I finally opened my eyes after what felt like an eternity. The headache was still irritating but somehow manageable.
Opening my eyes, the first thing I did was open my stat window.
Name: Luke Star
Class: Novice Huntsman Lv 1
Species: Human
Rank: Spark
[Stats]
Strength: 0.48 >> 0.60
Dexterity: 0.7 >> 0.82
Constitution: 0.28 >> 0.4
Agility: 0.7
Perception: 1.4 >> 1.58
Wisdom: 0.8
Willpower: 9.8
Mana Capacity: 1.5
Potential: 3
Ability
None
Weapon Mastery
Dagger Style (Novice): 89%
Archery (Adept): 20%
Swordsmanship (Novice): 70%
Unarmed Combat Mastery (Adept): 78%
Spells
None
Talents/Blessings
Death Sovereign
[The blessing from Death Wraith had been neutralized by a blessing from the Sovereign of Death, but skills are retained.]
Skills
[Shadow Step (Novice): 0%]
[Soul Reap (Novice): 0%]
[Hunter Instinct (Novice): 0%]
[Predator Gaze (Novice): 0%]
[Keen Insight (Novice): 0%]
[Spectral Vision (Novice): 0%]
[Death Embrace (Novice): 0%]
...….
Class: Novice Huntsman
Effect: Increases perception and dexterity by 15%.
Class Upgrade is at Lv 10.
After focusing on the class, I stared at my skills.
_____________________________________
[Spectral Vision]
Description: Allows the observer to see into the spirit realm, enabling detection of supernatural beings, spirits, or magical traces left by the spirits, specters, living, or deceased.
[Hunter Gaze]
Activates a piercing, focused vision that reveals enemy weaknesses, movement patterns, and future actions. Strikes fear into everyone nearby, overwhelming them with intense pressure as the user locks onto the most immediate threat, enhancing their reflexes for precise, lethal strikes.
[Hunter's Instinct]
Develops the sixth sense of a person, altering perception and reacting strongly when encountering danger or crisis.
[Death Embrace]
Provides the user with immunity to fear and mind-altering effects, making them mentally unbreakable. As they endure more battles and exposure to death, their resistance to poisons, diseases, and extreme pain strengthens, gradually desensitizing them to physical and emotional suffering. Each encounter further fortifies their body and mind.
[Keen Insight]
Enhances the user's perception, allowing quick assessment of situations, reading intentions, and noticing hidden details. It sharpens intuition for predicting moves in combat and aids in problem-solving, giving a strategic edge under pressure.
[Soul Reap]
Drains the life force from a target, weakening them and healing the user slightly.
_____________________________________
It was a joyful moment as I saw the new sets of skills that came along with the Huntsman of Death.
However, the class only shows Huntsman because it has yet to evolve or, to say, I need to fulfill a specific set of conditions. This wasn't easy.
There are five class upgrades before reaching max at levels 10, 25, 50, 75, and 100, respectively, after which you will get the final class.
That was Huntsman of Death for me.
Upgrading here didn't require hoarding experience by kills. Rather, one needed to understand the power and role of their class. As I focused deeper, a small syntax appeared below the class.
______________
[Novice Huntsman Advancement]
Learn the beginner skills of Huntsman, consisting of basic tracking, hunting, killing, using poisons, and having an adept level in all weapon skills.
______________
"Nothing surprising."
"Within my expectations."
The main reason for choosing Huntsman-related job classes was because it allowed variability.
Having a class related to a particular weapon provided a great boost in skills and talent, but it only works if you have an innate talent. Otherwise, you could never achieve the level of transcendence—or, to say, the peak of the class at the later end of the game. Meanwhile, a hunter uses everything at its disposal to hunt, which would give flexibility, but the limitation was that they can't master anything.
It's a jack-of-all-trades but a master of none.
This is somehow suitable for me. I didn't seem to have any particular talent; otherwise, it would have shone on the screen.
I might have had some skills in my previous life, but this body is fundamentally different without much positive.
Truthfully, when compared to other classes, it fails to give any significant boost. I remembered the protagonist gaining +2 stat points from the class itself, and every upgrade had a significant boost.
"Now that I think about it, he was a bit weaker, ranking around 5000 but started getting stronger later."
Compared to them, my stats only increased in perception and dexterity. However, at the end stage, this class is going to be an absolute beast.
The flaws in stats were supplemented by a variety of skills.
"The skills are nothing fancy but quite effective and practical. Not so overpowering that they impose restrictions."
Also, it coincides with the power of the Death Wraith or Spectre—whatever I gave my soul for.
"Thankfully, this went well with my planning. The Death Wraith has been subdued, but I still need to be careful of it."
In truth, I just came here to try my luck. As long as you follow a specified pattern, even a weak class is going to show its effect. Still, the lure of power can't be ignored.
"Now that everything is done, how do I get out of here..."
I didn't even finish my sentence when a shiny door appeared before me, asking me to step out.
Naturally, I followed, and as I stepped out, my vision distorted, and my senses became blurry.
SWOOSH
As my figure faded into the door, the void behind me trembled. From the dark flames, something began to stir.
At first, it looked like the Keeper, but as it emerged, the semblance disappeared.
Its body twisted and writhed, countless eyes bursting open from the blackness, blinking erratically, all fixed on a single spot as though piercing through reality itself.
Soon, a hollow laughter rang out sharply. It was disjointed, with each note cutting through the silence like a blade.
"I embraced my end," a rasped voice crackled, like bone grinding against bone. "To prove it... to prove that death is superior to all."
The thing shuddered, its body form pulsing as if alive with its own madness. Its laughter grew louder, more unhinged, the void itself trembling in response.
"Kekekekek!"
"And now..." it hissed, dragging the words out like poison, "the wait is over. The long wait. Kekeke!"
It leaned forward, though it had no true face—just shadows writhing and twisting like tendrils of smoke.
"My inheritor," it whispered, its voice a chilling hiss that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere, "go forth and show those foolish gods out there the truth they've denied."
The eyes blinked in unison, their stare unrelenting.
"Life is just the prelude to Death," it croaked, pausing, savoring the word like a curse.
Then its form began to distort, the flames around it roaring higher.
"And that truth," it hissed, its voice rising into a maddened crescendo, "is the same for gods as it is for mortals!"
"Kekekeke!"
With a deafening boom, the darkness around it erupted. The void twitched violently, twisting and warping until it all began to fade, the creature's laughter echoing long after the rest was gone.