Chapter 41: Warrior Skillbook
The feline attendant led Arthur and John past the rows of glass partitions, her tail swaying lazily with every step she took. Eventually, she stopped in front of one of the glass cases and tapped her claw against the glass as she introduced the first skill.
"This is the most common Warrior class skill our auction house sells. It’s called [Iron Skin]. It makes the user’s body hard as iron, making you more resistant to physical damage. The duration is thirty seconds, while the cooldown to use it again is about five minutes. Keep in mind that [Iron Skin] requires you to have at least a (Minor) elemental affinity of Earth to use it, so if you don’t meet the requirements, don’t even think about it. The price is nine hundred and fifty base elemental stones."
The book behind the barrier glowed faintly, the glyphs shimmering against the protective ward as the attendant’s flat voice echoed in the empty second floor.
Arthur found himself glancing at John, picturing the big guy’s massive frame armored in a steel shell and shrugging off blows like a walking fortress. Most likely, even the Iron Boars and Rock Serpents would start cursing if they had to deal with a monster like that.
The next case lit up as the attendant moved her claw along the barrier, her voice ringing out once more.
"This skill is called [Berserk]. It makes the user fly into rage, increasing their strength, agility, and stamina by twenty-five percent. The effect lasts for thirty seconds, and once it’s over, the user will be weakened for one minute."
She then pointed at the two lines below the skill description and continued flatly,
"Requirements: Elemental affinity of Fire (Lesser).
Cost: one thousand nine hundred elemental stones."
Arthur’s brow raised faintly when he heard the requirements. This skill needed a (Lesser) fire affinity instead of the (Minor) one he had. Was that the next tier he’d reach if he kept absorbing elemental stones? Arthur wasn’t sure, but he guessed as much.
The attendant continued down the row, her voice steady as she introduced the skills one by one, while Arthur listened carefully to what each of them did.
There were skills that staggered enemies, skills that siphoned scraps of health with every hit, and those that let a Warrior drive forward while using a shield. A dozen or so in total, and it was enough to sketch the outline of what a Warrior could do at the early levels. But what surprised Arthur even more was how the attendant stressed that these were only the low-level skills available to Warriors.
The feline’s claw finally came to rest on the last two books. The glyphs burned brighter as she pointed at each one.
"This skill is called [Roar]. The user lets out a shout, attracting all enemies within a five-meter radius and forcing them to target the user, while removing any immediate binding effects on the user. The strength of affected enemies is reduced by a third while they are taunted. The duration of the taunt is five seconds.
Requirements: Elemental affinity of Wind (Lesser).
Cost: eleven hundred stones."
Arthur’s eyes widened. This [Roar] skill... was totally overpowered. Five seconds was short, sure, but the effect was downright absurd. Forcing every nearby enemy to attack the user was already powerful enough, but a flat one-third reduction in Strength on top of it was just crazy.
Essentially, even if another Warrior triggered [Berserk] in a one-on-one fight, [Roar] would wipe out the Strength boost for those five seconds and then some, without any of [Berserk]’s drawbacks.
Also, [Roar] apparently got rid of any immediate binding effects on the user, which was equally absurd.
The feline didn’t seem to register Arthur’s shock as she gestured to the last book,
"Finally, the last skillbook is [Battle Cry]. It’s a supportive type of skill that increases all stats of nearby party members by ten percent. The duration is thirty seconds.
Requirements: Elemental affinity of Wind (Lesser).
Cost: thirteen hundred stones."
"Another (Lesser) affinity." Arthur thought to himself as he took in the last skill.
It was a solid support skill, all things considered. A flat ten-percent boost to every party member’s stats was nothing to scoff at. It was probably a great skill if one was in a party of a handful of people... but otherwise, the other skills were just outright better. John seemed to have caught that too, not even batting an eye at it.
The feline attendant lowered her hand at last, her golden eyes half-lidded as she stared at John.
"Well? What do you think?" she asked.
John didn’t answer right away. His eyes moved between the glass cases, his jaw working as if he was chewing on the difficult decision.
From the start, he had already ruled out skills like [Battle Cry] and [Berserk]. The former for its lack of effectiveness when his party consisted of just two people, and the latter for the severe weakness it left behind once the skill ended.
Most of the other skills weren’t much different. They were decent enough, but their effects were either too situational, like [Shield Bash], which needed the user’s Strength to outmatch his opponent’s, or simply not useful enough for John to weigh them over the rest.
And judging by the way his eyes were moving between two glass cases, Arthur could tell that John was left torn between two skills: [Iron Skin] and [Roar].
Honestly, overpowered as [Roar] was, [Iron Skin] was clearly the better pick right now. It was supposed to make one’s body hard as iron for half a minute, which would help against the monsters on the mountain. And yet the longer he stared at it, the deeper John seemed to frown.
His patience finally snapped, and he turned to the attendant.
"But what the hell does ’hard as iron’ even mean? Just tell me how big a boost it gives. Does it halve the damage I take? Does it cut it by a third? Or do I just stiffen up and slow down? You know, I really hate ambiguous kind of crap."
John blew out a breath through his nose and shook his head as he turned to Arthur.
"Whatever. I’ll keep being a tank, I guess. It’s not that bad anyway."
His eyes flicked back to the [Roar] skill, then to the feline attendant. "You said [Roar] was eleven hundred elemental stones, right? Can you appraise a skillbook for us first? I can pay the difference."