Chapter 350: Truly Guiding Lance: Direction for Growth

Chapter 350: Chapter 350: Truly Guiding Lance: Direction for Growth

The Lantern Carrier pointed to the nebulous, starry sky above and spoke slowly.

"Whether it be Swordsman, Mage, or any of the Rare Professions, their original purpose in being created was to allow humans to accumulate Power and climb the Ascension Ladder, step by step."

"But Jhin, the Virtuoso, is not."

The Lantern Carrier’s tone grew solemn.

"The Power of Jhin, the Virtuoso, from the very moment of its conception, was never meant for godhood."

"This Profession has only five Levels in total. Each level-up strengthens one of the following abilities, which represent five methods of interfering with fate: Obfuscation, Transference, Cutting, Plunder, and Deception."

The Lantern Carrier paused, and his gaze from behind the mask seemed to fall upon Lance.

"I know you are like me. In your past, your fate was arbitrarily manipulated and toyed with by those self-righteous superiors."

"That feeling is painful and humiliating."

"But I hope you won’t let hatred cloud your judgment, nor rush to seek revenge against the masterminds behind the scenes."

There was a hint of warning in the Lantern Carrier’s voice.

"The power of Jhin, the Virtuoso, that you have now unlocked is enough to protect yourself from the machinations of fate. However, your foundation is still too weak. You must learn patience, accumulate more Power and bargaining chips. Only when you have truly mastered High Tier Power will you be qualified to strike back."

Following the Lantern Carrier’s detailed introduction, Lance gradually came to understand the terrifying nature of this Profession.

Among its abilities, the one that shocked and excited Lance the most was [Cutting].

This ability allowed a Jhin, the Virtuoso, to observe the various potential branches of a target’s future fate.

Furthermore, the Jhin could forcibly "cut" away one of those potential future branches.

After a successful Cut, not only could the Jhin harvest a large amount of General Experience Points, but there was also a chance to directly Plunder a Skill or Specialty the target possessed in that severed timeline!

For the current Lance, this ability was practical to an extreme.

Because the Underground City had collectively entered a "silent period" of unknown duration, the number of respawning Demons had plummeted.

Lance was planning to travel the continent next.

During conventional adventures, without dense Monster Groups like those in the Underground City, his rate of gaining Professional Experience would inevitably drop sharply.

However, if he could use the Jhin, the Virtuoso’s [Cut Fate] ability to actively involve himself in all sorts of complex events...

...then he could even interfere with the course of those events and sweep up massive amounts of experience points, reaping them like a harvest.

Because when Lance actively joined and advanced the development of an event, he was already performing the act of "cutting the event," forcibly diverting it from its original path toward his desired outcome.

In this process of changing fate, the feedback from destiny would surely bring him bountiful rewards.

’How terrifying!’

Lance exclaimed inwardly.

And even more powerful than Cutting was [Plunder], unlocked at a higher Level.

It was a method that could even directly strip away another’s path of fate, seizing the Legend they had painstakingly accumulated and making it his own.

It wasn’t until this moment, after truly coming into contact with the Power of fate...

...that Lance finally understood just how monstrously powerful a Heroic Profession could be.

This was a level of conceptual power he had never experienced with [Pale Guard].

And to think that many others in this world also possessed such cheat-like abilities.

The Lantern Carrier seemed to see the shock in Lance’s heart.

"This is why I have appeared here today."

The Lantern Carrier stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his voice calm.

"I need to clear the fog for you and point out the road ahead. You possess immense potential, but you also have clear shortcomings and deficiencies. I am here to point out these hidden dangers one by one."

Hearing this, Lance seemed to guess the Mad King’s true intention for leaving this stream of information.

That Mad King, Balthazar, must have been born into some ancient, powerful family with a deep foundation.

He must have received a complete and systematic education in Extraordinary Knowledge from a young age, with his elders planning out his Profession’s growth path from the very beginning.

But the Mad King knew that the future person who met the harsh conditions to inherit the [Jhin, the Virtuoso] Profession might be someone from a humble background, an untutored stray lacking guidance.

He did not want his successor to perish prematurely.

That was why he had painstakingly left this one-time informational guidance within the Profession’s core information.

’But I don’t get it. Would he really be so kind?’

’A man known in history as the Mad King.’

’Or is the legacy of Jhin, the Virtuoso, just that important?’

According to what the Lantern Carrier had just said, this was a one-time trigger.

In other words, he himself was the first person in several hundred years to successfully take up the Profession of Jhin, the Virtuoso, after Balthazar.

After completing the basic instruction, the Lantern Carrier did not hurry to leave.

He began to engage in some light-hearted small talk with Lance, like an elder.

"Do you think that being able to defeat Galeos in his descended state in the Underground City was some incredible achievement?"

The Lantern Carrier suddenly changed the subject, posing a question. What he was about to say and do next was the true guidance for this young man.

"Did you know?"

Without waiting for Lance to answer, the Lantern Carrier continued.

"In the long history of the Kingdom, among those in a Class that has yet to cross into the Excellence Tier, the number of geniuses capable of defeating Galeos in that state is actually not small."

"Or to put it another way, anyone who would go on to earn the title of ’Pole Star’ could do it. I was no exception back then."

"?!"

Those words hit him with tremendous shock. He had spent three lives just to defeat that opponent.

His understanding of the world suddenly started to blur.

The Lantern Carrier watched Lance’s shocked expression and patiently explained, "However,

most of the beings they killed back then weren’t mythical Heroic Spirit Species like Galeos."

"They might have killed certain Giant Dragons, or some high-ranking mythical species."

"After all, unless a Heroic Spirit intentionally descends, the possibility of a Heroic Spirit Species appearing is too random. Add to that the odds of it happening to coincide with a person of such caliber being in the Underground City at the same time... the probability is simply too low."

"That is why your feat of slaying a Heroic Spirit appears so rare to the outside world."

"But this does not mean that there are no others of your generation in this world who could achieve a feat of your caliber."

The Lantern Carrier then softened his tone, comforting him.

"However, you need not be discouraged."

"You possess terrifying potential that surpasses all of them."

"The reason I’m telling you these facts is to make you recognize your true standing in the entire Extraordinary World, not to let you waste this potential in blind confidence."

The Lantern Carrier’s tone then became serious.

"You should know that before a Professional crosses into the Excellence Tier, an Ordinary person’s physical tolerance is limited."

"A single individual Attribute can only reach a maximum of 50 points. And you? How far are you from this limit?"

Hearing this question, Lance immediately called up his attribute panel in his mind to check.

Looking at the numbers, his mood grew a little heavy.

Even his [Power] Attribute, which was his highest after multiple level-ups, had only just reached 44 points.

His other core Attributes were also hovering in the 30s.

There was indeed still a considerable gap to the 50-point limit.

’Still, this should be the limit for others as well, right?’

"And as for those Pole Star geniuses recorded in the annals of history..."

The Lantern Carrier mercilessly shattered Lance’s illusion.

"At the peak of the Tier you are currently in, the vast majority of them were able to stack at least three core Attributes to the absolute maximum value of 50 points!"

"How is that possible?!"

Lance couldn’t help but cry out in astonishment.

"After officially taking a Profession, isn’t the only way to gain Attribute Value by leveling up your Professional Level to get free attribute points? The attribute point rewards from Level 1 to 5 are fixed. How did they break this rule and gain so many extra attribute points out of thin air?"

"Breathing Technique?"

The Lantern Carrier’s two words sent Lance into a long silence.

’That’s right!’

’Breathing Technique!’

Because the [Dragon Hunting Breathing Combat Technique] provided a high Attribute boost when activated, he used it as a constant state.

Over time, Lance had subconsciously taken the Attribute increase from the Breathing Technique for granted, treating it as part of his fundamental base strength.

He had long forgotten that it was actually a skill enhancement that forcibly squeezed power from his body by burning Ether.

Once his Ether was depleted or his Breathing Technique was interrupted, his true Attributes would instantly drop back to their original state.

"Moreover, think back carefully."

The Lantern Carrier continued to guide Lance’s thoughts.

"In the time that has passed, haven’t you also gained permanent Attribute enhancements outside of Professional Level-up rewards?"

"You mean... the Basic Attributes bonus attached to titles?"

Lance suddenly realized.

"Correct."

The Lantern Carrier nodded, confirming Lance’s suspicion.

"In truth, there are many ways in this world to stack your Attributes to their maximum at a Low Tier. It’s just that the Basic Attribute growth from Professional Level-ups is the most precious of them all."

The Lantern Carrier began to admonish Lance.

"Your victory over Galeos in that battle wasn’t because your raw strength had reached a crushing level. You merely happened to counter him with the ability of the Red Dragon Essence, and you used an extreme Specialty like ’Hunting King’s Extreme Intent’ to forcibly cash in power beyond your limits, time and time again, from death."

"This is a very, very dangerous practice,"

the Lantern Carrier said with grave earnestness.

"Now that you’ve successfully obtained the Profession legacy of Jhin, the Virtuoso, you should understand that people who can return from the dead are not non-existent in this world."

"And if such a power exists, then methods to counter it must also exist."

"Furthermore, there are significant hidden dangers behind a miracle like returning from the dead."

Lance suddenly recalled the Witch’s warning about the risk of the Land of Death.

"If you develop a habit of relying on death to unleash bursts of power in future battles, the day you encounter a Treasure or a person capable of restricting that ability, you will find yourself in a hopeless situation."

The Lantern Carrier pointed at Lance’s chest.

"Unless you can one day Resist Death through the Pale Guard, or use the Deception ability of Jhin, the Virtuoso, to perfectly fool the eyes of the Death God, then truly hunkering down to improve yourself and accumulate your own raw strength is the King’s Way."