Chapter 173: Chapter 169: Sub-profession UP! Advanced Profession Trial

After repelling the Eternal Frost Sect and exposing the Blood Eye Association’s plot to seize the city using bandits, the situation in Birch Town grew more tense by the day.

Many of the trading houses and small families that had originally fled Birch Town ended up returning in a sorry state, bringing news from the surrounding towns—the entire Northern Territory was in chaos.

Besides the Birch Territory, several other viscounties like Snow Pigeon Territory and Mude Territory, along with the towns under their jurisdiction, were all attacked by unknown forces. Everywhere, people were promoting terrifying claims of independence!

This was an undisguised rebellion against the Empire!

The nobles and refugees who subsequently fled from other regions further confirmed these accounts!

For a time, panic spread. Everyone worried about a repeat of the chaotic situation from ten years ago, yet no one knew what to do or where to go.

And as the number of refugees grew, the public order in Birch Town began to deteriorate at a visible rate.

With no income and no shelter, the refugees were forced to steal, rob, and even join local gangs to do their dirty work just to survive the cold winter.

All sorts of incidents left Paris and his subordinates overwhelmed and constantly busy.

However, none of this was Jon’s concern.

After completing [Comprehensive Counterattack I], the situation was still developing. The next phase of the quest hadn’t appeared yet, so he had no plans to travel.

But that didn’t mean he had nothing to do.

On the contrary, his days had been extremely full.

In the mornings, he would first head to the Golden Maple Leaf Trading House to have breakfast with Reya, listen to the young lady complain about her work, and then go spar with Evans and Vedri.

Afterwards, he would return to Grent Manor, a gift from Paris, to learn Magic from Claudio and Forging from Sutton. In his remaining time, he would tinker with his various sub-professions, plan his production focus for the near future, and make preparations.

And so the day would pass.

Meanwhile, Rosalind, accompanied by Xia and Xina, was recruiting youths with clean backgrounds from among the refugees for preliminary basic training.

When it came to discerning people’s hearts, a Monk of the Solar Domain was quite the authority, so there was no need to worry about individuals with ill intentions slipping in.

Once these apprentices reached the required standard of loyalty and basic competence, Jon would personally teach them some Engineering and alchemy, turning them into his first batch of core followers.

However, given the current situation, such busy and fulfilling days were destined not to last.

"Master, Viscount Paris has sent an invitation. He invites you to a banquet tonight to discuss how to counter the increasingly active rebels."

"Is that so? I suppose it’s that time..."

Jon put down his forging hammer, took the towel from Rosalind, and wiped the furnace soot from his body. Then, he looked at the old Dwarf to the side.

"Uncle, let’s call it a day. I need to get ready."

"Hmph. Go on."

The red-nosed old Dwarf grunted, walked over to look at the nearly-finished sword blank in front of Jon, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Not bad. You’re an Enlightener, all right. You learn fast."

Jon chuckled as he put on his clothes.

"It’s because you’re a great teacher, Uncle!"

’How could he not be?’

Under the old Dwarf’s tutelage, his [Blacksmith] sub-profession had already reached level 9, and he had mastered quite a few forging techniques and recipes!

This progress was considered quite fast even among players who mindlessly rushed their sub-profession levels with unlimited materials.

After all, there was a huge difference between grinding EXP by mass-producing items and being taught step-by-step by an old veteran.

From this, Jon could roughly deduce Sutton’s Blacksmith level—no lower than 40!

The progression for Professionals was: Apprentice (Levels 1-19), Official (20-59), Advanced (60-99), and finally breaking the Ascension threshold at Level 100. Sub-professions, by contrast, had a new tier every 20 levels.

Take Blacksmiths for example: levels 1 to 19 were the foundation-laying "Apprentice" tier; levels 20 to 39 were the "Artisan" tier, the domain where various schools competed fiercely; levels 40 to 59 were for "Grandmasters" who had truly forged their own path. Level 60 was the cap; beyond that, there were no more levels, only more complex fields of research!

The old Dwarf was in that 40 to 59 level range, possessing many techniques unique to him.

[Furnace Control], [Quenching Fire], [Fine-Forged Armor Plate], [Rune Forging]....

Although Jon couldn’t yet fully utilize the effects of these techniques, he had come to understand their value through his studies.

The most remarkable of these was [Rune Forging].

[Rune Forging LV.1 (Perfect): Incorporate an understanding of Rune Power during the Forging process to improve the quality of the finished equipment and grant it a specific "Rune" property.]

A Perfect Level Vice Professional Skill!

This was an extraordinary forging art that Sutton had developed by combining his own knowledge from his [Rune Master] profession with his [Blacksmith] experience. The equipment it produced was, at a minimum, of Excellent quality, and if one’s understanding of Runes was deep enough, creating Rare Level items was a breeze.

Jon estimated that at this rate, he could reach the level 20 threshold for Blacksmithing in less than two months and officially step into the domain of specialized schools. Of course, he couldn’t pour all his energy into practicing blacksmithing; if anything delayed him, it would take even longer.

Just like now, he first had to consider how to complete the advancement trials for his own classes.

Indeed, after Claudio offered to teach him Magic, Jon had unhesitatingly poured all his accumulated experience into his two classes, pushing them both to level 19.

And upon reaching that level, the advancement trials naturally appeared.

——

[Advancement Trial: Oppression (Special Class Quest)]

[As a brave Warrior, you feel the power you command has reached a critical point. You need a series of oppressive battles to stimulate your potential.]

[Quest Objective: Single-handedly kill 5 enemies of a level no lower than your own (0/5)]

[Basic Reward: +2 Constitution, +2 Power, +2 Free Attribute Points]

[Additional Reward: An Attribute Points reward multiplier based on the degree of completion.]

Note: The stronger the enemies you defeat, the higher the completion rate and the greater the difficulty of subsequent trials. Please act within your capabilities.

——

In contrast to the simple, brutal, and satisfying combat of the Warrior’s advancement quest, the Mage’s was a bit more gentle.

——

[Advancement Trial: Creation (Special Class Quest)]

[As a wise Mage, you feel the knowledge you command has reached its limit. You need to sort through the skills you have mastered and create a power of your own.]

[Quest Objective: Create 3 spells of your own (0/3)]

[Basic Reward: +2 Intelligence, +2 Spirit, +2 Free Attribute Points]

[Additional Reward: An Attribute Points reward multiplier based on the degree of completion.]

Note: The higher the rarity of the created spells, the higher the completion rate and the greater the difficulty of subsequent trials. Please act within your capabilities.

——

One was combat, the other creation. Comparatively, Jon felt creation was the more difficult of the two.

It would be especially difficult to achieve the highest possible completion rate.

"So little time, so much to do..."

With a sigh, Jon led Rosalind to the manor’s storehouse.

The things stored here were the capital for his rise.

"It all starts with this banquet..."

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