abcnovels
Chapter 62: Sis is here! (1)
Chapter 62: Sis is here! (1)
Cutting down trees was light work.
Jake's woodman proficiency was second to his archery, and he also received a subclass!
It was so simple to receive a class on the mainland.
There were two main prerequisites for that—proficiency and professional NPC. The former could be picked up by mimicking the class, making the latter more demanding.
NPC had to be willing to pass down a class.
His experience also played an important role—the better the NPC, the better the class's grade.
NPCs could make a bank on this privilege.
Jake was quite lucky in this regard because Viktor's library of knowledge and experience had given him an epic subclass—Woodman(Epic).
It naturally increased Jake's strength and endurance against wood-type weapons and skills.
The first skill Jake received from his first subclass was Woodman's Recognition(Common).
Just like Richard's Survival Three Kit, Woodman's Recognition pointed out the trees' vital points to Jake, allowing him to tear through their bark and wood much more easily, increasing his productive time.
This skill also allowed Jake to see through the wood's properties.
Because it was a subclass, Woodman relied more on Jake's proficiency to unlock other skills.
It meant that Jake couldn't just level up with his legendary archer class to unlock other skills—he also needed to spend time in the woods to get them.
That said, Jake's legendary class had already extended toward Woodman.
When Jake held the recurve bow he'd received from his master, the combination of two classes had given him a system message, which he naturally called a cheat.
[The Wooden Recurve Bow—Wood(Western Acacia)(35% mana)(Can endure up to 450 STR and DEX Stat)]
'Western Acacia… I see. This mana percentage… I guess artisans can store mana in the weapons, which increases their durability or power? I think I'm right! I thought the bow could endure up to 400 strength and dexterity stats, but it's actually 450! I wasn't that off…' Jake thought while staring at the screen.
'If I level up, I should be able to unlock more skills… I need an artisan class, too, but that can wait… I'm developing myself well here.'
It was only one day since Jake began working under Viktor.
In a short time, he picked up a new subclass, which increased his strength and endurance. Additionally, he developed a natural defense against wood weapons and magic, which was helpful as Jake didn't plan to level up a lot with parties and hunt alone.
Woodman's Epic Grade significantly allowed Jake to increase his stats, too, by cutting down trees.
The type of tree also played a role in his self-improvement.
"Why would the imperial mage come here?" Jake asked during the short break.
Medusa was curled up in his palm, enjoying the touch of his fingertip. Ender, as usual, perched himself on Jake's shoulder and didn't even let him go when he went to work in the woods.
Odin and Wukong were the only ones who allowed their youths come over them, running around the trees and having fun, so these two were absent.
Viktor worked as a carpenter now, producing high-quality furniture for a noble house.
He replied with his eyes still on the wood, "Two reasons. The forest has become a natural threat, so its wood can't be used without any prior measures taken. Those measures cost time and resources, so no one wants to bother with them, though the wood from here is good for staves for nature mages. Only a few work with it.
"It's also swarmed by players and monsters, so working there as a woodman is too dangerous for common people. The second reason is that the imperial mage's nature magic, paired with the various tree seeds imported from all over the world, produces wood for a variety of uses.
"Her nature magic is excellent, one of a kind in the entire Warmonger Empire. Her descendants can't match her. She can produce a cluster of trees given enough seeds in less than five minutes. Since I'm here and my grandma's her good friend, she comes here to bestow me with the best of the best types of wood." Viktor explained.
"Sounds nice," Jake smiled.
Viktor scoffed, "Nice on the surface. She comes here to ensure I have demanding resources to work with and that I'm not dirtying the royal blood. If even one tree stood tall on the plantation, she'd nag and scold me for hours. She's not stupid, though, and makes normal wood so I can keep up this ruse of me being a villager widower."
Though he may have praised the imperial mage, his face was more irked than usual.
Jake just shrugged.
That was when he received a sudden private message.
[Mary November: Hey, lil bro! Your sis has come, so you had better come out and greet her!]
Jake's face twisted.
Viktor glanced at him and momentarily saw himself in him.
It was quite an odd feeling…
"I have to clock out for a while…" Jake said, calling out his pets to his side.
Intrigued by his countenance, Viktor asked, "Family's calling you?"
"Yeah… my sis wants to spend time with me here… I don't know what to do with her since the level gap is like a chasm. She'll insta kill anything with her magic." Jake explained. "I'd rather cut down trees or help with your work…"
Although the game system had yet to note it, Jake's relationship level with Viktor suddenly surged by more than a few percent.
It was because he could relate to him.
He also saw that Jake was hard-working and genuine in whatever he was doing…
They were pretty similar.
"Need a hand?" Viktor smirked. "Get her here and have her spend time with you in the woods. I have a spare ax for her to work with."
Jake's eyes twinkled, "Seriously?"
"Yeah, then we will have her deal with the old hag," Viktor's sneer widened.
Jake laughed, "I mean… she's been hyped to know that there's a chance to spend time with me here, and it's been such a long time that I think she deserves to have me in the capital. Still, I will bring her here tomorrow to deal with the imperial mage. I think she can do it, actually."
"It's a deal," Viktor smiled.
Jake reciprocated his smile.
These two now looked much more familiar and closer.