After I returned home, I called Sylvia and told her that I wanted to buy some skills, artifacts, and potions from the academy. She then gave me a round and flat device that was the same size as the palm of my hand. It was a holographic projector that contained the details of everything the academy sold.
I activated the device, and a big black window came from it. It looks just like a big, flat television. I navigated through the window using my finger and pressed on the 'artifact' option. Instantly, thousands of artifact names appeared in front of me. There was also a search option, but I wasn't going to use it. Instead, I decided to read the details of all the artifacts and analyze each of their potentials by myself. After around half an hour, I successfully analyzed and memorized the details of exactly 24,323 different artifacts.
First of all, I decided to get the F-grade artifact 'poker glasses' which cost 900 gold. It was a useless artifact that allowed anyone who wore it to change the expression of their face. It doesn't physically change your expression, but instead it casts a small illusion around your face. I was able to change my expression voluntarily without the help of this artifact, but after my mistake with Sylvia yesterday, I felt that it would be safer to have it.
Next, I got the E-grade artifact, 'Critical Slayer'. It was a small sword that increased the chance of a critical strike by 10% and the critical damage by 5%. The cost was 7,000 gold.
There were a lot of other artifacts that were better, but all of them had an ability grade requirement. With my low ability grade, I could only get those two artifacts for now. The Poker Glasses had a requirement of F-grade in magic, and the Critical Slayer had a requirement of E-grade in perception. Once the grade of my abilities increases, I will naturally buy more powerful artifacts.
After the artifacts, I selected the skills option. The number of skills available was less than the artifacts, but they were much more expensive. Again, I analyzed and memorized every single skill. Currently, I have only two skills.
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[Dagger Throw] (F) - Active
It can only be activated while throwing a dagger. Increase the speed of the thrown dagger by 2% and the damage by 8%.
[Photographic Memory] (A) - Passive
Capture every image and sound through the user's eyes and ears with great accuracy and immense detail. The user may recall them whenever he wants.
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[Dagger Throw] was a weak skill, but that's the only offensive skill I had. On the contrary, [Photographic Memory] is a skill that I have been using since I came into this world. I had a suspicion that the only reason I had all the memories of the old Alex was because of this skill.
To cast an active skill, the user had to think of the skill name with determination, and the skill would automatically consume his mana. A passive skill always remains active and sometimes modifies some attribute of the user. It also doesn't consume mana. Just like with artifacts, there's an ability grade requirement before you can learn a new skill. But sometimes the same skill also exists in different grades. For example, I could see [Dagger Throw] (E) up to [Dagger Throw] (B). Its (A) and (S) grades also exist, but the academy didn't have them.
After memorizing and analyzing every single skill, I came up with a fun idea. 'What if I focus mainly on critical damage?' I remembered some gamers trying it with the assassin job, but they all died halfway through the game. Life will become boring if I become too overpowered. So I decided to challenge myself a little and focus mostly on the critical-related skill.
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[Critical chance] (E) - passive
Increase the current total critical chance of the user by 12.5%. Excess critical chance will be converted into critical damage.
Requirement : Perception (E)
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This skill was perfect for me. A skill that relies completely on the user's critical chance. It will be difficult to use the second part now, but it will be really powerful in the future. The cost was 17,000 gold, and the highest grade the academy had for the skill was (A).
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[Defence break] (F) - Active
Convert 15% of critical damage into physical penetration.
Requirement: Agility(F)
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This skill was a good counter against the beastman, who had an innately strong defence. It could also be useful against armour and physical shield. The cost was 12,500 gold, and the highest grade the academy had for this skill was (B).
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[Critical luck] (F) - Active
Convert all your critical chances into critical damage.
Requirement: -
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Alone, this skill was completely useless. If your critical chance was zero, then you would not be able to do any critical damage. But if you use it together with [Defence Break], it could become a trump card against any type of tank. Its cost was 9000 gold.
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[Conceal] (F) - Active
Completely hide your presence from any target whose perception is lower than E-grade.
Requirement : Agility (F)
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This skill was absolutely necessary for any assassin. It's cost was 13,000 gold, and the highest grade the academy had for it was (C).
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[Hide Attack] (F) - Active
Increase critical chance by 10% and critical damage by 15% when you attack a target while in any type of stealth.
Requirement: Agility (F), Perception (F)
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A typical assassin skill that goes well with [Conceal]. It's cost was 13,000 gold, and the highest grade the academy had for this skill was (B).
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[Shadow Walk] (F) - Active
Increase the speed of the user by 5% while under any stealth-related skill.
Requirement - Agility (F)
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The last skill I got was a movement-type skill. It's cost was 12,000 gold, and the highest grade the academy had for this skill was (A).
After selecting the six skills, I went to the mastery option. The mastery option was where manuals for different weapon techniques could be found. I didn't have any type of technique yet. And I needed one that was suitable for both a short sword and a dagger. I didn't have to look at every manual because I already knew which techniques I wanted.
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Trickster Inverse-Grip
A five-stage technique that teaches the user the art and potential of inverse grip.
Weapon compatibility : great swords
Cost : 50,000 gold
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This was the technique I wanted. People don't know it, but this technique was one of the best that was available in the academy. Even its price was a testament to its greatness. But unfortunately, everyone who once used this technique asked for a refund in less than a month because of its poor performance. The problem was that this technique was being taught with a great sword. But that was completely wrong. Just like its name suggests, this technique tricks people into believing that it was made to be used by a great sword. The true potential of this technique lies in a short sword or a dagger.
After that, I selected some potions and some normal daggers, then I called Sylvia and told her to get me everything I had selected as soon as possible. I had to transfer her 137,600 gold in total, and now I only have 900 gold in my bank account. But I wasn't worried at all. My advisor, the funny dwarf, was going to send me a lot of money again tomorrow. This will keep going on every time someone in the world tries to integrate my magic array into their weapon.
Sylvia came back after a few hours with everything I told her to get. I wasn't worried that she would know all the skills and techniques I was going to learn because I was certain she wouldn't be an obstacle for me in the future.
When I received everything, I immediately started learning the skills. It was an easy process. All I had to do was hold the skill book and insert my mana inside of it. Then the skill book will turn completely into ash, and that means the skill was successfully learned.
Next, I took a closer look at my new short sword. The Critical Slayer had a double-edged blade, and its height was a little longer than my forearm. For a temporary weapon, it was perfect. Then I tried the poker glasses and looked at myself in the mirror. I was currently expressionless, but my mirror self had a bright smile on his face. I was satisfied with everything I got so far.
Finally, I took the Trickster Inverse-Grip manual and started reading it. When I finished, I couldn't help but laugh. Everything in the manual, including all the illustrations, was about a great sword. The explanation was really complicated, but if you just replaced the great sword with a short sword, everything started fitting properly and became simpler to understand. I was so excited that I immediately went to my private gym and started practicing.
After several hours, I completely collapsed on the floor due to exhaustion. I was so focused and absorbed in my new technique that even my G+ stamina couldn't stop me. I forced my body to move and went to take a bath. It was already late, so I just ate something quickly and went to bed. Before closing my eyes, I checked my smart watch and noticed that I had a message from the funny dwarf. He told me that my request was already approved and asked when I was planning to go into the dungeon. I replied that I would go tomorrow morning.
'Perfect timing to test my new skills and technique.'