Growth Potential in All Aspects

Chapter 30: Growth Potential in All Aspects

It had to be said, Shien's execution of this strike was quite clever.

Since the weapon in his hand was merely an ordinary Two-Handed Sword, not even a magic weapon, let alone comparable to a Sacred Sword, and he also had to conceal many of his Skills, Shien employed a bit of trickery. By striking the Golem's knee joint, he caused it to lose its balance and fall to its knees.

If he had used the Sacred Sword, Shien could have shattered the Golem into pieces with a single strike.

Even without the Sacred Sword, Shien's attack power increase from his max-level [Two-Handed Sword] Skill alone would have been enough to cleave the Golem in half. With the added boost from the [Limit Break] Skill, it would have been a piece of cake.

However, to avoid appearing too strong, Shien restrained his power, deliberately creating the impression that he had defeated his opponent through clever tactics.

This way, Shien could hide many of his Skills while showcasing enough highlights to pass the adventurer assessment.

Thus, as the Golem lost its balance and knelt, Shien began a relentless assault.

"Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang!"

Amidst the resounding impacts, Shien repeatedly struck the Golem's knee joint with great force, causing stone fragments to erupt and scatter everywhere from the point of impact.

The kneeling Golem swung its arms, attempting to attack Shien, but Shien dodged behind it, avoiding the thick stone arms that stirred up gusts of wind. He continued to strike the Golem's knee joint, preventing it from standing up.

"Bang!"

After Shien had struck an unknown number of times, the Golem's knee finally shattered, breaking into numerous stone fragments that fell to the ground.

With one leg gone, the Golem crashed heavily onto the ground with a resounding thud.

"Now's my chance!"

As if he had been waiting for this moment, Shien leaped onto the Golem's back. Facing the Golem's head, which was lying on the ground, he raised his greatsword as high as he could, as if putting all his strength into it, and then brought it down with a heavy chop.

"Bang!"

With an explosive shattering sound, the Golem's head was cleaved open, breaking into countless pieces.

In this manner, Shien successfully defeated the unfortunate Golem, making it appear as though he had "struggled" to do so.

(This should be fine now, right?)

Shien wiped his forehead, as if wiping away sweat, feigning exhaustion while secretly making a triumphant gesture in his mind.

However, when Shien turned around and looked behind him, he was met with expressions of astonishment.

"He actually won?"

"Ugh..."

"This strength..."

Tier, Lumya, and Merika all looked surprised or astonished.

Not only these three, but even Vivian wore the same expression.

"I didn't expect you to win. It seems your strength is much higher than I imagined, Shien."

Vivian spoke with evident surprise.

Her reaction caused Shien's mouth to twitch slightly.

"Uh, is that... strange?" Shien asked Vivian meekly. "Didn't you say this Golem wouldn't be a dangerous opponent for me?"

Upon hearing this, Vivian's expression turned a little odd.

"I did say that, yes," Vivian said with a wry smile. "It's because Golems are notoriously slow and clumsy monsters. Even a novice, unless the level difference is too great, should be able to evade a Golem's attacks and avoid getting hit, so naturally, it's not dangerous. However, defeating such a monster is not something a novice adventurer, whose level is about ten levels lower, can accomplish."

Hearing this, Shien's expression stiffened.

Looking at Shien, Vivian continued with a strange expression, "Ultimately, although Golems are slow and their attacks are difficult to land, their entire bodies are composed of rock and minerals, giving them famously high defense. To defeat such a monster, you need at least weapons with considerable destructive power, like great hammers or axes, or you need to use intermediate or higher-level magic for bombardment. I've never heard of someone defeating one with just a sword when they are at a lower level."

In other words, Vivian's intention wasn't for Shien to defeat the Golem, but to use this opportunity to observe Shien's performance when fighting a "monster that couldn't be defeated but wasn't dangerous."

As a result, Shien, unaware of Vivian's true intention, tried to complete Vivian's assessment by showing that he "struggled to defeat the monster," ultimately defeating the Golem.

"Your level is only ten, you haven't learned any Skills, and the weapon you're using is new equipment you just acquired, with no advantages other than sharpness. Compared to magic weapons, you managed to defeat a monster whose level is higher than yours and is not easily defeated under these conditions. Do you think we wouldn't find that strange?"

Vivian's statement left Shien feeling utterly dejected.

Seeing Tier, Lumya, and Merika still looking at him with surprise, and even Vivian's gaze deepening, Shien chuckled dryly.

"So, you're saying my strength is acceptable and I haven't disappointed you, right?"

Shien could only force the conversation forward.

"Yes, while it was surprising, it's a good thing." Vivian gave Shien a meaningful look, then continued, "Since you can defeat a Golem nearly ten levels higher than yourself, you should be able to learn Skills soon. No, rather, with such performance, it would be strange if you hadn't learned any Skills. However, this might also indicate that your growth potential in all aspects is very high."

"Growth potential in all aspects?" Shien asked subconsciously. "What does that mean?"

"What? You don't know?" Vivian was momentarily taken aback, her expression becoming even more curious. "Depending on the direction of personal training and individual talent, everyone's growth potential in various aspects differs. This should be common knowledge, right?"

Common knowledge?

For Shien, this so-called common knowledge was truly unrelated to him. The most troublesome things were precisely those related to this.

However, Shien did grasp what Vivian was trying to convey to some extent.

"When a person levels up, their strength will definitely increase, but not all their abilities will improve," Vivian explained. "As your level increases, depending on your training direction, your strengths, and your talents, the abilities that improve will also differ."

For example, a strength-oriented warrior will have their strength increase the most when their level goes up.

The same logic applies to mages; when their level increases, the first thing to improve will always be their Magic Power. If their physical abilities are not their strong suit, they lack talent in them, and they haven't undergone any training, then those abilities won't improve when their level goes up.

Therefore, the abilities that each person gains growth in when their level increases are different.

"For me, because I'm a defensive frontline fighter, the most obvious and significant improvements when my level increases are in Durability and Damage Resistance. Other abilities don't improve as noticeably," Vivian continued explaining. "As for Merika, her Magic Power sees the greatest increase when her level goes up. Conversely, her physical abilities, even now, are no different from those of an ordinary girl."

That's how it is.

Third update!

Sorry for the slight delay, I've been readjusting the pacing. I hope my friends will continue to support me! o(╥﹏╥)o