Zhen Shi walked away from the campsite while deep in thought about what he should do.
In the end, he decided to just try activating both classes and see what happened. Even if he failed as a mage, he could always move on.
He sat down in a meditative position under the foot of a random oak tree. Simultaneously, the soul Zhen Shi on the dantian planet stopped reading through the books of the Scholarly Library and sat down in a meditative position as well.
Letting out a light breath, Zhen Shi temporarily withdrew his unhealthy desire and interest in being a swordmaster. If he were to have mixed emotions about becoming an archer or a mage, this process could very well end in a disastrous failure.
So he decisively cleared his mind of those unnecessary thoughts, temporarily of course...
Having prepared himself, he slowly began to direct all the Soul Qi in his dantian towards the seated soul. This was the first step in acknowledging a title.
By the time he finished this, several hours had passed and the crescent moon had already risen out into the night sky.
Next, Zhen Shi calmly exerted the power of Arrow Intent and Bow Intent through the vague Shadow of the Bow in his dantian. At the same time, he also quickly activated the Hel's Flare spark that had settled down at the edge of the Region of Flames and Volcanoes...
However, before he could complete this step, the Azure dragon scale that had settled deep within the shimmering lake and the Vermillion Bird Feather that was within the heart of the largest active volcano suddenly flew outside!
Before Zhen Shi could even register what was happening, the two divine beast items quickly dashed towards the location where Soul Zhen Shi was.
Momentarily swirling around him along with a maelstrom of Soul Qi, they disappeared into the body of Soul Zhen Shi.
At the same time outside, the wind began to mystically swirl around Zhen Shi's actual body. The moonlight seemed to almost brighten around him as if it was focusing on him.
Not being a stranger to sudden changes that took place when he cultivated, Zhen Shi ignored the distracting actions of the two divine beast items and calmly directed the arrow and bow intent along with the spark of Hel's Flare towards his soul.
Thrum!
The Soul Zhen Shi suddenly opened his eyelids revealing two eyes of blazing vermillion orange. The blurry soul qi around him rippled and slowly formed into shining Azure dragon scales. His hands and feet rearranged into deadly claws and a sharp draconic tail snaked out of his back. Followed by the appearance of a shimmering pair of wings covered in fiery red feathers.
Thrum! Thrum!
The Soul Zhen Shi spread out his hands. On his right hand appeared a divine golden bow coincidentally similar to Hephaestus's divine bow. On the palm of his right hand appeared an eerie flame of Hel's Flare.
However, every time the Undying Bird Flame rose up in his eyes, the Hel's Flare would hiss and retreat back...
But Zhen Shi didn't have time to focus on this, because outside in the real world he suddenly felt a strange resonance with nature.
Quickly activating his
However, just before the two classes could infuse into his body, they suddenly paused and turned... to stare lighting sparks at each other.
The two classes seemed to be opposing each other like two wives vying after the same man.
While Zhen Shi was speechless and unsure about what to do in such a strange situation, suddenly a thread of primordial chaos sneaked out of his dantian!
Like a marriage counselor that would 'solve' all problems, the primordial chaos mediated the conflict between the two classes.
Miraculously the two classes began to merge, slowly forming into a single phrase of moonlight aether that read... {Arcane Archer}!
Zhen Shi was elated by this sudden change. He had never heard about dual classes combining to form something completely different. He was also curious about what he could do with this new class...
As such, he decided to check out his System Status.
User: Zhen Shi
Cultivation Level: Soul Formation Stage 2 II Physical Cultivation Level: Core Formation Peak
Cultivation Energy: 100%
Race: Probably Human
Cultivation Path: Base-
Skills: [Draconic Wind Steps(Movement Technique)-First Step-Novice]
[Unarmed Water Style(Martial Art)-Adept]
[Descending Bow(Intent-based martial art)-Apprentice]
Exp points: 900/100,000
OP(Otaku Points)- 100 [+9 allocated to (Pseudo)Soul for use in the Scholarly Library]
Titles: -Otherworld Reincarnator {Effect: Instant Spell Casting of learned spells one grade below. Intelligence +20 Charisma +40}
-Scholarly Librarian {All user known data and information can be instantaneously viewed at the user's leisure. Grants access to the Scholarly Library. Never forget anything ever again!}
-Acquainted with Aether{ As an acquaintance of aether, they would naturally not hide from your sight. Currently grants [Aether sight]: The ability to see aether everywhere and anywhere and discern the type, in most occasions.}
-Fake Tarzan ([Bestial Instincts]-Permanent 2x action and reaction speed increase)
Status: {Arcane Archer} (10% Boost to Archery. However, the user will be incapable of Ordinary Magic.)
Reading through the system status, Zhen Shi fell into thought. He knew that the presence of certain odd and rare classes was generally accepted out in the world. But if he were to blatantly keep revealing the aura from his {Arcane Archer} class, he would definitely be asking for trouble.
As such, he was pleasantly surprised to find out that he could separate the combined dual-class and reveal himself to be any one of them!
{Archer} granted him a 15% Boost to Archery making it impossible to use mana, while {Mage} made him capable of using even ordinary spells but incapable of using intent...
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However, Zhen Shi did not know how to use any actual spells nor did he have any training in using mana. Most importantly, being an ordinary mage would be nowhere close to the power he could wield as an Archer with his Bow and Arrow Intent, both of which were now at the precipice of awakening!
As such, he made the obvious choice and switched over to {Archer}.
At that point, Zhen Shi had to wonder whether becoming a mage was actually a useful decision. But, in the end, he couldn't take back what he had done and so simply decided to see what the future would bring...
Noticing that several more hours had passed and that the sun was already beginning to rise, Zhen Shi walked back to the campsite while whistling a jolly tune.
As he arrived, he was met with the sight of Myne and Vivienne chatting. By their body language visible through his especially observant
He called out with a grin, "You two seem to be pretty happy."
Vivienne turned to him with a smile, but Myne suddenly stood up and shouted, "SHIT! Bro, I thought you were joking and would be a bit more patient! Did you seriously just go and get a title last night? And you settled down with just an ordinary {Archer} class? What happened to all the stuff about choosing dual classes?"
Vivienne shook her head and spoke with the voice of reason, "Don't mind this senile old fool. It's good that you came to your senses and selected the {Archer} Class."
Zhen Shi scratched his head guiltily, "Yup, that's exactly what I did."
Myne seemed to sense something as he suspiciously asked, "Unless you didn't... and did go with dual classes?"
Zhen Shi gawked and retorted back, "Of course not! How could a mere 'ordinary' mage understand such a thing, even if you are the legendary mage Merlin?!"
Myne scowled playfully pushing up his shirt sleeves, "What did you say? And who the fuck is Merlin... I'M MYNE!"
Suddenly, Vivienne coughed loudly and stared death at the two of them. Zhen Shi and Myne felt 'shivers' run up their spines causing silence to reign.
Zhen Shi awkwardly laughed and finally blurted out, "Alright! Let's just be on our way back to the Lyonesse Kingdom! Otherwise, we'll be late!" while quickly walking away.
Myne too jumped on this chance to escape and quickly followed him, while mentally thanking this brother of his, for his skill in escaping.
Vivienne shook her head in exasperation but, in the end, followed after the hurriedly retreating duo.
Zhen Shi couldn't help but smile as he was reminded of an old memory...
Back in the Lyonesse Kingdom, within the main hall of the Brishman Mansion, there was a slightly overweight man seated on the main seat radiating a powerful aura and surrounded by three middle-aged women. Two of the women were dressed in rather promiscuous clothing, but the other was dressed like a true noble lady with a powerful aura almost on par with the seated man...
The overweight man was fondling his beard with an angry frown on his face while gripping tightly onto a goblet of red wine.
And a few feet in front of him was a familiar young girl with an unhappy look on her face, this was Isolde! She did not have her usual splendor and light almost as if she had been under stress and worry for some time...
A few steps behind her was old Butler Alec. The usual smile that was consistently present on his face was absent as well...
The slightly overweight man in the main seat took a sip of the wine and spoke out in an authoritative voice, "Isolde! You cannot refuse! By associating with that rascal of the Zhen Clan you have already brought great trouble for me in the king's court. I did my best to hide this matter, but the court mages were able to track the external spatial transportation to Lyon City into our mansion! Even if that boy wasn't of the rivaling Zhen Clan, the possibility of direct spatial transportation into the Lyonesse kingdom is a threat to national security!
The kingdom's army has already begun investigating and since we are indirectly associated, our family's reputation will be sullied! I was barely able to settle the matter by pleading to the fact that the boy was gravely wounded and had spatially traveled by sheer luck. If it wasn't for the faith that the King has in your mother we would have been in a much worse situation."
He took another sip of the wine as he continued, "Even still, it is only a matter of time before I am summoned to the court again and asked to explain this matter properly!
I can't believe that I actually allowed you to heal and save that walking disaster! But now it is too late, and the only way to solve this is with the Young Prince's help!"
Isolde frowned and said icily, "Lord Father, I will indeed take responsibility for any matter regarding Zhen Shi. But how can you sell me out to Prince Tristram just like that? Am I not your daughter? What has happened to you?"
Count Anguish Brishman's anger lightened slightly.
But almost immediately, the noble middle-aged woman who was standing the closest to him spoke out, "Lord Husband, I understand that she is our daughter, but this problem was already caused by giving way to her. Some of the household servants have even revealed that she acted improperly with that brat of the Zhen Clan. I can only hope Lord Husband will not make the same mistake twice," with a cunning smile on her face.
Hearing her words, Count Anguish's face immediately hardened.
Noticing this, Isolde spoke out angrily to her Step-Mother, "Lady Isabella how can you say such a thing? Zhen Shi told me himself, that besides his family, he couldn't care less about the Zhen Clan! Associating with him should not be a problem to the crown at all! And I'm sure he had no intention of threatening the security of the Lyonesse kingdom. He was just a lucky survivor of a Demon Beast attack!
But you... want me to sell my dignity off to the Prince, so you can achieve whatever hidden agendas you have! And must it be the Crown Prince, the infamous War Lord? Everyone knows the type of person he is."
Immediately, Isabella gasped in horror, but deep within her eyes frothing anger could be seen. She spoke out with a tinge of hidden malice, "My dear daughter, how could you address me so distantly? And accuse me of having hidden agendas? All of my actions are for the good of the Brishman Family! Despite the tales regarding the Prince, judging from your history with each other, I thought you could handle him...
The title of 'War Lord' is nothing heinous. Just as your title of 'Healing Princess' refers to your talent in healing, it is simply a testament to his battle skills! I just wanted you to marry him so that you could live a better life as the Queen..." while rubbing tears from her eyes.
Noticing Isabella's tears, Count Anguish grew even angrier, "Isolde! How could you be so uncaring towards your mother's feelings?"
Isolde was boiling in anger and was just about to shout out...
But Butler Alec noticed this and spoke in her place, "Lord Count, it was I who treated and taught that boy. So I solemnly ask of you that you punish me and let the young lady be."
Count Anguish smiled politely and spoke out, "Alec, you've always taken care of Isolde in my place. And I have always considered your words... But despite your request, you know that I cannot bring myself to punish you. So I must refuse!"
Alec hurriedly continued, "But Lord Count--" but he was stopped by an angrily frowning Isabella who spat out, "A mere Butler is speaking out of turn! The Lord Count has already stated his decision! How dare you be so discourteous? In fact, I believe Isolde must've gained her disobedience and problematic nature from your soon to die self!"
Finally unable to hold back her anger, Isolde spat out as well, "Isabella that's too much! You've never been a mother to me! Grandpa Alec is infinitely more humane and deserving to speak than you! You dare say that you wanted me to marry the Prince and lead a good life? How funny! I'll be fortunate if he leaves me in one piece!
And God knows what unspeakable things you do in that room with all those people scream--" but she was hurriedly stopped by a worried Alec who shut her mouth.
Immediately pouncing on this chance, Isabella started to weep and say, "My dear daughter! How could you say such horrendous things? You know that room is only for my medical condition!"
Count Anguish had been initially planning on punishing both of them, but seeing his main wife crying, he could only bring himself to berate Isolde. As such, "Isolde, shut up! Your mother might've gone too far, but you went even further!"
Isabella looked down in glee at the situation that she had forced Isolde into, while the other two women had looks of pity but dared not speak.
Count Anguish took another sip of the wine as he continued angrily, "The only reason that boy of the Zhen Clan, isn't being hunted down by the army of the Lyonesse kingdom, wherever he may be, is due to my words on Alec's part. But that can be changed in a single instant..."
Hearing these words, Isolde who had been planning to shout out again, froze in place.
Count Anguish continued angrily, "No matter how much of a genius he may be, do you think that the boy can fight against the entire Lyonesse Kingdom? And if he truly has no loyalty to the Zhen Clan like you said, I doubt that they'd interfere in his part...
I didn't wish to do this before, but you yourself led me to this. If you don't agree to accompany the Prince today, I'll make sure to have that boy's head on a pike within the week!"
The fiery anger in Isolde's eyes died out as her frail figure shivered and almost collapsed. But Alec immediately caught her with a sorrowful look on his face.
Seeing this, Count Brishman's face contorted into sorrow once more and almost stood up but Isabella held onto the Count's shoulder and shook her head meaningfully at him.
As a result, the worry on his face was once again hidden under a hardened face, but this time his voice was lighter, "I am confident that the Prince will control himself with you, you have been childhood friends after all. Just try it out for tomorrow. Isolde, you must do this for the Brishman family."
In a more severe tone, "This is the last time I ask nicely..."
Unable to handle the situation Isolde was being forced into, Bulter Alec sent mentally, "Young Lady, say the word and I will help you run away. I'm sure that boy will not be happy if he finds out that you sacrificed yourself for him."
Hearing these words, Isolde felt old memories rose up.
The child that died in her helpless arms, the young boy that dashed forwards to save her and never returned, never again...
She smiled slightly and silently whispered to Grandpa Alec, 'I can't leave my father alone in the hands of this woman. Not again.'
So under the eyes of the gleefully smiling Isabella, and completely alone, besides the old man who was supporting her from her back, and that simple yet reassuring necklace on her neck, she bowed down with dignity and replied, "Yes, Lord Father."