Chapter 220: 9:1 (15)

[1. Skeleton Swordsman]

[A sword does not return to its sheath until it tastes blood, and a master swordsman is never caught in the eye of their blade.]

I'd read the general description before, so I quickly scrolled to check the perks and penalties.

[Perks: Automatically gained upon class selection]

[1. Swallow Slash: Attack speed with swords increases by an additional 4% per class level.

2. Focus: Swordsmanship skill mastery rate increases by 350%.

3. Rock Splitter: Swordsmanship skill power increases by 6% per level.

4. Zen: Every 5 levels, you gain a small chance to achieve Enlightenment. If successful, all stats increase by 10, and an additional bonus is granted at random. Failure results in entering the special state Qi Deviation.]

[Penalties: Active while this class is maintained]

[1. Heavy Armor Penalty: Wearing heavy armor reduces attack power by 50% and attack speed by 75%.

2. Focus: Mastery rate for all non-sword weapons decreases by 75%.]

The fourth perk stood out.

Zen.

A ten-point stat boost every five levels was absurd—that alone was like leveling up forty times! Yet that phrase, Qi Deviation, glowing ominously in red, didn't feel promising.

On top of that, the heavy armor penalty was crippling. As someone who needed to wear armor, that was a serious drawback. I'd need to think more carefully. I moved on to the next option.

[2. Skeleton Knight]

I already knew this one too. I scrolled down to the newly unlocked perks.

[Perks]

[1. Mobility: Horseriding skill mastery rate increases by 100%.

2. Armored: You can wear heavy armor with no penalties. Gear effectiveness increases by 25%.

3. Combat Expert: Mastery rate for all weapons increases by 45%.

4. Junior Commander: Allies fighting near you gain experience slightly faster.

5. Skeletal Mount: Raise a dead horse to serve you. The quality of the mount depends on your stats.

6. Designated Protection: Guard a specific target. While active, all damage taken by the target is absorbed by you instead.]

No real penalties and broad, versatile benefits. Plus, the class came with unique skills, like summoning a skeletal mount and protecting an ally by literally tanking damage in their place.

If I could assign Designated Protection to Rubia, I'd be able to benefit from her master buffs while keeping her safe in combat. No need to rely on Isaac anymore. Though, the way I was starting to think of her more like a tactical tool made me feel a little guilty... I mentally repeated the phrase Designated Protection and checked the last option.

[3. Skeleton Hunter]

I skipped the description text and dove straight into the perks.

[Perks]

[1. Familiar Hands: Mastery rate for all ranged weapons and traps increases by 60%.

2. Living Target: You can place a mark on one enemy. Ranged attacks against that target gain +120% accuracy.

3. My Eyes Are the Sight: Even with an unfamiliar bow, your aim auto-aligns. No aim penalties due to a mismatch.

4. My Finger Is the Safety: Regardless of skill level, accidental misfires with ranged weapons are completely eliminated.

5. Painseeker: Increased chance to detect enemy weak points (chance varies based on target).

6. Moment of Piercing: The chance to penetrate any type of Defense is doubled.]

[Penalties]

[1. All melee weapon mastery decreases by 80%, except for daggers.

2. Wearing heavy armor reduces attack power by 50% and attack speed by 75%.]

The third class: Hunter. Its perks looked excellent on paper. If I'd been using a bow instead of a sword, I'd have chosen this class without hesitation. It had a unique mechanic—the ability to mark enemies—not found in the other classes.

Honestly, I wanted to try it at least once, but the penalties gave me pause. An 80% reduction in melee mastery? That ruled out nearly all of my current skills with the greatsword.

Sure, I'd been raising my skills through Essence Absorption, but that ability had its limits. The stronger I got, the harder it became to absorb from others. If I took the Hunter class, just getting one level of Swordsmanship would require me to kill someone on the level of a sub-lord.

And the heavy armor penalty again. Same deal as with the Swordsman. It wasn't like I could walk around uncovered. Not with my appearance. Not yet. Masquerade only lasted ten minutes. In this world, people would rather swing first than ask why a skeleton was walking around their city.

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

It'd take at least another ten years before I could walk freely. The human wars had yet to end, and the Demon Kings hadn't descended yet. Wearing armor in enemy territory while carrying a massive penalty wasn't an option.

Still, one thing was certain.

[Universal Benefits of Second-Class Advancement]

[Stat points per level increase to 2.]

[All stats +10.]

[Receive 20,000 free, assignable skill experience points.]

Advancing a class was mandatory. Now that I could read everything in detail, I realized the benefits were far greater than I imagined. Why had I waited this long?

Right under each class, glowing softly, was a prompt.

[Would you like to change your class?]

Ding!

[Insufficient Lurium.]

Even for Skeleton Knight...

Ding! Ding!

Same for Swordsman, and for Hunter. No class change. I merely unlocked the information this time. Maybe I didn't have enough Lurium. Was what I'd just absorbed such a pathetically small amount?

"Isaac."

"Yeah? What."

"Looks like I'll have to rob the imperial palace."

I made the declaration calmly. After all, over 90% of all Lurium was concentrated in the imperial capital. Now that I was certain this silvery, magical liquid had unique effects on me, there was no reason to go in circles. Class advancement was a necessity.

"So you did see something. But you're not gonna tell me, huh? What a sly little thing."

"..."

"It's fine. Even if you don't explain it all, I can figure it out from your reactions."

Another possibility arose in my mind.

"Lurium... You said it's the root of the imperial family's power, right?"

"Yeah. Don't make me repeat myself."

Isaac nodded. The unmoving golems at the Isaac tomb. The twelve bottles of Lurium without any church affiliation. Rena, who was far stronger than when I last saw her. Any Lurium I moved kept its changed position. If I stole a large amount from the capita, then in the next life, the imperial family's power would probably drastically weaken.

If not the next life, then maybe the one after. Or the one after that. Until the day Isaac can break that barrier and see inside himself.

That was when Rubia glanced between me and Isaac and asked, "So... we're going to the capital to cooperate with that woman?"

I nodded. "Seems like it."

I wondered if someday I could give Rubia a safe place to call home. I kept feeling like I was just dragging her around and secretly using her. Knowing she believed she was the burden only made it worse.

She never said it aloud, but I knew that Rubia silently suffered from guilt over the people she left behind in that fallen city. Still, for now, it was impossible to make her a lord and reclaim those people. At the very least, I need to advance my class once.

While I was still deep in thought...

"

Heh heh heh...

" Isaac chuckled, breaking the silence.

"You're not against us going to the capital, then?"

"You're not planning to just bulldoze your way through, right?"

"Of course not. I'll contact T&T first."

"Honestly, this still sounds like a flashy suicide plan to me... but fine. I'm curious. Let's hear it. I do like hearing about new ways to die."

"You think it'll fail?" Rubia asked.

"I never said that."

While the two of them chatted, I went over another reason for heading to the capital. Through T&T's information network, I needed to ask about one thing: Gith-Za-Rai. The necromancer who implanted Essence Absorption in me. I also needed information on the knight in ash-gray armor who killed her.

To think that someone could kill Gith-Za-Rai, who was thought to be on par with the outer heavens...

What was that knight? More powerful than the marquis, more dangerous than the Kraken, more terrifying than even the duke... And yet, why didn't the knight's attacks work on me?

I quietly counted the days. Roughly two months from now, Gith-Za-Rai would assassinate the emperor and die in the process. She'd told me to tell her about Lindbrum's Dream if I wanted to stop it.

Would that truly be enough to save her? Either way, I needed more information before making any moves.

"Isaac. Do you know Gith-Za-Rai?"

"What? Of course I do. She's the infamous necromancer of Embermere.

Whoa

now—look at you. You're real close with her, huh?"

"Don't just blurt things out. Tell me what you know about her."

"Despite being from the East, she became one of Embermere's shadow rulers. She's got ties to both the Confederation and the Empire. Ah, yeah, didn't she say she came across the sea looking for new corpses?"

Isaac rambled on for a bit. Apparently, aside from her godlike power, she had considerable political influence in both Ember and the Confederation.

"There's this group of dark mages in Ember called the idealists. They basically worship her. Even the most annoying conflicts get resolved as soon as there's rumors that she'll get involved."

"Didn't you only share sight with the Lord of Grassmere? How do you know all this?"

"You're underestimating the Lord of Grassmere. He's an advisor to the merchant guild. They regularly buy all sorts of information."

The merchant guild...

"These guys?"

I pulled out a card. It was a black card with a five-pointed star, tucked into the book by Kevin Ashton, given to me by Yube.

"Yup. That card's from the merchant's star network. The one who gave it to you was under contract with the Grassmere lord."

That happened while Isaac was still possessing me.

"He seemed useful. Good at running errands. Keep in touch with him, you might need it."

If Isaac was saying that, then Yube Jinney really was as competent as he seemed.

"But one card alone doesn't mean much."

"I know."

I pulled out another card from my other pocket. It was taken from the secret box of the Yublam guard captain.

"Where'd you swipe that from? The second star, huh... That's better.

Heh

. Just three more to go. Shouldn't be too hard."

If Yube Jinney was anything to go by, other merchants in the star network would be inclined to hand me a card if we crossed paths. That was assuming I lived long enough to collect all five...

One last thing. There was one more thing I needed to ask Isaac.

"Do you know what Lindbrum is?"

Isaac leaned back slightly and said, "Yeah. I do. But..."