[Knight Training Facility, Jingshi Island, Tzu Empire]
Skills.
Besides attributes, skills mattered immensely.
As a warrior, Greem had followed a strict training regimen under the patriarch, allowing him to obtain the Knight Guild Warrior skills with ease.
[Swordsmanship]
[Arclight Slash]
[Arclight Thrust]
[Arclight Charge]
Those four skills were the core of the Knight Guild Warrior skillset, skills that were taught to elite members only, and one of the reason why the Knight Guild had managed to recruit 380 hunters on the small island of Jingshi, retaining locals but also attracting hunters from the mainland.
Each skill possessed a rank, based on one's mastery.
Opening his status page, Greem smiled like a devil.
Although his attributes did diminish immensely compared to his prime, his skills had not.
Skills could be divided into four categories: Perks (imbued with one's soul), passive skills (engraved in one's reflexes and habits), active skills (which could be activated in combat) and meditation techniques.
[Name - Greem Knight | D-Rank Warrior
Attributes:
Strength - D- | Agility - D | Vitality - D- |
Magic - E+ | Intellect - E+ | Perception - D+ |
Perks: Demonic Will [S], Knight Family Bloodline [A], White Tiger Sense [A], Magic Efficiency [A]
Passive skills: Swordsmanship [S], Bloodlust Control [S]
Active Skills (unsealed): White Tiger Thrust [B], Arclight Slash [B], Arclight Charge [B], Arclight Chop [B], Arclight Parry [B], Flash Step [B], Stealth [C], White Tiger Palm Strike [C]
Active Skills (sealed): Soulrend Slash [S], Bloodfare Ignition [S], Veil of the Eclipse [A], White Tiger's Prowl [A], Demonic Empowerement [A]
Meditation Technique: White Tiger Breathing Technique [SS], Noble Knight Breathing Technique [B]]
'I can't believe it...', Greem muttered with excitement, 'To think I would retain everything...'
The calamity did not bring disasters alone. It also brought a vast sea of opportunities, some that would have never appeared if it were not for the stakes at play. Long Tzu, as well as the other four heroes who had reached SS-rank, had for instance shared their strongest techniques. William Steel, known for his demonic ties, had shared the breathing techniques that could raise one's physical and magical attributes significantly.
For warriors, such a balanced breathing technique was heavenly. If it had appeared a few years before the calamity, then humanity would not have had four heroes, but dozens of them.
'Getting to practice the white tiger breathing technique not one or two, but twenty-five years away from the calamity...Maybe I can surpass them all...', he thought
However, it was not the time to think about it. He could always train after the trial.
What he needed was to prove his worth. Defeating the Knight Guild's trial at the age of fifteen was inconceivable. In his past life, he had only managed to do it at sixteen, and he was a one-of-a-kind talent, similar to his father, the patriarch. For reference, his older brother Arthur had only managed to do it at the age of 22, and he was hailed as a genius prospect, scouted by the 4th Attack Squad of the Knight Guild, a huge achievement.
His other brother, Julian, had yet to make it past the golem at the age of 20.
There was not much expectation from Albert, or the D-rank guards blocking the entrance.
However...
Greem did not plan on hiding his strength.
Seeing the slow movements of the golem, dodging would have been easy.
White Tiger Palm Strike [C]
Using core skills from a guild that would only be created twenty years from now as the last beacon of hope for humanity, Greem deflected the huge mass of clay with a palm strike, breaking the balance of the golem which fell onto the ground.
Without further do, Greem unsheathed the Polkar Jian Sword Artefact, one which he wielded for a decade, and thrust it forward.
Arclight Thrust [B]
The monitors in the room were unable to catch the speed of the thrust. The mana waves blinded the room in rare density that was rarely seen, even in high-rank mages. As a magic engineer, Anna was the most shaken. She had seen Greem's swordplay a week ago, and it was decent at best.
Now, however...
"Did he manage to push the arclight thrust to C-rank in such a small timeframe? No...It is at least as strong as what the patriarch displayed in terms of skills, so it must be B-rank!!", she shouted in excitement
However, perhaps the most frightening thing was the fact that Greem had seen through the pattern of the golem in a fraction of a second, deflected the strike and counter attacked in a split moment, accurately targeting the golem's core.
With Greem's basic stats, it should have been barely possible to detect it after fighting for a minute. However, his sixth sense perk allowed him to see through it with ease.
It had not even been a challenge.
It had been as easy as walking down to the arena.
*CRASH*
The clay dissolved. With a broken core, golems could not function properly and dissolved after all.
This was unprecedented.