Level Up with Skills - Chapter 15

Chapter 15

 

Einzhar, the Holy knight (1)

 

TL: handCream

PR: Kasaix

 

To gain a Skill the implementation of an action combined with its effectiveness is also required.

 

Broadly speaking, Swordsmanship and Shield Art are because of that.

 

He obtained Swordsmanship because of the continuous sword strikes he made. And while performing those strikes he also used the shield at the same time, so he acquired the Shield Art. He held his breath for a long time in the fountain to receive Slowed Breathing, while stopping his breath and swinging his sword multiple times earned him the Slowed Breathing Attack skill.

 

Then, what should he do to achieve a skill that could nullify a lethal attack that could kill him?

 

It’s simple

 

[You are on the verge of death]

[Master of Death increased by 2%]

[Coolheaded increased by 2%.]

 

All he had to do was block consecutive attacks that could kill him.

 

[You have blocked attacks that can kill you over and over again]

 

[You have gained the passive skill [Endurance]]

 

Acquiring the skill Tae-san rushed towards the Big Rat. The Big Rat, in fear, tried to run away, but the shield crushed its small body.

 

“Squeak!”

 

[You have killed the Big Rat]

[Soul Raiser has been activated]

[Agility permanently increased by 1]

[You have gained a small amount of experience]

[. . ．]

 

Clearing up the status window, Tae-san opened his Skill Page.

 

[Passive skill: Endurance]

[Proficiency: 1%]

[Nullify a lethal attack. Afterwards, ignore all sources of damage for 1 second]

 

Tae-san laughed. When Lee Tae-yeon heard the method to acquire Endurance, she had called him a madman. But all he did was smirk at her.

 

Because Tae-san was different. He never understood the point of why a player would refuse to acquire a skill just because they were afraid of the jaws of death, especially if the skill could save their lives in the future. And even now it didn’t make any sense to him.

 

For Tae-san, making a mistake and dying was a very light gamble compared to the reward. The labyrinth was a place where you couldn’t get anything without risking your life.

 

Tae-san only followed the rules.

 

* * *

 

After returning to the fountain and recovering his Health, Tae-san began the verification process.

 

[Passive Skill: Block]

[Proficiency: 1%]

[Blocks damages under a certain number. Currently, damage below 1 can be blocked.]

 

Block was also a good skill to prevent damages without depending on the skill level. Without luck, it’s difficult to raise the skill level. And no one wanted to depend on something that needed a lot of time and perseverance.

 

Tae-san also had no intention of raising the proficiency level immediately. So he postponed it.

 

The Master of Death and Coolheaded were also levelled up.

 

[Passive skill: Coolheaded]

[Proficiency: 31%]

[Gives unshakable courage. As long as an existence beyond your perception doesn’t appear, you will not panic. Decisions could be corrected]

 

[Passive skill: Master of Death]

[Proficiency: 68%]

[The user can sense the time of death. Automatically triggers in the time of crisis]

 

Both skills’ proficiency had raised. The Master of Death was particularly high level. It meant that a lot of deadly traps could be detected in advance.

 

‘Do I have any other skills to learn?’

 

There were few others he could think of, but right now he couldn’t remember them. Even if Tae-san could recall his memories, remembering 200 something skills at once was something very hard to achieve.

 

“Oh, someone is here!”

 

Suddenly a loud voice rang. Tae-san reflexively took out his shield.

 

“Haha! Great reaction.”

 

An old man in golden armor was looking at him with a smile.

 

Monsters cannot enter the fountain of life.

 

So that must be an NPC.

 

[You have encountered a god-seeker]

 

“Hello.”

 

It was better to remain vigilant while greeting. Lee Tae-yeon always reminded him that most of the NPCs in Solo Mode were crazy.

 

The knight in the white beard, asked.

 

“Are you an adventurer?”

 

“Adventurer?”

 

“Aren’t you one of those who strive to conquer the labyrinth? Did I term you wrong?”

 

“No, that’s right.”

 

Tae-san remembered.

 

[When I was still on the first floor resting in the fountain of life, an old man came to me. Did he say he was a holy knight who served God?]

 

And what did she say?

 

He suddenly remembered. Tae-san hurriedly raised his shield. The Holy knight approached him. Although he was still far away, the knight covered the distance in one step.

 

The Holy knight smiled and raised his fist.

 

“I’ll have to stop it!”

 

[Einzhar launched a non-lethal attack]

[Einzhar’s attack]

 

His fist was aimed at Tae-san.

 

The fist was flying towards him.

 

Slowly.

 

But surely.

 

[Master of Death is activated]

 

The system window issued a warning. If not for that, he wouldn’t have known.

 

That fist had the power to kill him.

 

His body reacted faster than his thoughts. Tae-san, crouched down lifting his shield, preparing for the shock.

 

Khuung!

 

The shield and fist clashed with each other. Tae-san was startled by the power that was beyond astonishing.

 

“This…”

 

It was not simply a high level of strength. It was just heavy. Tae-san felt like a heavy boulder weighed him down.

 

Tae-san clenched his teeth. Strengthened his muscles to the limit and he forcibly aimed towards the direction of the fist.

 

Khaang!

 

He displaced the shield with a rough sound. Turning it towards the direction of the fist, he tried to minimize the damage. Move the shield with a harsh sound. Spill the RBI of the fist and turn the direction of power.

 

[You were hit by the force of a mountain. Power is permanently increased by 1]

 

[You dismantled the force of the mountain. Obtained an Active Skill [Parry]]

 

“Huh?!”

 

Einzhar’s face was filled with admiration.

 

“Then what about this?”

 

His fist flew in a straight line. Crushing the shield that was trying to reduce the knight’s force, the fist was heading straight towards Tae-san.

 

Tae-san quickly came to a conclusion.

 

He couldn’t stop it. Whether with a skill or not, the difference in their power was too big.

 

And so, he didn’t bother blocking it.

 

Just as Tae-san’s posture lowered, the trajectory of the fist naturally curved down. Soon, the tilted shield and the fist collided.

 

Tae-san holding his shield, kicked his feet backwards with his whole might.

 

Thud!

 

[You were dealt with 35,211 damage]

[You have activated [Endurance]. Damage has been nullified]

 

“Kwaggh!”

 

His body hit the wall along with the shield. The stone wall of the labyrinth was crushed beyond recognition.

 

Tae-san, confirming the fact while touching his back, smiled in vain.

 

‘How could such a thing happen?’

 

Breaking down the wall of the labyrinth. It was something he had never even heard of. The old man in front him had done something, no other player or monster he had ever met could have simply done such a thing.

 

Besides, the damage itself was ridiculous.

 

Even though he did his best to reduce the damage, it was still over 30,000. The blow spoke for itself.

 

This old man was incomparably stronger than Lee Tae-yeon.

 

‘How?’

 

Even if pure monsters like the gatekeeper were against him. He would have put up a good fight, making it hard to win against him.

 

“Ho-oh!”

 

However, the old man looked at Tae-san with an admirable face. “I thought the damage would be over 100,000, but you are amazing to reduce it to just 30,000.”

 

“You just can’t stand still, can you?”

 

“That’s true.”

 

The old man chuckled and asked Tae-san.

 

“Who are you?”

 

“Do I have any reason to tell you?”

 

He spoke in a sharp tone. The old man just laughed.

 

“Of course, that’s why I made it a non-killing attack. Also, I also have no intention of killing my first opponent I just met. Above all, even if I sincerely attacked, you still had Endurance. So, I thought there was no problem. Therefore, yes you do have a reason.”

 

“…Did you see that?”

 

“Well!”

 

The old man clenched his fist and nodded. “I was shocked that you have the Master of Death! You used it well, actually you were amazing overall. The way you deflected my attack with that poor stats.”

 

The old man spat those words with force. Listening to him, Tae-san frowned.

 

“How do you know about skills?”

 

NPCs with ego are only found in Solo Mode, but Lee Tae-yeon has never mentioned anything about them having the knowledge of skills.

 

There were only two answers: either she didn’t bother mentioning it or she didn’t know.

 

“Honestly, I was worried that you might be weak. But it was all in vain.”

 

The old man was looking at Tae-san with satisfaction.

 

“Adventurer. What’s your name?”

 

“I’m Kang Tae-san.”

 

“Tae-san! What a glorious meeting!”

 

The old man, Einzhar, smiled brightly.

 

“Bless this miracle, I’m Einzhar. The seeker of god!”