Chapter 43: Achieving Masteries
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Lucian was shocked by Ahri's announcement because it seemed he was mistaken about his earlier assumption.
'Did I assume the wrong person to be the leader? It would seem this lady is the team's decision-maker.'
Nevertheless, Lucian agreed with her. Since he made up his mind to remain in the Fractured Monolith instead of returning home, he needed to make the most of his current situation.
However, Lucian also wanted to make as many preparations as possible to deal with the upcoming floor and any of its unmentioned mysteries. So he entertained an idea previously pushed to the back of his mind.
'Perhaps I should finally browse that area now that I have the chance.'
With a thought, Lucian opened up the screen linked to the Fractured Monolith shop. Ignoring the equipment section, Lucian's attention landed directly upon the Knowledge category. He wasn't able to browse through the collection last time due to Overseer's Vohr abrupt interference.
Fortunately, that was no longer the case. After clearing the first floor, he now had full control over his decision to enter and exit the Echelon Lounge. Even the team leader didn't retain the right to enter the floor without the entire team's agreement.
After all, everyone was given a separate confirmation window. If someone denied it to go, there were two choices. Either the entire team stayed idle until the person in mention was ready to go, or they entered without them.
However, the latter was a rather extreme condition as it created a unique situation in the event of the floor being cleared without the presence of the missing member. The situation could only arise at the time of clearance because the current floors didn't allow progress to be saved, so failure meant starting over from the beginning.
But if the team cleared it while down a member, the one left would either have to clear the floor alone to catch up to their teammates, virtually soloing the floor. Now, this option was dreaded because solo clearing a floor meant their attributes needed to far surpass their current floor.
Except for a few exceptions, that rarely happened.
The other option was to sacrifice a large portion of Merge Tokens to bypass their current floor. Although some would see this as a wastage, it could be seen differently when viewing it from another angle. After all, bypassing the floor didn't mean giving up the rewards.
It was just reminiscent of using the pay-to-win method in some game. Of course, methods were put in place to deter abuse and loopholing. A Guardian was only allowed to use this method three times, and its price was exorbitant, usually 4 times as much as the floor clearance's token reward.
Furthermore, this option couldn't be applied to determining floors.
In other words, it couldn't be used on floors such as the 5th, 10th, 20th, so on and so forth. Since they involved an essential experience, the Monolith couldn't allow this loophole to exist.
Thus, unless in agreement, most teams wouldn't go near the lounge's doorway.
Meanwhile, Lucian continued to browse through the collection of knowledge. The organization of the interface was pristine because it allowed Lucian to filter knowledge he didn't have the authority to view, as well as the knowledge unrelated to what he needed.
Soon enough, the categories before him were two: Techniques and Passive Skills. Although they sounded similar, there was a faint difference between the two.
Passive skills were in a sense the foundation of a technique. It birthed the ability to derive methods of unique usage. Whereas techniques were those results and limited to a singular application.
For example, Analyzation only gave Lucian the ability to analyze things. But, if he developed different methods of applying the passive ability in various ways, those would register as techniques.
Ultimately, Lucian narrowed down his search to Passive Abilities. Since his abilities relied on his ability to create his own methods, he didn't see the benefit of limiting himself by settling for mere techniques.
Surely, he could up with his own, tailored to his unique needs.
After a while, two sets of information resonated with Lucian. Both of them were useful in his current situation.
One was named Basic Combat Mastery (Melee) while the other was Basic Combat Mastery (Archery). Of course, for their cheap price tag of 500 Merge Tokens, each of them was only basic in the eyes of the Fracture Monolith operators.
'I...should get both of them,' Lucian nodded before using his knowledge voucher on the archery mastery and 500 tokens on the combat mastery.
An influx of information appeared within his mind in mere moments. Afterward, his fingertips and muscles fibers tingled as the methods related to the two masteries burrowed into the depths of his body. The information appeared to assimilate with his instincts progressively.
Although the Fractured Monolith viewed this information as basic, Lucian was shocked to find a few secrets related to this information. The techniques were all compiled from this planet's strongest users. While they weren't the strongest in terms of martial power, it was a different story for their skill; they were unmatched on their planets.
"Just like our authority, the low classification must have something to do with our identity as a minor world. Nevertheless, this knowledge received will be put to good use. I no longer have to worry about sub-optimal usage of strength," Lucian murmured to himself.
This almost made him wonder if anyone in the team picked up these vital types of information. Even if they received proper training, Lucian found it hard to believe that their own skills rivaled ancient masters in the field.
"Ahri, I have a question, how experienced with the sword are you?"
"Not very experienced. Why do you ask?" Ahri responded with an odd expression.
The way Lucian looked at her changed many times prior to giving a small nod, "If you have enough Merge Tokens, I would recommend purchasing the sword mastery."
"Ah. Unfortunately, I don't. This Tier 2 weapon cost most of the tokens I gained from the first floor. But, I'll look into it when I get the chance," Ahri said.
From her response, Lucian noticed two things. "I don't think they've ever cleared a bonus task nor have they properly managed their equipment."
If they failed the 2nd floor with the presence of Tier 2 weapons, then the issue didn't lie in the gear but most likely in their operations. Perhaps they made unnecessary movements which led to unexpected expenditure, Or, their actions just weren't trained enough.
Either way, Lucian wouldn't understand the issue until he experienced it firsthand.
All of a sudden, Lucian noticed something as he glanced to his side.
Matthias as well as the others were seen passing by as they advanced towards the gate. However, their expressions seemed rather obscure as they moved forward.
While unsure if it was intentional or not, Lucian's eyes met theirs every time they passed by him. However, the gaze he gave Priscilla differed from the rest. His faint grin caused Priscilla to freeze.
Noticing her odd behavior, Elaine turned back. "Priscilla, what's wrong?"
Wordlessly, Priscilla pointed at Lucian with a trembling finger. But, by the time Elaine turned towards Lucian, the glow radiating gruesome intentions disappeared from his eyes to be replaced by indifference.
"Stop being so frightened. I've never seen you come to regret something so much. Just relax and focus on completing the task at hand," Elaine commented. She then leaned closer and whispered underneath her breath, "You don't wish to be found useless by Matthias, do you?"
Priscilla's eyes widened at the question, leaving her to shake her head instinctively. After all, this was quite the possibility if the situation ever appeared.
Eventually, Priscilla managed to move her focus away from Lucian and enter alongside Elaine.
"Know them?" Ahri asked while stepping next to Lucian. The way his gaze lingered on their positions drew Ahri to believe there was history. Especially so from the girl's reaction.
"Just something of the past, don't worry about it," Lucian answered. Since they originated from different batches, this current party wasn't aware of those Elite-class Guardians nor would Lucian clue them in.
Vengeance was his and his alone to inflict.
"Give me some information on your chosen floor. What should I expect on the second floor?" Lucian asked. The earlier matter was no longer important to him. Now, he sought to understand the difficulties the team struggled with.
"The floor is large and we're expected to complete it within a certain time frame. However, the foes are...hard to deal with. Both fast and strong," Ahri answered with a faint frown.
"Type?"
"Wolves, but not just any wolf. Come and see what I mean," Olov interjected. Concurrently, he also rose to his feet.
In response, Lucian spared Ahri a certain look. Understanding the look, Ahri initiated the process of the floor teleportation.