Chapter 14: Class Change (Part 2)

This time, the optimization fusion was far more painful than when the system first optimized and fused the character. The physical discomfort, a mix of soreness, itching, and pain, felt like countless tiny ants crawling over his body, making Ye Qi grit his teeth to endure it. The sudden, intense headache made him involuntarily groan.

Ye Qi felt as if his head was about to split open, and he stumbled and fell to the ground. In a daze, he saw a figure in a black cloak, wearing silver scale armor, wielding a thin sword. The figure seemed to be in battle, swiftly dodging while releasing waves of flames, then ice spikes, and lightning. The thin sword in his other hand moved like a venomous snake, striking directly at the enemy's vital points...

"Hmph!"

The scene before him sped up, and Ye Qi's headache worsened. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, he let out a pained groan and fainted.

"Ye..."

After an unknown amount of time, the black market merchant's call roused the unconscious demon hunter. Opening his eyes and seeing the black market merchant supporting him, the demon hunter smiled. "How long was I out?"

"About half an hour, Ye. Are you okay?" The black market merchant's concern made the demon hunter grin. "Of course, just a bit drained! Mori, everything here is taken care of! Remember to transfer the money to my account once you're done with these matters!"

"No problem!"

The black market merchant nodded readily. If it were before, he might have hesitated due to the cost, but seeing the withered, bat-winged creature and the group of fanged blood slaves lying at the demon hunter's feet, he agreed without hesitation. Professional problems should be handled by professionals, and the cost was worth it to avoid greater losses in the future. The black market merchant had understood this principle when he first controlled the underground trade on his first street.

The demon hunter, lying on the sofa, wanted to check his attribute changes after the class change but felt it was inappropriate to do so in front of the black market merchant.

So, the demon hunter stood up from the sofa, gently stretched his body, and, feeling no issues, immediately crouched down to complete the task—cutting off the bat wings from the vampire's back. This was an important proof of completing the task.

Fortunately, the bat wings were mostly made of bone, or they would have been drained by the werewolf. Explaining this to Old Ward would have been troublesome. Now, though the wings were somewhat tattered, they were more than enough to complete the task. The demon hunter also didn't forget the fangs of the blood slaves.

After collecting all the task items and putting them in a sofa cover he had grabbed, he tied it into a bundle and slung it over his back. He then re-equipped the scattered gear around him. Eager to see his changes, the demon hunter bid farewell to the black market merchant, ignoring his disheveled appearance, and excitedly left the mad dog's place, heading for a deserted alley by the street.

...

Name: Ye Qi

Title: Apprentice Demon Hunter

Level: 5

Class: Mage Level 1

Attributes:

Strength: 16

Dexterity: 16

Constitution: 14

Perception: 16 (+2)

Charisma: 14

Unassigned Attribute Points: 1

Feats: Beast Instinct, Vampire's Touch, Combat Casting

Unchosen Feats: 1

Skills: Appraise 5, Bluff 5, Concentration 8, Trap Making 4, Healing 2, Hide 18, Listen 15, Healing 2, Rumor 2, Lockpicking 10, Pickpocket 2, Search 10, Firearms 25, Cold Weapons 20, Spellcraft 10, Arcane Knowledge 10

Unassigned Skill Points: 10

Unassigned 0th-Level Spell Slots: 4

Unassigned 1st-Level Spell Slots: 2

Looking at the unassigned spell slots, Ye Qi's eyes couldn't help but glow with excitement—spells were the core of a mage, and the key reason he chose this class. Therefore, he allocated the skill points as before—5 points each to Firearms and Cold Weapons.

But this routine allocation brought Ye Qi another pleasant surprise.

"Firearms skill reaches 30, skill upgraded to Firearms Mastery..."

"Firearms Mastery: After long-term use of firearms, you can wield any firearm with unimaginable power. Effect: 10% increase in damage when using firearms."

The sudden message made Ye Qi pause. In the past, the system's vague settings meant that adding skill points didn't have the immediate effects of attribute points or feats, so Ye Qi didn't value skill points too much. But now, the skill upgrade showed that skill points were also important! Although it was just a 10% increase in damage, this 10% applied to the user, meaning it was effective whether Ye Qi used a regular pistol or a rocket launcher. The difference might not be noticeable with a pistol, but with a rocket launcher, it would be significant! And who knew what other levels might come after Firearms Mastery? How much more powerful could it become?

All of this made Ye Qi excited, especially after seeing the upgrade of Firearms. He was eager to see the effects of upgrading other skills. However, Ye Qi knew that upgrading all skills would be extremely difficult, even with the additional 3 skill points per level from his class change.

But then Ye Qi thought that these skills were all learned through John's training, not directly granted by the system. A thought arose in his mind—maybe these skills could be upgraded through regular training without using skill points?

Of course, this was just a hypothesis that needed to be tested. For now, after allocating the skill points and receiving an unexpected surprise, Ye Qi added the accumulated attribute points to Perception, immediately raising it from 16 to 17. From the class description, it was clear that Perception was the foundation for a mage's spellcasting. Having chosen the path of a mage, Ye Qi naturally wanted to maximize his advantage in this area. As for feats, he still didn't choose any, as the new options, such as Heavy Armor Proficiency, didn't significantly enhance his mage's power or attributes.

After handling everything, Ye Qi finally focused on the spell options in his attribute panel.

"Choose 0th-level and 1st-level spells?"

"Yes!"

"0th-level and 1st-level spell list opened!"

Immediately, a list of spell names appeared before Ye Qi, and the system began explaining for the first time.

"Spells can be divided into eight schools: Evocation, Enchantment, Abjuration, Conjuration, Necromancy, Transmutation, Divination... Spells range from 0th-level to 9th-level... Remaining 0th-level spell choices: 4; Remaining 1st-level spell choices: 2; Please choose..."

"0th-level spell choices: Resistance, Prestidigitation, Read Magic, Mage Hand"

"1st-level spell choices: Burning Hands, Mage Armor"

From the introduction, Ye Qi knew that 0th-level spells were collectively called cantrips. At a low level, they were generally not very useful in combat, so he chose a few distinctive ones as backups. 1st-level spells, however, were true spells with significant power. Although there were many choices, Ye Qi's spell slots were limited, so he chose one offensive and one defensive spell.

Burning Hands (Burning Hands): Emits a cone of fire, damaging all enemies in front. Effect: 1d4 fire damage per level (maximum 5d4).

Mage Armor (Mage Armor): Summons an invisible, intangible armor to protect the caster. Effect: Grants the target a +4 armor bonus.

...

" Mage Hand!"

After choosing the spells, the demon hunter couldn't resist casting the newly acquired 0th-level cantrip on an empty wine bottle at his feet. Seeing the bottle float and dance as he wished, the demon hunter cheered, grabbed the bottle, and threw it into the sky. He then shouldered his bundle and excitedly headed for Old Ward's bar—no matter how happy he was, he didn't forget the task he still needed to complete for the merchant.

---

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" Mage Hand!"

After selecting the spells, the demon hunter couldn't resist casting the newly acquired 0th-level cantrip on an empty wine bottle at his feet. Seeing the bottle float and dance as he wished, the demon hunter cheered, grabbed the bottle, and threw it into the sky. He then shouldered his bundle and excitedly headed for Old Ward's bar—no matter how happy he was, he didn't forget the task he still needed to complete for the merchant.