When the blonde agent arrived at Erica's place, the two Demon Hunters had already left, leaving behind a chaotic ruin.
Even though she didn't carry much hope in her heart, Lilian still sifted through the debris and realized not only did the two Demon Hunters dispose of any clues that would lead to their whereabouts, everything valuable around the ruined house and even in the large hole underground had been cleaned—then again, this were Ye Qi and John we're talking about so naturally the place was cleaned expertly before they left.
"Hmmph! Ye Qi, is it? Don't worry, we will definitely meet again!"
The golden haired young woman swore to herself as she tossed the useless piece of roof tile to the floor.
The young Demon Hunter who sat in the passenger seat suddenly sneezed. He scratched his nose and continued to glance at his Character Screen.
Name: Ye Qi
Title: Expert Demon Hunter
Level: 7
Profession: Draconeer Level 3
Stat:
Strength: 16
Agility: 16
Physique: 14
Perception: 17 (+2)
Charm: 14
Unassigned Stat Point: 1
Specialization: Bestial Wrath; Vampire's Touch; Battle Mage
Unassigned Specialization Point: 2
Skill:
Appraisal: 5, Deception: 5, Focus: 8, Trap Crafting: 4, Medic: 2, Stealth: 18, Hearing: 15, Lore: 2, Lock Picking: 10, Theft: 2, Exploration: 10, Firearms Proficiency: 1, Cold Steel Proficiency: 1, Spell Identification, 10; Arcane Knowledge, 10
Unassigned Skill Mastery Point: 15
Available level 0 spell slot: 0
Available level 1 spell slot: 0
Available level 2 spell slot: 1
Available level 3 spell slot: 1
Learned Level 0 Spells: Strengthen Resistance, Pathfinder, Reader's Companion, Mage's Reach
Learned Level 1 Spells: Identify, Mage's Armour, Burning Hands
Learned Level 2 Spells: Bear's Endurance
Ye Qi added his newly acquired Stat Point into Strength without hesitation—after the battle with the Demon Servant, Ye Qi had a new appreciation of the importance of combat endurance. After Ye Qi added the point, a new selection appeared among the choices of Specialization—Healthy Constitution.
Healthy Constitution: You've acquired a tough body after many physical activities. Effect: Strength +1.
With his newfound appreciation for longevity in battle, Ye Qi again chose this new Specialization without thought. After realizing he could cast Burning Hands nine times without the aid of Bear's Endurance, Ye Qi sighed in relief—at least now he wouldn't need to commit to risky operation when he came up against enemy of the same level as a Demon Servant due to the lack of his battle endurance.
Thinking about his earlier narrow escape, Ye Qi shivered from fear and his breath caught in his throat. However, Ye Qi didn't dwell too long on the unsightly memory, he turned his focus back to the box of Specializations on his character screen—the appearance of the Healthy Constitution Specialization earlier piqued his interest.
Ever since he was given the freedom to choose his Specialization when he reached level 4, there would be a new Specialization that entered the pool of choices following his level increase. Initially Ye Qi thought the appearance of these Specialization was completely random but the fact that Healthy Constitution appeared only after Ye Qi added another point into Strength made the young Demon Hunter change his earlier hypothesis.
Could it be that the appearance of new Specialization was dependant on my Stat point? Glancing at the choices of Specialization he had now, Artistic Eye, Alert Heart, Two-Handed Mastery, Heavy Armour, Natural Instinct and Natural Fighter, Ye Qi was all the more certain about his hypothesis. Natural Instinct was a choice opened when he levelled up to level 6 and Blind Fighter was made available just now.
Natural Instinct: For as long as you can remember, you have always relied on your sixth sense to decide every big and small things in your life. Effect: +1 Psychic Immunity, +1 Danger Sense.
Psychic Immunity: A strong sense of mental stability prevents you from being affected by Physic Magic that causes illusion, confusion and fear.
Danger Sense: The ability to tell whether a certain thing or event would be dangerous to oneself or not.
Blind Fighter: The art of combat came so naturally to you that you can rely on your instinct to predict your opponent's movement. Especially useful when facing off against invisible enemy or fighting in the dark. Effect: Accuracy +4
Ye Qi's Perception was the highest among his five main Stat Points and of the six Specializations available, 3 of them or 50 percent were related in some ways to Perception. The remaining Two-Handed Mastery, Heavy Armour and Artistic Eye corresponded respectively to Agility, Strength and Charm. Unfortunately, there was no Specialization related to Physique that was lowest of Ye Qi's Stat Points, alongside Charm. However, it was also thanks to this that Ye Qi managed to realize the connection between Stat Point and his Specialization—if he discovered it after level 10, it would have been too late to restructure his character progression.
This did mean that Ye Qi had to be extra careful when assigning his Stat Point in the future! Then, Ye Qi moved on to the Skill Mastery tab. He placed 10 of his unassigned Mastery point into Arcane Knowledge, increasing it to 20.
This was because the young Demon Hunter had obtained an interesting reward from his battle with the Demon Servant—a black bound book of curses.
When John noticed Ye Qi's eyes glowing as they landed on the book, he tossed it to him immediately—group of Demon Hunters who completed the mission together split the spoils among themselves either according to early agreement or based on needs.
Ye Qi thanked his mentor and accepted the book happily. With a first glance, he knew this was a book of spell used by Dark Magician. For Ye Qi whose façade depended solely on spell, it was only beneficial for him to understand a little more about his fellow magicians from the other side.
However, when he flipped the book open, Ye Qi was stumped. Other than the title, "Gorgon's Eye", the rest of the book was practically illegible to him.
To enable himself to study the content of the book, Ye Qi had to increase his Arcane Knowledge to 20. After all, learning a new language to the level of him able to masterfully chant its spells was not simple—according to legend, an amateur Dark Magician needed to spend five years to familiarize themselves with the language of spells. Ye Qi didn't have the luxury of five years to spend, therefore, even though part of him felt it was a waste, Ye Qi had to spend the 10 points on Arcane Knowledge and it did prove to be worthwhile, even though Ye Qi still couldn't read "Gorgon's Eye" fully, at least he could make a rudimentary sense of it.
After settling all that, Ye Qi left the best for last, the spell selection. The young Demon Hunter who had already made his mind before even coming to this part, immediately picked the level 2 and 3 spells he wanted.
Level 2 Spell: Web
Level 3 Spell: Fireball
Web: Cast an incredibly resilient and sticky spider web that stretched for 20 feet. Effect: Immobilize the opponent caught in the spider web. Effect lasts for 1 minute per 2 level.
Fireball: Unload a powerful and explosive ball of fire. Effect: 1d6 damage per level. Area of effect: 20 feet.