Chapter 28: Advancement in Rank

Chapter 28: Advancement in Rank

The bustling gathering came to a close, and William and Nichole agreed to return here tomorrow for Nichole to teach William how to wield the whip. They prepared to leave.

"See you tomorrow!" Nichole waved to William.

"I'll walk you out," Jason said, rising and signaling to William with a glance.

William remained composed, following Jason out of the villa.

"Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?" William stood on the roadside steps, studying the green shoots sprouting from the cracks underfoot.

"Lord Kane."

Jason hesitated for a moment, then said to William:

"I'm sure you've already noticed that Miss Nichole's identity is not ordinary."

William remained silent, tacitly agreeing with Jason's statement.

Even the duke's most outstanding son appears like a punching bag in front of Nichole. Who wouldn't see that?

"Until I have permission, I cannot reveal Miss Nichole's identity to you. I hope you understand."

Jason paused, then said earnestly, "I don't want to know if it's a coincidence or some other reason that brought you into contact with Miss Nichole, but I hope you won't do anything harmful to her."

Jason didn't finish his sentence, but William naturally understood what he meant.

As for Jason's veiled threat, William didn't care. If it weren't for the fact that he couldn't reveal he already knew Nichole's true identity, he would have wanted to bind himself to Nichole as a powerful ally.

He was just one step away from saying, "If Your Grace will not refuse, I would like to request to be your son-in-law."

As for harming Nichole, that thought never crossed his mind.

As the protagonist of this story, a destined child of fate, she seemed to carry a lucky goddess with her. No matter what difficulties she encountered, she would always come out unscathed. Such luck was not something ordinary people could counteract.

"Lord Jason, I will not do anything harmful to Nichole. That is my promise as Lord Kane's son."

William said solemnly to Jason.

"I hope so."

Seeing William make a promise in the name of nobility, Jason's expression softened a bit. After all, the nobles of the kingdom placed great value on their reputation. He nodded and said, "Welcome to our adventure team, William."

"Thank you, Jason. See you tomorrow then!"

---

Back at the mansion, William sat at the small table in his bedroom, picking up the chilled fruit tea prepared by Rosie for him, pondering the events of the day.

Meeting Nichole today was unexpected, and even more surprising was joining Nichole's mercenary group just like that.

It went smoother than he could have imagined!

It seemed worth considering planning for the Annual Holy Festival. If he could gain Nichole's support, he might have other ways to break through.

However, Nichole's strength should still be at the level of a Gold-ranked warrior. To wait for her to make further breakthroughs, he would have to wait until the later stages of the game version 2.0.

But thinking that far ahead wasn't necessary right now. He should focus on sorting out the Annual Holy Festival first.

The incident with Camus was definitely planned by someone. Well, that meant they hadn't achieved their goal that time, so they wouldn't give up easily. He just needed to wait for them to reveal their intentions.

Improving his strength should be a priority. Many things were beyond his abilities as a junior mage, such as the research and development of civilian enchanting products. He would need to advance to an intermediate mage before he could replicate the special magic array designs in his mind.

Although there were many surprises today, all his objectives for joining the Mercenary Guild had been achieved.

He registered as a mercenary.

The final training for weapon proficiency was already scheduled, although the whip weapon didn't seem very suitable for men, William wasn't picky. As long as he could master ten weapons, it would suffice.

He unexpectedly joined Nichole's adventure team, so he wouldn't have to worry too much about future tasks and experience.

His several teammates were officially Silver-ranked in strength. Even if there were experience penalties, he wouldn't receive fewer experience points for completing tasks.

And there was Nichole, an actual Gold-ranked warrior. Unlike Weyr, who was somewhat mediocre, William believed that with Nichole's uniqueness, she might already have the strength to rival that of an advanced Gold rank.

His own strength was still a bit lacking.

After some thought, William brought up the interface panel, deciding to use all the experience points he had saved up to level up his professional rank first; skill levels could wait for now.

[You have spent unallocated experience points: 735,604!]

[Your personal level has increased: 30→31!]

[You gained Strength +1, Agility +1, Intelligence +2, Charisma +1, Mystery +1, Endurance +1]

[Your personal level has increased: 33→34!]

[You gained Strength +1, Agility +1, Intelligence +2, Charisma +1, Mystery +1, Endurance +1]

[You have 10 free attribute points]

[Your Intelligence attribute has been increased: 76→96! (Attribute Correction)]

As a series of system messages popped up, William felt a refreshing sensation, clearing away the slight fatigue from the day, making his mind much clearer.

So this is the effect of improving personal attributes?

The attribute improvement of the previous game character was ultimately just virtual numbers, and he didn't have any intuitive feeling.

William brought up his attribute panel.

——

Name: William Kane

Race: Human

Level: 34

Health: 1280/1280

Mana: 2000/2580

Status: Normal

Experience: 0/210,000 (Unallocated experience points: 15,820)

Primary Occupation: Arcanist (Novice)

Secondary Occupation: None

Talent: Jack Of All Trades

Attributes:

Strength 39

Agility 40

Intelligence 96 (Attribute Correction)

Charisma 42

Mystery 37

Endurance 39

Luck 3

Free attribute points 0

Specialization:

[Arcane Mind] - Intelligence attribute gains a 2x value correction, Elemental Affinity +100%, Arcane Submodule unlocked

[Advanced Fatigue Resistance] - Reduces the negative effects on the body under fatigue state, Stamina recovery speed +50%

[Tier Suppression] - You gain additional power when facing lower-tier professionals, current bonus (10%)

[Fearless Challenger] - Reduces the damage received from tier suppression by 30%, chance to resist negative statuses such as fear, stun, silence, confusion, charm

[Low-Level Toughness] - Increases health by 10%, improves recovery speed from minor injuries, and slightly enhances resilience and elemental resistance

Skills: Tricks (Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Light), First Circle Spells (Fireball, Ice Arrow, Human Charm), Second Circle Spells (Ice Blade, Wind Walk, Earth Tunneling, Moderate Injury Repair, Levitation), Third Circle Spells (Chain Fireball, Elemental Shield, Stench Cloud, Human Petrification), First Circle Arcana (Ignition), Third Circle Arcana (Blue Bomb, Aging Ray), Combat Skills (Fury Slash, Shield Bash, Resistance Enhancement, Minor All-Attribute Enhancement)

Milestones: [Novice Mage (Bronze Rank)], [First Step of Strength (Silver Rank)]

Legend: 10 (Kingdom Level - Court Viscount Legend +10)

Equipment: Emerald Staff, Emerald Amulet, Concentration Ring

(A little progress, from cannon fodder to a slightly stronger cannon fodder!) 

——

It must be said that mastering power feels really good!

William nodded satisfactorily. Although he had almost emptied all the experience points he had painstakingly accumulated, his attributes had been comprehensively improved, which was worthwhile.

Moreover, he could gain a stable source of experience by completing mercenary missions in the future, so he didn't need to agonize over whether to increase his personal level or skill level.

William declared: I want them all!

Feeling content, William poured all the not-so-cold fruit tea into his mouth, ready to go to the laboratory to start today's magical research.

He not only had to study new arcana but also master new third-circle spells.

William was not one of those chosen ones; he had to seize every moment. Only by accumulating bit by bit could he eventually possess the power to control his own destiny.