Chapter 40: Martial Artist

This should have been the place where the chief of the gray dwarf had the miraculous encounter.

Just now, while he was swimming in the underground river, Roger saw many broken ceramics in the shallow river bottom.

There were also some old objects that had been eroded by water, so much that no one could guess what they were originally.

On the riverbanks, similar things were also scattered.

He guessed that the [White Crow's Crown] and the [Fireproof Bead] of the gray dwarf chief were taken from here.

After walking about two kilometers along the riverbank to the upstream of the underground river, he came to the end of the road.

There, a huge rock wall blocked the way forward.

A few stems of [Fluorescent Fungus] exuded a faint glow.

The soft sounds of the underground river flowing could be heard from next to him.

A gentle breeze blew past.

A sense of comfort that he had not experienced for a long time unexpectedly filled Roger's heart.

He walked slowly to the side of the stone wall and stretched out his hand to gently stroke the mysterious bump on it.

Suddenly, a burst of faintly discernible light laughter sounded around him.

Following this, an unprecedented refreshing sensation rushed to his fingertips like an electric shock, and it reached his heart in an instant.

The sensation was fleeting.

That wonderful feeling made Roger feel an irresistible impulse to reminisce it again.

But somehow, he couldn't remember what happened just now.

He glanced at the stats panel.

　　...

[You have experienced the existence of "Qi"]

　　...

"Qi?"

Roger was not too surprised.

In the Hermit Ranger profession model, there was also the concept of "Qi", but it seemed to be a power that could only be obtained after the 4th circle.

What he cared more about was, if there really had been a glorious martial arts civilization in the past on Mystra, were they related to the profession of Hermit Ranger?

In this regard, there were two more possible conjectures.

First, [Hermit Ranger] was indeed just a MOD made up by a player himself.

Even if there were some sorts of similarities between Mystra's martial arts civilization and the Hermit Ranger template, they were merely coincidences.

The second was more of a conspiracy theory.

Reflecting on his own teleportation, Roger could instantly make up a drama that could startle the universe and shock the Gods.

And in this drama, he was merely a pawn of some big character.

And the real secrets of the Hermit Ranger's profession might be related to the lost martial arts civilization.

But thinking about it carefully, Roger was still more inclined towards the first theory.

And the reason was also very simple.

If there really was a big character who directed his teleportation, he shouldn't have allowed Roger to stay in Novice Village for ten years straight.

After all, it was not that difficult to urge Roger to leave Tongma Town without a trace.

He could merely use the Hermit Ranger model to post a few tasks.

Thinking from this perspective, the possibility of conspiracy theory was indeed low.

Unless his teleportation may be an indirect ripple event of a certain big character's doing.

Then, it would end up like an infinite nesting doll.

Roger would never waste his brain cells in this sort of thing.

　　...

He continued touching the stone wall for a long time, but he didn't feel the existence of "Qi" anymore.

He took out again the White Crow's Crown and Master of Genre's Fireproof Bead, trying to test if anything would happen.

But it was still to no avail.

After investigating for a long time, Roger felt a little bit depressed.

"I'm not really worse than a gray dwarf, am I?"

Just as this thought appeared, suddenly the situation on the stone wall changed.

Roger's eyes widened, and he stepped back several steps in succession—it was to see the full picture of the situation on the stone wall.

A faint dim light shone from behind the stone wall, and suddenly a lot of human figures appeared on it!

But human figures were not the only things that could be seen.

On the stone walls, there were also mountains, water, clouds, trees, and homes.

All of a sudden, clouds of mists appeared.

The scene on the stone wall seemed to have shifted to a seaside.

A fresh sun was rising slowly from the east.

The billowing waves hit the rocks vigorously.

On the beach, there were hundreds of figures.

They were practicing martial arts against the wind.

Every move and every stance of theirs seemed so powerful.

Roger could faintly hear their shouts.

Suddenly, a huge wave of tens of meters rushed towards the beach.

Those tens of millions of people had been replaced by a great master.

He was standing on a rock, his palms gently pushing forward.

In an instant, the wave fell back into the sea!

　　...

Before he knew it, Roger was entranced.

It seemed that he had come to an omniscient perspective of God, and he could witness the unparalleled elegance of prehistoric martial artists with his own eyes!

Until he finally regained his senses, the stone wall had been restored to its original state, and all the illusions had disappeared.

Roger noticed that the bunch of [Fluorescent Fungus] near the stone wall had also dimmed, drooping softly towards the ground.

On the stats panel, a new notification popped up.

　　...

[You have learned the profound knowledge on the martial arts of the Qingquan Sect from the Immortal Preserving Wall]

[You have obtained a new profession: Martial Artist]

[You have the following options for the martial artist profession: 1. Part-time 2. Advancing 3. Expand the model 4. Give up]

　　...

"No wonder it was called [Martial Arts Thief], that gray dwarf must have learned the martial arts from this stone wall."

Roger sank into deep thought.

He was mainly weighing the pros and cons of the first three options.

After obtaining the profession of martial artist, the more direct benefit was that he could now learn the martial arts scrolls he had with him.

Perhaps he may also be able to use this as an opportunity to get in touch with more prehistoric civilizations on Mystra.

But there was one disadvantage.

He was rather worried that he might not be able to digest if he was too greedy.

After all, he was a very pragmatic person.

"I'll exclude option 2 first."

It was definitely impossible for him to advance to the martial artist profession directly. He didn't even know how strong a martial artist was.

But he knew very clearly how IMBA the Hermit Ranger profession was.

The Hermit Ranger model itself came with advanced professions in the later stage, and it was impossible for him to waste such precious qualifications for advancement in the early stage.

"Part-time" seemed to be a good choice.

This meant that he would form a practice with Hermit Ranger as the main and Martial Artist as the supplement.

With Roger's patience, he could easily ignore the experience punishment of having a part-time job.

But considering that the professions of Hermit Ranger and Martial Artist actually overlap to a certain extent, it might become a hidden problem in the later stage.

He had too little information now.

It was a bit inappropriate to decide on the final profession combination so early.

He weighed again and again, and he finally chose the third option.

Consuming an [Expansion Slot] to incorporate the professional abilities of the Martial Artist into Hermit Ranger's [Expansion Module].

This was also the strong point of the Hermit Ranger model.

By doing this, the profession of [Martial Artist] could become a part of [Hermit Ranger].

The price was that it would consume a very valuable expansion slot!

You must know that there was only one initial expansion slot in the Hermit Ranger template.

In theory, this thing could be increased.

But Roger hadn't figured out the specific method to increase the expansion slots yet.

　　...

[You have obtained the "Martial Artist" expansion module]

[You can now comprehend the martial arts techniques through "Martial Arts Scrolls"!]

[You have gained a new basic attribute: Comprehension]

[Your initial comprehension is 13 points]

[Comprehension (13): You have a very high level of comprehension towards martial arts, and the speed at which you can comprehend martial arts scrolls is extraordinary; the upper limit of your martial arts skills will also be increased.]

　　...

"I feel more comfortable now."

Looking at the 13 points comprehension, Roger knew that the expansion slot was not in vain.

This was the highest basic attribute he had!

"Am I the legendary martial arts genius?"

Just as his thoughts fluttered, a corner of the stone wall suddenly collapsed, revealing a small hole.

A very polite voice floated from far away, "Alas, you're finally here."

"Although it may be a little embarrassing, but... that... can I trouble you to climb over?"

　　...