Skill Obtaining

"Oof!"

Akiol slid through the ground and smacked into the wall. Tilia then questioned, "Why did you just receive the blow?!"

Akiol chuckled, "I wanted to try something, but I messed up. Don't worry I got this."

The party was currently doing a new dungeon that was found yesterday. Ever since the new update a player's first clear on a dungeon would provide extra rewards, even more so for the first person ever to clear it.

They were at the final boss, it was a cursed giant. Stone grew on their body, making them look like a mutated stone golem. They wielded a large wooden club. Instead of dodging Akiol attempted to parry the club, even though it was more than three times the size of him.

He charged forward again, the giant made a grunt and swung the club like a bat. Akiol moved his sword and it hit the club. Yet it didn't stop and smacked into Akiol. Making him once again smash into the wall.

Kan'na piped up, "This is getting sad. Can we just finish this already?"

Akiol was once again charging as he replied, "I almost got it, be patient!"

"Be patient for what? Your death?!"

The giant grew annoyed by the small creature constantly pestering it. It once again swung its giant club. Akiol slid to a stop and swung his sword. It made a thunk sound as it dug into the wood. However this time he wasn't sent flying back!

He grinned, "Success! Okay Kan'na, finish it off!"

Kan'na sighed and fired off multiple magic spells. They bombarded the giant and eliminated the rest of its health. They received a ton of rewards and experience.

Wrock asked, "That final try, was it what I thought it was?"

Akiol nodded, "Most likely. Ever since the fight with the strange masked character I have been thinking, what do I do in the face of an absolute stat difference? Blocking strong attacks still harms me so dodging is far better. Yet we will fight individuals who's strength and speed is far greater than our own. If I cannot dodge what can I do? The answer I came to was to offset some of the force. Upon that last block I redirected most of the attack's strength. However the game still considers it a block and I'll probably get hurt. But I don't go flying!"

Wrock and a silly grin on his face, "Warrior's have a skill called parry which prevents them taking damage. . ."

Akiol froze, "They what?! Why do I keep getting scammed?!"

Wrock couldn't contain it anymore and began to laugh, "Haven't you fought player's before? Haven't you thought it was strange that some of your attacks didn't do damage while blocked?"

Akiol made a face, "No? Most of the players I fought couldn't really block. Or I am mostly on the defensive."

Wrock patted Akiol's shoulder, "Be sure to get more skills. Perhaps you'll find something better than parry."

Akiol grumbled, another thing he missed out on!

~ ~ ~

Travis parried a blow from Dimitrin. He counterattacked but was thwarted. Dimitrin murmured aloud, "How interesting. . ."

Travis stopped momentarily upon hearing that, "What is-?"

Dimitrin kicked his stomach. Travis doubled over and wheezed, "That. . . hurt."

Dimitrin was unsympathetic, "You got distracted while in battle. In other words, you let your guard down."

Travis half heartedly laughed, "I suppose that's fair. What's interesting though?"

"In short, your progression. In my many years of living I haven't seen anyone progress this fast in controlling a War Sight. Moreover, your War Sight seems to have been unlocked at full potential from the beginning. This is both a good and bad thing, but still interesting nonetheless."

"What do you mean?"

Dimitrin tapped their chin, "How do I put this. I mean that your War Sight had no potential for growth, because it's already fully grown. The only thing that can improve is your control and usage of it, but that's it. It's a good thing because that means you won't have to worry about developing it for long. But a bad thing because it has reached the limit."

Travis now understood why his potential rating was F-, it had no potential for growth. However he was okay with this fact. After all he had a War Sight, one that was good nonetheless. He would use it fully, who cares if it couldn't grow?

Dimitrin continued, "It doesn't matter since your War Sight is strong to begin with. It would have been if it was average at most. You could be considered lucky in this aspect."

Travis cracked a joke, "Perhaps Lord Flinnder's luck was taken into effect. If I have a strong War Sight it would mean his chances of winning is higher."

Dimitrin took this seriously, "That is a very possible outcome."

Travis sheathed his sword, "I have a favor to ask."

Dimitrin raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Go on then."

"I request the rest of today off."

"For what purpose? Your duel with Lord Flinnder is soon."

"I wish to expand upon my own arsenal. While my ability level is important, so are my actual skills. I wish to spend this time to learn more."

Dimitrin crossed their arms, "Interesting, very well. I expect to see some interesting things tomorrow."

Travis bowed, "I will not disappoint."

"Shoo then."

Travis left, it was about time for him to learn more abilities with his class. Especially after his War Sight developed. Two things were removed in the creation of it. First [Abyssal Domain] from [Abyss Release] was removed. Leaving only the power enhancing effects. Along with [Abyssal Mist]. Travis didn't mind much, after all his War Sight affected individuals of the Abyss unlike the two skills.

However this left an unsatisfied feeling, his skill arsenal was small and he needed to complete it. With more skills he would be able to deal further damage.

So he opened the skill tree page, this would only be viewed if the player talked with their mentor. However since Travis obtained the call through the sword he can access it whenever.

He didn't know many of the skills, so he spent his time looking through their descriptions. Each skill provided a video that showcased its abilities in the third person. However this only showed the most basic effect. Skill only really shined when used in other ways than intended.

Travis wasn't able to learn all of them, not that he needed too. After all only a certain amount of skill points are given per level, each skill required a certain amount of points. The cost only increased the further the tree went. Certain skills could only be unlocked when previous ones are unlocked. Some aren't skills but additional passive effects. While some basic skills could be learned immediately, others required a completion of a trial.

Travis decided on his path, he immediately received the skills he only needed to purchase to acquire.

[Abyss Magic Conversion (Passive):

MP not needed!

Cost:

Null

Effect:

Changes all Abyss Magic stack properties. All stacks are changed into Abyss Tokens.

All Abyss Tokens could be used to execute skills in replacement of MP. Tokens max at 100. 1 Abyss Token = 100MP]

[Sword Recall:

The sword comes at its wielder's beckon.

Cost:

50MP

Effects:

Returns equipped sword to user's hand.]

[Abyssal Enhancement:

Power your weapon with the Abyss!

Cost:

500MP

Effects:

Increases the damage of one move by 30%]

[Abyssal Shift] —> [Matter Change]

[Matter Change:

Changing the sword's matter can make it escape anyone's clutches!

Cost:

200MP

Effects:

Changed the sword's form into a gas-like state for 5 seconds. During the 5 seconds the sword is unable to be physically touched, thus it deals no damage. The sword will automatically return to its solid state in the same hand it was originally held in.]

Travis nodded at these skills. While some he didn't necessarily want, they were required for the skills he did. He then pressed on one skill, and purchased it. His surroundings changed into a dark area with a red hue. In front of him stood a shadow of himself with red eyes.

<You have entered: (Skill Trial)!>

<Defeat your shadow to unlock the skill!>

<All skills will be temporarily disabled during the trial!>

<Upon failure the user will be refunded 90% of skill points.>

<The 5 trial will begin in seconds. . !>

A countdown timer appeared in front of him. He unsheathed his sword and waited. The moment the countdown ended he charged forward. Because it was only his skills that were disabled, his stats remained as normal.

However his shadow also had the same stats! The shadow attacked once Travis got close. Travis deflected the attack and aimed a strike towards the neck of the shadow. The shadow retreated, making Travis miss.

Travis clicked his tongue in disappointment, "Well no matter, I wanted to test this anyway."

Boom-!

A pressure released from Travis. That's right! A War Sight isn't considered a skill! The shadow grew slower and weaker, their attacks more sluggish. Travis grinned to himself.

At this rate Skills will be pitifully easy to obtain!