Mysterious Swordsmanship

Sean, who successfully changed his profession, couldn't wait to open his attribute panel. As expected, he saw that the previous "Mercenary" displayed in the combat profession had now been replaced by "Warrior," and the profession level had reset to one. The only unchanged aspect was the thirteen skill points, still intact as before. Everything matched exactly with how it was in the game.

However, Sean quickly noticed one difference.

[Warrior (Second-tier Profession): This is not a commendable noble profession. Although you charge into battle faster than anyone else, in the eyes of many, it's not considered bravery but foolishness. Of course, there are still many people in this world who appreciate your courage, such as the gathering place for the Brotherhood of the Strongmen. Perhaps when you decide to no longer be a warrior, with the muscles on your body, you could become a Mr. Bodybuilding—assuming you have intact places left.]

[Job Reward - Endurance in Combat: Your bravery leads you to charge into battle at the forefront every time. However, not every enemy can be resolved in a single blow. Sometimes, it requires repeated probing and entanglement. After experiencing it many times, you also learn how to conserve energy to deal with more such battles (decreases the rate of stamina depletion by 30% during combat); Battle Experience: After each battle, you reflect on the mistakes of the previous battle. Due to this continuous effort and serious attitude towards learning, your combat awareness becomes increasingly keen (Strength +4, Strength Limit +5, Stamina +3, Stamina Limit +5, Agility +2, Agility Limit +4, Intelligence Limit +2, Willpower +1, Willpower Limit +4).]

[Job Penalty - Magical Disturbance: You focus only on strength training and development, believing that a man should speak with his fists. However, in reality, damage from spellcasting professions is much greater than you imagine (increased magical damage).]

He remembered that in the game, the penalty for warriors was a decrease of twenty points in magical defense, but now it had become an increase in magical damage. However, upon further thought, Sean understood: After all, he was now in a real world where there was no system calculation formula. Therefore, those data that required formula calculations naturally disappeared.

However, Sean had no interest in trying to find out to what extent this so-called increase in magical damage had reached.

He shifted his gaze to the personal attribute column.

Strength: 12+3 (14); Stamina: 12+1 (15); Agility: 11 (14); Intelligence: 10 (13); Willpower: 10 (14)

He let out a gentle sigh, realizing that everything was not much different from how it was in the game.

Although the job reward "Battle Experience" states an increase in attributes, in reality, this attribute value is the total value added after reaching the maximum job level. In the game, the maximum level for each profession is ten. So the attribute value "Strength Limit +5" would only be fully added when the Warrior reaches level ten. Currently, at level one, the actual attribute increase is only 0.5. However, since the game didn't display decimal values, it appears as "14" instead of "14.5." But the intended increase in strength remains unchanged.

Clasping his hands tightly and then relaxing them slightly, Sean had adopted a relatively optimistic attitude towards this journey. All he needed to do next was to allocate his skill points properly, and then crossing the Dark Earth would no longer be a problem.

However, when Sean opened the skill panel to allocate his proficiency points and learn new skills, he was completely stunned.

At this moment, on Sean's almost gloomy skill panel, nearly ten skills appeared with a faint gray glow. This indicated that these skills could be immediately activated and used by investing proficiency points. However, Sean's gaze did not focus on these skills. Instead, he stared intently at the last skill, his expression a mix of disbelief and inexplicable excitement.

It was a passive skill.

[Mysterious Swordsmanship: When using any sword weapon, Strength +2, Agility +2. Swordsmanship/Special/Sword, Level 1/10, Proficiency 0/3.]

"Miracle" had many different passive skills. Besides obtaining them through job rewards, they could also be acquired through various other means. The most popular ones were undoubtedly weapon-related passive skills, such as Swordsmanship. Equipping a sword would provide attribute bonuses. However, most swordsmanship skills had strict requirements for the type of sword weapon, such as requiring a rapier, greatsword, longsword, and so on.

But exceptions existed.

Mysterious Swordsmanship was a passive skill that Sean had obtained after going through great difficulties. It was applicable to all swordsmanship and took him half a year to complete a series of extremely tedious tasks. This was not only because of the immense utility of this passive skill but also because it served as a prerequisite for several powerful swordsmanship skills and was even related to a special advanced profession.

However, Sean remembered that this skill should only be learnable and mastered at the fourth tier. Why could it be activated now?

But this thought flashed through his mind for only a moment, and then Sean completely disregarded it, directly choosing to activate the skill.

[Activating this skill requires consuming ten proficiency points. Are you sure you want to activate it?]

Sean was stunned.

Ten points?

What's going on?

Activating a special Tier 1 skill typically requires only two proficiency points, and even activating a Tier 4 special skill would only require five proficiency points. Yet this skill required ten points, the same as what is needed to activate a Tier 9 special skill!

However, Sean only paused for a moment. As the saying goes, if you're not willing to give up the child, you can't catch the wolf. From a player's perspective, skills that require more proficiency points to activate are naturally stronger. So without any hesitation or dilemma, Sean chose "Yes," and then he felt as if a memory was awakening in his mind. A strange power instantly flowed through his limbs.

Just by holding the sword, he already felt a peculiar connection between himself and the sword. His aura completely changed.

The guard who was chatting with Sean looked dumbfounded, and his surprised expression suddenly transformed from astonishment to shock. Trembling, he said, "This aura... You... You, you actually changed jobs? How is that possible!"

Sean smiled shyly. "I'm not really sure either. I just found myself becoming a warrior after hearing those stories from the past and feeling a strong desire for it."

Job transitions were judged by a standardized process. Basically, people in the Miracle Continent could only be considered to have successfully changed jobs after being evaluated by various guilds and mentors. Only players could obtain the relevant job requirements from others. Once they successfully transitioned to a higher profession, the aura emanating from their bodies would change. This was why the guard noticed that Sean had successfully changed jobs to become a warrior.

However, he couldn't understand why Sean was able to change jobs so easily. Was it really because of his so-called talent?

Of course, Sean wouldn't explain this point. There was no point in explaining, anyway. And due to a sense of shock and awe, the guard didn't continue talking to Sean, which suited Sean just fine. When it was time for the shift change, Old Peter and the others were equally surprised by Sean's transformation, but they didn't ask too many questions. Sean had become stronger, which naturally benefited their team.

The night passed peacefully.

The next day, although everyone was astonished by Sean's job change, they were all happy because it meant their chances of success in crossing the Dark Earth had increased. After a simple meal of meat, the entire team set off once again. In the Starfall Forest, a forest that had no concept of day or night, they couldn't tell whether it was daytime or nighttime. Initially, the group could estimate the time, but after the wolf pack attack, they lost track of time.

The only way to determine the situation was by looking at the moon in the night sky.

As the moon became fuller and started to turn red at the edge, Sean knew that the Magic Tide was about to arrive. Without any further delay, he pushed forward with all his might. Unbeknownst to them, the team's speed increased once again, but this time they didn't encounter any more skeletons along the way. This surprised and relieved everyone because dealing with a swarm of skeletons was no easy task.

Little did they know that Sean considered the Dark Earth in the Starfall Forest to be like his backyard. He knew exactly how to avoid those bones. Previously, he didn't do so because he wanted to gain experience points. However, now that attacking those Tier 1 skeletons yielded little experience, Sean didn't waste any more time.

They rested several times along the way, and based on their estimation, it had been about two days.

Finally, the team arrived at what seemed to be a campsite.

The campsite was built impressively, with two stone towers about five meters tall standing at the entrance. Intricate patterns were engraved on them, indicating that they were magic towers. Surrounding the towers was not a simple wooden fence but a sturdy stone wall that exuded a smoothness indicating its construction with magical power.

Inside the campsite, all the buildings were made of stone. It was more like a small town than a camp. In addition to the stone structures, visible traces of excavation, such as wells and drainage channels, could be seen. While everyone regarded it as a camp, Sean knew that this town-like place was their final destination.

"The Portoroa Outpost!" Durun looked at the town-like place in front of him, astonishment evident on his face. "It's still so well-preserved!"

Sean scoffed and rolled his eyes. "The bodies inside are even better preserved."