Magic Apprentice, Part Two

After successfully assassinating the apprentice, Rhode gained a large amount of experience for killing a Hero-level unit. With that experience, he had reached Level 10 as a Tier 1 Militiaman, meeting the requirements for advancement.

Rhode had originally planned to hold off on advancing for now. It would be best for his development to wait until the battle was over, then consider his future path and weigh the pros and cons of the various classes before advancing.

But in his current situation, he had no choice but to use up his experience. Only by converting it into strength right away could he deal with the enemies in front of him.

The spot on his character panel that had displayed his experience now showed an upward-pointing arrow, which he could select with his mind.

"Tier 2 Class: Guard. Prerequisite Class: Militiaman. Required Skills: None. Experience Required: 100"

"Tier 2 Class: Swordsman. Prerequisite Class: Militiaman. Required Skills: Advanced Swordsmanship. Experience Required: 200"

"Tier 2 Class: Scout. Prerequisite Class: Militiaman. Required Skills: Basic Swordsmanship, Novice Eagle Eye, Novice Scout Technique. Experience Required: 200"

"..."

With no time to read further, Rhode chose to become a Swordsman.

"200 experience consumed. 185 experience remaining. Class Level increased to Tier 2 Swordsman Level 1..."

"1 Free Attribute Point gained. 1 Skill Point gained..."

"[Swordsman] Class Specialty: Damage dealt increases based on your Swordsmanship level. Current Swordsmanship level: Advanced. Bonus damage: 15%."

"You learned the skill [Double Slash]."

"[Double Slash Lv. 1]: Costs 5 Stamina. Quickly performs two slashes, each dealing 80% of your base attack damage."

"Your skill [Heavy Slash Lv. 2] increased to [Heavy Slash Lv. 3]."

"You earned the Speed Achievement [On the Path]."

"[On the Path]: Become any Tier 2 class. Basic reward: +1 to all attributes. While equipped, increases all damage by 5%."

Rhode quickly assigned the attribute point to Strength, then spent 3 Skill Points to raise Advanced Swordsmanship to Expert Swordsmanship.

(Expert Swordsmanship: Years of devoted practice have given you masterful swordsmanship. In your hands, a sword can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary, and every move comes naturally. Damage dealt with swords increases by 40%.)

Realizing he had enough experience left to gain another level, Rhode was about to advance again when the Magic Apprentice rushed up beside him. He had no choice but to deal with its attack first.

Having seen what the Skeleton Warrior could do, Rhode didn't try to withstand the Magic Apprentice's attacks, even with his shield. Instead, he kept moving and dodging, using his shield only when he couldn't evade.

The Undead Creatures around them gradually closed in. Since Rhode spent most of his time dodging and never counterattacked, the Magic Apprentice stopped targeting him and began attacking the surrounding Undead Creatures instead.

Taking advantage of the opening, Rhode chose to advance another level.

"100 experience consumed. 85 experience remaining. Class Level increased to Tier 2 Swordsman Level 2..."

"1 Free Attribute Point gained. 1 Skill Point gained..."

The Magic Apprentice was attacking the Undead Creatures around it. A few simple strikes were often enough to kill them, sometimes in a single blow.

Like Rhode, it could kill with one strike, but unlike him, it relied less on refined swordsmanship and more on the brute force of its explosive mana. Such reckless bursts could wreak tremendous destruction in a short time, but its body couldn't withstand them and was severely damaged as a result.

No creature would allow mana to erupt inside its body like that, even if it brought immense strength for a short time. The horror of its blood vessels rupturing one by one was something only the undead could endure, because they could no longer feel pain.

Even if Rhode ignored the Magic Apprentice, it would soon die when its mana ran out—or collapse even sooner as its body completely broke down. But before then, it would have plenty of time to clear out the surrounding Undead Creatures, and Rhode wouldn't gain any experience.

After assigning the attribute point to Strength, Rhode considered the apprentice's attack style and quickly came up with a plan.

Rhode swung his sword several times, clearing out some of the Undead Creatures nearby. While the Magic Apprentice drew the attention of most of them, he moved behind it.

The Magic Apprentice was attacking a Walking Corpse in front of it. It punched through the Walking Corpse's outstretched hands and struck its chest, caving it in. At the same time, a streak of blood burst from the apprentice's arm.

Seeing this, Rhode knew the Magic Apprentice could no longer withstand the side effects of its mana bursts. After all, its body had originally belonged to a Tier 2 apprentice. It hadn't been trained and couldn't endure the mana surges for much longer.

While the Magic Apprentice was attacking the Walking Corpse, Rhode raised his shield and charged at it.

While its mana was surging, the Magic Apprentice's body was as hard as steel. It had already blocked sword strikes several times, showing that blades could hardly harm it.

So Rhode didn't attack it with his sword. He chose to use his shield instead. The best way to deal with the Magic Apprentice was to hit it with a blunt weapon and hasten its body's collapse.

Skills learned through Eagle Eye would remain permanently, so Rhode chose to learn [Shield Bash] to increase his damage.

"[Shield Bash Lv. 1]: Costs 10 Stamina. Slams the shield in your hand into an enemy, dealing 120% of your base damage with a chance to stun the target. Experience required to upgrade: 20."

To make sure the attack landed instead of being blocked by the Magic Apprentice, Rhode used every skill at his disposal.

[Charge], [Burst], and [Shield Bash] together consumed a great deal of Stamina. If they failed to produce the result he wanted, he wouldn't have enough strength left to continue fighting.

Even so, now that he had found an opportunity to kill the Magic Apprentice, Rhode wouldn't simply let it go. However slim his chances, he was going to seize it.

With the three skills chained together and his resolve unwavering, Rhode charged forward with unstoppable momentum. Even in his shabby leather armor and carrying a shield riddled with cracks, the force of his charge surpassed that of an ordinary heavy infantryman!

A thunderous crash rang out as the Magic Apprentice was struck hard in the back. The mana raging inside it surged in response, and its whole body began to crack apart.

Rhode steadied himself against the recoil from the collision and seized the opening to step forward, slamming his shield into the Magic Apprentice's back again.

He gave the Magic Apprentice no chance to react and kept attacking.

The powerful blows from outside, combined with the mana raging within, finally overwhelmed the Magic Apprentice's body. Though it still had mana left, it could no longer fight and collapsed to the ground.