Seeing that Stephen was starting to doubt him, Kenley quickly pretended to be nervous and said,"Captain, in the past, the noble tombs in the northern regions used secret doors as the main structure, hiding the main passage. That stone door can only be opened using a mechanism."

Upon hearing Kenley's words, Stephen squinted his eyes."You seem to know quite a bit about this."

Kenley scratched his head."I heard it from my grandfather…"

Stephen nodded but didn't press the issue further. Instead, he said,"Then how do we open this door? You've been here before, so you must have some experience. You go ahead and open it when we get down there."

Upon hearing this, a sudden idea popped into Kenley's head. That's right, now that I'm being forced to go down and open the door, I can use this as an excuse to ask for a weapon to defend myself. I'll also try to deceive them into teaching me a few tricks. Maybe that will allow me to gain a combat class!

What do I lack the most right now? Not weapons or equipment, but a class! The most important thing is the class! Without a combat class, I can't do anything. Even if it's just a thief, as long as I have a class, I'll have a chance to turn things around.

Time to act.

Kenley nodded repeatedly."Of course, I have experience, but..."

"But what?" Stephen asked.

Kenley stammered,"Captain, behind that door are skeleton soldiers. As soon as we open it, they'll rush out and start killing! I... I'm scared!"

Kenley's trembling appearance immediately caused the guards to burst into laughter. Seeing him act so comically made Stephen feel even more at ease.

"What are you afraid of? We're here with you." Stephen reassured him.

"Uh... Could I get a weapon to defend myself? I'm unarmed, and what if... what if..." Kenley scratched his hand nervously.

So he wants a weapon, huh? But looking at Kenley—a mere farmer with such a frail body—he probably wouldn't even last a second against skeleton soldiers. What good would giving him a weapon do? Stephen thought to himself.

But after considering it, giving him a weapon might at least give him a little courage, so Stephen rummaged through his coat and took out a short sword to hand over to Kenley.

Just as Kenley's eyes lit up in joy, thinking his plan was about to succeed, Stephen stopped his hand.

"With that body of yours, giving you a weapon is useless. Whatever happens, you'll just end up getting killed with a single strike. I think it's better you don't have one," Stephen said with a dismissive look, preparing to retract the weapon.

Speechless. This guy really isn't easy to handle, Kenley thought, grumbling internally. Seeing how things were unfolding, Kenley realized that forcing it would not work—after all, Stephen was too cautious.

Kenley sighed dramatically and said,"I never thought that today would be the day I die in such a dirty tomb. I haven't even paid respects to my parents at their graves, and here I am, burying myself. I guess this saves me the cost of a funeral. It's like the Mother Goddess took pity on me, sobbing!"

At that moment, the system chimed:"Talent [Genius Negotiator] has been triggered. Stephen was moved by your cries and you successfully invoked his sympathy."

"Alright, alright! Take the damn sword and stop crying in front of me, it's annoying!" Stephen grimaced and shoved the short sword into Kenley's hands.

[Genius Negotiator] is truly useful. One can only imagine the unexpected benefits it will bring in the future.

"Thank you, Captain!" Kenley quickly accepted the short sword, then examined it.

[Equipment: Short Sword]

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[Class: All Melee Classes]

Note: All equipment is the same. Non-matching classes can equip it as well. Even if you're a farmer, as long as your level is sufficient, you can only benefit from the basic attack attributes of the equipment and not its other additional properties. If the class matches but the level is insufficient to equip it, the system will automatically adjust the power based on the level. If the class doesn't match and the level is insufficient, the power will be reduced based on the level first, and you'll only enjoy the basic attack attributes.

[Quality: Ordinary (White)]

[Attribute: Physical Attack +4]

[Comment: An ordinary short sword that any blacksmith in Odran can forge.]

This really is a self-inflicted sword, Kenley couldn't help but chuckle bitterly. But then again, it's fine. It's just a white-tier item, and as a farmer, having a short sword still means I now have combat power.

Taking the sword, Kenley took two steps forward before stopping again, as if he had something to say.

"What now?" Stephen asked impatiently.

Kenley scratched his head and said,"Uh, Captain, I... I don't know how to use it. Could you teach me a bit?"

"Damn it!" Stephen frowned in dissatisfaction. This farmer is so troublesome... But after thinking for a moment, he figured it wouldn't hurt to teach him a little. After all, he was just a farmer, and if things really went south and he was killed by a monster, there would be no one left to lead them.

"Fine, I'll teach you." Stephen finally relented and patiently walked forward, taking the sword from Kenley's hand.

System:"Guard Captain Stephen's affection for you has decreased. Affection -2."

Kenley couldn't help but mutter to himself, but fortunately, the increase in favorability earlier was enough to cover the decrease. The most important thing was that he wanted to test if he could acquire a new profession through learning.

At that moment, something happened that made Kenley's heart skip a beat!

As soon as Stephen walked up to Kenley, a system dialogue box appeared in the game interface:"Stephen has offered you professional training: Warrior. Would you like to accept?"

When this dialogue box appeared, Kenley felt as though his soul was floating."Mother Goddess, I love you so much! Warrior, my destined profession! I love you, Mother Goddess!"

Seeing Kenley in a daze, Stephen impatiently said,"Are you going to learn or not?"

System:"Stephen's favorability decreased by -1."

"I'll learn!"

"Alright, I'll show you how to use the sword. Like this... and like this... Got it? These are the two moves. The rest won't do you any good." Although Stephen had a fiery temper, when it came to teaching, he was actually quite patient and didn't interrupt his lessons even though Kenley was daydreaming.

However, Kenley didn't really pay attention to Stephen's instructions. Instead, what caught his eye on the game interface was a long list of Warrior skills. This was the Warrior's basic skill tree, a must-learn for every Warrior.

But since Kenley was only level 1 in the Warrior class and had no experience, he couldn't unlock any skills and could only watch. But it was okay—just having Warrior as a primary profession opened up endless possibilities!

After the lesson, Kenley quickly expressed his thanks:"Thank you, Captain! I'll lead the way now, hehe."

Kenley immediately resumed his confident and calm demeanor. Seeing the change in Kenley's expression, Stephen finally nodded in satisfaction.

Let the favorability drop; three points of favorability for getting the main profession was already a win for Kenley.

Boom—!

With a dull sound, the main door to the tomb slowly opened, and a strong, rotten odor blasted everyone.

"Cough... cough cough..."

All the guards, including Kenley, couldn't help but fan in front of their noses; the smell was unbearable.

Kenley immediately used the Life Ring to scan, but couldn't detect any life. Right, the Life Ring only detects living beings, so it didn't work on the undead. He had to give up.

John, being the most eager, grabbed a torch and waved it toward the door, but the tunnel was so long that the light from the torch barely illuminated the end.

Just then...

"Creak, creak…"

The sound of something moving regularly echoed from the main corridor. Everyone heard it.

"What's that sound?" someone couldn't help but ask.

As the torchlight illuminated the dark, narrow passage, two figures gradually appeared. No, they weren't people—they were two ghastly pale skeletons!

The skeletons snapped their teeth together, each holding an iron sword. The empty eye sockets glowed with flickering soul flames, and their red eyes looked terrifying in the dark.

"Skeleton soldiers!" someone shouted.

"Defensive positions!"

Everyone immediately took combat stances, holding their iron swords, and focused their eyes on the two skeleton soldiers about to charge.

"Crack—!"

At that moment, with the sound of bones cracking, Stephen, as the captain, took the lead and charged ahead!

In an instant, one of the skeletons was cleaved in half by Stephen's sword, and it shattered into pieces before it could react.

The other skeleton soldier, having reacted, quickly turned around and aimed a vertical slash at Stephen!

"Captain, watch out!" John shouted.

But Stephen didn't even glance at the skeleton. With a single hand raised, he easily deflected its attack with a resounding thud.

The skeleton staggered back three steps, the rebound causing it to lose balance.

Stephen's eyes flashed with cold light, and like a sudden pouncing leopard, he seized the opportunity and launched a thrust at the skeleton soldier. His sword pierced straight into its skull, and the soul flame instantly extinguished.

The battle was over!

"The captain is the best!"

"The captain is the strongest!"

Some of the guards started cheering.