Infinitely Evolving [ Fireball ]!

"Now, please select your starter skills."

The moment Jing Tian's voice subsided, a projection of a scroll slowly unfurled before Su Chen.

"Please choose your element."

[ Wind ] [ Wood ] [ Ice ] [ Fire ] [ Earth ]

The five elements that were available only to mages appeared as options in front of Su Chen.

Every class in [ Ark ] has a distinct role. Only by defining these niches and roles would there be variability and diversification amongst the player base.

Moreover, doing so would also give rise to several different strategies and playstyles.

It was this variance of playstyles that had resulted in a high player retention in the game.

Returning to the choice of the five elements, Su Chen had actually done plenty of research in advance.

Otherwise, he would not have recklessly entered the game right after purchasing the game helmet. As a game developer, digging into the nitty-gritty details of the game's mechanics was his forte.

Many of the skills available to the [ Wind ] and [ Wood ] elements were buff-related. They were not a suitable element for Su Chen, who valued his personal strength over anything else.

On the other hand, the [ Earth ] element was defense-oriented, and what it lacked in strength, it made up in terms of sheer defensive prowess.

As such, all that was left to him were the [ Ice ] and [ Fire ] elements. In terms of sheer firepower and ruthlessness, the [ Fire ] element had definitely taken the cake.

Through this method of elimination, Su Chen had ended up with the [ Fire ] element as his choice.

"I choose the [ Fire ] element."

Su Chen's cool but pleasant voice rang out.

Jing tian nodded, "You can now proceed to the next and final phase of the tutorial section, the initial skill selection."

"Upon making your choice, you will leave this zone and officially enter the world of [ Ark ]."

Jing Tian's soft voice was tinged with a reluctance as she spoke those words.

A mere instant later, Su Chen's vision was filled with yet another projection.

This time, a panel that was vastly different from [ Ark ]'s typical art style appeared before him.

[ Do you want to select "Fireball" as your starter skill? ]

"Hmm?"

Su Chen frowned slightly at the sight.

Something was wrong.

Su Chen clearly remembered that in the guides that he had read on the Internet, it was detailed that [ Fire ] Mages had three initial skill choices.

However, Su Chen only had one.

As if to affirm Su Chen's doubts, new words quickly appeared on the interface.

[ Hint: Upon choosing Fireball, you will not be able to learn any new class skills. ]

'What?!'

Su Chen, who usually kept a cool head, immediately scrunched his brows upon reading those words.

'Is there a bug?'

'How can this happen'

Su Chen's mind was racing, and just as he was about to go offline to contact customer service, the words on the panel changed once again.

[ If the host does not want to choose "Fireball", you are allowed to select the default starter skills instead. Subsequent class skills will also have their spell strength increased by one-tenth of their original value. ]

[ Should the host choose "Fireball", upon reaching Level 10 for this skill, the spell strength of this skill will double, and your compatibility score with the Mage class will be increased to 100! ]

[ Should the "Fireball" skill be raised to Level 20, the casting time of "Fireball" will be reduced by half, and it will be mutated, granting it the "Melt" enhancement! ]

[ Should the "Fireball" skill be raised to Level 30, the casting time of "Fireball" will be reduced once more! ]

[ Should the "Fireball" skill be raised to Level 50, the power of "Fireball" will be enhanced, granting it the ability to burn through weapons and equipment! ]

[ Should the "Fireball" ... ]

Su Chen's eyes lit up upon reading the wall of text before him.

He finally understood why the panel before him deviated this greatly from the norm.

This was due to the system that had come with his transmigration.

It had merged with [ Ark ]'s system.

Moreover, it did not affect [ Ark ]'s normal game functions.

Upon confirming that there were no real in-game bugs, Su Chen calmed down and began to analyze the situation seriously.

On one side, he could learn countless powerful skills, and better still, each of those skills will have a 10% power boost.

On the other side, he could only use "Fireball". The skill was simple, and it would take much greater effort to reach his power-level ceiling. However, once he had raised the skill properly, Su Chen was certain that he could crush anyone on his level who dared to stand against him.

"I choose to learn [ Fireball ] !"

After thinking for a while, Su Chen no longer hesitated and decisively chose [ Fireball ] .

Although Su Chen would lose access to other flashy abilities, the plain [ Fireball ] had limitless potential for growth! It was worth much more in the long run!

At this moment, Su Chen had already completed all the tasks in the tutorial. As such, his figure gradually morphed into an orb of light before disappearing from the tutorial hall.

All that was left was Jing Tian, who was disappointed for not being able to build up a proper friendship with Su Chen.

...

[ Ark ].

Within a dense forest located along a winding mountain range.

A constant barrage of sword auras illuminated the area as a flurry of arrows piercing through the air could be heard.

A wild beast that was burning with purple flames was surrounded by two figures.

"Sister Weiwei, just land one more hit at the wound on its right, and this beast is basically done for."

A young man instructed as he pulled out yet another arrow from his infinitely refreshing quiver.

He drew his bow like a full moon.

An arrow shot out with a piercing sound!

It hit the left eye of the flaming purple beast!

"I finally hit it!"

The young man was ecstatic.

Meanwhile, right as the arrow had struck the beast...

A beautiful woman, who was constantly using her movement techniques to deftly avoid the purple flaming beast's attacks, instantly seized the opportunity.

She changed her pace and rushed to the right side of the Purple Flame Beast.

A brilliant spark appeared as she swung down her sword...

It was a critical hit!

The wild monster, whose HP bar had been completely exhausted, disappeared on the spot with a wail, turning into a string of data before disappearing.

All that was left was a pile of precious materials.

"Well done."

The long-haired girl wearing a silver combat uniform slowly sheathed her sword as she spoke.

Si Weiwei threw the beast's hide to the youth. "This is a level 60 Beast Hide. It should be able to fetch a decent price."

The youth accepted it into his Storage Bracelet and smiled.

"Yeah, Sister Weiwei, you're really amazing."

"I knew that following you was the right choice. After all, you're ranked number one on the Compatibility Score Rankings. Plus, you're the only one in the Hualong Server who has a compatibility score of over 90!"

"Also, also, you're the highest level in the entire server!"

Hearing this, the beautiful Si Weiwei, who was wearing a silver battle uniform, shook her head.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure, I might have the highest level in this server."

"However, I'm not the only one with a compatibility score of over 90."

As soon as she finished speaking.

The young man with a lean build halted in shock. He could not believe what he was hearing.

"Huh? Another big shot appeared? Who is it?"

He quickly pulled up his in-game browser and started to look through the ranking board.

"Anonymous!"

Upon seeing that there was no name displayed, the youth was extremely shocked.

He had never expected that an anonymous person would appear on the ranking list that countless people wanted to be on.

Moreover, it was the second big shot with a compatibility value of 90!

"Sis, do you know who he is?"

Hearing this, Si Weiwei shook her head.

"No, most netizens are curious as to who this anonymous individual is."

"However, it seems that someone has snuck a peak at this person's class before he became anonymous. From what I've read, he's a newly registered [ Mage ]. "

The youth put away his browser and asked in a serious tone, "Sister, do you want me to find out who this person is? After all, the guild system should be implemented soon. We can't miss out on such a talent."

Si Weiwei stood in the dense forest and looked at the blazing sun in the distance. She remained silent for a while before answering.

"That's fine too."