Chapter 6
The Class with One Skill
Ryuu found a secluded corner of Kabbot cave to sit and circulate his ki. Dying twice reduced the skills proficiency, but his new training regimen increased the pace his skill improved. Since discovering the Perseverance stat Ryuu would purposely take powerful hits unguarded, lowering his health to a minimum before finishing his opponents. Losing so much life so often meant he had more opportunities to use Ki circulation to recover it.
While meditating Ryuu's mind would wander to how he could defeat 50 pixies. The simplest way was to remove the Atlas rings of restraint when he saw a pixie. Without them weighing his body down, catching a pixie in flight would be too simple. But keeping the rings on was self imposed training. If he could not complete a task without taking them off, then he would have to get stronger. Besides, keeping them on occasionally caused him to receive a message saying his resistance to gravity magic had increased. Taking them off reset the amount of time it took to receive the next resistance bonus so he wouldn't do it. The rings did have some benefits. His axe and drop kicks did massively more damage than they should. It was thanks to that he practically one hit killed a kobold general.
After recovering Ryuu went to another hobgoblin spawn point. Finding a pixie was very rare in the cave, as long as he didn’t go looking for it, he wasn’t likely to meet it. Ryuu had in fact seen another pixie, but it didn’t care about him. The first pixie he tried to hit was the only one that attacked him on sight, other than the possibility of running that one in a dungeon with the floor space of a four story building was low as long as he didn’t wander around too much.
The spear wielding hobgoblins were easy to take down after Ryuu used disarm to remove or break their weapons. Without them the mobs had to resort to fist fighting, and their skill was lower than Ryuu’s weakest student in the real world. Every once in a while a bastard sword wielding Hobgoblin Captain would spawn, and Ryuu would let him get some good hits in before killing it to raise his perseverance stat. The spawning of Captains was the reason he chose this spot to train.
Two days after his second death, Ryuu was circulating his Ki, and a message showed up.
Ding*
Skill level up: Ki circulation has reached level 10, and now changes to intermediate level 1.
+50% to Health and Stamina regeneration while using Ki Circulation.
You can now circulate you Ki outside the body as a skill.
You have learned a New Skill: Aura
+ 5 All stats.
“Aura? In this game?” Ryuu continued, “Show skill Aura.”
Aura [1] 0%
Move ki over the body to increase resistance against non physical damage.
Areas covered in Aura deal greater damage when using Ki Strike at increased Ki cost.
Ki cost: 40 per minute for small areas
100 per minute for whole body
The skill Ki circulation didn’t use up Ki points because the Ki never left the body, but if it was moved outside the body, it would slowly dissipate.
Ryuu wanted to try it out. He imagined the energy of his body flowing out of his right hand, over his arm, and returning into his body through his shoulder. The effect was obvious, his whole arm was suddenly covered in flowing light, and the number below his Ki bar slowly declined. At level 52, his Ki was 780. The stats Vitality and Strength had the largest effects on increasing his Ki, so he increased those the most while leveling up, thus increasing his health and attack as well. And if the skill was anything like Ki strike, then it would decrease in Ki cost as he got better at using it.
Ryuu waited at the spawn point for the next wave of hobgoblins. When they appeared, He wrapped his body in aura and used Ki strike with every attack. His level 7 Ki strike which usually decreased his Ki bar by 14 with each use now decreased it by 21 with each use, 50% more. But the effects were clear. Without Ki strike a hobgoblin took five or six hits to fell, with it they took three or four. With Ki strike empowered by his aura, not one took more than two hits to kill. A wave of Hobgoblins consisted of between six and nine members, Ryuu finished off the whole group in under twenty seconds.
The strength of Hobgoblins were they coordination, high attack, and their skilled use of spears in the confined space of the cave tunnels. Even with health far beyond his level, without armor their spears took only four or five strikes to kill him. Before when he fought them he had to devote most of his effort to dodging while dealing the necessary hits to kill them, but with the ability to kill each in two strikes that time was no longer needed, after dodging the initial attack he could kill one after another.
Ryuu felt satisfied, as he always when he saw the fruit his training bore. He didn’t need weapons, with his heightened stats, Ki strike and Aura his attack was greater than any sword warrior of the same level.
Ryuu trained his aura skill for two days getting it to level 5, reducing the Ki cost of full body aura to 90 per minute. A side effect of which was that he increased his Natural Ki Absorption skill to level 8, the skill leveled up slowly but even with his lack of Affinity to Nature, but with each level his Ki recovered a little faster.
When he felt he was ready, he wandered through the cave looking for the pixie. After a few hours he heard the tale-tail giggling. The pixie spotted him and right away it started glowing, meaning it was the same one he once attacked. Ryuu charged forward and started attacking, he had increased his agility stat some since the last encounter, and the effect showed. The pixie was no longer dodging with ease, it had to back up constantly to avoid Ryuu’s strikes. Ryuu lead it to a wall but the pixie simply turned. Overall it took just a little over five seconds before the pixie’s glow changed to purple. Ryuu ran as fast as he could towards it, but instead of attacking, he stepped up the wall and jumped off. The pixie fell for the faint and released its charged up spell, but in the time between releasing the charge and the spell itself going into effect, Ryuu had put two and a half meters between himself and the pixie.
You have been slowed
Movement speed reduced by 22%
Ryuu remembered the that previous two times the pixie waited until it was right next to him to release the charge on its spell, he figured the further away he was, the better. That and he had full body Aura on, though he didn’t know how much if any that affected the reduction.
Ryuu readied himself. The pixie let out a scream and Ryuu rushed. From a proper stance, he could cover the distance between them in an instant, and the pixie didn’t move when it cried out.
Even slowed, Ryuu was able to strike the pixie with a leaping ki punch. The pixie bounced off the wall from the impact and died instantly.
You have gained a level!Quest Progression: Vexing Pixies Slain 1/50
His experience bar which had been at 81% jumped to 12% on the next level. Pixies were rare, killing them was very tricky, and they gave as much experience as a mini-boss.
“Forty-nine to go.”
The hobgoblins came a moment later. Ryuu took another stance and let them approach. He leaped to the closest one and stuck it with enough force to blow it back into the others. He switched to a form that used slower, fiercer movements to knock back the mobs. With his strengthen blows he killed them off one at a time so he would not have to devote so much effort to dodging the attacks of so many. With his deadly blows and adjusted style he finished off the lot in twenty seconds. Ten seconds later, the slow status lifted.
Ryuu spent the next few days killing every hobgoblin he came across. When Ki strike reached level 8, even Hobgoblin Captains fell in two Aura strengthened ki empowered kicks. However a week had passed before Ryuu found another pixie. He managed to kill it before it did anything, gaining another massive load of experience, but the one he found the next day was not so simple.
Ryuu found the pixie traveling with a group of hobgoblins. Ryuu attacked the group and the pixie started charging its spell, but when fully charged, its color changed to red, not purple. Ryuu had his full body aura activated of course and jumped back, but the spell the Pixie cast was different. With a bright red glow a red sphere shot out from the pixie and sought Ryuu. He blocked with his aura coated arms and the ball turned to fire and slowly tried to cover him.
You are on fire.
Your health slowly decreases.
The fire and his aura seemed to fight each other on his arms, but eventually his aura won out, putting out the flame. Ryuu kicked a hobgoblin to the wall next to the pixie to distract it while moving closer to deal a final blow.
Over the next few in game months, Ryuu scoured the dungeon for pixies. He found that each could only cast one spell, but from what he heard from others and learned for himself, they cast that spell at a proficiency that far exceeded their level. Every pixie cast a spell that caused a status effect; slow, burn, paralysis, blindness, silence, confusion, and even gravity. The only problematic one was the pixies that glowed yellow before an attack. The paralysis spell lasted between four and thirteen seconds depending on how close you were when the spell activated. Ryuu never wanted to find out how long it would affect him if he was caught without his aura. The other pixies could be dealt with using the right style and strategy. The confusion spell affected him like alcohol, but he knew a bit of drunken boxing so that was actually fun for him. The blindness was tricky at first, but the hobgoblins always stayed in the same formation, so after letting himself get attacked once, he knew where they all were and could act accordingly until the blindness wore off or he killed the rest. The pixies that cast silence were easy prey, as none of his skills were spells. The gravity pixies that glowed black before casting did almost nothing. The spells only increased his weight by 30%, which amounted to 25% due to his gravity resistance, but he couldn’t even feel the difference while wearing the Atlas rings.
The only real problem with the pixies was that they could recast their status spells by the time the previous spell wore off, something that was especially irritating against the blindness casting pixies. Once, Ryuu cornered a gravity caster and saw how many times it could cast over and over again. He gave up counting after the tenth time and killed it. Although they were physically weak with little life, the pixies were dangerous without a doubt.
Through experimentation he found that his aura did indeed reduce magic based status effects. Thanks to that the full impact of the over powered spells was reduced to the point he could reliably kill the pixies regardless of which he encountered.
Quest Complete: Pixie Slayer
50/50
You have gained a level!
You have gained a level!
Return to the monk guild for your class.
After three and a half months in game, Ryuu completed the quest, and walked out of Kabbot cave at level 84. Had he changed his location to some place with stronger mobs, he could have gotten much stronger, but he did not worry. He spent the time increasing his unarmed combat mastery, the skill was now at intermediate level 3, likely far higher than the mastery of anyone of the same level. And if the aptitude test was accurate, than his reward would be a fine class.
When Ryuu walked into the city, he attracted quite a few stares. His Gi had long since lost durability forcing him to unequip it, his beginner shoes had been dropped and lost the second time he died, as equipped items sometimes did when one died. (He was thankful the rings had not dropped.) So barefoot and shirtless he walked into the city. Not that he was bashful, the capsule’s scan of his body was fairly accurate, down to the ridge pattern the muscles of his abdomen made, and he had no problem walking around without a shirt.
Ryuu entered the monk’s guild wearing only tattered pants and said, “I wish to see Master Korth.”
The guild master came a moment later. “Oh ho. So you completed the quest. Excellent. Show me your stats and skill windows, so I can see how you did it.”
Ryuu said, “Show Stats and skill windows.”
Status WindowExitAvatarRyuuAlignmentNeutralTitleNoneLevel84ClassNoneFame37InfamyNoneHealth4250Ki710Strength209Agility241Wisdom20Intellect20Leadership11Luck10Vitality181Endurance95Affinity to Nature25Fighting Spirit76Perseverance43Attack155Defense38Magic Resistances-Gravity18%
Skill WindowIntermediate Ki Circulation [3] 40%
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Move ki throughout the body to increase health.
Health and stamina regeneration increased by 90% during circulation
+7% STR, AGI, and VIT for 36min after performing Ki Circulation.
Requires KiKi Strike [9] 4%
Moving ki to the extremities and bursting it at the moment of impact.
Attacking with Ki increases attack and adds non-physical Damage.
Cost: 12 KiNatural Ki absorption [9] 55%
A skill that takes ki produced by the natural world into the body.
The strength of the ki taken in is determined by Affinity to Nature.
Ki regeneration increased by 100%Intermediate Unarmed Combat Mastery [3] 29%
Increases attack and attack speed when fighting without weapons.
+189% ATK, +71% ATK SPD When fighting unarmed.Intermediate Disarm [6] 64%
Removes your opponent's weapon and forces them to fight you bare-handed.
Chance to disarm
(42+ [(Your STR -3/4th's Opponent's STR)/10])%Aura [7] 0%
Move ki over the body to increase resistance against non physical damage.
Areas covered in Aura deal greater damage when using Ki Strike at increased Ki cost.
Ki cost: 33 per minute for small areas
76 per minute for whole body
The master looked over the window carefully, silently staring at it. He did so for several minutes. A few other monks peered at it as well, their faces beyond astounded.
Master Korth spoke up, “This is... Interesting. Most people gather a party to help them face a trial above their abilities. Some use items, others, deceptive means. And their are of course those who train until they have achieved a strength great enough to overcome the trial. For each of these there is a different monk class, but you fall into none of them. Aura is a skill most monks do not learn until they have advanced at level 200, but you have learned it on your own and used it to overcome the odds. Yes, I never would have guessed it, not in a million years, but you have the qualifications of a very special monk class, one that has not been seen for decades. Come with me.”
Ryuu followed the master into a room where the old man lifted up a floor panel that had stone stairs leading down. He entered the secret room and Ryuu followed.
The old master continued, “Most monks spend their first years learning the proper way to fight. They acquire skills and techniques that they train and hone until they become strong. After that they can specialize, but that just means getting a class that no longer teaches all purpose skills and focuses on specific strengths.” He looked back at Ryuu and said, “It was obvious during our spar you didn’t need the beginner skills so I decided you could skip it and it wouldn’t hurt you like it would others.”
The master’s words made clear what he said before. He said that giving the advanced class to some could make them weaker, this was because they would not gain the beginner combat skills of a basic monk that most used to build a foundation off. But Ryuu did not need any such skills. The first time he came to the guild he already had Ki strike, and so far that was all he needed.
“The class I would like to give you is not an advanced monk class, one that others would have the chance to obtain at level 200. The class I think you have the best fit with is a secret monk class that specializes in Auras. Though this class can learn monks skills, it will not do so automatically as other monk classes do. So if you decide to take it, any skills you wish to learn must be taught to you by another or learned manually by meeting the prerequisite level requirements for other skills. In fact, the class only gives a single skill when you switch to it, and does not give any other.”
“What skill?” Ryuu asked.
“What indeed. Tell me, which do you think is strongest in the land of Versailles, might, or magic?”
The question caught Ryuu off guard, but it was something he had thought about for some time. “They are equal, the only difference is the effort put into training.”
Ryuu remembered the details of the mage equivalent of combat mastery, elemental affinity. The existence of a skill that increased the damage of a specific element proved that the potential for mages and fighters were likely equal in the game.
The monk nodded, “I think so as well, so young one, what is the strongest if not might or magic?”
He didn’t even have to think, “A fusion of the two.”
Korth smiled. “As I thought, this class is perfect for you.”
The pair reached the bottom of the stairs. Ryuu could tell from the floor’s size and width this was once a place people fought.
Ryuu had another question on his mind, so he let it out. “Master, what did you mean by manually learning skills by meeting the prerequisite?”
“You learned Aura when Ki circulation reached level 10 right?. That is the manual way of learning Aura, by acquiring the Ki circulation skill and raising it to intermediate. There are several classes that give the skill Aura automatically, so those who have these classes would gain the skill regardless of whether or not they have the Ki circulation skill.”
So if he took the class, it would make almost no difference to what he had been doing up to now. The chances were good that by raising the proficiency of the skills he had, other skills would be generated, so it was no great loss should he accept.
The master lead Ryuu to a door with a large lock on it. He took out a key to open it, and within the small room within was a glowing sphere that changed color over and over again like a swirling rainbow. He said, “Activate your aura and touch that.”
Ryuu did so. When he touched it, his aura started reacting. Its color that had been misty white started shifting like the orb he was touching.
You have discovered a Hidden Class! If you accept it, you will gain an exclusive Aura skill.
Note* If you ever change classes, this skill will be lost.
Do you want to convert now?YesNo
Ryuu didn’t have all the answers but from the way Korth talked, this class was perfect for him. He didn’t tell him everything, but sometimes a leap of faith was required.
“Yes.”
The rainbow light enveloped his aura, changing its color to every hue Ryuu had ever seen, and even more than he had not.
You have learned a new skill: Aurora
When it died down, his aura went back to white, and Ryuu opened his stats menu again.
Status WindowExitAvatarRyuuAlignmentNeutralTitleNoneLevel84ClassAurora MonkFame37InfamyNoneHealth5650Ki1120Strength209+20Agility241+20Wisdom20+20Intellect20+20Leadership11+20Luck10+20Vitality181+20Endurance95+20Affinity to Nature25+20Fighting Spirit76+20Perseverance43+20Attack189Defense46Magic Resistances-Gravity18%All stats +20
Increases Defense power of the skill Aura
Aura based skills can be used at Half Ki cost
+50% Attack when fighting unarmed
Enables you to equip specialized items for your class
Enables you to learn all Ki skills to the stage of Master
“Aurora monk huh.” His stats as a classless rookie and as a monk were very different. For one, Health, Mana, Attack, and Ki were affected by class, so choosing a class specialized in one increased the efficiency stats raised it. Even without the (very nice) +20 to all his stats, his Health and Ki would have risen regardless by switching to a combat class, but the rise was impressive nonetheless.
Next he said, “Open skill window Aurora.”
Aurora [1] 0%
Use emotion to change the color of your aura to add elemental damage and resistance.
Available Colors
None
Ryuu asked aloud, “What is this?”
Korth answered, “That my young monk is a skill that a certain master spent decades perfecting. A way to fuse might and magic using aura. If, for example you changed the color of your aura to yellow, it would have lightning properties. It would provide greater protection from lightning magic than your normal aura would, and if you use Ki strike while covered in yellow aura, you would deal lightning damage.”
A secret class indeed. And if using Aura now cost only half of what it used to, Ryuu could get some serious mileage out of such a skill.
“So, what do you think?” Asked the guild master.
“Honestly I do not have words. This is a most impressive class you have given me. I will treasure it.” His response was completely genuine. Again he felt the satisfaction that the fruits of his hard work bore. Had he taken off the rings and killed the pixies the easy way, he would not have needed to rely on Aura, thus train it up to the point the master felt he deserved such a special class.
The master smiled. “Good. Now, although you won’t gain any other skills from your class, there is one skill I would like you to learn here as a monk of our guild.”
“I would be honored.”
He nodded and continued, “Come over here,” and lead them to another room, this one had many strange markings, some of which seemed to glow lightly. “Ok, you have learned many forms before coming here correct? Please show me a few.”
Ryuu had no reason not to, he knew hundreds if not thousands, so showing a few would not hurt. Ryuu performed several of his favorite forms, but after a minute, he received a message.
You have learned a new skill: Battle formsWould you like to add this move to Battle forms?”YesNo
“And this is?” Ryuu asked.
“Well, not all martial arts moves can become skills, this room was created to turn all of a person’s martial arts into a skill. The skill is not very strong, but it can be strengthen like any other skill. The only problem is that you can only add forms to the skill in this room. The reason this room has no lock is because it is one of the most used in the guild, all monks within have used it to turn their personal fighting style into a skill.”
Ryuu sighed a bit. It seemed he would not be leaving for a while. He asked, “Can I use it?”
“For as long as you like.”
The master was about to leave, but Ryuu remembered one last thing to ask. “Wait, the Aurora skill says I have no colors to use, how do I use it?”
“Oh, that, from what I know, you have to first feel a strong, intense emotion, that will change your aura to that emotion’s color. After the first time obtaining a color, you can use it at will with ease without using intense emotion.”
“Oh, I see. So what emotions go with what colors?”
“Beats me.” And with that, Guild Master Korth left him there.
?Chapter 7 The Varhales Tournament
?Chapter 5 Victory and Defeat in Royal Road
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