Chapter 200: Founding Monarch, Profession Specialty, Energy Traits

Chapter 200: Chapter 200: Founding Monarch, Profession Specialty, Energy Traits

At this thought, Lance put down his spoon and looked up at the man across from him.

"Uncle Rein, now that I’m a Professional, is the only way to keep increasing my Basic Attributes just by raising my Professional Level?"

Lance voiced the question that had been weighing on his mind.

Ever since Rein had so casually mentioned the exclusive initiation ceremony for the hidden Divine Chaos, Lance had stopped thinking of the old man before him as just an ordinary retired veteran.

The man definitely had an extraordinary past.

But since Rein had chosen to keep that past buried, Lance tacitly chose not to press the issue.

Everyone had the right to their secrets.

At least Rein’s decade-plus of seclusion in Gray Rock Town had been peaceful. Whatever trouble he’d been in was likely long since dealt with.

Hearing Lance’s question, Rein carefully recalled his knowledge of the Extraordinary Domain and gave a definitive answer.

"In this world, any method that can increase a Professional’s Basic Attributes out of thin air is exceptionally precious."

"Because it’s equivalent to forcibly expanding a person’s life potential."

"And there’s an ironclad rule."

"For every method that can increase Attributes, once a person uses it, their body develops a complete resistance to it."

"A second use will have no effect whatsoever."

"That’s why in the world of Professionals, whenever a rare resource that can increase Attributes appears, it immediately incites a mad scramble among all Professionals."

After hearing the old veteran’s explanation, Lance immediately thought of his Biological Research panel.

The natives of this world had to risk their lives for even the slightest Attribute bonus, and they were still strictly limited by resistance.

But he was completely different.

As long as he continued to go out into the wilds and grind the Research Progress of different types of Demons, he could endlessly extract Racial Talents and Attribute bonuses from them.

As long as there was enough biodiversity, he could ignore this world’s rules and stack his life potential indefinitely.

This would give him a despair-inducing, insurmountable advantage when facing Adventurers of the same Tier in the future.

"Now that you’ve successfully ignited your Source Melting Furnace and become a true Professional..."

The old veteran paused for a moment, steering the conversation to more immediate plans.

"During the first week of the Summer Crown next month, you need to hurry to White River City."

"Go to the Veterans’ Hospital there and officially use the spot for the Heroic Spirit Baptism that I transferred to you."

"The permanent bonus from that Baptism will be a great help when you start exploring the Underground City."

At this point, Rein seemed to think of something amusing, and the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but lift into a smile.

"That spot is only available during the first week of the Summer Crown each year."

"At the ceremony, you’ll see the newly initiated nobles and members of the Royal Family from the Royal Capital seeking to resonate with a Heroic Spirit."

"Listen, kid, and remember this well. During the Baptism Ceremony, if you get a choice and have the opportunity, you must do everything in your power to select a Legendary figure related to Clovis Pendragon."

"The Founding Monarch?"

Lance was taken aback.

In the Kingdom’s general education, that name was a household name.

Rein nodded with a smile.

"That’s right."

"Because back in the day, he held the imposing title of ’Red Dragon’ on the battlefield."

"And it was by killing the ’White Dragon’ in the final war against the Northern Territory that he successfully founded our Iris Kingdom."

He had personally seen the majestic phantom of a Crimson Dragon behind Lance. If Lance could resonate with the Founding Monarch who bore the title of Red Dragon during the Heroic Spirit Baptism, the resulting bonus would surely undergo some kind of astonishing qualitative change.

’Besides, it would be a huge slap in the face to those nobles in the Royal Capital. I hear that Princess from the Royal Family, the one they call the "Crimson Crowned Red Dragon," should be completing her initiation around now. It’d be interesting if they ran into each other.’

The two were about to continue their casual chat on the topic.

Just then, a loud, chaotic noise suddenly erupted from the street outside.

A mixture of disorderly footsteps and cheers pierced through the wooden door, making it sound as if a large crowd had suddenly flooded the street.

Rein’s smile vanished in an instant.

"I’ll go out and see what’s happening. You stay here and eat."

’It sounds like something really good happened outside.’

Watching Rein push open the door with his new crutch, Lance averted his gaze.

He refocused his attention on the virtual panel before him, continuing to delve into the Profession information he hadn’t fully processed.

The gap between a Heroic Profession and an Ordinary one wasn’t just in the massive surge of Basic Attributes; the core advantage lay in the special Professional Specialties.

Ordinary Professionals could only select abilities from a pool of common Specialties, whereas a Heroic Profession, in addition to being compatible with relevant basic Specialties, also had its own exclusive pool of Specialties.

According to the rules of his Profession, he would gain one Specialty point to strengthen himself for every Level he gained.

Lance used his Telekinesis to open the Specialty tree for [Pale Guard].

Among the complex array of Specialty icons, he locked onto the three exclusive abilities he could unlock at Level 1: [Death Country Contract], [Unyielding Iron Wall], and [Death Line Defense].

He looked at the first option, [Death Country Contract].

Its Effect allowed Lance to designate one to three friendly targets and take half of the physical or Spirit damage they received.

This Specialty was practically a Divine Skill for a team’s core member.

But Lance glanced at it for only a second before skipping it.

He had no teammates to share damage with right now; choosing this would be a complete waste.

The remaining two options left him briefly conflicted.

The Effect of [Unyielding Iron Wall] was incredibly hardcore.

It granted the user immunity to all forced movement effects, like knockback and pulls, from enemies of the same or lower Tier.

It also provided significant resistance to the loss of mobility from dismemberment.

This meant that even if an arm was broken or half his body was torn apart, the Ether Energy in his heart could surge forth to act as sinew, allowing him to maintain full combat motion until he was completely dead.

This was somewhat similar to the "Resist Death" feat he had obtained earlier, but its expression was more geared toward a deathmatch. Choosing it would create the image of a severed arm, connected by Ether Energy, continuing to swing and fight.

Or the Energy could directly form a limb to continue the battle.

The other option, [Death Line Defense], was equally tempting.

It forced a 15% reduction on all physical and Spell damage taken from the front. Any sneak attack attempting to bypass his defenses from behind would be instantly locked onto by his "Intuition."

In this state, when Lance launched a counterattack of opportunity against the ambusher, his weakness-exploitation rate would soar by 50%.

Lance weighed his options in his mind for a moment before finally choosing [Death Line Defense].

His reason for giving up [Unyielding Iron Wall] was simple.

While the effect of fighting with reconnected limbs was certainly valiant, its function clearly overlapped with the trump cards he already possessed.

In contrast, [Death Line Defense] was the best fit for his current combat style.

The permanent frontal damage reduction, combined with the tough skin he had extracted from Demons, would raise his Defense Power to an astonishing level.

And in the perilous environment of the Underground City, guarding against sneak attacks from behind was the first rule of survival.

The Intuition lock-on and counterattack weakness-exploitation perfectly covered the tactical blind spot of his unprotected back during solo exploration.

After selecting his Specialty, the last Attribute closely tied to his Profession was the Ether Energy now flowing within the Melting Furnace of his heart.

Through the high-temperature forging of the Source Melting Furnace, the Energy from his Professional Traits and personal Source Material had completely fused, forming a High Tier Ether Energy that could be materialized and coated onto weapons.

The exclusive name for Lance’s Energy was: Ash Dragon Breath.

As Lance chewed on a piece of meat, he tried to channel this new Power.

He guided a small amount of Ether Energy down his arm, discreetly coating the wooden spoon in his hand.

A silvery-white glimmer immediately appeared on the spoon’s surface, but around the edges of this silver light swirled a dangerous hue, like dark red magma.

The special Effect of his Energy was: when Ash Dragon Breath was used in combat, it would inflict astonishingly high-temperature damage on the enemy.

What was even more terrifying was that this dark red Energy would burrow into the enemy’s wounds like a living thing, burning their flesh from the inside out.

Not only would this cause continuous damage, but it would also apply a partial Healing Ban status effect to the target.

Both natural regeneration and healing from Spells would be drastically reduced by a certain percentage.

This special effect was extremely powerful in battle.

Against tough enemies with tenacious Life Force or healing abilities, the Healing Ban Effect could directly destroy their ability to fight a war of attrition, turning a drawn-out battle into a one-sided slaughter.

Just as Lance was marveling at the power of this new force, the wooden spoon, unable to withstand the high temperature, turned into a pinch of black ash in mid-air.

The spoonful of soup, now unsupported, spilled directly onto the table.