Status and Proficiencies

The Dungeon evaluation alert chimed.

—

[E-rank (Exclusive) Dungeon evaluation:

Level disparity: A+

Clear time: A

Party size: B+

Support: A

Battle Ingenuity: S

Overall rank: A+]

—

'Woa! A-plus overall and S-rank in Battle Ingenuity. Does this mean—]

Evan was eventually right. His Battle Ingenuity mastery was one of many proficiencies that had ranked up.

He opened his status window.

—

[Name: Midnight]

[Level: 14 – EXP: 3960/9000]

[HP: 167/225]

—Player Description—

[Class: Soul Demolitionist – Soul-Meter: 6/24] [Guardian: Raphael (Amber)]

[Active skills: Soul Blitz – Soul Resolution – Ignore Pain (D-rank) – First Aid (D-rank) – Detection (E-rank)]

[Combat proficiencies:

Ricochet weapons (B-rank) NEW! – Static explosives (C-rank) – Ranged Explosives (C-rank) – Resilience (D-rank) – Heightened Reflexes (C-rank) NEW! – First Aid (D-rank) NEW! – Detection (E-rank)]

[Specialization proficiencies:

'Rest In Pieces' mastery (C-rank) – Aerodynamics mastery (D-rank) NEW! – Pyrotechnics mastery (D-rank) NEW! – Battle Ingenuity mastery (D-rank) NEW!]

——Combat Stats——

[STR: 20] [INT: 6] [SPC: 22]

[DEF: 13] [WIS: 8] [AGI: 16]

[Unspent Stats: 3]

————Other——–—

[Luckiness: 10]

[Aerth coins: 4220]

[Inventory] [Quests] [World Map] [Other] [Log Out]

—

What first stood out was the combat stats of a player that had consumed two low-grade Soulstones.

—

[Other:]

[Soulstones]

[E-rank (SPC) Soulstone of Resilience

A low-grade Soulstone with permanent effects.

+6 SPC

+1 rank to Resilience proficiency]

[E-rank (STR) Soulstone of Detection

A low-grade Soulstone with permanent effects.

+6 STR

+1 rank to Detection proficiency]

—

What stood out next was the new D-rank Battle Ingenuity mastery that had once again bumped all his combat stats by another plus 2 without actually leveling up!

—

[Specialization proficiencies]

['Rest In Pieces' mastery (C-rank):

Your Static explosives detonations can be delayed for +45 seconds. You can set up +3 Static explosives at a time>

[Aerodynamics mastery (D-rank) NEW!:

Your Ricochet weapons can bounce +2 minimum and +2 maximum times between target(s). Ricochet weapons travel 10% faster>

[Pyrotechnics mastery (D-rank) NEW!:

You are +20% more resistant to Fire damage. Your stagger recovery rate after taking Concussive damage is +25% faster>

[Battle Ingenuity mastery (D-rank) NEW!:

Your cleverness and understanding of combat lets you earn +10% more EXP. All combat stats permanently increases by 4.]

—

"Hey, Midnight! We finally did it! We got the Battle Ingenuity mastery!" Facebasher enthusiastically called out. Mille and Facebasher started to dance around like maniacs.

"I think we scored high on Battle Ingenuity thanks to you Midnight!" Mille beamed.

Sightseer giggled at the two dancing monkeys. It was the first time Evan had seen her laugh.

Evan decided to summon Raphael to get some answers straight.

Raphael popped up in Evan's head with praise.

"Good evening, young adventurer. Well done on conquering yet another Dungeon– one that's tied to Nocturne of all things!"

"Thanks, Raphael. Can you give me some clarification on how you award proficiency rank-ups again?"

"Sure thing, lad." Raphael chuckled. "What specifically do you have trouble with?"

Evan vaguely constructed some questions in his mind and opened the mind link between him and Raphael.

'Ah.' Raphael finally understood. 'Basically speaking, you're wondering why some proficiencies aren't ranking up although you might have used them quite a bit throughout the Dungeon encounter.'

'Yeah.' Evan mentally shot back.

'Well. It's simple really. You need to challenge higher-ranked Dungeons.' Raphael explained. 'This one had the final rating of a D-rank, upgraded from the original E-rank because of the Exclusive Quest factoring in.'

Evan was still confused.

'Then how did I upgrade to B-rank on the Ricochet weapons proficiency?'

'Well, I had to award your A-plus overall rank somehow, didn't I? Not to mention your S-rank in Battle Ingenuity– not many adventurers have achieved this score in a D-rank rated Dungeon, you know.'

They looked through Evan's combat proficiencies.

—

[Combat proficiencies]

[Ricochet weapons (B-rank) NEW!: +30% physical damage, +15% accuracy]

[Ranged explosives (C-rank): +30% explosion radius, +20 Inventory limit]

[Static explosives (C-rank): +40% armor pierce, +10 Inventory limit]

[Heightened reflexes (C-rank) NEW!: +1.8% Vizor synchronization rate]

[Resilience (D-rank): +10% physical & magical damage reduction, can activate Ignore Pain: 80% reduced damage taken for 3 seconds (active skill) - Cooldown: 5 minutes]

[First Aid (D-rank) NEW!: Instantly restore HP, can activate First Aid: Restore 40 HP with Bandages (active skill) - Cooldown: 3 minutes]

[Detection (E-rank): Detect players or NPCs within a certain range, can activate Detection: locate anyone that is Stealthed or Non-Stealthed on the mini-map for 30 seconds. Range of Dectection is based on SPC and proficiency rank (active skill) - Cooldown: 1 minute]

—

'Nice. The upgraded physical damage from B-rank Ricochet weapons should work even better now with my Strength-build.' Evan mused.

'Now, now, don't go and put all your eggs in the same basket, young lad.'

'Hah, since when did you worry about my choices–'

'Since you became the first player under my wing to acquire three consecutive A-ranks.'

'What?!' Evan was speechless. Was it that hard to get an A-rank? Then what about an A-plus rank?

The golden-haired Amber Guardian cheekily smirked. 'Don't overindulge your ego. Your fellow adventurers aren't that far off. In fact, the Aquamarine Guardian should be just as pleased with that girl over there.'

Evan turned around and laid his eyes on his party. 'Mille? That's right. She's been through the exact same evaluations. Have I been underestimating her?'

'Hoh, you think that girl is clumsy?'

'Yeah– I mean, no. It might just be her loud personality.'

'You're judging a–'

'–book by the cover?' Evan finished Raphael's sentence. 'Haha, it works both ways, Raphael. You thought me that in our last conversation. Any other tips before you go?'

Raphael chuckled in amusement. 'I think you'll be just fine.' He then paused. 'Come to think of it, you might have a chance to use that brilliant mind of yours again in the upcoming tournament.'

'Huh? How so?'

'It wouldn't be fair if I gave you the answer, would it? Go well!"

—

[System message!]

[Guardian's Calling, cooldown: 71 hours – 59 minutes – 58 seconds]

—

Three days. The Quest was finally over and in three days Evan and his party would duke things out in Harshwood Citadel.

The four-thousand-and-something Aerth coins Evan had earned so far were far from enough to give him the opportunity quit his job. If anything, he hoped that the New Braves tournament offered a decent sum of coins and items.