Max-Level SSS-Rank Skill!

"Hmm... should I disband the team?"

Chen Ming pondered.

This team had only come together by chance, thanks to the school's efforts.

It wasn't as if he, Qin Zhixue, and the other two had wanted to form a team.

Now that they had all successfully changed classes,

they needed to find and form their own combat teams.

Forming a team was no trivial matter.

Teammates who fought side by side had to be able to trust one another.

Chen Ming didn't know these three very well.

He had spent some time studying and chatting with Qin Zhixue.

As for her personality...

She was just like her name: pretty cold.

As for the other two, he really didn't know them at all.

Besides...

Chen Ming looked at the team member information on his panel.

[Qin Zhixue—SS-Rank Holy Radiance Angel]

[Song Chuan—S-Rank War Soul Vanguard]

[Jiang Yi—A-Rank Tide Mage]

Including him, the four of them were the top four in potential in this year's class.

So, unsurprisingly, the other three had all changed into classes with pretty high ranks.

Especially Qin Zhixue.

Next to them, he, a C-rank team leader, seemed rather out of place.

"Forget it. They'll probably leave on their own."

After thinking it over, Chen Ming dismissed the idea of disbanding the team.

He had chosen the team name.

He had created the team himself.

Why should he disband it just to accommodate others?

If they didn't want to stay, they could simply leave.

Besides, creating a team cost money.

One gold coin was worth ten thousand.

A four-person team cost forty thousand.

That was no small sum for class changers just starting out.

Although he hadn't paid for it himself back then—he'd gotten the school to cover it...

But he'd earned that by ranking first in mental potential. So wasn't it his anyway?

Chen Ming then opened his class panel,

ready to take a closer look at his stats.

He focused his mind.

The information appeared before his eyes.

[Name]: Chen Ming

[Class]: Shield Guard (C-Rank)

[Level]: 1

[Strength]: 10

[Constitution]: 600/600 (20%)

[Recovery]: 55 (10%)

[Agility]: 10

[Spirit]: 119 (19%)

[Skills]:

[C-Rank · Battle-Hardened (lv.0)]

Passive skill. No need to leave combat; continuously enters a recovery state. Recovery efficiency +10%.

Classes of C-rank or higher came with bonus attributes.

C-rank classes boosted one attribute, while B-rank classes boosted two...

That was why classes of different ranks could differ so greatly.

Having a class one rank higher meant receiving a 20% bonus to one additional attribute!

His C-rank Shield Guard only boosted his Constitution.

"Battle-Hardened..."

Chen Ming looked at his skill.

Though it was only C-rank, used well, it was still a pretty good skill.

It was essentially mobile recovery that wasn't restricted by leaving combat.

It just relied a bit too heavily on his Recovery stat.

[Ding—]

Just then,

a pleasant, ethereal voice rang in his ears.

[Charge progress: 100%!]

Chen Ming's eyes widened.

It was here!

At last!

As he looked at the prompt that appeared before him,

a genuine smile—the first in a long time—spread across his usually calm face.

Three years. The wait hadn't been in vain.

[You have activated a special talent: Gain an additional SSS-rank skill every 10 levels!]

[You have received an activation reward: Random max-level SSS-rank skill!]

[Claim now?]

"An SSS-rank skill every 10 levels?!"

When he read the first message, Chen Ming's breathing grew noticeably quicker.

Every time class changers gained 10 levels, they could awaken a new skill using rare resources.

Only the rank of their first skill was tied to their class; the rank of every skill awakened afterward was uncertain.

Low-rank class changers might awaken a high-rank skill with rare resources.

Likewise,

high-rank class changers might awaken a low-rank skill if they couldn't get enough resources.

So although the gap between class changers began to widen as soon as they awakened their classes, it wasn't completely set in stone.

Otherwise, why would low-rank class changers still be so fired up to level up and challenge dungeons?

But now,

every 10 levels Chen Ming gained, he was guaranteed an SSS-rank skill outright.

Even an SSS-rank class changer couldn't guarantee they would awaken an SSS-rank skill every time.

"Does this count as giving me a second class? And one that doesn't even require me to find resources?"

Chen Ming couldn't help thinking.

He looked at the second message again.

But then he froze.

"This... a max-level SSS-rank skill?"

He understood the value of gaining a skill every 10 levels.

But this activation reward...

Compared with the SSS-rank skill, Chen Ming was more intrigued—or rather, confused—by the words "max-level."

Unlike leveling up through experience,

a skill's level reflected its mastery and control.

He turned and nudged Sun Yang beside him with his elbow. Sun Yang was looking toward the high platform.

"Do skills have a level cap?"

"Skill levels? Of course they don't."

Sun Yang scratched his head at the question, looking puzzled.

Chen Ming nodded. That matched what he remembered hearing: there was no cap.

Then, it seemed,

no one in this world had managed to raise a skill to its maximum level.

Would he be the first person to have a max-level skill?

And an SSS-rank one, at that!

"Brother Chen, have you forgotten Teacher Wang's classic saying?"

Sun Yang seemed to have found an opening.

He cleared his throat twice and said solemnly, "There are no useless skills, only useless class changers..."

"What he means is that we should focus on improving our skill levels, because the ceiling is infinitely high..."

"Okay, okay. I was just checking."

Chen Ming raised a hand, stopping him from going on.

Then, unable to wait any longer, he looked at his activation reward and silently thought, Claim.

The text flashed, and a new prompt appeared.

[You have successfully awakened an SSS-rank skill: Absolute Defense (Max Level)]

Absolute Defense?!

Chen Ming's heart stirred. Defense was a special attribute.

He hurriedly looked at his class panel.

[Name]: Chen Ming

[Skills]:

[C-Rank · Battle-Hardened (lv.0)]

Passive ability. No need to leave combat; continuously enters a recovery state. Recovery efficiency +10%.

[SSS-Rank · Absolute Defense (Max Level)]

Passive ability. When receiving physical/mental damage, compares the Constitution/Spirit attributes of the enemy and the user:

If the enemy's attribute is lower than the user's Constitution/Spirit, the user receives 0 physical/mental damage; if it is higher, the user receives 1 physical/mental damage!

"Holy shit..."

After quickly reading the skill description,

he blurted out a curse without thinking.

This skill seemed a little too broken!

"Brother Chen, what's wrong...?"

Sun Yang turned to look. Chen Ming was inexplicably worked up,

staring straight ahead with his eyes wide open.

"Did something really shock you or something?"

At that moment, Chen Ming had no time to pay Sun Yang any mind.

He read through the description of [Absolute Defense] again, word by word.

Then he swallowed, stunned to the core.

What kind of bug-level skill was this?!

As long as an enemy's attributes were lower than his, they couldn't hurt him at all.

Even if their attributes exceeded his, no matter by how much, they could only deal 1 point of damage per hit.

Even a god would only deal 1 point of damage.

Even the King of Heaven himself would have to slash him six hundred times to kill him!