Master of All Trades

"Obtaining Professional Skills is the most basic requirement for becoming a professional..."

Bern recounted the information he had gathered from veteran adventurers. "In other words, without a skill, it is impossible to become a professional."

Lin Mo nodded. The requirements for becoming a professional were tied to skills, which matched his earlier suspicions.

"What about the specifics?"

"Since you have a skill, you should know already, right? When you successfully obtain a skill, your abilities in a certain area will also undergo a dramatic leap."

That was indeed true. When Lin Mo had comprehended the Slash skill, his strength had increased by one point.

"This improvement is related to the type of skill. For example, my Shield Bash is a Knight-type skill, so it improves my physical fitness and resistance to blows. Warrior-type skills, on the other hand, increase strength or speed depending on whether they lean toward power or agility. By the same logic, Assassin and Ranger types generally increase speed, while those Mage lords gain mana..."

Bern held up two fingers. "As you continue using and refining a skill, this kind of change will happen two more times."

"Once when you can use the skill proficiently, and again when you have completely mastered it. When you reach the corresponding stage, all your long-term accumulation and effort will be richly rewarded at that moment."

"If you go through these full three changes, your ability in the corresponding area will generally reach or approach a critical point. Once you successfully reach that point, you will officially take up the corresponding profession, and all your abilities will undergo another, even greater leap!"

So that was it... Skills raised attributes, and only after those attributes reached a certain level could one take up a profession.

And after successfully taking up a profession, one would receive an even greater attribute boost. That was precisely the reason for the enormous gap between professionals and ordinary people.

Lin Mo nodded, then touched his chest as something suddenly occurred to him. "Can a person only obtain one profession? Can't they hold two professions at the same time?"

Bern froze for a moment, seemingly stumped by the question. "I'm not really sure about that... but it should be possible. There have been dual-profession adventurers in the stories compiled by bards. That probably wasn't baseless."

As he spoke, he gave Lin Mo a somewhat strange look.

Most people would be thanking their lucky stars if they successfully became a professional. Who would even consider something like that?

"Young people should keep their feet on the ground. After all, a person's energy is limited. Even the princes and nobles in the capital, with their talent and nearly inexhaustible resources, wouldn't consider studying two professions at once, much less ordinary adventurers like us."

In Bern's eyes, compared to his troublesome nephew Evan, Lin Mo might count as a talented young man. But compared with those great nobles of noble blood, he was still far behind...

"I understand. Thank you for the advice."

Lin Mo did not argue. From Bern's perspective, what he had said was undoubtedly the truth.

It was just that Lin Mo's situation was different.

He did not need years upon years of constant use and practice to master skills. He only needed to kill monsters or enemies to gain proficiency and level them up.

That meant that as long as he kept using skills to kill monsters and farm proficiency, he could develop two or even more professions at the same time, becoming a "Master of All Trades" with no weaknesses.

Lin Mo had never wished so fervently for monsters to appear. At that moment, he almost wished a hundred Goblins would pop up in front of him, line up, and let him grind them one by one.

Of course, that was only wishful thinking. If they really came, he would probably have to figure out how to run first.

Meanwhile, Evan and Miriam were still bickering and roughhousing... though Evan was mainly the one pestering Miriam, while the short-haired Ranger girl wore a look of disdain and seemed reluctant to pay him any attention.

Bern watched the two in the distance, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. "Evan is my nephew. Not long after he learned to walk, he staggered over, picked up a branch from the ground, and gave his father a whack on the heel."

"When the nearby children gathered to play, he relied on a carefully polished branch and a passable set of 'swordsmanship' to become their little leader. From then on, he often claimed he was a Sword Genius, born to wield a sword."

"As he grew older, he became unwilling to accept an ordinary life, just as his parents had expected. He was always clamoring about becoming an adventurer, so around two years ago, his father came to me and asked me to look after him..."

But the story that followed was not as wonderful as the fantasies of childhood.

Evan was not truly a genius. Although he had successfully become an adventurer with his uncle's help, he had undoubtedly ended up at the very bottom of that group.

This sorrowful mediocrity that one had no choice but to accept was a stage of growth that most adventurers had to experience.

Even now, he had yet to obtain a skill of his own. At last, he understood that the seemingly cool sword swings of his youth had merely been the obnoxious antics of a brat immersed in his own little world.

The childhood companions who had once looked at him with envy and admiration now carried hoes over their shoulders. Their eyes were no longer so lively and full of life. Like their parents before them, they had gradually become mature and numb.

Sometimes, when they ran into familiar faces, they would stop to exchange a few words.

—Truly only a few words. So as not to delay each other's work, it was usually just a brief encounter and a few casual greetings.

And the thing Evan heard most often was undoubtedly this sentence.

"I hope we can meet again next time, Evan."

There was genuine concern, wistfulness over the passage of time, and malicious delight born of jealousy... The same words, spoken in different tones, carried different meanings.

Even so, Evan had never given up adventuring, nor had he ever given up the sword in his hand.

"Miriam, one day we'll become adventurers renowned throughout Roland Town... no, throughout all of Rania City!"

The boy lay on the grass, gazing at the starry sky through the gaps between the branches and leaves. He raised his sword and pointed it toward the heavens.

A beam of clear moonlight fell upon it, and the blade reflected a faintly cold gleam.

"Still dreaming..."

Miriam scoffed at his words. Sitting on the grass with her arms around her knees, she tilted her head slightly, her eyes reflecting that streak of light.

"Get some rest early. I'll take the first watch."

Beside the campfire, Uncle Bern slowly rose to his feet and added more wood to the flames.

Lin Mo nodded, stretched his tired body, and walked into the makeshift tent he had just set up.

The tent had no floor. There was only a thin layer of cloth spread over the grass, with neither blanket nor pillow.

I should buy a sleeping bag next time...

Thinking this, Lin Mo rested his head on his arm, and his vision gradually blurred.