Max-Level SSS-Rank Skill!

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

Chen Ming pondered.

The formation of this team was purely a coincidence driven by the school.

It wasn't that he, Qin Zhixue, and the other two had actually wanted to form a squad together.

Now that everyone had successfully changed classes, they needed to find and build their own combat teams.

Forming a team was no child's play.

Teammates fighting side by side had to be able to trust one another.

Chen Ming didn't know the other three very well.

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

As for her personality...

She was just like her name, quite cold.

As for the other two, he was truly unfamiliar with them.

And...

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

[Qin Zhixue--SS-rank Holy Radiance Angel]

[Song Chuan--S-rank War Soul Vanguard]

[Jiang Yi--A-rank Tide Mage]

Including himself, the four of them were the top four in terms of potential in this year's cohort.

So, unsurprisingly, the three others besides him had all changed into high-ranking classes.

Especially Qin Zhixue.

As a C-rank captain, he seemed a bit out of place.

"Forget it, they'll probably leave on their own."

After some thought, Chen Ming dismissed the idea of disbanding the team.

He had chosen the team name.

He had built the team with his own hands.

Why should he disband it just to accommodate others?

If they didn't want to stay in the team, they could just leave.

Besides, creating a team cost gold coins.

One gold coin was equivalent to ten thousand.

Creating a four-person team cost forty thousand.

That was quite a bit of money for a newly promoted class-changer.

Although he hadn't spent any money at the time, having gotten it for free from the school...

But he had earned it by ranking first in mental potential, so wasn't it his?

Chen Ming immediately opened his class panel.

He prepared to take a detailed look at his stats.

With a thought, the information appeared before his eyes.

[Name]: Chen Ming

[Class]: Shield Guard (C-rank)

[Level]: 1

[Strength]: 10

[Physique]: 600/600 (20%)

[Recovery]: 55 (10%)

[Agility]: 10

[Mental Power]: 119 (19%)

[Skills]:

[C-rank-Hardened (lv.0)]

Passive skill, no need to exit combat, can continuously enter a recovery state, recovery efficiency +10%

Classes of C-rank and above all come with inherent stat bonuses.

C-rank bonuses apply to a single attribute, while B-rank bonuses apply to two...

This is the reason why there is such a massive gap between professions of different ranks.

Being one rank higher than someone else means a 20% greater bonus to an attribute!

His C-rank Shield Guard only provided a bonus to Constitution.

"Battle-Hardened..."

Chen Ming looked at his skill.

Although it was only C-rank, if utilized well, it could be considered a decent skill.

It was equivalent to an unrestricted, mobile form of recovery.

It was just a bit demanding on the recovery attribute.

[Ding--]

Just then.

A pleasant, ethereal sound rang in his ears.

[Charging progress 100%!]

Chen Ming's eyes widened instantly.

It's here!

It's finally here!

Looking at the prompt that popped up before him.

For the first time, a genuine smile appeared on his usually calm face.

Three years. It hadn't been a waste of time.

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

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

[Claim immediately?]

"An SSS skill every 10 levels?!"

When he read the first line of information, Chen Ming's breathing quickened.

Every time a job-changer levels up by 10, they can awaken a new skill using rare resources.

Except for the first skill, which is tied to the profession's rank, the rank of subsequent awakened skills is not fixed.

Low-rank job-changers have the chance to awaken high-rank skills through rare resources.

Likewise.

High-rank job-changers, if they fail to obtain sufficient resources, might awaken low-rank skills.

Therefore, although the gap between job-changers begins at awakening, it is not entirely set in stone.

Otherwise, why would low-rank job-changers be so passionate about leveling up and challenging dungeons?

But now.

Every time Chen Ming levels up by 10, he is guaranteed to obtain an SSS-rank skill directly.

One must know that even an SSS-rank job-changer cannot guarantee they will awaken an SSS-rank skill every time.

"Does this count as opening up a second profession for me, the kind that doesn't even require gathering resources?"

Chen Ming couldn't help but think.

He looked at the second line of information again.

But then, he froze.

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

He could understand getting a skill every 10 levels, and he understood its value.

But this activation reward...

Compared to the SSS-rank skill, Chen Ming was more concerned, or rather, puzzled by the words "max-level."

Unlike gaining experience to level up, skill levels reflect proficiency and mastery.

He turned his head and nudged Sun Yang, who was looking toward the high platform, with his elbow.

"Is there a cap on skill levels?"

"Skill levels? Of course not."

Sun Yang scratched his head upon hearing this, looking confused.

Chen Ming nodded; he also remembered that the information he had always known was that there wasn't one.

So, looking at it this way.

No one in this world has ever been able to raise a skill to its maximum level.

Will he be the first person to possess a max-level skill?

And an SSS-grade skill at that!

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

Sun Yang seemed to have found his topic.

He coughed twice and said with utmost seriousness, "There are no useless skills, only useless job-changers..."

"It means we should pay attention to improving our skill levels, because their upper limit is infinitely high..."

"Alright, alright, I was just confirming."

Chen Ming raised his hand, cutting him off.

He then eagerly looked at his awakening reward and silently thought 'Claim'.

As the text flashed, a new prompt popped up.

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

Absolute Defense?!

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

He quickly looked at his job panel.

[Name]: Chen Ming

[Skills]:

[C-grade-Hardened (lv.0)]

Passive ability. No need to leave combat, can continuously enter a recovery state, recovery efficiency +10%.

[SSS-grade Defense (Max Level)]

Passive ability. When receiving physical/mental damage, judge the physical/mental attributes of both attacker and defender:

If lower than your own physique/mental power, you receive 0 physical/mental damage; if higher than your own physique/mental power, you receive 1 physical/mental damage!

"Holy crap..."

After Chen Ming quickly finished reading the skill description.

He blurted out a curse word subconsciously.

This skill seems a bit too overpowered!

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

Sun Yang turned to look, finding Chen Ming inexplicably excited.

His eyes were wide open, staring straight ahead.

"You didn't get stimulated by something, did you?"

At this moment, Chen Ming had no time to pay attention to Sun Yang.

He reread the description of [Absolute Defense] word by word.

Then he swallowed, deeply shocked.

What kind of bug-level skill is this?!

If their attributes are lower than his, they can't deal any damage to him at all.

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

Even a god would only deal 1 damage.

Even if the King of Heaven himself came, he'd have to slash him six hundred times to kill him!