Having a crowd watching them wasn’t something Zeke expected, nor the applause that came after. Still, his face flushed as dozens of people, some he personally recalled healing with Recovery a long time ago, came up to congratulate the two for their success.
It wasn’t easy, but they finally managed to increase enough skills to advance to Journeyman. During all the hubbub of praises and cheering, Zeke glanced at his status page for the umpthteen time. Calling up all the increases he had over the year, he was glad to say that he made quite a bit of progress.
> Kinetic Perception Level Up! It is now Level 10 (Maxed).
>
> You have gained +1 DEX (x5) from your skill.
>
> You have gained +1 END (x5) from your skill.
>
> Kinetic Perception has been maxed. Bonuses are now applied:
>
> -Increased stamina control
…..
> Skill Evolution has commenced.
>
> Your Skill Kinetic Perception (Uncommon) has evolved into Kinetic Manipulation (Rare).
>
> Your skill Kinetic Manipulation has been reset to level 1. You will still retain the stat bonuses you have acquired before the evolution.
This one took a while to increase, but it was one of the skills he wanted max out the most. His newfound love for fighting has only increased after the biodome, and he even found ways to effectively use Stamina for his own casting, enforcing his spells with a hint of his physical might to give them more of an ‘oomph’, especially with his Barrier Craft.
The next skill was the one that finally increased only just now.
> Unarmed Mastery Level Up! It is now Level 10 (Maxed).
>
> You have gained +1 STR from your skill.
>
> You have gained +1 DEX from your skill.
>
> Unarmed Mastery has been maxed. Bonuses are now applied:
>
> -Increased unarmed damage.
>
> -Attained Unarmed Arts
>
> -Advancement available.
Unarmed Mastery. It ended up becoming one of his staples he planned on bringing for his unique path as a battle runist. He did think about using different weapons, or at least the sword like Mikella, but he found using his own body to be the best. Rather than thinking about it efficiently, it just flowed better when he moved his body as he fought without relying on anything else that could fumble in his hands. It was strange, especially with his high Dexterity stat.
Without much hesitation, he let the skill advance to the next rarity.
> Skill Advancement has commenced.
>
> Your skill Unarmed Mastery (Uncommon) has advanced into Unarmed Mastery (Rare).
>
> You gain points based on the advanced rarity:
>
> +9 DEX
>
> Your skill Unarmed mastery has been reset to Level 1. You will still retain the stat bonuses you have acquired before the advancement.
He still felt it was unreal, considering the amount of power he was receiving as a fighter. Granted, compared to his mage aspects, his physical might was lacking severely, but his rune buffs would still entirely turn him into a beast to be reckoned with–at least according to Mikella’s perspective.
His skill leveling would only upgrade his fighting prowess, making the increase in stats minimal at best. It granted him knowledge that would make his punches and kick hit harder without any severe backlash to his own body, much like how a swordfighter can avoid breaking their sword from inexperience and still use the weapon to the best of its abilities–though just because it reached the Rare rarity doesn’t mean it was unbeatable. It can still be upgraded and get supernaturally stronger.
There was also one important skill he was thankful for, and that was already maxed out before they took over the biodome. It was his only healing skill, Recovery, that has not only maxed out, but evolved into something greater.
> Skill Evolution has commenced.
>
> Your skill Recovery (Epic) has evolved into Restoration (Legendary).
>
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>
> Your skill Restoration has been reset to Level 1. You will still retain the stat bonuses you have acquired before the evolution.
…..
> Restoration (Legendary), Level 1
>
> Evolved from Recovery, your healing capabilities have improved and your range of sense of any inner working has advanced to the point of clairvoyance. Your healing and perception increase according to the level of the skill and the current Spirit stat.
It was his first ever Legendary skill, and it showed in various ways. There was a point where Zeke was damaged by Mikella’s ‘intense training’ to the point where his ribs were caved in and his organs were getting punctured. Just one cast of this spell, and he felt like a brand new man who just woke up from an uncomfortable nap. It was exhilarating, and one could say that this skill helped push both of them way farther than they should have any reason to.
Throughout the year, skill leveling has been what he was focusing on. But that didn’t mean he didn’t try to make more improvements. He still had to increase his Class Skills, which proved to be extremely taxing on him as a Runist.
Thankfully, Cloud made sure to console him that his path to continue leveling Unarmed Mastery didn’t diverge from his path as a useful Runist. Rather, a Runist’s Class Skills are notoriously difficult to raise. Knowing that it wasn’t due to his failure to uphold his path properly, Zeke never stopped pursuing his studies to their fullest even as months dragged on by.
Even during the times when he felt drained from the day’s events thanks to the kingdom’s officials making a hissy fit over the deal Cloud and Val made, Zeke never stopped studying his runes, and eventually, he succeeded in just a year’s time.
> Inscription Proficiency Level Up! It is now Level 10 (Maxed).
>
> Increased accuracy with drawing runes (x3).
>
> Decrease mana consumption when drawing runes (x3).
>
> Inscription Proficiency has been maxed. Each bonus you normally receive is now doubled in their benefits.
When Zeke and Mikella maxed out their Class Skills for once, they weren’t surprised that it didn’t evolve or even advance. Once a person chooses their Class Skill, it is kept as is unless one uses a special item or treasure that allows them to change their Class Skill choice, though that is extremely expensive, and worse–it resets the skill entirely, forcing them to work with it at level 1.
That’s why when one makes a choice, they have to be aware of the permanence behind it. Though Zeke constantly relied on his Inscription Proficiency plenty of times, he had to actively focus on improving his drawing at every waking moment, constantly dragging down his mental energy, not just his mana and stamina.
Still, that was done, as well as the other two Class Skills.
> Phantasmal Runes Level Up! It is now Level 10 (Maxed).
>
> Increased potency of all created runes based on the Spirit stat (x6).
>
> Decreases mana consumption of all runes (x6).
>
> Phantasmal Runes has been maxed. Each bonus you normally receive is now doubled in their benefits.
…..
> Runic Echoes Level Up! It is now Level 10 (Maxed).
>
> Increases the potency of synchronized runes (x5).
>
> Decreases proper rune structure needs (x5).
>
> Runic Echoes has been maxed. Each bonus you normally receive is now doubled in their benefits.
These two had higher priority right after Inscription Proficiency. Phantasmal Runes completely increases his runes’ power based on his Spirit stat, his highest stat. Meanwhile, Runic Echoes makes his runes synergize with each other, compelling them to work better as a whole and increase the sum of their parts.
He did consider his other Class Skills, particularly his Runic Library, a skill that helps him remember all the runes he learned as though he was picking up a book in a library, hence the name. Unfortunately that skill is very unpopular to level, considering that to max it out, one has to learn every single rune ever created and then some.
No matter how much Intelligence he had, there was no way he could study them all even within a decade, let alone a single year.
The Class Skill Runic Spell was also considered, but compared to Inscription Proficiency and Phantasmal Runes working in tandem, he didn’t mind sacrificing just a little bit of versatility in exchange for more power and speed. Hell, blasting fireballs like a machine gun was already impressive enough, even if the original point of the Runic Spell wasn’t supposed to be used on the battlefield like Zeke does.
Rune Copycat was definitely included, but he found that it was a lot harder to manifest a copy for his runes than usual, especially with his rune tattoos. He could still do it, but he wanted to reach Journeyman before the two years were up, so he had to put it aside for progress.
Eventually, he did all that he could to reach Journeyman, and so now he looked up the status page to see the new line added in.
> Due to achieving Level 60, you are now able to advance. However, you must meet the requirements to fully advance to Journeyman. You will no longer gain any more experience points until you advance to Journeyman.
…..
> You have met the requirements to advance. Would you like to proceed?
>
> Y/N
>
> Warning: Advancement to Journeyman may be dangerous. Find a safe place to rest and protect yourself before advancing.
He was glad to finally reach the requirements, but became stunned at the last line. Turns out advancing to Journeyman is a lot harder on the body compared to reaching Expert, if that was even possible.
Mikella had to burn herself with lightning in order to advance to Expert with her lightning attunement. Meanwhile, Zeke practically blew up with power from attaining, or rather, being forced to get The World as his attunement. It was not a pleasant process, not unlike reaching Apprentice stage with a new class.
Still, he knew Cloud and Val were preparing for this exact situation, so they had a place built in their homes for advancing Journeymen. Though for now, he put himself up with the rest of the crowd who eagerly asked many questions on how he managed to get this far, hoping that someday they can reach Journeyman itself.
Honestly though, talking to this many people was more difficult than training his skills. At least he could go at his own pace.
You would think I’d get used to this by now as a Lord, Zeke grumbled in his thoughts, though he had a smile on his face to appease the crowd.