Though dungeon skill books and normal skill books had the same purpose of giving one a skill, the strength of the skill contained in each one was akin to putting a tennis ball beside a basketball. Similar to how there existed various tiers of equipment, tiers of skill books also existed, with the ones most sought after only being obtainable from world raids.
After that were those that came from reoccurring field events, then those that came from dungeons, and at the bottom of the barrel were skill books that could be bought from shops. As for skill books obtained from auctions, though the quality of the skill in it generally varied, the worst one could obtain was a dungeon skill book.
Considering how dungeon skill books only became a common drop in dungeons made for Rank 5 class holders, it was no surprise that Valyr felt a great amount of excitement at being able to obtain a dungeon skill book this early on.
But of course, the novelty of the discovery eventually wore off, with Valyr taking note off the prompt that asked him if he wanted to use the skill book. Taking a look at the prerequisites written on the skill book’s description screen, a hint of puzzlement could be seen on Valyr’s face as he returned his gaze back to the prompt.
“Sure, I’m currently Rank 1 and I have over 50 INT, but I don’t have an affinity with the Fire element,” Valyr muttered to himself, lightly scratching his head.
Generally, when an item had a requirement for the user to have an affinity with a certain element, that meant the person had to have an elemental affinity skill. In Valyr’s case, he needed to have the skill [Fire Affinity] or any of its variants to be able to use the skill book and claim the skill as his own.
But even though he did not have such a skill, the system told him that he could use the skill book, causing him quite a bit of confusion.
Fortunately, as if it was waiting for him to discover this peculiarity, the disembodied voice resounded throughout the room once more, answering the question in Valyr’s mind regarding the reason why he could use the skill book, even though he had not met the prerequisites.
“Although you may not have the prerequisite skill that shows your affinity to the Fire element, your current class still resonates quite well with the element. If not for that, I would not have been able to bypass the limitation,” the voice told him. “After all, what’s a reward if you do not have the means to use it?”
Though he understood what the disembodied voice was trying to tell him, the fact that he could use the skill book without meeting all of the requirements still confounded him. Nevertheless, since the disembodied voice went out of its way to help him bypass the need to fulfill all requirements, he decided to suppress this curiosity he felt and accept the prompt in front of him.
Whoosh!
At the exact moment after he had accepted the prompt, the two screens in front of him closed in an instant as the skill book he held disappeared into thin air, making it seem as if it had never been there in the first place.
However, not long after, an influx of information swiftly filled his mind, giving him knowledge regarding the element of Fire, how he could control the element, and what kind of specific type of flame he had control over.
Ding!
[You have gained the active skill ‘Basic Crimson Flame Manipulation’.]
As this notification appeared in his mind, Valyr went ahead and commanded the system to bring up the skill’s description, wondering what kind of differences the skill had in comparison to [Basic Fire Manipulation], the usual skill one would obtain when wanting to manipulate flames.
Ding!
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[Basic Crimson Flame Manipulation] (Level 1/10)
Rarity: Common+
There are two aspects to a flame, that of creation, and that of destruction. A Crimson Flame focuses on the aspect of destruction, its entire existence created for the sole purpose of wreaking havoc and terror to one’s enemies and surroundings.
This skill allows the user to harness the power of the Crimson Flame, allowing them to manifest the Crimson Flame, as well as manipulate it to whatever the user seeks. Due to the current grade of the skill, the user can only manifest the weakest type of Crimson Flame, the Red Crimson Flame.
<First Skill: Crimson Blaze – Allows the user to cast a ball made out of Crimson Flame and shoot it at an opponent, dealing damage equivalent to 100% of the user’s INT stat. Has a range of 10 meters. Can be charged to twice its initial cost for increased damage. Cooldown: 10 seconds. Cost: 25 MP.>
Accessible Flame Types: Red Crimson Flame
MP Cost: 10 MP for first 5 seconds, 5 MP for every succeeding 3 seconds
Cooldown: 30 seconds
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“Aside from the fact that I only have control over something called the Crimson Flame, it truly lives up to the name of a Pseudo-Special Skill, already having one I can use. Neat,” Valyr said after he was finished comparing the two skills in his mind.
The reason why some skills, such as the [Basic Crimson Flame Manipulation] skill Valyr had just obtained, were called Pseudo-Special Skills, was due to the fact that they were similar to Special Skills in the sense that having one gave them access to much more skills.
However, unlike Special Skills, wherein each subsequent skill unlocked was stronger than the previous, Pseudo-Special Skills did not follow such a rule. In fact, Pseudo-Special Skills did not have Ultimate Skills either. Nevertheless, they were still highly sought after, being far easier to obtain than actual Special Skills.
Sometime later, he went ahead and tested out the main feature of the skill, manifesting a small wisp of crimson flames above his pointer finger before trying to make it revolve around his body, only to fail in doing so.
Wondering if the reason behind the failure might be due to the fact that the skill was Level 1, or the fact that he hadn’t gotten familiar with the skill yet, he placed the question at the back of his head as he tested out the skill attached to it, extending out one of his palms soon after.
“[Crimson Blaze].”
Whoosh!
Bang!
Within seconds, a mass of crimson flames the size of a tennis ball barely hovered above Valyr’s extended palm, which he threw at a nearby wall not long after. To no surprise, the ball exploded on impact, bursting out into multiple small wisps of crimson flames as part of the wall that collided with the fireball had been discolored black.
Letting out a light whistle at what the first skill was capable of in its base form, Valyr was greatly satisfied with the skill, feeling thankful once more that the disembodied voice had found a way to help him use the skill book.
“Now that I think about it…” Though, it was only that moment did Valyr think that it was odd for a voice to actively respond to his questions…
Unless if it was alive.
“Are you alive?” asked Valyr not long after, voicing his question out towards the disembodied voice further. However, no matter how many times he repeated the question, he did not obtain a response from the disembodied voice whatsoever.
Seeing as it was fruitless to ask any further questions, Valyr eventually let out a light sigh as he slung the bag he carried around his chest before proceeding through the door that led to the next room. “I guess my question will only be answered once I get farther in the dungeon.”𝑜𝒱𝓵xt.𝒞𝑶𝓜
With that thought spurring him on, he walked through the corridor behind the door, eventually arriving at a room that was at least twice as wide as the room he had just taken a respite in. Looking around the surroundings to see if there were any opponents in the room, his eyes eventually stopped on a goblin wearing plate armor on its chest while wielding a scimitar, its stature more or less the same height as him.
Aside from that, five goblins around half the tall goblin’s height surrounded the latter, all of them donning leather armor while wielding crude wooden weapons.
Though he felt a foreboding feeling of what was about to come, Valyr went ahead and used [Analysis] on the large goblin, only to retrieve the spear behind his back soon after as he prepared for the upcoming battle with a light sigh.
Ding!
“Guess it’s time for round two.”