Starting with the goblin extermination

Chapter 109 Advanced Path

a long time.

Adele, her face flushed, packed her clothes. Since it was already late, she decided to put up the closing sign early.

Although her brother's sudden appearance today, attempting to bind her with so-called familial affection, angered her, Logan's arrival and the cathartic outburst she had just experienced greatly eased her emotions.

She even felt a sense of vengeful pleasure.

Adele paid a hefty eight platinum coins for the ten Celestial Grasses Logan brought him, and also gave him two bottles of Intermediate Healing Potions worth five platinum coins each, as well as a Beast Hunting Potion, knowing that Logan would find them useful.

This is definitely an extremely generous reward, deviating from market rates; no, it could even be considered a gift.

But Adele was happy to agree.

Watching Logan's departing figure as he donned his gear, she suddenly felt like one of those noblewomen in Wolf Howl City who would spend lavishly on their male lovers.

In the past, she despised such depraved women who only thought with their lower bodies. But now, feeling the lingering warmth in her body, she was actually beginning to understand the pleasure of being kept.

After Logan left, the herbal shop fell completely silent.

Adele's smile faded, and with a serious expression, she reopened the mysterious scroll.

But this time, the situation is completely different from the past.

The moment the scroll was unrolled, the distorted text on it seemed to come alive, flashing a crimson light wildly.

Boom—

Adele's ears were instantly pierced by a terrifying auditory hallucination. She heard the roar of huge mechanical gears turning wildly and crushing flesh and bone, as well as the ferocious roars of thousands of mad beasts.

Immediately afterwards, she saw a hallucination.

A terrifying maze, pieced together from countless pieces of flesh, mangled limbs, and dark purple stones, appeared before her like a tidal wave, as if it were about to devour her soul completely.

But just a second later, the illusion vanished, pulling her back to the quiet herbal medicine shop, her forehead covered in sweat.

Adele gripped the table tightly, panting heavily.

Ecstasy enveloped her.

She knew what it was.

She is only one step away from receiving the blessing of the Chaos Witch.

One day later, at the Adventurers' Guild's outdoor training grounds.

boom!

The heavy, blunt swords collided violently in mid-air, producing a metallic scraping sound.

Logan tried to retreat quickly, maintaining his balance while using his blunt sword at an angle to deflect Soben's immense force. However, Soben's relentless attacks followed every step he took. As Logan's instructor, Soben knew every detail of the "parry" technique all too well, and he wouldn't give Logan a chance to deflect him.

Soben suddenly turned around and passed through Logan's empty flank.

Logan swiftly held his blunt sword to his side, blocking Soben's attack. However, caught off guard, he was still at a disadvantage, and only thanks to [Wolf Strike] was he able to maintain his defensive position. But he knew this was not enough; Soben would next press forward with his entire body, the hilt of his sword slamming heavily into Logan's chest.

"Too slow."

Logan frowned, the red glow beneath his feet flared up again, and he slammed his right foot forward, trying to use the explosive force to widen the distance between himself and the instructor. But Soben had anticipated his move; the green glow illuminated the spot, and Logan failed to block Soben's blunt sword, receiving a sharp blow to the side that stung with pain.

"Next."

The second to take the stage was the noble young master Quintas.

Logan stepped back from the arena, panting as he watched the two practice. He could sense that this former noble young master was now exceptionally serious. His steps were no longer unsteady, and although his hand gripping the sword was still trembling, his eyes were fixed intently on Soben's movements.

Although he was struck on the back of the knee by Soben's sword in less than three moves and fell to the ground in a sorry state, he did not complain as before. Instead, he stood up without saying a word.

Having faced life and death, I've become more composed.

Quintas plopped down on the sidelines to rest, and Logan casually handed him his water bottle.

Quintas was stunned for a moment, but finally took the water bottle and gulped it down.

"Thanks."

Quintus's female companion had stopped coming; she had distanced herself from him, but Quintus was no longer bothered by it. That terrifying adventure that had shattered his arrogance had also helped him make a certain kind of decision.

As the second son without inheritance rights, relying on the family's wealth to make a name for himself on other paths might be a better way out for him.

He still wants to be an adventurer.

After a break, it was Logan's turn again.

Faced with a student like Logan whose growth rate is nothing short of monstrous, Solben is now giving it his all. Sometimes, when Solben's arms go numb from the training, he feels that earning this little bit of private coaching money is too hard-earned.

But then I thought, isn't this student in front of me a top-notch sparring partner whose skill level is comparable to mine?

Thinking of this, Soben felt relieved and swung his blunt sword even faster.

Finally, the intense training session came to an end.

Soben and Logan, both drenched in sweat, leaned against the railing, panting. To Soben's surprise, Quintus, a nobleman, unexpectedly ran over with a wooden bucket to fetch water for them.

Logan wiped the sweat from his face with the towel draped around his neck.

His blond hair was stuck together with sweat, making him want to take a cold shower immediately.

Familiar, semi-transparent text flashed before his eyes.

[Proficiency +30]

Parry LV2 (62/100)

During today's sparring session with Soben, his understanding of [Parry] deepened. Logan glanced at the proficiency levels of the other two combat skills on the panel. Who would have thought that [Parry], which he learned later than [Wolf Strike], might reach the advanced level first? Once it reaches the advanced level, it will grant new attribute boosts.

Thinking about this, Logan nodded, and many questions about the career system also came to mind.

The goblin Kruger once said that after advancing to the Bronze-level adventurer, the right to purchase guild information will be unlocked.

The bronze-level adventurer and guild instructor in front of me must have a wealth of information about professionals.

Before Logan could even speak, Soben, who had just finished drinking water, suddenly blurted out a sentence.

"You'll be promoted to level two soon."

Logan paused for a moment, this was the first question he wanted to ask.

"If I master the second combat skill, I can advance to a level two professional?"

"right."

Soben's answer was concise and to the point.

"Does that mean subsequent job levels are also increased in the same way? I've heard of job changes; how do I change jobs?"

Logan raised his most pressing question.

Soben wiped the sweat from his face and, unusually, said a few more words.

"Mastering the three basic combat skills qualifies you as a level three professional. Beyond that, there are two methods."

Soben held up one finger.

"First, learn two more compatible combat skills and master them. At this point, you will be a level 5 professional, your class rank will be initially established, and you can seek a class change."

"For common classes like warriors and rangers, there are clear job advancement paths within the guild."

Logan raised an eyebrow. Mastering five combat skills was no easy feat. Mastering just one skill was enough to secure a job, which already blocked many low-level adventurers, let alone five. But judging from Soben's tone, this was the most common method.

"What about the second one?"

Soben raised his second finger.

"Mastering your class's combat skills is more difficult, but also more powerful; your class will be formed directly."

After mastering a class's combat skill, can one skip two class levels? Logan thought of his [Wild Hunt] combat skill and its slow progression rate, which seemed reasonable.

"What if someone is proficient in both the five basic combat skills and the class-specific combat skills?"

Logan stroked his chin and asked tentatively.

Soben gave a cold laugh.

"Theoretically the strongest level 5 professional, but I've never seen such a person."

Logan seemed thoughtful. With the help of the proficiency system, just because others couldn't do it didn't mean he couldn't. After all, compared to others who might be stuck at a bottleneck in a certain combat skill for their entire lives, he could always improve as long as he kept fighting.

Moreover, while actual combat is indeed the fundamental way to improve combat skills proficiency, Logan realized, based on the increased proficiency he gained from these training sessions, that perhaps thinking more and putting more effort into breaking down and figuring out the techniques themselves, rather than just treating them as tools for killing, could also be another way to gain proficiency.

However, since he needed to master five basic combat skills, Logan was troubled by his unknown special class, the [Red King]. Which combat skills were compatible with this class? He was currently completely clueless.

"One last question," Logan said, looking at Soben who was about to leave, "After I take the job, will I be able to learn combat skills from other professions? For example, can I learn the Ranger's rapid fire or the Wanderer's Shadow Step?"

Soben stared at Logan for a while.

"Sure," he added impatiently, seeing that Logan was still waiting for more, "but it's not recommended because most classes will have a negative effect on each other, which will slow down the learning process."

"Is it possible to hold two jobs at the same time?"

Logan came up with the idea of ​​part-time work.

Soben sheathed his blunt sword and tapped Logan on the shoulder.

"Yes, this can even skip the job change and directly become a level six professional."

Then, Soben shook his head again.

"But that's taking a shortcut."

"To give an analogy, it's like you're building a wall. You might use stones for the first half, but then, to speed things up, you use mud for the second half. It might look decent under normal circumstances, but when a real storm hits, it won't be as sturdy as a solid stone wall."

At this point, Quintus returned with the bucket, and Logan thanked Soben, ending this highly productive conversation.

The road ahead is both clear and uncertain, but at least the current direction is determined. Let's first upgrade to a third-tier professional.

Logan walked toward his new home in Iron Felt Lane.

Elsa and Lily are waiting for him at home.