Chapter 275: A Rare Team

The Magic Swordsman is said to be the earliest profession to use both weapon s and Arcane abilities in combat. The name of this profession system comes from the combination of swords and magic, but nowadays it is considered somewhat outdated.

This is because when this profession first appeared, research into Arcane and Bloodline abilities on the Continent was extremely lacking. The results achieved by the pioneers of that era, who explored like blind men touching an elephant, were quite promising at the time, but they were deeply marked by the limitations of that period.

After thousands of years of development, even after people realized this path was a dead end, correcting it had become impossible. Of course, for those with Sorcerer talent but not enough of it, it was still a viable choice.

In general, a Magic Swordsman’s abilities make it easier to pass certain saves, but unfortunately, they only work against spells and spell-like abilities, unlike the Divine Grace of a Paladin. At the same time, long-term training and the effects of spells give them a sturdy body that is no worse than a Warrior’s.

Moreover, this also gives their Familiar a decent amount of vitality. Whether choosing an advanced Familiar as a powerful combatant or selecting a Dark Partner to inflict continuous negative effects, both are good choices.

However, their signature curse abilities are too weak. Although curses are hard to detect when cast, they have low saves, poor effects, and few uses, making them completely useless. Furthermore, these curses or hexes, in short, create negative emotions in the senses.

Added to this, their physical strength still lags behind that of true Warriors, and various spell restrictions mean they cannot be called a good choice.

Moreover, as spellcasters, they are fundamentally different from ordinary Warriors in the eyes of many. The most obvious difference is that even now, among some uncivilized races, Magic Swordsmen often become leaders or prophets, just like Shamans.

Since the initial mystery was solved, the greatest potential conflict between George and the person in front of him had vanished, and the atmosphere of their conversation immediately improved. Jinluoke, as a research-oriented Arcane Caster, naturally had a much smarter head than the vast majority of people.

Plus, with so much experience from adventuring outside, he understood that the person before him certainly did not come to see him without reason. Even a Lord who was a hands-off ruler would never condescend to meet an unknown Adventurer without cause.

The person, who could be called a veteran of human nature, immediately became obsequious. In an instant, the tension disappeared, and the atmosphere became quite pleasant.

After a round of conversation, George learned that the other party was a team that had been working together for nearly three years. The five main members of the team, besides the Dragonfire Sorcerer Fairbanks who had just died, the Magic Swordsman in front of him, and the Magic Swordsman who had left earlier, also included a Bard named Bertwiser whom George had not seen before, and a Dragon Shaman named Calvert. There were also several Warriors and a Rogue.

If classified according to online games, this was a small team with complete roles in tanking, damage, control, and support. Although their job divisions were a bit too strange. No one knew how such a bizarre team was formed in the first place, as it was already hard enough to find even one such team in normal times!

Hearing this, George immediately became interested: “I say, how did your team gather so many members? Usually, it is impossible to find them even if you look for them!”

“At first, it was just me and Bertwiser. Of course, saying this might not be very familiar to you, but in our team, we are used to calling each other by our first names. Because the Dragonborn brothers Fairbanks and Calvert did not like others distinguishing them by adding a surname or an adjective. For this reason, they had argued with us many times in the past!” However, as he spoke, the other’s excitement disappeared immediately, and his tone became much lower: “But now, we actually wish Fairbanks would cause some trouble in the team again.”

George immediately acted as if he had known them for a long time, patting the other on the shoulder and saying: “Please take care of your grief in this matter! Since it is adventuring, casualties are absolutely inevitable. Moreover, the strength of the Dark Elves this time far exceeded the level of ordinary Adventurers. Otherwise, do you think the Duchy would have issued such a high bounty!”

“Indeed, such a high bounty is quite rare. However, an ordinary Dark Elf patrol team was not a problem for our team to handle. But we encountered a Dark Elf Priest and her guards…” Although Jinluoke did not say the rest, George could imagine the result.

Dark Elf Priests were Nobles within their race, and in that society that followed the law of the jungle, even the strength of a newly promoted Priest would not be too poor. Moreover, those who could come to the Surface to kill and plunder were, even if not elites, at least the backbone of their race. Paired with those elite Dark Elf Guards around them, the fact that most of these few survived was considered top-tier among Adventurers.

Moreover, although the composition of their team was reasonable, no aspect was particularly powerful. Non-mainstream professions are non-mainstream precisely because, compared to most mainstream professions, they have more obvious flaws. Of course, part of the reason is also due to various restrictions on inheritance.

There was quite a lot of relevant information on this topic in the Temple of the Knowledge God. Although there were no detailed records of certain unique techniques or secret inheritances, the common knowledge was not missing at all.

However, the place to collect such knowledge was not the area where George usually borrowed books. That was the true inner area of the Temple. Compared to the borrowing area which only occupied one floor, this inner library was much more grand, occupying an entire domed building.

The building was about 20 feet high. Upon entering, there was a row of pillars, and above the head was a sharp vaulted corridor. The structure was similar to many cathedrals. In such a large space, the number of books was not very high. The bookshelves here were all placed against the walls, with only one side facing out, and the books were arranged quite loosely. Compared to the public library outside, the number of books inside was much smaller.

Unlike the semi-public library outside where everyone could check books freely, the Bokabu Temple had very strict control over this inner library.

When George first entered there, he felt as if he had hit an invisible film. If it were not for the Priest of Bokabu leading the way, he really did not know what would happen!

Moreover, the inspection before entering was even stricter. Not only were there strict identity restrictions, but a large sum of Temple contributions had to be consumed before each entry. Fortunately, George had exchanged several entry opportunities by using those epic articles he had read before crossing over, plus a large sum of money as offerings.

There, George had once seen introductions about Dragon Shamans and Dragonfire Sorcerers. Dragon Shamans often play an irreplaceable role on the front lines of battle. These abilities allow them to enhance their own and their team’s combat capabilities. The ability to touch life allows them to heal others in battle and remove bad statuses for them. These abilities allow you to stand next to allies who like close combat to provide help and fight with enemies.

They often have Dragon bloodline and are rare believers who worship Dragons. This is a unique Dragon worship similar to ancestor worship, which grants them unique abilities. They can guide the powerful power of the Dragon to breathe out, granting special benefits to themselves and allies nearby. It is like a diffusion-type buff potion with an effect radius of at least 30 feet.

Of course, they can also use the breath weapons in their bloodline. And their unique Dragon transformation ability allows them to take on the appearance of the Dragon totem they worship, thereby gaining certain special abilities of the Dragon to work for a long time. Additionally, some spell-like abilities function when needed.

At high levels, they can communicate with their Dragon totem and ask questions, similar to a Priest casting Commune. In the end, they can even gain Dragon wings and the ability to fly freely.

However, the biggest problem is that although the way this profession enhances others is quite defensive and long-lasting, it has a fatal flaw—that the enhancement magnitude is not large. This makes the enhancement effect for the target quickly become weak after the Red Iron Rank.

Moreover, many of these statuses can be broken by low-level magical weapons. And since Dark Elves are a race good at Enchantment, did they not just walk right into the blade? It was not surprising that they were beaten miserably.

Unlike the Dragonblood Shaman’s weakness in adventuring, the Dragonfire Sorcerer appears to be much stronger. First, their unique spell abilities make the Dragonblood Shaman cry silently.

Unlike other Arcane Casters, Dragonfire Sorcerers do not prepare or cast spells. Instead, they attack, defend, or achieve other effects by gathering the wild magic power flowing in their souls. This ability is called Sorcery.

Moreover, their breath weapon power is countless times stronger than that of the Dragonblood Shaman. At the same time, as their strength grows, their skin becomes thick and tough—just like real Dragon scales.

However, although they can use spell abilities, according to records, they do not have many real choices. And compared to orthodox spells, their strength is not just a notch weaker. So their development prospects cannot be compared to orthodox Mages or Sorcerers.

Relatively speaking, the one with the most development potential among these few was the Magic Swordsman in front of him. If the Dusk Blade can be summarized as a Warrior who fights with their brains, then the Magic Swordsman is a Mage who can use sharp blades to kill enemies. This sentence is the key to distinguishing the differences between Dusk Blades and Magic Swordsman from all aspects.

Dusk Blades do indeed have more burst power and flexibility than most non-spellcasting Warriors, but unfortunately, they still fall short compared to true Spellcasters. While Magic Swordsman have much better close-combat abilities than ordinary weak Mages, they cannot compare with true Warriors in terms of offense.

In terms of casting spells, Dusk Blades are more like Sorcerers who can freely use the limited spells they know. Magic Swordsman, on the other hand, must study their spellbooks daily to prepare spells, just like Mages.

It can be said that Dusk Blades have stronger bodies and close-combat abilities than Magic Swordsman. Although the number of spells they can learn is less than the latter, they are all quite practical. And guiding spells during attacks is a relatively special ability that provides good burst power and is simple and convenient.

While the spell combat of Magic Swordsman grants the ability to cast spells in close combat, neither the success rate nor the overall efficiency can compare to the Arcane Guidance of Dusk Blades. And the Spell Strike, which was developed by imitating Arcane Guidance, is also a four-legged animal with obvious flaws.

Of course, compared to Dusk Blades, the biggest advantage of Magic Swordsman is that they can learn a wide variety of spells. Moreover, the level of spells they can eventually access is often higher than that of Dusk Blades. Just this one point makes those Dusk Blades jealous and envious! Seeing the other party release powerful spells they do not have, one wonders if they will show a gritted-teeth expression. You know, before War Knights like George appeared, this Continent was the world of Spellcasters!

If a profession is divided into Damage Dealers, Controllers, and Supporters: Dusk Blades perform far better than Magic Swordsman in the Damage Dealer role, but in the latter two, Magic Swordsman hold a clear advantage.

Of course, there is one more point: besides casting spells, the brains of both are usually good. So, by using the knowledge they learned in the past, analyzing and distinguishing, they finally find the enemy’s weaknesses and utilize them. This can be said to be a common tactic for them. Compared to the muscle men, they are more flexible and more cunning.

However, after learning the composition of their team, George also understood the important reason why the other party would be defeated by the Dark Elves. One of them was that this small team was a rare one that relied heavily on spell combat.

So, in their past adventuring tasks, although they could not be called invincible, they usually managed to solve things relatively smoothly. But this time, encountering Dark Elves who naturally had spell resistance was like kicking an iron plate.

George did not believe they did not know the Dark Elves’ resistance to spells before. But relying only on text in books without seeing it with their own eyes makes it hard to have an objective understanding. Just like George, who knew the Magic Swordsman profession well but could not recognize the identity of a certain lady.

‘But the battlefield suitable for Dragonblood Shamans to play is large-scale battles! How many people are in an Adventurer team? The range of so many Dragon Breaths could at least cover a squad of soldiers. If it is dense square infantry, it might not be less. Just this point alone, the recruitment value of the current small team is above my initial estimate! And the strength of the other few is also quite good. If they can leave some inheritance in the Territory…’ George now seemed to be preparing to re-evaluate the person in front of him, but for now, he continued to ask about relevant news: “So, the initial guide of that Magic Swordsman was not you, was it?”

Like Sorcerers, Magic Swordsmen often reveal their powers in their childhood. Usually, some mysterious accidents or bad experiences surround these young Magic Swordsmen. Although basic Magic Swordsmen are self-taught, many seeds still need training from other Arcane Casters before they can practice on their own, such as an older Magic Swordsman, Sorcerer, Mage, or Bard.

“No! Magic is for those of us who have no talent. Of course, by talent here, I mean the difference between those who can use abilities by birth and those who cannot. Clarice’s initial guide was a Sorcerer, but that person unfortunately died three years ago. That incident was a huge blow to Clarice.” The information Jinluoke provided exceeded George’s expectations.

George paused and said: “It seems you know my purpose.”

“You probably want to recruit us, or just me! But I will not separate from my teammates.” The other party appeared quite calm.

“Rest assured, although the reputation of Magic Swordsman is not favorable! I think a team as a whole is more important. But do you have the final say on this matter? That lady just now probably would not be willing to stay!” George was not worried at all about the bad reputation of certain professions. Because he believed that no matter what power it was, whether it was good or bad ultimately depended on the person.

Because almost no one is willing to understand the power of Magic Swordsmen, they often try to hide it in front of unfamiliar people. Letting them think that a Magic Swordsman is just a Warrior, or a Warrior who is also a Sorcerer.

Witch hunters, unlucky rumors, and ugly accusations are not good for business. But for them, hiding a few little tricks in their sleeves is very useful. Who knows when a Magic Swordsman might have to use a spell to save their life?

Magic Swordsmen travel to wide and distant places as they adventure, because they find it hard to stay in one place for long. Rumors and the attention of gatekeepers grow very quickly, and then it is time to leave.

Many people Magic Swordsmen meet, until they know the true identity of the Magic Swordsman, are convinced that the Magic Swordsman will attack them from behind. The reputation of Magic Swordsmen is quite poor in the hearts of many, but how a Magic Swordsman acts depends entirely on the individual.

It is precisely because of this general view that someone added that sentence at the end. Because it is really too difficult for a Magic Swordsman to find a place where they can live stably for a long time. It is evident that the person was quite considerate of their companions, at least in the performance in front of George.