New Feat: Combat Apprentice

The Dire Goblins quickly slaughtered all the Giant Lizards.

Blood dyed the puddles on the ground red, and crimson streams flowed toward lower ground.

Several Dire Goblin warriors carried the Giant Lizard corpses back to the cave they had just left, while the rest remained behind to prevent other beasts from stealing their prey.

Although the dungeon's beasts were primarily Giant Lizards, other beasts weren't entirely absent; it was just that, given the sheer number of Giant Lizards, other animals appeared exceptionally rare.

Not long after, the Dire Goblins who had stayed in the cave, led by the returning party, arrived at the location where they had hunted the Giant Lizards. It took them two trips to carry all the Giant Lizards back.

They planned to stay in that cave for a while longer.

A few hours later, in a tribe near an underground lava river, several female Goblins discovered a stream stained blood-red.

After they reported this to their tribe leader, a Hobgoblin wearing only a deerskin apron immediately summoned members of the tribe.

"There was a fight nearby! Hunting party! Follow me!"

Upon hearing the word "fight," the many Hobgoblins and Dire Goblins who had rushed over showed expressions of frenzied excitement.

One Hobgoblin took a banner from the tribe's largest building. The banner was embroidered with two crossed axes and a blood-red flame using a special thread.

This was a symbol of Fury, one of the Dark Six Gods.

Fury governed passion and vengeance, rage and despair. She avenged the wronged, but her retributions often led to suffering.

Many who independently took up the Barbarian profession were often inspired by the power of Fury. Those who worshiped Her possessed an intense craving for battle, even a desire to die in combat.

Led by the banner, this group of Goblins, who had generally taken up the Barbarian profession, marched into the rain.

These were precisely the people the group of Dire Goblins had hoped to encounter, but judging by the current situation, this meeting might not be pleasant.

"Clang!"

On the second level of the Dream World, Karl, clad in armor, was training with Hopp's phantom in hand-to-hand combat.

It hadn't been long since he last slept, but Karl had forced himself to take a nap so that he could obtain the Combat Apprentice feat as soon as possible.

Besides gaining Spirituality through combat, professionals also increased their Spirituality by practicing the abilities of their existing professions.

For example, Mages researched Spells and copied scrolls; Artificers crafted magical items, alchemical potions, or constructs; Warriors or Barbarians practiced combat techniques, and so on...

When Karl was still in school, he gained experience by crafting magical items.

However, crafting magical items also required consuming Spirituality to infuse into the items, so his rate of accumulating Spirituality wasn't very fast. It had only allowed him to save a substantial sum of money to repay his student loans.

Due to the limitations of the dungeon environment, Karl couldn't accumulate Spirituality through his primary profession as an Artificer. That's why he had attempted to moonlight as a Warrior.

As long as he obtained the Combat Apprentice feat, he could increase his Spirituality through combat training.

Although the Spirituality gained through this method wasn't much, it was sustainable in the long run.

Furthermore, if the training results within the Dream World also provided Karl with Spirituality feedback, his rate of improvement could be even faster.

"Clink!"

Blocking Hopp's hand axe with the armor on his arm, Karl twisted and delivered a side kick, sending Hopp's phantom flying.

There were six combat styles for Warriors: Archery, Defense, Duelist, Great Weapon, Guardian, and Two-Weapon.

Since Karl's Artificer subclass was Armorer, he chose Defense tactics to train.

Defense tactics primarily trained practitioners in close-quarters combat techniques using their own armor. Compared to the other four styles besides Guardian, its offensive power was considerably limited.

However, if Karl were to later create Arcane Power Armor, this combat style would significantly enhance his combat capabilities.

"Hoo~, after all this time, I can finally fight back."

Looking at Hopp's phantom getting up from the ground, Karl let out a sigh of relief and dispelled the phantom.

Just as he kicked Hopp's phantom away, he sensed the gathering and transformation of his own Spirituality.

He opened his status panel, and the familiar data scrolled down before his eyes. Finally, as Karl's gaze reached the "Feats" section, the Combat Apprentice feat lay there quietly.

Excitedly, Karl swung his fist at the empty space in front of him, feeling a surge of intense satisfaction.

His persistent training had finally paid off!

One reason why status panels could exist as standalone cheat systems was likely their timely positive feedback mechanism.

Many people were unwilling to put in the effort precisely because they couldn't see the rewards.

Although Karl's status panel was shaped by the Dream World and Psionics, it had also made his motivation more robust than before.

At least when he didn't have this ability, he wasn't as diligent in his training.

Adjusting his mood, Karl simulated two Hopp phantoms at once.

Mere one-on-one combat was no longer enough for his ambition to grow stronger! He wanted to fight 1v2!

In the real world, Karl, having just woken up from the Dream World, opened his eyes and looked at Hopp with a hint of resentment.

Noticing Karl's gaze, Hopp instinctively shielded himself with his hands and asked with a frown, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Rubbing his neck, Karl said with a complex tone, "It's nothing, I just got beaten up by you in my dream."

The experience of being decapitated by Hopp in the Dream World left Karl with a lingering phantom pain in his body.

Fighting two Hopps at once was indeed a bit taxing for Karl.

Before this, he had only ever been injured, never dismembered.

Getting up from the ground, Karl went to the wooden basin and picked up the Giant Lizard hide to examine it.

Because the acid Karl had used in his previous fight had corroded a good portion of the Giant Lizard's fine scales, and after soaking in the plant ash solution, the scales on the hide had almost completely fallen off.

He squeezed it with his hand, and its soft texture made Karl nod in satisfaction.

After all, it was going to be the raw material for underwear and loungewear. If it were too stiff, it would be very uncomfortable to wear.

Karl took out the leather and hung it on the rack he had used to dry clothes before, waiting for the hide to air dry naturally.

Turning his head, Karl looked at Hopp, who was lying on the lounge chair, and asked, "Does the slate still have warmth? Does it still hurt?"

"Much better. I don't think it will take me long to recover completely."

Touching the area around his abdomen, Hopp stood up from the lounge chair and struck a muscle-flexing pose for Karl.

A wisp of cool air carrying icy moisture blew into the room from outside. Karl, standing right at the entrance, shivered.

"It looks like the prolonged rainfall has lowered the temperature in the dungeon quite a bit. Tsk, I can hardly imagine what kind of impact the Fire, Air, and Earth elemental planes would have here."

Glancing at the empty doorway, Karl lowered his head, contemplating whether he should make a door panel to block the wind first.