- Stay here, I'll talk to him first

- Alright

Yulin entered the cottage alone, while Dung had nothing to do meanwhile

He squatted down and observed frogs with curiosity

- Dark bolt

...

,, I missed? ''

The little frog was unharmed as it jumped away in time

,, I guess it's privilege of small monsters to have high evasion and agility ''

The lake water was almost transparent. If one observed for a while, it would be easier to see some fishes here and there

- What are you observing young man?

Hoarse voice sounded near Dung's ears, startling him

- Ah

He exclaimed and vigilantly looked at old man. His face looked vicious with thick scar running down his chin, thick eyebrows and unnatural white eyes. He had scarce hair and wore tattered robe like attire, which gave off unique feeling

Old man smiled, which looked like worse than crying and introduced himself

- I am called Azerott, I live here

- Ah, you are that expert master talked about? Forgive my rudeness

Dung was a little flustered

- Ahha, it's fine, your master told me everything about you

,, I hope my name didn't include that everything ''

- Little fellow, show me your full status

- Alright

...

- Hmm, I see, you want to combine these four? I guess you want a skill like aura, passively draining enemies of MP/HP/stamina, quite clever indeed, but this is not easy to achieve

- How can I achieve that?

Azerott didn't answer, just observed him for a while, then gestured him to follow

They both appeared near cottage, but old man didn't enter his house, but stepped on wooden hand made bridge, which was 10 meter long

Dung followed with little fear

,, I can't swim if I fall from here ''

Suddenly Azerott stopped and turned around

- Look and learn

Suddenly, the air seemed to be compressed as fierce aura washed over him. The light dimmed in surrounding couple meters

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Dung was horrified. He almost stumbled and fell right into lake, but somehow managed to handle the pressure

He instinctively checked his status. He was unharmed

Dung gasped for breath and asked

- What was that?

Azerott just smiled and looked around

Dung followed his gaze and was dumbstruck. In 5 meters radius, dozen or so fish was floating above lake, dead

,, What the heck? Is that the skill I was going to master? ''

- How is it?

Azerott laughed playfully

- Amazing! B, but how did they get killed while I wasn't harmed, wasn't I in range too?

- Ahha, quite observant. The truth is, this passive skill can not only be activated at will, but has many other uses and can be improved and used in numerous ways. The secret of what you saw lies in perception. If your perception is high enough, you can exclude whoever you want from attack. That's not all. If your perception is high enough, you do not need a target to steal MP/HP/stamina, you can absorb them from the air, granting you terrifying regeneration and perseverance in long battles. Of course prolonged battles doesn't only depend on those three attributes, but willpower too, so this skill is not invincible.

Dung was awestruck and mesmerized by the skill

,, I want to learn it! I want to learn it! ''

He couldn't wait to show off with such horrifying skill

,, But...perception is unique attribute, raising it is too tough, sigh, if I knew that, I wouldn't squander advanced training cards to increase luck... ''

- Listen here, this skill is counted as mental skill and requires concentration to activate. When you upgrade this skill to level 10, you will require concentrating whole 30 willpower to constantly channel it. If you don't have more, you simply can't perform other actions while having this skill activated. Enemies will have it tougher. To completely resist this skill, they will need 90 willpower. Those who have higher than 100 willpower will simply receive no damage from this skill, so this skill will help you deal with small fries. In later stages, you will have to find other skills and merge it all over to make it useful once again

,, 90 willpower? Only senior players will have that much or more...As for monsters, they are usually designed to have higher resistance to crowd control skills like this, especially elites, champion or boss type monsters, so effect of this skill will be greatly limited to them. But it's still good, I only need 30 willpower while they would need to expand 90 willpower to always guard against it. With less willpower in play, their actions and range of skills can only be used conservatively, giving me more breathing time, haha, even if this skill is completely negated, it's still immensely helpful, not to mention, I won't have to worry about that for who knows how many levels. Damage will no longer be static, but if it's counted as mental attack, tenacity and fortitude won't be of any use against it, haha ''

- Little fellow, don't be happy so suddenly. It was only by luck that I had epiphany and merged this skill, without luck and constant practice, you won't have a chance. Now that you are here, you will have to wholeheartedly concentrate on it and again, I can't guarantee your success, the choice is up to you

- I am willing to give it a try!

Dung's voice was firm and resolute, though Azerott splashed cold water over him, reminding him of great difficulty

- He he, young man, there's no free meal in this world, do you think I will teach you for free?

Azerott gave a mocking smile

Dung cursed in his mind

,, I thought master took care of it? Or she did, but... he's an old sly fox, no doubt about it ''

- I am willing to do everything to obtain skill

,, Well, not everything, but it sounds better ''

- Haha, good fellow, when you reach level 50, come back, I will teach you for a month at most, remember, you owe me one no matter you successfully learn it or not

[ Obligatory quest received: Visit Azerott to receive quest from him once reaching level 50

Upon failure: You will be cursed by Azerott, losing 10 in all attributes permanently

Upon completion: Reward none ]

,, Fuck, this old bastard is taking advantage of me, but...it's fine, as long as I learn the skill... ''

- Alright, I'm ready, please teach me well

Azerott grinned and nodded his head

- Ah, by the way, where's my master?

- She's returned

Azerott replied without emotion

,, Without even saying goodbye? Sigh, I guess it's like her to act like that, saying no word more if unnecessary ''

- Little fellow, I've got a little gift for you, wait here, I'll be back in a second, then I'll assign you your first task

Dung waited in anticipation but was disappointed when he saw old man bringing a fishing rod

- Your first task is...fishing

Azerott grinned from ear to ear

,, Fuck, I was scammed! ''

Dung exclaimed in his mind