[Aurabeast—Tiger-dragon form]

[Skill type: Active]

[Description: A power coming from the Aurabeast tattoo on the body of an Aura Bender. Aurabeasts were consecrated divine beasts in the far eastern kingdom, but after the nation declined over thousands of years the divine beasts are no longer seen. Only the aura-bending bloodlines that the far eastern folk inherits proves the past glories of their nation.]

[Skill attribute: Light attribute strengthened by 10%]

Zhao Mingwei look through the core skills of the Aura Bender class which confirmed that Zhao Mingwei would assume the path of the Light attribute in the future, and he also found that there were three new active skills in his skill tree.

The first was the main offensive skill for Aura Benders.

[Aurabeam]

[Skill type: Active]

[Level requirement: 25]

[Description: Solidify your aura and release it towards your front. Chance of shocking the target.]

[Skill attribute: …]

Zhao Mingwei glanced at the sphere of light that appeared in the manual and could definitely feel the aura in his body flowing. He realized then that the skill he had learnt was not as simple as some game sprites or data.

The second active skill was Aura Ring, which summons one’s aura for protection over the body—the user could also summon a maximum of three rings.

The third was called the Aurabeast Roar.

From what Zhao Mingwei could tell, it was the most important skill, and the main reason why Aura Benders require high Intelligence points and yet would fight at close range.

The effect of his own Aurabeast skill would summon the tiger beast tattooed on his body and cover himself, adding Light attribute to his normal attacks.

There were many other powerful skills as the skill tree progressed further. Zhao Mingwei simply scanned through them and suddenly had the impulse to burn his contract with JC Kings and focus solely on leveling up in Sacred Souls.

It was a pity that reality would not allow that.

***

Having completed his class advancement quest, Zhao Mingwei quickly left the quest dungeon since he did not want to keep Jiang Qiao waiting.

“How was it? Is the class good?” Although Jiang Qiao could guess what the skills of the Aura Bender class were, he was unsure about the specific statistics.

“Very good. Thank you.”

Being a professional gamer, Zhao Mingwei could tell that the subsequent growth for Aura Benders was formidable. Moreover, he had also triggered another hidden quest.

[Class Main Quest: Aurabeast Tattoo Collection]

[The far east may have fallen to the passage of time, but the Aurabeasts remain in corners of the world, waiting for the arrival of their masters. O heir of aura, search for more Aurabeasts for greater strength!]

There wasn’t just one Aurabeast!

Zhao Mingwei realized the vast potential of growth from that main quest alone. However, when he was about to ask the NPC named Chao Yuan for more details, he suddenly received a friend request.

The player’s ID was Daydreamer, and Zhao Mingwei could tell at once that it was his friend Lin Xi.

“Hey god, I want to test my new skills for a bit. I have another friend joining us, we could enter a dungeon together.”

In their eight days of leveling up together, Zhao Mingwei and Jiang Qiao’s relationship progressed from online friend to friend.

For his part, Zhao Mingwei was idealistic, and it would be more precise to say that he had not really mingled in society, leaving him more simplistic in his ideas about personal relationships.

That was why in reality and from certain perspectives, he was easy to bully.

“What a coincidence. You friend could come with us to clear a class advancement dungeon if his level is high enough.”

Jiang Qiao could actually guess who Zhao Mingwei’s friend was: Lin Xi, JC King’s sniper, game ID ‘Daydreamer’. He was quite famous in the e-sports scene as well, and had been dubbed the Gun God by netizens.

However, his statistics had slipped horribly over the last two competitive seasons, and after having sitting through many a match as an unused substitute, he was redubbed as the Sleepwalking Gun God.

It was at the city gates of Lionheart City that Jiang Qiao found Lin Xi, the Sleepwalking Gun God who only spectates in nine out of ten matches.

His [War] character image was more or less the same here in Sacred Souls too: a western gunslinger costume.

“Smil—uh, you’re already Level 25 and have completed your class advancement mission? Could you have been sneaking off to play during training?”

Lin Xi had thought that he was one of the better Sacred Souls players at Level 23, and only realized now that Zhao Mingwei was two levels above him and was accompanied by a Level 26 Summoner.

“Nonsense. I only play when I’m supposed to sleep.” Zhao Mingwei reply was rather serious.

He was the captain of JC Kings, and though his focus was no longer with [War], his strong sense of duty kept him from playing other games during work.

“Alright, I believe you… and you would be?” Lin Xi stopped short of calling Zhao Mingwei’s ‘Smiley’ nickname since Jiang Qiao—a stranger with them.

“NoUpdatesToday, a great godlike player.” Zhao Mingwei said, making a very formal introduction.

“A… god?” Lin Xi was left stunned for seconds by how Zhao Mingwei addressed Jiang Qiao, before gently elbowing. “Which team is he from? Could he be that kid from SC nucleons?”

There weren’t many gamers in the world who Zhao Mingwei would address as ‘godly’, although there were many who would call him that.

“Both of you are professional players?” Jiang Qiao asked.

Although both Lin Xi and Zhao Mingwei were whispering, they were still within earshot.

“I guess we count, although we’re second division.” Lin Xi quickly replied rather humbly.

“Anyway, let’s help our friend clear his class advancement dungeon—it’s almost eight.” Zhao Mingwei said, shifting the conversation away from their real identities.

Jiang Qiao did not press them either. He should be putting up an act at the moment anyway, and he would only recruit them when the time was right.

***

The class advancement quest for Elemental Summoner was very simple. Compared to the degenerate parkour challenge of the Aurabender class, this class advancement dungeon only requires the player to destroy the four elemental guards.

Still, although players were allowed to form parties before entering the dungeon, parties with more people meant higher difficulty—with Zhao Mingwei and Lin Xi joining him, the length of the dungeon Boss’s HP Bar tripled.

That being said, a normal class advancement dungeon was usually easy and could be considered a simple matter even for newcomers. As such, the four elemental lord Bosses which had the respective attributes of flame, water, wind, and darkness were all slain by Jiang Qiao’s part in less than half an hour.

“The glory of the elemental spirits has now been imbued onto thy body!”

A system notification popped up before Jiang Qiao the instant the dungeon was completed, and he felt a special power appearing within his body. The water spirit and the fire spirit beside him also instantly evolved when the quest was accomplished as well.

They shone in bright white light, and as that light faded, both spirits had turned into chibi-style characters.

[Fire Spirit has evolved to Flame Maid.]

[Water Spirit has evolved to Frost Maid.]

“What do you mean, maids? They’re clearly children.”

Jiang Qiao glanced at the two elemental spirits surrounding himself which looked like they were six or seven years old.

“Are you going to keep playing, god? I’m going for a class advancement too.” Lin Xi asked Jiang Qiao as if they were already in close terms.

After all, the battle just now had assured Lin Xi that Jiang Qiao was… very dependable.

“What class are you considering?” Jiang Qiao himself was concerned about Lin Xi’s level up progress too since he was in the same e-sports team with Zhao Mingwei, and would most certainly be a strong fighting force when the abyssal rifts open.

“Munitions Expert. I asked about it in my class guild—the Gunner class can play sniping.”

As expected of the Gun God, Lin Xi would want to keep his sniper role whatever game he played.

“Munitions? Would you like to try Cannoneer instead? Sniping is among its class skill too.” Jiang Qiao started to promote the class which could cause major damage.

After all, Munitions experts could only use two different grenades for AOE effect early on. On the other hand, Cannoneers were a walking warehouse of firearms in the very moment the player advances to that class, and it takes them less effort to kill minions than lifting a finger.

“…”

“Bro, trust me. You won’t regret it!” Jiang Qiao grinned as he clapped Lin Xi on his shoulder, while the perpetual benchwarmer turned to the quiet Zhao Mingwei.

“I’ve never played Gunner. Make your own pick, I don’t have any tips for you.” Zhao Mingwei waved him off—Lin Xi was relying heavily on him during their peak gamer days, often asking him about things like strategies.

“Cannoneer can snipe too? Well, I could try.” Lin Xi was unable to resist the lure big guns and cannons after some thought.