[Class: Pyromancer]

[Skills: Pyromantic Affinity, Explosive Flame, Heat Sense]

[Duration: 24 hours]

Moon had decided to join the action for several reasons, but the main one was simple: he wanted to copy Kael Glassey's class, and to do that, he needed to not only see him use his class but also to be close to him.

Reading through the skills, Moon's heartbeat began to increase with anticipation. The first skill wasn't particularly impressive, and theoretically, it wouldn't help him at all.

[Pyromantic Affinity]

[Rank: Common]

[Proficiency: 0%]

[Details: You possess low affinity to the element of fire.]

Moon skimmed through the details of Pyromantic Affinity quickly. It was redundant given his Epic-rank Five Element Affinity, which already provided fire manipulation capabilities. This Common-rank skill would add nothing meaningful to his arsenal.

He moved on to the next skill, which he was genuinely excited about.

[Explosive Flame]

[Rank: Rare]

[Proficiency: 0%]

[Details: You can conjure flames that detonate on impact. The size of the explosion scales with mana invested. Detonation radius: 2 meters. Explosions affect all targets within radius, including the caster.]

Another Rare skill. And if I can master it within the next twenty-four hours... I can evolve it to Epic rank, Moon thought excitedly.

This was exactly what he'd expected from Kael—a skill that explained the overwhelming, explosive power behind his fire magic. The devastation Moon had observed wasn't just from higher mana investment or level. It was from a specialised skill designed specifically to maximise destructive output through controlled detonations.

Explosive Flame would give Moon capabilities that his current skill set lacked. His fire attacks were powerful, but they burned rather than exploded. This would add a completely different dimension to his offensive toolkit.

Moon's eyes landed on the last skill.

[Heat Sense]

[Rank: Common]

[Proficiency: 0%]

[Details: You can detect heat signatures within a 10-meter radius. Living creatures, active fires, and recent heat sources appear as thermal impressions in your awareness.]

The skill was clearly effective for tracking, detecting hidden enemies, and identifying ambush points.

So that's how he was able to sense me.

Of course, Moon had been more than ten meters away from Kael when he'd been discovered. But Moon understood something from personal experience with copying classes: skills continued increasing in effectiveness as proficiency rose toward one hundred percent. Kael, having awakened this class naturally, would have the maximised Heat Sense from the get-go.

Moon had been roughly twenty meters from Kael's position when called out, which meant at maximum proficiency, the detection radius was at least twenty meters, and possibly more. That was more than sufficient for identifying hidden observers or ambush predators in usual combat scenarios.

Given three skills to master, Moon felt both excited and worried. It was like being handed a gift wrapped in multiple layers of paper. He'd have to tear through all of them until eventually reaching the core prize. If he couldn't unwrap everything in time before the twenty-four-hour limit expired, it would all be taken away.

And that would be painful to bear, considering how useful the two skills were.

The priority was clear: focus everything on mastering Explosive Flame. That was the real treasure. Heat Sense was useful but not nearly as much. The rank difference said it all.

Pyromantic Affinity was completely redundant, so Moon wouldn't focus on it either.

But Explosive Flame evolved to Epic rank? That could fundamentally change how Moon fought.

He just needed to figure out how to raise its proficiency as quickly as possible while contributing to this battle.

Moon raised his staff and prepared to join the fight properly.

♢♢♢♢

BOOM!

Boom!

Moon channelled his new Explosive Flame skill, forming fireballs that detonated upon impact with the Dugbog's wooden defences or the ground around it alongside Kael's attacks.

Initially, the explosions were noticeably weaker compared to his standard fire attacks, relying on the uncommon-rank Elemental Attack. The blast radius was smaller, the thermal damage less intense, and the overall destructive output inferior to what he could normally produce.

But Moon didn't care about immediate effectiveness.

He kept sending explosive fireballs that detonated upon impact, occasionally mixing in wind magic to spread the resulting flames across the battlefield to deny the Dugbog easy access to unburned vegetation.

Their surrounding area had become a wasteland of fire. Whenever smoke rose up thickly, Moon used his wind element to move it away. Thankfully, the Dugbog wasn't able to control dying vegetation but only healthy vegetation. Otherwise, the plan would have backfired on their group.

Moon kept true to his support role; he wasn't trying to be the main damage dealer. He wasn't there to show off his capabilities or impress anyone. His sole focus was gaining proficiency with the new skill as quickly as possible, so all he did was spam Explosive Flame repeatedly while maintaining basic tactical awareness.

The proficiency grew rapidly at first, reaching twenty percent in what felt like no time at all. Each successful detonation added incrementally to his understanding of how the skill functioned, how to compress the fire properly, how to set the attack for maximum impact, and how to calculate blast radius relative to mana investment.

After crossing the twenty percent threshold, the rate of improvement started slowing down noticeably. Moon understood what was happening: his existing comprehension of the fire element in general had helped with the initial rapid increase. His Epic-rank Five Element Affinity gave him an intuitive understanding that accelerated the learning process beyond what typical awakeners experienced.

But now that foundational boost was becoming a limiting factor rather than an advantage. He'd absorbed the easy knowledge quickly. What remained required deeper mastery, understanding explosion mechanics specifically, not just fire manipulation generally. His rate of increase had plateaued.

The Dugbog was visibly injured now, its movements slower and more defensive. Moon's addition to the team had made the beast's situation significantly worse since he was both a fire user and a wind mage, two elements that countered its wood manipulation perfectly. The combination kept its defensive constructs constantly burning, forcing it to expend more mana replacing destroyed vegetation than it could sustain indefinitely.

ROAR!

Moon's eyes widened as he felt multiple alarm bells ring in his head.

Shit. I messed up.

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