Chapter 146: Leisurely Afternoon (Middle)

After carefully refining his upcoming plan once again, Dean’s gaze finally landed on the experience bar—

【XP: 819】

This was the sum of several experiences combined, and it was the highest amount of XP Dean had obtained in this life; even in his previous life, accumulating this much XP in such a short time was rare.

And this was enough for him to complete his plan to increase his Strength right here.

After all, given Dean’s current situation, exchanging XP for real Strength was the best choice.

If left sitting there, XP was just a pile of useless data.

And the first thing to improve was naturally 【Dragon Swordsmanship】, which Dean valued highly—

【Yes/No consume 400 XP to increase Dragon Swordsmanship level?】

“Yes!”

【Dragon Swordsmanship Lv3→Lv4】

【Dragon Swordsmanship Lv4, Learned: Dragon Flame Breath Lv1】

【Dragon Flame Breath Lv1: Condense the scorching heat within the bloodline to burn the opponent; Effect: Enemies within a 45° angle and 15 feet ahead will instantly suffer 0.1 (Flame Attachment bonus 10%) + 1.1 (110% of own attack power converted to flame damage) of flame burning; Cooldown: 167 (200 – Constitution X10) minutes】

(Note: The bonus from Flame Attachment requires consuming 1 point of Stamina)

【Dragon Swordsmanship reached Lv4, special options began to appear……】

【A, Increase Move Momentum of Might Level】

【B, Increase Move Indomitable Level】

【C, Increase Move Dragon Flame Breath Level】

(Note: Only one option can be selected)

The flame sword technique remaining in Dean’s memory appeared before his eyes, and furthermore, it proved Dean’s previous hunch about 【Flame Attachment】 stacking with fire.

After all, it was all power within the bloodline, and the ‘Attachment’ suffix forced Dean to pay attention.

And obviously, as the level of 【Flame Attachment】 increased later, the power of 【Dragon Flame Breath】 would also strengthen.

However, the level of 【Flame Attachment】 currently could obviously not be raised.

But facing 【Dragon Swordsmanship】, which also had special options appearing at Lv4, Dean chose 【Dragon Flame Breath】 without hesitation.

【Dragon Flame Breath Lv1→Lv2】

【Dragon Flame Breath Lv2: Condense the scorching heat within the bloodline to burn the opponent; Effect: Enemies within a 50° angle and 20 feet ahead will instantly suffer 0.1 (Flame Attachment bonus 10%) + 1.2 (120% of own attack power converted to flame damage) of flame burning; Cooldown: 162 (195 – Constitution X10) minutes】

With the increase in level, 【Dragon Flame Breath】 immediately showed very obvious changes; first was the attack range and power, and secondly, even the cooldown time was reduced by five minutes.

However, compared to the base of two hundred minutes, this reduction of five minutes still could not turn 【Dragon Flame Breath】 into a regular combat skill.

“Another killer move…”

Dean muttered in a low voice.

For Dean, whose combat style leaned towards that of an Assassin, he would absolutely not mind having more attack techniques, let alone a killer move.

The only thing he needed to think about was formulating tactics when facing different enemies.

And in Dean’s mind, he already had a rough direction.

Of course, he now needed to continue completing the distribution of his XP. After the level of 【Dragon Swordsmanship】 increased, Dean’s gaze naturally landed on his own level—

【Yes/No consume 208 XP to increase Warrior class level?】

“Yes!”

【Warrior Lv3→Lv4】

【+0.2 Strength, +0.1 Constitution, +0.1 Agility】

Undoubtedly, the increase in class level was the most intuitive change to one’s Strength. The change in three attributes not only made Dean stronger and more agile, but at the same time, those skills that required cooling were once again affected.

Of course, the pain each time was also inevitable.

Especially in a weak state, that pain did not lessen; on the contrary, it became even clearer.

It forced Dean to clench his fists tightly, and in order not to let out a groan, he bit directly onto a corner of the quilt.

A few minutes later, when the pain subsided, Dean’s whole body looked as if he had just been fished out of the water.

However, his complexion looked much better.

Although that weak state still existed, compared to before, it was a bit stronger.

Dean was not surprised by this—while the increase in class level could not cure all his illnesses, it could still restore some of his physical injuries.

Even if abilities were upgraded consecutively, it was not impossible to immediately and completely eliminate the weak state.

However, for Dean at this moment, continuously and rapidly increasing levels was not a must.

【Warrior Lv4: 0/280】

After scanning the XP required to raise the Warrior class level again, Dean turned his gaze to his basic and applied skills.

Facing the basic skills 【Basic Swordsmanship Lv4】【Cold Weapon (Sword/Hammer/Spear) Lv4】 and the applied skills 【Military Swordsmanship Lv4 (Emerald)】【Military Swordsmanship Lv4 (Goth)】.

Dean naturally chose 【Military Swordsmanship Lv4 (Goth)】 without hesitation.

After all, among the numerous skills, 【Military Swordsmanship Lv4 (Goth)】 not only had the best value for money, but was also related to the next level of 【Dragon Swordsmanship】.

Although the next level of 【Dragon Swordsmanship】 required 800 XP, which seemed far out of reach for Dean at this moment.

But this could not change Dean’s established plan—

【Yes/No consume 160 XP to increase Military Swordsmanship (Goth) level】

“Yes!”

【Military Swordsmanship (Goth) Lv4→Lv5】

【Military Swordsmanship Lv5 (Goth): Although you have undergone learning before, the subsequent completion is the most important part; Effect: When attacking, it can provide a +0.90 Strength bonus; Duration 10.2 (Constitution X3) seconds; Cooldown 67 (100 – Constitution X10) minutes】

(Special choice of +0.15 Strength has been made once)

Looking at the further increased Strength bonus of 【Military Swordsmanship (Goth)】, Dean could not help but clench his fist again.

His Strength, relying solely on the bonus from 【Military Swordsmanship (Goth)】, had reached the level of 4.12. Although there was still a certain distance from a Grand Knight, relying on the talent 【Flame Attachment】 and 【Dragon Swordsmanship】, wanting to fight a Grand Knight was not impossible; there was even a high probability of winning.

As for opponents below a Grand Knight?

Dean could guarantee that those opponents would crumble at a single blow.

【XP: 51】

After glancing at the XP which had plummeted to double digits, Dean’s line of sight temporarily left the experience bar.

“It is already early December 1501, and there is less than nine months until the outbreak of the first Blood Moon War…”

Although the progress in Strength made Dean feel happy, the urgency of time made it impossible for him to maintain that joy—in September 1502, after Midsummer Night, City launched a sudden attack on Emerald. Just thinking of the tens of thousands of Iron Cavalry, Dean felt restless.

Let alone his current Strength which was roughly equivalent to a Grand Knight, even Silver and Gold-rank Experts would be helpless against City’s aggression.

After all, it was not just their own side that had Silver and Gold-rank Experts; the Kingdom of City had them too, and even more, and they were more powerful—the appearance of the King of City created the uniqueness of the Kingdom of City. The emergence of that kind of high-end combat power made Emerald and Goth look sideways, but they were helpless.

It was not that the two countries did not want to try, but after trying, there was no progress at all.

Although the ‘Bloodline Theory’ was supreme in the hearts of some people, even those people would not believe that the Kingdom of City’s luck was good to such an extent.

To be able to continuously produce nearly twenty Silver Knights and three Gold-rank Experts within just a few decades.

Obviously, there was a secret behind this!

But such a secret was obviously not easily coveted.

Once it was touched and not handled well, then just wait for war!

And neither Emerald nor Goth wanted to start a war lightly with City, which was currently like the sun at high noon; that would definitely be unwise.

After all, counting the veteran Gold-rank Experts in City, City possessed a total of five Gold-rank Experts.

And Emerald only had the Emerald Grand Duke and that Ceylon York, the Marquis, just two.

As for Silver Level Knights?

Emerald, including some local armed forces, had about twenty to twenty-five.

And City had as many as thirty-five recorded alone.

Therefore, if they wanted to rely on high-end combat power, City possessed crushing Strength.

And Goth?

Although as an old Kingdom, Goth had a solid foundation, in terms of the number of Gold-rank Experts, it was also inferior to City.

So, to participate in this war, under the premise that high-end combat power could not be matched and could only be contained.

The method Dean could think of was to continuously improve his own Strength while increasing the combat power of his subordinates and winning over more allies to play his role on the mid-to-low-end Battlefield.

Of course, if the situation allowed, Dean would absolutely not mind putting on his cloak and guest-starring in his old profession: Assassin.

However, none of these could be accomplished by lying here.

Just as Dean was pondering what to do to not waste these two days, clear footsteps sounded outside the room—

“You’re awake?!”

The Baron family’s Miss walked into the room, looking at Dean who was sitting up and leaning against the pillow, and could not help but exclaim in surprise.

You know, the doctor had said before that he would not be able to wake up until tomorrow evening at the earliest.

“Yeah, my current state, it should be!”

Dean pointed to his open eyes and answered with a smile.

“It looks like you’re recovering well—how does it feel to be a Hero and turn the tide? His Excellency the Emerald Grand Duke just praised you publicly!”

The Baron family’s Miss looked at Dean, who was joking, and could not help but snort softly, her tone carrying a strange… worry. However, the next moment, the Baron family’s Miss, who noticed this, immediately said: “Lord Marquis has been waiting for you to wake up, I will go tell him the good news!”

After saying that, without waiting for Dean to speak at all, she lifted the hem of her skirt and ran out of the room.