Swordsman Class Requirements

Lance stepped forward, expressionless as he pulled the short sword from the Goblin's back and drove it into its throat, ending its suffering.

After that.

He did not sheath his sword immediately. Instead, he patiently gave every corpse another stab in a vital spot.

Many novice adventurers had once failed to realize that Goblins possessed an exceptional talent for playing dead, only to be counterattacked while searching for loot.

This was a lesson countless predecessors had paid for in blood.

Only after confirming that the ground was truly silent.

Did Lance finally let out a long breath.

Throughout the entire fight, he had remained as calm as if he were solving a math problem.

If any veteran adventurers had been present, they would probably have given only one assessment:

Steady as an old dog.

To be this cautious even against a few Goblin fodder enemies.

"No experience notification?"

Lance glanced at the tranquil panel.

It seemed that the experience-bar system for leveling up by killing monsters had not been implemented in the real world.

Or perhaps it was because he was not a class holder. He had heard that some class holders could improve through combat.

For now, if he wanted to gain skill or knowledge experience, he would likely have to accept official "monster-clearing quests" from the guild and settle them upon completion.

And afterward, he could ask about this world's class-holder system as well.

Lance checked the system panel and found that there had still been hidden gains.

A faint line of small text appeared below.

[Castro Swordsmanship Proficiency +4]

Lance raised an eyebrow.

That was quite a substantial increase.

If he had been sparring tediously on his own, it might have taken an hour or two of uninterrupted sword swings to gain this much.

Sure enough.

Only real life-and-death combat was the best teacher.

Lance crouched down, enduring the nauseating stench as he skillfully cut off the left ears of the four Goblins.

Although he had not accepted a clearing quest, these ears could still be exchanged for bounties at the guild as proof of monster subjugation.

One ear could fetch around twenty copper coins, so the four of them were worth eighty copper coins.

This was quite an unexpected windfall.

He then rummaged through the tattered pouches on the corpses for a while.

Other than some moldy berries and a few unidentified animal fangs, there was nothing.

"What a bunch of poor bastards."

Lance disgustedly wiped the filthy blood from his gloves on the grass.

He looked again at the values displayed on his retina.

The environmental stability had begun to slowly recover, returning to its reassuring green color.

But this area was clearly no longer safe.

No one knew whether the disappearance of this patrol squad would draw a larger force from a nearby nest.

Lance did not get greedy. After packing up his loot, he immediately turned and hurried toward the edge of the forest.

He needed to get back quickly and report this abnormal situation to the Adventurers' Guild.

Lance hurried all the way back to the Adventurers' Guild.

He deliberately pulled his hood lower, revealing only the lower half of his face, and quickly headed toward a quieter handover counter.

He pushed over a full bag of Silverleaf Vine sap, along with four Goblin ears still dripping with blood.

The receptionist skillfully finished counting them.

As the coin pouch dropped into his palm, the heavy weight of it instantly lifted Lance's spirits.

There were nearly two silver coins in total.

Lance silently calculated it in his head.

That was equivalent to four days' wages from his previous job as a copyist.

Sure enough.

Even if he only licked a tiny bit of blood off a blade's edge, the money he earned was far greater than what he could make sitting behind a counter and grinding calluses into his hands.

Besides the monetary reward, because he had also reported monsters wandering near the gathering site.

The guild issued him an additional two merit points.

This was an internal honor system of the Adventurers' Guild.

The higher an adventurer's merit, the more they could raise their rank privileges and exchange for good things unavailable on the market.

For example, certain advanced monster encyclopedias, or specially made potions and equipment with magical effects.

There was also information on class holders, as well as certain special skills.

These were all scarce resources that could not be bought anywhere in Grayrock Town, no matter how much money one had.

As Lance turned to leave, he casually glanced at the commission board in the center of the hall.

Just as he had expected.

Affected by the recent magical disturbance, a large number of "clearing commissions" stamped with red seals had been added to the board.

The goal of such quests was very clear: to eliminate monster threats in designated areas and clear the way for later gathering teams.

The rewards included not only generous bounties, but also considerable merit points.

Lance found them rather tempting.

Unfortunately, the Adventurers' Guild had strict regulations.

Individual adventurers were limited by carrying capacity and safety concerns, and the number of commissions they could accept had a strict upper limit.

Only officially registered adventurer parties could break through this restriction and take on multiple clearing quests at once.

Of course.

He had heard that true ranked "class holders" could accept additional exclusive commissions based on the privileges of their class rank.

After all, some high-difficulty subjugation quests lasted an extremely long time.

During the lengthy process of tracking and hunting, the guild tacitly allowed these powerful individuals to pick up a few small jobs along the way for extra cash.

Just as Lance was staring intently at those high-paying quest sheets.

A somewhat youthful voice suddenly sounded behind him.

"Um... excuse me, are you looking to accept a clearing quest?"

Lance turned around instinctively.

Standing behind him was a blond youth.

He looked rather young, around sixteen or seventeen, with traces of childishness still on his face.

But the short sword at his waist, along with the wear marks on its hilt, showed that he was not a complete novice.

Looking at that face, Lance vaguely felt that it was familiar.

As if he had seen him somewhere before.

When the youth saw Lance looking at him, he quickly straightened his back and introduced himself.

"Hello! My name is Damian."

"I just returned from White River City. I registered as an adventurer today, and I'm currently putting together my own adventurer party."

As he said this, anticipation glittered in his eyes.

"Our party's initial goal is to focus on clearing out the Goblin nests around the area."

Perhaps worried that his young face lacked credibility.

Damian eagerly pulled a sheet of parchment from his pocket. It was his adventurer aptitude certificate.

"Don't let my age fool you, but I've already trained in two sword arts."

"My primary swordsmanship has already reached the mastery level, and even my secondary swordsmanship has reached the proficient level."

The youth held his head high, a hint of pride in his voice.

"I'm working toward becoming a [Swordsman]. I'm just one final step away."

After saying that.

He looked at Lance with an expectant gaze.

He had clearly taken a liking to Lance's excellent equipment and steady demeanor and wanted to recruit him.

As the youth's voice fell silent.

A system notification window suddenly appeared on Lance's retina.

[Key information detected: Swordsman class requirements]

[Class: Swordsman]

[Prerequisites for class advancement:]

[1. Basic Attributes: Strength 10, Agility 8, Perception 8]

[2. Skill Requirements: Primary swordsmanship must reach LV5 (Expert), secondary swordsmanship must reach LV4 (Mastery), and one swordsmanship-type breathing combat technique must be trained]

[3. Trial Requirement: Independently kill ten different types of monsters using swordsmanship]

[4. Additional Requirement: Your swordsmanship must possess a certain degree of renown in a particular region. Upon completion, the class will receive a minor bonus]