Lawless while looking at Shin with pitiful eyes.

Half of Shin's face twitch when he saw that. "F*ck!!! Stop acting cute, you look like some kind of killer mannequin in a certain movie! And now I know the market value of this thing. I will not sell it you, much less gift it. How about trade it with something of the same value. Don't act like you don't have money! Compare your equipments with mine, they are two grades apart, so don't you dare to scam me!!!"

"Tsk, such a coldhearted b*st*rd! Aren't we brothers? Well since you are younger than me then I will let it pass. But I really don't have anything that I can trade with that. How about loan it to me? I'll pay you immediately once I got my hands on something of the same value?" said Lawless in an honest manner this time.

Actually, Shin is just messing around with Lawless. He really is planning to gift the [ Demonic Saint Tiger's Blood ] to Lawless, after all, this guy have help him earlier. What's more, he is always being updated by Lawless about the HeadHunter Guild movements against him.

"Haha... You've said it, OK? Just pay me when you really have the payment." said Shin while handing over the flask on Lawless without slightest bit of hesitation.

Swoosh!

After giving the flask to Lawless, something is flying towards to Shin's face with a great speed. Shin swiftly raise his left hand, blocking and catching that thing out of instincts.

Shin looked at it and discovered that it is a sealed scroll. He turned his sight at the direction where it came from and saw Faker looking back at him.

"That is a Special Sub-Class Quest Scroll. I have already gotten mine, so I don't need it anymore. You can use it anytime you want. That will be Lawless payment for that [ Demonic Saint Tiger's Blood ]. And since they are not in the same value, Here are some extra. Upgrade your equipments with those, and level up a little faster so that we can play together in the future." said Faker while handing over an Intermediate Enchantment Stone and 10 Basic ones of it.

Shin was gotten a little off guard with it, and look at Faker dumbfoundingly. It is not because of what Faker have gave, but because how he did it. It is as if he is giving off some kind of candy. 'Those were enchantment stones. A single basic one of it will cost 9,000 gold coins, and he just gave off 10 of them. On the other hand, intermediate ones is equivalent to 25,000 gold coins! But even if that is the case, Intermediate Enchantment Stones are vey rare, since it can upgrade an item to Platinum Rank! And what is a Platinum Rank? Those are items that are still rare at this stage of the game. So even if someone have that, they are still not willing to sell it off. Especially with a very low drop rate of those. As for the Sub-Class Quest Scroll? I guess there is no need to tell how rare are they.'

'And the way Faker gave those off is just like he is throwing some kind of trash from his inventory bag.'

At the same time, Ravier is looking at Faker with a face full of disbelief. "Hey Faker! Since when did you become so generous?"

Lawless and Ember are nodding their heads repeatedly, agreeing with what Ravier have said.

When Faker saw their reactions, he rolled his eyes at them and said. "Tsk, what kind of person do you think I am? OK, OK, forget about that. Just take those things and do your own things."

After that, Shin immediately put those items inside his inventory bag and say his goodbye to everyone in the room. After all, he still have a lot of things to do.

And when Shin walk out the room, Lawless can't help himself to say something to Faker. "Tsk, I didn't expect you become so friendly with Brother Sickarius. Didn't you said that you don't trust him yet?"

Faker looked Lawless while having a mysterious smile with his lips. "Heh, let's just say that I suddenly become a little interested in his future prospects. That guy have a lot of potential. I want to see what will he achieved in the near future."

Lawless is taken aback with it because from what he know, it is very rare for Faker to praise someone.

"How much potential?" Ember can't help herself to ask.

Faker think for a moment before asking. "You've watched his battle with the HeadHunter Guild people right?"

"If you are going to say that he had a 'Combat Technique' and created a 'Class Fighting Style' of his own, then save it to yourself. We are already aware of that." said Ravier as if he suddenly become uninterested on it.

On the other hand, Lawless didn't say something. Because he is very familiar with what kind of person this friend of his. He knows that Faker have discerning eyes that can observed something in a more detailed manner than other people.

And sure enough, Faker shook his head and smiled bitterly. "Of course I'm not talking about it. What I'm saying is I studied his fights and discovered something very interesting."

He paused for a moment to clear his throat, before continuing. "I've discovered that 'that guy' is still not using the 'Freedom Mode' of the game."

"What!!!???"

"HUH!!!???"

"Really!!!???"

His words, caused the other three to have different kind of reactions.

********

Shin walk out the administration building with a huge smile on his face.

Inside the building, he have successfully completed the necessary procedures to register the Calderock Village under his name. He also don't need to concern himself about the taxes, since he already have enough money to run the Village for quite some time.

Shin immediately opened the Management Window after that. The first thing he do is improve the Village security, so that it can defend itself for potential monster hordes. After all, it is still a newly created Village.

He recruit 10 'Level 100 NPC Elite Guards' that cost him 7,000 gold coins per week. Then his 70,000 gold coins were burned just like that.

The Village already have some basic buildings where he can collect some income, such as Basic Blacksmith Shop, Basic Potion Shop, and few Basic Inns. He can't upgrade those, since he need to have some blueprints for it, he also need to hire some Engineers and Architects for the reconstruction. Currently he can't afford those, so all he can do is hire few more NPC Blacksmiths and extra NPC Clerks for the Shops and Inns.

And with just few clicks, Shin is left with a little over 25,000 gold coins. "Tsk, I've spent a lot of money just like that? Huu~, calm yourself down, Shin. Just think that you are treating it as some kind of investment for the future."

After that, Shin immediately go the Church of the Sun and the Moon to take his Level 50 Skills.

When Shin arrived at the Church and about to enter the praying altar, he bumped into Archbishop Ronald. "Oh! Young Envoy, We didn't see each other for only a day yet you've already improved quite a lot. Impressive! Impressive!"

Shin immediately stopped his steps and give the Archbishop a unique salute of the Church, while also greeting him. " Good day Archbishop Ronald. And you are praising me too much, I am not that impressive actually."

"Hoho, don't be too humble Young Envoy. And since you already had that strength, you can now barely satisfied the requirements for tackling your Promotion. So~, do you want to take the trail now?" said Archbishop Ronald while fondling his beard below his chin.

"Hmm... I guess it is better for me to take it a little later, so that I can improve myself a little more." Shin thought for a moment before rejecting the offer. Aside from it being Arthur's suggestion, he also need to finish his current Main Quest as soon as possible. At most, he is only left with half-a-day to get at the Seventh Outpost. Well, that is because a lot have happened along the way.

After that exchange, Shin walk towards the altar to receive his new skill. And when he got his skill, he immediately got out the church while looking at it.

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Skill Name: Eclipse Counter

Skill Rank: Special

Details: Detonate the barrier created by the 'Eclipse Pulse' by swinging your sword in a circular motion, sending a full-circle Sword 'Qi' in all direction and dealing 1/2 of the full damage received by that barrier to all the enemies inside 5-meter radius.

Consumes 1000 MP

Cooldown: 3 minutes

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Skill Name: Eclipse Slash

Skill Rank: Rare (Quasi Epic)

Details: Slash your sword forward together with the power of Eclipse, sending a powerful sword wave on a straight line, and dealing 300% Mixed Damage to all the enemies that it passed through and extending for 20-meters forward.

Consumes 500 stamina

MP Cost: 1000

Cooldown: 2 minutes

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"Hmm... Another offensive skills added on my arsenal. But I felt that these are still not enough. Should I go to Auction House first to find some?" said Shin as he walk along the street of the City.

And after some consideration, he decided to upgrade the skill ranks of 'Charge' and 'Destructive Slash'. After all, he is always using these skills in the battle. And while he is doing that, a system notification ring on his ears.

*Ding!*

System: You upgraded a 'Charge Skill'. The system will synchronized the skill with your Class.

System: Congratulations! Successfully upgraded your skill to Rare Rank 'Sword Rush'.

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Skill Name: Sword Rush

Rank: Rare

Details: Dash on a straight line while thrusting your sword forward, dealing 200% more Damage on all the enemies that you've passed through and extending up to 10-meters.

Consume 200 Stamina

Cooldown: 15 sec.

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Skill Name: Destructive Slash

Rank: Rare

Details: Hit your enemy with a powerful Strike dealing 300% more Physical damage and stunning them for 3 seconds.

Consumes 300 Stamina

Cooldown: 25 sec.

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"Huh? The stun effect of the previous 'Charge' was removed? And I also can't control the direction anymore, it is only for straight line. Hmm.... But in exchange, the range become a little longer and the damage become AOE. I guess it is also for the better." Shin is checking his newly improved skills when his attention become attracted to a certain stall.

Shin can't see the details of the owner of the stall, because the person is wearing a special kind of cloak that hides his/her information. But from the person's body structure, Shin can still guess that the owner is a she.

But that is not the reason why Shin become attracted to the stall. It is because of the items that the owner are selling. Those items are a bunch of Skill Books and those skill books varies from different kind of Classes.

But even though that was the case, there are no players walking over and inquiring about those skill books. All the players that are passing by are just taking a quick glance at the stall before ignoring it. No, to be more precise, when they saw the name of the stall, they are going to continue walking and brushed pass that stall.

Shin knitted his brows and become curious about on it. Then, he walk towards the stall to know why. And when he do, the owner immediately opened her mouth while pointing at the name of the stall. "I'm only trading with Skill Books of the same value. And it should be suitable to the Classes above."

Shin take a quick glance at the Stall name and saw the Classes that the owner required, they are Archer, Warrior, Priest and Summoner.

'Good thing that all of the Skill Books that I've got so far belong to the category.' thought Shin before nodding his head and said to the owner. "Got it."

The owner give Shin a quick glance before saying out a single word. "Class?"

"Swordsman." said Shin almost immediately. Then, the owner kept all the other skill books on display, leaving only 2 yellow colored Skill Books. Then she take out additional 4 Skill Books from her bag.

Now, there are a total 4 yellow and 2 purple Skill Books on display. Then, she said after. "Two Basic Skill Books for a Rare one. And three Rare ones for both of the Special Skill Books."

'Eh!? She still have more?' Shin become startled when he saw that the owner took out more Skill Books. Inside Shin's inventory bag there are 3 Basic skill books, 3 Rare ones and 1 Epic, he have more than enough for the exchange.

'Hmm... I can take all the Rare Rank skills, even without exchanging for the Epic Rank Skill Book, so I should take them all since it is going to be a waste of I don't. But I didn't the exchange price of these Special Skill Books are a little too high?' Shin become curious about the purple skill books, especially that those two didn't show any kind of details aside from their Skill Names and the requirements of a Swordsman related Class.

So Shin can't help himself but to ask. "Aren't your pricing for those Special Skill Books are a little too high? From what I know, a purple one is only equivalent to 1 yellow and 1 white skill books."

The owner of the stall raise her head a little before replying to Shin. "Those two are very special, since they came from a Special NPC. I even suspect that those two are 'Legacy Skills'."

"Huh? Didn't Legacy Skills are can only be learned directly from NPCs? Don't scam me, I'm pretty sure that it isn't true." said Shin suspiciously.

The owner's eyes glared at Shin under that hood of her cloak, before saying. "Are you listening? Didn't I just said that it is from a Special NPC! Me and my friends spend a lot of time just to finish that quest, yet we've only got this two stup*d skill books! He should at least gave us a skill book that is more suitable to our Class!!! And are you going trade or what? If not then just go away and stop disturbing my business!!!"

'What are you talking about? Can't you see that I am your only customer? Actually, I am the only one that is willing to do business with you.' thought Shin in his mind before offering. "How can I know that you are telling the truth? How about this? I'll take all of that in exchange of 3 Basic, 3 Rare and 1 Epic. How does that sound?"

(Exchange Rate of Rare to Epic is also 2:1)

"Eh!? Epic you say?" The owner become startled at first, before confirming what kind skill Shin want to trade. "Hmm... Can you show me the details of the skills that you want to trade?"

"Sure!" Shin agree on it almost immediately. Then he shows the details of the skills.

The owner become tempted on the skills especially the 'Rakkan's Recall', even though she didn't know who is 'Rakkan', she is sure that it is a Boss type monster just from the details of the skill. She look at Shin before saying in a more friendly manner. "Can you wait for a moment? I want to discuss it with my friends."

When the owner saw Shin nodded his head, she immediately turned around to make call. Few moments later, She turn to Shin once again while agreeing to his offer.

Shin formed a satisfied smile before completing the trade. And when he is about to learn that skills, he heard a loud shout.

"Hey Brat! It is better for you to cancel that deal. That is if you still want to continue playing this game peacefully."

Shin frowned his brows and suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu, so he turned his head to take a look at the source of that shout.

....