Requirements for Becoming a Swordsman
Lance stepped forward, expressionless as he pulled the short sword from the back and drove it into its throat, ending its suffering.
Afterward.
He did not rush to retrieve his blade, patiently delivering a coup de grâce to the vitals of every single corpse.
More than a few novice adventurers had fallen victim to counterattacks while searching for loot, simply because they failed to realize that creatures like Goblins possessed a high-tier Talent for playing dead.
This was a lesson bought with the blood of countless predecessors.
Not until he confirmed that the ground was truly dead silent.
Did Lance let out a long breath.
Throughout the entire battle, he remained as calm as if he were solving a math problem.
Had other veteran adventurers been present at that moment, they would likely have given only a single evaluation:
Steady as an old dog.
To be cautious to such an extent when facing merely a few small-fry Goblins.
Are there no experience points notifications?
Lance glanced at the calm panel.
It seemed that the experience bar system of killing monsters to level up had not been implemented in the real world.
Or perhaps it was because he was not yet a Class holder; he had heard that certain Class holders were able to obtain improvements through combat.
Presently, if he wanted to acquire skills or Knowledge Experience, he likely had to go to the guild to accept formal monster-sweeping quests and settle them through that.
Moreover, he could also go inquire about how the Class holder system of this world worked afterward.
Lance checked the system panel below and found that implicit gains still existed.
A line of faint, small text emerged at the bottom.
[Castro Swordsmanship Proficient +4]
Lance raised an eyebrow.
This magnitude of improvement was quite considerable.
He knew that if he were engaged in boring, repetitive sparring, it might take him an hour or more of continuous sword-swinging to achieve this kind of growth.
Indeed.
Only genuine slaughter was the best teacher.
Lance squatted down, enduring the nauseating stench, and skillfully cut off the left ears of the four Goblins.
Although he had not accepted a sweeping quest, these ears could still be exchanged for bounties at the guild as proof of monster subjugation.
One could probably trade for about twenty copper coins, so these four totaled eighty copper coins.
This was quite a windfall.
Then he searched around the tattered waist pouches of the corpses for a while.
Aside from some moldy berries and a few unknown beast fangs, they were completely empty.
What a bunch of penniless ghosts.
Lance disdainfully wiped the blood stains on his gloves against the grass.
He looked back up at the figures on his retina.
The Environmental Stability had already begun to slowly recover, turning back into a reassuring green.
However, the vicinity was clearly no longer safe.
No one knew whether the disappearance of this patrol squad would draw a larger force from the nearby lair.
Lance was not greedy; he packed up his loot and immediately turned to stride rapidly toward the exit of the forest.
He needed to hurry back and report the abnormal situation here to the guild.
Lance traveled swiftly all the way back to the Adventurers' Guild.
He deliberately pulled the hood on his head down even lower, revealing only the lower half of his face, and walked quickly toward the less crowded reception counter.
He pushed the full pouch of Silverleaf Vine juice across, along with the four still-dripping Goblin ears.
The receptionist skillfully finished counting them.
As the money pouch fell into his palm, that heavy, dragging sensation instantly made Lance's mood turn pleasant.
Nearly two silver coins in total.
Lance silently did the math in his mind.
This was equivalent to four days of his previous wages as a scribe.
Indeed.
Even if it meant licking just a tiny bit of blood off the edge of a blade, the money earned was far greater than sitting behind a counter and grinding calluses onto his hands.
Aside from the monetary reward, because he had incidentally reported the intelligence about wandering monsters appearing at the gathering point.
The Adventurers' Guild additionally issued 2 merit points to him.
This was an internal honor system within the Adventurers' Guild.
Adventurers with higher merits could not only raise their rank privileges, but also exchange for good things inside the guild that couldn't be bought on the open market.
For instance, certain profound monster knowledge compendiums, or special potions and equipment with magical effects.
There was also professional information, along with some special skills.
These were all scarce resources in Grayrock Town that couldn't be bought anywhere no matter how much money one had.
As Lance turned around to leave, he took the opportunity to glance at the bounty board in the center of the hall.
Just as he expected.
Influenced by the recent magic riot, a large number of "sweeping commissions" stamped in red ink had been added to the board.
The targets of these types of quests were very clear; they were meant to clear out monster threats in specific areas and pave the way for subsequent gathering troops.
The rewards not only included hefty bounties, but also considerable merit points.
Lance looked on with some envy.
Unfortunately, the Adventurers' Guild had rigid regulations.
Limited by carrying capacity and safety, individual adventurers had strict caps on the number of commissions they could accept.
Only registered adventurer squads could break through this restriction and take on multiple sweeping quests all at once.
Of course.
Heard that those truly ranked "Classes" could receive additional exclusive commissions based on their own class level privileges.
After all, some high-difficulty subjugation quests had extremely long time spans.
During the lengthy tracking and hunting process, the guild tacitly allowed these powerhouses to casually pick up a few small tasks along the way to earn some extra cash.
Just as Lance was lost in thought staring at those high-reward quest sheets.
A slightly tender voice suddenly came from behind him.
"Um... excuse me, are you planning to take on a sweeping quest?"
Lance subconsciously turned around.
Standing behind him was a blonde youth.
He didn't look very old, around sixteen or seventeen, and his face still carried a bit of unshakeable youthful innocence.
Yet the short sword tucked at his waist, along with the worn marks on the hilt, indicated that this was not a pure novice.
Looking at this face, Lance vaguely felt he looked a bit familiar.
As if he had seen him somewhere before.
Seeing Lance look over, the youth hurriedly straightened his back and introduced himself.
"Hello! My name is Damian."
"I just returned from White River City, registered as an adventurer today, and I am currently forming an adventurer squad of my own."
Saying this, anticipation flickered in his eyes.
"Our squad's initial goal is mainly to sweep the surrounding Goblin nests."
Seeming afraid that his young face lacked persuasiveness.
Damian eagerly pulled a piece of parchment from his pocket, which was his adventurer qualification certificate.
"Don't let my age fool you, I have already practiced two sword techniques."
"The sword technique I specialize in has reached Mastery, and even my secondary backup sword technique has been trained to Proficient Level."
The youth raised his chin, a hint of pride in his tone.
"I am working hard toward the direction of the [Swordsman] class, and am just missing that final push."
Finishing his words.
He looked at Lance with a gaze full of expectation.
Clearly, he had taken a fancy to Lance's fine equipment and steady temperament, and wanted to recruit him.
Following the youth's falling voice.
A system prompt box suddenly popped up on Lance's retina.
[Detected key information: Swordsman class advancement conditions] [Class: Swordsman] [Class advancement prerequisites:] [1. Base attributes: Strength 10, Agility 8, Perception 8] [2. Skill requirements: Main sword technique reaches LV5 (Expert), secondary sword technique reaches LV4 (Mastery), practice a sword-type Breath Combat Technique] [3. Trial requirements: Use sword techniques to independently kill ten different monsters] [4. Additional conditions: Your sword techniques possess a certain degree of fame in a certain region, upon achievement there will be slight class bonuses]
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