Chapter 93: Expertise And Job Requirements

“Bang.”

The headless corpse of the Bugbear toppled forward to the ground with a dull thud.

Xia Nan flicked away the blood staining the sword body.

He glanced at the corpse ahead, his face showing no extra expression.

The pressure this Bugbear brought him was far inferior to that of the one that had almost wiped out the “Trash Fish and Shrimp” party back then.

The reason, in part, was the improvement of his own combat ability and experience.

On the other hand, it was also because Foggon had already smashed one of the enemy’s arms, causing its combat power to plummet.

He was also overseeing the battle from the side.

The sheer oppressive aura on the Barbarian alone, enough to make ordinary Goblins faint, further dragged the Bugbear’s strength down by more than one level.

Only then did Xia Nan appear so relaxed.

Which suited him just fine.

Such an in-between opponent made it convenient for him to hone his combat techniques.

A real battle, and it only took a few exchanges.

He could feel that the extent of his progress was far greater than practicing against empty air for an entire day.

After the battle ended, naturally, the battlefield needed cleaning.

But the Goblin Cave…

One could only say there truly was nothing of value.

Let alone magic items with special effects, there was basically not even any ordinary equipment decent enough to sell to the General Store or Blacksmith Shop for a bit of coin.

Including that rather large Green Skin lair from two days ago, all of Xia Nan’s rewards amounted to just six small, glittering Small Stones of varying sizes.

He had no idea how much they could sell for.

And only now did he finally realize how lucky he had been when he had just crossed over and managed to get the green gear ring 【Dead Line】 from the Bugbear.

He did not rush to sheathe his sword.

Supporting the sword hilt, Xia Nan rested it sideways across his shoulder to save effort.

In a corner of the cave ahead, Foggon stood motionless.

Yet a cold wind suddenly surged up around his body.

You could vaguely see an illusory Winter Wolf, crystal-clear and translucent, taking form amidst whistling ice crystals.

Its transparent claws landed lightly, drifting and roaming inside the Cave.

It seemed to be searching for something.

It found nothing.

A few seconds later, it returned to the Barbarian’s side, affectionately rubbing its cold-gleaming forehead against Foggon’s arm, then slowly dissipated.

Xia Nan also withdrew his gaze.

He had seen the same scene once already two days before.

Though he was puzzled, he did not ask more.

After all, the other man had not come specifically to Valley Town because of the commission, and teaching him combat techniques was only incidental.

He was likely investigating something.

It had nothing to do with him, and trouble involving the Transcendence level was absolutely not something he could touch right now.

As the cold air melted away, the temperature inside the Cave gradually rose.

Xia Nan did not leave immediately.

Instead, long sword in hand, he patiently and meticulously delivered a finishing blow to each of the Goblins sprawled across the ground.

Because of the stench of decay, and predicting that he still needed to stay in the Forest for many days, he could not bring these “loot” back to exchange for bounties.

But since he was already here, there was no way he would let these Green-skinned Mongrels wake up alive.

“Hiss.”

Without mercy, the sharp sword tip pierced the fragile skin outside a throat.

The Goblin’s twig-like, withered neck was pierced through in an instant.

Stunned into deep fainting by spiritual intimidation, these weak monsters could only let their frail bodies tremble slightly under the lethal pain, then quietly die.

Xia Nan’s movements were extremely neat.

One sword for each; within just a few minutes, nearly thirty Goblins on the field were all sent off.

Yet he felt it was rather unsatisfying.

He could not hear the Goblins’ wails and screams before death, nor see the panic and fear of death in their eyes.

It was as if something was missing.

Slaughtering them, he received no feedback at all; his whole body felt uncomfortable.

The strange feeling even made Xia Nan wonder whether there was something wrong with his own psychology.

“I wonder if this world has professions like psychologists. If it really doesn’t work, maybe I should go to a church and pray when I get back?”

His scattered thoughts flashed across his mind.

He took gauze from his chest pocket and wiped the blood from the sword body’s surface.

He planned to leave the Cave, but a trace of reluctance appeared on his face.

More than twenty Goblins, plus one Bugbear.

Even if there was no other gain in terms of equipment, their bounties alone would add up to a decent income.

It was a pity that, under the current conditions, he could not bring them back; otherwise his treasury could have increased a bit more.

Speaking of which, if he were a bit thicker-skinned, perhaps he could ask Foggon to help freeze these loot so he could bring them back…

“No, no, no.”

As that ice-cold face surfaced in his mind, Xia Nan shook his head sharply.

“Better forget it.”

Two days were not enough to fully see through someone’s personality.

His relationship with the Barbarian was far from the level where he could casually ask for help.

He had to distinguish priorities; following the other man to get 【Fang Hunt】 at novice level was the most important thing right now.

Everything else was merely incidental.

He could not lose the big for the small.

He put away the long sword.

Out of the corner of his eye, a glint of icy light suddenly flashed.

He looked over and saw, not far from his side, about six or seven feet from the headless corpse.

The Bugbear’s severed head, which Xia Nan had chopped off, had at some point been coated with a layer of frost.

Its left ear area was especially obvious, almost forming a small piece of ice crystal.

With surprise appearing on his face, he then heard a hoarse, indistinct voice from in front of him:

“A Hunter whose blade is stained with blood will not let himself go hungry.”

“This is the rule of the Snowfield.”

……

Night fell.

Thick mist drifted faintly in the air.

Firelight coiled upward; the forest was wrapped in tranquility.

Xia Nan sat by the campfire, holding a beast leg that exuded a charred fragrance.

It seemed to have just been taken from the fire; juices gushed as he bit in, delicious and scalding, making him hiss and suck in hot breaths.

The Barbarian had prepared no supplies before setting out; he had originally considered whether to share some of his own food with him.

Unexpectedly, on their way back to camp, Foggon only cast a glance at some grassland by the roadside where there was movement.

A huge Wild Boar nearly half a man’s height then staggered out as if drunk.

Then, under Xia Nan’s gaze, it simply thumped straight down in front of the two of them.

Like pre-ordered takeout delivered right to the door.

And to be fair,

It smelled great.

As for drinking water, things were even easier for Foggon.

He did not need any obvious action; he simply sat silently on the ground, and cold air gusted into the water bottle before him, then obediently turned into clear ice water under the fire’s heat.

Which made sense.

At their Strength Level, no matter how badly they did, they were not going to starve to death.

Watching from the side, Xia Nan felt a faint envy.

He wondered when he himself would reach the level where his mere aura and presence could easily intimidate enemies.

But once he thought about how his maxed-out 【Whirl Slash】 might go to waste, and that to become a Class Holder he might have to learn two more combat techniques, he could not help getting a headache.

Troubled, he suddenly remembered something, and his eyes lit up.

He asked Foggon, who sat across the campfire:

“Tell me, is there a possibility…”

“【Whirl Slash】 and 【Fang Hunt】, plus the third combat technique I learn later, might just meet the promotion requirements for some Class?”

That way he could skip the trouble of searching for yet another combat technique.

But as soon as he finished speaking, Xia Nan felt he was talking nonsense.

Not very realistic.

There were so many combat techniques in this world; many niche and obscure Classes even required special job-changing rituals.

If he really happened to hit three in a row like that…

He could only suspect that the Smiling Lady of the Divine Kingdom had misjudged him and set her eyes on him.

Rather than considering such unrealistic fantasies, it would be better to pray that his current 【Whirl Slash】 was actually a combat technique under the “Warrior” category.

He felt hope was slim and did not expect much.

Yet unexpectedly, the always silent-as-ice Barbarian slightly nodded at Xia Nan’s question.

Hm?

There was hope!?

“The day your combat technique reached ‘mastery,’ did you feel anything special?”

With ice-blue eyes reflecting the orange firelight, Foggon spoke slowly.

“Feel… something?” Xia Nan frowned slightly, as if recalling the scene. “My strength increased a bit, my body felt lighter?”

He could not possibly explain directly that lv5 【Whirl Slash】 had given him two attribute points each in “Strength” and “Agility.”

So he roughly summarized his experience when leveling up.

But as for this, the Half-elf and the others had also mentioned to him before: once you train a combat technique to “mastery,” the improvement in physical fitness was common knowledge among adventurers in this world.

It seemed… nothing special?

“No.” Foggon held the short axe made of obsidian; its dark, smooth blade reflected his rugged, cold face. “It is something else.”

“Talent, skill, sacred boon, awakening mark…”

“It has many names, but in essence, they are the same kind of thing.”

“—A targeted enhancement of your combat, magic, survival instincts, and Class characteristics, which can also be seen as a concrete manifestation of your past experiences.”

【Specialty】!?

In just a second, Xia Nan connected what he described to the 【Specialty】 on his system panel.

Thinking carefully, his first Specialty in this world, 【Cleave Master】, was obtained right after 【Whirl Slash】 reached max level, was it not?

“But what does that have to do with acquiring Class Levels?”

A cold wind suddenly swept through the camp, which had been filled with the warmth of the fire.

Ice crystals visibly condensed rapidly in the air, turning into a tangible miniature snowstorm that circled around the Obsidian Axe.

Countless tiny snow grains rubbed and collided against the axe blade, producing crisp, dense sounds.

The already sharp axe blade, under the wash of ice and snow, emitted a chilling light that seemed capable of cleaving the night apart.

He was sharpening his weapon.

“This special skill is not as superficial as your enhanced physical fitness. Like the ice crystals buried beneath deep plateau snow, many people never realize in their entire lives that they have talent in some aspect.”

“And in the vast majority of cases, unless it is through bloodline inheritance or some rare, special experience, the only way to obtain this ability is through day-after-day arduous training, raising combat techniques to the ‘mastery’ level to increase the odds.”

Simply put, if we compare a “Class” to the necklace hanging on the Barbarian’s chest—

Then the three combat techniques required to obtain Class Levels are the main chain links that form the necklace, connected end to end.

And “Specialty” is the pendant adorning the chain links.

In most cases, even if you only have a bare chain with no ornaments at all,

Its integrity is not affected.

It might look a bit ugly, but the necklace itself still exists.

—A “Class” does not require a “Specialty.”

On the contrary, if you only have several exquisite pendants but no chain links to string them together,

Then it cannot be called a necklace.

—A “Specialty” is not a prerequisite for obtaining Class Levels.

In such a situation, if you want to glue together three combat techniques from different branches to form a brand-new Class completely different from their categories,

It is like forcefully buckling together different parts of three necklaces.

Even if you barely succeed, the connection points of the chain often twist and deform due to differences in size and thickness of the links, attracting a certain invisible great power from outside, called “Rules,” that cannot help but tear it apart.

On this premise, if you happen to possess a few good “pendant” Specialties,

Threaded in to cover the ugly parts at the joints,

Then no matter how strange your necklace looks—even if half is a gold chain, half a bone chain, with a leaf hanging in the middle—

As long as it does not show any obvious flaws,

No one will come over to tear your chain on purpose.

Then it works.

In summary,

“Talent Specialties can greatly increase the probability of obtaining Class Levels.”

But the specific type of Class you end up with, like that patchwork necklace that can only be barely formed by relying on pendants to cover it,

“Depends on your Specialties.”

Sitting by the fire, the roasted meat in Xia Nan’s hand had already cooled under the cold wind.

He quickly digested the advanced knowledge he had just heard.

Yet his expression gradually turned strange.

For people of this world, he, with his system panel, could clearly see his own attributes and skill information.

He had even obtained multiple Specialties due to several fortuitous encounters.

But if it was as Foggon said—that while Specialties increase the success rate of job change, they also largely influence the Class type—

【Cleave Master】 was fine; it was a proper melee Specialty, likely connected to Basic Classes like “Warrior”;

【Lightbringer】 was a bit troublesome; though radiant damage reduction was part of Constitution-type resistance, if, like the Remark mentioned for that being, it led him into some niche Class of Evil alignment that required special means to level up, he might be forced onto a deviant path;

As for 【Tough Muscles and Iron Bones】…

Xia Nan could not imagine

When this clearly Otherworld-derived Specialty, which had never appeared before in this world, became part of his job-change conditions,

And was cobbled together with the two completely unrelated Specialties above, then combined with 【Whirl Slash】 and 【Fang Hunt】…

What kind of thing it would create.