Learning the Reconnaissance Skill

In the first year of the Genesis, the Gods grew tired of the countless wars on the Hero Continent. Hence, they created a supercontinent, the New World! As expected, all the countries on the Hero Continent stopped their large-scale battles, and instead focused on colonizing the New World! However, only a few rare powerful ones from the Old World could arrive at the New World through portals opened by mages. As such, supplies and battle gear could not be transported in large quantities. At the same time, wealth from the New World could not be shipped back. Furthermore, due to the presence of powerful monsters in the New World, the colonization process was very slow and delayed over the past century.

In Year 145 of the Genesis, the explorers at the New World harbor suddenly found a drifting bottle from the Old World. This proved that a natural portal route through the ocean existed between the Old World and the New World. This meant that large quantities of supplies could be transported between the two worlds through nautical routes! A huge movement to look for such a route thus started!

On January 1st of Year 150, the well-staffed St. Anthony exploration ship set sail from St. Paul Harbor under the guidance of the seasoned expert, Captain Renoir. They carried the good wishes of the entire Empire and followed in the footsteps of their predecessors as they challenged the dangerous unknown areas yet again! The Royal Astrologer, Knight Markal, was also a member of the exploration team.

On April 20th of Year 156, St. Anthony created a miracle and successfully returned from the New World! However, they were attacked by the Fleet of the Undead along the way! Knight Markal was the lone survivor of the battle, and he managed to survive on a deserted island until help from the Imperial Fleet arrived! To commemorate this amazing feat, the deserted island was named the Miracle Island!

On January 1st of Year 157, Knight Markal, who was now recovered, was officially promoted to Duke and Top Astrologer of the Lion Heart Empire for his great accomplishment in discovering the Grand Route. He was named the greatest scholar, seafarer, and explorer of the century!

In Year 159, the reconnaissance of the route to the New World was officially completed. The Light factions and Dark factions each controlled one portal to the New World and guarded it heavily. The development of the New World was much improved.

In Year 160 of the Genesis, the Gods sent the Children of Destiny (the players) to quicken the development process!

…

They were in Year 160 now, and those were the background and descriptions of the Grand Route available on the official site. The term "Mithril Island" was not mentioned at all, neither was it shown on the New World map available. The Underground Sea was also missing. The official cause of the shipwreck incident was also different from the description in the journal. Of course, these differences had to exist for this conspiracy to work. To put it simply, this Markal just wanted to occupy that Mithril Island for himself, right?

However, at this moment, it doesn't matter how epic this mission is! It's not something that I, at Level 2, should consider. My top priority right now is to get rid of this Raging Sea of Blood! Furthermore, since I received this mission now, my account can probably sell for a lot of money, right? As that guy said, if I get too tired of this, I can just log off and sell my account. There will be rich bosses rushing to take over! Hence, I don't need to have any concerns! Wahahaha!

The best reward right now is this Reconnaissance Skill book.

—Elementary Reconnaissance Skill: Improves the hero's field of vision by 20%. Hero will be able to obtain the headcount, morale, and supplies intelligence of enemy troops.

—Intermediate Reconnaissance Skill: Improves the hero's field of vision by 40%. Hero has a chance to discover hidden enemies in the vicinity and receive warnings about their ambushes. Improves the hero's ability to dodge attacks.

—Advanced Reconnaissance Skill: Improves the hero's field of vision by 60%. Hero will be able to plot maps and has a higher chance to discover hidden resources or treasures.

—Expert Reconnaissance Skill: Improves the hero's field of vision by 80%. Hero will be able to analyze the enemy hero's equipment from a distance. Hero will be able to train Scouts in his own castle.

Scouts: Level One Soldiers. Attack: 0, Defense: 0, Health: 10, Damage: 0-1, Attack Speed: 10, Movement Speed: 15, Command Value: 1, Special Skill: Advanced Reconnaissance Skill, Hidden Movement, Training Cost: 500 (Most expensive Level One Soldier).

—Master Reconnaissance Skill: Improves the hero's field of vision by 100%. Hero will obtain night vision and keep his normal sight at night. (Note: Field of Vision will decrease to 90% of normal ability)

Sub-skills:

—Intelligence Collection: Hero will obtain an unknown monster's attributes during battles and create Intelligence Cards. Hero can sell the cards to Scholars or Aristocrats for money, Reputation, and affinity from certain NPCs.

—Removal of Traps: Ability to pick locks and destroy traps.

—Camouflage: Anti-reconnaissance. Enemy heroes or wild monsters will not be able to analyze the hero's troop formation.

—Hidden Movement: Hero will not be discoverable by enemies and monsters within a certain distance. The actual effects will vary based on the level of Reconnaissance Skill, level of enemies, time, and location. When the hero uses Hidden Movement, he cannot lead any troops. Learning Requirements: Advanced Reconnaissance Skill.

—Ambush: Hero's troops can remain concealed in the wild without being easily discovered. The skill's effects will vary based on the time, location, enemy troop size, and enemy Reconnaissance Skill level. During the ambush period, the troops cannot move at all. Learning Requirements: Master Reconnaissance Skill.

—Intelligence Analysis: After obtaining detailed intelligence about unknown creatures, the hero will be able to analyze and discover the fatal flaws of the creatures. During battles, the hero will be able to ignore its defense by 25%-100%. Learning Requirements: Grandmaster Reconnaissance Skill.

—Phantom March: Hero's troops are highly difficult to discover when marching in the wild. Learning Requirements: God-level Reconnaissance Skill.

…

So this was the Reconnaissance Skill! A skill similar to the Thief occupation in traditional games! The Thief occupation was always able to create unfathomable miracles in traditional games when controlled by extremely creative players!

However, in Hero Genesis, a war game, this skill was a little awkward. After all, Da Fei had no skills suitable for fighting! This was definitely disadvantageous for him in the opening stage of the game. Even though the Intelligence Analysis sub-skill at the Grandmaster level and the Phantom March sub-skill at the God level were both impressive, they were too far away!

After choosing an occupation at Level 10, it will be harder to level up. Those players who can max out their Attack Skills before they reach Level 10 will definitely slaughter monsters easily and efficiently. Between Level 10 and Level 30, the Command Skill to lead troops and the Defense Skill to increase troop's Health and Defense will be prioritized. No points can be wasted on the Reconnaissance Skill. After Level 30, it will be even more difficult to level up. Hence, nobody will even think about the Reconnaissance Skill. Otherwise, their advantage in leveling up speedily in the early game will be squandered. Only the casual and peace-loving business players and the Great Guilds will specifically train for a Reconnaissance Skill-based account.

As for Da Fei, he was a business player for sure. His main goal was to come sail on the sea and earn money. A merchant would never be able to defeat pirates, but he must definitely have the skills to discover pirates early and avoid them. Hence, this skill was a necessity for Da Fei! Furthermore, if he did not learn from a book he so painstakingly obtained in such a desperate situation, karma would punish him!

Hence, Da Fei did not hesitate anymore. With a grateful heart, he opened the book! A flash of golden light appeared!

—System Message: You have learned Elementary Reconnaissance Skill. Your field of vision has improved by 20%. You will be able to obtain the headcount, morale, and supplies intelligence of enemy troops.

Now that Da Fei's field of vision had improved by 70% with the newfound skill and his binoculars, he confidently looked at the sunken ship again and smiled sinisterly. "Just you wait. Once I learn the 'Hidden Movement', I'll smuggle myself on-board!"

However, watching Raging Sea of Blood tirelessly kill monsters there pissed Da Fei off even more! F**k! I can't do anything while trapped here during high tide. That means I have only half the time to train and level-up as compared to him! Whatever. I can only wait for the low tide now. Since I'm free, I might as well flip through this journal. Let me figure out what this Mithril Island is all about.