Job Change: Basic Swordsman!

Lister took a parchment scroll from the attendant behind him and handed it over.

The so-called token was actually just a signed parchment scroll.

It recorded the numbers of the items to be collected, with Chairman Porter's personal signature and the Poly Merchant Association's distinctive engraved mark at the bottom.

The clerk first felt the texture of the parchment, then checked the signature and mark.

Only after ten minutes did the clerk ask Lister to wait outside, then went into the back room and brought out a small wooden chest.

"My lord, here are the things you requested. Please check them!"

Although the Poly Merchant Association had only a few professionals in its employ, it did fairly well in business.

At least in the areas around the Duchy of Will, it had branches in most noble territories.

It could handle basic services such as depositing, collecting, and storing goods.

Only after Lister nodded did the two attendants pick up the chest and follow him out.

In the end, they settled into a detached house on a street near the Viscount of Renekton's castle.

Before setting out, the Merick Family had already contacted the Viscount of Renekton, who had prepared this house for Lister well in advance.

On one hand, the viscount wanted to attach himself to the Merick Family. On the other, he genuinely hoped Lister would take action and wipe out the entire Cyclops tribe.

The monsters wreaking havoc in Rai Territory could naturally come to ravage the Viscounty of Renekton at any time.

So it was no surprise that Lister received this special treatment.

"My lord, the room has been given a quick cleaning, and the chest has been placed inside."

After dismissing the two attendants, Lister went back upstairs and opened the chest.

There was plenty inside: six bottles of potions alone, along with quite a few books.

"Congratulations, you have obtained Rose Exquisite Potion ×2, Azure Potion ×2, Riel's Water of Wisdom, and Berg's Water of Resolve."

Lister did not hesitate. He drank the potions one bottle at a time.

The six potions had cost the next three years of revenue from the family's small copper mine.

The pile of gifts of extremely poor value sent by some of the city's families a few days earlier had also been bought back by the Poly Merchant Association.

Everything all those gold coins had bought had now gone down Lister's throat.

"Congratulations, your attributes have increased..."

[Current attributes: strength 20, constitution 16→20, intelligence 18→20, agility 16→20]

[Health: 812/932 (812+120) (recovering)]

[Stamina: 451/531 (451+80) (recovering)]

"Phew!"

As the pleasant sensation of his body improving faded, Lister finally let out a long breath.

Looking at the attributes on his panel, finally maxed out at the barrier, he felt a sense of satisfaction well up within him.

A shaky foundation could bring the whole structure down.

In his previous life, he had never had the resources to reach the attribute barrier in games. Now he had finally laid a completely solid foundation before his first job change.

"Accept the job change quest?"

"Yes!"

"Job change quest issued!"

"Congratulations, you have completed the job change quest."

Just as he remembered, the first job change quest completed itself automatically.

"Please select your new job from the following three options."

"Job change one: Equalizer (rare job): Grants the exclusive skill Balance (C-rank) (the exclusive skill's rank can increase as the player's strength improves): The player's four attributes use the highest value as their baseline."

"Job change two: Berserk Swordsman: Grants the job skill Furious Slash (C-rank): An area slash against enemies ahead that inflicts bleeding damage, dealing 779-1027 damage (damage can be boosted by strength and constitution)."

Lister was somewhat dissatisfied with both of the first two jobs.

Although Equalizer was a rare job, it did not increase combat power.

It merely reduced the time a professional needed to raise their attributes. In his previous life, Lister might have considered it.

After all, he had been a poor man in the Earth Federation in his previous life. Maxing out one attribute would directly max out all four—an exceptionally cost-effective skill.

For him now, it was somewhat underwhelming.

He had little difficulty spending money to raise his attributes. In particular, as his strength and status rose, the resources he could obtain in this world would also increase greatly, so maxing out his attributes would not be difficult.

The second job was similarly underwhelming. Like the Merick Family's inherited skill, its active skill was a C-rank rare skill.

Of course, its base damage really was high. Its maximum exceeded a thousand, nearly forty percent higher than his Merrick Saber Technique.

If it had been a B-rank, excellent-grade skill with somewhat stronger attack attributes, Lister would have been fairly satisfied.

As it was, he could only call it passable and keep it as one of his options.

After all, this was only his first job change, so Lister's expectations were not particularly high. Any normal saber-technique job would do. If nothing else worked, he would take Berserk Swordsman for now.

"Job change three: Basic Swordsman: Grants the passive skill Saber Mastery (unranked): Increases the attack bonus for saber techniques by 5% per level."

"Hiss!"

Lister drew a sharp breath. The moment he saw the third job, he grew excited.

He had not expected a job change to grant a passive skill. What was there to hesitate over? He immediately chose the third job.

Rare jobs, Equalizers-none of them came close to the Basic Swordsman.

In Lister's eyes, Basic Swordsman was the truly rare job!

Saber Mastery was the god-tier skill for saber-technique jobs, an exclusive skill for a technique-type powerhouse!

At that moment, fragments of memories suddenly flooded Lister's mind.

The memories were all of training in how to grip and wield a saber. Although they were not his memories,

they quickly merged into his mind, and he gradually became their owner as well.

The process of absorbing and assimilating the memories seemed to take a long time, but in fact it lasted only a moment.

When Lister came back to his senses and gripped the Merrick long saber at his waist, it felt somewhat different from before.

As soon as he gripped the saber, he felt he could faintly sense its openings. He had gained an additional perception of the saber, and wielding it felt as light and natural as moving his own arm.

The system's voice sounded at that moment as well.

"Congratulations, job change successful: Basic Swordsman."

[Name: Lister Merick]

[Age: 29/117]

[Job: Basic Swordsman (martial arts type)]

[Level: 21 (1/20000)]

[Health: 932/932]

[Stamina: 531/531]

[Attributes: strength 20, constitution 20, intelligence 20, agility 20]

[Skills: Merrick Saber Technique (rare) LV5, Merrick Saber Draw Slash, Merrick Breathing Technique (passive: unranked) LV10 (1/100000): additional strength +10, Saber Mastery (passive: unranked) LV1 (1/10000): increases the attack bonus for saber techniques by 5%.]

[Overall rating: D-rank→E-rank (decreased)]

[Unallocated attribute points: 1]

[Experience: 23031]

With the level increase following his job change, the drop in his overall rating was inevitable.

But none of that mattered. Lister's potential had increased tremendously.

Before his second job change at level 60, the two passive bonuses were already enough to make Lister far stronger than ordinary people in the second act of this world.

As for after his second job change, the effects of his passive skills and his strength as a late-game powerhouse would become even more apparent.