NovelChina Chapter 152. Ariel Ranks Up
Chapter 152. Ariel Ranks Up
Bastion had to admit, Lilia’s new class was incredible. It was highly versatile, granting her near-perfect accuracy with all her spells. Though it came with a drawback that prevented them from directly benefiting from her skills, she could still make do by sending her water mana to heal them, albeit minimally compared to Mystic Mend itself. She had also gained a new fervor for enchanting, now that she could see the threads of mana that formed her enchantments, an enviable ability Bastion couldn’t help but desire for himself.
He was even tempted to take the class, since its threads would likely synergize with his Mana Corruption ability. In the end, however, he decided against it, preferring to focus on more powerful endgame classes, ones that could place him above the rabble and required extensive life experience to even be worthy.
“I need new experiences to earn better classes. This is why all my classes suck so far,” Bastion resolved. “I have to face greater trials in the world to become worthy of stronger classes. I can’t just rest on my laurels and use efficiency as an excuse. I have to go out there and do something before I take my Rank 3 Rank Up.”
Bastion didn’t truly have a problem with any of his three classes. They were overpowered in their own right. One granted him physical status resistance, another gave him instantaneous access to his inventory without digging through a magic bag, and the most recent allowed his mana to drain the mana of others. Still, they weren’t on the level of Seraphina’s Phoenix Archon class, whose raw power simply outmatched anything he could throw without ingenuity to bridge the gap.
He shook his head, unwilling to dwell on it further, preferring instead to focus on his smithing with Pebbles to upgrade all their weapons and armor to Rank 2.
Over the years, the pair had settled into a good groove, improving their capabilities through this new method of forging without a forge. Clearly, it had its drawbacks, such as the insane drain on Bastion’s mana and the inability to mass-produce. But it also had its advantages, allowing him to shape metal quickly and easily while preserving as much of its natural mana as possible.
For most small adjustments, he only needed Pebbles to shape the metal properly while perfectly retaining its magical properties. For major adjustments, he would help by hammering the softened metal, giving it a general shape for Pebbles to finish. This allowed him to streamline and improve personal projects, even if it meant sacrificing mass production.
Still, it wasn’t as limiting as it sounded. All Bastion needed to do to mass-produce Rank 2 equipment was wait for Seraphina to reach Rank 2 and raise her Intelligence to 50, at which point he could use her Rank 2 attributed flame to mass-produce with his golems once more.
He felt bad for Pebbles, but not everything required careful attention and perfect mana preservation. Bullets, for example, only needed to be shaped and given sufficient durability before they were ready for use.
A decade later, Bastion’s intense focus was interrupted when Ariel burst into his forge, breaking his concentration and accidentally chipping the intricate details on the armor he was working on.
“Bastion! I did it! I finally managed to bring my Wind magic up to level 5!” Ariel shouted, brimming with excitement.
Bastion set down his hammer and stored the project he had been working on in his Inventory, then turned to Ariel with a smile.
“Congratulations,” he said, genuinely happy for her given the effort she had put in to achieve it. “Have you finally decided to Rank Up?”
“Yes, and I wanted to show you first once I was done,” she said, still buzzing.
Over the past 14 years, since Ariel had officially joined their team and reached level 200 after diving into the Troll Dungeon with Lilia, she had worked tirelessly to catch up in both stats and the level of her arts and skills, training every single day just to match their own. She pushed herself through Elyra’s intense stat training regimen, continued her sight training, devoted herself to flying practice, and even studied wind magic with Lilia on occasion to learn to cast wind spells. Every effort was aimed at obtaining a wind-related class that might boost her talents and strengthen her affinity for Wind.
A decade later, her stats had filled in, giving her roughly the same as Elyra’s as a demihuman. Her arts and skills had reached level 5 through training, except for her Wind Arts, which lagged behind due to her lack of natural talent in that area. She asked around for advice on how to improve it and received plenty of suggestions, such as meditation, immersion, and wind-enchanted accessories.
She had tried them but wasn’t satisfied until Bastion suggested chasing storms, which truly ignited a fire within her. It was no secret that the key to achieving Rank 3 was through suffering, as Bastion and Seraphina had experienced. He suggested she follow storms throughout the kingdom to immerse herself fully in the element, feeling the wind batter her while learning as much about it as possible through her body and wings.
With fervor, she scoured the kingdom. She chased storms from the rain atop the Great Forest, to the volcanic storms of the mountains to the northwest, to the dry storms of the southern range, flying as long as she could while enduring each one. Four years later, her Wind Arts finally reached level 5, leaving promising prospects for her next Rank Up.
It was for this reason that Bastion didn’t feel an ounce of temper at being interrupted. Her suffering was far greater than having to redo the piece of metal he had been working on all week.
“If you’re ready, then go for it,” Bastion suggested.
“Alright,” she said. “Here I go.”
She opened her panel and selected the Rank Up option. Her vision drew inward, plunging deep into her soul, where a world of winds unfolded. Storms of every kind erupted and faded around her, and at the eye of a massive tornado, she stood in perfect stillness, feeling absolute peace.
Her vision was then filled with a transparent blue panel displaying her class options.
Rank 3: Storm Chaser
Rank 2: Wind Cannoneer
Rank 2: Wind Archer
Rank 2: Forest Ranger
.
.
.
Without hesitation, she selected the Storm Chaser class, feeling vindicated for torturing herself for the past 14 years, with not a shred of doubt in her mind that this was truly her new class.
On the left side of the panel, her visage appeared, standing proudly with her wings spread wide, generating storms as they moved, her hair whipping wildly in the harsh winds. The sight thrilled her to no end, until she turned to the right side of the panel to view her new class.
[Storm Sense]: Grants heightened awareness of incoming storms or wind-based attacks. Increases affinity for the wind element and gives wind mana the Storm attribute. Greatly increases mana regeneration.
[Storm Blast]: Unleashes a concentrated blast of wind, capable of sending enemies or the user flying away.
[Storm Call]: Summons a localized storm, buffeting enemies with powerful winds and reducing their speed and visibility.
[Storm Wings]: A sustained flight skill that allows the user to travel long distances. The user leaves a trail of stormy winds in their wake, buffeting enemies and creating localized turbulence along the path.
[Storm Elemental]: Summons a storm elemental that fights for the user.
[Storm Barrier]: Creates a spinning barrier of wind and debris that deflects projectiles and reduces damage from all sides.
It was everything Ariel had dreamed of and more. A class that gave her everything she needed to truly improve her worth in battle.
Storm Sense was her dream ability, heightening her wind affinity and improving her talent. It was just a shame that the first passive effect was relatively useless. Storms weren’t exactly subtle things that could sneak up on anyone. At least she could use it to fight other wind users and prevent ambushes, which were notoriously tricky to foresee given that wind magic could be made invisible.
The Storm attribute was something she would have to experiment with to fully understand. And finally, she gained a massive boost to mana regeneration, allowing her to focus on other stats for Rank 2 rather than dumping points into Wisdom as she had for Rank 1.
Storm Blast gave her the ability to push enemies away, dodge, or gain an instant boost in speed, although the wording was confusing, as it was described as flying away. Perhaps it did more than simply push them back.
Storm Call was a powerful skill that allowed her to fight multiple enemies alone, slowing them down and putting them in her element, where she held a distinct advantage over them.
Storm Wings was useful as well, allowing her to increase her flying speed far beyond what she could achieve by relying on her wings and bursts of wind mana alone.
Storm Elemental was incredible. She had always envied others for having summons, and now she had one of her own.
Storm Barrier was also quite good, even better than the Wind Barrier she had planned to buy now that she was Rank 2.
Overall, it was an excellent class that brought her up to the same level of strength as the others. She didn’t even need to find out what Wind Cannoneer or Wind Archer did; it was clear they would be lesser versions of this class by comparison.
It reminded her to thank Bastion again for suggesting she chase storms, as it had allowed her to become a true Storm Chaser.
Once she accepted the class, she was returned to Bastion’s forge amid a swirling storm that tore through the room, scattering his meticulously arranged smithing tools and toppling armor, weapons, tables, and chairs. Bullets, metal ore, and intricately designed pieces of metal caught in the wind, flying around as chaotic debris.
She ignored the mess and leaped into Bastion’s arms with absolute delight.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she shouted repeatedly before diving for his lips in a passionate kiss.
Bastion returned her enthusiasm, ignoring the chaos as the storm slowly calmed, her excitement gradually giving way to arousal. He broke the kiss and suddenly asked,
“So? How was it?”
“Status!” Ariel shouted, excited to share.
[Name]: Ariel
[Age]: 70
[Class]: Storm Chaser (Rank 3), Frenzied Cannoneer (Rank 3), Archer (Apprentice Rank)
[Ability]: Storm Sense, Controlled Frenzy, Eagle Eyes
[Rank]: Rank 2
[Level]: 200
[Health]: 600/600
[Mana]: 500/500
[Strength]: 9
[Dexterity]: 7
[Vitality]: 6
[Intelligence]: 5
[Wisdom]: 10
[Charm]: 5
[Status Points]: 0
[Arts]: Bow 5, Cannon 5, Dagger 5, Light Armor 5, Scouting 5, Stealth 5, Traps 5, Wind Magic 5
[Skills:]: Take Aim 5, Strafing Run 5, Dodge 5, Dash 5, Jump 5, Reinforce 5, Charged Shot 5, Frenzied Shot 5, Explosive Barrage 5, Rapid Fire 5, Bunker Buster 5, Covering Fire 5, Storm Blast 1, Storm Call 1, Storm Wings 1, Storm Elemental 1, Storm Barrier 1
[Skill Points]: 125
“You ended up maxing out Wisdom before putting everything else into Strength?” Bastion asked, his hands roaming her ass as he spoke.
“Yeah,” she replied, enjoying the feel of Bastion’s strong hands on her ass. “I still needed Wisdom to support my flying duration, but now that I have mana regeneration from the ability, I won’t be focusing on it anymore. I can put my stats into Strength and Dexterity like Elyra for better handling and maneuverability.”
“That’s good,” Bastion said, leaning forward to take her lips, satisfied with her Rank Up.
Their mood shifted from curiosity about the new class to raw desire as they began stripping off their clothes and going at it like wild animals in the forge, unconcerned with the mess around them.
As for Ariel’s new skills, those could wait until after they had their fun.
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