Eren's room. Stardust guild dorm. Morning 9 AM.
Scrunch!
Eren took a bite out of a fruit that looked like an apple with some runic patterns naturally formed on it. With each bite, he could feel his fire-element mana getting stimulated in his mana circuits.
Eren had 11 more fire-element apples like these. They were called Ifrit fruits by the local populace. These fruits were a common Rank 1 resource available in Gilaahan. He had brought those fruits from Malcolm.
Eren had spent the last day practicing the new spells he had received from Malcolm. The fire-element fruits he was eating were supposed to assist him in casting fire-element spells by helping his circuits get used to converting his normalized mana into fire-element mana. The fruits also helped rankers increase their affinity for fire.
Eren was planning to read up on some more information about rankers' creeds that he had paid for on this day. He'd practice his new spells and the spells he hasn't completely mastered later that day.
Scrunch!
Eren took another bite out of the ifrit fruits and started reading from the old book he had got from Malcolm.
"The Hexers' creeds.
So much is being talked about them and so many conspiracies. This article of mine will focus on any of those and will instead discuss what the core concepts of each of the Creeds are."
Eren skipped the part where the author had given a basic summary of the book. Having turned the page, he began reading the first chapter of the book.
The more he read, the clearer the basic structure of the Hexers' creeds started unraveling in front of him. After about an hour of reading the book and almost finishing it, he started forming ideas in his head.
'Hm. The Bear's Creed.
It is focused on Hexers that are defense specialists. They give up developing their agility and focus solely on making their defenses stronger and impenetrable. That's why their armors are well-detailed and central to their battle styles.
Rather than attacking, these Hexers believe in sustaining the attack and then launching a counterattack when their opponent would be most vulnerable.'
Eren summarized the Bear's Creed in his way and started pondering. He immediately realized that he could only use the armor set after ensuring that there was something else to make use of his lightning-element-based speed.
The Bear's Creed armor set was only going to be used when he was in a dire situation of using one.
'Speed. If I want speed, the Cat's Creed is my preferred option. But their other attributes make them exceptionally weak in a frontal clash.'
Scrunch!
Eren thought to himself as he had another fruit. The Cat's Creed was the opposite of the Bear's Creed. It primarily focused on the agility aspect of the Hexers, allowing them to be faster than normal rankers. However, they were weaker than their counterparts in every other department.
If one catches a Cat's Creed's Hexer with traps or somehow prevents them from using their exceptional agility and movement spells to their advantage, they'd immediately be put into a vulnerable position.
If the Bear's Creed turned Hexers and rankers who were using Hexer gears into defense specialists, the ranking entities focusing on the Cat's Creeds were assassins. They didn't engage in front combat. They wouldn't be seen handling the mana beasts.
Because of their specialization, Cat's Creed users were often involved in underground activities. Most Hexers and a few rankers that were part of the Cat's Creed were well-known assassins.
Eren scratched his chin as he lay on his back on the levitating bed. He looked at the ceiling but his eyes were not focused on it. He was thinking about various things at once before shaking his head in denial.
'These two are extreme approaches for extreme measures. I can use them when I'm in dire situations that require me to use these gears. But I'd need a stable way to handle most situations that don't make me vulnerable to traps and counterattacks.'
Eren concluded that the Bear's Creed and the Cat's Creed weren't something he could use while on the regular missions that required him to be nimble on his feet. He also couldn't be a paper tiger if and when he was being attacked by opponents.
'The Wolf's Creed.'
Eren's eyes seemingly shined when he started thinking about the Wolf's Creed. This was the most balanced Creed among all of them according to him. Something he could use and benefit from the most, in most situations.
Technically, the Wolf's Creed was just like his battlemage class. It wasn't focused on anything. Yet, it could combine the strengths of both the Bear and Cat's Creeds.
Wolf's Creed followers were fast when they needed to be. And could protect themselves from normal attacks using means available to them. However, their effectiveness and efficiency in doing those things did not match their specialized creeds. But that couldn't be considered a negative point.
The Wolf's Creed gear set was the most accommodating for Jeet Kune Do. It could also incorporate most weapon arts. It meant that Eren would have a steady foundation to build his battle style around if he had the gear set of the Wolf's Creed.
The Hexers related to the Wolf's Creed were either very famous or very ill-famous. However, they had left a distinct mark on history and people's minds. Their balanced battle style allowed them to dominate almost any battlefield with ease.
Eren had decided that he would get his hands on the Wolf's Creed as soon as possible. After reading the information provided in the book. But they weren't something he could count on.
'The testing grounds for the Bear's Creed!'
Eren learned that the underground space he had discovered was called the Hexer's Creeds testing grounds. Even though he preferred having Wolf's gear, it wouldn't hurt to try his luck on the test grounds.
Eren had discovered what was required to open the testing ground's doors, thanks to the information provided by Malcolm.